Karma (4)
Eh?
Out of nowhere, Ga-bok stepped forward.
“The young master must be delirious from his chronic illness. Please show him your magnanimity, great heroes.”
It was courage no one could have anticipated. From the guy who could've bolted first without anyone batting an eye.
But for a servant stepping up for his master, his resolve seemed downright unconvincing—his face betrayed utter bewilderment.
Why the hell are you showing off now!
Ga-bok was practically jumping out of his skin. He'd only meant to think about saving the young master; actually stepping up? Not a snowball's chance in hell.
Cold logic said it wouldn't help a damn bit anyway. It flew in the face of his creed: courage without reward was just stupidity.
Can't you feel that terrifying killing intent...? Huh?
The Red-White Twin Heroes' murderous aura didn't scare him one bit.
Was he losing his mind like the young master? That would make him no better than someone who'd eaten tiger gall—bold to the point of suicide.
Regret flooded in like a tidal wave as he hit the point of no return.
“Die!”
A sword beam like a streak of light bleached Ga-bok's vision white. Death loomed before he could even register it, his life flashing before his eyes.
The White Hero's abrupt killing strike.
Normally, the White Hero might've shown mercy with all the witnesses around. But their ugly secret was exposed, and the young master's heir had rattled them to the core.
A servant's gutsy interference wasn't admirable—it was infuriating.
Claaang!
Whoooosh!
A deafening roar like hammering steel on bedrock scrambled their ears. Then a backlash of force swept the area like a gale.
Ah!
Ga-bok opened his squeezed-shut eyes, his face blank with shock.
He'd thought he was done for. He'd even pictured his parents who'd abandoned him.
What the hell just happened?
Ga-bok could now see the young master standing in front of him and the stunned expressions around.
Everyone gawked in disbelief. Even the Red-White Twin Heroes, who'd launched the strike, were no different.
There stood the young master's imposing back.
“The young master saved me!”
The more Ga-bok grasped the situation, the more awe and gratitude surged through him.
Swish!
Gu Cheon-woo turned his head slightly, his tone firm.
“I told you not to break stance.”
“...?”
Ga-bok froze, his lips—chaste for 23 years—puckered for a grateful peck on the cheek. But the words hit like a bucket of ice water.
It felt less like a joke to lighten the tension and more like dead seriousness. Sure enough, his body betrayed him, snapping into position on autopilot.
Damn this traitorous flesh—it ignored its flustered master's will entirely.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
In the end, Ga-bok banged out push-ups before springing up into a jumping jack salute.
The deputy manager and merchants gulped at the absurd sight, swallowing dryly.
It was a disaster embarrassing even in death.
Having sold himself out utterly, Ga-bok slumped in dazed resignation—whatever happens, happens.
Huh.
Gu Cheon-woo turned to face the Red-White Twin Heroes, the corner of his mouth twitching upward ever so slightly.
Not bad.
Mireok Cheonri-an stimulated the innermost essence.
Ga-bok had coincidentally wandered into the range of the Mireok Cheonri-an Gu Cheon-woo unleashed on the twins.
For someone as ordinary as Ga-bok, facing a Peak Expert's killing intent head-on without flinching was thanks to the Paewang Gi.
His nature meshed with the Paewang Gi, sparking unintended courage.
Time to train him properly.
A touch of sincerity crept into what had started as mere amusement, a chance to test him.
Special training once his basics solidified.
“You bastard, hiding your martial prowess!”
“Never hid it. Better than hypocrisy, though.”
“You whelp invite death with parlor tricks!”
“For all that talk, you're awfully shameless.”
They belittled him verbally, but the Red Hero shifted to the White Hero's left flank.
Acknowledging the caravan heir wasn't ordinary after that clash.
Deflecting sword qi barehanded!
Damn whelp—we should've finished him clean!
It was sword qi, even if not full power. Deflecting it unarmed meant treating him as an equal at minimum.
Hard to believe a mere caravan heir was Peak Expert level, but half-assing it risked another blunder.
“For scum like you to lurk in a piddling outfit like Jeokgeum Merchant Group—suspicious as hell!”
“For the justice of the jianghu, we must judge you!”
To cover their tracks later, the twins hammered home their justification. Truth mattered little.
Even prestigious sects rarely produced Peak Experts before twenty. From a fringe Sacheon outfit like Jeokgeum? Absurd.
The others seem clueless.
Just kill him, grab the Storm Plum, and we're golden.
If the dart thief turned out to be part of some shady plot, it'd convince everyone. Witnesses would back them soon enough.
“Hmph!”
Just as they savored their perfect scheme—
The twins grunted.
“Trash like you dare speak of justice.”
Gu Cheon-woo, who'd lived 40,000 years solely to eradicate evil. Sure, Mu-myeong had sidelined his Mireok Paedo for now, but he never ignored his heavenly mandate to right the world.
Hypocrites prattling about justice was an insult he, as evil's exterminator, couldn't stomach.
Step.
This time, Gu Cheon-woo moved first.
Approaching the twins slowly, as if devouring the surroundings.
Urk!
The twins choked, as if hemmed in from all sides. The whole area felt dominated, crushing them.
Was this a heavenly being's stride?
Suppressed by mere presence?
By this whelp? Don't make me laugh!
Oppressive aura crushing their spirit, fused with domain-conquering dominance—it warped their formation.
Panic swirled: lose aerial control like this, and they'd fall pathetically.
“As if!”
The twins yanked their inner energy to the limit, shoving back his pressure.
A feat impossible just moments ago.
Sudden insight had pierced the blockades of Red Dragon Art and White Dragon Art; their sword and saber forms evolved too.
A fluke, perhaps, but bizarre. Like centuries of experience compressed into an instant, slamming their souls.
That day, they'd fully reached Peak Expert.
And an inexplicable grudge etched into their spirits. Against whom? No clue.
Yet seeing Jeokgeum's heir, that submerged grudge erupted like a geyser.
It's him!
You!
Why? No idea. Only the imperative to kill him took root.
Some unfathomable force they'd never known stirred their qi.
Couldn't give him time. Strike now, while they'd repelled his pressure.
Infusing core qi into their inner energy, the twins unleashed their newly perfected Red Dragon Saber Form and White Dragon Sword Form.
Red-White Twin Fangs.
Red Dragon Fang and White Dragon Fang, forged in sword array, savagely tore into Gu Cheon-woo amid the repelled space.
A dragon's roar, scales reversed.
Roooar!
Craaaack!
For an instant, it felt like the ten-zhang radius shredded apart.
Sword-qi gales stripped the earth's skin, flinging it skyward.
Whirling dust formed massive pillars before crashing down.
Whoooosh!
As the obscuring dust cleared, the standoff between Gu Cheon-woo and the twins emerged.
Ah!
All had held their breath under the twins' ferocious aura. They'd fretted over the heir strolling into mortal peril.
Regretful sighs escaped—only for the scene to defy expectations.
“...Impossible!”
“No... way!”
The twins couldn't believe it.
Their certainty he'd be minced into chunks shattered.
Unfazed, he'd strode right through their fangs' gap, severing their energy flow.
And that was just the start.
Thud! Thud!
Peerless dominant force burrowed inward, not just blocking circulation but overloading their dantians to explosion.
Splat!
Deeper inner arts meant bigger backlash from shattered dantians. No blood from the seven apertures, but fury and terror twisted the twins' collapsed faces.
“...You... unforgivable!”
“...Even in death... I'll curse you!”
Dantians shattered, resistance futile. Yet they spat curses through bloodshot eyes—a venom that might terrify anyone.
Gu Cheon-woo gazed down impassively.
“Confess your sins.”
“...Hurk... We... sin... guh!”
“Cough... Just... kill... ugh!”
The twins writhed in agony, thrashing desperately. Even in death, they refused to expose their filth.
Dishonorable ends would torment their families too.
“...Please... just kill us!”
Gu Cheon-woo kept Mireok Cheonri-an unrelenting. He mercilessly crushed their final flailing bid for honor.
Futile resistance from worthless scum; meaningless for those left behind.
Shudder!
Gaaahhh!
The twins' screams erupted.
Veins bulging across their bodies, eyes ruptured red— a ghastly sight.
Chill!
Gulp!
The deputy manager and escort deputy shuddered, gulping saliva like springs.
Merchants and escorts fared no better. Shock transcended into outright horror.
Even when the twins turned murderous, no one foresaw this.
Terrifying, yes—but a miraculous reversal. They'd braced for today as their death anniversary.
“Look here, Deputy Leader! Was the young master's prowess truly first-rate?”
“...My eyes deceived me!”
First-rate couldn't parry Peak Experts' combined sword- and saber-qi assault!
Even the deputy who'd bet one nyang had to concede: the young master was Peak Expert.
How the hell did he do it?
The deputy was stumped too. He'd watched plain as day, yet no clue.
What was there to see? Sword-qi storm passed, and it ended in a blink.
A caravan heir at Peak Expert...? Unbelievable.
The deputy manager marveled at the young master's skill but recoiled anew at his temperament.
Unshaken by blood-tear screams—like appraising meat chunks.
How to treat him henceforth? Perplexing.
Too alien for casual dealings after this display.
Whoosh! Jump!
Ga-bok switched gears like lightning.
Stance unbroken, he hammered push-ups and chanted jumping jacks.
Emphasizing anew: he was the loyal servant obeying his young master's every command.
I'm the young master's right-hand man.
Ha!
A hollow laugh escaped.
Was that guy sharp or clueless?
The horror wasn't over.
The twins' confession was filth too vile for words. Not heroes—utter scum.
That such vermin lived revered as famed xia? The world was unjust.
How did the young master know?
The deputy manager couldn't fathom it. Spotting their hidden nature at first glance.
The shut-in heir, peering down the world like a hawk? Did he have heavenly eyes or something?