Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Part 3. Blood is Thicker than Water (2)
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133
Kwak Geo-cheol gritted his teeth, trying to hold out. He really meant to. But this time, he clearly realized just how weak his will was. And that no one could stand against violence.
Damho didn't rush in the slightest.
Methodically, yet relentlessly, he broke down Kwak Geo-cheol's body and mind.
In the end, Kwak Geo-cheol spilled everything he knew.
A change that could be called human emotion appeared on Damho's face for the first time.
"So... that means Hye-ryeong is the child you kidnapped?"
"That's right! We were going to sell her off as a slave... but she caught the eye of the Vice Chief, and we ended up losing her to him."
The child they lost that way became Hwang Kyung-mun's daughter and was given the name Hwang Hye-ryeong.
"We were afraid. Afraid that the girl would one day remember her true origins and come seeking revenge."
"So you tried to kill her?"
"That's right! You have to eliminate future threats completely."
"Where did you kidnap Hye-ryeong from?"
He asked calmly on the surface, but at that moment, Damho's heart pounded more fiercely than ever.
"It was a remote village at the foot of Mount Taebaek in Shaanxi Province. A small village with about a hundred people. I remember it clearly because that's where I met that monster. The bastard bit my comrade's throat and killed him. Grr!"
Thud!
In that instant, Damho squeezed his eyes shut.
His jaw muscles twitched.
"So that's how it was?"
The child had seemed different from others from the first moment he saw her. Perhaps it was the pull of blood ties.
When she was kidnapped, Hwang Hye-ryeong had been just two or three years old. Damho had changed a lot himself, and so had Hye-ryeong's face. It was only natural that he hadn't recognized her at first glance.
Above all, Hye-ryeong had no memory of her early childhood. She'd been too young when she was taken.
It didn't matter if she didn't recognize him.
She might have forgotten everything, but Damho remembered clearly.
Suppressing his agitation, Damho asked,
"Where is the Black Water Stronghold?"
"On Mount Yukhwa in Jiangxi Province."
"Mount Yukhwa."
Damho's fists clenched. Seeing him like that, Kwak Geo-cheol pleaded.
"I've told you everything I know. So spare me. I won't forget this favor."
Kwak Geo-cheol didn't want to die.
He'd done plenty of evil in his life, but he didn't think that was reason enough to die.
He wanted to live.
He desperately wanted to live like a madman.
At that moment, Damho's voice came.
"That child's name isn't Hwang Hye-ryeong."
"What?"
"It's Dam Ga-ryeong. The name of my little sister that you bastards stole away."
"Th-then?"
Kwak Geo-cheol's eyes widened.
His pupils shook.
The face of Damho overlapped with the face of the boy he had encountered twenty years ago in that small village at the foot of Mount Taebaek.
"N-no way, you?"
"That's right! Now you understand why you have to die?"
"Ugh!"
Despair clouded Kwak Geo-cheol's eyes.
He shook his head desperately.
"It wasn't me. Jo Yun-san ordered it all. I just followed orders. I have no sin. Please spare me."
Kwak Geo-cheol grabbed Damho's leg and begged. But the gaze Damho looked down at him with was still ice-cold.
"My parents did the same. They begged for their lives. What did you do then?"
"Th-that was..."
"You killed them. Tormenting them for a long time, like toying with rats."
"Spare me! I was wrong. Please... Aaagh!"
Crack!
In an instant, Damho grabbed Kwak Geo-cheol's right arm and twisted it.
The muscle fibers tore, and the bones snapped. The once-intact shoulder was ripped clean off.
Seeing his arm torn raw from his body right before his eyes, Kwak Geo-cheol screamed like a madman and thrashed about.
But Damho's punishment wasn't over yet. He grabbed Kwak Geo-cheol's left arm.
"N-no!"
Kwak Geo-cheol begged.
Rip!
"Aaagh!"
But Damho showed no mercy. He tore off Kwak Geo-cheol's left arm as well.
Blood poured from Kwak Geo-cheol's shoulders like rain, now that both arms were gone. He'd lost so much blood in an instant that not a drop of color remained in his face.
The light of life was fading from Kwak Geo-cheol's eyes.
Damho looked at him indifferently.
"Y-you demon! You won't die pretty either. You'll surely..."
Kwak Geo-cheol gathered his last strength to curse Damho. That was the final thing he said in life.
Damho turned away indifferently.
Kwak Geo-cheol's curse didn't linger in his mind.
He had already killed countless people and heard their venomous words. One more curse from Kwak Geo-cheol made no difference.
Damho walked toward the cave where he had hidden Hwang Hye-ryeong.
His expression was still indifferent on the outside, but his mind was a whirlwind of chaos.
He needed to sort out his stance quickly.
What would be best for Hye-ryeong.
Suddenly, Damho looked down at his fists.
A thick bloody scent emanated from his fists, dyed red with another's blood. The nauseating stench of blood was enough to cloud even Damho's mind.
"Where did it all go wrong?"
Damho thought something inside him was broken.
He hadn't paid it much mind until now, but reuniting with his sister made it hit him hard.
Damho closed his eyes. Walking was no problem even so.
When he opened them again moments later, all traces of conflict were gone. The indifferent gaze, showing no emotion whatsoever, was firmly in place.
He finally arrived at the cliffside where the cave was. Pushing aside the dense foliage revealed the hidden cave.
Hwang Hye-ryeong was there.
"Hyung!"
As soon as he entered the cave, Bang Jin-bo greeted him first. Damho patted Bang Jin-bo's head and looked inside.
"Oppa."
Hye-ryeong approached him.
Her complexion looked much better than the night before. He thought it fortunate but didn't show it.
"What about him?"
"He's come to his senses. Thanks to you, oppa."
"Thank you for your help."
Muk Il-gwang offered his greetings.
Damho nodded silently.
He didn't look at Hye-ryeong anymore.
He had lived as a man until now. Just as he had his own life, so did Hye-ryeong have hers.
He couldn't drag her into his blood-soaked existence.
Letting her live her own life as she had until now—that was how he thought to protect her.
'Ga-ryeong.'
Hye-ryeong's expression looked much more at ease.
That was enough.
The four of them left the cave.
They were currently in a wild mountain on the outskirts of Ak-yang. It was the same mountain Damho and Bang Jin-bo had crossed just a few days ago.
Crossing it once made the second time not so hard. The problem was the Murim Alliance's pursuit.
Even a three-year-old child could see with a little thought that they wouldn't give up the chase.
Leaving aside Hye-ryeong and Muk Il-gwang, Damho was branded a public enemy of the martial world. True In of Cheonggu had been gravely wounded by him, and Namgung-su had lost his life.
Letting him go like this would crack the Murim Alliance's prestige.
For the newly formed alliance, it would be a major blow.
Damho said to Hye-ryeong and Muk Il-gwang,
"Get on the horses."
"But..."
"If you can walk, I won't stop you."
At Damho's words, Muk Il-gwang shut his mouth.
His condition wasn't normal right now. He couldn't even use lightness skill, and walking was difficult.
It was due to the internal injuries he'd sustained protecting Hye-ryeong. His face was still pale. It would take days of circulating qi to heal.
Damho looked at Hye-ryeong.
"You get on a horse too."
"Yes!"
Hye-ryeong answered immediately.
The trust in her eyes as she looked at Damho was brimming.
It wasn't just because he'd saved her and Muk Il-gwang's lives. For some reason, she trusted Damho.
She could rely on this man.
From the moment she first saw him, that thought had taken root in Hye-ryeong's mind.
She didn't know why. But Hye-ryeong trusted her instincts.
To her, Damho was someone she could believe in and rely on.
Above all, looking at him stirred something deep in her chest.
She didn't know what emotion it was. But she didn't dislike the unfamiliar feeling.
Damho put Hye-ryeong on Heuk-gwi. Muk Il-gwang mounted Bang Jin-bo's horse.
He ended up having to walk, but Bang Jin-bo didn't look upset at all. Having spent a long time with Damho, walking and running were no issue. His stamina had improved greatly, so he could walk for hours without tiring.
Muk Il-gwang gave Bang Jin-bo an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, little brother."
"No."
"I'll repay this favor someday."
"Hehe!"
Not knowing what to say, Bang Jin-bo just laughed.
"Let's go!"
Damho gripped Heuk-gwi's reins and started walking. Bang Jin-bo held the reins of the horse carrying Muk Il-gwang and followed behind.
Hye-ryeong, riding on Heuk-gwi, asked,
"Where are we headed?"
"Mount Hwang."
"Mount Hwang? Are you taking us to the Tyrant Stronghold?"
"Yes."
"You don't have to."
"It's fine."
"O-oppa."
At Damho's curt reply, Hye-ryeong briefly showed a moved expression.
Just escaping Ak-yang safely would have been enough to be grateful for, but to take them all the way to the Tyrant Stronghold thousands of li away. To Hye-ryeong, who didn't know the circumstances, Damho's kindness was incomprehensible.
But she didn't have the courage to refuse. Muk Il-gwang had such serious internal injuries, and she herself was inconvenient to move.
"Thank you."
Damho didn't reply. He just walked forward silently, eyes ahead.
"Hyung!"
Bang Jin-bo came up beside him.
He wasn't ignorant of the situation. He knew Damho was a public enemy of the martial world. But he had no intention of leaving Damho's side.
Live or die, he would stick with Damho to the end.
"Hehe!"
Bang Jin-bo laughed.
Laughter had become a habit now.
Hye-ryeong asked curiously,
"What's so funny?"
"Just happy being with hyung."
"Is that so?"
A faint smile appeared on Hye-ryeong's lips. Somehow, she felt she could understand Bang Jin-bo's mood.
Damho was a scary man.
She knew full well from her own eyes how merciless he could be to those he deemed enemies.
Becoming his enemy was terrifying. But thinking of him as an ally made her feel so secure.
It was the first time in her life she'd felt this peaceful. The situation was the worst, but she wasn't afraid.
A faint smile graced her lips.
For a long while, Hye-ryeong couldn't tear her eyes away from Damho's back.