Chapter 71
Chapter 71
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Persuasion
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―A fearsome newcomer has appeared!
When he defeated a Great Righteous Master participating in the Martial Arts Tournament, this was the rumor that spread.
But when he cleaved the man known as the Wandering Knight, Yeop Hwa, in two with a single strike, the rumor changed.
―A Star of Slaughter for the ages has appeared!
Who was the Wandering Knight, Yeop Hwa?
Though a wanderer who sold his skills for money, he was also a philanthropist who helped pitiful children.
To brutally murder a man who performed good deeds on par with the renowned heroes of the Righteous Faction, and for no reason at the Martial Arts Tournament?
―Who is this Star of Slaughter!
A young Star of Slaughter, completely unknown to the martial world until now. Why did he suddenly participate in the Martial Arts Tournament? Why did he murder the Wandering Knight, Yeop Hwa?
Rumors about his identity spread, one after another.
The name that was finally revealed was Bu Eun-seol.
* * *
“Thank you.”
At the Gayang Pavilion, a high-class tavern not far from the tournament grounds.
Bu Eun-seol and Heuk-pyo sat facing each other. Heuk-pyo had sought him out after hearing the news that he had cut down Yeop Hwa at the tournament.
“You believed what I said.”
“I didn't believe your words.”
Bu Eun-seol said impassively, slowly setting down his empty cup.
“I merely trusted my own eyes.”
San-gong Powder and Gal-mi Venom were extreme poisons, shunned even by assassins known as human butchers.
To use such poisons without a second thought was to be, without exaggeration, the scum of the earth.
“But I'm worried. I didn't expect this incident to have such repercussions...”
Heuk-pyo glanced around the tavern with an embarrassed look.
The surrounding tables were filled with martial artists who appeared to be from the Righteous Faction, and they would occasionally glare fiercely at Bu Eun-seol.
“If only I had found evidence, this wouldn't have happened.”
“Pay it no mind.”
Bu Eun-seol calmly tilted his cup.
“If he committed such evil deeds for that long, the truth will eventually come out.”
“I can only hope that day comes.”
Sighing, Heuk-pyo once again offered the wooden box from before.
“This is the promised payment. Please accept it.”
“I told you I am not a wanderer.”
Bu Eun-seol said with a stern expression.
“Nor did I deal with him at your request.”
“But... my heart won't be at ease unless you accept at least this.”
Heuk-pyo knew.
Bu Eun-seol had been able to kill Yeop Hwa so brutally because he believed the man had committed vile acts.
“Please, accept it.”
As Heuk-pyo offered the box again, Bu Eun-seol spoke.
“If you feel you owe me a debt, there is a way to repay it.”
“What is it? Just say the word.”
“Stay by my side for three years and become my eyes and ears. If you do that, I will consider the debt repaid.”
“For three years... become your eyes and ears?”
“That's right.”
The Gong Twin Demons were no more, but the Yueyang branch of the Nine Kills Brigade was still intact.
Bu Eun-seol, who knew all the codes and information-gathering methods used by the Nine Kills Brigade.
If he wished, he could even gather intelligence flowing into all the branches of the Nine Kills Brigade.
“I have quite a few reliable sources of information. It would be a great help if you followed me and handled various tasks.”
After a moment of thought, Heuk-pyo took back the wooden box.
“Three thousand nyang of gold for three years... the pay is too low.”
Heuk-pyo was young, but he was a recognized talent in Dong-pyo-seo-rang.
It was just that his specialties were infiltration and the art of theft, so he primarily handled jobs involving stealing treasures or acquiring information rather than combat.
“May I ask one thing?”
Taking a deep breath, Heuk-pyo looked at Bu Eun-seol and spoke in a low voice.
“I would like to know your sect, Young Master.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because it seems I'll have to risk my life... if I follow you.”
Bu Eun-seol let out a short laugh and sent an impassive telepathic message.
「Nang-ya-gak.」
“Nang...”
Leaping to his feet, Heuk-pyo instinctively covered his mouth.
‘One of the Ten Demonic Sects... Nang-ya-gak!’
Though people said its power had waned or that it was a ruined sect, that was only when comparing it to the other pillars of the Demonic Path, the Ten Demonic Sects.
Nang-ya-gak, teeming with martial artists who were each a match for a hundred—no, a thousand—men, who roamed the martial world alone like wolves in pursuit of the martial way.
To think the young man before me was a master from that place!
‘This is worth staking my life on.’
Taking a deep breath, Heuk-pyo pulled a piece of paper from his robes.
“Then, please write this up.”
“What is that?”
“A contract.”
Heuk-pyo grinned and scratched his head.
“To leave Dong-pyo-seo-rang, I need an official contract stamped with the contractor's thumbprint.”
Borrowing a brush, ink, and paper from a servant, Heuk-pyo wrote out the contract with a flourish.
Then he took out a red ink pad and said to Bu Eun-seol.
“You just need to press your thumbprint here.”
When Bu Eun-seol stamped his thumbprint, Heuk-pyo beamed.
“As of today, the contract is official. I look forward to working with you.”
“Take this.”
Bu Eun-seol took a small booklet from his robes.
“What is this?”
“It's a movement technique to compensate for your clumsy footwork.”
“A movement technique?”
“From now on, to handle my affairs, you must be faster and stealthier than anyone.”
Opening the booklet, he saw the principles of a light body technique and footwork written inside.
The ink was not yet dry, a clear sign it had been written last night.
“You were already planning to hire me, Young Master?”
Heuk-pyo grinned, and Bu Eun-seol replied impassively.
“I merely prepared it just in case.”
“Hehe. Then I'll gratefully accept.”
Excited, Heuk-pyo tucked the booklet into his robes and said.
“By the way, Young Master. I think you should probably stay out of the taverns until the tournament is over.”
The stares from the martial artists, which had been bothering him for a while, had now become blatant.
“I don't think this will be resolved peacefully.”
As the situation grew tense, Heuk-pyo's eyes glinted.
“I'll handle this. You should go first.”
“You need not concern yourself.”
“This is our kind of work. I'm a wanderer from Dong-pyo-seo-rang, after all.”
Bu Eun-seol paid him no mind and rose from his seat.
At that, several martial artists also rose to their feet.
Among them, a middle-aged man with cheeks that glowed like apricots and a lush beard on his chin pointed at Bu Eun-seol and spoke.
“Bu Eun-seol.”
“Who are you?”
“I am the Iron-Faced Swordsman, Go Il-ryong.”
The Iron-Faced Swordsman, Go Il-ryong.
A hero of the Righteous Faction who could not tolerate injustice, he had a fiery temperament and was known to take matters into his own hands when he saw evildoers.
But Bu Eun-seol was as impassive as if he were watching an old street vendor hawking his wares.
“And?”
“And? How could you so cruelly murder the innocent Yeop Hwa!”
“When has the martial world ever been a place where one kills another based on guilt or innocence?”
“How can you say such a thing?”
Uncharacteristically, Bu Eun-seol smirked.
“If you wish to argue guilt or innocence, then fine. That man was guilty.”
“Guilty? Of what?”
Bu Eun-seol looked at the middle-aged man and said coldly.
“He roamed the martial world, secretly committing vile acts. And he used vicious poisons to assassinate his opponents.”
“Silence!”
Go Il-ryong roared.
“The dead cannot defend themselves! Do you intend to tarnish the honor of a man already dead?”
“The dead can defend themselves.”
“What?”
Bu Eun-seol said coolly.
“Sometimes, a person can only be judged properly after death. In the afterlife, their name might leave behind a fragrant legacy, or it might continue to reek of filth.”
Those who hold power and authority in life can only be truly judged in death.
During his time as a mortician, Bu Eun-seol had encountered this truth countless times.
“Wait and see.”
Bu Eun-seol said with a solemn expression.
“If Yeop Hwa truly lived a clean and upright life, then the judgment after his death will reflect that.”
“What kind of absurd sophistry is that?”
Go Il-ryong stared at Bu Eun-seol, dumbfounded.
“By your logic, everyone must die to be properly judged.”
“I did not say that. I said 'sometimes'.”
“You have a clever tongue. But you are ignorant of one important fact.”
Go Il-ryong scoffed and said.
“That in the martial world, a sharp sword is far more persuasive than a smooth tongue.”
“A sword is more persuasive than a tongue... I couldn't agree more.”
The corners of Bu Eun-seol's mouth lifted, and a brilliant light erupted from his eyes.
“Then let the persuasion begin.”
*CRASH!*
The entire wall of the Gayang Pavilion's second floor was blown away.
And a moment later, the middle-aged man in white robes and his companions fell unsightly from the second story.
It was none other than the Iron-Faced Swordsman, Go Il-ryong, and his comrades.
‘He's twice as strong as I expected.’
Standing behind Bu Eun-seol, Heuk-pyo was left speechless by Bu Eun-seol's martial prowess, which surpassed all imagination.
Go Il-ryong was a master who had roamed the martial world for decades. To think he and his men were beaten to a pulp in an instant.
“Ugh...”
Go Il-ryong, who had fallen below the tavern, was a bloody mess, his face making a mockery of his title, 'Iron-Faced Swordsman'.
Not only that, but the weapons of his surrounding companions were all shattered to pieces.
“Do you require more persuasion?”
A blue electric glint flickered in the eyes of Bu Eun-seol as he descended from the tavern.
Watching him, the Iron-Faced Swordsman bit his lip.
“You...”
“It seems you do need more persuasion.”
As Bu Eun-seol cracked his knuckles, the color drained from Go Il-ryong's face.
“Wait!”
He seemed to jump back, and as if his pride was greatly wounded by his own reaction, he lowered his head.
“That's... enough.”
After looking down at Go Il-ryong for a long moment, Bu Eun-seol turned away and said in a low voice.
“Good.”
*Fwip!*
Bu Eun-seol stuck a bundle of banknotes to the tavern door and spoke to the manager of Gayang Pavilion, who had come rushing down.
“Use this for the repairs.”
“...Don't you think that was a bit too much?”
Heuk-pyo asked with a worried expression as he left the tavern with Bu Eun-seol.
“The Iron-Faced Swordsman is acquainted with many masters of the Righteous Faction. Beating a man like that to a pulp without mercy... the repercussions will be endless.”
“Quite the opposite.”
“Pardon?”
“The kind of people who meddle in others' affairs should never be dealt with half-heartedly.”
Bu Eun-seol said with a blank expression.
“You must crush them so thoroughly that they never dare to challenge you again. That is the nature of the martial world.”
“Crush them so they can't challenge you?”
“If you handle them moderately, the challenges will never end. The martial world is lined with old men from the Righteous Faction who want to teach a lesson to a newly emerged rookie.”
For a moment, Heuk-pyo pictured a crowd of old men from the Righteous Faction, huddled together, their mouths itching to lecture someone.
“Pfft.”
Heuk-pyo almost burst out laughing.
But the profile of Bu Eun-seol's face was so chilling that he couldn't bring himself to laugh.
“But this incident will teach them. To challenge me is to risk their honor and their lives.”
“...I see.”
Heuk-pyo had also lived as a wanderer since childhood, but his perspective on the martial world had not yet been fully formed.
Bu Eun-seol, however, had his own values and philosophy, as if he had already lived in the martial world for decades.
“But if you continue on like this, won't you just make enemies everywhere?”
“All the better.”
“Pardon?”
“Having many enemies means having that many more opportunities to advance my martial arts.”
At those words, Heuk-pyo suddenly realized something.
‘The Young Master intends to turn the entire martial world upside down.’
He didn't know the reason why.
But looking at Bu Eun-seol's profile, Heuk-pyo's heart began to pound.
‘If I stay by his side, things are going to get interesting.’
The jobs that came to Dong-pyo-seo-rang were mostly a repetition of dangerous tasks.
But he had a gut feeling that if he journeyed through the martial world with Bu Eun-seol, he would see a much wider world than he had ever known.