Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Fury of the Bereaved
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Parents who have lost a child cannot endure it. Even if that child is a scoundrel.
A short while after he departed, Luha approached the spot where Jeok Riha and Bal Woong lay dead.
Luha gazed quietly at Jeok Riha.
In truth, she had been watching Ak Muyoo fight from the very start, ready to intervene at any moment. Yet she had held back because of the superhuman great power that the deceased So Daehwa had mentioned.
That superhuman great power was said to manifest only in extreme situations. Whether it had truly awakened or not was impossible to know, but Ak Muyoo had slain Jeok Riha, one of the Yellow Springs Ten Dragons.
Excuses like Jeok Riha letting his guard down or Ak Muyoo getting lucky meant nothing. What mattered was that Ak Muyoo, a man with not a shred of internal energy, had survived.
He had fought one of the Yellow Springs Ten Dragons and won.
“Does this superhuman great power really exist?”
Luha tilted her head.
“I doubt they’d claim it exists if it didn’t.”
With that, she leaped into motion.
Not long after Luha left, two people arrived at the corpses. They were Seo Haran and Mok Busung.
“What do you think?”
Mok Busung asked, eyeing Jeok Riha’s body.
“He lost.”
“Even accounting for carelessness, this is…”
“Is that so?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing.”
Seo Haran looked at Jeok Riha with ambiguous eyes.
‘I know he didn’t just let his guard down. Sure, there was some arrogance. But in the end, it wasn’t a game. You were beaten by skill.’
“Look over there.”
Mok Busung pointed to the southern sky. Clouds of dust were billowing up.
“Blood Wolf Clan.”
Seo Haran said.
“That’s right. They’re taking the shortcut.”
Mok Busung nodded.
“We’ll run into them soon.”
“Seems like it.”
“What about the Fire Dragon?”
“What about him?”
“Will he keep following Luha’s group?”
“The Flame Dragon looks like he’ll tail them. Right?”
“Aren’t you curious?”
Seo Haran blew on the small jade flute strapped to her wrist. A beautiful melody flowed from it. Soon, two camels approached—one snow-white, the other brown.
The brown camel was laden with baggage.
As the camels neared, Seo Haran vaulted onto hers. Mok Busung whistled, and his camels came running. Like hers, one carried supplies. He grabbed the reins and mounted in a single motion.
“Let’s go.”
Seo Haran set off first.
Mok Busung glanced at Jeok Riha’s corpse.
“The Wind Country’s going to erupt in chaos.”
The Wind Country had arisen from the Black Sand Black Dragon Heaven. At the center of the desert lay the wind domain, home to a vast heavenly fortress.
The force born from that fortress was the Black Sand Black Dragon Heaven, and the kingdom they established was the Wind Country.
The Wind Country housed two great clans: the Black Dragon Martial House, which had produced the Black Sand Black Dragon Heaven’s lord, Parap, and Jeok Riha’s family, the Wind Sand Red House.
Jeok Riha’s death meant the Wind Sand Red House had lost its heir.
Mok Busung turned his gaze to the dunes.
A massive eagle soared high in the sky. It was a Great Desert Heavenly Eagle, the desert’s messenger, known for covering a thousand li in a day.
Someone was sending word to the Wind Sand Red House.
“Hya!”
Mok Busung cracked the reins.
The camel bolted forward.
The Great Desert Heavenly Eagle, soaring high, headed toward the desert’s heart. After half a day’s flight, it reached the massive fortress kingdom. Surrounded by countless buildings, this was the Black Sand Black Dragon Heaven, known as the Wind Country. All its roads led to the fortress. To the north and south stood enormous structures—the Wind Country’s premier clans, the Black Dragon Martial House and the Wind Sand Red House.
The eagle descended on the southern building. A messenger handler removed the bamboo tube from its ankle, sealed with red wax.
This meant an urgent matter for the clan head. Clutching the tube, he hurried off.
The tube reached Chief Steward Tak Sin-ya, who immediately knocked on the clan head’s office door.
“Come in.”
The man greeting Tak Sin-ya was of such immense build that “huge” seemed inadequate. An intangible aura emanated from him—the Wind Sand Red House’s lord, Wind Emperor Jeok Yeomcheon. He ranked fourth among the Desert Ten Heroes, an absolute powerhouse.
“It arrived.”
Tak Sin-ya proffered the tube.
“That’s…”
Jeok Yeomcheon trailed off.
“It means something’s happened to the young master.”
“Open it.”
“Yes.”
Tak Sin-ya broke the wax and opened the tube before Jeok Yeomcheon. Inside was a small note.
Tak Sin-ya unfolded it.
“Gasp!”
His eyes bulged, and his hand trembled holding the note.
“What does it say?”
“I-it’s…”
Unable to speak, Tak Sin-ya handed it over. The note flew into Jeok Yeomcheon’s grasp.
He read it.
[Young master Jeok Riha deceased.
Young master ordered Four Evils Bandits to attack Great Bow Dragon Luha’s group. Luha’s group resisted fiercely, so young master personally joined Bandit Lord Bal Woong.
He was slain by a retainer of the Heavenly Citadel High Castle Cha Clan.]
The details were thorough.
But Jeok Yeomcheon couldn’t believe it. He read it again and again.
“Is this note really saying Riha is dead?”
Jeok Yeomcheon asked, face still incredulous.
“It… seems so.”
Tak Sin-ya bowed his head.
“…”
Jeok Yeomcheon stared blankly ahead, remaining so for over an incense stick’s time.
Tak Sin-ya waited silently.
“Where is Riha now?”
Jeok Yeomcheon asked softly.
“Reports say O Neungu Oasis.”
“Is Geo Bu Chi there?”
“Yes.”
A black-clad figure dropped from the ceiling. He was Sa Gwi—Geo Bu Chi, captain of the Sand Wind Spirit Demon Squad, the Wind Sand Red House’s elite.
“We deploy in one incense stick’s time. Something to handle in Chacha Kingdom.”
“Understood. Preparations at once.”
Geo Bu Chi vanished like smoke.
“Great Bow Dragon Luha—isn’t she the girl Riha was involved with before?”
Jeok Yeomcheon asked Tak Sin-ya.
“Yes.”
“She cast my son aside and went to Chacha Kingdom, it seems.”
“That’s correct.”
Tak Sin-ya nodded.
“Do you think our Wind Sand Red House is inferior to the Heavenly Citadel High Castle Cha Clan?”
Jeok Yeomcheon assumed Luha had married into Chacha Kingdom for her clan’s sake.
“I hear Chacha Kingdom is on the brink of ruin.”
“Then why would that child…”
Jeok Yeomcheon recalled first meeting Luha. High achievers at that age usually boasted, but she showed none of it. She acted as if untrained in martial arts. Nor did she seem calculating. He couldn’t know her reasons, but hearing she’d married elsewhere had bruised his pride slightly.
Fortunately, his son had wed a daughter of the Black Dragon Martial House and lived well.
“Actually…”
Jeok Yeomcheon eyed Tak Sin-ya.
“There was something I didn’t know, wasn’t there?”
“The Family Mother opposed the young master and Luha’s marriage.”
“My wife?”
“Yes.”
“…”
Bang!
The door flew open as a woman in her mid-fifties burst in. It was Jeok Yeomcheon’s wife, Ta-reu.
“Darling!”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“I’m asking why you hid that you drove that child Luha away.”
“So that lowly wench harmed my son?”
“Answer my question first!”
Jeok Yeomcheon’s voice sharpened.
“Yes. I opposed it.”
“Opposed it how?”
“I told her never to dream of allying with our house through marriage.”
“You didn’t tell the girl—you met her parents.”
“It wasn’t for my gain. It was for our child’s future.”
“And this is the future you wanted?”
Jeok Yeomcheon hurled the note at Ta-reu.
Then he stormed out.
Jeok Yeomcheon’s wife picked up the note.
“Ri, Riha…”
Ta-reu collapsed in shock, fainting dead away.
Thud!
With no one to catch her, she hit the floor hard.
“F-Family Mother.”
A maid rushed in late and helped Ta-reu up.
Moments later, Ta-reu regained consciousness.
She read the note again.
“That damned wench. How dare she touch my precious son…”
Ta-reu ground her teeth.
She stormed outside.
Her husband, Jeok Yeomcheon, was leading the Sand Wind Spirit Demon Squad out.
“Fetch my camel now!”
“Yes.”
The maid ran off. Soon, Ta-reu’s guards, the Wind Sand Protection Squad, brought camels.
Ta-reu mounted immediately.
“Where to, ma’am?”
Guard Captain Jikgan asked.
“To Hell Myriad Evils.”
“Hell Myriad Evils?”
Jikgan’s eyes widened slightly.
He knew Hell Myriad Evils as the Border Wastelands’ strongest and most vile organization.
They ignored good and evil, righteous and demonic. For the right price, they took any job. They left no trace behind—not even grass roots—earning them the name Grass-Cutting Root-Removing Squad.
“Guide me.”
“Yes.”
Jikgan bowed.
Meanwhile, Jeok Yeomcheon left the Black Sand Black Dragon Heaven and reached O Neungu Oasis in half a day. His son Jeok Riha’s body had already been recovered.
“Who are you?”
He asked the one who had handled the corpse.
“A member of the Four Evils Bandits.”
“Why did the Four Evils Bandits recover my son’s body?”
“The young master founded the Four Evils Bandits.”
“…My son created a bandit group?”
“Yes.”
“I see. Did he not reveal his identity?”
“He wore a mask.”
“A mask?”
“Here it is.”
The man produced the mask.
“So he wore this, attacked a retainer of the Heavenly Citadel High Castle Cha Clan, and got killed?”
“Yes.”
“Where is the Four Evils Bandits now?”
“Wiped out.”
“How many enemies?”
“Five, including Great Bow Dragon Luha.”
“A group wiped out by five…”
Whoosh!
A black ray shot from Jeok Yeomcheon’s finger.
Thud!
It pierced the man’s forehead.
“Gah!”
The man screamed and collapsed.
“Better off gone.”
Jeok Yeomcheon muttered lowly.
“No children, you say?”
“Yes.”
Geo Bu Chi bowed.
“Parents, huh. No matter how much of a scoundrel their child is or how deserving of death, they can’t tolerate others judging them. Only parents can punish their own. I will hold those who did this to my son accountable. Without fail.”
A venomous killing intent poured from Jeok Yeomcheon’s entire body.