A Nightmare Carved in Crimson
As the sun began to set, a grim procession marched out from the headquarters of the Red Fang Gang, located in the heart of Gangwan Village in Wuyuan County. Led by Gakgwi, the Shadow Pavilion Leader, numerous martial artists of the Shadow Pavilion made their way toward Wuyuan Pharmacy in solemn, heavy silence.
As the massive contingent of Red Fang Gang warriors marched in perfect formation, the nearby villagers watched them with eyes full of wariness and tension. The Red Fang warriors had no intention of hiding their movements; if anything, they marched with an even more arrogant, swaggering stride.
Before long, their path wound up the ridge, coming to a halt directly in front of Wuyuan Pharmacy. The villagers whispered among themselves, desperately trying to guess why the Red Fang Gang had gathered at the pharmacy in such force. Amidst the murmurs, Gakgwi cleared his throat and bellowed, "Owner of Wuyuan Pharmacy! Show yourself at once!"
Already well aware of the commotion outside, San Dogang, the owner of Wuyuan Pharmacy, slowly opened the door and stepped out to face the Red Fang warriors. San Suhwa and San Ireong followed closely behind their father, their movements cautious and tense.
Upon seeing them, Gakgwi spoke in a voice dripping with authority. "We are currently hunting the demons who recently slaughtered our brave Red Fang warriors using cruel, demonic arts! I have heard that those bastards frequently visited this very pharmacy. Is this true?!"
San Dogang looked at them with a thoroughly bewildered expression, completely lost. "Demons? What on earth are you talking about?"
Gakgwi's face contorted as he barked back, "It is useless to play innocent! I have heard the rumors with my own two ears that those demonic practitioners stopped by this pharmacy! Speak the truth at once!"
Yet, San Dogang, genuinely having no idea what was going on, could only blink in silence. Just then, San Ireong stepped forward from behind his father and spoke up. "You mean those white-haired people, right?! We have absolutely nothing to do with them! They just said they felt weak, so we gave them a little medicine. That's all!"
Every eye instantly locked onto San Ireong.
"They just showed up out of nowhere, so we really don't know anything either!"
"Ireong! What in the world are you talking about?!" San Dogang looked at his son in utter bewilderment. San Suhwa, who had overheard the details previously, quickly whispered an explanation of the situation into her father's ear.
Only then did San Dogang understand. He waved his hands in a frantic gesture of denial. "Ah, it is a misunderstanding! We merely gave them some basic medicine because they said they were physically exhausted. We know absolutely nothing about them!"
Gakgwi's voice flared with rising anger. "Save your excuses! Those demons helped the Black Summit Sect and harmed our Red Fang warriors! And do you think we don't know that you treated the wounded Black Summit bastards that very day?!"
"T-That was..."
Just then, a familiar face was dragged out from among the Red Fang warriors. It was one of the Black Summit Sect members who had been severely injured and treated overnight at Wuyuan Pharmacy. His face was heavily bruised and battered, showing he had been brutally beaten.
Gakgwi demanded in an overbearing voice, "Explain it to them, you bastard!"
The Black Summit martial artist hesitated, his swollen face twitching. Avoiding San Dogang's gaze, he slowly opened his mouth. "I-It is true. When my companions and I were injured, we received treatment from them..."
"And what about the demons? Speak!" Gakgwi barked.
Startled, the Black Summit martial artist looked back and forth between San Dogang and San Suhwa before squeezing his eyes shut. "W-When we finished our treatment and stepped outside, there was definitely a white-haired demon in the courtyard! Their appearance was so terrifying that I remember it vividly!"
Sharp gasps rippled through the gathered crowd. Emboldened by the confession, Gakgwi pressed San Dogang with even greater arrogance. "Did you truly think we came here empty-handed?! Speak the truth before things get ugly! Where did those demons go?!"
San Dogang replied, his voice laced with panic, "We truly do not know! We don't even know where they reside, so how could we possibly—!"
"I see words won't work on you." Gakgwi didn't even bother to let San Dogang finish. He simply gave a subtle nod to his subordinates. At the signal, the vicious-looking warriors of the Shadow Pavilion began to march menacingly toward San Dogang.
Tensing up, San Dogang pushed his children behind him, his posture defensive and alert. "W-What is the meaning of this?! Back off this instant!"
Despite his shouting, the Red Fang warriors advanced relentlessly. As the tension reached a boiling point, the lead warrior reached San Dogang and unleashed a brutal slap across his face.
Slap!
"Agh!"
San Dogang's head whipped to the side as he lost his balance and crashed to the ground. The watching villagers gasped in shock.
"Father!"
San Suhwa cried out, rushing forward to help her fallen father up. But before she could reach him, a Red Fang warrior grabbed her by the hair and violently threw her to the dirt.
"Ahhh!"
San Suhwa's shrill scream pierced the air. Horrified, San Dogang scrambled to his feet to protect her, but he was instantly brought down by a barrage of merciless kicks.
"Ugh!"
What followed was a brutal, relentless beating. San Suhwa and San Ireong tried to throw themselves over their father to shield him, but they were quickly grabbed and dragged away.
"Father! Father!"
"Let go! Let go of me, you bastards!"
The Red Fang warriors continued their one-sided assault in grim silence. After watching the violence unfold for a moment, Gakgwi raised his hand, signaling them to halt.
"Stop."
The warriors froze instantly. Gakgwi slowly stepped forward, his face twisted into a cold, mocking sneer as he spoke.
"My dear pharmacist, if only you had listened to me from the very beginning, you wouldn't have had to suffer such a dreadful beating. What a waste of effort. Did I not explicitly warn you never to involve yourself with the Black Summit Sect?"
"Ugh..." San Dogang groaned in agony, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Gakgwi slowly bent down as his men hauled San Dogang's limp body up by his arms. Staring at the pharmacist's battered, bloody face, Gakgwi let out a mocking chuckle.
"My, my. Look at your face. It's completely ruined." He patted San Dogang's cheek condescendingly. "I truly didn't want to resort to this, but since you were so slow to understand, I had no choice but to teach you a lesson. Now, are you ready to give me the right answer?"
"You ungrateful monsters..." San Dogang choked out, his voice thick with blood and bitter resentment. "Gakgwi, you bastard! I remember vividly how you and countless other Red Fang warriors received my medical aid! How can you do this to us?!"
"That is exactly why I said I didn't want to do this. Why must you doubt my sincerity?" Gakgwi let out a deep sigh. "Do not help the Black Summit Sect... Is that so difficult? Was that simple request so hard to comprehend? And why on earth did you get involved with those demons in the first place?"
San Dogang glared at Gakgwi with eyes burning with pure venom, remaining silent.
"..."
"Don't glare at me like that. This is entirely your fault, pharmacist. You must have thought my words were a joke, considering you went and did this just a few days later..." Gakgwi stared into his wrathful eyes for a moment before slowly straightening his back. "This is your last chance. Where did those demons go?"
Instead of answering, San Dogang ground his teeth so hard they threatened to shatter. "You vile beasts... Heaven will strike you down for this!"
"Tsk, fine. Stubborn as always." Gakgwi waved his hand dismissively and turned his attention toward San Suhwa and San Ireong. "I truly don't understand why you insist on bringing this suffering upon yourselves."
Gakgwi casually draped his arms over San Suhwa's and San Ireong's shoulders, leaning his weight on them. "Look here, Master Pharmacist. Shouldn't you speak the truth, if only for the sake of your children?"
"You bastard! If you lay a single finger on Suhwa or Ireong, I will never forgive you!"
"My, you still have so much energy left, considering the beating you just took."
Gakgwi gave another nod, and the Red Fang warriors resumed their brutal assault on San Dogang.
"Father!"
"Stop! Stop it, you bastards! Let go of him!"
San Ireong and San Suhwa thrashed wildly, but they were held fast by the Red Fang warriors and couldn't break free. After another round of merciless beating, San Dogang's body was covered in dark purple bruises, his eyes swollen shut, and his lips split open. San Suhwa squeezed her eyes shut, unable to bear the sight, while San Ireong stared wide-eyed, forcing himself to witness every agonizing second.
Gakgwi patted San Suhwa's shoulder with mock sympathy. "Tsk, tsk. Your father is suffering so much. Don't his children have anything to say?"
At those words, San Ireong's youthful voice cracked with an eerie, chilling edge. "You... I will kill you with my own hands. I swear, you will die by my hands."
"Oh my, how terrifying."
Slap!
A Red Fang warrior struck San Ireong across the face.
Even as his head whipped to the side, San Ireong glared back at Gakgwi, his eyes wide and showing the whites all around—his sanity visibly fraying.
"Glaring at me won't change a thing, little boy."
"Y-You... monsters..."
Just then, San Dogang, slumped limply on the ground, squeezed out a weak whisper.
Seeing this, Gakgwi's face brightened slightly. "Oh? Have you finally decided to speak?"
"Heaven's... wrath..."
"Ha, you still haven't learned your lesson."
Gakgwi gave San Suhwa a rough shove. The Red Fang warriors grabbed her by both arms, dragging her across the dirt and forcing her onto her knees right in front of San Dogang.
Gakgwi growled, his voice laced with irritation. "Go ahead, keep playing the hero. Let's see if you can still talk like that while your precious daughter gets ruined right before your eyes."
"Y-You bastards! If you touch Suhwa, I will—!"
Stomp!
Before San Dogang could finish, a Red Fang warrior slammed his boot onto the back of his head, grinding his face into the dirt and cutting him off.
"Now, keep your eyes wide open and watch closely."
Gakgwi grabbed San Suhwa by the hair and drew a wicked dagger from his robes. San Dogang thrashed violently, screaming desperately even as dirt filled his mouth. But his cries of rage and desperation were muffled, swallowed by the earth.
Savoring the moment, Gakgwi let out a twisted laugh. "This bitch is going to lose her eye because of you, San Dogang. Do you understand?"
His tone turned ice-cold, and the tension in the air instantly spiked to a suffocating peak. Watching from behind, San Ireong screamed, thrashing frantically against his captors.
"Stop! Stop it! You son of a bitch! You goddamn bastard! Let go! Let me go!"
San Ireong looked around wildly, screaming at the gathered villagers. "What are you all doing?! My sister and my father helped you countless times! Help us! Hurry! Why are you just standing there?!"
Despite San Ireong's desperate pleas, the villagers averted their eyes, none of them daring to step forward. Watching their cowardice, San Ireong felt the strength drain from his body. A sickening sense of betrayal washed over him, twisting his very soul.
Just then, a blood-curdling scream tore through the air.
"Ahhhhh!"
San Ireong's head whipped back toward Gakgwi and his sister. Gakgwi's cold, gleaming dagger was slowly descending toward San Suhwa's right eye.
Gakgwi's merciless voice echoed chillingly. "I will give you one final chance. Where did those demons go?"
But San Dogang, driven mad by the sight of his daughter's blood, couldn't even process Gakgwi's words. He could only wail in sheer agony.
"Aaaagh!"
"Tsk."
Gakgwi looked down at the weeping father and spoke in a flat, indifferent voice. "We'll just find them ourselves."
Squelch!
Gakgwi's cruel dagger plunged directly into San Suhwa's right eye, instantly bathed in a spray of crimson.
"Aaaargh!"
With her eye pierced, San Suhwa shrieked in agonizing, visceral pain. Gakgwi twisted the blade deep inside her eye socket before wrenching it out. A fountain of blood sprayed across Gakgwi's face.
Drip, drip.
As blood gushed from the empty socket, San Suhwa continued to scream. San Dogang watched in stunned silence for a fraction of a second before his entire body began to shake violently, and he unleashed a throat-shredding scream.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!"
Held down by the warriors, unable to move a single limb, San Dogang strained with every ounce of his strength. The sheer, overwhelming terror and grief caused his pants to grow wet. Weeping tears of blood, he ground his teeth, chewing on the dirt and grass stuffed in his mouth.
Gakgwi watched San Dogang's pathetic, desperate struggles and let out a cruel, mocking laugh. The sheer sadism of his laughter sent a shiver of absolute terror down the spines of everyone watching.
"Bwahaha! Did you just wet yourself?! Master Pharmacist! Look at the state of you! Ahahaha!"
The agonizing screams of a young woman whose eye had been gouged out. The desperate, pathetic thrashing of a father watching his child bleed. The mocking, sadistic laughter of the Red Fang warriors echoing over it all.
San Ireong, who had witnessed every single detail, could only stare blankly, completely speechless.
It was a horror far too immense for a young boy to process. The crushing helplessness of being unable to protect his precious family. The sickening betrayal of the villagers, who chose to stand by and watch despite all the help his family had given them.
The boy's breathing grew increasingly ragged.
"Pant... pant..."
He wanted to tear Gakgwi limb from limb. He wanted to run to his sister and father to save them. But he could do nothing.
Suddenly, San Ireong's body began to twist and contort. The sheer, suffocating despair that flooded his soul stripped him of all control over his own muscles.
Gakgwi stood up and turned to his men. "Burn it down."
At his command, the Red Fang warriors immediately brought forward torches and tossed them onto Wuyuan Pharmacy.
Whoosh!
A violent blaze erupted, swallowing the pharmacy in a roaring inferno. His family lay bleeding and trembling in the dirt of the courtyard.
Gakgwi patted San Ireong's head as the boy stared blankly at the destruction, letting out a mocking sneer before finally turning to leave. The snickers and snarls of the departing Red Fang warriors echoed in his ears.
He remained on his knees for a long time, staring into the flames, before slowly pushing himself up and dragging his feet toward his father and sister.
San Dogang's body was bent at unnatural, broken angles from the brutal beating. San Suhwa's face was completely drenched in crimson, blood still pooling from the hollow socket where her right eye had been savagely gouged out.
San Ireong stood there, staring down at them in absolute, hollow silence.
Hoping against hope that this was all a nightmare, he slowly pinched his cheek.
The sharp sting of pain, accompanied by a cold breeze brushing past his face, ruthlessly reminded him that this was reality.
The once-bright sun had finally sunk below the horizon, plunging the world into darkness.