I’ll Wipe Them Out
Mak Chilseong thought it over. There was no point in going back, no matter how he looked at it.
While he was off helping Lee Seol-ah, that Black Moon Sect Leader would simply take her hostage and that would be the end of it. Besides, if the Lee family really was on the move, then hesitating here was dangerous in itself.
Running was the right choice. Mak Chilseong reached that conclusion.
He squeezed his eyes shut. Then he turned and ran again.
But.
“...?”
His steps felt strangely heavy.
Until a moment ago, he had still been able to move. The wound in his neck was deep, but not so bad that he couldn’t run at once.
Now it was different. There was no strength in his legs. Mak Chilseong’s eyes flew open.
Poison?
Only then did he realize it. That needle-like sword the Black Moon Sect Leader had used earlier. Something had been smeared on it.
Mak Chilseong’s face twisted.
“That cowardly...”
The moment he tried to spit out the curse, Lee Kang was already on him.
“Got you.”
Lee Kang’s Night Moon Killing Sword unfolded once more.
The short blade tore through the air.
Mak Chilseong tried to swing his staff to block it. But his body was sluggish. With the paralytic spreading through him, he no longer moved the way he should have. Using martial arts was out of the question.
Stab.
The needle-like sword grazed Mak Chilseong’s flank.
Grinding his teeth, Mak Chilseong swung his staff wide.
Whoosh!
Lee Kang immediately retreated. Then he pressed in again. A quick thrust, a step back, then another search for an opening.
That was what the Night Moon Killing Sword was.
It was not a sword for meeting power head-on. It was a blade that clung to a rival’s weakness and tore at the flesh.
A wound opened on Mak Chilseong’s arm. Blood sprayed across his thigh. His side split open.
Blood kept pouring from the gash at the back of his neck too.
“Kh...!”
Mak Chilseong bled and bled. Yet strangely, that seemed to help, because his body slowly began to loosen up.
It was as if the paralytic was being forced out along with the blood. He was not fully recovered, but at the very least, he could still run.
Clenching his teeth, Mak Chilseong twisted his body. Then he swung his staff hard and shoved Lee Kang back.
Whoosh!
Lee Kang stepped away.
Mak Chilseong did not miss the opening. He turned and ran at once.
Looking after him, Lee Kang shouted loudly, “You’re running off and leaving the woman behind?”
Mak Chilseong’s shoulder twitched.
Lee Kang raised his voice even more. “No conscience, no pride, nothing? Is that how all of the Mak family is?”
Mak Chilseong’s face turned red. It was anger and humiliation. The shame was overwhelming too. But now was the time to flee.
That Black Moon Sect Leader might not have come alone. The Lee family was coming. If the Lee family intended to join hands with the Black Moon Sect and attack the Mak family, then he had to warn Mak Daehan immediately. Lee Kang’s voice chased him still.
“The Lee family won’t leave you alone!”
Mak Chilseong clenched his teeth.
He did not answer. He ran while bleeding. And Lee Kang did not pursue him any farther.
He watched Mak Chilseong’s back grow distant and slowly caught his breath.
This is enough.
A wound like that was plenty. When the final battle came to wipe out the Mak family, Mak Chilseong would not even be able to show his face because of the injury.
He had practically killed him already. Lee Kang looked down at his bloodstained needle-like sword.
A waste of a Qian Kun Bag, though.
Only then did Lee Seol-ah catch up, belatedly. She quietly looked toward the direction Mak Chilseong had disappeared in.
Then she said in a low voice. Her beautiful, oriole-like voice rang out softly. “What a foolish man.”
Lee Kang turned to her. Seol-ah still wore an almost expressionless face.
“I belong to you. He never realized that to the very end.”
The reason she said it was that she did not want Lee Kang to misunderstand. They had already discussed it, but Seol-ah was troubled by the faint discomfort it left behind.
There was no guarantee Lee Kang wouldn’t feel the same, so she was being honest about how she felt now. Lee Kang said nothing for a moment. Then he slowly reached out and laid his hand on top of her head.
“Your acting was excellent.”
Seol-ah’s eyes softened a little. Lee Kang lightly stroked her hair.
“Mak Chilseong was completely fooled.”
Seol-ah accepted the touch in silence. And Lee Kang’s words put her at ease. He hadn’t misunderstood!
The girl who had only moments ago been lying, deceiving people, pretending to stumble, and acting as though she trusted the Mak family was gone. The Seol-ah here now was simply enjoying Lee Kang’s warm touch in silence.
After patting her head a few more times, Lee Kang withdrew his hand.
“Let’s go back.”
“Yes.”
Lee Kang and Seol-ah moved together.
***
Bleeding all the way, Mak Chilseong made his way back toward Hapjeong Station.
Hapjeong Station Underground Shopping Mall.
In the past it had been a passage where people came and went, but now it had become the Mak family’s base. Between the shuttered shops hung bloodstained tarps, and broken display racks and steel barricades blocked the roads.
The people of the Mak family called the place Makgachae.
When Mak Chilseong appeared at the entrance, the first Mak family member to notice him widened his eyes.
“Brother Chilseong?”
Mak Chilseong could not answer. He just staggered inside.
“Brother Chilseong’s been hit!”
At that shout, the Mak family members rushed over in a swarm.
“What happened to these wounds?”
“His neck’s been cut!”
“He’s lost too much blood!”
The Mak family hurriedly carried him deeper inside. Someone tore strips from a bloodstained cloth and pressed them to the wounds, and another man raced off to fetch a first-aid kit.
Mak Chilseong ground his teeth and drew in ragged breaths.
His body felt heavy.
The paralytic had drained off to some extent, but he had too many wounds. Neck, side, arm, thigh. Every place where Lee Kang’s needle-like sword had grazed throbbed.
Then heavy footsteps sounded from deeper inside.
Thud.
Thud.
It was Mak Daehan. Seeing Mak Chilseong’s state, Mak Daehan’s eyes widened.
“Chilseong!”
His gaze swept over the wounds on Mak Chilseong’s neck and body. Then his face twisted.
“Was this the Black Moon Sect Leader’s doing?”
Only the Black Moon Sect Leader could have inflicted injuries like these. Mak Chilseong gave a strained nod.
The next moment, Mak Daehan’s face flushed red.
“That bastard from that rat-shit sect!”
His roar shook the underground mall.
“It wasn’t enough to kill Seok Yuha, so now he’s laying hands on my people too? Lee Kang, that rat-like bastard thinks he can toy with the Mak family?”
Mak Daehan breathed hard.
“So he’s hiding around like a coward and thinks that makes him somebody? Just let him get caught. I’ll tear off his limbs one by one and hang them at the entrance to Hapjeong Station. I’ll drag in every last sect member he cares about and do the same to them.”
Mak Chilseong tried to speak.
“Boss, that’s not it...”
But Mak Daehan’s curses did not stop.
“The Black Moon Sect? Black Moon Sect, my ass! What sect? It’s a nest of alley rats. And those vermin dare touch the name of the Mak family?”
Mak Chilseong gritted his teeth. He needed to speak about the Lee family immediately. But Mak Daehan’s voice was too loud. There was no chance to cut in.
For a long while, Mak Daehan poured out abuse about the Black Moon Sect Leader, Lee Kang. At last, he let out a long breath.
“Huff.”
Mak Chilseong seized the opening. “Boss.”
“What is it?”
Mak Chilseong spoke quickly. “It’s the Lee family.”
Mak Daehan’s brow twitched. “What?”
“The Lee family has joined hands with the Black Moon Sect Leader.”
The underground mall fell silent. Mak Chilseong, still breathing hard, went on.
“They’ve started hunting the Mak family. It may not be only me. There may be Mak family members out there right now who can’t make it back.”
Mak Daehan’s expression hardened.
“Are you sure?”
Mak Chilseong nodded.
“The Black Moon Sect Leader said it himself. He said the Black Moon Sect had allied with the Lee family. And he said the Lee family’s people were drawing near.”
Mak Daehan’s eyes darkened viciously.
Just then, one of the Mak family members ran in from deeper inside.
“Sect Leader!”
Mak Daehan turned.
“What is it!”
“It’s the Lee family bastard!”
At that, everyone’s attention snapped in that direction. The Mak family member, panting for breath, said, “One of those Lee family bastards was watching us from a distance. I found him and chased him off.”
Even Lee Kang himself did not know about that.
The Lee family had originally been keeping the Mak family under quiet surveillance. So long as three families maintained a balance in the Hapjeong Station area, it was only natural to keep an eye on one another’s movements.
That day was no different.
One of the Lee family’s people was observing the Mak family’s movements. Then he saw Mak Chilseong return to their base grievously injured.
Mak Chilseong was hurt that badly. Had he been in a war with someone?
That Lee family member judged it worthwhile to move closer than usual and keep watch on the Mak base. There might be a major profit in it. But he was discovered by a Mak family member and fled.
Mak Chilseong and the others did not interpret it that way.
He widened his eyes and said, “It’s them. They were the ones chasing me. I barely got away, and they followed me here to finish the job.”
There was certainty in Mak Chilseong’s voice.
“The Lee family is really making its move.”
Mak Daehan’s face twisted harshly.
“How dare they.”
His hand tightened around a giant wooden club.
“The Lee family dares lay a hand on the Mak family?”
One by one, the Mak family members inside the underground mall reached for weapons. Mak Daehan shouted loudly, “You lot! Grab your gear!”
At that, the Mak family began to move.
Wooden clubs, steel pipes, axes, old knives. Anything in hand became a weapon. Mak Chilseong tried to force himself upright in haste.
“Boss, please wait a moment.”
His wounds pulled open again, and fresh blood seeped out.
“I’m injured right now. If we clash with the Lee family now...”
“We don’t need you.”
Mak Chilseong closed his mouth. There was already blood in Mak Daehan’s eyes.
“The Lee family joined forces with the Black Moon Sect? So what? It’s still just the Lee family and those Black Moon bastards.”
With a snort, he slung the dark-red club over his shoulder.
“I’ll wipe them out.”
He turned away. The Mak family followed behind him. In the darkness of the Hapjeong Station underground mall, the Mak family members armed with whatever they could carry began filing out one after another. The mood was vicious.
Mak Chilseong pressed a bloodstained cloth to his neck and watched their backs.
He felt uneasy.
But at the same time, he was certain. Mak Daehan had never gone out like that full of confidence and come back empty-handed.