Monopolizing Fortunes (66)
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Monopolizing Fortunes (66)
Twenty sect disciples followed behind him. He had taken over the Red Tiger Society, but once the leadership was released, not a single thug had sided with him.
"Smart bastards."
The thugs blocking the road parted, and a figure emerged. It was Do Tong-dal. He was alone. The two Protectors, both first-rate masters, were nowhere to be seen.
Judging by how they were only forming a wall, the thugs didn't seem inclined to join the fight either.
Do Tong-dal rested the sword in his hand on his shoulder and trudged forward. His steps came to a stop five jang away from Yeo Cheol-seon.
"Came alone?"
"Half of me would've been enough, but I don't have the knack for that."
"The Red Tiger Society is one fucking weird Underworld outfit. Why doesn't it have any of the stink of a trashy Underworld gang?"
"Because the Red Wind Sword Sect is even worse garbage than the Underworld. More importantly, let me ask one thing. Who killed Jang Baek-dong?"
"Who's Jang Baek-dong?"
"The guy with the big mole under his nose."
Only three Red Tiger Society thugs had died, and all of them had died by his hand, so of course he remembered.
"That bastard probably suffocated on his own mole."
"The fact that you remember means you killed him."
"Was he a friend?"
"A friend I'm sorry I never did anything for. Now I've no chance to do anything for him, so the least I can do is avenge him."
"If it were one of your Protectors, I'm not so sure, but against someone like you, well, maybe I can preserve both my pride and my life."
"Don't even dream about it. I'll kill the Red Wind Sword Sect disciples who came to Hangzhou first, and then I'll wipe out that precious martial sect of yours too."
Do Tong-dal, sword resting on his shoulder, walked forward with heavy steps. The distance of five jang became three, then two, until he was close enough that a single thrust of a spear would reach.
No warning was needed to attack. Yeo Cheol-seon thrust his spear at Do Tong-dal's face.
The epithet Lightning Spear wasn't handed down for nothing, and the spear reached Do Tong-dal's face faster than an arrow loosed from a bow.
Clang—!
The spear that had been driving straight in was blocked by a sword that appeared out of nowhere and slid past Do Tong-dal's shoulder.
"Lightning Spear?"
It was mockery.
"You son of a bitch!"
He swung the spear to strike Do Tong-dal's face. But Do Tong-dal was no longer there. Having vanished in an instant, Do Tong-dal suddenly appeared from below.
Only after being hit did Yeo Cheol-seon realize that what had struck his jaw was Do Tong-dal's foot.
"Guh—!"
With a groan, Yeo Cheol-seon staggered back two steps and rolled pathetically across the ground.
"Kill that bastard!"
Someone among the disciples shouted, and the twenty underlings rushed at Do Tong-dal.
The disciples were far from first-rate masters, but they were still martial artists. The swords of men who trained every day were different from those of thugs. A single disciple with a sword could easily handle ten thugs.
Yet those very disciples were cut down with absurd ease. It couldn't be helped—Do Tong-dal's movements were hard to follow with the naked eye.
Most of the disciples went down without even managing to swing their swords once. The sword Do Tong-dal held was being used in a strange way.
Its first use was mostly defense. He blocked their swords, subdued them with his kicking techniques, and then used the blade for the final blow.
Faced with a combination of kicking techniques and blade techniques they had never encountered before, the underlings collapsed helplessly.
The road where the thugs had formed their wall was awash in blood in an instant. None of the underlings could withstand even a single move from Do Tong-dal, and they fell one after another.
Shunk—!
The sound of the sword piercing the last underling's throat rang out especially loud. The reality that the twenty disciples who had been standing behind Yeo Cheol-seon just moments ago had become corpses was not easy to accept as real.
Do Tong-dal walked toward Yeo Cheol-seon, holding a sword dripping with blood. He had killed twenty men, yet no emotion surfaced on Do Tong-dal's face.
"You bastard—!"
Excessive excitement makes it impossible to execute martial arts properly. But the reason for his excessive excitement was his inadequate martial arts, so the result was the same either way.
Shlunk—!
Yeo Cheol-seon's spear missed, passing under Do Tong-dal's armpit, and Do Tong-dal's sword pierced Yeo Cheol-seon's stomach.
"Guhhh—!"
As Yeo Cheol-seon let out a groan full of pain, Do Tong-dal's breath reached his ear.
"You shouldn't have come back to Hangzhou. And even if you did, you shouldn't have killed my friend, my family."
Yeo Cheol-seon regretted it too. But regret with a sword stuck in his stomach was utterly useless.
When Do Tong-dal pulled out the sword, Yeo Cheol-seon collapsed to the ground and turned into a cold corpse.
"Hoo—!"
Letting out a long breath, Do Tong-dal extended his hand.
"Towel."
The thugs who had been forming the wall looked at each other with bewildered faces. They were frozen by the gruesome sight before them and the yaksha-like figure of Do Tong-dal, and now this terrifying Do Tong-dal was asking for a towel that didn't exist.
One thug took off his outer garment and offered it respectfully with both hands. Do Tong-dal wiped the blood from his sword and asked.
"You know where I'm going next, right?"
"Yes! We know!"
"Run ahead and get things ready. So no innocent people get hurt."
* * *
"I don't like killing unorthodox small fry like you, but what can I do? I'm part of the Underworld now."
Having driven it into himself that he was now part of the Underworld, Won Dae-yeon quickly cleared the hall. The thought 'Do I really need to kill them?' flickered through his mind, but then he remembered Do Tong-dal's words.
—We let them go easy at first, so they looked down on us.
If mercy was mistaken for weakness, the amount of blood could only increase. And so mercy vanished from Won Dae-yeon's hands.
It wasn't only Won Dae-yeon. Jang Yu-seom was the same, and Namgung Seol-rin showed no restraint either.
All 126 people who had been expelled from the Red Wind Sword Sect and crossed over to Hangzhou died that way, without a single exception.
If it had been a battlefield, they would have sung songs of victory, but the atmosphere was not that festive.
They hadn't defeated an evenly matched enemy after immense struggle; it had been as easy as twisting a child's wrist.
So there was no laughter in the place where the Red Tiger Society leadership had gathered.
Do Tong-dal spoke to Wang Chil.
"Brother, please work with Jin-ho and get the organization back under control."
"Where are you going?"
"We can't leave the Red Wind Sword Sect alone like this."
"You're really going to hit that place? Can't it be settled with words somehow?"
"If everyone at Hall Master level or above kills themselves, I might let it slide."
"So words won't work."
"We have to show them clearly what happens when they mess with our Red Tiger Society. That's the only way this won't happen again."
Jo Jin-ho spoke.
"If That's the case, aren't Sir Gong and the county magistrate the bigger problem?"
"Those two will be punished after the Red Wind Sword Sect is gone. We have to deal with the simple things first."
The Red Wind Sword Sect, being a martial sect, could be handled with force alone. But Gong So-yang and Gong Myeong-un were people he didn't want to deal with through force alone.
"Sir Gong is a merchant and Gong Myeong-un is the county magistrate. How do you plan to fight them?"
"A merchant dies without money, and a magistrate is a scarecrow if his hands and feet are cut off."
Wang Chil asked.
"You already made a plan?"
"I had nothing to do in prison."
"How are you going to cook those two?"
* * *
Under Gong So-yang's gaze, Gong Myeong-un's body shrank further and further. It had faded a lot since he became county magistrate, but back when he was studying, Gong So-yang had been an object of fear for Gong Myeong-un.
"So those Red Tiger Society scum were just released?"
"The witnesses became unreliable and there was no proper evidence, so we had no choice but to release them."
Bang!
When Gong So-yang struck the table, Gong Myeong-un's body flinched.
"How can you call that an answer! You couldn't find the crimes the Underworld committed, so you let them go! How can you still call yourself a county magistrate!"
"I'm...... I'm sorry."
"Now that it's come to this, there's no choice but to see blood."
"What do you mean by that?"
"We'll have the Red Wind Sword Sect deal with the ones who were released."
"What? But martial artists killing ordinary people could become a serious problem. Even if They're part of the Underworld..."
"That's for you to handle. Are you telling me you can't even cover up something like that while sitting in the magistrate's seat?"
"Ah...... Understood. I'll do whatever I can. Still, you'll have to tell me where they'll be killed. That way I can have people standing by."
"Fine. Soon I'll meet with someone from the Red Wind Sword Sect and......."
Just then, the voice of the steward Oh Pil-jin came from outside.
"Sir, I have something to report."
"Come in."
Oh Pil-jin, who wore a short beard, entered cautiously and bowed.
"What is it?"
"It seems the Red Wind Sword Sect disciples dispatched to Hangzhou have been annihilated."
"What do you mean? Annihilated?"
"No Red Wind Sword Sect disciples can be seen at the Red Tiger Society headquarters or branches. And according to rumors circulating quietly, Do Tong-dal and three Protectors slaughtered them all."
"Say something that makes sense! How could mere Underworld thugs kill martial artists!"
"The three Protectors of the Red Tiger Society are widely rumored to be masters."
Of course, Gong So-yang had heard those rumors too. But he had thought they were only masters among Underworld rabble, no match for real martial artists.
"Find out the truth of those rumors in detail."
"Understood."
When Oh Pil-jin left, Gong Myeong-un asked.
"What happens if the rumors are true?"
"Nothing changes. Even if they are true, those punks couldn't possibly take on the entire Red Wind Sword Sect. It'll just be a bit more troublesome since I'll have to meet the Sect Leader of the Red Wind Sword Sect in person."
* * *
The Red Wind Sword Sect was situated halfway up a mountain, away from inhabited areas. Many sects establish themselves at a distance from bustling places for martial arts training.
As if to demonstrate its influence in Jeongu-hyeon, a road wide enough for carriages to travel had been opened from the busy streets all the way to the Red Wind Sword Sect.
So the four people on horseback were able to come up comfortably.
"For an unremarkable unorthodox sect, it's fairly large."
At Do Tong-dal's words, Namgung Seol-rin retorted, "It's only half the size of the Namgung Clan."
"Do you really want to compare the Namgung Clan and the Red Wind Sword Sect?"
"How dare I make such a comparison?"
"You just did."
"I said it's only half the size!"
"That's exactly what a comparison is."
Do Tong-dal and Namgung Seol-rin bickered all the way until they reached the gate of the Red Wind Sword Sect.
Seeing their leisurely demeanor, the two guards watching the main gate didn't seem particularly wary either.
"State your names and your business."
No matter which sect you visit, you always get asked a similar question.
"Tell your Sect Leader that Do Tong-dal, Coordinator of the Red Tiger Society, and three Protectors have come to see him."
The two guards wore puzzled expressions.
"Have you ever heard of a martial sect called the Red Tiger Society?"
"No, never heard of it. Where are you from?"
"Hangzhou."
"A martial sect in Hangzhou...... Ah! If it's the Red Tiger Society of Hangzhou, you mean the Underworld?"
"That's right."
"So you're saying you came from the Underworld to meet our Sect Leader?"
"That's right."
Letting out a dumbfounded breath, the guard said.
"First, get off your horses......."
"He says get off the horse."
"We're here, so might as well."
When they dismounted, the guard continued.
"State your business and wait here. Of course, you won't get to meet the Sect Leader. Depending on the importance of your business, you might be able to see the squad leader at best."
Do Tong-dal put on a deliberately thoughtful expression.
"Should we wait?"
Namgung Seol-rin, who had been feeling frustrated for a while, suddenly shouted.
"Wait for what! That's why I said from the start we should just smash our way in!"
"That girl has really gotten......."
Before Do Tong-dal could finish speaking, Namgung Seol-rin's side kick slammed into one guard's chest.
Boom!
The guard flew back, crashed into the main gate, and sprawled on the ground. The startled remaining guard tried to draw his sword, but he suffered the same fate from Namgung Seol-rin's kick.
"......She's gotten violent."
While Do Tong-dal finished his interrupted sentence, Namgung Seol-rin placed her hand on the firmly shut main gate.
Crack!
The bar latched from the inside snapped, and the gate swung wide open. Sect members who had been sweeping the marble-paved training ground dropped their brooms in shock.
"What's going on?"
"Looks like enemies are attacking?"
As Do Tong-dal's group entered, one of them ran off and struck the bell signaling an intrusion.
Red Wind Sword Sect disciples poured out from all over the nine buildings. The training ground was soon swarming with disciples.
Do Tong-dal said to Namgung Seol-rin.
"The plan to sneak in, kill only the Sect Leader and those at Hall Master level or above, and leave—wasn't that your idea?"
* * *