Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: Ambush
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I dashed straight toward home after exiting the broken main gate of the Heavenly Wind Martial Hall.
Every time my soles hit the ground, I briefly released internal energy through the Yongcheon acupoint, propelling myself forward rapidly.
A speed incomparable to that of ordinary humans.
But my heart was filled with impatience.
I had wasted too much time dealing with that Je-gon or whatever his name was.
Since his internal energy was extraordinary, I had no choice but to rattle on to induce carelessness.
Have those Dark Heaven Squad bastards already arrived? What if they've harmed someone in the family…? No, don't think bad thoughts.
Shaking my head, I spurred my steps even faster.
Though the Goon Family Manor is a bit away from the town center, it's still the same village. It won't take long.
At most, a quarter of an hour….
"It's taking too long!"
If only I had plenty of internal energy, I could have halved the time…!
While fighting that guy earlier, I briefly unleashed sword energy, and half my internal energy vanished.
Even if I arrive by exhausting the remaining internal energy, I won't be able to take down the Dark Heaven Squad bastards.
Cursing my past self for not begging my parents for some spirit pills, I gritted my teeth and raced toward home.
*
"W-who are you people? How dare you do this?"
Goon Won-pyeong, the current head of the Goon Family Manor—a major landowner in Goon Gang-hyeon, respected by the locals.
He tried to protect his trembling wife and children by shielding them behind him as best he could, glaring at the mysterious intruders.
Several servants in the household had already met their end at their hands.
Determined not to let anyone else die, he stepped forward and demanded answers from the intruders.
But all that returned was a low sneer.
"Kehhehe. Manor Lord, who we are isn't important. What's important is that this house is connected to rebels."
"R-rebels…? That's impossible! We've lived in this village our whole lives—how could we be involved in treason?!"
At Won-pyeong's confident words, Im Mu-hong, vice captain of the Dark Heaven Squad, curled his lips into a sinister smile.
"Do you happen to know of the Heavenly Wind Martial Hall?"
"Th-the Heavenly Wind Martial Hall…? That's…!"
He couldn't possibly not know the name of the martial hall his beloved youngest son had been attending for a full ten years.
But why mention that hall? Could it be?
Seeing Won-pyeong's face rapidly drain of color, Mu-hong nodded.
"That's right. We received intelligence that someone at the so-called Heavenly Wind Martial Hall is brazenly practicing the demonic arts of that vile Demonic Cult."
"D-Demonic Cult…!"
The moment the words "Demonic Cult" came out, Won-pyeong's face turned as white as a sheet.
Demonic Cult.
Originally known as the Ming Cult, it had aided Emperor Hongwu in founding the Ming Dynasty, only to be exposed later for the brutal acts committed within its ranks, leading to a massive purge of the heretical group.
Even now, centuries later, it had been repeatedly culled by the Embroidered Uniform Guard but clung to survival tenaciously, wreaking havoc in the shadows to destabilize the nation.
That was the Demonic Cult.
Most people in this village didn't even know the character for "demon," but a landowner of his stature inevitably heard such tales.
So he knew.
He knew that anyone associated with the Demonic Cult was summarily executed regardless of status.
Especially if Ja-seong was truly practicing demonic arts….
'The Goon Family Manor is finished.'
As his head throbbed with visions of a horrific future, suddenly Mu-hong pulled something from his bosom and flung it at Won-pyeong.
Won-pyeong caught it reflexively.
"…A book?"
Indeed.
What Mu-hong had tossed to Won-pyeong was some tattered old book.
But the title written on its cover was far from ordinary.
"'Blood Burst… Technique'?"
A technique that explodes blood—what in the world…?
Just as he was about to demand what this was, Mu-hong beat him to it.
"Oh no! Now I see it wasn't the Heavenly Wind Martial Hall—these Goon Family Manor bastards are the real culprits! To dare keep the Demonic Cult's demonic arts!"
"H-hey, what is this? You just…!"
Absurd as it was, as Won-pyeong tried to protest, Mu-hong cut him off again with a shout.
"To betray His Majesty's grace and collude with the likes of the Demonic Cult! That crime demands death!"
Finally realizing Mu-hong's scheme, Won-pyeong's face turned ashen.
It was a plot.
They had intended to kill everyone in the Goon Family Manor by any means necessary from the start.
'I should have at least sent the children away first…!'
Too late for regrets now.
Judging by how swiftly they had slain the servants, they were all martial artists.
The family members, who hadn't trained in martial arts, would be caught in moments even if they tried to flee now.
Dizziness washed over him at this sudden crisis of extermination.
'At least you're not here. That's a small mercy, Ja-seong.'
For reasons unknown, his youngest son had vanished into the night, and that was his one consolation—that at least he would survive.
Goon Won-pyeong closed his eyes as the black-clad men slowly closed in.
-Boom!
The loud crash came right then.
Won-pyeong's eyes snapped open in shock.
And there, in his sight, was the figure of his missing youngest son.
'N-no…!'
Despair clouded Won-pyeong's face.
*
"Huff… huff…!"
Panting heavily, I flung open the manor's main gate as if to shatter it—and the sight that greeted me was a nightmare I couldn't bear to imagine.
"…Uncle Kang. Nanny."
Servants of the Goon Family Manor lay dead, bleeding out.
"Brother Jin-il. Granny Dali."
Seeing people I'd lived with under one roof for twenty whole years slaughtered like this, my chest turned ice-cold, and flames erupted in my mind.
"H-how…!"
Lifting my gaze from the servants' corpses, I spotted my parents, brother, sister, and the surviving retainers surrounded by the Dark Heaven Squad bastards in the distance.
"Why did you come back? At least you should have lived!"
My father bellowed, his face twisted in anguish.
It felt so strange to see the man who always laughed heartily like this.
And behind him, my mother and older sister huddled as best they could.
My sister, who was usually so brash, stared at me with big eyes brimming with tears.
The terror my family must have felt fueled the blaze in my head, making it burn fiercer.
And one more thing.
"You're the youngest son of this house? Oh ho, you've picked up some shallow martial arts. You must be the demonic arts practitioner!"
The black-clad man spouted nonsense the moment he saw me.
That Neung guy from earlier called him the captain, so this must be the vice captain?
-Snap!
The vice captain snapped his fingers, and four men who had been waiting behind the five surrounding the family rushed to encircle me.
"Ja-seong!"
My mother called my name plaintively at the sight.
Seeing her tear-streaked face, I could hold back no longer.
-Shing!
The black-clad men eyed each other warily as I drew my sword.
Sneers crept onto their lips, and they began mocking me.
"Hey now, kids shouldn't play with dangerous toys like that. Come on, hand it over to Uncle here?"
"Heh heh. Can't just snatch it like that, can we? Here, buy yourself some sweets. Hahaha!"
The black-clad man burst into laughter, holding out a single copper coin.
I circulated the last of my internal energy and shot toward him like an arrow, piercing his throat.
-Pshk!
"Guh…?"
I kicked the gurgling bastard in the chest to yank my sword free as blood fountained from his neck.
"Huh?"
The remaining three stared blankly at the scene.
Faces that couldn't comprehend what had just happened.
No time to wait for them to snap out of it—I charged the one beside me.
-Pfshk!
As I lunged again, he belatedly came to his senses and tried to react, but it was too late.
My sword had already pierced his heart.
Two down.
"You little shit!"
Only after watching two comrades die right in front of them did the last two finally react, charging at me together.
Like twins, they simultaneously raised their swords overhead.
My blade sliced both their throats a beat faster than their downward strikes.
"Guhk!"
"Kuhuk?!"
They dropped their swords, clutching their necks as they collapsed.
Blood spurted through their fingers no matter how they tried to stem it.
Fatal wounds.
They'd die slowly.
In an instant, I'd sent all four who had surrounded me to their deaths.
"……"
Silence blanketed the manor.
The Dark Heaven Squad men and the family alike stared at me in disbelief.
"Wh-what is this…!"
The vice captain especially stammered, his eyes screaming that he couldn't believe the reality before him.
I slowly approached the vice captain.
"Y-you…! Block him! Block that bastard right now!"
As I drew near, the vice captain—who had been backing away—shouted desperate orders.
At their superior's command, the remaining five broke their encirclement of the family and charged me.
Idiot.
If he wanted to stop me, he should have taken my family hostage.
Of course, I would have killed them all first anyway.
I rushed at the five coming for me.
"Haaah!"
Dodging under the sword swing of the foremost one, I passed him by.
The one right behind hadn't expected me to slip past the front and come straight for him; panic twisted his face.
I thrust into his abdomen and ripped the sword sideways as I pulled it free.
"Aaagh!"
Blood and entrails spilled from his side as he screamed like a child.
Hah, aren't you supposed to be an assassination squad? Is this how assassins act?
I hadn't expected much—poisons or sleep darts or whatever—based on what I'd seen and heard.
But shouldn't assassins at least pretend to stifle their screams?
No professional pride, these assassins.
Whatever. It was pointless now anyway.
They'd all die by my hand regardless.