Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: The Price That Must Be Paid
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“…No matter how I look at it, he’s in no condition for interrogation.”
“Yes, his condition is deteriorating much faster than expected.”
Je-gal Geun-yeong muttered to himself as Elder Gok peered through the bars at the Jade-Faced Incubus, nodding gravely in agreement.
“At this rate, he won’t last even an hour. It’s the result of drawing out every last bit of his innate true energy.”
Elder Gok explained in a bitter voice, shaking his head with a sigh.
“I just can’t understand it. Why on earth would he do something so foolish…?”
Elder Gok seemed equally baffled by the Jade-Faced Incubus’s reckless expenditure of his innate true energy.
And it would remain incomprehensible forever.
He’d probably die without ever explaining his reasons.
I clicked my tongue briefly.
-Clunk
“Elder Yeon?!”
In that moment, Elder Yeon abruptly unlocked the prison door and stepped inside.
There had been a lock—how did he open it so easily...? No, that wasn’t the point!
I hurried after Elder Yeon, rushing through the bars.
I had to subdue him before he could escape with the incubus.
But Elder Gok blocked my path.
“Young hero, it’s fine.”
“But…!”
Despite my protests, Elder Gok silently shook his head.
Behind him, I saw Elder Yeon carefully grasping the limp hand of the Jade-Faced Incubus.
His wrinkled hand trembled as it gently stroked the incubus’s rough, ashen skin.
Seeing the grief and resignation on Elder Yeon’s face, I relaxed my stance.
That expression convinced me he wouldn’t try to flee with the incubus.
Noting my change, Elder Gok turned to Je-gal Geun-yeong with evident relief.
“Interrogation seems impossible now, so let’s give that friend some time alone.”
“…Understood.”
Je-gal Geun-yeong checked the incubus’s condition once more and accepted Elder Gok’s words without argument.
And so, we left Elder Yeon and the incubus behind and exited the prison.
The branch’s prison was fairly large, so it took about half a gak to make our way out.
“…So, what will you do if the Jade-Faced Incubus dies?”
As soon as we passed through the prison gate, I asked Je-gal Geun-yeong about his plans moving forward.
“We’ll take the body to Jincheong and announce the death of the Jade-Faced Incubus. And to ease their minds, we’ll inform the branch leaders in Hanyang and Muchang that the Je-gal family has finally dealt with the demon, even if it’s late.”
Je-gal Geun-yeong joked that it would require considerable sincerity.
His face was noticeably brighter, thanks to the relief that the incubus incident was nearly resolved.
“You’re not forgetting our contributions, are you?”
“Of course not. In truth, it’s as good as Young Hero Goon handling everything himself.”
“Then…”
I trailed off deliberately, and Je-gal Geun-yeong burst into hearty laughter.
“Yes, I’ll definitely arrange a meeting with the family head. I was planning to return to the main house anyway to report on this matter in person.”
Watching me nod in satisfaction, Je-gal Geun-yeong laughed cheerfully again before glancing around and speaking up.
“Waiting here feels awkward—why not come to my office for some tea? I’ll treat you to the West Lake Dragon Well I’ve been saving.”
West Lake Dragon Well was a premium Dragon Well tea produced only around West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
It was considered the finest among Dragon Well teas, and naturally, exorbitantly expensive.
His offer to share such tea revealed the depth of Je-gal Geun-yeong’s gratitude.
But I shook my head, declining the invitation.
“Sorry, but I’ll pass.”
“Why is that…? If you don’t care for that, how about Golden Reverence Clear?”
“No, it’s not that… I’ll just wait here.”
Je-gal Geun-yeong eyed me curiously, puzzled by my insistence on waiting outside in the chilly wind.
Of course, I didn’t relish standing in the cold breeze either.
But for some reason, I felt an uneasy premonition that I shouldn’t leave this spot.
“I’m fine, so take Elder Gok and go inside. Hwa-ryeon, you too.”
“No, I’ll stay here.”
Hwa-ryeon shook her head, insisting on remaining by my side.
In the end, only Je-gal Geun-yeong and Elder Gok returned to the office.
I muttered to Hwa-ryeon, who stood beside me.
“You didn’t have to stay.”
I felt bad that she was catching the cold wind because of me.
Hearing this, Hwa-ryeon put on a deliberately pouty expression and shot back.
“Don’t you want me to?”
“Huh?”
“Is having me by your side that unpleasant?”
Her eyes narrowed slightly, as if demanding a proper answer.
Meeting her gaze, I chuckled and took her hand in mine.
“No, I love it.”
Without stopping there, I slyly intertwined our fingers.
Hwa-ryeon’s lips pressed together tensely for a moment before her fingers intertwined with mine in return.
“…….”
“…….”
We exchanged no words.
Pretending to look away casually, we simply savored the warmth where our fingers touched.
I found myself thinking it wouldn’t be so bad to spend the whole day like this, a silly notion that lifted the corners of my mouth.
How much time passed like that?
-Shiver
Suddenly, a sinister aura emanated from within the prison.
It sent chills down my spine, yet it felt strangely familiar.
Hwa-ryeon’s face hardened as well, confirming she sensed it too.
I bolted to the prison door and flung it open with a crash.
-Bang!
Rushing inside, I sprinted toward the deepest cell where the incubus was held.
-Groan!?
-Seon-ah-!
Ah, so that’s why I’d felt uneasy!
The ominous sounds spurred me to run even faster until I reached the incubus’s cell.
And what met my eyes was,
“Cough…!”
“Elder!”
A peerlessly handsome man with his hand plunged into Elder Yeon’s chest.
*
A short while earlier, inside the prison.
“Huff… huff…”
The Jade-Faced Incubus, Je-gal Seon, felt his own death approaching more clearly than anyone.
‘In the end, it’s come to this.’
As death loomed, his life flashed before his eyes like a panorama.
Born into the prestigious Je-gal family—one of the Five Great Families—as a deformed child without any martial talent, Je-gal Seon endured unimaginable persecution and torment from every member of the clan.
-Monstrous freak, get lost!
-Beast spawn. You make me sick just looking at you.
The children his age despised and scorned him without fail.
And if asked whether the adults treated him differently? Hardly.
-How could something so hideous be born…? Tsk.
-Maybe their blood wasn’t compatible? Lady Ryeo-a should find a new husband.
If anything, the adults’ gazes were even more terrifying and cruel.
Especially the elders and the family head.
They looked at him not as a human, but as a defective product utterly useless.
-I, I have to sell my body like a whore again because of you…! It’s all your fault!
Even his mother, who should have protected her child, raged at and struck him endlessly.
There was no place for him in the vast family manor.
-…I want to leave.
He longed to flee the clan immediately, but as a small, powerless child, he had no opportunity.
No, he couldn’t even think to create one.
If even those of his own blood treated him so viciously, how would outsiders regard him? The fear paralyzed him.
One day, as he hid away weeping as always,
-Why are you crying?
A ray of light pierced the deep darkness enveloping him.
Yeon Sa-kyeong, my master.
The benefactor who freed him from that hellish home and taught him the arts of sorcery.
Somehow, his master’s face—far more wrinkled than he remembered—gazed down at him.
“Seon-ah. Can you see me?”
Seeing his master looking down with eyes brimming with near-tears, a sharp emotion crystallized in Je-gal Seon’s gaze.
Rage.
“Grrr…! Grraa…!”
Yeon Sa-kyeong, my master.
The benefactor who freed him from that hellish home and taught him the arts of sorcery.
And,
The enemy who stripped it all away.
-I hereby excommunicate you.
-M-Master…!
Why did you cast me out?
What did I do wrong?!
-Sorcery is not to be used for selfish ends. Especially not for taking lives!
-They deserved to die!
-Even so, killing is a sin. That karma will return to you unerringly! Please, abandon that rage…!
It’s because of you that I feel this way.
Because you showed me affection, I realized how wrong their actions were, and that I had every right to be furious.
Yet now you spout nonsense about abandoning that rage and strip me of my sorcery.
“…Do you resent me?”
I do.
It’s all because of you.
You never should have taken me away.
You never should have shown me kindness.
Hot tears streamed from Je-gal Seon’s eyes.
Yeon Sa-kyeong, wiping them away with trembling hands, could no longer hold back his own tears.
He wept for his disciple, whose heart remained filled with hatred and rage even in his final moments.
“…Let it all go now, and find peace. This life was so painful and arduous—surely the next will bring happiness….”
Gazing at his sobbing master, Je-gal Seon thought.
Let it all go?
Find peace?
‘I can’t do that.’
He hadn’t fully avenged himself against them yet.
Killing a few young ones wasn’t nearly enough.
No way to survive now that his innate true energy is depleted?
Do you think I drew it out without a plan?
While his master hung his head in grief, unseen, Je-gal Seon laboriously lifted his powerless hand to his bosom.
Something hard met his grasp.
His hand emerged clutching a small, gleaming black stone.
‘With this…!’
A dangerous glint ignited in Je-gal Seon’s eyes.