Chapter 26
Chapter 26
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Night in Soheung (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Whew! This is tough."
Sima Hyeon wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a rough breath after swinging his knife diligently. In front of him lay a butchered mess of meat, completely mangled.
"Well done. They say there's no brother like your own, and you're definitely better than that slippery punk."
Sima Hyeon snatched the water Cheol Woo offered him like a hawk and gave a wry smile.
"No need for consolation. I know my skills are lousy. Now I get why you're keeping me from touching a knife."
"Don't misunderstand. At first, it was purely well-intentioned. But now, I think it was a brilliant choice."
Sima Geon let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the beef Sima Hyeon had butchered.
"But what's this?"
Sima Hyeon pointed at the meat he'd ruined and asked.
After being captured as a prisoner by the Golden Fox Bandits and then released, Sima Hyeon had decided to quit the Juhae Escort Agency at Sima Geon's urging.
Two days had passed since he'd wrapped up a few loose ends he needed to handle personally and started showing up at the butcher shop instead.
Sima Geon had told him to just play shopkeeper and stay away from knives, but Sima Hyeon insisted that even if he wasn't doing the slaughtering himself, he needed to know his cuts if he was going to run the place. He'd stubbornly grabbed a knife anyway.
The result was a disaster. He'd swung it exactly as taught, diligently, but theory and practice were worlds apart.
"It's not clean, but it doesn't matter. It's still sellable."
"Still, we have a reputation to uphold for our butcher shop."
Sima Hyeon sighed, and Sima Geon chuckled heartily, clapping him on the shoulder.
"That was the old owner's reputation. We're just starting out. And you'll build ours. We'll handle the butchering diligently, so you just sell it well."
"Leave it to me. If I can't even do that, I'd be dead weight."
Sima Geon smiled warmly at Sima Hyeon's confident words.
"Speaking of, where's that slippery bastard? Haven't seen hide nor hair of him lately. Doesn't even come home much."
Cheol Woo asked while tidying up the meat Sima Hyeon had botched.
Sima Hyeon felt a strange illusion that the knife seemed far sharper when Cheol Woo used it, despite it being the same blade. His expression darkened slightly as he replied.
"I asked if something was up, but he won't give a straight answer. Seems like trouble in the Unity Society. The vibe around lately isn't good at all."
Sima Geon paused in helping Cheol Woo and turned his head.
"The vibe isn't good?"
"The Blood Faction and the Unity Society have never gotten along, but lately the clashes are way too frequent."
"Right. Remember when we first met that punk? He was swinging a knife around like crazy. Thought he was Blood Faction. So, are they actually fighting now?"
Cheol Woo asked with an excited grin.
"The atmosphere's even worse than back then, no doubt. Until recently, the Blood Faction could kick up all the fuss they wanted, but the Unity Society was much bigger, so no real issues. They'd provoke, but back off when we geared up for a real fight. Not anymore. They're clashing head-on. There was already a big brawl near Dongmungak."
"Whoa! They're dead serious. Blades are out."
Cheol Woo clapped and shrugged his shoulders gleefully.
"Exactly. Unless they've got confidence they can take down the Unity Society or some ace up their sleeve, it's suicide."
"Could get ugly if it escalates."
Sima Geon frowned, thinking of Sima Ho's position—claiming to be key but really just a low-level grunt.
"That's why I'm worried. In fights like this, guys like Ho get hurt first. I was gonna tell you about the big clash near Dongmungak anyway. He won't listen to me—he'd just scoff. We need to get him to quit. It's too dangerous."
"He won't hear it."
Cheol Woo shook his head.
"Weird thing is, from the outside, he seems useless, but they've got their own code of loyalty among themselves. Especially in a crisis like this. Normally, maybe, but right when they're clashing with the Blood Faction? No words will get through. Unless you beat him senseless and drag him out."
Cheol Woo swung his massive fist, shooting Sima Hyeon a look that said he could do it anytime.
Sima Hyeon sighed, knowing it wouldn't solve anything, when a sharp voice pierced from outside the butcher shop.
"Then do that. Break his legs if you have to."
All three men's gazes snapped toward the door.
There stood Sima Jin, her hair neatly tied up in a loose bun, wearing a pink outfit, her eyes narrowed in anger. She must have arrived unnoticed.
Her Heavenly Yin Divine Meridian wasn't fully cured, but the sickly pallor had faded considerably, making her even more radiant.
Her furrowed brows and furious expression only added a unique charm.
Passersby twisted their necks to ogle her, nearly snapping them, dizzy just from meeting her eyes.
"Didn't you say you were going to buy books?"
Sima Jin shook the bundle tucked under her arm at Sima Geon's question.
"Aren't you sick of reading nonstop day and night? If it were me, I'd be too busy roaming places I couldn't before with this healthy body."
Cheol Woo grimaced and caught the book bundle she tossed at him.
"That's not the point right now. What are you going to do about little brother?"
Sensing her grave expression, Sima Geon grabbed her arm and asked.
"Did something happen?"
"There was a knife fight near the bookstore. People collapsed, blood everywhere..."
Sima Jin trembled, unable to continue.
"Don't worry too much. He'll be fine."
"What if little brother gets hurt?"
Tears welled up in Sima Jin's eyes like clear dew.
"I said don't worry. Go home and wait for now."
Sima Geon gently patted her shoulder and nodded to Sima Hyeon.
Sima Hyeon worried about Sima Geon jumping into a fight, but figured his mercenary past meant he wouldn't go down easy to street thugs. Plus, there was the reliable-looking Cheol Woo.
"Yeah. Leave him to big brother. Let's head home first."
Sima Hyeon took the sniffling Sima Jin home, and Sima Geon shed his work apron.
"Gonna check it out?"
Cheol Woo asked.
"Have to. Can't ignore what the youngest said—just in case."
"Think he'll come quietly? He won't wanna back out easy."
"Make him."
"Heh heh heh! At this rate, the whole Unity Society might vanish."
Cheol Woo stripped off his apron quickly, looking thrilled to anyone watching.
"By the way, boss, that guy's Blood Faction too?"
Cheol Woo glanced at a man drinking at a nearby tavern. Despite their caution, the man hadn't spotted them yet.
"Nah. Professional hand. Good disguise skills too."
"Right? If street rats were that good, it wouldn't add up."
Cheol Woo seemed to acknowledge him at first, then snorted.
"He's trying hard. Disguises as all sorts. But so what? Can't shake that telltale aura. Anyway, if not Blood Faction, who sent him?"
"Like I said before, probably tied to those buried next to Clear Heart Clinic. They were pretty skilled, vicious too. Weird there's no backlash after we wiped out a bunch."
"Curious. Wanna just grab him and squeeze it out?"
Cheol Woo fidgeted, ready to pounce, but Sima Geon grabbed his arm.
"Nah. Knowing the backers from him won't change anything. Might just stir up more hassle. Acting normal should keep it quiet."
"If you say so, boss. But we should figure out how to handle it. Being watched pisses me off."
"Do what you want."
Sima Geon waved dismissively at the grumbling Cheol Woo and strode toward the Unity Society's base without hesitation.
"Gah!"
Unity Society leader Hyeong Jo staggered, his eyes filled with disbelief as he let out a dying scream.
"Y-You bastards... You're not Blood Faction."
"Your eyes aren't totally rotten after all."
Ma Jeong smirked, his sword plunged into Hyeong Jo's gut.
"Feels familiar. Stance looks solid enough."
Gong Neung licked the blood from his blade and grinned after slaughtering Hyeong Jo's guards.
"W-Who the hell are you?"
Hyeong Jo clutched the sword in his belly and demanded.
"Doesn't matter. Just die quietly."
"I-I'll pay you!"
Assuming these killers were Blood Faction hires, Hyeong Jo desperately offered.
"Money? How much?"
Gong Neung wiped his bloody sword with his tongue, showing interest. Hyeong Jo's face brightened noticeably.
"Don't know what the Blood Faction offered, but double—no, triple that."
"Intriguing. Just spare my life?"
Hyeong Jo spread his fingers wide after a moment's thought.
"Take out the Blood Faction. Five times that."
"Big spender. Huh?"
Gong Neung turned with feigned surprise.
"Yeah. Street boss of bosses, apparently."
Gong Neung and Ma Jeong exchanged chuckles, then fixed their gazes on Hyeong Jo, whose eyes darted frantically.
"Problem is, we're not with the Blood Faction at all."
Hyeong Jo's eyes shook violently at Gong Neung's sneer.
"If you're not with Blood Faction, why attack us...?"
"So Blood Faction can take over Soheung's night streets once you're gone."
"Y-You just said no ties to Blood Faction, and now you're mocking me?"
Hyeong Jo ground his teeth.
"Did I? Correction, then. We don't move for Blood Faction scum. We move for the one who wants to raise them as loyal hounds."
Hyeong Jo's face filled with despair as he realized a third force, unknown to him, had entered the fray against Blood Faction.
'I was too complacent. Should've checked why the Blood Faction, who always tucked tail when I glared, suddenly got bold. If I'd confirmed another power behind them, I wouldn't have screwed up like this.'
To crush the increasingly aggressive Blood Faction decisively, Hyeong Jo had ordered a raid on their hideout.
With the deputy leader leading nearly all of Unity Society's forces, there were hardly any fighters left when they were hit.
'No, even swarming them, we couldn't beat these guys.'
Hyeong Jo, confident in any fight, shuddered at how Ma Jeong and Gong Neung had annihilated over ten bodyguards in a blink and neutralized his attacks effortlessly. They weren't amateur thugs—they were true martial experts.
"Too chatty for someone doomed to die. Take it sweet and go gentle."
Gong Neung approached with a sinister smile.
Hyeong Jo's face twisted in despair.
He racked his brain for an escape, but nothing came. Yet his pride as ruler of Soheung's night streets wouldn't let him submit meekly.
He slumped as if giving up, but watched for his last chance. When Gong Neung closed to three paces, he yanked the sword from his gut in one motion.
Agony exploded, whitening his vision.
Gritting through it, Hyeong Jo lunged like lightning for Gong Neung's throat—a desperate strike staking his honor and life. To Gong Neung, it was mere flailing.
"Bullshit."
Gong Neung snorted and caught the thrusting blade between his fingers.
Hyeong Jo strained to move it, but it held fast.
"Get lost!"
Gong Neung kicked Hyeong Jo's bleeding gut.
The infused strike sent him flying like a snapped kite, smashing through the wall.
Right then, an irritated voice rang out.
"What the hell is this?"
Ma Jeong and Gong Neung's faces hardened at the sudden voice, and they bolted outside together.