Chapter 43
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Isn't It Broken? (4)
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"Heh heh heh."
Kang Moo-jin chuckled in satisfaction as he fiddled with the banknote.
The Azure Glow Sect and Crimson Sun Sect were factions straddling the line between righteous and evil, and they had plenty of money to spare.
Moo-jin had pooled all the funds they'd "voluntarily" handed over and exchanged them for notes from the Universal Money House.
The sum was so hefty that a grin never left his lips.
"Urghhh…."
"Hey. Shut your trap and follow me."
Moo-jin yanked roughly on the rope tied around the man's arms. Tang Yeop, the Thousand Poison Ghost Hand, stumbled forward, his upper body bound tight.
"O-Oppa. Is this really okay?"
Won Yu-hwa gazed at Kang Moo-jin and Tang Yeop with a troubled expression.
Seeing Tang Yeop's face swollen from the punches, tied up like that, she couldn't help but wonder if this was right.
A middle-aged man treated this way stirred a twinge of discomfort in her.
"Why?"
"At least take off that thing around his neck…."
Yu-hwa's eyes flicked to the wooden board hanging from Tang Yeop's chest. Moo-jin had smashed a table to make it, carving words into the surface.
-I am scum who tried to kill innocent people with poison!
"What's wrong with it? I'm not lying."
Moo-jin stood tall and unapologetic. He'd struck first, poisoned out of nowhere— all that guy's doing, wasn't it?
"And after taking a proper hit like that, it's only fair to claim compensation. 'If they strike your right cheek, demand five hundred taels.' Something like that."
"…?"
Strange words puzzled Yu-hwa, but she nodded in agreement anyway.
She trusted and respected Moo-jin's judgment more than her own instincts.
"You… You dare do this to a Tang Family member in Sichuan and think you'll get away unscathed!?"
"And if I don't?"
"The Tang Family repays favors twofold and grudges tenfold. If you think you can just walk out of Sichuan after this…!"
Thwack—!
Moo-jin's bear-paw fist crashed down on Tang Yeop's skull.
"Hilarious bastard. You hit me with poison first, and now you're whining?"
"That was…."
"So should I repay you tenfold by your logic? Poison you near to death? Kill ten Tang blood kin to settle the score!?"
Moo-jin's fierce glare bore into Tang Yeop, squeezing the life from him.
It felt like facing a mountain lord spirit, ancient and immortal. Even Tang Yeop, who ruled Sichuan as the Thousand Poison Ghost Hand, shrank back.
"Keep pushing it, and I might rip every bone from your limbs."
"…!"
Tang Yeop paled at the threat and slipped a hand into his robes.
"C-Calm down."
"What's this?"
Kang Moo-jin narrowed his eyes at the small silk pouch that screamed poison.
"C-Compensation."
"…Looks heavy around your neck. I'll take this off your hands."
"Th-Thank you."
Tang Yeop, quick on the uptake, knew how to survive.
* * *
Kang Moo-jin, Won Yu-hwa, and the bound Tang Yeop walked the bustling market street together.
Moo-jin stroked his chin, noting the sun dipping behind the ridge.
'About time they showed.'
He'd cast the bait hours ago; they were overdue by his reckoning.
Whoosh—
Then the crowd parted like waves, revealing warriors in dark green fluttering robes with wide sleeves and blackened fingertips—Tang Family elites, lords of Sichuan.
"Halt."
"…."
Moo-jin stopped before the five Tang warriors. Not out of obedience, but because his quarry had arrived on their own.
"I am Tang Yu-seon of the Tang Family."
The sharp-featured middle-aged man among them stepped forward.
"The man you're dragging is Tang Yeop, a Tang Family retainer—the Thousand Poison Ghost Hand."
Tang Yu-seon, his lips scarred, continued in a voice like winter frost.
"The Tang Family repays favors twofold, grudges tenfold. Surrender him cleanly, and we'll lessen his punishment. But if you resist… that debt won't be paid even in death. To touch a Tang warrior in Sichuan…."
"Hold up. You're skipping steps."
Kang Moo-jin waved him off lightly, cutting through not just words but the subtle killing intent.
The Tang warriors' eyes widened at the effortless deflection.
"I was attacked first. This guy struck before I did."
"…?"
Tang Yu-seon glanced at Tang Yeop for confirmation.
"…."
Tang Yeop averted his eyes, unable to meet the gaze.
"If the Thousand Poison Ghost Hand acted, there was reason. The Tang Family doesn't strike without cause."
"No. Me and this Won girl here were just eating at the inn. Then this lunatic barges in and spreads poison."
"…Baseless slander without proof, insulting the Tang Family…."
"Not baseless. Witnesses and evidence aplenty. The waiter, chef, and owner all saw it."
"Witnesses can be bought. Without hard proof…."
"Even after antidote, poison traces linger. Azure Glow Sect and Crimson Sun Sect disciples still bear them. That's your proof."
"…."
Tang Yu-seon, silver-tongued even against patriarchs, fell silent.
Moo-jin had justification, witnesses, evidence—unassailable.
"…."
Tang Yu-seon glared at Tang Yeop with reproach.
"…Ahem."
Tang Yeop looked away awkwardly.
Shutting up and dodging eyes had always been his specialty.
"By Tang Family law, I'm the one owed tenfold payback, right?"
Tang Yu-seon bit his lip as Moo-jin spoke arms crossed, utterly confident.
His tongue a vault of poisons, his pride stung deeper.
'No choice but force now.'
He'd tried words for the crowd's sake, but killing this fool here raised no issue.
Sichuan was Tang domain—stronger than any magistrate.
'Lucky catch on Yeop, but he's mouthing off too much.'
Yu-seon pieced it: the guy had snagged Yeop as a fisherman in the sects' brawl.
Yeop excelled at poison, not martial arts.
'Time to show true Tang might.'
Swish—
Tang Yu-seon hid his hand in his wide sleeve, gripping the concealed dart.
'One shot's enough.'
A master of Soul-Chasing Fluttering Butterflies, his darts faster than lightning.
Against an escort punk—not even a real warrior—he'd never react.
Rumble—
As he gathered qi to launch, a voice from behind:
"Stay your hand."
A Tang elder placed a hand on Tang Yu-seon's shoulder.
"Elder?"
"Not a word from Golden Ghost Indestructible rings false."
The elder Tang Ja-an pulled Yu-seon back gently and stepped forward.
"I've heard your name before, Golden Ghost Indestructible. Tales of your fame and deeds shake Shanxi Province."
"You flatter me."
Moo-jin bowed lightly, responding to the courtesy.
He wasn't savage enough to attack a friendly overture.
"Heh heh. I heard you dismantled a Nahantjin against eighteen Arhats. And call that flattery?"
"…!?"
Tang Yu-seon's jaw dropped behind him.
Dismantled what?!
Shaolin's famed Eighteen Arhats Formation?
Unbelievable.
How could this hulking, bearish brute break Shaolin's Eighteen Arhats?!
"And word is you've now felled the Black-White Twins and bent them to your will. True?"
"Yes."
"…!!"
Tang Yu-seon's face drained white in shock.
Toppled the Black-White Twins—absolute masters at Flower Realm?!
'The vicious pair even we couldn't capture alive…!'
The Tangs had clashed with them before.
A decade ago, they'd slaughtered over ten Tang warriors before sauntering out of Sichuan—a scar of rage and fear still raw.
'If I'd lunged… I'd be dead.'
Death brushed his scalp.
Ignore the elder and dart him? He'd be two halves on the ground by now.
"Impressive. Truly. A man like you warrants a new moniker. Strange it's unchanged."
"Eh, I don't care much for that stuff."
Moo-jin ignored titles or opinions.
Only two mattered: money and crisp, high-quality fluttering robes.
"By jianghu code, might you release the hostage? Hero Kang?"
"For proper recompense, sure."
"Of course. We'll add extra for the offense."
Elder Tang Ja-an suppressed his sly nature, beaming amiably.
Better pay than pride against a monster.
The Tangs swam in wealth.
"Take him."
Moo-jin untied Tang Yeop and shoved him toward them.
"…Thanks."
Tang Yeop hesitated, then offered a light fist salute.
Despite ample cause to kill, Moo-jin had shown mercy—no crippled dantian, no sealed acupoints, full trust.
Gratitude welled.
"…?"
Moo-jin found it baffling.
No dantian waste or seals? He knew he could smash any comeback. Trust had nothing to do with it.
"Well, we'll be off then."
"A fine meeting."
"Heh heh… Take care."
Tang Ja-an's genial smile twisted vicious the moment he turned from Moo-jin.
"…!"
The Tang warriors flinched at the familiar venomous chill.
Killing intent poured from his eyes.
"Tang Yeop."
"Y-Yes! Elder…."
"Your punishment will be decided back home."
"U-Understood."
Tang Yeop nodded, face ashen.
Spared by Moo-jin, but far from over. Maybe just beginning.
Tang cruelty spared not even kin.
"And Tang Yu-seon."
"Yes. Elder."
"I warned you against rashness. Still lacking."
"…Forgive me, Elder."
Tang Ja-an clicked his tongue in disdain.
"Rush him, and we'd all be corpses now."
"…Forgive me."
"Read your foe. And if you strike, do it unseen. Like me."
"Yes, Elder. I'll be careful… Wait, what?"
Tang Yu-seon doubted his ears.
Like you?
He'd seen no attack.
"Tch. Fools. How do you subdue a monster with brute force?"
Tang Ja-an smirked slyly, drawing a poison vial.
Half-empty, filled with purple venom.
"I slipped him Shadowless Soul-Ending Incense."
"…!"
A supreme poison: no scent, color, or symptoms—slipping in like shadow to kill.
Shadowless Soul-Ending Incense!
Tang Ja-an had dosed Moo-jin covertly during their talk.
"Heh heh. He's done. By night's end, his life ends."