Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Ruthless and Merciless
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"Please... spare me...... Please......"
The martial artists of the world struggled desperately to survive.
But each time, Paeng Se Gi pressed them down against the ground.
The retainers of the Geumcheon Yi Family appeared, leading four horses.
"Who should we start with?"
Se Yeong turned his gaze to the martial artists and asked.
The martial artists trembled with their heads bowed low.
"Let's start with you. Tie that bastard's limbs to the horses."
The martial artist Se Yeong pointed to with a raised hand was not the one who had killed the child with the crescent blade.
At this, Paeng Se Gi hauled the man up and dragged him toward the horses.
"Spare me......! Please spare me......!"
The martial artist screamed as if in his final frenzy.
"Tie him up."
Paeng Se Gi shoved him down in front of the Geumcheon Yi retainers.
Up until then, Yi Daein had no idea what was about to unfold here.
"Have you heard of drawing and quartering?"
At Se Yeong's question, Yi Daein's mouth fell open, and his sly eyes grew wider and wider.
"No... way...... Tearing the limbs apart......"
He was so shocked he could barely string words together.
"If you understand, then begin."
Se Yeong's voice was firm yet calm.
Gulp......
Swallowing dryly, Yi Daein shouted toward the retainers.
"T-Tie that man's hands and feet to the h-horses......!"
At their master's command, the retainers rushed into the manor and fetched thick, long ropes.
"Please......!"
Thud!
As the martial artist tried to shout again, Paeng Se Gi kicked him.
Gah...!
Se Yeong turned his head back.
A crowd of villagers had already gathered to watch, and Yi Cheon Yeong and the siblings pushed through them into view.
"We're back, Han Daehyeop."
"The child's parents?"
"We only brought the child's mother."
Se Yeong spotted the woman weeping amid the crowd.
'That must be the child's mother.'
Se Yeong turned back to Yi Daein and asked.
"Yi Daein. Did you say I forcibly seized the manor and the land?"
Yi Daein, who had been watching the martial artist with eyes full of terror, jumped in fright.
"H-How could that be? Han Daehyeop. I've never heard such a thing."
In his panic, he had called Se Yeong not Hwang Daehyeop, but Han Daehyeop.
"What a filthy day. Truly filthy."
Yi Daein now feared even Se Yeong's low murmur.
He dropped to his knees and prostrated himself, slamming his forehead into the ground.
Thud......!
"Spare...... me."
Aaagh......!
As the horses began walking in four directions, the ropes grew taut, and a scream erupted from the martial artist's mouth.
The prostrated martial artists pissed themselves at the sound of that scream.
Aaagh......!
Yi Daein buried his face in the dirt, his body shuddering.
Se Yeong's voice rang out then, utterly terrifying.
"Watch carefully, Yi Daein. You might end up the same soon enough."
Yi Daein immediately lifted his head and turned his body.
He feared that if he didn't obey, he'd be next.
At that moment, an arm tore free, splattering blood across the ground.
Aaagh......!
He should have realized it from when they cut off the fingers.
Han Se Yeong was no human—he was the reincarnation of a demon.
No one watching that spectacle remained unstartled or unafraid.
The retainers pulling the horses averted their eyes, and even the squad members' gazes wavered.
Only Squad Leader Gang remained calmly watching the gruesome scene.
"Put some strength into it. You've still got one arm and two legs left."
Se Yeong urged them to rip off even the remaining limbs.
Aaagh......!
Amid the tearing screams, the other arm and legs came off.
Se Yeong casually pointed at the martial artist as if it were nothing.
"You're next."
The martial artist begged, tears and snot streaming down his face.
"I have... an elderly mother alone at home! Please let me live and return to care for her!"
"Too chatty."
No matter what he said, Se Yeong didn't waver in the slightest.
Paeng Se Gi grabbed the martial artist by the scruff and shoved him toward the pile of corpses.
It took less than half a shichen for the two men to be torn apart and die.
The ear-splitting screams and the sound of flesh ripping were more horrifying than death itself.
For the surviving martial artists, that half shichen felt like an eternity.
That last martial artist was the one who had slit the child's throat with the crescent blade.
He held no hope of survival.
He only prayed not to die in such agony.
"You're next. Any last wishes?"
At Se Yeong's emotionless voice, he raised his head.
What he craved most now was liquor to dull the pain.
"Please... at least let me have... some liquor."
He pleaded earnestly.
Se Yeong nodded.
"Bring some liquor!"
In this situation, who would dare defy Se Yeong's order?
A retainer rushed into the manor and quickly returned with a bowl of liquor.
Se Yeong took the bowl and held it out before the martial artist.
The man opened his mouth wide to gulp it down.
Pour......
But the liquor that poured wasn't into his mouth—it soaked the ground.
The martial artist stared blankly at the liquor spilling onto the dirt.
"Any more wishes?"
Se Yeong asked after dumping the entire bowl on the ground.
Aaaaaagh......!
The martial artist let out a beastly howl.
Was there anyone in the world more cruel than this?
Se Yeong grabbed the martial artist's collar and dragged him forward.
"Begin."
Handed over to the retainers, his limbs were soon bound with the thick ropes.
Aaaaaagh......!
The horses hadn't even moved yet, but he kept howling.
But that howl soon turned into a scream filled with agony.
Aaagh......!
Drained of all strength, Yi Daein slumped against the stone steps.
Half a shichen had passed since Se Yeong left, but he still couldn't collect himself.
"The bodies... what of the bodies?"
"We buried them in the wasteland, Master."
"......Good."
That one shichen felt like ten years.
In truth, he felt as if he'd aged a decade.
He had never witnessed such brutality in his life.
Finally mustering the strength to rise, he flung open the door with one hand.
"Come in."
The retainers supported him as they entered.
"Remove the screen."
At the master's words, the retainers moved the screen aside, revealing four chests.
"Open them all."
The retainers opened the chests, exposing the valuable treasures inside.
Even a rough estimate put each chest at twenty to thirty thousand nyang of silver.
"Take two chests to Han Se Yeong."
The retainers stared at their master in bewilderment.
"Why... offer such precious items to him?"
At their question, the master collapsed into his chair.
"I've given up on revenge now...... I was never a match for him from the start. I was the fool."
The retainers quietly listened to their master's lament.
They already knew.
If Han Se Yeong willed it, the family would be destroyed before the day was out.
"Send the retainers out to spread word in the martial world. Say Han Se Yeong didn't forcibly seize the manor and land—he bought it legitimately."
The retainers bowed to accept the order.
"Understood."
What happened at the Geumcheon Yi manor spread from mouth to mouth.
The martial experts converging from all directions heard the rumors too.
Some hesitated in fear, while others dismissed them.
Two hundred thousand nyang of silver and martial world fame weren't easily abandoned.
"More are coming!"
Yi Gu, who had been peeking over the wall, ran to the training grounds to report.
Se Yeong extended a hand to Paeng Se Gi.
"Hand me the iron club."
But Paeng Se Gi gripped it tightly, refusing to let go.
"We'll handle it ourselves, Brother."
Se Yeong readily nodded in permission.
"Do as you like."
As if by prior agreement, the entire squad marched out of the manor.
Se Yeong followed them to the gate and stopped there.
More than twenty martial artists were swarming toward them.
As the squad blocked their path, the intruders drew their weapons in unison and advanced.
"Are you Han Se Yeong?"
Not knowing Se Yeong's face, they asked Paeng Se Gi, who held the iron club.
"Yeah."
Paeng Se Gi raised the club with a smirk.
"Step aside, young warriors."
The martial artists seemed wary of the squad lined up beside him.
"We've abandoned our clans and sects, so don't mind us. If you're still scared, just go home."
Dang Ok Yi mocked them, twisting their faces in anger.
"This monk thinks he can take you all."
Swish.
Yeongak's form, stepping forward, vanished in an instant, reappearing amid the martial artists.
Crack! Crunch!
Unusual impact sounds rang out, and the martial artists collapsed to the ground, screaming.
Agh......!
Ugh......!
The panicked martial artists charged at Yeongak.
As sharp weapons rained down, his form floated in the air.
Crack!
Yeongak stomped down on a martial artist's back and swung his foot into another's shin.
Crunch!
Kyaagh......!
Bone-cracking sounds and screams followed one after another as Yeongak twisted the arm of a weapon-wielding martial artist.
Crack......!
Aaagh......!
With seven or eight down in a flash, the martial artists retreated unsteadily.
But Yeongak had no intention of letting them go.
Swish.
He reappeared among them in an instant, swinging short, swift punches and kicks.
Crunch! Crack!
The squad watched Yeongak with troubled eyes.
"At this rate...... they'll all be crippled."
As Hahu Yeon worried, Yeongak wasn't merely punching and kicking.
His fists and feet shimmered with energy beyond mere internal force.
"Ah...... that guy's gotten vicious."
"Probably thinks the kid died because of him."
As the squad guessed, Yeongak's mindset had undergone a great change.
He wouldn't kill them.
But he wouldn't let them live as martial artists ever again.
Slash.
One of the better experts among them sliced Yeongak's sleeve.
But he didn't falter.
Crunch...!
Aaagh......!
Shattering the expert's arm at last, Yeongak thrust his palm toward another martial artist.
Boom...!
Kraagh......!
The palm-struck martial artist flew back, spewing blood.
His thigh was soaked in red.
Crunch!
Agh......!
Yeongak crushed the man's shin underfoot.
The squad clicked their tongues at the sight.
"To think a disciple of Buddha could be like that."
For a martial artist, losing use of arms and legs meant the end.
For those who wandered the martial world lifelong, it was a terror worse than death.
Yeongak was granting them mercy by not killing them, but they'd curse him forever.
"It'd be easier for them to just die."
In the end, all the martial artists who came to kill Se Yeong writhed on the ground.
Aaagh......!
Ughhh...!
Clutching their limbs, they wailed in agony and groaned.
Yeongak clasped his hands toward them.
"Om mani padme hum. The martial world is no longer yours to roam. Go back to your hometowns, farm, raise children, and live well."
His words were sincere from the heart.
But the martial artists took them as mockery.
"How can a Shaolin disciple be so cruel!"