Chapter 86: The Price of a Choice
To Madam Jeong’s residence—
—there was no need to go.
“Fire!”
“There’s a fire rising over there.”
“Where is that?!”
The autumn day was now almost over.
The brightly rising flas were clearly visible even from this grand training ground.
The Association Leader recognized where the fire was.
“It’s in the direction of Madam Jeong’s residence.”
Madam Jeong had already pulled out all her subordinates, including her child. It seed she had guessed that she would be pursued.
“It seems she thought she couldn’t remain within the complex.”
“Remain? After causing all this? After feeding the Magic Pills to the children of prestigious families?”
The Association Leader’s voice was sharper than ever.
“She has turned not only our family but all the families within the complex against her. The cri according to national law is heavy, but the influence of the families is also great. She will be thoroughly interrogated and won’t be able to escape execution.”
That would be so.
From Madam Jeong’s perspective, she had no choice but to give up and flee.
“Madam Jeong is likely not the only one who has judged that she cannot remain.”
“Not only Madam Jeong? Then who?”
There was no ti to answer her question.
“Brother Jang, let’s leave this place to the family warriors and go to that residence first.”
“I understand!”
Jang Gangcheon and I left everyone behind, kicked off from the grand training ground, and flew up. We ran along walls and stepped on pavilions, heading straight for Madam Jeong’s residence.
“The fire has spread greatly! We won’t be able to get in.”
“Move aside!”
Finally, Mukheun stepped forward.
I pushed the Xun Trigram Technique of the Eight Trigram Unity Technique to its limit.
“Guuuuh……”
I raised Mukheun high into the sky.
Woooong—
Mukheun, groaning as much as I was, resonated with the Xun Trigram Technique.
“This wind? Sword Hero, are you creating it?”
The chilly air of the autumn evening, different from the hot air heated by the flas, rushed towards Mukheun.
Whooooosh—
The wind beca a whirlwind, enveloping Mukheun and howling along with it.
“Mukheun, let’s go!”
I kicked off the ground and leaped high into the sky.
Below , I could see the residence with fires rising from various places.
There were still places where the flas had not yet risen.
My target was the main building, which seed to be the source of the fire.
That place was burning fiercely.
I dropped straight down into it.
“I’m going to blow away the building, so co in!”
Almost at the sa ti as I shouted to Jang Gangcheon, I struck the roof of the main building with Mukheun.
“Haap!”
Wind creates fire, but a fierce wind drives fire away.
Kwa-deu-deu-deuk!
The whirlwind, which exploded as it broke through the roof, scattered the furnishings along with the fire in all directions.
A gaping hole was created in the main building.
In the space amidst the surrounding flas, only this space was free of fire.
“Amazing! To drive away the flas in an instant!”
Jang Gangcheon imdiately followed into that spot.
“Don’t let your guard down. The flas will spread again soon.”
“Guard down? How can I let my guard down after seeing this grueso scene.”
Jang Gangcheon was right.
Beyond the flas, corpses were scattered everywhere.
I could see the face of Master Jang, the martial artist who had treated Handangyudo, and the one in a physician’s attire must have been the physician from the dical Hall.
Let’s put them aside.
But.
“They’ve killed the children too.”
There was no rcy in their hands. They had killed everyone, regardless of age.
“Those Demonic Cult bastards.”
This is how it is.
The Demonic Cult is one that does not shy away from sches that use commoners.
But what happens to those commoners when the sche fails?
This scene right here is the answer.
Murder for Silence, they kill everyone to keep the secret. They erase their traces in this way.
At tis like these, innocent people also get caught up in it.
“This was the core.”
Sending a cultist to the instructor selection was either a deception or an additional infiltration.
“It seems so. But then, where are the Demonic Cult mbers? They’re not in the complex, and this residence is on fire.”
They had definitely escaped.
“Sword Hero, the flas are again—”
“Just a mont.”
I deployed my Eight Sensations and extended all my senses.
If they escaped, there must be a path. If they didn’t block the path completely, I should be able to feel sothing different, even if it’s a tiny sensation.
“I’ll try to block it!”
Jang Gangcheon’s figure moved quickly.
Kuung, with a ground-stomp, he extended a fist and began to smash and send flying the remaining furnishings and debris.
The alias Divine Fist Beggar was not in vain, as he cleared the surroundings in an instant.
He stomped the ground forcefully again and shouted.
“I’ll try to push back the flas with my Fist Wind!”
Kuung, kuung, kuung.
At the sa ti, Fist Wind flew.
But the flas were so fierce, it was a fight he couldn’t win.
“I heard it.”
“Hmm?”
“Divine Fist Beggar, your ground-stomp, the echo was strange.”
“My ground-stomp? I trained so arduously for this—”
“It ans there’s sothing under the ground.”
“Ah?”
I with Mukheun, Jang Gangcheon with his fist, we struck the spot where Jang Gangcheon had just been standing.
It was tightly sealed, so we almost missed it.
Kwaang.
“Here it is!”
“They’ve dug a tunnel under the house!”
A large tunnel, big enough for three or four people to pass through easily, opened its mouth.
Huuuk, the trapped air from within rose up.
We threw ourselves inside without hesitation.
“Exterminate the Demonic Cult!”
“Where are you? The Divine Fist Beggar is here!”
However.
Th-thump, thump, thump, we only heard the sound of footsteps echoing again.
“They’ve escaped, as expected.”
“You expected it?”
“That’s right.”
“For soone who expected it, didn’t you shout ‘Exterminate the Demonic Cult’ a bit too loudly?”
“It was just a slogan for . You introduced yourself, didn’t you?”
“What? I was just following you, Sword Hero—”
“Quiet.”
Jang Gangcheon seed to have a lot he wanted to say, but he faithfully kept his mouth shut.
A light could be seen from inside.
And.
“Ugh……”
A very faint groan was heard.
I quickly headed towards the source of the groan.
When I actually moved, I found that a large room had been created in the middle of the tunnel. The light and sound were coming from within it.
A few furnishings, including a desk, were on fire.
And inside, several people lay bleeding.
The one who had groaned was a middle-aged woman in fancy clothes.
“Judging by her attire, she seems to be Madam Jeong.”
Jang Gangcheon checked the pulses of the other people, but.
“The others are gone.”
Their clothes were also quite high-quality.
It seed they were Madam Jeong’s family.
“Madam Jeong is also critically injured. Still, let’s take her out first.”
Behind the fallen Madam Jeong, a burning desk caught my eye.
Jang Gangcheon and I exchanged glances. He quickly stuffed the docunts from inside the desk into his clothes.
“Brother Jang, you go out first.”
“And you, Sword Hero?”
“I’ll go to the end of the tunnel. There probably won’t be anyone, but I have to check.”
“I understand.”
He took both the docunts and Madam Jeong and returned to the complex.
I ran along the tunnel.
Judging by its length, it was definitely connected to the outside of the complex.
Tuung, the place I erged from was the inner courtyard of a small house in an alley outside the complex.
“Wait, this alley?”
Isn’t this the alley where the Rogues’ Guild Leader was said to have been attacked?
I rember looking around it separately with Hansanha’s guidance.
“Branch Leader Han?”
Was it a coincidence, or not.
I could see Hansanha’s figure at the end of the alley.
* * *
The Association Leader bent down and looked.
“Madam Jeong.”
“Ugh……”
When Jang Gangcheon ca out of the burning residence, the Association Leader had already arrived with the family warriors.
She had borrowed a pavilion from a nearby residence and brought Jang Gangcheon and Madam Jeong there.
At the Association Leader’s feet lay the dying Madam Jeong.
Even soone who didn’t know dicine could see that she was already gone. She had several stab wounds and had inhaled flas and smoke.
“Ah……”
Madam Jeong had regained consciousness for a mont due to Jang Gangcheon’s acupoint pressure, but her mind had not returned clearly.
Her blurry eyes turned to the Association Leader.
“Association Leader?”
The Association Leader had ntioned execution. Without even going that far, Madam Jeong was dying before her eyes.
But there is an unresolved question.
“Why? Why did you do this?”
Madam Jeong, in her daze, or perhaps because of it, answered the Association Leader’s question nonchalantly.
“Ugh… our family… is ruined…”
The honorifics had disappeared.
“Ruined?”
The Association Leader was also speaking informally.
What was surprising was the words the Association Leader brought up.
“I know that. It’s been a while since anyone passed the civil service examination. The family business has also almost collapsed.”
“…You know?”
“Yes. I was waiting for you to ask for help. But since you didn’t, I thought you were still holding on.”
Heh, a hollow laugh escaped from Madam Jeong.
“Help? If I had asked?”
“I would have helped.”
“You?”
“Believe it or not, it’s up to you. Anyway, now…”
Now you will die.
Madam Jeong was also feeling that keenly. Facing death so close, words stripped of all pretense flowed out.
“Ah… I should have tried asking for help… no, no. I hated it then… then… I would have had no choice but to be pushed out… because…”
Inside the complex where the noble families gathered.
It’s a natural thing, but if you’re not a noble family, you can’t remain.
If she confessed the ruin of her family, would she really receive help, or would she be urged to leave?
In Madam Jeong’s view, it was obvious.
“That’s right… I had to listen to the Demonic Cult… they gave funds, and they promised a future.”
“A future?”
“They said they would control the complex… they said they would give that control…”
“……”
“What’s the reason for controlling it anyway? It’s to succeed, isn’t it? And among them, I should be the one to succeed… right?”
She was rambling.
Still, her aning was clear.
Why control the children?
She couldn’t think of anything other than the goal of success.
At least, that’s how Madam Jeong felt. And in that state, she was on the verge of being pushed out.
The Demonic Cult had extended a hand.
Let’s take control of the complex. Then we will give you the control.
The Association Leader answered Madam Jeong vaguely.
“How foolish. Perfect control wasn’t about that. Really, it was just for protection…”
She stopped in the middle of her sentence.
Protection.
Has what she had done until now really stopped at protection?
The sll of burning from Madam Jeong’s residence rushed into her nose.
It was a choking, yet empty sll.
“Still, not the Demonic Cult. The end is bound to be terrible.”
“Ah? It’s already terrible.”
To Madam Jeong, the situation of being on the verge of being pushed out was more palpable.
The end that would co from joining hands with the Demonic Cult was a matter for the future anyway.
Avoiding the present was more urgent.
However.
Terminal Lucidity.
Just before death, as her energy returned for a mont, a question rushed in.
A question about the result of her choice.
“My husband? The children?”
The mory from just before she regained consciousness.
The whole family had gone down to the basent together.
‘That beast’ had said.
- You are no longer needed.
That beast, a big shot in the Demonic Cult, had turned its back.
She had reached out her hand, but the beast had continued to walk out of the tunnel.
And Demonic Cult mbers with swords had blocked her view.
“Ah? Ah? Ahhhhh! My husband? The children? Association Leader, tell ! Tell !”
The Association Leader could not say anything.
“Ahhhhhh! Ahhh! The beast! That beast bastard!”
Until the terminal lucidity ended.
And until Madam Jeong’s screams ended.
She could not convey that harsh price.
* * *
“Ink Sword Hero, isn’t it? How did you co out of there?”
Hansanha approached Jin Yeomyeong.
A question arose on his old face.
“Branch Leader, what brings you here?”
Jin Yeomyeong asked in return.
“……”
“……”
And silence flowed.
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