Chapter 11

Chapter 11
Are We Laughingstocks? (3)

The air inside the room plummeted to a frigid chill.

Heuk Su’s expression, held together purely by his wounded arrogance, warped into sheer savagery.

A maggot? It was an unbearable disgrace that would haunt him for the rest of his days.

If Wang Gon was an aged parasite, that effectively branded him as an adolescent one.

Had he been the sort of man who could brush off such insults over drinks with a smirk—thinking, “Well, at least I have youth on my side”—things might have unfolded differently. But Heuk Su was someone who tore people apart limb from limb over the slightest insolence.

The tangible murderous aura rolling off Heuk Su flooded the entire chamber. No one present could mistake it. He had firmly resolved to slaughter Baek So-cheon.

Wang Gon felt no need to lose his temper. Heuk Su would inflict the necessary retribution on his behalf. Even if he attempted to rein him in, Heuk Su would ignore him—though Wang Gon harbored no intention of stopping him anyway.

An arrest? A maggot? What an absolute lunatic!

Indeed, once vermin had been dragged into the discussion, someone needed to end up as a corpse.

Yet despite the suffocating tension mounting around them, Baek So-cheon remained entirely unfazed.

“If we don’t apprehend them right now, it seems we won’t be walking out of here alive.”

No, an alternative path still existed.

He could throw himself onto the floor and plead for mercy this very second. Doing so might ensure survival for both himself and Beon Saeng. But Im Choong simply could not bring himself to stoop that low.

Could he truly discard Baek So-cheon merely to preserve his own skin?

Just because the youth had an abrasive tongue, or because he had rattled Beon Saeng? They had barely crossed paths recently. Even so, he could never stand by and watch the man get butchered.

Yet what would happen if he commanded the arrest?

Heuk Su and Wang Gon certainly wouldn’t yield without violence, meaning they would fulfill their bloody promises without hesitation.

Im Choong was acutely aware that whatever choice he made now would irrevocably determine his fate alongside Beon Saeng’s.

*Drop to your knees and beg. Plead for them to spare Baek So-cheon’s life as well.*

Cold rationality dictated the command to his limbs.

Yet his knees refused to bend. In truth, the signal never even arrived. Raw emotion intercepted and crushed the impulse entirely. Deep down, his pride had been roaring defiance from the start.

*Never bow your head to these filthy dogs!*

Im Choong shifted his gaze toward Baek So-cheon.

*You really have completely derailed my existence.*

Still, this disaster had originated because of him in the first place. These two men had stepped into the fray solely to drag him out.

Staring straight into Baek So-cheon’s eyes, Im Choong gave a firm, deliberate nod.

“Take them into custody.”

Simultaneously, a scream echoed within his own mind.

*This is utter madness.*

Beon Saeng, his chest still crushed beneath Heuk Su’s boot, stared with his jaw slackened in sheer disbelief.

*Ah, we’re thoroughly finished now!*

Even so, Beon Saeng couldn’t help clinging to Baek So-cheon as his final lifeline.

*Elder brother, please pull us through this! I haven’t even experienced a woman’s touch yet!*

Despite having reached twenty-six years of age, had they been alone, he would have shamelessly shrieked that closely guarded secret—convinced somehow that such a pitiful confession would compel Baek So-cheon to keep him alive.

Baek So-cheon took a step forward, poised to address Wang Gon and Heuk Su, before pausing and glancing back toward Im Choong.

“Ah, what were these fellows called again?”

“The branch head of Shin-hwa-bang, Wang Gon, and their combatant, Heuk Su.”

Baek So-cheon projected his voice toward the duo, clear and resonant.

“Shin-hwa-bang branch head Wang Gon, Shin-hwa-bang combatant Heuk Su. You are both being placed under arrest on charges of battery, coercion, and attempting to bribe representatives of the Murim Alliance.”

Wang Gon’s gaze darted between Im Choong and Baek So-cheon before he gave an exasperated shake of his head.

“There’s no helping it anymore. Very well, sometimes idle assumptions turn into grim reality.”

With a ruthless edge to his tone, Wang Gon handed down the mandate to Heuk Su.

“Let us see precisely what sort of maggot slithers out once you turn that bastard into a carcass.”

It was a direct directive to butcher Baek So-cheon before anyone else.

Though he wished to wipe out all three on the spot, cleaning up that level of carnage would prove excessively messy. Eliminating a lone warrior was manageable; wiping out an official branch leader along with him crossed an entirely different threshold.

Once Baek So-cheon was out of the picture, he could shatter the remaining pair mentally. Forcing them to witness and conceal their comrade’s murder would provide all the leverage needed to keep Im Choong bound as his puppet forever.

In truth, this outcome might prove far more advantageous.

Heuk Su pulled his foot away from Beon Saeng’s chest and began closing in on Baek So-cheon.

Stopping a few paces away, he aimed the tip of his blade straight at Baek So-cheon.

“I think I’ll start carving off your limbs. Speak up—where do you want me to slice first?”

Yet Baek So-cheon didn’t display the faintest trace of panic, merely tacking on another count to the tally.

“Battery, coercion, bribery… and now an active attempt at murder.”

“An attempt? My word. Shouldn’t you call it an outright slaughter instead?”

Baek So-cheon met Heuk Su’s sneer with a calm smirk.

“Regrettably for you, it won’t amount to anything beyond an attempt.”

“You deranged bastard!”

Heuk Su exploded forward, devouring the intervening distance in an eyeblink as his blade shot out in a lethal thrust.

*Shk.*

It was swift, unerringly accurate, and drenched in venomous intent. An immaculate, deadly strike.

The thrust enveloped Baek So-cheon in a fraction of a heartbeat, prompting a desperate shriek from Im Choong.

“Stop!”

The instant the cry tore from his throat, overwhelming regret washed over Im Choong.

*What have I done?*

Had he somehow forgotten how formidable Heuk Su truly was? Of course he hadn’t. Wang Gon carried himself with such blatant arrogance precisely because he had Heuk Su backing him.

Im Choong had lost his senses for a fleeting moment. Just like Beon Saeng, he had allowed himself to be swept up by Baek So-cheon’s bravado. They ought to have crawled and begged by any means necessary so they could all walk out alive.

*Thwack!*

A sharp, resounding crack tore through the room.

Baek So-cheon and Heuk Su were suddenly locked together at point-blank range.

“Ah!”

Im Choong, Beon Saeng, and Wang Gon all gasped at once—two in pure astonishment, one in utter dread.

Heuk Su’s wayward sword extended harmlessly past Baek So-cheon’s contorted frame, while Baek So-cheon’s elbow was driven ruthlessly into Heuk Su’s nasal bridge.

It was as though the flow of time had ground to a complete standstill.

*Clang.*

Heuk Su’s blade slipped from his grasp, clattering against the floorboards.

*Thud.*

Immediately after, Heuk Su crashed rigidly onto his back, his facial bones utterly pulverized.

A single, decisive clash.

Subdued solely through raw, unaugmented physical martial skill, without the slightest deployment of internal energy.

The onlookers stood frozen, barely daring to draw breath. Not a single person had anticipated Heuk Su collapsing after merely one exchange.

Caught up entirely in the shock of the defeat, none of them took note of the heavy training bracers still strapped tightly around Baek So-cheon’s wrists.

Even while burdened by such massive deadweight, he had effortlessly avoided Heuk Su’s strike and flattened him with a solitary retaliatory strike.

Scrambling across the floor, Beon Saeng hastily inspected Heuk Su’s body.

“He… he hasn’t kicked the bucket, has he?”

To their fortune, Heuk Su was still breathing. Though a petty part of Beon Saeng wished the bastard had simply died, slaying a recognized combatant of Shin-hwa-bang would inevitably provoke violent vengeance from their headquarters. There was an insurmountable chasm between taking someone into custody and executing them.

Terrified that Heuk Su might regain consciousness, Beon Saeng moved quickly to seal the man’s energy pathways.

Wang Gon, completely blindsided by Heuk Su’s instantaneous defeat, stood entirely bewildered.

*What in the world is happening?*

Baek So-cheon began stepping toward him with measured, unhurried strides.

Wang Gon instinctively stumbled backward. Although he carried the rank of branch head, Heuk Su far outstripped him in martial prowess. If Heuk Su could be dismantled so easily, Wang Gon stood no chance whatsoever.

He had always been devoid of martial talent, choosing instead to survive and climb through cunning maneuvers.

“Keep your distance! Come any closer and you won’t survive this!”

His roar tore through the room, yet not a single subordinate rushed in to aid him.

Wang Gon immediately cursed his decision to stage this confrontation here.

Expecting a clandestine negotiation, he had deliberately picked the most isolated parlor on the grounds and ordered the bulk of his retainers to remain far back, bringing only Heuk Su by his side.

Even if he could summon them now, ordinary grunts would be utterly useless against someone capable of dropping Heuk Su in a single breath.

“Lay a hand on me, and our central branch will never let this pass! You understand that much, don’t you?”

“Naturally they won’t. In all likelihood, their very first move will be replacing a branch manager who causes them unnecessary trouble.”

Wang Gon’s stomach plummeted. Though Baek So-cheon tossed the remark out casually, it struck the nail right on the head regarding his impending reality.

The leadership of Shin-hwa-bang would far sooner quietly install a new overseer than wage an all-out war to avenge an incompetent underling.

Desperation mounting, Wang Gon shouted once more.

“Even setting aside Shin-hwa-bang, I can rally all my personal allies—you will be utterly ruined!”

“Allies, you say… How impressive. But there is a slight complication: battery, coercion, attempted bribery, and the attempted assassination of a Murim Alliance officer. You’ll be left to rot behind bars for a minimum of thirty years.”

“Thirty years?!”

His expression violently contorted at the sheer precision of the penalty.

“Do you honestly expect your body to last that long? Your so-called allies? Do you truly believe a single one of them would dare stand against the Murim Alliance simply to bail you out? It seems to me that everyone surrounding you is merely another pile of filth breeding maggots.”

Wang Gon found himself entirely unable to refute the claim. He didn’t possess a single contact who would brave the Alliance’s wrath on his behalf. And truthfully, he wouldn’t lift a finger for any of them either.

A horrifying truth he had never dared contemplate came crashing down upon him like a violent wave. His thoughts spun out of control, forcing him to cling pathetically to his earlier bravado.

“Stop spouting nonsense! I am the head of Shin-hwa-bang’s local chapter! Shin-hwa-bang itself!”

“Listen closely, Branch Leader Wang.”

Wang Gon shrank back under the piercing chill of Baek So-cheon’s stare.

“Did ruling over a backwater territory for so long lead you to believe the Murim Alliance was some sort of laughingstock?”

That calm, indifferent inflection terrified him far more than any violent bluster could have.

It was undeniably that gaze—the way one might stare down at a meaningless bug. Wang Gon recognized that look intimately; it was the exact demeanor he wore whenever he ground the defenseless beneath his heel.

“You caught wind of Tae-jeong’s demise, didn’t you? It turns out those who cross my path suffer remarkably foul misfortune. I wonder, how does your fortune look today, Branch Leader Wang?”

“Guh… Stay back, you maniac! Get… away from me…”

*Crack!*

Baek So-cheon’s knuckles crashed squarely into the center of his face. His senses already reeling, Wang Gon couldn’t mount the slightest evasion.

His skull whipped violently to the side as shattered teeth sprayed into the air, his body spinning around before crashing flat against the floorboards.

*Thud.*

Catching hold of the limp form—its facial features battered into an unrecognizable ruin—Baek So-cheon dragged Wang Gon over and dumped him directly before Im Choong’s feet.

“Pursuant to your orders, both culprits have been subdued.”

A suffocating quiet fell over the quarters.

Both Im Choong and Beon Saeng felt as if they were trapped within a bizarre, unbelievable dream.

“You…”

Im Choong struggled to form a coherent thought.

A turbulent mixture of thankfulness and bitter dread churned within his chest. The magnitude of this calamity completely overshadowed whatever had occurred with Tae-jeong’s arrest or death.

They had physically subdued the head of Shin-hwa-bang’s southern territory alongside his strongest enforcer.

Simply dragging them away in chains wouldn’t resolve the matter.

Wang Gon would utilize every underhanded trick and fabricate endless justifications to wriggle out of the charges. Worse still, their headquarters might decide to step in with their full might.

Im Choong was merely an insignificant regional head lacking any meaningful patronage. How could he possibly contain the impending storm?

Seemingly oblivious to—or entirely unbothered by—those anxieties, Baek So-cheon cast a glance at Im Choong.

“Rushing into danger all by yourself out of sheer passion was remarkably foolish, but turning down their dirty bribe was the right call.”

Having uttered those words, he swung around and stepped toward the exit without lingering.

Staring at his retreating figure, Beon Saeng muttered in an awed daze,

“Branch Leader, do you want to become my younger sworn brother as well? We only need one more person to complete our own Peach Garden Oath…”

“You out-of-your-mind lunatic.”

“Sure, I’ve lost my mind. Who could possibly hold onto their sanity in a situation like this?”

Im Choong released a heavy breath, his eyes trailing down toward the unconscious forms of Wang Gon and Heuk Su.

Yet beneath all the looming dread, a small spark of deep satisfaction remained.

The phrase Baek So-cheon had thrown in Wang Gon’s face was precisely what Im Choong had yearned to shout at every single arrogant thug who looked down upon them.

*Did ruling over a backwater territory for so long lead you to believe the Murim Alliance was some sort of laughingstock?*

Giving voice to that sentiment felt as though a suffocating knot in his chest had finally dissolved.

Even with an avalanche of trouble looming ahead, he found himself incapable of feeling entirely miserable right now.

Im Choong looked down once more at the broken figure of Wang Gon.

Perhaps I allowed myself to be treated like a joke, but the Murim Alliance has never been one.