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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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“What?!”
Yeon Mi-pyeong, the leader of the Dark Earth Gang, shouted in shock.
“The brats are all dead?!”
He had sent five subordinates to eliminate the targets. Three of them, including Oh Su-man, were sent after that Kim Geun-hyeop guy, and the other two were sent after his friend.
But only Oh Su-man returned.
His plan to maintain control over the gang members through brutal executions of targets, instill strict discipline, and then attack and absorb other smaller black path gangs had completely fallen apart.
With four of his men dead, forget attacking; they’d be lucky to avoid being attacked themselves.
“And Heuman, that bastard, was split in half with one blow?!”
But the most concerning thing was the terrifying possibility that the target might be a master. He had a feeling Oh Su-man, this idiot, had messed with the wrong person.
If a master showed up, they could all be annihilated.
Yeon Mi-pyeong shouted at the trembling Oh Su-man.
“You fucking bastard! You said he was a swordsman! You lied to me!”
“N-no, I didn’t!”
“What are you waiting for! Beat this bastard!”
“Yes, sir!”
The other gang members immediately began to beat Oh Su-man.
“Aaaaagh!”
Brutal violence engulfed his entire body. In an instant, Oh Su-man’s limbs and teeth were all broken.
“Fuck…!”
Yeon Mi-pyeong felt anxious.
Should he run?
But this Dark Earth Gang was everything he had painstakingly built. Even if it was just a gathering of vermin, it was a hundred times better to be the head, however small, than to be used as someone else’s pawn.
Give it all up and run?
“Fuck!”
All he had to do was attack the other black path gangs as planned and increase the size of his gang just a little more. If he did that, he could gain far greater power and influence than he had now. To give up now!
Yeon Mi-pyeong couldn’t abandon the Dark Earth Gang.
Building a gang like this again would be difficult, even for him.
“Hey! Send the men out and gather some information!”
He had to assess the opponent’s skill. If they could be dealt with, he’d deal with them. If not, he could give up then. It wouldn’t be too late.
“And tie this one up.”
“Yes, sir!”
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“The first priority is to find their base… We can either raid it and reduce their numbers…or assassinate them one by one as they come out.”
“Ooh, this Jaemison bastard.”
Maybe he was the brains of the operation after all?
What was this guy’s INT stat?
“And spread rumors about the Nachalsal… It’ll demoralize the enemy.”
“Okay. That’s my specialty.”
“Oh, what?”
“Nothing.”
Spreading my nickname to demoralize them seemed like a good plan. At our level, momentum accounted for more than half the battle.
Our enemy is the Nachalsal?
If I were a Dark Earth Gang member, I’d have already pissed myself. There’s no one easier to kill than someone scared shitless.
“But Jaemison, how do we find the Dark Earth Gang’s base?”
“Kekeke, there’s a way.”
“How?”
What method could there possibly be?
“It’s simple. We go to the Beggars’ Sect.”
“The Beggars’ Sect?!”
The Beggars’ Sect!
The ubiquitous group of beggars in martial arts stories!
“You’re planning to buy information from the Beggars’ Sect?”
“Something like that… I’m going to find the Beggars’ Sect now, kekeke. Be careful.”
“Be careful?”
“Because the Beggars’ Sect is full of damned human trash.”
The Beggars’ Sect were human trash?
“Are they that bad?”
“Yes… There’s a reason why the Beggars’ Sect are considered evil.”
“Wait, are people who beg really that bad?”
“…”
Jaemison looked at me silently.
Hey, my INT stat isn’t low.
“Beggars and the Beggars’ Sect are different…you idiot.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Beggars are literally people who beg… The Beggars’ Sect are the ones who control those beggars. The vermin who exploit helpless beggars because they’re too lazy to work can’t be decent people.”
Ah, that was the point.
Beggars were the ones who begged, and the Beggars’ Sect were the gangsters who exploited them.
Come to think of it, that made sense.
Able-bodied people exploiting beggars because they didn’t want to work? That wasn’t normal. It couldn’t be explained as anything other than them being vermin.
“Those bastards don’t even hesitate to cripple orphans and turn them into beggars… They even resort to cannibalism when they’re hungry. Torturing beggars who don’t meet their quotas goes without saying… No, they even cripple them further…”
“Holy shit.”
They were complete scumbags.
“Jaemison, can we trust those bastards?”
“As trash as they are, they’re quite knowledgeable about the underbelly of society… They’re bound to know about the Dark Earth Gang. If the price is right, we can make a deal.”
“You’re my strategist.”
This guy was really smart.
“Then I’ll trust you, Jaemison. Let’s go find the Beggars’ Sect.”
“Move carefully…”
“Alright.”
But we were too easily recognizable.
Even with disguises, we couldn’t hide our weapons or physique. Changing our weapons for the sake of disguise would weaken our combat strength, and we had nowhere to hide them anyway. We had to carry them openly.
Anyway, we went to find those so-called human trash, the Beggars’ Sect.
It wasn’t difficult to find them. Beggars usually gathered somewhere along the river in a city. And indeed, there were many beggars there.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The beggars looked up at me with hollow eyes.
As Jaemison said, these weren’t Beggars’ Sect members, but actual beggars. In this Ming Dynasty, beggars were those with disabilities who had no other means of survival but to beg.
They all had physical ailments, and they looked truly pitiful.
How miserable it must be to have no other option but to beg in this world. Feeling pity, I grabbed a handful of coins from my pocket.
That could have been me.
I hoped the money I gave them today would buy them a good meal.
“We’re looking for the Beggars’ Sect.”
I said, dropping a handful of coins into their baskets.
“…”
“…”
“…”
They didn’t answer.
“I said, we’re looking for the Beggars’ Sect.”
I added more coins, thinking it wasn’t enough, but they still didn’t respond.
“Jaemison. What’s going on?”
“They’re not worth the money… Retrieve it.”
“Okay.”
It was at the moment I reached into the basket to get my money back.
“Kyaaa!”
“My money! That’s my money!”
“How dare you!”
Suddenly, the beggars started convulsing, clutching their baskets, and trying to attack me!
“Oh my god!”
Startled, I instinctively kicked out.
Thwack!
But it was a critical hit!
“Gack.”
One of the beggars, hit in the head, collapsed!
“Uh, uh oh!”
“Uwaaaa!”
“Boss! Bosssss!”
Seeing that, the other beggars started convulsing and attacking me even more fiercely. It was quite a sight, but honestly, it was a bit comical.
It was so bizarre to see them trying to use martial arts while being physically disabled.
“What the fuck! What’s going on?!”
Anyway, since a fight had broken out, I had no choice but to fight back. I mercilessly suppressed them, punching and kicking.
Thwack!
Crash!
“Eek!”
“Agh!”
The beggars I hit collapsed.
They couldn’t beat me with such pathetic skills.
“Why are these bastards suddenly acting up?!”
My conscience pricked me as I ruthlessly assaulted people with disabilities. Honestly, I’m also human, so I feel sympathy.
But that’s that, and I have to get what I deserve.
“Anyway, since you attacked me first, I’m taking this.”
I collected all the scattered begging baskets and retrieved all the coins inside. I didn’t know exactly how much, but since they not only ignored me but also attacked me, I had to take compensation.
Starve to death?
Then they shouldn’t have messed with me.
“Sob! No, noooo!”
“Don’t take it! Don’t take itttt!”
“Uwaaagh!”
What do you want me to do, you bastards?
Seeing them throwing a fit makes me lose any remaining sympathy.
“Are these guys crazy? Hey, Jaemison. Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Keke, that was some great acting. As expected, you are the madman I acknowledge.”
“What?”
“Look over there. A Beggars’ Sect member is coming.”
I didn’t understand what he was saying, but when I looked where he pointed.
“Hey, you there.”
Some thug-like guy was walking towards us.
“Why are you beating up these poor beggars? Do you have no compassion?”
“Are you perhaps a Beggars’ Sect member?”
“We’re the only ones who protect beggars. Depending on your answer, you’ll experience the wrath of our Beggars’ Sect.”
He had quite a confident attitude.
Jaemison had told me that Beggars’ Sect members were all cursed human trash, but seeing this guy’s guts reminded me of Mr. Song, who always led us from the front, and I actually liked him.
I stopped Jaemison from stepping forward.
“Let me explain the situation. I gave them alms and said I was looking for a Beggars’ Sect member, but they ignored me. So I gave them more alms, but they still ignored me, so I tried to get my money back. That’s when they attacked, and I taught them a lesson.”
“I don’t know about that. Don’t you know the unspoken rule that you shouldn’t touch a beggar’s basket?”
This motherfucker?
They ripped me off, and he’s saying I don’t know?
Relax.
“…If they weren’t worth the money, I had no choice but to take it back. Anyway, it’s fine now that you’re here, Beggars’ Sect member, I want to buy some information from you.”
“Information. Information, you say.”
The Beggars’ Sect member grinned.
“What do you want?”
“The Dark Earth Gang’s hideout. I want to know its location.”
Jaemison suddenly cut in.
“Ooh, you want to know the Dark Earth Gang’s hideout? Investigating a bandit group, huh? Interesting.”
“Just tell me if you’ll sell it or not.”
“If the price is right, I can sell it.”
A deal, then.
“The price is that sword.”
But the Beggars’ Sect member pointed at my sword.
“What? My sword?”
He wants my Sky Thunder Sword for information?
“Yes. Give me that, and I’ll sell you the information.”
“No, thanks. That’s not a good deal.”
I couldn’t waste this precious sword on insignificant people like them. But well, this is part of the negotiation process. He’s probably starting high and intending to haggle.
“So, let’s haggle.”
“Don’t want to? If not, I’ll sell your information to the Dark Earth Gang instead? If you don’t like that either, give me silver. My mouth is light; it won’t open with heavy silver. Keke.”
“What…?”
Is this guy threatening us?
Stab.
Before I could react.
“Uh, uh…?”
Jaemison deeply stabbed the guy in the abdomen with his Isangjego. I didn’t panic and immediately swung my sword, decapitating the Beggars’ Sect member.
If Jaemison got his hands dirty, I had to do the same.
“Kek… How dare you threaten our lives.”
“Ugh, ugh…”
“Revenge is served immediately. You verminous Beggars’ Sect bastard.”
Yes.
This is right.
This Beggars’ Sect bastard suddenly tried to sell our lives, so he deserved to die by our hands. This isn’t modern-day Earth. If our lives are threatened, we show no mercy. We eliminate our sworn enemy immediately.
“But Jaemison, doesn’t this mean we have to give up on dealing with the Beggars’ Sect?”
I picked up the severed head.
This insignificant bastard was acting up.
“No… We take this and find another Beggars’ Sect member. These guys are human trash, but that makes them easy to handle. If we hand over the head and question them about right and wrong, they’ll bow down to us.”
“Really? But what if a Beggars’ Sect master shows up?”
“Keke, you fool. Would a master run something like the Beggars’ Sect? If you became a master, would you hang around with these vermin and beggars for fun…?”
“Hell no. You’re right.”
Now that I think about it, a skilled master has no reason to bother with these beggar bastards.
“Hey!”
I yelled irritably at the beggars.
“Bring me another Beggars’ Sect bastard, you sons of bitches!”
“Hieeeeek!”
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