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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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“Is it… over?”
Seon-go asked while curled up. I checked the leader’s figure over my shoulder. His ears, nostrils, eye sockets. Blood was pouring out from all visible holes on his face, and his arms and legs were convulsing like a gas station advertisement doll. His eyes were not only rolled back, but were bulging out, resembling a baked fish, and blood had soaked his pants.
Even if he had been an expert at the peak of his cultivation, it was impossible for him to revive after being in this state.
I carried Seon-go and moved to the side for a moment. Seon-go, who was in my arms, asked with a bewildered expression,
“Wh, where are we going? Do-cheol?”
“Just in case, I’m going to cut off his head.”
There was no chance of him reviving, but still, what if? I grabbed the *quan* that he had used and turned back toward the body. I couldn’t feel a single trace of energy from him anymore, and the lump of meat that was making me even doubt whether he was still alive, would let out a bloody foam intermittently, creating a grotesque scent.
I grabbed his hair and lifted his head, and then said to Seon-go,
“Turn around if you can’t stand the sight of it.”
“Oh my, you’re done already.”
Sanyeo’s voice echoed from behind as soon as I said those words. I reflexively turned around and saw that Sanyeo was leaning against the door with her fingers dyed red as if she had been making kimchi. Because she looked relaxed, it seemed like she had already taken care of the threats outside.
I said to her while looking at her,
“Ah, you’re late. If you had come a little faster, you could have seen a good show.”
But Sanyeo had a strange expression. Instead of looking impressed or shocked after seeing that I had killed the leader, she was looking back and forth between the leader’s body and me with a disgusted expression. Why was such a cruel woman, who had probably seen corpses countless times, reacting like that? I shook the *quan* in my hand and said,
“What? What are you looking at like that?”
Then, Sanyeo stared at my lower body and said,
“…..You didn’t do what I think you did, right? You said you killed him in an interesting way, that… you didn’t…. Right?”
I followed Sanyeo’s gaze and looked at my lower body. My penis, which had not calmed down yet after I had removed my pants, and was still erect.
The leader’s face was covered with semen, and his butt was covered in blood.
What was Sanyeo thinking right now?
I firmly shook my head and said,
“….No.”
Seon-go nodded after hearing my explanation and said,
“Th…. I don’t know what kind of misunderstanding you have, but Do-cheol didn’t do anything strange. He just came on that guy’s face and that’s…”
Sanyeo’s face became even more sullen.
I moved my hand towards Seon-go and said,
“Seon-go. Be quiet for a second. It’s causing a deeper misunderstanding.”
It took more time than expected to resolve the misunderstanding.
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“Oh my god, what is this?”
“No, how could this happen?”
“Is, isn’t that the head of the leader? Oh my god! That damned leader finally got what he deserved!”
“Is this the government’s doing?”
The next morning, the heads of those who had been sucking the life out of the village until now were hanging in front of the Hongryun Sect. The leader and his confidant, along with those who had gathered and tormented the villagers with him.
The heads that had been neatly displayed were enough to cause screams from those who were coming out to work at dawn, and made the thugs who were working at the Hongryun Inn and Ja-yeong widen their eyes in shock.
I was holding an ax, whose edge was still sharp, and I kicked open the doors of the Hongryun Sect and shouted,
“Everyone, listen up!”
Behind me, the servants of the Hongryun Sect were carrying a chair like a palanquin for Seon-go. Seon-go was sitting awkwardly on top of it, fidgeting with her hands and examining the mood. The people showed various reactions after seeing me, and the people living near the inn seemed to recognize me.
“Isn’t that the man who was living at the inn?”
“Why is that guy kicking open the Hongryun Sect’s doors?”
“Isn’t that the daughter of the Hongryun Sect behind him?”
I looked over the crowd once, and then raised my ax. An external member of the Hongryun Sect, who hadn’t yet grasped the situation, shouted with his sleeves rolled up,
“Hey! You! What do you think you’re doing! Huh? What is happening here…!”
There was no time for a conversation. I twisted the edge of my ax and precisely plunged it into his head because he was about to throw a fist at me without a word.
Crack!
“Aaaaaaaaaaaack!”
“Oh my god! Someone has been killed!”
The other disciples and the villagers screamed or began to tremble as the head of a Hongryun Sect’s disciple was split in half in front of their eyes. I shook off the blood from my ax and said,
“Quiet! Everyone, listen up!”
I hit the pillars with the blunt end of the ax and shouted for their attention again, and this time, everyone shut their mouths, as if they had been waiting. As expected, seeing blood was effective in quieting them down.
“I am Do-cheol. I came to this village a little while ago, and I heard that the evil man living in this village, that leader of the Hongryun Sect, had done horrible things.”
I pointed towards the leader’s head with my ax.
“So, I have passed judgment for all of you on that leader bastard.”
The leader’s face was swollen and bloody, as if he had suffered some gruesome torture, and if you were to look at it from afar, it looked like a red lump of meat.
“Oh my god, he’s right! That bastard truly deserved to die!”
“Oh my god! That leader bastard has received a divine punishment! I’m so relieved!”
The villagers were cheering at those words, and at the same time they began to boo at the leader’s face. His swollen face, swaying in the wind, was expressionless.
“Y-you traitors! The leader had been protecting the village, and you betray him like this!”
“Master Gold Fortune will not forgive you!”
A few of the younger Hongryun Sect’s disciples screamed vulgarities.
I just listened to their vulgarities with one ear and let it go out the other. It was the leader of the Hongryun Sect and the martial arts of its core members that had been frightening to these people, and it was not the uniforms of the Hongryun Sect.
Those youngsters who were now only wearing black uniforms.
Thud!
“Keuk…!”
Clang!
“Aaaaaaaaaack!”
“What do you mean that leader bastard protected us!”
“They were just trash who filled their bellies by collecting absurd protection fees! Why are such bastards acting as if they were great and saying something about betrayal!”
“You think we bowed down because we were afraid of you! Die, you bastard!”
“Uaaaack!”
“Aaaack!”
They were nothing more than targets for the anger of the villagers. I watched as they were being slaughtered miserably, and Seon-go fidgeted with a flustered expression. She stared blankly at me and then tried to act as if it was nothing, worried that that anger might be directed at her.
I shouted to the villagers who were in a frenzy,
“Hey, that’s enough! I still have more to announce!”
The villagers were still breathing roughly, but they dispersed into a somewhat calm state. The disciples who had been beaten up by the villagers who had gathered were now reduced to bloody rags.
“Keuheok…!”
“Keuheok…!”
They might be able to survive if they found a doctor, but they wouldn’t live long, seeing that their bones were broken and their muscles torn.
I looked away from them and said,
“And, I am going to marry this leader’s daughter, Seon-go, and I am declaring that I am officially the new leader of the Hongryun Sect.”
The villagers seemed a little bewildered at my words. They were looking at each other and were stealthily moving away.
Even though the members of the Hongryun Sect were being trampled on the floor, they screamed at the top of their lungs.
“D-don’t talk nonsense! N-no one would allow such a…! Keuheok…!”
“A, a bag of bones who has no background…! Is…! *Cough*!”
Of course, they coughed up blood and died while screaming, or their wounds would start to bleed.
I said while caressing my ax,
“So, as the new leader of the Hongryun Sect, I’ve had a little talk with our lady Seon-go.”
The villagers’ eyes were now all on us. Their expressions were desperate while also holding a faint expectation.
“First, since we need to run the sect, we will collect taxes. The Hongryun Sect was also authorized by the government, and.”
“Oh my god….”
“Of course…”
The villagers let out groans openly. There were people who were grumbling and already losing their expectation, turning away to leave. I made eye contact with Seon-go, gave her a bright smile, and then opened my mouth.
“But, since there are no disciples nor robbers anymore, the current taxes are too high.”
Even when there were disciples and robbers, the taxes were too high. According to Seon-go’s calculation, even if we reduced the taxes to less than half the original amount, it would be enough for us to maintain the sect, pay our taxes, and live comfortably.
“Therefore, we will reduce the taxes by half.”
“Waaaaaaaaaah!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“Uaaaaaaaaaaah!”
Before I could even finish speaking, everyone started shouting as if they had been waiting. I spread my arms like a cult leader and responded to the people who were shouting, and they shouted at me while looking at me,
“Hurray for the new leader of the Hongryun Sect!”
“Hurray for the new leader of the Hongryun Sect!”
“Hurray for the new leader of the Hongryun Sect!”
I waved to the people who were in a frenzy, while responding with a smile.
Sanyeo could be seen past the crowd.
She was smiling, but she was asking me a question with her eyes.
Are you satisfied with this?
Of course.
“Not yet.”
There were too few people cheering.
Their voices were too small.
“I need to receive cheers from even more people.”
I was still lacking.
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