Chapter 177
Why didn’t you know?
It could have been faith in the disciple he raised like blood, or it could have been indifference. However, the scent of blood was evident on Jang Cheon’s body as he climbed the mountain with staggering steps that day.
‘Where are you going?’
‘Ah, Master.’
The disciple’s pupils were burning red with drunkenness and something else.
‘I went to the lower village for a while.
Lately, I’ve had a drink because I’ve been feeling restless.’
‘It’s a drink. Is that all?’
‘It’s a bit too much for me to say. ha ha ha! I’m sorry to show you this.’
The poisonous musk used by gisaengs.] He poked his nose. But it was only a veil put on for camouflage.
Jeokcheongang smelled the thin scent of blood hidden under the curtain. It was the smell of death, the smell of a murderer, that had been forgotten since the Great War.
‘Giru… … Have you been to?’
‘As expected, you can’t fool Master. Yes, the Buddha’s disciple was distraught and coveted women’s sex.’
The disciple I hadn’t seen in a long time had become a completely different person.
From a blunt and smileless boy to a generous murderer who casually hides his murder.
‘But why are you out at this late night? Have you made any progress in your training?’
‘… … It’s been a while since I’ve seen your face, so I’ve been waiting.’
It is said that dozens of innocent civilians were gruesomely murdered.
He is a disciple who committed a sin worthy of wrath.
It was right to immediately cut off the muscle vein and abolish the short circuit. If he was a master, he should have been.
but.
‘okay. It’s great to see Master like this, too.’
Jeokcheongang was speechless at the sight of Jangcheon smiling. There was no anger or betrayal. Something just rose from the depths of my heart and suffocated me.
In the end, there was only one thing he could say.
‘It’s late at night. Rest now.’
Jin Tae-kyung, who was listening to Jeokcheon-gang, asked with an expression of disbelief.
“Could that be the end of it?”
“I wanted to believe in that child.”
“You already knew everything. That Jo Pil, no, Jang Cheon is lying.”
“Understand.”
“You mean you left him?”
“Yeah, even so.”
An old voice continued.
“Do you have blood relatives?”
“yes.”
“There is no old lady. Even in my earliest memories, I was alone, and he was the same.”
Jeokcheongang looked down at his hands. His dark spots and wrinkled hands were covered with years.
“My master was a strict man. His training was harsh and painful, but I liked that even when I was young. I was happy that someone thought of me and was with me. 人] Father was the only person I could rely on.”
However, the time with the master was short.
He was left alone again, and his loneliness slowly dulled over the years.
Until I met a child who was struggling to protect a dumpling in the street.
“I was the only person he could rely on. Even if the whole world pointed his finger at him, he had to trust him as much as I did.”
From a certain moment, to Jeokcheongang, Jangcheon became more than a disciple.
He was the only son and grandson.
Even though they were not related by blood, there was affection beyond flesh and blood.
“But what he did was horrific. He had to make it stop. in any way.”
Before that, I wanted to see the atrocities of the disciple with my own eyes.
The fact that the King of the Changcheon Swordsman came directly meant that he had already had all the evidence and physical evidence, but that was not enough.
“So I started secretly following her.”
After that day, Jeokcheongang followed the disciple. It was easy to avoid the attention of Jiang Chen, who had not yet crossed the climax wall.
Once, twice, ten times… … The despair I felt at first faded the more I followed.
Jiang Chen, like any other, stopped by Giru to drink and hug the woman. When she returned to the hut drunk, she returned to her uninhabited form and practiced diligently.
Everything seemed fine.
“Suddenly, I had an idea. Maybe there was some kind of mistake, maybe the Namgung family and the Changcheon sword king misunderstood the person.”
Jin Tae-gyeong said with a face filled with spirit.
“I think the enemy Daehyeop misunderstood the person.”
Jeokcheongang laughed dejectedly.
“Yes, it was. She tried to look away like an idiot.”
“So, did you check it yourself?”
Jeokcheongang drank the wine from the bottle without a word.
The reason why the ceiling looks blurry is not because the alcohol is strong, but because the memory of that day comes to mind vividly.
* * *
hook, hook, hook
A back alley in the Heungdeung district covered in thick darkness. Suppressed moaning and spurting blood.
The back of the masked man poking and prodding someone’s limbs with a sharp dagger was more familiar than anyone else, and more unfamiliar than ever.
‘… … Cheonah.’
The hand holding the dagger stiffened at the low call. The gaze of the masked man and Jeokcheongang, who slowly turned his head, collided.
The eyes of the disciple who met the master after a long time curved like half moons.
‘Ah, Master.’
‘What is Zig doing now?’
‘What are you doing? It’s great to see.’
Jiang Chun smiled and lowered his dagger. Whoop, whoop, whoop. A middle-aged man whose limbs were bound struggled in pain.
‘Stop it right now!’
‘Why should I quit?’
‘… … Ji, what did you just say?’
‘It’s been a while since I came out and there were all sorts of guys running around. The ronin who believes in third-rate martial arts and condescends, the skinny merchants, and the women who have only their bodies to sell. There is no yojigyeong like this.’
Jiang Chen smiled brightly.
‘This guy is just one of them.
What’s wrong with killing a guy like this? It’s just a two-legged beast that doesn’t mean much to live.’
The Jeokcheon River felt like a dream. The hopes he had cherished while watching his pupil for the past four months had disappeared like bubbles.
why… … Why would you do this?’
‘Because I am strong.’
Jiang Chen spoke in an excited voice.
‘The strong man, the best. Didn’t Master teach you? Moorim, no, the world is such a place. The weak are killed by the strong.’
‘Did you kill innocent people just for that reason?’
‘You’re innocent. How does Master know that?’
‘Then what great sins did those who died to you commit?’
I would rather have committed a mortal sin.
I wanted it to be the Parakho, who would commit murder with vicious merchants who sucked out their blood, rather than simple people who lived like cattle, ignorant of the world.
but… … .
‘I don’t know.’
‘”……!”..!’
‘Well, where is the person who lives without sin? They just weren’t so lucky. The same goes for this guy who just caught my eye.’
Jeokcheongang felt the distance in front of his eyes.
The disciple he loves like his own blood has already crossed the river of no return.
Those who have crossed over to the other side of the river cannot come back. I will become a blood-soaked flesh demon and live my life.
‘Cheonah.’
‘Yes, Master.’
The face of a skinny child I met on the street ten years ago overlapped with the face of a young man soaked in blood.
‘What the hell made you this way?’, ‘What do you mean by that?’
‘You, you weren’t this kind of kid.
The weak die by the strong? Have you forgotten the past you who struggled to live somehow?’
‘I haven’t forgotten. That’s why I am where I am now.’
‘no. Are you kind and sincere??
‘Master.’
Jiang Chun cut off the master’s words in a soft voice.
He is a disciple who has never interrupted or refuted his master’s words.
But now, Jiang Chun’s mouth was even blatantly ridiculed.
‘I clearly remember the day I first met Master. After starving for several days, I found a muddy dumpling while wandering the streets. I shoved it in my mouth while being trampled on by those who were in a similar situation to me.’
‘That’s right, it was to live. Why don’t you remember that you were once an underdog too!’
Jiang Chen’s lips twitched.
‘Wang Pal, Hong So-chil, So Woo-pyeong.’
‘”……!”..?’
‘Three of the 15 people who tried to take dumplings from me. Unfortunately, the rest are dead.’
The meaning of the three names that flowed from the mouth of the disciple was clear. They will no longer be people of this world. And he would have had to go through a lot of pain until the moment he stopped breathing.
‘They didn’t remember me, but I’ve never forgotten a day. That day ten years ago, I realized this while chewing dumplings with soil. this is the world The weak are trampled on, and the strong are trampled on. So I must be strong. I should enjoy the rights of the strong.’
Jeokcheongang realized when he saw Jangchun talking about the day’s resolution in a bleak voice.
‘You, you.’
‘yes. I have never changed. From the day I first met Master until now, not once.’
His white teeth were exposed in the dark. Zhang Chen was giggling.
‘It was thrilling. At first they begged to be saved, and then they cried out to be killed. When it finally becomes quiet, a corner of my heart feels empty. Even after heavy drinking at Giru and hugging the woman, she couldn’t erase the feeling.’
It can’t be a natural killing star.
The only way to fill that void is murder. Perhaps Jiang Chen will not stop killing until the last moment when his breath stops.
‘The timing was good. Just in time, Master was working hard on my training and was sitting by my side, and thanks to that, I was able to play to my heart’s content.’
Jeokcheongang wanted to block his ears. I wanted to close my ears, close my eyes, and erase the memories of today that were imprinted in my head.
My body trembled with a sense of betrayal and anger toward the disciple whom I had raised with the affection of blood and flesh.
But what made him the hardest was the love he had for his disciple that still remained.
‘Of course, it wasn’t like I was comfortable with it. was it four months ago? When he finished his work and came back, Master was waiting for him. He realized he was caught because he looked different than usual.’
‘Stop it.’
‘There’s no way that Master, who believed in me so much, would suddenly follow me, so it’s clear that someone said something… … Ah, it must be Namgung’s family.’
‘I told you to shut up!’
A mighty air wave raged. Jiang Chen widened his eyes at the teacher’s wrath, which he had never seen before.
‘Master?’
‘bloke! How can you call me master with that mouth! You still don’t realize what you’ve done!’
‘Why is that? Do you really intend to abandon your one and only disciple over something like this?’
‘Only? Did you just say that now?’
‘Master is like a father to me. I believed that Master would understand even if all people in the world cursed at my faults. Because he’s my father.’
father. It was just the words he wanted to hear so much.
Jeokcheongang gritted it.
‘Wrong.’
‘Wrong?’
Zhang Chen smiled faintly.
But why don’t you kill me right away? Even now, in the past four months, there have been countless opportunities.’
that!’
‘Am I wrong?’
Jeokcheongang was speechless. Everything that came out of Jiang Chen’s mouth was true. I tried hard to ignore the truth and tried to justify it.
Even so, I wanted to believe in my disciple.
It wasn’t long before he opened his mouth.
‘I will cut your veins.’
‘It’s muscle. And?’
‘I will abolish the electricity supply. You will spend the rest of your life repenting for your sins.”
‘Imyeonwall training until I die. Just thinking about it is terrifying.’
However, unlike the words, Jiang Chen’s face was full of laughter.
‘By the way, did the text rule in the text change while the disciple of Bulcho looked away for a moment? In this case, I understand that it is a summary decision without anything to look at.’
‘… … It is the last warmth. So, put him down and step back.’
Zhang Chen blinked as if he had forgotten something important.
In his arms, a middle-aged man whose whole body was drenched in blood was breathing heavily.
‘Ah, there was this guy.’
squeak. Aww.
Jeokcheongang looked at the fountain of blood with trembling eyes.
Without hesitation, the man who had cut the uvula in his hand shuddered and soon stopped breathing.
Is this your answer?’
It’s already too late. If I tried to save him, I’d spend the rest of my life as an idiot, but wouldn’t it be better to kill him cleanly?’
‘you… … You are no longer the child I knew.’
‘I am the child Master knew. He just got it wrong from the start.’
‘It’s over. Your evil deeds are still up to this day. ‘Are you really going to make me a crippled person and make me practice face-to-face for the rest of my life?’
The disciple’s face radiated with subtle fear. Jeok Chun-gang clenched his fists so that the blood oozes out. One accord, one accord, can erase Changchun from this world.
But I know you won’t be able to do that yourself.
The best thing he could do was to sever his pupil’s veins, abolish martial arts, and imprison him.
‘Do you regret it?’
‘You mean regret?’
okay. regret.’
Nothing would change, but I wanted to hear it from his mouth.
But the next moment, the fear disappeared from Jiang Chun’s face.
‘I was relieved.’
‘what?’
‘I didn’t see or hear, but I knew you’d been watching me for the past four months. Still, why did I do this in front of Master’s eyes?’
Jangchun’s face was reflected in Jeokcheongang’s eyes that were bewildered. He spoke with a relaxed expression.
‘Master, you can’t kill me. Even if you kill hundreds, if not dozens. Before leaving, I wanted to check it one last time.’
‘Before you leave. what is that?’
‘There are fathers who blame their children for their faults, but there are no fathers who kill their children with their own hands.’
‘”……!”..!’
‘Thank you, Master. Thank you for raising me as a child, not as a disciple. Thank you for trying to save this child until the end. Thanks to that, the only road to life has been opened.’
To Jeokcheongang, who had frozen as if his breath had stopped, Jangcheon bowed deeply with sincerity.
And when he looked up again, a small white porcelain bottle was bitten on his lips.
‘It’s bone powder.’
It is a deadly poison that melts away ash, flesh and bones.
No matter how small the amount, if it breaks in your mouth, it cannot be saved even if Daera Sinseon comes.
Jeokcheongang burst into a roar.
Jangcheon! Yes, man!’
The verse I just gave was… … This is my last greeting. I will go this way I will go away and never return.’
‘Are you sure they’ll let you go like this!’
‘Then kill me. That’s the only way.’
‘”……!”..!’
‘Kill it.’
kill it Those were the disciple’s last words.
Jeokcheongang blinked his eyes. I thought the ceiling was hazy from earlier, but something was running down my cheeks.
“The inn is old. It rains.”
It was a winter night before the day of fabrication.
