When Kwak Yeon rely stared blankly at him despite his swearing, Chwi Dugae grew awkward and scowled.
“Damn it!”
“......”
“Look here, Brother Kwak. I’m the one who started investigating this business first. To be honest, I should be the one interrogating that bastard—but I made a big concession, you know.”
“I simply ant that a bit of cool air might help you calm your anger.”
Chwi Dugae, constantly caught in Kwak Yeon’s verbal net, snapped in frustration.
“With the Hao Clan’s Council of Elders in full session out there, how could I possibly step outside? Everyone knows I’m the Rear Beggar now.”
Kwak Yeon replied:
“Then... will you entrust this to ?”
When Chwi Dugae grumbled and clamped his mouth shut, Kwak Yeon turned to Sub-Branch Leader Yang Won-gak and said:
“Go ahead. Say what you still want to say.”
After giving Chwi Dugae a quick sidelong glance, Yang Won-gak spoke.
“Daoist Kwak, if you did this out of chivalry as a disciple of the Wudang Sect... then you’ve succeeded magnificently. If you’re not planning to punish personally, then hand over to the Hao Clan. I won’t deny any of my cris.”
Kwak Yeon replied quietly:
“I’ll consider it—depending on your answer.”
“Truly?”
Yang Won-gak’s eyes glead with hope.
If he could escape the grip of this terrifying Cave Daoist and that rciless beggar, there might still be a way out.
Kwak Yeon nodded.
“Though I opened with this line, I’ve actually prepared a better offer.”
At those words, Yang Won-gak’s eyes sparkled even brighter.
“Then ask.”
“First, I want to know the martial technique used to kill Clan Leader Baek.”
At that, Yang Won-gak’s eyes flickered violently.
“...Why are you asking that?”
Kwak Yeon, watching his reaction closely, said:
“Because I’ve never heard of a martial technique that extracts True Source Qi.”
Yang Won-gak’s trembling pupils widened sharply.
“How did you...?”
“So it’s true—you extracted Baek Clan Leader’s True Source Qi that day?”
Yang Won-gak let out a strangled choke and shook his head fiercely.
“I... I can’t say any more.”
At that, Chwi Dugae, unable to restrain himself, began tapping his palm with his staff.
“Hey, Sub-Branch Leader. At this point, what is there you can’t say? It’s just a martial technique—it can’t be more secret than your life, can it?”
“That... I can’t speak of that either.”
Kwak Yeon spoke bluntly:
“Are you afraid of their retaliation?”
Yang Won-gak’s eyes bulged.
“Who the hell are you really? How do you even know they exist...?”
Kwak Yeon replied as if it were no big deal.
“Isn’t it obvious, if you think about it? That you’re the pawn of soone else.”
“Ugh...”
“You committed unforgivable cris, yes. But you did so at another’s bidding—so there might still be a chance for you. Don’t you feel wronged? Caught in their claws, thinking: Why , of all people?”
“......”
Kwak Yeon continued, his expression soft.
“The Hao Clan has agreed to treat you as dead. Honestly, what good is taking your petty life? What’s it worth?”
“I can never speak. They...”
“They must be truly fearso. So fearso that even your cunning couldn’t find a way to escape them. But still—better to live than die, isn’t it? If you fled to a remote land and started a new life, how would they find you?”
“That’s... that can’t be done.”
“Why? Did they feed you poison? The kind that needs periodic antidotes to survive?”
“It’s not poison.”
“Then how did they instill such terror in you?”
“They... they... kuh...!”
Suddenly, Yang Won-gak began clawing at his own body.
“F-fire... help ! My body’s burning—put it out, please!”
He began scratching, then tearing at his own flesh with his bare hands.
Kwak Yeon quickly seized him to prevent further self-mutilation, but Yang Won-gak thrashed like a madman.
“Gaaaaah!”
It was as if he truly were engulfed in invisible flas.
“Kgh... Gahhh!”
Screaming violently, Yang Won-gak finally bit through his own tongue.
Even as blood gushed from his mouth, he kept choking and gargling.
Kwak Yeon pressed his life point, but at last, Yang Won-gak rolled his eyes back—and fell still.
“What... in the hell was that?”
Even Kwak Yeon had no answer for Chwi Dugae’s question—he, too, was bewildered.
Chwi Dugae, inspecting Yang Won-gak’s body, muttered:
“It wasn’t poison. His blood’s red.”
Kwak Yeon began to wonder if it had been so kind of hallucinatory art.
“Could it be illusion technique?”
Chwi Dugae shook his head.
“Doesn’t seem like it. The way he bit his tongue... it ans the pain was real. Unbearable.”
“......”
“Hell. I’ve never heard or seen anything like this.”
“One thing’s beco clear.”
“Huh...?”
“There are terrifying people hiding in the martial world—plotting sothing.”
Kwak Yeon didn’t ntion that he suspected this was only the tail end of a greater evil looming over the land. He wasn’t certain yet.
Chwi Dugae nodded grimly.
“I’d have to agree. If they can control their pawns with thods this monstrous, they’re not ordinary folk.”
“......”
“But now that the trail’s been cut... it’s a problem.”
Clicking his tongue, Chwi Dugae glanced over and asked casually:
“So, Brother Kwak. Are you planning to keep tracking them down?”
“Isn’t that my duty as a man of the martial world? Why ask?”
“Well...”
Chwi Dugae deflected awkwardly.
“I was just curious about your next steps.”
“And what about you, Rear Beggar?”
“My teacher’s orders are fulfilled, so I need to head back to Gaebong to report in.”
“Then go ahead.”
“Huh? What about you...?”
“I still have matters to handle.”
At Kwak Yeon’s words, Chwi Dugae plopped down on the floor in front of the Dragon King Altar.
“Rear Beggar, why aren’t you leaving?”
“You said you still have work to do. How could I be the only one to walk away? If we started sothing together, then we finish it together. That’s the way of a man, after all.”
“If you stay, it will surely cause you trouble. So please, go now.”
“What in this world could possibly trouble a beggar like ?”
“Go.”
“I won’t!”
Anything becos unpleasant when soone tries to shove you into it. Especially for Chwi Dugae, whose nature was contrarian to the bone.
“Absolutely not! I said I’m not going!”
Kwak Yeon looked at Chwi Dugae, who was stubbornly refusing to budge, and spoke as if admitting defeat.
“Then you’ll have to follow my orders.”
In that instant, Chwi Dugae felt sothing ominous.
That strange feeling of having won, yet sohow lost!
‘Damn it!’
But there was no turning back now. He couldn’t just admit defeat and walk away—it would be too humiliating.
More than anything, his curiosity about whatever was “left” kept him from leaving.
“As long as it’s not sothing that goes against the chivalrous code.”
“Rear Beggar, I am a disciple of Wudang.”
“Who doesn’t know that? It’s just...”
Chwi Dugae glanced briefly toward the doors of the Dragon King Pavilion, then continued.
“You’re not the kind of Wudang disciple I had in mind.”
“......!”
Out beyond those doors, the courtyard of Baekyang Hermitage was littered with corpses. The escorts of the Hao Clan elders had been cleaning them up for hours.
Kwak Yeon spoke, his expression dark.
“Rear Beggar, I’m not at ease either.”
“......”
“No matter how evil they were, I still had no right to take their lives.”
“Then why...?”
“Why did I kill them so rcilessly, without even a flicker of hesitation?”
At Kwak Yeon’s counter-question, Chwi Dugae’s face turned serious.
“On the way to Gunsan Island, I tried to picture the evil those n might cause in the future. What I saw was them trampling the weak without rcy. I couldn’t bear the weight of the blood and tears those people would shed. So I hardened my heart.”
“......”
“Are you disappointed?”
Chwi Dugae shook his head.
“Not at all. If that was your heart, then I’d rather cheer for you.”
Those words were sincere. Chwi Dugae had once struggled with the sa conflict.
No—he still carried it, buried in the bottom of his chest.
“......”
When Kwak Yeon quietly stared at him, Chwi Dugae let out a low sigh and spoke.
“Still, killing is killing. People naturally despise it. They don’t bother looking at the reasons or circumstances behind it.”
“I understand.”
Seeing Kwak Yeon’s calm face, Chwi Dugae said:
“You’re not going to stop, are you?”
“Chivalrous conduct is the dying wish of my master.”
“The wish of your master, eh? Then it can’t be helped.”
Chwi Dugae nodded and continued.
“Still, the public doesn’t always see things for what they are. Especially if soone clever who hates you is out there—they’ll find a way to use that against you.”
Kwak Yeon knew exactly who that “soone” was: Shin Gijangryong, the head of the Jeong Family – First Branch.
The Jeong Family was infamous for its cunning stratagems and tenacious revenge.
Kwak Yeon saw the deep worry in Chwi Dugae’s gaze. That’s when Seokjang Mountain ca to mind.
Noticing the subtle smile forming at the corner of Kwak Yeon’s lips, Chwi Dugae asked:
“What’re you smiling about?”
“Looking at you, Rear Beggar, reminded of an old friend.”
“Bet he was a damn good-looking fellow.”
At Chwi Dugae’s jest, Kwak Yeon chuckled softly.
“He was... decent enough.”
“What? Decent?! Then why does seeing this ragged old man remind you of him?”
“That friend... was just as naggy as you. Always acting like my big brother.”
“......”
“Thank you.”
When Kwak Yeon bowed in formal salute, Chwi Dugae felt like his inner thoughts had been exposed and pierced—but he wasn’t the least bit offended.
After finishing his bow, Kwak Yeon raised his head and spoke calmly.
“Whatever the case—if anyone stands in my way, I’ll cut them down.”
Chwi Dugae could already see it.
That blood would trail behind Kwak Yeon everywhere he walked from now on.
But he no longer ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) wanted to stop him. Because this path was one he had once wished to follow.
The martial world stank of rot.
The unorthodox sects did whatever they wanted without care for ans or morals.
The orthodox sects wore masks of virtue and turned a blind eye to the atrocities committed by those beneath them.
One day, Chwi Dugae had raged at this festering world—and gotten soundly beaten by his master for it.
“You brat, trying to ruin the Thousand-Year Beggars’ Guild! Know your damn place and go chase dogs, you bastard!”
Most of the swordsn who made nas for themselves as chivalrous heroes didn’t last long.
They either suddenly gave up and disappeared into seclusion—or died horrible deaths.
Chwi Dugae knew not all of them had been killed by demonic enemies.
If this Cave Daoist ends up like that too...
He sincerely wanted to support this Cave Daoist.
He wanted to see where this man’s path led. No—he wanted to walk it with him.
Though he knew his master would never allow it.
Suddenly, Chwi Dugae thought of a way to gain permission.
If I say I’m investigating the powers behind the curtain with this Cave Daoist... even my master wouldn’t have a reason to stop , would he?
As Chwi Dugae was grinning slyly to himself—
—Creeaak...
Elder Jo Cheon-yang of the Hao Clan entered the Dragon King Pavilion, leading Gwaa with him.
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