Chapter 38 – Training…? (15)
Pwook.
“Kkeu-geok…Kkeureureuk….”
Eonjuwon couldn’t even scream in agony as he writhed and foamed at the mouth.
“Ah.”
Realizing my mistake, I quickly drew my sword and stabbed him accurately in the solar plexus.
“Kwak….”
Eonjuwon fainted without a word.
…Was it his fault for wriggling around and getting hit in the liver instead of the solar plexus?
Anyway, it doesn’t seem to be my fault!
Well, I don’t feel sorry for him, considering what he was trying to do. It’s quite satisfying, actually.
Perhaps because Eonjuwon fainted or because the solar plexus broke, the movements of the gangsters stopped.
Hong Yeon-hwa and Paeng So-so, who were fighting the gangsters, noticed something was wrong and turned to look at us.
Then they saw Eonjuwon lying on the ground, twitching, and relaxed their fighting stance.
Hong Yeon-hwa walked over, grinning from ear to ear.
On the other hand, Paeng So-so walked over with a complicated expression.
Hong Yeon-hwa started to pat my head with her fingertips.
Is it because I usually pat her head? Sometimes I feel strange when I’m the one being patted.
“You knocked him down much faster than I expected. Well done.”
“That guy let his guard down and got hit.”
“Do you think I didn’t expect that much?”
Come to think of it, Eonjuwon said he would take on the gangsters himself instead of underestimating me.
Listening to Hong Yeon-hwa’s words, I suddenly realized what had happened during the fight.
Although the first strike was understandable, there were several moments when I was in danger.
Eonjuwon’s counterattack, which flowed through my sword, was one of them, as well as the bell that rang at the end and the subsequent counterattack.
It’s inevitable. There is a difference in talent and a difference in mastery of martial arts.
Even if two people have the same level of cultivation, there may be differences in their abilities.
However, despite all that, I was able to respond to all of his attacks.
Eonjuwon’s counterattack was twisted at a bizarre angle, but its speed and power were still formidable.
Although the sound of the bell shook my martial arts for a moment, I was able to quickly correct it.
The final blow was really dangerous, but I was able to minimize the damage somehow.
…I never thought I’d be able to beat someone from the Jinju Eon-ga clan without any difficulty.
Moreover, this victory was not based on a momentary enhancement of my martial arts like the Cheok-an Gum-gwi, but on the results of my training so far.
It suddenly hit me.
Am I getting stronger?
Feeling a little dazed, I blinked my eyes and Hong Yeon-hwa smiled at me with a compassionate smile, as if she knew everything.
“You will become strong enough to stand by my side someday. Didn’t I tell you that?”
“…Yeah, you did.”
Feeling a little embarrassed, I pinched Hong Yeon-hwa’s nose and said, “Kkeueang!” I need to finish this.
Hong Yeon-hwa staggered back with a snorting sound. It’s annoying when blood splatters everywhere.
I thought that taking off his clothes was all I had to do, and I was about to cut his throat in one go.
“Just a moment!”
Paeng So-so, who arrived late, grabbed my arm and stopped me.
“Paeng So-so? Just in case, I don’t want to leave any loose ends.”
“What? Oh, no! I was trying to say that you shouldn’t kill him recklessly, not that you should spare him.”
Isn’t that the same thing?
Above all, Eonjuwon attacked us here because he was confident that he could kill anyone and bury them quietly.
On the other hand, even if he dies, it can be easily covered up.
Paeng So-so, who listened to my story, pressed on Eonjuwon’s wound to stop the bleeding and shook her head.
“What Eun-gong said makes sense, but the problem is that Ju-won is from the Jinju Eon-ga clan.”
“Are they going to investigate until they find the missing child of a noble family?”
“That’s also true. Even if they take their hands off in prison, the family will continue their own investigation. However, Jinju Eon-ga is a little different. There are various ways to extract information from humans, right?”
According to Paeng So-so’s explanation, which knowledgeable people know, in Jinju Eon-ga, only direct descendants who can learn the Gangshi technique from a young age are marked with various special drugs and alcohol techniques, and they undergo a gold casting process.
It’s a measure to prevent the leakage of Gangshi techniques. They are really a brutal family.
“Among them, there is a plaque called Myeong-pae, which is connected to life. When you hit his neck, the Myeong-pae connected to Ju-won will break. Then Jinju Eon-ga will send an investigation team to search every road that leads from the main house to the martial arts world.”
It is said that it will not take long for the escort Gangshi to use the unique energy they have accumulated so far as a guide.
“…Then can’t we just explain the situation?”
“Even if I testify, they won’t believe it easily. They might even accuse us of killing an innocent child of the Eon-ga clan and lying.”
As I thought about it, it made sense. This is not a light problem. It goes beyond just damaging Jinju Eon-ga’s reputation; it could even cause the loss of trust in the royal family.
If I can ask quietly, I’ll find a way to ask.
Hong Yeon-hwa kicked Eonjuwon’s side with her foot, saying, “I want to fight in the arena.”
“Where did you learn that?”
It’s not a joke when a real Cheonma says something like that.
Looking embarrassed, Hong Yeon-hwa cocked her head as if she had heard an unfamiliar sound.
“Of course, it’s you. Haven’t you murmured that you want to suffocate while stealing a peek at my breasts? …But what does ‘suffocate’ mean?”
First, I put my sword away and pulled Hong Yeon-hwa towards me. Then, I tickled her neck with my index finger and cleared my throat, saying, “Uh… Let’s change the subject. I understand what Paeng So-so is worried about, but I’m worried about this guy’s temperament if we just let him go.”
Paeng So-so, who witnessed my sudden affectionate gesture, responded with a subtle expression.
“Oh, no. Don’t worry about that. I wasn’t suggesting we just let him go.”
“Then?”
“Based on Ju-won’s behavior, he has probably attacked several women and turned them into Gangshi. Even if that’s not the case, he may have already prepared something somewhere to turn us into Gangshi immediately.”
“Ah.”
The production of Gangshi is strictly controlled by the royal family. Only a few people who have agreed to it and are either volunteers or death row inmates can be turned into Gangshi.
Of course, turning us into Gangshi is a serious crime.
“We have to find out decisive information and hand it over to the authorities as evidence. That’s the cleanest way to do it.”
“…What happens if we hand him over to the authorities?”
“We have to follow the proper procedures, so it may take some time… but the death penalty is certain. He may even become a Gangshi after he dies.”
“He doesn’t seem like he’d be very useful as a Gangshi in his current state…”
Paeng So-so looked down at Eonjuwon’s severed arm with a bitter smile.
“Making Gangshi just to fight is not the point. It will probably be displayed as a specimen. It’s a rare but precedented punishment.”
I see. Eonjuwon is not the only one who has broken the rules in Jinju Eon-ga’s history.
It’s a disappointing outcome that we can’t kill him ourselves, but it’s a result that we can accept.
Hong Yeon-hwa, who heard all of this, corrected her teary expression and fell out of my arms.
“It seems like we have a plan in place. The problem is how to extract information… Would it be best to leave it to Her Highness?”
“Oh, that’s a good idea.”
Eonjuwon probably won’t just give in easily even if we ask him. Naturally, torture will likely be involved.
The problem is that I don’t know how to torture someone, and Paeng So-so, my childhood friend, may have a hard time doing it due to her personality.
In the end, the only one left is Hong Yeon-hwa.
…Honestly, I’m not entirely comfortable leaving it to her.
I don’t know what she was like in the past, but these days, Hong Yeon-hwa is living with me in a carefree manner.
While Hong Yeon-hwa herself seems indifferent, I wish she would show her usual soft expression instead of her current sharp one from my perspective.
Well, there’s no better alternative, so I’ve made up my mind to watch over the process from the side.
“No. I’ll do it.”
Paeng So-so, who seemed determined, lowered her head in a more intense atmosphere than before.
“Please let me do it. I’m begging you.”
***
“Aaaahhh!!”
Just as Eonjuwon regained consciousness from his previous faint, he fainted again. This is already the third time.
Is that the brachial plexus?
I’m watching from a distance, but he seems to be in more pain than when his arm was cut off just by poking a few fingers.
It’s a technique that lacks any sense of reality.
In the meantime, I poked Hong Yeon-hwa’s side, which was disturbed by Eonjuwon, as she resumed eating.
Hm?…
Then, Hong Yeon-hwa rolled up into a ball and half-hid the half-eaten dumpling.
No, I didn’t ask for a bite.
While wiping Hong Yeon-hwa’s back in silence to ease her tension, I suddenly felt a bit sad.
Come to think of it, it’s a bit like a waste to give me dumplings, isn’t it?
I opened my mouth, engraving the act of eating alone in front of Hong Yeon-hwa on my mental bucket list.
“How painful is it?”
Gulp.
“Well, according to the subordinates who have experienced it, it feels like the inside and outside are reversed.”
“Wow….”
For some reason, I recalled the humanoid figure I saw in my past life. It was that skinny guy whose muscles and organs were clearly visible.
I only imagined it, but it still gives me goosebumps.
I don’t know what kind of change of heart she had, but Paeng So-so wanted to interrogate Eonjuwon herself.
At first, they seemed to have had various conversations, but now she’s just pressing acupuncture points with a half-crying expression.
The only fortunate thing is that the interrogation itself seems to be going smoothly.
He keeps fainting, and I don’t know when to stop, but once the brachial plexus starts, everything just flows out.
By the time Hong Yeon-hwa had eaten all the dumplings without giving me a single bite.
“It’s over now.”
Paeng So-so, who was exhausted, said that.
