Chapter 243 : Gambling (3)
Chapter 243: Gambling (3)
Il-mok, Jin Hayeon, and Dam Bin split up into three directions as they stormed into the estate.
"Who the hell are you people?!"
The gambling operators were caught completely off guard and tried to fight back, but they were subdued in mere moments.
Every last one of them was just Second- or First-Rate at best.
Thwack!
Instead of killing them immediately, Il-mok and his group systematically incapacitated them.
The skill gap was so massive that they didn't even need to tap into their Demonic Arts.
"P-Please, spare us!"
Seeing half their buddies drop like flies, the rest threw down their weapons and begged for their lives.
"Where did you bastards come from?"
When Il-mok asked who was backing them, they hesitated, looking at each other nervously.
"Aaaaaagh!"
But after Il-mok casually crushed one of their buddies’ hands, they answered with terror-stricken faces.
"We're from the Black Island Gang!"
"Black Island Gang? Where the hell is that?"
"I-It's in Guangyuan County!"
When Il-mok heard the unfamiliar county name, he glanced at Dam Bin, who provided the answer.
"It's a county in Sichuan Province. It's located at the border where Sichuan divides into Shaanxi and Gansu."
Hearing that, Il-mok turned back to the troublemakers.
"So, who put you up to this?"
"We... we just did what the Boss told us to do!"
"Yeah! He sent us here to make some quick cash since so many people were gathering in town!"
The men answered while trembling with fear.
‘Tch. They're just small fries who don't know anything?’
Il-mok clicked his tongue and turned around to look behind him. He'd sensed someone approaching from the rear.
"Stop right there!"
The people who showed up looked familiar. It was the Fist Phoenix Hwangbo Yeon, and that group of young orthodox martial artists from the Hall of Arts.
When that Peng Ji-gwang guy from earlier tried to step forward, Hwangbo Yeon put her arm out to stop him and took the lead instead.
"I am Hwangbo Yeon of the Hwangbo Family. We came after hearing screams and shouts, but who are you to be threatening these helpless people?"
Jin Hayeon and Dam Bin both looked at Il-mok.
—Should we just kill them?
Jin Hayeon's emotionless voice came through the voice transmission, but Il-mok shook his head and stepped forward.
Something about their question struck him as odd. "Didn't the Beggars’ Gang tell you about us before you came to Pingliang?"
"You're acquainted with the Beggars’ Gang? We only heard that they've been moving around quite busily lately."
It seemed the Beggars’ Gang wasn't going around telling everyone in the Central Plains about the Maitreya Luminous Cult.
‘They said they didn't have the resources to spare while chasing the Blood Cult, but it turns out they were keeping their pursuit of the Blood Cult a secret.’
Only now did Il-mok grasp the general situation.
If word spread that they were openly hunting the Blood Cult, those bastards would just go into hiding, so they must be tracking them in secret.
But knowing that didn't help right now. It just meant Il-mok had to explain the whole situation from scratch.
"The people who lived in Pingliang County were poisoned with Butterfly Dream Grass by a villain called the Ghost Valley Master."
Hwangbo Yeon tilted her head in confusion; she’d clearly never heard of it. It was one of the people behind her who spoke.
"If you inhale the pollen, you experience hallucinations, and it's highly addictive, making it an extremely dangerous flower."
"Thank you for the explanation, Miss Zhuge."
Hwangbo Yeon thanked the woman from the Zhuge family, then looked back at Il-mok.
"So are these men subordinates of that Ghost Valley Master?"
"The Ghost Valley Master is already dead by our hands. The problem is the locals who are still addicted to the drug. That's why our Maitreya Luminous Cult is looking after them."
Il-mok indirectly expressed that Pingliang County was now Maitreya Luminous Cult territory, then pointed at the scoundrels behind him.
"And these scumbags were trying to trap those recovering addicts in a gambling ring right when they were starting to get better."
The moment Il-mok finished his explanation, Peng Ji-gwang shouted out.
"How are we supposed to believe that's true?! You could be threatening the weak and making up stories!"
He seemed to be under the delusion that he was some kind of righteous hero.
He probably thought anyone strong picking on anyone weak had to be the bad guy, no matter what.
Just as Jin Hayeon and Dam Bin were about to step forward at his rude attitude, Hwangbo Yeon spoke first.
"That's something we can verify by asking the Beggars’ Gang, Young Master Peng. There's no reason to be discourteous to these people right now."
"But..."
Peng Ji-gwang tried to argue, but Hwangbo Yeon gave him a look that shut him up instantly.
Even though they were interrupting his work, Il-mok couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
‘She's got it rough.’
Seeing how she handled that idiot, it looked like she’d been dealing with this little shit for a long time.
After shutting up Peng Ji-gwang, Hwangbo Yeon turned her head back toward the masked man.
"Now that you mention it, the seniors we saw sparring at the Hall of Arts were quite skilled. Are they also members of the Maitreya Luminous Cult?"
"Yes. We are putting on a show to inspire the people who lost their will to live because of the drug."
"That explains why such strong masters were doing all those flashy moves that wouldn't work in actual combat."
Hwangbo Yeon mutters to herself as she has finally solved a puzzle. She thought for a second, then cupped her fists to Il-mok.
"I apologize for interfering without understanding the situation."
As soon as she made it clear she was backing off, the thugs on the ground started screaming like crazy.
"M-Miss! P-Please save us!"
"W-We're innocent!"
"This is an injustice!!"
A sneer appeared on Il-mok's lips at their cries.
"Innocent?"
A heavy killing intent descended upon the estate.
"Do you motherfuckers really not know what happens to people whose families are destroyed by gambling?"
Gambling addiction didn't just end with one person losing money.
"You must have seen entire families get destroyed because one person fell for your scams. And you still do this shit even after seeing that?"
When someone gets hooked on gambling, it wrecks their whole family. Parents, siblings, spouses, children, everyone gets dragged down, but the addict still can't stop.
In a way, gambling was even more dangerous than drugs.
While the individual who gambles could be considered a sinner, those who encourage gambling and lure people into gambling dens are scum just as vile as drug dealers.
Was it because of the thick killing intent Il-mok was radiating?
The thugs who'd been shouting about injustice couldn't bring themselves to open their mouths anymore.
Il-mok shut the thugs up, then turned to look at the young warriors who were still standing there.
"Got anything else to say?"
He didn't dial back his killing intent one bit.
It was a warning that if they interfered any further, he would not let it slide.
As if responding to that terrifying killing intent, a cold wind swept through the estate, and the veil covering one woman's face fluttered in the breeze.
It wasn't for nothing that she'd covered her face with a veil. She boasted a beauty that could ruin a nation.
"Wow..."
"Gulp."
Even the scoundrels who were being crushed by Il-mok's killing intent let out exclamations of admiration or swallowed their saliva without realizing it.
Seeing their hungry stares, the woman panicked and quickly grabbed her veil to cover her face again.
"Now if we let these guys go, you're the ones who'll have to worry about what they might do."
When Il-mok, who'd been watching the whole situation with an indifferent gaze, said this, both Hwangbo Yeon and the woman whose face had been revealed flinched.
"We'll take our leave now."
Hwangbo Yeon quickly gave a martial salute and left, with the veiled woman following right behind her.
Once those two moved, the rest of their group also departed from the estate, each wearing various expressions.
Once the Orthodox kids were gone, Il-mok looked back at the thugs.
Fucking trash.
It wasn't enough that they ruined people's lives with gambling; they got distracted by a girl while standing at death's door, blowing their last chance at mercy.
***
Once they were a safe distance away from the estate, Peng Ji-gwang finally burst out with an indignant expression.
"Are we really just going back like this?!"
The guy who had been scared silent by the masked man’s killing intent was suddenly acting tough now that the danger was gone.
Hwangbo Yeon suppressed a sigh and answered.
"So, do you want us all to get killed, Young Master Peng?"
It wasn't just because of that dense killing intent she'd felt at the end.
There was a reason why Hwangbo Yeon had stopped Peng Ji-gwang and been so polite the moment they walked in.
"All three of them were masters beyond my league."
It was because she couldn't even tell how strong they were.
If she'd passed them on the street, she probably wouldn't have even noticed they were martial artists.
But there was no way normal people could take down a gang of First- and Second-Rate fighters like that.
She'd deduced that fact immediately the moment she entered the estate.
"How can an Orthodox hero turn away from injustice because they value their own life?!"
Peng Ji-gwang shouted while glancing repeatedly at Hwangbo Sehui, and Hwangbo Yeon shut him down immediately.
"We don't even know if it was actually unjust."
"Miss Hwangbo is right. Young Master Peng, since they mentioned the Beggars’ Gang, it won't be too late to act after we ask the Beggars’ Gang about the Maitreya Luminous Cult."
When even Un-baek took on Hwangbo Yeon’s side, Peng Ji-gwang ground his teeth before finally shutting his mouth.
In the somewhat awkward atmosphere, they strolled through the streets of Pingliang County. The town was alive with music and people reciting poetry everywhere.
Musicians had come from all over because of the rumors, and locals who learned at the Hall of Arts were performing on the streets too.
In the middle of this peaceful scene, Hwangbo Sehui leaned in and whispered to Hwangbo Yeon.
"I'm sorry, Big Sister."
"What for?"
"You backed down because of me."
She wasn't talking about how the veil had blown away in the wind at the end.
Hwangbo Yeon wasn't the type of person to avoid a fight just because she valued her life.
If she saw injustice, she was someone who would step forward even at the cost of her life, and she wasn't one to fear fighting strong opponents.
Had she feared those things, there'd be no reason for her to go on this martial journey in the first place. Rather, she was someone who welcomed sparring with the strong.
If Hwangbo Sehui hadn't been there, regardless of whether their words were true or not, she would have requested a match without hesitation, even more so when her opponents were masters.
Realizing her sister saw right through her, Hwangbo Yeon chuckled and patted Hwangbo Sehui’s head.
"There'll be plenty of opportunities for sparring."
Though they were biological sisters, her younger sister was so different from her.
As a fellow woman, Hwangbo Yeon could have envied that appearance, but she'd never had such thoughts. So she was actually grateful that her parents had given her a body stronger than most men's.
Those thoughts had only grown stronger thanks to her younger sister, one of the Five Flowers of the Martial World.
Her sister was so beautiful that it was practically a curse; she had been harassed by countless men since childhood.
That's why Hwangbo Sehui traveled the martial world with her face covered by a veil. Because there were far too many men who would be stirred with lustful thoughts the moment they saw her face, just like at that estate earlier.
In fact, one did not need to look far; Peng Ji-gwang, who was traveling with them now, was no different.
Having watched this happen her whole life, Hwangbo Yeon didn't envy her sister; she felt sorry for her.
Hwangbo Sehui smiled beneath her veil at her sister's touch, then murmured as if just remembering something.
"Come to think of it, that person was kind of interesting."
"Which one?"
"The masked man you were talking with."
"What was interesting about him?"
"Even after seeing my face, there was no change in his eyes at all."
"Given his level of cultivation, I'd say it's because his self-discipline is deep enough that he can control himself."
"...Do you remember that Taoist who tried to kidnap me five years ago?"
"......"
There was an incident where an old Taoist famous for his asceticism had come as a guest to the Hwangbo Family, then his eyes went crazy after seeing Hwangbo Sehui's face and he attempted to kidnap her.
At the time, Hwangbo Sehui had been only fourteen.
Realizing she’d made her sister think about something traumatic, Hwangbo Yeon cleared her throat and quickly changed the subject.
"Ahem. Anyway, this really is a peaceful town. Kind of a shame we have to leave for Sichuan tomorrow."