Chapter 53: There is No Such Thing As Retreat (3)

Translator: hwarang

Editor: Klaurem

As soon as we arrived at Jae Nam, we went to finalize the contract with a man namedDo Jong.

Do Jongwas a famous carpenter who was said to be the best carpenter in Jae Nam.

I never expected that young master Ma would come here personally.

Although he had dealt with people like this his entire life, this was the first time that he was so nervous. He was nervous due to the fact that he canceled the previous agreement and Ma Jung Soo might have come for his revenge.

Do Jongsaid, It seems that there were false rumors going around. I am sorry, the construction workers are paid daily so if we dont go by the schedule

Ma Jung Soo raised his hand and said, I did not come here to hear your excuses.

Hearing Ma Jung Soos cold words,Doo Jongshut his mouth. He was nervous since he knew what kind of person Ma Jung Soo was, and on top of that there was a rumor going around. So he wasnt in the best position.

Ma Jung Soo put the bag on the counter, Here is the money for construction. I added an additional ten thousand nyang so that you can work without hitch.

We are

Doo Jongcouldnt finish his sentence since Ma Jung Soo was giving him a death stare.

So he said with a big sigh, Alright, we will do our best.

He decided that although he might have some losses elsewhere, he had to postpone them for this project. Doo Jong truly didnt want to take up this contract.

Hahaha, you made a great decision.

We should make a contract first. Please wait a little bit, Do Jong then sent someone to get a contract.

He left the place as well. It seemed that he went to the nearest bank to deposit the money.Twentythousand nyang was a pretty big sum of money since it had to cover for most of the construction fees.

Ma Jung Soo had already read the contract and signed it. He had completely different look than when he signed the contract at the Dark Guild, today he was actually smiling.

After some time, Doo Jong returned, but his face was dark.

Have you returned?

Doo Jong replied to Ma Jung Soo in a careful manner, I think there has been a mistake.

What do you mean?

The banknotes that you gave me are fake

What?

Ma Jung Soo stood up looking surprised.

I replied with a surprised expression, That is impossible!

Doo Jong looked between me and Ma Jung Soo and said, Is it something that you really dont know about?

I raised my voice and said, Do you know who he is. Do you think he would really use some fake money? And you think he is someone who is foolish enough to do something that would be found out so easily? What you are doing right now is practically not giving Heavenly Dao Gate any face.

Doo Jong was afraid that they had come here to cause a scene with the fake money because he had canceled the first contract. However, after finding out that they didnt know what was going on he said in a less nervous voice That is what I thought. Please come with me to confirm it

So we followed him.

The closest bank confirmed that the money was fake. Besides two thousand nyang the rest of the eighteen thousand nyang were all fake. The two thousand nyang was the money that I put in there since I was afraid that he might check it.

Ma Jung Soo said in an angry tone, Have you exchanged it behind our back?!

Ohh no! How could I dare? I could never do something like that. Dong Joo bowed down on the spot.

I told Ma Jung Soo, How could he have planned something like this? He didnt even know that we were coming here.

Then with his cold glare, he stared at me.

Why are you looking at me with that sort of look? Are you doubting me?

I stared back at Ma Jung Soo pridefully and shamelessly. With that Ma Jung Soos suspicion of me disappeared. He thought that my action was too proud to have done something like this since it would be discovered as soon as we got to Jae Nam.

Could those punks from the Dark Guild have swindled us?

Thats it sir.

It was going to be found out right away. Yet they dare swindle me!

It couldnt only be them. There must also be some other successor or successors who are trying to hinder your progress.

Ah! Thats it, those sons of b*tches! They are hindering me to the end!

Ma Jung Soo believed that the person who killed Si Gon was working together with the Dark Guild.

He couldnt hold back his anger and screamed, Ahhhhh!

To avoid any blame going to Doo Jong, I quickly said to Ma Jung Soo, If we dont take care of this we might be in a position where we must pay back a hundred thousand nyang without even using it.

What!?

Dont you remember sir? We signed a contract with them as well. So I think we should return immediately and count the rest of the money. Just in case, we might have to get to the bottom of it.

We quickly returned to the Yang Clan manor. We opened the vault and checked the rest of the money; however, it was all fake.

Ma Jung Soo broke another table, I cannot forgive those bastards! I will kill every single one of those bastards from the San Dong Merchants and Dark Guild live!

Of course you must!

I am going to bring everyone who is willing to help me from the Clan. I dont care about the successor test now!

The focal point of his rage was due to the thought of being disregarded and being given no face by others.

I wanted to tell him that this was karma for how he lived disregarding everyone else around him. Now it was returning to him and he was being disregarded.

Of course even if I told him, he wouldnt listen.

Bring some alcohol! Hurry!

I quickly brought a couple of bottles of alcohol.

Where is that bitch? Where did she go!

I didnt see her today sir.

Hmph! F*cking rat! She is like a f*cking ghost!

Ma Jung Soo was chugging down the alcohol from the bottle.

I was able to escape the room by telling him that I would bring some appetizers.

She was outside in the corridor. When I went out to get the alcohol I saw her outside.

Why didnt you tell him that I was outside?

Because as you can see his condition isnt too good.

She had a thankful look in her eyes.

I didnt need her thanks since she enlightened me on the way to Jae Nam, this was just a repayment for her word.

That night.

Ma Jung Soo who was drunk on alcohol went out for a walk.

The place that he was heading to was the Song Clan Manor. He lusted after Song Hwa Rin after he got drunk. Once he started thinking about her his lust for her was insatiable. Her beautiful looks wouldnt leave his head so made up his mind to do something.. He didnt care about the consequences that might follow his actions.

At this rate, it was guaranteed that he would fail the successor test. Since he couldnt be the next successor, he was either going to die or live a terrible life.

So he made up his mind to do something that he shouldnt do. Of course, he made a plan. Even if he was the descendant of the Heavenly Dao Gate, he would still be punished for harming the heir of the Song Clan.

He was going to enter her room wearing a mask. Then he was going to feed her the anesthesia that he always carried. It was made into a fine powder so that all he had to do was sprinkle some on her when she was sleeping.

He revealed the reason why he was going to do this, This b*tch! I told you I was going to make you regret your words.

His reason for doing this was because of the grudge that held when he met her on his way to Jae Nam.

B*tch! Lets see how things go after tonight!

As he hastened his pace there someone was on his path.

Who are you?

Ma Jung Soo didnt know who the other person was.

That was to be expected since I was wearing a new face-alteration mask.

I told him coldly, There are some things inKang Hothat you shouldnt have touched.

What I truly meant by this was, he should have never touched my father, Song Hwa Rin, the Kang Ho-in of San Dong as well as others who had to suffer due to Ma Jung Soo.

However he would only think of it as, There is no one who can survive after touching the money of the Dark Guild

I knew that the woman was observing us from a distance.

Son of a b*tch! As if giving us the fake bank wasnt enough! You dare to threaten me?! Hey punk you came at a great time!

Ma Jung Soos killing intent raised while he drew his sword. He was truly an expert. Regardless of being drunk, being able to show off that much ki at such a young age was truly amazing.

This showed how much resources one could get just by being in one of the five major clans. However that wasnt enough to face me.

I could have killed him quickly but since there were other eyes watching us I didnt.

Clang Clang Clang Clang Clang!

Our fight had come to a stalemate. Since I was hiding my Ashura sword art and the Brightmoon sword art, I fought him using the sword skills that were common amongst the bandits and mercenaries.

It was a technique with no extravagance, designed only to kill others.

After having exchanged around fifty blows, I determined that it was about time. I put my true speed and strength into the sword.

When the two swords exchanged blow once more

Ma Jung Soos sword pierced the empty space, but my sword pierced his chest.

Stabbbb!

Uahhhhhhh!

He opened his eyes wide and stared down at his chest. The pain was only secondary to him. He was afraid. Afraid of death. He was always the one who ordered others to their death, this was his first time being the one facing death.

whatisthis?

I twisted the blade mercilessly.

Ahhhh!

Ma Jung Soo gave another painful scream then said, It hurts! Please stop!

There were tears in his eyes. If they were tears of repentance I might have finished him painlessly, but they were tears of fear and anger.

PleaseI dont want to die like this

I wanted to say, there is no need for you to think that it is unfair. I will finish this in a decent way.

He might have wanted to say something along the lines of I was born from a concubine and lived a hard life. To survive I had to turn into a monster.

So what, not everyone will turn into a monster. It was just an excuse. An excuse for his actions and personality.

Slash!

Stab!

Slash!

Stab!

I slash and stabbed him multiple times. Although he died after my second stab I just kept stabbing him. Because this was the way of the mercenaries and bandits.

Ma Jung Soo fell down and there was a puddle of blood.

As I put the sword back into my sheath and turned around, I was able to see the women looking at us from atop a tree.

Her cold and expressionless stare.

She was truly strong. She could have even been stronger than Si Gon, but she didnt make a move. If she had the thought to, she could have intervened during my fight with Ma Jung Soo.

I stared at her coldly and warned her, If you touch us you will die.

After giving her the warning I left the premise.

She didnt follow me.

It was as I expected, she was just there to observe. But I saw that she was smiling while carrying Ma Jung Soos corpse.

I quickly went back to my room to change my clothes and put on the original face-alteration mask. It was because I had a feeling that she would visit my room before she was going to leave.

As expected, she came to see me.

Smack.

A small rock hit the window.

When I opened the window I saw her standing outside, it seems that she had put the body somewhere outside.

Was she here because she was about to leave? Or was it because of she some other motive?

She looked at me with a complicated expression.

I could have been the first person in her life that she had a proper conversation with.

She didnt say whether she was leaving nor about the death of Ma Jung Soo. Instead, she said My name is Number Seven.

This was the moment that she revealed that she was part of a secret organization.

Saying her name was not an easy thing for her.

My chest was murky and depressed, but I didnt show and emotion and replied with a smile, Its a good name.

Whether her name truly was Number Seven I would never be able to discover. My name, Kal Pyo, was fake, and this face was also fake. Although this meeting with her was ambiguous, it showed how much she had changed.

From her mouth, I could see that she was trying to say something but she couldnt. So she turned around without any farewell.

Wait.

She stopped her steps.

Why were you looking into the pond?

She turned around and told me, I heard that lotus flowers bloom inside a muddy pond. I just wanted to know if that was true.

The thing that she was looking at wasnt the fish nor the reflection on the pond but it was the lotus flower.

That is what I have heard as well.

So it truly is true.

She had a smile on her face. This was the first time that I saw her this calm and happy.

After our conversation, she disappeared into the darkness.

Would we be able to meet again?

I would never know.

Even if we wont be able to see each other again, I will always remember her name. Number Seven.

Then I looked up towards the moon.

This was when I saw Jung Yeo look at me carefully. I smiled at his direction.

Jung Bangju you have done well.

With this, the storm that Ma Jung Soo brought with him had finally ended.

However I knew that compared to the real typhoon, Ma Jung Soo was just a light shower.

I needed to be stronger.

Since I will have to face more dangerous and more vicious men in the future.