Dropped into Murim with an Instant-Kill Skill - Chapter 148

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 148: The Rear Waves of the Yangtze Push the Front Waves (22)

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"This is... truly a magnificent sight."

Won Huiseung's voice trembled.

The people filling the shore of Dongting Lake.

The cups of liquor in their hands.

Yeon Sowol's back as he faced them.

Before a moment most people would never witness in their lives, one they could never have imagined possible, Won Huiseung asked Yeon Sowol,

"Once we get off the boat, there'll be another uproar. Shouldn't you prepare something to say? Everyone will be waiting for a word from you."

Yeon Sowol glanced back at Won Huiseung.

"I do... have something to say."

He suddenly went down into the cabin, then returned carrying a whip.

'A whip?'

Won Huiseung looked puzzled by the out-of-place weapon. Yeon Sowol said,

"It may not suit the mood. Still, there's something I need to do right now."

Countless people were watching him.

Now, as he brought back the severed head of Yi Geuk, the Dragon King Stronghold Leader, who had openly admitted to colluding with Yang Hoeam.

This had to be done now.

As Yeon Sowol steeled himself for something he could never have imagined doing while living in twenty-first-century South Korea, his eyes turned cold.

* * *

When Yeon Sowol stepped off the boat, others stepped down with him.

They were ordinary, frail people.

They looked around as if frightened.

They limped as if in pain.

They were people captured by water raiders and made to suffer terribly, most of them from fishing villages outside the city walls.

"Good heavens."

"How much must they have suffered..."

"How could those water raiders..."

"Good riddance! Those vermin water raiders!"

The people of Yuezhou clutched their chests and shed tears.

The tragedy had been unfolding right beside them. They felt guilty for not knowing, and that made their hearts ache all the more.

Then Yeon Sowol stepped off the boat.

A whip rested in his hand.

'A whip?'

'It even has iron strips at the end. What a vicious-looking whip.'

'What does he intend to use that for?'

The heated excitement from moments ago suddenly cooled.

Cold tension took its place.

Yeon Sowol flicked his wrist through the air.

The long whip tore through the air with a thunderous crack.

Crack!

It was terrifying.

The crowd, which had been buzzing with fervor only moments ago, froze solid. Everyone swallowed hard and darted their eyes about.

Yeon Sowol paid no attention to their wavering gazes.

He calmly turned around.

Looking at Yi Geuk's head hanging from the prow, he spoke loudly.

"Yi Geuk. This man stole the lives and property of the people in the fishing villages."

Yeon Sowol swung the whip.

Crack!

Yi Geuk's nose and cheek tore away.

Blood dripped onto the prow.

Yeon Sowol watched without expression and spoke again.

"Yi Geuk. This man abducted innocent people and treated them cruelly."

Crack!

The long whip wrapped around with a sharp snap, then fell away. Yi Geuk's jaw flew off, and blood streamed down.

Yeon Sowol quietly watched Yi Geuk's head, now half reduced to pulp.

Then he spoke in a voice dripping with frost.

"Yi Geuk. This man was involved in the death of my close friend, Moyong Ha."

Creak!

Leather tore beneath Yeon Sowol's grip on the whip handle.

"Thus, I punish him."

The whip flew through the air.

The rough, sharp tip of leather and metal coiled around Yi Geuk's head and tore across it. Unable to withstand the pressure and friction, the head burst apart.

Boom!

Only an empty red rope remained on the prow, swaying with a creak, creak.

"..."

The entire area around Dongting Lake fell silent.

No one could even make the sound of swallowing, as if their breath had caught in their throats.

Yeon Sowol liked this silence.

'Ha, I'm a little late, aren't I? Now, at last... it begins.'

The world had gone on as though nothing was wrong after Moyong Ha died.

Eyes had passed meaninglessly over Dongting Lake, where Moyong Ha had died.

The streets had never been quiet for even a moment.

At last, all of it had fallen silent.

The gazes stopped. The noise settled.

Among all these people, Yeon Sowol finally felt as though he had given Moyong Ha a proper memorial.

Slosh, slosh.

Only the soft sound of Dongting Lake's waves could be heard.

"You truly did it."

Someone approached, alone breaking the silence.

Yang Hoeam sat high atop a four-man palanquin.

He looked down at Yeon Sowol, and Yeon Sowol looked up at him.

"Provincial Governor."

"...Speak."

"Can you hear the sound of these waves?"

"I can."

"To me, they sound like the cries of wronged spirits."

"..."

"Those rescued today are only a small fraction. Before I arrived, countless others had already died at the hands of the water raiders. To me, these waves sound like the screams of those spirits."

"...It is my failure."

"I will soothe those wronged spirits."

Yeon Sowol spoke.

He looked Yang Hoeam directly in the eye, stressing every word.

"..."

"If anyone has colluded with these rebels in even the slightest degree, I will pursue them to the end and punish them."

The tip of Yeon Sowol's whip trembled faintly.

As if it might lash out at Yang Hoeam's head at any moment.

Yet Yang Hoeam's expression did not move in the slightest.

His hair and beard were white, but he only nodded with dignity.

"How reassuring. You put down the water raiders in a single day. What greater feats will you accomplish next? Since you kept your word, I will gladly reward you. You may look forward to it. As for those you rescued, I will return them to their homes. I will personally care for the children who have lost their parents, as well as those with nowhere to return to. You need not worry about that."

At those words, the people who had stood silent as if something weighed upon them began to speak, one after another.

A murmur spread.

"The provincial governor will care for them himself?"

"Ah! Then they'll be going there. To Wuling Island."

"Wuling Island? What is that? Not the Wuling Peach Blossom Spring, but Wuling Island?"

"What? You don't know? Was it already five years ago? The provincial governor gathered up orphans who had nowhere to go."

"Ah, I know about that. That did happen."

"The place where those orphans live is Wuling Island."

"Mm? Orphans live in a paradise? Can that be true?"

"I heard the provincial governor made it beautiful. Flowers bloom in every season, and fragrant food is served at every hour. They say the children forget the sorrow of losing their parents and live happily there."

"Good heavens. Is that true?"

"Of course it is. There are people who row supplies over to the island, and they saw it with their own eyes. His praises are sung everywhere."

"Good heavens."

The murmurs swelled.

Every voice was full of awe and respect.

The attention focused on Yeon Sowol began shifting to Yang Hoeam.

Soon, it became cheers.

"Waahhh!"

Respect and gratitude for Yang Hoeam, the provincial governor of Yuezhou, who had cared for them with benevolent rule for many years. At least, they believed he had.

And admiration for the young hero who had helped such a man.

Despite Yeon Sowol's overwhelming achievements, Yang Hoeam still occupied the deepest place in the people's hearts, as though it were only natural.

A few words from Yang Hoeam were enough to shift the central figure of this gathering from Yeon Sowol to Yang Hoeam.

'Does this land belong to Yang Hoeam after all?'

Yeon Sowol swallowed the bitter bile rising in his throat and looked up at Yang Hoeam.

It was no longer only Moyong Ha's records.

The circumstantial evidence Gaseopmyeong had uncovered all pointed to Yang Hoeam as well.

Even Yi Geuk and the fallen Daoist had openly declared that they stood on Yang Hoeam's side.

Yes.

Yang Hoeam had conspired with followers of the Demonic Path.

Behind the scenes, he commanded water raiders and gathered horrifying materials for followers of the Demonic Path.

This was no longer vague suspicion, but certainty backed by evidence.

Yeon Sowol was only waiting for the chance to show it all to everyone.

'Soon, I'll rip that disgusting mask off you.'

Just then, Yang Hoeam looked down at Yeon Sowol again.

His gaze was impassive and cold, utterly unlike the heated enthusiasm of Yuezhou's cheering people.

* * *

Wuling Island.

It had originally been one of the many uninhabited islands scattered across Dongting Lake.

Around five years ago, Yang Hoeam, the provincial governor of Yuezhou, spent his own money to turn it into a paradise.

First, Yang Hoeam built a grand manor and gathered every orphan in Yuezhou, moving them there.

Then he brought in widows to prepare the children's meals and make their clothes.

The widowers hauled carts, chopped wood, and took on other physically demanding work.

Elderly people with no children cared for and taught the young orphans.

Widowers, widows, orphans, and elderly people living alone.

They were the very people Mencius had named as those who should be helped before all others under heaven.

The Four Destitute Classes.

Four kinds of people with no one to care for them when they were sick, no one to listen when they were wronged, and no one to rely on in their hardship.

Yang Hoeam had sought to gather them all and create a paradise.

He chose an uninhabited island in Dongting Lake with clear water and beautiful scenery. He built a large, lovely manor, made sure they lacked neither food nor clothing, and told them to live there in comfort and happiness while caring for one another.

"Ah! I said stop!"

"Heheh!"

"Get back here!"

"Heehee!"

"Children! You'll fall! Run carefully!"

"Yes!"

Children's laughter could always be heard here.

Children who put their whole bodies into every word and chirped like baby birds.

Children who shook their shoulders and bellies as they laughed.

After meeting Yeon Sowol by Dongting Lake, Yang Hoeam naturally came here to Wuling Island.

"Hello, Grandpa Provincial Governor!"

"So-a! You'll get scolded! Is that any way to speak to His Excellency?"

"Hehe. Hello, Provincial Governor!"

"Yes."

Yang Hoeam habitually stroked the child's head as he passed.

Wherever he walked, the people of Wuling Island bowed deeply in greeting.

"Greetings, Provincial Governor."

The widower chopping firewood did so.

"Oh, Provincial Governor. Good morning."

So did the elderly person sitting on the porch and playing with the children.

The children chirped as they flocked around him, while the widows following behind them also greeted Yang Hoeam.

Yang Hoeam accepted every greeting and entered his private inner quarters, a place the residents of Wuling Island could not enter.

"You have arrived."

The moment he ascended the pavilion, a voice spoke.

It belonged to the insolent one who never revealed their form, approaching only through their voice.

Yang Hoeam had not even burned a stick of incense yet.

"Tch."

Ignoring the greeting, Yang Hoeam first walked to the incense burner.

The voice came again.

"I heard Yeon Sowol put down the water raiders. We can no longer use them. What a shame. They were quite useful pieces."

"Hoo."

Yang Hoeam opened the fire tube and blew into it.

The ember sleeping inside the bamboo cylinder glowed red, and flames sprang up in an instant.

He lit a slender twig with the flame, then held it to the incense powder packed within the burner.

"Hm."

A thin white thread of smoke rose without a sound.

It was a deep, clear fragrance.

It washed away the clamor from the shore of Dongting Lake.

Then the voice spoke again.

"What happens now? From Yeon Sowol's expression earlier, he seemed to openly suspect the provincial governor. Doesn't that put us in danger? The crowd's support for Yeon Sowol appears to have grown even stronger."

Yang Hoeam closed his eyes and answered.

"We will take a direct approach."

"By a direct approach, you mean..."

"Yeon Sowol has only just begun following my trail. I have prepared for this for over three years. He cannot stand against us through a direct approach."

"Oh? Have you made preparations I do not know about?"

"All we need to do is hold out until Mid-Autumn Festival. I will summon all my military officers and soldiers and have them defend the area around Dongting Lake like an iron wall."

"...But they must not see our ritual."

"I will add a formation array. If the formation array used by the government is combined with the one your people use, its effects will be formidable. I planted stones and trees around Dongting Lake long ago to establish the framework of the formation array for a day like this. I have also prepared ample precious materials that will leave you speechless."

"Oh. That does sound worth looking forward to."

"I will even call upon my old connections."

"By old connections, do you mean martial artists like Black Spear Jin Hyeogo?"

"Yes. With defenses like that, no matter what Yeon Sowol tries, he won't be able to interfere with us on Mid-Autumn Festival."

"As expected... Then I will trust only the provincial governor."

"What can you do if you don't trust me?"

"Hehe. That's true as well."

The voice fell silent.

Yang Hoeam closed his eyes as well.

White smoke from the incense burner softly curled through the wide pavilion.

Of every place on Wuling Island, this was the only one Yang Hoeam truly liked.

* * *

"I understand now why you said that then. You said the provincial governor would not be pleased even if the water raiders were put down."

Gaseopmyeong's expression had changed.

He looked grave and gloomy.

Spreading several documents across the table, he explained,

"This is evidence gathered with the help of my associates. They all agreed that Yuezhou's highest-ranking official has been colluding with the water raiders."

He looked Yeon Sowol directly in the eye.

"And I believe that official is Yang Hoeam, the provincial governor of Yuezhou. Am I right?"

Yeon Sowol nodded.

"Yes. You are."

It was not a guess, but certainty.

Gaseopmyeong sighed.

"How could this be... These documents reveal what he intended to accomplish through the water raiders. My associates believe a high official colluded with them for personal gain and illicit wealth, but..."

Gaseopmyeong tapped several parts of the documents.

"From what I can see, these entries are goods meant to be used in a kind of ritual."

"A ritual..."

"Yes. These are supplies on the scale needed even for a grand rite overseen by the state. It appears he also abducted people to secretly carry out such a ritual. A great ceremony requires an enormous amount of labor."

Having said that much, Gaseopmyeong sighed again.

His brows furrowed.

"I don't understand. I have visited Wuling Island, which the provincial governor built. The people there truly lived happily. Hundreds of orphans who had lost their parents were growing up there with dignity."

The more he spoke, the deeper his frown grew.

He bit his lip as well.

"How could such a benevolent man do something like this..."

Wuling Island.

Yeon Sowol had only just heard the name himself.

Those in the know often mentioned it when speaking of Yang Hoeam's accomplishments, calling it a genuine tale of his benevolence.

But Yeon Sowol had thought of something the instant he heard its name.

Wuling Island.

'There are children there?'

Young children cut off from the outside world, fed and clothed as Yang Hoeam wished, growing up as he wanted them to?

"About Wuling Island."

Yeon Sowol spoke darkly, as if someone were tightening a hand around his throat.