WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Oblivious
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◈ Murim in my Hometown ◈
Chapter 64: Traitor
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It should be about time he came...
Won Seogang pressed himself close to the back door of Mad-Breaking Hall, waiting for his chance.
Even if Bok Hagyu had run to the burning Five-Phoenix Hall, he would eventually come here.
It would be even better if the Mad-Breaking Squad Leader led his subordinates out to attack Bok Hagyu.
No matter how things turned out, once only a minimum number of people remained in Mad-Breaking Hall, he would rush in and catch Ban Hoyang.
If he delayed even a little, that bastard Ban Hoyang would run for his life again.
That rotten traitorous bastard. I won't let him get away a second time...
Won Seogang clenched his fist and sharpened his senses.
A moment later, the commotion he had been waiting for erupted at the front of the hall.
“Bok Hagyu! You bastard! Die!”
The battle between the two sides began with Im Jageon's furious roar.
The clashing of blades. Screams, shouts, curses filled with rage. Dull impacts...
Won Seogang silently took his place before the back door. After exchanging signals with Hwang Gangju, he kicked the door in.
Chaos filled Mad-Breaking Hall. Still, it was not so chaotic that no one heard the door being torn from its hinges.
“Who are you? Urgh!”
He cut down the Black Path man who spoke and pushed farther inside, only to stop. Three Black Path men drew their swords and blocked his way.
“Move. Unless you want to die.”
Won Seogang raised his bloodstained sword threateningly.
The Black Path men did not budge.
Their comrade had been killed before their eyes, yet they neither ran nor retreated. They were that well trained.
Even the Squad Leaders had fairly decent martial skill for a backwater gang.
It had been wise not to cross the Black Night Gang's walls alone, but to gather people and wait for an opportunity.
“Kill him!”
The Black Path men charged with their swords raised.
“Hero Hwang. Let's begin.”
“Very well!”
Hwang Gangju stepped forward and swung his Broadsword in a wide arc.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
“Urgh!”
“Don't fall back! Surround them!”
Won Seogang lowered his sword and rushed down the corridor on the other side.
While Hwang Gangju dealt with the small fry, he would find Ban Hoyang. They had agreed on that from the beginning.
Where is that bastard hiding...
He did not know the layout of the hall, so he had no choice but to search every room.
He opened and checked the rooms lining both sides of the corridor one by one. Black Path men hiding inside slashed at him without warning.
Since he had been prepared, he immediately deflected their attacks and stabbed them through the throat.
After reaching the end of the corridor and returning, the three Black Path men had already become corpses sprawled across the floor.
Having performed better than expected, Hwang Gangju was searching through the dead men's money pouches.
When their eyes met, Hwang Gangju wore an awkward expression and began making excuses.
“I'll distribute this to people harmed by the Black Path, or those whose livelihoods are in danger.”
“...As expected of Hero Hwang.”
There was no need to ask or answer anything more.
Killing and taking was something every martial artist did. Hoyeongeom was probably doing something similar at Five-Phoenix Hall.
For someone who was no longer new to the martial world, Hwang Gangju seemed stranger for feeling embarrassed about it.
Won Seogang remembered the first time he had met Hwang Gangju.
He had sought him out after hearing he had a decent reputation as a chivalrous hero, only to find him tending to his family in despair inside a shabby hut.
His family looked terrible. Hwang Gangju himself appeared half crippled.
Won Seogang had been at a loss over how to persuade him.
Hwang Gangju had shown no interest whatsoever when he mentioned a Chivalrous deed that involved punishing Black Path men.
Instead, he had looked at him with resentment and disillusionment in his eyes, which had caught him off guard.
Only when Won Seogang put down ten taels of silver as an advance did Hwang Gangju's expression change. His face looked far brighter now than it had then.
“I'll go upstairs. Hero Hwang, please join the attack.”
“Understood.”
Without complaint, Hwang Gangju took up his Broadsword and headed for the first-floor front entrance. Watching his back, Won Seogang felt regret.
He would certainly be useful if we moved together...
But it was too dangerous. It would be troublesome if Hwang Gangju overheard the conversation between him and Ban Hoyang.
Won Seogang cast aside his lingering feelings and ran up the stairs as though flying.
“W-What is this?”
A few Black Path men who had been holed up somewhere while chaos raged outside and were only now starting to crawl out drew their swords.
Without stopping, Won Seogang drove his sword into their legs and torsos at random as he rounded the landing.
Before the dazzling, snake-like path of his sword, the Black Path men helplessly sprayed blood and collapsed onto the stairs.
There were only a few rooms on the second floor. He searched them quickly and climbed to the third floor. Ban Hoyang was nowhere to be found. His heart grew anxious.
By the time he passed the fourth floor and reached the final fifth floor, his anxiety had reached its peak.
Has he already escaped...?
Ban Hoyang was not even a Black Night Gang member, merely a guest retainer eating their food. Naturally, he would flee after seeing that something had gone wrong.
The thought that he might lose him again brought a dizzying wave of despair over him.
Won Seogang took a deep breath. Filled with boiling resentment and rage, he let out a scream like a cry of anguish.
“Ban Hoyang!!!”
The three syllables of the name that had seared itself into his bones rang through the empty corridor.
A door halfway down the corridor suddenly swung open.
A middle-aged man with a sword at his waist came out, recognized Won Seogang, and froze in horror. His drooping eyes and plump cheeks trembled violently.
“There you are?”
Won Seogang shuddered with surging joy and smiled brightly.
Ban Hoyang, his face drained of color, bolted toward the other end of the corridor.
“I won't let you get away this time!”
Won Seogang swiftly gave chase. The distance between him and Ban Hoyang rapidly narrowed. There were no more Black Path men to block his way.
At the end of the corridor, Ban Hoyang opened a window and jumped out without hesitation.
Caught off guard by his unexpected boldness, Won Seogang's eyes widened.
A fall from the fifth floor to the ground could not leave anyone unharmed. Breaking one or two bones was fine. But he could not allow Ban Hoyang to crack his skull and die instantly.
He hurriedly gripped the windowsill and looked outside.
Ban Hoyang had not fallen to the ground. He was running across the roof of a storage building attached to the hall.
The drop to the roof was only about one jang.
Won Seogang felt relieved. Yes, that bastard could not die so easily. He sheathed his sword, stepped onto the windowsill, and leaped out without delay.
Thud!!
Bending his knees to absorb the impact, he landed safely on the roof.
The tiles beneath his feet shattered noisily under his weight.
Ban Hoyang must have heard it, yet he did not look back. Knowing he would be caught if he stopped, he ran desperately.
Won Seogang kicked off the roof and chased after him.
The traitor's life was only permitted until tonight.
I'll catch him. I will kill him.
* * *
Hwang Gangju patted one side of his bulging chest. The unfamiliar sensation stirred all kinds of emotions within him.
Every time he searched through a Black Path man's money pouch, he found at least one silver piece and one bank draft.
“Bad men live better than anyone else...”
It could not have been money honestly earned through sweat. It was the blood and tears squeezed from decent people through rent, security fees, and protection money.
Holding it against his chest made him feel as if those men had paid him protection money. He felt unpleasant and uneasy, as though he had become one of them.
Hwang Gangju shook his head hard, casting aside those pointless thoughts.
This was not simply money.
It was medicine money for his son. It was food for his wife and family. It was money for the bedding his family would sleep under this winter.
And for those wronged by the Black Path, for orphans and the elderly... it was a meal for people struggling through each day, and a bundle of firewood to warm frozen bodies.
When he had strutted around as a supposed chivalrous hero, intoxicated by people's praise and admiring looks, he had not realized it.
Knocking down villains in impressive fashion was not the only form of chivalry.
When his family lost their beloved home and were driven into a hut fit only for beasts, Hwang Gangju decided to cast aside his hollow reputation.
Looking back, he had often been swayed by sweet words of praise and used for free as a problem solver or sword-for-hire.
No matter how he thought about it, that was not the life of a chivalrous hero.
Things would be different from now on.
That did not mean he had abandoned the heart of a chivalrous hero.
He would care for his family, help those in need, and use his blade carefully when truly necessary. His family came first.
Outside the hall, Bok Hagyu and Im Jageon were locked in a fierce clash.
Their subordinates were also brutally slashing at one another, killing and being killed.
The Squad Leaders were evenly matched, but Im Jageon's subordinates held the advantage.
Most of the Black Path men struck down or forced back belonged to Bok Hagyu. Now was the best time to join the attack.
Hwang Gangju lowered his body and stealthily stepped outside the hall.
The moonlight was bright, but everyone was fighting frantically, so no one noticed him.
He easily slipped behind the Black Path men of Mad-Breaking Hall.
Just as he was about to attack from behind, the thought that it was cowardly made him instinctively hesitate.
Hwang Gangju gave a bitter smile at himself, still clinging to such a tiny amount of fame.
It could not be helped when one person faced many. Besides, his opponents were Black Path men who would stop at nothing.
No one would call this cowardly.
Hwang Gangju readjusted his grip on the Broadsword and struck at their rear.
“Argh!”
“What?”
“An ambush from behind!”
The ambushed Mad-Breaking Squad members recoiled in shock. Bok Hagyu's subordinates, who had been fighting them, did not miss the chance and immediately thrust their swords forward.
Under attack from both sides, one side of their formation was broken through in an instant.
When three of his subordinates sprayed blood and fell, flames rose in Im Jageon's eyes. He swung his sword wide, opened the distance between himself and Bok Hagyu, and quickly assessed the situation.
His eyes fell on the son of a bitch who was running wild and cutting down his subordinates.
“You damned bastards...”
Gritting his teeth, Im Jageon charged at Hwang Gangju, but Bok Hagyu lunged at him from his blind spot.
Im Jageon hurriedly bent backward and knocked the strike away with his sword.
His reaction was quick and beastlike, but with his feet stopped, he could not withstand the repeated sword strikes that rained down on him.
“Urgh!”
Im Jageon staggered back after taking a deep cut to the shoulder. Another subordinate had died in that time, and the tide of battle reversed in an instant.
“Don't stop! Press them!”
Bok Hagyu shouted thunderously and unleashed fierce sword strikes as though he meant to cut off their breath.
* * *
People crowded around the flames consuming Five-Phoenix Hall.
Not only gang members but even servants had been called out, throwing sand and water onto the flames.
Thanks to that, the fire had not yet reached even halfway up the hall.
From the direction Bok Hagyu had taken his subordinates came the boiling sounds of clashing metal and screams. It seemed he had launched a direct surprise attack on Mad-Breaking Hall.
Won Seogang and Hwang Gangju must have begun their joint attack as well.
The Black Night Gang was in pandemonium as it burned and fought, but Wolong Hall remained peaceful.
Only around ten of Bok Hagyu's subordinates stood guard before the hall.
Their faces were tense as they watched the burning Five-Phoenix Hall and Mad-Breaking Hall, shrouded in darkness.
After some time, a group of martial artists came running this way. Since the flames were behind them, they were Black Path men from Five-Phoenix Hall.
“Who's that?”
“The Five-Phoenix Squad Leader.”
“Seondo Mu?”
“That is correct.”
“What are you all going to do?”
Bok Hagyu's subordinate answered without taking his eyes off the approaching enemy.
“We must protect the Gang Leader.”
The other nine did not turn their heads either.
How had they gathered only men like this? For Black Path men, they were surprisingly full of loyalty.
Of course, I had no intention or reason to do the same. I entered the hall and watched from a window.
“Stop! This is the Gang Leader's residence! Take another step and I'll cut you down!”
Seondo Mu roared from before Wolong Hall.
“Bok Hagyu! Where is that bastard? He dares set my hall on fire? That six-times-damned bastard!”
“The Squad Leader is away.”
“Hmph, away my ass. He went to attack Im Jageon. I'm not foolish enough to fall for such a pathetic diversion.”
Seondo Mu glared at the Black Path men guarding Wolong Hall with eyes blazing with killing intent.
I had expected them to be tied down putting out the fire, but it was unexpected that they had moved so quickly.
It seemed Seondo Mu had heard the fighting at Mad-Breaking Hall and seen through the scheme here.
Since Seondo Mu had attacked expecting Wolong Hall to be empty, the Five-Phoenix Squad Leader had more sense than I had thought.
“Are you all that remain?”
When no answer came, a bloody smile spread across Seondo Mu's sinister face.
“Good. Once I become Gang Leader, there'll be no reason for me to remain at Five-Phoenix Hall anyway. Becoming the master of Wolong Hall tonight would not be so bad.”
“You dare repay the Gang Leader's grace by betraying our gang?”
“Hmph. How can a cripple without the strength to lift chopsticks be a Gang Leader?”
Seondo Mu drew his Great Saber and pointed it at Wolong Hall.
“Bring me Jeok Chuyeong's head.”
“By your command!”
The subordinates behind him drew their swords at once and charged.
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