WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 16: We Have to Control Our Anger (2)

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"You bastards! I'll grind you up and drink you!"

When Wang Gon returned home, he burned with vengeance.

Every time the physician touched his face during treatment, the pain nearly killed him. While he had been locked up, he had been too furious to notice the pain, but now that proper treatment had begun, it hurt unbearably.

His face was so swollen that he was unrecognizable, and every time he spoke, a throbbing headache surged through his head. On top of that, his teeth had shattered, leaving the reflection in the mirror looking like some hideous monster.

In truth, physical pain was not what troubled him most.

He was worried about how the Mythic Gang's headquarters would react once it learned of this incident.

The Mythic Gang Leader dealt with people based entirely on ability. Personality, character, humanity, personal ties... None of that mattered in the first place. The leader only cared about ability, and anyone deemed inadequate was replaced at once. Countless people were waiting in line for a chance to become a Hall Leader in the Mythic Gang. If this was judged a mistake, Wang Gon would be cut loose without mercy as well.

When the Mythic Gang Leader asked him about it... No, the leader would not even bother meeting him over something like this. When someone sent by the leader asked what had happened, Wang Gon needed an answer that would not make the leader frown.

"I'll go and wipe them all out."

For now, Black Hand's answer was not the right one.

The Mythic Gang would never want to escalate the issue and clash with the Murim Alliance.

Black Hand had no thought for such matters. He was devoted only to his own feelings.

'That bastard. I'll kill him myself.'

He was furious beyond measure.

His broken nose was wrapped in layers of bandages, but his pride had taken the worst blow.

He could not believe he had been defeated by nothing more than a Squad Leader expelled from the Iron Sword Corps. In a single exchange, no less. He could not accept it precisely because it had been a single exchange. If they had fought properly, Black Hand was confident he could even kill an Iron Sword Corps Unit Commander.

"I was caught off guard!"

"Of course you were."

Wang Gon was already angry with Black Hand.

'Idiot. You couldn't even deal with one man. What a waste of money.'

Still, he could not reveal his true feelings. Black Hand was the strongest of his subordinates, after all.

"I won't make the same mistake this time. I'll deal with him for certain."

Wang Gon truly wanted to send Black Hand to kill them all.

But he could not.

If he and Black Hand had not been arrested, they could have killed them and pinned the murders on the culprit behind the massacre of Liang Qiu's family. Now that they had formed a personal grudge with them, however, he could not simply kill them without thought.

"Hold back for now."

If things went wrong, this could truly be the end for him. Wang Gon was not the Mythic Gang Leader. He was only a Hall Leader in charge of southern Zhejiang Province. If he caused trouble now, even the Mythic Gang Leader would struggle to clean it up.

"Even if you were caught off guard, that man isn't ordinary."

Wang Gon remembered the pressure that man had given off that day. It had been more than the oppression of a stronger person bearing down on a weaker one. There had been something utterly overwhelming about it.

"We need to find out who he is. Until then, don't move. Understood?"

At Wang Gon's firm words, Black Hand gave an unwilling reply.

"Understood."

From that moment on, a battle began within Black Hand.

It was a battle between loyalty and his anger-management disorder.

* * *

Im Chung went to see Physician Hwang, who had conducted the postmortem examination on Liang Qiu.

The examination had long since been completed, but the Great Righteous Sect and Wang Gon incidents had happened one after another, so he had only managed to visit now.

"I think there was only one killer. Look here."

Physician Hwang pointed to the fatal wound on Liang Qiu's body and explained.

"He died in a single stroke. He wasn't cut down. The blade pierced his heart precisely. I've seen many corpses in my life, but this is the first time I've seen such a clean method."

"Then the killer must have been stronger than Great Hero Liang?"

"That's right."

"Or it could have been someone Liang knew well."

There were many possibilities. Liang Qiu might have been ambushed while off guard.

"Either way, the killer was exceptionally skilled with a sword."

"Did the other family members die the same way?"

"Yes, in a single stroke. Every one of them was killed without a moment's hesitation."

Killing a martial artist in battle and killing someone who could not resist at all might share the act of murder, but they were as different as heaven and earth.

"Someone who has no hesitation about killing. Were there any other signs? Was the sword used as the murder weapon unusual, or had it been coated in poison?"

"No. It was all very ordinary."

"I understand. Thank you."

As Im Chung turned to leave, Physician Hwang urged him.

"Make sure you catch them. Don't let a lunatic like that roam the world."

Had Im Chung heard those words before all this happened, he would have let them pass without much thought. He would have answered like this.

"Of course. We have to catch the madmen, the villains, all of them."

Half joking and half resigned, that was how Im Chung, the Wencheng Branch Chief, would have answered until recently.

Now, things were different. He did not know if they could catch the killer, but he answered sincerely.

"I'll do everything I can."

Leaving the physician's clinic, Im Chung did not return to the branch despite the late hour. He went to Liang Qiu's house instead.

He wondered if there might still be some clue left behind.

As he stepped inside, Im Chung was startled. Someone was in the manor's courtyard.

"Who's there!"

Im Chung shouted as he drew his sword.

The person spun around in surprise. It was Beon Saeng.

"Oh! It's me, Branch Chief!"

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought there might be a clue left behind, so I came to look."

"You and I had the same idea."

Seeing Beon Saeng there gave Im Chung an unexpected sense of relief.

"Weren't you scared to come alone?"

"I thought I would be, but once I got here, I wasn't."

Instead, Beon Saeng only felt pity for the people who had died here, and guilt that he could not catch their killer.

"Two children died too, right?"

"That's right."

"What kind of person can kill children too?"

Beon Saeng sincerely reflected on his actions. On the first day of the incident, he had not even spared them a moment of mourning. Back then, informing Im Chung about the appointment with Hall Leader Wang of the Mythic Gang had seemed more important.

'I'm truly sorry.'

It was an apology to the souls of the dead.

"We have to catch the killer."

Im Chung silently nodded, then asked, "Did you find anything here?"

"I looked, but there was nothing unusual. You should head back first, Branch Chief. I'll take another look around before I go."

"Let's search together."

"Go on. Your wife will be worried."

"Martial Artist Baek is keeping them safe, isn't he?"

"You trust Brother Baek now."

Im Chung could not understand his own feelings. Did he truly trust Baek Socheon? Or had he chosen him only because he had no other choice?

"Even if there had been another master, I think you would have left your family with Brother Baek."

Im Chung thought that might be true.

They ended the conversation there and searched every corner of the house, inside and out. Yet no matter how thoroughly they looked with fresh eyes, they found nothing that could serve as a clue.

Whoever the killer was, their cleanup had been as flawless as their ruthless skill at murder.

"Let's go back."

The two left the house. They had found nothing, but they still felt it had been right to return.

* * *

A masked man quietly climbed over the wall of the Wencheng Branch.

Moving nimbly, the masked man reached the residence where Im Chung's wife, Madam Joo, and his son were staying.

Just as the intruder was about to slip inside, someone spoke from behind.

"There's nobody in there."

The masked man stopped and turned.

Baek Socheon stood behind him.

"You can't let maggots into a house with a child, can you?"

The masked man gave a cold laugh and removed his mask. With his sunken, broken nose and hideous face, he was Black Hand.

"You knew I'd come."

"I looked into you. Turns out this is the kind of bastard you are."

Just as Baek Socheon had said, anger-management disorder had easily won the battle against loyalty.

No matter how much Black Hand thought about it, he could not endure it. Whenever pain surged from his broken nose, he especially could not endure it.

He had tried to hold himself back, but then he heard it at the tavern. Drunkards sitting at another table were talking about him.

"So Black Hand lost to that martial artist who just came to the branch?"

"I heard he got completely wrecked."

"How skilled must that man be to beat Black Hand?"

"Black Hand's inflated reputation has finally been exposed."

Black Hand had nearly drawn his sword and cut down every last one of them.

But he did not. After crushing Baek Socheon, he needed to make them admit they had been wrong. He could kill them afterward.

After leaving the tavern, he came straight to the branch and climbed over the wall. That was why his breath still smelled of alcohol.

"I'll kill you. Then, when Im Chung gets back, I'll rape his wife and flay his son right in front of him."

Black Hand's killing intent was crude and vulgar. And he meant every word.

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why?"

"I mean, why are you acting like such a madman?"

"Are you asking that because you don't know?"

"Because I beat you up? Then get revenge on me. Why are you trying to harm the Branch Chief's family?"

"That's not enough. My pride has already been completely shattered."

"Your pathetic pride got hurt? So you have to do something this insane before you'll feel better? I've dealt with plenty of people like you... I never get used to it."

"What the hell are you talking about, you lunatic? I'll kill you in the most painful way possible."

Baek Socheon raised a hand, stopping Black Hand as he approached with murderous intent.

"Wait. One last question. Did your people kill Liang Qiu's family too?"

Black Hand did not answer, but the faint smile curling his lips answered for him.

He was not someone accustomed to hiding his emotions. That was probably why he stood here now.

"Did you do it yourself?"

"Do you take me for that kind of filthy blade? Tonight is a fight to restore my honor."

Black Hand drew his sword.

His emotions surged violently, strengthened by the alcohol, but he did not rush in recklessly after having been defeated once. Taking full advantage of the fact that Baek Socheon was unarmed, he attacked while maintaining his distance.

Swish! Swish!

Baek Socheon dodged the successive sword strikes. Regardless of his character, Black Hand was a formidable martial artist.

He could not casually kill an Iron Sword Corps Unit Commander as he claimed, but he was about as capable as one of the Iron Sword Corps' more skilled Squad Leaders. That alone was impressive.

Baek Socheon did not counterattack right away. He treated the fight as training.

Whoosh.

He barely avoided the sword thrusting for his heart, only for the blade to change direction in a diagonal arc toward his neck.

Swoosh!

The sword passed inches from Baek Socheon's face.

Black Hand ducked low and swung at Baek Socheon's thigh.

'I've got him!'

He was certain of it, yet the sword narrowly missed.

Thrusting, slashing, chopping, sweeping upward. Black Hand was displaying every bit of skill he possessed.

Yet it felt as if his opponent had crawled into his head. Every attack missed by the narrowest margin.

'Ah!'

'Damn it!'

'So close!'

The thoughts surfaced involuntarily.

He felt only frustration, never realizing that every narrow miss had the same exact margin.

Astonishingly, Baek Socheon was evading Black Hand's attacks at an exact, fixed distance. There was always about a finger's breadth between the sword and his body, no more and no less.

Doing that with a body that possessed no internal energy was no easy feat.

The fight intensified, and then Black Hand suddenly flinched.

'...!'

He realized he had been fighting in a state of selflessness. He had never experienced anything like it before.

It never occurred to him that he had not fallen into that state on his own, but had been led into it by his opponent.

The instant Black Hand awakened from that state, he had outlived his usefulness to Baek Socheon.

Baek Socheon, who had only been dodging, suddenly closed in. It was exactly the moment Black Hand thought, 'He's attacking now?'

Thud!

Baek Socheon's elbow brutally smashed into Black Hand's nose. It had already been broken, but now it was completely crushed.

"Aaaaaaagh!"

With his broken nose shattered again, Black Hand screamed like a madman.

Thud!

Baek Socheon's next kick brutally struck his jaw.

Black Hand still swung his sword as he fell backward, proving he was a skilled fighter.

But the sword could not even touch his opponent when he was fully focused. It had no chance of doing so now.

Baek Socheon followed him like a shadow, seized his wrist, and twisted.

Crack.

Black Hand braced his arm with internal energy as it twisted. When the wrist would not turn any farther, Baek Socheon struck his neck with a knife-hand strike.

Smack!

The strike to his neck disrupted his internal energy.

Crackcrackcrack!

The wrist holding Black Hand's sword twisted completely under Baek Socheon's raw strength.

"Aaaaaaaagh!"

His crushed wrist drew a desperate scream from Black Hand. Baek Socheon knew exactly how internal energy operated. He knew which acupoints the energy flowed between during each movement, and where to strike to disrupt that flow most effectively.

Thud!

This time, Baek Socheon's fist slammed into Black Hand's side.

Black Hand could not endure any longer and collapsed flat on his back.

"Ughhhhh..."

Amid the pain, Black Hand felt another kind of fear. Baek Socheon's indifferent gaze as he looked down at him was truly terrifying.

"You said you'd rape the wife and kill the child? And make the father watch?"

Baek Socheon leaped into the air and drove his fist down into Black Hand's chest.

Thud!

His ribs shattered and pierced his organs.

'Aaaaaaaagh!'

The pain was so intense that the scream rose only inside him.

Thud.

Baek Socheon struck the broken ribs with his fist again.

"Ghk!"

Black Hand's eyes widened. This was not pain a human being could endure. He wished he could die, but whether by intent or terrible luck, the ribs had not pierced his heart.

'Please stop!'

Black Hand tasted true hell.

Baek Socheon, on the other hand, looked as though he was enjoying himself.

"There's something satisfying about this. I've used nothing but swords my entire life, so I never knew there was such a thrill."

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Every time Baek Socheon's fists struck his torso, unimaginable pain crashed over Black Hand.

"Ughhhhh... P-please... spare me..."

Baek Socheon drove his fist down again.

Crunch!

"Aaargh!"

Black Hand vomited blood like a fountain.

As his body passed its limit and his eyes rolled back, Baek Socheon delivered the final blow. He jumped high, then drove the sole of his foot straight into Black Hand's chest.

Boom! Crackcrackcrack!

Black Hand's ribs were completely shattered, and he died instantly.

Somewhere, soft moonlight shone upon lovers whispering words of love. Tonight, that same moonlight settled coldly upon Black Hand's corpse, as cold as Baek Socheon's gaze.

"You bastard with no conscience. When you set out to kill innocent people, you should leave your pleas for mercy at home."

Footnotes:

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