Episode 1: Opportunity (1)
Jungnang County (中朗懸)
A lot of people flocked to the street.
The eyes of the woman who was making and selling snacks at the stall the man who was carrying the goods precariously the colleagues the children who were playing and the many passers-by were all focused on one place.
A long procession was passing through the middle of the village streets.
-Giggle! Squeak!
The sound of the wheels of a thick wooden cart rolling can be heard.
Prisoners with their hands and feet restrained were riding in the wooden bars visible between the government military guard procession.
“Look at that.”
“Ugh. “It’s completely bloody.”
Their faces are haggard and scarred as if they have suffered harsh hardships.
Their white shrouds were stained red.
Perhaps that’s why the atmosphere in the village watching the transport procession was extremely scary.
It was a time when the procession continued for a long time.
Someone grabbed a rock from the floor and threw it into the wooden bars.
“You bastards!”
-puck!
“Ugh!”
The prisoner whose hands and feet were tied was unable to avoid the stone and was hit by it.
The sight of a prisoner in pain.
Some of the passers-by who saw this suddenly grabbed something and started throwing it.
-Puffuppuck!
Prisoners in wooden bars had to face this.
“Naughty things!”
“Hey you two bastards!”
“Get hit with this and you’ll fall!”
Among the government troops escorting them there was no one who could stop this.
Instead he just watched this with a sneer.
This was the purpose of the public transport procession of prisoners in the first place.
Confessing your sins to the whole world.
“hmm.”
There was a middle-aged man looking down at them from the second-floor window of the guesthouse.
As he sat neatly and drank a cup of tea a government official wearing official uniform across from him asked a puzzled question.
“Why but?”
They were sinners.
The man in front of me was not a great man who could easily feel sympathy for the prisoners.
The middle-aged man looked at a cart.
Unlike other prisoners there is a prisoner who is seen locked up alone.
The prisoner’s chest and abdomen were stained red.
“You’re young.”
The prisoner was sitting upright with his hands full.
Half of his face was obscured by his disheveled hair but at first glance he was a boy.
I felt like I was sixteen or seventeen at most.
‘…Are you the same age as me?’
When I looked at that young prisoner I suddenly thought of the master I was serving.
Then he shook his head.
What does age have to do with committing a crime?
The official who was looking at him said with a very serious expression.
“It is difficult to reveal until the sentence is carried out but from the looks of it he committed the most serious crime.”
The middle-aged man puzzled by those words asked.
“What does that mean?”
“That guy you said was young is the most vicious of the prisoners we brought in this time.”
“The most vicious?”
The middle-aged man could not hide his curiosity.
What is so vicious about that young prisoner?
“…Did you at least harm someone?”
The worst crime in the coffin is treason also called high treason.
However since those who committed high treason were escorted with their names made public this could not have been the case.
Then there is only one most heinous sin to commit.
It is murder.
“I see.”
The middle-aged man let out a light breath in response to the official’s answer.
For ordinary civilians murder was a serious crime but for martial people like himself killing someone and being killed was a common occurrence.
The official who was looking at him clicked his tongue.
“Tsk tsk. “It seems like it really struck me that someone might not be a martial artist.”
“Killing and dying happen a lot here.”
“I guess so. “But if you know what that guy is you too…”
-puck!
Before the official could finish speaking a rock flew straight at the head of the boy who was inside the bars around his neck.
The surroundings were in commotion.
Blood was flowing from the boy’s head.
However unlike other prisoners the boy did not move even slightly or groan in pain.
“The little guy is very poisonous.”
“It doesn’t even hurt does it? “His head was numb. How could he….”
Seeing this the middle-aged man also had a strange look in his eyes.
‘That guy…’
If he has mastered or trained in neigong he can tolerate some pain.
But that boy is an ordinary civilian.
However even though he was hit with a rock so hard that his head was broken he did not make a single groan.
He was so poisonous that he couldn’t even move.
-Sigh!
As the flowing blood soaked his head the boy tilted his head upward as if it was bothersome.
Then the face hidden by his hair was revealed.
At that moment exclamations flowed from the mouths of passers-by who were watching closely.
The same was true for government officials.
“Huh.”
Although her face was soaked in blood her beauty could not be hidden.
It was a face with a tall figure and fine lines that had a strange charm.
What was strange was that in some way the impression even seemed good.
“How can you do such things with a face like that…?”
The official was puzzled.
The middle-aged man was staring at the prisoner boy with a very surprised face.
“You…why are you doing this?”
The middle-aged man was shocked at that question and shook his head.
“…It’s nothing.”
“No?”
He pretended like nothing was wrong but his face clearly looked as if he had been shocked just a moment ago.
But as I was about to ask again the middle-aged man stood up.
And he said.
“I enjoyed the tea. “I think I have to go because I have some urgent business to do.”
“Uh huh. “It’s been a while since I saw this person…”
“It’s because I’m busy. “Next time I see you I’ll buy you a drink at Wolhyangru.”
“Wolhyangru? “Ahmmm.”
The corner of the official’s mouth twitched at his words.
What man wouldn’t be happy if he offered to take you to the most luxurious place in town?
* * *
Around the end of the morning celebration
The basement of the Geumok building of the Jungnang County government office.
Most of the imprisoned prisoners are asleep and even the guards guarding Geumok are dozing off while leaning against the wall.
Meanwhile there was the only person who could not sleep.
He was a prisoner boy running wild.
The boy trapped in the gold prison was staring at the wall with blank eyes.
‘….’
It’s been four days since he woke up after being thought dead.
A lot happened in between.
It was fortunate that he miraculously survived but when he woke up he was locked up as a prisoner.
Moreover the public execution date has been set.
His sentence was Geoyeolhyeong (車裂刑).
His punishment was to tie his arms and legs to different carts and tear off his limbs.
‘…Is this a deserved punishment?’
He killed so many people so brutally that he was called a condescending ear.
No matter the punishment it was difficult to avoid the death penalty.
Despite this the boy’s eyes showed no signs of nervousness including regret.
Rather the boy’s mind was complicated by something else.
[what? Martial arts? Hey kid. Has he even met a martial artist?]
This is what one of the prisoners who was transported with him said to him.
As a result the boy was able to answer the questions he had been having.
‘Murimin…’
He had often heard it when he followed his grandfather to the village.
They are said to be able to run at the same speed as a horse and have honed their energy to surpass the power of an ordinary person.
What I had only heard through hearsay was true.
In the blink of an eye that person drove himself to death.
‘….Even if we meet again the result will be the same.’
He doesn’t sleep and no matter how hard he tries he can’t think of a way to kill him.
Even if you launch a surprise attack or set a trap will it really work?
In the first place it was a monster wearing a human mask.
‘Are the martial people originally that strong?’
If that were the case avenging his grandfather might have become a long way off.
He is a being that cannot be killed no matter how hard he struggles.
The boy who had been lost in thought for a while suddenly remembered something.
‘No merit.’
There was only one difference between him and himself.
The difference between learning martial arts and not learning it created such a result.
If so the conclusion might be simple.
‘I need martial arts.’
If the conditions are the same the results may vary.
I think I’ve finally found some answer.
But there was one problem.
‘No two?’
First I had to get out of here.
If you stay like this you will be put in a row and your limbs will be torn to pieces and you will die.
The second was how to learn martial arts.
‘Who should I learn from?’
He needed to find someone to teach him martial arts but he had no idea how to find such people.
Besides no matter how he got out of here he was still a prisoner.
He was certain that if he escaped prison he would be wanted.
In that case who would be willing to teach martial arts to a prisoner?
‘…I’m in the middle of a mountain.’
His mind was spinning again.
It occurred to me once again that his grandfather’s promise was right.
Even though he said it was for revenge he should not easily reveal his hidden nature.
‘Is it like digging your own grave?’
Even if you realize it it’s already too late.
The results have already happened.
The good news is that even though he is alive he still doesn’t seem to know.
Or maybe even if they knew they would have been put to death so they left it alone.
It was a time when he was having trouble.
-Shoooooo.
A subtle sound coming from somewhere.
At this the boy turned around.
Sensing something strange the boy held his breath and focused on the sounds around him.
‘what?’
Just as he was wondering something caught the boy’s eyes.
Something like a light haze was creeping in from the bottom right of the gold prison where he was trapped.
The boy’s eyes narrowed.
‘Is there a fire?’
I wondered if the Geumok building was on fire.
But soon those doubts disappeared.
There wasn’t any particular fuss even though there was a fire and it was very quiet.
however
-thud! thud!
I heard the sounds of something falling.
Judging from the sounds heard it seemed like this was the location of the officials standing guard.
‘This…’
The creeping haze was spreading into the Geumok where the boy was.
A faint scent tickled the tip of his nose and several herbs came to mind.
‘Sambaekcho…..Angelica Gilchogeun Eonyeongcho….’
It has been about 10 years since he followed his grandfather in obtaining and cultivating medicinal herbs.
The boy who was incredibly sensitive to scents immediately recognized the herbs mixed in the light haze-like smoke.
‘…sleeping scent.’
Valerian root and Eonyeongcho were herbs that induce sleep.
With this combination those acting in this role would not be able to wake up for about two hours.
But the boy was different.
‘The combination is clumsy.’
Perhaps it’s his grandfather’s formula but since he was young he has steadily developed a tolerance to various herbs so he cannot fall asleep with this level of sleeping scent.
‘hmm.’
The boy decided something had happened.
At a time when everyone was about to fall asleep the incense of sleep bloomed inside the government office building.
The boy leaned against the wall and concentrated on the sound.
– Swoosh!
I heard a moving sound that killed the presence.
It was a sound that was difficult for most people to hear but it was faintly heard in the boy’s ears.
‘Who is it?’
I came in after spraying some sleeping scent.
It means that they came in with a purpose.
The sound of very quiet footsteps was moving back and forth here and there in Geumok.
‘What are you trying to do?’
I don’t know who broke in and why.
Then the sound of footsteps was directed towards his gold house.
In response the boy lowered his head and deliberately pretended to be asleep.
– Swoosh!
The steps that stopped in front of his own gold jade made no attempt to move.
‘no way?’
– Sweet!
The sound of Geumok’s lock being opened continued.
‘…Was it me?’
The target was clearly the boy himself.
As this happened many thoughts came to his mind.
He may have come all the way to Geumok to deal with his not-dead self.
But is there any reason for him to visit someone who is about to be executed?
‘It doesn’t matter.’
It became clear that the target was targeting him anyway.
The boy breathed as evenly as possible.
So that he wouldn’t realize that he wasn’t affected by the sleeping scent.
– Swoosh!
Once again I heard the sound of someone coming in without warning.
A gunman carefully sneaked inside.
Even though my eyes were closed I could feel that it was right in front of me.
-Tuk!
The gunman nudged the boy with his foot.
It seemed like he wanted to make sure he was asleep.
The boy relaxed his body and did not move.
He must have been sure he was asleep when the gunman suddenly lifted up his hair which was blocking his view.
The monster’s breathing which had been flowing evenly stopped for a moment.
‘….’
I felt like I was emotionally disturbed.
The boy who learned about the emotions of ordinary people from his grandfather was able to sensitively understand the state of mind of others through their facial expressions behavior and breathing.
‘It’s an opportunity.’
This kind of agitation was an opportunity to target the enemy.
The boy violently lifted the wooden frame that was restraining his hands upward in one go.
-puck!
“Tsk!”
The defenseless gunman was struck in the chin and stumbled backwards.
The boy did not miss this moment and tried to hit the assailant’s head with a wooden frame.
At that very moment the gunman kicked the boy in the abdomen.
-puck!
And the moment he was pushed behind him his fingers quickly struck his chest.
-Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-tak!
Then his body seemed frozen and did not move.
I couldn’t figure out what was happening but the gunman muttered as if it was absurd.
“How did you not fall asleep?”
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