Read Novel Full Chapter 1221: Is This Even Allowed? (1)
Chapter 1221: Is This Even Allowed? (1)
Jo Gul glared to the side with bloodshot eyes.
Yoon Jong’s hand pressed firmly on his shoulder. Normally, he would have shouted something immediately, but even Jo Gul couldn’t bring himself to say anything this time.
Because he knew they shouldn’t make a big incident?
No, it wasn’t that. It was because Yoon Jong’s eyes, fixed ahead without even glancing at him, were utterly terrifying.
Grrrr.
The grinding of Yoon Jong’s teeth leaked out faintly. He ground his teeth and said.
“...... Wait.”
“...... “
Jo Gul bit his lip silently and glared back at the village.
“F-Father! Father!”
A villager standing behind the village elder went pale and frantically grabbed the elder’s chest. From the gaping wound, coagulated blood streamed out.
“Fatherrrr!”
All the villagers went ashen, but none dared shout or protest; the knife the man held was far too threatening.
“...... Are you crazy?”
The one who protested on behalf of the villagers was a companion of the men who had come here.
The rough-faced man wiped the blood splattered on his face with his sleeve and snorted a laugh.
“Do I look crazy?”
“...... What on earth are you thinking?”
“Thinking? Our orders were to distribute grain and properly make the Alliance Lord’s benevolence known, weren’t they?”
“...... “
“There was no instruction about what to do after that. So by that logic I haven’t disobeyed orders.”
“You madman... is that even an excuse?”
Mun Sa-Pung’s face went pale.
“You didn’t just kill someone, Ak Bung? Do you think the higher-ups won’t notice this? Do you think you’ll be safe if they find out?”
“How would they know?”
“...... What?”
“How would they know.”
The one called Ak Bung grinned.
“Whether a little mountain village like this disappears or not, how would those high-and-mighty leaders ever know?”
“...... “
“We completed the mission. Whatever happens afterwards isn’t our fault, is it?”
Mun Sa-Pung’s eyes narrowed; he understood what the man was getting at.
“Do we really have to...”
“No, think about it. Because this is a tiny mountain village, they sent scrubs like us.”
Being called ‘scrubs’ wasn’t ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) pleasant, but it wasn’t entirely inaccurate.
“If we return empty-handed, how would the higher-ups know whether we properly distributed the grain or not?”
“Damn it, there’s nowhere decent to sell the grain anyway!”
“If we really wanted to sell it, couldn’t we find somewhere? But we don’t even need to sell it. This is the Southern lands; rice is more precious than money here. Just taking the grain would get you far.”
“....... “
“What’s wrong with wetting our throats a bit? The real wrongdoers are those who don’t pay a proper pay but still exploit people.”
Mun Sa-Pung smacked his lips. His expression had considerably softened.
“Can we handle the aftermath...?”
“Stop being such a worrywart. If anyone talks, the higher-ups might find out. But... something could happen to the village after we leave. Like remnants of the Green Forest attacking the village, or a bandit raid. Right, boys?”
At that, the eyes of those traveling behind the cart darkened.
“The next stop is Hengyang, right?”
“And?”
“Hengyang’s a decent city; plenty of places to have fun. Finish this up, grab the grain, hit a brothel a bit! Let’s wet our throats for once, wet our throats!”
That seemed to be the clincher. A strange heat began to radiate from those following behind.
Seeing this, Mun Sa-Pung reluctantly licked his lips.
“Ha... I’m still uneasy about this...”
“Nonsense about being uneasy. Since when did you become such a coward? You piss yourself at the mere mention of the Ten Thousand People Clan.”
“You done talking?”
“Ten Thousand People Clan, my ass. We’re Black Ghost Fort! If it weren’t for those Demonic Cult bastards, do you think the boss would’ve fallen so easily?”
“...... “
“It’s infuriating enough that by luck the Four Sects Alliance’s scoundrels are swaggering around while we watch, and now they expect us to be obedient lapdogs too?”
“Tch.”
The man’s face twisted as if he’d swallowed bitter water, and Ak Bung subtly shifted his tone in response.
“It’s not that big of a deal. As long as we’re not caught, it’s fine. Right?”
“...... We have to take care of the aftermath thoroughly.”
“Heh heh. That’s my specialty.”
Satisfied they’d made a decision, Ak Bung raised his voice.
“Guys! Since it’s come to this, let’s hurry up! That way you’ll have time to play!”
No answer was needed.
That was enough; those behind the cart rushed out and formed a ring around the villagers, determined not to let a single person escape.
Mun Sa-Pung snorted.
“No wonder he was oddly meticulous about counting people.”
“Heh heh. It’s better to be certain. Absolutely certain.”
Watching the whole scene, Jo Gul growled and ground out:
“...... Sahyung.”
“Wait.”
“Sahyung.”
“I said wait.”
Yoon Jong bit his lip hard. He bit so strongly that his lips turned pale and even showed the hint of blood.
He wanted to rush forward and smash them right now. But this was none other than Southern lands.
He couldn’t know how many lives might be jeopardized by the reckless act they had committed.
“Don’t... intervene.”
“Sahyung!”
Jo Gul looked at Yoon Jong with pleading eyes. But Yoon Jong’s gaze did not turn to him this time either.
His gaze rested on the back of Baek Cheon standing ahead.
‘Sasuk.’
The judgment would be made by Baek Cheon, not Yoon Jong.
Even as he held his breath, the sound of teeth grinding and fingers fiddling with a sword dug disorientingly into his ears.
And then, from below, Ak Bung began to move slowly.
“See? They should have given us a fitting task. If they’d told us to raid homes, pocket what we could and bring back whatever remained, we’d have been the most dutiful about it. You can’t expect a dog to graze like an ox.”
Mun Sa-Pung couldn’t argue with that.
If they were content receiving a modest stipend, training, and taking turns on watch, they wouldn’t have thrown in with the Evil Sect in the first place.
They became the Evil Sect because such a life couldn’t sustain them. Now telling them to live like the Justice faction; does that even make sense?
‘This is definitely the higher-ups’ fault.’
Having rationalized it to himself, the man spat out:
“Just in case, don’t use the knife.”
“Huh?”
“It would be suspicious if there are too many corpses. Tear them with your hands. Make it look like a wild beast attacked.”
“Heh heh. Always scheming.”
Ak Bung chuckled and slid his knife back into its sheath. It would be a bit bothersome, but unarmed peasants could be torn apart by hand.
“M-my lords. Why are you doing this...”
The villagers, unable even to think about fleeing and watching helplessly, trembled with ashen faces.
One of the more perceptive among them quickly figured out what to do.
“P-please spare us!”
He prostrated himself and cried out in a desperate voice.
“We received it! W-we received the grain!”
“Oh?”
“Your lords gave us the grain and left, but we were foolish and lost it while trying to hide it!”
“Hoho?”
The rough-faced man, Seop Pyeong, stared at the middle-aged man bowed before him, intrigued.
“I’ll say that! If anyone asks, I’ll say it even if there’s a knife to my throat! Then your lords can be more blameless, can’t they?”
“An interesting one.”
Seop Pyeong snorted a laugh.
“But what do we do about this? We’ve already stabbed that old man.”
“What’s it matter if an old man with little life left is dead? Bury him properly and no one will know how he died!”
“Well...”
Seop Pyeong looked at the man as if surprised.
“If not that, then the cliff! We’ll throw him off a cliff. Then no one will think he died from a knife!”
Seop Pyeong looked at him with admiration. If they did as he said, things would indeed be easier.
“Can you do that?”
“Y-yes, of course. My lords! How could we lie? Ignorant as we are, we know better than anyone how to survive!”
“Don’t you want revenge?”
“R-revenge for an old man’s life? What importance is that to even mention revenge?”
“...... If you open your mouths, you’ll make trouble for us.”
“M-my lords. We’re unlearned fools, but we understand how the world works. If we speak carelessly and offend you, how would we keep our lives?”
“You’re too clever for a mountain village residing person.”
Seop Pyeong clicked his tongue.
Even if this were discovered, not all of them here would be killed. No matter how brutal the Ten Thousand People Clan is, the Four Sects Alliance currently lack manpower.
And if even one of them survives, this village would surely face retribution. Better to keep mouths shut.
“Indeed... if you do that, it’ll be easy for us.”
“Th-then...”
“But you know.”
Seop Pyeong grinned.
“You really are excessively clever, aren’t you?”
“M-my lord?”
Seop Pyeong’s gaze turned cold.
“I’d rather endure a bit of inconvenience than keep someone like you alive and feel uneasy. Killing you all would only be a minor annoyance to me.”
“Y-you... damned dogs...!”
The middle-aged man’s eyes filled with murderous hatred.
“I’ll curse you even in hell! You Evil Sect scum worse than dogs!”
“Oh yeah!”
Seop Pyeong, eyes aflame with killing intent, pushed off the ground and lunged at the middle-aged man. Crimson energy surged from both his hands.
“No...”
In the end, Yoon Jong, Jo Gul, and Namgung Do-Wei could no longer hold back and struck the ground.
But what they saw at that moment was Baek Cheon rushing straight toward Seop Pyeong even faster than they were.
‘Sa- sasuk!’
Meanwhile, Baek Cheon’s eyes trembled with regret as he rushed forward.
‘Ah, no!’
Because he hesitated until the very last moment, he was half a step too late. At this rate, he couldn’t prevent the middle-aged man from being slaughtered.
‘Damn it!’
He should have either endured it or acted, but by hesitating he risked losing both. Baek Cheon, unable to contain his fury and about to howl, when suddenly!
“But this Evil Sect bastard!”
KRAAAASH!
Seop Pyeong, who had been lunging at the middle-aged man, was thrown backward faster than his original charge.
Seop Pyeong, with blood splashing out, crashed to the ground and immediately began convulsing.
Baek Cheon stared blankly at the scene. In the dust cloud, Chung Myung — who looked more like the Evil Sect than the Evil Sect themselves — was grinding his teeth.
“Kept saying ‘let’s see, let’s see’, and this bastard nearly died for it.”
... Well, yeah... I couldn’t stand it, but of course you couldn’t either.
Heh heh......
Heh heh heh......