"I'll see him in the morning."
"Clan Leader!"
The voice of the guard standing by Kang-hyuk's door suddenly rang out.
"Clan Leader! The emperor's messenger, Ha Du-gyeong, is coming…."
Before the guard was even able to finish his sentence, Ha Du-gyeong entered the room.
Kang-hyuk antic.i.p.ated the messenger to be angry, but for some unknown reason, the man was smiling.
Kang-hyuk felt an unexpected nervousness at Ha Du-gyeong's smile. The man seemed to be more powerful than he had initially thought.
He was able to ascertain this not just by his grin, but also from the energy that encapsulated him.
"Ah-ahem. I was going to come to you, but you seem to have arrived personally! You must have been in a hurry. But I'll see you tomo…."
*Tak.*
As Kang-hyuk attempted to address the situation coolly, Ha Du-gyeong plopped a bottle of liquor onto his desk.
His eyes were instantly drawn to the bottle.
"After hearing that the Clan Leader knew how to drink, I thought I could be like Li Po [1] tonight and drink with you, but seeing as you seemed to be busy, I came myself."
"I-Is that so?"
"This is liquor that the emperor has given to me. I don't know if you've heard of it or not, but this is a liquor among liquors, the Purple Cloud Wine. Not only that, but it's a special variety of Purple Cloud Wine."
"Th-that famous…."
"How about one shot?"
*Gulp.*
Kang-hyuk ended up finishing the whole bottle of wine with Ha Du-gyeong.
Even after the incident, for many years, Kang-hyuk and Ha Du-gyeong continued to meet, drinking wine together until Ha Du-gyeong's death.
Ha Du-gyeong died from a fall.
If he held on and survived a little longer than he had, Kang-hyuk would have found a way to treat him somehow, but unfortunately, Ha Du-gyeong had died almost immediately after falling on an icy street in winter.
Kang-hyuk's was greatly pained at the news of his sudden death.
'It's hard to find good friends like him….'
They had met, and shared a few drinks together two days before Ha Du-gyeong's death. Kang-hyuk still vividly remembered the words he had spoken to him on that day.
"Why our family so esteemed…we might even be cursed as I've heard others say."
"Cursed! Don't say things like that."
"I only have a single offspring, my son, and that son only has a son and a daughter…."
"If you're really that concerned, why don't you take a concubine?"
"If you're saying that, you really don't know much about our family, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Up until now, none of the women that have entered our family as concubines have never become pregnant, or if they did, they never successfully delivered the child."
"...."
If the situation of the family's fertility had reached such an extent, they could really have been cursed.
"In that case, it's strange that your family lineage has even continued on for so long."
"That's true. Hahahaha!"
"I've heard that the people of Moorim live longer than us ordinary people."
"Well, that's dependent on the person. People who live by the sword are always walking on a fine line between life and death."
"Even so, in the case that you live longer than me, could I ask you to look after my family?"
"To look after your family?"
"Yes…. I don't want a lot of help or anything. If you can just a.s.sist one time if my family is experiencing a difficult time, that would be more than enough. All I want is some help so that my lineage can continue on. Is it too much of a burdensome request?"
"I can't refuse you. I can do that."
"Thank you. On another note, today, Go-jun…."
"Are you boasting about your grandson again?"
"That rascal really took after me…."
"d.a.m.n it! How can you be boasting like this to someone that doesn't even have a grandson?"
Kang-hyuk could still see Ha Du-gyeong's cheerful face before his eyes.
He began to feel enraged as he remembered Ha Du-gyeong's final request.
This was because he had almost not fulfilled it.
He blinked, and looked at Ha Go-jun once more.
At present, the five students under Kang-hyuk's care were his top priority, and he had already a.s.signed Shim-gu to the task of dealing with the warriors that were after Ha Go-jun. This in itself fulfilled Kang-hyuk's duty towards his old friend.
There wasn't really a need to go beyond what he had already done.
'B-but if I just let him go like this, I won't feel at ease. What if Ha Du-gyeong comes into my dreams wailing….'
Kang-hyuk sighed after mulling over the issue.
'I should do a little more as thanks to the fellow that spent so much time hanging out with me.'
Moreover, it wasn't right to send away his long-gone friend's grandson away without properly receiving him.
Not only that, Kang-hyuk felt that investigating the situation further was of great importance. He addressed Ha Go-jun, "You smell like blood. That means that many have lost their lives at your hands."
"That's correct," Ha Go-jun replied without hesitation.
"Up until today, I've killed around eighty eight…no, after I escaped I killed two more, so in total, I've killed ninety people."
Kang-hyuk clicked his tongue.
He was aware that weapons weren't permitted in blood fighting arenas.
It was dangerous to hand over a weapon to a slave, since there was a possibility they would use it to break out. Also, there was less fun involved in watching a fight using weapons.
Kang-hyuk found the fact that Ha Go-jun had killed eighty eight rivals and survived through his blood fighting career without a weapon quite surprising.
'He's a tough one. And as that fellow used to boast, he's quite a smart lad as well.'
*Thud!*
Ha Go-jun suddenly bashed his forehead onto the ground.
"It's okay if I die. I'm a murderer who has caused the deaths of many. How could I hope to live! But, but…"
He continued, "I just want to find my younger sister. I just want to find her and tell her that I've been fine all of this time. I want to tell her to not worry about me. Please let me go!"
Tears began to well up in Ha Go-jun's eyes. They were tears he had held back for all of these years, tears of pain and hardship.
Kang-hyuk stared at Ha Go-jun.
'This lad, does he think that I want to arrest him?'
Kang-hyuk bent down, putting his hand on Ha Go-jun's shoulder.
"Stand up."
"...."
"I'm not a figure worthy enough for you to be prostrating like this. So please, lift your head now."
Ha Go-jun slowly lifted his bowed head, slightly startled.
Kang-hyuk's gaze towards him was a gaze of sorrow.
"If you say you're a murderer, I would be a ma.s.s murderer."
"Sorry?"
Kang-hyuk looked at his hands.
He wasn't certain exactly how many lives had been taken with his hands, but he was certain that it was a hundred times the amount of people Ha Go-jun had killed.
He wasn't regretful of this.
"d.a.m.n it! If you hadn't killed your opponent, you would have died! You killed those people because you didn't wish to die yourself, right?"
"Th-that's right. It's because I can't die yet…"
"Exactly, so stop prostrating on the floor so pitifully, wipe your tears, and stand up. I'm not going to arrest you and send you to the government office."
"Thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Anyway, how old are you?"
Ha Go-jun wiped his tears and replied, "I'm nineteen."
"...."
Kang-hyuk was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Did you just say nineteen?"
"Yes."
Kang-hyuk's feeling of remorse for Ha Go-jun's situation increased. His current appearance was so rough as a result of the difficult times he had endured that he didn't look his age.
"Ae-rin-ah."
"Yes, Seonsaengnim?"
"Take him to the inn and tell Baek-gap to take care of feeding him and cleaning him up."
"Understood. But…Seonsaengnim?"
Byeok Ae-rin pointed at the back of Ha Go-jun's neck.
"What are we going to do about the mark on his neck?"
"Mark?"
"Yes, I've looked and he has a branding on the back of his neck. It's the dog character."
Kang-hyuk promptly examined Ha Go-jun's neck.
"Dog-like fellows do dog-like deeds, I guess."
The branding was done by heating up a stamp, and then pressing the heated stamp onto the skin, effectively burning the imprint into it. Kang-hyuk knew that Ha Go-jun must have experienced a great deal of pain during the process.
But of course, he felt more apologetic towards his grandfather, Ha Du-gyeong.
Kang-hyuk took a small box out of his sleeve, then presented Byeok Ae-rin with a small bottle that was inside of it.
"This will do the trick."
"Ah! It will, indeed."
Byeok Ae-rin grinned as she accepted the bottle, being aware of what it was.
"Oh yes, Ae-rin-ah. I also have another favour to ask of you."
"Yes, please say."
"The closest clan branch to this village is the Hanam branch, right?"
"It is."
"Tell the branch head b.a.s.t.a.r.d to come running over here right away."
***
*Bang!*
The location was the blood fighting venue of Hwagyeon Village.
The only office in the venue was the office of the venue owner. The venue owner sitting behind the desk banged on it with his fist.
He had just heard news of what had happened.
"What? Blood Ghost escaped? What on earth were you b.a.s.t.a.r.ds doing whilst he escaped?"
"...."
The venue owner continued to vent his fury at the silence of the warriors.
"And not only that, but you also ran into an elder of the Hwacheon Clan? Didn't I tell you to keep out of their sight?"
*Bang!*
His fist collided with the desk in front of him once more.
"Go and find him immediately! That lad is the source of my money! There's no one that can fight as well as him!"
The owner of the blood fighting venue, Yeom-jung, was distressed.
He loved money. It was as the saying went, if one has money, they can even handle a ghost. He liked money so much because it made everything possible.
This was why Yeom-jung had mulled over what would bring him the greatest wealth, and concluded that blood fighting was the way.
When he first began, he had set up various connections with people, and bribed those that needed to be bribed. He was well aware that the practice was outlawed by the government, and that if they were discovered by the Hwacheon Clan, his business would be wiped out.
But nevertheless, the practice couldn't be entirely eradicated.
He knew that if he set up his business well, taking all the necessary precautions, he would make a lot of money.
When he had been trying to make his venue impossible to detect, he became aware that there was a sound-blocking artefact.
That artefact was with a prestigious family of Nakyang, the Munyun Ha Family.
Yeom-jung attempted to visit the family to ask them for the artefact, but they had refused to even see him.
But as the matter involved making money, Yeom-jung didn't give up.
He bribed a servant of the family into adding poison into their food.
As a result of this, the master and mistress of the family became ill with an illness that was said to be incurable, regardless of what doctor they visited.
This was because the poison had come from the Dark Medicine Valley. Money was indeed power just as he thought.
In a matter of six months, the couple had died, and the family had been left with staggering debts.
Unfortunately, there was no one that had stepped forward to help the family.
Yeom-jung had won over several families and groups that had great enmity with the Ha Family.
After that, things had gone how he had wanted.
The merciless debt collector had sold off the two children of the family as slaves, and had sold all of the objects within the house.
As a result, Yeom-jun had been able to gain the artefact he had worked so hard to attain.
'I worked so hard for this!'
He looked at a vase in his office. The vase contained yellow flowers.
It was a white porcelain vase that was completely undecorated.
That was the artefact that he had worked so hard to obtain, the artefact that blocked all sound.
The condition for activating the artefact was flowers. The vase had to have flowers inside of it for it to work.
He cried out at the warriors standing in front of him.
"I have no other choice! If you can't come back with him, you'll all be killed! If the elder of the clan finds out about this place, it's all over!"
The warriors dashed outside at his warning.
Yeom-jun had regularly sent bribes to the nearby branch of the clan, as well as government officials, but an elder of the clan was another matter altogether.
He wished that the elder would leave Hwagyeong Village as soon as possible. Sadly for him, Yeom-jung was in the dark.
He was unaware that a mad dog, someone that was worse than Shim-gu, was now in his blood fighting venue, and that a catastrophe greater than he could imagine was now coming his way.
[1] Li Po was an acclaimed Tang Dynasty poet famous for his poetry on the pleasures of drinking wine, and general drunkenness
