Rebirth of the Heavenly Demon

Chapter 21 – The Rightful Owner of Elixir (4)

The cards used at this table weren’t the flower cards (hwapae) used by ordinary people, but sword cards (geompae). It’s a method of comparing the superiority of famous sword techniques and inner energy cultivation methods throughout history by matching them in pairs.

These cards are mainly used by martial artists, and there were various types of gambling with slightly modified rules, including not only sword cards but also knife cards (dopae) using knife techniques, spear cards (changpae) for spear techniques, martial cards (mupae) encompassing all martial arts, and alliance cards (maengpae) created using various organizations of the Martial Righteous Alliance.

Gal Saryang once said that after my death, the Heavenly Martial Heart-Guarding Technique and the Soul-Reaping Asura Sword Technique would probably be added to the sword cards.

Thinking that my martial arts could now be seen even in gambling dens, I couldn’t help but smile wryly.

As the game progressed, I started to lose money little by little. Not only Gwak Dosu but also the others at the table were quite skilled.

I had brought 3,000 nyang with me. While this would be an enormous sum in a regular gambling house, looking at the stakes here, I could lose it all in two or three hours of bad luck.

Fortunately, though I wasn’t an expert gambler, I had some basic skills.

The best gambler in the Martial Righteous Alliance was Baek Seongwon, the leader of the Crimson Dragon Regiment. Once at a drinking party, I had learned a few techniques that could be used in gambling houses. These were techniques that could be used purely without using martial arts.

That proved quite helpful. It made me appear to have the skills of someone who had frequented gambling dens.

I kept losing three hands and then winning one.

Just as when I first sat down, I didn’t hide my presence.

“These damn cards just won’t come.”

One of the gamblers laughed and said,

“Some days they come, some days they don’t. That’s life.”

I shouted angrily,

“Fuck this! Who are you to lecture me? Save that crap for your kids!”

“Hey, let’s not bring families into this.”

“What an old fogey!”

Everyone laughed. They were laughing, but their eyes were like those of beasts eyeing their prey.

All the crimes Gwak Dosu had committed were malicious murders.

So I expected him to be a very rough and fierce man, but at least at the gambling table, he was behaving like a different person. He was relaxed and at ease, as if he were some great hero. I couldn’t tell if it was compensatory psychology, human duality, or if he was just crazy about gambling.

Another hour passed. I had already lost half of my money, 1,500 nyang, and their wariness towards me had dissipated as much as the money I had lost.

Finally, Gwak Dosu stood up, saying he was going to the restroom.

I stood up as if I had been waiting for this.

“Brother, let’s go together. And while we’re at it, let’s change our seats.”

“Brother?”

“Where’s brotherhood in a gambling den? The losers are suckers, and the winners are all bastards.”

I looked at each person sitting at the table.

“Ugly bastard, old bastard, stupid bastard…”

Those sitting there frowned, but I didn’t miss Gwak Dosu at the end.

“Scarface bastard.”

For a moment, Gwak Dosu’s face twitched.

“Don’t foam at the mouth just because you lost a few coins.”

“What? A few coins? You call this a few coins?”

As I approached him with an angry face, one of the middle-aged martial artists standing behind rushed forward to block me.

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“Get out of my way! Let go!”

The man who blocked me glared at me coldly.

“Take it easy.”

“You bastard, who are you? I’m a customer here!”

“I said, take it easy.”

As the man exuded killing intent, I involuntarily flinched and stepped back.

“Why don’t you just stab me with that sword and take all my money? Hmph! I’m too disgusted to continue.”

I gathered the remaining promissory notes on the table. Since half of my money was still left, I was certain they wouldn’t let me leave like this.

Sure enough, Gwak Dosu, who had been standing behind, stepped forward.

“You fool! How dare you act so rudely to an esteemed guest?”

He pretended to scold the martial artist who had blocked me earlier, then approached me with a friendly face.

“Look here, brother. Didn’t you say with your own mouth that no one could leave until someone died?”

“I don’t want to back out either… but people have feelings, you know?”

“Come now, cheer up. What would that uncultured swordsman know?”

Gwak Dosu put one arm around my shoulder as if in a friendly embrace, while grasping my wrist with his other hand.

At the same time, he injected a stream of inner energy to examine my body. After confirming my meager inner energy, a look of contempt appeared on Gwak Dosu’s face. His expression seemed to say, ‘I thought as much.’

Of course, I too had learned something about him. At the very least, he had the skill to inject inner energy to check another’s internal energy.

“Didn’t you say you were going to the restroom?”

I answered his question in a slightly softer tone.

“I’m fine. You go ahead, brother… I mean, big brother.”

“No, let’s go together. I’ll change seats with you when we get back. Yeah, when things aren’t going well, you should change.”

He ended up pulling me along, and I found myself being dragged.

When the middle-aged martial artist tried to follow, Gwak Dosu yelled at him, asking where he thought he was going.

“Come on, brother. Let’s go take a good leak and start over!”

Half an hour later.

One of the waiting martial artists glanced towards the restroom.

A martial artist standing nearby said to the middle-aged martial artist who seemed to be in charge,

“They’re taking too long.”

“Let’s go check.”

The middle-aged martial artist took his subordinate and went to the restroom.

As they approached, a strong smell of blood hit them.

“Damn it!”

The middle-aged martial artist kicked open the door and rushed in. An unexpected sight greeted them inside.

A headless corpse lay on the floor.

“This bastard was asking for it and ended up dead. Where’s Master Gwak?”

The subordinate examining the corpse cried out in shock.

“This corpse is Master Gwak!”

“What?”

The middle-aged man’s eyes widened. He quickly examined the corpse. It really was Gwak Dosu.

“Where’s the other one? Find that bastard!”

The subordinates hurriedly ran out.

“But how did he cut the neck?”

It wasn’t a wound torn by hand. Gwak Dosu’s neck was cleanly cut.

Just then, the subordinate who was with him was startled.

“Gasp!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Captain, your knife…”

The man was shocked and looked down at his waist. The dagger he had been carrying for self-defense was gone.

“When did he… Ah!”

He realized that his dagger had been taken when he briefly scuffled with the man while blocking him from rushing at Gwak Dosu earlier. The fact that no one noticed despite many watching eyes meant that the opponent’s sleight of hand was extraordinary.

The subordinates who had run out came rushing back in.

“The guys guarding the back door were taken out. It seems he’s already escaped.”

The man gritted his teeth and said,

“Send everyone out to chase him! Circulate that bastard’s description! Hurry!”

***

In a deserted forest.

Gong Jong swallowed hard as he stared at Gwak Dosu’s head placed on a rock.

“Why are you so surprised? Isn’t this the expected result?”

“Haha, you’re absolutely right. But did he not struggle while being killed?”

He must be worried that Gwak Dosu might have revealed his name.

“He died without even a chance to struggle.”

“Ah, I see. That’s a relief.”

“The money?”

“Here it is. Twenty thousand nyang.”

He handed me the leather bag he had been carrying. When I opened it, it was full of small-denomination promissory notes. The original bounty of 5,000 nyang plus the 15,000 nyang he had personally prepared.

“Congratulations on personally catching the villain of your family.”

Usually, the bounty is paid after several investigations. They need to verify if the dead person is indeed the villain with the bounty on their head. Gong Jong was skipping that process and paying the money.

Of course, he would be able to recognize Gwak Dosu just by seeing the severed head.

“I don’t need to count it, right?”

“Of course not. I checked it twice myself.”

“Indeed, our Branch Leader Gong is meticulous. I like that very much. Now prepare to go to the headquarters.”

“Ah, thank you so much.”

When his joy was at its peak, I abruptly said,

“But this guy said something strange before he died. He said he knew Branch Leader Gong.”

Gong Jong was startled and denied it.

“Nonsense!”

“He said you two conspired to rob the Byeok Clan Sword Manor.”

“N-no, that’s not true.”

Gong Jong’s voice trembled severely, even stuttering.

“I actually like that better.”

“Pardon?”

“I prefer someone who’s appropriately worldly. Naive people are frustrating. Sometimes one might need to work with evil. That’s how bold actions can be taken. Don’t you think?”

“Well, yes, but…”

Gong Jong was bewildered by these unexpected words.

“Why did you do it? Tell me honestly. By my standards, that level of flaw isn’t a problem. It’s rather an advantage.”

Gong Jong looked back and forth between the severed head and me. His internal conflict didn’t last long. He seemed to judge that since Gwak Dosu had already spilled everything, trying to deceive me would only lose his trust.

“He was a complete good-for-nothing. He needed to be taught a lesson.”

“Hahaha. Splendid.”

Just as he was feeling relieved by my response.

Shhhk.

I took off my human skin mask.

“Long time no see.”

Gong Jong’s eyes widened in shock. He was probably more surprised than he had ever been in his entire life.

“…No, you? You? How…?”

I smiled and said,

“If you want to teach someone a lesson, you should use a rod, not take their money.”

Gong Jong, trembling all over in shock, looked at the leather bag on my shoulder.

“My money, give me back my money!”

“Money is the first thing on your mind, isn’t it?”

Gong Jong tried to draw his sword. But I, having anticipated the situation, was faster. I struck out like lightning.

Shik! Puk!

The dagger pierced straight into his neck.

“Kuk.”

Gong Jong grabbed my arm. Knowing he would die if the dagger was pulled out, he sent me a desperate look while his whole body convulsed.

I looked at Gong Jong with the coldest gaze I had ever given.

“We appointed you to protect the martial artists, didn’t we? We didn’t appoint you to do this kind of thing.”

This was not only the revenge of Byeok Ri-dan as an individual but also the anger and punishment of Cheon Hajin, the Martial Righteous Alliance Leader.

Gong Jong wore an expression of incomprehension. As I had no intention of engaging in further conversation with scum like Gong Jong, I mercilessly pulled out the dagger.

Gong Jong spewed blood and fell backward.

I put the human skin mask I had taken off onto his face. The corpse would be discovered, and it would be revealed that Gong Jong had infiltrated wearing a human skin mask to kill Gwak Dosu.

There should be at least one person among the gambling den people who knows about their relationship, so they won’t think it’s out of the blue. Even if they do, what does it matter?

There’s no clue that can reveal my involvement.

Leaving behind the corpse growing cold, I left the place. My steps were headed towards the Jinan branch of the Black Market.

Fortunately, the promised ten days had not yet passed.