Dosan Yangbang.
It’s a name that lingers in my memory.
To be precise, he was one of the masterminds of everything Jeongalgyun pointed out, so saying it’s a name I can’t forget would be an understatement.
Upon recalling his name, it wasn’t just me; Dokgorin’s expression turned stiff as well.
Noticing our reactions, Yangbang smiled faintly and said,
“It appears you already know about me. There’s no need for me to elaborate further, then.”
Hearing Yangbang’s words, Dokgorin asked,
“What on earth were you thinking appearing before me?”
Yangbang replied, smirking,
“To be honest, I never thought there would be survivors from the Dokgo clan. I waited around for three days just in case, but in the end, I was completely blindsided.”
“…Did you kill my father?”
“Well, if we’re being technical, yes. It was supposed to be Weijichun’s job, but I ended up forced to take it on.”
As soon as Yangbang confessed to the accusations, the man holding a knife to Dokgorin’s neck suddenly cried out, “Kraak!” and dropped the blade he was gripping.
Oops!
As soon as he was freed from the hold, Dokgorin snatched up the knife that had fallen and lunged it at Yangbang like a spear.
But,
Vrrr!
Just before the blade could pierce Yangbang’s neck, it seemed to hit an invisible wall, preventing it from moving forward.
“Oh, dear, that was quite dangerous.”
Yangbang chuckled as he spoke; Dokgorin, with a deadpan expression, asked,
“What kind of sorcery is this?”
“Sorcery? Please call it a technique.”
Yangbang said this while pulling out a partially burned talisman from his robe.
“It’s often referred to as a protective charm.”
Once the talisman completely burned away, Yangbang gestured again, giving orders.
This time, unlike before when there was only one, three men surrounded Dokgorin.
“Tch.”
Understanding the odds were against her, Dokgorin dropped the sword she was holding in her right hand and raised both hands in surrender. Yangbang remarked, “You should’ve done this sooner,” before picking up the sword she had dropped.
“Team 3, over here.”
“Yes!”
At Yangbang’s call, the man who had just dropped his knife rushed to the front and stood still.
“You nearly cost me my life due to your blunder. How do you intend to make amends for that?”
As Yangbang extended the sword’s hilt, the man stared at it with trembling eyes, then took it and gripped it in reverse, saying,
“I’ll repay with my life.”
Poof!
Without leaving any last words, the man collapsed onto the floor.
“……!”
We were left in shock, unable to fathom watching a person take their own life right in front of us.
On the other hand, Yangbang, gazing down at the cold corpse with an unreadable expression, turned back to us and said,
“Now, shall we continue our conversation from earlier?”
After having just instigated a suicide, he seemed utterly unaffected by the event, making my spine tingle with unease.
‘What a dangerous character.’
Perhaps even surpassing Weijichun in threat level.
*
“I’m here today because I failed to recognize your existence when I eradicated the Dokgo clan.”
Yangbang said this as he approached Dokgorin, hands clasped behind his back.
“Despite my appearance, I pride myself on being quite a capable dosan. I had confidence in my astral predictions, but I couldn’t read anything related to you; it was like a fog obscuring my vision. So of course, curiosity got the better of me.”
He continued talking while roughly lifting Dokgorin’s chin to see her face.
“Now, show me. What is your true identity?”
In that moment, when Yangbang stared into Dokgorin’s eyes, he was taken aback.
“What!”
He recoiled as if he had seen a ghost, then looked at Dokgorin with trembling eyes, suddenly beginning to laugh uncontrollably, as if he had lost his mind.
“Hahaha! The Reverse Celestial! So it wasn’t just a simple legend!”
It seemed he also had some knowledge of the Reverse Celestial mentioned by Baek Yujin.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t display such an intense reaction.
As I observed Yangbang’s unsettling demeanor, Namgoong Ruby, sitting next to me, pressed the tip of her toes against my foot.
Curious, I glanced over and saw her rolling her eyes, indicating the black-clad figures standing behind us.
It seemed she was suggesting we take action while Yangbang was distracted.
I hesitated at her proposal for a moment.
From the conversation between Dokgorin and Yangbang, it seemed this dosan Yangbang had subdued Dokgojin, the master of Huakyung.
But could mere peak masters like us really break through the encirclement of so many people?
However, doing nothing felt like inviting a repeat of the tragedy that befell the Dokgo clan, so we couldn’t just stand there.
My deliberation didn’t last long.
As I accepted Namgoong Ruby’s suggestion to counterattack and began to channel my energy, something suddenly shot through the shop window.
One of the black-clad figures yelled out.
“It’s a smoke bomb!”
Boom!!
With a pungent smell of gunpowder, the smoke bomb spewed thick black smoke.
Not wanting to let such an opportunity slip away, Namgoong Ruby and I seized the moment and swiftly subdued the bewildered black figures.
Then, we immediately launched attacks against the other black-clad men threatening Dokgorin and Tang Sosu with knives.
“Cough! The hostages are escaping!”
Dozens of daggers flew into the bewildered black figures.
“Kaaargh!”
They fell to the ground, now resembling pincushions as they screamed in agony.
Almost instantly, from behind the choking black smoke, a familiar voice resonated.
“How dare you disturb my courtyard like this!”
It was Dokwang Tang Hochang, the grandfather of Dokgorin and Tang Sosu.
*
“How dare you disturb my courtyard like this!”
Dokwang Tang Hochang, who usually displayed a gentle demeanor in front of his granddaughters, looked seriously angered this time, with thick veins bulging from his forehead.
With the same handcuffs he had given me strapped on both hands, he drew his sword and swiftly subdued the attacking black figures, bulldozing through them.
“Ugh, I must have taken up too much time.”
Yangbang managed to stop smiling as he watched Dokwang Tang Hochang single-handedly cut down the black figures, but he couldn’t act on the growing anger that rose in him as he scanned our faces filled with wariness.
“It seems I must retreat for today. But before I go…”
In an instant, his body moved toward us without warning.
“Dokgorin, I shall take your life!”
“!”
His outstretched right hand aimed directly at Dokgorin’s heart.
There was no time to think.
Instinctively, I threw myself at her.
Thud!
With an unpleasant sound, I was pierced through the chest by his palm instead of Dokgorin, and I spat out crimson blood.
“Cough!”
“Damn it, Chilbok!!”
Behind me, I heard Dokgorin’s anguished scream.
But the ringing in my ears made her voice hard to hear.
It was probably due to the massive blood loss.
Fighting against sudden drowsiness, I turned slightly to glance back.
Dokgorin, wearing a look of utter despair I had never seen before, caught my faltering body in her arms, her eyes brimming with transparent tears.
“Thank goodness….”
Barely squeezing out my voice, I uttered that phrase and then closed my eyes, feeling a sense of relief.
*
“…Huh?”
Dokgorin’s mind couldn’t keep up with what had just transpired before her eyes.
Why was Chilbok lying on the ground, bleeding?
Why had Chilbok taken the blow meant for her from Yangbang?
Why? Why? Why?
Continual questions rendered her mind blank.
But one thing was clear: that dosan named Yangbang was once again trying to steal something precious from her.
Phew!
Her rationality snapped.
In that moment, all constraints that had held her back dissolved, the dam broke, and she released a torrent of energy like water bursting through.
A vivid fluorescent green haze swirled around her body.
As everyone was bewildered by the unprecedented manifestation of energy, Dokgorin, her eyes wild with rage, charged at Yangbang, who had been brushing off the blood spattered on his hand from Chilbok.
“Die.”
Yangbang, maintaining a nonchalant expression, effortlessly blocked Dokgorin’s attack.
However, his relaxed demeanor quickly vanished.
“What…! You’re using the Lesser Void Technique!”
Alongside his shock came the overwhelming Yin aura and radiation that Dokgorin emitted as her fist aimed for Yangbang’s neck.
He quickly retreated to evade the blow but, clicking his tongue, he flung several talismans from his sleeve towards Dokgorin.
As these talismans flew toward her, they twisted and wrapped around her like living creatures.
But the moment they touched the fluorescent haze erupting from Dokgorin, they corroded and disappeared in an instant. Shocked, Yangbang formed a hand seal.
Then, his figure began to fade like an illusion.
Dokgorin’s glowing green hand pierced the spot where he had been standing, but he had already vanished.
“….”
With that, having ceased her attack, Dokgorin looked over at the approaching Dokwang Tang Hochang, wearing an expression of utter despondency.
“Grandfather, what do we do about Chilbok?”
Dokgorin was truly cornered.
