Chapter 400

The woman under the blanket on the bed has quite the plump figure.

Even if I know she’s a muscular girl and a Myeonsanya, seeing that shape makes a man’s interest naturally perk up.

The expression on Mangchi’s face is pure mischief.

“Hey, Civil Engineering Fairy. You’re just going to lie there and welcome us?”

Mangchi called out, but the woman didn’t even twitch.

Mangchi let out a sly chuckle.

“Heh heh, completely unaware of the world around her. She wouldn’t even notice if someone carried her away.”

As he said this, Mangchi yanked the blanket away.

Ta-da! Unfortunately, it’s just a blanket.

And jingle-jingle! Oh, look, it’s a bell.

“What?”

You might say it’s a very basic trick he fell for, but honestly, it’s a trap anyone would succumb to.

How could the Civil Engineering Fairy have prepared for a surprise attack from the Salwold Sect, and even if she did, would she have left the bed vacant to await their arrival?

But above all, there’s the Sapa instinct kicking in.

This is bad. I feel something really bad is about to happen.

Just as Mangchi raised his voice…

“Damn it! Everyone—”

—Aaaah!

A tortured scream echoed through the walls.

And in the direction of the south-facing bedroom, shadows danced against the wall made of paper attached to wooden beams.

“Hyungnim…?”

“It’s a trap. Everyone hide. I don’t know who they are, but if they break in, we’ll hit back hard and slip away amidst the chaos.”

Mangchi, contrary to his dull appearance, made a swift judgment.

The three major Sapa factions of Gwangju are the Gold Robbery Guild, Gwangju Seonbang, and the Salwold Sect.

Guilds ending in ‘Bang’ signify professions, so the Gold Robbery Guild deals with loan sharks, while Gwangju Seonbang focuses on shipping and shipbuilding businesses.

The Salwold Sect is known for purely dominating the underworld by brute force.

And Mangchi is the chief enforcer of the Salwold Sect, who rules the dark streets.

As the Sapa warriors huddled together, gripping their weapons tightly, silence fell.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash as something smashed against the paper door.

Some of the objects pierced through the paper and broke inside, causing the air to be filled with a pungent, oily smell.

Anyone would instantly think of fire—these guys are planning to burn people alive!

Upon realizing this, the Salwold warriors exchanged glances and stomped the ground in unison before charging out.

Qing, listening intently, realized one guy was searching a separate room while the other five rushed toward the bedroom.

Leaving Jin Gaju’s crew outside, Qing smoothly blended into the shadows.

As it was, Qing was pretty much unnoticed.

Of course, it didn’t help being somewhat lacking as a Merchant Shintu.

It wasn’t because of insufficient lessons, but rather his nature was too wild and energetic to sneak around quietly.

Even so, the fact that he was nearly invisible proved that Shintu’s lessons had been quite effective.

How big must the villa be?

He quickly found the Sapa thug rummaging through the house.

“Damn, it’s a dog’s mess.”

He flung open every drawer he found, but what could possibly be in an originally empty villa?

Yet, he refused to give up and poured his determination into searching every nook and cranny, completely oblivious to Qing lurking right behind him.

If someone were to witness this, they’d probably scream ‘Behind, behind!’

Then suddenly—jingle-jingle…!

The sound of a bell caught Qing’s attention, and his mouth gaped open in shock.

Time’s up! Too bad, you exceeded the limit.

“Oh dear. Disturbing the shrine? You’ll face divine retribution. No, Qing retribution.”

“Gah!”

The thug spun around in shock, but before he knew it, a hammer struck down with a thunderous sound.

The angle of the swinging hammer stamped down on the Sapa thug’s foot!

Thud! The sickening sound echoed like meat being tenderized.

In that brief moment, flesh burst, and bone shattered, the sensation was akin to crushing something soft.

Having swung the hammer purely with muscle, the exhilarating impact coursed into his palm.

Qing involuntarily let out a sweet sigh, but it was drowned out by an even louder scream.

An aaah! rang out!

As the hammer dug into the solid wooden floor, what happened to the flesh trapped beneath?

Qing looked down at the Sapa warrior, who was howling as if his house was collapsing around him.

His shadowy eye sockets glimmered with a sinister twinkle.

Ah, too bad, but this is all I can take.

The Jin Gaju crew must enjoy themselves as well.

Qing smacked his lips, suddenly adopting a panicked expression as he shifted to immersive acting.

“No! Warrior! Your foot! Your foot!”

“Aaaah! Aaaah!”

“Warrior! Get a grip, get a grip!”

“Aaaah! Ah, ah, ah!”

Qing harshly slapped the cheeks of the Sapa warrior, who was simply screaming like crazy.

But it seemed even the shock therapy didn’t do much, as the Sapa warrior only flailed around in terror, attempting to strike back at Qing.

Of course, Qing’s body was mindlessly thick-skinned, so he could afford to withstand the blows.

What a joke, the flailing hands of the Sapa thug.

After finally putting aside the panic, Qing pondered how to bring the warrior back to his senses.

If slapping doesn’t work, right?

The shock isn’t enough.

Greater shock can conquer greater fear!

A solid hit fell mercilessly upon the Sapa warrior’s head.

It was violence itself, an overwhelming force that could not be resisted.

Smack!!!

The warrior’s eyes rolled back in fear before they returned to the real world again.

“Huuugh.”

The truly painful moments suppress screams, it seems.

Finally regaining some awareness, Qing crouched in front of him and gently spoke.

“Hey there. You’re not grasping the situation, right? You’ve just been ambushed. Your right foot has turned into jerky. Is this really the time for screams? How can you expect to beat me in that state? So what now?”

“P-please save me—”

“Have you ever saved someone who begged for their life? Just once—”

“I have!”

“Your reply was too quick, don’t you think? When? What year, month, day, where, who, and why did you save them? Answer. One. Two. Three. Four…”

Qing spoke in a childish voice while counting down with his fingers.

The Sapa warrior couldn’t respond.

“Alright. So begging for your life isn’t going to work, huh? Then what now? You should run. Go on, take off.”

“Huh? What?”

“Run! You think you’re gonna limp away?”

Qing grinned, showing his white teeth.

When you want to cry, what if someone slaps you?

You’d probably think, ‘This is the moment! Time to let the tears flow!’ and burst into a proper wailing!

The Jin Gaju people want to hate.

The family and friends who lived together were mercilessly murdered, yet the enemy has fled.

As they held onto their grievances, what if bandits appeared to loot the funeral hall?

The judge, no, the magistrate might even say, “Well, they were bound to get beaten to death, so isn’t this a natural cause of death?” *bang* *bang* *bang* and justify the defense.

As the Sapa warrior fled through the door, he suddenly thrust his blade at a figure blocking his way.

The tip split into two, aiming at two different places.

Standing before such impressive swordsmanship, a white hand resembling that of an artist looked as if it might get cut at any second.

But that moment was short-lived, as the Sapa warrior suddenly felt a gentle force lifting him up.

Without realizing it, his body floated, spinning as if the world flipped around, and then—bang!

The Sapa warrior crash-landed.

Looking down at his shoulder, he suddenly noticed bone jutting out for the first time in his life.

Greetings, Master. I’m the broken bone from your right upper arm. I’m terribly sorry to appear like this, leaking marrow everywhere.

“Aaaah!”

People often feel twice the pain upon verifying their wounds with their own eyes, so a terrifying scream erupted after realizing the sheer agony.

Similar things happened across the room.

Of course, the technique of spinning someone’s shoulder to pop their bone out in one swift motion is a skill only a master like Jin Gaju could manage, so other Sapa warriors didn’t get as severely injured.

It’s just unfortunate that it was those less badly hurt that retaliated against the Jin Gaju warriors.

Aaah! Ah! Aaaah! Save me!

In the dead of night, shouts and pleas erupted loudly.

At that moment, Qing returned to the courtyard dragging the Sapa warrior.

Seeing the violent beating taking place in the villa courtyard, Qing was taken aback, releasing the handful of hair he held and jumping in.

“Ah! Leave me out of this! Join in!”

Thus, Qing happily joined the fray.

He kicked, stomped, slapped down, smashed down heads, slapped cheeks, knocked out teeth, stomped hands, and crushed fingers.

Given the numbers on the Jin Gaju side, they certainly were having a jolly time as a team.

If the people of the world saw this, they might think it was a gathering of the Blood Sect rather than the Zhengpai.

Then suddenly, Qing said,

“Hey, Gaju-nim. One guy’s missing, right? There were definitely five guys who went in, but now there are only four?”

“Huh?”

Hearing that, the Jin Gaju warriors stopped attacking and all turned their attention towards the bedroom, revealed beyond the shattered screen.

Mangchi had a plan.

While his underlings charged out, he had quietly snuck under the bed by himself.

There came a sound through the air that was chilling.

Continuous screams, the resounding thuds against flesh, and alongside it, the abrupt sounds of moans.

Such sounds were all too familiar to the Sapa, painting a clear image of the chaotic scene.

Who the hell are these guys?

How dare they disrupt an event of the Salwold Sect?

Since they had the numbers, they could hold back for now, but this disgrace would definitely be revenged.

Then a singular voice, suddenly cutting through, caught his ear.

Maybe it was because it was a woman’s voice, or perhaps because it was simply beautiful and lingered sweetly in his ear.

“Gaju-nim, one guy’s missing.”

Mangchi’s heart sank.

It’s the Jin Gaju, the Jin Gaju folks!

No matter how toothless a tiger might be, they hadn’t wiped out their own direct line, just their branch family.

And calling him Gaju-nim? If Jin Gaju himself got involved, then not even his hyung, but the big brother, the sect leader would mean he had no chance in a fair fight.

So, Mangchi held his breath.

After all, it’d be death if he ran out now.

Better to remain hidden and hope they think he’s escaped.

Then footsteps began to approach.

-What’s strange. Where did he run off to?

-Isn’t he already gone?

-Maybe we should’ve guarded the back door?

-We need to track him down quickly. We can’t afford to lose even one of them.

-Yes, Gaju-nim!

And so hurried footsteps retreated in a rush.

Mangchi felt a flicker of relief but couldn’t exhale just yet.

And then came the lifelong turmoil of choices.

If he dashed out too soon, he’d get caught; yet if he waited too long, they might come back.

Each moment dragged on like a year.

The surroundings were silent.

In winter, not even the common insects chirped in the stillness.

It was so silent that the sound of his own heartbeat seemed deafening.

Time passed. Sweat poured.

Time wouldn’t pass. Sweat just dripped down.

How long had it been?

The nerves rose to a breaking point, stretching time unbearably long.

After a while, Mangchi daringly extended his arms to move his body still attached to the floor.

With a grinding noise, he felt his heart drop.

Giving strength to his fingertips and toes, he slowly lifted himself up, carefully trying not to make a single sound, inching his way out.

Then a voice cut through the air.

“Whoa. You’re finally crawling out?”

Smack!

Mangchi tried to pop up but slammed his back onto the bed instead.

Given how forcefully he moved, the bed briefly lifted, rattling loudly in the process.

And finally, he met the gaze of ten pairs of eyes staring straight at him.

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