Tangmunjeon - Chapter 416



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Tangmunjeon Episode 416

Jang Il-nam

As Jang Il-nam approached Nam-woong, the doctor who was examining Nam-woong’s wounds stepped back slightly. Thanks to this, Jang Il-nam was able to see where Nam-woong was injured.

‘Did you hurt your side and right arm?’

Normally, the more dangerous area would be the side, but fortunately, the bleeding doesn’t seem to be severe considering the side injury. Gold ointment had already been applied generously.

Jang Il-nam asked the member of parliament.

“How is it?”

“The injury is not minor.”

In fact, the congressman had nothing more to say.

Members of the National Assembly are people whose job is to treat injured people. But that doesn’t mean that members of the National Assembly can treat all patients equally well.

What the members of the National Assembly can skillfully respond to are internal injuries or diseases that occur when the body’s balance is disrupted.

On the other hand, doctors had little to offer in the case of cuts or broken bones. At best, they could apply a generous amount of ointment or fix the affected area to prevent the bone from becoming misaligned.

Jang Il-nam crouched down in front of Nam-woong and measured how deeply the sword wound on his waist had penetrated.

‘If the depth is this much… it doesn’t seem like any organs were injured. It was just luck.’

Rather, what was worse was the wound on his arm. Looking at it, his right elbow was almost shattered, and in Jang Il-nam’s experience, such wounds never healed cleanly.

Even if he were to save his life, Nam-woong would never be able to lift a sword again. No, that would be better. He might even be able to bend his right arm.

Jang Il-nam felt sorry for Nam-woong, but then changed his mind.

‘···No. It’s fortunate that I injured my right arm.’

The martial artist does not leave behind anyone who can wield a sword. Namwoong must have been saved because he was unable to lift a sword.

Suddenly, Jang Il-nam felt a deep sense of disgust towards himself. Was it right to consider this fortunate?

However, Nam Woong could not know Jang Il Nam’s complicated inner thoughts.

Nam Woong said to Jang Il Nam.

“sorry.”

When Nam-woong opened his mouth, more blood flowed out from the wound on his side. However, Nam-woong endured the pain and continued his story.

“I was arrogant. I thought I could handle it.”

Among the Tang family members who took refuge in Dongjeongho, the strongest one was Jang Il-nam.

However, the person whom Dang Mu-jin entrusted with the escort of the group was not Jang Il-nam, but Nam Woong. Jang Il-nam was the one who put down the sword.

In fact, Nam-woong could defeat any opponent with his skills. Even among the most skilled warriors, wasn’t Nam-woong quite skilled?

However, all sorts of emotions were swirling in Jang Il-nam’s heart. Among them, two emotions took up the largest portion.

Regret. And anger. But that anger was directed at both the intruder and himself.

The escort of the group was Namwoong, not you, so can you avoid responsibility by saying that you trusted Namwoong?

Now that I’ve put down my sword and let go of my past as a martial artist, can I say that the affairs of martial artists are none of my business?

It was a good excuse. But it was literally just an excuse.

All excuses have one thing in common: they only appear after we’ve encountered an unwanted situation.

Jang Il-nam neither expected nor wanted this situation.

And I thought.

‘I was foolish. And I became so dull.’

It’s been five years since I put down my sword and spent time at the Danggajang.

Because that time was so happy, because the life he spent inside the fence for the first time in his life was so comfortable, Jang Il-nam became numb.

Five years of time made Jang Il-nam a foolish man.

But Jang Il-nam now realizes that as long as you have power, you cannot be free from responsibility.

It didn’t matter to whom the party delegated responsibility. The heaviest sense of responsibility came from within.

Jang Il-nam asked Nam-woong, clenching his jaw so tightly that it seemed as if his wisdom teeth were about to crumble.

“Was it a demonic cult?”

“Yes.”

“When was it?”

The congressman who was examining Nam Woong’s wound answered on his behalf.

“It was a little after noon, about the time when we were passing from Oshi to Mishi.”

Jang Il-nam turned his head to the west and looked at how far the sun had set.

Judging by the position of the sun, it was only about 酉時 at the moment. That meant that at most two hours had passed.

Conversely, this means that if I had returned just two hours earlier, I could have prevented the misfortune. No, I may not have been able to prevent the misfortune, but I wouldn’t have regretted it this much.

Jang Il-nam asked the congressman.

“Are there any more injured or dead people?”

“The only one who was seriously injured was Nam Dae-hyeop. However, two of the field generals who were resisting were killed.”

There’s a dead person. My heart sank.

But I also felt a sense of relief. Considering that the demonic cult had appeared, and that Nam-woong had been seriously injured, there weren’t that many deaths. No, it was strangely few.

The moment his thoughts reached that point, Jang Il-nam’s face distorted horribly.

How shameless, Jang Il-nam. How ugly, Jang Il-nam. How can you treat two people’s lives lightly? Even if you apologize with your life, they won’t be able to survive.

To make matters worse, the congressman’s story didn’t end there.

“And… there are people who have been captured.”

“Who is it?”

“Madam Dan and Miss Dangyeong escaped disaster by going out to see Dongjeongho. However, Elder Taesangjangju, Madam Mok, Miss Iryeong and Miss Haewon, the two Yajangs, and Chu Ui-gakju were captured. Among them, Ui-gakju volunteered to go with them.”

I was breathless. Did they catch seven people?

Of course, the situation couldn’t have ended with three people dead or injured.

But one question remained. Why did Chusam voluntarily allow himself to be captured by the Demonic Cult?

Jang Il-nam asked Nam Woong.

“How many intruders were there?”

“There are five people.”

Jang Il-nam understood why Ui-gak-ju Chu-sam volunteered to be arrested.

‘It won’t be easy for five intruders to manage seven hostages.’

From the perspective of the hostage takers, it is easy to think that the more hostages the better. It is certainly true that the more hostages you have, the more influence you can have on the situation.

But things aren’t always so good. The more hostages there are, the more difficult it is to move around. Chusam decides to give up his own safety to buy some time.

“Did you check where it went?”

Nam Woong shook his head.

“Unable to verify.”

“I get it.”

“Master.”

Nam-woong stretched out his left arm and grabbed his sword.

Nam-woong knew how his teacher had lived and with what kind of heart he had put down his sword.

However, Nam-woong held back his shame and handed his sword to Jang Il-nam with his uninjured left arm.

“I’m sorry, Master. And… please.”

In the past five years, Jang Il-nam only held a sword when sparring. He never once thought about harming anyone while holding a sword.

But now it was different. If you hold this sword, someone will definitely die.

Either yourself or your opponent.

However, Jang Il-nam took the sword without hesitation.

“No. It’s not something you should apologize for.”

Jang Il-nam gripped the sword handle tightly and headed outside.

“I should be the one apologizing.”

*

Jang Il-nam has always lived avoiding people.

Avoiding people doesn’t simply mean leaving when people appear.

You have to hide your destination and erase your traces.

During the past several decades of wandering the martial arts world, Jang Il-nam has always had to move while erasing his traces.

And being accustomed to erasing one’s own traces means that one also knows exactly what kind of traces one leaves behind when one moves.

Even now, the number of people who had moved was more than ten, including the hostages. Jang Il-nam was confident that he could figure out where the Demonic Cult’s unmanned personnel had gone.

However, Jang Il-nam, who was searching for traces of the Demonic Cult members, realized that sophisticated tracking techniques were not necessary. There were traces of someone moving with light footsteps.

There are many people in the world who have impaired legs. The footsteps of such people are different from those of ordinary people, but they are clearly regular.

But the traces left on the floor now were not that regular.

When measured by stride, a normal walk of five or six steps involves scraping the ground with the heel once.

‘This is not a mark from a sore leg. It’s from the heel scraping the dirt while walking.’

And Jang Il-nam knew who would be the one to drag his feet like this. It was Ui-gak-ju Chu-sam.

‘If you got caught, your life would have been in danger… You must have been very careful.’

Jang Il-nam followed the trail left by more than ten people, and the trail left by Chusam, who was lightly dragging his feet. The speed was so fast that it was similar to how any other person would walk briskly.

It was also a great advantage that Jang Il-nam was familiar with the local geography.

All boys tend to run around the village and all the places around the village, and Jang Il-nam was no exception during his childhood.

The trail led towards a small forest outside the village.

‘Out of the village, to the southwest. Is this the direction of Sunggeommun (崇劍門)?’

It was a place in my memories.

It was a place that Jang Il-nam had visited many times when he was young, and it was also a place that his disciples suggested to make their base when they took in disciples.

The reason Jang Il-nam and his disciples were unable to settle down in Sunggeommun at the time was very simple. The people of Sunggeommun would not readily give up their sect building.

Of course, Jang Il-nam’s disciples insisted that they should kill all the few followers of Sunggeom and take away the land and buildings of Sunggeommun, but that was a proposal that Jang Il-nam could absolutely not agree to.

‘But, was Sunggeommun related to the Demonic Cult?’

Jang Il-nam soon arrived in front of the Sunggeommun site.

And I quickly understood why the Demonic Cultists had chosen this place as their hideout.

The main gate of Sunggeommun was almost rotted away and on the verge of collapse, and the walls were also crumbling in places, making it look unsightly. Anyone who looked at it could clearly see that it had been abandoned for a long time.

Indeed, it is common for minor sects to fall and disappear.

Jang Il-nam peeked his head out through the gap in the collapsed wall and looked inside Sunggeommun Gate.

Because it had not been maintained for a long time, all kinds of weeds had grown in the Sunggeommun martial arts field as tall as a child, and two buildings stood far apart on either side of the martial arts field.

‘There are two buildings. Which one is it?’

Jang Il-nam quietly pushed through the overgrown weeds and approached the building on the left first.

And instead of hastily entering the building, I looked around the front door of the building.

‘···There are traces of people coming and going.’

A large fan-shaped mark was visible on the floor in front of the door.

The doors of old buildings tend to break down from the hinges. The worn hinges do not support the door properly, so every time the door opens and closes, it leaves a scratch mark on the floor.

There were quite a few footprints on the ground where the hinge had scratched.

I think the hostages are most likely in this building.

Jang Il-nam quietly put his ear against the wall of the building and held his breath.

Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

As his son-in-law became quiet, he could hear his own heart beating regularly.

As they waited quietly, two soft voices were soon heard from inside. Neither of them were voices that Jang Il-nam remembered.

‘At least two strange men. One is older and one is relatively younger.’

Although I couldn’t understand what the two were talking about, I was able to get one piece of information.

“···Yes, Your Majesty.”

The fact that the older person called the younger person a guardian angel.

It seemed likely that this person named Hobeop was the leader of the Demonic Cult warriors in this place.

Jang Il-nam continued to listen.

And after a while, a girl’s whining was heard. Jang Il-nam’s ears perked up.

‘It’s Lee Young’s voice.’

My heart was pounding like crazy.

Before Dang Yi-ryeong could even finish whining, another familiar voice was heard.

“Lee Ryeong, come here.”

The voice of Mokwan-ah is heard clearly.

A voice that is calm as usual, but contains hidden anxiety.

I wonder if she is trying hard not to reveal her anxious and fearful feelings to her daughter.

Then the girl’s whining voice was heard once more.

‘This is Haewon’s voice.’

What’s even more fortunate is that there is no fear or horror in the voices of the young party leader and party member. They just sound a little frustrated and bored.

‘It seems like nothing serious has happened yet. At least nothing unpleasant has happened in front of Lee Young and Hae Won.’

So, are other people safe too?

I had a feeling that would be the case. If they had planned to capture him and then harm him in just two hours, they wouldn’t have taken him hostage.

‘No. This is not the time to be optimistic.’

Someone might have been hacked in a place where the two children were not present. I was particularly worried about the footnote, Chusam.

If there were any quick-witted and experienced people among the Demonic Cult members, they might have noticed that Chusam left traces as he moved.

He wanted to run into the building right away and rescue the hostages, but Jang Il-nam knew that was the most foolish thing to do.

‘Don’t be impatient, be rational, and be careful.’

Jang Il-nam felt a little relieved and slowly stepped back, heading towards the building on the opposite side of the training ground. It was the building on the right when looking from the main gate.

And just like I did with the building on the left, I looked in front of the door. This building also had signs of a door opening and closing.

If you bravely go inside the building, things will get noisy and there is a high chance of getting into trouble. Especially since the old door will open and make noise.

So Jang Il-nam jumped up onto the roof quietly like a small animal, put his ear to the roof, and held his breath.

‘There are two signs of popularity… no, three.’

The voices of two men and one woman.

This time, all three voices were unfamiliar.

‘It looks like all three are Demonic Cult members. I wish someone would open the door for me.’

Jang Il-nam thought about how to handle things naturally and came up with an appropriate method.

Jang Il-nam concentrated his internal energy in his right hand and began tapping the edge of the roof with his fingers.

Lightly, briskly, but as fast as possible.

Thump, tata-tata-tak

Thump, tata datadadak-

Jang Il-nam imitated the sound of a cicada clicking its claws with his fingers.

The woodpecker’s pecking noise was a bit slow, but not so much that it was suspicious.

Once a woodpecker starts pecking at a tree, it stays in one place for hours.

Because the sound was secretly irritating, when the cicadas started pecking at pillars or roofs, people would go outside and swing sticks or knock on the roofs to scare the cicadas away.

Sure enough, not long after, a response came back.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the roof from inside, perhaps too lazy to come out.

Jang Il-nam continued to tap the edge of the roof with a steady beat.

Not even half an hour had passed before the door opened with a scraping sound.

That’s right-

The sound of a man with a gravelly voice quietly swearing was a bonus.

“Chew···.”

The man jumped onto the roof, intending to chase away the woodcutter. For the man who was a master of the highest level, jumping onto the roof was a simple task.

But the moment the roof came into view, his eyes met those of a middle-aged man kneeling on one knee and clutching the handle of a sword. It was Jang Il-nam.

The ultimate master who had already finished preparing to draw his sword. The ultimate unmanned man who had clearly exposed his weaknesses in front of him. It was obvious what would happen next.

The man’s neck fell off with a flash of sword light. Needless to say, it was an instant death.

However, even after losing his head, the man still had work to do. That’s why Jang Il-nam dragged the headless man’s body up to the roof.

*

The middle-aged female student inside the house smelled the scent of blood coming from somewhere.

“···Don’t you think you can smell blood coming from somewhere?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

“It feels faint.”

But the direction from which the scent of blood came was strange. How could the scent of blood come from above?

However, the middle-aged female high school student followed her senses and looked up. She saw a single drop of water forming on the dark ceiling.

The man in front of her also looked up following the woman’s gaze and discovered a water drop.

The two looked up in silence. The water droplets that had been falling fell with a “tap.”

The two people’s gazes moved downwards along the water droplets, reaching the marks of the water droplets that had hit the floor. The color of the water droplets was dark red.

It was a difficult situation to understand. Why were there drops of blood falling from the roof? Was it because the wooden planks that were pecking at the roof had been crushed or crushed?

And when they raised their heads again, the two of them realized that a middle-aged man they had never seen before was standing next to them. It had happened without them even noticing the slightest movement.

Just as the two demonic warriors were about to draw their swords in shock, the middle-aged man covered the woman’s mouth with his left hand and pushed her against the wall.

The moment the back of the woman’s head touched the wall, the middle-aged man’s right arm seemed to blur, and then a white light flashed around the woman’s neck.

It was such a futile moment for a so-called peak master to die.

The sole surviving man screamed in horror.

“Who the hell is this!”

“Jang Il-nam.”

I wasn’t asked to tell you my name. Furthermore, I didn’t even know who Jang Il-nam was.

Before he could even think of the second question, Jang Il-nam swung his sword horizontally. The Demonic Cult’s warrior drew his sword with surprising speed and blocked the sword.

And I felt it.

The power contained in the sword of that middle-aged man was not great. His internal energy was not great, and his swordmanship was not new.

‘I can live!’

But Jang Il-nam’s target was not a sword.

Jang Il-nam’s left fist. However, the thumb was straightened, and the fist swung upward from below, digging into the soft flesh under the man’s chin.

Jang Il-nam’s left thumb pierced the man’s jaw, cut off the root of his tongue, and roughly dug into the soft part at the back of his palate.

Jang Il-nam’s thumb stopped there, but the energy that extended through the thumb dug into the man’s head and turned his brain into mush.

Just before he died, the man thought to himself. This was the first time he had seen martial arts, and the first time he had seen herbivorous food.

And it was the same for Jang Il-nam.

Jang Il-nam had never imagined or practiced an attack like this.

But there was no need for practice, because Jang Il-nam always knew the simplest way to kill his opponents.

The only difference is that before I didn’t take action, but this time I did.

Phew, phew.

Jang Il-nam stared at the dead bodies of the man and woman, unable to even scream properly, and held his breath. His hands were shaking.

Hundreds of people tried to kill Jang Il-nam, but so far he has only killed six people.

The master’s enemies, and five people who had been particularly rough and persistent in chasing and challenging his actions.

But no one killed because they really wanted to kill. They killed because they were forced into it by circumstances. Or they killed to survive.

And now, Jang Il-nam has created three more victims, from the seventh to the ninth.

If you think about it, it was the same in that they killed people because they were pushed by the situation.

But the people killed today were different from the six people killed before.

For the first time in his life, Jang Il-nam took a person’s life with pure murderous intent and hostility.

Phew-

Jang Il-nam calmed his trembling heart.

If I act foolishly here again, I’m sure I’ll regret it until I die.

Jang Il-nam walked to the building on the left side of the training ground.

There are still two left.

*

Wooho Lawyer Jo Eul-Hyeon, who was leaning against the wall, frowned.

The guy who said he was going out to pee for a bit hasn’t come back even after almost an hour.

‘What do you want to do···.’

Now that we have taken the hostage, we need to manage the hostage and return to the party headquarters.

But why didn’t anyone come forward to prepare a meal? There had to be a meal for more than ten people, including the hostages.

‘Are you going to leave the meal preparation to me? Are you ignoring me because I’m young? No. No one in their right mind would do that.’

Just then, the sound of two little children whining was heard.

Wooho Law Jo Eul-hyeon didn’t like children very much. That’s why Jo Eul-hyeon got up from his seat, feeling a little annoyed.

Three guys who went into the building next door. And one guy who said he was going to pee and then disappeared. All four of them were incredibly annoying.

Jo Eul-hyeon came out with the intention of giving those four guys a hard time.

When I came outside, the sun was slowly setting.

And Jo Eul-Hyeon discovered a man standing among the weeds with his back to the sunset.

The man smelled like blood.

The man was holding a sagging man in his left hand, and no matter how I looked at him, he looked like the guy who had gone to urinate and disappeared.

“Who are you?”

“Jang Il-nam.”

As the man spoke, he let go of the body he was holding with his left hand.

The body hit the dirt floor with a small, dull sound.

Jo Eul-hyeon repeated the name softly.

Jang Il-nam. Jang Il-nam. Yes. It was a name I had heard before.

Jo Eul-Hyeon muttered.

“Are you a hemophiliac?”

Jang Il-nam’s appearance right now was exactly what Jo Eul-hyeon had heard and imagined.

A cruel man who brings blood rain wherever he steps.

The only thing that was different from what I imagined was that he was looking at Jo Eul-hyeon without his hat on.

The man with his back to the sunset walked toward Jo Eul-hyeon and introduced himself again.

“No. It’s Jang Il-nam.”