Lawless Zone (2)

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

Deung Myeong swiftly kicked each of the Jieun Territory warriors who had been immobilized by having their demon points pressed.

“Ugh!”

“Agh!”

“Keugh!”

The warriors of Jieun Territory were bewildered. They had definitely brought the princess in a sack. So how could she have transformed into some old woman?

“S-something must have gone wrong. We definitely brought the princess.”

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

“Keeek!”

“Kheugh!”

“Kekek!”

“Does that woman look like the princess to your eyes?”

Deung Myeong raised a finger and pointed at Court Lady Ha.

“Sob, sob, sob! Sniff!”

Court Lady Ha was crying on the bed, wrapped in a blanket. Deung Myeong irritably waved his hand.

Whoosh, thud!

The pillow on the bed floated into the air, then struck the crying Court Lady Ha on the head.

“Don’t cry, you wench! I’m the one who wants to cry, so why are you crying?”

Deung Myeong shouted as he looked at Court Lady Ha. Court Lady Ha, struck by the pillow and shocked, collapsed and fainted.

“Th-there must be some mistake. Ah! Please investigate the women. The women who carried the princess into the bedroom must have done something……”

The only moment the Jieun Territory warriors could suspect was that instant. The only time the sack could have been switched between leaving their hands and entering Deung Myeong’s was then.

Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!

“Kek!”

“Ugh!”

“Puh-heok!”

Deung Myeong kicked each of them once again. Fortunately, he had not yet infused power into the blows, so they were not enough to kill or injure them.

“You bastards! That woman already said she was a court lady serving the princess, so what mistake are you talking about?”

“What?”

If Deung Myeong’s words were true, then it was certainly their mistake. The eyes of the Jieun Territory warriors turned toward the two men. They were the two who had entered the tent, stuffed the princess into the sack, and come back out.

“What happened? Did you not even check whether she was the princess or not?”

“W-we just naturally assumed she was the princess……. She was sleeping in the princess’s tent, so of course we thought she had to be the princess……”

“You stupid bastards!”

The other warriors of Jieun Territory glared at the two men as if they would devour them. The two lowered their heads deeply and could not say a word.

“Well done. Now you’re even fighting among yourselves in front of me.”

Deung Myeong, who had been watching with an expression of disbelief, spoke as if he was too appalled to even feel like hitting them anymore.

“We apologize. We will go again and……”

“Do you think the princess is a fool? Do you think she won’t notice that you tried to kidnap her and will just stay still? Good grief! I can only imagine how much of a headache Byeon Bong must have had trying to work with dullards like you. All you know how to do is murder and arson, isn’t it?”

“……”

“Is there still no word from Byeon Bong?”

“No.”

“Well, if it were me, I wouldn’t come either. Not if I had to be with the likes of you.”

As if he was too exhausted to say anything more, Deung Myeong walked over to the bed and flopped down onto it. Then he pushed the collapsed Court Lady Ha with his foot and dropped her off the bed.

“Throw this thing away.”

“What?”

“Did you not hear me tell you to throw it away?”

“Y-you have to release our points first……”

“Damn it, you idiots!”

Deung Myeong flicked his finger and released one man’s point. The man whose point had been released sprang to his feet, carefully approached, hoisted Court Lady Ha onto his shoulder, and went outside.

“Hey!”

“Yes?”

“Are you going alone? Take the rest with you and get out, quickly.”

“Yes, sir!”

He quickly released his companions’ points and hurried outside.

After the Jieun Territory warriors had all gone outside, silence flowed for a while.

“Uwaaaaaah!”

Deung Myeong suddenly screamed and began firing palm force wildly, smashing the bed apart. He was extremely furious because the princess’s kidnapping had failed.

Outside the building, the women were trembling in terror. They knew very well how cruel Deung Myeong became when his mood soured. They were in a position where they had to receive that cruelty with their own bodies.

“What do we do with this woman? Do we really throw her away?”

The warriors of Jieun Territory, who had returned to their lodging, fell into worry. Normally, they might have gone mad at the sight of a woman, but since they knew Deung Myeong was angry because of them, they could not do anything reckless.

“Let’s throw her out. Whether she dies or lives, don’t care. If we keep her here for no reason, he might get angry and ask why we didn’t throw her away.”

“R-right, then.”

In the end, they decided to throw Court Lady Ha away. Court Lady Ha, who had once been treated as the princess, had finally fallen to the status of trash that had to be discarded.

“You two were the ones who brought her, so you two should be the ones to throw her away.”

The two men who had abducted Court Lady Ha nodded. Their sense of crisis had kicked in, telling them that if they refused here, their companions might beat them to death.

The two slung Court Lady Ha over their shoulders and went outside. But once they actually tried to throw her away, there was no suitable place.

As they discussed where they should go, someone came and stood behind them.

“You haven’t gone yet?”

It was their companion, U Ha-pyeong. U Ha-pyeong was the kind of fellow who never let a woman pass him by in ordinary times.

“There’s no proper place to throw her away, is there?”

“Yeah.”

“Then shall I throw her away for you?”

The two had been waiting for those words from U Ha-pyeong. From the moment U Ha-pyeong appeared, they had expected matters to proceed this way.

“Do you know any good place?”

“There is such a place. Anyway, hand her over to me. I’ll take care of it.”

U Ha-pyeong forcibly pulled Court Lady Ha toward himself and slung her over his own shoulder.

“W-would that be all right?”

“Of course. If not me, who would help you? I’ll quickly throw her away and come back, so you two go on.”

“T-thanks.”

“No need to thank me……”

The two quickly returned to the lodging. Now the problem had left their hands.

“Where should I go?”

After the two went inside, U Ha-pyeong pondered in their place.

“A forest like that would be the easiest.”

U Ha-pyeong thought of the bamboo grove behind the Governor-General Office. If he did the deed there and buried her, no one would know.

“Hehehe!”

U Ha-pyeong launched himself into the bamboo grove. From the outside, it looked like a dense forest, but once one entered, there were quite a few open spaces inside. He laid Court Lady Ha on the ground and rubbed his palms together.

“Hehehe! It’s been a while.”

But it was then. A single sentence made his mind snap awake.

“That’s enough. Stop there.”

“Wh-who are you?”

U Ha-pyeong quickly turned around. At that moment, he felt a heavy impact on his chest, and his mouth and body stiffened. In an instant, someone had pressed the demon point and mute point of a man who prided himself on being a fairly skilled master.

Rustle.

Neung Je-gang appeared behind U Ha-pyeong like a painting. He wore a briefly troubled expression at Court Lady Ha’s state of undress, then turned around and stripped U Ha-pyeong of his outer garment. Fortunately, U Ha-pyeong was wearing a long robe.

Neung Je-gang covered Court Lady Ha’s body with the long robe and struck her acupoints to wake her. When Court Lady Ha came to, her expression turned startled.

“First, put that on.”

“Wh-who……?”

“I am Secret Shadow. Her Highness asked me to rescue you.”

“Ah, Your Highness!”

Court Lady Ha remained moved for quite some time and showed no thought of moving.

“Please hurry and go.”

“Ah, yes.”

Court Lady Ha stood up and clumsily put on the long robe that was about to slip down. It was so large that it seemed likely to fall off, but she was grateful enough that it covered her state of undress.

Leaving U Ha-pyeong as he was, Neung Je-gang disappeared with Court Lady Ha. When Court Lady Ha met the princess again, she cried and wailed so much that the princess eventually wore a troubled expression. After all, it had been a situation where they might never have seen each other again.

“I-I will not forgive that man.”

The princess spoke strongly as she looked at Neung Je-gang. Was this not basically telling him to punish the man on her behalf?

“It seems Deung Myeong was in a hurry. But we cannot recklessly charge in.”

“Why?”

“There are more than one or two masters there. In fact, even with Deung Myeong alone, there is no guarantee that he is weaker than I am.”

“You mean even a master like the Deputy Commissioner may not be able to win?”

“There was a woman named Dam Yeo-yeong. Deung Gak, to her……”

Neung Je-gang explained, as far as he knew, the cruel acts Deung Gak had committed in order to turn Deung Myeong into a master. This information had not been revealed to the Black Alliance or the Martial Alliance.

“Through that, Deung Myeong absorbed all of Dam Yeo-yeong’s Primordial Yin True Energy. That is why he has now become an existence with such immense internal power that he has no equal.”

“H-how could he do such a thing to his own blood……”

Princess Jang-ok was shocked. She likely never imagined such a cold-blooded human being could exist. It was the moment she clearly understood what kind of person Deung Gak was, and what sort of people his bloodline generally consisted of.

“In any case, Deung Myeong is a master of that level.”

“But did the Deputy Commissioner not learn some terrifying martial art called Thunderbolt something? I heard there were such rumors in the martial world.”

“I am learning forbidden arts, yes. But I cannot guarantee that they will necessarily defeat Kunlun’s martial arts. The strength possessed by a sect with a thousand years of history is tremendous. At any rate, Court Lady Ha has been brought back safely, so now it seems to be time to avenge the Eastern Depot agents. Then I will be on my way.”

He could not carelessly fight Deung Myeong, but dealing with the subordinates who could be called Deung Myeong’s strength was not particularly difficult for Neung Je-gang, the greatest assassin under heaven. Until dawn, no, for several days to come, he resolved to keep traveling in and out of Seon-yeong and carrying out assassinations.

But before that, there was something he had to make certain of.

“In case Deung Myeong pretends to go mad and does something, Your Highness should move somewhere a bit safer.”

“I was thinking the same thing. But where would be safe?”

“The Martial Alliance should be somewhat safer than this place. If you ask the Investigation Unit Chief, he will arrange a place for you to stay.”

“Understood. I will move to the Martial Alliance.”

Princess Jang-ok did not feel good. It felt as if she were abandoning the soldiers and fleeing. Neung Je-gang read that feeling from the princess’s expression.

“Only if Your Highness is safe can I move freely. Please set your mind at ease. It will not take very long.”

“Understood.”

Princess Jang-ok was still satisfied that the number of things she had to do had decreased greatly. There was no need to worry. Ever since Neung Je-gang had returned, had he not been handling everything for her? She only needed to support Neung Je-gang from behind and watch.

She knew that rumors were slowly spreading inside the Eastern Depot that she liked Neung Je-gang. In a little while, those rumors would reach the emperor’s ears as well. She knew well enough that the emperor’s eyes and ears existed even inside the Eastern Depot.

Even for the sake of preparing for that moment, Neung Je-gang absolutely had to achieve great merit in this Kunlun rebellion. He had to show the emperor merit that the emperor had no choice but to acknowledge, and clearly prove to the emperor that he was a talent no one could dare deny.

‘It must happen that way.’

The princess prayed inwardly as she watched Neung Je-gang’s back disappear after he turned away.