Chapter 8

“Is there something you wish to say?”

“There were no casualties—did you prevent that, Chief Steward Seong?”

“…Yes. I stopped it desperately. It was truly a fortunate thing.”

“Desperately?”

Spitting out that single word, Seol Woon-hwi let out a dry chuckle.

“Desperately, you say… Sure, let’s go with that.”

Chief Steward Seong’s expression turned peculiar.

“…You are truly strange today, Young Master.”

“In a good way? Or a bad way?”

“Well… I don’t think I am in any position to judge that.”

“Why can’t you judge it?”

“…Pardon?”

“As a human, it is only natural to pass judgment on every matter. Usually, the word ‘subjective’ is used in times like this.”

Seol Woon-hwi reached out and gripped Chief Steward Seong’s shoulder.

“It means that even an instrument can make a judgment.”

“…”

“I’d like to hear your answer. Is it in a good way, or a bad way?”

“…I think it is in a good way.”

At those words, a smile formed on Seol Woon-hwi’s lips, and at the same time, Chief Steward Seong continued speaking.

“However, I am worried.”

“What kind of worry?”

“…You don’t look back at all.”

“Then you can just stand behind me, Chief Steward Seong.”

Chief Steward Seong could not answer easily, and Seol Woon-hwi did not push him any further.

“Did you touch the Beggars’ Sect as well?”

“I did.”

“How many did you kill?”

“Well, I don’t usually count them one by one, but this time I killed about two.”

“…Did you kill the Branch Head as well?”

“I did.”

“What are you truly planning to do?”

He smiled faintly.

“Is this Snow Pressure the land of the Beggars’ Sect?”

“…It is not.”

“They are clearly parasites. What should be done if beggars who eat leftover scraps start acting like the master?”

“…What do you do?”

“You beat them to death.”

“…”

“The Dog-Beating Staff (打狗棒) they use was originally a club used to beat dogs that harassed beggars. But what if the beggar holding the Dog-Beating Staff acts not like a human, but like a dog himself? You have to help him come to his senses.”

“Even if it means killing them?”

“If they did things deserving of death, they ought to die. Is this place not the Martial World?”

It was right when Seol Woon-hwi, having said that, was about to rise from his seat.

“Do you intend to kill all the branch members?”

Seol Woon-hwi slowly turned his head.

“Setting the Beggars’ Sect aside for a moment, among the branch members who went to hunt down the fugitives right now, the highest-ranking martial artist is at the Heavenly Circulation Realm. The same goes for the fugitives; there is no one higher than that. Given that they are outnumbered, do you truly believe our branch members can go beyond recovering the goods and actually kill all the fugitives?”

The intent behind Chief Steward Seong’s question was clear.

Why push them into a deadly situation instead of embracing them?

In truth, Seol Woon-hwi had already anticipated this entire situation. The value of the goods? Spiritual pills? Cultivation resources? Money? Frankly speaking, he didn’t need any of that garbage. It meant he didn’t care even if he lost every bit of it.

However, there was something he held in even lower regard than those things: ‘the lives of others.’

“Do you think I made a wrong judgment?”

“…”

“I’d like to ask you in turn. What did they do while I was being treated like a figurehead?”

“…That is…”

“As far as I know, it has been about six years—and during those six years, they remained bystanders.”

“…”

“Of course, there were several instances where the branch members were replaced along the way, but no matter how many times it happened, or how many people were involved, the fact that they stood by and watched does not change. Each of them had their reasons, I’m sure. But that does not become a reason to embrace them. Why should I embrace bastards like that?”

“…However, I believe that ruling is the same as embracing. Is true tolerance not about understanding and forgiving their misdeeds, and furthermore, offering them a new opportunity?”

For a moment, Seol Woon-hwi chewed over Chief Steward Seong’s words. His eyes grew grave.

“The tolerance you speak of, Chief Steward Seong, seems to be about embracing and understanding everyone regardless of their past. You’ve been painting an ideal.”

“…Young Master…”

“The tolerance I know is different from yours. Tolerance is not about coddling the weak; it is a judgment handed down by the strong to the weak. Deciding whether they deserve to live or whether they must die—that is true tolerance. So you had better discard such sweet goodwill.”

“…”

“At least I gave them a chance without killing them, didn’t I? I need them—hands and feet who will obey my commands with absolute loyalty.”

“…”

“I am saying I need blades that will cut without a single moment of hesitation—even if those people shared meals with them until yesterday—if they are traitors and if I order their deaths.”

At Seol Woon-hwi’s response, Chief Steward Seong wore a complex expression and fell silent. Seol Woon-hwi continued speaking.

“You asked if they could kill them all and return. I don’t know either—whether they will kill them all and return, or if they will all return as corpses instead.”

“…”

“However, this is the Martial World. Is the Martial World not a stage where one proves oneself? If they all die, then they were merely fellows of that low caliber, not even worth remembering. But if they return alive, I can at least give them an opportunity.”

“…If they all return as corpses, what will you do about the fugitives?”

“They will all die within the near future.”

“…How can you be so sure?”

“First, I intend to hire assassins.”

“…”

“There are roughly two assassin organizations around this Snow Pressure region, so I can simply place a request with both of them.”

“Young Master…”

“And I plan to make a proposal to the assassins: those bastards stole a lot of things from here, but I have no intention of claiming ownership over any of it.”

“…”

“Whether they torture them or do whatever it takes, as long as they find the stolen goods, it means an extra bonus on top of their original commission fee from their perspective… So those fugitives won’t even be able to die easily.”

With that, he stood up from his seat.

“I plan to cultivate. Make sure no one enters inside.”

“…Yes.”

“People from the Beggars’ Sect or the Blue Cloud Merchant Group will likely come today, so you handle them, Chief Steward Seong. If you deem their proposals and information to be without issue, tell them to proceed as planned. It’s unlikely the branch members will return today, but just in case, remain on standby.”

“…Understood.”

It was just as Seol Woon-hwi turned around to enter his quarters.

“May I ask how you happen to know Han Cheol’s martial art, Young Master?”

“You have quite a lot of questions today.”

“…My apologies.”

“Are you curious about its origin?”

“Yes.”

To Chief Steward Seong’s question, Seol Woon-hwi answered with absolute clarity:

“I picked it up in the mountains.”

“…Pardon?”

“To be precise, I picked it up below the cliff of Mount Hwaseong. There was a corpse turned to white bones down there, and carved into the stone wall in front of those skeletal remains was the Heaven-Slaughtering Wolf Star Formula.”

Seol Woon-hwi asked:

“Does that answer your question?”

“…Yes.”

And so Seol Woon-hwi stepped inside, while Chief Steward Seong quietly watched his receding back.