Chapter 37

Chapter 37:

A good person?

What exactly is that man’s standard for ‘good’?

What could possibly be his standard that he spouts such ridiculous nonsense so confidently?

“Will you accept the wealth now?”

Wei Yan-ho shook his head.

“There’s no need to go that far. Since you’re already giving me wealth, I’m not shameless enough to make you go through such trouble.”

“You’re quite well-mannered.”

Wei Yan-ho was weak to compliments.

“Hehe, I’ve been told that before.”

Lee Wang-ya let out a groan.

“……Bullshit.”

He no longer had the strength to be angrier.

Wei Yan-ho turned his head slightly and spoke to Moon Eun-ji.

“That’s how it turned out.”

“How what turned out?”

“Well, just how it turned out. Thanks for feeding and housing me all this time.”

“This bastard!”

Moon Eun-ji rose with such momentum that she seemed ready to pounce on Wei Yan-ho immediately. If she hadn’t been bound by ropes, she would have climbed onto Wei Yan-ho and slapped him silly.

“This whole scene is like that — what can you do?”

Wei Yan-ho shrugged his shoulders.

Then he looked at Nok Mok-pung and said.

“So what do I need to do?”

Nok Mok-pung smiled.

“First, would you kill everyone you see before you?”

“What?”

“They’re criminals who plotted treason. Exterminating nine generations is the natural consequence. We must start by killing those here.”

“Kill them?”

“That’s right.”

“……But these people haven’t even been tried yet.”

Nok Mok-pung shook his head.

“Do you know what punishment awaits those involved in treason?”

“Well……”

“Death by a thousand cuts. They slice the flesh from the entire body piece by piece, then heal it, then slice again, repeating this process thousands of times until death. That’s the punishment.”

Wei Yan-ho trembled.

Just imagining it was a horrific punishment.

“If they receive formal judgment, they’ll all die that way. It’s more merciful to behead them here. Do you think I want to do this?”

“Hmm……”

Wei Yan-ho looked at Moon Eun-ji.

“That’s what he says?”

“What do you mean that’s what he says!”

“Then why did you plot treason?”

“What treason did we plot! That bastard made it all up! You believe such words?”

“But the situation……”

Wei Yan-ho looked around.

When he thought about it, renowned experts from the Central Plains were gathered here, plus Lee Wang-ya was present and even the Censorate had appeared.

Anyone could see this was an obvious situation.

“Greed is fleeting.”

“Ahhh! This damn bastard!”

Moon Eun-ji screamed at the top of her lungs while bound by ropes.

Wei Yan-ho flinched and turned his head.

“Still, killing seems wrong…… I’ve never killed anyone before.”

“Is that so?”

Nok Mok-pung smiled broadly.

“Then step aside. I’ll do it.”

“You’ll do it yourself?”

“I don’t want to dirty my hands either, but in carrying out the solemn national law, there must not be a moment’s hesitation. You may step back now. That will be fine. I’ll make sure to prepare the promised wealth by tomorrow morning.”

“Hmm……”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“No. You don’t seem like someone who would lie. I pride myself on being a decent judge of character, and people like you might intimidate others but don’t tell lies.”

“Then is there a problem?”

“No.”

Wei Yan-ho stepped back slightly.

Nok Mok-pung turned away from Wei Yan-ho and slowly approached Moon Yu-hwan and the others.

A short dagger appeared from beneath his sleeve.

“It’s time to end this. In your next life, please live in loyalty to His Majesty.”

Lee Wang-ya shouted in fury.

“You wicked villain! Even in death, I will never forgive you!”

Nok Mok-pung snorted.

“I never wanted forgiveness anyway.”

Moon Yu-hwan also frowned and spoke.

“How can one who eats the nation’s grain commit such disloyal acts?”

Moon Yu-hwan’s voice was quiet but stern.

Nok Mok-pung unconsciously flinched.

“You too know loyalty and have learned loyalty. Even now it’s not too late.”

Nok Mok-pung smiled coldly.

“What I’m doing now is precisely loyalty.”

Moon Yu-hwan sighed and closed his eyes.

Moon Eun-ji stared at Nok Mok-pung without a word.

Even in the midst of this, she didn’t forget to turn her head and glare at Wei Yan-ho.

Wei Yan-ho played dumb.

“We’re innocent!”

“This is wrong! We don’t know anything!”

Feeling the situation deteriorating, people began raising their voices.

But Nok Mok-pung replied coldly.

“The rebel faction keeps making excuses until the very end. Make your excuses before the King of Hell.”

Lee Wang-ya gritted his teeth.

“Nok Mok-pung, Nok-gi! Do you think you can cover the sky with your palm?”

Nok Mok-pung looked at Lee Wang-ya.

“Even if I go to the nine heavens, I will never forget what you bastards have done!”

“Then why did you plot treason, Censorate official?”

“Heaven knows, and earth knows!”

“But people don’t know. That’s the world.”

Lee Wang-ya glared at Nok Mok-pung with eyes that seemed ready to devour a person and spat out his words.

“Do you plan to kill everyone here?”

“I intend to.”

“What crime do these people have!”

“You’re not asking because you don’t know, are you?”

“Fine, kill us. Kill me first!”

“As you wish.”

Nok Mok-pung approached Lee Wang-ya with an unknowable smile.

Lee Wang-ya seemed angry, but on the other hand, he closed his eyes as if resigned.

Not anticipating Nok-gi’s movements in advance was his eternal regret. While saying he would overthrow Nok-gi, knowing how fearsome his temperament was, it was Lee Wang-ya himself who had made inadequate preparations—who else could he blame?

Moon Yu-hwan looked at Lee Wang-ya with deep eyes, and Moon Eun-ji glared at Nok Mok-pung with venomous eyes.

Finally, Nok Mok-pung stood before Lee Wang-ya.

“Lee Wang-ya, standing on the opposite side from us is your only fault. Sending you off with my own hands—you who were the only one in the imperial family worthy of respect—is my final courtesy.”

“A dog barks.”

Nok Mok-pung smiled bitterly.

“Then the noble Lee Wang-ya will enjoy the humiliation of dying at a dog’s paws. How tragic.”

Nok Mok-pung raised the dagger.

“That’s enough.”

Nok Mok-pung’s head slowly turned.

Where he looked, Wei Yan-ho was sighing deeply with a face that said everything was bothersome.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m getting tired now. I need to go in and sleep, so that’s enough.”

“Sleep?”

“Yes.”

Nok Mok-pung’s brow furrowed.

“Have you forgotten the entire conversation we just had?”

“How could I? I don’t have dementia, so how could I forget what I said just a moment ago? The person who should worry about senile dementia isn’t me but……”

Wei Yan-ho slyly looked at Lee Wang-ya.

“This turtle-like bastard!”

Wei Yan-ho waved his hand.

“I wasn’t pointing at anyone in particular.”

Nok Mok-pung spoke to Wei Yan-ho with a stern face.

“So?”

“Playing along with your tune ends here.”

“Are you saying you can’t trust what I promised you?”

“I trust you.”

“Then? Are you saying you don’t need power and money?”

“I need them.”

Nok Mok-pung shouted angrily.

“Then what the hell is the problem!”

Wei Yan-ho continued with a snicker.

“Do you know what must absolutely come first in order to be lazy?”

“……”

There was no way Nok Mok-pung would know such a thing.

He was someone who had lived his entire life without knowing laziness.

“What is it?”

“Not creating troublesome situations. Once I broke my father’s precious inkstone, and my father happened to be away from home. He was gone for three whole days, and during those three days, I was truly dying. When I ate, I wasn’t really eating, and when I slept, I wasn’t really sleeping. When my father finally came home, I nearly died, but after that I could rest comfortably.”

Lee Wang-ya sighed as if truly pitying him.

“You should have died then.”

Moon Eun-ji unconsciously nodded.

Wei Yan-ho pouted.

“I’m serious. If my father had hit me just one more time, I would have died.”

Lee Wang-ya beat his chest as if truly regretting it.

“Just one more hit would have been enough!”

“Right. Just one more.”

Hearing the conversation between Lee Wang-ya and Moon Eun-ji, Wei Yan-ho fell into thought.

“Maybe I should just let myself die.”

“Kheuk-heuk-heum!“

Lee Wang-ya turned his head with a reddened face.

“Anyway, to live comfortably, there must be nothing troublesome. But no matter how I think about it, if the people here die, I’ll feel quite guilty. Especially that woman—even if she dies, she’ll obviously become a ghost and torment people.”

Nok Mok-pung’s face grew cold.

“So?”

“My master also said: Don’t forget grudges. But don’t forget kindness even more. People who don’t repay what they’ve received will someday pay something greater for that received kindness. Interest compounds and becomes ten times, twenty times greater, so you must repay the debt before then.”

Wei Yan-ho smiled and said.

“But no matter how I look at it, now seems to be the time to repay that kindness.”

“I see.”

Nok Mok-pung nodded.

“Your words are grand, but the conclusion is that you’ll stop me?”

“Well, that’s how it’ll turn out. It’s not particularly what I wanted, though.”

“Hahahaha!“

Nok Mok-pung laughed loudly, then glared at Wei Yan-ho.

“Do you think I tried to win you over because I feared you?”

“It doesn’t really seem like that.”

“Do you think killing you alone would be difficult if I set my mind to it? I tried to cherish you because you seemed talented for such a young man, but you don’t know how high the sky is and act presumptuously.”

“I’ll agree that I don’t know how high the sky is and act presumptuously. Even I think I’m somewhat like that. But even if you set your mind to it, killing me wouldn’t be easy.”

“Do you really think so?”

Wei Yan-ho shrugged.

“No matter what I say, you don’t seem like someone who would change your mind without checking directly, so I won’t answer.”

Nok Mok-pung bared his teeth.

“You know well. Then let me show you. That killing you alone is nothing if I set my mind to it.”

Nok Mok-pung raised both hands.

Then his sleeves swelled tautly.

“Consider it an honor to die by my hands!”

Wind began to surge around Nok Mok-pung.

“Hmm!“

Lee Wang-ya swallowed a groan seeing this spectacle.

Even Lee Wang-ya hadn’t expected that Nok Mok-pung would be hiding such martial prowess.

Nok Mok-pung’s hands turned pure white, then slowly extended forward.

“Let me give you one piece of advice. In your next life, abandon that laziness and live diligently!”

Paah!

At that moment, Nok Mok-pung’s hands completely filled heaven and earth in all directions.

Wherever one looked, only Nok Mok-pung’s hands were visible. The scene of pure white hands filling the courtyard felt both terrifying and eerie.

“Gasp!“

At this amazing sight, Lee Wang-ya drew in a sharp breath.