Heavenly Inquisition Sword Novel - Chapter 194
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Chapter 194: Is There Anyone Willing to Die for Their Companion?
In Hwasang Village, at noon.
Three people entered the village. Shim Tong, the Old Shim, and the swindlers Huang So and Seok In, bound with ropes. Both men had swollen faces and walked with difficulty, clearly having been severely beaten. The villagers who saw them from a distance murmured among themselves, but Shim Tong showed no reaction.
Each time the swindlers slowed down, Shim Tong yanked the ropes harshly. The exhausting journey ended when they reached the village inn. In front of the inn, Shim Tong pushed Huang So and Seok In forward. The villagers, surprised by the bound men, relaxed when they saw Shim Tong and greeted him with a smile.
“Master Shim, welcome!”
“Thank you. Where is the young master?”
“He is at the Filial Son’s Cliff.”
“The Filial Son’s Cliff?”
“Yes, he asked us to call it that.”
“Who asked?”
“The Young Master. He didn’t like calling it the Suicide Rock, so he changed it.”
“Hehe, the Filial Son’s Cliff?”
The villager briefly explained the reason to Shim Tong.
“Since then, Nok Dampyeong has been mourning at that place for three years, so he named it that.”
“Ah! He has a tender heart.”
Upon hearing Shim Tong’s words, the swollen faces of Huang So and Seok In brightened a little. They thought that if he was compassionate, they might be spared.
Shim Tong took the swindlers to the Filial Son’s Cliff.
“There’s the Young Master.”
Yeon Jeokha, who was sitting at the edge of the rock fishing with his sword, stood up. Nok Dampyeong, who was roasting fish by the fire, stepped back.
Yeon Jeokha sat in an improvised chair, took a fish skewer, and began to eat. Occasionally, he drank wine directly from a bottle. Nok Dampyeong, aware of Yeon Jeokha’s true identity, remained silent.
When Yeon Jeokha threw the empty skewer into the fire, the sound of breaking branches announced the arrival of three people. Seeing who it was, Yeon Jeokha smiled.
“Old Shim! You’re late.”
“Hehe, I took a wrong direction, so it took some time.”
Shim Tong scratched his head with an awkward smile. If he had gone east instead of west, it wouldn’t have taken more than fifteen days. But he had gone in the opposite direction, taking a month and ten days.
“Where is So Sam?”
“These guys betrayed him and fled to Zenyeong. So Sam was lucky.”
“The money?”
“I recovered ten thousand five hundred taels of silver. They had already spent fifteen hundred taels.”
“Wow! They spent fifteen hundred taels in a month and ten days? Are they crazy?”
“They frequented gambling houses and luxury brothels. It’s easy to spend ill-gotten money. They feel no remorse because they think they can swindle someone else to get more. They are worse than dogs.”
Shim Tong untied the ropes from Huang So and Seok In and pushed them towards Yeon Jeokha.
“Forgive us!”
“Please, forgive us!”
Huang So and Seok In knelt in front of Yeon Jeokha, begging for their lives.
Yeon Jeokha looked at them indifferently and spoke.
“Why do their faces look like that?”
“They tried to escape whenever they could. I couldn’t help but hit them a little.”
“Wow! Their faces are so swollen I almost didn’t recognize them. Tsk, tsk!”
Yeon Jeokha clicked his tongue, and Huang So cautiously lifted his eyes.
“Young Master, forgive us. If you forgive us, we will return home and take care of our elderly mothers. Please.”
“I also have a mother and a family in my village. If you forgive us…”
“Old Shim, you did a great job bringing these talkative swindlers. Why didn’t you rip out their tongues? I told you not to kill them, didn’t I?”
“……”
Huang So and Seok In, terrified, hit their foreheads against the rock again.
“I told you that if you asked for forgiveness or mercy again, I’d rip out your tongues. Should I do it now?”
“You can’t do that. This is the Filial Son’s Cliff. How could we do such a thing here?”
“Understood.”
Having fulfilled his duty, Shim Tong sat down by the fire and took a fish skewer. Nok Dampyeong, nervous, served him a bottle of red wine.
Yeon Jeokha stood up from his chair and walked towards the river, recalling the month and ten days of suffering.
The humiliation of being ignored by Nam Cho-gyeol and the pitying and suspicious looks from the workers still bothered him. He would wake up at night, resentful of himself and filled with hatred towards the swindlers. He couldn’t even search for them openly for fear of being ridiculed.
How could he take revenge on these guys to feel satisfied?
“Now I know that being swindled is worse than being killed. Murder only kills the body, but being swindled withers the soul. When the soul dies, the body follows. So, you killed Old Shim and me twice.”
Huang So and Seok In followed him on their knees, pleading.
“Please, forgive us!”
“Have mercy…!”
Suddenly, Yeon Jeokha’s gaze turned to the whirlpool three jang (approximately 9 meters) below.
“I’m not a bad person.”
“Tha… Thank you.”
“Thank you.”
Huang So and Seok In, thinking they would be forgiven, hurriedly thanked him.
But Yeon Jeokha’s next words made their faces turn ashen.
“But the world keeps making me look like a villain. I’m becoming ruthless because of swindlers like you. I don’t even know what I was like before. Old Shim.”
“Yes.”
Shim Tong put down the fish skewer and quickly stood up.
“Get two ropes, four jang (approximately 12 meters) each.”
“I’ll get them immediately.”
Without asking questions, Shim Tong ran and disappeared behind the rock.
After about half an hour, he returned with two rolls of thick rope, one in each hand.
Yeon Jeokha looked at Nok Dampyeong.
“Hey, Brother Nok, I need you to do me a favor. Tie these ropes around these two’s waists.”
“Understood.”
Though confused, Nok Dampyeong did as he was told, tying the ropes securely around the waists of Huang So and Seok In.
“Are they tied well? They shouldn’t come loose.”
“Yes. Unless they break, they won’t come loose.”
“Well done. Brother Nok, do you know how to fish?”
“What?”
“Fish. Catch fish.”
“Yes, I know how.”
“Imagine these swindlers are fish and you need to lift them. Understand?”
“Lift them?”
Nok Dampyeong was puzzled. How could he lift two men tied to a rock?
Yeon Jeokha, who had turned towards the river, kicked Huang So and Seok In in the back.
“Ahhh!”
“Aaah!”
The two swindlers fell into the whirlpool three jang below.
The ropes quickly unraveled, and a surprised Nok Dampyeong grabbed the ropes tightly.
The ropes, now taut, suddenly stopped unwinding.
Yeon Jeokha nodded in satisfaction.
“Well done. Now, lift them. If you take too long, they might become fish food.”
“Lift them?”
Nok Dampyeong felt a chill. It was difficult to use force with the ropes in both hands.
“Can’t the Deputy Leader of the Sambo Clan do that? Where’s the strength you use to beat women? If you want to save them, do it quickly. They’re about to die.”
“……”
Nok Dampyeong swallowed hard.
It seemed Yeon Jeokha was using this as revenge.
The swindlers’ lives were in his hands, and the responsibility overwhelmed him. Though he had lived as a scoundrel, killing someone was no easy task. Moreover, knowing Yeon Jeokha’s personality, he feared that if the swindlers died, he himself would suffer the consequences. It seemed everyone was caught in the web that Yeon Jeokha had woven.
But how could he do it?
After a moment of reflection, Nok Dampyeong began rotating his wrists, wrapping the ropes around his forearms. He felt an overwhelming weight.
“Ugh!”
With a Herculean effort, Nok Dampyeong began pulling on the ropes. Little by little, the two swindlers, soaked in muddy water, were dragged back onto the rock.
After checking the swindlers’ pulse, an exhausted Nok Dampyeong collapsed to the ground.
Yeon Jeokha, who had been watching from his chair, looked at Nok Dampyeong approvingly.
“Well done, Brother Nok. Now, you must do this three times a day: morning, noon, and night. Think of it as external martial arts training.”
“Three times?”
Nok Dampyeong’s eyes widened. If once had already exhausted him, how could he do it three times a day?
“Is that too little?”
“No, it’s enough. Very appropriate.”
“If it’s too difficult, you don’t have to lift them. You can let them drop. I don’t want you to overexert yourself because of these swindlers, especially since you have to fulfill your three-year mourning.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Nok Dampyeong committed to trying, but he knew that if it became too difficult, he’d have no choice but to let the swindlers drop. After all, he also had to take care of himself. Just once had left his arms aching and his hands numb.
After an hour, Huang So and Seok In regained consciousness. They had been on the brink of death, and their eyes reflected pure fear.
Yeon Jeokha stood up and addressed Nok Dampyeong.
“Take care of them. If these swindlers escape, I’ll tie you up and throw you down until we recover them.”
“Yes. Don’t worry. I won’t lose sight of them.”
Yeon Jeokha and Shim Tong then left for the inn to catch up.
As soon as they left, Nok Dampyeong called one of the Sambo Clan subordinates who was on guard.
“Go fetch more men. I’ll need help keeping an eye on these swindlers over the next few days.”
“Understood.”
The subordinate left to gather reinforcements while Nok Dampyeong turned to the two swindlers.
Both were huddled together, clearly hopeless.
“The Young Master has ordered that you be thrown into the water three times a day. If you’re going to die, you might as well do it quickly. It might be more comfortable for you in hell.”
Seok In, staring blankly into the void, asked in a hollow voice, “Who is the Young Master?”
He was intrigued by Yeon Jeokha’s identity. Only someone extraordinary could catch them in a month and ten days and torture them mercilessly.
Nok Dampyeong glanced around cautiously before speaking in a low voice.
“He is Yeon Jeokha, the Grand Inspector of Nokrim.”
“……”
Huang So and Seok In were petrified. They realized they had crossed paths with someone untouchable.
Nok Dampyeong, lifting his still-aching arms, showed them the rope marks.
“Look. I had to wrap the ropes around my arms to lift you. That’s how much strength I had to use.”
He wrapped the ropes around his forearms again to show them how he had done it.
“I don’t know how many more times I can do it. If one of you is willing to die for the other, maybe the other could live. But if neither of you is, you’ll probably both die. I don’t want to end up crippled.”
Faced with this cruel reality, Huang So and Seok In looked at each other, searching for an answer in the other’s eyes. But they said nothing. Desperation and fear engulfed them, rendering them unable to make such an extreme decision.
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