Chapter 328

“Fuck! Am I even his son? You wouldn’t treat a stranger like this.”

CRACK!

Tang Ikgi slammed his fist into a nearby tree. He had struck it without thinking in a fit of rage, but the impact jarred his wounds.

“Kuaaargh!”

Tang Ikgi groaned, his mouth agape.

The pain was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

He squatted down, waiting for the agony to subside.

He felt miserable, wronged, and furious. And tears streamed down his face.

Tang Ikgi lowered his head and wiped them away.

“Damn it!”

He looked around.

Fortunately, no one was there.

If someone had seen him, he would have died of shame.

Tang Ikgi forced a composed expression onto his face and headed for the workshop.

The Iron Mountain Workshop was located far from the manor. For that reason, even his father, Tang Cheolsan, didn’t visit unless it was for something special.

For Tang Ikgi, the workshop was his only refuge.

As soon as he arrived at the Iron Mountain Workshop, Tang Ikgi started finding fault.

“Why is it so filthy in here?”

“Why haven’t these iron ingots been put away?”

Tang Ikgi relentlessly tormented the artisans and apprentices.

“Yes! We’ll clean it up right away.”

“Our apologies.”

The artisans and apprentices watched him nervously as they hurriedly tidied up the workshop.

Tang Ikgi watched them with his arms crossed.

‘Goddamn bastards!’

Tang Ikgi cursed them inwardly.

It felt like the workshop wouldn’t run unless he was watching over it.

Suddenly, he realized someone was missing.

“Huh? Where did that guy go?”

“Pardon?”

“I’m talking about Do Yeon-san. Why can’t I see that bastard?”

“He went out on leave.”

“Leave? But he should be back by now, shouldn’t he?”

The sun had set long ago.

Leave from the Iron Mountain Workshop was strictly from sunrise to sunset. Anything longer was not permitted.

The artisan spoke with a troubled expression.

“Well, sometimes they return a little late, so if we just wait a bit…”

“Why are you being so considerate to a mere apprentice?”

“Pardon?”

“He’s an apprentice, right? Not an artisan, an apprentice!”

“But his talent is so exceptional…”

“Fuck! Talent, talent! That damn talent! I’m so sick of hearing about it. Enough. Call a few of the men. I’ll go drag him back myself.”

Right now, he needed something to vent his anger on. Otherwise, he felt like he would go insane.

Tang Ikgi immediately summoned a few martial artists and set out to find Do Yeon-san.

Finding Do Yeon-san’s house wasn’t very difficult. He had already looked into it beforehand.

“Do Yeon-san!”

CRASH!

Tang Ikgi kicked open the door of the thatched hut and stormed in.

He saw Do Yeon-san squatting in a corner of the yard.

“Hey! You bastard. Why didn’t you come back?”

Do Yeon-san didn’t answer Tang Ikgi’s roar. At that, Tang Ikgi’s anger exploded.

“You, do my words not sound like words to you?”

Only then did Do Yeon-san raise his head and look at Tang Ikgi.

Do Yeon-san’s eyes were unfocused.

The sight made Tang Ikgi even more furious.

“This bastard is glaring at me when I’m talking to him.”

THWACK!

He kicked Do Yeon-san without a second thought.

Do Yeon-san couldn’t even scream as he tumbled to the ground.

“Why didn’t you come back? Do you look down on me too? Is that it?”

THUD! THWACK!

Not content with just kicking Do Yeon-san, Tang Ikgi found a club and beat him indiscriminately.

Do Yeon-san couldn’t even scream as he was beaten like a dog on a hot summer day.

“You fucking son of a bitch! You dog-like bastard! You piece of trash, worse than a worm!”

In Tang Ikgi’s eyes, Do Yeon-san overlapped with the image of himself, getting beaten by his father without being able to fight back.

“Young… Young Master. My fath… dead…”

Do Yeon-san’s lips trembled as he tried to explain something. But Tang Ikgi would not tolerate his excuses.

“Shut your mouth, you bastard! You’re worse than a dog.”

THWACK! THUD!

Madness crept onto his face as he swung the club.

It was then.

“Young Master!”

“Please stop for a moment.”

His subordinates, who had been standing by until now, stepped forward to stop him.

“What? The fuck!”

“Ah, I think you need to look inside.”

“What?”

“Something terrible has happened.”

“Fuck! What is it now?”

Tang Ikgi threw down the club and peered inside the thatched hut.

In an instant, the color drained from his face.

“What is this?”

“They are Yeon-san’s parents.”

“I know that! But why are they all fucking dead?”

Inside the thatched hut, Do Yeon-san’s parents lay dead, covered in blood.

Though he was the one who had beaten Do Yeon-san to a pulp, Tang Ikgi was suddenly terrified at the sight of dead bodies.

A subordinate examined the corpses and then spoke.

“It seems they were murdered.”

“By whom?”

“We do not know that.”

“Fuck!”

“It seems Yeon-san lost his mind after discovering his parents’ bodies.”

“Then he should have said so! Damn it!”

Even Tang Ikgi knew he was being unreasonable.

He was the one who had resorted to violence before any words could be spoken. When a dazed Do Yeon-san had tried to say something midway through, he was the one who had silenced him with violence.

There was no room for excuses. But he would never admit his own fault.

“Take that bastard and shut him up.”

“What should we do with the bodies?”

“Why are you asking me? That bastard will take care of it himself.”

Tang Ikgi yelled.

He thought today was a truly unlucky day.

Nothing was going right.

His reputation was already bad, but if this got out, it would hit rock bottom.

More than anything, he was afraid of his father’s gaze, which would look at him with contempt.

“This won’t do. Just set this place on fire.”

“Pardon?”

“Set it on fire, I said. That way the bodies get cremated, two birds with one stone.”

“But Yeon-san has to prepare the bodies…”

“How can he prepare them in that state? Do you think he can?”

“N-No, sir.”

“Then stop talking and set it on fire. I’ll take full responsibility.”

“Yes!”

In the end, the martial artist answered weakly and set the thatched hut ablaze.

Do Yeon-san shed tears of blood as he watched his home burn.

‘N-No!’

He wanted to scream, but his voice wouldn’t come out, as if his vocal cords had been damaged by Tang Ikgi’s beating.

The home that had been his family’s sanctuary was burning.

Inside, the bodies of his father and mother were burning with it.

‘No, you bastards!’

He hadn’t even found a clue to his younger sibling’s whereabouts, and now everything was being engulfed in flames, turning into a handful of ash.

＊＊＊

Pyo Wol raised his head and looked at the distant hill.

Black smoke was rising from it.

“Looks like another fire broke out.”

“Tsk! The beggars must have started a fire while burning something.”

“If they’re going to burn something, they should just burn down the whole slum. Looks like it’ll burn a little and then go out.”

People nearby commented one by one.

They were all locals and knew that the fire was in the slum.

They couldn’t care less what happened to a place like the slum.

They just watched with hopeful eyes, thinking that if it burned down spectacularly, they could drive out the beggars and build nice houses there.

Fortunately, the fire seemed to be getting under control quickly.

The acrid black smoke that had been billowing out had subsided.

The people chattered that it was a relief, all things considered, and dispersed.

Pyo Wol also lost interest in the slum.

Pyo Wol didn’t pay much attention to matters that didn’t concern him.

He strolled along the shore of Tai Lake.

A vast lake with no end in sight, tens, hundreds of boats floating upon it, and people laughing and talking with vibrant expressions.

All of this unfolded along Tai Lake’s shore. But Pyo Wol didn’t even glance at such superficial appearances.

He hadn’t come to Tai Lake shore to leisurely admire the scenery.

What Pyo Wol was looking for was the Hao Clan’s branch office.

He had something to find out.

A bustling city like the one by Tai Lake was bound to have a Hao Clan branch. The problem was that finding the Hao Clan’s branch was no easy task.

Some branches were out in the open, but important ones were hidden away. It seemed Tai Lake branch was the latter.

Because of that, Pyo Wol had to go through quite a bit of trouble to find it. If Hong Yushin hadn’t told him how to find the branches, he might have wasted several more days trying to locate Tai Lake branch.

Tai Lake branch was unusually located in a slaughterhouse on the outskirts of the city. All the meat that went to Tai Lake and its neighboring towns was processed here.

Just approaching the slaughterhouse, one was hit by the nauseating stench of blood. For that reason, ordinary people rarely came near.

“Who are you?”

As soon as Pyo Wol stepped inside, the butchers looked at him with wary eyes.

He was a man who didn’t fit in here at all.

An old butcher, holding a large cleaver used for slaughtering cows and pigs, approached Pyo Wol.

“We don’t sell meat directly to customers here. We only supply shops and inns, so don’t waste your time and go back.”

“Is this the Hao Clan’s Tai Lake branch?”

“And how did you know that?”

The old butcher’s eyes changed.

Younger butchers gathered around him.

As they gathered, the foul stench of blood grew stronger.

An ordinary person would feel immense pressure just facing them. Most people who had come here so far had shown intimidated expressions, and the butchers expected this time to be no different.

However, contrary to their expectations, Pyo Wol’s expression was not the least bit intimidated.

The old butcher realized that the man before him was no ordinary person.

“Who are you? Not many people know this is a Hao Clan branch.”

“Pyo Wol!”

“Hmm! It seems a well-known guest has arrived.”

The old butcher instantly recognized Pyo Wol’s identity.

He waved his hand, and the butchers who had gathered around him scattered.

The old butcher stuck the cleaver he was holding into the ground and said,

“I am Seo Bok, the head of the Hao Clan’s Tai Lake branch. It is an honor to meet the renowned Great Hero Pyo like this.”

“I didn’t expect Tai Lake branch to be a slaughterhouse.”

“The Hao Clan was originally created by people from the bottom rungs of society to protect themselves. Nowadays, we use brothels for convenience, but in the old days, there were quite a few branches in places like slaughterhouses. This is one of the oldest Hao Clan branches, so we still use the slaughterhouse.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“Well, it’s not something an outsider would know. And it’s not important either. So, what brings Great Hero Pyo here?”

“There’s only one reason to look for a Hao Clan branch.”

“Indeed, I asked a foolish question. As it happens, an order came from above to cooperate with Great Hero Pyo’s affairs. What would you like to know?”

“The Iron Mountain Workshop.”

“The Iron Mountain Workshop, you must mean the one run by Great Hero Tang Cheolsan. May I ask why you wish to know?”

“Do you only give out information if you know the reason?”

“That’s not it, but… Huu!* This old man has been too nosy.”

Seo Bok, who had been trailing off, let out a sigh.

The order from above was to cooperate with Pyo Wol unconditionally.

It was an order from none other than the Surveillance Chief.

No member of the Hao Clan could ever disobey it.

“My apologies. This old man has become quite sensitive since the Surveillance Chief went missing.”

“Missing? Hong Yushin?”

“You didn’t know? We haven’t been able to contact him for four months. The Hao Clan is in an uproar because of it.”

“Four months ago?”

“That’s right!”

It was around the time Pyo Wol had left Runan and entered Heavenly Dragon Mountain. While he was in the mountains organizing his insights, Hong Yushin had disappeared.

“Have you found out the reason?”

“If we had, there would be no reason for me to live with such worries. The main sect dispatched elites to trace Captain Hong’s movements, but they found nothing. He literally vanished without a trace.”

All the Hao Clan members in All Under Heaven had been mobilized to find Hong Yushin. But no trace of Hong Yushin was being found anywhere.