Absolute Regression

Translator: FenrirTL
Editor : TheBattleSage
Editor Notes/Quality Checker: Saphartlantis
Murim Term Consultant: Kopke
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< Chapter 28: Hold On Tight When We Start >

At the words coming from the second floor, Yang Ho shouted irritably.

“Who the hell is it?”

Then, the same voice was heard again.

“You didn’t even check who I was, and you started cursing?”

This time, a woman’s voice was heard.

“This isn’t courage, it’s recklessness.”

The woman’s voice was so pleasant to listen to that it was clear why the expression “as if jade beads were rolling” was created. Even if this woman cursed at him, it would probably feel good. (EN : Keep your sick fetishes to yourself)

“What could possibly be inside that head of his to act like this?”

“Must be poor upbringing.”

“Even kids neglected by their parents can grow up well sometimes. So you can’t always blame everything on the parents.”

“You’re right.”

Usually, Yang Ho would have been furious, but he was lost in other thoughts. His mind was filled with lust.

‘Judging by the voice alone, she must be a peerless beauty! If things go well tonight, I might have a hot night!’

He planned to take out the guy and take the woman for himself.

There was a reason such fearless thoughts were possible. The inns, taverns, and brothels in Maga Village were usually frequented based on one’s status or skill.

This Flowing Wind Tavern, run by Jo Chunbae, was a place for low-tier martial artists. Not even his father or the Blade Ghosts, who were his subordinates, would come here.

Moreover, Maga Village wasn’t a place where passing orthodox or unorthodox martial artists would stop by, so he naturally assumed his opponent was a low-tier martial artist of the cult.

Meanwhile, the conversation on the second floor continued.

“Seeing the son of an Hundred Demonic Blade behaving so outrageously in broad daylight, it shows the power of the Blade Ghosts is truly immense.”

“It’s possible because he is riding on the coattails of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.”

Yang Ho was puzzled. Not only was it the first time someone dared to belittle his father, but they also mentioned the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

“I can imagine how he must have grown up.”

“He grew up not knowing the fear of the world.”

Yang Ho, listening, spoke more calmly than before.

“Would the esteemed seniors who have graced us with their presence show themselves and point out the mistakes of this foolish junior?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he added,

“Idiot, did you expect this? No matter which bastards are pretending to be mysterious, if you don’t show your heads right now, you’ll die.”

Then, a man poked his head out from the second floor.

Seeing the young, fresh face, Yang Ho’s tension eased.

“Is it you?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“And the woman who was talking with you?”

This time, a woman poked her head out. At her appearance, Yang Ho screamed.

“Ah! What the…?”

“Why are you so surprised, young master?”

“Is it you? Is it really you?”

The owner of the voice was not a peerless beauty, but a fat woman. Yang Ho, whose happy fantasy was shattered, shouted angrily.

“You bastards, if you don’t want to die, come down right now!”

* * *

“Let’s go down now.”

At Lee Ahn’s words, I finished my drink.

The person drinking on the second floor was me. I had come to meet Gwak Soo, the father of the victim, and unexpectedly caught a big fish.

I jumped from the second floor to the ground floor. Lee Ahn followed suit. Despite her plump body, she landed lightly using her body technique.

Seeing our movements, Yang Ho flinched. He had thought we were third-rate martial artists, but our movements were too agile.

I lifted the fallen Gwak Soo and helped him to a seat.

“I’m sorry I didn’t intervene sooner. I waited a bit because I thought that guy would blabber on. Thanks to that, we got a confession.”

“Are you the Second Young Master?”

“Oh, you recognize me.”

“Actually, I recognized your escort. She’s quite famous within the cult.”

I pouted as I looked at Lee Ahn.

“Does this make any sense? You’re more famous than me!”

“Is that fame? It’s just because I’m so big that I’m easy to recognize. Tsk!”

At our conversation, Yang Ho’s complexion turned pale.

“Are you… the Second Young Master?”

“Relax. Today I’m here as a Special Investigator of the Underworld Pavilion. Oh wait, maybe you should be more nervous then.”

Yang Ho, who had been swaggering as if the world were his, lowered his voice and spoke respectfully.

“I failed to recognize an esteemed member of the cult. I acted rudely out of ignorance. Please forgive me.”

“Judging by your actions, you don’t seem ignorant at all.”

“No, I really didn’t know anything.”

Yang Ho bowed his head deeply. Despite being young, he was shrewd enough to know when to lower his head.

“Can I leave now?”

“Nope. I came here because I have business with you.”

“What is it?”

“I’m here to investigate the assault case you were involved in.”

“I was already acquitted by the Underworld Pavilion.”

“This case is being reopened for a thorough reinvestigation.”

While Yang Ho was taken aback, Gwak Soo’s face lit up. Jo Chunbae, who was next to him, flinched, almost cheering but barely stopping himself.

I listed Yang Ho’s crimes one by one.

“You extorted money daily, so that’s habitual extortion. You forced someone to steal money, so that’s incitement to theft. You assaulted a friend, causing grievous bodily harm, so that’s attempted murder. And on top of that, you came here and assaulted the victim’s father. Your crimes are extremely severe. You will be in prison for at least twenty years.”

“Twenty years?”

Yang Ho turned pale, knowing full well that he couldn’t handle even two days in prison, let alone twenty years.

“No, it was just a martial arts sparring match gone wrong!”

“Too late. You confessed directly in front of the Underworld Pavilion’s leader.”

Cornered, Yang Ho brought up the person who had always shielded him from the consequences of his misdeeds.

“Do you know who my father is?”

“Yes, Yang Tae, a Hundred Demonic Blade.”

“If you falsely accuse me, my father won’t stand for it.”

“Falsely accuse you? Should I try that out?”

At my intimidating stance, he flinched.

“Anyway your father will be too busy to look after you. He’s also being arrested for exerting external pressure on the Underworld Pavilion’s investigators.”

The pressure of the situation was too much for the teenage Yang Ho to handle.

“My father won’t leave you alone. He’ll get out of prison and take revenge on you. No, he could even kill you while in prison! So you should think carefully…”

Bang!

Before he could finish, my fist mercilessly slammed into his stomach.

As he clutched his belly and sank to the floor vomiting, another blow of bad news hit him.

“If I add the charge of threatening the leader of the Underworld Pavilion, thirty years.”

Yang Ho looked up in terror.

“…No, please, spare me!”

“I’ll be kind. I’ll drop that charge.”

“Please forgive me.”

“Alright, give me one reason why I should forgive you. Stop whining about your father.”

“Well…”

“Have you ever saved someone’s life? Helped someone? No? Then how about something that even remotely resembles a good deed? Even if you have to make it up.”

“…”

“You can’t even make something up, can you? It’s hard to invent something you’ve never done. Why should I forgive someone like you?”

“I-I’ll live a good life from now on!”

“Sure, serve your time in prison and then live that way.”

Whoosh, smack!

I slapped him hard across the face, making his head snap to the side, and he collapsed, unconscious.

“Take him to the cells.”

I could have half-killed him here, but I didn’t. His real hell would be spending twenty years in prison. It wasn’t an idle threat. I genuinely intended to sentence him to twenty years.

The cult’s prison was a hellish place where human rights were thoroughly ignored. I can guarantee that this guy wouldn’t last even a month before he took his own life.

‘Repentance? If he were capable of that, he wouldn’t have committed such atrocious acts in the first place.’

The two men at the entrance tried to sneakily back away in an attempt to escape.

However, there were martial artists blocking the entrance. They were none other than Seo Daeryong and the enforcement martial artists from the Underworld Pavilion. As they were from the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, known to be more fearsome than any other martial artists, the two men froze in fear.

The two men immediately wet themselves and collapsed on the spot.

“We were just following orders!”

“Please spare us!”

Punishment was necessary, but first, they had a role to play.

“If you don’t tell the truth, you’ll take all the blame.”

“We’ll tell you everything!”

“I’ll tell you everything!”

They spoke as if confessing would save them, but that was far from the truth. Even after receiving their testimonies, these men were headed to prison. Though their sentences would be lighter than Yang Ho, who led the evil deeds, they were still looking at a minimum of five years behind bars.

Using these men as an example, would any bully dare to torment their peers at the academy in the future?

“Take them to the interrogation room and get their statements!”

“Yes, sir!”

The enforcement martial artists subdued the three men’s acupoints and escorted them to the Underworld Pavilion.

One of the patrons who had been watching couldn’t hold back anymore and started clapping.

Clap, clap, clap!

Then, the rest of the crowd erupted in cheers. Jo Chunbae shouted in triumph.

If it weren’t for me, such a reaction wouldn’t have happened. But wasn’t I the son of the Heavenly Demon? It was a situation where cheers were warranted.

I addressed them loudly.

“If you ever face any injustice, report it to the Underworld Pavilion. As long as I am the Pavilion Leader, no external pressure will have any effect.”

The applause grew even louder. If the Underworld Pavilion didn’t fear the Demon Supremes, what other external pressure would they be afraid of?

I finished with a joke.

“If someone threatens you by saying they’ll call their father, like that guy earlier, I’ll call my father too!”

Laughter erupted from all around.

At that moment, one of my subordinates approached and relayed something to me. I immediately conveyed the joyous news to Gwak Soo.

“Before coming here, the Demon Doctor treated your son.”

“Really? That esteemed person treated my son?”

“To me, your son is more precious. And he has just woken up, so you should go see him.”

“Ahhh!”

Gwak Soo, who was extremely surprised, screamed.

“Ah! Dongah, Dongah! You’re alive! My son is alive!”

Jo Chunbae, the owner of the tavern, embraced him.

“That’s great, just great.”

People who knew the two gathered around to congratulate him.

Gwak Soo shed tears of joy.

“I will never forget this kindness.”

I stopped him from bowing deeply.

“Haven’t you dedicated yourself to the cult all your life? Naturally, the cult should protect you in return.”

The cult could only be maintained because of people like him, who silently devoted themselves to it throughout their lives. The current cult had lost this sense of gratitude as the same time it lost the Demonic Path.

“The cult is grateful to you.”

I bowed my head in greeting. Gwak Soo, feeling my sincerity, let his tears fall.

“Thank you, truly thank you.”

“Go see your son now.”

“Yes, I’ll go right away.”

He hurriedly ran to see his son. Jo Chunbae, the tavern owner, spoke to me.

“Whenever you come, drinks and snacks are on the house.”

“Thank you. I’ll come by next time for a good drink.”

“It would be my honor.”

Jo Chunbae bowed deeply. All the patrons who were with him also bowed. For them, it was probably the most exhilarating day ever.

After they greeted me and left, Lee Ahn and Seo Daeryong, who had been standing behind, walked up to me.

Seo Daeryong asked cautiously, with a worried expression.

“But… will this really be okay?”

Not only would we arrest Yang Ho, but also his father, a Hundred Demonic Blade, which would inevitably provoke the Blood Heaven Blade Demon even more.

“Will it be okay? There will be chaos.”

“I’m worried.”

“This is the case you brought, isn’t it? Trying to bury me under the Blade Demon’s saber.”

“That’s true, but…”

Seo Daeryong sighed. His face showed regret, as if he was reconsidering whether he should have brought this case forward.

To Seo Daeryong, who desperately hoped for change, and to Lee Ahn, who still feared it, I spoke firmly.

“We haven’t even properly started yet. So don’t waver and stay focused!”