Chapter 143: What’s Good is Good
“You’re not going?”
Jin Seong-un stared at Bang Cheon-woo in disbelief.
He had never imagined such an answer would come back.
Seo Yu-gyeom also wore a similar expression as Jin Seong-un as he spoke.
“Not just anyone, but your father and younger brother have ended up like that. Did I hear you correctly?”
Bang Cheon-woo nodded with a sorrowful face. He didn’t say much and simply kept staring at the floor.
At that sight, Seo Yu-gyeom slowly grew angry. No matter how much of a scoundrel someone was, how could he refuse to return home when his father and younger brother had died?
Pointing straight at Seomun Ak with his index finger, Seo Yu-gyeom spoke.
“Even this bastard, back when he was at his worst, wasn’t like you. What kind of man are you? Are you even human?”
“Why am I being dragged into this all of a sudden?”
Seo Yu-gyeom flared up.
If left alone, it looked as though Seo Yu-gyeom might strike Bang Cheon-woo, so Jin Seong-un opened his mouth first.
“Why exactly are you refusing to go? At least give us a reason.”
“…I just said I won’t go.”
“Haah.”
Jin Seong-un felt a faint dizziness wash over him.
If Bang Cheon-woo had at least given a reason, they could have tried persuading him, but with such a response, there was nothing to say.
The effort of traveling such a long distance to find a man like this felt utterly wasted.
At that moment—
“You’re afraid, aren’t you?”
The one who had stayed silent all along, Seomun Ak, finally spoke.
At those words, Bang Cheon-woo’s eyes flickered.
“I get it. It’s something only scoundrels can understand.”
While Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom grew frustrated, Seomun Ak saw his own past reflected in Bang Cheon-woo’s demeanor.
He continued.
“Do you think that Bang Myeong-ho will harm you? No, surely there’s no one left in the Escort Agency who likes you.”
This was not someone else’s problem.
Seomun Ak himself had lived the same. All the elders of the Seomun Clan had looked at him like an insect.
It was only natural. He had always dragged the clan’s name through the mud.
The only reason Seomun Ak’s name hadn’t been erased from the clan registry was because Clan Head Seomun Jeok had refused to give up on him.
The same applied to Bang Cheon-woo.
“But now, the father who at least shielded you is gone. The ones who despised you—Bang Myeong-ho and the elders of the Escort Agency—have taken power. Of course you’re afraid to return.”
Bang Cheon-woo’s pupils trembled endlessly.
Though he kept silent, everyone knew that silence itself was the answer.
Jin Seong-un and Seo Yu-gyeom looked at Seomun Ak in surprise.
What’s gotten into you?
When Seo Yu-gyeom muttered words that sounded almost like acknowledgment, Seomun Ak wore a smug expression.
Seo Yu-gyeom followed up with a voice transmission.
Even a scoundrel can roll with the punches.
It was hard to tell whether that was a compliment or an insult, leaving Seomun Ak feeling awkward.
Just then, Bang Cheon-woo cautiously opened his mouth.
“If I return, I’ll be thrown straight into prison. Maybe they’ll even use my past as an excuse to send me off to the authorities. My uncle has always had great ambition. Now that he has become the new master of the Escort Agency, I’ll be even more of a thorn in his side. After all, I’m still the agency’s eldest son.”
Bang Cheon-woo was right.
The fact that Deathshroud’s assassins had come after him was proof enough.
Nodding, Jin Seong-un asked,
“Did you commit crimes so grave in the past that you could actually be handed over to the authorities?”
“Well, nothing that bad, but…”
After a brief hesitation, Bang Cheon-woo admitted honestly.
“Just a few thefts. Not that I meant to do it…”
Things like sneaking away with goods when he ran out of money while drinking, slipping out when the shopkeeper looked away, or buying on credit and disappearing.
When he ended up offending shops run by the Black Path or local powers, he would inevitably get caught by martial artists, and he always used the Escort Agency’s name to get away. Each time, Bang Man-bok had to pay compensation and clean up the mess.
For some reason, Jin Seong-un seemed understanding about the thefts, but when it came to skipping out on debts, he shook his head.
“You truly engaged in plenty of troublesome behavior. But do you really think that’s a reason to ignore the deaths of your father and brother?”
“…We weren’t that close.”
Jin Seong-un made a dumbfounded face.
What the hell was this bastard saying right now?
That was exactly the look on his face.
Without a hint of awareness, Bang Cheon-woo continued.
“I barely saw them these past five or six years. My father considered me a forsaken son. Even Bang Cheon-gang looked down on me as pathetic…”
Jin Seong-un recalled conversations he had shared with Bang Man-bok when he was alive. The man had often spoken of his sons.
When he spoke of his eldest, Bang Cheon-woo, he had indeed looked frustrated. But there had still been love in his eyes.
Bang Cheon-woo had been nothing more than a painful finger—one that hurt but could not be cut off.
“Maybe my father actually hoped I’d just drink myself to death somewhere…”
Smack—!
Bang Cheon-woo’s head whipped to the side.
Seo Yu-gyeom and Seomun Ak both jumped in shock. A slap from Jin Seong-un could kill even a first-rate master.
Fortunately, he had controlled his strength, so Bang Cheon-woo’s cheek only swelled red.
“I’ve never seen a man as pitiful as you. The Escort Master was not someone who would think that way. I know that much—so how could his son not? You’re just scared and pretending to ignore it.”
“….”
Bang Cheon-woo shut his mouth.
Seeing this, Jin Seong-un spoke with a weary sigh.
“Forget it. We’ll handle it ourselves. Spend your life running away if that’s what you want.”
With that, Jin Seong-un turned and walked off.
If Bang Cheon-woo had mustered the courage, Jin Seong-un would have helped him in every way possible. But if he had no will of his own, there was nothing to be done.
Bang Cheon-woo simply stood there, watching as Jin Seong-un’s group walked away.
At that moment, he felt both a pang of pain at their contemptuous gazes and a strange sense of relief—and that made him despise himself even more.
Jin Seong-un, Seo Yu-gyeom, and Seomun Ak secured lodging at a nearby inn.
After a brief silence, Seo Yu-gyeom spoke.
“We’re screwed.”
“….”
Jin Seong-un and Seomun Ak both kept quiet.
They really were screwed.
To intervene in Escort Agency affairs, they needed Bang Cheon-woo’s help. As outsiders, they had no power to refuse Bang Myeong-ho’s expulsion order.
“There are too many scoundrels in this world.”
When Seo Yu-gyeom said this, Seomun Ak coughed awkwardly and turned his head.
As drinks and a few simple side dishes arrived, the three of them fell deep into their own thoughts.
They tried to think of a way to break through the situation, but no easy answer came to mind.
As the mood sank, Seo Yu-gyeom suddenly opened his mouth.
“There’s a best plan and a second-best plan. Which one do you want?”
Jin Seong-un and Seomun Ak looked at him.
Shrugging his shoulders, Seo Yu-gyeom repeated himself.
“Pick.”
“The second-best sounds preferable.”
The best plan most likely meant killing. Whoever it was he planned to kill, Seo Yu-gyeom’s “best” plans usually went that way.
When Jin Seong-un chose the second-best, Seo Yu-gyeom grinned.
“Really? Good.”
“?”
That smile was unsettling.
Before Jin Seong-un could say anything, Seo Yu-gyeom suddenly stood up, flashed a reassuring grin that seemed to say “just trust me,” and walked out.
.
.
.
Half a shichen later.
Seo Yu-gyeom returned with a calm face, sat down, and filled his cup.
Jin Seong-un and Seomun Ak looked at him with uneasy eyes.
“Don’t worry. I didn’t do anything crazy.”
And then, after another half a shichen—
Bang Cheon-woo appeared, looking absolutely pale.
“Y-young masters!”
Spotting the three of them, Bang Cheon-woo rushed over. He spoke in a desperate tone.
“Please, save me! Let’s go to the Escort Agency at once!”
Jin Seong-un and Seomun Ak stared blankly.
Then their gazes shifted from Bang Cheon-woo to Seo Yu-gyeom.
Just what did you do?
When Jin Seong-un sent a voice transmission, Seo Yu-gyeom gave a faint smile.
I posed as an assassin and paid him a visit. Played around, threatening to kill him or not, letting him barely escape. Then I shouted after him—Once you’ve been caught in our net, you’re as good as dead!
Bang Cheon-woo, who had just escaped an assassin’s pursuit, must have been shocked to the core.
There was only one man who would send assassins after him—his uncle, Bang Myeong-ho.
His uncle was trying to kill him.
There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
The assassin had even said it himself: he was already caught in the net.
Thus, Bang Cheon-woo drew his conclusion.
The only way to live was to return to the Escort Agency and confront his uncle head-on.
And it’s true, isn’t it? Assassins are after him. This way works for him and for us. What’s good is good.
Seo Yu-gyeom smirked proudly.
Want me to tell you the best plan too? Honestly, that one’s more fun.
…No, thank you.
Jin Seong-un shook his head slightly. For some reason, he felt he never wanted to hear that “best plan.”
Clicking his tongue, Seo Yu-gyeom then spoke in a solemn voice to Bang Cheon-woo.
“Yes, I knew you’d make that decision. That’s why we didn’t leave and waited at the nearby inn. You’re, after all, Uncle Bang Man-bok’s son.”
At those words, something flickered in Bang Cheon-woo’s eyes—just a hint of determination and resolve.
After one round of intimidation, Seo Yu-gyeom soothed, encouraged, and raised him up.
Truly, like a skilled chef, he was “cooking” Bang Cheon-woo.
“Let’s take it back.”
Seo Yu-gyeom nodded at Bang Cheon-woo with a grave expression.
And strangely enough, Bang Cheon-woo also nodded back with slightly firmer eyes.
The two of them stood, and Jin Seong-un and Seomun Ak exchanged a look before simply shrugging.
What’s good is good.
In the office of the Red Cliff Escort Agency.
Leaning comfortably back in his chair, Bang Myeong-ho wore an expression of relief.
At long last, things were coming to a close. Having even entrusted Deathshroud with an assignment, his last obstacle, Bang Cheon-woo, would never return.
“Brother, forgive me. I didn’t know Song Jae-mun would die like that.”
It had never been supposed to go this far.
The plan had been to join hands with Song Jae-mun to shake the Red Cliff Escort Agency to its core, then use that as justification to oust Bang Man-bok and take the position of Escort Master for himself.
He had already built a power base around a few Escort Leaders and the Chief Steward.
But then, Song Jae-mun had suddenly died.
On the verge of seizing the agency, everything had collapsed, and from that day, Bang Myeong-ho had suffered sleepless nights.
He had been so close to having the Escort Agency in his grasp that losing it felt as if something originally his had been stolen.
Though in truth, the Red Cliff Escort Agency had never belonged to him, Bang Myeong-ho did not see it that way.
And so, he decided.
He would take back the agency.
He reached out to those who could help him, and they killed Bang Man-bok and Bang Cheon-gang.
‘It was a bit shocking, but…’
What was done was done.
Too late to turn back, not that he had any intention to.
Thus, Bang Myeong-ho became the Escort Master. For now, only as acting head, but soon the formal succession would be completed.
That night, Bang Myeong-ho slept soundly for the first time since Song Jae-mun’s death. That was the kind of man he was.
.
.
.
The next morning, Bang Myeong-ho rose from bed in truly good spirits.
He strolled through the escort agency as if on a leisurely walk, greeting his subordinates.
So many porters, escorts, escort leaders, cargoes, and wagons… all of it was now his.
As he walked, savoring a faint thrill, a carriage arrived at the Escort Agency.
The escorts and porters quickly stepped aside.
Soon, people stepped down from the carriage.
Faces Bang Myeong-ho knew well.
Jin Seong-un, Seo Yu-gyeom, Seomun Ak…
Bang Myeong-ho scowled. Were these fools really incapable of understanding plain words?
“Young masters, I made myself clear last time. You are outsiders—our escort agency business is none of your concern…”
And then, the last one stepped down.
Bang Cheon-woo.
The moment he saw that face, Bang Myeong-ho’s heart dropped.
Murmurs broke out among those who recognized him.
Bang Cheon-woo stood before Bang Myeong-ho. The emotion in his eyes was unmistakable—hostility.
After all, his uncle had sent assassins to kill him.
Glaring at Bang Myeong-ho for a moment, Bang Cheon-woo spoke in a calm tone.
“I received the gift you sent, Uncle.”
Bang Myeong-ho felt a chill run down his spine.
From the way he spoke of a “gift,” it seemed the assassins had indeed reached him.
‘But how did this bastard survive?’
His eyes shifted toward Jin Seong-un.