The Way to Save the Crazy Returnees Chapter 73 - The Return of the Mad Heavenly Demon (3)

 

Han Yeong-won’s expression soured the moment she saw me. 

 

It was probably because I was the first person she laid eyes on after waking up. I wasn’t exactly hurt by the look she gave me—one that suggested she wouldn’t mind chewing an enemy to death. 

 

Honestly, if it were Han Yeong-won, she would’ve reacted the same way no matter who it was. That was why I calmly explained the situation.

 

“You lost consciousness during the sparring match. You don’t remember, do you?”

 

“Do you take me for an idiot? I clearly remember sparring with that red-haired bastard, and then some brat butted in and sent me flying.”

 

Ah, damn it. I didn’t expect her to remember that much.

 

I clicked my tongue inwardly and changed the subject.

 

“It didn’t seem serious enough to warrant a hospital visit, so we brought you to my place. If you’d rather go to the house Ji Geon-hyuk prepared for you, I can take you there right now.”

 

“Hm.”

 

Han Yeong-won seemed to think it over before asking,

 

“And that red-haired bastard?”

 

It didn’t look like she was in a hurry to return to Ji Geon-hyuk’s place.

 

“Seo Do-hwan should be waking up soon as well.”

 

“Seo Do-hwan…”

 

She muttered his name as if committing it to memory. But I knew—sooner or later, she’d go back to calling him that red-haired bastard.

 

“And the brat?”

 

“Yoo-seong?”

 

“I don’t care about his name. The one who dared to interrupt a sacred duel.”

 

‘Yep. Definitely Lee Yoo-seong.’

 

“Yoo-seong stepped out for a bit. He’ll be back soon.”

 

Lee Yoo-seong had gone to bring Lee Man-deuk’s younger siblings to the house. By the time we returned home, it was already Sunday morning—around when Lee Man-deuk would’ve left for California.

 

Since he’d entrusted me with Lee Deok-sun’s and Lee Soon-deuk’s safety, I had no choice but to bring them here. That had been the condition from the start—when I asked Lee Man-deuk to lift the curse placed on Ji Geon-hyuk.

 

‘Will Lee Man-deuk really be able to find him?’

 

I didn’t know where Ji Geon-hyuk was being treated. But if it was Lee Man-deuk, I felt like he could track him down. After all, he was the one who’d placed the curse in the first place.

 

‘So I’ll trust him.’

 

Believing that Ji Geon-hyuk wouldn’t die—that the curse would be lifted—I calmed my restless thoughts and spoke in my usual tone.

 

“How are you feeling?”

 

Han Yeong-won looked at me with eyes brimming with emotion.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“No. It’s nothing.”

 

She lightly shook her head, brushing the thought away, then asked,

 

“Hey, you piece of shit. Did you already know the fight with that red-haired bastard would turn out like this?”

 

Faced with the sharp question, I answered only with a silent smile. Perhaps taking that as confirmation, Han Yeong-won let out a crooked grin.

 

“So you came up with some cunning scheme. All it was supposed to be was a simple sword match—and yet you hated dueling me that much?”

 

“It’s not that I didn’t want to—”

 

“It’s that he couldn’t.”

 

At some point—who knew when—Seo Do-hwan was suddenly standing beside me.

 

‘When did the door even open?’

 

Thanks to Han Yeong-won’s poison arts, he must’ve fully regained his strength. He was moving like nothing had happened. He slung an arm around my shoulder and said cheerfully,

 

“Our boss is ridiculously weak, you know.”

 

“Weak? That rich bastard?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Seo Do-hwan nodded, then grimaced.

 

“Ugh, my head. It feels like I slammed it into a telephone pole a dozen times after drinking all night.”

 

…Was he speaking from experience?

 

I stared at him in disbelief as Han Yeong-won tilted her head and kept pressing him.

 

“Are you seriously saying that piece of shit is weaker than you?”

 

“What? You don’t believe me?”

 

Han Yeong-won nodded. In response, Seo Do-hwan suddenly grabbed my wrist.

 

“Here, look.”

 

Crack!

 

He twisted it—or rather, snapped it cleanly. I blinked, stunned by the sudden turn of events.

 

“Huh?”

 

Seo Do-hwan froze.

 

“Oh.”

 

“…Ugh.”

 

The pain hit a moment later.

 

“Gah! I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, boss!”

 

Panicking, Seo Do-hwan clutched my wrist—now very clearly broken.

 

“I’ll set it back!”

 

Set it back? Set WHAT back?!

 

Before he could do anything even more idiotic, I kicked him away and pushed myself to my feet. Damn it—my foot hurt even more than my wrist.

 

“Boss, are you okay? Does it hurt?”

 

Seo Do-hwan looked completely unfazed by the kick and genuinely worried. I ignored him and spoke firmly.

 

“You two.”

 

I paused as the pain crawled up my arm.

 

“Don’t move an inch until I get back.”

 

Without waiting for a response, I headed straight out. All I wanted was to get to a hospital as fast as possible.

 

“Wait, boss! Hold on!”

 

That was why I ignored Seo Do-hwan’s desperate shouting.

 

That goddamn bastard.

 

***

 

“Boss…”

 

Standing in front of the closed door, Seo Do-hwan called out to Kwak Yoon-hoo—then immediately began to fume.

 

“Argh! Seo Do-hwan, you idiot!! Seriously, you absolute idiot!!”

 

He clutched his head, completely losing it. It was inevitable. He’d crushed Kwak Yoon-hoo’s wrist with his own hands.

 

At least it was his left hand…?

 

Kwak Yoon-hoo was right-handed, after all.

No—no matter how hard he tried to rationalize it, left or right didn’t actually matter right now.

 

“Argh! What do I do?! Damn it, what should I do?!”

 

Seo Do-hwan was on the verge of madness from guilt. He hadn’t expected a person’s wrist to break so easily. Truly, he had no idea.

 

If he had, he never would’ve grabbed Kwak Yoon-hoo’s wrist so recklessly—just to prove to the woman in front of him how weak Kwak Yoon-hoo was.

 

Han Yeong-won watched the raving Seo Do-hwan in silence for a moment before calling out to him.

 

“Hey, you crazy bastard.”

 

“What?!”

 

The crazy bastard glared at her, eyes bulging. He looked like he might explode if she provoked him any further—but—

 

“Try calling me ‘Brother.’ Just once.”

 

Han Yeong-won didn’t care about his mood at all.

 

She was simply trying to find traces of Tang So-yeon in the red-haired man. Other than the hair color, there wasn’t much resemblance, but she wondered if there might be at least one more thing.

 

Seo Do-hwan looked utterly confused.

 

What did I just hear?

 

Brother? Now? In this situation?

 

“Are you crazy?!”

 

Seo Do-hwan exploded.

 

“Don’t you have any sense?!”

 

“Why should I care about other people’s feelings?”

 

Peerless under heaven and earth—Han Yeong-won had always lived as number one in The Return of the Mad Heavenly Demon.

 

Seo Do-hwan was on the verge of going insane.

 

“I’m not talking about feelings—the situation! Can’t you see what’s going on and still spout that kind of bullshit?!”

 

Han Yeong-won tilted her head slightly.

 

“And what’s wrong with the situation?” she asked, genuinely puzzled. “This world has always revolved around me in the first place.”

 

“Argh! You’re impossible to talk to!”

 

“Forget all that and call me ‘Brother.’ Just once.”

 

“Shut up!!”

 

Seo Do-hwan finally snapped.

 

Just like back on Gwanak Mountain, he charged into a life-or-death duel with Han Yeong-won under the pretense of a “sparring match.”

 

The problem was—

 

“Do-hwan hyung! What are you doing right now?!”

 

—the location of this “sparring match” was Kwak Yoon-hoo’s house.

 

***

 

…It had been spectacularly destroyed.

 

On the way back from the hospital, I’d gotten a call from Lee Yoo-seong and had a rough idea of what to expect—but seeing it in person, it was far worse than I’d imagined.

 

Thankfully, only the interior was damaged.

 

Though I’m not sure that’s something to be thankful for.

 

Pressing my temples, I asked the hired help, “How long will the repairs take?”

 

“Even at the fastest, a week.”

 

I let out a quiet sigh, then walked toward the man standing stiffly in the corner of the living room with his hands raised—the only spot that was still relatively intact.

 

“Seo Do-hwan.”

 

He flinched and cautiously studied my expression.

 

“How did this even happen? I distinctly remember telling you not to move a muscle while I was gone. Am I mistaken?”

 

“I don’t recall ever agreeing to obey you,” Han Yeong-won said flatly.

 

“Hey! Why are you sitting there so calmly?! You fought too! Raise your hands with me!”

 

“Are you crazy?”

 

Sitting on the sofa, Han Yeong-won looked at Seo Do-hwan as if he were genuinely unhinged.

 

“That damned bastard…!”

 

“Seo Do-hwan.”

 

The vicious scowl on his face vanished instantly.

 

“Yes, Boss.”

 

He opened his eyes wide, putting on an innocent expression. He clearly knew that breaking my wrist hadn’t been the end of it—he’d also destroyed my house.

 

Even so, punishment could wait. First, I needed answers.

 

That was why I asked,

 

“Why did you fight with Ms. Han Yeong-won?”

 

“We did not fight. We merely engaged in a sacred duel.”

 

Ignoring her, Seo Do-hwan hurriedly began to explain.

 

“No, I mean—really…!”

 

In short, this was what happened:

 

He hadn’t wanted to fight. But Han Yeong-won kept provoking him with nonsense, and in a moment of anger, things escalated.

 

“So in the end, you were the one who charged at Ms. Han Yeong-won first?”

 

“I didn’t want to!”

 

“But you did.”

 

Seo Do-hwan fell silent.

 

“Yoon-hoo hyung, you’re back?”

 

The kid who’d been making Seo Do-hwan keep his hands raised peeked out from the top of the stairs.

 

“How’s your wrist? I heard Do-hwan hyung broke it. Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah. I’m fine. It was a clean break, so they said it won’t take long to heal.”

 

Seo Do-hwan flinched. I ignored him and asked Lee Yoo-seong,

 

“What about Deok-sun and Soon-deuk?”

 

“Didn’t you see them on your way in?”

 

“No.”

 

“Really?”

 

Lee Yoo-seong’s eyes widened.

 

“I told them to wait outside until things settled down…”

 

But Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk were nowhere to be seen. 

 

Lee Yoo-seong’s face went pale. “I’ll try calling them.”

 

He dialed repeatedly, but Lee Man-deuk’s siblings didn’t answer.

 

“W-what should we do?” His voice trembled with panic.

 

“They probably weren’t kidnapped or anything like that.”

 

Given how well-secured the house was, it was unlikely that some random third party had barged in and taken them. In other words, the children had probably left on their own—most likely while Lee Yoo-seong was busy breaking up Seo Do-hwan and Han Yeong-won’s fight.

 

But why?

 

Just as that question crossed my mind—

 

“The presence of those brats lingering outside the house disappeared a few minutes before you arrived.”

 

Han Yeong-won spoke calmly.

 

“At first, I thought that sapa bastard had picked up some new sorcery and was coming after me, so I tried to step outside—but he stopped me.”

 

She pointed at Lee Yoo-seong.

 

“That’s because you were about to punch Do-hwan hyung!”

 

“In a sacred duel, fists are weapons too.”

 

“That wasn’t a duel—it was just a dogfight.”

 

“Silence.”

 

Han Yeong-won and Lee Yoo-seong began their banter.

 

“Anyway, you piece of shit. I know where the ones you’re looking for went.”

 

“What?”

 

“Aren’t they blood relatives of that sapa bastard?”

 

Han Yeong-won rose to her feet.

 

“At first, I thought that sapa bastard had learned some new sorcery. But after listening closely, the presences I sensed were actually his blood relatives.”

 

She grinned, clearly amused by the thought.

 

“If I put that sapa bastard in my debt, it could be useful later.”

 

That was why Han Yeong-won offered to help find Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk.

 

“But in exchange, you piece of shit.”

 

She lowered her voice, directing her words at me.

 

“Until Ji Geon-hyuk—that bastard—comes back, you’ll let me stay here.”

 

So that was what she was after.

 

“Do whatever you want.”

 

In any case, I’d already planned to tell Han Yeong-won more about that religious group I’d mentioned before.

 

“Good.”

 

Satisfied, Han Yeong-won immediately set off to find Lee Man-deuk’s siblings—and found them surprisingly quickly.

 

The place they’d ended up, however, was unexpected.

 

“So there was a Beggar Sect hideout in a place like this.”

 

A free soup kitchen near Seoul Station for the homeless. That was where Lee Deok-sun and Lee Soon-deuk were.