Wandering Through Vol. 1 Chapter 8 - Simple, First Night

Apart from a rumor that Leegwang was a lousy man, not much else was known about him.

 

Wherever he roamed in the daylight, he would be seen by the nobility, and wherever he met someone, they would say what kind of man he was.

 

Despite his illustrious bloodline, he didn’t fit in with anyone.

 

He didn’t even recognize his cousin, and the only stories he told were stupid anecdotes about slapping his servant’s cheeks or buying useless things for a thousand gold coins.

 

That’s exactly why he didn’t recognize Leegwang at first when he came to visit him in the middle of the night.

 

Even a servant, no matter how close he was to the king, could not recognize the face of a man who was afraid of crowds.

 

Grumbling to himself, he asked the servant who had announced the arrival of the panting guest.

 

“Is that man, the Great Prince?”

 

The servant shook his head. 

 

How could a servant know the face of the Great Lord, for he was afraid of being beaten by his rough-handed master?

 

“Yes, my lord.”

 

“Tsk. You look fine.”

 

The best seat in the house was given to him, but the man standing in the courtyard, not on the warm floor of the room, was more than a foot tall at night. 

 

His broad shoulders were built to intimidate others, not the kind of warlord who freaks out at the shadow of a man, as rumored.

 

With suspicion on his lips, he approached the man who had come to his door in the middle of the night.

 

“What are you doing…” asked the man.

 

It wasn’t until he got closer that he could see the woman behind the man’s burly frame. She was a beautiful woman, dressed as finely as a lady of the house.

 

His mouth watered, and his appetite was satisfied.

 

Although he was sad that he was getting old, he thought about taking a young concubine. 

 

The woman simply laughed at such an act of filthy lust, before realizing the strangeness of a man of the court being in someone else’s yard at this time of night, with his face fully exposed.

 

Then she turned to him, who was staring out across the yard, looking rather bored.

 

“Are you sure you can swallow it?”

 

“Yes. Feel free to play with it.”

 

The woman’s red lips parted wide, and a childlike, innocent laugh erupted from between them before a dark aura burst forth from within, clinging to the man.

 

“Ahahaha!”

 

The white-haired middle-aged man hesitated, and then immediately pulled away.

 

“Ugh, umph!”

 

The sound of crunching, chewing, and grinding sounds were clear to Leegwang’s ears. 

 

Ordinary people would never hear or see it, but to anyone with the slightest bit of vision, it was a sickening sight.

 

The souls that were torn apart would never make it to the afterlife, only to be consumed in fragments throughout the stomachs of the ghosts.

 

Despite the cruelty of the act before him, he remained unmoved and turned his attention to the convulsing woman on the ground.

 

The ghost that had been chewing and devouring the soul of the man who had abandoned her leaned down and asked.

 

“Do you like my daughter?”

 

The voice of the ghost asked softly, and instead of answering, Leegwang ordered. He didn’t talk to ghosts in the first place.

 

“Now that you have her, let her go.”

 

“It’s just a pawn that will be nothing more than a mere shell when I leave, and it’s under this mother… Argh!”

 

Leegwang stomped directly on the crimson shadow between the fallen woman and the spirit. 

 

The spirit screamed and flailed at the forcibly severed connection, and its body twisted as the spirit’s form contorted.

 

“Aaah, argh, ahh…”

 

The yard was a mess, with the screaming, flailing spirit and the remains of its half-devoured soul scattered about.

 

“I pity my wife,” Lee muttered as his foot trampled over the remains of the broken bond.

 

How could she pity anyone, when she should pity herself the most?

 

💫

 

The way he flipped through the pages of a book in the middle of the night by the light of a lantern was that of a devout scholar.

 

The behavior of Leegwang, who didn’t lift his head even when the king was present, was far from that of a virtuous man. 

 

Sitting harshly across the table from him, the king sneered.

 

“Are you going to look at the past?”

 

“These days, the past seems to favor those who have studied the scriptures.”

 

Leegwang closed the book and tossed it lightly to the King, who caught it in his hand, the scripture written in an unintelligible language of the Heavenly scriptures.

 

“It’s a sign from the gods, you’ve read it well, I’ll bring it back to you.”

 

“You’d think I’d come all this way to be your servant.”

 

“Or what are you doing here?”

 

The pale face of Leegwang looked as if he had no idea why the king had come all the way to his home. 

 

But the king was not fooled by the young woman, who rivaled any of the court ladies in size and beauty.

 

“The prince has died.”

 

“Who is that?”

 

“You killed him!”

 

The king shouted in frustration; he had no desire to visit his ominous cousin on this night.

 

“Me? How could a half-breed like me kill a man?”

 

The slow excuses, dripping with boredom, had no chance of convincing the king. 

 

The king slammed his fist down on the table.

 

“The state has already said that you are the only one who could have done it!”

 

He didn’t even bat an eye at the mention of the head of the Imperial Guard, the most accomplished officer in the country, except for Leegwang.

 

“You don’t believe he knows what he’s doing, if you’re going to trust him, then you should trust this brother.”

 

The King was horrified to hear him talk about such things, even though a man had died, a relative of his own. 

 

He had been inhuman since he was a child, but as he grew older, his indifference and cruelty grew into cunning. 

 

With the authority and power of a monarch, he was unstoppable.

 

This was a man who could summon all the ghosts of the land with a single word and make them feast!

 

What good was a royal name to a ghost, when it could bite not only the king but also the king’s wife at the command of its master?

 

“Is that why you’ve come to ask such questions?”

 

The light from the lanterns turned Lee’s eyes red. 

 

The creepy feeling of seeing a ghost made him look away, unable to make further eye contact.

 

“Several of my relatives have symptoms similar to those of my father before they died, and if they should all die…”

 

“It’s their karma, isn’t it?”

 

Leaning back arrogantly, Leegwang said, no longer making any excuses.

 

“Why do you care so much about less than ten of them?”

 

“…”

 

“Ah. Is it because of the marriage of the third prince?” 

 

When the sober king fell silent, for the first time, Leegwang laughed. 

 

It was only a twitch of the corners of his mouth, but the mockery was enough to get through to the king.

 

“You have a wife that you cast out and killed, a son that is precious, and a brother that you don’t know.”

 

It was well known that the king had not only cast out the queen who had given birth to his three sons, but had also given her a death sentence.

 

Without another glance at the king’s stern face, Leegwang got up from his seat. 

 

He looked down on the king, but he was a great man who had never cared about formality from his birth until now.

 

Instead, he gave the king the answer he wanted.

 

“Very well. I’m only part of the family, but I’ll pray that my sick relatives get better.”

 

It was also an assurance that no more sick relatives would die. The king shook his head, somewhat relieved.

 

“If you will do one thing for me.”

 

“What?” asked the King.

 

Wealth had made up for the loss of his father at an early age, and power had never been something he’d ever wanted.

 

From a young age, the only thing he ever wanted was his wife. 

 

Now that he had her in his own house, the king saw no reason for him to ask for favors, he had everything he wanted.

 

“Lord General Ansan has played with the treasury. Sack him and punish him, preferably by sending him into exile.”

 

“…”

 

The king was momentarily at a loss for words, even though it was a perfectly reasonable appeal, the kind of appeal that only a great warlord would make. 

 

“But then General Anshan…”

 

“…”

 

“Wasn’t he, your father-in-law…?”

 

It was the father of the little girl, the one that young Leegwang had been so desperate to get his hands on.

 

Leegwang nodded.

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

“…What were you going to do after sending your father-in-law into exile?”

 

“What usually happens to a weak, childless, and impoverished wife?”

 

💫

 

“What are you going to do with your wife?”

 

The king continued to ask, “What do you want to accomplish, to do such a thing?” 

 

As if his behavior didn’t make sense.

 

But without answering, Leegwang left his seat and entered the inner court.

 

Even though it was the middle of the night, the house was silent.

 

Except for the faint sound of his wife’s breathing, which could only be heard if you listened very closely.

 

He sat down beside her, head bowed, and listened to her breathing for a long time. 

 

It was a breath so faint that if it were to stop, there would be no words.

 

So weak…

 

Too weak to run away if he let go. Leegwang laughed for a moment in twisted satisfaction. 

 

Then the answer to the king’s question tumbled from his lips.

 

“What would I do? What was I going to do with it? Throw it away.”