Chapter 1641: Even Beasts Know Gratitude (Part 6)

The trembling didn't cease. Perhaps it was excitement, or maybe guilt.

His hands were drenched in filthy blood.

Yet Ho Gakmyung harbored not a single trace of regret in his heart. To entertain such a luxurious emotion as regret would have been absurd, for what he did was entirely justified. Feeling even a shred of hesitation would have been blasphemous.

As he struggled to control his ragged breaths, Ho Gakmyung gazed down at the lump of flesh that was once called the Imperial Preceptor.

The body, now a grotesque testament to Ho Gakmyung's vengeance, defied description.

Numb fingertips, labored breaths, and the stench of blood.

The taste of revenge wasn't as refreshing as anticipated, nor was it as foul as feared. It was just a subtle mix of slight disappointment, modest satisfaction, and a hint of sorrow, flowing quietly as if completing a long-overdue task.

Regardless of the outcome, his vengeance was over. Whether it took the form he desired or not, what was done couldn't be undone.

What remained…

Ho Gakmyung's gaze shifted sideways. There stood Jang Ilso, who silently observed the entire process.

With eyes like crescent moons, Jang Ilso looked at Ho Gakmyung. His gaze held an inscrutable meaning.

"How do you feel?"

Jang Ilso's voice carried a peculiar resonance.

"Having achieved the revenge you desired."

Ho Gakmyung absentmindedly wiped his blood-soaked hand. The discomfort the red hand once brought had already dulled. Absorbing it all internally, Ho Gakmyung calmly responded.

"I assumed you would understand. If anyone could."

"Not as satisfying as you hoped, huh?"

Jang Ilso jested.

"I can't say whether you'd believe it, but I've never attempted revenge myself."

"…Is that so?"

"Revenge is for those who had something to lose."

An unexpectedly easy-to-understand answer.

Indeed, Jang Ilso was right. Those who had nothing to lose... or perhaps, those who hadn't appreciated the value of what they had lost, might never truly understand revenge.

This realization made Ho Gakmyung grasp another truth.

'Perhaps I, too...'

He might have become someone who could never seek revenge again. Because he no longer had anything left to lose.

"May I ask you one thing?"

Jang Ilso silently raised an eyebrow. Ho Gakmyung, interpreting the silence as affirmation, spoke.

"Why did you help me?"

There was no immediate answer. So Ho Gakmyung changed the question.

"What would you have done if I had accepted that man's proposal?"

"Hmm?"

This question piqued Jang Ilso's interest.

Though he wore a rough exterior, a closer look revealed a subtle expression of curiosity on his youthful face.

"You said it would be more convenient, but only a fool would think you were sincere. Wealth, power, convenience... whatever that man could've offered wouldn't have interested you."

Ho Gakmyung stared directly at Jang Ilso.

"Would you have accepted my neck, then? As payment for disappointing you?"

"...Neck?"

For a moment, Jang Ilso's expression froze. No, it was more accurate to say it crumbled. His eyes widened in disbelief as he burst into hearty, contemptuous laughter while looking at Ho Gakmyung.

"Hahaha! Your neck? Really?"

Laughing uproariously, Jang Ilso regarded Ho Gakmyung with a laughter tinged with scorn.

"I thought your head was functioning fine...but that doesn't seem to be the case. You fool. What value is there in your cheap neck?"

Ho Gakmyung's mouth involuntarily shut.

"Are you still deluding yourself into thinking you're some nobleman worthy of respect?"

With overt mockery, Ho Gakmyung reflexively looked down at his hand.

A chuckle escaped his lips.

There was no fault in Jang Ilso's words. He was no longer a scholar, nor was he an official.

Just a murderer.

From the country's perspective, he was nothing but garbage that must be caught and executed. He had become what Ho Gakmyung once most despised and rejected.

What value could such a person's neck hold for Jang Ilso?

"That was a foolish question."

Ho Gakmyung nodded slowly in acknowledgment.

He realized it anew. Reasons didn't matter. What mattered was that he owed Jang Ilso, and now it was time to repay that debt.

"However it happened, now it's your turn to receive compensation."

Ho Gakmyung breathed deeply and faced Jang Ilso.

It didn't matter. No matter how harsh the compensation might be. Now that Ho Gakmyung had become someone with nothing to lose.

"Whatever you desire from me…"

Ho Gakmyung spat out with a cold face as if clad in armor.

"I will give it my all."

It was a resolute voice without a hint of doubt. Jang Ilso's long eyes curved deeply.

"…It's been a while since I heard such pleasing words."

He's a strange person, Ho Gakmyung thought.

When he first saw him, he was a typical vagrant with no refinement, but now, the Jang Ilso he saw was different from back then.

That slow speech was overwhelming him without any coercion. It was remarkable, considering Ho Gakmyung had seen countless powerful and noble figures in the Imperial Palace.

For a moment, such a thought crossed his mind.

Compared to those he once considered great and believed would become even greater, was this man truly lacking?

Could he possibly be the one who possessed the qualities to rise above others?

It was amusing. The one he had been yearning for was actually at the lowest, most despicable bottom of society, where even a glance was shunned.

That was why Ho Gakmyung couldn't help but be curious.

"What do you want from me?"

What could this person want? And how would Ho Gakmyung appear in Jang Ilso's eyes?

The returned answer was slightly different from Ho Gakmyung's expectations.

"What I want…"

A smirk tugged at the corners of Jang Ilso's mouth.

"There's no way there's something like that."

Momentarily stunned, Ho Gakmyung stared blankly at Jang Ilso.

"A stupid fool like you who doesn't know what the world is, what people are, wouldn't be able to do anything. You can't even be used as manure."

Ho Gakmyung's face twitched slightly.

"Then…"

"What I want and what I receive are different. I said you had to pay a high price to pay, but I didn't say there was something I wanted."

It might've sounded difficult at first, but Ho Gakmyung immediately understood the subtle difference.

"So, what price do I have to pay?"

When Ho Gakmyung asked, Jang Ilso turned his head sharply after observing him closely. A blazing fervor entered his eyes. The bright pupils looked fiery, tinged with a reddish hue.

"Become my dog."

"…"

"I'm tired of it now. That dirty, smelly alley, and all the fumbling around in back alleys."

Ho Gakmyung involuntarily swallowed dry saliva.

Jang Ilso agreed to killing the Imperial Preceptor.

Even if the power of the Imperial Palace didn't reach every corner, for a while, it would be impossible to avoid being pursued.

And that meant Jang Ilso losing all the foundations he currently had. But Jang Ilso didn't even mention it.

'…Because you have nothing to lose.'

Wasn't that the same as having nothing?

"I want something bigger. Not just igniting a fire in such a small garden. To burn, you need to burn something bigger."

Watching the falling manor engulfed in flames, Jang Ilso lost interest in the sight and looked at Ho Gakmyung.

It might be a misconception, but Ho Gakmyung felt a similar heat from his settled gaze as he did when he first saw the manor.

"But it can't be done with scum like them. At least you need a human who can think."

Jang Ilso's eyes glared harshly.

"Roll around in the dirty muck with me. Experience hell alive. And push me up higher. That's the high price you must pay."

"…"

"I won't tolerate refusal. Your life's worth has already been owed."

Ho Gakmyung chuckled.

He didn't want anything. Yes, he wouldn't want anything.

In that person's eyes, the current Ho Gakmyung was just a scholar who didn't even know what the world was.

But at least he would have earned the right with this blood on his hands. As that man struggled in the muck of his words, someday the current Ho Gakmyung would surely become indispensable to him.

He might not want anything, but there was a price to pay. That was what it meant.

"Did you understand?"

It was a rough, simmering voice.

Yet Ho Gakmyung sensed a small, youthful anxiety within it. It was so subtle that perhaps only Ho Gakmyung could perceive it.

Regardless, Ho Gakmyung understood. This man might've desired him quite earnestly, contrary to what appeared on the surface.

After gazing at Jang Ilso in silence for a while, Ho Gakmyung finally spoke.

"What do you desire from me?"

"To survive."

Jang Ilso replied without a hint of hesitation, as if it was an answer he had already prepared.

"And to be ruthless. Always, anywhere, at any moment."

Ho Gakmyung nodded slowly.

"…Then I have a condition as well."

Instantly, Jang Ilso's gaze turned fierce like an enraged beast.

"A condition? Do you think you're in a position to make conditions?"

It felt like he could grab his throat and rip it out at any moment.

Despite the ferocity coursing through his entire body, Ho Gakmyung looked him straight in the eye and spoke.

"Have some leisure."

Jang Ilso's movements abruptly stopped, as if frozen. The boiling momentum and threatening presence vanished like a mirage.

Jang Ilso narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Ho Gakmyung. Ho Gakmyung calmly continued.

"People don't fear those who expose themselves. They think that's all there is to it. But they fear those who still smile in crisis. Because they think there might be something more hidden."

"…"

"If you truly want to stand above, if you want more, then have some patience. Laugh more, look down more, become more arrogant. Not like someone who wants to gain, but like someone who already has."

Ho Gakmyung kneeled before Jang Ilso.

"Then one day, you'll get what you want."

Ho Gakmyung's eyes glowed a bright blue.

"To survive and to be ruthless. I will remember."

Ho Gakmyung bowed his head. Jang Ilso, who had been looking down at him kneeling, turned his gaze away. The burning manor, the black sky, and the man kneeling before him.

"Ha…"

His lips flushed with excitement.

"Hahaha… Hahahaha! Ahahaha!"

A loud laughter erupted.

It was different from before. It was a laugh full of disdain and leisure, as if mocking the world.

The laughter subsided after a while. Then Jang Ilso, who had been chuckling, muttered to himself.

"Not like someone who wants to gain, but like someone who already has…"

Jang Ilso's gaze settled calmly. Instead of the ominous presence and ferocity, he now exuded a sense of composure. His eyes softened with a gentle smile.

"Remember. Until your moment of death."

Ho Gakmyung also let out a faint smile.

This was the price he had to pay and the deal they had to uphold. But perhaps it was all meaningless.

Ho Gakmyung stared at the burning world and the man standing alone before it, as if mesmerized. Incredibly obscure and precarious, he couldn't look away.

Slowly, he rose to his feet.

The past, the life he had lived, everything he knew was being swept away by the flames. Eventually was turning into ashes and disappearing.

But it didn't matter now.

"Prepare yourself. It's going to be brutal."

"It won't be easy, I believe. But also…"

"Hmm?"

"It will be enjoyable, won't it?"

Jang Ilso silently gazed at Ho Gakmyung. Ho Gakmyung returned the gaze. In the intensely dark night, as sparks of fire scattered by the wind enveloped them both.

Jang Ilso's lips parted calmly.

"Let's go, Gakmyung."

"Yes, Master."

With a hesitant step forward. It was the beginning of a long journey that would last for a long time.