GTHWCS~09

CHAPTER~09

In the western outskirts of Jejado Village, beyond the dense thicket of forest, rough, desperate cries echoed one after another.

“I was wrong, Patriarch! I’ll gouge out my own eyes if I have to—I’ll never associate with that Kim fellow again! He’s not even worth spitting on!”

“Patriarch! I swear I’m innocent! It was that Kim bastard who slit the pig’s throat in the market! He’s the one who swung his blade first! I was struck by lightning out of a clear sky!”

“That one-eyed fool deserves death! Had I no restraint, I would’ve lopped off his head like that pig’s!”

Seated on a rock, Lee Shin watched the two men—half buried in the dirt, still spitting at each other’s faces—with a mocking smirk.

“Patriarch! It’s unjust! It was that mad Yang who lost his mind and caused the uproar!”

“Hey, you son of a bitch!” Yang snapped back, foaming at the mouth. “You made my sister cry, didn’t you? If you played around with her, you should take responsibility! How dare a one-eyed rat like you even touch her!”

“Yang! You act like your sister’s some goddess! Every time I see her, all I notice are those buck teeth!”

Their shouting grew louder and louder—until Lee Shin kicked up a handful of dirt, scattering it right into their faces.

They froze instantly, blinking mud from their eyes.

“Wow,” Lee Shin drawled, his tone dripping with dry amusement. “You two make quite the pair. Trading insults suits you.”

His voice, low and heavy with menace, silenced them completely.

“I don’t care if you marry each other or kill each other,” he said, brushing the dust from his robes. “What matters is that you disturbed my rest. What—life’s gotten too peaceful, and you needed some excitement?”

As his half-lidded gaze swept over them like the edge of a blade, both men bowed their heads in terror.

Lee Shin turned to glance at the bearded man standing silently behind him.

“Du-young. This is the last warning. There’s no mercy for anyone who spills blood in Jejado again.”

“Yes, Patriarch. My apologies. Then what should be done with these two…?”

“Bury them. Dig them up when they’re almost dead.”

His voice was as casual as if he were discussing the weather. Then, without another glance, he strode toward the village.

The settlement nestled beneath a rocky mountain came into view—layers upon layers of black-tiled roofs rising like waves against the slope.

This vast compound was home to the bloodline of the Geom Clan, a lineage that had lasted for over a thousand years.

From the grand front gate, dozens of courtyards stretched in every direction—Yeonggyeong Hall, Doyoung Hall, Lotus Hall, Jogwi Hall, and many more.

Lee Shin resided in Yeonggyeong Hall, the residence of the clan’s head. Not long ago, he’d been dozing peacefully on his bed there—until the ruckus in the marketplace forced him up.

Two men—Kim and Yang—had started a fight with weapons drawn, their chaos spilling blood into the streets. The elders of the clan’s Seonwon Hall had come running to complain.

—The prisoners the Patriarch brought into Jejado have started fighting again! The streets are soaked in blood—go and deal with it immediately!

The elders, old men well past sixty or seventy, still brimmed with energy when it came to nagging Lee Shin.

They spent their days watching him, waiting for any mistake they could use against him.

In the past, Jejado had been completely sealed off from the outside world. During his father’s rule, no outsiders were ever permitted to set foot here.

A heavy mist, thick with spiritual energy, shrouded the island—bewitching and driving mad any who dared approach.

Coupled with the Patriarch’s power to command spirits, the island was untouchable to anyone not invited.

But everything changed when Lee Shin became head of the clan.

If someone managed to reach Jejado alive, and Lee Shin judged them to be harmless, he granted them a Do-pae—a wooden pass—and allowed them to stay.

To the elders, this was nothing short of sacrilege.

—Because of those criminals, Jejado has become a cesspool! Look at them—calling the Patriarch “Lord” as they trail after him! We’re no better than a bandit’s den now! Shame upon our Geom bloodline!

A faint smirk touched Lee Shin’s lips as he reached the village gate. A panting servant came running toward him.

“P-Patriarch! Hah… hah…”

The servant stopped about four feet away and bowed deeply, trembling.

“What is it?” Lee Shin asked lazily.

The servant flinched as if struck.

“S-sir… a guest… a guest has arrived at the manor.”

“A guest?” Lee Shin arched a brow.

There were only prisoners on the island. The clan’s blood relatives would never call them guests.

So who could it be?

“Who?” he asked again, his patience thinning.

The servant nearly jumped out of his skin. “They came from the outside, sir!”

“From outside? Who?”

“Elder Hwa said… she holds the Ink Jade Medallion of the Geom Clan!”

“The… Ink Jade…?” Lee Shin’s voice trailed off—then realization flashed in his eyes.

There was only one jade medallion that the elders would mention in such a tone.

The Betrothal Medallion.

“…Huh. Where did that suddenly come from?”

His voice dripped with a chilling amusement, thick with killing intent. The servant’s knees nearly gave out.

He’d heard the stories—the whispers that haunted the clan.

—Didn’t you know? The Patriarch, ten years ago—his first act after taking the position was a massacre. Three hundred men, slaughtered in a single night. He was only fifteen then.

The servant swallowed hard.

—Can you imagine? Fifteen years old! Only a monster without heart or mercy could do such a thing! That’s why the elders never sleep easy—they live under a beast’s shadow.

Three hundred people.

The very thought froze his blood.

“Where is she?” Lee Shin asked.

“In… in the main hall of Seonwon Hall, sir.”

“Got it.”

As Lee Shin strode off, the servant followed at a nervous trot—relieved that the Patriarch was heading toward the clan manor.

But when they arrived at the grand gate, the servant froze again.

Lee Shin turned not toward Seonwon Hall, but toward Yeonggyeong Hall.

“P-Patriarch? The guest… she’s at Seonwon Hall…”

But Lee Shin didn’t hear—or rather, didn’t care.

He was already gone.

The boy drooped his shoulders and shuffled toward Seonwon Hall, bracing for the elders’ wrath.

He didn’t know.

He couldn’t know.

That Lee Shin was already perched silently on the roof, looking down at the main hall from above—his sharp eyes fixed on the guest below.

And there, sitting neatly in the hall, was a beggar.

A beggar holding the Ink Jade Medallion.

“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”