The bas.e.m.e.nt was divided into dozens of rooms, with multiple cages within each room.
Trapped inside the cages were people. Their expressions were filled with anger, as well as sadness and desperation. They knew that their lives were soon going to end in the blood fighting arena.
Amongst them was a bald man who had an amused look on his face.
"I wonder if Blood Ghost got away safely. He should have waited a little longer…tsk tsk."
The man clicked his tongue.
"These rotten b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! Why are you doing this in my area? I'll take out your intestines and strangle you with them! I'll throw you out as dog food…Ah! I shouldn't swear! Oh Amidabuddha [1]!"
He then folded his hands together and began praying to Buddha.
"Right, I should get moving."
He placed his hands on the bars of the steel cage he was locked within.
And then…
*Jjuuuuk!*
The bars bent in an outward manner, creating an opening with minimum effort.
"Trying to lock me up with this? No chance!"
He confidently strode out of the room his cage was in. But at that moment…
"Huh!?"
He froze from the energy he felt all of a sudden.
There was only one person he knew of that had an energy that spread so extensively, and that made everything surrounding it tremble with fear.
"It-it can't be? It's not that, is it?"
At that moment, a young man entered the dark room he had been kept within.
The bald man channeled energy towards his eyesight, noticing the blue Hwacheon academy teacher's uniform the young man was clothed in.
His face was also strangely familiar to the bald man.
'Who is that teacher? Where have I seen him before.…'
*Sniff*
The man's nose twitched.
He had an ability that was unknown to all but his close colleagues- a sense of smell that was almost crazily sharp.
This was why he was nicknamed 'Rabid Dog'.
His sense of smell extended to ten kilometres surrounding him, and the smell he was most familiar with was…
The man's eyes widened.
'It's unmistakable! It's my elder Hyung-nim's scent!'
But the teacher standing in front of him was too young to be his elder Hyung-nim, who was ninety eight years old this year.
'Could it be Byeonyeongsul? Or Ju-ansul [2]?'
The young man suddenly opened his mouth to ask, "Ji-myeong? What are you doing here?"
"...!"
"It-it can't be, my elder Hyung-nim!"
Ji-myeong was the bald man's Buddhist name, but there were only a handful of people that had the authority to call him by that name.
Most people called him the Demon Exterminating Grandmaster.
"Tsk tsk. What's with your face? Is it Byeonyeongsul?"
Within a few moments, the man's appearance changed from that of a young man to that of a seventy year old elder.
"Yes. It was Byeonyeongsul. Anyways, what about you elder Hyung-nim? Is it Byeonyeongsul as well?"
Kang-hyuk shook his head at Ji-myeong's query, and looked at him meaningfully.
"No. It's reverse aging."
"...elder Hyung-nim. You've got to be kidding right? Also, what's with your clothes?"
Kang-hyuk didn't reply, and instead grabbed the bar of a cage beside him. It was the cage Ji-myeong had just escaped from.
*Jjeoeoeok.*
He had crushed the bar. Ji-myeong recoiled at the sight.
Kang-hyuk used to destroy any surrounding boulders or trees to adjust the strength of his fist before beating Ji-myeong up.
"Ji-myeong-ah."
"Huh!? Y-yes, what's the matter, Hy-hyung-nim?"
"Come here. Don't run away."
"are you going to beat me up?"
"Hm, it wouldn't be a bad idea to smoothly loosen up our conversation with a few strikes. Your Hyung-nim is sad because I feel as though the trust between us has been broken."
"Huh! N-no! That's not the case!"
Ji-myeong, whose face had completely paled, began to pa.s.sionately shake his head.
"How could I have dared to question your words, elder Hyung-nim! I had temporarily lost my mind."
Kang-hyuk dropped his raised hand. "It's good that you realized."
Breathing a sigh of relief, Ji-myeong spoke up carefully, "Then again, elder Hyung-nim, why are you here?"
"Why? I've come to turn this blood fighting venue upside down. Why are you here?"
"I've come here for the same reason. This village falls into my area."
Kang-hyuk nodded.
Ji-myeong, a shaolin disciple, had built a small hermitage near the Sung Mountain, and this was where he had retired.
As a child, he had become orphaned when both of his parents were lost to Magi's, after which he had been kidnapped to become a blood fighter. A benevolent shaolin warrior had found him, and rescued him out of that situation, thereupon becoming a shaolin disciple.
Ji-myeong still held strong resentment against Magi's and blood fighting as a result of the traumatic memories he held of those times.
"Let's go then."
"Yes, elder Hyung-nim!"
They moved upwards towards the blood fighting venue.
*Kwakwakwakw.a.n.g!*
Ji-myeong expanded his energy, then held out his hand. A stick came flying into his hand along with the sound of something shattering.
The stick looked like an ordinary wooden stick, but inscribed onto it was a name that would cause Magi's to tremble in fear.
Magi Extinguishing Stick.
*Kwakwakwakwakwa!*
The surrounding area began to crumble away as he swung the stick around.
"Be gentle."
As he spoke, Kang-hyuk took his attendance book out of his inner robe.
"Hyu-hyung-nim, what is that?"
"It's an attendance book."
"Sorry?"
Ji Cheol-muk looked perplexed. Kang-hyuk explained further, "It feels good beating with this."
Kang-hyuk immediately flew into action, beating the warriors that had begun to gather around them.
*Pok Pok Pok Pok!*
"Arghhh!"
"Huh!"
Yeom-jung, the owner of the blood fighting venue, soon became aware of the chaos ensuing.
"What? There are two warriors causing havoc here?"
"Yes!"
"I don't care who they are, but order the warriors to go down there and kill them!"
The warrior in front of Yeom-jung seemed to disagree with the idea.
"One of them is a teacher of the Hwacheon Academy."
"Even if he is a teacher of the Hwacheon Academy, if he's dead, he won't be able to speak, will he?"
"I know what you mean, but the man's too powerful!"
Then, all of a sudden…
"My, my G.o.d! There's a big problem! The warriors of the Hwacheon Clan! They are approaching upwards!"
Yeom-jung waved his hand in dismissal.
"There's no problem. They will just pretend to search, then they'll leave."
Unfortunately for him, the warrior had more to say.
"Yes, but the thing is…the warriors have dragged the Hanam branch manager over here as well! There's an imperial order for your head. Anyone who kills you will receive 5 gold coins."
"What?"
Yeom-jung sprang up off his chair.
This meant that his bribes were now ineffective. He had to make a decision.
He could stay and die a dog's death, or he could run away and plan out his future life.
His decision was of course, the latter.
He turned the desk in his office.
*Whir.* *Dok.*
After he turned the desk, a hole appeared on the floor. It was an emergency exit that Yeom-jung had made a long time ago.
He flung himself into the hole…
Or tried to fling himself into the hole.
He would have succeeded if someone hadn't prevented him from doing so.
"You ugly fool! Stop right there!"
*Syuk!*
A stick came flying towards Yeom-jung. It was Ji-myeong's weapon, the Magi Extinguishing Stick.
*Pok!*
The Magi Extinguishing Stick penetrated through Yeom-jung's clothing, and lodged him into the wall behind.
"Ah, arghhhhh…."
Yeom-jung, who was hanging from the wall, looked at the two men who had approached him.
There was a man wearing blue clothing, and a bald man in shabby, half-torn robes.
Yeom-jung couldn't understand why he felt shivers running through his body at the mere sight of the two men. He began to tremble, his mental clarity becoming cloudy.
"So you tried to run away, huh."
Kang-hyuk muttered under his breath as he looked at the hole underneath the desk. He then grabbed his attendance book and sent it flying towards Yeom-jung.
*Pok!*
"Argh!"
Yeom-jung let out a groan. The pain of being struck by Kang-hyuk's attendance book was beyond imagination.
He came to his senses once more from the pain of Kang-hyuk's blow, gnashing his teeth.
"Why are you doing this to me? I'm innocent!"
"This b.a.s.t.a.r.d, how can you say that as the owner of a blood fighting establishment?"
"I simply provide people with entertainment! Shouldn't you be thanking me?"
Kang-hyuk lifted up his attendance book. He couldn't even bring himself to reply to such a ridiculous statement.
"I see that you're going to have to be beaten quite a lot."
Ji-myeong nodded in agreement.
"I feel the same way. No matter which way I look at it, this b.a.s.t.a.r.d needs to be salted and thrown away like a wild mountain vegetable! I'm going to cook his eyes…ah!"
Kang-hyuk, who had been silent until that point, slapped the back of Ji-myeong's head.
"Sh! You're a Buddhist. Control that mouth of yours."
"Ah. Yes! Sorry. Amidabuddha!"
***
Ok-bae was a warrior of the Hwacheon Clan who had a peak level of cultivation.
As soon as the news of him reaching peak cultivation had spread, he was promoted to the role of branch manager for the Hwacheon Clan's Hanam branch.
He was contacted by many individuals as soon as he was promoted, and money began to flow towards him in the form of bribes.
He was initially uneasy about accepting bribes, but eventually, greed got the better of him.
Anxiety crept in as time went on. He had a feeling that he would be in a messy situation if he kept on accepting bribes.
All of a sudden…
Ok-bae frowned as a servant hurriedly rushed in whilst he was going through doc.u.ments that had arrived from the Clan.
"Tsk tsk. Don't be so frivolous!"
"I-I apologize! But I had something I urgently needed to tell you."
"Something to tell me?"
"By-byeok Ae-rin Jangro has come."
"Who did you just say has come?"
Ok-bae thought that he had misheard the servant, therefore he had asked again. Looking frustrated, the servant replied, "I said Byeok Ae-rin Jangro-nim! The elder that was the former head of Jimilgak!"
"...!"
Ok-bae was so surprised he felt like he couldn't breathe.
"Ah, aah…."
"are you okay?"
"Wwater!"
The servant rushed to fetch water, and it was only after Ok-bae had a gulp that he felt somewhat calmer.
The elders of the Hwacheon Clan were legendary figures.
To ordinary people, the elders felt like G.o.ds that didn't exist in real life, but to the people of Moorim, the elders of the Clan were a reality.
New warriors entering the Hwacheon Clan were given information to read about the elders, and so, they were well informed on their ident.i.ties, as well as their personality traits.
Amongst the elders, there were a few that were noted for not having great personalities, with Byeok Ae-rin being one of them.
It was implicitly indicated to the warriors that her nickname was 'Kind Crazy b.i.t.c.h.' If someone were to mess up around her, it was a probability that they could go missing forever.
"Wh-where is the elder right now?"
"The elder is waiting in the reception room."
Ok-bae dashed towards the reception room.
Waiting there was an elderly woman with flaming red hair. She had released the Ju-ansul technique for her visit to Ok-bae, and so, her appearance was that of her original age.
Ok-bae immediately prostrated by her feet.
"I, Ok-bae, head of the Hwacheon Clan's Hanam branch, greet you, Jangro-nim!"
Byeok Ae-rin replied, an unamused look on her face, "There's no time for dawdling around. Get up."
"Yes!"
"Gather up the warriors and head towards where I tell you to go. There's a situation of emergency."
"Un-understood!"
Ok-bae left the branch accompanied by warriors. He was cursing incessantly as he moved.
'd.a.m.n it! d.a.m.n it! d.a.m.n it! I should have known this would happen!'
The place Byeok Ae-rin had indicated him to head towards was the blood fighting area. A place that he had received a continuous stream of bribes from.
He knew that if it was somehow found out that he had turned a blind eye to the blood fighting, his head was sure to be severed.
'Argghhh! Why did I take the bribes!?'
***
It was easier to overturn the blood fighting area than originally imagined.
This was because their warriors didn't have a particularly lofty level of cultivation. They mostly had a third-cla.s.s level of cultivation, a handful that had either second or first cla.s.s cultivation, and only one peak level warrior.
The situation had been dealt with in around an hour. This was also owing to the Hwacheon Clan warriors, who had arrived at the right time.
This was why Kang-hyuk was able to beat Yeom-jung to his heart's content.
*Pok!* *Pok!* *Pok!*
Yeom-jung was still hanging from the wall of his office. Words of remorse spouted from his mouth as he was being beaten by Kang-hyuk's attendance book.
"Argh! I've wronged! Please stop beating me!"
"You don't look like someone who is truly remorseful."
It was a statement of remorse that had emerged after merely being beaten three times.
Kang-hyuk had no intention of stopping so early.
*Po-ok!*
"Pl-please stop beating me!"
Yeom-jung thought of Kang-hyuk as a crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d from the very moment he had taken out his attendance book.
[1] Amidabuddha= Name of a celestial bodhisattva in Buddhism
[2] Both Ju-ansul and Byeonyeongsul are appearance changing techniques.
