38 Chapter 37 (2/2)
Kang-hyuk turned and looked behind at Oh-Tae's question.
”I need to relieve myself.”
”Well, it's not surprising, considering how much tea you drank. Come back quickly! The resting time will be over in a few minutes!”
”Okay.”
Kang-hyuk entered the surrounding forest.
'A few minutes eh…'
Kang-hyuk thought about it again. He had more time to spare than that.
In a moment, Kang-hyuk's movement form upgraded. His movement was so rapid that it didn't even leave a shadow.
His eyes twinkled.
'I had doubts, so I came. I guess I was right!'
Kang-hyuk stopped in his tracks, staring at the figures standing in front of him.
They were a group varying in their appearances, carrying all kinds of weaponry.
They were clearly identifiable as bandits.
'Why would they choose Hwacheon Academy as their opponent?'
Even if the students of the Academy weren't taken into consideration, the teachers and their assistants were masters of martial skill and all had high levels of cultivation.
The bandits wouldn't be able to overpower such a group.
Something strange then caught Kang-hyuk's eyes. The bandits were holding dozens of nets. From the energies of the nets, he sensed that they were not ordinary.
'Oh! They're planning to take the students for ransom, huh.'
In the chaos that would ensue if they attacked, it would be easy for them to capture one or two students.
But seeing as Kang-hyuk had chanced upon them, and ascertained their intentions, their plan had essentially been foiled.
'It's an impossibility that I would let the students of the school I work at be kidnapped by bandits!'
Kang-hyuk looked at a tall pine tree in front of him. The pine needles were dyed a vibrant green with spring's arrival.
”I'm sorry, but I'm going to need your needles.”
Reaching out his hand, he gathered up the energy of thousands of needles of the pine tree. He then threw the ball of pine needle energy at the bandits.
”Ah!”
”Ouch!”
”It-it's an ambush!”
”Oooh!”
The bandits screamed.
Kang-hyuk grinned.
'We've secured the safety of this location, I'd better check out some of the other locations!'
There was plenty of time left.
***
Ok Hae-mi was working diligently.
The hours of resting had finished, and she was in the process of informing the groups of teachers to prepare their departure.
In the midst of her being busy, she noticed that someone was walking towards her. When she looked closely, the person had a familiar looking face.
”Kang-hyuk Seonsaeng?”
He bowed his head slightly upon seeing Ok Hae-mi. The route from which he had approached her seemed to be leading out of the forest.
”It seems like you were doing something within the forest?”
Kang-hyuk nodded.
”It's a little embarrassing to say though.”
Ok Hae-mi's face flushed bright red. She felt as though she had unnecessarily spoke out of turn.
”Ah, I apologize for asking.”
”It's no problem...but where are you going in such a hurry?”
”I'm letting everyone know that it's time to depart.”
”You're working quite hard.”
”It's nothing really. You should head back to your group. We're going to set off again when you hear the sound of a drum.”
”I see.”
Ok Hae-mi then departed.
'Huh?'
She could not help but smell a certain scent off of Kang-hyuk. It was a scent she was familiar with since childhood, and so, she was instantly able to recognize it.
The scent was faint, but it was the unmistakable aroma of pine needles. She could also sense another scent mixed in with the pine….
'The smell of blood?'
She turned her head and looked at Kang-hyuk, who had his back to her, leisurely walking back to his group.
'How can there be the smell of blood?'
Ok Hae-mi's queries became deeper.
***
Dang So-mun turned his head at the sound of rustling vegetation. Beyond the thickets emerged Kang-hyuk.
”It's a relief that you're not late.”
Kang-hyuk nodded.
”I tried to be as fast as I could.”
”You should get ready to leave now. Ok Hae-mi Seonsaeng said that we would be departing when the drums sounded.”
”I see.”
Most of the group had nearly finished packing up to leave.
Oh-Tae then spoke bluntly.
”If you've returned, you'd better start getting ready to leave. What's with all the chatter!”
He wasn't a man with the habit of speaking courteously. Kang-hyuk paid no notice, and picked up the luggage that Cheon Hae-gwang had already packed up for him.
At that moment, the resonating sound of the beat of a drum rang out from afar.
They began to move in their groups.
***
”What are these bloodstains?”
Some of the teachers and warriors were almost half of the way ahead of the majority in the trail to the site of the field trip. They were taken aback at the sight before them.
They had discovered a trail of blood whilst walking, and this was not just a trail of blood of one person.
It was clear that not even dozens, but hundreds of people seemed to have been wounded in this particular location.
What they found strange, was that there wasn't a single person to be seen in the surroundings.
Perplexed by this, they decided to investigate what had happened. A teacher then spoke up.
”This is definitely a sign of bandits.”
The teacher was Yun Ha-seong, a third-year swordsmanship teacher, and an affiliate of the Wu-dang sect.
”There are traces everywhere. If you look at the left and right sides of the path, you can see imprints of feet, indicating that people were standing, waiting here for a while. This is a sure sign of bandits.”
The other teachers and warriors nodded in agreement. Then, another teacher spoke up.
”Doesn't that mean that the bandits were going to launch a surprise attack on us? Haha! They were quite brave to have such an ambition!”
”Huh? What's that?”
A warrior spoke, pointing at something.
(1) Gyeonggong= martial technique of moving with a certain fast pace, almost weightlessly, using Qi energy.