49 Chapter 48 (1/2)
Despite the lack of perceivable smell and energy, Kang-hyuk had the ability to surpass this and find them.
'If they've come this far, it's no wonder that I couldn't sense them from the campsite! Then again, based on the time it would have taken to reach this place, they can't be too far from here!'
He closed his eyes, allowing his energy to expand in an attempt to feel their presence and energetic traces once more.
After some time, he opened his eyes once more, pointing in a specific direction.
”It's there! One warrior can go and let the teachers of the other group know, and the other warrior can go and inform the Principal!”
Kang-hyuk then headed towards the direction of where he had intuited the missing group to be.
”Let's go together!”
”We need to hurry up!”
He gnashed his teeth in anger.
'How dare they go after students of the school that I'm working at! I'll make sure to let those responsible for this to have a thorough experience of why my nickname is the Dragon Lord!'
He began to speed up his pace using Gyeonggong.
He was a little frustrated that he had to take Yun Ha-seong along with him.
Yun Ha-seong's accompaniment meant that he had had to slow down his pace.
Yun Ha-seong however, was oblivious to Kang-hyuk's feelings, and was finding Kang-hyuk's slowed pace hard to keep up with. He was embarrassed at the fact that he was already out of breath.
Ever since he attained a peak level of cultivation, he had never experienced feeling out of breath whilst using Gyeonggong till this day.
He felt that this would be the first and last time that he was going to test his Gyeonggong abilities to go at this electrifying pace.
'But Kang Seonsaeng doesn't look strained in any way! What kind of incredible Qi level must he possess?!'
He felt as though this was a further confirmation to his previous suspicions.
'No wonder, it's the cultivation level of the secret envoy that the Clan Leader himself placed within the Academy!'
What was a further embarrassment to Yun Ha-seong was that even Kang-hyuk's puppy, Deuk, was able to run at a pace that kept up with Kang-hyuk's.
'As a man, I shouldn't lose to Deuk!'
As a result, Yun Ha-seong pushed himself further.
But at that moment, a telepathic message entered his head, taking him by surprise.
It was sent by Kang-hyuk.
-Do you see that tall tree we're approaching?
-Ah! I-I see it!
-I can feel Oh Seonsaeng's energy in the area around that tree!
- ...?
A question entered Yun Ha-seong's mind. He wondered why Kang-hyuk had specified Oh-Tae's energy.
He therefore, asked.
-Are the others with him?
Unfortunately, he received no response to his question.
It was because they had just arrived in front of the tall tree that Kang-hyuk had specified, and in front of the tree lay Oh-Tae, bloody and collapsed.
”Oh Seonsaeng! Wake up! Oh Seonsaeng!”
Yun Ha-seong approached Oh-Tae, crying out his name in an attempt to arouse his consciousness. Oh-Tae slowly opened his eyes in response to the sound.
”Uh….”
He didn't seem to be in good condition.
”Ka, Kang-hyuk Seonsaeng? Yun Ha-seong Seonsaeng?”
”Yes, it's us!”
Yun Ha-seong then asked in an urgent manner.
”What on earth happened? And where are the others?”
”Ahh!”
He let out a sorrowful groan.
”It's all my fault! If only I had been more careful….”
Kang-hyuk then walked up, kicking him without hesitation.
*Pok!*
Oh-Tae's body moved backwards, hitting the tree.
”Ouch!”
As Oh-Tae groaned in pain, Yun Ha-seong cried out in surprise. Kicking an injured man was something that was beyond his comprehension.
”Ka-kang Seonsaeng! What are you doing! Oh Seonsaeng is injured right now!”
Kang-hyuk simply snorted in response.
”Hah! He won't die from something as minor as this! Whilst he's bloody, his only injury is from being slashed by a sword on his arm. His collapsed condition is like that just because he's been drugged!”
Oh-Tae then glared at him.
”Ho, how can you know that for sure!?”
”Even if I hadn't said anything, Yun Seonsaeng, you must have noticed it as well, right?”
Yun Ha-seong nodded.
”I can feel the energy of a drug on Oh Seonsaeng. And the fact that out of your whole group, no one managed to escape. It's quite unusual.”
Kang-hyuk then addressed Oh-Tae, who was still moaning in pain.
”Right now isn't the time to be blaming yourself! You can blame yourself later, but for now, you need to tell us all of the details of the situation. Be clear and concise!”
Kang-hyuk had a point.
Oh-Tae then explained the full details of what happened.
”We had gone into the forest to find the red ribbons, and we had found a ribbon hanging off a tree. But just as soon as someone had almost taken the ribbon off the tree, a hawk swooped down, and snatched it off of their hands!”
”A hawk?”
”The students then chased after the hawk, whilst Dang Eun-ah Seonsaeng and I followed behind the students. But then, it turned out to be a trap!”
”What do you mean? A trap?”
Oh-Tae smashed his fist onto the ground at Yun Ha-seong's further pressing.
*Bang!*
”The hawk had been sent by them to lure us! We tried to resist, but it was pointless. As Kang Seonsaeng said, they released some sort of drugging substance, causing all of the students to become unconscious.”
”Did you and Dang Seonsaeng also immediately become unconscious?”
”No, we remained somewhat conscious, and could move a little bit. So, with the help of Dang Seonsaeng, when they were about to lift us up to carry us away, I escaped so that I could inform you all of what had happened….”
Yun Ha-seong then looked puzzled.
”But why is there no energetic trace remaining from here to wherever the attackers took the rest of the group?”
Kang-hyuk replied to his query not long after.
”They used a special substance. It's a substance that erases all energetic traces. Furthermore, the type of Gyeonggong they used to move is the Footless Blood Snake Gyeonggong.”
He continued, ”This particular form of Gyeonggyeong is modeled after the smooth movement of a snake, that doesn't have feet, and is known to leave no traces behind, physically or energetically. And to be able to use this type of Gyeonggong, you have to be a practitioner of a certain type of martial arts from the beginning.”
”A special Gyeongyeong?”
”You have to be practising Dark Cultivation.”
”...!”
Yun Ha-seong's eyes widened.
”Th, then….”
”Indeed! It's the Blood Snake Sect! They're hiding right over there.”
Yun Ha-seong immediately sprang up at his words, and Oh-Tae clenched his jaw.
But there was no one that could be seen at the location Kang-hyuk had pointed towards, no energy could be felt there either.
Yun Ha-seong looked perplexed, whilst Oh-Tae had an expression saying 'I knew it' all over his face.
”Why are you spouting rubbish at a time like this! You should really look at the situation and then….”
”Just shut up.”
”....”
Oh-Tae blinked at Kang-hyuk's sudden commanding roar.
Up until that point, Kang-hyuk hadn't really responded to whatever he had done, perhaps snorting at the very most.