86 Chapter 85 (1/2)
There was another basement hidden within the blood fighting arena basement.
The basement 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 bastards! 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.”
”A-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 passionately 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.
*Kwakwakwakwang!*
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 god! 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.”