Episode 211

“Um. Ummm…”

Jeong So opened his eyes and groaned with the vision which was gradually getting brighter.

Crack.

Looking at that red flame flickering on the beautifully stacked wood, it looked like a bonfire had been lit, and the surrounding darkness made it seem like night.

What about here?

Jeong So came to his senses and urgently tried to get up, but he couldn’t move.

What if he wasn’t tied up but couldn’t move? What did that mean?

He was frustrated in places where the flow of qi was obstructed.

It was clear that the paralysis acupoints have been suppressed.

In addition, all Nine points from the Mega Bone acupoint to the Spleen Meridian point in the foot were sealed.

Jeong So calmly analyzed the situation he was in.

The masked man who saved him before he fainted.

Who was he?

Considering that he helped him in a desperate situation, he couldn’t be the enemy.

Then a person from the Shadow Troops?

No.

They were ordered to go into hiding.

When the soldiers belonging to the Shadow Troops were discovered by the enemy, there were two options to take.

Either kill the opponent or commit suicide.

They were trained to pretend not to notice even if someone discovered them, but to put themselves in harm’s way to save their colleagues?

This made no sense.

Then who did this?

More and more questions arose.

When he tried to use his tongue, the poison sac the size of a fingernail which he kept between his teeth for the purpose of suicide had disappeared.

It meant that this person knew their identity.

He couldn’t figure it out at all.

He needed to confirm it.

The poison sac had vanished and his acupoints were subdued, so there was no way to escape or die.

Jeong So quickly looked around with sharp eyes.

He couldn’t turn his head, so he tried to roll his eyes but even so he couldn’t see the other person.

But he couldn’t rest.

This person might be hiding himself or something.

Even if he disappeared, there was nothing one could do about its sound.

Shhh.

As he focused his attention on hearing, he could hear the sound of the wind rustling.

Crack.

The sound of the bonfire crackling.

Sring.

The sound of grasshoppers.

Nom.

“…?”

And this sound was surely…?

“Uh? You’re awake?”

“……”

A voice he had never heard before.

If one guessed the age based on the voice, he sounded quite young. Even if he roughly looked at it, before and after?

Who was this man?

“I was waiting for you to come to your senses, but I was starving so I ate first. What about you? Want to fill your stomach? You must be hungry.”

Come to think of it, he couldn’t eat anything while being chased by the Mount Hua Sect.

Now, let us think back.

As the darkness descended, there was nothing wrong with his body other than the fact that the paralysis acupoints were suppressed.

In other words, it means that there was no intention to harm him.

And offering food?

First, he could be considered a sympathetic person. No, he was sure of it.

This was by no means a conclusion that resulted from hunger.

Phew!

Following the sounds of the land, several places on his right arm began to tingle.

A great warrior who could make the right arm move by slowly directing qi there.

Tak.

“Have this. It gets annoying if one gets irritated.”

“……”

It wasn’t known what he meant, but a friendly person threw a piece of meat in front of him.

Jeong So thought for a moment.

“There is no poison in it. And if it weren’t for me, you would have been dead. Why are you acting like this now?”

Right.

Since the poison sac was missing, the meat couldn’t be poisoned, and it would be better to die if the meat was poisoned so why be afraid?

Without further ado, Jeong So pulled the meat with his right arm and brought it to his mouth.

Cik.

“Hu!”

He couldn’t help but feel admiration.

He didn’t know about other things, but he was definitely a warrior at this. The juiciness of the grilled meat was beyond imagination.

Jeong So, savoring the amazing taste, gulped the meat down.

The person snorted and threw another piece of meat at this.

“Euk!”

Was it because he ate too quickly?

He couldn’t stop the burping despite the acupoints being sealed.

“I apologize.”

Jeong So felt sorry for some reason.

Wouldn’t it have been too rude of an act to the one who saved his life?

“Well, other bodily functions?”

Ah, such understanding.

“Okay then, I guess the hunger is done… should we get started now?”

“……”

Start what?

As Jeong So began to let his guard down, a question rose in his mind.

Step. Step. Step.

The sound of footsteps got closer and he felt the mysterious figure stop behind him.

Eh? Was he going to remove all the sealed acupoints?

While the doubts continued to grow…

Tap.

He grabbed Jeong So’s wrist and pulled.

The face he was looking at straight ahead.

“…Y-you!”

The Sword of Wudang?

How could this face not be recognized?

He was a well-established member of the Shadow Troops in Xi’an branch.

No matter how he looked at this, this clearly was Jinmu.

Due to this incident, he was the one who got singled out as the number one target to be eliminated by the Palace along with the Seven Stars.

But that expression.

Jinmu smiled with an extremely evil smile and licked his lips.

What? What did that action mean?

It seems as if he was quickly sucking up the saliva which was dripping down his lips.

Even though his paralysis acupoints were subdued and he couldn’t move, goosebumps rose all over his body from those evil eyes and smile.

What is… uh? Uh?

What is this? The internal qi in his body was vanishing?

“Ughhhh…”

The internal qi…. The internal qi has extinguished.

As his internal qi escaped again through the wrist held by Jinmu, his dantian began to shrink as if the air was being knocked out.

“Ughhhh…”

Th-this is the… the Demonic Cult’s Absorption Great Arts?

What is this? A disciple of Wudang was learning the Demonic Cult’s martial arts?

When Jeong So looked like he had aged dozens of years in a moment, Jinmu let go.

The man didn’t die.

He just sucked up the internal qi to the point where he could just live.

“Euk… euk….”

Jeong So was breathing hard.

However, perhaps because a lot of his energy had been taken away, his skin looked withered.

“Hehehe, it’s been so long since I had this. After all, those with strong internal qi are the best.”

No, this guy?

Was he a demon and not a Taoist? Eating up internal qi?

Understanding finally dawned on him.

The reason why he managed to reach such a level of growth at this young age.

This guy was clearly a guy from the Demonic Cult in disguise as a Taoist.

It was clear that he had grown by absorbing all the qi of the fellows at Wudang.

Tuk. Drrr.

“……”

As soon as the paralysis acupoints were released, Jeong So looked with unfocused eyes at the small bead which fell and rolled in front of him.

“Do you know this? It’s Healing a Pill.”

“……”

Healing Pill.

A herbal medicine made to treat internal wounds. Was there anyone who didn’t know of this? But why?

“Take it, cultivate. Be strong, because it would be troublesome if you fall.”

“……”

Why?

Jeong So looked at Jinmu with doubt.

“I don’t like saying things twice.”

“……”

When Jinmu gave him an annoyed look, Jeong So looked at him. Was he trying to restore his qi to absorb it back again?

This guy seemed evil.

Jeong So trembled at the thought of Jinmu’s cruel nature.

Doesn’t this mean he thinks of himself as some moving qi supplier?

Was he even human?

“Kill me, you jerk.”

“Well, I will do that, but not now.”

“What nonsense! I don’t know what you’re thinking, just kill me you bastard!”

“……”

Even though the history of what was taken away must have been enormous, the blood in Jeong So’s neck rose up.

Jimmu, who was looking at him, sighed and chuckled.

“Well, fine, everyone is like that at first.”

Jinmu approached with light steps, grabbed Jeong So’s hair and yanked him up.

“…?”

The moment Jeong So held doubt.

Puak!

“Ack…”

A fist digging into the abdomen, and there was pain as if his organs would burst.

Jeong So, the most famous member in Xi’an, had received countless training to endure pain in case he was captured by the enemy…

Puak!

“Eukk…”

It hurt a lot. Like everything within would be torn.

Every time Jinmu’s fist swung, the head that he held onto felt like it would be torn off, and unbearable pain spread throughout his entire body from the spot he was hit.

Even though he didn’t want to, he ended up howling like an animal.

Jinmu smiled happily as he admired the prelude to the perfect hit.

It was nice to hear.

Before being hit, most people hold their necks stiff and looked angry.

A long time ago, he met this middle-aged man from Shaolin.

Was his name Gak Won?

There was a time when the Justice Faction guy was confident that Jinmu had to beat him up.

Iron Armor Body? Holding an indefatigable mind and body in any situation?

They are spouting bullshit.

At first, he thought he could endure it, but later… he gave off this foul shout and begged.

“Kuaaak!”

Every time the fist swung, Jeong So’s scream went sharper.

Always a clean thought. There was no nice man in front of him.

You get hit like a dog, then you are the dog. Wasn’t this something a human with self-respect and all shouldn’t experience?

It is the providence of nature to give money when dying to live, and the others will wake you up from sleep for help.

And, if the person who hit him was Jinmu, there was nothing more to say.

There was just one person who remained stiff till the end of being hit.

Myung Jin was the master of that.

Even though he was like that, and suffered a disease worse than anything, lost his martial arts, he persevered.

Wasn’t that why contrary to the spirit, he stepped ahead instead of seeing the palaces burn?

He didn’t know if it was the technique but when he found out that it was to protect the young disciples, he felt a little or rather, a lot of regret.

But all that happens just once.

There wasn’t a single person other than him.

If a problem makes a man, then Jinmu was a warrior at the level of numerous problems in the field.

Moreover, the warrior with outstanding tenacity named Cheon Woo-myung helped Jinmu reign supreme in that area.

Even after a long time, he was called as the strongest in the Evil Sect’s Heaven, and there was a reason why he swore loyalty to Jinmu.

Even Cheon Woo-myung, known as the Iron Blood Exploding Fist, was like that.

Kuak!

“Eukk!”

There was no need to use such force to hit.

He selected only the acupoints which causes one to feel like dying, but not actually die. A pain which could kill if a little more strength was applied.

Jeong So was probably feeling like he wanted to die right away.

Even if he fainted, his acupoints had been suppressed so he couldn’t fully faint; this was driving him to the verge of insanity.

“How is it? Want some more?”

Jeong So nodded.

“Good. Nice. If you continue to be this good, you won’t get hit again.”

Was Jinmu’s beating working?

As soon as he let go, Jeong So collapsed on the ground, found the Pill with wide eyes and stuffed it in his mouth.

Then, all of a sudden, he entered a state of cultivation.

How desirable.

Jeong So was forced to recover his qi with it.

After the cultivation was complete, he held out his wrist towards Jinmu, saying he gave up.

Right, eat now, you bastard.

You evil vicious bastard.

Mosquito bastard!

But he couldn’t shout anything out. Because he saw how terrifying the hits were.

“What are you doing?”

“…?”

Jinmu frowned.

“Let’s go.”

Where?

“Do you know where your colleagues are?”

“……”

“You aren’t answering?”

As Jinmu slowly raised his fist, Jeong So nodded urgently.

“Guide me.”

Nod. Nod.

“Nice.”

A fact which Jeong So didn’t understand.

This was different from the normal poor Qi Absorption method of the Demonic Cult which sucks the internal qi till the person is dead.

They can take it from a target once, but not kill it.

Excessive greed leads to anger.

Although it was a martial art which sucks the qi of others, it was one which spoke of self-restraint by controlling greed.

If there is an opponent killed by the qi being stolen, a side effect will occur, like a white mark and one turns into a demon.

He had drawn out all the internal qi which Jeong So held.

Now all he had to do was guide. A guide who will guide Jinmu to another warrior who will fill his stomach.

Just wait, you people.

I will bite your tail and carefully suck out every one of you!