The Protagonists Of Evil Sects (1)

The most beautiful woman, Captain Ok Ryun-hwa.

She was the name of the most feared person in the Demonic Cult, leading an elite group consisting solely of women.

Now, she was being dragged, unconscious, by his granddaughter.

Yu Jinsan asked in surprise at her miserable sight.

“What happened? Is she dead?”

“No. I caught and beat her, and she fell asleep.”

“…It doesn’t seem like she’s just asleep?”

It was more likely she had been knocked unconscious from the beating.

How many hits does it take for a warrior like her to lose consciousness?

Upon closer inspection, it seemed she was still barely breathing.

“She hit you when we were innocent, so I gave her the same punishment.”

Clicking his tongue, Yu Jinsan gripped his neck and waist with both hands as the pain from his wounds intensified with the release of tension.

“Grandpa, does it hurt a lot? Lay down for a minute, then.”

“What for? Don’t worry about me and look over there, do you see?”

Yu Jinsan pointed towards the dilapidated cabin where they had been imprisoned by the witch.

“Hmm? Why?”

“There might be treasures hidden by the witch around there. Go and check.”

“I get it. I will go check it out.”

What kind of treasure could there be? It was just to divert her attention.

As she vanished with a flushed face, Yu Jinsan’s eyes filled with killing intent.

He squatted down by the witch and stared at her.

‘How many people have you tormented without reason? I don’t think you can be forgiven.’

Leaving her alive would only endanger others.

Just as Yu Jinsan was about to make his decision, the tightly closed eyes of the witch slowly opened, regaining consciousness.

However, due to the injuries inflicted by Yu Seol, she seemed unable to even control her body.

Then, the witch’s lips twitched slightly, struggling to speak.

“…Am I pretty?”

It was a phrase that gave him goosebumps all over his body every time he heard it.

Besides, asking such a question in this situation.

Now, there was no longer any reason to humor her with a response.

“Why do you keep asking when you look like a dried-up cucumber?”

She responded with twitching lips.

“…Naughty old man.”

Such a response was utterly astonishing.

“Really, to even have the audacity to say such things.”

Yu Jinsan grabbed her chin and twisted it, as she was unable to control her body.

Crack.

Finally, no more movement was detected from her.

“May you atone for the sins against those you’ve wronged in the afterlife.”

Standing up, Yu Jinsan surveyed the area.

Near the cabin where his granddaughter was rummaging, he noticed a kitchen or storeroom.

He walked there, limping.

Still, since this was the house where a witch like her lived, he had to check if there was anything valuable.

Blink!

“Euk!”

Opening the kitchen door, he was met with a foul stench.

Inside, he found jars filled with unidentifiable, grotesque insects.

Contemplating whether to close the door and leave, he ultimately decided to open the lid of a cauldron.

Instantly, curses flew from his mouth.

“Shit…”

Inside were chopped-up snake carcasses mixed with the entrails of some animal.

The thought of being fed this mixture if he had been kept captive any longer sent shivers down his spine.

Tossing the lid aside, Yu Jinsan quickly exited.

Kwang!

‘I was foolish to expect anything.’

He looked for his granddaughter, who was busy nearby, something slung over her shoulder.

“What’s that you’ve got there?”

Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a heavy pouch.

“This? It’s my allowance~”

Peering closer, he saw it was filled with a considerable amount of silver coins, likely belonging to those the witch had killed.

He already received travel expenses from Pungho, but this seemed to be even more substantial.

Yu Jinsan, after a moment of thought, nodded.

“Yes, our Seol got lucky. It would be a good idea to pick up some presents for the uncles along the way.”

“Uncles? Are we going to Ho County?”

“Yes. It’s on the way, so we might as well stop by and see them.”

The news of seeing familiar faces again made Yu Seol jump with joy.

“Great. Let’s buy them lots of gifts!”

She was a child without a home, having wandered all her life with her grandpa.

Ho County, where she had spent a good 5 years, felt like her hometown.

“Are you that happy?”

“Yes. I can’t wait to see them.”

Seeing his granddaughter’s happiness, a warm smile spread across Yu Jinsan’s face.

“Okay. Let’s get things sorted out first before we leave.”

There was something he needed to take care of before they could leave.

Puak! Puaak!

The sound of the ground being disturbed echoed through the gloomy ghost forest.

“Oh my, my waist.”

Holding onto the shovel, Yu Jinsan stood still, pretending to be on the brink of death.

His gaze stealthily shifted to the back of his granddaughter.

Puak! Puaak!!

He couldn’t help but be amazed to see the child digging the hole insanely deep.

She had dug a mound by herself using a clumsy, improvised tool.

And she did it without any help…

“As expected, our Seol is really good at what she does.”

Yu Seol’s movements became faster as her grandpa continued to praise her.

Puapuak!!

The speed at which she dug, managing to turn the soil over a dozen times in a single breath, was faster than twenty strong men combined.

A quite presentable grave was swiftly formed.

Once it reached a suitable size, Yu Jinsan gestured with his wrist.

“That should be enough. Come here now. Let’s move them over.”

“Yes, Grandpa.”

Yu Seol rushed over and began moving the remains that she and her grandpa had previously collected.

Cheong-heo was laid down in the best spot, and the remains of those with unknown names were carefully placed nearby.

“You saw what Uncle Baek Gyu did, right?”

In Ho County, evil factions were constantly battling, and funeral ceremonies were frequent.

There was no way his granddaughter, who never forgets what she once saw, would forget this.

Yu Seol took out as many as three silver coins from her bag.

“Don’t waste your money, and have a safe journey to the afterlife.”

He never thought she would even remember what Baek Gyu had said.

But to think she would put in three silver coins was beyond expectation. Typically, only a few copper coins were customary.

“Why did you put in so much?”

Yu Seol, with a matter-of-fact look, raised the pouch slightly.

“These are from the people who gave Seol her pocket money, so I have to repay the favor.”

“Yes, yes. Of course, a favor must be repaid. Now, let’s bury him, and then we can go on our way.”

Covering the grave with soil was nearly all done by Yu Seol alone.

He had no intention to exploit her labor, but due to his injuries, Yu Jinsan wasn’t in a condition to help much.

As they were finishing up, coinciding with the completion of their task, the sun began to rise.

The path out of the forest was now clear.

“Hurry up and let me carry you.”

“Why now?”

“Grandpa, your leg hurts.”

“…”

She must have seen him limping.

There was no way he could fully perform footwork in his current state.

Yu Jinsan, having no choice, retrieved the Twin Dragon Spears and placed them on the child’s back.

“Are we leaving?”

“Yeah. Let’s leave this unpleasant place……”

Yu Jinsan stopped speaking and swallowed his words.

Pang!!

When his granddaughter began to sprint, he couldn’t get his mind off the speed he was seeing for the first time.

It felt as though he had become a bolt of lightning himself.

“Hold on tight.”

“…Uh?”

Could it be that she could move even faster?

Perplexed, Yu Jinsan’s eyes widened as he suddenly felt his body lifting off the ground, and his view expanded.

‘Treading in Air?’

Looking down, Yu Seol’s feet were indeed hovering in the air.

Yu Jinsan, carried on her back, felt as though he was flying through the sky. After chuckling for a while, he mumbled with a content smile.

“Our Seol is all grown up now.”

“Hehe. Grandpa, do you know?”

“About what?”

Yu Seol smiled and answered.

“I am much taller than Grandpa now.”

Yu Jinsan couldn’t respond and simply smiled bitterly. Although her body was growing, the height difference between him and his granddaughter had increased by an inch.

‘…Seriously, this child.’

After leaving the forest, Yu Seol adjusted their pace.

There was no need to rush from here, especially since it was just to give Yu Jinsan time to recover from his injury.

Three days later, he was moving around leisurely and even visited a physician.

The two bought bundles of gifts at Ho County’s market just before arriving at their destination.

Accessories and other items were spread out on the ground, with snacks placed on top.

They had bought so much that they spent over 10 silver coins. Of course, all the money came from Yu Seol.

Conquering Blade Clan.

In front of the grand plaque, a child carrying a huge bundle on her shoulder shouted.

“Uncles, I am here!!”

Her voice was so loud that the eyes of the warriors training in the yard all focused on one spot.

All of them had bald heads and muscular bodies.

It was hard to tell them apart since everyone looked similar, but Yu Seol remembered each one of them.

The warriors, who had been staring at Yu Seol with blank expressions, burst into laughter simultaneously.

“Puahahah!”

“Hahahaha!”

“Seol! What’s this? Did you finally decide to join our clan?”

Yu Seol had forgotten to wear her rabbit hat.

“Hehehe. I am just like the uncles now.”

“Right, since the start, you had the warrior spirit! If you are ambitious, shouldn’t you be bald?”

“It suits you very well!”

In addition to being the benefactor of the clan, she was a child loved by everyone.

The warriors of the Conquering Blade Clan, who surrounded Yu Seol, were all speaking, pulling her ears, and touching her head.

“But what is this bundle? How did you carry this heavy thing here?”

Yu Seol unpacked the bundle and laughed.

“Hehehe. This is a gift for the uncles.”

“As expected, our Seol is the best!”

Yu Jinsan, who had been watching with a happy smile from behind, gazed somewhere again.

Someone was approaching from the direction of the clan leader’s room.

A middle-aged man with a bulky body and two blades on his waist. The way the muscles of his whole body wriggled as if alive and breathing was on a completely different level from the bodies of other warriors.

It was Baek Gyu, the ruler of Ho County, one of the sacred places of the Evil Faction, and the clan leader.

After a while, as he approached, the warriors stood up, widening their distance.

“Uncle Baek Gyu!”

Despite his fierce appearance, he lifted Yu Seol with a child-like smile.

“Oh my, why has our Seol become so heavy?”

“Didn’t you miss me?”

“What are you talking about? I missed you every day!”

Holding the child to his left chest, Baek Gyu approached Yu Jinsan with a playful tone.

“You’re still the same as ever, Hyung. What happened? Our Seol grew up so much.”

“I’m a man of few words. But it seems you’ve undergone some changes, too.”

Yu Jinsan had noticed it from the moment he saw Baek Gyu.

He, who was a skilled warrior, finally seemed to have reached enlightenment. His transformed force wasn’t something that could be easily handled.

Finally, he broke through the blocking wall and entered the state of Supreme Warrior.

Baek Gyu grinned and extended his hand.

“Actually, a lot of things happened. Let’s head inside, Hyung. We have a lot to talk about now.”

“Right.”

Baek Gyu put Yu Seol down on the floor and then patted her shoulder.

“Play here for a while.”

“Yes, uncle. Let’s spar and play later.”

In the past, she was a child who would come and harass him several times a day, asking to spar with him.

Although they helped each other a lot, Baek Gyu faced numerous setbacks and was in trouble every time.

Now that he had also entered the same realm, the dynamics of training and sparring were different, but there were levels even within the same realm.

Baek Gyu already felt a headache coming on but saw no need to show weakness.

“I’ll pay back the old grievances, so just wait here for a while.”

“Okay, uncle~”

Leaving the child behind, Yu Jinsan and Baek Gyu walked side by side in silence.

As the surroundings quieted down, Baek Gyu broke the silence with a laugh.

“Is it true that the Yin Yang Twin Monsters invaded the Shaolin Temple and turned it upside down? Our guys were so thrilled to hear about it.“

“Rumors are always exaggerated. But we barely managed to escape from there.”

“Hahaha! Well, it is truly amazing. Hyung and Seol are probably the only ones who’ve caused a stir in Shaolin and lived to tell the tale.“

Yu Jinsan smiled bitterly when he remembered what had happened back then.

“It was dangerous. We need to become stronger to ensure it doesn’t happen again. But the atmosphere here seems to have changed.“

He didn’t know why, but he felt this inexplicable pressure.

Baek Gyu responded, pretending to be surprised.

“As expected, Hyung’s perception is extraordinary. In fact, we have some guests.“

“Guests?”

“I am sure you have met one of them. The leader of the Black Cat Clan and his subordinates.“

Just before the Murim Alliance’s operation began to take down the Evil Faction, they were the assassin group Yu Jinsan and his granddaughter had sought help from.

Their strength was so great that they managed to tie up the Mount Hua Sect, which was trying to attack Ho County.

The clan leader was a legendary assassin known as Baek Sang, and his unusually sharp face was still vivid in his mind.

“Why are they here?”

“If we stayed still even after being hit, we can’t be called the Evil Faction anymore. Since the Justice Faction started this, we also plan to give them a good enough blow.”

Yu Jinsan had no intention of getting involved in this fight between the two factions, but he was curious about this story.

“I heard the Black Cat Clan maintain neutrality, but it seems they have turned to the Evil Faction because of what happened then. But would it be possible to attack the Shaanxi branch with just the strength of Ho County and the Black Cat Clan?”

The combined forces of Ho County and the Black Cat Clan would indeed make a formidable power.

However, no matter how much one thought about it, attacking a single member of the Murim Alliance seemed impossible.

Although the strength of the Justice Faction was somewhat weakened due to the failure of the operation at that time, their strength was too much for these people to handle.

“We didn’t say we were going to attack on our own. The Evil Way Alliance leader will arrive here soon.”

“The leader is coming in person?”

He had only heard about her indirectly through Baek Gyu.

The fearsome supreme being of the Evil Faction, whose name was Yong Yong.

And all he knew was that there were bad ties between her and the current Murim Alliance Leader.

“I am not going to ask you to help me, so just take a look at her face because the Alliance Leader wants to meet you, too.”