I’ll Trust You Alone. (3)

The exact situation couldn’t be known, but it seemed the evil thing inside the stone coffin was the cause.

They had to do something quickly before Man-ho’s breath slipped away.

Yu Jinsan, gripping the ritual sword, put his internal force into his right foot and kicked the coffin lid off.

As the lid flew off, the inside came into view.

He had expected a skeleton, but the reality was completely different.

Unbelievably, corpses lay neatly inside the stone coffin, and they were not decayed.

A robe with strange patterns stood out.

Judging from it, it was likely the leader of the White Shadow Cult.

“Stab him quickly, Grandpa.”

Yu Seol urged from behind.

After all, wasn’t it just a corpse? One poke with the ritual sword would do it.

Yu Jinsan wrapped his force around the blade so it wouldn’t break. He intended to pierce it.

Just as the tip of the ritual sword raised above his head began to point down.

Suddenly an urgent shout came from behind.

“No! Stop!!”

Man-ho, eyes rolled back, foamed at the mouth, and screamed.

To be exact, it was a spiritual entity possessing him.

Yu Jinsan noticed it had an effect and smiled triumphantly.

“Since it’s thrashing, I should stab it thoroughly.”

“No, no, you bastard!!”

“How rude, talking down to an elder. Get out of our house right now.”

Just as he turned his gaze back and prepared to stab with the ritual sword.

“Please stop, sir!”

Man-ho’s tone changed again. This time it was clearly normal.

Had the possession broken in the meantime? Looking at his face, even his pupils had returned to normal.

Then Man-ho stepped close and grabbed his shoulder.

“Please give it back to me. You must not stab him!”

He tried to snatch the ritual sword, but Yu Jinsan wasn’t about to hand it over easily.

No matter how physically superior he was, Man-ho couldn’t match Yu Jinsan’s strength.

Yu Jinsan signaled to his granddaughter.

“Quick, restrain him. The evil is putting on an act.”

“He’s deceiving us?”

“Yes, this thing right now isn’t Man-ho!”

Man-ho tried to shout something, but Yu Seol acted a step faster.

“I’m sorry, mister.”

Yu Seol’s fist was already shoved into Man-ho’s abdomen.

His whole body went limp and he collapsed to his knees.

Only then did a satisfied expression appear on Yu Jinsan’s face.

He mercilessly stabbed the corpse’s abdomen in the coffin with the ritual sword.

When he withdrew the sword, something surprising happened.

As expected, not a drop of blood came out, but a pale white smoke rose from the pierced hole.

Was it the evil spirit’s soul dissipating? It looked convincing enough.

A small smile began to bloom on the faces of the grandfather and granddaughter watching.

“That’s enough now, Grandpa.”

“Hm. It seems it’s all over. It was this simple…”

Yu Jinsan and Yu Seol were congratulating each other.

From behind them came Man-ho’s voice, resigned.

“We’re the ones who are finished. Now we’re in big trouble.”

They had driven out the evil spirit, so Man-ho’s mind should have returned to normal.

Yu Jinsan, with a relaxed expression, returned the ritual sword to him and said.

“Don’t worry. While you were possessed, we took care of everything.”

Strangely, Man-ho’s expression didn’t look happy at all.

Rather, he looked as if he’d lost the whole world.

It was incomprehensible.

“…It is true that the man’s soul entered my body.”

“I knew it. But what’s the problem?”

“The White Shadow Clan wasn’t performing necromancy here. It was all a misunderstanding.”

Yu Jinsan tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand.

“What are you saying now? There were traces all over the house.”

“They performed rituals to block an evil presence.”

“An evil presence? Explain it so I can understand.”

“A being higher than an evil spirit… a demon is sealed here.”

Demon or whatever, Yu Jinsan remained indifferent.

He couldn’t sense or see anything, so that was only natural.

He pointed at the coffin with his index finger and asked.

“Then what on earth is that?”

Man-ho steadied his breath and answered with a grim face.

“Something went wrong during the ritual, and as a result the disciples all died. The clan leader sacrificed himself, even in death, to block the entrance.”

The more he heard, the more ridiculous it seemed.

The inside story was nothing like what he had thought.

There were many questions, but only those involved would know the truth.

“Then what about those who tried to hurt me?”

“They tried to drive you out to protect the entrance. If you didn’t leave, they would’ve killed you to be sure…”

So lesser ghosts had tried to harm him.

Whatever their motive, they were contemptible, not even enough to feel guilty for stabbing the cult leader’s corpse.

“But where exactly is that entrance?”

“Remove the coffin and look.”

At Yu Jinsan’s nod, Yu Seol lightly tapped the corner of the coffin with her palm.

It was just a light touch, but it carried Profound Realm internal qi.

The heavy stone coffin slid aside with a thud.

Surprisingly, under where the coffin had been was a hole with grotesque markings.

It was wide enough for one person to pass through.

And it seemed so deep that one couldn’t gauge its depth with the naked eye.

“This hole? You could just seal it up; I don’t know why you went this far.”

“An abyssal passage can’t be closed by simply blocking it. Not unless the demon is sealed…”

Then Yu Seol tossed a small stone into the hole.

When no sound came after a long while, Yu Jinsan asked with a surprised face.

“Well? Can you hear anything? Grandpa can’t hear it, huh.”

“…No. I couldn’t hear it either.”

His granddaughter could hear birds 3 km away if she set her mind to it.

How deep could it possibly be? It was unbelievable.

At that moment, Yu Jinsan and Yu Seol suddenly snapped their heads toward Man-ho.

Because his whole body began convulsing like an aspen.

“I-It’s coming!”

“Coming? Coming what?”

“Th-that evil presence…”

Man-ho was terrified.

In contrast, the grandfather and granddaughter remained calm as if feeling nothing.

That was, until something burst out of the hole.

Whooosh!

Black smoke surged up like a whirlwind from the abyssal pit.

They couldn’t tell what it was, but its aura was unquestionably bad.

Yu Seol, watching, reflexively threw a punch.

The gust from the Hundred Step Divine Fist punched through the black smoke with no resistance.

Swooom-!!!

The wind of the fist only left a knuckle mark on the opposite wall.

Their martial arts had no effect? Then there was nothing more to be done. They could only watch.

The swirling smoke then began to charge toward the cult leader.

It flowed straight into the body-sized hole Yu Jinsan had created.

“Step back quickly!”

No sooner had Man-ho finished speaking than the cult leader’s corpse in the coffin sprang to life.

The moment it opened blazing red eyes, everyone’s hearts sank.

Yu Seol stammered and took a step back.

“A-a ghost went in…”

While the grandfather and granddaughter panicked, Man-ho, gripping the ritual sword, attempted to rush forward.

Boldly charging, he thrust the ritual sword toward the cult leader’s heart.

But before it could reach, the thing’s hand struck Man-ho’s cheek.

It was astonishingly fast and hit with rock-like destructive force.

Struck by the slap, Man-ho flew a distance and lay sprawled, looking pitiful.

Man-ho didn’t move at all.

Fortunately, they could feel his qi flow, so he wasn’t dead, probably just unconscious.

Then the cult leader’s red eyes turned toward Yu Jinsan again.

Meeting its gaze, he felt chills run through his whole body.

At that moment, the cult leader’s mouth opened wide as if to tear and released an incomprehensible scream.

“Kreeeeek!”

It was an unpleasant shriek, like nails scraping metal.

Yu Jinsan blocked his frightened granddaughter and raised both fists.

‘So physical force works now? If so, that’s actually good for us.’

If martial arts worked against it, there was no reason to fear.

From now on, they’d just beat it down with strength.

Yu Jinsan and the cult leader launched themselves at each other simultaneously.

The clan leader’s palm struck Yu Jinsan’s cheek.

His body staggered as if about to fall, but he didn’t fly like Man-ho had.

Experienced Yu Jinsan planted his feet and barely held himself.

Screeeech-!

‘I’ve been outpaced in speed?’

And with terrifying strength to boot. He couldn’t help but be astonished.

If not for the Vajra Indestructible Divine Arts, he might have been knocked out like Man-ho.

He should’ve brought a spear if he’d known it would be like this.

Regret was intense, but it couldn’t be undone now.

At that moment, the cult leader who faced him vanished right before his eyes.

He had lost sight of its movement.

“…!?”

A chill ran down Yu Jinsan’s spine and he reflexively used footwork technique.

He couldn’t locate the opponent, so he had to start evading.

His body shape began to twist at an odd angle, stirring the air.

It was the family’s footwork, the Whirlwind Footwork.

But only briefly. A hand grip flew from somewhere toward his moving direction.

“Gack!”

His breath was knocked out; not only had it read the footwork path, it had grabbed his throat.

Against his will, both his feet lifted off the ground.

If this continued, his body would be twisted. He couldn’t take it lying down.

Yu Jinsan’s hands spun half a turn and filled with a blue aura.

Yu Family Heaven-and-Earth Palm, ninth technique: Twin Dragons Return. It consumed immense internal energy and was rarely used, but now wasn’t the time to hesitate.

In an instant his hands struck the cult leader’s chest.

From the tingling in his wrists, it seemed the blow had landed properly.

Yu Jinsan barely broke free from its grip.

But that was all.

It only stepped back a single pace and seemed largely unaffected.

‘How is this possible…’

There was no time to be stunned.

This time its palm was coming straight for his chest.

Amazingly, it used the exact technique he’d just used, the only difference was one hand instead of two.

With both feet lifted, Yu Jinsan flew three measures, slamming his back into the wall.

His pupils trembled wildly as if he couldn’t believe it.

Who on earth was he fighting?

It had seen the family’s technique once and imitated it. A demon’s talent; no, it must be a demon itself.

If not for the Vajra Indestructible Divine Arts, he’d surely have been grievously wounded.

Yu Jinsan’s spine chilled at the sight of the cult leader advancing toward him.

“You bastard! How dare you steal and use someone’s martial art without permission!?”

He tried to speak, but of course there would be no answer.

Before he knew it, the thing in front of him was delivering another strike.

Yu Jinsan hurriedly brought his arms in front of his face to defend.

Only a violent boom was heard; oddly, there was no pain.

When he slightly opened the arm in front of him, he saw a familiar back.

It seemed only a handspan wide and scrawny, yet strangely it looked as vast as the sea.

“Stop it. You’re hurting my grandpa.”

Yu Seol’s small palm was stretched straight out toward it.

She must have taken the incoming attack in her place.

His granddaughter, who feared ghosts, had mustered courage for him.

Yu Jinsan’s eyes reddened.

“…Child.”