Chapter 30
'Ha. What to do now.'
Yeo Un-hwi wore a very troubled expression as he was pushed back by Peng Mugang's single attack.
Or more precisely, he had quickly retreated before the impact of the blow could reach his body.
Yeo Un-hwi had completely deflected the force contained in Peng Mugang's fist.
In his past life, it was his father-in-law who had saved Peng Seo-jin.
He hadn't known that fact because it was never revealed.
He had only heard that Peng Seo-jin had somehow returned alive, so he thought he had made it back on his own.
But now Yeo Un-hwi learned that his father-in-law had gone to find and bring him back.
So should Yeo Un-hwi not have intervened in this matter?
That wasn't the case.
If the poison spreading through Peng Seo-jin's body and his mangled arm had been treated even a little later, he would have ultimately had to live as a one-armed man according to his original fate.
And naturally, after losing an arm, he would have struggled to train in martial arts, so he would have achieved far less than Peng Seo-jin's original potential.
So no matter how you looked at it, Yeo Un-hwi stepping in today was the right thing to do.
In any case, Yeo Un-hwi was inwardly amazed at Peng Mugang's punch, enhanced with tremendous strength, and its power.
It was his first time experiencing his strength.
As expected, it was a display befitting an absolute master called the Crouching Tiger of Hebei.
While Yeo Un-hwi was satisfied that his father-in-law was so strong, the biggest problem now was that Peng Mugang seemed to be under some serious misunderstanding.
Or perhaps Peng Mugang's misunderstanding was understandable.
After all, the mask he was wearing was indeed a Blood Poison Group mask.
But he couldn't just take off the mask right now and say, "It's me, Father-in-law."
They weren't that close to begin with, and it might only make him more suspicious.
Haha. What to do about this. Should he just run away?
Yeo Un-hwi's mind was in turmoil at this unexpected situation.
Kuuung!
As Peng Mugang stomped his foot with an extremely angry face, it felt as if a brief earthquake had shaken the ground.
"You bastard! You dare to be so relaxed in front of me! Very well then, I'll show you hell today!"
Kuuuuung.
Peng Mugang's true strength lay in his blade techniques.
It was a well-known fact that his blade techniques were unparalleled in the world.
But now it seemed his fist techniques were no less impressive.
Kwaaaang.
The ground sank where he stepped.
Soon, Peng Mugang's fist flew towards Yeo Un-hwi.
It was clear that each attack contained tremendous power.
Rocks, trees, and even massive cliffs were all shattering to pieces wherever Yeo Un-hwi dodged the punches.
This was superhuman strength beyond compare.
It made one wonder if this was what it meant to be born with innate physical prowess.
"Not bad, you bastard!"
An expression of surprise flashed across Peng Mugang's face, quickly replaced by a look of competitive spirit.
He had already checked Peng Seo-jin's condition with his aura perception and was relieved to find no major problems.
Now he intended to utterly destroy these scoundrels before him.
Soon, Peng Mugang drew his blade.
And he charged at Yeo Un-hwi like lightning.
With one swing of his blade, dozens of trees behind him were all sliced down.
Tremendous power. The pressure emanating from him now was on a completely different level compared to when he was just using his fists.
While Yeo Un-hwi was momentarily stunned, Peng Mugang charged at him again.
Once more, his blade flashed.
His blade danced as if it would cut through anything it touched.
Kugung. Kugugung.
There was no mercy in Peng Mugang's movements.
The dense forest was being completely devastated.
'Hmm, this is troublesome.'
As he dodged Peng Mugang's attacks, Yeo Un-hwi was feeling extremely awkward.
As a martial artist, facing such a powerful opponent like Peng Mugang could be a great honor, joy, and learning experience.
But Yeo Un-hwi wanted no part of this experience.
Who in the world would want to cross blades with their father-in-law?
No, to begin with, that terrifying sight of Peng Mugang charging like an enormous, fierce tiger roaring "Euraah!" was not something to be enjoyed.
It was clear that most people would wet themselves just from seeing that sight.
During one of the continuous attacks, Peng Mugang suddenly increased his speed and dove towards Yeo Un-hwi.
Peng Mugang's blade aimed for Yeo Un-hwi's neck.
But,
Jjeeong.
Peng Mugang's attack was deflected by Yeo Un-hwi's body-protecting qi.
Hooh.
Peng Mugang's face showed considerable surprise.
He had rarely seen such an excellent body-protecting qi before.
"Not bad at all."
But this only made Peng Mugang's expression grow fiercer.
"I don't know why someone with such strength would stoop to such cowardly acts, but very well."
Kuuuung.
Peng Mugang's aura changed once again. Now he was about to reveal his true abilities.
An eerie calm, like the stillness before a typhoon, settled over the area.
It seemed he was about to use some ultimate technique.
'Sigh. This is getting troublesome.'
Somehow the situation was becoming increasingly serious.
Just then,
"No! Father!"
Peng Seo-jin shouted loudly.
His consciousness had been fading in and out, but now he had come to his senses and urgently called out after seeing the current situation.
"Seo-jin?"
"Father. He's not the enemy. He's the one who saved me."
"What? But how can that be."
Only then did Peng Mugang look around.
And he discovered the numerous corpses of Blood Poison Group members strewn about.
Even at a glance, they all seemed to have fallen to that man's blade.
He finally realized he had made a mistake.
"Ha. Oh dear."
His habit of rushing in after only a cursory glance at the situation once his eyes were set was a chronic problem that had persisted from his youth until now.
Perhaps he should have moved more cautiously.
But it wasn't just for that reason - Yeo Un-hwi was also wearing the same mask as the Blood Poison Group members, so the misunderstanding was understandable.
"Ugh."
Though Yeo Un-hwi had infused him with energy and provided emergency treatment, Peng Seo-jin had lost so much blood that he lost consciousness again and fell forward.
"Seo-jin!"
Now knowing the other man was not an enemy, Peng Mugang rushed to Peng Seo-jin without hesitation.
And he quickly examined Peng Seo-jin's condition.
Fortunately, he had only lost consciousness from exhaustion.
Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief,
Tat.
Yeo Un-hwi disappeared using his lightfoot skill.
"Ah, w-wait!"
Though his appearance was highly suspicious, he was still the benefactor who had saved his son.
He wanted to express his gratitude somehow.
But the man had already completely vanished.
It was an incredible display of lightfoot skill.
Even Peng Mugang, who prided himself on his lightfoot abilities, was dumbfounded.
Just who on earth was that man?
But that wasn't important right now.
Peng Mugang picked up his fallen son.
"Let's go home, Seo-jin."
It was time to return home now.
"Mmm."
The man who was the master of the Golden Manor had just woken up.
He had awakened due to some uncomfortable feeling.
And,
"...Hm? Aaack! Aaaaah!"
The man who opened his eyes could only be terrified.
His body was hanging upside down.
Moreover, he was dangling from a tree branch growing on the edge of a cliff whose bottom couldn't be seen.
He wasn't alone.
Others were in the same predicament, but they were all already dead.
The men who had been called the masters of the Golden Manor with him.
The man was hanging upside down on the cliff along with their corpses.
"What is this! What's going on! Uuuugh!"
It felt so unreal at first that he wondered if he was dreaming.
But that wasn't the case.
His head was pounding terribly from the blood rushing to it from being upside down, and the ropes binding him were tightening painfully.
What made it even more agonizing was being tied together with the already dead corpses.
It was truly horrific.
"Aaaaargh! H-Help! Someone help me!"
He screamed madly.
But this was the top of a high mountain with no people around. There was no one to save him.
And only then did he realize someone was quietly watching him struggle.
"W-Who are you? Please, I'm begging you, save me. Please. I'll give you anything you want. Anything!"
"Oh? Anything, you say."
"I'm not lying! If you just save me...!"
"You're quite wealthy, aren't you?"
"Money? Is that what you want? I'll give you as much as you want, everything!"
"Really? Good. Then I'll take all your wealth. Now, tell me where you've hidden it all."
"Th-That's..."
He hesitated, flustered, not expecting the man to actually say he'd take everything.
"You don't want to? Have you not grasped the situation yet?"
"A-Alright! I understand! My wealth is..."
Soon he spilled everything he could think of, from his secret funds to anything else that came to mind.
He had no time to make anything up now, and he thought he could just kill this man later if he somehow survived, so he just revealed everything.
"Good. I'll put it to good use."
Despite now possessing an enormous fortune, the man showed no signs of joy.
His eyes remained as cold as ever.
"Th-Then please save me now, I beg you. That branch doesn't look like it will hold much longer."
Sure enough, the tree branch was making cracking sounds.
It looked like it might break at any moment.
The master of the Golden Manor felt like he might lose his mind from fear.
But the man just silently watched him.
"I thought about it the whole way here. How to kill you painfully. How to make you feel twice the pain my brother suffered."
"B-Brother? You can't mean..."
Though there were many who held grudges against him, only one person came to mind now.
Peng Seo-jin.
"It's too late. He must be dead by now."
"No, he's alive. He even escaped the fate of becoming one-armed."
"One-armed? What do you mean..."
"And your fate has changed. From living in luxury doing rotten deeds for a long time to this."
The man's eyes grew even colder.
"What do you think is the most painful way for someone like you to die? Isn't it dying here, stripped naked, trembling in fear, with no one knowing, unable to use all the money you've amassed, after having it all taken away?"
"Didn't you promise to save me! After taking all my money! This is fraud!"
"It's fine. It's okay to do this to someone like you."
"Y-You... You demon!"
"That's a compliment coming from someone like you. Especially when I hear it from you."
Yeo Un-hwi turned to leave.
"This is a place no one visits. Of course, no one will come to save you."
"Ugh, ugh."
"So writhe in pain and tremble in fear until you die pathetically. Along with those corpses."
For at least the next half day, that merchant would suffer tremendous fear, not knowing when the branch might break and send him plummeting to his death down that thousand-foot cliff.
The added torment of blood rushing to his head and the ropes digging into his flesh was just a bonus.
His untrained body wouldn't be able to endure it at all, and the merchant would slowly go mad until his final moments.
"N-Nooooo! Uwaaaaaaaah!"
Soon Yeo Un-hwi left without looking back.
And the terrifying screams of the man who had been the master of the Golden Manor, now foreseeing his fate, echoed through the mountains.
For him, the worst possible death was approaching.
The touch of the Grim Reaper was covering his face.