Chapter 160: Chapter 160

“Dongbangu? If it is Dongbangu…… wasn’t he the Demonic Cult’s Chief Advisor?”

Cough, cough!

Instead of an answer, a harsh sound of coughing was heard.

Opening his eyes, Ma Jang-gang was able to confirm the opponent’s appearance. It was a man, shriveled up, bound by shackles.

Seeing that he had cuts and tears all over, it was possible to guess that he must have suffered severe torture.

“I was once like that…….”

“Crazy…… Master Sa is perfectly alive and well, so how does it make sense for the Demonic Cult’s Chief Advisor to be locked up in a place like this?”

Jang Sam-tae also shouted as if he could not believe it.

It was none other than the Chief Advisor of the Demonic Cult.

Unless Sa Do-hak was forcibly dragged down from the position of Cult Leader, it was no exaggeration to say that he was in a position under one person and above ten thousand people, where no one could touch him.

Even so, to be in such a state meant…….

‘Did someone rebel?’

Who?

What kind of crazy bastard?

If Sa Do-hak had been weak, such a question might not have arisen.

However, the Sa Do-hak that Jang Sam-tae knew was still strong, and was a being who would not be strange to be called the Heaven Beyond Heaven.

For such a person to imprison and torture someone he trusted?

It was something that could never happen.

“H-Hukpung, cough!”

Jang Sam-tae hurriedly grabbed the iron bars.

The sound of coughing became more violent than before.

It was precarious, as if his breath was about to give out.

In a situation where they had obtained no information, the death of someone who knew the political situation of the Demonic Cult well meant that they would have to suffer that much more.

Bang, bang!

He kicked the iron bars roughly, but they did not break.

It was not anywhere else, but the prison of the Demonic Cult.

If one could escape easily, how could it be a prison?

“Damn it! What on earth is going on?”

Even to him who knew nothing, the situation of the Demonic Cult was turning strange.

Dan Woo-hyun had probably anticipated this and trusted him to send him to find out in detail.

If so, it was only right to repay that trust.

“If they broke just from hitting them like that, everyone would have escaped long ago.”

Ma Jang-gang muttered, stroking his beard.

The iron bars were extremely sturdy. He had also thought about digging the ground, but although he did not know how deep it was, considering the structure of the prison, the iron bars would be embedded quite deeply.

Since they could not squeeze through the dense iron bars, they ultimately had to wait for someone to open the door or think of another method.

Fortunately, there were no guards watching. They probably trusted the prison considerably.

If so, there was no way to even call a jailer.

“Ha…… ha…… the iron making up the bars…… is of a special material, so unless it is the Reversing Heaven Skill…… it cannot be broken.”

“The person who can use that is…….”

Ma Jang-gang laughed with an absurd expression.

Who did not know the Reversing Heaven Skill?

But there was only one person in this Central Plains who could use it.

And since that person would be in Hunan right now, it was practically the same as saying there was no one who could rescue them from here.

“Ah…… by any chance, are you talking about this?”

At that moment, Jang Sam-tae reached out his hand.

It seemed for a moment that he drew internal energy into his hand, and then a bead about the size of a finger revealed itself.

It caused a fierce rotation on top of Jang Sam-tae’s palm, and the moment Ma Jang-gang saw it, he broke out in a cold sweat. Although it was small in size, he could definitely tell that tremendous power was contained within it.

“Th-This…… is…… the R-Reversing Heaven Skill……! How did you?”

“Master Sa taught me, though?”

Jang Sam-tae tilted his head.

Was this really such an amazing martial art?

Sa Do-hak had taught it to him casually, and he had suffered all kinds of harassment for several months to learn it.

Although he heard that if he just learned it, he wouldn’t go around getting beaten up anywhere, the training was so painful that he ran away several times, and in the end, Sa Do-hak also gave up, making it one of the martial arts he could not properly learn.

“The…… Cult Leader…… did?”

“Yes, though?”

“The Heavenly Demon Reversing Heaven Skill?!”

“Eh?”

Heavenly Demon something?

Since it was simply a martial art to make a small rotating bead, he had never thought much about it.

He had heard the name Reversing Heaven Skill, but to think the words Heavenly Demon were attached in front of it.

Jang Sam-tae’s face turned pale.

“Could it be that this is the Heavenly Demon Divine Art!?”

“No, did you learn it without even knowing that!?”

“I learned it without knowing!”

* * *

Sa Do-hak put a short bamboo pipe in his mouth for the first time in a long time and puffed. Since even Gwon Mu-jin and Namgung So-hye had gone out, there was nothing he could do in the manor.

Out of boredom, he played with Dan So-mi, but the child’s stamina was so weak that she fell fast asleep, lying on his knees.

“Tch…… how boring.”

If he had known it would be like this, he should have followed them on their way.

If he had followed Jang Sam-tae or Gwon Mu-jin, it felt like there would have been something interesting.

He sighed with a “Ha-” and looked down.

He could hear the sound of Dan So-mi breathing as she slept soundly.

Out of pointless mischief, he pinched her cheek, which was flushed.

“Uuung…….”

Dan So-mi groaned and furrowed her brow.

She reached out her small hand and grabbed Sa Do-hak’s finger. Even while sleeping, she was exerting a fairly strong force.

“Sigh, such is my fate.”

Even as he said that, the smile did not leave Sa Do-hak’s face.

Since he was someone who had never had what was called a family from birth until now, perhaps he felt more affection for this kind of situation.

“You look quite bored today.”

“Tch! That is why you should have sent me. There is no fun, no fun.”

“For saying that, you seem to be staying quietly?”

“Hmph, she is sleeping so soundly, so I can’t just jump up. It has already been an hour.”

An hour was a fairly long time.

Sitting upright in one posture meant that Sa Do-hak also did not dislike this situation that much.

At his grumbling voice, Dan Woo-hyun smiled and offered something.

It was a wine cup.

He had brought simple food and a wine cup.

The liquor that Dan So-mi had made was also neatly placed.

Gulp, his dry saliva went down.

“You know how to…… handle people. Giving a carrot then a whip, and so on.”

“Haha, that is the first time I’ve heard that.”

“Hmph!”

Trickle-

Filling the empty cup with liquor, he hastily swallowed a sip.

Although it was merely the act of drinking liquor, it felt as if his boredom was relieved at least a little.

Seeing the empty cup, Dan Woo-hyun filled the wine cup again.

Watching that, Sa Do-hak pouted his lips.

“I am staying because you are interesting. If I think it is not interesting, I will leave immediately. So do not just order me around.”

“I have no intention of doing so. In the first place, I have no desire to hold back someone who is leaving…….”

“Hmph!”

Sa Do-hak turned his head, seemingly disappointed inwardly.

“Aside from that, when on earth is this fellow Sam-tae coming? It is taking too long, isn’t it? Since that fellow isn’t here, it is even more boring.”

“He will return soon. Very safely, indeed.”

“Did he go far?”

“He went far.”

“Is it a dangerous place?”

“Depending on the person, it might be dangerous…….”

Dan Woo-hyun chuckled and swallowed the liquor.

To someone, it might not be dangerous. To another, it might be a fairly dangerous place. Therefore, there was also no guarantee that they would return safely, but Dan Woo-hyun did not think they would meet with disaster.

“True, if it is that shrewd fellow, he will get through it anywhere.”

“Indeed…… is that why you taught him?”

“What?”

Whether he felt guilty, Sa Do-hak averted his gaze.

However, in front of Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes that looked even into his inner mind, he could never speak a lie.

Although he did not say it, the smile on his lips seemed to know everything.

“Ah, damn it! I can’t hide anything. Yes! I taught him, I taught him. Even so, it is only a few things.”

“Are you planning to take him as a disciple?”

“Am I crazy?!”

Recalling Jang Sam-tae, Sa Do-hak shook his head in horror.

It was true that he had taught him a few things, but he did not have an iota of intention to make him his disciple.

In the first place, that fellow did not have the face to achieve great success in martial arts.

Recalling when he taught him martial arts, even now his head throbbed.

It was his first time seeing a fellow with so little talent since he was born into the world.

“It is just that seeing that pathetic fellow reminded me of myself in the past. When I had no power and nothing to my name, but only pride.”

“Did that fellow have pride?”

“He did. He did have it……”

Sa Do-hak broke out in a cold sweat.

He probably did have it.

It was just that it did not work at all in front of them, so he probably did not show it.

Anyway, although it could not be said to be in every aspect, there were resembling parts, so it was hard to just ignore him.

Although he did not master it properly, it would be enough to protect his own body, so it did not matter.

Also, that Dan So-mi followed Jang Sam-tae very much was also a reason. Since that fellow, though having not a shred of skill, was a fellow who would burn his own body if something happened to So-mi.

“You also taught him a few moves, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did teach him. Same for Hong Won-chang……”

“You must know that even if you teach fellows whose bodies are already stiffened, they cannot achieve great success……”

“Whether they achieve great success or not is up to them. I do not need to help them to that extent.”

That was true.

No, before that, it would be a relief if they did not die.

Same for Jang Sam-tae, but also Ma Jang-gang, Gwon Mu-jin, and Hong Won-chang.

Compared to the skills they possessed, the matter Dan Woo-hyun was stirring up would grow larger beyond imagination.

“They might all die.”

“Is that so?”

“Touching the Myriad Gold Merchant Group is one thing…… but the most problematic is the Chu Gate Family.”

“The Chu Gate Family…… you seem to know them well?”

“Once, our kids also sent a few people to try to open up a trade. It went a bit sideways, so it was eventually canceled, though……”

“And?”

“The kids we sent all died.”

Sa Do-hak half-closed his eyes.

They were not others, but experts of the Demonic Cult.

There were experts who had reached the peak, and there were also those who had risen to the first-rate.

Of course, they were sent under the pretext of escort, and there was no evidence that the Chu Gate Family made the attack, but circumstantially, it was judged that they had stepped forward.

So it was never a matter to be looked down upon.

“There is something there. Something that must not be touched.”

“So are you planning not to touch it?”

At the sudden question, Sa Do-hak harbored a sneer. He lightly swallowed the liquor filled in the cup, then set it down roughly.

“How could that be? We must receive the blood price of our kids.”

At that time, they could not strike the Chu Gate Family.

It was because the Nine Sects and One Gang, namely the Martial Alliance, were watching, raising fears that it might lead to a War between Orthodox and Unorthodox.

What would an already old fellow do by waging such a war? War was something that drained the spine of the young.

At that time, he had thought so, but…….

If he had made up his mind to touch them without looking at others’ eyes.

“I am confident in breaking them down without leaving a single foundation stone. Send me when the time comes.”

At those words, Dan Woo-hyun silently poured the empty wine cup. Although he did not receive any reply, Sa Do-hak found that alone to be sufficient.

His killing intent overflowed.

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