Chapter 225: Chapter 225

The subsequent six days of camping outdoors were considerably harsh for Jang Sam-tae.

He had to scour the mountains to find water and hunt to survive.

Also, since eating only meat became tiresome, he had to gather wild greens, and when his stomach offset him, he had to dig the ground.

When it rained, he had to find a place to shelter, but as there was no suitable spot, he could not help but be frustrated, eventually weaving tree branches and leaves together to build a roof.

But what use was just a roof?

Since the wind blew right in, he set up walls to block it.

As he rashly did this and that without thinking, it was no exaggeration to say that the place where the two stayed had now become a cozy nest.

Jang Sam-tae sat on a rock with a exhausted expression.

His hollow, lifeless eyes seemed to tell how much hardship he had gone through.

‘That man is…!’

Glancing sideways, Jang Sam-tae looked at Dan Woo-hyun. For six days, he had ordered Jang Sam-tae around without lifting a single finger.

Even though Dan Woo-hyun would surely be much faster and better at hunting or building a place to stay than Jang Sam-tae, there was some resentment about the fact that he did not do so.

Dan Woo-hyun, who sat cross-legged and meditated every morning, never opened his eyes except when eating. Although he called it mental training, in Jang Sam-tae’s eyes, it was nothing more than making excuses because he did not want to do troublesome work.

At that moment, as he stared at Dan Woo-hyun with a dissatisfied gaze, those closed eyes slowly opened. For a split second, Jang Sam-tae was startled out of his wits.

A blue light flickered in Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes and then vanished.

“They are here.”

“Yes?”

He blurted out before he could grasp the exact situation. Startled, Jang Sam-tae turned his head. Although it was quite a distance away, he felt someone approaching this place.

As he watched that direction for a long while, he finally saw the man from last time and the guards, who had been hiding in various places to monitor the situation, appearing again and approaching.

“Have you waited long?”

“You are late.”

The man spoke softly and wore a smile.

It was the moment when he was about to decide whether to admit them to the sect or not, after hearing the results of monitoring the two for the past few days.

However, there had been no movement, and there was not even a hint of contacting anyone.

Even the guards who had watched them spent their days so absurdly that they thought these two were just rich fools.

One was the master, and the other was the servant.

They certainly seemed to have that kind of relationship.

“The Leader is waiting. You must receive the baptism, so follow me.”

Instantly, Dan Woo-hyun’s eyes flashed.

* * *

Jang Sam-tae groaned.

Because his eyes had been covered ever since they got into the carriage, he did not know where they were going, but it was certain that they had traveled for at least nearly four hours.

Since their destination was Mt. Jangbaek anyway, he hoped that they were heading east from Shaanxi.

After all, nothing was more annoying than backtracking.

Soon, at some point, the carriage came to a halt.

The sound of the carriage door opening and the man’s voice were heard.

“Please step down.”

As he stepped off the carriage naturally upon hearing those words, the men untied the cloth covering his eyes.

“Huh!?”

It was not only Jang Sam-tae who was surprised.

Dan Woo-hyun also looked around with a fairly surprised gaze.

Although this was in the deep mountains of unknown location, many buildings stood close together as if they formed a village.

Of course, most of them were old buildings.

However, there was something even more surprising.

Thousands of people were gathered in one place, and in front of them stood not a shabby building but a grand pavilion, a majestic platform that was worlds apart from the tacky platform they had seen last time, and a grand throne that looked like something an emperor would sit on.

Right there, the Leader sat.

Dressed in clothes even more luxurious than last time and exuding solemnity, he looked back and forth between Dan Woo-hyun and Jang Sam-tae with a benevolent smile.

Step by step, they walked behind the men toward the Leader. Thousands of people, who appeared to be believers, bowed their heads.

“Are you the one who sought me out because you wish to follow the Martial God?”

As they finally stopped in front of the Leader, his voice reached them. It was a solemn, overbearing voice filled with strong internal energy that seemed to draw people in.

Dan Woo-hyun quietly stared at the Leader.

There was no answer, only a gaze.

At this, a commotion broke out among the believers.

“Ahem! What are you doing? Answer quickly.”

“No, I was just slightly surprised. I thought it was that bastard’s trickery, but it seems that was not the case.”

Dan Woo-hyun stroked his chin.

In his gaze looking at the Leader, not a shred of mercy or any warmth could be felt. At the moment Jang Sam-tae, who realized something, turned his head in surprise.

Thud!

“Guh-!”

A short groan escaped the Leader’s mouth.

People did not understand what had happened or how.

Why was the Leader’s staff piercing through his chest?

Splat-!

Blood sprayed the moment Dan Woo-hyun pulled out the staff.

Jang Sam-tae, who stood beside him, was drenched in that blood.

“Ah! Damn it! Aaaah! What is this?!”

Jang Sam-tae regretted it too late.

Even though he had a premonition that something would happen, why did he not run away? Was it because he had not thought that Dan Woo-hyun would kill him the moment they met?

This was Dan Woo-hyun, who had smashed the head of the Green Forest bandits’ boss upon arrival while he was calling his men and shouting boisterously!

Drenched in blood, Jang Sam-tae collapsed to the ground.

The smell of blood wafted up nauseatingly.

“W-What…!”

“Leader!”

“Aaaaah!”

While Jang Sam-tae fell into such despair, voices erupted from all around. It was a divine power that even the guards nearby could not possibly react to.

The fierce voices of the people were heard.

“You bastard-!”

One of the guards thrust his sword toward Dan Woo-hyun.

However, Dan Woo-hyun lightly dodged it and struck his back with the scabbard as if reprimanding a young child.

Thwack!

“Gah!”

Dan Woo-hyun’s movements did not stop there.

His figure seemed to vanish, and in an instant, he knocked down all the guards who tried to draw their swords. Jang Sam-tae, who watched the situation, could not even close his wide-open mouth.

This was a situation that could hardly even be called a fight.

It was not just overwhelming, it was completely one-sided.

Thud thud thud-!

With consecutive sounds, the bodies of the guards collapsed helplessly.

Thousands of believers could not even move from their spots.

Watching the Leader they believed in and followed so much, and those guards, fall helplessly, their minds went completely blank.

“I do not oppose believing in someone.”

Thwack-!

Dan Woo-hyun fiercely swung his scabbard, knocking down the guards. Dozens of men collapsed on the ground in an instant, only swallowing their groans.

Among them, it was quite a wondrous thing that only the Leader had died.

“But one must not exploit a person’s blind faith.”

“Groan…”

Dan Woo-hyun looked at the fallen men.

Not a single person could think of standing up. No, the pain was so severe that it would be impossible for them to even move their bodies at will for several hours.

“Furthermore, your faith… must not bring harm to your families and neighbors.”

Dan Woo-hyun’s cold gaze swept over the thousands of believers. The bodies of those who were staring blankly at the scene flinched.

Blind and absolute loyalty.

However, under Dan Woo-hyun’s pressure which shattered even that, they could do nothing, and even the thought of avenging the Leader vanished.

“Just because you follow someone does not mean you are permitted to commit sins either.”

Jang Sam-tae quietly listened to those words and thought.

Right now, Dan Woo-hyun seemed to be lecturing them as the Martial God.

The tragedies that occurred in the Shaanxi region, these thousands of believers before him were people who would stop at nothing for their Leader.

They killed their own families, committed crimes, and lived without even a sense of guilt, solely with the single-minded belief of serving the Martial God and the Leader.

To such people…

‘He did not even kill them…’

Jang Sam-tae swallowed hard.

Wiping away the blood he was drenched in, he looked around at each person.

Except for the Leader, everyone else was alive.

Most had broken bones or severe wounds, but they were breathing and seemed likely to survive if they rested.

“Scram.”

Eventually, Dan Woo-hyun’s single word was heard.

That sound, uttered as he looked at the thousands of people, subdued everyone’s spirit like a clap of thunder.

It was a word that broke even their brainwashed minds.

The believers glanced at each other and then quietly turned their backs.

Dan Woo-hyun’s martial power was not just overwhelming, it was like heaven’s judgment.

Also, the one-sided death of the Leader they had blindly followed felt as if it had shattered the faith they held.

Jang Sam-tae shook his head in amazement.

Soon, the moment he looked at Dan Woo-hyun again.

“W-What are you doing?”

Looking at him with an absurd expression, he was lost for words.

Dan Woo-hyun was searching the dead Leader’s pockets. The bank notes retrieved from the pockets were held in his hand, and even though they were stained bright red with blood, he folded them neatly.

“Collection.”

“Even so, are you really searching a corpse?”

“Should I not retrieve the money? Or will you work to earn our travel expenses?”

Jang Sam-tae shook his head repeatedly.

He absolutely did not want to do that.

Since a fairly long journey lay ahead, he had no desire to camp outdoors or hunt to get by.

“Then you search them too.”

“Sigh…”

Heaving a long sigh, Jang Sam-tae glanced at the fallen guards. Some were unconscious, and some were not.

Those who were unconscious posed no problem, but those who were awake stared with wide eyes the moment his hand reached into their pockets.

They seemed to ask what on earth he was doing.

Thwack!

“Guh!”

Jang Sam-tae closed their eyes for them.

He grabbed a stone from the ground and struck their heads.

It was not enough to kill them.

Though their heads would ache as if they were going to split.

“It is fine as long as they are alive, just alive.”

In that manner, he searched the guards’ pockets one by one and gathered a few silver coins, but it was far less than the money Dan Woo-hyun had spent.

He glanced at Dan Woo-hyun as if checking his reaction.

He saw that Dan Woo-hyun had a dissatisfied expression.

“It is not enough.”

“They must have hidden it somewhere.”

“Search for it.”

“Yes?”

“I said search for it.”

“…”

Jang Sam-tae became certain at that single word.

Could it be that Dan Woo-hyun’s execution of this Leader was not because he defiled the name of the Martial God, but rather because he aimed for this?

‘He thought he could collect more money.’

Since the Leader collected a lot of money from the believers, Dan Woo-hyun must have predicted that there would be at least dozens or hundreds of times more money.

Looking at the Leader’s limp corpse, Jang Sam-tae swallowed a groan.

Even if he asked the guards, there was no way they would know where the Leader hid the money.

In the end, the one who had to search this entire vast place was none other than Jang Sam-tae.

“Oh, damn it!”

Cursing, Jang Sam-tae began to search every nook and cranny.

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