Chapter 412: Chapter 412

“What a stubborn guy who won’t open his mouth.”

Smack-!

Cheon Mun-gwang threw a punch in annoyance.

Bi Cheon-ung’s body moved back and forth from the punch, making a violent sound.

Dozens of bones in his body were already smashed, and his face was unrecognizable.

It was swollen and bleeding.

Even his consciousness was slowly fading away.

It might have been better to faint or die like this, but as if Cheon Mun-gwang’s punches would not allow such a thing, Bi Cheon-ung’s mind rather became clearer every time he was hit.

Bi Cheon-ung felt his helplessness.

Except for the Martial Emperor, he had never been treated as a weakling by anyone.

However, everything was useless in front of Cheon Mun-gwang.

The techniques he had, his movements, and everything he learned to kill people were completely ineffective, and only the one-sided beating stimulated his mind.

Was this how it felt to be weak?

Was this how the people who died by his hands felt?

Was it the feeling of a rabbit facing a tiger?

Bi Cheon-ung sank down in despair.

“K… kill… me…”

“Ha… wow, there’s no way I would do that.”

Cheon Mun-gwang lightly patted the shoulders of the slumped Bi Cheon-ung. He fixed his messy clothes and tore off a piece of his bloodless clothing to wipe the blood from his face.

That whole series of actions was truly bizarre.

“Now, tell me straight. What exactly did the Martial Emperor order you to do? I’m telling you, it will be easier if you just say that.”

He comforted him and patted his shoulders.

It was a look like he was soothing a child.

Cheon Mun-gwang had been keeping an eye on this man named Bi Cheon-ung for a long time.

The one the Martial Emperor entrusted with tasks.

It seemed like he was just poking around here and there committing slaughter, but if one looked back at each incident, there were reasons for them.

Considering that it was the Martial Emperor’s order when he first appeared and made a name for himself, it would not be strange to judge that every single action of this Bi Cheon-ung moved because of his orders.

“You wouldn’t just be wandering around looking for the Martial God’s Manual. No matter how I think about it, isn’t it strange? The one who spread the Martial God’s Manual was that bastard Martial Emperor, yet you’re rather going around retrieving it?”

If he recalled one by one the places the Blood Emperor Bi Cheon-ung had attacked and massacred, they were those who were lucky enough to obtain the Martial God’s Manual.

Of course, there was no such solid proof, but a simple guess is sometimes more accurate than solid proof.

“Kill… me.”

“Look at this fool?”

Crack-!

Cheon Mun-gwang threw another punch.

Bi Cheon-ung’s body, which was hit in the face, bent sharply backward. But as if he had no intention of ending it there, he reached out again, grabbed his collar, and pulled him in.

Cheon Mun-gwang’s fist moved again towards the face of Bi Cheon-ung, who was dragged forward.

Smack, smack, smack!

The sound of a watermelon smashing could be heard loudly to the point of being noisy.

A strong power that would have already blown off the head of an ordinary person.

Flinching and twitching while being beaten, Bi Cheon-ung spat out blood and fiercely held on.

“Hahaha, how about you stop?”

At that moment, a person’s voice was heard without a sound or rumor.

Surprised, Cheon Mun-gwang stopped his fist and turned his head.

There stood an old man.

Pure white hair.

Pure white martial arts uniform.

A benevolent appearance like the immortals in stories.

Looking only at his smiling face, one might think he was just an ordinary old man without even any hostility, but the moment Cheon Mun-gwang saw his face, he grimaced and let go of Bi Cheon-ung.

“I didn’t know you would travel to a place like this.”

“Haha, one naturally gets to see Wanderers in unexpected places.”

“A wanderer…”

Cheon Mun-gwang looked at the old man with a displeased gaze.

Why did that old man suddenly appear?

All sorts of thoughts tangled in his head.

“Are you okay?”

At that time, the figure of the old man who was ten zhang away suddenly disappeared, and a voice was heard from his side. Startled, Cheon Mun-gwang turned his gaze and saw the old man helping the fallen Bi Cheon-ung up.

Cheon Mun-gwang’s eyebrows twitched.

“What are you doing in a place like this? You must have things to do, right?”

“…”

Bi Cheon-ung could not open his mouth.

It was a hundred times better to face Cheon Mun-gwang. The moment the old man in front of him appeared, a thrill ran through his entire body and he felt such pressure that he couldn’t even breathe.

Cold sweat poured down his bloodstained face.

“Come, come, go quickly. Don’t tell me… you’re rejecting this old man’s order?”

“…”

Bi Cheon-ung could not answer.

His whole body hurt and suffered.

In truth, it was a situation where it was hard to even take a single step, but he forced himself to endure the pain and started walking. It was an order from the old man, not anyone else.

Refusing it was something that could never happen.

“Hahaha, you thought well. Hurry on your way.”

The staggering Bi Cheon-ung slowly disappeared from view. It was clear he wouldn’t go far before collapsing if he continued like that, but for now, disappearing from the old man’s sight was the priority.

Soon, when Bi Cheon-ung was completely out of sight, the old man’s gaze returned to Cheon Mun-gwang.

Their eyes met.

Red eyes like the Blood Demon, who was once an enemy of Dan Woo-hyun.

However, what was different from the Blood Demon was the chilliness that condensed in those eyes.

A gaze that seemed to pierce through all creation in the universe.

It was the same for Dan Woo-hyun, but the difference was heaven and earth compared to this old man in front of him.

If Dan Woo-hyun vaguely peeked into minds and thoughts, this old man seemed to dig through one’s head and forcibly pull it out.

“Hahaha-.”

The old man smiled.

The sound of laughter let out without a word was almost unpleasant.

Cheon Mun-gwang swallowed a groan while sweating cold sweat.

“So, did you find anything out?”

“…I killed Ryu Hwagun.”

“Oho… you did very well with that. He was the most annoying guy anyway… By the way, why are you in a place like this?”

“I dropped by purely by chance.”

“You dropped by by chance and caught that guy…? Is that what you’re saying?”

Cheon Mun-gwang nodded.

What formed on his lips was a bloody sneer. It was the same for the old man. They were both people who read each other’s minds and grasped their thoughts.

That was why every word that came out felt like nothing more than a funny joke.

“Right, there is something I want to ask…”

“What is it?”

“About that child named Dan So-mi…”

The old man’s eyes sparkled the moment the name Dan So-mi came out. Cheon Mun-gwang already seemed to have noticed to some extent.

“Did you send it to him?”

At that one word, the old man smiled extremely kindly.

* * *

The three children stared intently at the fox lying sound asleep. Even though they placed all sorts of snacks including sweet candies right in front of its nose, the fox didn’t even look as if it had no interest.

“That’s why I said we should have bought raw meat.”

“No, they say they eat livers! Livers…”

Saying the words about eating human livers, Hong Jinrang grabbed his abdomen. He didn’t know where the liver was, but it was an action as if saying absolutely do not eat his.

But the fox kept its eyes closed quietly and didn’t even react to the children’s attention.

It wanted to shout, ‘I don’t eat things like livers!’, but it felt like if it spoke, it would get even more attention from these children, so it suppressed it tightly.

Someone grabbed its tail from behind.

Not liking that, it pulled it out with a strong force, and a voice of disappointment was heard.

‘Don’t touch me!’

She wanted to say that.

The reason she didn’t open her eyes and look at the children was that she thought they would bother her more if she did.

Enduring the children’s persistent harassment for quite a while like that, the fox didn’t open its eyes till the end.

The children who had continuously rushed at it seemed to have slowly grown sick of it too, and one by one stepped back, busy playing other games.

At that moment, the fox slightly opened its eyes and looked at Dan So-mi.

The other children were fine too, but the one that caught its eye the most was that child.

At that time, a ‘meow’ sound was heard.

The white cat, which had come inside through the window at some point, moved nimbly and stepped onto Dan So-mi’s head. Its gaze silently headed towards the fox, and it was a playful look as if asking to play.

‘Go away!’

The fox’s eyes sharpened.

It didn’t want to deal with the white cat when the children alone were too much to handle.

When it emitted a strong energy and grimaced, the white cat let out a low cry and hid itself in Dan So-mi’s arms.

“Ahaha, it’s… ticklish, wait… just a moment!”

Dan So-mi burst into a bright laugh.

Since it went into her body, its fur caused a tickle. Seeing Dan So-mi giggling for a long time, the two children didn’t know what to do and were restless.

If possible, they wanted to put their hands in and pull it out, but Hong Jinrang was a boy, and Ju Jiyak’s touch wouldn’t work on the white cat.

Since it didn’t like anyone other than Dan So-mi touching it, they might get seriously hurt if they did something unnecessary.

In the end, it was only after struggling for a long time that the white cat left her arms and Dan So-mi regained her freedom.

“Haa… haa… that… was hard.”

Sighing, Dan So-mi wiped her cold sweat.

When she glared strongly at the white cat, the white cat let out a small cry, “Meow!”, still seeming not to know what it had done.

“It really causes so much trouble… The cat I used to raise before wasn’t like this.”

“You raised a cat before?”

The two children tilted their heads.

When did ‘before’ mean? As far as the children knew, the first things raised in the Hunan Dan family were the white cat and the white tiger, and there was nothing after that.

If so, they wondered if it meant the place she originally lived, and their eyes sparkled.

Because they had never heard a story about her life there from Dan So-mi until now.

“Yeah! Our house originally had a cat. But that kid ran away, so we went around looking for it for a long time.”

Even though Dan So-mi was telling an old story, she wasn’t steeped in sorrow. The death of her parents was still sad now, but she felt somewhat free from the shock.

Ju Jiyak smiled softly.

“Then I met some grandpa. I went around looking for the cat with that grandpa.”

“You amazingly managed to go around like that with a stranger.”

“Hehe, our village was originally a place where people didn’t visit much, so it was super fascinating. We talked a lot too…”

“Talked?”

“Yeah, he told me a lot of old tales. Things about dragons, or a nine-tailed fox existing…”

At the word nine-tailed fox, Dan So-mi glanced at the fox.

The fox, which hadn’t shown any interest until now, stared intently at Dan So-mi with its two eyes open.

“I also heard about the legend of the Martial God… and this and that about the Eight Immortals…”

“Is he an enthusiast? Seeing how he knows so many stories.”

“I’m not sure. Actually… I can’t remember much… That day…”

Dan So-mi lowered her head with a small groan.

The moment they saw that, the children realized.

Without a doubt, that event must have happened on that day. Relatives dying and her parents passing away right in front of So-mi’s eyes.

It would be no exaggeration to say that heavenly luck was with her just to barely save her life.

Then, as if suddenly recalling something, Dan So-mi tilted her head.

“Come to think of it, he resembles… that fortune teller grandpa we saw last time for some reason.”

The fox’s eyes deepened a little more.

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