Chapter 453: Chapter 453

“Just what on earth is going on? Hong Won-chang attacked the Manor Lord, the Manor Lord was attacked… trying to kill, and also… what are these fellows?”

“Ask only one thing.”

Dan Woo-hyun frowned and shook his sword.

The blood-stained blade drew fresh blood on the floor with a splash. The sprawled remnants were in a state where they could not be seen as human, and even Tang Mun-hye, who had immunity to killing humans, had to retch at that disgusting appearance.

“Ugh!”

Tang Mun-hye trembled her hand finely.

She engraved in her eyes the spectacle of this many people dying at once. Although she knew he was existence risen to a level where cutting humans was not even work, to pour attacks to the extent that not even their trace remained?

It could not be thought of as an ordinary person’s idea.

“Just… who are they?”

“It would have been one of the things you were looking for.”

Tang Mun-hye woke up with a flash and raised her head. In truth, because there were no remaining remnants, discerning who it was was also at a difficult level, but if Dan Woo-hyun’s words were true, there was a possibility they were the subordinates of that thing called the monster.

If so, did it mean it was human rather than a monster?

With the doubt resolved in her head, she looked at Dan Woo-hyun.

However, without saying more, he turned his back.

“Wait a moment! At least tell me what happened!”

“There is no need for you to care.”

“Ugh!”

Tang Mun-hye wanted to hold onto Dan Woo-hyun by all means.

She was in a state of wishing to hear even a tiny clue or some word, but as if telling her not to get involved anymore, Dan Woo-hyun did not say any word.

Tang Mun-hye felt unpleasantness at that and opened her mouth.

“This is a matter of the Heavenly Dao Society! If there is something you know…”

“Whether the Heavenly Dao Society or whatever, it is none of my business.”

“…….”

A voice second to none in sternness.

She did not feel she could turn back that heart no matter what kind of words she spoke.

To Tang Mun-hye, who originally knew nothing about Dan Woo-hyun, Dan Woo-hyun was merely nothing more than a difficult person. Thus, addressing him as if pressing him was harder than anything.

The moment she clenched her fists while wearing a resentful expression, Dan Woo-hyun’s voice was heard.

“There is no time. Let us move.”

“Wh… Where are you going?”

Jang Sam-tae followed Dan Woo-hyun’s back while embarrassed.

In truth, because he could not know what kind of talk went back and forth between the two, he could not understand why he tried to move so urgently.

But urgency was felt in his steps, and his expression was also considerably stiff.

‘Crazy! Crazy…! It seems they picked a fight properly, though?’

Jang Sam-tae knew.

Just how angry Dan Woo-hyun was right now.

That his expression was not revealed did not mean a person did not get angry. Because he was angrier than anyone, his face could be even stiffer.

Jang Sam-tae drew in his head the gruesome appearance of those whom he did not know who they were.

Perhaps it will unmistakably become so.

He clicked his tongue, saying ‘Tsk tsk’.

At that moment, Dan Woo-hyun, who was going ahead, put away his sword and spoke.

“Hong Won-chang has been kidnapped.”

“Ye… Yes?!”

Jang Sam-tae momentarily thought whether his ears went wrong. Since they said the fellow who should be in Hunan was suddenly kidnapped, his head did not roll properly.

If so, did it mean that fellow just earlier was not Hong Won-chang?

“No, just earlier…”

“It was one who performed disguise.”

“…Is there also a person who uses disguise technique grand enough that even the Manor Lord gets fooled?”

He asked with an expression of truly not understanding.

It was Dan Woo-hyun of all people, the absolute under heaven.

Although he thought he could pierce through and see it at once even if he disguised, Dan Woo-hyun really did not seem to know until he approached.

Countless thoughts flashed in Jang Sam-tae’s head.

“Ma… Manor Lord, are the guys we have to face… a bit too dangerous?”

“…Yes.”

“At best, even the Manor Lord could die, is it something like that?”

“Yes.”

He replies without even contemplating.

Instantly, Jang Sam-tae got goosebumps all over his body.

Being with Dan Woo-hyun, he felt relieved no matter what happened. This was because he knew Dan Woo-hyun would not die under any circumstances.

Even if there was someone who revealed himself shouting how strong he was, knowing they were merely a candle before the wind in front of Dan Woo-hyun, if he was by his side, he could clear through any matter.

One of the reasons he tried to accompany this journey with Dan Woo-hyun was also because the judgment lay underneath that although it would be somewhat hard and tiring, no one would die.

However, it was not so.

A person who commands disguise technique perfect enough that even Dan Woo-hyun gets fooled.

To think such a person was a subordinate at most?

If they met a truly real one, it would become a situation where even Jang Sam-tae’s corpse could not be recovered, just as Dan Woo-hyun had spoken.

Jang Sam-tae broke into a cold sweat drop by drop.

“Ma… Manor Lord…”

“Hong Won-chang has been kidnapped. Since we must chase the backs of the fellows, there is no time. Pack your luggage and follow.”

“Y… Yes…”

Jang Sam-tae had to nod his head while on the verge of tears.

A mood indescribable in words rushed in.

He should at least run away, but since Dan Woo-hyun’s atmosphere was not good, he could by no means do so.

Holding back tears, Jang Sam-tae ran toward the inn in a hurry. The moment he entered inside there, his gaze met Tang Mun-hye, who was exerting efforts to grasp the surrounding situation.

“Just… what happened…”

Although she asked questions to Jang Sam-tae again while unable to resolve the doubt, Jang Sam-tae packed his bundle one by one without bringing himself to give answers.

* * *

Hong Won-chang felt a sensation of something moistly wetting his cheek and opened his eyes. Simultaneously with waking, his head throbbed and a crazy pain rushed in.

“Mmmgh… Just… what on earth happened…”

Enduring the pain, he quietly looked around.

He could not know where this place was.

The surroundings were oddly noisy, and moisture stimulated his entire body. Turning his eyes to perceive the situation as fast as possible, he checked the place where he was.

“Grass bushes…? How did this…”

Feeling the touch of the grass bushes, he inhaled a deep breath.

Since his entire body was wet though it did not seem to have rained, he seemed to have lain in this place for a considerably long time.

Even more, he was alone.

The figures of the subordinates who headed to Beijing together were not seen.

He tried to lift his hand to move his body, but that was not easy.

Because his entire body was bound with ropes.

“Are you awake?”

At that moment, a voice was heard around him.

Surprised, looking up after raising his head, a familiar face was seen.

“Y… You fellow…?”

“Nice to meet you for the first time, County Magistrate. Although I did not know I would see you in this kind of place, though.”

The man let out a big laugh.

A person holding a large ring-pommel saber in one hand and emitting a considerable pressure. Even at a glance, he looked to have equipped uncommon skill, and that killing intent was thickly soaked on his entire body looked as if he had been covered in blood for a long time.

Hong Won-chang knew who he was.

Some time ago, he was a person who killed one of the high-ranking officials in Beijing and fled.

Because he completely hid his trace, let alone the Eastern Depot, even the Brocade Clad Guard lost his whereabouts, and thanks to that, to solve this case, Hong Won-chang, who was in Hunan, was on his way to Beijing upon receiving the Emperor’s call.

But why was this guy in front of his eyes now?

Instantly, memory flashed through Hong Won-chang’s head.

A man suddenly appeared.

A person with a pale face and a severely bent back.

He could be called a hunchback, and his fingernails were several times longer than an ordinary person’s, and his lips were bright red as if holding blood.

He suddenly appeared in front of Hong Won-chang.

Without even time to try something, his subordinates died miserably, and he approached and extended his hand toward Hong Won-chang’s head.

Momentarily, everything turned pitch black.

His head turned into a mess, and it was a sensation as if all the memories he held were sucked into him.

The moment he realized that once again, Hong Won-chang trembled his body.

“Who… is it…?”

“Hahaha, have you still not come to your senses?”

The man’s voice did not reach his ears.

Merely the face of that hunchback, which was seen dimly, remained like an afterimage and was not erased.

The moment he recalled the face, he fell into fear like crazy.

“I never knew you would be stretched out in such a place. The famous County Magistrate Hong, that is. Heaven helped indeed.”

“Plague Demon…!”

“Haha, that name is indeed heard after a long time. Well, although it is an incorrect alias since I do not go around spreading disease, though.”

The Plague Demon, Kang Ja-jung.

A person who had never revealed his appearance properly until now. However, let alone murder, if it was work that made money, he even sold off children.

There was also a saying that the reason he got the alias of Plague Demon was that to kill a person he contracted, he put a rotten corpse in a well and spread disease to the entire village.

Of course, although such facts were not confirmed, that he was an evil person was true, and that his personality was extremely cruel also seemed unmistakable.

“But how did you recognize me? There should have been no one who saw my face, though…?”

The Plague Demon, Kang Ja-jung, asked while wearing a peculiar expression.

The reason why he was still not caught even after committing atrocious acts was precisely because he did not reveal his face under any circumstances.

Thus, there was no way a portrait would circulate, and even if by chance there was someone who saw his face, since they died without living even a day, being caught was a situation that made no sense itself.

Yet Hong Won-chang recognized the Plague Demon at once.

From Kang Ja-jung’s standpoint, it was a highly unpleasant thing.

Because that someone knew his face and also the County Magistrate grasped it was the same as saying that let alone the Imperial Court, other places could also recognize him.

“Hmph! Do you think I would tell you such a thing!”

“Ah, dear, dear…”

Kang Ja-jung half-closed his eyes and scratched his head.

Muttering, ‘I do not particularly like things like torture…’ he inserted a dagger, which he withdrew before long, into Hong Won-chang’s thigh.

“Kkeuaaaak!”

“It is a good sound. Actually, I like listening to the voice of a dying person best. Do you know why that is?”

“…Keuh.”

“Because that feeling of life disappearing slowly is so good.”

Hong Won-chang gritted his teeth and glared at Kang Ja-jung.

His blade dug into the thigh once again. Extreme pain stimulated his head and a pain hard to endure rushed in, but Hong Won-chang endured.

In the first place, the one who sent the Plague Demon’s portrait was Hao Sect Leader Gu Mu-ak, and to speak of that was a betrayal to Gu Mu-ak, who had chased the Plague Demon with difficulty and sold that information.

At best, a third-rate sect.

Even if one might think whether the life of such a thing as the Hao Sect Leader mattered, by the Plague Demon’s nature, it would never end with one or two people dying.

Even if it meant his death, he would never speak it.

“Hmm…”

The Plague Demon let out a groan at that gaze filled with determination.

He had met many kinds of people.

Also, grasping their nature was an easy task too. The moment he received the look that he would never let it out of his mouth, the Plague Demon scratched his head as if it was annoying and lifted the dagger.

“Ah! A good idea occurred. First, I shall cut your neck and… send you to your house. On the day your funeral is held, one by one… I will kill them. That a family goes on the same day at the same hour, how good is it? One does not have to set up memorial tables two or three times… Of course, I wonder if there would even be someone to set it up, though. Hahaha.”

“You… You son of a bitch!”

Hong Won-chang resisted violently and tried to pounce.

But Kang Ja-jung lightly pushed away the approaching Hong Won-chang’s head and picked up the dagger.

He fell into the thought of where and how to cut so this official would scream a bit more plausibly.

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