Chapter 75: The Encounter (6)
Kang Jin-Ho's voice echoed in the darkness, and then... An eerie silence descended on the surroundings. The silence was unnerving and ominous. It was as if this location, and this location only, had become isolated and cut off from the rest of the world.
Kang Jin-Ho growled quietly. “Come out before I drag you out myself. I won't repeat myself again.”
“Hah. But, you have already done that,” A quiet murmur replied to him as a figure leisurely stepped out from the nearby shadow. The figure narrowed his eyes. “When did you notice my presence?”
The shadowy figure turned out to be a middle-aged man wearing a fedora. His eyes were gleaming softly in the light of mild shock as if he had never expected to be discovered. This middle-aged man had always been confident in his skills in tailing a target, yet he got discovered for the first time ever.
Kang Jin-Ho replied in a flat voice, “Since the beginning...”
"Tsk, tsk," the middle-aged man tutted and shook his head. "Too bad. I've been tailing you for three months now."
It was Kang Jin-Ho's turn to tut instead. “As I said, since the beginning.”
The middle-aged man's expression stiffened, having finally understood what Kang Jin-Ho meant. "You... detected me that early "
“That's right...”
“Then, why haven't you called me out until now?”
Kang Jin-Ho sighed ruefully. “I didn't want to shatter it, you see.”
“...?”
“I didn't want to shatter this peace I've finally obtained after a lengthy struggle, that's why.”
The middle-aged man grinned deeply. "I see. You are far better than we expected, then."
Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes and studied the middle-aged man. Did he say 'we ’ Who was he talking about? And why was he monitoring Kang Jin-Ho without doing anything else for months
Honestly speaking, Kang Jin-Ho wasn't interested in finding out, so he kept avoiding the truth. However, it wasn't possible to do that anymore. It was time to uncover the hidden truth of this world.
Kang Jin-Ho quietly muttered, “Speak. Why have you been tailing me?”
“I heard you called for me, though?”
“I did?”
The middle-aged man adjusted his fedora a touch. "You told my stupid disciple to bring his master."
Kang Jin-Ho quickly combed through his memories. “Indeed, that did happen.”
There was a time when he ran into a martial practitioner in an alley during his high school years. He remembered telling that nameless practitioner something like that.
The middle-aged man grinned. “So, here I am.”
Kang Jin-Ho also grinned back at him. “Too bad for you, I don't enjoy silly jokes.”
"... "
“Especially jokes made by a rat that has been chasing after me. Such a thing makes me feel an urge to spill blood.”
“Kekeke.” The middle-aged cackled softly. “Do you want me to apologize, then?”
“I don't need it. Just spit out your purpose.”
The middle-aged man nodded slowly. “Well, in that case. I've been observing you these past months to determine what kind of a person you are.”
“Why?”
“We need to know who, or what, you are to figure out whether to bring you into our fold or eliminate you.”
What a worthless statement that was. At least to Kang Jin-Ho's ears. “So? What was your conclusion?”
"Well, that... I'm not certain." The middle-aged man scratched his cheeks sheepishly. "A guy like you has never appeared before. You really do have so many different facets, don't you? Even though you seem exceedingly evil, you can also be unbelievably kind. You come across as insensitive and dull, yet you have a surprisingly delicate touch. You can be as cold as ice, but also be sentimental. I swear, I've not seen a guy with so many opposing personalities like you before."
“...”
“So, I can't make up my mind here. What should I do about you? It's a quandary, alright.”
Kang Jin-Ho tutted. "Get to the point."
The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes as a fierce grin crept up on his lips. "We've been thinking. And, as it turns out, there had been no need for us to decide."
“What do you mean?”
“...!”
"Doesn't that mean I must close my eyes and cover my ears while you manipulate and mess around with my family and friends " Kang Jin-Ho mockingly asked as the smile on his lips distorted ever so slightly. That was all he did...
But that was more than enough to instantly transform the air Kang Jin-Ho had been giving off so far. The middle-aged man detected that sudden shift and hurriedly stumbled back, his entire body trembling fearfully. A sense of despair similar to falling into the pits of hell began crushing down on him.
“Urgh...” The middle-aged man's shoulders visibly shuddered.
'My... No, our assessment of him was wrong!'
The aura of slaughter gushing out from Kang Jin-Ho's figure tightened around the middle-aged man's throat like an iron noose. The dense, choking aura clawed at his skin, trying to rip him apart, while his heart felt like it would explode from the sheer pressure.
Kang Jin-Ho growled like a beast. “You dare?”
"Kuh-uhk!" The middle-aged man crumpled to the floor as if he was shoved down. Just how was Kang Jin-Ho doing this?! The middle-aged man couldn't stop shaking from shock. This demonstration confirmed that Kang Jin-Ho wasn't merely 'strong.’ No, this strength had to be at least equal to a powerful clan’s top heir. He was strong enough to command heaven and earth regardless of what era he was born in!
The middle-aged man cried out. “W-Who the hell are you?!”
“Don't you already know the answer?”
The middle-aged man's shivering grew even worse. Kang Jin-Ho disregarded that and slowly closed the distance, forcing the middle-aged man to stumble back without even realizing it.
'I... I'm scared? Me, scared of him?!'
The middle-aged man clenched his teeth while gripping the cane tightly.
Kang Jin-Ho slowly, oh-so agonizingly slowly closed the distance before stopping in front of the kneeling middle-aged man. The latter couldn't even lift a single finger in the meantime, even though Kang Jin-Ho hadn't been restraining him using an unknown power.
Yet, the middle-aged man could only kneel on the ground, unmoving. He thought even a flicker of his finger might get him ripped apart to shreds, and this fear had completely paralyzed him to the spot.
Kang Jin-Ho's lips slowly parted. “Don't be so scared. I'm a man of my words. I'll let you leave.”
“Kuk...”
“However, go and deliver my message to your friends. Do not provoke me. Do not snoop around my surroundings, either. If you don't heed my warning... You shall witness a living hell.”
“Urgh... eugh...”
With that, this conversation was over. Kang Jin-Ho turned around to leave.
He had been turning a blind eye to the unwelcome visitors snooping around until now as he didn't want to get tangled up in something troublesome. The truth was, though... He still had some thirst left for martial arts. He secretly desired his realm to be recognized and admired. He also wished to find someone to compare his current strength with.
Even so, Kang Jin-Ho suppressed his desires. To him, maintaining the current lifestyle was several times more important than fulfilling his worthless thirst for some martial prowess. Especially more so... if the ones chasing after him turned out to be no mere small fries but a professionally-run organization. Getting involved with those people would be tantamount to uprooting his current lifestyle from the ground up.
Kang Jin-Ho definitely didn't want that. Which left him with two options—either eliminate every single one of them or make them go away and leave him alone. In the end, he chose the latter.
The middle-aged man forced himself to say something. “Keuh... hehehe! You're strong. Truly strong!”
Kang Jin-Ho ignored him and kept walking away.
“To get this strong... Just how many times have you experienced it?”
However, that question stopped him in his tracks. Kang Jin-Ho's head slightly turned towards the still-kneeling middle-aged man.
Kang Jin-Ho's attention was no longer on this man, of course. But what the latter said managed to pique his interest nevertheless. Something about that question interested him, but it irritated him for some reason too.
‘Did he ask me how many times '
What did the middle-aged man even mean by that
The middle-aged man somehow raised his hand to adjust his fedora and began grinning. “Was it dozens of times? Or could it be hundreds?”
Kang Jin-Ho's head was fully turned around by now. Dozens of times? Hundreds? What experience was the middle-aged man talking about? It didn't make sense. However, Kang Jin-Ho's intuition still reacted sharply to the words that could be deemed random nonsense. It told him not to ignore what was being said here.
"Answer me, Kang Jin-Ho! Just how many hells did you overcome before returning to the modern era!"
Kang Jin-Ho's eyes opened wide, his whole body now turning around to face the middle-aged man. “Did you just say... hell?”
The middle-aged man flashed a toothy grin beneath his fedora. That was a smile of pure satisfaction. “Yes, hell. That place was hell. The ancient past we all call hell! Now, tell me! How many lives have you experienced before returning to the present, oh the returner from the past!”
Kang Jin-Ho began shuddering involuntarily. What... what was this man saying? What was he even trying to say?!
The middle-aged man landed one more critical blow right at that moment. “Did you really think you were the only one who managed to return from the past?”
The middle-aged man's smiling visage dug into Kang Jin-Ho's retinas.
The night was deepening while the moonlight was waning. The time was approaching the early dawn, just before the advent of twilight. And on this very spot... A new kind of wind was blowing.