CH 190

Unfortunately, Jin Bao's body didn't move according to his wishes. The impact from the car rolling down the hill had to have been stronger than he thought. A regular person would have instantly died from an accident at that speed.

“Cough!”

A dry cough escaped from his throat. Jin Bao pushed the door, but it didn't open. The fall had to have bent the chassis out of shape.

“Keuk...!”

Jin Bao raised his leg and began kicking at the door.

Bang! Bang!

He circulated his Qi and kicked several times, eventually causing the door to crumple and fly off its hinges.

“Urgh...”

Jin Bao barely pulled himself out and tumbled to the ground. He lay on his back, staring at the darkened sky above. His breathing was heavy and shallow.

He struggled to use both of his hands to push himself off the ground.

'Just how... How did things turn out this way?'

Wasn't this commission supposed to be a cakewalk? A stroll in the park? Who could have guessed that Jin Bao would find himself in this situation?

“H-how dare that brat...!” Jin Bao gasped in distress.

Just as he tried to force himself up, however... A hushed whisper cold enough to send a deathly chill down his spine tickled his ears. “Now we finally get to greet each other properly.”

Jin Bao froze up instantly.

'W-when did he?!'

He hadn't picked up any presence around him, so when did Kang Jin-Ho arrive behind him?! Jin Bao's body began to tremble from fear.

'I made a mistake! I shouldn't have provoked him!'

This bastard named Kang Jin-Ho was like a tenacious and rabid hound. Once he set his eyes on a target, he would never look back. One should be prepared to lose their life when trying to provoke such an individual. Jin Bao's fatal mistake this time was accepting this commission without sufficient resolve.

'Get a hold of yourself, Jin Bao!' 

Jin Bao bit his lower lip, hard.

He had to calm down and coldly assess this situation. Kang Jin-Ho's audacity and tenaciousness had been fully demonstrated now, but those qualities didn't automatically mean he was strong.

Maybe this was for the best. With the two of them alone, away from the public's view, maybe Jin Bao could fight Kang Jin-Ho and tear off the brat's—

When you're just trying to make great content at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

Grab!

Something grabbed Jin Bao's throat and pulled him up clean off the ground.

“...!” Jin Bao couldn't even gasp in shock or pain. Right in front of his nose were Kang Jin-Ho's eyes, seemingly burning in the flames of the netherworld.

Jin Bao couldn't breathe. He couldn't even move a muscle. The fear of his head being ripped off by Kang Jin-Ho if he dared to budge an inch ruled every fiber of Jin Bao's being.

“What should I say…” Kang Jin-Ho spoke in a sinister and eerie voice. It was a voice that seemed soft and hushed yet still contained an unexplainable resonance capable of shaking up the listener's mind. Such a voice slowly crept into Jin Bao's ears.

“...Right. I should say this has been fun.” Kang Jin-Ho nodded in acknowledgment. “I haven't felt such emotions and sensations in a long time. And it has been quite exciting as well. Maybe I should thank you for making me feel such emotions once more.”

A low chuckle leaked out of Kang Jin-Ho's mouth. Just from his expression or the tone of his voice, one might mistakenly think Kang Jin-Ho was being amiable right now. However, Jin Bao could tell the truth, which prevented him from moving.

Kang Jin-Ho's eyes...! Those coldly-withdrawn eyes weren’t smiling at all. Eyes filled with killing intent belonging to a hungry beast ready to rip Jin Bao's throat off were mere inches away from his face. So, how could he ever think that they were having an amiable conversation here?

“It has been fun. Truly. However...” Kang Jin-Ho leaned closer and growled into Jin Bao's ears. “Don't you think you've gone too far?”

And Kang Jin-Ho's hand began to squeeze Jin Bao's throat.

“Kkeuh... huk! Kkeuhhuk...!” Jin Bao's body spasmed and quivered as if he was suffering from a seizure.

'Why... Why does it hurt so much?!'

Jin Bao couldn't understand his condition. Wasn't he a martial artist? Hadn't he already experienced his throat getting choked many times before? But he had never felt pain strong enough to make his body spasm like this. Certainly not from merely getting choked!

“Kkeuh… Huuph!”

Amidst the pain intense enough to almost completely bleach Jin Bao's hair, he finally figured out the 'reason' why it hurt so much. And it started with Kang Jin-Ho's hand grabbing his throat. Cold and violent Qi was slowly flooding into Jin Bao's body through that hand!

“Kkeuuuuhk!”

The Qi invading his body was destroying Jin Bao's own Qi and roaming inside his meridians unchecked. The pain akin to his skin being stabbed by needles and electrocuted rocked him, and he had no choice but to experience everything in full without being able to lift a finger. All the blood vessels in Jin Bao's eyes burst, dyeing them deeply crimson.

He had never even imagined that such intense pain could possibly exist in this world—not even once! What tormented him even more was the knowledge of the invading Qi thoroughly destroying his body on top of making him suffer!

The sensation of his meridians and acupuncture points swelling up before bursting apart registered vividly in Jin Bao's brain. He dearly wished to black out instead of experiencing this pain and despair, but for some reason, his mind remained clear and even sharper.

“I can more or less understand why you'd aim for me. Although I don't forgive those who dare to challenge me…” Kang Jin-Ho smirked and muttered, “Every crime deserves an appropriate punishment, don't you agree? For you, I might have graciously forgiven you in exchange for your arm. You dared to shove a knife in my face, but I was able to enjoy myself in turn, after all. But now…”

Kang Jin-Ho's voice suddenly became an angry growl of a predator. “You shouldn't have threatened my family.”

Griiip!

“Kkeuuuuhk!” Jin Bao twisted and writhed against the powerful grip trying to crush his throat. He grabbed Kang Jin-Ho's hand and struggled in vain.

Sounds of his neck getting crushed rang out, signaling that Jin Bao's death was only seconds away.

‘Am I gonna die? Like this?! Am I going to die in such a pathetic way?!’

“K-kuwaaaaaahk!”

Jin Bao's struggles became more desperate. The physical pain hadn't weakened at all, but the fear of death managed to gain an upper hand. Kang Jin-Ho stared at Jin Bao’s desperate struggle and smirked insidiously.

“Cough, cough! Huff, huff!”

Jin Bao began coughing and wheezing when cold air suddenly rushed into his lungs.

'W-what's going on?'

Jin Bao urgently raised his head, realizing that his throat was no longer being crushed. Kang Jin-Ho had released his grip and taken a step back. His intense stare made the kneeling Jin Bao shudder.

Kang Jin-Ho eventually raised his voice. “Since you want to struggle, I guess I should give you a chance.”

Jin Bao flinched, his muscles tightening. His pride began rearing its head from deep inside his heart from that provocation.

'Yeah, I know you're strong. However...!'

Kang Jin-Ho was undoubtedly strong. That much was rather obvious just from the little snippets of the capabilities he had shown so far. However, Jin Bao hadn’t gotten to where he was professionally by dealing with only enemies weaker than himself.

“You... You’ve underestimated me!” Jin Bao gritted his teeth. The truth was, he had already lost count of how many people stronger than him he managed to kill until now.

Whoosh!

Jin Bao's hands were quickly filled with ten daggers, five in each hand. “I shall tear the flesh off your bones!”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes at Jin Bao's threat before smirking faintly. He was clearly mocking his challenger. “Let me say this again. You…”

Crunch...

Sounds of bones popping rang loudly from Kang Jin-Ho's clenched fists.

“...Have provoked someone you shouldn't have.”

“Nonsense!”

Fwhooosh!

Daggers flew out of Jin Bao's hands. They headed toward Kang Jin-Ho while slicing through the cold night air.

Swiiiish! Fwhooooosh-!

They were not flying in a straight line, either. The ten daggers all drew bizarre arcs and performed sudden changes of directions in mid-air to attack Kang Jin-Ho from not just his front, but also from his sides and above. At first glance, all of his escape routes seemed to have gotten blocked.

Jin Bao glared murderously at Kang Jin-Ho, his eyes crimson after all the blood vessels in them had burst.

'Let's see if you can dodge this!'

So many bastards proudly boasting about their superior strengths had died from this attack. Unless his opponents were close, Jin Bao was confident of coming out as a victor in most long-ranged battles.

As proof, behold! Kang Jin-Ho was rooted to the spot, unable to escape!

“Die!” Jin Bao cried out.

But then, something unbelievable happened.

“A mere parlor trick.” Kang Jin-Ho frowned a little while leisurely raising his hands. And—

Grab! Grab! Grab! Grab!

Kang Jin-Ho proceeded to catch all the incoming daggers in the air. Jin Bao involuntarily covered his slack jaw with both hands at this unbelievable sight. He was so shocked that his heart threatened to leap out of his mouth.

'How... How is that even possible?!'

Catching a knife thrown by an ordinary person was already challenging enough. But those daggers were thrown by a martial artist. And not just any martial artist—it was Jin Bao! He threw those daggers with the help of his Qi, yet Kang Jin-Ho caught them all with his bare hands?!

'My daggers are sharp enough to pierce steel plates, so how?!'

It made no sense for human hands made out of tender flesh to catch daggers sharp enough to pierce steel. And without getting injured, to boot!

Should Jin Bao be shocked by Kang Jin-Ho’s explosive reaction speed that enabled him to instantly catch ten daggers in mid-air? Or should he be more shocked by the depth of Kang Jin-Ho’s cultivation that allowed him to catch daggers imbued with destructive Qi without any backlash? Jin Bao just couldn’t make up his mind.

“Hmm. A dagger throwing technique, is it...?” Kang Jin-Ho lightly tossed the daggers in the air to catch them the other way. After catching them all, Kang Jin-Ho smiled eerily and leisurely walked up to Jin Bao. “You're here to investigate me, aren't you?”

“...!”

“I know, I know. You can't answer me. Whether it's the past or present, pawns like you are only good for one thing, after all.” Kang Jin-Ho chuckled, then suddenly threw a dagger in his right hand.

FWHOOOOSH-!!!

Its flight speed was incomparably faster than when Jin Bao had thrown the same weapon. Unsurprisingly, its power was also in another realm altogether. The dagger flying at the figurative speed of the light went straight through Jin Bao's thigh, but it was so fast he couldn’t even react.

“...Huh?” Jin Bao couldn't even feel the pain at that moment—that was how stupendously fast the dagger was as it punctured through his flesh. He stared in disbelief at the hole in his thigh before the tsunami of pain gradually announced itself. He urgently grabbed his injured leg as he fell to the ground. “Kkuwaaaaaaah?!”

Kang Jin-Ho continued to walk up to Jin Bao rolling on the ground. He chuckled and muttered once again, “Maybe I'm being rather lenient with you.”

Blood was rushing up to Jin Bao's face. What was this insane bastard even talking about...?!

Crunch!

It was at that very moment that another dagger pierced Jin Bao's right hand. It went through his flesh and stabbed into the ground below, firmly restraining his right arm.

“Kuh-hurk?!”

Crunch! Crunch!!!

More daggers flew in to stab through various parts of Jin Bao's body, basically nailing him to the ground.

“...!” Jin Bao's mouth flew open from the intense pain shooting from his whole body, but no scream came out of his throat. He was indeed screaming endlessly in his head, but only the sound of the air being squeezed out of his throat came out of his open mouth.

Kang Jin-Ho stood over Jin Bao. “So, I'm going to teach you.”

“...!” Jin Bao looked up at his tormentor, his face a mess of tears and snot.

Kang Jin-Ho bared his fangs and cackled ominously. “I'm going to teach you all about me, starting now... So, go back to them and tell them everything you saw and felt today. Then... I'm sure they'll finally understand who I am.”

Jin Bao's eyes opened wider and wider as his pupils shook in pure fear. “Huff, huff! Fuuwook!”

Kang Jin-Ho's sinister grin deepened as he leaned closer to Jin Bao.

"You knew, didn't you?"

“...?”

“You knew that threatening my family would make me really angry. That's the only reason why you chose to show up today. To gauge my reaction. Am I wrong?” Kang Jin-Ho's grin was now a menacing snarl. “But what should I do? I don't know what makes you angry beyond reason, you see?”

Kang Jin-Ho lowered himself and leisurely reached out, grabbing Jin Bao's finger.

“Well, in that case... Let us find out together. One thing at a time.”

This was the moment when Jin Bao genuinely regretted his actions. He shouldn’t have accepted this job. Aside from that, he should have never threatened Kang Jin-Ho's family.

Jin Bao finally learned that—no matter how quick regret was—it would always come too late.