CH 354

Vroooom...

Bang Jin-Hun glanced at his watch.

'We are late.'

The time lost due to the Japanese wasn't that long. Kang Jin-Ho didn't even need ten minutes to sort them out, anyway. However, the act of waiting for water to wash all the blood off Kang Jin-Ho took considerably longer. Worse still, more time was lost while humoring Kang Jin-Ho's whims.

Even if Bang Jin-Hun's authority was recognized within the Martial Assembly, he couldn't exactly tell the clean-up crew, 'Those poor bastards aren't dead yet. So, wait until they kick the bucket for good, and then start doing your thing.'

If he dared to say that, then in less than one day, everyone in the Assembly would start to gossip that Bang Jin-Hun's humanity had gone to the dogs. He definitely could not afford that.

In the end, Bang Jin-Hun resorted to persuading Kang Jin-Ho. After he finally got the go-ahead, Bang Jin-Hun quickly ended the lives of these suffering Japanese men before calling the clean-up crew.

And, after everything was said and done...

Bang Jin-Hun glanced at Kang Jin-Ho in the passenger seat and sighed grandly.

'Yup, he ain't even human...'

It wasn't an exaggeration to say that perfectly washing a blood-soaked body was near impossible, regardless of how much water was used. However, Kang Jin-Ho took care of that problem in an exceedingly simple manner.

Kang Jin-Ho picked up a 20L container filled with clean water, used his Pure Yang Qi to boil the water inside until the walls of the container began softening, then dumped the whole thing on top of his head.

While watching this scene, Bang Jin-Hun fell into the pit of a serious dilemma. Should he be amazed by Kang Jin-Ho's ability to boil that much water with his Pure Yang Qi? Or, should he be gobsmacked by how Kang Jin-Ho looked 'refreshed' after a container of boiling water was dumped on his head?

'Ah. So, this is how a traveling snake-oil salesman can stay afloat...'

The clean-up crew arrived promptly after receiving Bang Jin-Hun's phone call, but they all froze up stiff at the sight of all the corpses strewn about. Even if they were professionals, staying unaffected while looking at twenty corpses in various horrifying states would still be impossible. However, they all quickly forgot about their hesitation and fright when Kang Jin-Ho dumped the boiling water on top of his head. Some of them even went, 'Oh, oh! Wow!'

If a hat was tossed in front of Kang Jin-Ho, money would've filled it up to its brim in no time!

Bang Jin-Hun came to realize that a capable man could do anything and still look great while doing it. The proof was Kang Jin-Ho ably resolving his problem with unintentional showmanship sprinkled on top!

Bang Jin-Hun glanced again at Kang Jin-Ho, who was wordlessly staring at the passing scenery outside the car, and fell into another dilemma.

Should he... ask that question?

If Bang Jin-Hun and Kang Jin-Ho's alliance was temporary, there was no real need to ask this question. However, Bang Jin-Hun knew that wasn't the case. They were going to become partners in crime in various meanings, after all.

“Mister Jin-Ho, can I ask you something?”

“Sure. Please go ahead.”

“It might not be the most... pleasant question to answer, though.”

“It’s fine. I don't mind,” Kang Jin-Ho replied in a calm manner.

Bang Jin-Hun quickly sucked in a deep breath, then finally asked it. “I know they were our enemies, but was there a need to be so cruel and vicious?”

Kang Jin-Ho slightly turned his head in Bang Jin-Hun's direction. “Cruel and vicious?”

“Yes…” Bang Jin-Hun hesitantly replied. However, this topic had to be broached at some point, anyway. “You could've ended that a little more... I don't know, nicer? Even if they were our enemies, you could've finished the situation by killing them. So, I don't get why you prefer to deal with your enemies in that manner. If your intentions were not to kill them but to teach them a painful lesson, I can... sort of see it as a way to leave a lasting impression in their heads. But that's not what you're doing, either.”

Once the floodgates had opened, Bang Jin-Hun's words gushed out without any hints of stopping anytime soon.

“I know that's what you're like, Mister Jin-Ho. Even then... Let me put it this way. You're no longer fighting alone. You can agree with that, right? That kind of vicious tendency can make other people repulsed by you.”

Kang Jin-Ho silently stared at Bang Jin-Hun, his head slightly tilted.

Bang Jin-Hun sighed again. “As for me, what should I say... If I'm being honest here, I'm also a bit repulsed by all the bloodletting, Mister Jin-Ho. Even though I've lived a pretty hectic life, and even though I've killed before... You can argue that dying peacefully or painfully doesn't really matter since your enemies are gonna die anyway. However, that's not what people are like, you know? Even in abattoirs, cows are being killed as painlessly as possible, so…”

Kang Jin-Ho's head tilting intensified. “Repulsed, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Killing your enemies cruelly and viciously will repulse the others?”

“...Uh, yes?”

Bang Jin-Hun dazedly glanced at Kang Jin-Ho. However, the car nearly drifted to the next lane, so he urgently turned the steering to correct it.

'What the hell is up with that reaction?!'

Kang Jin-Ho looked genuinely confused as he asked Bang Jin-Hun. “But, isn't the painful death of the enemies, or utterly slaughtering them, the best way to raise the morale of one's allies?”

Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

“...Huh?“ Bang Jin-Hun's eyes began powerfully quaking just then. Just... just what era did this damn dude think he was living in?! “M-Mister Jin-Ho, you do realize how outdated that mindset is, don't you?”

“Outdated? Really?”

“Yes, Mister Jin-Ho. That's the old way of doing things.”

Obviously, barbaric things like that did happen many centuries ago. To raise the morale of one's allies, one would cruelly slaughter their enemies or drag the corpses of the vanquished around behind their chariots. Such things happened quite often in the past, but Kang Jin-Ho was living in the 21st century, for crying out loud!

“Mister Jin-Ho, you gotta remember that the era has changed.”

Kang Jin-Ho's expression was unreadable as he silently stared at Bang Jin-Hun. Eventually, though, he slowly nodded in acceptance. “Although our thoughts on this matter differ somewhat, I'll try to follow your counsel and control myself a little more in front of others.”

Bang Jin-Hun sighed and nodded.

'Well, I guess he has thought about it, at least.'

In that case, it might be worth the try to extend this conversation.

“...Mister Jin-Ho, can I ask you one more thing?”

“Of course.”

“You didn't do that to raise morale, did you? Because, whenever you were massacring your enemies, the only person around to witness it was me.”

“Sure.”

“So, why... Why do you keep going that far? Is it a force of habit, or...?”

Kang Jin-Ho pondered his answer a little before shaking his head. “I'm not sure. I don't exactly know how to answer you. That's because I've never thought that I was being especially cruel or excessive toward my enemies, you see?”

“Eh?”

“I've always thought I was restraining myself pretty well.”

“...Seriously?” Bang Jin-Hun's jaw dropped.

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled slightly at Bang Jin-Hun's incredulous expression.

'He would've lost his mind if he was unfortunate enough to live in that era...'

When Kang Jin-Ho was... 'active' in Zhongyuan, people often accused him of being too excessive but never cruel or vicious. How would Bang Jin-Hun react if he knew the truth?

“If there is nothing to gain by being cruel and vicious, I'll do my best to restrain myself. However, there is... a person's propensity to consider. I fear it might be difficult for me to change.”

“It's your propensity?”

“No, not exactly, but... How should I explain myself?” Kang Jin-Ho sighed softly. “As I've said before, if I lacked the strength to resist my enemies, I'd have died already.”

“Yes, that's true.”

“If you try to kill someone only to fail, you have no right to complain about the punishment you receive. I'm merely teaching them that lesson.”

Bang Jin-Hun clamped his mouth shut as a chill ran down his skin. He just realized that Kang Jin-Ho would not change no matter what was said to him. That was Kang Jin-Ho's nature, his inclination.

'And it's... not exactly wrong, either.'

Honestly speaking... If one tried to kill their enemy and failed, it'd be absurd for them to expect a painless, merciful death as their reward.

“Mister Jin-Ho, I won't bring this topic up anymore, but... I'd be grateful if you act a little more carefully when there are eyes watching you. As you may know, humans aren't always rational creatures. Some will instantly become hostile to you after seeing how cruel you are to your enemies.”

“Understood. I'll try to remember your advice.”

Kang Jin-Ho's reply sounding half-hearted couldn't have been Bang Jin-Hun's imagination.

'Might as well talk to a bloody wall...'

Bang Jin-Hun sighed deeply, then stomped on the accelerator.

***

“What the hell, man! What are the higher-ups thinking of while keeping us here till this hour! I want to get back to my lodging already!”

“How should I know?”

Those who were prevented from knocking off for the day by Bang Jin-Hun began complaining one by one.

The Martial Assembly usually didn't place many restrictions on its members. And it wasn't like they had anything particularly important to do by gathering up, either.

To the affiliated members, the Assembly was a place to train without worrying about anyone. It also served as a fixer that handled any potential problems martial artists might run into in the outside world. All that, for a small membership fee, of course.

That second 'service' on offer was seen as indispensable to the martial artists. Not to forget, the Assembly's executives were made up of who's-who of South Korea's top martial artists, too. These two factors were why the Martial Assembly could still boast the status of Korea's leading martial art organization.

Despite the term 'knocking off' being thrown around, the affiliated martial artists didn't do any work at the Assembly. All they had to do was 'commute' to the Assembly Hall once every few days to get their membership cards punched, then train for a few hours before retiring for the day.

That was the usual situation, but for today, Bang Jin-Hun ordered everyone who had commuted to stay put and wait for him. No wonder these martial artists were growing dissatisfied.

“You know what's going on here?”

“It's gotta be something to do with the Yeongnam Group, no? Those f*ckers have been acting totally crazy lately, you know.”

“...The Yeongnam Group!”

The mood within the hall rapidly grew icy at the mere mention of the Yeongnam Group.

“What's the matter with those bastards?”

“Crazy f*cks don't need reasons to do crazy sh*t, you know. They are just crazy, that's all,” Gong Yeong-Gil replied disinterestedly.

“Even if that's true! I don't care about what the Yeongnam Group bastards are doing since dealing with that sh*t is the higher-ups' job, isn't it! In that case, why do we need to stay and wait like this?”

“I said, how should I know?”

Yi Myeong-Hwan groaned while listening to the irritated reply from his fellow martial artist. He couldn't help but keep asking things since being forced to wait for unknown reasons until so late in the day was getting on his nerves.

Gong Yeong-Gil sighed. “Well, I did hear something, but…”

“Yeah?”

“The Assembly Master is bringing someone, apparently.”

“Someone? Like who?”

“Mm, well... I heard it was someone super important.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan tilted his head.

'Huh? Just how important is the guy our Assembly Master is bringing that we gotta wait like this?'

The 'Bang Jin-Hun' they know would never make his fellow martial artists wait around like this. He placed importance on substance and had no patience for empty formalities and facades. So, to think there was someone important enough for Bang Jin-Hun to make an exception to his rule...!

“Hey, maybe he's thinking of introducing his kid to us?” Yi Myeong-Hwan rubbed his chin.

Gong Yeong-Gil looked weirdly at Yi Myeong-Hwan. “...The Assembly Master is unmarried, dude.”

“Unmarried doesn't equal childless, man. Didn't you hear about how our Assembly Master used to be a bit of a playboy when he was still a youngster? It wouldn't be strange for him to have a kid or two stashed somewhere, you know?”

“Oh?” Gong Yeong-Gil pondered for a bit as if it didn't sound too implausible. However, he soon made his retort. “He's not that kind of a man.”

“...And that's what's been pissing me off. In that case, just who is coming? I wanna know!” Yi Myeong-Hwan whispered in a hushed voice.

“Someone told me earlier that it could be Kang Jin-Ho,” Gong Yeong-Gil replied quietly.

“Say what?” Yi Myeong-Hwan's eyes powerfully quaked at the mention of Kang Jin-Ho's name. “Is that true?”

“Who knows? All I know is that our Assembly Master could be heading this way in Kang Jin-Ho's company.”

“F*cking hell, seriously? Could it be true?” Yi Myeong-Hwan scanned his surroundings in flabbergast.

To think it could be Kang Jin-Ho!

That name had been on the lips of the Assembly's martial artists for some time now. The rumors suggested that a young man with that name stepped in to suppress the concerning rift between the former and the current Assembly Masters, thereby unifying the Martial Assembly and ushering in some semblance of stability.

Most martial artists dismissed that rumor as unbelievable nonsense, but doing so got progressively harder when more and more people talked about Kang Jin-Ho. What sealed the deal was the people in the Assembly Master's circles talking about that young man.

As a result, the hottest topic in the corridors of the Martial Assembly at the moment was, 'Who exactly is this Kang Jin-Ho? And, are all the rumors about him true?'

Yi Myeong-Hwan gasped deeply. “Hold on, if that rumor is actually true...!”

“Keep it down!” Gong Yeong-Gil cut Yi Myeong-Hwan off and pointed outside the window. “There he comes.”

Yi Myeong-Hwan turned his head and looked outside to see the Assembly Master's car slipping past the front gates, its headlights chasing away the darkness of the night. Yi Myeong-Hwan nervously swallowed.

'What kind of a madman will that Kang Jin-Ho be?'

Yi Myeong-Hwan's body began tensing up.