Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Knock, knock.
Someone knocked on the door of Youngho’s house. In response, Sopyung opened the door.
“……Who is it?”
When the owner of a ferocious-looking face stared at her, Sopyung shrank back visibly. Seeing this, the man smiled as gently as he could and spoke.
“Is the Fifth Young Master staying here?”
“What is it? Who is it?”
Youngho roughly pulled the door open and looked at the man.
“Who are you?”
“I am called Elder Hyeok, and starting today, I will be serving the Young Master.”
“Oh, nice to meet you. Which division are you from?”
“I am from the Asura Squad of the Blood Ghost Hall.”
Youngho studied Elder Hyeok’s body for a moment and then spoke.
“At this level, you’d be a unit leader at least. You’ve got talent.”
“Thank you.”
Elder Hyeok was not a fool. According to the recent rumors, it seemed that Youngho, the Fifth Young Master, had killed the Fourth Young Miss, Hong Gakjeong.
Because of that, Elder Hyeok first lowered himself as much as possible and carefully observed Youngho without letting him notice.
‘Still, as expected…….’
Youngho’s skill was far greater than he had anticipated. Strangely, it was as if something obscured him at times, making him hard to see clearly, but even taking that into account, Youngho’s ability was outstanding.
‘Is this really the body of someone who has trained for only six months?’
Youngho’s muscles, which looked unbelievably solid, radiated an overwhelming sense of presence.
Even though Youngho noticed Elder Hyeok glancing at his body, he did not mind and spoke.
“Are the guys behind you your subordinates?”
“Yes. They are members of the Asura Squad.”
“Is that so? By the way, have you all eaten?”
“…Pardon?”
“I’m asking if you’ve eaten. It’s almost mealtime.”
Elder Hyeok replied with a flustered expression, as if he had never expected such a question.
“Ah, not yet.”
“Is that so? Then let’s eat together. Sopyung, prepare twenty servings of food.”
“Don’t worry! I’ve always been generous with portions!”
Sopyung flashed a bright smile and limped toward the kitchen, favoring her uncomfortable right leg.
As Youngho ushered Elder Hyeok and the Asura Squad members into the house, he spoke.
“Did Master tell you to protect me?”
“Yes. More precisely, he told us to serve the Young Master.”
“Really? Was I that interesting to him?”
Well, it didn’t really matter.
Gripping his sword, Youngho cut down a large nearby tree. Then, before the tree even hit the ground, he swung his sword again and fashioned a large dining table.
Despite clearly being cut with an ordinary sword, the surface of the wooden table was smooth, as if it had undergone special processing.
Seeing that Divine Technique, Elder Hyeok and the Asura Squad members could not hide their shock.
‘Just how?’
Honestly speaking, based on that feat alone, Elder Hyeok felt that Youngho handled a sword better than he himself did.
Youngho cut down another tree and made simple chairs, then said,
“For now, this will do. I’ll add more furnishings later.”
“T-that’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. You’ll be working hard protecting me from now on. You’re not sleeping here, right?”
“Yes. We will set shifts and take turns guarding the Young Master even at dawn.”
“You’re working hard.”
At that moment, when Horyeung openly showed a sullen expression, Youngho asked him, wondering what was wrong.
“Why do you look so sulky?”
“It feels like my job has disappeared.”
“You’ve got plenty to do. Don’t get your hopes up already.”
“But now there are people who will protect the Young Master even at dawn.”
“You still have many other things to do.”
“Mmgh. That sounds ominous.”
Watching the two talk, Elder Hyeok asked without realizing it.
“Come to think of it, who exactly is this person……?”
“Oh, he’s my guard I brought from the Gold-Blood Hall.”
“A guard, you say?”
“Yeah. Why? Doesn’t he look like one?”
“Well, that is…….”
“It’s fine. It’s understandable if he doesn’t look like it. He’s stronger than all of you.”
At those words, Elder Hyeok’s eyebrows shot up.
Seeing that, Youngho grinned broadly and said,
“Horyeung, after we eat, try releasing some martial presence.”
“Can’t I do it now?”
“If you do it now, these guys will get indigestion while eating.”
“That’s certainly true.”
Just as Elder Hyeok was about to say something, Sopyung shouted.
“Young Master! Please help me!”
“No, how much did you make this time?!”
“They say a martial artist’s stomach can’t be underestimated, so I lightly made just thirty servings!”
At the absurd amount, Youngho exclaimed in shock.
“Hey! That’s way too much!”
Youngho quickly rushed out to help Sopyung, who was precariously walking toward him.
However, moving far faster than Youngho, Horyeung relieved Sopyung of her burden and spoke.
“Sopyung. Don’t overexert yourself next time.”
“Grandfather, this much isn’t overexertion at all!”
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Youngho chuckled as he looked at Horyeung smiling happily.
“What a hopeless doting grandfather.”
It was a very harmonious scene. However, Elder Hyeok and the Asura Squad members grew tense without realizing it.
‘When did he move?’
‘So fast!’
Seeing Horyeung move so quickly that they could not even perceive it, the Asura Squad members finally understood why Youngho had called that old man a guard.
Watching them, Youngho let out a small laugh.
“Guys. Now isn’t the time to be wary of Horyeung.”
“Yes? Th-then……?”
“You see all that food Sopyung brought, right?”
“Yes. We se—?”
Rip.
Elder Hyeok and the Asura Squad members stared at the food Sopyung had prepared—rice, wheat noodles, Dongpo Pork, and many other dishes—and could not help but gape in astonishment.
“‘If we can’t finish all this, I won’t be killed by you—I’ll be killed by Sopyung.’”
“Yes? Just against a mere maid?”
“Oh. And if you lay a hand on Sopyung, I’ll kill all of you.”
“……?”
Wasn’t that just saying the Young Master would kill them anyway?
Elder Hyeok and the Asura Squad members had a lot they wanted to say, but they endured it as best they could and ate their meal.
“……!!”
As Elder Hyeok and the Asura Squad members picked up wheat noodles and Dongpo Pork with their chopsticks and put them into their mouths, they tasted something heavenly.
‘Is this really Dongpo Pork?’
‘This is wheat noodles?’
It was delicious. No, it was far too delicious. In an instant, Youngho’s group emptied their bowls, then patted their stomachs as they spoke.
“Sopyung, as expected, your cooking is peerless.”
“Oh, Young Master, honestly. It’s not that good~.”
As she said that, the corners of Sopyung’s mouth rose as if they were about to ascend into the heavens.
Seeing her like that, Youngho let out a small laugh and asked Elder Hyeok,
“So, what is my Third Senior Brother doing right now? Master sent you because he thought he might target me, right?”
“The Third Young Master has entered closed-door training.”
“Oh, really? Then does that mean someone else is aiming for me?”
“Extra caution would be advisable.”
Looking at Elder Hyeok staring at him with a deadly serious expression, Youngho let out a small laugh.
“Don’t worry. I won’t block your promotion.”
At those words, Elder Hyeok’s face suddenly flushed bright red.
“N-no, that’s not what I meant…….”
“I’m joking, I’m joking. Ah, but since you’re a unit leader in the Asura Squad, do you happen to know a guy named Kang Hosan? He’s about my age.”
“Kang Hosan…….”
Elder Hyeok fell silent for quite a while, as if rummaging through his memories, before suddenly widening his eyes and speaking.
“Yes. I do. But how do you know that……?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. We’re acquaintances.”
“Ah! I see. However, to take him as a personal guard, you would need permission from the Hall Master or the Unit Leader, or he would need to be at least unit-leader rank.”
“Really? So it’s not possible right now?”
“He’s only just joined, so there’s a lot that needs to be taught…….”
“Don’t worry. He’s not someone who’ll stay at unit leader forever.”
At the very least, he would become a Hall Master.
Youngho raised the corner of his mouth as if amused and spoke.
“I should go right now.”
“Yes?”
“I’m going right now. Horyeung, let’s go.”
“Understood.”
With those words, the presence of Youngho and Horyeung vanished. Elder Hyeok hurriedly raised his Qi Sense after losing track of them in an instant, but……
‘They’re already gone?’
The two had already disappeared from within Elder Hyeok’s Qi Sense.
When the Asura Squad members stood there at a loss, Elder Hyeok shouted angrily,
“What are you doing! We need to go to the Blood Ghost Hall right now!”
At those words, the Asura Squad members snapped to their senses and quickly began to move.
As Youngho ran swiftly ahead, Horyeung asked him,
“Are you close with the one called Kang Hosan?”
“Very close.”
“I didn’t know there was anyone close to you, Young Master.”
“I may look like this, but I have a wide network.”
“Pardon? Did you say a wide network?”
“If I’m close with a Branch Hall Master of the Gold-Blood Hall, that counts as a wide network.”
“No, that’s a bit…….”
“What does it matter? A Branch Hall Master’s friend is my friend, and my friend is the Branch Hall Master’s friend.”
While chatting casually, Youngho and Horyeung arrived at the Blood Ghost Hall in an instant.
“Do we not need to pay our respects to the Hall Master?”
“Why bother holding up a busy person? Let’s just find him quickly.”
After saying that, Youngho immediately began searching for Kang Hosan.
Kang Hosan was the one who had been the Blood Ghost Hall Master before Youngho’s regression. Like Youngho, he had started with nothing and climbed to the very peak.
That was Kang Hosan.
‘Of course, he’s weak right now.’
However, in the future, he would become an absolute master capable of using Hardened Force, so that did not matter.
Before the regression, they had been extremely close, but since Youngho had regressed, Kang Hosan no longer remembered him.
That fact felt somewhat bitter, but knowing it was not something he could change, Youngho quickly cleared his stray thoughts.
At that moment, a familiar voice reached Youngho’s ears.
“Stop it!!”
A voice like a Lion’s Roar struck Youngho’s ears.
‘That must be it.’
He could feel it. He just knew.
With a broad grin, Youngho headed toward the source of the sound.
Swish.
Peeking at the situation, he saw someone shielding a young girl and taking the blows meant for her.
“Stop it!! At this rate, you’ll really die!”
The girl was telling the boy shielding her to stop doing so.
“Brother, please. I’m begging you. You’ll die like this!”
The girl screamed almost hysterically at the boy, whose head and mouth were bleeding.
“Stop! Please stop!”
Then the man beating the boy sneered and spoke.
“You should’ve known your limits before getting so cocky. No—more than anything, you should’ve known your place. Without strength, you end up dead.”
“Then I guess it’s fine if you die by my hand?”
At the voice that suddenly rang out, the man immediately turned and threw a punch.
“At this speed, are you really fine with dying by my hand?”
However, at some point, Youngho had already taken position behind the man, extending a finger toward his back.
Even though it was only a finger touching his back, the man instinctively realized that he was dead.
“I really want to kill you, but I’ll hold back for now. What’s your name?”
“P-please spare me.”
“I asked for your name.”
“Please spare me.”
At that, Youngho lowered the arm he had been extending and spoke.
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll come back for you later.”
Youngho looked at the girl and asked,
“What’s your name?”
His voice trembled slightly as he spoke. However, perhaps not noticing it, the girl hugged the boy with trembling hands and replied,
“Huh?”
“I asked your name.”
“K-Kang Chowon.”
“Alright, Chowon. Your brother’s name is Kang Hosan, right?”
“Yes? Yes, that’s right!”
“I’m your brother’s friend. I’m going to take him to the Medical Hall right now. Is that okay?”
“Yes! Please save my brother! Please! I’ll do anything you ask!”
“Let’s go to the Medical Hall first.”
Youngho lightly hoisted Kang Hosan onto one shoulder, then spoke to the still-trembling man.
“I’ll see you later.”
Youngho said it briefly and heavily, as if giving him time to write his will.