Descent of the Demon Master

d friends were out of view, Kang Jin-Ho slowly pulled his hand out of the shopping bag.
The wound was already halfway healed by then, but the dried blood still stained his hand dark crimson.

Kang Jin-Ho brought his hand closer to his face and licked the blood.
The corners of his lips slowly curled up as the taste of blood registered in his brain.

“A cultivator dulled by peace doesn ’t deserve to be called a Martial.”

“Kekekeke…” A sinister grin formed on Kang Jin-Ho ’s face.
“Yes, I agree with you.”

Indeed, those dulled by peace shouldn ’t be called a Martial.
As such…!

“How far have you run off to, I wonder…?” Kang Jin-Ho muttered as he leisurely walked in the direction of where that assailant had disappeared to.
As he moved, darkness could be seen settling in beyond the large glass entryway of the department store.
“You better have escaped far away by now.”

Because the hunt was about to begin.

’

***

Jin Bao stomped on his car ’s accelerator.
The vehicle was already traveling at a hundred and fifty kilometers per hour, but he had no thoughts of slowing down.
If only other cars on the road were not blocking his path…
He could have gone even faster.
For now, though, this was the maximum speed he could reach on this road.

Even though he knew this, Jin Bao continued to stomp on the accelerator as if someone was chasing after him.

’Why am I this nervous? ’

He just couldn ’t understand it.
Hadn’t he been taking care of this commission flawlessly? So, why was he getting this nervous as if someone dangerous was chasing after him right now?

’Even though no one should be chasing me down…! ’ 

Jin Bao gritted his teeth, then stomped on the accelerator again.

’Looks like I ’ve been working too hard lately.
Might as well take a long holiday after this job. ’

The commission fee this time was pretty generous.
Cai Kechang fearlessly paid ten times the usual amount for jobs similar to this one.

’Since the Martial Union is involved, I had a feeling it ’d be a big job, but… ’

Now that Jin Bao had looked back, he realized something.
The Martial Union wouldn ’t have paid such a princely sum if the commission itself wasn’t considered dangerous.

’Weird.
Even though that brat looked so…
ordinary. ’

That brat was a martial artist.
Jin Bao obviously understood that.
However, the number of the ’Martials ’ living in the current era could never be described as ’low ’.
More importantly, though, most of Jin Bao ’s commissions involved martial artists, rather than regular people.

In other words, Jin Bao was a contractor specializing in dealing with Martials of this era.
That was his specialty.
So, feeling this much pressure while dealing with a brat just didn ’t make much sense to him.

From Jin Bao ’s perspective, Kang Jin-Ho was a small fry.
A novice, a nobody.
Not only did that brat not even bother to use his strength to achieve something, he simply went along with the flow.
And he didn ’t seem all that strong, either.
He was so weak that, in the beginning, Jin Bao even had to wonder why the Martial Union was investigating such a weakling.

The way Kang Jin-Ho easily escaped from Jin Bao ’s trap back at the high-rise was somewhat surprising, but it wasn ’t enough to instill fear in Jin Bao ’s heart.
But now…!

“…Damn it!”

Hooooonk!

Out of frustration, Jin Bao angrily pounded on the car ’s horn.
Just why was he getting so nervous despite knowing all that?!

’…Those eyes! ’

Jin Bao recalled Kang Jin-Ho ’s eyes.
Despite the considerable distance, Jin Bao ’s nervousness began when their eyes met! He was sure of it.

The distance between them back then was pretty considerable, but Jin Bao still saw it clearly.
Kang Jin-Ho ’s eyes, which looked tepid until then, had completely transformed at that very moment! Those eyes belonged to a fierce predator staring at prey.

’Did I underestimate that brat? ’

If Kang Jin-Ho had been as naive and weak as Jin Bao originally thought, then he wouldn ’t be able to make such ferocious eyes.
Such eyes belonged to warriors responsible for the deaths of countless people, along with surviving endless battlefields.

’

No, wait.
It wasn ’t as simple as that, either.
Jin Bao had come across his fair share of people qualified to be called ’Big Fish ’ in his life.
However, none of them possessed the same type of eyes as Kang Jin-Ho’s eyes.
Without a doubt, Jin Bao had never seen eyes filled with such madness and wickedness before!

“No, calm down!” Jin Bao sucked in a deep breath.
“Calm down, Jin Bao!”

He had finally accepted it.
Jin Bao admitted that he had been underestimating his target, Kang Jin-Ho.
That brat had to be someone dangerous enough to spur on the one and only Martial Union to investigate him.
However, no matter how dangerous he was, he wouldn’t be able to find Jin Bao without the latter approaching him first.

Jin Bao decided his next approach would be much more cautious.
From somewhere far enough to be safe from harm!

He repeatedly sucked in deep breaths to calm his palpitating heart.
Strangely, though, his heart only began to beat faster the more he tried to calm down.

“Goddamn it!”

At this rate, he wouldn ’t get a good night ’s sleep even after reaching his hideout.
He would have to either drink himself into a stupor or embrace a woman to vent some steam first.

“Just because of some brat…!” Jin Bao kept shaking his head.
He was working extra hard to get rid of all the negative thoughts appearing in his head.
However, the intense pressure of someone closing in to choke his throat from behind only grew stronger with every passing second.

’No, this can ’t go on. ’

Thinking that he might cause a car accident at this speed, Jin-Bao gradually slowed his car down.
Maybe stopping by the side of the road and getting some rest first would help him recover his wits.
But before he could do that, though—

Flash!

Jin Bao furrowed his brow and glanced at the rearview mirror.
A car suddenly appeared behind, flashing its high beams while closing in at a terrifying speed.

“What the f*ck is it now?!”

This was a clear provocation.
While Jin Bao was feeling frustrated and anxious, too!

“…No, wait.” Jin Bao endured the bright glare of the headlights and glared into the mirror…
Only for his head to snap back urgently to look behind him.

It was practically impossible to find out what kind of a car was using its high beams while following him in this darkness.
However, he was still certain about one thing.

’It ’s…
low! ’

The high beams were coming from lower than where one would usually expect headlights to be mounted on a car.
Which could only mean that the car behind him was a low-slung car that was even lower than a regular vehicle.

“Euh…”

This was when all the hair on Jin Bao’s body stood up.
He had obviously done his research into Kang Jin-Ho ’s life.
Which included an investigation into what kind of car that brat was driving.

A low-slung body was a common trait in sportscars designed to go fast, wasn ’t it? And Kang Jin-Ho ’s car was—

“C-could it be?!”

As if to mock the flustered Jin Bao, the car behind him accelerated even harder to close the gap between them.