Chapter 188: Going Shopping (3)

Kang Jin-Ho quietly waited for the follow-up words. And the assailant didn't let him down in that regard. “Since you seemed to be enjoying your shopping trip so much, I couldn't find the right timing to approach you until now, you see? I was so desperate to have a chat with you, even if I had to resort to something this unsightly. Anyway, nice to meet you, Mister Kang Jin-Ho.”

A cold grin slowly formed on Kang Jin-Ho's face. He was barely holding back his laughter. Did that mean he was enjoying this situation? Of course not.

Laughter just came naturally when his rage reached boiling point. Kang Jin-Ho coldly muttered, “Nice to meet me, is it?”

The man sticking close to Kang Jin-Ho's back cackled. “So, what do you think? Are you confident about stopping me if I start rampaging around in this confined space? You might be okay, but I'm pretty sure one of your companions will get ripped apart during the crossfire.”

Kang Jin-Ho's grin deepened the more he listened.

The man continued, “You don't become omnipotent just because you've mastered some martial arts, you know? Did you also know that I had dozens of chances to take your life after you stepped into this building?”

“...”

“A cultivator dulled by peace doesn't deserve to be called a Martial. Of course, idiots like you help me earn some pretty coins, so I'm not complaining.”

Baek Hyeon-Jeong noticed a strange expression on her son's face and asked, “Jin-Ho, why are you smiling like that?”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly shook his head. “It's nothing, Mother.”

“Silly boy.” Baek Hyeon-Jeong chuckled and turned her head away.

Meanwhile, the elevator continued to slowly descend. None of the riders inside had realized yet what was going on. It wouldn't be surprising for the elevator to stop at least one more time before reaching the first floor, but it didn't do so as it continued to descend lower and lower.

The man whispered once more, “What do you think? Will I make a move before we reach the first floor? Or, won't I?”

Kang Jin-Ho chuckled again. “Heh.”

The man narrowed his eyes quizzically.

'He's still smiling?'

In this situation? The man began thinking that maybe—this bastard named Kang Jin-Ho could be a fun opponent. That was when Kang Jin-Ho slowly reached behind him.

Grab.

His bare hand grabbed the dagger's blade pressed against his back.

The assailant cocked an eyebrow.

'Well, well. Would you look at that?'

The blade had been sharpened and refined to the extreme. Even though he wasn't looking to actively cut Kang Jin-Ho's hand, grabbing the dagger's ultra-sharp edges like that with no protection would still injure the hand. This chapter made its debut appearance via N0v3lB1n.

Only by focusing his inner Qi on his hand would Kang Jin-Ho be able to grab hold of the dagger and prevent it from moving, but doing that in this small, confined space without being noticed would be almost impossible to pull off.

Sure enough... Blood began trickling down from a lengthy cut on Kang Jin-Ho's hand.

'...Hoh-oh?'

Kang Jin-Ho willingly got himself injured, but his sacrifice meant the assailant couldn't move his dagger now. The assailant whispered again, “I like your response, Mister Kang Jin-Ho. Very well. When the elevator stops on the first floor, just exit as if nothing has happened, and that will be all. Let us continue our chat some other time. As for today, I won't get in your face anymore.”

Kang Jin-Ho didn't say anything. However, it seemed the assailant wasn't expecting a response in the first place.

Tting!

The elevator issued a chime as it reached the first floor. The riders flooded outside when the door slid open, only to be replaced by a new group of people wanting to go upstairs. Kang Jin-Ho let go of the dagger and stepped outside the elevator.

Shuffle...

The sound of a movement technique being used could be heard behind his back, but Kang Jin-Ho didn't turn his head to look. If he were to chase after the assailant now, it'd cause a rather sizable mess. And he didn't want to cause a scene in front of his family and friends.

The assailant was now some distance away, waving his hand cheerfully. Kang Jin-Ho's narrowed eyes met that man's gaze, causing the latter to flinch a little. After a quick shudder, he turned around and vanished from Kang Jin-Ho's view.

Kang Jin-Ho stemmed the bleeding, then hid his blood-covered hand inside a shopping bag so that his mother wouldn't spot it.

“Goodness me?! What's all this!”

People entering the elevator spotted the pool of blood on the floor and cried out in alarm.

“What's gotten into them?” Kang Eun-Yeong tried to look behind, but Kang Jin-Ho stepped to the side to block her view.

“Let's hurry and get out of here,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“Okay.” Kang Eun-Yeong nodded, perhaps thinking that whatever happened back there wasn't important. She then followed Baek Hyeon-Jeong to the underground parking lot.

Kang Jin-Ho suddenly stopped walking. “Mother?”

“Mm? What is it, son?”

“I need to quickly stop by somewhere first.”

Baek Hyeon-Jeong narrowed her eyes. “I thought we were going to have dinner together? Where do you need to go?”

“I got a call earlier, and I need to stop by at Jaegyeong. I'll get my dinner there.”

“Is it to speak to Chairman Hwang?”

.

Kang Jin-Ho briefly nodded. “...Yes, Mother.”

Baek Hyeon-Jeong sighed in disappointment. “I see. Meeting the chairman means you'll get to eat something good, then. In that case, I shouldn't stop you. Still, how inconsiderate of him. It'd been nicer if he informed us in advance.”

“It must be an urgent matter.”

“Okay. Hurry on, Jin-Ho. I'll buy your friends supper, then head back to the cafe to help your father. He must be all tears by now.”

Kang Jin-Ho smiled brightly at that.

Baek Hyeon-Jeong asked another question, “What about transportation, though? Are you going to use your car?”

“Yes. Can you give Yeong-Gi a ride, Mother?”

“I certainly can. Yu-Min came with us in my car in the first place, so I'll just give him a ride back home, too. And I'm guessing Yeong-Gi would also want to go to the orphanage, so I can just drop the two of them there, right?”

“Yes, Mother.”

“Got it.” Baek Hyeon-Jeong nodded.

Park Yu-Min glanced at Kang Jin-Ho while tilting his head. “What could be so urgent that you gotta skip dinner?”

“Don't worry, it's nothing. I won't be long,” said Kang Jin-Ho in a reassuring tone.

“Hmm...” Park Yu-Min didn't seem all too happy about this situation. He still felt a little uncomfortable having dinner with Baek Hyeon-Jeong without Kang Jin-Ho around.

However, Ju Yeong-Gi was different. He was still filled to the brim with courageous fighting spirit. “Auntie! Let's hurry and go! I'm dying of starvation, you know!”

“Yes, yes. Let's get going, then.” Baek Hyeon-Jeong nodded with a cramped smile on her face.

“Hey, Yu-Min! What are you doing, man? Jin-Ho said he won't join us, didn't he? So, let's go!” Ju Yeong-Gi energetically shouted.

“Yeah, I'm coming! Hold on!”

Park Yu-Min and Ju Yeong-Gi waved their hands and walked away. Once his family and 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.