Chapter 343: Escape (3)

“W-wasn't it around here?!”

Jo Gyu-Min hurriedly went down on his knees and began feeling the ground. Obviously, that wouldn't help him sense anything, but that was how much of a rush he was in. He definitely saw it with his own eyes, after all!

'It', of course, was the ground rising and falling suspiciously. Maybe, it could've been nothing more than a layer of haphazardly-settling soil crumbling slightly.

'No, it's not!'

Jo Gyu-Min desperately denied the negative imagery forming in his mind. If that assumption was correct, the phenomenon shouldn't have repeated itself. In the same exact place, no less!

“Mister Jin-Ho! Uwaaaaaaah! Mister Jin-Ho! Where are you!!”

“C-calm down first, Mister Gyu-Min!” Bang Jin-Hun hurriedly yelled from behind Jo Gyu-Min, his voice trembling a little.

“How can I calm down in this situation?!”

“Hah, bloody hell...!” Bang Jin-Hun spat out a few choice words while anxiously looking around. He was sure that suspicious movement had come from somewhere here, so...!

“What the hell! What are you doing, Mister Bang?!”

“I'm sorry?”

“Do that thing again! You know, that thing where you sensed the heat signature or whatever that was! Isn't that how you located Mister Jin-Ho earlier?”

“...Ah!” Bang Jin-Hun hurriedly nodded, then assumed the lotus position. Although the peak martial art masters could sense other people's energy without sitting down, Bang Jin-Hun regretfully hadn't reached that realm yet.

He crossed his legs and closed his eyes, only to undo his position and shake his head. “T-the thing is, the surrounding qi is a mess, and...”

“Eh?”

“...What I'm trying to do here is sensing external qi, not my own. But all the qi around here is in a total mess. Because of the explosions, I'd wager.”

Jo Gyu-Min couldn't really understand what Bang Jin-Hun was saying here but still got to confirm that the big man was utterly useless in this situation.

“Dammit!” Jo Gyu-Min promptly gave up on Bang Jin-Hun and began digging the earth with his bare hands.

Bang Jin-Hun blinked his eyes. “What are you doing?”

“Just shut up and dig! If we get lucky, we might find him, you know!”

Bang Jin-Hun gritted his teeth and rushed to where Jo Gyu-Min was, then began digging the ground as well. He knew they were being incredibly stupid here, but doing nothing just wasn't his style. He simply had to do something, or else he'd blow his top.

When he thought about Kang Jin-Ho possibly being trapped somewhere down here, his anxiety level shot up, and he couldn't stand still anymore.

“No, wait! Hold on!” Bang Jin-Hun suddenly yelled loudly. “What if we miss the movement while doing this?”

“Ah!” Jo Gyu-Min nodded, realizing Bang Jin-Hun was right. “I-in that case! Mister Bang, you step back and keep your eyes peeled!”

“Sorry?”

“I'm going to dig! So, you be the lookout!”

Bang Jin-Hun stared dazedly at Jo Gyu-Min's face, then at the latter's hands that had become covered in dirt. There were some hints of blood here and there, too. It seemed Jo Gyu-Min didn't think about anything else other than digging.

'Gee whiz, where did a guy like this even come from?'

No matter how badly one was in a rush, shouldn't they at least think some things through first? Digging crazily at the dirt bare-handed would obviously break one's fingernails and tear open their skin, wouldn't it?

However, Jo Gyu-Min was already back to digging the ground as if he had no time to waste shooting the breeze with Bang Jin-Hun. His harried figure made Bang Jin-Hun wonder if this was the same ultra-sharp Jo Gyu-Min from before.

“Mister Gyu-Min! Calm down and take a breather first, will ya?!”

“Argh, dammit! I should've brought a shovel or something! How could I be this stupid! Thoughtless f*cker!”

“...Hah. Seriously now.” Bang Jin-Hun shook his head.

Jo Gyu-Min was beyond saving, it seemed. He seemed to be unable to think rationally anymore.

Bang Jin-Hun quietly sucked in a deep breath, then opened his eyes wider, focusing his vision. If Kang Jin-Ho were in a situation where he had almost broken through the surface but ran out of energy and couldn't cover the last few inches, he wouldn't just stay still and do nothing.

'One more time, please!'

If Kang Jin-Ho could just unleash his energy one more time and make the earth move, they could...

That was when Bang Jin-Hun's eyes spotted the ground moving a little. And it was right behind Jo Gyu-Min.

“Uwaaah?! Get out of the way! Hurry!” Bang Jin-Hun rushed urgently toward Jo Gyu-Min and shoved the latter away as if there was no time to explain. Jo Gyu-Min landed ungainly on the dirt with a loud thud but didn't complain about it.

“Mister Jin-Ho! Mister Jin-Ho?!” Bang Jin-Hun's hands, now laden with internal energy, began breaking through the soil as if the ground was made out of tofu.

“Is it here?!” Jo Gyu-Min quickly ran up next to Bang Jin-Hun and asked.

Bang Jin-Hun animatedly nodded. “Yes! I saw the ground moving down here! I saw it!”

“Got it!” Jo Gyu-Min urgently went down and began digging, too.

“What the hell?! Seriously!” Bang Jin-Hun yelled in irritation when Jo Gyu-Min began digging into the same spot as him. Since Bang Jin-Hun clad his hands in qi, any powerless civilian coming in contact could see their bones getting ripped apart like pieces of biscuits. However, that didn't mean Bang Jin-Hun could push aside Jo Gyu-Min when the latter was making such a tearful face!

Bang Jin-Hun hurriedly scanned the surroundings before spotting a flat piece of rock. He picked it up and handed it over to Jo Gyu-Min. “Use this, not your bare hands!”

“Sorry?”

“How much do you think you can dig with your empty hands, anyway? Don't worry, Mister Jin-Ho won't die even if you hit him in the head with that thing, so dig like crazy with it!”

“Got it!”

Jo Gyu-Min snatched up the rock and began crazily digging into the ground. Bang Jin-Hun joined him and dug into the reticent soil, too.

'...Why can't I see him?!'

Not too long after that, they managed to dig deep enough to reach an adult man's waistline. However, Kang Jin-Ho's traces still couldn't be seen or found at all. So much so that Bang Jin-Hun began wondering if he was even digging the correct spot.

Feeling more anxious now, Bang Jin-Hun sped up his digging. What if Kang Jin-Ho ran out of energy and was currently buried in the soil? It'd be wonderful if he could secure some oxygen, but he was underground. If dirt had gotten into his nose and mouth and prevented him from breathing properly, Kang Jin-Ho would definitely die unless he was rescued in the next three minutes or so!

Kang Jin-Ho was a martial art expert, but he would definitely turn into another powerless human being once he lost consciousness. Sure, he could?endure a bit longer physically, but it was only a matter of time before he reached his limits. In addition, there was a high chance that he was with Choi Yeon-Ha—a civilian.

“Argh, goddamn it! Where's the damn excavator when you need one?!”

If he knew things would end up this way, they wouldn't have pulled out all the heavy machinery from the site. Bang Jin-Hun kept thinking that they should have the machines on standby instead.

They restricted access while thinking that the sight of Kang Jin-Ho emerging from the ground could cause huge consternation among the equipment operators but, with the situation being what it was, Bang Jin-Hun was bitterly rueful about that decision now. n(0)vel(b)(j)(n)was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.

“Just shut up and keep digging, will you?!” Jo Gyu-Min suddenly snapped at Bang Jin-Hun.

“What the f*ck...?! After we rescue Mister Jin-Ho, Imma—” Bang Jin-Hun's negative emotions spilled out when Jo Gyu-Min, someone much younger than him, began acting rude toward him.

Jo Gyu-Min still didn't care and continued to yell at Bang Jin-Hun. “Talk after rescuing Mister Jin-Ho! Please!”

“Gee whiz, seriously now...”

If Bang Jin-Hun's boys back in the Martial Assembly saw how he was mistreated so badly by a wet-behind-the-ears brat like this, they would've shed thick tears of sorrow by now. No, hang on! When Bang Jin-Hun thought about it some more, hadn't Kang Jin-Ho been basically treating him worse? So, would they even care at this point?

'...What the hell am I even thinking about here?!'

Bang Jin-Hun clenched his teeth and fiercely plowed at the ground. All the dug-up soil flew up and rained down. Whenever he ran into rocks, Bang Jin-Hun simply chucked them unhappily behind him. Not long after that, the hole became so deep that even if he were to lie near the entrance and reach down, his hand would not touch the bottom.

“Bloody hell?!” Bang Jin-Hun unhesitantly jumped into the hole, squatted down and continued to dig. “Not yet! It's too early! Not yet!”

Bang Jin-Hun couldn't give up so soon. The 'Kang Jin-Ho' he knew wasn't the type to die in a place like this! He still had a ton of things left to do, not to mention all the help he needed to provide Bang Jin-Hun with, too!

Forget about everything else, losing an individual called Kang Jin-Ho in this place would be too much of a loss!

Bang Jin-Hun's urgent hands continued to pound and dig the earth. Soon, the hole got deep and large enough to bury several people, but... Kang Jin-Ho was still nowhere to be seen.

Jo Gyu-Min's complexion ashened even further after realizing a lot of time had passed since they started digging. “Hurry and dig faster!”

“...Can't you see I'm sweating buckets down here?!”

“What the hell?! What kind of a martial artist is this weak?!”

Bang Jin-Hun shuddered grandly. He couldn't quite tell if all the blood rushing to his head was due to continuously using his strength or because of Jo Gyu-Min.

“You! Just wait until I...!”

“Huh?!” Jo Gyu-Min suddenly cried out while pointing at the bottom of the hole.

Bang Jin-Hun was about to say something not family-friendly just then, but that urgent cry caused his head to instinctively snap toward the ground below. The snap was so violent that it wouldn't have been too weird to see his neck tear off from the momentum alone! “What?! What is it?”

“N-no, I thought I saw the ground move just now!”

“Uwaaah?! F*cking hell!” Bang Jin-Hun eventually let out some family-unfriendly words just then and resumed digging. He could taste something sickly-sweet in his mouth while his fingers were protesting loudly from all the pain. Just how long had it been since Bang Jin-Hun worked hard enough to sense that sickly-sweet taste?

Then again, what Bang Jin-Hun had done in the past five minutes with his bare hands was to dig a hole so deep that most people would've needed at least one solid hour while using shovels when trying to do a similar job.

If he were to exaggerate a bit, even the skies were getting sickly yellow in Bang Jin-Hun's vision now. However, he resumed digging at full pace after Jo Gyu-Min's urgent cry jolted him awake.

Initially, he was digging with both hands at the same time. But now, his hands pedaled away to burrow into the ground like an eager dog trying to bury its bone!

For a while, he kept digging as swear words continued to fly out of his mouth. However, he suddenly stopped, his eyebrows shooting up high. That was because he sensed something at his fingertips just then. Something softer than the dirt. Something warmer!

Bang Jin-Hun cried out loudly. “O-over here! He's over here!”

“Hurry and dig!”

Bang Jin-Hun didn't lose his temper this time. Actually, he was even more in a rush than Jo Gyu-Min was! When he started digging again, the dirt began flying out of the hole like the water from a large fountain. He only needed to scoop out the ground twice, though, before his eyes saw... a hand reaching out of the dirt!

It was limp and half-rolled into a fist. And Bang Jin-Hun didn't need to be a genius to know whose hand that was.

“Uwaaaaah! Mister Jin-Ho!” Jo Gyu-Min unhesitantly jumped inside the hole and madly rushed in to grab that hand. He urgently began tugging at it, trying to yank it out of the ground.

“What the f*ck, man! That ain't gonna pull Mister Jin-Ho out, so dig the surroundings, will ya! Hurry the hell up!”

“Uwah... Uwaaah...!” Jo Gyu-Min gasped weirdly as if half of his mind was already gone. It seemed all the emotions he was trying so hard to control had broken through as tears flooded down his face nonstop.

Jo Gyu-Min, covered head to toe in dirt, began digging again while not caring about all the tears streaming down his face. In the proverbial blink of an eye, Kang Jin-Ho's arm was dug out of the soil.

'A little more!'

Pulling at the arm now obviously wouldn't be enough to free Kang Jin-Ho, but removing the soil around his head would make the job so much easier. Bang Jin-Hun squeezed out the last bits of his energy and resumed digging.

Once he thought enough soil had been removed around Kang Jin-Ho's head, Bang Jin-Hun shot up to his feet, then grabbed Kang Jin-Ho's arm.

“L-let me help!” Jo Gyu-Min cried out.

“Don't bother me! You're getting in the way!” Bang Jin-Ho shoved the tearful Jo Gyu-Min away with a light kick, then strengthened his grip on the arm. “Come... out... now!!!”

Crack!

A dull noise rang out from Kang Jin-Ho's arm. Pulling any more at the arm could dislocate Kang Jin-Ho's shoulder, but Bang Jin-Hun figured that was still way better than dying. So, he didn't stop and continued to pull.

“He, he's getting free!” Jo Gyu-Min cried out in excitement.

Indeed, Kang Jin-Ho's figure began breaking free from the layer of soil and emerged into the open.

'F*cking hell, why is he so damn heavy?!'

Even if Kang Jin-Ho was buried under layers of soil, Bang Jin-Hun didn't expect pulling him out would be this tough. His puzzlement was soon answered, though.

He had been expecting to see Kang Jin-Ho's face pop out of the dirt first, but what emerged was the back of his head instead. And Kang Jin-Ho seemed to be holding someone tightly to provide as much protection as possible.

'Even though he's in this state...!'

Kang Jin-Ho could've easily died. No, wait. If Bang Jin-Hun weren't here, Kang Jin-Ho would've died for sure. So, to think he'd still be focused on protecting someone else like this...!

Bang Jin-Hun momentarily got confused about whether Kang Jin-Ho deserved praise or a stern rebuke for his stupidity.

“Mister Jin-Ho! Euh! Mister Jin-Hoooo! Open your eyes! Uwaaah!” Jo Gyu-Min hurriedly held Kang Jin-Ho's head up, even as tears obscured his vision. Then, he hurriedly placed his ear near Kang Jin-Ho's nose. “W-wait! I, I think he's stopped breathing!”