LRAB Chapter 263: Butting In (3)
Chapter 263: Butting In (3)
Chapter 263: Butting In (3)
Cheon Tae-Hun failed to keep his twitching facial muscles in check because his expression was distorting against his will.
What an absurd provocation. Not even middle schoolers would resort to using such words these days.
That was why Cheon Tae-Hun was so flabbergasted. This experience taught him that even an immature provocation like that still possessed enough power to freeze people up on the spot, so how could he not be flabbergasted?
The blood dripping down that man's face was enough to prove that his provocation wasn't just a mere bluff. There were supposed to be twenty well-trained martial artists outside this room. Not just any random people either, but the ones the Yeongnam Group had carefully chosen for this particular mission, no less!
Cheon Tae-Hun had already confirmed how strong those individuals were. Didn't they defeat the five bodyguards protecting the Assembly Master as if they were dealing with kindergartners?
However, this blood-soaked attacker had slaughtered those men and waltzed right into the inner sanctum of this residence. Those twenty martial artists would have never let anyone inside even at the cost of their lives, yet this man still managed to arrive here. It only meant one thing.
...An utter and complete annihilation.
Not one person out of the group of twenty had survived the battle!
'Just where did someone like this appear from...?!'
This man was not affiliated with the Martial Assembly. Obviously, he couldn't have been a part of the Yeongnam Group, either. Cheon Tae-Hun and his colleagues had studied every relevant people in the Martial Assembly down to the minute details, even going as far as to memorize the ages of their favorite pets. So they would have instantly recognized this blood-covered man if he had been someone from the Martial Assembly.
Of course, that didn't mean he belonged to the Yeongnam Group, either. Why would that organization send someone to slaughter their own martial artists like this? So what other options were left?
Aside from the Martial Assembly and the Yeongnam Group, who else could have sent a martial artist of this caliber here?
Cheon Tae-Hun sucked in a deep breath. “...Are you a returner?”
The blood-covered man, Kang Jin-Ho, shifted his attention to Cheon Tae-Hun.
"W-why are you doing this, returner?" Cheon Tae-Hun tried to speak in a relaxed tone, but he ended up gritting his teeth toward the end of his question. Even he couldn't do anything to hide the tremor in his voice.
It had never been a good move to reveal how scared you were of the enemy in front of them. However, Cheon Tae-Hun’s heart was beating too fast for him to hide his emotions.
Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly stared at Cheon Tae-Hun before grinning brightly. “How did you figure that out?”
“It's obvious to me.”
“Hmm...” Kang Jin-Ho stared at Cheon Tae-Hun in clear amusement before nodding slightly. “We can always talk about matters like that later. Before all that, though...”
Kang Jin-Ho suddenly massaged the area around his eyes and the bridge of his nose.
He had just blocked his vision. Even though his opponents—his enemies—were right in front of him, a cultivator dared to cover his eyes in a nonchalant manner. And said enemies were capable of crossing such a small distance in the blink of an eye, no less. This act was basically the same as displaying his utter disregard for his opponents.
However, neither Cheon Tae-Hun nor his colleagues could move an inch. Cheon Tae-Hun’s mind said that this could have been their only chance to offer up some kind of resistance. However, his physical body seemed to have been rooted firmly to the ground, as it didn’t budge an inch.
Cheon Tae-Hun didn't even dare lift a finger as the bone-chilling premonition of his head flying off his shoulders and the rest of his body getting chopped up into dozens of pieces if he moved ever so slightly filled his mind.
“I let my excitement get to my head just now...” Kang Jin-Ho muttered to himself before turning his head slightly to glance at one of the men surrounding Lee Jung-Geol. “Chair.”
“...?” The said man blinked his eyes in confusion, clearly confused by Kang Jin-Ho's demand.
Kang Jin-Ho repeated himself. “Chair.”
It was only then that the man in question understood. He glared at Kang Jin-Ho as humiliation washed over him, but...
Cheon Tae-Hun felt like laughing tragically at the sight of his colleague lowering his head a little and shuffling away to fetch a chair. Because this... this had to be a scene in a comedy film.
'He... wants to negotiate now?!'
Even though he had already killed twenty men outside? Did that mean the reason for killing all those people and entering this room was that he wanted to negotiate?!
'You insane son of a b*tch!'
Cheon Tae-Hun barely managed to suppress the only words suitable to describe this situation from coming out of his mouth, and there were no more doubts that the young man was insane.
No one in their right mind would do such a thing. And it seemed Cheon Tae-Hun wasn't the only person thinking that way. Even the other party in the negotiation, Lee Jung-Geol, could only look on slack-jawed at Kang Jin-Ho.
Kang Jin-Ho tutted. “I'm a busy man. Hurry up.”
“I, I...!” Lee Jung-Geol couldn't withstand the pressure emitted by Kang Jin-Ho's glare, and he gasped before yelling in a hoarse voice, “W-what is it that you want? Tell me! If it's within my powers, I'll grant anything you want!”
Kang Jin-Ho's eyes became withdrawn. “Looks like you haven't understood me.”
Lee Jung-Geol's expression was quickly dyed in shades of confusion.
Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. “I don't want anything from you in particular.”
Lee Jung-Geol started shuddering from more shock. If that was true... what did this young man want from him then?
Kang Jin-Ho resolved the confusion in the old man's mind. And through perhaps the worst possible way, too. "Tell me what you can offer me. Think about an offer that can pique my interest. Since I don't want anything from you, I might as well go home if you can't offer me anything enticing enough. So you better think real hard and fast before I get bored and leave."
A powerful realization dawned on Lee Jung-Geol. This young man wasn't joking, and he was definitely not ridiculing him as well. The young man was being genuine. This was indeed... his current thought process!
'In that case, why did he even come here?'
Lee Jung-Geol couldn't make heads or tails of the young man's behavior, but this wasn't the time to worry about that. Indeed, instead of debating what was sensible or not in this situation, he should be trying his best to save his neck right now. If that young man agreed to step up, Lee Jung-Geol was certain that this situation could be reversed in one breath, and the trio of assailants would be suppressed in the blink of an eye. "I, I—"
However, just as Lee Jung-Geol was about to say something, someone else acted first.
“Y-you think this is a joke, you punk?!”
Cheon Tae-Hun's brows shot up. One of his colleagues, Bak Cheon-Yong, had stepped forward while pointing angrily at Kang Jin-Ho. Bak Cheon-Yong’s expression clearly said that he couldn't endure this anymore.
“Where the hell do you think you—”
Bak Cheon-Yong couldn't finish his words, and it was obvious why he couldn’t continue. A man with his throat sliced open would not be able to speak, after all.
'...J-just when?!'
Cheon Tae-Hun's figure started shivering like a lone leaf against the winds. The sword stabbed to the floor seemed to have teleported into Kang Jin-Ho's hand, and right at that instant, a slender crimson line manifested in Bak Cheon-Yong's throat.
“...Uh?” Bak Cheon-Yong hurriedly touched his own neck as an expression of shock filled his face.
The initially-slender red line resembling a thread rapidly grew thicker. Cheon Tae-Hun knew very well what that line signified.
Split!
As the sound of a wet object splitting apart rang out, Bak Cheon-Yong's head rolled off his body and tumbled to the floor like a scene from a movie. Shortly afterward, his headless body fell to the floor, followed by a fountain of blood gushing out of his neck.
Sploooooosh!
All that gushing blood only served to make this scene feel even more unreal.
Kang Jin-Ho didn't even spare a glance at Bak Cheon-Yong's headless corpse as he muttered to the rest of the living in the room, “Didn't I say this before? I'm too excited right now.”
His words made the room feel even colder.