Ascension of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 278
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 278
Led by Han Bulhae, the bandits who recognized Zhuge Munhyeon’s face were horrified and bowed their waists.
The Evil Seed of the Zhuge Family.
That vicious scholar bastard who robbed bandits.
He was someone they never wanted to meet again in their entire lives.
They had already fully realized how foolish it would be to attack him.
The guy who had beaten all of them to a pulp by himself had even brought companions—what was the point of fighting?
When a downpour comes, the proper thing to do is avoid it until it passes, so in times like this, it was beneficial for one’s well-being to prostrate oneself flat.
“Do you know each other?”
“Of course we do. I received some help from them on my way to the Namgung Family before. They’re good guys for bandits. They understand well, offer meat, and even give gold ingots as pocket money.”
“Ah….”
At Zhuge Munhyeon’s words, Mujin glanced at the bandits and nodded.
He wasn’t sure if they were good guys, but it didn’t seem necessary to draw his sword.
They were all so intimidated….
Nevertheless, Mujin subtly stood blocking Dan Yeonhwa protectively while glaring.
Don’t look.
Don’t even glance.
You’ll wear out her face.
She’s mine….
Meanwhile, Han Bulhae carefully asked.
“But Young Master, what brings you to this place….”
“Why are you asking that? Do I need to get permission from you to come here?”
“N-not at all, sir. If Young Master wants to go somewhere, you go, and if you want to come, you come. I was just asking because I was happy to see you. Hahaha!”
“It’s fortunate that you’re happy. But… what are you guys doing right now?”
“Pardon?”
“Somehow… it feels like you’ve captured people? Are you perhaps doing something like kidnapping?”
As Zhuge Munhyeon’s eyes narrowed while looking at the vagrants tied up in a row, Han Bulhae felt like his heart stopped.
Damn it….
His gaze isn’t good.
He’s very suspicious.
Suddenly, the places where Zhuge Munhyeon had hit him before began to ache.
His body seemed to be sending a warning.
This time it won’t end with just a beating.
This time he’ll die.
This guy is absolutely not someone who shows mercy.
He’s the type to stab a dagger into your chest while smiling and savor the flowing blood.
What should he do?
What should he answer?
Though he was the most ‘evil’ person among those he knew, he was still the son of a renowned orthodox family.
If he found out they had kidnapped people, he wouldn’t let it slide.
“You guys….”
“You misunderstand! It’s absolutely not what you’re thinking!”
“What?”
He shouted first.
Damage control would come after.
To overcome this current crisis, Han Bulhae had to think faster than he ever had in his life.
“Yes! Of course! Just looking at the situation, you could think ‘These guys are kidnapping and dragging people away!'”
“Hmm.”
“But this is protection!”
“Protection?”
“That’s right. Protection! I don’t know if you’ve heard, but recently there have been frequent incidents of villages being attacked, property stolen, and people kidnapped in the nearby area.”
“….”
“In such a situation, how could we, who received teachings from Young Master and entered the path of reformation, just sit still?”
“So?”
“We kidnapped them before they could be kidnapped!”
“Huh?”
Kidnapped them before they could be kidnapped…?
What kind of nonsense is that?
As Zhuge Munhyeon tilted his head sideways and frowned, Han Bulhae’s voice became urgent.
“I mean, the purpose was to kidnap them before they could be kidnapped, so they could escape the crisis of being kidnapped.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
Though he wondered what kind of talk that was, Zhuge Munhyeon nodded for now.
“Of course! That’s exactly it.”
“But why did you tie them all up with rope? From what I can see, you’ve pressed their pressure points so they can’t even speak.”
“Th-that’s… to not miss a single person.”
“What?”
“As you know, the mountain path is quite rough, isn’t it? What if they got lost while following us? So! We had no choice but to tie them up to not miss a single person. We pressed their pressure points to move quietly too. We were worried other guys might swarm over if they heard any noise. It’s true.”
“It looks like you robbed them of their belongings too?”
“Robbed? Those are minimal moving belongings.”
“Moving belongings?”
“Yes. Frankly speaking, if guys like us said we’d kidnap them before they could be kidnapped to protect them from the crisis of being kidnapped, who would believe us? They’d naturally resist. They’d try to hide their belongings somehow… you know, right?”
“Mm, so you took them by force?”
“Of course. You could say it started with the intention of helping them live happier lives in a safer place?”
Han Bulhae argued desperately as if baring his soul.
Forget ten iron coins per head, his life was about to fly away.
Please be deceived.
Please understand my sincerity.
It was an earnest expression that reflected such feelings.
But then.
“Young Master Munhyeon, it seems like he’s lying.”
“I think so too.”
Mujin and Dan Yeonhwa, who had been listening to the conversation from behind, shook their heads with frowning faces.
Those damn bastards and bitches!
How dare young ones rudely interrupt when adults are speaking!
Han Bulhae wanted to immediately cover Mujin and Dan Yeonhwa’s mouths and scold them.
But with a smile filling his face, he spoke as politely as possible.
“Ah, is it because of the ropes? Well, that’s understandable. We were actually thinking of untying them since this seems like a safe area now, and giving them a meal.”
Though no one had said anything, Han Bulhae quickly turned around and shouted to his subordinates.
“What are you doing? They must all be uncomfortable, so hurry and untie them. Light a fire and prepare some food too. Oh my, was the path rough? How did you all lose your shoes… What are you doing? Give them your shoes. Hurry!”
“…Yes? Yes!”
The subordinates who quickly understood Han Bulhae’s efforts moved busily.
They untied the ropes binding the vagrants, gathered suitable firewood, and even took off their own shoes to put on the vagrants….
What use were shoes?
What’s wrong with being barefoot?
For now, surviving came first for them.
If they could just get through this crisis, they could kidnap people again anytime.
“Mm, you were about to have a meal?”
“That’s right.”
“That works out well. I was just getting hungry.”
“…Pardon?”
“You said you were planning to have a meal, right? Three more people shouldn’t be a problem, would it?”
“….”
“I saw before that you’re good at grilling meat.”
At the sight of Zhuge Munhyeon grinning and plopping down, Han Bulhae’s shoulders drooped.
“We don’t have any meat right now though?”
“We can catch some.”
“Pardon?”
“Yeonhwa.”
When Zhuge Munhyeon called, Dan Yeonhwa took out a small flute from her bosom and put it to her lips.
As the sound of the flute echoed, the beasts that Dan Yeonhwa had charmed with Beast Palace’s techniques to find herbs came gathering one by one. Some thoughtless ones even brought along a few companions.
Come to think of it, she’s quite cruel.
Charming them with her eyes, using them, and even eating them.
Poor beasts….
But they were useful, so it was fine.
Thanks to that, everyone could eat their fill.
* * *
“Ah, I’m full. It’s a shame there’s no alcohol.”
As he muttered to himself while patting his belly with a satisfied expression, Han Bulhae jumped up and shouted.
“I’ll quickly run and buy some!”
“It’s fine. It would take quite a while to get to the village.”
“No, you should have what you want to drink.”
“I said it’s fine?”
“I can be back in no time!”
“I said it’s fine!”
When he shouted irritably and glared, Han Bulhae immediately shrank back and retreated.
‘Damn… I was trying to go to the small stronghold and ask for support.’
For him, it was nothing but regrettable.
“Anyway, we’re full and have rested long enough to recover our strength. Now I should send back the people I kidnapped to prevent you from being kidnapped, right?”
“Of course that’s what should be done. We’ll handle it ourselves.”
“No, no. We should participate in good deeds too. How can we keep making only you work hard? We’re supposedly righteous people after all.”
“Pardon?”
Zhuge Munhyeon patted Han Bulhae’s shoulder and called Mujin with a gentle expression.
“Mujin.”
“Yes?”
“You remember the path we came up, right?”
“Yes.”
“I need to have a brief conversation with this fellow, so you go with Yeonhwa and escort those people to a safe place.”
“Understood.”
Receiving Zhuge Munhyeon’s instructions, Mujin immediately got up and led the vagrants down the mountain.
There was no need to worry.
If it’s Mujin.
Moreover, with Dan Yeonhwa’s skill in commanding beasts, they could detect surrounding threats in advance.
Zhuge Munhyeon watched until they were no longer visible, then turned his gaze to Han Bulhae.
“Leader Han.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“You said before that you know about the Daebyeolsan gang, right?”
“Well….”
“Do you happen to know where their main building is?”
“The main building?”
“That’s right.”
“Why the main building…?”
“I have some business there.”
“Business, you say…?”
At Han Bulhae’s repeated questions, Zhuge Munhyeon frowned deeply.
“Do I have to tell you every little detail?”
“Ah, no. Of course not. If Young Master has business, you should naturally go. Of course.”
“Can you guide me there?”
“Me, me?”
“It would be hard to find just from hearing directions, wouldn’t it?”
“That, that’s true, but….”
He had no choice but to be troubled.
The location of Daebyeolsan gang’s main building is top secret information.
A small gang leader who just joined a minor stronghold wouldn’t know such things.
Even if he did know, they had built numerous fake strongholds to prepare for subjugation, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact location.
“Why? Don’t you know?”
“Well, we haven’t been able to raise five hundred nyang yet, so we haven’t formed ties with Daebyeolsan. Therefore, we don’t know the location of their main building….”
“Ah, is that so?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Well, it can’t be helped if you don’t know.”
“I’m very sorry that I can’t help you.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it too much.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
That went well.
Thinking that despite his violent nature, he was a scholar who could be reasoned with, Han Bulhae secretly wiped his chest in relief.
“But you know.”
“Yes?”
“Would you believe that?”
“…Pardon?”
Han Bulhae stared blankly up at Zhuge Munhyeon who had suddenly stood up.
He rolled up his sleeves and grinned.
Neat, white teeth.
Corners of his mouth stretching wide on both sides.
But why are his eyes like that?
There’s too much killing intent?
“Y-Young Master, why are you….”
“You know why I’m like this.”
“Pardon?”
“Protection? What bullshit. Is that the best you could come up with after racking your brain? As if I’d believe that, you bastard. It would be more believable to say a dog quit eating shit.”
“B-but earlier you….”
“That was just pretending to believe you in case you might harm those people. Thanks to that, they all returned safely. Right?”
“Ah….”
“I told you, didn’t I? If I see you around Hubei Province, I won’t let it slide.”
“This is Henan….”
“I said around. Around.”
This is ridiculous.
Daebyeolsan is in Henan.
Even if it’s a region bordering Hubei, it’s more than four hundred li away from Yungzhong Mountain where the Zhuge Family is located.
But he calls it around….
“You said you didn’t know earlier, right? Sure, that’s possible. When you get older, it’s normal to forget things even after hearing them. But now I’ll help you remember.”
“Y-Young Master….”
“Shut up, you bandit bastard who kidnaps people!”
His fist dropped straight down vertically.
Thud!
It felt like a rock had struck his face, and Han Bulhae was slammed into the ground while still sitting.
When the bandits froze at the sight, Zhuge Munhyeon spoke with eyes gleaming with killing intent.
“From now on… any bastard who moves will definitely die.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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