"I was the one who saw it first. How can you snatch it away from me?" The red-haired boy stood up and complained.
"Snatch it away? Don't joke around. I paid for the item, okay? That too, for a double price just because I'm generous. haha!"
"You did it on purpose, didn't you? You knew I was gonna buy this herb for myself but you paid before me on purpose."
"What if I did? What are you gonna do about it? A trash like you who can't even cultivate properly..." he said while emphasizing the last part in a sarcastic voice.
"You-" The red-haired boy gritted his teeth in frustration as he was rendered speechless before the young man standing in front of him, looking all pompous.
"Hey, what's going on? Who are these two people? Why are they making trouble inside the Artifact Hall?" Someone among the crowd asked out of curiosity.
"Brother, don't you know? This young man who fell just now is Song Ki-tae, the eldest son of the Song Family and the one standing before him is, Lee Byoung Chul, the youngest son of the Lee Family. These two families have been rivals for a decade now. They always try to find an opportunity to humiliate each other. And, rumour has it that, Song Ki-tae can't cultivate at all for some reason and is called a trash among the disciples of the Song Family. That's why, everywhere he goes, he is being humiliated by others."
"Oh! So, that rumoured Song Ki-tae is him!?"
"Indeed. I heard that his younger brother, Song Ji-ho is nothing like him. At the age of 8, his cultivation reached at the first layer of spirit gathering realm and just a year ago, when he was 14 years old, he even awakened a martial spirit and was scouted by the Rainbow Sect, one of the major sects in the Supernova Continent, which is a great feat in itself."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
While these two people among the crowd were conversing with each other about the situation going around there, Yu-min was standing right behind them and overheard their conversation accidently.
'Looks like some guy is bullying a weak boy.' Yu-min thought to himself. 'But its none of my concern. These type of incidents are normal in my world. Let's just ignore it and continue to explore the artifact hall, I guess.'
To Yu-min, it was just a normal case since he believed that people become strong willed after going through such harsh things in life. Hence, he started walking away from the scene since he lost interest in the incident.
But a sudden voice halted his movements. "Hey, what the hell is he doing? Is he trying to kill him or what?"
Upon hearing such words, Kang Yu-min immediately turned around and saw Byoung Chul taking a fighting stance while his hands were enveloped by some sort of an aura as he punched Ki-tae into the stomach.
After taking that punch, Ki-tae flew in the air and fell on the ground while coughing up lots of blood from his mouth.
"This guy, he's using a cultivation technique on an ordinary guy. At this rate, he might kill the young man. Someone should stop this quickly." Someone among the crowd said out loud.
But no one came out in front to stop the scuffle between them. Upon seeing that, Yu-min recalled the same scenario happening in his world and the same reactions shown by the people present while the crime was being carried out. Even though someone is being abused in the public, anyone hardly ever steps up to help the victim from the culprit. Either it's this world or that world, the situation remains the same. No one's going to help that young man. Even Yu-min was one of them who didn't want any trouble in his life.
"Why are you doing this to me? What have I ever done to you?" Song Ki-tae asked in a sad tone.
"Nothing much. But since you are a member of the Song Family, I can't just leave you like this. If you want to blame someone, just blame your twistful fate to be born as a trash son of the Song Family." Byoung Chul replied with a smirk on his face.
"Aren't you afraid of the consequences? Do you think you will get away with this?"
"Tsk! Tsk! Poor Ki-tae, did you think I didn't consider that before making a move?"
"Then, what are you…"
"Even if you get killed by my hands, no one will care. Do you know why?" Byoung Chul bent his knees a bit and looked Ki-tae in the eyes. "Because you're not worth anything to your family. Not even your father or your brother will bat an eye if he was here. Now, die."
He grabbed Ki-tae by his collar, extended his other hand while enveloping it with the same aura he had before and then aimed for his heart to pierce it.
But before he could do that, someone grabbed his hand from behind.
Without looking back, Byoung Chul tried to break away from the restraints and wanted to attack Ki-tae.
But he was unable to overpower the person holding his arm and Byoung Chul got annoyed.
He let go of Ki-tae's collar, and turned around to teach a lesson to the guy who was messing with him.
"Who dares to-" However, before he could say anything, he was slapped in the face and got interrupted.
Byoung Chul became furious and saw the face of the man who dared to do such an unbelievable thing to him.
The one who was standing up before him was none other than Kang Yu-min himself.
"How dare-" Byoung Chul raised his other hand to attack him but Yu-min deflected the arm and slapped him again.
"You b-"
"You-"
As soon as he tried to speak, he was slapped in the face and got interrupted several times in a row.
The ones who were watching the whole situation from the sidelines were speechless and their mouths were gape open after seeing such a sudden turn of events.
"Oye, what's going on? Who is this guy? He's not even using any martial energy but toying with a man who's at the 5th layer of the bone tempering stage."
"Right. I'm not sure If I'm dreaming or not. An ordinary guy beating a martial artist. Is that even possible?"
"I don't know man. I'm lost for words."
Yu-min was a martial arts champion and fought many fierce entities in his life. To him, Lee Byoung-chul was an amateur fighter who just started learning the basics of fighting. Even if he was a cultivator and can make his fists powerful with his martial energy, it's no use if it can't hit the person.
Yu-min didn't know about that but instinctively, he was dodging Byoung-chul's attacks with ease as he was used to such close combat battles from experience.
While everyone among the crowd were shocked to see a stranger beating up Byoung Chul with his bare hands, Song Ki-tae was in awe and amazement with such kind of a fight. For a person like him who couldn't cultivate, it was interesting to see that one can defeat a cultivator with ordinary skills like that. Ki-tae couldn't take his eyes off from the fight.
On the other hand, Byoung Chul gave in to the beatings and became silent after his face turned into a pumpkin through swelling.
He just glared at Yu-min with a terrified look in his eyes.
"Although I never raised my hands on a young kid before, but you're too intolerable for me to just look the other away."
Byoung Chul tilted his head in confusion. 'What the hell is he rambling about? He sounds just like an old man.'
"If I was the person in the past, I might have done that and went on my way, but after going through lots of things in my life, I understood the meaning of being ignored as a victim. So, I just couldn't let this slide. If my wife is watching from above, I can't face her If I let jerks like you off the hook. I guess, slapping you this much is enough punishment. But if you ever try to hurt another innocent person, I'll come after you. Understand? Nod, if you agree."
'What is he talking about? Wife? You're not even that old. Does he has a screw loose or something? Anyway, I'll just nod for now. Next time, I'll pay him back tenfold times compared to what he did to me.' Byoung Chul considered the situation thoroughly before nodding to him.
After seeing him being obedient, Yu-min let go of his hand and Byoung Chul finally sighed in relief.
"Young boy, stop making trouble and be a good boy, okay?" He instinctively patted him in the head which was unusual to everyone. Some people even laughed at the sight.
"What's wrong with him?"
"No idea. but it's fun."
'To think he dares to treat me like a child…' Byoung Chul was infuriated from inside and even was embarrassed in front of everyone. If he could, he wanted to kill Yu-min right then nd there. But after seeing his strength, he held back his anger.
"Oh, right!" During the whole situation, Yu-min almost forgot about Song Ki-tae who was still struggling to get up on his own.
He immediately rushed towards him and helped Ki-tae to stand up on his feet.
"Thanks a lot, sir, for saving me." Ki-tae spoke politely in low voice.
"Don't mention it. Are you alright? Can you walk?" Yu-min replied.
"Yes, I'm fine. Sir, may I ask your name please? I need to repay you for your kindness somehow."
Kang Yu-min shook his head and said, "No need to repay me anything, I did what I had to do. As for my name.."
As soon as Yu-min was gonna reveal his name, everyone's attention was focused on his words including Lee Byoung Chul.