Two people were climbing up a steep mountain peak. They were also jumping up the mountain's cliff face as if it was flat ground. Even criminals wouldn't be able to do that.
As they climbed the cliff, one of the two opened their mouths.
"Sorry. It was my fault, commander."
The one who spoke was Hae Okseon, the female leader who had been leading the trainees.
Gu Sang-woong, who was moving with her, shook his head.
"He isn't someone a leader could have handled."
Though he was telling her not to worry, even the commander didn't seem confident. He only learnt that the trainees were caught up with the man atop this peak by learning about what happened to Hae Okseon's group.
'Tch. I knew that crazy old man would be coming here often.'
But he never dreamt that he would touch their trainees. He truly was the possessor of one of the more bizarre personalities among the Four Venerable Dignitaries of the Blood Cult.
He was so eccentric that even the First Venerable Dignitary disliked dealing with him.
And since no one can know where he would pop up from, everyone was afraid of him.
"He couldn't have killed them, right? They aren't low-rank trainees. Middle-rank kids are hard to find."
"I don't know."
Even Gu Sang-woong couldn't be sure about this. From what he heard from his predecessor, this bizarre and eccentric man changed his actions depending on his mood.
As they hurried up the mountain, they found a cave at the top of the peak. They could feel the qi from inside the cave.
'Here.'
As they stood in front of the cave, their faces were taut with tension.
Pak!
Gu Sang-woong got down on one knee and then took a bow. Hae Oksoeon followed right after.
"Long Live the Blood Cult! Commander Gu Sang-woon, who is in charge of the Six Blood Valley trainees, greets you."
No sound could be heard in response, and Hae Okseon asked.
[What? Should we go in?]
[Wait. It would be better to listen…]
It was then.
Shhh!
Something moved from inside the cave, and Gu Sang-woong kicked the ground with great speed and blocked it with his blade.
Pak!
But despite blocking the object, commander Gu Sang-woong's body was still pushed back five steps.
Drrrr!
"Huh!"
Gu Sang-woong, who was pushed back, began to concentrate his qi on the soles of his feet to stay balanced. He would have fallen down the cliff if he had been pushed back just a little further. However, he was still in shock.
"A seed?"
On the blade of his sword was stuck a seed of a fruit. How amazing.
The qi inside this seed was subtle, but his weapon could not cut it, which resulted in him being pushed back.
'He is a monster.'
A voice emanated from within as he admired the man inside the cave.
"Commander, huh, you are good. Huhu."
Pak!
Gu Sang-woong knelt down and shouted.
"You compliment me too much. A thing like me cannot even follow your footsteps."
"Huh. that is obvious."
Gu Sang-woong frowned at the voice. He had simply said something appropriate to this situation but did not expect that kind of reply.
'He is really insane.'
The rumours were true, and it felt like this would take quite a lot of time. However, it was impossible to come up here and simply get the trainees and leave. The commander then spoke carefully.
"Lord. The training we are doing…."
"Are you afraid that I would harm the children?"
"Ah, no."
"Then stop worrying and go back down."
"Lord. The children are to be raised as warriors of the sect…."
Pa!
"Kuka!"
A flying fruit hits Gu Sang-woong on the chest. He could have stopped it, but he accepted it thinking that blocking again would complicate things. Thanks to that, however, he felt like he was suffering from internal wounds.
"Clearly, the children I took in seem to have good qualities, so I plan to teach them some tricks by keeping them here.'
'…!'
Hearing that, the two people outside the cave couldn't hide their shock.
To instill his own teachings onto the children the Blood Cult had taken in meant that he planned to mold them into different beings.
'Until now, this old man never took in any disciples.'
Of the Four Venerable Dignitaries, he was the only one who didn't have disciples.
"I don't get what you mean…"
"Don't get me wrong."
"Uh?"
"It's just to keep me entertained during my stay here."
Despite not saying that he would take the children as official disciples, he would still teach them. Receiving teachings from such a man was nothing short of a miracle. Besides, who could treat a person like Hae Ack-chun lightly?
However, there was one curious thing.
"But lord. Among the trainees you took is a child called So Wunhwi, who has his dantian broken, so it will be impossible for you to teach him…"
"Kuk, who said I was going to teach him? That brat will be here on his feet for a while."
In other words, it would be like pampering one while making the other do chores.
While Gu Sang-woong was speechless from shock, Hae Okseon sent him a Voice Transmission.
[Isn't this alright? Commander. After all, even if he received a middle rank, he is someone who should be taught in the low rank. Please just turn your attention to the other ones.]
[Hmm…]
Gu Sang-woong, after giving the matter some thought, nodded his head. As she said, it seemed acceptable to give up So Wonhwi, but he couldn't let this crazy old man harm the other two.
[I heard he came from the Yiyang So family, so I thought of using him as a spy and sending him to the Murim Alliance later, so he is no big deal.]
If So Wonhwi heard this, he would probably lose his mind. The Blood Cult was already thinking of using that child as a spy.
Gu Sang-woong took the initiative and spoke politely.
Pak!
"Alright. I will retreat if you want to do that."
'This is insane!'
I was confused by the words I heard from outside.
Now they were leaving me alone with this crazy old man. Song Jwa-baek broke out in giggles and laughed in disbelief.
'Damn it!'
This guy was out of his mind.
It was I who woke up, rushed to the old man and then was beaten to a pulp. However, I was still delighted with the idea of this old man treating me like some servant of his.
"The disciple will bow to the teacher. What are you doing?"
"Uhuh… I will bow."
Song Jwa-baek and his younger brother were bowing down to the old man. Knowing his great identity, they seemed desperate to appeal to him.
But…
"Who is your teacher?"
Puk!
"Uk!"
Hae Ack-chun kicked the bowing twins on their heads. This man was really crazy.
He's not called a mad man or a freak for nothing.
'Ahh…'
This variable was entirely outside my expectations.
This was the worst. I don't know how long this old man will stay here, but if he stayed more than a year, my plan to restore my dantian was a bust.
'What do I do?'
This man was too strong to even consider running away. However, even if I succeeded in escaping, the commander would bring me back and hand me over to the old man, so I couldn't just run to the training ground.
Hae Ack-chun then shocked me out of my thoughts by saying,
"Get me something to eat within 2 minutes."
"Uh?"
"I want meat. Hehe."
"…"
Did this old man just ask this? I knew that this cave was on a cliff.
It was also so steep that it would be difficult to travel without light footwork techniques.
"But in two minutes…."
'Wait.'
Wouldn't it be better to just run away?
There was a saying I heard in my previous life.
The men who even the Blood Cult members were reluctant to touch… If I got caught by him, it might be better to try and escape instead of thinking about life within the cult.
'Phew.'
I tried to calm down and hide my emotions.
"All right. But I don't have any martial arts, so it is difficult to get anything, let alone meat, especially without a weapon."
It was a trick to try and get the Small Short Sword back. Since I didn't know when I would return, this was better.
"Kulkul."
Hae Ack-chun then snapped his hand.
Kwak!
The fruit seeds in his hand flew past my cheek and lodged themselves into the cave walls. Blood was dripping from my cheeks, but I didn't even dare to turn my head.
"You are a cunning one. Kulkul. I won't be bored, but keep in mind that the more you do, the shorter your life gets here."
"…."
I nodded without saying another word. I was not lying when I said that I suddenly felt the urge to pee.
Tak!
When my body refused to move, he threw another thing at me.
I managed to catch it and saw that it was my Small Short Sword. When I opened my eyes to look at the old man, I saw that he was smiling.
"Take it. That old dagger doesn't have the right to stay in my hands."
I think it was fortunate that this sword was so rusty that he didn't desire it. I then heard a voice that I felt like I haven't heard in a long time.
-Kyaaaaak! That furry beast touched me! Absolutely disgusting!
Disgusting? What did it mean?
While it was nice to have Short Sword back, this was not the time to listen to its grumbling.
I needed to run. As I was about to leave and save myself with Short Sword in tow, I heard.
"If I catch you trying to run, be prepared to die."
I felt a chill run down my spine. The human heart was quite remarkable.
Because he threatened me not to run, I felt like running even more now. I then walked out of the cave.
I gulped.
-It is really steep. Can you run quickly from here?
'I need to do whatever it takes.'
I grabbed a rock on the cliff and lowered my leg with care. It was too steep to just slide down. So I slowly lowered my trembling hands and feet one after another.
And then I heard the scream.
"Wowwww!'
"Aaack!"
Looking up, I saw something unbelievable.
'….!'
Hae Ack-chun was walking down the steep peak like it was flat ground with the twins at his side. He appeared in front of me and then promptly disappeared. Short Sword then asked me plainly.
-Can you really run away from that?
Fuck.