Chapter 434

Chapter 434 – Who Deserves the Bottom of Hell More? (3)

The sharp peak of the mountain, as if piercing the full moon, stood pointing toward the sky like a blade.

Someone suddenly appeared atop the precipitous peak that ordinary people wouldn't dare climb. Descending slowly with robes fluttering like an immortal descended from the moon, it was precisely West Queen Mother Yong Hwa-seol.

The unconscious Namgung In-hu was draped over her shoulder. Leaving Nok Su-bing alone at the mountain's base, she had ascended to the peak with him using aerial walking.

Landing at the summit, Yong Hwa-seol roughly threw Namgung In-hu onto the small flat area. From that shock, Namgung In-hu regained his lost consciousness.

Barely opening his eyes, he recognized Yong Hwa-seol.

"West… Queen Mother?"

"It's been a while, Great Hero Namgung."

"How are you here? No, more than that, the Fist Demon……"

"I took custody of you from him."

Yong Hwa-seol's answering voice was colder than ice. Only then did Namgung In-hu recognize his situation.

His body was utterly devastated. His internal organs were nearly crushed, and major meridians were severed or damaged. The fact he was still breathing was only thanks to his profound internal energy, in reality, he was as good as dead.

Namgung In-hu realized Yong Hwa-seol had taken some measure with him. And that it wasn't out of concern for him.

His already pale complexion turned even whiter.

"Don't tell me you…?"

"That's right. I want to get answers from you."

"It's useless. You won't be able to obtain any answers from me. Don't you know that well?"

"No, I don't. And I'm confident I can definitely get answers from you."

"West Queen Mother."

Namgung In-hu's pupils wavered.

Yong Hwa-seol's eyes were sharper than blades, and her voice was colder than North Sea ice.

No matter what anyone said, she was a member of the Four Divine Emperors. One of the four strongest people in the world. An absolute martial artist who had reached the ultimate realm in a woman's body.

If Namgung In-hu's physical condition had been normal, he might have been able to endure to some degree, but in his worst state now, he absolutely couldn't handle her.

"You appeared at truly an exquisite moment."

"Because I was waiting."

"Ha!"

"Where is 'he'?"

"I have no idea what West Queen Mother is talking about."

"Let's not do this."

"What do you mean?"

"Just as Great Hero Namgung knows me well, I also know you well. Let's not waste each other's mental energy."

"……"

"Just tell me 'his' whereabouts. Then I'll leave you and quietly withdraw."

"Stop your futile efforts. I know nothing."

"People are truly fascinating. Their character doesn't change until death. I thought Great Hero Namgung would be the same."

"Then you understand well. That there's nothing you can obtain from my mouth."

"Normally, that would be true."

Yong Hwa-seol's eyes swept over Namgung In-hu's entire body. Instantly, Namgung In-hu felt cold sweat flowing over his whole body.

"Don't tell me?"

"I've endured a lot until now. For his sake, and respecting his will. I endured, and endured again, persevering until today. I thought my patience had no limits. But I realized. Ultimately, everything has an end, and my patience had also reached its limit."

"But you promised!"

"You all created an atmosphere where I had no choice. Under the pretext of the greater good for the world."

"However……"

"I've watched your actions for the past several decades. But no matter how favorably I view them, I don't think your actions are truly for the world."

Crack!

Everything around seemed to freeze at her frosty voice. Indeed, Namgung In-hu was feeling extreme cold. Though he couldn't distinguish whether it was from her cold anger or his body temperature dropping before death.

Yong Hwa-seol grasped Namgung In-hu's pulse point. Then hellish cold poured into him through his blood vessels.

Namgung In-hu's eyes bulged. His mouth involuntarily gaped open from the terrible pain he was experiencing for the first time in his life.

Looking into Namgung In-hu's eyes, Yong Hwa-seol quietly continued:

"What I learned from watching the Fist Demon is that violence used at the right time and place is more efficient than any other method."

"Urgh!"

Finally, a groan leaked through Namgung In-hu's lips.

The shadow of death was falling over his eyes, and Yong Hwa-seol stared directly into them. Then she said indifferently:

"If you won't answer, I'll mercilessly kill the last survivors of the Namgung family that the Fist Demon is protecting."

"Th-that's……"

Instantly, Namgung In-hu's pupils wavered. And Yong Hwa-seol didn't miss his wavering.

"You don't want the Namgung family to disappear from the world like this either, do you?"

"Urrgh!"

Under the moonlight, Namgung In-hu's screams only grew louder.

***

"What on earth?"

Though Yong Hwa-seol and Namgung In-hu had disappeared long ago, Namgung Yeong-hwi still hadn't escaped confusion. The same was true for Namgung Seon-hwi.

Though they seemed rather composed having experienced much hardship, fundamentally they were still children who needed someone's protection. The events that occurred last night were too tremendous for them to handle.

The appearance of Namgung In-hu who revealed himself as a family elder, his fight with Dam Ho, and the dramatic appearance of the living legend Yong Hwa-seol. Too many tremendous things had happened in one night for a small child's heart and mind to handle. So they were still confused and afraid.

Fear that hadn't been seen before was heavily cast in Namgung Seon-hwi's eyes as he looked at Dam Ho standing to one side.

He had known Dam Ho was frightening. Having already seen him fight, he thought he knew well enough how terrifying he was. But the moment he saw the fight with Namgung In-hu, he realized what he knew about Dam Ho was merely the tip of the iceberg.

Dam Ho was more frightening than he had vaguely imagined. So much so that even the Four Divine Emperors of the world didn't dare treat him carelessly and had to make requests.

Despite such a fierce battle, Dam Ho appeared completely unperturbed. He still stood like a statue without any change of expression. That appearance felt even more frightening. So he couldn't look at him directly.

Then there was a warm touch grasping his hand. It was Namgung Yeong-hwi.

Though he had become a bit more mature, he was still the younger brother he had to protect.

"Yeong-hwi. Don't worry. Brother will protect you."

"Yes!"

Namgung Yeong-hwi nodded vigorously.

'Right! Now I'll just focus on protecting Yeong-hwi. Everything else is a luxury for me.'

He decided to forget both Namgung In-hu being defeated by Dam Ho and being taken by Yong Hwa-seol.

Anyway, until today he hadn't even known Namgung In-hu existed. They were worse than strangers, so there was no reason for affection to develop now.

Above all, his instinct was telling him nothing good would come from associating with Namgung In-hu.

He was someone who hadn't shown himself even when the Namgung family was annihilated. For such a person to suddenly appear saying he would help rebuild the Namgung family so they should blindly follow him was suspicious from the start. In fact, he had tried to forcibly kidnap him and his brother.

Namgung Seon-hwi couldn't trust anyone. Most people he had met so far had ambiguous good and evil. Some hid malice behind smiling faces, and among those he thought were villains were surprisingly good people.

Young Namgung Seon-hwi still lacked the ability to see through to the true appearance hidden behind their outward faces. Not yet.

'Then it's much better to rely on ahjussi. At least ahjussi's outside and inside are the same.'

It was when Namgung Seon-hwi bit his lip hard. Bang Jin-bo came running breathlessly from the inn's main building that still maintained its form, shouting:

"I paid everything. We can go now."

"Did you really pay everything?"

Bang Jin-bo had spoken to Dam Ho, but Namgung Yeong-hwi answered. But Bang Jin-bo nodded as if it didn't matter.

"Yes!"

"It must have cost a lot of money."

"I have that much. Don't worry."

Bang Jin-bo smiled and stroked Namgung Yeong-hwi's head.

His gaze turned toward the completely collapsed separate building.

Due to last night's incident, the separate building collapsed and the innkeeper suffered enormous losses. To rebuild the collapsed building and endure until customers returned would require much money, but the innkeeper couldn't possibly have that much.

The innkeeper was as good as completely ruined. Like a bolt from the blue. Bang Jin-bo proposed to the owner that he would take over the inn. And he actually paid quite a lot of money to acquire it.

"Brother, didn't you waste money on something pointless?"

"We can't let innocent people suffer losses because of us."

"But still……"

"It's okay. If it comes to it, I can retire from the martial world later and run an inn here."

Bang Jin-bo looked at the half-collapsed inn.

Now that inn belonged to Bang Jin-bo. Though he couldn't return here right away, he could come back someday and reopen the inn. He had acquired it with that mindset.

Bang Jin-bo looked at Dam Ho.

"Brother, can you wait a bit? The innkeeper said he'd pack some rice balls."

"……"

"Hehe! I'm fine. Though I spent all the money I'd saved bit by bit, at least now I have my own inn."

Until Bang Jin-bo returned, the former owner would continue operating the inn. That was their contract.

Though it was impulsively done, Bang Jin-bo didn't regret it. And Dam Ho also supported Bang Jin-bo's decision.

Bang Jin-bo's future had to be created by Bang Jin-bo himself. If he gradually became independent like this, someday he would be able to walk his own path.

Dam Ho no longer worried about Bang Jin-bo. He was steadily growing as both a martial artist and an adult. Further involvement would only hinder his growth.

Dam Ho's gaze turned toward the Namgung brothers.

The Namgung brothers appeared hesitant. They still wore expressions of fear toward Dam Ho. Expecting the same from them as from Bang Jin-bo was still too much.

Dam Ho spoke to the Namgung brothers.

"You two."

"Yes?"

"Yes!"

The Namgung brothers answered simultaneously.

"From today, learn martial arts from Jin-bo."

"What do you mean?"

"Huh?"

The Namgung brothers tilted their heads simultaneously.

"Sparring with Jin-bo will teach you things."

"Ah!"

Only then did the Namgung brothers nod as if understanding. Conversely, Bang Jin-bo wore a troubled expression.

"Brother? But I……"

"The Namgung family's martial arts have depth."

"Huh?"

"Sparring with those children will teach you things too."

As the saying goes, teaching is learning.

To teach others, one needed to carefully review what one possessed.

The same was true for sparring. To spar well with others, one had to coolly assess one's own capabilities. What Bang Jin-bo needed now was also to properly assess his own capabilities.

Though the Namgung brothers' abilities were pitiful, fighting them would still teach Bang Jin-bo much.

"Understood. I'll do that."

Bang Jin-bo's answer was spirited.

Traveling with Dam Ho, he occasionally received incomprehensible orders. But looking back after time passed, Dam Ho's words were always right. Though the means or process were extremely extreme, they always produced the best results. That's why Bang Jin-bo trusted Dam Ho.

Bang Jin-bo looked at the Namgung brothers.

"I won't use internal energy. You can use yours."

"But……"

"It's okay! That much is fine."

"Understood."

"Begin. Come at me!"

Bang Jin-bo beckoned them with his finger. Then the Namgung brothers simultaneously rushed at Bang Jin-bo.

"Hyaaat!"

"Haap!"

Their battle cries echoed through the inn's courtyard.

Dam Ho stood in place quietly watching them fight. For what was supposedly children's sparring, their match was unbelievably fierce.

Their sparring continued until the innkeeper brought rice balls. And it would continue throughout the remaining journey.

Dam Ho's gaze turned skyward.

Like the flow of the era, clouds were flowing rapidly. ​