Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 657

Zhang Dazheng clutched his thigh.

‘Damn it.’

A sob was heard.

A crying sound.

Kang Jin-ho didn’t bother to control the sound with his energy. He was just letting it be heard, as if saying, ‘Listen if you want to.’

It was a small sound that would be hard for ordinary people to hear clearly, but it was loud and clear to martial artists.

So, they couldn’t help but hear it. The sound of Guo Liqin crying. Zhang Dazheng couldn’t open his mouth. His whole body was tense. He was so tense that his whole body ached, but he couldn’t relax.

He had imagined it.

That Kang Jin-ho would torment that guy in ways beyond what he could imagine.

But the reaction was beyond what Zhang Dazheng had imagined. Judging from the sounds, it didn’t seem like Kang Jin-ho had even touched the guy, so how could this be happening?

Guo Liqin.

He had said Guo Liqin.

Zhang Dazheng knew.

If Guo Liqin hadn’t been captured by Kang Jin-ho, Zhang Dazheng wouldn’t have dared to even look him in the eye.

Even though they were from different factions, there was an insurmountable wall between Zhang Dazheng, a mere informant, and Guo Liqin, who was in charge of the organization’s affairs. If the two were in the same organization, Guo Liqin could beat Zhang Dazheng to death if he was in a bad mood, and there wouldn’t be any repercussions.

Zhang Dazheng’s status was low, but those who handled the organization’s external affairs were trusted members. Their path to success was half-guaranteed.

In this vast land of China, among the many martial artists, only a handful were on such a path to success. Truly, just a handful.

That was who he was.

And that person was now crying like a child.

Zhang Dazheng couldn’t understand how this was happening. Kang Jin-ho had told him to put him in a dark place, but could that alone produce this effect?

It was at that moment.

Thud!

Bator placed his hand on Zhang Dazheng’s shoulder.

“Ah…”

His strength drained from his body.

“You almost got hurt.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. It happens.”

Bator smiled as if it was nothing. Zhang Dazheng couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked.

“Bator-nim [a respectful title], I don’t understand this situation.”

“Don’t try to understand it.”

“Huh?”

Bator shook his head.

“Sometimes, there are things in this world that are better left unknown. And there are situations that are more painful for martial artists. There’s no need to hear or see it. Why don’t you go get us a beer instead?”

“…I will.”

Bator clicked his tongue as he watched Zhang Dazheng stagger out of the room.

‘His heart is weak.’

He was too soft-hearted to be a martial artist. No, it wasn’t that he was soft-hearted. Zhang Dazheng was the one who stood up to Kang Jin-ho to save Bator himself. Who would dare call him soft-hearted?

However, he was too kind to live as a martial artist.

And…

‘The master is too cruel, even for a martial artist.’

Bator shook his head as he looked at the tightly closed bathroom door.

He had felt a chill before.

Once in the past.

When he first saw death, when he first killed someone with his own hands, when he saw those who died in agony before him, his heart, which had never wavered, had been filled with terror only once.

When he dug up the ground to retrieve the body of someone who had been buried alive.

When he dug up a coffin that had been sealed and buried after he had pushed a person inside as requested by the client.

The moment he opened the tightly closed coffin lid, Guo Liqin had to face a horror and unease he had never felt before.

The sight was beyond description.

A person buried alive was trapped in darkness where not a single ray of light could enter. He had trembled in fear, struggled so much that there wasn’t a single part of his body that was intact. His body, which had hit every part of the stone coffin, was torn, and all his fingernails were broken.

And that wasn’t all.

Some of his fingers were in his mouth. He had gone mad from the overwhelming fear and had bitten off his own fingers.

And that expression.

The expression, which was not human-like, remained even in death, showing how much fear he had suffered until the moment he died.

Even Guo Liqin, who considered himself to be beyond boldness and almost emotionless, couldn’t forget that sight and had nightmares for days. After that, he never killed anyone in that way again.

It was more humane to tear off their limbs one by one like insects. That was not something a human should do.

But…

Guo Liqin realized.

That wasn’t the end.

The person who died in the stone coffin could at least move his body and struggle. But what about someone who couldn’t even move their body under the same conditions?

If only his body could move, he could escape, but what about the suffocating fear of being left to die in the darkness because his body wouldn’t move?

What was dominating him now was not a sense of liberation.

He had been freed from an unimaginable fear, but what dominated him was an even greater fear.

Because he could become like that again.

If he couldn’t satisfy the devil in front of him, he would lose his physical freedom again and be left in the darkness. And he would never be able to move his body again.

If he could avoid that situation, Guo Liqin could accept death with intense joy. Death was rather a rest.

“You want to die?”

A voice.

The voice of someone with absolute authority made his soul tremble.

“It seems you think you’re in a position to make demands or requests.”

“Ah… no, no. That’s not it. No. I’m sorry. I… I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was wrong. Please, please forgive me. Please…”

Guo Liqin didn’t even know what he was saying.

He only had the consciousness that he had to beg for forgiveness.

He couldn’t even kneel down to beg.

Because Kang Jin-ho had told him to stand up.

He, who was not even granted the freedom to change his posture, stood upright and desperately begged and begged again. Hoping that the one before him would not be angry.

Kang Jin-ho quietly watched Guo Liqin.

He had collapsed.

The last line that allowed a human to exist as a human had collapsed. Even if Guo Liqin were released now, he would not be able to live properly as a martial artist, let alone as a human.

Even if someone else went through the same thing, they wouldn’t end up like this.

But Guo Liqin had seen Kang Jin-ho.

Evil recognizes evil.

Those who have seen a greater evil than themselves are bound to sense their own situation. Because they are such beings themselves, they can guess what will happen to them.

It wasn’t Kang Jin-ho who broke Guo Liqin. It was the sins he had committed so far.

There is a way that suits villains.

Kang Jin-ho had simply used that method appropriately.

So, there was no need for anything else.

“What do I need to know?”

Guo Liqin’s eyes trembled. His answer was already decided.

“…Everything, everything. You must know everything.”

“I see.”

He just had to listen.

“Then tell me. Tell me so that I can be satisfied.”

Guo Liqin’s mouth opened.

It flowed out.

Everything he knew.

Everything that Kang Jin-ho might be curious about, even things he didn’t remember, all poured out of his mouth.

His will to die comfortably was stronger than his will to survive. And his will made even the impossible possible for him.

He spoke and spoke again.

He laid it out and laid it out again.

Everything he knew.

Everyone who would be the target of Kang Jin-ho’s anger.

Kang Jin-ho was quietly listening to all of it.

After a long time, Guo Liqin, who had spewed out everything he knew, closed his mouth. He had nothing more to say. He had said everything he knew. It felt like he had scraped every single brain cell with a needle.

“Is that the end?”

“…Yes. Everything I know… I’ve said everything, everything. Everything I know. There’s nothing more. Really. There’s nothing more. So please…”

Guo Liqin raised his hand and covered his face. Even though he knew it was an unauthorized action, he couldn’t hold on any longer.

“I don’t even dare to hope for a comfortable death. So please… please kill me. I beg you so desperately. Please… please don’t throw me back into that hell. Please… please…”

Kang Jin-ho quietly looked at Guo Liqin.

Cold eyes without emotion.

They were cold eyes, where even the deep anger that had once boiled towards Guo Liqin had subsided.

“I’ll give you a chance.”

“…Yes?”

“I’ll be back in ten minutes. In those ten minutes, prepare two things. One is new information. New information that you haven’t said so far. New information that will interest me. Do you understand?”

“H-h-h…”

Guo Liqin’s body convulsed.

There was none.

There was nothing more.

He had truly scraped everything out. There was nothing more to say. But where was he supposed to find new information?

“And the other thing…”

Kang Jin-ho smiled slightly and continued.

“Repeat what you’ve said so far. If there are no mistakes and the new information is to my liking, I’ll do as you wish. I’ll give you death.”

“Ugh… h-h-h, h-h-h.”

Everything in Guo Liqin began to crumble. Because he could foresee what Kang Jin-ho would say next. Hearing it was too terrifying.

If he could, he wanted to raise both hands, dig out his eardrums, and tear off his ears. Then he wouldn’t have to hear it. But he wasn’t allowed that freedom.

“If you can’t, I’ll give you a slow rest. So that you can die very slowly and leisurely. Do you understand what I mean?”

There was no need for an answer.

Because he understood it perfectly, desperately.

Guo Liqin’s face, which was trembling, convulsing, and changing dozens of times in a second, proved it.

“Think. Think and think again. I’ve prepared a lot. So much that I can’t show you all of it. Death and torture are too good for you. You’ll find out. What happens to those who touch my things. So think.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Guo Liqin quietly and then turned his body.

Click.

With the sound of the doorknob turning, a dazzling light poured into the bathroom. For Guo Liqin, it was a light so bright that it was blinding. A light of joy and life.

Thud.

But that light didn’t last long.

The moment Kang Jin-ho closed the door and left, the world was once again dyed in darkness.

In that darkness, Guo Liqin collapsed.

Guo Liqin, who had collapsed on the floor, began to scratch the floor with his fingers and mutter unintelligible words.

Desperately.

More desperately.

Zhang Dazheng, who hadn’t even put down the beer he had bought and was holding his breath, stared blankly at Kang Jin-ho, who had come out of the door, as if he had seen a ghost.

He knew he was a monster.

But…

Who knew that that person was such a demon?

That wasn’t just a demon.

That was…

Kang Jin-ho, who had a nonchalant expression, frowned as he looked at the beer in Zhang Dazheng’s hand.

Then he slowly opened his mouth.

“Do you happen to have any cola?”

“…”

He knew for sure.

That guy was crazy.

And completely so.