Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 825

“Reporting in.”

Lee Hyun-soo nodded, looking at Lee Myung-hwan, who had approached him.

“How is it?”

“I searched the inside, but there were no remaining injured people.”

“Did you search thoroughly?”

“Yes.”

“I see.”

Lee Hyun-soo stroked his chin.

He had intended to avoid getting involved as much as possible, but he couldn’t just leave dying people to their fate.

‘This is a bit much.’

He moved discreetly with a minimal number of people. While coming here, he had already finished dealing with the local police station and investigation agencies. The higher-ups would cover it up, so there was no need to worry too much.

Externally, it would be announced that some workers passing by in a car noticed a problem and broke through the wall to rescue people. What those inside witnessed wasn’t much different.

The question remained whether a wall of this thickness could be broken with a hammer…

‘I’ll just blame it on shoddy construction.’

The business owner would take the fall, but so what? It was true that shoddy construction had actually occurred.

It could have been a major disaster.

If Lee Hyun-soo hadn’t grabbed Wiggins and brought the kids, the people inside would have been trapped and died.

Before that, if Kang Jin-ho hadn’t blocked the water tank, everyone would have died in an instant.

Adding one more sin wouldn’t make a difference.

‘There’s no reason to feel wronged.’

They should be grateful instead.

“Okay, just take one more look, just in case.”

“It’s difficult to enter because the rescue team has arrived.”

“Sneak in.”

Lee Myung-hwan looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a sulky expression.

Lee Hyun-soo frowned, reading the rebellious look in his eyes.

“What?”

“…I will do my best to investigate.”

“Good attitude. Now get lost.”

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head as Lee Myung-hwan grumbled and walked away.

‘These days, everyone is getting rebellious, whether it’s this guy or that guy.’

Is it because they’ve grown up?

In the past, no one would dare to talk back when he said something, but now everyone seems to test the waters before moving.

‘I need to get a hold of them.’

Yes, he had to get a hold of them.

Definitely.

Especially this guy.

Lee Hyun-soo’s head turned to one side. There, Jo Kyu-min was kneeling.

Jo Kyu-min, his face full of injustice and dissatisfaction, was glaring at Lee Hyun-soo with a displeased look.

“I’ll pluck your eyes out.”

His gaze slowly lowered.

“You really had a good time, didn’t you?”

Lee Hyun-soo approached Jo Kyu-min with a swagger.

“What? You little shit? You little shit? Say it again, Mr. Jo Kyu-min. This little shit will listen carefully.”

“No, that’s…”

Jo Kyu-min’s lips jutted out.

“It was a situation where I couldn’t help but swear.”

“Is there even a situation where you can’t help but swear? And I told you to raise your hand, why aren’t you raising it?”

“Come on, hyung [older brother or respected male figure]. There are so many eyes watching. I have my pride too.”

Jo Kyu-min was kneeling proudly in front of everyone.

“Is that so? A guy who cares about his pride is swearing up a storm in front of so many people?”

“…It was so urgent.”

“This little shit?”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes widened, and Jo Kyu-min retreated with hesitant knee-steps.

“Ah, I didn’t think you’d come.”

“Even if I didn’t come, you little shit! What did I do wrong for you to swear at me!”

“…Because there was no one else to swear at.”

“This guy is going to be trouble!”

Jo Kyu-min lowered his head.

‘How did that ghost of a man hear that in the middle of all that?’

He had to wonder if he should be amazed or terrified that he had picked out only the words swearing at him from all the noise. And that was from behind a wall.

He had a lot to say, but he couldn’t.

As a result, Lee Hyun-soo had arrived in time, and he and the children were able to survive. If Lee Hyun-soo had been just five minutes late, Jo Kyu-min would have been a cold corpse by now.

Thank you.

He was very grateful. But…

Lee Hyun-soo turned his head sharply.

“What are you doing, you bastards! Aren’t you going to take care of the kids?”

Lee Hyun-soo yelled, and people’s feet moved faster. The Assembly members that Lee Hyun-soo had brought were busy wrapping the children in blankets, giving them hot packs, and carrying warm water.

“These are the kids that the Chairman cherishes. If any of them catches a cold, I’ll cut off all your heads.”

Lee Hyun-soo was saying very kind things in a very scary way.

“Start a fire! Fire! Don’t we need to dry their clothes? Or should we bring a makeshift changing room?”

“We’ll start it right away.”

They were going to start a fire in the middle of Seoul. And the building wasn’t in good condition, so they shouldn’t start a fire there.

He had so much to say, but he couldn’t say it out loud.

‘They’ll figure it out, I guess.’

They were people who were outside the law in the first place. And now was not the right time to assert his opinion.

‘Why don’t they take care of me like that!’

Does Kang Jin-ho only care about the kids? He cares about Jo Kyu-min too.

But why does only Jo Kyu-min have to be treated like this?

“Ptoo-hee-ee-ee-tchew!”

Jo Kyu-min sneezed loudly and wiped his nose, looking at Lee Hyun-soo. Lee Hyun-soo’s gaze also turned to him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take my time beating you up, so don’t worry.”

“Beat me up? You’re going to beat me up? I don’t think I did anything to deserve that.”

“Tsk.”

Lee Hyun-soo frowned.

“You rotten bastard.”

He wanted to throw him away out of anger, but it was also true that Jo Kyu-min had done a great job.

If Jo Kyu-min hadn’t called in time, there would have been many deaths here by now.

Of course, Lee Hyun-soo wasn’t the type to care about that. What did it matter to Lee Hyun-soo how many unrelated people died?

It wasn’t that he made a mistake or committed a crime that caused people to die. Lee Hyun-soo wasn’t kind enough to care about people dying because of the entanglement of others.

The only reason he had rushed here was one thing.

Kang Jin-ho.

If Jo Kyu-min and the children had died here, how would Kang Jin-ho have reacted?

‘I don’t even want to imagine it.’

He didn’t know for sure, but there was a high probability that the Assembly would have been turned upside down. He was a man who cherished those around him like his own flesh and blood. But if they lost their lives in a group, not just one or two?

He couldn’t even guess how far the repercussions would reach.

Thanks to Jo Kyu-min, he had prevented such a situation, so Jo Kyu-min could be considered a benefactor to Lee Hyun-soo in his own way.

But why was he so annoying?

‘I wish I could just punch him in the jaw once.’

He was always being cheeky, but this time he had gone too far. But he couldn’t beat up a guy who had just escaped from that mess.

“Hoo.”

Lee Hyun-soo shook his head and said sulkily.

“You should also go to the hospital and get a checkup.”

“Are you giving me medicine after giving me the disease?”

Thump.

A vein popped out on Lee Hyun-soo’s forehead.

Why couldn’t people just accept his concern as it was? Did they have to talk back like this to feel better?

“Hearing that, I think I know for sure.”

“Know what?”

“I think I didn’t give you enough of the disease, so let’s start by giving you the disease properly.”

“…What?”

“Come here, you little shit.”

Lee Hyun-soo rushed at Jo Kyu-min and started twisting and pulling his nose.

“Ah! My leg! My leg! Ah, my leg is twisted! My leg!”

“I’ll just…”

“Th-there! Hyung, there, there!”

“I’m not falling for that, you…”

“Kang Jin-ho is coming out!”

Lee Hyun-soo let go of Jo Kyu-min’s nose and got up from his spot.

Kang Jin-ho and Wiggins were coming out of the front entrance. The rescue workers were approaching them and asking them something. They seemed to be checking if they were hurt.

Kang Jin-ho waved his hand and said a few words, and then the rescue workers glanced at them before losing interest and walking away.

Kang Jin-ho, who was looking around, saw Lee Hyun-soo and approached him.

Lee Hyun-soo bowed to Kang Jin-ho.

“Ugh.”

Kang Jin-ho patted Lee Hyun-soo’s shoulder without a word.

Lee Hyun-soo also responded to Kang Jin-ho’s gesture with a grin.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“It’s nothing.”

“And Master… Master?”

Lee Hyun-soo’s eyes widened. Wiggins’ eyes were swollen.

Seeing his face, Lee Hyun-soo asked worriedly.

“Did something happen inside? It looks like you got hit somewhere. There couldn’t have been an enemy inside, so it seems like the situation was very urgent?”

“Master?”

Wiggins quietly put his finger to his lips.

The gesture meant to be quiet, but his expression and atmosphere clearly shouted, ‘Shut up.’ Lee Hyun-soo, who roughly guessed the situation, nodded silently.

‘He got hit.’

He thought that something like that would happen someday.

On the surface, it was a young man beating up an old man, but Kang Jin-ho was actually much older than Wiggins, wasn’t he?

‘He should have been more moderate.’

The way he kept provoking him, he knew that something would happen someday. It just happened to be today.

“Chup!”

Lee Hyun-soo covered his mouth.

The moment he burst out laughing, Wiggins would try to fold him in half. He still had a long way to go, so he couldn’t die here.

As he turned his head away, avoiding Wiggins’ sharp gaze, Kang Jin-ho asked.

“How did you know to come?”

“That guy called.”

Lee Hyun-soo pointed his chin at Jo Kyu-min.

Then Kang Jin-ho also looked at Jo Kyu-min. Kang Jin-ho flinched when he saw Jo Kyu-min kneeling.

“Why is he like that?”

“He was too cocky…”

Kang Jin-ho frowned at Lee Hyun-soo’s answer. Lee Hyun-soo lowered his head slightly at the expression, and Jo Kyu-min looked at Kang Jin-ho with an almost tearful face.

“Kang Jin-ho!”

Kang Jin-ho glanced at Lee Hyun-soo and said firmly.

“He does have that side to him.”

There was a brief silence. Kang Jin-ho shrugged as if he had nothing to do with the silence.

“How are the children?”

“They’re over there. They’re all safe. I was worried that their body temperature might have dropped, so I dried their clothes and covered them with blankets.”

Kang Jin-ho smiled as he looked at the place Lee Hyun-soo pointed to.

They had filled a drum can with wood and started a fire. The children were sitting huddled around it.

“They need to get a checkup at the hospital, but there shouldn’t be any major problems.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

Kang Jin-ho whistled and headed towards the children, and Jo Kyu-min reached out his hand towards Kang Jin-ho’s back.

“Huh?”

He shouldn’t go like that?

Huh? That’s not it?

The moment he was about to shout something, a dark shadow blocked his path.

Lee Hyun-soo grinned and raised his index finger to his lips.

“You have to be quiet, Kyu-min.”

The moment he saw that devilish face, he couldn’t shout anymore. Kang Jin-ho was far away, and Lee Hyun-soo was close.

“Are you in a lot of pain? You have a lot of injuries here and there.”

“…Yes.”

“You look very tired these days.”

Lee Hyun-soo loosened his shoulders and approached Jo Kyu-min.

“I’ll make sure you rest comfortably. So much so that anyone can see that you need to rest.”

Jo Kyu-min was fully experiencing the brotherhood of his sworn brother.