Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 1344

“The Hongwang?”

Lee Hyun-soo, after a moment of thought, nodded as if he understood.

‘Indeed.’

The Hongwang wouldn’t stand idly by if someone he’d promised a contract to was threatened.

‘After all, the Hongwang is the ultimate show-off.’

Kang Jin-ho had his own share of swagger, but it was nothing compared to the Hongwang. The Hongwang was someone whose entire being exuded bravado. The only difference was that he made that bravado real.

“But wouldn’t he need to know that Choi Yeon-ha is in danger?”

“There are informants stationed nearby.”

“Huh?”

“They’re spread out like a spiderweb; didn’t you know?”

“…I wouldn’t know.”

How would I know that?

“Well, yeah.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a slightly pathetic gaze.

Lee Hyun-soo felt very wronged. From the start, Kang Jin-ho was a bird, and Lee Hyun-soo was a frog. It was ridiculous to be scolded for not being able to fly.

“So, if there are informants nearby, they’d react immediately if she’s threatened, right?”

“If they had detected the movements beforehand, a high-ranking official would have moved directly.”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled dryly.

‘Did they move after seeing this far?’

Sometimes, Lee Hyun-soo wondered if he was really needed by Kang Jin-ho.

“But how do we get out of here?”

Never mind. I am needed.

“Why that look on your face?”

“No, it’s just that there was a subtle mix of overestimation and underestimation, but it’s all sorted out now.”

“Huh?”

Let’s just say that he’s usually nothing special, but he has his moments.

‘Well, things should get a bit easier now.’

If he didn’t have to worry about rescuing Choi Yeon-ha, the situation would definitely improve.

The problem was that even considering that, it was only a slight improvement from the worst-case scenario.

Lee Hyun-soo looked outside with a grim face.

His head was a mess, but staying here for long wasn’t a good idea. The longer they waited, the tighter their encirclement would become.

“I’ve been thinking.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s no other way but to break through.”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Hyun-soo with a sulky expression.

“No, wait…”

Lee Hyun-soo protested, looking wronged.

“I’m not some Zhuge Liang [a famous strategist from the Three Kingdoms period]; how am I supposed to find a way to escape in the middle of another country?”

“So, I really want to ask you one thing…”

“Yes?”

“Why did you come along?”

Lee Hyun-soo was speechless at Kang Jin-ho’s words.

Honestly, if Lee Hyun-soo wasn’t here, Kang Jin-ho’s escape would be twice as easy.

“Just leave me behind.”

“I’m already considering it.”

“Really?”

Kang Jin-ho sighed.

That’s why he told him not to come, but he insisted on coming and making things worse. Kang Jin-ho vowed that he would never bring Lee Hyun-soo along for something like this again.

“We’ll figure something out.”

“That’s what you always say. Well, it’s a relief that the guys in Beijing were sent back beforehand.”

To be precise, it wasn’t that they were sent back, but rather that they had nothing to do, so they were sent back to Korea first.

Now that the Hongwang had found out, there was no point in hiding. There was no reason to keep those useless guys in a hotel, wasting money, so they were sent back to Korea.

If those guys heard that, they’d protest that it was a hostel, not a hotel, but whatever.

“So, now we just need to get out of here.”

“No big deal.”

Lee Hyun-soo chuckled.

No big deal, no big deal.

The People’s Liberation Army was involved. It was obvious what the situation around this safe house would be like. And they would try to kill Kang Jin-ho at all costs to prevent what they had done from reaching the Hongwang’s ears.

On the other hand, there were only two people here: Kang Jin-ho and Lee Hyun-soo.

And Lee Hyun-soo was more of a burden than an asset.

“Wait a minute.”

Kang Jin-ho walked over to Lee Ki-gwang, leaving Lee Hyun-soo behind. Then, he grabbed the top of Lee Ki-gwang’s head with one hand.

After holding Lee Ki-gwang’s head for a moment, Kang Jin-ho let go and returned to his spot.

“What did you do?”

“Just in case.”

Kang Jin-ho gestured towards Lee Ki-gwang with his chin.

“He won’t be coming to his senses again.”

“…Good job. He was a bad guy anyway.”

A description like ‘sucking the blood of the people’ was perfect for that man.

Anyway, everything was completely settled. Now, all they had to do was escape.

Lee Hyun-soo’s expression changed. No matter how he thought about it, there was only one way.

“Chief.”

“Speak.”

“Leave me behind.”

“I’m not joking.”

Lee Hyun-soo said firmly.

“Wiggins is probably waiting near that place from last time. Try contacting him by phone while moving, and if the phone doesn’t work, go to this point.”

Lee Hyun-soo took out his phone and showed a map. A red dot was marked on the coastal part of a familiar yet unfamiliar Chinese map.

“Then you’ll be able to escape with Wiggins.”

Kang Jin-ho glanced at the map and then looked up at Lee Hyun-soo.

Lee Hyun-soo’s face was filled with determination.

“I don’t intend to spill the information of the Assembly until the moment I die. But I’m not confident I can endure torture. I’m the type to cringe even at a splinter… It’s better to just kill me cleanly and go.”

“Kill you?”

Kang Jin-ho looked at Lee Hyun-soo as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

“Yeah.”

“Yes. Well, I won’t deny that half of me wants to look cool, but the other half is serious. It’s better to die cleanly than to be captured, tortured, and then die.”

Kang Jin-ho put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

Then, he chuckled.

“Is this really a situation to be so serious about?”

“There are enemies all around.”

“No kidding.”

It seemed that Kang Jin-ho’s grasp of the situation was different from Lee Hyun-soo’s.

As Lee Hyun-soo said, there were enemies all around. And they were probably desperate to capture and kill Kang Jin-ho.

Just looking at the situation, it was even hopeless.

But Kang Jin-ho didn’t think so at all.

“There’s one thing we need to choose seriously.”

“Yes, I understand. Then kill me here and go.”

“…Are we filming a movie?”

“Huh?”

“Noir isn’t my thing.”

Kang Jin-ho slowly exhaled cigarette smoke and said indifferently.

“Choose. Do you want to be carried on my back, or do you want to be captured?”

“…What do you mean?”

“You’re too slow. I have no choice but to carry you on my back or grab your neck and run. I’m giving you a choice.”

“Aren’t you going to leave me behind?”

“If it’s really necessary, I’m prepared to do that. But it’s not that big of a deal right now.”

Lee Hyun-soo’s face twisted subtly. It looked like his eyes were getting teary.

But Kang Jin-ho clicked his tongue at the sight.

Lee Hyun-soo didn’t know.

What Kang Jin-ho was best at in the world was martial arts and fighting.

But there was another thing Kang Jin-ho was really good at.

Escaping.

In his second life, Kang Jin-ho was someone who got into a fight with the righteous sects, and things escalated to the point where he was considered a public enemy. Thanks to that, he escaped from the Shandong Peninsula, breaking through the encirclement of the righteous sects, all the way to the Demonic Cult’s territory.

At that time, Kang Jin-ho, with a strength that was only about Lee Myung-hwan’s level now, broke through the net of heaven and earth of the righteous sects, where experts were several times more numerous than they are now.

This was perhaps an even greater achievement than becoming the leader of the Demonic Cult. The leader of the Demonic Cult appears once every generation, but someone who broke through the net of heaven and earth of the righteous sects with that level of skill was rare, even once every few hundred years.

To Kang Jin-ho, this level of encirclement was nothing.

“Thank you, Chief. But this is the end. Please go quickly. I will protect you until the end…”

Thump.

Without another word, Kang Jin-ho grabbed the back of Lee Hyun-soo’s neck.

“Honestly, I don’t want to carry you on my back, so I’ll just go like this.”

“…Huh?”

“Clench your teeth. You’ll bite your tongue.”

“Uh… Uh? Uh?”

At that moment, Kang Jin-ho kicked the window of the safe house with all his might.

Crash!

The sound of bulletproof glass shattering was distinctly different from the sound of regular glass breaking. Kang Jin-ho, who had shattered the bulletproof glass in one blow, threw himself out the window with that momentum.

“Eek!”

Lee Hyun-soo was horrified.

‘No. Crazy! If we escape like this!’

“Fire!”

That’s right!

Instantly, a sound like a large amount of beans being roasted echoed. Lee Hyun-soo, understanding what that sound meant, squeezed his eyes shut.

Whizz!

But the guns weren’t the problem.

In an instant, he felt how much acceleration they had, his body stretching out, and all the blood in his body rushing to his legs. The blood drained from his head, and his consciousness momentarily faded and then returned.

‘I’m going to die first at this rate.’

Lee Hyun-soo gathered all the internal energy he didn’t have and pushed it into his head. He had to protect himself with internal energy to avoid losing consciousness.

Somehow, Lee Hyun-soo, who had regained consciousness, saw the surrounding scenery flashing by.

‘Wow, this is awesome!’

He couldn’t even grasp how fast they were going.

He must have moved faster than this in his life. No matter how fast Kang Jin-ho was, he couldn’t be faster than an airplane.

‘But airplanes don’t run through forests! Damn it!’

He couldn’t properly see the trees passing by. As soon as he saw something, it was already gone and far away. The world lost its three-dimensionality and stretched out.

‘Wow, I’m going to throw up.’

Every time Kang Jin-ho changed direction, he felt his internal organs shift to one side and then back to the other. If you put those who are crazy about roller coasters in Kang Jin-ho’s hands for just one minute, they would summon their ancestors from three generations back and beg for forgiveness.

That’s exactly how I feel right now.

“Stop…”

Kang Jin-ho kicked the person blocking his path with the same speed he was running.

Crash!

The sound of a person being kicked was like a train colliding. The corpse, killed instantly with a single blow, literally bounced up, spun around, and then crashed to the ground.

‘That crazy bastard.’

Even in kindergarten, they teach you not to stand in front of a moving car. But what kind of guts did they have to block the path of a running Kang Jin-ho with their bodies, not even a running car?

But it seemed that there were quite a few crazy people in China.

“Up!”

Lee Hyun-soo screamed in horror. From the dense trees above, a dozen special forces soldiers with daggers jumped straight at Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho’s right hand, which wasn’t holding Lee Hyun-soo, instantly pierced the subspace and pulled out the Red Tear [a powerful sword].

Then, with the same running speed, he slashed upwards a dozen times.

Swish!

The corpses, unable to even touch the ground, were torn to pieces and sprayed blood, but the blood didn’t even touch Kang Jin-ho’s body. Kang Jin-ho, maintaining his terrifying speed, ran forward, his eyes turning red.

Lee Hyun-soo gritted his teeth as he saw the cruel smile on Kang Jin-ho’s lips as he glanced sideways.

Then, he quickly picked up his phone.

“Left! Left! Chief, this isn’t the way! To the left!”

“I know.”

“Why are you running in the opposite direction! Do you have business in Mongolia?”

“Ha…”

Kang Jin-ho stopped in his tracks.

“Wait a minute… Uwaaaah! Ugh!”

Kang Jin-ho let go of Lee Hyun-soo’s neck and stepped back slightly.

As Lee Hyun-soo, who had vomited everything in his stomach, raised his head, Kang Jin-ho grabbed his neck again.

“Hold on tight.”

To what?