Descent Of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 693

“If we start talking about it, there’s no end. Really, there’s no end. The average person today lives more cleanly than the emperor back then. Probably.”

“Is it that bad? He was an emperor, though…”

“It’s not a matter of whether it’s possible or not. If the emperor had wanted to, he could have created a waterfall of hot water around the palace. But the problem is the mindset.”

They probably couldn’t imagine it.

How different the mindsets of people back then were from those of today.

They looked like people. But they didn’t feel like people at all. It was easier to believe that aliens were living among us in human form.

It was an era where they sold human meat on the streets.

The savagery of that era is unimaginable now.

Even in modern times, incidents involving human meat occasionally occur.

But can you imagine a kind neighbor you were just chatting with going home and casually boiling human meat to eat?

Bizarre acts that would be condemned by today’s standards were accepted as perfectly normal. And no one thought it was strange.

‘Looking back, I endured it well.’

Being chased as a public enemy as soon as he entered the Jianghu [the martial arts world] might have actually protected him. If he had had too much time to think calmly, he might have gone crazy trying to adapt to that world.

“There must have been a lot of problems.”

“Yeah, there were. Basically, I was treated like… well, like a germaphobe there.”

“A germaphobe?”

“Because I insisted on taking a bath once a day.”

“And because I took a bath once a day, rumors spread among the demonic cultivators that it was some kind of new training method, and they started copying me.”

“A, a total win?”

“It didn’t last long. They all stopped when it didn’t work.”

“I can’t even imagine it.”

“You wouldn’t. That’s what that era was like.” Kang Jin-ho chuckled softly.

He was talking about it like a memory now, but it was a serious problem for Kang Jin-ho back then.

As Bator had said, martial artists have sharp senses. They are sensitive to smells. Now imagine that everyone around you has never even tried to wipe themselves clean in their entire lives.

Enduring the stench was harder than blocking a flying sword.

When watching TV, you sometimes see shows where characters from the past travel to the present. Whenever Kang Jin-ho saw them unable to stand the smell of modern perfumes and cosmetics, he burst out laughing.

If they came to the present, they wouldn’t even notice the smell of cosmetics.

Even modern people are disgusted by the smell of manure when they drive on a national highway. In the past, that kind of smell was everywhere in the city. It was a common smell, so no one questioned it.

But disgusted by the smell of perfume? No way. Back then….

“L-let’s stop.”

Kang Jin-ho rubbed his face roughly.

He was just thinking about the past, but he was taking damage. He felt like he might collapse at any moment.

“You really survived in that era.”

“I also think I was lucky to survive.”

Kang Jin-ho quietly turned his head and looked out the car window.

‘If I hadn’t met Master, I would have died on the streets.’

As a modern person, Kang Jin-ho was too weak to live in the past. If he had to pick one thing that people of the past were better at than modern people, Kang Jin-ho would pick their tenacity.

Their grit.

They endured harsh labor that modern people couldn’t even imagine, and they didn’t think it was strange to be subjected to so much pressure and oppression.

It was difficult for Kang Jin-ho.

If he hadn’t met his master and learned martial arts… Kang Jin-ho would never have survived. Thanks to learning martial arts, he suffered later, but it was a hundred times better than dying there.

‘I wonder what happened to Master?’

He didn’t particularly miss his past life. His death wasn’t exactly clean, but it was the reason he returned to the present, so he could accept even that death.

Still, one thing he regretted was that he never saw his master again after they parted.

Why did he give everything to Kang Jin-ho?

It was a harsh world.

It was a world where it was common to hear that parents would exchange and eat their children during famines. How difficult would it be to take in, raise, and teach a child you didn’t know in such a world?

Yet, his master bestowed that grace upon Kang Jin-ho. And he didn’t ask for anything in return. It was only later that Kang Jin-ho realized how great the grace he had received from his master was.

‘I wanted to see him again at least once.’

Until he was old enough, he was too busy trying to survive to look for his master, and by the time he had the ability and position to find him, too much time had passed. The fact that he couldn’t even make his master’s grave with his own hands always made Kang Jin-ho feel bitter.

Longing.

After his longing for his parents and younger sibling was resolved, he thought he would never long for anything again….

‘Maybe humans are beings who can never escape longing.’

Kang Jin-ho looked out the car window with a slightly bitter expression.

“Well, what should I say….”

Jang Da-jing chuckled and said.

“The situation is twisted, but it’s kind of charming in its own way. But….”

Jang Da-jing looked at Ju Gang, as if he couldn’t understand, and asked.

“Even if this is a remote area, isn’t it a bit strange that not a single car has passed by for two hours? Is it usually like this?”

“Well….”

Ju Gang glanced at Kang Jin-ho and said.

“I thought it was a shortcut, so I came down a road that doesn’t have much traffic, but usually, a car passes by every few minutes… It is a bit strange.”

“Is there road construction or something?”

“I didn’t sense anything like that.”

Kang Jin-ho slightly raised his body. Then, Bator also twisted his body, as if digging it out from the seat.

“Master.”

“Hmm?”

“What about humans? Is there anything that modern humans are better at than humans of the past?”

“Hmm….”

Kang Jin-ho seemed to ponder for a moment before opening his mouth.

“One thing hasn’t changed, that’s for sure.”

“One thing?”

“There was a moth-like aspect in the past too. They don’t check who their opponent is, they don’t figure out their opponent’s abilities, and they just charge in, believing in their own strength. Like moths drawn to a flame.”

“As a modern person, I feel a bit ashamed. But I can’t deny it.”

“Hehe.”

Before Kang Jin-ho could step forward, Bator bent down and opened the door. Then, he got out of the van and stretched his body.

“Hmph, it’s too cramped. Next time we move, I’ll have to remodel a trailer.”

“That’s ‘luggage’ territory, Bator-nim.”

“If it’s comfortable, it’s fine.”

Jang Da-jing thought that Bator had gotten out of the car to stretch. But when Kang Jin-ho followed Bator out of the car, he sensed that the atmosphere had become strange.

“Chief? Bator-nim?”

“Stay there.”

Bator chuckled and said.

“It’s not that I’m ignoring you, but in times like this, it helps if you stay safe. I’ll protect the car, so don’t worry and stay there.”

Jang Da-jing, realizing from Bator’s words that something unusual was happening, looked around.

‘I don’t see anything in particular….’

Of course, those people can see more than Jang Da-jing. So, what they say must be true. But what is it….

“They’re coming.”

At Bator’s words, Jang Da-jing turned his head sharply.

‘What’s coming… huh?’

Only then did Jang Da-jing see it. At the end of the road.

A faint light was visible at the end of the road, which was wide but had no traffic, as if it were a typical example of administrative inefficiency. The light on the road meant one thing.

Headlights.

Jang Da-jing frowned as he realized that the light approaching from afar was a vehicle.

‘What’s so special about a car coming?’

But he soon had to correct his thoughts.

Light.

Lights were blooming.

The words Bator had said earlier, about the Milky Way filling the sky, came to mind at that moment. A similar sight was entering his eyes.

Numerous headlights flashed on the road, which was engulfed in darkness because there were no proper streetlights. The lights flowing along the long road felt like a river.

“That?”

Something was coming.

Jang Da-jing also sensed it.

It was not normal for so many cars to suddenly appear on a road where not a single car had been seen. It could only be seen as a deliberate move.

Then what were they after?

“Ha….”

It was obvious.

The only ones they could be after here were them. Those guys were clearly coming here to target them, or more accurately, Kang Jin-ho.

“What’s going on….”

Ju Gang seemed confused, as if he hadn’t grasped the situation yet. Well, it would be hard for him to understand the situation where Kang Jin-ho was suddenly being targeted here.

Now he had to know.

What kind of situation the person he called the Demon Lord was in. It was not strange for anyone to target and attack him anytime, anywhere.

‘Can he still be so excited even after knowing that?’

Jang Da-jing chuckled softly, out of place with the situation. He would probably find out soon too. No, he would find out now. Right now.

“It’s like a dragon.”

Jang Da-jing groaned. The sight of the bright headlights coming down the winding national highway was like a dragon descending from the sky.

Of course, it wasn’t a real dragon.

Soon, those dragons would reach them and stop their cars. And then they would attack….

‘They’re not stopping?’

No, those lights… aren’t they a bit fast?

They seemed to be coming incredibly fast?

But if the car behind was so close, they would have an accident if they braked suddenly. Of course, martial artists would have no problem reacting with their reflexes, but there are limits to a car. So, by now….

At that moment, Jang Da-jing’s eyes widened.

“You crazy bastards!”

Jang Da-jing reached out and grabbed the seatbelt. He straightened his seat and fastened his seatbelt with hurried hands. Then he shouted.

“Seatbelts! Fasten your seatbelts! Right now!”

“Huh?”

Ju Gang, who had been spacing out, realized the situation and frantically fastened his seatbelt.

The dragons didn’t stop. Rather, they increased their speed.

The dragons. No, the vehicles, now clearly visible, were rushing towards them with a roar.

“Hold on tight!”

The lead vehicles charged without hesitation.

A large dump truck rammed into Bator and Kang Jin-ho. At the same time, the van Jang Da-jing was in could not escape the devil’s grasp.

Seeing the huge trailer approaching the front window, Jang Da-jing couldn’t help but shout loudly.