Chapter 498
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 498
Chapter Title: I've Seen You Before
Saja Jegal I-jong ran with all his might.
He bolted toward the door of the Guanyin Temple as if he would kick it down at any moment.
However.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Thwack.
Ha Mu-baek had appeared before him in an instant and landed a punch, sending him tumbling backward.
"Urk."
A groan escaped him involuntarily.
"I asked if you've ever gone hungry."
Ha Mu-baek squatted down in front of the fallen Jegal I-jong and asked again.
"Last night, I met some kids who'd been starving for three days. Their parents took all the money they'd scraped together when they heard someone was coming here, then just up and left home. Didn't even leave scraps for the children. And sure enough, there were these folks who looked like the parents."
Ha Mu-baek grinned.
That smile was utterly terrifying.
Jegal I-jong flinched.
"Wh-what's that..."
Grip.
Jegal I-jong's words cut off.
Ha Mu-baek had seized him by the collar.
"Parents who couldn't even prepare proper food for their kids dumped every last coin into that box. Right?"
Killing intent flickered in Ha Mu-baek's eyes.
"So, let's start with you going hungry first."
Ha Mu-baek stood, lifting Jegal I-jong effortlessly.
'M-my body... My internal energy... it won't move.'
In that moment, Ha Mu-baek had already fully subdued him via pressure points.
The instant he glanced at the wooden statue before the altar.
Crack!
The statue shattered into pieces.
At that moment, he could see with his own eyes the formation's energy gradually fading from around them.
He was still activating the Infinite Bright Wheel Eye, after all.
"So that was the key to activating the formation."
Ha Mu-baek muttered softly, then vanished.
A remote wild mountain away from the village.
He tossed Jegal I-jong into a small cave that appeared to be some nameless beast's lair.
Ha Mu-baek then returned to the village to assess the situation.
The people who had gathered in the Guanyin Temple, bowing frantically and listening to Jegal I-jong's sermons with glazed eyes, had returned to normal life as if nothing had happened.
The parents of Jo Hyang-a and Jo Hu-pyo were no different.
They were startled to hear that a passerby had bought meat for the children last night.
But what was done was done, so they resolved to be more careful going forward and focused on daily life.
People who had vanished for over three days and now returned to routine caused conflicts here and there.
"Father! Did you take the money I saved up to buy books?"
"You don't need those books anymore. Before you can become a scholar-official, the Bodhisattva of Compassion will change the world."
"Father!"
"That money will be put to good use by the Bodhisattva in destroying the world."
"Father!"
Conflicts like this were breaking out in every other household.
Ha Mu-baek heard it all.
He turned his head slightly toward the wild mountain, then gazed in the direction of Yungjung Mountain.
"What the hell do you all want?"
Faint anger laced his voice.
Three days passed.
After checking on the village, Ha Mu-baek headed back to the wild mountain.
Jegal I-jong's state in the cave was truly pathetic.
With his acupoints sealed, unable to move, he had soiled himself completely in his pants.
Ha Mu-baek grimaced at the sight.
"Filthy bastard."
Jegal I-jong's face twisted at Ha Mu-baek's mutter.
Who the hell's fault is this?
But the first thought that crossed his mind was something else.
"W-water... water..."
A raspy voice leaked from his cracked, parched lips.
He hadn't had a single sip in three days.
Ha Mu-baek approached and trickled a bit of water from his canteen into Jegal I-jong's mouth.
Gulp. Gulp.
About three sips in.
Ha Mu-baek stood again.
"M-more... more..."
Ha Mu-baek coldly ignored the desperate murmur.
Too damn sloppy. Way too sloppy.
What had the Jegal Clan been thinking, sending out someone like this?
To end up like that after just three days without food.
Of course, going more than three days without water could kill you, but even accounting for that, this was pathetic.
"Urgh."
With his urgent thirst quenched, hunger now came crashing in.
Jegal I-jong's face was filled with pangs of starvation and craving.
Then, a small breeze blew at the cave entrance.
It wafted in from outside, carrying the aroma of food he'd left out there.
"Guh... guhuk..."
Jegal I-jong let out a scream-like gasp upon smelling it.
Ha Mu-baek looked at him with utter disdain.
Couldn't this guy even smell his own stench and filth?
After two days in it, he must have grown numb to it.
Ha Mu-baek flicked a light palm wind and turned away.
"You should be able to move now. Come out."
Fresh air filled his lungs as he emerged from the cave.
Jegal I-jong blinked, tested his fingertips, realized he could move, and staggered outside.
The aftereffects of prolonged paralysis, plus three days of starvation, left him with no strength at all.
"Tch. Pathetic, looking like that from just this."
As if he hadn't heard, Jegal I-jong's eyes fixed on the wooden tub containing the food.
This smell—definitely roasted duck.
A common dish he used to eat without a second thought, but now it smelled sweeter than peaches from the Peach Blossom Paradise.
His own excrement stuck to his legs with every step, but he ignored it and shuffled toward the roast duck.
Thud.
But Ha Mu-baek's casual swing caught him in the gut, and he clutched his stomach, dropping to his knees.
"To think a sorry sack like you mesmerized people. Tch."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue in disbelief and exasperation.
"What the hell are you people plotting?"
"......"
Jegal I-jong clamped his mouth shut at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"You don't seem to have any seals or prohibitions on you."
Unlike that church envoy he'd captured in Luoyang.
That one only spat out "Yungjung Mountain" despite torture that kept him from sleeping.
Meaning the Jegal Clan had prepared him for contingencies.
But this one was different.
He'd learned the Jegal Clan's martial arts and bore their surname, after all.
No such seal on him.
Ha Mu-baek started simple.
"Name?"
"......"
Jegal I-jong kept his mouth shut.
Thud.
Ha Mu-baek tossed the canteen in front of him.
His eyes gleamed.
His near-fatal thirst was gone, but he was still parched.
"Name."
He asked again, but Jegal I-jong sneaked a hand toward the canteen without answering.
"Ha?"
Ha Mu-baek let out an incredulous sigh and sent a palm wind.
"Urk."
Jegal I-jong grimaced as pain struck the back of his hand.
"Name."
The third time.
"Je-J-Jegal I-jong."
He snatched the canteen and brought it to his lips.
Gulp. Gulp.
The moment water poured down nonstop.
Ha Mu-baek struck with another palm wind.
The canteen flew away.
"Gahk. Kek. Kek."
Jegal I-jong coughed violently, choking.
"Direct lineage? Or collateral?"
"Hoo. Hoo."
With his thirst fully quenched, life returned to Jegal I-jong's eyes.
Now they were locked on what he assumed held roast duck.
His hunger felt even more intense now.
Three full days without food.
The first time in his life.
Even during secluded training, he'd had nutrient pills and jerky for sustenance.
He'd gone a full day hungry once, but never three.
Ha Mu-baek sighed at the sight.
"From the way you're acting, you were raised pampered. Direct lineage, huh."
Jegal I-jong nodded unconsciously.
"Gulp."
He swallowed hard.
Ha Mu-baek opened the tub's lid.
As expected, roast duck steamed invitingly inside.
Just roast duck.
Yet right now, it looked tastier than any delicacy in the world.
A first for Jegal I-jong.
"Hungry?"
Ha Mu-baek asked, looking at his face with contempt.
Jegal I-jong nodded subtly.
Every little action was ridiculous.
Then Ha Mu-baek's gaze lingered on Jegal I-jong's face.
The emotions were plain, but the expression was awkwardly forced.
It hit him—the guy was wearing a mask.
"Let's see your real face first."
Ha Mu-baek flicked his hand lightly.
"U-urgh..."
The mask was stuck firm; Jegal I-jong groaned in pain.
Riiip.
It tore off.
Ha Mu-baek's eyes widened in surprise at the revealed face.
He looked so young.
Maybe mid-twenties at most?
Such a kid.
Seeing his face, it finally made sense—his clumsiness, his lack of endurance.
"Tch."
Ha Mu-baek clicked his tongue unwittingly.
Why send a kid like this out here?
This wasn't some era of constant martial tournaments.
Ha Mu-baek used his energy to tear off a tiny piece of duck and fed it to Jegal I-jong.
Eating greasy food after three days of starvation would surely cause issues.
But that wasn't his problem.
Jegal I-jong wolfed it down greedily.
His eyes begged for more.
"What are you people plotting?"
"...Ch-the... thou..."
Jegal I-jong's lips twitched.
The first words were hard, but with water and meat filling his belly, his mouth loosened up as hunger raged.
"We spread branches of the Detailed Guanyin Church across the land, collect money, and send it back to the clan. That's my mission."
He squeezed his eyes shut as he spoke, sniffing eagerly.
Ha Mu-baek fed him a larger piece.
"What do they use the money for?"
"I don't know."
Jegal I-jong chewed quickly and answered promptly.
It was the truth; nothing to hesitate or hide.
"Why pretend to be Demonic Cultists?"
"What do you mean?"
He even shot back a question.
"Didn't you call it the Heavenly Demon Guanyin Statue?"
"It's the Guanyin that will destroy the world, so we called it Heavenly Demon Guanyin, that's all."
Ha Mu-baek drew his conclusion from the answer.
This guy didn't know much.
A direct lineage of the Jegal Clan, yet sent to a small village like this with so little knowledge—clearly just for experience.
Running into him wasn't part of their plan.
Who could've predicted Ha Mu-baek showing up here?
Not even the so-called Divine Mountain Jegal Clan.
What was strange was.
This punk knows my face?
That.
A kid barely in his twenties shouldn't know his face.
"Where on Yungjung Mountain are you raising the envoys?"
"I don't know."
So brazen.
"Then you?"
"Trained at the clan. Begged my father directly."
Now he was dragging the tub over, grabbing and eating the duck himself while answering.
Ha Mu-baek didn't stop him.
Reduced to that after three days' hunger.
It pissed him off.
The images of the hut siblings flashed in his mind.
"Then how do you know my face?"
Jegal I-jong answered indifferently.
"I've seen you before."
Ha Mu-baek frowned.
He didn't remember, but the guy claimed to have seen him?
He scrutinized Jegal I-jong's face again.
Twenties, still a bit boyish, and upon closer look, somehow familiar.
"You..."
A memory surfaced.
The day he'd single-handedly taken down a hundred elite Blood Cult warriors.
A brat who'd snuck nearby to watch the fight out of childish curiosity.
It was that kid.