HDCLSSRS Ch 183
by berryChapter 183 Encounter (7)
Shifting Forms?!
When a martial artist reached an exceptionally high level, their movements could become so fast that the human eye failed to follow them.
For an instant…
It looked as though they had disappeared and reappeared elsewhere.
That technique was known as Shifting Forms.
Kang Ung simply couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.
Could such an ordinary-looking attendant truly be a master who had reached the level of Shifting Forms?
He had occasionally heard stories that peerless grandmasters who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts often left no trace whatsoever of having cultivated martial arts.
But…
Why would someone of that caliber willingly serve as one of Yakseon’s attendants?
Then, a familiar memory surfaced.
…Young Master Seong Muyon was like that too.
Seong Muyon had never looked like a martial artist either.
If anything…
He appeared smaller and more frail than an ordinary person.
Yet in truth…
He had been an extraordinary expert.
If someone focused solely on cultivating internal martial arts rather than strengthening the body…
Perhaps it wasn’t impossible to hide one’s abilities so completely.
Even when a Mount Hua elder had personally infused him with internal energy to examine his condition…
He had failed to determine Seong Muyon’s level of cultivation.
Looking back…
Perhaps that had been because of his Pulse Disorder.
Then…
Does that mean Young Hero Badger also suffers from Pulse Disorder…
Or is he at least a master on the same level as Master?
But…
He was completely different from Baek Ryeoil.
The aura radiating from him…
The sheer strength of his physique…
Everything was on another level.
Then there was only one conclusion.
Badger…
Like Seong Muyon…
Must also suffer from Pulse Disorder.
That was the conclusion Kang Ung reached.
It wasn’t entirely wrong.
For someone as young as he was…
With such limited experience…
It was the most reasonable explanation he could imagine.
“Eek!!”
The thug who had thrown the medicine pot stared in horror.
The object that had left his hand…
Had somehow appeared in Badger’s grasp before he even had time to blink.
He went deathly pale.
Even ignorant commoners living in the Central Plains recognized what martial artists were.
The local thugs had always dismissed the frightening stories circulating through the Murim as someone else’s problem.
Now…
A genuine martial artist stood before them.
Worse…
They had just attempted to rob one.
“Aaaah!”
“We’re sorry!”
The terrified youths immediately turned tail and fled for their lives.
Badger simply watched them go.
Instead…
With weary, sluggish movements…
He crouched down and carefully gathered the scattered herbs back into his arms.
“……”
Kang Ung silently watched his lonely figure.
Apparently…
Badger still hadn’t noticed he was there.
The countless people passing nearby concealed his presence.
Just then…
Someone else approached.
Kang Ung immediately concealed both himself and his presence behind the wall.
The Owl entered the alley.
“Badger…”
“Are you all right?”
The moment the Owl appeared…
Badger—despite being much taller and older—seemed to lose all his strength.
Like a child reunited with a long-lost parent…
He simply sat down on the ground.
“Were you hurt?”
Badger shook his head.
Whether he was pretending to be weak…
Or had genuinely been frightened…
His gestures carried an unmistakable hint of childish dependence.
“Not you….”
The Owl corrected himself.
“I meant those children from earlier.”
“Were they hurt?”
“……”
Kang Ung barely managed to suppress a laugh.
Come to think of it…
He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d felt so genuinely amused.
Why did these mysterious attendants…
Whom he’d only just met…
Feel so strangely familiar?
“……”
His smile vanished.
His gaze settled upon the direction in which the thugs had fled.
A chilling coldness spread across his face.
Silently…
He launched himself after them.
Badger might have chosen to let them escape.
Kang Ung had no such intention.
He had learned many things while traveling the Jianghu with his master.
One lesson stood above the rest.
Anyone who harmed him…
Or the people at his side…
Had to pay the price.
They might have fled in complete defeat today.
But no one knew what resentment people might nurture afterward.
If they gathered companions later and sought revenge…
Things would become troublesome.
They needed a proper warning.
Leaping from rooftop to rooftop…
Kang Ung ran along the roof ridges almost without making a sound.
The thugs hadn’t gone far.
He quickly found them.
“This is insane.”
“I didn’t know he was a martial artist!”
They huddled together in a deserted alley, stomping nervously in place.
“I told you not to do it!”
“When?”
“You were the one laughing the loudest!”
“I don’t care!”
“We’re doomed!”
“What if he comes after us?”
One of the youths looked around nervously.
Then…
He spotted Kang Ung.
Standing proudly atop the roof.
A sword hanging at his waist.
His expression colder than ice.
“Aaaah!”
“Run!”
The moment they recognized him as one of the strange masked attendant’s companions…
They fled with everything they had.
But…
No matter how desperately they ran…
They couldn’t outrun Kang Ung’s lightness skill.
I need to frighten them thoroughly.
He deliberately closed the distance little by little.
Exactly as he’d intended…
The terrified youths became increasingly disorganized.
They bumped into one another.
Shoved each other aside to save themselves.
Even trampled companions who stumbled and fell.
The more he watched…
The more pathetic they became.
The chase continued for quite some time.
Eventually…
The thugs reached a dead end.
A massive black gate…
And a long surrounding wall…
Blocked their path.
Since they couldn’t simply enter someone else’s estate…
They were trapped like rats in a jar.
That should be enough.
They’ve learned their lesson.
Kang Ung prepared to leap down from the rooftop and teach them one final lesson.
Then—
The gang leader suddenly shouted,
“To hell with it!”
He shoved open the black gate…
And ran inside.
“B-Boss!”
The others hesitated only briefly…
Before following him.
Could that actually be his house?
Beyond the black walls…
Dark buildings rose into view.
Whatever timber had been used in their construction…
Every structure looked as though it had been blackened by soot.
The estate radiated such an ominous atmosphere…
Kang Ung had assumed it was abandoned.
“W-What are you doing?!”
One of the youths cried.
“This is that place!”
“The Black Manor!”
“We’ve got to survive first!”
“They say ghosts appear here and drag people away!”
Ghosts…?
So…
Even these thugs didn’t own the estate.
“Ghosts, my ass!”
“It was abandoned ages ago!”
“That’s why people say things like that!”
“But considering what happened to the people who lived here…”
“Maybe ghosts really do exist!”
“The manor lord’s entire family died horribly!”
“And ever since then…”
“People say you can hear crying every night!”
“The old granny next door swears she heard it herself!”
Another thug chimed in.
“And haven’t you heard?”
“Young, healthy men keep disappearing around here!”
“They say the spirits of the manor lord and his family drag living people underground to keep them company!”
“Quit talking nonsense!”
“Let’s just get out of here!”
“If we use the gate on the other side, we’ll be right next to the marketplace!”
“We can lose him there!”
The group disappeared deeper into the estate.
Kang Ung hesitated.
For some reason…
He found himself reluctant to enter.
I-It’s not because of ghosts…
Even though the sun was shining…
The interior of the estate felt strangely cold.
While he hesitated…
The thugs continued moving farther away.
Eventually…
They reached an enormous hall.
Realizing Kang Ung no longer seemed to be following…
They stopped before its doors.
Apparently debating whether to go through it.
The building was so immense that going around it would take considerable time.
It doesn’t seem right to enter someone else’s home without permission…
He had frightened them enough.
Surely they would never bother the attendants again.
Kang Ung finally decided to leave.
Then—
Something happened.
The doors of the supposedly abandoned hall slowly opened.
A pale hand shot out.
It seized one of the thugs.
In the blink of an eye…
He was dragged inside.
“…!”
Every hair on Kang Ung’s body stood on end.
The terrifying rumors he’d just heard…
Had become reality before his eyes.
The pale hand grabbed the remaining frozen thugs one after another…
Dragging each of them into the darkness.
Moments later…
The estate stood empty once again.
“……”
Only after a long while did Kang Ung regain his senses.
That wasn’t a ghost.
When the doors had opened…
He had briefly sensed something.
It wasn’t ghostly yin energy.
It was…
Demonic qi.
He had to report this to his master immediately.
It might have been pure luck…
Like stumbling onto a mouse while backing up with an ox cart.
But regardless…
It seemed they had finally discovered why they had come to Nanju.
They had found the Demonic Cult’s hidden base.