Connection
When the disciples of Shaolin and Wudang began to open their eyes after finishing their Qi Conducting Technique,
“Master Uncle, there is a place we must go urgently.”
Mu-jin spoke in a hurried tone.
“What do you mean by urgent? Is there a problem?”
“The man we fought a while ago, he might be targeting that child with the Heavenly Martial Constitution we saw last time.”
“What, what do you mean by that?”
In response to Hyun-hyeon’s question, Mu-jin explained his reasoning.
“That man had an incredible amount of internal energy for his age. The secret to accumulating that much internal energy was none other than the Celestial Blood Absorption Technique.”
When Mu-yul also stepped forward as a witness, the expressions of Hyun-hyeon and the others listening became serious.
“As you all know, it is impossible to manipulate both Yin and Yang energies as freely as that man just by learning the Celestial Blood Absorption Technique. I suspect that he absorbed the Yin and Yang energies of children born with special constitutions.”
The main reason Mu-jin could deduce this was because he was a “reader.”
In the second part of the novel, the character who plays a significant role after the protagonist, Dao Yuetian, is Baek Ga-hwan.
Baek Ga-hwan, who holds a role close to a co-protagonist, spent the entire novel searching for his younger sister, Baek Ga-ryeong, but she never appeared directly in the second part of the novel.
This was something Mu-jin always found puzzling while reading the second part of the novel.
It was clear that Baek Ga-ryeong had been sold to Shinchun, but why did she never appear?
If she had died after being raised as a minion of Shinchun, there should have been some evidence, but there was none.
Baek Ga-ryeong also suffered from the Seven Yin Terminating Pulse.
When Mu-jin saw the man vomiting Yin energy, he naturally thought of Baek Ga-ryeong and continued to deduce from there.
Perhaps, Baek Ga-ryeong in the novel was sold to Shinchun and died after having her Yin energy absorbed by that man.
Mu-jin wondered if Baek Ga-ryeong’s unresolved presence was not just a loose end but something that was supposed to be resolved in the third part of the novel.
‘I thought human trafficking was just a front to raise minions and martial artists.’
Seeing it this way, raising minions and martial artists might also have been a disguise.
Talentless children are sold through human trafficking, while talented ones are raised as martial artists and brainwashed.
And special constitutions like Baek Ga-ryeong or the child with the Heavenly Martial Constitution they met recently are sent separately to be absorbed by men like the one they just encountered using the Celestial Blood Absorption Technique.
As Mu-jin finished his deduction, he shivered momentarily.
‘Then how many men like that are there?’ Sёarᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
If there were many like him, honestly, there was almost no hope of winning against Shinchun.
But Mu-jin pushed aside his worries, thinking positively.
‘Special constitutions are not that common, and if they had such power, they wouldn’t need to hide their identities and activities so much.’
In any case, the conclusion was to capture the man and find out.
The man often referred to himself as ‘Bonju’. This meant he held a fairly high-ranking position within Shinchun, like the ‘Daeju.’
They had to capture him to find out his rank and how many like him existed.
Therefore, Mu-jin spoke up again, insisting strongly.
“I am not certain he is targeting that child, but it wouldn’t hurt us to prepare just in case. So, I believe it is right to move immediately, Master Uncle.”
At Mu-jin’s words, Hyun-hyeon nodded without hesitation.
“A child’s life is at stake. Let’s move immediately.”
Although everyone was still not fully recovered, they all took off without any sign of reluctance.
After running through the tropical rainforest of Nanzhao using their light-footed technique for about an hour,
They arrived at the village they had visited before.
As soon as Mu-jin arrived in the village, he sensed that something was wrong.
The atmosphere in the village seemed more chaotic than before, and some villagers had gathered as if to watch something.
Feeling uneasy and curious, they approached the gathering crowd. The villagers made way for the strangers carrying weapons.
At the center of the gathering was a woman sitting on the ground with a blank expression.
Though her face was blank, tears streamed down her cheeks.
And the woman was someone Mu-jin’s group had seen before.
She was the mother who had come to the herbalist, seeking treatment for the child with the Heavenly Martial Constitution.
“What happened?”
At Hyun-hyeon’s question, Red Tiger Leader asked the villagers in the Nanzhao language.
After understanding the situation, Red Tiger Leader spoke up.
“When the child had another fever attack, she placed him on that stone in the shade to cool him down. While the mother was briefly attending to something else, a man in black came and took the child.”
Red Tiger Leader’s explanation caused Hyun-hyeon to frown with concern.
He was the one who had advised cooling the child in case of a fever attack.
But Mu-jin knew this was not the time to be bewildered.
“It’s rather fortunate. If the mother had been with the child, he would have killed her to kidnap the child. We should first check when the child was taken.”
“It has been about one to two intervals (1 interval = 15 minutes).”
Red Tiger Leader, who had already checked, answered, and Mu-jin quickly spoke.
“Then, please ask the woman if she has any clothing or belongings of the child that haven’t been washed yet. If she does, we can find the child.”
One to two intervals should not be enough time for the man to absorb the child’s Yang energy with the Celestial Blood Absorption Technique.
When Red Tiger Leader translated Mu-jin’s words, a look of realization appeared on the woman’s face.
Though her legs must have been numb from sitting, she quickly stood up and went somewhere.
Soon, she returned with a rag-like piece of cloth.
“This is the child’s used clothing.”
When Red Tiger Leader translated her words, Mu-jin took the clothing and handed it to Mu-yul.
Mu-yul, understanding Mu-jin’s intentions without needing to be told, buried his nose in the clothing with a determined expression.
After sniffing the cloth for a while, he handed it to Ling-ling.
Ling-ling and Mu-yul sniffed the cloth with determined expressions several times.
“This way!!”
As Mu-yul and Ling-ling simultaneously ran off in a certain direction, the rest of the group quickly followed them without hesitation.
* * *
After running for a while following Mu-yul and Ling-ling,
They pushed through the dense foliage of the tropical rainforest without pause.
Swish.
At the moment they pushed through a new thicket,
Mu-jin finally saw the man they had been desperately searching for.
However, the situation was somewhat different from what Mu-jin had expected.
“Who are you people?”
The man was not alone.
Not only was he not alone, but there were over thirty members of the Demon Cult around him.
“The dogs of the orthodox sects have crawled here on their own!”
Clang!
Recognizing Mu-jin and the group’s attire, the cultists drew their weapons without hesitation.
Of course, Mu-jin’s group was not afraid of fighting the cultists.
In fact, with Hye-geol and Mu-yul joining them, their numbers were now even.
“Attack!!”
“Invoke the killing precept! Amitabha!”
“Immeasurable Life Buddha.”
Shouting their respective chants and mottos, the disciples of Shaolin and Wudang charged at the cultists, who also shouted their own slogans as they charged.
Mu-jin unleashed the Golden Turtle Technique and Fast Ascent Step with full force, ignoring the cultists charging at him, focusing solely on the man.
The man holding the child had a look of surprise on his face, likely not expecting them to pursue so quickly.
Just as Mu-jin was about to clash with the man,
Boom!
A wave of heat stopped Mu-jin in his tracks.
Having experienced this martial art once before, Mu-jin could guess who was blocking him.
‘Is it the current Red Flame King?’
It was a middle-aged man using the Explosive Soul Demon Palm, just like the former Red Flame King and traitor, Geum Yang-hwi.
Blocking Mu-jin, he shouted to his subordinates,
“Fire the signal flare immediately!!”
A signal flare to call for reinforcements.
This was a problematic choice in many ways.
They were currently moving to help So-cheon-ju by kidnapping a child, an act unrelated to the Demon Cult. If the two young masters or elders appeared, they would naturally question this action.
Despite this, the Red Flame King made this choice for a simple reason.
‘We have no chance on our own anyway.’
He realized in just one clash that they could not stop the Shaolin Dragon.
Moreover, since So-cheon-ju had not fully recovered from his internal injuries, it was impossible to win without reinforcements.
– So-cheon-ju! Abandon the child and flee! We will buy you time!
The Red Flame King’s judgment was purely to save So-cheon-ju.
However, So-cheon-ju, with regret written all over his face, alternated his gaze between the child he was holding and Mu-jin.
While he hesitated to abandon the child,
Bang!!
“Ugh.”
The Red Flame King groaned as he blocked another punch from Mu-jin.
As the Red Flame King faltered from his internal injuries, Mu-jin dove straight in and threw a punch at the man.
Crack!
The man managed to block Mu-jin’s punch with a barrier of cold energy, but his expression was clearly troubled.
‘As I thought!’
Mu-jin confirmed the man’s internal injuries had not healed and continued his relentless attack, ignoring the child in the man’s one hand.
This was a decision informed by the special forces training Mu-jin had received.
When rescuing a hostage, it was better to act as if the hostage was of no concern.
‘Especially with scum like this.’
If the man realized they were trying to rescue the child, he would have no hesitation in using the child as a shield.
“You filthy vermin!!”
So-cheon-ju, feeling cornered by Mu-jin despite being superior in skill, shouted in rage.
However, contrary to his shout, he struggled to maintain his composure and regulate his internal energy.
He knew that even a slight misuse of internal energy would disrupt the delicate balance of Yin and Yang he had forcibly maintained.
Bang!!
The extreme Yin energy of So-cheon-ju, unable to use his full internal power, clashed with Mu-jin’s punch, causing another explosive sound.
During this, So-cheon-ju, holding the child subdued by pressure points in his left hand, continued to face Mu-jin.
To restore the broken balance, he needed to absorb the child’s Yang energy.
This created a peculiar flow in the battle.
At a glance, it seemed like Mu-jin was an assassin targeting the child, and So-cheon-ju was protecting the child.
Meanwhile,
As So-cheon-ju struggled to fend off Mu-jin’s fierce attacks,
The child, held in So-cheon-ju’s left hand and flying through the air, felt his breath becoming increasingly labored and sensed a life-threatening crisis.
Already suffering from fever attacks due to his boiling Yang energy, the child was restrained by pressure points and could do nothing as his body burned from the rising Yang energy.
At the peak of his Yang energy, surprisingly, the overflowing Yang energy broke the pressure points that were restraining him.
With the energy that bound his body gone, the child instinctively began to control the overflowing Yang energy within him.
Ironically, this was based on the martial art of So-cheon-ju, who had kidnapped him.
As So-cheon-ju used the Yang energy to block Mu-jin’s punch with his own technique,
“Argh!!”
With a shout, the child mimicked So-cheon-ju’s technique using his own runaway Yang energy, swinging his right arm.
“What!?”
The child’s Yang energy-infused fist flew towards So-cheon-ju’s face, just as he barely blocked Mu-jin’s punch.
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