Descent of the Demon Master

“Let me warn you, if I start explaining what happened back then, we will be here forever. The average person now is living a more hygienic life than the emperors back then. Most likely,” said Kang Jin-Ho.

“It was that bad? But, we're talking about emperors...?”

“It's not the matter of whether it's possible or not. If the emperor willed it, he could've constructed a waterfall of hot water around the palace. No, the real problem is with awareness.”

The modern-era folks would never fully understand the staggering difference in awareness between them and their ancient counterparts.

Those people looked like humans, yet Kang Jin-Ho just couldn't bring himself to view them as his fellow human beings. It might have been easier to accept that they were aliens disguised as human beings.

In those days, you could find human meat for sale in the middle of a street. Trying to fully imagine the barbaric nature of the ancient past would be an exercise in futility.

Sure, crimes of cannibalism often popped up in the modern era, too. However, could anyone truly imagine the scene of their good-natured neighbor, whom you had been sharing a pleasant evening talk with, going home to enjoy a pot of human flesh stew?

Grotesque actions deserving of harsh punishment by today's logic were accepted as exceedingly-normal things back then. No one viewed them as bizarre or crazy.

'When I look back... I sure held up pretty well, didn't I?'

Maybe... Kang Jin-Ho going on the run after becoming the public enemy number one soon after his debut in gangho acted as a protective mental barrier. If he had lots of time to sit and ponder, he could've gone insane while trying to acclimatize more to the ways of the past.

Zhang Dajing sighed. “It must've been tough back then.”

Kang Jin-Ho slowly nodded. “Mm, right. How should I describe the way people back then viewed me...? Back then, I was treated like a germaphobe.”

“A germaphobe? Why?”

“I tried to take a bath at least once a day, you see?”

“...”

“And when I was bathing once per day, some weird rumors began circulating. People thought I was trying out some new cultivation technique, so older demonic experts even tried to imitate me at one point.”

“I-isn't that like, you know, accidental net profit for you?”

“No. It didn't last too long. They stopped bathing when there weren't any clear benefits to their cultivation.”

“I... I can't even imagine it, sir.”

“Don't worry about it. That's what things were like back then,” Kang Jin-Ho chuckled softly.

What he said sounded like a reminiscence of the past, but those things were genuinely-tough problems for Kang Jin-Ho at the time.

What Vator said was true; a martial artist's five senses were supernaturally sharp. Which meant Kang Jin-Ho's nose was quite sensitive. So, imagine a scene of him encountering a whole bunch of people who rarely, if ever, bothered to wash themselves.

Enduring the deadly BO was sometimes harder than defending against sword qi!

There had been several TV shows about people from the past inadvertently finding themselves in the modern era. Whenever Kang Jin-Ho saw those characters unable to withstand the smell of perfumes and cosmetics, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

If those people had really traveled to the current era, they wouldn't be able to smell things like cosmetics.

Modern-day city people would raise a huge fuss at the smell of something as innocuous as compost, which was liberally available just outside most city limits. However, such smells were a part of the city life in the ancient past. Since being surrounded by such odors was an indelible part of daily life, no one questioned the state of affairs back then.

So, for them to hate the smell of perfumes? Obviously that wouldn't happen. No, they would probably...

“I, I better stop here,” Kang Jin-Ho hurriedly muttered while rubbing his face, hard.

Despite all he did was recall the unpleasant past, he was still receiving mental damage. If he kept going, he might pass out for good!

“Assembly Master, you sure have managed to survive such an era, haven't you?” Zhang Dajing sagely nodded.

“Yes. I also think I got lucky,” Kang Jin-Ho muttered while glancing outside the van's windows. 'If I hadn't encountered my master back then... I would have died on some nameless street somewhere.'

Kang Jin-Ho, the modern-era man, was too frail to survive in the ancient era. If someone asked him to pick an attribute that made the people of the past 'better' than their modern counterparts, he'd probably pick 'bullheadedness'.

Or... Maybe it was better to call it stubbornness?

Those people endured the merciless, unforgiving hard labor as if nothing was wrong with this arrangement. They didn't find all the countless coercive and unfair pressures as wrong or strange.

Such a thing was nearly impossible for Kang Jin-Ho. So, if he hadn't met his martial master and set off on the path of martial arts... He wouldn't have survived. One could argue that learning martial arts led him to such a life of hardship later on, but Kang Jin-Ho preferred that one hundred times out of a hundred over dying at a young age.

'I wonder... What happened to Master?'

Kang Jin-Ho didn't exactly miss his second life. Although his final moments weren't all that nice, it still resulted in him finally returning to the modern era, so he was prepared to accept his death on that basis alone.

However, one thing still bugged him until now. He had not met his master since going separate ways all those years ago.

Why did that man generously give everything to Kang Jin-Ho? After all, they were living in a horribly unforgiving world.

Back in those days, rumors of parents eating their own children during famines commonly made rounds. In such a world, raising a child you were not even remotely related to couldn't have been a cakewalk.

Even then, Kang Jin-Ho's master still showed him that mercy. And he didn't ask for anything in return. Only in later years did Kang Jin-Ho realize how much of a huge favor his master had shown him.

'I wanted to see him at least one more time...'

He was too busy surviving until he reached a certain age, preventing him from seeking his master out. By the time Kang Jin-Ho had acquired enough power and status to locate his master... Too much time had gone by. Not being able to build a proper burial ground for his master always left a bitter taste in Kang Jin-Ho's mouth.

He missed his master. Even though he thought he'd never miss anyone after finally reuniting with his parents and little sister...

'Maybe... We humans can never escape the grips of longing and reminiscence for the rest of our lives.'

Kang Jin-Ho's expression grew a little more forlorn as he stared outside the window.

“Hmm, how should I say this...” Zhang Dajing suddenly chuckled. “Although our situation has become a bit weird, I think it's still kind of fun in its own way. But...”

Zhang Dajing stared at Zhu Gang next, his expression confused.

“...I know we're in the middle of nowhere. Still, isn't it strange to see not a single vehicle going past us in the last two hours? Mister Zhu, is this normal?”

“Hmm...” Zhu Gang sneaked a quick glance at Kang Jin-Ho to gauge his liege's moods first before replying to that question. “I thought it would be a shortcut, so I came this way despite knowing it's a rarely-used road. Even so, cars should pass us by every few minutes or so... It is indeed rather strange.”

Zhang Dajing tilted his head. “Is there road work going on somewhere?”

“I'm not sure. But I don't think that's the case.”

While listening to the two men speak, Kang Jin-Ho sat up slightly.

That was when Vator twisted himself to sit up as if he was trying to dig his body out of the seat cushion. “Master.”

“Mm?”

“How about people? Are the modern-day people any better than their ancient counterparts?”

“Hmm...” Kang Jin-Ho pondered his answer for a second or two. “I can tell you for sure that this one thing hasn't changed.”

“What is that one thing?”

“Even in the past, people acted like moths. Without knowing who their opponents are or accurately figuring out how powerful they are... People come after you while feeling confident in their strengths. Exactly like moths drawn to flames.”

“As a modern-era man myself, I'm a little ashamed to hear that. However, I can't deny the veracity of that statement, either.”

“Fufufu...”

Before Kang Jin-Ho could, Vator lowered his torso to slide open the van's door. He stepped outside, then grandly stretched his limbs. “Hmm... As I've said before, it's too cramped inside. If we get another chance to go on a road trip, let's modify a trailer or something as big for my use.”

Zhang Dajing shook his head. "Sir Vator, a trailer is to carry cargo."

“It's fine. As long as I'm comfortable.”

Zhang Dajing initially thought Vator left the van to stretch his cramped muscles. However, he realized the atmosphere had become suspicious when Kang Jin-Ho also exited the vehicle. “Assembly Master? Sir Vator?”

“Stay inside the van,” Vator smirked. “I'm not trying to disparage you, but in times like this, you are helping us out by staying safe. I will protect the van, so don't worry about anything and stay inside.”

“...”

Zhang Dajing finally realized something suspicious was about to happen from Vator's words and hurriedly scanned their surroundings.

'But I can't see anything...'

Of course, Zhang Dajing knew that these two men could see much further than him. So he shouldn't question how correct they were. Even so, just what was...

“Here they come,” said Vator.

Zhang Dajing's head snapped in that direction.

'Who is coming... Uh?'

Only then did his eyes finally spot it.

There it was, riiight at the end of the road in the distance!

On this road, which seemed to be built for the sole purpose of boasting the country's might judging from how not a single car drove on it, Zhang Dajing could see faint flickers of light. Lights on a road like that could only signify one thing: headlamps.

Zhang Dajing figured out the light source as a vehicle, then frowned slightly.

'It's just a car, so why are they all getting ready?'

However, he had to revise his thoughts pretty quickly afterward.

Those lights... They seemed to be spreading?

Zhang Dajing suddenly recalled the Milky Way from Vator's tale from earlier. He couldn't help himself since this spectacle vaguely resembled it.

On this dark road with no streetlights, countless headlights were turned on to seemingly create a carpet of light. It was as if he was now staring at a river of light snaking along the road itself.

“What... is that?”

Something was coming. Zhang Dajing could feel it.

This road saw no traffic until now, which indicated that many vehicles suddenly appearing out of nowhere couldn't be normal. Those things must be aiming for something.

In that case, what was their target?

“Hah...”

Wasn't it obvious? What else could be a target on this lonely stretch of a road? Those bastards must be targeting Kang Jin-Ho's group... No, scratch that, they must be targeting Kang Jin-Ho.

“W-what is going on here...?” Zhu Gang asked in confusion, having failed to accurately understand this situation. That wasn't surprising. He probably couldn't understand why someone would suddenly start targeting Kang Jin-Ho's life.

It was about time he learned the truth, though. The truth about what kind of a situation the man he referred to as 'demon emperor' was in. And that it shouldn't be shocking to see enemies randomly targeting Kang Jin-Ho out of nowhere!

'If he finds that out... Would he still be this excited?'

Zhang Dajing glanced at Zhu Gang as a smirk ill-fitting to this situation floated up on his lips. Soon, the poor Zhu Gang would learn. No, forget 'soon', since he'd get to learn it... Right now!

“Looks like a dragon, doesn't it?” Zhang Dajing sighed.

A cascade of headlights traveling on a snaking national highway was eerily reminiscent of a dragon descending from the heavens above. Of course, those cars weren't real dragons. And the cars making up that dragon would soon stop before Kang Jin-Ho's group to start their assault...

'...Hang on. They aren't stopping?'

Before all that... Those lights? Weren't they moving a little too fast? As if those cars were moving at a highly-illegal speed?

On top of that, the cars behind were all following at a close distance, too. A sudden stop would cause a massive accident. Of course, with the martial artists' reflexes, there shouldn't be an issue with them reacting on time. Still, every car was governed by the laws of physics, no? That's why they should...

That was when Zhang Dajing's eyes suddenly grew wider. “Those crazy sons of b*tches?!”

Zhang Dajing hurriedly yanked down at the seat belt while pulling the seat back up. And then, he urgently buckled himself in before shouting at Zhu Gang.

“The seat belt! Put on your seat belt, now!”

“Sorry?”

“Put your damn belt on, you moron!”

Zhu Gang sobered in an instant after figuring out what was going on here. He freaked out and hurriedly buckled himself in tight.

The 'dragon' wasn't stopping. No, it was getting faster instead!

This dragon... No, the parade of cars was charging straight toward the van while roaring out a cacophony of combustion noises!

“Hold on tight!”

The vehicles in front unhesitantly crashed into them. A massive dump truck rammed into Vator and Kang Jin-Ho. At the same time, the van containing Zhu Gang and Zhang Dajing wasn't spared, either.

Zhang Dajing cried out as a huge trailer barreled straight toward the van's windshield. “Uwaaaaah?! You f*cking sons of...!”

KA-BOOOOOOM!

The van was tossed back from the impact like a plastic toy.

Deafening roars and intense explosions!

The fireworks signaling the start of a fierce battle went off in the night sky.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l