Descent of the Demon Master

Chapter 243: Snatched (3)

The abandoned factory Kang Eun-Yeong found herself in was a structure with a huge doorway in the middle and numerous small windows on top of the said doorway. And now, blinding rays of light were bursting through those small windows.

The balaclava-wearing men started getting flustered as they yelled.

“What the hell is that?”

“Maybe the headlights of a car?”

“What? Why would anyone come to such a remote place?!”

The darkness of the night had been fairly deep, so the light coming from beyond the windows made everything seem so bright like it was the middle of a day.

“What... is that noise?” Someone asked that question, forcing everyone else to listen closely.

Vroom...

That sounded like a low, rumbling exhaust note. That alone was nothing remarkable. It was possible for someone lost to drive past this place, after all. However, the problem was that the noise was gradually getting louder with every passing second.

“Huh? Eh?”

The balaclava-wearing men fixed their gazes on the front gate. They were obviously martial artists familiar with cultivation techniques. Regular people would have needed a little more time to figure out that the engine sound was quickly getting louder and louder but not these men.

That noise was distinctively different from an unmoving car with its accelerator being depressed while in neutral. Which could only mean someone was quickly driving toward this building from afar! And as if to prove that assumption was correct, the light pouring in through the windows was getting brighter and brighter, too.

The flustered martial artists stared at the gate wide-eyed.

VROOOOOOM!

The sound of an engine about to explode sharply increased near the front gate.

“F-f*ck! Dodge it!”

KA-BOOM!

The firmly-shut factory gate flew away. One of the two-part doors exploded and flew up into the ceiling, while the other one was twisted off its hinges and shoved back. This carnage was immediately followed by a crimson sportscar shooting blinding high beams. It crashed straight into the factory with scarcely believable velocity.

“Son of a...!”

The balaclava-wearing men spat out various expletives at the charging vehicle and hurriedly jumped out of the way. The red sportscar easily broke through the ranks of the martial artists, then spun around to kick up choking dust clouds.

Screeeeech!

The car slid and screeched noisily to a halt right next to Kang Eun-Yeong and her manager. It ticked and vibrated unsteadily.

“...Who is this crazy motherf*cker?”

The balaclava-wearing martial artists landed back on solid earth and cursed in disbelief. No one with a sane mind would crash into a factory like this. If the factory doors had been a few millimeters thicker, the car would be destroyed, and its driver would be on their way to the afterlife.

And they were also cursing because...

“Holy sh*t, how much do you think that car is?”

How could they not curse while staring at that expensive vehicle's ruined front bumper? Just a little dint on that fine, sculpted body would lead to a heart-stopping repair bill, but now, its entire front was wrecked beyond repair. Not even a chairman of a huge corporation would dare to do that casually.

“...Whoever you are, get out, now!”

Before the martial artists could get their reply, someone else's sharp cry echoed inside the factory. “Orabi!”

Kang Eun-Yeong's tearful voice broke out, followed by the creak of the reticent door being forced open. The door frame creaked.

Creak...

Creak...!

However, the door refused to budge. It was designed to open upward, but the crumpled front bumper seemed to have distorted the rest of the body panels, causing the door to get stuck. However, that didn't matter, as...

Bang!

A loud, clean impact noise accompanied the driver's door breaking off the hinges to fly far away. Almost at the same time, pure-white smoke began pouring out from the now-open driver's side.

Gulp...

The sound of someone loudly gulping their saliva echoed inside the factory.

The white smoke pouring out from the once-sleek sportscar, now turned dark crimson from all the dirt, was reminiscent of a scene from an action movie. Even though no threats had been issued just yet, the balaclava-wearing men felt their hearts sink to the pits of their stomachs from this powerful pressure.

Finally... a dark figure revealed himself from the white smoke.

“Oppaaaa!” Kang Eun-Yeong shot up to her feet and rushed toward the shadow.

That shadow... Kang Jin-Ho gently embraced his little sister and patted her head. “It must've been scary for you.”

“Oppa! Oppaaaa!”

“...Don't cry. It'll wash off your makeup, you know?”

“Okay…”

Kang Jin-Ho lightly patted his sister on the back, then glanced at the manager. “Can you stand?”

“Sorry? Ah... Yes, I can!” The manager hurriedly got up to his feet.

Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly after taking a look at his half-wrecked Lamborghini. He obviously didn't care if it got destroyed, but it still had to move so that he could take Kang Eun-Yeong and her manager out of here.

Kang Jin-Ho stuck his arm inside the cabin and took a light swing around, causing all the white smoke to swirl and rush outside. The front windscreen was nowhere to be seen, while the front bumper was crumpled so much the front cargo space was exposed. He looked back at the manager.

“This car should still move.”

“...Really?” The manager blinked.

He somehow managed to swallow back his words, “Sure, it will move, it should, but wouldn't it, I don't know, explode in the middle of moving?” and waited for Kang Jin-Ho to continue.

“Take the car and go somewhere with lots of people. Another car will come to pick you up soon enough.”

“...Wait, aren't you coming with us?”

“No.”

The manager, Jeong Seok-Su, stared at Kang Jin-Ho in confusion. But then again, he realized that all these balaclava-wearing men wouldn't just let them leave peacefully. “In that case, I'll call the police as soon as we're safe.”

“No need,” Kang Jin-Ho replied in a firm, resolute voice. His voice was so resolute that Jeong Seok-Su felt his body freeze just from hearing it. “Don't report it in. Wait until the escort arrives and go back to Seoul. That's all. As for this event, it never happened. Do you understand what I'm talking about?”

“...Yes, I understand.” Jeong Seok-Su muttered. Honestly speaking, he had no freaking idea why Kang Jin-Ho was saying all this, but he couldn't bring himself to ask about it.

Jeong Seok-Su was a veteran manager of celebrities for many years now—a profession that required Level 100 Wits to survive. He might not know the full details, but his instincts told him that now wasn't the time to argue with Kang Jin-Ho.

Kang Eun-Yeong cried out in surprise. “Oppa?! Aren't you coming with us?”

“Go ahead and wait for me.”

“But, oppa!” Kang Eun-Yeong clung to her brother's arm. Maybe that was why? Kang Jin-Ho could see her brightly-red swollen cheek far better than before. And when he saw the trickle of blood on the corner of her lips, Kang Jin-Ho's expression grew even colder.

“Come with us, please? Oppa?”

Kang Jin-Ho smiled at his sister and patted her head. “I'll mop this up quickly and catch up with you, okay? So, go ahead and wait for me.”

“Okay...” Kang Eun-Yeong anxiously stared at her older brother. Her trust in Kang Jin-Ho verged on the territory of faith by now, but the severity of this situation meant she couldn't just coolly walk away while leaving him behind. “Promise me you won't take long.”

“I promise. I'll be there soon.”

“Okay.”

Jeong Seok-Su cautiously climbed into the driver's seat and turned the ignition on.

Rumble, vroom...

The engine kicked to life, and although the noise it made sounded a little unstable and strained, it still didn't sound like it would explode in the middle of the trip. Driving out of here shouldn't be an issue, then. The priority was to get away from this abandoned factory, after all!

Jeong Seok-Su urgently called out. “Miss Se-Ah!”

Kang Eun-Yeong anxiously stared at her older brother one more time and tightly squeezed his hand. She eventually let go and climbed into the passenger side of the car.

“T-take care of yourself.” Jeong Seok-Su cautiously nodded.

Kang Jin-Ho took out his phone and lightly tossed it to Jeong Seok-Su. “Call Chief Jo Gyu-Min. He should already be on his way to pick you guys up.”

“Understood...”

“Then, go ahead.”

“Yes, Mister Kang.” Jeong Seok-Su nodded again before cautiously driving away in the wrecked Lamborghini. Kang Eun-Yeong continued to stare anxiously at her brother, but the vehicle didn't wait for her to finish as it cruelly drove her out of the factory.

One of the balaclava-wearing men muttered in doubt, “Hey, is it okay to let them leave?”

“Well, that brat is her brother, right? It means he's Kang Jin-Ho, our target. We don't have any other business with Kang Eun-Yeong, so it's more convenient for us that she excused herself on her own.”

“What if she calls the cops on us?”

“So what if she does? Is Kang Jin-Ho gonna buy time until the cops show up? We don't need that much time to deal with some brat now, do we? Let them leave. We'll mop this up quickly and go home afterward. Simple.”

“Shouldn't we contact Mister Hyeon-Su, too?”

“You ain't a little kid, so why do you wanna keep calling the higher-ups to get permission every single time?”

The balaclava-wearing men stopped paying attention to the car driving away. They turned their heads toward Kang Jin-Ho.

“The higher-ups will tie up the loose ends. We only need to do as we're told and wreck that brat.”

Kang Jin-Ho started moving, and in a rather leisurely way at that.

As Kang Jin-Ho walked, the balaclava-wearing martial artists stared back in slight disbelief.

“Wow. This brat has some balls, eh?”

“He drove straight through a factory's doors with a Lamborghini, so yeah, he's obviously insane. Doing something like that isn't a matter of being rich or not, after all. Without some screws missing in your head, you can't possibly do something that ballsy, you know?”

“...You have a point there.”

Kang Jin-Ho didn't spare them a single glance. He looked as if he couldn't hear a word of what they were yapping on about.

“By the way, what... is that brat doing?”

The balaclava-wearing martial artists realized Kang Jin-Ho's walking direction was a bit weird, so they narrowed their eyes and continued to watch. Kang Jin-Ho wasn't walking toward the exit, nor was he closing the gap between him and the martial artists.

No, he arrived at where the door had landed after flying toward the ceiling earlier. Kang Jin-Ho wordlessly stared at it, then reached down to pick up the crumpled piece of metal.

“Oh?”

The martial artists were slightly taken aback by that demonstration.

That was one of the metal doors used for a large factory's front entrance. Both its size and weight were in another class compared to a regular building. Kang Jin-Ho's physical strength, which allowed him to lift that huge door with only one hand, left quite a bit of an impression.

“Huh, I guess he's not all talk, then?”

“That's why he probably caused this mess in the first place.”

“By the way, what is he trying to do with that? Why did he even pick that door up?”

Right at that moment...!

Kang Jin-Ho lifted up that piece of the door that should weigh at least several hundred kilograms and wildly threw it.

“Heok?!”

The door whistled past as the sound of storm winds exploded in its wake before slamming into the open doorway.

KA-BOOOOOM!

The entire factory rumbled and shook as if it would collapse. Dust tumbled down from seemingly everywhere.

“What is he doing?!”

The balaclava-wearing martial artists all flinched while looking at where that door had lodged itself. Kang Jin-Ho was already standing there, and he still didn't bother to stare at them. He grabbed the other door hanging loose on its broken hinges and slowly pushed it close.

Creeeeaaak...

The metal door issued goosebump-inducing friction noises.

“Isn't he...?”

The balaclava-wearing men finally figured out what Kang Jin-Ho had been doing all this time. He was 'returning' the broken doors to their original place!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Kang Jin-Ho kicked the doors several times to securely shut the doorway. Once he was satisfied with his handiwork, he let go and slowly turned around to face the group of martial artists. And on his lips was a deep grin—a grin absent on his face before.

“Now…” Kang Jin-Ho muttered; his voice sounded turbid and dark. He sounded completely different from when he was talking to Kang Eun-Yeong only a few short moments ago. It was as if a devil stuck in hell was whispering while clamoring to get out.

It sounded vicious and monstrous but also preternaturally calm. Kang Jin-Ho’s voice contained emotions that shouldn't be able to co-exist at the same time.

“Now, none of you can escape.”

Kang Jin-Ho's smile was incredibly bright.