Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Kunlun's Mad Bear

The moment I recognized the man standing before me, my body froze.

He was nearly seven cheok tall, with shoulders as wide as a gate.

His massive frame alone was enough to overwhelm anyone who looked at him.

At first glance, he almost looked like a madman.

His white hair was wildly disheveled, contrasting sharply with his dark face.

Two large eyes gleamed fiercely beneath a deeply wrinkled brow.

The huge old Taoist wore a worn-out gray robe and held a bottle of alcohol in one hand.

He looked down at me with the corner of his mouth raised.

And I knew exactly who he was.

...First Elder Jin Gwangung.

He belonged to the same generation as the Sect Leader of Kunlun.

One of only four First Elders.

And in terms of martial arts, he was also one of the strongest experts in the entire sect.

But there was another name people used for him.

The Mad Bear.

Kunlun's Crazy Bear.

His personality couldn't have been more different from what one would expect from a Taoist sect like Kunlun.

If he disliked someone, it didn't matter who they were.

His fist usually came first.

There was one famous story that represented him perfectly.

During a regular gathering attended by the Sect Leader and the sect's high-ranking figures...

Jin Gwangung attended for the first time.

He complained that the meeting room was too hot.

Then he smashed the entire door apart.

He was completely uncontrollable.

A lunatic nobody in Kunlun wanted to meet, even in their dreams.

And now...

that very man stood right in front of me.

Why the hell is Jin Gwangung here?

He was famous for almost never leaving his residence.

Unless there was some major sect event or something important like a Demonic Cult extermination operation, he rarely appeared outside.

Before regression, I had only seen him once.

There had been a funeral after an important person in the sect suddenly died.

I happened to see Jin Gwangung from a distance when he attended.

That was it.

He was someone who had practically cut himself off from the rest of the world.

So why had he appeared at the Martial Training Hall?

And why directly in front of me?

"Hehehe. Look at this brat. You're actually thinking things through right in front of this old man."

Jin Gwangung laughed as he watched me remain silent.

But the madness in his eyes was growing stronger.

I immediately became tense.

Careful.

This crazy old man could do literally anything.

One wrong response and I could die on the spot.

I hurriedly lowered my head and cupped my fists.

"Please forgive my rudeness, First Elder Jin Gwangung."

"My name is Han Mujin. I work in the Event Hall. This is my first time meeting someone as important as you, so I was too shocked to respond properly."

"Hehehe. You little brat. You've got quite the snake's tongue."

"I apologize. If I have offended you in any way, I sincerely ask for your forgiveness."

I kept my head lowered while waiting for his next reaction.

The old monster standing before me was completely unpredictable.

I had to be careful with every word and every small movement.

"Raise your head."

Jin Gwangung laughed.

"Hehehe. Anyone watching would think this old man was threatening you."

"..."

"I was simply passing through when I happened to witness Kunlun's laws being trampled like dirt beneath a dog's paws."

"...Kunlun's laws?"

I cautiously raised my head a little.

"Exactly!"

Jin Gwangung grinned.

"A disciple of great Kunlun, who is supposed to walk the path of the Dao, tried to attack a fellow member of the sect from behind."

"What kind of disgusting sight is that?"

"This old man may only be a weak and frail senior with little time left to live, but I simply couldn't ignore something like that."

Jin Gwangung laughed again.

Weak and frail?

What part of you is weak and frail?

I maintained a calm expression, but inside I was speechless.

A man built even more heavily than the violent black bears that lived around Mount Kunlun had no right to call himself weak.

And I had just witnessed his terrifying strength with my own eyes.

He had thrown a grown martial artist into a wall in an instant.

Still, judging only from what he said, nothing seemed strange.

As a First Elder responsible for maintaining the sect's rules, he had simply done what he should.

The only problem was...

this particular First Elder was infamous for treating those same rules like pebbles under his feet.

He kicked them around whenever he felt like it.

"Thank you, First Elder. You saved my life."

"Hehehe. Enough, brat. There's no need to work that tongue so hard for this old man's sake."

"I'm satisfied knowing I protected Kunlun's laws."

Jin Gwangung looked at me with a compassionate smile like the Buddha himself.

The expression looked so unnatural on his savage face that it only made him appear even stranger.

Why is this old monster acting like this?

There's definitely something else going on.

No matter how I thought about it, he had another motive.

Sure enough...

his true interest immediately revealed itself.

"By the way."

"That punching technique of yours... where did you learn it?"

"It wasn't something an Event Hall servant should be capable of."

So he had seen it.

My Cloud-Breaking Three Severing Palms.

I quickly hid my expression and tried to play dumb.

"What do you mean...?"

"Hehehe. Look at you trying to use that tiny head of yours."

Jin Gwangung's eyes narrowed.

"Should I smash you into the wall too before your tongue loosens up?"

"..."

"I'll ask one last time."

"That Three Severing Palms."

"Did you really understand all of it after seeing it only once?"

His sharp gaze sent a chill through my chest.

He heard everything I said earlier.

Jin Gwangung was impossible to predict.

And he was a supreme expert who could crush someone like me with a single gesture.

If I gave a sloppy answer here, things could become very troublesome.

But I can't reveal everything either.

I needed an explanation that this crazy old man could accept.

Something believable...

mixed with enough truth and enough lies.

I took a breath.

Then slowly spoke.

"Actually... I've practiced the Three Severing Palms and the Initial Heaven Breathing Method for a long time."

"For a long time?"

"Where?"

"Before entering Kunlun, I learned them from my father when I was young."

"Your father?"

"What do you mean?"

"My father operated a small martial school near Pyeongryang Fortress in northern Gansu Province."

"Thanks to his teachings, I learned the Three Severing Palms and the Initial Heaven Breathing Method."

"Is that so?"

Jin Gwangung looked suspicious.

"Then why didn't you inherit your father's martial school?"

"Surely running a martial school would have provided a better living than working as an Event Hall servant."

"Well..."

I intentionally let my voice trail off.

Then I swallowed once and paused.

After a moment, I continued in a trembling voice.

"...Both my parents died from an epidemic five years ago."

"With nowhere to rely on, I wandered from place to place."

"And then you eventually wandered all the way to Kunlun?"

"Is that the story?"

"Yes..."

"The Three Severing Palms and Initial Heaven Breathing Method are the only things my late father left me."

"Every night, I remember him and practice both martial arts day and night."

"Sniff..."

Technically, it wasn't completely false.

The body I had reincarnated into really had been an orphan who didn't even know what his parents looked like.

I deliberately lowered my gaze.

I even made my voice shake.

Jin Gwangung didn't burst into tears or anything...

but I seemed to have created the right mood.

"Hmm...."

He stroked his chin and studied me from head to toe.

He looked as though he were deciding whether I was telling the truth.

I needed one final push.

Let's see if even this doesn't fool you.

On the outside, I was an innocent fifteen-year-old boy.

But inside...

I was someone who had lived into his late forties before regressing.

I summoned every bit of acting ability accumulated over more than forty years of life.

"...Even now, I sometimes see my father in my dreams."

"'Mujin, never forget your breathing when you extend your arm.' His warm voice still seems to echo in my ears..."

"Sniff... Father..."

"Why did you leave me alone in this cruel world... Father!"

I burst into loud sobs and wiped my eyes with my arm.

At the same time...

I secretly peeked through the gap near my elbow to see Jin Gwangung's reaction.

He looked down at me with a strangely uncertain expression.

After rubbing his chin for a while, Jin Gwangung finally waved his hand.

"Hmm... Fine."

"I'll believe you for now."

"Whatever the truth is, the fact remains that you properly performed the Three Severing Palms."

"Sniff... I only followed my father's teachings..."

"Stop crying already."

Jin Gwangung frowned.

"If you keep wailing about how much you miss your father, I'll send you to meet him personally."

"...What?"

"If I snap your neck, father and son can reunite in the afterlife immediately, can't you?"

"..."

My tears stopped instantly.

This old man was definitely insane.

"Hehehe. You claimed you missed your dead father so much, but it seems you still prefer the taste of this world."

Once I stopped crying, Jin Gwangung chuckled and stepped closer.

"Let's see."

"You said you've practiced the Initial Heaven Breathing Method, so you should have accumulated at least some internal energy in your dantian."

His left hand suddenly shot toward my lower abdomen.

It was far too fast for me to react.

His palm briefly touched my dantian.

Then he immediately withdrew it.

"Your claim about practicing the Initial Heaven Breathing Method for a long time doesn't seem to be a complete lie."

Jin Gwangung muttered to himself.

"There really is internal energy settled in your dantian."

"And it isn't the polluted energy of the Demonic Cult or an unorthodox sect."

"It's pure orthodox qi."

I clicked my tongue internally.

This crazy old man really is a monster.

His hand had touched my dantian for only an instant.

Yet in that tiny amount of time...

he had even identified the nature of my internal energy.

There was a reason Jin Gwangung was considered one of Kunlun's greatest experts.

He looked at me again.

"How many years have you been in Kunlun?"

"This is my fourth year in the Event Hall."

"Four years in the Event Hall?"

"Then you've never formally learned martial arts from anyone in Kunlun during that time?"

"That's correct, Elder Jin Gwangung."

"And you continued practicing the Three Severing Palms and Initial Heaven Breathing Method alone?"

"Yes."

His questions kept coming.

For some reason, I felt uneasy.

Why is he asking so many detailed questions about me?

Even if my Cloud-Breaking Three Severing Palms was stronger than ordinary Three Severing Palms...

it was still only a low-grade palm technique.

To someone at Jin Gwangung's level, it should be nothing more than a common basic art.

And there's no way he thinks I'm some unbelievable martial genius.

Kunlun currently had plenty of talented martial artists.

Even among the youngest disciples around my age, there should be many stronger than me.

That only made Jin Gwangung's excessive interest even more suspicious.

Then...

he spoke again.

"An orphan who never learned martial arts from Kunlun, yet can properly perform at least one form of the Three Severing Palms..."

"Hehehe."

"Excellent."

"This is perfect."

"...Pardon?"

"They say heaven helps those who help themselves!"

"So this must be heaven's will!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

Jin Gwangung suddenly burst into wild laughter.

Then his pillar-like arm grabbed my shoulder.

"Han Mujin."

"From now on, you're coming under me."

"What?"

"You're going to become the piece I use in my place."

"...A piece?"

"What do you mean..."

Before I could finish...

Jin Gwangung kicked off the ground.

BOOM!

The earth exploded beneath us.

My vision flipped upside down.

For an instant, my ears went numb.

The world dropped away beneath me.

I had only blinked once...

yet the ground was already far below.

Then I realized what was happening.

My body had been thrown over Jin Gwangung's shoulder.

And he was soaring into the sky.

W-What the hell?!

And so...

I was kidnapped again in this life.

Not by the Righteous Alliance.

But by Kunlun's completely insane Mad Bear.