Chapter 735: Fleeing (5)

"Fuu-huph!"

Kang Jin-Ho sucked in a short but deep breath.

Oxygen rushing inside his lungs instantly awakened his cells. Demonic qi filling his dantian coursed through his meridians and quickly circulated everywhere.

This feeling of satisfaction... And liberation!

All the chaotic thoughts inside Kang Jin-Ho's head were instantly sorted by the simmering killing intent.

Here he was, doing something out of his character. Making complicated calculations and schemes wasn't his style. No, he should just cut loose and go crazy whenever his emotions and urges told him to!

Squeeze!

Kang Jin-Ho kicked the floor. His calves and thighs contracted like coiled springs. The concentrated power exploded forth at once, allowing his body to scythe through the air like a bullet!

Fwhooooooosh!

The blades enveloped in demonic qi chopped and sliced apart the next truck made out of steel like tofu!

KA-BOOM!

The dissected vehicle was instantly engulfed in roaring flames. Those dancing flames chased away the veil of darkness cloaking the road and illuminated the surroundings.

In the meantime, Kang Jin-Ho unhesitantly jumped toward another truck charging toward him.

Crunch!

Kang Jin-Ho landed on the hood, causing the sheet metal to crumple and cave in. Through the truck's windscreen, the driver's eyes met Kang Jin-Ho's cold glare.

"Ah...?"

The driver's jaw fell. What would Kang Jin-Ho look like to him? It wasn't necessary to hear the answer to figure it out, though.

Kang Jin-Ho only needed to see that terrified expression to fully guess the driver's emotional state. Everyone would feel the same thing when a demonic cultivator gushing out black demonic qi from all over his body suddenly jumped out of the darkness to destroy two trucks in the blink of an eye and landed right before their nose!

"Ah...!"

The driver cried out in panic as Kang Jin-Ho's crimson eyes locked squarely on him.

Mercy? Of course not!

Stab!

Kang Jin-Ho didn't feel a thing as the Azuremourne stabbed through the glass and straight into the driver's heart. Mercy was a gift only sharable between people who weren't out to kill each other.

Being merciful toward those who wanted to kill him? What a laughable notion that was. That was no mercy. No, it was an act of sheer idiocy.

"Kuh... Kuh-urhk..." The driver gasped.

His heart was punctured, so he should have died. However, the tempered body of a martial artist didn't permit a quick death. Despite the massive hole in his chest, the driver remained conscious. It was just that he couldn't move his body.

The sword stabbing his heart slowly withdrew.

The devil!

The devil was staring at the driver with only the thin windscreen separating the two. The monster responsible for puncturing the driver's heart smiled faintly.

What a nightmare-like scene this was. The crescent moon behind the devil was silently looking down at the spectacle below. Everything in this scene seemed so surreal and too fantasy-like.

The only thing that kept the driver glued to reality was the vicious pain shooting up from his chest. Unfortunately, that pain was slowly ebbing away, too.

Shuffle...

A noise similar to cutting through silk reached the dying driver's ears.

'What is he trying to do?'

The driver couldn't win against his curiosity even as inescapable death crept closer.

His trembling eyes saw the devil's lengthy sword that seemed abnormally long. The sword with an embroidered thread dangling from its hilt sliced through the windscreen before stabbing into the steering wheel.

'Huh?'

Why the steering wheel, though?

The driver's curiosity was answered almost immediately. The sword stabbed into the steering wheel suddenly jerked to the side. Which also forced the steering wheel to turn in the same direction. And that motion led to the truck violently turning left... And even further left!

The truck veered precariously from the sudden turn to the left, but it somehow managed to stay upright and completed its U-turn.

'C-could it be?!'

The dying driver's view, which had been rapidly changing like scenes from a movie, finally settled down. His eyes could still see the devil clinging to the window, though!

A sinister smile floated up on the devil's face before it flew up into the air. And then, the driver's view was dominated by the sight of countless other vehicles rushing headlong toward his truck!

Those vehicles hurriedly got out of the way after noticing the truck had turned its heading and was charging straight at them. Unfortunately, it'd be impossible for all those cars to completely get out of the way.

'You... You son of a b*tch!'

The driver couldn't even scream. The only resistance he could offer to the devil was reaching and grabbing whatever it was as hard as he could.

KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!

The truck drove past below the airborne Kang Jin-Ho's feet, then slammed straight into the convoy charging down this highway. The impact from a huge truck driving at full tilt crashing into other objects was incredible enough to make one gasp in shock.

The first eighteen-wheeler to come in contact flew up in the air before its cargo area spun around. And then... It quite literally swept aside all the sedans following behind it.

Those cars flew up in the air while spinning madly like cheap toys. While watching this scene unfold, a familiar face flitted in and out of Kang Jin-Ho's mind.

If that director shooting the TV show with Choi Yeon-Ha back in Sichuan saw this spectacle, he'd probably jump up to his feet and applaud enthusiastically away. That was how visceral and explosive this scene was.

Step!

Kang Jin-Ho gently landed on the road, but that was when several sedans rushed toward his location.

BANG!

Kang Jin-Ho's right foot stomped powerfully on the ground. The asphalt caved in, with cracked pieces jutting up into the air. And then, Kang Jin-Ho's left foot...!

His extended left foot powerfully kicked an oncoming car. Even though the sedan was charging in as if its brakes were malfunctioning, it still got shoved back even faster.

Another sedan was also punted far away, and the last sedan sped right past Kang Jin-Ho. However, he quickly thrust his hand out to shatter the passing car's window, then clung to the window frame.

Kang Jin-Ho easily pulled himself into the sedan's interior, then nonchalantly settled down in the empty front passenger seat.

"H-hiiieek?!" The driver yelped in fright as if he saw a scary monster. He trembled pitifully while holding the steering wheel tightly, not knowing how to respond to this unexpected development.

Kang Jin-Ho relaxedly pointed ahead. "Catch up to them."

"...I'm sorry?"

"I said, catch up to the convoy up ahead."

The driver animatedly nodded without saying anything else before stomping on the accelerator. The sedan broke the national speed limit in the blink of an eye and charged ahead.

Kang Jin-Ho fished out his cigarette packet only to frown deeply. He glanced at the driver. "Do you smoke?"

"Y-yes? Ah, yes! I do smoke!"

"Give me one, then."

"Y-yes, sir! H-here!" The driver somehow managed to take out a cigarette packet with his shaking hands, then offered a cigarette to Kang Jin-Ho.

After wordlessly accepting it, Kang Jin-Ho relaxedly leaned against the seat.

Click!

He lit the cigarette, then leisurely puffed away. "Go faster."

"Y-yes, sir!"

The sedan flew down the road. Kang Jin-Ho glanced at the side mirror. He could see the mangled wrecks of various cars engulfed in flames and choking smoke.

'This is obviously not the end.'

What happened here was merely a greeting. The ones riding in the vehicles were all small fries. And this assault didn't seem designed to trouble Kang Jin-Ho and Co., either.

'These people sure love to stick to their weird aesthetics...'

Unlike the demon cult that strictly pursued pragmatism, these orthodox faction bastards usually obsessed over the 'hows' of reaching their goals. They didn't seem to know 'how' to ambush someone, for instance. For lack of a better term, they seemed dead-set on facing their opponents forthrightly.

That made fighting them a bit more convenient, but...

'Sometimes that side of them did drive me mad, too...'

Fighting against enemies that resorted to all sorts of schemes could get rather annoying. However, enemies who were honest to a fault presented a different kind of annoyance. The sheer pressure emitted by enemies who only knew frontal assaults was something even the one and only Heavenly Crimson Demon Emperor had a hard time dealing with.

In any case, Kang Jin-Ho managed to buy a bit of time. Soon, the sight of a shipping container with its doors blown off entered Kang Jin-Ho's view. He glanced at the driver. "Get closer."

"P-please don't kill me!"

"Is it okay for you to beg a demonic cultivator?"

"D-don't kill me..."

Kang Jin-Ho smirked softly. He was all too familiar with orthodox faction martial artists pleading with him to spare their lives. Especially when they were in a deserted location where he didn't have to worry about eyewitnesses. Unfortunately, the end result for them always had been the same.

Kang Jin-Ho back then didn't spare anyone daring to attack him. Even if the enemy had lost their will and fighting spirit, and even if the battle had already concluded...!

In fact, Kang Jin-Ho only stopped wielding his sword after Azure Demon pleaded with him to stop, arguing that meaningless slaughter would only invite bigger, more vigorous opposition. So, what about now?

"For the first and the last time in your life, a cigarette helped you."

The driver's expression brightened after realizing what Kang Jin-Ho was saying.

Kang Jin-Ho pointed at the truck up ahead. "Get closer."

"Y-yes, sir!"

"And quit smoking. It's not going to help you again," said Kang Jin-Ho, then suddenly kicked the passenger door out of the car. He then deftly leaped out to land lightly inside the shipping container.

The sedan swerved dangerously after the driver slammed on the brakes. Unfortunately for him, though, the vehicle went out of his control in the end and smashed into the median strip.

"Hmm..." Kang Jin-Ho sheepishly scratched his cheek while watching the sedan tumble around furiously on the road. "Even though I let him go..."

Although the driver should survive that crash, avoiding serious injuries would be asking for too much. Then again, why should Kang Jin-Ho care? It wasn't as if he personally caused that accident, anyway.

"My liege!" Zhu Gang loudly cried out while bowing his head. If only he wasn't inside a shipping container, he'd have kowtowed right away, but there was no room to do that here.

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at Zhu Gang. "You got your ventilation, then."

"Y-yes, sire."

Too much ventilation, in fact! And that was a bit of a problem, now wasn't it!

Kang Jin-Ho shook his head. "We don't have the time to stop and reorganize everything. Get on top of the container, then get yourselves to other vehicles."

Zhu Gang blinked his eyes, then urgently replied, "B-but we can keep riding in this container, my liege."

"Oh, I see. How nice. It's a good idea if you want to advertise how we're smuggling people around in a container to everyone with eyes."

"Oh, uh..."

"Hurry up," said Kang Jin-Ho while jumping onto the roof of the container. Other demonic cultivators followed suit and began climbing up there one by one. They quickly jumped onto other trucks traveling on either side of the shipping container.

Kang Jin-Ho watched this spectacle before dashing toward the front. He leaped on the roofs of different vehicles to reach the van right at the front of the convoy. The van's rear cargo door was wide open, a sign that it was waiting for his arrival. Kang Jin-Ho lightly jumped inside the open doorway, then stashed the Crimson Destiny and Azuremourne back inside the subspace.

Vator smirked. "Wasn't that a bit too energetic for a greeting, master?"

"I wasn't being energetic, though. The other side simply was a bit flat, that's all."

"Surely, you don't think that's all the Crimson King's faction has to offer?"

"Of course." Kang Jin-Ho leisurely moved to the front of the van and settled down on the passenger seat. "It feels more like a reminder. That they want us to prepare ourselves."

"Since they followed us on this road, it indicates that they know where our destination is."

"I'm sure that's the case."

Vator frowned slightly. "It's not too late to change our destination. A shortcut isn't always the answer, after all."

"Mm? Didn't you say saving time is the most important thing for us?"

"I'm merely thinking about effectiveness, master."

"Nothing will change even if we do," said Kang Jin-Ho. That drone he destroyed couldn't have been the only method of tracking them. The Crimson King's people must've used various other methods to monitor or block all the potential escape routes, anyway.

Maybe they had mobilized a massive number of forces to occupy all the potential destinations. Either way, wandering around here and there would only give the enemy more time to gather their forces.

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes. "If they block our path, we'll simply break through. That's all."

"I'm telling you, you can be excessively heroic at times like this," said Vator while shaking his head.

"Send the word out to the elders. Tell them to gather the trucks in the front."

"...Master?"

"Since this is what they want, we should humor them."

Vator saw the creepy smirk on Kang Jin-Ho's face and shuddered grandly.

'Yup, His screw is properly loose now.'

This Kang Jin-Ho felt different from the one Vator had fought. At least back then, Kang Jin-Ho seemed to be trying his best to hold himself back, but now? It felt like he was cutting loose and fully enjoying himself.

'Maybe... I might be helping a devil here instead.'

At least the Three Kings didn't go berserk like Kang Jin-Ho. For the sake of the world at large, it might be better for one of the Three Kings to seize control of the martial world, not Kang Jin-Ho.

However, did any of that matter right now?

Vator nodded. "I take the lead, then."

"That sounds fine," said Kang Jin-Ho.

Indeed, that didn't matter right now when Vator's heart was pounding with excitement! He bared his fangs in a ferocious smirk. "I've been meaning to teach a few bastards on their side a lesson, you see? I better make use of this opportunity, then!"

It seemed Vator hadn't realized that he was gradually turning into another Kang Jin-Ho.