Chapter – 72
Under the sky, small and large huts clustered together.
Kuuung—
With a deafening roar, Kang Yu landed among the slums.
Dust rose from all sides.
Yeon Baekrim, carried on his back, flopped like wet paper.
“Divine Dragon… Divine Dragon.”
Yeon Baekrim suddenly regained his senses.
Round eyes were right in front of his face.
“Oh my, you must be really tired today. As soon as I carry you, you fall asleep.”
“······.”
The slum residents stared in awe at the two who had suddenly fallen from the sky.
“Hello, hello.”
Kang Yu, bowing politely to the elite masters, walked ahead of Yeon Baekrim.
In the distance, the log house that Grandpa Shackles had built was visible.
“That must be it.”
The log house Kang Yu pointed to was in the center of the slum.
Even with hundreds of surrounding huts, it was large enough to stand out.
Grandpa Moo-Sung had said that Grandpa Shackles built that huge log house when he was still whole.
“Wow, even the monks are rich.”
“They’re the abbot of the greatest temple in Central Plains. Money must overflow.”
Yeon Baekrim nearly spoke the words but bit his tongue.
The monster’s expression was so innocent that he kept wanting to comment unconsciously.
‘Focus… Focus…’
He couldn’t be fooled.
The monster was, despite appearances, an ultimate martial arts master.
One small mistake could reveal Yeon Baekrim’s own weakness.
He had to avoid unnecessary conversation with the creature.
“Hello. Hello.”
As Yeon Baekrim steeled himself, the monster ahead began acting strangely.
“Hello! Hello!”
From the moment they passed the slum residents, Kang Yu bowed deeply with every greeting.
“Hello. Hellooo!”
It was unusual. Why would such a powerful figure show such respect to destitute villagers?
“Hellooo!”
From experience mingling with the martial world, Yeon Baekrim knew that even righteous sect members unconsciously adhered to the principle of the strong dominating the weak.
Power was justice; strength was legitimacy.
“Hi. Hiii!”
Yet even this top-tier monster continued the odd behavior when they reached the orphanage.
“Hii!”
The creature waved at the children, who poured out toward the entrance.
“Hello!”
“Hello!”
“Who are you, mister!?”
The entrance became a lively chaos.
Yeon Baekrim quietly focused his gaze downward.
“······.”
The monster knelt to meet the children’s eye level.
The dirt floor, still muddy from earlier rain, stained the monster’s forearms black.
“Hehe. Hi? I’m… not really a mister though.”
“Then are you an aunty?”
“Nope!”
“Actually, you’re pretty cute…”
“Nope!!”
Yeon Baekrim watched as the children teased Kang Yu.
Perhaps… he had misjudged something all along.
“Hello, my name is Kang Yu. Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“If you don’t mind, may I ask something?”
“Thank you, this really helps.”
From the start, the monster had been consistently polite and kind.
If anyone had ill intentions to exploit others, it was Yeon Baekrim himself.
“I don’t teach martial arts or enlightenment to others. Find your own way.”
“I have no time to indulge childish games, and as I said before, your enlightenment must be found by yourself.”
“Hey, you troublesome youth. I might just have a way to grant your request. Show me your skill.”
Could it be…
“Kids, is Master inside?”
“Master?”
“Hmm… Director?”
“Oh! Director! Yes! He’s here!”
“Can we go in?”
“Of course!”
“Hehe, thanks.”
Maybe he had been mistaken all along.
The boy, introducing himself as Kang Yu, was simply extraordinary in martial arts but inherently kind and pure-hearted.
Entering the wooden-floored orphanage with Kang Yu, Yeon Baekrim focused on the floor.
If this person—regardless of strength—was upright and pure, he would understand and forgive any deception.
Yet Yeon Baekrim hesitated before finally speaking.
“Uh, Kang…”
“Wait a moment. Can you close your eyes for a sec?”
“Eyes? Again?”
“Just a moment.”
“······.”
The administrator, in conversation with Kang Yu, was asked to close his eyes.
Yeon Baekrim complied without a word, though curiosity nagged him.
Why keep closing eyes for a grown man in broad daylight?
“….”
He cautiously peered through his slightly opened eyes.
Something black.
Something dark.
His face paled as he squinted.
He swallowed hard with all his strength.
‘Huh… huh!’
It was like stage black powder, the kind used in plays.
Demonic energy (Ma Qi).
Even the most ruthless sect members were far weaker than this mark of a Demon Master (Ma Ren).
Only a few Great Demon Masters (Da Ma Ren) could make their Ma Qi tangible.
Through the ink-black haze, he saw a horrifying sight.
The administrator he had been speaking to floated in the air, eyes rolled back.
Saliva dripped from his jaw.
His body trembled.
At that moment—
“Huh?”
Kang Yu turned around.
The eyes he met were… strange.
The whites had turned black, and the blacks had turned white.
Kang Yu, the demon, tilted his head with a chilling smile.
“…You’ve seen it, haven’t you?”
Yeon Baekrim’s eyes nearly rolled back.
‘If I faint, I die…!’
He summoned all the strength he had, even that unused since infancy, to stay conscious.
He knew: the darker and denser the Ma Qi, the higher the rank of Ma Gong.
The Ma Qi Kang Yu—no, the monster, no, the demon—emanated was ink-black.
According to stage scripts, this normally implied not just a cruel being, but an extraordinarily powerful one.
Yet Kang Yu was from the Jin Sect, the very foundation of Baekdo.
How could a Da Ma Ren serve within a righteous sect?
‘Could it be…’
A secret plan to collapse the sect from within and swallow the Central Plains?
It had to be.
But now that he had seen Kang Yu’s true form, his life was forfeit.
It had seemed strange from the start.
Why make him close his eyes if not to reveal this?
Yes! He had been made to see this on purpose!
The Da Ma Ren had finally revealed himself!
“How’s that! This is my true form! So, what will you do now?”
If the Sun-Moon Sword’s rumor of ultimate skill were false, Yeon Baekrim would be dead on the spot!
Or perhaps he would be toyed with before death.
Could the Deputy Director of Shaolin, monitoring the situation at Mianbi Temple, also be allied with this Da Ma Ren?
Or intending to kill him as well?
His mind raced, but the immediate concern was survival.
His heart pounded like thunder as he recalled the Sun-Moon Sword’s rules:
If the tail is long, it gets caught—don’t linger in one place.
Don’t fight anyone unnecessarily.
Even if trapped in a tiger’s den, keep your wits.
And the fourth rule, needed now more than ever:
When cornered, don’t bite the cat—try talking first.
He was a powerless mouse, but past experiences had taught him this rule’s value.
‘When cornered, don’t bite the cat—talk first.’
Kang Yu put the administrator down and walked toward him, still with strange eyes.
“What should we do… you saw it, right?”
What to do?
‘Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk.’
Yeon Baekrim silently repeated the fourth rule hundreds of times and, facing the approaching Kang Yu, finally spoke.
“What’s going on?”
The approaching monster paused.
“Huh?”
“I mean, literally. What’s going on?”
His heartbeat thundered in his ears, but it was the best course.
In extreme danger, the best strategy was to act nonchalant.
Demon Master? Whatever. Do what you were going to do.
“Not scared?”
“Exactly, what is it?”
“······.”
The monster’s terrifying eyes blinked a few times.
Then, just like that, Kang Yu’s eyes returned to normal.
The black Ma Qi dissipated instantly.
The creature regained his innocent, embarrassed expression.
“You’re incredible.”
“I mean… what exactly?”
“······.”
Kang Yu scratched the back of his head out of habit and quickly lowered his hand.
Uncle Namgung from the Namgung clan had said: lie detectors scare people, so either don’t use them, or use them subtly.
Yet the Divine Dragon, true to his supreme master status, was unfazed.
“Ah, no.”
Fearing the Divine Dragon might get upset, Kang Yu glanced at the orphanage administrator.
“I thought he was lying.”
“Lying?”
“The kids said the director was inside, but he wasn’t.”
“Well, he may have stepped out without the kids knowing.”
The creature’s pure eyes blinked again.
“Haha. Perhaps. Can’t think of that. He’ll wake soon anyway. Haha.”
Watching Kang Yu gently set the administrator back, Yeon Baekrim swallowed quietly.
A Da Ma Ren, yet able to smile so innocently after doing that…
He had to stay alert to avoid the same fate.
“But the director really is inside…”
“Let’s go see.”
Yeon Baekrim cut in and stepped forward.
The fourth rule worked through momentum: start with momentum, end with momentum.
He steadied his trembling legs and feigned normalcy.
Crazy.
To reveal his true self to someone like that…
Two decades of stage and martial experience had prepared him for this ultimate act.
