Chapter 39…
A man suddenly appeared in front of the father and daughter as they walked side by side, chatting quietly.
“Excuse me, are you a peddler?”
At the troubled-looking man’s question, the two stopped walking.
“Yes, that’s right…”
“Ah, that’s wonderful news! Do you happen to have any White Heron Grass ointment?”
At those words, a pleased smile spread across Noh Moon-woong’s lips. White Heron Grass ointment was made from White Heron Grass imbued with yin energy. It was highly effective for wounds caused by yin energy, making it popular among superhumans. Of course, Noh Moon-woong always carried some with him.
“Of course!”
“Ha. That’s a relief. I’ll take one—no, two of them.”
The man grinned as if he’d been saved. Judging by his request, he must have been a superhuman.
“Yes, please wait a moment.”
Answering cheerfully, Noh Moon-woong set down the bundle he had been carrying and rummaged through it. It seemed to be his lucky day. Just as he was searching for the ointment he had hidden deep at the very bottom because it was so valuable—
“…!”
A black shadow approached Seol from behind as she stood watching him. In the blink of an eye, she was snatched away. Unaware that his daughter had been kidnapped, Noh Moon-woong finally found the ointment and lifted his head—only to find a blade pressed against his throat.
The knife floated in midair all by itself.
Thud.
Startled, Noh Moon-woong dropped the ointment and froze.
“W-Why are you doing this?”
“Sorry, but we’re not taking questions. Just stand up quietly.”
As the man revealed his true colors with a crooked grin, Noh Moon-woong’s heart sank. The very thing he had feared had finally happened.
No… it can’t be. This was supposed to be the last time…!
Pretending to rise for a moment, Noh Moon-woong suddenly shouted desperately when he saw an opening.
“Run, Seol! Hurry!”
But at that instant, another man appeared—Seol tightly bound with thick tree vines.
“Hey. Can’t you read the situation? If you don’t want to see your little girl die right here, stand up quietly.”
Seeing Seol pale and trembling on the verge of tears, Noh Moon-woong’s knees gave out beneath him.
“Those sons of bitches…”
Holding his breath, Seon-woo trailed behind the bandits and the captured father and daughter.
He had assumed they were merely a human trafficking ring—but astonishingly, they were superhumans.
‘Why would superhumans target ordinary humans who don’t even have yin energy?’
Of course, Seon-woo knew that being a superhuman didn’t automatically mean being righteous. Still, there was no benefit in killing humans without yin energy. Their yin energy wouldn’t increase, nor would they gain yin stones.
But there were those who used their pitiful strength to bind and sell off weaker, ordinary humans.
Guessing that these men were exactly that kind, Seon-woo decided to follow them instead of rescuing the pair immediately.
He could have ignored it—he had his own matters to attend to…
‘Ahem. A future Phoenix can’t behave like that.’
As he had confidently told Hwan before, this was something he would have to do anyway if he were to become the Phoenix.
Since fate had placed this father and daughter in his sight, he couldn’t simply pass them by.
Moreover, after a series of recent events, Seon-woo had gained some confidence in his martial strength. This was also a good opportunity to test it.
And so, he decided to crush the trafficking ring.
The men—unaware they were about to be crushed—bound Noh Moon-woong and Seol’s hands together with thick wooden vines and dragged them along like slaves. Superhumans stood guard at the front and back, leaving the pitiful pair no chance to escape.
Noh Moon-woong wept and begged them to at least spare his daughter, but a wad of leaves was immediately stuffed into his mouth.
Hidden behind a tree, Seon-woo watched in silence, fury boiling inside him. He felt genuinely grateful that he had the power to punish scum like this.
After trekking deep into the mountains for several hours, the men finally stopped in front of a cave.
“Hey. We’ve brought the goods.”
A chilling aura flowed from the pitch-black cave, its interior impossible to see.
Perched atop a large branch near the cave entrance, Seon-woo held his breath and observed.
‘A cave? Is human trafficking conducted in a place like this?’
As an uneasy feeling crept over him, footsteps echoed from inside.
Everyone held their breath and stared toward the entrance.
Something hidden in the shadows finally stepped out—and Noh Moon-woong’s eyes widened.
“Hrk…!”
As shocked as he was, Seon-woo also froze in disbelief.
Emerging from the cave was a pig-faced yokai. It wore clothes and walked on two legs as if imitating a human, but it was a low-ranked yokai that hadn’t even managed to transform its hands and feet properly.
That alone was grotesque—but there was something even more disturbing.
Behind the rope in its hand were more than a dozen pig-like yokai, each about the size of a human baby, tied together and dragged along.
“Mmmph—! Mmph—!”
Gagged, Noh Moon-woong screamed and tried to shield his daughter, but his feeble attempt was instantly stopped by a fire-attribute superhuman who conjured a ring of flames around Seol.
“Move, and I’ll roast her on the spot.”
Seol shrieked from the heat, and Noh Moon-woong collapsed in despair.
‘You… damned… monsters…’
Seon-woo clenched himself back from charging in immediately, forcing himself to assess the bizarre situation.
“Here. We’ve brought the goods. Let’s make the trade.”
The pig yokai looked back and forth between Noh Moon-woong and Seol, then opened its foul mouth.
“Trade… not possible… Conditions… wrong…”
“What? What are you talking about? Look carefully. There are two of them.”
“All… big humans… two.”
The pig yokai awkwardly spoke broken words and held up three fingers.
“That’s three. Are you still mixing up two and three?”
“Shut up… Anyway… child… no.”
“Let’s let it slide just this once, huh? We’ll bring you better ones next time.”
As horrifying words passed between them, Noh Moon-woong’s face turned deathly pale.
“You… use my children… to raise yin energy… So… proper payment… required…”
At those words, Seon-woo’s eyes snapped open.
‘So they provide prey for that low-ranked yokai in exchange for its offspring? And then they easily increase their yin energy with that…?’
Only then did he fully grasp the horrific nature of the deal—and his face turned white.
This was a vile transaction between superhumans with low yin energy and yokai with low intelligence. Too weak or cowardly to kill stronger yokai themselves, these schemers handed over far more vulnerable humans instead—and in return received the pig yokai’s young.
They would then kill the newborn, weak yokai to raise their own yin energy.
The sheer depravity made Seon-woo feel like vomiting, even though he had eaten nothing.
“Fine. Then how about this? Next time we’ll bring three adults. Deal?”
The pig yokai rolled its eyes, struggling to calculate.
“Damn it! Do you know how hard it is to get humans these days? If you don’t like it, we’ll cut this deal and find another yokai. Do you think you’re the only one who wants easy access to humans?”
At that, the pig yokai grunted and frowned.
“Fine… We trade…”
Lewd smiles spread across the men’s faces.
“Bring… her… here…”
As the pig yokai extended its hand and handed over the rope, the superhuman threatening Seol grabbed her by the collar and began dragging her forward.
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
That was the moment Noh Moon-woong made a desperate lunge—
KUUUUNG!
The ground beneath them shook violently. Noh Moon-woong and the men alike staggered and fell.
“W-What is this? An earthquake?!”
As the startled men and yokai looked around, a towering pillar of water erupted beneath the pig yokai’s feet, lifting it high into the air.
The men stared upward in shock.
In an instant, the water column transformed into a massive human hand, which clenched the pig yokai tightly—then slammed it down into the ground.
