The remaining warriors rushed away, but there weren't many remaining.
Kang-hyuk didn't bother to kill those warriors.
*Tak!*
Kang-hyuk descended from the skies, and stood amongst the countless corpses of the Black Snake Sect warriors.
"Right, I should start cleaning up now."
Kang-hyuk stretched out his hands, concentrating his energy, then releasing the energy, spreading it across all directions.
*Pak!*
Within moments, the corpses had turned to dust, and the traces of bloodstains on the ground had disappeared.
Kang-hyuk had erased all traces of the event with his own energy.
"Phew-"
He exhaled.
He began to grumble, "Now I'm going to have to deal with those by the entrance. It's bothersome, bothersome indeed."
He then flew towards the Black Snake Sect warriors that were by the entrance of the Valley.
***
At the same time.
Having already cleared up the area around which he was living his retired life, Ji Cheol-mok was preparing for his visit to the Hwacheon Clan.
"Whilst I'm gone, I'll leave the job of protecting the village to you fellows."
"Don't worry elder!"
The young men of the Hwacheon countryside answered to Ji Cheol-mok's request loudly, and in unison.
During the period of time he had been in retirement in the countryside, Ji Cheol-mok had been teaching the young men martial arts. They were now capable of protecting the village even in his absence.
This fruit of Ji Cheol-mok's labours was quite useful. It meant that he could leave with his mind at ease. A contributing factor to his ease was also his prior clearing of area of any trouble.
At that moment.
"...!"
Ji Cheol-mok's body began to tremble.
He had just felt a particular energy.
He had no doubts.
It was his elder Hyung-nim, Kang-hyuk's energy.
'Wh-why is Hyung-nim's energy in Snaketail Valley?'
The Snaketail Valley was an area outside of the zone he was responsible for. It was a vague area that he didn't touch as it was on a boundary around where another Elder's zone was.
But, he was clearly able to feel Kang-hyuk's energy around there.
'I-it can't be, are there dark cultivators around there?'
From what he could feel, the dark cultivators that had been present there were already dead.
He recalled something Kang-hyuk had said to him in the past. "A vague area? I'll take care of those areas."
Kang-hyuk seemed to be acting as he had said at the time.
'Isn't the Snaketail Valley a place that elder Hyung-nim dislikes?"
He tilted his head, and continued his thoughts.
'So is elder Hyung-nim going to Nakyang right now as well?'
As the Snaketail Valley was a path that led to Nakyang, Ji Cheol-mok's stream of thought was reasonable.
He was conflicted.
There was a possibility that he would receive a beating as he hadn't taken care of his area properly.
But his desire to meet Kang-hyuk was stronger than his fear of a beating.
It had been a while since he had been beaten by Kang-hyuk, and he knew that Kang-hyuk's fists were inwardly filled with a lot of affection.
His longing to see his elder Hyung-nim caused him more discomfort than Kang-hyuk's fists could ever cause.
"Er, are you okay?"
A young man spoke up, looking at Ji Cheol-mok in concern. Ji Cheol-mok nodded.
"Ahem, ahem ahem. I'm fine. I'll be leaving now."
"Goodbye! Have a safe journey!"
After bidding farewell to the young men, Ji Cheol-mok set out on his journey towards Nakyang.
'Elder Hyung-nim won't scold me for coming to Nakyang needlessly, will he?'
***
Kang-hyuk walked along the forested path.
He had already dealt with the Black Snake Sect warriors that were by the entrance of Snaketail Valley, and cleared away the pile of rocks he had placed there.
He was on his way to where the students and teachers of the Academy were, to guide the way as he had promised.
"Seonsaengnim!"
Someone suddenly entered Kang-hyuk's field of vision. He was already aware of who the person was.
It was Byeok Ae-rin.
"Have you finished the work?"
Byeok Ae-rin promptly replied, "Yes. I've erased all traces of your presence."
She had been following Kang-hyuk from the time he had left the Academy for the Black Snake Sect headquarters. The reason she sought Kang-hyuk out was to inform him that she had erased all evidence of his extermination of the Black Snake Sect warriors.
"I erased all the traces at Snaketail Valley."
"I apologize, I was late."
"Tsk tsk, haven't I told you to not apologize in situations where apologies aren't needed? It's because I moved too quickly. It's not your fault."
Byeok Ae-rin was touched.
Kang-hyuk always acted in this way.
If he had erred, he would always acknowledge his mistake, never pa.s.sing on any blame to his subordinates.
"Wasn't the Snaketail Valley a place you didn't want to visit again?"
Byeok Ae-rin spoke with a strained voice, "I've already forgotten about that."
The battle at Snaketail Valley.
It was a battle in which Kang-hyuk almost died, and where a warrior that was Byeok Ae-rin's lover did die.
That warrior had had a higher ranking than Kang-hyuk, owing to him having backing from above. This meant that Kang-hyuk's position in the overall operation was that of an aide to a foolish team leader.
'His name was…..Nok-eun.'
As soon as he had become aware that they were close to defeat, despite being close to death, he had moved around frantically waving his sword in an attempt to save Byeok Ae-rin.
Kang-hyuk could still remember the atmosphere when he had gone to save Byeok Ae-rin. The place was engulfed in flames, their enemies were everywhere, and the ground was covered in blood.
A defeated Byeok Ae-rin was holding Nok-eun, who was close to death, whilst wielding a sword with one hand, fighting off the attackers.
She was inconsolably crying, and repeatedly crying out his name.
When Kang-hyuk had arrived, Nok-eun handed Byeok Ae-rin over to him and said, "I ask you to look after her leader. Please look after Rin, and please forget a person like me….."
Those words had been his last words.
'Foolish fellow! Doesn't he know that a person's memories are beyond their own control!'
Even if one ingested a potion to lose their memories, it would be impossible to erase the imprints of the memories that that person had left on their soul.
"There's no way that you could have forgotten, why are you lying?"
The pupils of Byeok Ae-rin's eyes were trembling, but she soon controlled her expression.
It had been extremely difficult for her after she had lost her lover, Nok-eun, but she was able to overcome the memories.
This had only been possible because of Kang-hyuk.
The reason for her entire existence was Kang-hyuk.
"I apologize."
"Anyway, we've dealt with everything now."
Kang-hyuk continued.
"I think we'll need to pay more attention to the security of the school. I'm sure that the Blood King Valley fellows are targeting the school."
"But the problem is the Blood King Valley's location."
"That is a problem indeed. We don't know where they are. This time it was the Black Snake Sect, but we don't know when their next attack will be. Anyways, I'll see you at the Academy."
"Yes."
Byeok Ae-rin bowed.
*Syuk!*
She disappeared within moments, and Kang-hyuk began to walk again.
***
Yun Hseong was standing restlessly.
He had led the Academy out of the Snaketail Valley through the cave that Kang-hyuk had shown him, and was now waiting in front of the cave as he had instructed.
Ok Hae-mi was unable to understand Yun Hseong's actions.
It had been almost an hour since they started their break, and they were still stationary.
Looking awkward, Ok Hae-mi spoke up, "Er-erm…Yun Seonsaengnim. Why are we still waiting here? And why are we sending a message to the advance team to wait for us in front of the Academy?"
Yun Hseong sighed.
"Just trust me."
"We've been delayed for too long already. The princ.i.p.al will begin to worry."
Yun Hseong was frustrated.
He couldn't exactly speak openly about what Kang-hyuk had shown him.
'How can I explain that the students were almost exterminated?'
But in comparison to the frightening feeling he had experienced earlier, this frustration was bearable for Yun Hseong.
He looked up at the mountains in the distance.
Feeling a silent pressure from Ok Hae-mi for him to respond, he sighed, and spoke, "I'm waiting for Kang Seonsaeng."
"What? Kang Seonsaeng? You're referring to Kang-hyuk Seonsaengnim?"
"Yes."
"Didn't he leave for the Academy earlier as he had something to do?"
Yun Hseong nodded.
"He did, but it was due to Kang Seonsaeng that we were able to escape from danger."
"What do you mean?"
Ok Hae-mi looked at him in disbelief, but Yun Hseong ignored her expression, and continued.
"And the person who informed me about this cave was also Kang Seonsaeng."
"Come to think of it, it's the first time I've seen this cave as well. I actually wanted to ask you this for a while, where is this place?"
"That's why we're waiting for Kang Seonsaeng, so that he can lead the way."
"Ah!"
"This is all I'm going to say about the subject."
She nodded. She did have some queries about parts of what Yun Hseong had said, but her immediate query was resolved.
She decided to let it go.
She had realized at a young age that asking unnecessary questions was a cause for reducing one's lifespan.
'I guess my uneasy feeling when we entered the Snaketail Valley had a reason to it., but to think we escaped a crisis because of Kang Seonsaeng! My intuition was correct. Kang Seonsaeng is no ordinary man.'
Another query rose up within Ok Hae-mi.
She was wondering why such a talented man was working as a liberal arts teacher.
As the thought came up, she quickly dismissed it.
'Well, I guess he must have his own reasons. Like me.'
At that moment.
"Ah! Were you waiting for a long time?"
A voice could be heard from within the forest.
As Yun Hseong turned his head, he was greeted with the sight of Kang-hyuk emerging from the forest.
"Ah! Kang Seonsaeng!"
Kang-hyuk smiled at Yun Hseong's yell.
"Nothing happened while you were moving to the cave, right?"
"No. It was a comfortable journey, but where exactly are we?"
Kang-hyuk grinned, and spoke, "I don't know the actual name of the place, but through here, we can reach the Academy in half an hour."
"Are you serious?"
Yun Hseong was taken aback.
The journey from the Snaketail Valley to the Academy usually took two hours, but according to Kang-hyuk, they would reach in a third of the time!
They were already late.
They were meant to have reached the Academy before it was time for their evening meal, but it was presently the time for their evening meal.
Kang-hyuk spoke, "We'll satiate our appet.i.tes with some fruit, and then get ready to leave."
"I didn't think there would be fruit at this time of the year?"
Kang-hyuk smiled at Yun Hseong's doubts and responded, "Call two students from each group."
"Okay."
Ok Hae-mi rushed away to carry out Kang-hyuk's instruction, and soon there were two students of each group standing in front of Kang-hyuk.
"Follow me."
"Yes!"
Kang-hyuk took them into the forest.
Before they had even taken twenty steps, Kang-hyuk lifted his hand and pointed at a tree.
"Pick the fruits of that tree. One fruit per person will be enough, so don't be greedy."
"Yes! Understood!"
As the students began picking the fruit, they realized that something was a little strange.
Despite it being early spring, they were able to pick a fruit that was a large as an adult's fist. It was also the first time that they had seen this type of fruit.
'This fruit resembles a peach. Is it a smooth peach?'
'But it doesn't smell like a peach.'
'This is the first time I've smelt such an aroma from a fruit.'
As Kang-hyuk had instructed, the students returned to their individual teams, and handed the fruits out among their group members.
The students began to eat the fruit as soon as they received it. They were hungry.
"...!"
The students were startled at the flavour of the fruit. It was deliciously aromatic and sweet.
But the issue was the teachers.
They seemed to be aware of what the students were really eating.
There had been a piece of writing left by an anonymous man of Moorim in which he had described the fruit in admiration:
'It is a fruit that resembles a peach, but doesn't taste like one. A fruit that can only be eaten if fate wills it. It contains the very perfume of heaven itself.
A single fruit will keep one satiated for a day.
The whole body reverberates with energy upon its consumption.
This fruit…is the fruit of the G.o.ds!'
