I Became the Hidden Chapter 58

"Tell me the whereabouts of the Baek who has arrived here."

Baek Sowol's tone was unhesitating.

The martial artist, as if crushed by such an aura from Baek Sowol, trembled.

"I-I cannot say."

But as if his loyalty still remained, the answer Baek Sowol wanted did not come back.

Towards such a martial artist, Baek Sowol met his eyes.

Although Baek Sowol's pupils were clearly black, to the opponent, they looked like blood-red eyes steeped in blood.

The martial artist clenched his teeth, enduring the urge to confess right away.

"You have no intention of speaking."

Baek Sowol stretched out her hand.

The martial artist moved his body and struggled to block Baek Sowol's hand.

'It's as if my body is being crushed by something, and it's not moving as I want.'

The martial artist glared at Baek Sowol.

The difference in their realms was not great.

However, he could not move his body properly due to the aura flowing from Baek Sowol.

'It's as if she was born to crush everything. Even the heavens...'

That was the martial artist's last memory.

Baek Sowol dealt with the martial artist and turned her head.

"H-hiiik!"

Another martial artist met Baek Sowol's eyes and let out a groan.

"Th-the red roof on the outskirts of the Heavenly Mountains! Th-there...!!"

The martial artist who had met her eyes let out a groan and confessed, and as soon as Baek Sowol heard those words, she kicked off the ground.

Although the Heavenly Mountains were wide, since the residential area was not that wide, Baek Sowol immediately found the building the martial artist had mentioned.

Although there was a gatekeeper in front of the gate.

"Who...?"

"Divine Maiden?!"

Baek Sowol, without any questions or answers, rushed at the gatekeepers and stretched out her hand.

Since their martial prowess was shabby compared to the previous martial artist, the martial artists were subdued without even a small noise, including a final scream.

Having subdued the martial artists, Baek Sowol quietly approached the building.

At a glance, it was different from the other buildings.

The walls were thick and watertight, and in the center, a thick iron gate was firmly in place.

It was a suspicious building at a glance.

Standing in front of the gate, Baek Sowol, without hesitation, grabbed the crack of the gate with her hands.

Creak.

At the same time as Baek Sowol applied force, the gate began to crumple with a crushing sound.

As the gate crumpled, the scenery inside the building came into Baek Sowol's eyes.

The first thing that came into her eyes was an iron cage.

But it didn't feel like a prison.

It was a breeding ground.

However, inside that breeding ground were not livestock, but.

'People?'

People were crammed in like livestock.

Entering and looking at the breeding ground, Baek Sowol frowned.

The humans inside the breeding ground all had hazy eyes, as if they were possessed by something.

'Just like me before.'

Although Baek Sowol did not like even the discrimination between martial artists and ordinary people, since it was a place that rivaled the scale of a large city, she could understand it under the pretext of management.

But what was the sight in front of her eyes now?

They were treating people like livestock.

Although she couldn't guess at all what and how they were being used for, it was surely not a good place.

"Why on earth did you come to a place like this?"

At that moment, a familiar voice was heard from behind Baek Sowol.

'I didn't notice!'

Baek Sowol hastily turned around.

The leader was standing at the entrance.

Just by the aura she felt, Baek Sowol felt that the leader's martial arts level was above hers.

'At least above me. Then is he at the peak?'

Baek Sowol estimated the opponent's martial arts level based on Zhuge Hyun's teachings, not Baek Yoonjun's.

'By Master's standards, everyone except himself was third-rate or lower, so it's not a reference.'

It was a judgment based on Baek Sowol's own standards.

Having guessed the opponent's martial arts level, Baek Sowol took a ready stance and was wary of the opponent.

'The opponent is above me. But it's not to the extent that I can't escape.'

Having made her judgment, Baek Sowol rushed towards the opponent.

The unique linear but fast movement of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, a martial art that her master had personally created for Baek Sowol, which seemed to crush anything.

As her own body reached the opponent's vicinity, Baek Sowol raised her internal energy to its fullest and stretched out her hand.

"Are you thinking of resisting?"

The leader also, seeing Baek Sowol's appearance, counterattacked.

Just before Baek Sowol's hand and the leader's hand met, Baek Sowol pulled back her hand, twisted the foot she had stepped forward with, and imbued her opposite foot with her full internal energy.

She twisted her body as she passed by the opponent.

"Huh."

From the leader's perspective, it felt as if Baek Sowol had disappeared from in front of his eyes and had passed through him.

This was one of the movement techniques that Baek Sowol had been taught by Baek Yoonjun, a wondrous movement technique that deceived not only the opponent's vision but also their senses.

Having successfully taken the leader's back, her master's words came to Baek Sowol's mind.

-Your movements are too linear. Your martial talent is already lacking, and if you do that, you're likely to get beaten, so mix in feints, no, feints, appropriately in your martial arts.

For a moment, Baek Sowol felt a surge of emotion, and at the same time, she felt a sense of accomplishment that she had succeeded in a feint against a stronger opponent.

A fleeting moment.

Baek Sowol had completely gained the upper hand against the opponent.

A situation where she could either aim for his back or escape.

'Even if I have momentarily gained the upper hand, the opponent's realm is higher.'

Baek Sowol quickly made a judgment.

'I also need to confirm about the Baek family, and I'm worried about Great Hero Ju's safety. For now, let's retreat.'

Baek Sowol chose to retreat and stepped forward.

"Where do you think you're going?"

At the voice that came from behind her, Baek Sowol flinched.

"Do you have a place to go?"

A voice filled with the benevolence she had heard continuously.

And a clear scent.

Baek Sowol felt her mind go blank again.

'Again?'

Baek Sowol struggled and resisted her hazy mind.

She raised her internal energy, spread the energy in her body, and bit her tongue.

"Keuk."

At the same time as the fishy smell of blood spread in her mouth, she was barely able to pull herself together.

"Hah, to think you broke free on your own. I certainly had an eye for you."

In Baek Sowol's eyes, who had come to her senses, she saw the leader, who was admiring her with a slightly surprised look.

'But that's all.'

Although the leader showed a surprised look, the situation was not good for Baek Sowol.

Because her mind had become hazy for a moment, a gap had been created, and the escape was out of the question.

'Do I have no choice but to fight?'

Having steeled her heart, Baek Sowol took a ready stance and operated her internal energy.

"For now, let's calm down and talk."

As if to make Baek Sowol's determination futile, the leader requested a conversation, and at the same time, martial artists with a martial prowess similar to the leader's, clearly superior to Baek Sowol's, appeared.

'The leader alone is overwhelming, but six martial artists of a similar level?'

Baek Sowol scanned the martial artists who had appeared around her.

It was not a mistake, there were clearly six martial artists superior to Baek Sowol.

In the end, Baek Sowol had no choice but to lower her hands.

If the opponent had come out aggressively, she would have steeled her resolve and fought desperately, but since he had requested a conversation, it seemed better to listen.

The leader, looking at such a Baek Sowol, nodded with satisfaction and opened his mouth.

"I believe the divine maiden also knows that it is a difficult thing to survive in such a barren place."

The leader's voice was still benevolent.

'That scent is no longer there. Does he really want to talk? What is his purpose?'

Confirming that the clear scent that had made her mind hazy was gone, Baek Sowol nodded her head at the leader's words.

"First of all, since it is a barren place, power is needed. Naturally, we have no choice but to treat the martial artists a little better."

Although it was not something she liked, since it was a part she could agree with, she remained still.

"But even that is not enough. Manpower, knowledge, everything is lacking. There is no unity, and there is not even a discipline to lead them."

"..."

"So a religion was needed."

"A religion?"

"No matter what we did, it didn't run properly like the government. After reviewing various methods, there was nothing like a religion to unite them."

The leader quietly raised his head and looked at a distant place.

Baek Sowol also, following his gaze, turned her head, and a large statue that she remembered seeing when her mind was hazy came into her eyes.

"But the people gathered here are beings who are fed up with the Central Plains itself, so it was difficult to bind them with just the existing religions."

Listening to the leader's words, Baek Sowol looked at the statue.

At a glance, it was a statue that resembled Asura from the Buddhist scriptures.

But the very twisted and bizarre shape was hard to see as a complete Asura statue.

"The Heavenly Demon Heretical Path."

Baek Sowol, who had been looking at the statue that resembled Asura for a while, turned her head at the familiar word.

The name of her own martial art, which she had named in defiance of the group that had chased them, calling themselves demons, out of childishness.

The Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

'A coincidence? No matter how I look at it, it's a coincidence...'

At the amazing coincidence, Baek Sowol's mind was in chaos.

Even while she was in chaos, the leader's words continued.

"This originally means a negative energy that hinders training in the teachings of Buddhism.

But we teach it this way."

The leader pointed his finger at the sky.

"The absolute demon will descend from the sky, save you, and purify the turbid Central Plains by burning it."

Then he brought his finger down.

"Isn't it a pretty plausible story? It actually worked quite well."

The leader smiled benevolently.

It was a good-natured middle-aged man's smile that could be found anywhere.

"But as expected, even that was not enough. I don't know if it's because of the religion that was created out of necessity, or if it's because there are not enough people. So a sacrifice was needed."

Such a leader's gaze turned to the building with the red roof.

"A sacrifice?"

Of course, it wasn't that she didn't understand and asked back.

She was just dumbfounded by the leader's appearance of looking at the breeding ground with a benevolent look, as if he were looking at livestock, not people.

The leader moved his gaze to such a Baek Sowol.

He still had a good-natured, benevolent appearance.

"It is a sacrifice."

"Is that something a person should do?"

Baek Sowol clenched her teeth.

She glared at the opponent in front of her with an aura as if she would tear him apart right away.

But the leader continued to speak with a still benevolent face and a benevolent voice.

"It is natural to be angry. Do you think my heart is at ease? Of course, we are not barbarians of the southern lands, and we do not force indiscriminate sacrifices."

"Then what about them?"

"It is the sacrifice of the few for the many."

Baek Sowol had a thought that that benevolent smile was creepy.

"In the end, it's a sacrifice! You're saying you're making a human sacrifice!"

In the end, Baek Sowol could not hold it in and became indignant.

But the leader answered without any wavering.

"What about the Central Plains? Is there no sacrifice in the Central Plains? No, rather, the Central Plains is worse. Most of the common people are sacrificed for a few noble bloodlines.

Rather, doesn't it seem better than the Central Plains that the majority can live comfortably on the extreme sacrifice of a few?"

Baek Sowol was at a loss for words.

If it were the usual Baek Sowol, it was a story that she could sufficiently rebut.

But the hardships and events she had experienced in the Central Plains had clouded Baek Sowol's vision, so she could not rebut at all.

The leader, looking at such a Baek Sowol, smiled with satisfaction.

"Please return to your quarters. I have found a child with the same surname as the divine maiden and have moved her to your quarters."

At the leader's benevolent voice, Baek Sowol's focus wavered for a moment.

"You may also take the young man the divine maiden brought with you.

And since we will be holding a memorial service in three days, please feel free to tell us your thoughts then."

With a reluctant look, Baek Sowol moved her feet.

There was no one who blocked her.

It was hard for Baek Sowol to judge whether it was a confidence that they could stop her at any time or if they were telling her to do as she pleased.

"It would be nice if your thoughts align with ours. If so, the child with the Baek surname and that young man will be able to live comfortably with the divine maiden."

The words that followed did not enter Baek Sowol's ears at all.

Without being able to sort out her complicated mind at all, Baek Sowol took care of the unconscious Ju Wol-lyang and headed to her quarters.

In that process, there was no restraint or interference at all.

And so, the quarters she arrived at.

Baek Sowol weakly pushed open the door of her quarters.

At that.

"Sowol unni!!"

A familiar face rushed into Baek Sowol's arms, shedding tears.

"Hyuna?"

Carefully putting down Ju Wol-lyang, Baek Sowol embraced the small girl.

The part she had been looking for so much.

Although it was not her entire family, at the joy of having found that part, Baek Sowol briefly forgot the dirty feeling from before and embraced her cousin.

"How on earth did you, alone? What about father? What about uncle?"

"Waaah... I don't know. We were all separated... I just kept coming as my mom told me to, and I ended up here."

"Don't cry. I'm glad. I'm glad. To have found at least you..."

The child in Baek Sowol's arms burst into tears.

Baek Sowol also shed tears and patted the child.

(End of Chapter)