Chapter 14 – Hungry Ghost (2)
“Hey, you bastard! Stop right there!”
The moment I entered the room at the very end of the hallway, I shouted at the top of my lungs.
Inside the room, surrounded by bare concrete walls, the two missing women were lying in a corner with their hands and feet tied.
In another corner were bags filled with various seasonings.
Beside them, a huge pot sat on top of a portable gas burner, bubbling away.
The two women looked completely exhausted from crying so much. One of them had somehow managed to loosen her gag.
The convenience store clerk was walking toward the woman whose gag had come loose, holding a large rectangular Chinese-style cleaver.
He stopped when he heard my shout.
“Detective... what brings you all the way here...? Did you come to have a meal with me?”
“You crazy bastard. Meal, my ass. Shut your mouth!”
“If I shut my mouth... I won't be able to... eat...”
The moment he finished speaking, the clerk rushed toward me at incredible speed and swung the cleaver.
“You bastard! Why are you swinging a kitchen knife at a person? You're supposed to use it on food!”
“But you're... food...”
I barely managed to grab his arm and stop the blade.
If this had been the old me, my head probably would've gone flying right then and there.
“You... aren't human...”
The clerk's eyes rolled wildly as he spoke.
“Hey! If I'm not human, then what do I look like to you? You crazy hungry ghost!”
I talked big, but my hands were trembling.
Damn it. Didn't they say I could even break concrete pillars...?
I was losing to this bastard in raw strength.
The blue gleam of the Chinese cleaver slowly descended toward my forehead.
The edge touched my skin.
It sliced into my forehead like a thin thread, and blood started trickling down.
Ah, damn it. This is why I hate knives... Should I call Jeonghu?
In a dangerous situation like this, the first person who came to mind was Jeonghu.
Have I really gotten this soft...? If I call that bastard Jeonghu, he'll make fun of me forever...
I'd rather die.
The corner of the clerk's mouth curled upward as he sneered at me.
“Male meat... isn't very good... but I'll eat you... frozen...”
Given the situation, I couldn't think of anything clever to say back.
Thud.
My knee buckled.
If I kept holding out like this, my skull was going to be split in half.
Blood from my forehead ran into my eye.
There has to be another way... another way... Right! It might work!
“Chasa Transformation!”
Black energy began rising from my chest.
It was the energy of the Black Spirit.
The Black Spirit energy—the spiritual power of the Inhwang Chasa—exploded from my chest.
“Keeegh!”
The recoil from the explosion sent the clerk sliding backward until he slammed into the wall.
The Black Spirit energy wrapped around my body and spread into every corner of my flesh.
I could feel the power of a cruel and merciless tyrant.
I clenched my fist.
The Black Spirit energy swirled around it like a mass of black light.
My clothes changed too...
I looked exactly the same as I had when I'd gone to Dosan Hell through the Soul-Ensnaring Demon Realm.
Even my hair had grown longer.
“Keeee... It's Inhwang. Inhwang is scary...”
The clerk stared at me while trembling uncontrollably.
His face twisted into something even more hideous from sheer terror.
Do I really look that scary?
“I'm running away... It's Inhwang...”
“Where do you think you're going?! Fierce Dragon Step!”
My body vanished for an instant and reappeared directly in front of the hungry ghost.
“Take one of my punches!”
I clenched my fist, and Black Spirit energy gathered around it.
My bare fists were currently my only means of attack.
BOOOOM!
My fist struck the wall instead of the hungry ghost.
The Black Spirit energy exploded against it, blasting a hole straight through the concrete.
The hungry ghost had dodged my punch and was already running past me toward the exit.
“This bastard is seriously fast! Where do you think you're going?! Fierce Dragon—”
“Please... help us... Please...”
Just as I was about to use Fierce Dragon Step to chase him, I heard the women's pitiful voices.
I looked back.
The women were staring at me with faces covered in tears.
“Cancel transformation!”
The black Black Spirit energy returned to my chest, and my body returned to normal.
“Are you two okay?”
I asked while untying them.
“Ah... Thank you so much. When that man came toward me with the knife, I really thought I was going to die.”
One of the women suddenly threw herself into my arms.
“You two know Madam Jang, right?”
I instinctively caught her, then quickly pulled her away and asked.
“Ah... yes. She's our boss.”
The two women looked at each other briefly before answering.
Judging from their response, it seemed I'd properly completed Madam Jang's request.
I called Madam Jang.
“I found the two of them. I'll tell you the location, so send Uncle Franken—no, Uncle Angel—to come pick them up.”
“Detective Kang. Seriously?”
“You don't believe me? Want me to put one of them on the phone?”
“No, it's not that. It's just so fast. I guess Chief Kim wasn't lying when he said Detective Kang was the ace.”
“Anyway, I'm busy with something else, so if you have more to say, let's talk later.”
“All right. You really must be busy. Good work, Detective Kang.”
After ending the call, I handed my phone to the two women.
“Here. Take my phone and use it to contact Uncle Franken. He'll come get you.”
I was planning to leave the building and chase after the hungry ghost again.
“Um...”
One of the women grabbed my sleeve as I turned away.
“That man might still be nearby. We're scared... Could you please stay with us until Uncle arrives?”
I understood how she felt.
I gave up chasing the hungry ghost and escorted the two women out of the building.
“Um... Earlier, it looked like you transformed into someone else...”
“You were probably so scared that you imagined it. How could a person suddenly transform into someone else?”
“But your body suddenly disappeared and reappeared, and when you punched that bad man, he went flying all the way to the wall...”
“Come on. Do I really look strong enough to do something like that?”
It seemed best to deny everything as much as possible.
