It was so dark that I couldn’t see an inch ahead of the cave’s entrance.
The tigers stared with their glare skills.
As soon as I tried to activate a glare skill myself, the scent of iron hit my nose.
‘…I smell blood.’
I was going to activate a skill, but I made out the shadow of a blood-stained bear inside the cave.
The smell made my mind red too, so I hurriedly activated the skill.
<Skill Glare activated.>
Energy waves reached my eyes and my visibility improved.
The cave buried in darkness finally came into view.
Just as I first sensed with my nose, I saw the cave’s floor, ceiling, and walls all stained with blood.
Perhaps it’s been a while since those bloodstains were there, the color was already dried maroon.
The tigers seemed displeased with the presence of the bear in the cave, but they weren’t impressed by the bloodied surroundings.
“It’s not just the bear’s blood.”
Hwang Jiho looked around the cave.
How the hell can this old man tell the difference?
I guess it’s just coming from his experience and old age.
“It’s embarrassing to say, but we laughed too much out of excitement…”
“Huhuhu, I threw up too.”
The masked tiger couple spoke shyly.
It didn’t sound like they were laughing.
I couldn’t imagine a couple who lost their child laughing while getting their revenge and then throwing up blood.
Hwang Jiho looked at the couple.
“…You can only take revenge when your body is strong. Control your mind and body well from now on.”
“Yes, we’ll have to live long to show hell to those dirty bears.”
“Of course, we will.”
I really hope the couple would listen to Hwang Jiho.
The deeper we went inside the cave, the stronger the scent of the blood became.
And at the innermost part, at a dead end… the bear was there.
It seemed to notice the tigers approaching.
However, he could only flounder and wriggle, completely unable to stand up.
‘…A bamboo spear!’
The bear was held into place by bamboo spears.
His eyes and ears were covered with bamboo leaves.
It was obviously Jukho’s doing.
Jukho presents himself as a gentle and refreshing young man, but as expected, he’s part of the Tiger Clan.
It was a good glimpse of his side as the clan’s chief sorcerer.
“The benefactor came today, so I took the liberty of covering his eyes and ears.”
“Well done.”
Jukho did not hide his joy at Hwang Jiho’s compliment.
In front of the bloodied bear was quite a warm atmosphere.
In a good mood after being complimented, Jukho spoke in a bright voice.
“I’ll trigger the balance of time distortion whenever you’re ready.”
Kim Shinrok will have to step forward since he will do the torture, and the couple and the rest of us will stay in the boundary and closely watch him.
The humaneness from Kim Shinrok’s face gradually disappeared as he walked toward the struggling bear.
He had that same face when I first found out who he was.
If he makes that face at school, everyone would doubt if he was human.
“May I take off the bamboo leaves?”
“Is it necessary for your torture?”
“Yes. I have to let him see my face first when he wakes up from a nightmare. The torture would work easily when communication is good.”
“…Alright. After triggering the boundary, I’ll remove the leaves.”
Jukho hesitated a little and then shook his hand loudly.
The hem of his sleeve drew a line and left a blue beam in the air.
Fwaaat!
As the light sprayed by Jukho increased, bamboo trees stretched out from the boundary and grew.
Each of the blue-colored bamboo trees is transparent.
“Outstanding. It’s a structure where you can’t see the inside from the outside. You put a lot of thought into it.”
“It’s still a long way to go compared to yours, Hwangho-nim.”
Jukho spoke modestly, but when he heard Hwang Jiho’s praise, the forest made of his boundary skill became denser.
He seemed to be the type who can’t hide his emotions well.
Soon, the inside of the blood-stained cave was filled with fresher air.
“Alright, I will now remove the bamboo leaves.”
At some point, some bamboo leaves appeared in Jukho’s hand.
When he blew on the leaves, those that covered the eyes of the bear fell on the floor.
The bear’s movement was still constricted, but when he could open his eyes, he turned his neck around and began to wait.
The bear’s eyes opened wide when he saw Kim Shinrok.
“Ungnyeo…?”
The bear’s first utterance made the whole cave silent.
He must’ve found traces of Ungnyeo in Kim Shinrok’s face.
He’s lost so much blood and I can’t believe he noticed that and said it.
The bear spoke again.
“Oh, you’re Ungnyeo’s son. I see you’re still alive— guhk!”
Kick!
Before the bear could finish his words, the couple trampled on his neck.
The bear did not scream, but he struggled and suffocated.
The bear looked up at the tiger couple who stepped on his neck.
“…Well, if the Bear Clan descendant would… ahk!”
His words were cut off again, but what he was trying to say was clear.
Why would the couple, who lost their descendant, take the side of the descendant of the clan who took their child?
The bear was trying to be sarcastic.
Baekho and Hwang Jiho’s jaws looked stiff as well as if they wanted to step on the bear’s neck too.
In contrast, Kim Shinrok did not bat an eye.
‘He was so shaky when he met the couple.’
Kim Shinrok only took hurt from the words of the Tiger Clan.
Anything that came out of this bear was nothing to him.
It was a stark contrast — his family on the one hand and garbage people on the other.
Kim Shinrok’s heart is with the former.
Without being shaken, Kim Shinrok calmly spoke to the bear.
“I am a descendant of the Tiger Clan, and I will torture you.”
Hwiiii…
Kim Shinrok opened the sealed envelope, and the nightmare dust speckled into the bamboo forest made of energy waves.
The dark red dust almost spread into the air, but it slowly stretched out to the bear’s skin through Kim Shinrok’s guidance.
As soon as the dust hit his body, the bear struggled violently.
He went crazy as if he was struck by lightning.
He seemed more afraid of the dust than the anger of the couple who lost their child.
“Ahhhh… ahhhhhh! Let go! Let go! Get it off me! I said I get it off!”
Even if the bear fought back with all his might, more blood would just come out of his body from the spears that pierce his flesh.
In the end, all the dust permeated the bear.
The Tiger Couple, who stepped back when the dust flowed out, activated their glare skills and enjoyed the view.
“From now on, the flow of time inside and outside the boundary will feel different.”
When Jukho strengthened the boundary, the bamboo leaves made a shaking sound.
The flow of energy waves felt completely changed.
Once every three to four minutes, the bear fell asleep and repeatedly woke up.
Whenever he opened his eyes, he looked as if he had lost his sense of shock and fear.
Kim Shinrok would ask a question each time, and if he didn’t answer, he spilled energy waves and put the bear back to sleep again.
“I think it’s going to end sooner than I thought. The bear tried to bluff, but he’s been here for quite a long time already. His mind should be at its limit.”
At Kim Shinrok’s words, the couple, who kept the bear in this place all this time, looked proud.
Just as Kim Shinrok said, it doesn’t look like the bear would last any longer.
After a few hours…
The bear was sweating and shed tears like rain.
His tears washed the blood from his face, and I was finally able to see what he looked like.
“Heeuk… heuk…”
The bear sobbed and opened his eyes.
He saw Kim Shinrok, and he tried to crawl over to him with a childlike face asking to be saved.
However, his body was fixed into place with the bamboo spears.
He could only scratch the ground which did nothing but damage his nails.
‘…Just what kind of nightmare made him like that?’
Both the nightmare dust and Kim Shinrok’s control were amazing.
“I’ll ask you again. If you don’t answer this time, I’ll ask after five more rounds of nightmares.”
Kim Shinrok spoke very slowly so that the bewildered bear could understand.
The bear flinched greatly, understanding Kim Shinrok’s words.
Kim Shinrok said he’d ask the question every other nightmare, but after four rounds passed, he still hasn’t spoken.
The bear looked begrudgingly at Kim Shinrok for not keeping his word, but his struggle was of no use.
‘He thought the bear still has energy so he pushed harder.’
Kim Shinrok only kept his promise when the bear replied properly.
But so far, he hasn’t asked questions that we all want to know.
‘Kim Shinrok’s only asking about what he already knows. He wants to see how obedient the subject has become.’
Kim Shinrok was truly a teacher that should never be messed with.
His ability was not just controlling the nightmare dust, but also using clever psychological tricks.
“You took a command from someone other than the head of the Bear Clan. You saw their face too. Tell me about that person.”
Kim Shinrok got this information from his other tortures.
Someone on the same level of higher than the Bear Clan head was giving orders to the Bear people.
It was this bear that met that person face to face.
‘It’s likely the Black Screen. If what this bear saw was the Black Screen…’
It will be a crucial clue to their identity.
Everyone held their breath as we waited for the bear’s words.
“That person… no, those people…”
Those people?
So the Black Screen is not a single person!
No, maybe it’s not the Black Screen that this bear met.
Hundreds of possibilities swarmed my mind, and the bear spoke again.
“…They are twins who deal with wind and rain.”
In the mythical age, back when the skies were open.
Shinin (Son of God) came down from the heavens with three people who can control the weather.
They were known to have died in battle in the distant past, but in the Christmas scenario in PMH, Jeokho saw them for sure.
However, nothing was resolved in PMH and so it faced the ending that it did.
‘So Pungbaek and Usa were the twins beside the Black Screen.’
The identity of the Black Screen was still unclear, but it’s certain now that the twins under them were Pungbaek and Usa.
I already guessed so from the conversation I had with Hwang Jiho and the information I had from PMH.
‘To dig up more information here… I think we need help from Jeokho. We should go back to the mansion and talk first.’
After a few more questions, Kim Shinrok wrapped up the torture.
“That’s enough for today. Good work, Kim Shinrok, and Jukho.”
“…Yes.”
Hwang Jiho concluded, but the tigers looked out of energy.
Everyone was silent when we left the bamboo forest and headed back to the mansion.
The tigers were conflicted by the thoughts of their old comrades, and I didn’t dare to speak since I was lost in thought too.
We arrived in silence at the mansion that was…
The mansion was a mess.
Fizzling! Bam!
A bolt of red lightning struck the entrance of the annex where Eunho was staying.
The thunderbolt was erased by a silver boundary, but the sparks spread here and there, burning the annex.
Jeokho was blowing the place up.
