Chapter 368

Pyo Wol rubbed his shoulder as he walked.

His clothes were fine, but the muscle underneath was deeply bruised. If he had been any slower in dodging, not just his clothes but a chunk of his flesh would have been torn away.

The gaze Gu Jahwang had felt was no illusion.

Pyo Wol had been watching him from behind the military tent.

The intense aura emanating from Gu Jahwang had stimulated him. Because of that, he had unconsciously focused his eyes, and Gu Jahwang had not missed that subtle change.

It was a truly beast-like sense.

If Pyo Wol had been even a little slower in leaving the tent, his presence would have surely been discovered.

Pyo Wol moved to a place beyond the reach of Gu Jahwang’s senses and thought.

‘This place is a Thunder Prison.’

He couldn’t tell exactly when this Thunder Prison had come into existence.

Even the Hao Clan, which was said to have the best information network in Jianghu, did not know about this place.

That meant its secrecy had been maintained with extreme thoroughness.

No matter how long Mount Longhu had been deserted, it was impossible to maintain such perfect secrecy without the protection of a massive power.

The problem was which massive power was protecting this place.

Pyo Wol felt that the problem was far more complex than he had thought.

It sent a shiver down his spine that such a vile thing was being perpetrated behind the peaceful facade of Jianghu, and yet most martial artists were unaware of it.

Hong Yushin was surely imprisoned somewhere here.

For now, finding Hong Yushin was the top priority.

Pyo Wol scanned his surroundings with sharp eyes.

Besides the area he had entered following Hwang Ak-chu, there were numerous other caves. Most were naturally formed, with long stalactites hanging down.

Like the cavern where Pyo Wol had been imprisoned in the past, this place had clearly been converted into a Thunder Prison using a naturally formed terrain.

Pyo Wol’s gaze turned to a cave on the opposite side of where So Gyeoksan was imprisoned. This place, too, was blocked by an iron door.

Pyo Wol approached the iron door.

The familiar large padlock was hanging on it.

A padlock the size of an adult’s torso could never be opened without its dedicated key. That was surely why the martial artists guarding this place had left their posts without setting a separate guard.

Pyo Wol briefly caressed the padlock with his hand, then took out the Ghostly Rain.

He inserted the Ghostly Rain into the keyhole and moved it gently. He was using the Ghostly Rain as a substitute for a key.

A lock like this might be able to stop other martial artists from intruding, but it was impossible to stop an assassin who had reached a level like Pyo Wol.

The ones who first created the Thunder Prison here could never have imagined that an assassin of Pyo Wol’s caliber would invade.

Click!

Pyo Wol picked the lock without difficulty and went inside.

The inside of the cave was pitch black.

It was an environment where taking even a single step would be difficult without a torch, but Pyo Wol moved forward without hesitation.

Pyo Wol was very accustomed to such environments.

Not only could he discern the terrain through the blowing wind, humidity, and sounds, but he also had eyes that could see through the darkness.

To him, this level of darkness was no obstacle at all.

Kuuung!

Just then, a strong vibration from somewhere traveled through the air and reached Pyo Wol’s ears.

Pyo Wol walked toward the source of the vibration.

Kung! Kuuung!

The vibration grew stronger and stronger.

Pyo Wol thought the vibration was filled with indignation.

Finally, Pyo Wol arrived in front of a small iron door.

It was an iron door of the same size as the one where So Gyeoksan was imprisoned.

Sreung!

Pyo Wol opened the small window set in the iron door.

Instantly, a pair of eerily shining eyes appeared in front of the window.

“Hong… Yushin!”

The person whose eyes seemed to be lit with Ghost Fire was none other than Hong Yushin, the Surveillance Chief of the Hao Clan.

His forehead was split open, and blood was streaming down.

Hong Yushin’s lips twisted.

“Who are you? Did you come to persuade me? It’s no use, no matter what you do. I will never side with you bastards.”

Ddu-du-duk!

At that moment, Pyo Wol’s face returned to its original form.

Hong Yushin’s eyes widened.

“Pyo… Wol?”

“So you were trapped here.”

“How did you? No, more importantly, are you really the Great Hero Pyo?”

“I am!”

“My god!”

At Pyo Wol’s answer, Hong Yushin’s legs gave out.

There could be no one else besides Pyo Wol with that white, bewitching face that stood out so starkly even in the darkness.

“H-how did you find me?”

“The Hao Clan Leader made a request.”

“A request? To find me?”

“Yes!”

“Haa!”

Hong Yushin finally collapsed onto the floor.

He was silent for a while.

Pyo Wol watched Hong Yushin in silence.

Hong Yushin stared blankly at the iron door, his eyes and expression a mixture of countless emotions.

The events of the past few months flashed through his mind like a revolving lantern.

He had tracked So Gyeoksan’s Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe to this vicinity. Then he was captured in an ambush attack by the martial artists guarding this place.

There was no time to even try to resist.

They were extremely skilled.

Like a tiger snatching its prey in an instant, they ambushed and subdued him. Then they locked him up here and tried to win him over.

“Win you over?”

“They must have thought I had value. As the Surveillance Chief of the Hao Clan, I can easily obtain key information.”

“Seeing the others imprisoned in different places, it looked like they were trying to brainwash them with Geumyong pills.”

“They probably intend to use them simply as tools. A tool doesn’t need to think.”

Pyo Wol nodded his head.

Hong Yushin’s words made sense.

So Gyeoksan was a skilled assassin.

He was worth using as a tool even if his reason was gone. But Hong Yushin was different.

If someone with access to key information was brainwashed with drugs, it would surely be noticeable. So it was clear they had imprisoned him separately to make him cooperate voluntarily.

Pyo Wol asked.

“Can you move?”

“It’s difficult, but I can move.”

Hong Yushin answered, gritting his teeth.

Even if he couldn’t move, he had to.

He had been steadily training his body while eating the gruel given once a day. He knew that if his body weakened, his mental strength would weaken even more.

Thanks to that, he had been able to hold out without giving in to them until now.

Hong Yushin stood up with difficulty.

Pyo Wol infused his Internal Energy into the Ghostly Rain and cut the padlock.

Cheolkeong!

As the door opened, Hong Yushin staggered out.

An expression of deep emotion appeared on his face.

It was the first time he had found freedom in the four months since he was captured. But it was too early to be relieved.

He had only just come out of a small room; he had not escaped the Thunder Prison.

Pyo Wol said.

“Follow me.”

“Are we escaping right away?”

“No! There’s someone who has to leave with us.”

“Who?”

“So Gyeoksan!”

“He’s trapped in here too?”

“Weren’t you tracking him?”

“I was. But I was caught first, so I don’t know what happened after that. Huu!”

Hong Yushin let out a sigh, as if he was exhausted.

Since he wasn’t in a condition to talk for long, Pyo Wol didn’t ask any more questions.

What was important now was getting Hong Yushin and So Gyeoksan out of this place.

Pyo Wol went outside with Hong Yushin.

To get to the section where So Gyeoksan was, they first had to go out into the underground cavern. Since the martial artists who managed this place were in the underground cavern, Pyo Wol had to be especially careful.

If he were alone, he could avoid their gazes as much as he wanted, but hiding Hong Yushin as well was not an easy task. Because of that, Pyo Wol’s nerves were on edge. But contrary to his worries, many of the martial artists had left the underground cavern.

Thanks to that, Pyo Wol was able to enter the section where So Gyeoksan was imprisoned with much more ease.

As they went to the section where So Gyeoksan was imprisoned, Hong Yushin’s face contorted.

It was his first time entering this section as well.

He had thought that many people were imprisoned besides himself, but seeing it in person was a different feeling.

At the groans and foul smell coming from the people trapped in narrow spaces like beasts, Hong Yushin felt a wave of nausea rising.

“Ugh!”

He barely managed to cover his mouth and suppress the urge to vomit.

After going deep inside, another large iron door appeared.

Pyo Wol opened the iron door without difficulty. Then, the section where So Gyeoksan was imprisoned appeared.

Pyo Wol opened the window of the room where So Gyeoksan was imprisoned. Immediately, So Gyeoksan’s two eyes, burning with Ghost Fire, were visible.

Even after Pyo Wol had left, he had been standing in this spot, glaring at the window.

And this was without knowing when Pyo Wol would return.

So Gyeoksan opened his mouth.

“Pyo… Wol! I knew it was you.”

Having taken the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison, his voice was extremely hoarse and deeply imbued with killing intent.

“What happened?”

“I was had.”

“You?”

“Yes! I received a request. A request to escort someone to this place. It felt fishy, but I trusted myself. I was confident I could protect myself and the troupe in any situation. But I was mistaken.”

“Were you betrayed?”

“Yes! Hehe! Thoroughly betrayed.”

So Gyeoksan chuckled.

Every time he laughed, a dreadful Poison Qi and killing intent flowed out.

“The client requested that I bring a certain person here. To the Jade of No Regret.”

“Jade of No Regret?”

“You didn’t know? Well, I suppose you might not. It’s that secret of a name.”

It was then.

“This place was the Jade of No Regret?”

The one who suddenly spoke was Hong Yushin.

“Hehe! Then where did you think it was? Where else would there be a hellish Thunder Prison like this other than the Jade of No Regret?”

“So it was! So it was.”

Hong Yushin had also heard the name Jade of No Regret before.

It had been picked up by the Hao Clan’s information network. But he had only heard the name; its true nature was shrouded in mist, never to be found. So Hong Yushin suspected it might be a baseless rumor someone had deliberately spread.

After being captured here while tracking So Gyeoksan, he did think that it might be the Jade of No Regret. But it was only a guess, not a certainty.

Even at that moment, So Gyeoksan was continuing to speak.

“That bastard wanted to keep it a complete secret.”

“That bastard?”

“The client. He didn’t want the request he made to be known to the world. So he even locked me up here, the one who carried out his request.”

So Gyeoksan ground his teeth as if to shatter them.

The client had requested him to take a certain person to the Jade of No Regret. It wasn’t difficult for So Gyeoksan to bring him here.

The Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe was the best means of transport.

The problem erupted upon arriving here.

“The moment I handed over the person the client asked me to transport, they attacked us as well. Everyone… except for me… died.”

So Gyeoksan’s shoulders trembled, and the Ghost Fire in his eyes grew even thicker.

To So Gyeoksan, the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe was not simply a means for a hobby.

It was his life’s goal, the only channel that made him human.

The reason he hadn’t fully walked the path of an assassin after leaving the underground cavern was because of the Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe.

The Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe was his everything.

And that Heavenly Flower Acrobatic Troupe had been destroyed.

The woman who had loved him, Lee Ok-ran, also died then.

That foolish woman who had looked only at him even as she was dying.

What was so good about a hunchback like him, that she had looked at him with such wistful eyes?

The look in her eyes at the last moment was still branded on his heart like a stigma.

“Pyo Wol!”

“Speak!”

“Get me out of here. If you just let me regain my martial arts… so that I can get my revenge, I will live the rest of my life for you.”

“……”

“I will swear my loyalty to you. Even this soul… So please, show me a shred of mercy.”

“You want revenge?”

“From now on, I will return to being the assassin, So Gyeoksan.”

That was answer enough.