Chapter 370

Lee Ho-gwan entered the Cave with his Subordinates.

It was not for nothing that he had stepped up for this task.

He and his Subordinates were all specialized in hunting.

Their Martial Arts, Footwork, and Mind Method were all suited for hunting humans.

Human hunting did not distinguish between day and night.

In fact, hunting in the dark of night was more efficient than hunting in broad daylight.

For that reason, Lee Ho-gwan and his subordinates had learned a unique Eye Art called the Cat Eye Night Vision Art to fight freely even at night.

If one mastered the Cat Eye Night Vision Art to its peak, their eyes would become sensitive to even the faintest light, just like a cat’s. Thanks to this, they could move without hindrance in the darkness as long as there was a single, dim ray of light.

For them, who had learned the Cat Eye Night Vision Art, the darkness was not a major obstacle.

Holding just a single torch, they walked unhindered deep into the Cave.

Lee Ho-gwan and his Subordinates moved inward, checking each of the dozens of iron doors on the left and right sides of the Cave.

Every time they shone the torch, the people trapped inside the iron doors screamed, covering their eyes.

“Aargh!”

“My, my eyes…”

Having been trapped in pitch-black darkness for so long, their eyes reacted with extreme sensitivity to the light.

They shed streams of tears and retreated to the corners, feeling a pain as if being stabbed by needles.

Lee Ho-gwan watched their reactions closely.

Someone who had truly been locked up for a long time would react sensitively, while an outsider would be largely unaffected even if a torch was suddenly thrust at them.

It was a simple but effective search method.

In the process, he paid no mind to the cries of pain from those trapped inside.

Lee Ho-gwan pushed his Cat Eye Night Vision Art to its limits and scanned every inch of the Cave’s interior.

The only light was the single torch held by the Martial Artist in the lead, but that was more than enough.

Lee Ho-gwan said.

“Everyone, be on your guard. A man who could sneak in this far without a trace is no ordinary foe.”

“Still, he cannot escape our eyes, Captain!”

“Hehe! We’re experts in this sort of thing, aren’t we? You don’t need to worry.”

They were the ones who had tracked down and captured even the Nine Hells Yin Demon of All Under Heaven.

Their confidence was not baseless.

Especially in a harsh environment like this, which was their preferred battlefield.

Everyone was bound to feel uncomfortable in such a harsh environment. The discomfort others felt was, to them, an advantage.

The more extreme the discomfort, the duller the senses became, and the more scattered one’s attention. The defense mechanisms inherent in all humans would weaken.

Lee Ho-gwan and his Subordinates knew this human psychology better than anyone, and they enjoyed hunting by targeting that very moment.

Lee Ho-gwan thought as he advanced.

‘By the way, what kind of person has snuck in here? And how did he find this place?’

The Jade of No Regret was a kind of private Thunder Prison.

Not many in the Jianghu knew of the Jade of No Regret’s existence or used it. They guarded the secret of the Jade of No Regret thoroughly.

It was inevitable, as the Jade of No Regret was a kind of shameful secret.

The profiles of those imprisoned in the Jade of No Regret were by no means ordinary.

Most of them were those who had lost in power struggles within their Sects or Clans.

People who were unsettling to kill directly, but who would surely become seeds of future conflict if left alone.

The powerful were uncomfortable with them.

The Jade of No Regret approached such powerful people.

We will do that uncomfortable task for you. Send them to the Thunder Prison we operate, and we will not let them out into the world until they die. But we won’t kill them either.

At first, they struggled to get clients.

The powerful suspected that the Jade of No Regret might be a trap set by a rival. But the Jade of No Regret did not rush, slowly making themselves known, and eventually earned their trust.

When they first started the Jade of No Regret, they had doubted how many people would actually use it, but as time passed, such concerns were dispelled.

There were quite a few people in the world who wanted to quietly erase their brothers, sisters, or Senior Martial Brothers from existence. They paid a hefty sum to commission the Jade of No Regret.

If its existence were revealed to the outside, the shameful secrets of the powerful would also be exposed. For that reason, the Jade of No Regret paid special attention to maintaining secrecy above all else.

There was no chance of secrets leaking from here.

Gu Ja-hwang and his Subordinates not only refrained from going outside unless absolutely necessary, but they also kept contact with outsiders to a minimum.

It was also hard to believe that the powerful people who commissioned them would spread the secret themselves. It would be like revealing their own weakness.

‘Once I catch the intruder, I’ll find out everything. How he found this place, and how he got in.’

It was then.

“Huh!”

Suddenly, the alarmed cries of his Subordinates echoed through the Cave.

Lee Ho-gwan finally broke from his thoughts and looked ahead.

A man stood before the faint torchlight.

At a glance, he looked like a hunchback with a crookedly bent back.

The man whose Ghost Fire in his eyes flickered even more intensely in the torchlight was none other than So Gyeoksan.

So Gyeoksan stood with his arms hanging long, looking at Lee Ho-gwan and his Subordinates who had entered the Cave.

Lee Ho-gwan asked.

“Who are you?”

“So Gyeoksan!”

A hoarse voice, as if thick with phlegm, slipped past So Gyeoksan’s lips.

“So Gyeoksan? Is it you? The one who snuck in from outside.”

“No! I am one of the people who was locked up in there.”

So Gyeoksan pointed to an iron door further inside.

“Is that so?”

The corners of Lee Ho-gwan’s mouth curled up.

He knew that the people locked behind those iron doors were poisoned with the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison.

Once one took the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison, they would be invaded by Demonic qi, lose their reason, and obey their master’s commands.

Those poisoned with the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison could never move their Internal Energy unless they periodically took the Antidote.

He didn’t know how the man was still maintaining his sanity, but as long as he was poisoned with the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison, he shouldn’t be able to use his Internal Energy. If so, there was nothing to fear.

“It seems the rat who snuck in here let you out. Where is he? If you answer obediently, I’ll send you back to your cell peacefully.”

“Wrong.”

“What?”

“He is not a rat. He is a snake, yes, a venomous snake. A viper that hides in the darkness, aiming for the throat.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? If you’re going to keep spouting nonsense, it’d be better for you to go back into your cell on your own.”

“Hehe! How could I go back there, leaving you all behind? I will not leave this place until I’ve taken all of your heads.”

“You’ve gone completely mad. What are you doing? Hurry up and put that bastard back in his place.”

“Yes!”

Two Subordinates answered and approached So Gyeoksan.

Knowing that So Gyeoksan was poisoned with the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison, they were completely defenseless.

They grabbed So Gyeoksan’s arms from either side.

In that moment, the unexpected happened.

Puk!

“Kuaargh!”

So Gyeoksan had stabbed the eyes of the Martial Artist grabbing his right arm with two fingers.

The Martial Artist, his eyeballs burst, let out a ghastly scream.

The Martial Artist who was about to grab the left arm was startled and tried to pull back. But So Gyeoksan’s movement was much faster.

Kwaduk!

So Gyeoksan threw himself forward and bit into the Martial Artist’s neck.

Everyone froze at the sight of So Gyeoksan, who had sunk his teeth into the Martial Artist’s neck like a beast, his eyes rolling back.

The movements So Gyeoksan had shown were by no means something a person who had lost their Internal Energy could perform.

“Kkeueueu!”

The man bitten by So Gyeoksan struggled, but it was useless.

He eventually died while still in So Gyeoksan’s jaws.

Sreung!

Lee Ho-gwan drew his spear and said.

“You haven’t lost your Internal Energy?”

“I had lost it!”

So Gyeoksan replied, letting go of the Martial Artist whose neck he had bitten.

In his hand, he now held the sword that had been at the Martial Artist’s waist.

Lee Ho-gwan’s face contorted.

“Had lost it? Does that mean you’ve recovered it now? How? It should be impossible without detoxifying the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison.”

“I received help from a little friend.”

So Gyeoksan shook his wrist.

Two red dots were marked on his wrist.

Lee Ho-gwan, not knowing what it meant, furrowed his brow.

Seureuk!

At that moment, So Gyeoksan vanished into the darkness.

He had used a Stealth Skill to hide his body.

Lee Ho-gwan shouted.

“Everyone, be careful. It seems he has truly recovered his Internal Energy.”

Lee Ho-gwan’s face was filled with disbelief.

The Antidote for the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison was extremely limited in quantity and was specially stored. Moreover, even if one took it, their Internal Energy would not recover immediately.

It would take at least a few days to recover enough to be able to circulate Internal Energy. But the opponent who had just disappeared before his eyes seemed to have perfectly recovered his Internal Energy.

Something that was impossible by his common sense had just happened.

It was then.

“Keoheok!”

Suddenly, a scream erupted from the Subordinate holding the torch at the rear.

When he quickly turned around, he saw the Subordinate collapsing, clutching his neck. Behind him stood So Gyeoksan, holding a sword dripping with blood.

So Gyeoksan stomped his foot, extinguishing the torch. Then, a suffocating darkness swallowed their vision.

In that moment, Lee Ho-gwan was certain.

So Gyeoksan had truly purged the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison and perfectly recovered his Internal Energy.

He was given no time to figure out how that was possible.

Because So Gyeoksan had vanished again.

An Assassin with his Internal Energy recovered.

An enclosed environment. And a deep darkness that had consumed the surroundings.

A time of nightmares was beginning for them.

＊＊＊

Pyo Wol moved on.

Hong Yushin was following behind him.

Hong Yushin glanced back and said.

“Will he really be enough on his own?”

“It’s what he wanted.”

“He could die.”

“Do you think a man who has lost everything fears death?”

“That may be true, but…”

“It’s his choice. It’s not for a third party to comment on.”

“I understand.”

Hong Yushin nodded his head.

He, too, felt a fiery desire for revenge against the Martial Artists of the Jade of No Regret.

The only difference was that he was a little more rational, while So Gyeoksan, having lost everything, had lost his composure.

If he were in So Gyeoksan’s position, he would surely have acted the same way.

Suddenly, Hong Yushin’s gaze turned to Pyo Wol’s arm.

To be precise, he was looking at the Ghost Fang coiled around Pyo Wol’s forearm.

At first, he had mistaken it for a tattoo or a red string tied around his arm.

He couldn’t describe how surprised he was when he realized it was actually a small snake.

The red snake, released from Pyo Wol’s arm, bit So Gyeoksan with its small mouth.

Amazingly, the small snake had absorbed the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison. As if sucking water through a straw, it had precisely filtered out and consumed only the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison.

Having feasted on a potent Poison after a long time, the Ghost Fang seemed extremely satisfied, flicking its small, red tongue.

A potent Poison, created with great human effort, was nothing more than a delicious meal for the Ghost Fang.

Pyo Wol stroked the Ghost Fang’s head with his finger. The Ghost Fang then closed its eyes and enjoyed Pyo Wol’s touch.

Before long, Pyo Wol and Hong Yushin arrived at the iron door in the innermost part of the Cave.

It was a room located deeper than the one where So Gyeoksan had been imprisoned.

That meant an even more important person was locked up there.

It was only natural.

In this room was the person who had been inside the box that So Gyeoksan had transported from Runan.

So Gyeoksan knew his identity. But he hadn’t told Pyo Wol, telling him to confirm it for himself.

As soon as he was captured and brought to the Jade of No Regret, the person in the box was locked up here.

Sreung!

Pyo Wol opened the iron door.

Inside the iron door, a man was sitting with his back against the wall.

His hair and beard had grown long, so his true face could not be seen, but his eyes were still alive, shining sharply.

Traces of having taken the Demonic Spirit Soul-Changing Poison could be felt from the man as well. Its unique scent was carried on his breath.

And yet, there were no signs of his reason being paralyzed or of him being invaded by madness. It meant he was maintaining his sanity with that much mental strength.

The man looked at Pyo Wol and opened his mouth.

“Who are you?”

“Pyo Wol! And you are?”

“Yoo Soo-hwan. The second Disciple of the Swordless Union Lord, Great Hero Jeon Mu-ok.”