Chapter 375

“Uwaaah!”

“We’re outside.”

The men let out sounds that were close to screams. But their voices were drowned out by the waterfall and the rain, disappearing in an instant.

“Hic!”

“We’re finally out. We’re out.”

“Huuuhng!”

The men collapsed to the ground and wept.

They were all martial artists who had been trapped in the Jade of No Regret.

Trapped in a cramped space with no light or hope, unable to even stretch their legs, they had been waiting for the day they would die.

The sight of these tough men, who had clung to their harsh lives while being treated worse than pigs in a pen, sobbing uncontrollably was enough to make any onlooker solemn.

Hong Yushin watched them with pity in his eyes.

These men had been trapped in the Jade of No Regret for far longer than he had. He couldn’t even begin to fathom the immense despair they had endured to survive.

That was why he could only watch. Clumsy words of comfort could not soothe their hearts.

For now, the best he could do was watch as they vented their pent-up resentment.

“Hoo!”

Yoo Soo-hwan let out a sigh and leaned against the cliff.

His complexion was pale.

His lips were so blue that it wouldn’t have been strange if he had collapsed right then and there. Yet, he forced himself to even out his ragged breaths and looked at Pyo Wol.

The past month had been truly hellish.

The fire Gu Jahwang had set continued to burn without dying down.

For the first few days, they waited for it to go out on its own, but the flames showed no sign of abating. It was clear that if this continued, all the air in the underground space would be consumed.

Just as everyone fell into despair, Pyo Wol, with Ghost Fang in the lead, began to move.

Pyo Wol didn’t even consider approaching the vertical cave, the only exit to the outside, and instead moved to find a new way out.

The others had never experienced such a situation and didn’t know what to do, but Pyo Wol had already survived in this kind of environment before.

Above all, finding a path to life in a desperate situation was what he did best.

As soon as he was trapped in the pitch-black darkness, all his senses came vividly alive.

Even in a completely sealed underground space, there was a flow of air. That meant there had to be a wind path leading in from the outside.

What Pyo Wol found was that very wind path.

After painstaking effort, he discovered the wind path, but it was so narrow that only one person could barely fit. Moreover, it was pitch-black.

It seemed possible to squeeze one’s body in, but if they encountered an even narrower section, they could get stuck, unable to move forward or back.

The probability of starving or suffocating to death in fear and despair in a lightless, dark space was high.

No matter how brave a martial artist was, not many had the courage to readily jump into such an unknown space.

In fact, some of the martial artists trapped in the Jade of No Regret refused to enter the wind path. They decided to stay in the Jade of No Regret and wait for the fire to die out.

Pyo Wol did not force them.

The choice was their own to make.

Pyo Wol’s choice was the wind path.

He shoved his body into the narrow space without a hint of hesitation.

The one who helped him then was Ghost Fang.

Ghost Fang was a child who had lived in a filthy swamp. His senses were so extremely developed that he could move freely in the swamp where one couldn’t see an inch ahead.

His sensitive senses were, in fact, a cut above Pyo Wol’s.

Ghost Fang moved ahead of Pyo Wol, finding the path to life.

The first person to follow Pyo Wol was So Gyeoksan.

Knowing Pyo Wol’s abilities better than anyone, he followed him without hesitation.

Hong Yushin and Yoo Soo-hwan followed after them. Then, a dozen or so men moved with them. There were those who remained, but more chose to take the risk.

The cave was terribly narrow.

The cave, so tight it squeezed their shoulders, twisted and turned like an ant tunnel.

Sometimes, a gap so narrow that only an arm could barely fit blocked their path.

Pyo Wol focused his internal power into his hands to tear off pieces of stone or carve away the rock.

The space was too cramped to swing his hands widely. He had to rely solely on his grip strength and internal energy.

It required a high level of concentration, control of internal energy, and a keen sense of touch in his hands.

Kwaddeuk!

A space that was barely wide enough for a wrist to pass through was broken, and a much wider space appeared. Then, after a brief respite, they would advance again.

In the pitch-black underground space lived unidentifiable insects. The people following Pyo Wol caught and ate the insects to appease their hunger.

They only had to follow Pyo Wol, but Pyo Wol had to lead the way and clear the path, so his stamina was drained several times more. Still, he never once complained and silently forged ahead.

Sometimes they would climb endlessly upward, and other times they would head into the unfathomable depths of the earth.

Occasionally, they would find a space large enough for everyone to gather and rest, and they even encountered an unbelievably vast underground lake.

In the underground lake lived strange, eyeless fish.

They caught the fish to barely satisfy their hunger.

The existence of the lake meant that water was flowing in from the outside. Pyo Wol chose to go against the water’s current.

Everyone followed him.

By now, they trusted Pyo Wol completely.

It wasn’t simply because his martial arts were strong.

They were moved by his strong will and his drive to pioneer the unknown space at the forefront.

Before being trapped in the Jade of No Regret, they were all martial artists who were said to be someone of note in the Jianghu.

As such, their pride was strong, and they did not easily acknowledge others. But now, every one of them acknowledged Pyo Wol and accepted him as the leader of the group.

They trusted Pyo Wol and crawled through the dark, lightless underground space.

They didn’t know how much time had passed.

They just followed the back of the person in front of them. And finally, they emerged into the outside world.

“Kehaha!”

“Hu-eong!”

Laughing and crying, they breathed in the air of the outside world to their hearts’ content.

Swaaaa!

They never knew that the fiercely pouring rain could be so welcome.

The reality that they were now out in the world finally sank in.

They looked at Pyo Wol.

Once outside, Pyo Wol’s inhumanly handsome appearance stood out even more.

A face more beautiful than a woman’s. But within it was hidden a will harder than steel.

They were all people who had seen and experienced Pyo Wol’s will.

And for a whole month at that.

It was impossible not to acknowledge Pyo Wol.

They were all deeply impressed by him.

Yoo Soo-hwan suddenly made a fist-palm salute to Pyo Wol and said,

“I, Yoo Soo-hwan of the Swordless Union, will henceforth serve Great Hero Pyo as my lifelong benefactor. I swear that I will willingly leap into the fires of hell if it is what Great Hero Pyo commands.”

At his sudden words, Hong Yushin, who was beside him, looked at him in surprise.

Yoo Soo-hwan’s expression and gaze were resolute.

He wasn’t just saying it in the drunken joy of having escaped.

For the month it took to get out of this place, he had thought and thought again.

No matter how much he thought, there was only one conclusion.

To trust and follow that man.

He had a premonition of Troubled Times.

The existence of a facility like the Jade of No Regret was proof that the Troubled Times had begun.

Those trapped in the Jade of No Regret were all promising talents in their respective martial sects. The mere fact that they were not embraced but locked away in the Jade of No Regret was enough to cause an uproar throughout All Under Heaven.

That such things were happening in the shadows, unknown to people, was a serious problem. And there was no guarantee that such facilities or inhuman acts were only happening here.

Such inhuman acts were surely being perpetrated all over All Under Heaven.

In such a chaotic world, the existence of someone whose back you could follow was by no means common.

Yoo Soo-hwan thought Pyo Wol was such a person.

Having already had his life saved, there was no hesitation in his decision.

Once Yoo Soo-hwan broke the ice, the other men followed suit, making fist-palm salutes and speaking.

“Ji Yeon-pyeong of the Heungmu Chamber swears. From now on, I will serve Great Hero Pyo with all my loyalty.”

“Nam Su-gon of the Golden Wings Gate also swears to follow Great Hero Pyo. No matter how thorny the path Great Hero Pyo walks, I will gladly follow.”

“Buk Shin-hu of the Sword Guardian Gate…”

“Mak Woo-sung of the Dark Abyss Gate swears.”

The men’s voices pierced through the sound of the rain and echoed loudly down the mountain stream.

Pyo Wol furrowed his brow slightly and looked at the men.

He hadn’t helped them in hopes of receiving their loyalty.

It was then.

Cheok!

So Gyeoksan placed a hand on Pyo Wol’s shoulder and said,

“Congratulations. All the stubborn mules of All Under Heaven have sworn their loyalty to you. I, too, will be sure to keep my oath.”

＊＊＊

The Splendid Flower Inn was a very old inn.

The building was dilapidated, and the elderly couple who owned it were not very enthusiastic about the inn’s business. As a result, customers gradually dwindled, and it was barely staying afloat.

Some days, they didn’t get a single customer. Still, the old couple was not anxious.

Thanks to their hard work in their youth, they had saved a lot of money and had a comfortable retirement.

The only reason they kept the inn open was that they didn’t want to let the space, which held the blood and sweat of their youth, sit idle; it wasn’t particularly to make money.

The old man muttered as he looked out the window at the pouring rain.

“Looks like no customers today either. Well, I guess that’s to be expected, right? What kind of crazy person would come through this rain?”

The old man thought he should close up shop early.

It was then.

Through the rain pouring down like rods, he caught a glimpse of human figures.

“Customers?”

And it wasn’t just one or two.

A dozen or so men were approaching the Splendid Flower Inn.

The old man, thinking he was seeing things, rubbed his eyes. But it was no illusion.

A dozen or so men were truly coming.

“What the?”

The old man’s body trembled.

The intense gazes coming through the rain made him shrink back.

They resembled the eyes of wolves that had been caged for a long time and then released. And it wasn’t just one or two such wolves, but a dozen of them.

The old man felt his knees go weak.

Finally, the men broke through the rain and arrived at the inn.

They were the martial artists who had escaped the Jade of No Regret.

At their head was Pyo Wol.

Pyo Wol said to the innkeeper.

“Bring out all the food.”

“Pardon?”

“I said, bring out all the food in the inn.”

“Ah, I understand.”

The old man nodded his head quickly.

He ran to the kitchen and shouted.

“Oh my! Wife. We’re in big trouble. Hurry and make some food.”

Soon after, the sound of food being stir-fried and cooked in oil could be heard from the kitchen.

Pyo Wol and the men each took a seat.

“Hehe! It’s cool and nice.”

“The outside air is certainly clean.”

“I could die right now and be happy.”

The men sat in their chairs and said a word each.

‘Just where did these people come from?’

The old man trembled as he peeked at them from the kitchen.

The ferocious atmosphere, as if a pack of long-starved wolves had gathered, frightened him.

The old man prided himself on having been through thick and thin running an inn his whole life. He thought he had no fear, having seen all there was to see, both good and bad, but the wolf-like men sitting in the center of his inn gave him chills just by looking at them.

The only relief was that they didn’t seem like they would harm him or his wife.

“Hurry and bring it out.”

His wife, the cook, pushed out plates full of food.

The old man hurriedly carried the food.

As the tables filled with food, the men, without anyone needing to go first, began to eat ravenously.

Like people possessed by a hunger demon, they devoured the food on the tables at a frightening speed.

Pyo Wol said to the old man.

“Keep bringing food.”

“Pardon? But this is already a lot…”

“They’ll eat several times this amount, so just keep bringing it.”

“Ah, I understand.”

The old man replied and rushed back to the kitchen.

The sound of him nagging his wife, the cook, could be heard, but no one present paid it any mind.

Pyo Wol looked at the men.

The one who had been trapped for the shortest time had been there for four months, and there were also those who had been trapped for over a year.

They had been starved for a very long time.

The only food they had eaten during that time was a porridge of unknown origin. They ate it merely to stay alive; there was no taste to speak of.

After living a life worse than death, they were finally tasting human food after a long time. The emotion the men felt was beyond words.

An ordinary stir-fried pork dish tasted like a delicacy from heaven.

The cook made food without a moment’s rest, and the old man carried it out ceaselessly. But it was not enough to keep up with the speed at which the men were eating.

In the end, the old couple had to cook and carry food until they were exhausted.

“I feel alive.”

“Huu!”

Only after the plates were piled up like a mountain on the tables did the men stop eating.

Someone said.

“Now it feels real that we’re alive.”

“Then we should do what needs to be done.”

“That’s right! We have to show hell to the ones who sent us here.”

They were men who had endured a hellish time, chewing on their grudges and fanning the flames of their anger.

Just because they had escaped the Jade of No Regret didn’t mean the anger they had nurtured until now would disappear. On the contrary, their anger grew larger with time.

Pyo Wol and the men continued to stay at the Splendid Flower Inn after that.

They ate, rested, and performed Qi Circulation. And in the order that their bodies recovered, they left the Splendid Flower Inn.

“If you ever need my help, please call on me anytime.”

“We are brothers. If a brother calls, we will run to the ends of hell.”

“As soon as I sort out my martial sect’s affairs, I will come find you again.”

They made a fist-palm salute to Pyo Wol and then left the inn.

Their directions were different, and their destinations were each their own.

Although their bodies were leaving, they were connected by a strong bond of camaraderie.

At the center of it all was Pyo Wol.