Chapter 317

Jwa Ye-geuk smiled faintly when he saw life returning to Taoist Hyeongong’s dying eyes.

“Taoist Hyeongong, before asking why I am here, haven’t you forgotten a more important question?”

“...?”

“You should be asking where this place is.”

“You are entirely correct, Corps Commander Jwa.”

Hyeongong hastily acknowledged how thoughtless his question had been.

Jwa Ye-geuk was the lifeline that had appeared before him in the depths of despair. He could not afford to displease the man in the slightest.

“Then allow me to ask again, as you have instructed me. Where are we?”

Jwa Ye-geuk’s smile deepened as he looked at Hyeongong, who had been stripped of every last shred of will and conviction.

“Taoist, this is the dungeon of Sword Demon Valley.”

“Sword Demon Valley... Then the Gathering Demons Division...”

Hyeongong trailed off, his eyes darkening.

He had already suspected that those who abducted him were demons of the Demonic Eight Divisions.

But of all of them, his captors belonged to the Gathering Demons Division, the most vicious of the eight. ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Whatever hope he had of surviving dwindled even further.

Yet amid that despair, he became all the more curious about how Jwa Ye-geuk had appeared here.

“Then are you a member of the Gathering Demons Division, Corps Commander Jwa?”

“Heh.”

Jwa Ye-geuk gave a soft, derisive laugh.

“Taoist Hyeongong, I must say I am disappointed that you think so little of me. Do you truly believe a man like me would be nothing more than some lowly demon soldier?”

Hyeongong hurriedly bowed his head.

“M-my apologies.”

Had his limbs not been bound in chains, he would have prostrated himself at Jwa Ye-geuk’s feet.

“My circumstances must have driven me out of my senses for a moment. Please forgive me, Corps Commander Jwa.”

Jwa Ye-geuk threw back his head and laughed.

“Taoist, what need is there to speak of forgiveness between us?”

“Th-thank you.”

Hyeongong nodded repeatedly. Tears of genuine gratitude even glistened in his eyes.

“Taoist Hyeongong, I am merely here as a guest of the Gathering Demons Division. My lord entrusted me with a task.”

Hyeongong’s eyes flew open at those words.

“Corps Commander Jwa, then might you be able to help me escape this desperate predicament?”

Without even realizing it, Hyeongong had begun addressing Jwa Ye-geuk with the utmost deference.

“You wish me to help you with your predicament?”

Jwa Ye-geuk narrowed his eyes and continued.

“Are you asking me to speak with the demons of the Gathering Demons Division and have them release you from this dungeon?”

“I understand that such a request may place you in a difficult position as their guest, but please, for the sake of our former friendship... I beg you. If you do this for me, I will repay the favor by any means necessary.”

If he could escape this endless hell, where his body and mind were torn apart day after day, Hyeongong would have sold even his own ancestors.

“There is nothing difficult about my position, Taoist Hyeongong. Getting you out of this dungeon would be a trivial matter. My lord rendered the Gathering Demons Division an enormous service, so no one in the organization, high or low, is in any position to disregard my words.”

“Ah...!”

Just as Hyeongong’s eyes lit up with joy, Jwa Ye-geuk asked, “But Taoist Hyeongong, what hope awaits you once you leave this place?”

“...!”

“Your martial progress has stalled. You have no prospect of repaying a gambling debt worth a thousand gold pieces. And isn’t the Cheongo Merchant Guild, your own clan’s business, on the verge of collapse? Even the dealings you undertook to scrape together a little spending money were exposed when you encountered the Cave Hermit Taoist at a guesthouse in Aju County City.”

With each word Jwa Ye-geuk spoke, Hyeongong’s face grew more ashen.

“Most importantly, did the Sword of Wudang, Uncheon Zhenren, not discover every last one of those facts? You have been sidelined and can do nothing but wait for the day you are sent back to the main mountain for punishment.”

“...!”

Jwa Ye-geuk continued as he watched Hyeongong’s face twist in despair.

“Even your master, Grand Elder Unhak Zhenren, will not be able to protect you this time. Who on Mount Wudang would dare oppose a decision made by the Sword of Wudang?”

“Nngh...!”

“Taoist Hyeongong, you should consider yourself fortunate if you receive no more than thirty years of wall-facing penance. Do you still wish to return to Wudang?”

“...!”

Seeing the life vanish from Hyeongong’s eyes once more, Jwa Ye-geuk said, “For you, this dungeon and Mount Wudang are no different. It seems I have no reason to trouble myself on your behalf.”

Hyeongong cried out urgently.

“Corps Commander Jwa, please save me! You must have had a reason for coming here to see me, mustn’t you?”

Jwa Ye-geuk nodded readily.

“There is one favorable path open to you, Taoist Hyeongong. Should you choose it, you could escape both the torture of this dungeon and the hellish punishment awaiting you on Mount Wudang in a single stroke.”

“Then I will do anything. Anything at all.”

“My lord intends to hunt the old tiger who recently descended Mount Wudang. To accomplish that, my lord requires suitable bait.”

“...!”

Hyeongong’s eyes widened in shock.

The old tiger who had descended Mount Wudang could only mean Uncheon Zhenren, the Sword of Wudang.

“Corps Commander Jwa, are you asking me to... betray my master and destroy my own lineage...?”

Jwa Ye-geuk smiled.

“Taoist Hyeongong, I hear you did exactly that more than a hundred times over the course of yesterday.”

“...!”

Hyeongong realized that the man who tortured him was not deaf after all.

Throughout the previous day’s torture, Hyeongong had hurled every imaginable curse and insult at his master and the seniors of Mount Wudang.

In the end, he had even prayed for the Wudang Sect to be annihilated.

He had broken beneath the torture and lost his senses, but such vile words against his own master and lineage could never have left his lips if resentment had not been piling up inside him for years.

“Taoist Hyeongong, I called you bait only because no better expression came to mind. In truth, I am asking you to become our ally. And my lord never forgets those who stand at our side.”

“...?”

“Did you not once envy the speed of my martial advancement? That, too, was granted through my lord’s favor.”

“Ah!”

Hope and greed began to gleam in Hyeongong’s eyes.

Jwa Ye-geuk continued in a coaxing voice.

“Taoist Hyeongong, if the obstacle known as the Sword of Wudang disappeared and your martial arts advanced as well, would not every problem that has weighed you down until now become insignificant?”

Hyeongong nodded obediently.

“Yes.”

Not only that, he might even attain a higher position within Wudang.

“Corps Commander Jwa, if your lord will accept me, I will gladly become his ally.”

*****

“Oh! There are stars in the sky!”

Hu Gae had dozed off with his back against a rock in the cavern. At Taoist Cheongmu’s shout, his eyes snapped open.

“Taoist Cheongmu, what are you talking about? What stars?”

“Big Beggar, look at the sky over there. There are stars.”

Hu Gae craned his neck and looked up at the sky—or rather, at the cavern ceiling.

“...!”

Several scattered blue stars really did appear to be floating against the pitch-black ceiling.

Hu Gae soon realized what they were.

Those are holes in the cavern ceiling.

Unlike the entrance to the Great Demon Prison, which had collapsed completely, only small portions of this cavern’s ceiling had broken away, leaving narrow openings.

The holes had formed when pieces of the ceiling cracked and fell. They were so small and cramped that even bats would have struggled to pass through them.

Still, they allowed fresh air to enter the cavern and faint light to filter inside, making it possible for water moss to grow.

That was why the Eight Demonic Venerables had chosen this cavern as their refuge.

“Then we can get outside if we climb up there.”

At Taoist Cheongmu’s hopelessly naïve—no, guileless—remark, Hu Gae hurriedly answered.

“Taoist Cheongmu, those aren’t stars. That is the sky.”

He was afraid that Cheongmu, a man whose actions were always faster than his thoughts, might cause trouble by trying to climb the cavern wall.

“Big Beggar, those are stars! The sky isn’t that small.”

Faced with Cheongmu’s simple logic that the sky was vast and therefore could not possibly be what they were seeing, Hu Gae realized he had failed to explain himself properly.

“Taoist Cheongmu, of course the sky is not that small. What you are seeing is the sky through holes in the cavern ceiling.”

Only then did Cheongmu tilt his head.

“Is that so?”

When Cheongmu continued to stare at him doubtfully, Hu Gae explained with great patience.

“If those openings were large enough to escape through, why would the people who lived here have remained trapped inside?”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

Cheongmu continued with a disappointed expression.

“Then there’s no need to climb up and check.”

Hu Gae felt inwardly relieved.

He also realized that he could not speak to the guileless Cheongmu as he would to an ordinary person.

Having to explain every last detail was exhausting, but what choice did he have? It was the only way to prevent Cheongmu from becoming stubborn.

As Hu Gae gradually learned how to communicate with him, he suddenly realized that dawn had broken.

He quickly turned toward the cave niches and spotted Jin Cheongha standing in the faint light.

“Sister Jin, don’t tell me you’ve been standing there this entire time.”

Jin Cheongha turned her head slightly.

“I am fine, Sub-Branch Master.”

Hu Gae knew that guilt toward Kwak had kept her from resting, so he shook his head vigorously.

“I understand how you feel, Sister Jin, but is there truly any need to stand there as though you are punishing yourself?”

“I am more comfortable this way. Please understand, even if the sight of me makes you uncomfortable.”

“Well, it doesn’t make me uncomfortable, but... What about Brother Kwak?”

“He is still performing the immortal art.”

“You mean he has been doing it all night?”

When Jin Cheongha nodded, Hu Gae let out a sigh.

“Hah. Talk about flogging a dead—”

Hu Gae realized what he was about to say and abruptly closed his mouth.

He could hardly tell her that Kwak was wasting his time on the dead.

Yet Jin Cheongha’s expression had already darkened.

Damn this unruly mouth of mine.

Cursing himself for speaking so carelessly, Hu Gae hurriedly added, “Sister Jin, don’t take my words too much to heart. To be honest, bringing back someone who has already entered meditative passing should be impossible, shouldn’t it?”

“I know.”

Jin Cheongha nodded calmly and continued.

“Even so, Chief Secretary Kwak is an extraordinary person. In my foolishness, I could not let go of my hope.”

“Ahem.”

As Hu Gae cleared his throat in awkward embarrassment, Kwak emerged from the innermost cave niche.

“...!”

Jin Cheongha bit down on her lip and hurried toward him.

“Chief Secretary Kwak, you may stop now.”

She meant that he no longer needed to burden himself by performing the immortal art.

Kwak nodded to Jin Cheongha as she approached.

“I was planning to do just that.”

Jin Cheongha bowed silently.

“Chief Secretary Kwak, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am certain the departed Demon Venerables are grateful for all the effort you made on their behalf as well.”

Instead of returning her bow, Kwak abruptly asked, “Young Castle Lord, which Demon Venerables are you saying have departed?”

“The Demon Venerables of the Demonic Eight Divisions, of course...”

Jin Cheongha had answered without thinking, but then she noticed the faint smile on Kwak’s lips and flinched.

“Chief Secretary Kwak, could it be...?”