Chapter 660

“We’ve subdued them all. We struck their Sleep Acupoints too, so they won’t regain consciousness for at least a day.”

“…Good work.”

Chief Jang nodded at his warrior’s report, his expression troubled. Song Ilseom and Hyuk Mujin lay motionless, and their figures were reflected in his eyes.

“We don’t know what might happen. Keep a close watch on them. We’ll rest for two shichen¹ and then move out.”

“Does that mean…?”

“Yes. They’re coming with us.”

“Chief… Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but wouldn’t it be better to send a few warriors to escort the prisoners to the Inner Palace separately?”

The warrior regretted asking as soon as the words were out. Chief Jang only stared at him.

“I’ll carry out your orders.”

He hurried away. Watching him go, Chief Jang sighed as the contents of the letter delivered by messenger eagle came back to him.

Heugung and Yohi, two Great Chieftains, have gone missing. The Western Yao Estate has been wiped out. And they’re blaming Jin Taekyung?

He had read it several times, unable to believe his eyes. But the words in the missive had not changed, and he had only one choice.

I’m sorry, all of you.

The apology would never reach them. Soon, though, they would understand that this was the best he could do under the circumstances.

This was a carefully planned plot. Jin Taekyung was caught up in it unexpectedly.

Chief Jang did not believe the missive’s accusation.

Everything he had seen of Jin Taekyung fit what the Han Chinese of the Central Plains called a Great Hero. If Jin had not risked his life fighting in the Poisonblood Grounds, more than two hundred warriors would never have returned to their families. Among those who had come home were warriors of Chief Jang’s own Zang people, including his blood relatives.

And even setting aside what I owe him, there isn’t a sound reason for him to have done it.

Nanman and the Central Plains had fallen out after the Great Faction War, but that was largely one-sided hostility born of the tremendous sacrifices Nanman had suffered. Why would Jin Taekyung, sent here as a representative of the Murim Alliance, cause such a tragedy?

Unless he wants to make an enemy of Nanman as well as Dark Heaven…

But Chief Jang could do nothing about the accusation now. Baeksang and his faction had already seized control of the situation.

However, the Palace Lord, the Beast Miao King, had secretly conveyed his intentions through a messenger eagle.

Detain the Han Chinese in the reconnaissance squad, but do not escort them to the Inner Palace.

Chief Jang understood exactly what the Beast Miao King meant.

If we take them to the Inner Palace, they’ll surely end up as hostages.

Fortunately, Chief Go, who was leading the reconnaissance squad alongside him, also followed the Beast Miao King. Since the two men shared the same opinion, they had their warriors subdue the three of them—not to make hostages of them, but to keep them in their own hands and protect them.

The timing helped. They were already on the move to watch for an old monster known as the Blood Monk. With a threat like that looming, Baeksang’s faction could hardly use their decision to keep the prisoners with the squad against them.

Just bear with it a little longer. At least until this is settled.

Chief Jang stepped toward the two unconscious men being carried away. He felt bad for them and meant to loosen their bindings a little.

“Stop a moment. Aren’t those ropes tied too tightly?”

“Chief! Don’t!”

“What do you mean, don’t? It’ll be fine—”

Squelch.

Ignoring the warriors, Chief Jang reached behind Hyuk Mujin’s back and frowned.

What is this?

Something damp and sticky. Then the stench reached him.

“Uh. There was… feces on his back,” a warrior said.

“…!”

“That’s why we told you not to come any closer…”

His voice trailed off. Chief Jang looked from his hand to Hyuk Mujin and back again, then spoke in a low voice.

“The prisoner might shit again—no, escape. Tie the ropes tighter.”

“Yes, Chief.”

In the modern world, I’d been a model law-abiding citizen.

Until middle school, whenever the traffic light turned green, I would raise my hand high and cross the street. After becoming a Hunter, I paid all my insurance premiums and taxes on time, without ever delaying a payment or evading a cent.

I barely even complained about the national pension, though I’d get next to nothing from it when I grew old.

In short, prison and I had nothing to do with each other.

So why had I become so familiar with underground prisons in Murim when I hadn’t committed a crime?

I’d spent time in one at the Jin Family of Taiyuan, back when I was still a budding martial artist. At the Sichuan Tang Clan, I’d stayed in one for days to remain at Jeok Cheongang’s side.

This was my third visit, and it was nothing like the other two.

At the Jin Family of Taiyuan, it was practically a training hall. At the Sichuan Tang Clan, I was there for Jeok Cheongang’s treatment.

Not only was I imprisoned against my will, but anyone would have thought as I did if iron balls weighing more than a thousand geun² each were hanging all over their body like accessories.

Clank.

“…Fuck, these are heavy.”

I muttered the curse under my breath. The enormous chains binding my limbs and the iron balls attached to them weighed so much that even I could barely move—and my Strength was far beyond human limits.

If I could use my internal energy, I might be able to figure something out…

Maybe I shouldn’t have punched Baeksang at the end.

I regretted it for a moment. But if he’d been that easy to deal with, I’d be in my quarters instead of an underground prison.

Besides, even after I’d punched him hard enough to break his nose, he hadn’t so much as batted an eye. He’d personally bound me while I stood there without resisting, then ordered his tribal chieftains:

“Lock the Han Chinese Jin Taekyung in the underground prison and bind him with ten thousand geun² of weight.”

And this was the result.

They’d put me in the deepest part of the Nanman Beast Palace’s underground prison and given me a special pill that would keep me from using my internal energy for several days.

At least I should be grateful they didn’t use a Pressure-Point Strike on me.

The reason was simple.

My acupoints kept coming undone.

My perfect body, which had been recognized as a Heavenly Martial Physique by countless powerful masters, had simply performed its function to the fullest.

That didn’t mean I’d had any luck getting my internal energy to flow again.

“Ungh.”

I tensed my whole body, took a deep breath, and focused on my lower dantian, just as I’d done hundreds, if not thousands, of times before.

The next moment, the System alert I’d been hearing over and over for the past half day sounded in my ears again.

Beep.

System

• The energy of the Force-Sealing Pill is blocking your dantian!
• You cannot use internal energy!

“Ah.”

I’d lost track of how many attempts I’d made. I’d given up counting after fifty.

“…Damn it.”

I let myself sag with a sigh and a curse. Then footsteps approached from somewhere in the distance.

Step. Step.

They echoed through the damp darkness. The pill kept me from using my internal energy, but my senses were as sharp as ever. I raised my head and peered beyond the bars.

Splash.

The footsteps stopped in front of my cell, sending filthy water from a puddle splashing against my knees. There wasn’t a single light down here, but my eyesight—good enough to rival a Mongolian’s—was more than enough to make out the visitor.

“What, are you a new jailer?”

“…”

“No manners, huh? You splash dirty water on me the moment you get here, then don’t even answer.”

Baeksang looked down at me in silence before replying quietly.

“You complain a great deal for a criminal.”

“Well, this is pretty mild, really.”

I tried to shrug, flinched under the weight of the iron balls, and went on.

“Someone else had his nose broken and took it pretty well. Didn’t he?”

I could see Baeksang’s brow furrow in the darkness. The bandage wrapped around his straight, prominent nose was visible as well.

“That must’ve hurt. You held up better than I expected. Be honest—you shed a tear after sending me down here, didn’t you?”

His reaction lasted only a moment. His voice was calm when he answered.

“It tickled. Perhaps because I sensed the fear in your punch.”

“What?”

“There was no internal energy behind it, and you didn’t put your full strength into it either. It was only a child venting his frustration.”

“…”

“I understand. You must have been afraid. If you had given it everything you had, neither you nor your subordinates would have remained unharmed.”

Shit. I lost that exchange badly.

He’d hit the mark. I shut my mouth before I could come up with a reply.

Baeksang watched me, his gaze as steady as ever.

“Why didn’t you leave? If you’d fled alone, you might at least have saved your life.”

I answered with an incredulous expression.

“You said you’d cast a net over heaven and earth, you bastard.”

“And I would have. But you still had a fair chance. At the very least, the Palace Lord wouldn’t have pursued you. He might even have hindered the pursuit.”

Baeksang wasn’t making a wild guess. From what I’d seen of the Beast Miao King, and what Jeok Cheongang had told me, he was exactly the sort of man who might throw me a lifeline when things were at their worst.

But I wasn’t foolish enough to nod along. It might already have been too late, but if I readily admitted that fact in front of Baeksang, his wariness toward the Beast Miao King would only grow stronger.

“I don’t know about that. We’re not even particularly close.”

“You’re thinking, at least. But you still have a long way to go.”

“Believe what you want. Be glad Old Master isn’t here. In two or three months, your head will be rolling around this place.”

“And you’re still a child who hasn’t outgrown his rashness.”

I let out a short laugh.

“Your mouth reeks of shit. Stop sucking Dark Heaven’s asshole. At least I’m here to protect my people.”

“…”

“No one else is around, so let’s be honest. You know too, don’t you? You know what you’re doing right now.”

This time, Baeksang fell silent.

Of course he did. By working with Dark Heaven, he was handing all of Nanman over to the Lord of Heaven.

“You betrayed a sworn brother you’ve known for decades. You deceived more than thirty tribal chieftains and countless people of Nanman. There’s no excuse that could justify any of it.”

At that moment, Baeksang, who had been watching me with a deep, unreadable gaze, suddenly spoke.

“Two days.”

“What?”

“Two days. At noon, two days from now, you’ll be executed in front of everyone.”