Chapter 120
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Birth of a New Person (5)
Thunder Prison didn't feel unfamiliar.
This place was certainly more secure than Nineteen Hells. Escaping seemed utterly impossible. In Nineteen Hells, all it took was crossing a single iron gate, but here, there was no telling which way to go or how.
Impossible!
It was a place where the very word "escape" didn't apply.
Of course, he had no intention of escaping. He hadn't even thought of it back when he was locked in Nineteen Hells.
I told you, didn't I? The moment I step outside, countless deaths come into view.
A place where he could rest easy without killing anyone... Why would he ever leave such a spot?
He wasn't even curious about what might have happened to his old master.
The old man knew death. Not just others' deaths, but his own as well. He was the one who had painstakingly taught that death was never something to grieve.
There was no pity to feel if such a man had died.
As it should be... Those fated to die would die, and those meant to live would live. Even if you tried to save someone doomed to perish, they would still meet their end. And those who were meant to survive would do so without any effort on your part.
For now, he would simply rest in peace.
'Time for a good, long sleep.'
Four Thousand Four closed his eyes.
Drip! Drip! Drip!
A water droplet fell from the ceiling.
It had rained heavily last night. Inside Thunder Prison, you couldn't see the rain or even hear it. But he had heard it. The sound of a downpour cascading like a torrent.
The droplets falling now were remnants of yesterday's storm.
There was something peculiar. The people in Thunder Prison didn't stir an inch. He could hear raindrops falling outside, yet not a sound came from the prisoners within.
This... couldn't even be called imprisonment for humans.
'I see.'
Four Thousand Four realized the truth.
Just like them, he too was completely immobile.
Time passed, but he remained sprawled on the straw mat, frozen in place.
His acupoints had been sealed.
Did that mean they were all in the same state?
It made sense now. They wanted to move but couldn't.
In a word... Everyone locked here was dying alive. Some might already be dead. Even if alive, with their blood flow blocked, they'd end up crippled, unable to control their limbs.
This was a human slaughterhouse.
Learning the truth only brought Four Thousand Four peace of mind.
Death was always by your side. Everyone lived with it, unaware.
Recognizing it anew changed nothing.
'A path to death, huh. This should be interesting.'
Four Thousand Four decided to observe how his body would change. When would his blood flow stop? How would his body stiffen? When and how would death come?
"How's the prisoner?"
"Resting easy."
"Resting easy?"
"He's the strangest one I've seen out of all of them."
"Heh! Figures. He was raised by Green Scholar, after all."
A cold laugh echoed through the hall.
Having your acupoints sealed didn't mean total paralysis. Even then, blood flowed, and qi circulated. Major muscles were locked, but the minor ones kept twitching endlessly. That's how you could survive acupoint sealing.
If the prisoner struggled to break free, it would register as movement. If he squirmed to shift position, that too would show as motion.
How much he moved reflected his mental state.
Those who thrashed about were just lashing out in desperation.
But someone like Four Thousand Four, still as death itself... He had no intention of resisting at all.
Beneath Thunder Prison lay delicate mechanisms to detect the slightest movements.
They could track Four Thousand Four's every twitch. They could gauge his current psychological state.
"What about Green Scholar?"
"That's the issue... We got word from the main office. He refuses to meet."
"Refuses to meet?"
"I confirmed three times. Same answer each time."
"Hah! Refuses to meet?"
Punishment Lord laughed.
Punishment Lord had arranged the meeting between Green Scholar and Four Thousand Four.
He'd planned to gather them together and eavesdrop on their conversation.
Yet Green Scholar had rejected it outright.
Four Thousand Four had even surrendered himself for Green Scholar's sake, but his master wouldn't even see him.
"Contact the main office again. Tell them I'll kill Four Thousand Four."
"You really plan to kill him?"
Punishment Lord nodded calmly.
His serene expression showed he meant it.
"Set the execution for four days from now."
"Understood."
"Make sure it reaches Green Scholar's ears. Four days from now, I'll kill Four Thousand Four myself. If he still refuses to meet after that..."
Punishment Lord chuckled.
"Heh! Then there's nothing for it."
Splash!
Strong waves battered the net.
In the middle of the sea, the net couldn't withstand the fierce swells, swaying wildly this way and that.
It looked ready to snap at any moment, teetering on the brink.
The first death approached just like this.
'So this is what finally kills me.'
Four Thousand Four let out a wry smile.
His body bore many seals.
The Heavenly Annihilation Division had implanted one, the Zhuge Clan had added theirs, and most recently, Punishment Lord had contributed his own.
One of them... the half-unsealed meridian vessel trembled violently.
With Punishment Lord's qi suppression, the qi flow had turned erratic.
It slowed to an imperceptible crawl.
A steady pace was needed to maintain the half-torn net's shape... but the speed had suddenly dropped.
A slow flow was just as dangerous as a fast one.
The net couldn't hold its position, whipping about chaotically. It shook as if about to burst.
Pain surged from his crown acupoint.
All he could do now was Open All Senses. He flung every sensation wide open. But he couldn't let his mind get swept away. He simply observed the sensations as they arose.
His crown acupoint screamed for intervention. But he couldn't move. He couldn't even control his qi flow. He had no choice but to let it run its course.
Quite literally... all he could do was watch.
Soon the net would tear, qi deviation would ravage his body, but there was nothing he could do.
Crack! Snap! Plop!
The net tore apart.
Like snipping a sealed meridian with scissors without loosening it... One vessel detached. And it was the most vital one in the body, the crown acupoint at the top of the head.
'Whoa!'
For an instant, Four Thousand Four felt his mind go blank.
Qi deviation erupted throughout his body. His qi and blood churned violently. The torn net melted away, but the vanished crown acupoint... Could it really disappear?
Somehow, it seemed it had.
His mind cleared. He could no longer sense his qi or blood flow. It felt like floating weightlessly in the void, untethered from flesh. Sensations faded, feelings evaporated.
In his empty mind, only white light shimmered.
'This isn't bad.'
Four Thousand Four tried to smile.
What was happening to his body was surely qi deviation, but it didn't feel half bad. Honestly, if this was qi deviation, he regretted not experiencing it sooner. It was pure ecstasy.
Four Thousand Four let go, sinking into the bliss.
For a moment, peak pleasure enveloped him. Then consciousness blurred. The white light vanished as black darkness surged in.
Whoosh!
In that instant, he lost consciousness.
"The prisoner..."
The reporter faltered, unable to continue.
"What happened?"
"He's dead."
"What? What did you say? Say it again."
"He committed suicide."
"Suicide? Four Thousand Four?"
"It looks like he severed his own heart meridian."
"What? Severed his heart meridian? Ha! Talk sense. What the hell happened? Explain in detail."
"I know it doesn't make sense, but..."
The reporter continued.
Four Thousand Four's death had been peaceful. Like those who cut their heart meridians, black blood poured from his seven apertures. Yet his face was serene. He'd chosen death himself, so he looked at ease.
It perfectly resembled a self-inflicted heart meridian severance. However, Four Thousand Four was suppressed by Punishment Lord's unique sealing technique. With his acupoints sealed, he couldn't move a finger.
He'd died exactly as he'd been thrown into Thunder Prison.
There were no signs of him releasing his own qi. Someone unable to circulate qi had somehow severed his heart meridian.
Did that even make sense?
The reporter knew it didn't. But Four Thousand Four's appearance matched that of a heart meridian suicide perfectly.
"The body?"
"Left as is."
"Let's go see. I need to check myself. I can't make heads or tails of it from your words alone."
Punishment Lord rose personally.
Creeeak!
The prison door opened, torches illuminating the way.
The guard led with a torch held high. Punishment Lord followed, and another man trailed behind.
They headed straight for Four Thousand Four.
"Hm?"
Punishment Lord frowned first and turned back.
His eyes asked, What the hell is this?
Four Thousand Four was alive.
True, blood trickled from his seven apertures. But it wasn't dead blood—it was red, living blood. Faint traces seeped from the apertures of a living man.
This was the look of the living, not the dead.
"What...?"
The man following Punishment Lord glanced back and forth in confusion.
Punishment Lord furrowed his brow and spoke.
"Open it up. Since we're here, let's take a look."
A glint flashed in Punishment Lord's eyes.
Punishment Lord gripped Four Thousand Four's wrist pulse.
The Deputy Chief Steward hadn't been wrong. He hadn't misreported. Just moments ago, Four Thousand Four had surely been dead.
Punishment Lord saw the black blood hidden beneath the red.
The blood of the dead overlaid with the blood of the living. In other words, he had died and come back.
He checked the crown acupoint.
Normal. Still suppressed. He probed the Gate of Life on the back. Same thing. Still sealed. Four Thousand Four hadn't broken Punishment Lord's unique seal.
Then why the blood from the seven apertures?
Punishment Lord meticulously examined every vital point. Yet after half a shichen, he found no clues.
No cause for the blood loss.
"What a freak. Is this Green Scholar's doing too? If it is... what the hell?"
Something had clearly changed in Four Thousand Four's body, but Punishment Lord couldn't pinpoint it. He knew nearly every martial art in existence, yet couldn't explain this state.
"Shackle his hands and feet."
"Pardon?"
The Chief Steward asked again.
This had never happened. Ordering shackles on Four Thousand Four was tantamount to admitting doubt in his own unique sealing technique. It meant fearing Four Thousand Four might break the seal anyway.
"Even that won't put my mind at ease with this one. Heh!"
Punishment Lord let out a bitter laugh.