Chapter 272
Chapter 272
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 74
>Chapter Title: Underground Golden Prison (3)
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‘This turned out perfect.’
Mok Kyung-un, who had peeled off Disciple An Jong-hu’s face and fashioned it into a new human skin mask, looked down at the Golden Prison map and nodded.
This was the Golden Prison map that had belonged to the Imperial Guard Captain who died in the trap mechanism.
This Golden Prison map was identical to the intact one Mok Kyung-un had seen before.
Because of that, there was no particular need to worry about the map’s accuracy since he remembered it.
Rather than that,
“Hmm.”
Mok Kyung-un stroked his chin as he looked at the Imperial Guard Captain’s face.
The arrow barrage had been set up to avoid hitting the face, so this could also be used as a human skin mask.
However, Mok Kyung-un soon shook his head lightly.
There wasn’t much time left, and he needed to hurry, so changing faces any further held no meaning.
They would notice something was off soon enough anyway.
‘Let’s just move the captain’s corpse to a spot with another trap.’
That might buy some time and sow more confusion.
* * *
Somewhere in the lower level, the Avici Golden Prison.
-Rattle!
Disciple Yeom Kyung of the Volcanic Sect stopped pulling the food cart midway and unfolded the Golden Prison map.
As he examined the map, Yeom Kyung soon furrowed his brow.
‘This is weird.’
He was clearly following the map, yet he had arrived somewhere completely unfamiliar.
There was supposed to be a passage to the right, but it was blocked, and the left side was open.
What was eerie was that the left passage sloped downward and felt even damper.
It gave him an inexplicable chill.
‘Damn it. Even a place like the Imperial Guards can’t draw a proper map?’
It seemed like he was lost.
Should he turn back the way he came? Yeom Kyung pondered.
But he had only completed one food delivery so far. If he went back now, the Imperial Guard Captain sent as his escort might scold him.
‘Will he deduct points?’
That would be a problem.
In the end, after agonizing over it, Yeom Kyung pulled the food cart into the left passage.
If the map was wrong, this was the only path anyway.
He had been dragging it along for quite a while when—
-Whoosh!
‘What? Wind blowing from inside.’
The torch he held flickered.
There shouldn’t be wind blowing in such a deep underground cave.
Because of that, it unnecessarily put him on edge.
Had he taken a wrong turn?
Then, a strange sound reached his ears.
-Scrape!
‘Huh?’
-Scrape!
It sounded like something scratching.
It came from deeper inside the cave. What could it be?
Was a prisoner in the Golden Prison scraping the wall?
Puzzled, Disciple Yeom Kyung pulled the cart and walked forward.
As he did, he noticed a red line painted on the cave floor.
‘What’s this?’
Among all the colors, they had to paint it red, making it look just like blood, sending a chill down his spine.
At that moment, the scraping sound came again from inside.
It sounded much louder now, meaning he was getting closer.
-Whoosh!
Yeom Kyung raised the torch ahead.
About twelve paces away, he saw a thick iron grate, and behind it, what looked like a human silhouette.
‘Ah! Did I come to the right place?’
It seemed he hadn’t gotten lost after all.
With that, Disciple Yeom Kyung pulled the food cart forward.
He had just crossed the red line when—
-Scrape!
The scraping sound rang in his ears.
At that instant, Yeom Kyung’s eyes, who had been pulling the cart, went blank, his pupils dilating.
-Thud!
With his eyes unfocused, Yeom Kyung let go of the cart handle.
He then walked toward the Golden Prison cell, holding the torch with dazed eyes.
As the torch drew nearer, the silhouette inside the iron grate gradually came into view.
The figure had its eyes covered with blinders and a thick leather gag stuffed in its mouth.
Both wrists and ankles were shackled with heavy weights, immobilizing it completely.
But in that state,
-Scrape!
The shackled prisoner moved its fingers to scratch the floor, and
-Clack! Clack!
Yeom Kyung, with unfocused eyes, began touching the iron grate here and there, searching for something.
It almost looked like he was trying to open the grate.
Above the spot Yeom Kyung was touching on the iron grate, the number was engraved.
[126]
* * *
Somewhere else in the Avici Golden Prison.
-Drip!
Blood flowed from Joo Un-hyang’s hand gripping the sharp iron spikes.
Though she had guarded with innate true energy, the force of the fall tore open her palm on the spikes.
If it had been anyone else falling, they would have been impaled outright and met disaster.
‘Good thing the torch fell first.’
She had spotted the spikes below in advance.
Looking around the spike-filled surroundings, Joo Un-hyang found a spike-free patch of floor about three paces away.
“Hoo... hoo...”
Enduring the pain of her torn hand, Joo Un-hyang reached down with one hand, grabbed the lone torch amid the spikes, and lifted it.
She then bit down on the handle with her mouth.
‘If Master hadn’t taught me the Wind Cloud Step, I’d be in big trouble.’
It was thanks to the Wind Cloud Step that she could hold this unstable handstand position.
Otherwise, her face would have been pierced first.
Joo Un-hyang slowly tensed her waist and bent her elbows.
‘Kuh.’
Her palm tore further, causing excruciating pain.
But if she couldn’t endure and let go, it would be straight to the afterlife.
-Push!
Having bent her arms, Joo Un-hyang pushed off with force.
Her body flew toward the spike-free floor and landed safely.
Dropping the torch from her mouth, Joo Un-hyang bit her lip hard as she looked at her blood-soaked, torn palms.
‘It feels like my hands are burning away.’
This spike trap had been left untouched for a long time.
It wouldn’t be strange if it carried metal poison.
‘Damn it.’
Enduring the pain, Joo Un-hyang pulled something from her bosom.
It was a small pouch containing blood cleansing pills she had brought just in case.
Unsure if it would work on metal poison, she bit off a third, chewed it thoroughly, mixed it with saliva, and spat it onto her palm.
“Grrrugh.”
The pain was no joke.
Grimacing, Joo Un-hyang rubbed it onto both torn palms.
It burned fiercely, but she endured.
“Haa... haa... Fuck.”
A curse slipped out naturally.
Breathing raggedly, Joo Un-hyang chewed and swallowed another third down her throat.
She put the remaining third back in the pouch for safety.
-Rip!
Tearing her sleeve further, Joo Un-hyang wrapped it around her palms like bandages.
Strangely, it had felt like fire at first, but the pain vanished after a moment.
The blood cleansing pill seemed to have some effect.
With the bleeding somewhat stopped, Joo Un-hyang returned to reality.
‘Haa...’
She was exasperated.
She hadn’t expected Im Gyu-wol to prepare such a double trap.
No matter how much she resented her, to give a fake map even to another disciple like Yeom Kyung.
Thanks to that, she had been properly struck from behind.
‘It stings like hell.’
She hadn’t known he was this skilled in schemes.
It was a plan that read two moves ahead.
‘Yeom Kyung must be in a bind too.’
If he moved according to that faulty map, he was in just as much danger.
But right now, the important one wasn’t him.
It was herself.
‘Can I climb back up?’
Joo Un-hyang raised the torch and looked up.
She had to crawl up there and break through the blocked ceiling to retrace her original path.
But it was quite high.
She’d have to remove all those spikes first, then cling to the smooth wall and climb for a while.
‘If there are more trap mechanisms, it’s even worse.’
On a whim, Joo Un-hyang picked up a stone from the floor and threw it at the spiked area.
Then, more spikes shot out from the surrounding walls.
-Pfufufufufu!
‘It’s hopeless.’
If she hadn’t tested it, she’d have been skewered the moment she clung to the wall.
All she had was her body and this torch.
If only she had a weapon, she could try something, but entering the Golden Prison required going in empty-handed.
‘What to do.’
It was a situation that naturally drew a sigh.
Moving rashly was dangerous when trap mechanisms could spring anywhere, anytime.
But she couldn’t stay here forever.
‘Should I just hold out?’
That was one option.
Even if Im Gyu-wol had set traps, Cheon-ho Mak Myeong-bo wasn’t incompetent.
As the supervisor, if the apprentice disciples didn’t return, he would lead a search for them.
‘Hold out here, where there are no trap mechanisms for now, until then...’
-Hiss!
Then, a strange sound came.
Looking over, smoke was rising from beneath the spike field.
‘It’s one thing after another.’
Seeing it, Joo Un-hyang stuck out her tongue in dismay.
She didn’t know what the smoke was, but it was likely poison.
Even with blood cleansing pills, prolonged direct exposure wouldn’t be good.
‘Damn it!’
Joo Un-hyang grabbed as many stones from the floor as she could before the smoke reached her and dashed toward the open passage.
-Thud! Popopopopow!
Every two or three stones thrown triggered a trap mechanism.
Amid the deadly traps springing out, Joo Un-hyang couldn’t relax for a second.
‘Whoever designed this Avici Golden Prison did a damn good job.’
Escaping from here seemed utterly hopeless.
Without a torch, it would be pitch darkness. How could anyone get out?
Traps every twenty paces—it was maddening.
‘Trying to escape means certain death.’
After running while triggering traps for a while, Joo Un-hyang stopped.
She had already used up all the stones she picked up.
From here, she couldn’t move carelessly.
‘...Hmm.’
Joo Un-hyang took off her outer robe, tore it, twisted the strips into a rope, and connected them.
She removed her shoes and tied them to the rope.
It was less than two paces long, but it seemed sufficient.
-Push!
Joo Un-hyang threw the rope-bound shoe forward.
She then slowly pulled it back.
-Rattle!
At a certain point, the telltale sound of a trap mechanism activated, and dark projectiles like iron weights shot from the wall, embedding into the opposite wall.
‘Good.’
Joo Un-hyang pulled back the shoe.
A few weights had pierced it, but she could remove them and reuse it.
Using this method, Joo Un-hyang slowly triggered the traps ahead, finding safe footing step by step.
Struggling onward like this, Joo Un-hyang thought.
‘Haa... Even I, with all my experience, am struggling like this. Yeom Kyung too, and Baek Ji-seok... No, that guy must be suffering plenty from the trap formations too... Huh?’
She nearly tripped forward.
Right now, worrying about others wasn’t the priority—escaping this place safely was.
* * *
At the entrance leading deeper into the Avici Golden Prison.
Mok Kyung-un, wearing Disciple An Jong-hu’s face, scanned the surroundings as he thought.
Having memorized the map, he could visualize it three-dimensionally in his mind, making his path crystal clear.
That was why he had easily descended here, avoiding all the mechanism traps and guard posts on the third underground Golden Prison level.
However, there was one problem at this fork.
To pass safely without mechanisms, he had to take the central passage, but that would mean going past one of the eight guard posts in the Avici Golden Prison.
‘Hmm.’
Dealing with them wouldn’t be hard.
But he had heard each guard post had something prepared for enemy raids or escapes.
So it was best not to touch them rashly.
Thus, Mok Kyung-un stepped into the left passage.
‘No choice.’
He would have to pass one with mechanisms.
Once past this, he would be closer to Cell 130 where the Holy Fire Command Leader was imprisoned.
It was a bit annoying, but passing a single trap formation was no issue.
Mok Kyung-un suppressed his presence and entered the left passage.
He had taken only a few steps when—
-Clack!
-Scrape-scrape-scraaaape!
The floor sank inward, followed by mechanical sounds from inside the walls.
At the same time, countless holes opened in the ceiling, unleashing a shower of arrows.
-Swish!
At that moment, Mok Kyung-un swung his hand upward as he walked forward.
All the falling arrows halted midair, reversed direction, and embedded into the ceiling.
-Papapapapapapow!
Mok Kyung-un casually continued forward.
-Rattle!
-Scrape-scrape-scraaaape!
It didn’t end there—massive triple-bladed weapons burst sequentially from the walls.
The blades aimed to slice Mok Kyung-un’s body into four pieces in an instant.
However,
-Grind-grind!
The blades stopped midway before even touching him, unable to move properly.
Mechanical noises echoed from between the walls, noisy as if jammed.
This was because the blades had been caught by his profound true energy.
In that state, Mok Kyung-un flicked a finger at the upper blade,
-Chaeng-clang!
The upper blade snapped, shattering all the lower ones.
Mok Kyung-un moved forward again.
After about five steps,
-Swish! Swish!
Hearing the whooshes from ahead, Mok Kyung-un didn’t stop but merely turned his head slightly.
The two sharp spear shafts flying to pierce his shoulder bent and embedded into the side walls.
-Kwang!
“Hmm.”
Mok Kyung-un glanced sideways briefly before walking on.
After another five paces or so,
Smoke began seeping from the floor.
It was poison smoke.
‘With Golden Initial Root in it, probably a paralytic toxin.’
-Ssssss!
The poison mist quickly filled the entire passage, but Mok Kyung-un walked forward unfazed.
Being the epitome of poison himself, such mist had no effect.
Having walked slowly just in case for the trap formation, Mok Kyung-un yawned widely.
‘Is that all?’
It was turning out more underwhelming than expected.