Chapter 161
Chapter 161
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 161
Chapter Title: Dragon's Stomach Cave (2)
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The Thunder Prison.
A staple in modern martial arts novels.
It makes sense, as a place like the Thunder Prison is all but essential for the righteous factions of the martial world.
In places like the Ten Demon Alliance or the Lion's Alliance, they can hand down inhumane sentences like execution or dismemberment, but the Nine Dragons Fortress, being a righteous faction, cannot do such things.
Thus, two types of prisons were created.
First, the general prison.
This is where those who haven't learned martial arts, or those who have but are no different from ordinary people, go when they commit crimes.
In modern terms, you could think of it as a place for all criminals except organized crime members.
The second is the place I'm headed to: the Dragon's Stomach Cave. The only prisoners held here are martial artists who have committed serious crimes.
It bears the grand name of "Dragon's Stomach," but you can just think of it as an underground prison.
And I was walking toward that very Dragon's Stomach Cave.
‘Seriously, I’m the First Squad Leader of the Outer Hall. Does it make any sense to send me to an underground prison?’
Frustration welled up inside me, but there was nothing I could do.
“Could you walk a little faster?”
After all, five members of the Dark Poison Corps surrounded me.
If my internal energy hadn't been sealed, I might have stood a chance, but now, it was impossible.
If I foolishly tried to escape, I’d be turned into minced meat in an instant.
“Hey, I told you I’m going on my own.”
“Your pace keeps slowing down.”
“What can I do? I’m just a slow walker.”
I needed to savor the air of the outside world a little longer before I went in.
“...We need to get there before sunset, so please walk a bit faster.”
Still, there was one thing I was grateful for.
The Grand Chancellor, as a final act of mercy, had given me time to treat my injuries.
In a martial world where the concept of hygiene was nowhere to be found, entering an underground prison without treating my wounds would have led to something terrible.
‘That would be like begging for death.’
I could have died of sepsis or faced the catastrophe of having to amputate a rotting limb.
I moved the Grand Chancellor's name from my mental kill list to my punishment list.
Well, he was the father of a subordinate I cared for, so killing him felt a bit awkward anyway.
After walking for half a day lost in thought, I reached the mountainside of Nine Dragons Mountain, where the entrance to an enormous cave came into view.
That was it.
In martial arts novels, nine out of ten underground prisons take the form of a cave. The Nine Dragons Fortress was no exception.
The only difference was that the Dragon's Stomach Cave wasn't a natural cave but an abandoned mine that had belonged to the Gray Dragon Hall.
The Nine Dragons Fortress had received it as a donation and was now using it as an underground prison.
‘It’s amazing every time I see it.’
To think they built a mine the size of a tunnel in a world without heavy machinery.
It suddenly occurred to me that the muscles of the Gray Dragon Hall guys weren't just for show; they were the kind of dense muscle built from hard labor—truly practical, condensed muscle.
*Shiver.*
‘I should be nice to Jeon Muk when I get out.’
After all, it's always wise to stay on good terms with rich and powerful friends.
“...”
Still, I really didn't want to go in.
A member of the Dark Poison Corps who accompanied me, completely ignoring my feelings, announced our arrival to the guards.
“You may enter.”
“Sigh.”
The guards pulled at a massive stone door.
It was so heavy that their muscles bulged as if they were about to burst.
*Rumble.*
‘You see a lot of mechanical contraptions in martial arts novels...’
As I waited, thinking how much easier their jobs would be with such technology, a space large enough for one person to pass through opened up.
A guard handed me a large bundle.
It was clearly a pack of grain pills.
“A month's worth of food.”
My face soured instinctively, but it couldn't be helped.
It wasn't like these guys could change the menu even if I complained about the side dishes.
Well, I did bring some of my own things.
When I nodded, the guard continued his explanation.
“If you go inside for about half an hour, you'll reach a large cavern. Find an empty room there and use it. For drinking water, there's a small pond in the center of the cavern, so use that. There are no spare clothes, so you'll have to wash them whenever you have time.”
For what it was, the explanation was quite kind.
If it were me, I would have just said, ‘Alright, you criminals, figure out how to eat and survive on your own!’
Anyway, I followed his instructions and walked straight in, and soon a brightly lit cavern appeared.
Natural light was streaming in, so the ceiling must be open.
Just as I was about to step into the cavern.
*Grab.*
“Hold on, I need to talk to you.”
A hulking man of unknown identity ambushed me as if he had been waiting.
“...!”
With my internal energy sealed, my senses were dulled, and I hadn't even noticed he was there.
When one's internal energy is gone, the one who strikes first has an overwhelming advantage, especially in a surprise attack.
But.
The martial prowess built by the War King Arts is not so simple.
*Crack. Crunch.*
Even without internal energy, the divine art was capable of overwhelming a clumsy first-rate warrior, and I could even use a small amount of my internal energy.
How was that possible when my energy was sealed?
The War King Arts made it possible.
Sealing internal energy typically means freezing the dantian to block the flow of energy.
It can't come in, and it can't go out.
But the War King Arts are different from other martial arts.
It allows for the storage of internal energy in various parts of the body, not just the dantian.
That's why I had been accumulating energy by stomping my feet on the way up here.
I got chided for walking slowly, but as the First Squad Leader of the Outer Hall, I couldn't let myself be beaten up by common criminals in prison.
Of course, I couldn't store a large amount of energy outside my dantian, but this much should be enough.
‘I’ll be out in a month anyway.’
“Aargh!”
The man's scream, his hand crushed to pieces, echoed loudly through the cavern.
Most likely, everyone inside heard it. I guess I just had one hell of a welcoming party.
*Crunch.*
I stomped on the fallen man's shattered hand, grinding it into the ground.
“What are you?”
“Ugh, ghk. Pl-please...”
“Why did you pull this stunt?”
“T-To steal the grain pills...”
“So, why were you trying to steal grain pills? It's not like you don't have food.”
As I said before, this prison is run by the Nine Dragons Fortress, a righteous faction.
They regularly distribute food to prevent the prisoners from starving to death.
“I needed more to brew alcohol... Aargh!”
“...”
I was speechless at the completely unexpected reason.
He tried to steal a month's worth of food just to make alcohol.
Wouldn't the person he stole from starve?
‘These criminal bastards...’
They were a truly incomprehensible lot.
“Should I just kill you?”
Hearing my mutter, the man began to beg, tears and snot streaming down his face.
“Pl-please spare me. I’ll never do this again.”
“I won’t kill you, so let's have a little chat.”
“Okay, just please get your foot off...”
I lifted my foot, and the man clutched his hand, crying out in pain.
“Urgh!”
“What are you doing? Not going to talk? Want me to break your other hand too?”
The man shot to his feet and followed me.
“N-No, sir!”
As I passed through the entrance of the cavern, an incredibly vast interior came into view.
A large pond in the center of the cavern seemed to serve as the water source.
The impossibly high ceiling, as if to say that escape would not be tolerated, had a large opening in the middle, letting in natural light.
And hundreds of tunnels were carved into the walls.
Those were the rooms the guard had mentioned.
“Hello? Criminals?”
I waved my hand as I walked into the middle of the cavern.
Since I’d already made an entrance, it was only polite to say hello.
“E-Excuse me...”
“What?”
“Where are you going...? This place has designated territories. You could easily get into a fight.”
The man with the crushed hand looked around with anxious eyes.
“A quiet place would be nice.”
“Then come this way, sir. There’s a place no one ever goes.”
“You’re not trying to pull another fast one, are you?”
“After what I’ve been through? I wouldn’t dare. I swear it, so please don’t worry.”
“Really? Then I’ll follow. Lead the way.”
The place he led me to was...
“Get him!”
“Kill him!”
His hideout.
‘Wouldn’t dare, my ass.’
I thought as I watched the three men charging at me.
Criminals, indeed, can never be reformed.
*Crunch.*
* * *
A moment later.
“Ughh...”
“Urp.”
“M-My leg...”
I nudged the three men writhing on the floor.
*Thwack.*
“Gak!”
Oops... I think I used too much force.
He passed out.
“Hey, hey, get up.”
The other two men dropped to their knees with lightning speed.
“Just like a bunch of unorthodox bastards, acting like this.”
“We-We’re sorry. If you’ll just forgive us this once...”
“Cut the crap and start talking.”
“Sir? About what...”
“You know. The things a newcomer to this underground prison absolutely needs to know.”
“Ah...”
The man nodded quickly.
“I can explain all of that.”
He nodded vigorously and continued.
“First, there are two hundred prisoners here.”
“That many?”
“Originally, there were just over a hundred, but the number increased when guys from the Southern Heaven Palace and the Ten Demon Alliance were brought in.”
“Ah...”
Right.
“So there must be factions, then?”
Even in the Nine Dragons Fortress, where eight righteous sects were gathered, they bickered with each other daily. A place full of unorthodox scoundrels would surely be even more contentious.
“That’s right. There are four factions in total. There are the original inmates like us, the Ten Demon Alliance, the Southern Heaven Palace, and finally, the Dark Shadow Cave.”
“Quite a few. Do the factions fight?”
“They used to fight often, but not anymore.”
“Oh?”
“They realized it’s a losing game for everyone. However.”
The man lowered his voice and continued.
“When the full moon rises, people sometimes disappear.”
“Why?”
“It's not certain, but there's a rumor that the Ten Demon Alliance faction offers them as human sacrifices in a ritual.”
“...You’ve got to be kidding me.”
To be pulling that kind of stunt even in here.
These demons were truly an incomprehensible bunch.
“So, what’s the Dark Shadow Cave?”
“They are the ones who spend most of their time meditating inside their caves. There are only ten of them, but they are the most fearsome people in this Dragon’s Stomach Cave.”
“Oho, so no one messes with them?”
“Yes, even the Ten Demon Alliance avoids them. If you cross them, you’ll end up with a pile of corpses.”
That was quite interesting.
Every underground prison in a story ought to have some hidden masters, right?
Besides, if what this guy said was true, it seemed like the perfect place to spend a quiet month.
“Where do I have to go to see these guys?”
“Y-You’re going to seek them out?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you stay here with us instead? We’ll do our best to serve you so you won’t have any trouble.”
“What good is serving me with broken arms and legs?”
The reason for this was obvious.
He was asking me to protect them since I was the one who injured them.
In their current state, they'd be robbed of everything, including their food.
But why should I care about their problems?
“What are you doing? Not talking? Want me to break your other hand too?”
“N-No, sir! Just go to the very back of the cavern.”
“Just to the back?”
“When you reach the end, you’ll find a narrow path. The Dark Shadow Cave is inside there.”
“Thanks for the explanation.”
“It was noth—Gack!”
*Thwack! Thwack!*
I knocked out both of the conscious men.
*Rummage. Rummage.*
“Let’s see... here it is.”
Then, I took the alcohol, food, and clothes hidden in their hideout.
I was grateful for the explanation, but they had to pay the price for attacking me.
They were lucky this was a prison; if they had attacked me on the outside, they would have been punished with death or a severe injury requiring at least a year of recovery.
‘Jin Mujeon, you’ve gotten so generous.’
I am merciful.