Chapter 312: He Hasn't Changed
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Eul Sa-jeok stared ahead with his hollow, sunken eyes.
He could see the middle-aged jailer man beyond the iron bars.
‘A… visitor?’
Before the aftereffects of the nightmare had even faded, a question suddenly approached him.
Who had come to visit?
He couldn’t readily think of anyone.
Surely there was no way a martial artist from White Peak Sword Sect had come…
Well, that was only natural.
After all, rupturing the dantian and muscle meridians was one of the highest punishments inflicted on expelled disciples who had committed sins.
Eul Sa-jeok himself had turned the kind and benevolent senior brother Cheol Ryu-heun into a vegetable to claim the position of White Peak Sword Sect Master, and he had eventually even planned to take his life and disguise it as a natural death.
Moreover, to White Peak Sword Sect Master White Snake Head Sword Gul Ma-hoon of Thousand Snake Gang who had been secretly supporting that scheme, he had tried to secretly steal away and hand over the precious essence of his sect’s sword studies.
But in the end, he was caught.
The meaning of the punishment Cheol Ryu-heun had carried out at that time was crystal clear.
Permanent expulsion.
It meant that even after serving out his sentence and getting out, he should never show his face there again.
Therefore, the person who had requested the visit could absolutely not be someone from White Peak Sword Sect.
At that moment, a loud voice again dug into Eul Sa-jeok’s ears.
“Are you going to meet them or not?”
When the jailer asked pressingly, Eul Sa-jeok asked back with cracked lips.
“Where are they from?”
“Tsk, you’ll find out when you meet them.”
“…”
“Damn it, just answer. What would change if you knew?”
The jailer got angry with an expression of clear annoyance.
But Eul Sa-jeok’s reaction was calm.
“Just tell me that much.”
The jailer, having clicked his tongue again, coldly spat out.
“From White Peak Sword Sect.”
At the same time, Eul Sa-jeok’s expression changed.
‘White Peak Sword Sect!’
It felt like a dying flame inside his body was wildly surging.
Something like lava struck the top of his head.
Was this the backflow of rage?
There was only one person who would come here.
Cheol Ryu-heun.
Eul Sa-jeok, having pictured that face, glared with both eyes.
“Keuk… Cheol Ryu-heun…!”
At that, the jailer outside the iron bars let out a slight laugh.
“Pfft, what are you saying?”
“Is it that bastard! That punk… did Cheol Ryu-heun come to see me!”
Eul Sa-jeok’s desperate shout.
KKANG-!
The jailer struck the bars with his club and warned.
“How dare a prisoner… hey, don’t raise your voice carelessly. If you keep acting up without knowing your place, I’ll lock you in solitary. Remember that the underground space is another hell.”
Eul Sa-jeok, having flinched and shrank his neck, bit down on his molars.
‘Damn…!’
Just as he said.
He knew far too well.
That being confined in solitary was the beginning of a new hell.
Once there, it didn’t end with just being locked up.
It was continuous torture.
Infinite physical and mental abuse.
No water to drink, no proper sleep, and being beaten by jailers at any time.
A space where a series of violent acts were carried out indiscriminately.
Prisoners in underground solitary became targets for the internal officials to vent their anger on.
It had always been that way.
It was an atrocity permitted even if higher authorities didn’t allow it.
It was at the discretion of the prison officials who managed and supervised this place.
Why?
The reason was simple.
Because there was absolutely no one watching.
So the description of it being another hell was not wrong.
The jailer sneered at the intimidated Eul Sa-jeok.
“Yes, yes. That’s better to see. You should have made that expression from the start. Behave yourself before we put the Triple Cangue on you.”
The cangue was a type of restraint device – a large wooden board that was fastened around the necks of multiple prisoners at once.
The kind that secured three people in a row was called the Triple Cangue.
From the prison officials’ perspective, it was a very convenient restraint tool that could control multiple prisoners simultaneously.
Once the Triple Cangue was on, the three prisoners had to move together as one body for their every action, and the violent abuse exploiting that inconvenience was extremely painful.
In other words, it was torture equivalent to solitary confinement.
“Yes… I understand. I’m sorry.”
Eul Sa-jeok nodded weakly and answered.
Docile words.
But hostility coiled within his heart.
‘You lowly jailer bastard! Just wait. I’ll definitely repay this debt. Even though I’m half-crippled, somehow…!’
At that moment, the jailer beyond the iron bars turned around and spoke.
“I’ll send the visitor in right away, so wait quietly.”
CHEOK, CHEOK, CHEOK, CHEOK, CHEOK…
While the footsteps grew distant, the jailer’s muttering pierced through the silence and flew in.
“Hmm, I’m sick and tired of dealing with prisoners. I’m scared my daughter might meet some bastard like that.”
It was a remark that came through quite clearly because it was so quiet.
Eul Sa-jeok kept burning with hostility as he waited for the visitor.
‘From White Peak Sword Sect, he said?’
It was a moment when his heartbeat grew violent.
Because he assumed it was probably Cheol Ryu-heun.
THUMP THUMP, THUMP THUMP…
During his time confined here, his body and mind had been as good as dead.
But today, he newly felt alive.
His blood boiled.
Strength swelled up.
As if rage had transformed into vitality.
When he faced that bastard, what should he say first?
In an instant.
JEOBEOK JEOBEOK…
Footsteps reached his ears.
The visitor was finally approaching.
Eul Sa-jeok stared outside the iron bars and sharpened his nerves.
Before long.
CHEOK.
The visitor appeared.
Standing with the bars between them, he was an unexpected figure.
‘…!’
The visitor’s identity was Guk Gyeong-in, the former White Peak Sword Sect Master Sagong Woon’s junior disciple brother and the former Sect Master of White Mountain Gate.
“It’s been a while.”
At Guk Gyeong-in’s soft greeting, Eul Sa-jeok reacted bluntly.
“What brings you here?”
His expression showed a hint of shame.
At that, Guk Gyeong-in was silent for a moment before speaking.
“I heard about your situation long ago. I happened to think of you while passing by, so I stopped in.”
“Keukkeuk. Did you deliberately stop by to enjoy seeing my miserable state?”
“…”
“If I’d known this would happen, I should have followed Elder Uncle Guk back then.”
“Hmph, well… the result would have been the same anyway.”
Guk Gyeong-in’s bitter smile.
Seeing that, Eul Sa-jeok asked with a meaningful look.
“What do you mean?”
“Since you’ve been confined here, you wouldn’t know. Our sect has already wrapped everything up and been disbanded.”
“…!”
“It’s not someone else’s fault to blame. It was all brought on by myself. Perhaps it was a predetermined future ever since I abandoned my sect and senior disciple brother and ran out…”
Many things were contained in his soft voice – guilt, regret, reflection, and more.
In that moment, Eul Sa-jeok intuited the inside story of that matter.
“Don’t tell me… Cheol Ryu-heun…?”
“Yes, your guess is correct. I looked down on that child and acted arrogantly, so I got taught a lesson.”
When Guk Gyeong-in nodded, Eul Sa-jeok’s eyes wavered.
‘What in the world…!’
Suddenly, Guk Gyeong-in lifted his upper garment.
SEUK.
A scar engraved on his left side.
Lowering his clothes again, Guk Gyeong-in continued in a calm voice.
“As you can see, I paid the price. But I don’t resent it. As I said earlier… everything originated from my own fault. I realized too late. That even a worthless disciple’s faults are the master’s responsibility… indeed, so it is. Because my character was lacking, Du-hwang’s conduct was also that way.”
He briefly recalled the incident from that time along with those words.
When he had led his disciple Yi Du-hwang’s group at the request of Azure Hound Trading Company and confronted Cheol Ryu-heun…
-You should receive punishment for your crimes too, right?
-Wha…!
-The crime of recklessly plagiarizing our sect’s martial studies without permission.
-Such…
-You abandoned shame for glory.
-Even the late Sect Master Sagong didn’t take issue with it!
-You knew in advance. That even if you ran a sect that way, Master would turn a blind eye once due to old affection.
-…!
-From the start, when you left here, you had the intent to exploit that heart. Am I wrong?
-So… what are you going to do?
-Disbandment.
He should have stopped there.
But he showed stubbornness and recklessness.
-Our sect does not tolerate any branch sects. If you want to be an exception, prove it with your martial prowess.
-Did you think I’d refuse!
-If you last three exchanges, it’s your victory. Then White Mountain Gate can maintain its existence.
-How arrogant!
‘The arrogant one was me. In the end, I was utterly defeated by Ryu-heun’s formidable martial prowess, and the sect I had independently founded was dissolved…’
Guk Gyeong-in briefly told him about what had happened then and added.
“That’s how things turned out. Azure Hound Trading Company eventually went bankrupt, and I’m in the middle of learning business.”
Eul Sa-jeok, who had been listening quietly, asked as his eyes sank.
“Have you heard his recent news?”
“I have. There’s no way not to know.”
“Pardon?”
“Currently, White Peak Sword Sect is being revived. Ryu-heun is at the center of it. The Thousand Snake Gang incident was only the beginning.”
“…”
“He has now become that high sky that we cannot reach. Perhaps White Peak Sword Sect will also leap beyond its golden age.”
At that, Eul Sa-jeok, his expression completely changed, pressed.
“Hurry and tell me everything you know!”
Guk Gyeong-in, having furrowed his brows, sighed and told him about the achievements that had stirred the Jianghu.
When his story ended.
“Keuk… keukkeuk…”
Eul Sa-jeok let out an unpleasant laugh while pulling up the corners of his mouth.
Guk Gyeong-in watched that sight quietly before advising.
“Your eyes seem full of dark emotions. Please don’t be that way. Like me, it was brought on by your own actions, so with a heart of repentance…”
In an instant, a cold voice cut him off like a blade.
“Shut up.”
At Eul Sa-jeok’s frigid retort, Guk Gyeong-in flinched.
“You want me to repent? F… I’ve become like this… and you think spouting such words helps?”
There was even murderous intent seeping from his poison-laced voice.
Guk Gyeong-in spoke with a hardened expression.
“My, why are you still…!”
“Why am I what?”
“Even after being confined here, you still haven’t come to your senses. Have you forgotten your evil deeds? From what I hear, the Third Young Master of the Ximen Family was influenced by demonic arts, but you…
“Shut your mouth, you dog bastard! I will never forgive that bastard! Until I die, I’ll curse and curse again and again! If you’re done with your nonsense, get lost!”
At Eul Sa-jeok’s angry shout, Guk Gyeong-in was stunned.
“Keul.”
Clicking his tongue, Guk Gyeong-in quietly turned around.
As he walked away, he spoke softly.
“I’ll have to take back the food I brought. Seeing you today will be the last. I won’t come to visit this place again.”
“Keukkeuk! That’s welcome news! I didn’t want to hear your bullshit anyway!”
“Think heavily of karma. I hope you sincerely repent someday.”
“Looking at me for consolation – what a pathetic loser bastard! If you pretend to reflect now, does that punk give you a prize or something? Huh!”
Clicking his tongue again, Guk Gyeong-in disappeared without looking back.
Right at that moment, the jailer came running.
KKANG, KKANG, KKANG-!
Striking the bars hard, he warned with fierce eyes.
“Number One-Zero-Eight! I clearly warned you!”
“Damn it, you shut your mouth too! Go ahead, do whatever you want! You think I’m scared!”
At that, the incensed jailer fumbled through his key ring.
“How dare…! You bastard, just wait. Today I’ll really…”
But suddenly, someone’s voice reached his ears.
It was nearby.
“Stop.”
The startled jailer hurriedly turned his head.
When he had appeared, he didn’t know – a man wearing a bamboo hat pressed down deep could be seen to one side.
“Urk! Wh-who are you!”
Simultaneously with the jailer’s shout.
“Shut your mouth.”
The bamboo-hatted man pushed something he held in his right hand toward him along with those words.
At that, the jailer’s complexion turned ashen.
‘No, that’s…!’
The bamboo-hatted man put away what he held in his right hand and let out a heavy voice.
“I showed you proof that your superior has permitted this, so no other explanation should be necessary, right?”
The jailer, having bowed his head, handed over the key ring.
“Y-yes…!”
“Leave. I have a conversation to have with him.”
Thus the jailer fled and disappeared beyond.
The bamboo-hatted man, having approached close to the iron bars, looked down at Eul Sa-jeok in front of him and spoke.
“Eul Sa-jeok. The second direct disciple of White Peak Sword Sect… I came already knowing about you.”
At that moment, Eul Sa-jeok was seized by a strange thrill.
‘A master!’
Not only had he appeared without any presence, but the authority contained in his low voice somehow brought a frightening feeling.
KKULKKEOK.
Eul Sa-jeok, having swallowed dry spit, cautiously threw out a question.
“Who… are you?”
The lips set beneath the shadowed face drew an arc and let out another voice.
“Hoot. Someone who wants to give you the opportunity for a new life. The prison break is a gift like an advance payment.”
“…!”
“If you want to recover your ruined body and become stronger as a martial artist… follow me.”