Chapter 287: Escape Attempt (2)

The entrance to the underground golden prison was literally a scene of chaos.

Due to the sudden collapse of the Eternal Hell Prison, the Fourth Office’s Embroidered Uniform Guards were in disarray.

If the head of the Fourth Office, Six Offices Commander Im Gyu-weol, had been present, there would have been a command system in place, and they would have tried to handle the situation somehow, but now they were only focused on determining whether there were any escapees from the underground golden prison.

Amidst this, an even more perplexing situation occurred.

That was,

‘H-how…’

The Fourth Office’s Thousand-men Commander Mak Myeong-ho was not just tense but even breaking out in cold sweat as he prostrated himself.

In front of him was a being he couldn’t even dare to look at.

An old man with a pale complexion and a haggard appearance, leaning on the luxurious jade seat of a palanquin, wearing a golden dragon robe.

That being was none other than,

‘Has Your Majesty come to this place?’

The emperor.

As the emperor who ruled this nation personally arrived, Thousand-men Commander Mak Myeong-ho’s mind was turning blank.

The situation was already the worst in the history of the Fourth Office, and his head was filled with thoughts of how to handle this matter, but now he had no idea what to do.

Then, the emperor’s voice was heard,

“If it’s red smoke, does it mean the Eternal Hell Prison has collapsed?”

“…Th-that…”

Thousand-men Commander Mak Myeong-ho was so shaken that he couldn’t answer properly.

Then someone beside him urged,

“Can’t you answer properly?”

At the heavy voice, Thousand-men Commander Mak Myeong-ho’s eyes wavered.

He could tell who it was as soon as he heard it.

There were two guards and close aides who officially assisted the emperor by his side.

Among them, he was the most widely known and was no different from a direct superior to himself.

“Hurry up and answer the question.”

“Y-yes! The Eternal Hell Prison has collapsed!”

The face of Mak Myeong-ho, who was prostrating, became distressed.

Now that His Majesty the Emperor had personally come here, it was over, regardless of handling the situation.

Even if they managed to handle it, they would be held responsible for this incident.

The probability of losing his head was the highest, and even if not, he would be exiled or imprisoned in the golden prison.

As he was suffering while imagining what would happen in the future, the emperor’s voice reached his ears,

“Then someone attempted to escape, but did anyone come out?”

“N-no, Your Majesty. I was guarding the entrance, but there was not even the slightest sign of it until the red smoke rose. Please believe me.”

“Are you saying there was an attempt to escape from the Eternal Hell Prison, but no one came out?”

“That is correct, Your Majesty.”

“Hmm.”

At the groaning sound as if deep in thought, Mak Myeong-ho’s lips became parched.

Surely, there were no escapees while he was standing guard.

No, there shouldn’t be.

That way, even if he was held responsible, he could at least save his life.

At that moment, the emperor spoke,

“Seong-baek, in your opinion, since the Eternal Hell Prison has collapsed, do you think there will be no escapees?”

“If the Eternal Hell Prison has collapsed, those who attempted to escape would have also fallen and lost their lives when the ground caved in.”

“Can you be certain of that?”

“I cannot guarantee it.”

“Why is that?”

“Those imprisoned in the Eternal Hell Prison are freaks that we cannot let down our guard even for a moment. As Your Majesty knows, it is a place with all sorts of monsters who have survived for decades without eating anything. We cannot ignore the variables.”

“Variables…”

“…”

“Seong-baek.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“How many people in the Eternal Hell Prison, no, in this entire imperial palace, can deceive you with that so-called martial arts of yours?”

At the emperor’s question, an answer came without a moment’s hesitation.

“There are none, Your Majesty.”

“None?”

“That is correct, Your Majesty.”

He displayed tremendous confidence.

Then the emperor said with the corners of his mouth raised,

“If you put your mind to it, how long do you think it would take to search the entire imperial palace?”

“Within three quarters of an hour would be sufficient.”

“Then go and come back.”

“However, Your Majesty…”

“By my side are the Chief Eunuch Gwak of the Inner Palace Administration and him. You don’t need to worry. Rather, if there was an escape attempt from the Eternal Hell Prison, it wouldn’t have happened spontaneously in a short period. Just in case, hurry up.”

“…I, Gu Seong-baek, accept Your Majesty’s order!”

-Swish!

As soon as those words ended, the figure of the one called Gu Seong-baek disappeared.

***

Mok Gyeong-un looked at the hand of Nine Blood Sect’s Blood Demon Dam Baek-ha, which had popped out of the food waste container, with interest.

To him, who had his spiritual eyes open, it was visible.

The strange-shaped ripples that had spread from Dam Baek-ha’s hand.

Mok Gyeong-un could tell that this strange-shaped energy was identical to what she had tried to use on him in the Eternal Hell Prison.

But at that time, he had wondered what the .... it was.

However, as this energy flowed out in all directions, interesting results occurred.

It seemed to stimulate the senses of the targets contacted by the energy to deceive them, and they all fainted.

‘…Sound. The shape of the energy would be a hand seal.’

Although he couldn’t know the exact hand seal, he roughly guessed based on the shape.

The  thought  is repeated in a certain way.

And that repeated thought stimulates and deceives the opponent’s senses.

That means it’s a kind of suggestion.

‘Interesting.’

The corners of Mok Gyeong-un’s mouth twitched.

Then someone’s voice was heard,

-What was that just now?

It was Cheong-ryeong.

She had been observing the situation from the air and came down to provide assistance when she judged that things had gone awry.

But she was puzzled when the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Western Depot eunuchs suddenly fainted.

-I don’t know exactly either. It seems to be a kind of suggestion.

-Suggestion?

-Yes. I’ve seen it before in my grandfather’s books. If you stimulate with sound or something visible and repeat it…

-Bam!

“Puah.”

At that moment, Dam Baek-ha’s face popped out of the food waste container.

Not just her, but Holy Fire Priestess, who had been enduring inside the midst of food waste, also couldn’t bear it and stuck her face out.

“Huff huff.”

“Elder, are you alright?”

Seop Chun asked the Holy Fire Priestess.

No matter how much he had taught her how to hold her breath, it must have been even more difficult for her to endure since she was old and hadn’t cultivated martial arts.

“I’m… I’m fine. Huff… huff.”

At Seop Chun’s question, the Holy Fire Priestess nodded with a pale face and replied.

Honestly speaking, not only the smell of the food waste but also holding her breath was all difficult, but she was enduring it by gritting her teeth.

At that moment, Mok Gyeong-un approached Blood Demon Dam Baek-ha, who was catching her breath, and said,

“How about continuously utilizing that technique from earlier?”

“What do you mean?”

“If that technique is a kind of suggestion, it can deceive the opponent’s perception itself, so wouldn’t it be possible to make them perceive us as if we don’t exist in the first place?”

‘!?’

At Mok Gyeong-un’s words, Blood Demon Dam Baek-ha’s eyes widened.

She had never told Mok Gyeong-un about this technique.

No, there was no reason to tell him in the first place.

But how did Young Master Mok know that this was a kind of suggestion?

As she was wondering, someone appeared at that moment.

-Swish!

The one who approached them was Six Offices Commander So Yerin, who had changed her outer clothing to the attire worn by palace maids at some point.

In her right hand, she was holding a black mask, so it seemed she was trying to conceal her identity and mobilize force.

Looking at the fainted Embroidered Uniform Guard, she said,

“You used the Illusion Sutra, didn’t you?”

“Yes. As expected, you know about it too, Miss. My master directly learned it from him.”

“I see. Then rather than hiding in the food waste containers, it would be more helpful to use the Illusion Sutra.”

“…That’s difficult.”

“Why is that?”

“Unlike his bloodline, I didn’t cultivate the innate true energy I possess, so I can’t use the suggestion consecutively. At least, thanks to consuming the blood of a spiritual creature, my original energy has increased, making this much possible, but using it continuously within a day is beyond my capacity.”

“Ah…”

At this, So Yerin nodded as if she understood.

To her, Blood Demon Dam Baek-ha said,

“Then how about you using the Illusion Sutra, Miss?”

At her words, So Yerin spoke as if she was in a difficult position,

“Even if I want to use it, I can’t.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“My father said that even my grandfather, who was still the So Clan Leader, couldn’t learn the Illusion Sutra from his grandfather. So I don’t know how to do it either.”

“Ah!”

At her words, Dam Baek-ha exclaimed in surprise instead.

“I’m truly delighted. It seems that he imparted this skill to my master only for this day. To have an opportunity to repay the favor received to his descendant like this.”

“Blood Demon…”

“Before we leave this place, I will teach you the hand seals of the Illusion Sutra, Miss.”

“…Thank you. But I think we need to hurry before that. Since the search team at the central gate has all fainted, they will soon notice and all the search forces will gather here.”

“I understand.”

Like that, they closed the food waste container lids again and hurriedly departed.

Now that they had passed the central gate, if they could just reach the south gate of the outer castle quickly, the probability of being able to get out somehow would increase.

Pulling the food waste carts, they accelerated even more.

Since So Yerin was scouting the surroundings on the ground and Cheong-ryeong in the air, there wouldn’t be any problems with the route itself.

Moving without any obstacles, they gradually approached the south gate.

But as they were moving for a while like that,

-Rattle rattle rattle rattle!

-Flinch!

Mok Gyeong-un, who had been pulling the cart, suddenly stopped.

As Mok Gyeong-un abruptly stopped the cart, Mong Mu-yak and Seop Chun also stopped and asked in puzzlement,

“My lord. Why are you suddenly doing this?”

“…They’re coming.”

“What do you mean by that?”

-Bam!

At that moment, Blood Demon Dam Baek-ha, who had been hiding in the food waste container, suddenly opened the lid and popped out.

With an expression filled with vigilance, she assumed the stance of the Blood Jade Hands.

Dam Baek-ha swallowed dryly as she looked in the northwest direction.

It had been a long time since her spiritual perception had been stimulated to this extent.

“Hey, you little brats. Hide together with the young old woman.”

“What?”

-Swish!

As they were puzzled, Six Offices Commander So Yerin appeared in front of them with her face covered by a black cloth.

So Yerin had already drawn her sword at some point.

“Officer So?”

The masked Embroidered Uniform Guard Ma Ra-hyeon also asked in puzzlement at their reactions.

Then So Yerin waved her hand behind her and hurriedly said,

“Commander Ma Ra-hyeon. Step back. Hurry!”

As soon as her words ended,

-Goooooooo!

The true energy in all directions became so heavy that it was difficult to breathe, and in an instant, Ma Ra-hyeon’s legs staggered as if his shoulders were being pressed down.

‘Wh-what the .... is this…’

It wasn’t just him.

Mong Mu-yak and Seop Chun also grimaced at the tremendous pressure.

‘Oh no!’

‘What kind of energy?’

An immeasurably vast energy was enveloping the entire surroundings, and the two of them felt their hearts racing intensely.

-Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

Their gazes slowly turned towards one place.

-Step step!

A handsome middle-aged man with chiseled features, wearing a black robe and a golden belt, appeared there.

Seeing the handsome man walking with his hands behind his back, So Yerin’s eyes trembled intensely.

‘Ah… Why him of all people.’

The worst had occurred among the anticipated situations.

That Embroidered Uniform Guard in the black robe was the one standing at the pinnacle of the Embroidered Uniform Guards as a working-level official, along with the Northern Pacification Commissioner Hyun Soon.

Embroidered Uniform Guard Southern Pacification Commissioner Gu Seong-baek.

Guarding the emperor by his side, he was the supreme master of the imperial palace and was referred to like this in the martial world.

The Blade King of the Northern Sect, one of the Six Heavens.

“There are three who have surpassed the wall. No need to go easy on them.”

-Shing!

An enlightened grandmaster-level expert occupying one seat among the six heavens, known as the pinnacle of the Central Plains martial world, was now drawing his blade towards them.