Return of the Sword Emperor - Chapter 28

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 10: Forbidden Ground (3)

“Now that you’ve achieved your objective, are we done here?”

Ghost Face Divine glanced at Ban An, who had finally lost consciousness, overwhelmed by pain, and posed the question.

“Well, I’d say they’ll be satisfied with this much. Anyway, shall we exchange names? Looking at your face, I’d wager you’re Ghost Face Divine—am I right?”

Dok Go Jin, who had made Ghost Face Divine believe he’d been hired by someone to do this, quietly closed the distance between them.

“That’s correct. I am…….”

Ghost Face Divine’s eyes flew open as he stopped mid-sentence.
Just as he instinctively twisted his body to dodge the attack, Dok Go Jin’s calm voice reached his ears.

“If you dodge, you’ll end up like him.”

Ghost Face Divine’s body went rigid where it stood. He had just witnessed firsthand how thoroughly Ban An had been broken.
His warrior’s heart burned hot, demanding he fight back somehow, but his cold reason screamed a warning: at his current strength, surrender was the only choice.

“Your luck’s run out.”

Dok Go Jin suppressed Ghost Face Divine’s vital points with a sneer, then turned his gaze to the other panicked prisoners.

“Don’t resist, and you’ll live. But if you do…….”

Dok Go Jin merely glanced at Ban An, who lay motionless as a corpse, as if explanation were unnecessary.
The effect was decisive.
Not only Wang Wei and Do Sang Cheon, but even Heuk Kwang Do—a man known to be half-mad most of the time—surrendered himself into Dok Go Jin’s hands without resistance.

“So you were after me all along?”

Deung Bi glared at Dok Go Jin, who was reaching toward his vital points, and posed the question.

“You’re free to misunderstand, but to be clear—no.”
“And you expect me to believe that?”

Deung Bi laughed as if the notion were ridiculous. Seeing his reaction, Ghost Face Divine turned to him in confusion.

“Who is this brat?”
“He belonged to the escort detachment. More precisely, he was a young recruit in the Secret Blade Unit.”
“The Secret Blade Unit…….”

Ghost Face Divine’s brow furrowed as the memory returned—there was indeed an organization called the Secret Blade Unit within Jung Mu Meng.

“You deceived us?”
“Should I have suppressed your acupoint before this? You’re getting on my nerves.”

Dok Go Jin rubbed his ear with an irritated expression, then extended his leg without warning.
Crack!
Ghost Face Divine’s body crumpled to the ground with a sickening sound.

“Nnnngh!”

The agonized groan that escaped Ghost Face Divine’s lips sent a visible chill through the other prisoners.

“I just gave you some cover story so you wouldn’t all come at me at once—seemed like it’d be annoying. Didn’t expect you to be recovering your martial arts in the meantime. In hindsight, even if you’d all rushed me together, it wouldn’t have mattered.”

Dok Go Jin crouched in front of Ghost Face Divine and whispered into the ear of the man who now trembled with rage and terror.

“Where is it? The Ten Thousand Year Stone Fungus.”

In that instant, Ghost Face Divine’s body trembled.

“H-how do you….”

Ghost Face Divine’s eyes, fixed on Dok Go Jin, were flooded with shock and fear.

“Never mind how I know. Where is it? The Ten Thousand Year Stone Fungus.”
“…….”

When Ghost Face Divine clamped his mouth shut, Dok Go Jin rose slowly to his feet.

“Care to test your resolve?”

At the casual question, Ghost Face Divine’s body flinched.

‘How could he possibly know? The others haven’t even known of the Ten Thousand Year Stone Fungus for more than two weeks. And the idea that they leaked it is absurd.’

As Ghost Face Divine’s eyes darted frantically, Dok Go Jin slowly lifted his leg.

“I-I’ll tell you.”

Ghost Face Divine cried out in panic.
He had meant to hold out, but the unwavering certainty in Dok Go Jin’s gaze left him no choice but to yield. He imagined that resisting pointlessly might bring something even more terrible than what Ban An had done. Most of all, there was no reason to resist when another prisoner already knew of the Ten Thousand Year Stone Fungus’s existence.

“I-I don’t have it anymore.”
“You don’t?”

As Dok Go Jin’s eyes gleamed, Ghost Face Divine hurried to continue.

“I’ve made it all into Elixir Pills.”
“Elixir Pills?”
“Y-yes, that’s right.”

Dok Go Jin’s gaze turned toward the prisoners.
Noting that Do Sang Cheon, who wore an inscrutable expression, gave a subtle nod, Dok Go Jin released Ghost Face Divine’s pressure point and helped him to his feet.

“Take me there. It’s not much of a dwelling, but show me where you’ve been staying.”

Dok Go Jin turned his head.

“The rest of you wait here for now. I’ll attend to this and come back to release your restraints.”

Dok Go Jin moved under Ghost Face Divine’s guidance, dragging his broken leg behind him.
The Forbidden Ground was larger than he’d expected.
It stretched some thirty zhang across, and Ghost Face Divine’s dwelling sat in the most remote corner of it.

“Well now! Quite convincingly done. I wouldn’t have spotted the seams.”

Dok Go Jin laughed as he surveyed the modest shelter, assembled from branches and such.
Ghost Face Divine, moving silently forward, pointed to a cloth rolled tight and covered in soil.
Dok Go Jin had watched him hesitate countless times before deciding to reveal it.
When the cloth was unrolled, pills no larger than a thumbnail came into view.
Roughly thirty of them—far more than he’d anticipated.

“How were these made?”

Dok Go Jin tilted his head, sniffing at the pills, and let out a hollow laugh.

“It’s rice cake. You crushed it into powder, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And mixed it with Ten Thousand Year Stone Fungus.”
“That’s right.”

Ghost Face Divine answered without strength, looking as though he had resigned himself to everything.

“Where did you obtain the Ten Thousand Year Stone Fungus?”
“There. It was growing in a crevice up above.”

The wall Ghost Face Divine pointed to was unusually damp.
Dok Go Jin spotted a fissure in the cliff at about five arm-lengths high, water flowing heavily from it, and sprang upward without hesitation.
Grasping the protruding section of the wall to examine it, he found the space far deeper and wider than what could be seen from below.
Scattered patches of uncollected Ten Thousand Year Stone Fungus were visible there, but the colony had been stripped bare. It seemed Ghost Face Divine’s claim that he had harvested it all to make medicine was not without truth.

“Impressive skill. How did you discover this?”

Dok Go Jin descended to the floor and continued, unable to conceal his admiration.

“So you made elixir pills and consumed them. How much did you take?”
“I took two pills. The other person took one.”

Ghost Face Divine spoke without strength, as though resigned to all of it.

“Ah, that explains the slight difference then. Why didn’t you consume it all at once? Besides, there was no need to share something so precious.”
“The Poisoned Martial Technique lodged in my very bones was too vicious. My weakened body couldn’t endure the backlash of the Poisoned Martial Technique colliding with the Ten Thousand Year Stone Fungus. When I first consumed one pill, I nearly died. That’s why I thought using the Ten Thousand Year Stone Fungus to gradually remove it was the right judgment. And why did I share it? I thought it better to recover our martial arts together than alone, and to clear our names through that shared strength.”
“You’ve certainly been wronged.”

Though he laughed as though finding it absurd, remembering how Ghost Face Divine and the other prisoners of the Forbidden Ground had together restored their martial arts and demolished the Repentance Prison, it had proven the right choice after all.

“Still, it’s a shame.”

Dok Go Jin held the elixir pills made by kneading rice cake flour with the Ten Thousand Year Stone Fungus, unable to hide his regret.
The Ten Thousand Year Stone Fungus was an excellent medicinal substance on its own, but its efficacy was maximized when combined with other ingredients.

‘Kneaded with rice cake flour, its effects have certainly diminished, but it remains a precious medicine.’

Watching Dok Go Jin casually claim the treasure he himself had created, Ghost Face Divine, who had shed tears of blood, quietly spoke.

“What is your relationship with Do Sang Cheon?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t play dumb. Before coming here, didn’t you think I wouldn’t notice you and that man exchanging glances?”
“Your perception is uncanny.”

Dok Go Jin let out a hollow laugh and shrugged his shoulders as he spoke.

“There’s no real relationship to speak of. Still, since he once worked for Jung Mu Meng, I simply gave him a warning not to act rashly. Believe it or not, it makes no difference to me.”

Dok Go Jin suppressed Ghost Face Divine’s vital points once more, then turned away.

* * *

“Who are you exactly? Are you truly with the Secret Blade Unit?”

At Do Sang Cheon’s question, Dok Go Jin nodded.

“Yes, I am.”
“Hmm, when I was with Jung Mu Meng, a friend named Hyeol Ryeon Su had just been promoted to unit leader.”
“He is the current unit leader as well.”

Do Sang Cheon regarded Dok Go Jin calmly before speaking.

“You seem stronger than him, actually.”
“I still lack much.”
“I don’t think so. But tell me—why did you send me that message through voice transmission, warning me not to act rashly? From Jung Mu Meng’s perspective, I’m the worst sort of criminal. That’s precisely why I’m locked away in this place.”

Do Sang Cheon smiled bitterly, scanning the Forbidden Ground around them.

“The elder your senior killed.”

Before Dok Go Jin could finish speaking, the elder’s name burst from Do Sang Cheon’s lips.

“Ak Young, the Man in White.”

Watching Do Sang Cheon’s expression contort, Dok Go Jin could feel that his hatred for that man remained bitter even after nearly a decade had passed.

“Why did you kill him?”
“I never expected to be asked such a question by someone whose identity I can’t even confirm in a place like this. What makes you so curious about it?”

A cold sneer curled at Do Sang Cheon’s lips.

“Someone told me the circumstances. That you were falsely accused.”

At the word “falsely accused,” fire flared in Do Sang Cheon’s eyes.

“Falsely accused? That’s rich. A decade has passed. What does it matter now?”

Dok Go Jin regarded him silently.
Do Sang Cheon, unable to contain his emotions any longer, exhaled a heavy sigh.

“You’d know I was part of the Inspection Unit.”
“I heard you were the Deputy Director—the most capable one in its history.”

Do Sang Cheon glanced at Dok Go Jin, then continued.

“A report came in that corruption had surfaced at the Qing Hua Commercial Association—a place deeply entangled with Jung Mu Meng in various enterprises. We began investigating. Ak Young was caught red-handed at the scene and fled. I confronted him. Do you know what’s truly important? I didn’t kill him. I wounded him, yes, but it wasn’t me. Someone cut off the loose end.”
“Then….”
“What shocked me was that the Qing Hua Commercial Association—which serves as Jung Mu Meng’s financial lifeline—also had connections to the Demonic Sect Alliance. Isn’t that amusing? Here we were, fighting the Demonic Sect Alliance with all our might, yet the very organization funding them existed in Hebei, so distant and seemingly untouched. The Qing Hua Commercial Association, with no apparent ties to the Demonic Sect Alliance whatsoever.”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“Neither did I think so. But the Inspection Unit Director—my superior—along with all the higher-ups refused to hear me. Worse, I was accused of embezzling enormous sums of money. They claimed I killed Ak Young over such petty greed.”

Do Sang Cheon watched Dok Go Jin sink into thought, then let out a hollow laugh.

“However many times I’ve said it—tell whoever sent you this message not to waste effort on meaningless things. I appreciate it, but it changes nothing.”
“I see.”

Dok Go Jin gazed intently at Do Sang Cheon, who exhaled with a troubled expression.
Do Sang Cheon’s name was cleared during Dok Go Jin’s period of great activity as the Secret Blade Unit Director. At that time, there had also been problems with the Qing Hua Commercial Association, and when Jung Mu Meng’s leadership investigated those problems, Do Sang Cheon’s innocence was proven.
But by then, Do Sang Cheon had already lost his life in the rebellion that erupted in Repentance Prison.

“Though Ghost Face Divine did give you an Elixir Pill as well.”
“Foolish of him. He thought I’d join in. Every day I wish revenge on those who trapped me—not the mindless guards of Repentance Prison.”
“But then why did you take the pill?”

At Dok Go Jin’s question, Do Sang Cheon looked at him as if exasperated.

“Isn’t it obvious? Those people may be bound to the Forbidden Ground, reduced to shells, but if they recover their Martial Arts, no one can stop them. I have to stand against them myself.”

The gleam blazing from his eyes, his chest thrust forward as he spoke—Do Sang Cheon was no longer the image of a caged prisoner.

‘That’s right. They stood against us, and in the end, they lost their lives.’

A smile formed at the corners of Dok Go Jin’s mouth.
Looking over the roster of prisoners held in the Forbidden Ground, he was grateful to have recalled a figure from the past whom everyone had forgotten.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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