Chapter 63

"Devotee Ye! Leave me here and escape quickly!"

Though frightened, Mu-hwa's eyes were resolute. Rather, those eyes even reflected guilt for involving an outsider like Cheong-ra in sect matters and causing him to face such a situation.

However, hearing Mu-hwa's words, it was Cheong-ra's eyes that hardened instead. Instead of fleeing, he gripped his sword handle even tighter and rushed at the large man.

'There's no way to escape in this situation anyway.'

If there was something Dang Ran-yeong had overlooked, it would be Cheong-ra's compulsive beliefs. This was different from guilt towards Mu-hwa, or the need to keep one's word and do the right thing. He didn't want to show anyone the ugly sight of using a young lady as bait and fleeing alone. To him, how he appeared was more important than his own safety.

Moreover, they were now trying to capture him as well. Wasn't Dang Ran-yeong using Mu-hwa as bait to find out their hideout anyway? If so, wouldn't the result be the same whether one or both of them were captured?

If he couldn't defeat them all, it would be better to take this opportunity to be captured together and find out more details about who these people were. Cheong-ra didn't even respond to Dang Ran-yeong's voice transmission. Dang Ran-yeong also stopped sending transmissions.

He resisted the opponents as desperately as possible. To deceive the enemies, he shouldn't show any signs that this was a trap. As Cheong-ra's resistance intensified, the leader wearing the iron mask ordered,

"Hurry! It doesn't matter if he gets a bit injured!"

No sooner had the words ended than the enemies' eyes turned fierce, and the formation of their encirclement changed. The atmosphere became more oppressive and heavy, and the sound-breaking force of the large man's staff grew even stronger. The moment the opponent swung down his staff, the small-built enemies threw iron chains.

Clank clank clank! The chains with weights flew towards both of his arms. Cheong-ra hurriedly deflected them, twisting the path of his sword that was about to cut the large man's arm, but one chain still managed to wrap around his arm. Taking advantage of that opening, the staff struck his waist and arm fiercely.

"Ugh!"

It was a shock and pain that made him dizzy. He gritted his teeth and suppressed a groan. Rather than trying to avoid the restraint, he lunged his body at the enemy who had entangled his arm with the iron chain. The enemy hastily retreated, but Cheong-ra's flashing blade cut off the enemy's arm first.

"Aaargh!"

The enemy screamed and collapsed to the ground. At this rate, it seemed he could take down all the enemies. Without time to wipe the blood off his sword, Cheong-ra nimbly turned his body. Blood sprayed into the air from the tip of his sword as it drew an arc. The large man's staff was already aiming for Cheong-ra's shoulder.

As he narrowly dodged it, this time a club came flying. At that moment, a scream from behind distracted Cheong-ra for a moment. Mu-hwa had already been overwhelmed by the iron-masked man and had fallen.

And that brief moment of distraction was a fatal mistake.

The heavy end of the staff struck Cheong-ra's leg. As a terrible pain rang out, a net flew and enveloped his entire body. While he was immobilized, tangled in the net, his pressure points were struck, and his consciousness was abruptly cut off.

***

An unbearable throbbing pain woke Cheong-ra. Though awake, he couldn't fully regain consciousness and only groaned, when he felt a cool and soft touch on his forehead. Sensing a presence, Cheong-ra opened his eyes.

"Ah..."

The young novice who had been wiping the sweat from his forehead with the hem of her robe opened her eyes wide as she looked at Cheong-ra. Then she smiled brightly.

"Devotee, you're awake!"

The novice was a child who looked to be about ten years old. As his leg was in severe pain, Cheong-ra remained still for a moment and carefully observed his surroundings.

He was lying in some kind of underground prison. As if carved out of a cave, both the floor and walls were uneven. A lamp hanging on the wall was the only source of light, and it wasn't very bright, so he had to concentrate his inner energy to see properly.

"Where is..."

"Ah, you shouldn't get up suddenly. You're injured."

As Cheong-ra tried to sit up, the child stopped him. Instead of forcing himself, he quietly checked his body's condition. Fortunately, apart from the unbearable pain in his leg, there didn't seem to be any major problems. Carefully moving his foot, it didn't seem to be broken. However, it hurt enough to make him suspect it might be cracked.

After taking a deep breath, Cheong-ra leaned to the side and pushed himself up from the floor. Fortunately, his pressure points had been released, but his wrists and ankles were bound with shackles and chains, making it difficult to move. The child quickly went to a corner and brought back a gourd bottle with water sloshing inside.

"Devotee, are you alright? Here, have some water."

"Thank you, young novice."

Cheong-ra smiled and accepted the gourd bottle. As he had been thirsty anyway, the cool water in the cave went down sweetly. After wetting his throat, Cheong-ra asked,

"You're a novice from the Hengshan Sect, aren't you?"

Surprised by this question, the child opened her eyes wide and asked,

"How did you know I'm from the Hengshan Sect?"

"Nun Mu-hwa sent me here."

"Really? Someone sent by Nun Mu-hwa... Does this mean we can leave this place now?"

The novice, who must have been confined here for at least two months, smiled brightly without showing any signs of depression. Then she pointed out to Cheong-ra,

"But Devotee, I'm not a young novice, I'm a female novice."

"Ah, so you're not a young novice."

Honestly, to Cheong-ra's eyes, she looked like nothing more than a cute young novice, but he didn't deny it and asked kindly,

"My name is Ye Cheong-cheong. What is your name, female novice?"

"Cho-yul, no, Mu-gyeol."

Mu-gyeol smiled shyly, seemingly not yet used to her Buddhist name. Then she took something out from her sleeve and held it out. It was three or four slightly dried red cornel berries. Cheong-ra gladly put the cornel berries in his mouth and chewed. They were berries with little sweetness and a very sour taste, but thanks to them, his mind fully returned.

Rising from his seat, Cheong-ra limped slowly around the small underground prison, examining it. Naturally, there was no sign of any opportunity for escape. Although he thought Dang Ran-yeong must have followed him well, he couldn't shake off an uneasy feeling.

'Moreover, I'm a bit afraid there might be consequences...'

No, to be honest, he couldn't tell whether he was afraid of or looking forward to the consequences from Dang Ran-yeong. Cheong-ra inwardly sighed once and turned to look at Mu-gyeol. Mu-gyeol was sitting crouched, fiddling with a small piece of wood. Finding her pitiful and cute, Cheong-ra smiled and asked,

"That's a nice carving."

"Martial Sister Mu-yeong made it for me!"

Mu-gyeol brightened up and lifted her head. As she held it up for a closer look, it was a wooden tag beautifully carved with a moon and clouds. Cheong-ra asked in a gentle voice,

"Is Martial Sister Mu-yeong here too?"

"Yes, but... today... I came here separately because I had to take care of you, Devotee."

Mu-gyeol said with a slightly gloomy face. Her tiny hand, like a fern frond, fiddled with the wooden carving, stroking the moon pattern.

"The people who imprisoned you here did that, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you know where the other nuns are?"

"Yes, over there... If you walk for a while, there's a wider area. They're all there."

Fortunately, it seemed that all the missing nuns from the Hengshan Sect were safe. Cheong-ra continued his questions while examining the iron bars of the prison cell.

What was life like here, what kind of people were the guards, and what were the rules? When he asked about their appearance and the surrounding environment, Mu-gyeol answered brightly. According to Mu-gyeol, this place was always under surveillance by guards all day long. However, they weren't starved, tortured, or abused, and food, clothing, and shelter were provided regularly.

'Do they usually put this much effort into human trafficking?'

All the human trafficking scenes Cheong-ra had raided before were invariably horrific. To reduce the strength to resist, food and drink were extremely limited, and harsh abuse continued daily, to the point where people frequently died shortly after being rescued.

Surprisingly, they had only confiscated Cheong-ra's weapon, not taking any of the money or accessories he had been carrying. That alone showed that money wasn't their objective. However, he didn't feel at all relieved by this.

Usually, what the criminal underworld pursues is wealth and power. Cheong-ra had never seen anyone from an evil sect who didn't covet money. They were the kind of people who would exploit commoners and try to extort as much as possible. But rather than human trafficking, which would be understandable, this situation was... There was one more thing he couldn't understand.

'Why on earth didn't they press my pressure points?'

No matter how much they had restricted his body with shackles and chains, he was still a martial artist. Moreover, Cheong-ra had reached the realm where he could injure people with his sword energy, meaning even a stick in his hand could become a weapon. Either they had underestimated his skills, or they were confident they could subdue him even in this state.