Dark Sky Lord

“Please tell me.” Mu-Ryeong said.

Yu Baek-Ha whispered as he opened his mouth.

“If you ever need to go to the White Cloud Confucian Academy, look at the eastern wall inside the library. There might be a newly painted area. Peel off the paint there, and you will find three thin copper plates. It's what came out of the cover when I burned the book with a candle. Think of it as my final gift and take it. And...”

Three copper plates.

He didn't know how valuable it was, but it wasn't worth more than a fistful of rice to Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong in Room 18 in Secret Prison.

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong stopped walking by Yu Baek-Ha's side and waited for him to finish speaking.

Yu Baek-Ha looked at Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong with calm eyes. And as he planted his final words in Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong's mind, he closed his eyes.

“From now on, you must never forget that you are human.”

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong's eyes trembled.

But his hand, filled with determination, did not tremble at all as it approached Yu Baek-Ha's pulse.

'I won't forget.'

* * *

That night, as darkness deepened.

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong put the twelve sheets of sheepskin paper into the liquid container. When about half of the sheepskin paper was put into the liquid container, it swelled up.

He took out the swollen sheepskin paper and patted it firmly. Even the traces of the written characters were unrecognizable.

And after a moment.

He cautiously took out the bed that still smelled of his father's sweat from the stone room of his residence.

Swoosh.

On the floor where the bed had been removed, there were faint square-shaped marks about the size of a stone.

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong placed the torch he was holding on one side. Then, he inserted a knife into the place where the mark was made, slowly scraping it so as not to make any sound.

After scraping it about ten times, the tip of the knife slipped into a gap between the stone slabs.

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong stopped his movement and took a slow breath. Then, he slowly twisted the knife upwards.

Squeak......

As the stone slab lifted slightly, a cold breeze seeped out through the narrow gap.

Shhh......

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong, who had inserted a rod as thick as a finger into the open gap, let go of the knife and grabbed the stone slab with both hands.

The stone plate rose up.

Whooiiing!

In an instant, the wind grew stronger and the distant blood revealed itself.

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong looked down at the blood with deeply sunken eyes.

It was the blood that his father had accidentally discovered.

'He said that he was trying to move the bed to another place, but he accidentally broke the floor.'

His father said that he removed another stone plate to cover up the blood he found.

Fortunately, no one suspected anything.

Well, who would find it strange that someone tore off a stone plate when they didn't even know what was inside the room?

After that, his father would enter the blood room with a torch whenever he had time. And he said that he discovered a glimmer of hope there and prepared something for several years.

That was already sixteen years ago.

But his father couldn't carry out his prepared plan. He was born before he could complete all his plans.

But... now he will walk that path himself.

Even his father doesn't know what lies at the end of that path.

Perhaps it is a shortcut to hell.

But he cannot avoid going.

When tomorrow comes, Nam Jo-Gyeong will come.

He knows better than anyone else that he won't just take the Thousand Characters Martial Scripture.

The best way to keep a secret is to eliminate the person who knows the secret.

Didn't father end his own life for the same reason? To save his son.

'You won't be able to take anything. Not the Interpretation of the Thousand Characters Martial Scripture, not my life. My death... I will decide it myself.'

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong, with a wicked smile, looked down at his blood pool.

The diameter of the blood pool was slightly over two characters, and below six characters, there was a perfect darkness where nothing could be seen.

According to father's words, even if there is no light in the passage, you can still pass through it.

But at the end, there must be light.

He picked up a torch that was stuck on one side and threw it into the blood pool.

The torch fell endlessly downward and suddenly disappeared somewhere.

From the faint light that could be seen, it seemed that it hadn't gone out.

“Hooohhh....”

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong took a deep breath and hung a small leather pouch around his neck. It was the pouch that contained what his father cherished.

Then he cautiously entered into the blood pool.

Step by step...

He slowly pulled the legs of the bed into the blood in his chest.

And only after confirming that the bed was perfectly in place, he inserted his body even deeper.

With only his arms and head remaining, he reached out and pulled the stone slab up.

Soon, the stone slab was placed back in its original position.

Thud!

With that sound, silence fell over Room 18 in Secret Prison.

As he descended further down, the passage became slightly wider. It wasn't uncomfortable to go down while holding onto both sides with his hands.

But the real challenge was just beginning now.

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong used his hands and feet to support himself as he went down, down.

The winding passage seemed to stretch for about fifteen or sixteen yards. It took some time to pass through there.

Perhaps due to tension, his whole body became sweaty and sticky.

The wider the passage became, the more strength it required.

It was fortunate that he could examine the walls in the faint light that shone from below.

He could grab onto the protrusions with his hands at intervals.

As we descended a few more steps, I heard a sound that seemed to be coming out of a narrow hole in the wind.

Shiiii......

'We're almost there.'

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong carefully descended downwards.

Then, at some point, when his foot was about to step on the wall, nothing caught on it and suddenly the center shook.

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong quickly grabbed the wall with his hand and exerted strength, lifting his lowered foot again.

It seemed like we had reached the end of the passage that my father had mentioned.

'It's about this long in height.'

He bowed his head and looked down below.

Thanks to a torch that was lying on one side, the surroundings were quite bright, but below his feet was a considerably wide space.

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong released the strength from his hand and jumped down below.

As soon as he landed on the ground, a muffled sound escaped from his mouth.

“Ah!”

Naturally formed, it was a natural cave with a width of about eight Zhang. Underneath the opposite wall, an underground river was flowing.

The width of the gently swaying underground river was about six Zhang. The waves reflected by the torch seemed to be alive and swaying.

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong, who had been staring at that sight for a while, took a deep breath and turned his head.

He heard the sound of strong wind blowing from a corner.

It was the sound of water draining through a hole at the end of the underground waterway.

He glanced at that place for a moment and then turned his body.

He saw a fairly wide and flat rock. On top of it, there were items his father had prepared.

For his son.

His chest felt tight and his eyes welled up with tears.

'Father...'

“Your father put wind into a large water barrel made of sheepskin and hung it on a long rope he made for five years. The length of the rope was hundreds of sheets. But it flowed without any obstacles until it all unraveled.”

In other words, the waterway wasn't so narrow that a person couldn't pass through.

“After that, he secretly told Yeom Devil. He said that on days when blood spurts out from nearby lakes or rivers, it means the life force is too strong, so don't wander around recklessly and stay in the room. Kukuku, then he collected a large amount of blood and let it flow several times.”

That's what Yeom Devil said when he came one day with a serious expression.

“There is a lake about twenty li away to the east, which flows into the Bun-Ha River. There is a rumor that blood spurts out from there.”

After telling me that story, my father taught me a martial art called Fish Hiding Trace Technique.

Among the people my father tortured, there was a man named Ho Sang who had been active in the Yellow River. It was a martial art he learned from Ho Sang, who was a water ghost.

Ho Sang said that thanks to that martial art, he could hold his breath for a long time even underwater.

I have overcome several life-threatening situations by mastering that martial art. Just like when I learned other martial arts, I endured it until my father's words came.

Thanks to that, I can hold my breath for a long time just like Ho Sang.

Of course, that alone may not be enough to pass through the waterway.

The waterway may suddenly narrow and become impassable, or there may be no place to breathe in the middle, and I may end up floating on the river or lake dead.

But there is no other way.

Even if there is only a one in ten chance of survival, I have to do it.

Sitting still and being killed by them is not an option.

'I trust my father's judgment. I will definitely survive!'

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong took a deep breath and put on the leather armor his father had prepared.

It was a solid leather armor that could protect him from head to toe. He had prepared it just in case he got injured while escaping through the waterway.

After putting on the armor, he placed two items inside it.

One was a set of three air pouches made of sheepskin and coated with oil. The other was a leather pouch that he had thrown in first.

With all the preparations complete, Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong walked to the end of the underground waterway.

There, he found an enormous amount of rope rolled up in a circle, with one end tied to a rock.

It was a rope made by combining the ropes obtained from prisoners over several years with their clothes and hair mixed in.

According to his father, there were about a thousand lengths of rope, so if he held onto the rope and went, he should be able to go about halfway without being swept away by the current.

Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong tied the last remaining air pouch to the end of the rope. Then he let it flow into the water.

How much time had passed? The rope was halfway untied.

Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any tangles.

Finally, Dok-Go Mu-Ryeong took a deep breath and activated the Fish Hiding Trace Technique. Then, after confirming that the rope was completely untied, he grabbed onto it and walked towards the underground river.

Now, there was no one to trust except for the rope his father had made and himself.

The sky had never been on his side since the day he was born.

* * *

Nam Jo-Gyeong stood up from his seat and headed towards the Secret Prison.

He could have waited until morning, but he couldn't sit still because of his impatience.

Or rather, an inexplicable sense of unease urged his footsteps.

The reason he had taken the position of Guild Master of Bi-Hwa was not simply because of his high martial art technique. It was because of his superior judgment and keen senses compared to others.

'Why do I feel so uneasy?'

The castellan said a while ago.

"It's not a fake, but it's really difficult to understand the interpretation. Many people have tried to decipher the Thousand Characters Martial Scripture for countless years, but it's truly a difficult puzzle. Maybe we should keep him alive and ask for more details."

It's not just half interpretation, but the interpretation of ninety percent of the scripture. The castellan, who is a master of the highest level, personally researched it for almost a hundred days. With that level of effort, there must be some results.

'Is the martial art technique of Thousand Characters Martial Scripture really that difficult?'

Although there is still one day left, the interpretation should be finished by now.

If I offer it to the castellan, what conclusion will be reached?

Whether the Thousand Characters Martial Scripture is nonsense, there is a problem with the interpretation, or it is just that difficult.

In that case, I have to interrogate him again to find out everything.

But if the interpretation is finished, there is a possibility that the Little Devil will kill him. I had to prevent that.

'Surely he hasn't been killed yet, right?'