Chapter 170: Traces
I quietly stared beyond the opened wall.
Before my regression, I had lived for decades as an experimental subject of the Shadow Corps.
And yet...
I had never known exactly where that hell was located.
I had been dragged there blindfolded.
Transported while unconscious.
Whenever I woke up, I was always inside a dark underground prison.
The only clues I ever had were a few words occasionally let slip by Shadow Corps members.
An underground prison.
The Righteous Alliance.
Piecing together those fragments was the only reason I had ever vaguely suspected where the Shadow Corps might be located.
And now...
the sensation flowing from beyond this wall overlapped with those faint memories.
My body reacted before my mind did.
Decades spent as a Shadow Corps test subject had carved certain sensations deep into my flesh and bones.
And those instincts were telling me one thing.
This place was connected to the Shadow Corps.
“Haa.”
I steadied my breathing.
Then slipped through the opening.
Rumble.
The wall closed behind me.
Darkness swallowed everything.
The way back was sealed.
There was no turning around now.
Good.
I carefully stepped forward into the darkness.
The sensation beneath my feet told me what lay ahead.
Stairs leading underground.
One step.
Then another.
I continued descending through the lightless passage.
After a while, the stairs ended.
My foot touched flat ground.
Hm?
I couldn't help frowning.
Was it really this shallow?
This was far closer to the surface than the underground Shadow Corps facility I remembered.
I carefully examined the path ahead.
A long corridor stretched before me.
Oil lamps were embedded in the walls at regular intervals.
Following their dim light...
I moved deeper inside.
Eventually, I reached a small stone chamber at the end of the passage.
Two men were inside.
One was the Righteous Alliance warrior I had followed.
The man who had forced the black pill into Paeng Dohyeon's mouth.
Standing across from him was another man with his face hidden behind a black mask.
I concealed myself in the shadows just outside the chamber entrance.
“Paeng Dohyeon has been dealt with.”
The Righteous Alliance warrior spoke.
The masked man nodded.
“You made certain of it?”
“Yes.”
He bowed.
“I confirmed that his heart meridians had stopped.”
Then he added,
“Even if the physicians examine him, they will conclude that he died from a sudden reversal of qi and blood.”
The masked man let out a short breath.
“Hmm.”
“He should have died in the Demon Expulsion Pavilion in the first place.”
The Righteous Alliance warrior lowered his head.
“My apologies.”
“It seems the dosage still isn't perfectly adjusted.”
“It isn't your fault.”
The masked man shook his head.
“We were forced to use an unfinished product in a hurry.”
An unfinished product.
Experimentation.
My fist clenched before I realized it.
Arms and legs bound to a cold table.
People forcing pills down my throat while I couldn't move.
Memories I'd wanted to forget flashed briefly through my mind.
Then the masked man's voice reached me again.
“If Baek Cheongu were still alive...”
He sighed.
“the drug's effects would never have gone this far off course.”
Baek Cheongu?!
Blood Physician Butcher Baek Cheongu.
The monster of the Shadow Corps who had toyed with countless human lives in the name of experimentation.
And the murderous bastard I killed with my own hands.
His name had just been spoken here.
That alone made it certain.
Those two men...
and this place...
were connected to the Shadow Corps.
I wanted to draw my sword immediately and cut off both their heads.
But I forcibly suppressed the killing intent rising inside me.
Not yet.
I needed to hear more.
I needed to know what the hell they were planning.
The masked man spoke again.
“Regardless, we achieved our objective.”
His voice was calm.
“The Demon Expulsion Pavilion was stained with blood.”
“The martial world will no longer doubt the threat posed by the Demonic Cult.”
The Righteous Alliance warrior bowed.
“There is one concern.”
“Kunlun’s Young Hero.”
The masked man tilted his head.
“Han Mujin?”
“Yes.”
The warrior continued,
“If not for him, matters would never have become this troublesome.”
“No one expected a man believed dead in Falling Death Valley to return alive.”
He paused.
“Much less take the position of Commander of the Demon Expulsion Unit.”
“It is true that he became an unexpected variable.”
The masked man released a short breath.
“But all that happened was that our schedule was moved forward slightly.”
His voice remained calm.
“The Demon Expulsion Unit had to move eventually anyway.”
What did that mean?
Things were moved forward because of me?
I listened even more closely.
But instead of elaborating...
their conversation shifted elsewhere.
“Shall we inspect the holding area as well?”
the Righteous Alliance warrior asked.
“Yes.”
The masked man nodded.
“Considering the operation to come, we should confirm it.”
The operation?
The word immediately gave me a bad feeling.
A moment later, both men approached the wall opposite them.
An old iron door stood there.
The Righteous Alliance warrior placed a hand against the wall beside it.
Click.
Metal mechanisms interlocked from behind the door.
Then the iron door slowly opened inward.
Both men disappeared through it.
I quietly followed.
The moment I stepped through the iron door...
my feet stopped.
...I'm back.
An unforgettable sight stretched before me.
Iron bars lined both sides of a long corridor.
The smell of cold metal reached my nose.
Mixed faintly with blood.
And medicinal herbs.
The hell where I had rotted away for decades...
stood before me again.
It looked almost exactly like the underground prison of the Shadow Corps.
My fingertips trembled.
Fear?
Rage?
I couldn't tell which emotion was rushing through my body.
I inhaled deeply.
Calm down.
I was no longer a Shadow Corps test subject.
I was Kunlun’s Young Hero.
Commander of the Demon Expulsion Unit.
Han Mujin.
Someone who had returned to life to destroy this hell.
I steadied my breathing and carefully looked around.
Then, after a moment...
I noticed something strange.
...This isn't the place where I was imprisoned.
The structure was certainly similar.
The arrangement of the cells.
The iron bars.
The metal rings embedded in the walls.
Almost identical to the underground Shadow Corps prison I remembered.
But—
The scale is different.
The underground prison from my memories had been far larger.
So vast I had never been able to grasp its full size.
And there was one thing above all else that convinced me this was not the same place.
There's no one here.
The interior was empty.
No screams from experimental subjects constantly echoing through the cells.
No sound of fingernails scraping against iron bars.
Only then did I understand.
This wasn't the main Shadow Corps facility where I had once been imprisoned.
But the purpose is probably the same.
Maybe this was simply another underground prison belonging to the Shadow Corps.
Then—
I spotted the two men ahead.
I activated Void Night Shadow Step and approached while concealed in the shadows.
The masked man and the Righteous Alliance warrior stood before the empty cells.
The masked man spoke.
“You cleared this place faster than expected.”
The other man answered,
“Yes. As ordered, we emptied the interior as much as possible.”
“Good.”
The masked man nodded.
“The eastern section is complete now.”
“The western section will be finished soon as well.”
The Righteous Alliance warrior asked,
“Will that be enough to prepare for the operation?”
The masked man nodded.
“It will be enough until the Demon Expulsion Unit begins moving.”
The moment I heard the words Demon Expulsion Unit...
my thoughts turned cold.
The organization supposedly created to protect the future of the martial world.
Why was its name being spoken here?
The masked man continued.
“Once the Demon Expulsion Unit begins operating...”
“many people will be brought in under accusations of being connected to the Demonic Cult.”
The warrior smiled faintly.
“Those who colluded with the Demonic Cult.”
“Those contaminated by demonic qi.”
Then—
“And some of them will be recorded as having died during interrogation.”
“Correct.”
The masked man nodded.
“The world will believe they were remnants of the Demonic Cult who were punished accordingly.”
The Righteous Alliance warrior's smile twisted.
“But in reality...”
He looked toward the empty cells.
“they'll be brought down here.”
I clenched my teeth.
So this was why they'd created the Demon Expulsion Unit?
They intended to use its name to arrest people.
On the surface...
they would claim to be eliminating remnants of the Demonic Cult.
But their true objective was to secure experimental subjects.
They planned to exploit the righteous faction's fear and anger...
and sacrifice countless innocent people.
Fucking bastards.
I wanted to rush out right now.
Break both their necks.
Expose this entire place to the world.
But—
Don't rush.
This place was empty.
Even if I revealed its existence right now...
people might not believe me.
The Righteous Alliance had probably already prepared excuses.
A prison for captured Demonic Cult members.
A secret detention facility for the Demon Expulsion Unit.
A quarantine area for those contaminated by demonic qi.
They could invent any justification they wanted.
An accusation without evidence would only give Moyong Cheonhwi an excuse to remove me.
I needed to dig deeper.
Who had built this place?
How far did it extend?
I needed to find the root.
After finishing his inspection, the masked man turned.
“You return upstairs.”
The Righteous Alliance warrior bowed.
“Understood.”
“And continue watching Kunlun’s Young Hero.”
The warrior hesitated.
“Do you believe he's noticed something?”
“Not yet.”
The masked man's voice lowered.
“But he was supposed to die to Young Master Moyong in Falling Death Valley.”
Then—
“We need to determine why he continues hiding what happened that day...”
“and what he intends to do now that he has come this far.”
The Righteous Alliance warrior bowed.
“I obey.”
With that...
the two men split up.
The Righteous Alliance warrior headed back toward the surface.
The masked man entered another dark passage.
I already knew who I would follow.
I had seen the Righteous Alliance warrior's face.
If he truly belonged to the Alliance...
I could find him again later, even if it took time.
He wasn't the one I needed right now.
This isn't the time to chase branches.
He was merely a subordinate taking orders.
I immediately followed the masked man.
The masked man walked through the underground passage with familiar steps.
Several times, he pressed protruding stones in the walls and passed through hidden doors.
The winding corridors continued endlessly.
I maintained a fixed distance while following him.
I wasn't sure how much time had passed.
Eventually...
the damp air unique to underground spaces began to fade.
In its place came a faint fragrance.
Not long afterward...
the masked man stopped before a wall.
Without hesitation, he reached out and pressed a protruding stone.
Rumble.
A deep vibration sounded.
The wall opened.
Beyond it was a completely different space.
Silk folding screens.
Neatly arranged books.
An elegant bed and table.
It couldn't have been more different from the dark underground passage behind us.
The masked man quickly stepped inside.
Using Void Night Shadow Step, I slipped in after him.
The wall closed again.
The masked man remained still for a moment, carefully checking for any presence outside.
I concealed myself within the shadows of the room and watched him.
He didn't seem to imagine for even a moment that someone had followed him all the way through the hidden passage.
Eventually...
he appeared satisfied.
The masked man raised one hand.
Then slowly began untying the black cloth covering his face.
The cloth slipped down.
His face was revealed.
So you were Shadow Corps too.
A familiar face appeared before my eyes.
The man beneath the mask...
was someone who had been standing beside Moyong Cheonhwi only recently.
An elder of the Righteous Alliance.
One of Moyong Cheonhwi's trusted confidants.
Heo Seongbaek.
