MTL NOVEL Chapter 21
Squeak-.
Inside the cold iron bars, Jin Gwangwoo was gritting his teeth, unable to contain his anger.
Normally, he might have been able to shatter these iron bars, but with his current suppressed inner energy, nothing was allowed to him.
However, he had not yet lost hope.
The reason was this.
‘The council of elders still remains.’
In the Taewon Jin Clan, the punishment of the main family members is decided by the council of elders.
‘In this situation, I can’t bribe them immediately.’
When the representative of the council of elders comes, he can explain the situation and avoid this crisis.
Moreover, the charges have not yet been confirmed.
That missing thousand ryang… It was actually money taken by the Royal Tax Office.
There is no evidence anywhere that he swallowed it.
Of course, if Jin Gayoung forges evidence again as she has done in the past, there will be no solution.
‘Before that happens, I need to somehow contact the council of elders.’
The only reason Jin Gwangwoo was imprisoned was that he lost his temper and caused a disturbance.
Still a minor offense.
He needed to reverse the situation before this minor offense grows due to Jin Gayoung’s machinations.
“Open the door.”
Just then, there was a sound outside the door.
The iron door opened, and a middle-aged man entered.
Upon seeing his attire, Jin Gwangwoo immediately knew that he was from the council of elders.
“Ah, you’ve arrived just in time! That’s wonderful!”
“Jin Cheongeom, what has happened here? Why are you like this? And those rumors spreading around?”
“You can ignore all that! Just listen to everything I’m about to say and relay it to the council of elders exactly as I say!”
“Ah, understood… please calm down…”
Jin Gwangwoo clung to the man’s pants and spilled out everything he knew—all the truths and circumstances.
All of it was Jin Gayoung’s scheming. The money wasn’t taken by him but was in the hands of the Royal Tax Office.
The contract was initially for two thousand ryang, and the documents Jin Gayoung presented were forged evidence.
The man quietly listened to everything from the beginning to the end.
“Ah, so that’s what happened. Now don’t worry. I’ll go back and inform the council of elders.”
The man clenched his fist with a show of determination and left the prison.
Squeak…!
“Huh? What’s that you’re holding?”
He returned to the prison with a club in hand.
And began mercilessly beating Jin Gwangwoo.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
“AAAARRGH!! AAAAH!! What… what are you doing?! Why are you doing this?!”
Whack! Whack! Whack!
“UUUURGH!! AAAAH!! Stop it! Stop it NOW!!”
Whack! Whack! Whack!
“AAAHHH!!! Ahh!! Just… just wait! Wait a moment!!!”
No matter how much he screamed, the man continued to swing the club mercilessly without any response.
After several hours,
Every part of his body was bruised, and every joint was aching terribly.
“Next time, you’d better talk properly.”
“Ghhh… uuuguuhh…”
“You don’t want to suffer more, right?”
Only then did the man stop his clubbing and leave the iron bars.
That night, Jin Gwangwoo gnashed his teeth in despair until late.
The next day.
A new man entered.
A man dressed in the robes of the council of elders.
“Uuhh…!”
Jin Gwangwoo weakly lifted his head to look at him, and the man quickly came to his side and helped him up.
“Ah, my lord! What in the world has happened to you?”
“Y-you… are you really… from the council?”
“What do you mean? What are these wounds?! This is terrible, we need to treat you immediately!”
“N-no! There’s no time for that!”
“Y-yes, yes?”
“Hurry! Go to the council of elders and relay everything I’m about to say! Not a single word wrong!”
Jin Gwangwoo once again spilled out everything he had said the previous day.
The only difference was that he was now even more desperate.
“…Do you understand? You’ve memorized everything?”
“Y-yes, yes… I’ve memorized every single word…”
“G-good! Then that’s settled! Hurry, go tell them before Gayoung gets a chance!”
“Y-yes… I understand…”
When the man left awkwardly, Jin Gwangwoo let out a sigh of relief.
Now, he would be free from that evil woman, Gayoung.
This naive thought was shattered in just a few seconds.
Squeak…!
Clearly the man dressed in the robes of the council of elders—someone he had seen yesterday—was holding the familiar stick.
Seeing the stick covered in his own blood from yesterday sent shivers down his spine.
“J-just a moment…”
“Tch, when will you face reality?”
“Don’t… come any closer! I said, stop!”
“And would you think I’d stop just because you say so? Haven’t things become clear to you yet?”
The man began to beat him with the stick in a different manner than the day before.
Even more painfully, even more fiercely.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
“AHHH!! KYAAHH!! KRRRAAHH!!”
Whack! Whack! Whack!
“KYAAHH!! Stop it! Please, stop!!!”
Whack! Whack! Whack!
“GRRHH!! P-please, stop… just stop already!!”
The stick battered his entire body except his mouth, which was not touched at all.
Jin Gwangwoo found that particularly frightening.
“Heh, I’m drenched in sweat.”
“Huuh… uuhh…”
“…Your side is bleeding quite a lot.”
Somehow, the time of the beating ended.
Alone again, Jin Gwangwoo shivered in fear.
It wasn’t just from the unbearable pain, but also from the realization.
He spent that night muttering hoarse cries of frustration.
The next day, a new man entered the prison.
Jin Gayoung was also there.
“…?”
Slowly lifting his unmoving neck, Jin Gayoung pointed at the man and said,
“He’s from the council of elders. They say they need to hear your side of the story from your uncle.”
“Oouuugh…”
“Why so surprised? Haven’t you been waiting for this with bated breath?”
“Urgh…!”
“You should hurry and speak. Your uncle didn’t commit any crimes, and he’s been waiting for this moment, right?”
“Ah… hhh, hhh…”
It was then that Jin Gwangwoo realized.
He would never escape Jin Gayoung’s grasp.
If he told the truth again, he would probably end up like he did the last two days—near death.
If he gets beaten again, he might really die this time.
“Bitch…”
“What? I can’t hear you. Your voice is too quiet. That way, how will the council of elders learn the truth?”
“…”
I don’t want to get beaten.
Besides, it’s probably fake anyway.
But what if it’s real?
If Jin Gayoung herself is here guaranteeing its authenticity, what if I lose this chance?
“Is… this really, really true?”
“Of course, he is from the council of elders, isn’t he?”
“Yes. I’ve come by the directive of the Grand Elder.”
It’s fake.
I shouldn’t trust it.
But his lingering desire to live was enough to rise up from the floor.
“Huhh… I’ll trust you…”
Of course, that day he was betrayed once more.
“KYAAAAHHHH!!! AAAHHHHHHH!!!”
In exchange for telling the truth, Jin Gwangwoo lost both his hands.
That night, Jin Gwangwoo soaked his iron bars with the tears of regret.
“Ah, my lord! Why are you in such a state?”
“You’re… a fake too…”
“What do you mean by that? Let me help you lie down! Goodness, how did it come to this…!”
“All… fake…”
They’re all the same.
They pretend to be from the council of elders, but when you tell the truth, they turn on you.
If I tell the truth again, I’ll get beaten again, just like the days before.
“Please… stop…”
“Lord! I am Jopilbang, a representative from the council of elders! Please, tell me everything you’ve experienced here!”
“It’s all… meaningless resistance…”
“What do you mean by meaningless? I don’t know what happened to you, but I will deliver your innocence to the council of elders! Then you can be released!”
“Ahhh… it hurts…!”
“…”
“Huhhh… AAAAAH…!”
A body without inner energy is so very frail.
A weak body makes for a weak mind.
Even knowing he hasn’t picked up the stick yet, his whole body begins to tremble.
“Lord… please, tell me! Only then can I help you!”
It’s a lie.
If I fall for his cunning tricks again, only pain from the stick bath awaits me.
“Please… leave me alone…”
“…”
“Go away! Just go away! Get out from in front of me!”
I don’t want to be beaten.
One more beating, and I’ll really die.
Besides, it’s probably fake anyway. What’s the point of telling the truth?
“I embezzled the money… please, just stop…”
Just dying peacefully would be better.
It was a mistake.
The man who came on the last day was genuine.
I chased away the only ‘real one.’
“Uncle, see this?”
Jin Gayoung held out a letter in front of me.
“It’s the judgment document. According to the Non-Intervention Agreement, the family will independently punish you without government’s involvement as stated here as well.”
“…”
“The verdict… is death. Acknowledging your own crime had a significant impact. It’s slightly disappointing that your body couldn’t be buried the same day as father’s.”
“…Even in death.”
“The day of execution is in three days. Do you remember that scruffy man with a beard who lives across the river? He’s been assigned to cut off your head.”
“In death… I will curse you! I will hate you! I will take revenge! Even after I die, I will haunt you as a vengeful ghost! I’ll make you suffer a miserable life until your death!”
That would be… the revenge for all the suffering I’ve endured.
“Still so spirited, huh?”
…?
“Even after spending three days in a place where no light or darkness can enter, I’m curious if you’ll still be this lively.”
No light or darkness can enter?
“Take him away. Bring him to the underground solitary confinement cell.”
“Understood.”
Wait. White Blade Wanderer, why are you coming in here?
I know you’re not on my side. I know you’ve been on Gayoung’s side all along. So why are you entering?
Flash.
Wait…! Where are you taking me?!
An underground solitary confinement cell… Y-you’re really going to bring me, Jin Cheongeom, there…?
…You’re serious?
“…” “!”
I made a mistake again.
I should not have said anything back then.
Clang!
Through eyelids swollen beyond recognition, darkness creeps in.
Thud!
Cold and confined, the floor touches my skin.
“Then, see you in three days.”
“…”
“…Why would you do something you can’t endure?”
After that, it was hell.
Was it because I was condemned to die or due to Jin Gayoung’s influence? They didn’t give me food.
Occasionally, someone came and gave me a bit of water, but it wasn’t enough to quench my unending thirst.
“Hhhr…”
How much time has passed?
It seems like a long time, but has it been three days yet?
Just thirty-six watches in total. Is it not yet over?
My sealed inner energy still hasn’t budged.
My arms are in a worse condition than being cut off and I can’t touch anything.
Am I really going to die like this?
Branded as a criminal of the family, I’ll die without even being offered a sacrifice on my altar.
“No…!”
I don’t want to.
Tomorrow, everything will end.
I was supposed to turn into a ghost to seek vengeance, but it seems I won’t even become a ghost.
Truly, am I really going to die?
This meaningless death?
Rustle.
The insects in the basement crawl all over my body.
If only I could see and touch them to fill my stomach.
“Uurgh…”
Even without eating anything, I feel the urge to vomit.
It’s blood, no doubt, judging from the burning sensation in my throat.
How did I end up like this?
Ten days ago, I, Jin Cheongeom, was still a respected elder of the Taewon Jin family.
“Am… I going… to die…?”
Today.
I cry tears of fear.
The fear of death is something no human can transcend.
“Sister, do you have some good news?”
“Hhuuh?”
Jin Gayoung’s voice reached me.
Is the time for my execution nearing?
…I’ve accepted it.
After crying my heart out, everything seems meaningless.
Just kill me quickly. End this pain swiftly.
Please—!
“The scruffy man caught a stomach ache. Thanks to that, your execution date is postponed by one day! Isn’t that great news?”
“…”
Am I not going to die today?
I’m going to die tomorrow then?
“Ah, of course… he could have another stomach ache tomorrow too, hehe.”
“Aaaaahh…!!”
That night, I threw my head against the dungeon wall.
I don’t know where the strength came from.
It was simply the one thought that I had to die immediately that compelled me to do so.
Revenge? That thought no longer crossed my mind.
*
“Uhm…?”
Jin Gwangwoo’s corpse was found.
Inside the dungeon where he had been confined, among a mixture of shattered brain matter, blood, and vomit.
It wasn’t a pretty sight, but Jin Gayoung was smiling contentedly at the sight.
With a pale-faced Jin Yeryeong by her side.
“Yeryeong, take a look at that.”
Jin Gwangwoo’s corpse, unlike when he was alive, had turned white-haired.
In just a few short days.
This reveals how much mental anguish he must have endured.
“Doesn’t it look rather funny? What do you think?”
“Uuh… uh, sister! I’m sorry…!”
“Yes, you should be sorry.”
“Please, spare my life! I’ll be your slave for the rest of my life…!”
“Tch, you know I want something else entirely, don’t you?”
“Uh, s-sister…!”
“Would you go to the Sacheon Tang Clan?”
Jin Gayoung.
She’s extraordinary.
Her actions aren’t something an eighteen-year-old should be capable of, yet she handles them with ease.
“I-I’ll go! I’ll leave tomorrow! I won’t come back!”
“That’s right. You should pack your luggage yourself? While I deal with our Yeryeong here.”
“Y-yes! That’s what I’ll do!”
With that fervent reply, Jin Yeryeong rushed out of the underground prison.
She must have already gathered the maids to pack her things by now.
“Auntie, what do you think?”
While envisioning that scene, Jin Gayoung asked me a question.
With a confident smile on her face.
“I said I’d show you my vengeance, didn’t I?”
“You did.”
“So, what do you think after observing it for a few days?”
“What do I think?”
“Yes, I’d like to hear your appraisal, from someone who was once a Sword Sage.”
“…It was quite impressive.”
It wasn’t bad.
That’s my honest opinion.