As Prophet - Chapter 137



Only Krnovel

Episode 137. Infiltration

The leaders of the three military departments, Hanseongbu, and Gyeonggi Gamyeong gathered in one place. The silence, as thin as ice, seemed like it would break at any moment. The new king said nothing, and Yu Seok-do, the central figure in the work, also remained silent. The long silence made me wonder if I had done something wrong. Unable to bear it any longer, the Hanseong Pan-yun bowed to the new king.

“We have responded to the summons. What should we do?”

The new king smiled gently.

“Please wait a moment. Just a moment… … .”

“Is there anyone else coming?”

“I called the king, but he seems to have a lot of work to do. Let’s wait.”

“I wonder why you called me here.”

“It is war.”

“Huh? What kind of war is this in this peaceful land…?”

A deep shadow of distrust covered the face of Hanseong Pan-yoon, who could not continue speaking. He talks about war too easily. Isn’t that what people who don’t know war say? How many people die and how many innocent civilians are sacrificed? The number of civilians who are killed in battle is several times more than the number of casualties. War is something that should never be accepted. Some people rationalize it with justification, but war is something that should never be accepted.

I thought that since the rebellion was successful, he was now going to suppress those who opposed him with force. What kind of war was this? He came because I called him, and he bowed because he was the new king. But he had not bowed in his heart yet. If necessary, if there was another opportunity, he thought he should protect His Majesty who had abdicated and set things right.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, and the new king was calm. He was not a bloodthirsty demon who had just succeeded in a rebellion. His quiet, rational, and gentle appearance seemed betraying. It could be because of the joy of becoming the king I had dreamed of.

The eunuch of Daejeon came in and said, ‘He will be here soon.’

“Where?”

“I heard he just entered the palace.”

“Where did you go?”

The king’s question is mixed with irritation. Everyone thinks that what I do is the most important and necessary. Few people know that I do the most trivial things without meaning. Sometimes I know and order it, and sometimes I don’t know and it’s handed down to me. In any case, because I do it, I think it’s right and necessary and should take precedence over anything else.

The new king now found himself always taking a backseat to the command of his subordinates, even though he should have done so, and of course he knew that they were doing it for him, but he hoped that if he were given the throne, he would be able to take charge of things by giving them form and support.

* * *

Meanwhile, Dalcheon ran to the place called Jeon-ga (傳家) that Yu Seok-do had been chasing. He hid his body, made no sound, and sneaked inside. He climbed over the wall like a snake without making a sound, and stuck to the wall, flowing like sticky water. He climbed up the pillar, hung on the beam, and lay down, becoming the same shape as the tree. In an instant, he flew from this building to the roof of the building on the other side. He was so fast that it seemed to appear on the other side the moment he disappeared on this side.

Jeon-ga was a large manor decorated like the house of a wealthy nobleman of the previous era. The outer wall was surrounded by houses, and a high wall was built, and then, like a palace, corridors and walls were connected to divide the area, and a pavilion and a pavilion were built. There were quite a few people in one hall, an annex, and a surrounding corridor, and more than half of them were military personnel. There was a wide yard like a training ground, and a horse stable was attached to the side. It was like a small country with everything inside. Among the hundreds of people bustling around, there were quite a few masters, so their movements were cautious. This was because the masters’ energies were very sensitive.

The most difficult thing was the deathly swarm hiding everywhere. They were hiding in secret places, and they were reducing their breath as if they were inanimate objects rather than people. They were occupying the space where Dalcheon was trying to hide and move, so I found them right away, but if I had approached without paying attention, I would have been caught by them. It was unclear whether they were preventing outside intrusions or watching insiders. They increased in number as I approached, and it seemed like there were more than a few dozen in total. I thought they were the assassins who had attacked the army before.

Dalcheon tilted his head. If they had mobilized all of them, killing one Grand Prince would have been no problem, but he couldn’t think of a reason why they failed. Maybe their goal wasn’t to kill the Grand Prince, but to create a situation between the Crown Prince and the Grand Prince. He felt that their true purpose wasn’t a political reason like ‘protecting the Crown Prince and killing the Grand Prince’. He was concerned that the setting was too excessive compared to the goal. The organization was too big. It seemed to exist for a bigger purpose.

There were guys wearing black clothes and black hats. They were like those with omnipotent power, and they were moving around the inside without any hesitation. Many of them were active in certain spaces, but there was no place where they were not. Above all, their clothing was similar to that of a mountain man, so they caught my eye. Compared to what they were wearing, their martial arts skills were poor.

I sneaked up on the guy who was going to the side or going back, pressed the blood pressure on the back of his neck, and snatched his clothes and put them on. I should have chosen someone with a similar body type, but he was a little bigger. I slightly raised my arms, roughly matched them, and then confidently went forward. I used the authority of the guys who could go anywhere to approach the deepest places. I headed to the places where the experts were hiding and I couldn’t approach.

I safely passed through, carrying a long mat rolled up against the fence on my shoulder and struggling to get through, and found myself in the central hall of a large pavilion in the middle of a wide yard.

I heard all the sounds. I checked the hidden side of my feet. I turned around and set up a mat behind me and untied the rope. While I was stepping on the long, curved part of the floor, I heard that they were gathering soldiers and planning to attack the palace. I still didn’t know what their true purpose was. I even heard that there was something called the Northern Army, and that since the timing wasn’t right, they were gathering the private soldiers of several comrades to attack the palace and set things straight.

As Dalcheon approached the side door facing the back, a guy wearing identical clothes shook his chin.

“You’re new.”

“Yes.”

“Why did you bring that?”

“How would I know? I brought it when you told me to.”

“This is not the right place.”

“why?”

“Phew. Go ask Haengsu. Why he says no.”

“Ugh. I was just trying to hide and rest for a bit. But I ended up staying up all night… … .”

The path was marked with black stones behind the wide main hall, and the surrounding grass was cut short, giving it a clean feel. It led to a lush forest of trees beyond the wall. This must have been Eunmyeon’s residence.

“Go somewhere else.”

“yes.”

Dalcheon’s lower body, visible from below wearing a hat, is clean and beardless. He must have known that I was young, so he treated me kindly.

“There’s a small guesthouse under the wall over there. There’s no one there right now, so you can rest there and go.”

“aha!”

Dalcheon grabbed the hem of her long skirt and headed toward the place he had mentioned with a carefree gesture. The lodgings were in a great location, with a view of the entire palace, and were hidden from view from the outside by the fence and trees.

I sat down and slowly expanded my sense of smell. Although the distance was a bit far, I could sense all the movements in the area through Dalcheon’s sense of smell. It wasn’t just the sounds that I could hear, but the breathing, the energy, and even the emotions were so close that I could almost touch them.

The feeling of the guy called Eunmyeon was a bit unique. It felt like a deep, dark cave, but I couldn’t tell how deep it was. It wasn’t the type of internal energy that is commonly referred to.

‘What is it? I feel like I’m seeing this for the first time in my life.’

The black cloud-like energy expanded and contracted, and its intervals were similar to a person’s breathing. If I let out my energy to check it out, I was worried I would be caught. I decided to postpone it to another day and sneaked out. I went back the way I came, crossed the buildings, corridors, alleys, and main streets, and left Jeon-ga. I went into the enemy’s den and escaped easily.

“Phew.”

* * *

When he returned to the palace, he heard that the king had called him. He had been visiting him often since the first day. Dalcheon entered through the side door and bowed like everyone else.

“Your Majesty, I have received your order… … .”

“That’s enough examples. Come here.”

About twenty high-ranking officials stared at Dalcheon. I thought I knew some of the officials, but except for Yu Seok-do and Naegeumwijang Jo Dong-gil, they were faces I had never seen before. There were both military and government officials. The king made the introductions.

“These are the adults from Hanseongbu, Gyeonggi Gamyeong, and Samgunbu that you mentioned.”

“Aha! I see.”

Dalcheon bowed his head to those divided into civil and military branches. The king introduced them again.

“I am the true master, Wangsa Wuheo.”

Only then did the crowd realize why the king had been waiting. Someone had said that he was the greatest warrior of this era… …. A man who had crossed the line that no human could cross. A man whose former king, who had become the king, had tried very hard to make him his man, but had refused everything. A man who did not need wealth or fame, who existed solely on his own.

But his appearance was too ordinary. A person like that should have a bright backlight or an aura that catches people’s eyes, but he was no different from the young bachelors who run around the author all day long. His slightly loose uniform was different from the Hanyang custom of wearing tight-fitting clothes. He seemed to have a clumsy side that was somewhat behind the times and therefore ignorant of the ways of the world.

I don’t say anything, but it’s uncomfortable. It’s uncomfortable to have someone like that at an official meeting, and I don’t like spending time with someone like that, who is so incompetent and unqualified.

While I was waiting for the situation to pass with a blank expression, Dalcheon looked around and asked.

“Nice to meet you, but I guess something more urgent is going on. So, have you come up with a defense plan?”

The crowd does not answer and just looks at the king.

“I didn’t conduct the meeting because I was waiting for you to come.”

“Oh, then nothing yet… … .”

“That’s right.”

“Then let’s meet. We don’t have time.”

The mayor of Hanseong coughed in vain, as if the situation was uncomfortable, and asked.

“Ahem, adventure. You said it was war, but you don’t even know who the enemy is.”

Yes, I may not know. There is no reason to think that other people have the same amount of information as me. Dalcheon looked around at those who had the same expression as him and then stared at the Hanseong Panyun. When he realized that Dalcheon did not know him, he briefly revealed himself.

“I am the mayor of Hanseong.”

“oh!”

Dalcheon let out an exclamation of wonder.

“It’s my first time meeting you. So you are the one who rules Hanyang.”

Even with the half-ridiculous tone of voice, the mayor of Hanseong was not shaken.

“I do not want to call it ruling, but rather serving the people.”

He is a person with his own thoughts. How many civil servants out of a million can say that? Half of them would think that they are just doing their job after receiving money and that it has nothing to do with you, and the other half would just hope that no troublesome things will happen while making complaints. There are more people who work with the thought that they are secretly ruling, and they don’t have the thought of serving.

Dalcheon couldn’t blame him for not being aware of the situation at all. An explanation was needed.

“You probably know what happened last night, so I’ll explain it a little more. The reason I raised my troops was because of the continuous assassinations. Yesterday, about 500 people attacked, but it wasn’t an assassination, it was a civil war. Fortunately, the training center’s troops and Yang Ju-hyeon’s troops helped us repel the enemy.

I thought that this could not go on, so I went to the palace, the starting point and the root cause of all this. I wanted to set things right. Shouldn’t the head of a country try to assassinate the grand prince, who was a rival to the throne?

Although he is the king, it is regrettable from the people’s point of view that he would take the throne by privately killing a rival who might be better at serving the people. Therefore, he received a letter of confession and, with the approval of His Majesty the King, executed him.

But I found out that he used an organization called Il-dae-gye. Il-dae-gye is a group of people who want to ascend to heaven. That heaven is the seat of His Majesty the King who sits on the throne. The deposed crown prince used them, but he was foolish, so I think he was actually used by them. He was fooled by the clumsy cooperation of those who wanted to put a foolish crown prince on the throne and manipulate and swing the state affairs as they pleased.”