Invitation to the Chatroom of the Gods - Chapter 36



Only Krnovel

Episode 36 – The Way of the Four Heavenly Kings (2)

The Sacheondangmun’s method of assassinating the Great King of the Jang River Surochae.

It was clearly the most rational and ideal way in terms of efficiency.

But on the other hand, there were also some questionable points.

“Even if it’s not this way, wouldn’t it be cleaner to report it to the authorities and resolve the issue?”

The Yangtze River is a great river that runs across the world, and its blocking here meant that traffic between the Gangbuk and Gangnam regions was blocked.

This meant that not only would logistics be completely cut off, but local officials, envoys, and messengers dispatched by the imperial family would also be unable to pass through the Yangtze River, which meant that the communication network between the imperial family and the local regions would also be cut off.

There is no way the government office would stand by and watch the waters of the Yangtze River being destroyed.

So, reporting it to the authorities would solve the problem cleanly. It would be a more efficient and rational method than assassination.

“I wonder if those guys from the Tang clan haven’t thought about that.”

Of course, Sacheondangmun was not unaware of these facts.

“As you said, the government will not stand by and watch a group of people seize control of the Yangtze River. What does it mean to leave them alone?”

“Are you saying that······the government offices are all in the same boat?”

“Uni, you have never left Gangseo-seong, so you wouldn’t know.”

I’m twenty-one years old.

I was not that young, turning twenty-two next year, but I had never left Gangseo Province in my life.

Because I was born with a talent called Cheonryeojiche, I was born weak, and I almost never left ‘Uihwang’, which is where my village belongs.

“Officials are not as upright and honest as those in Jiangxi Province. And Jiangxi Province wasn’t much different in the past.”

“That means…”

“This is something that only you, your father, and I know. It was originally a secret I intended to take to the grave, but I think it would be okay for me to tell you, Yun.”

My grandfather, Park Jin-hyeon, knew my father before I was born. He was a person who helped my father settle down in the village, and just as my grandfather treated me when I got hurt, my father also often received treatment from my grandfather, Park Jin-hyeon.

The person who knew my father better than I did was my grandfather, Jin-Hyeon Park.

“Twenty years ago, the lord of Gangseo Province was murdered.”

This is a story I’ve heard before.

Of course, I didn’t know the details because I was so young, but it was a fact I knew nonetheless.

Not long after I was born, the lord of Gangseo Province was murdered.

The current Lord of Gangseo Province was the one who had taken over the vacant position of Lord of the Province at that time on a ‘temporary’ basis. However, he is still in the position of Lord of the Province because of his outstanding ability and his honesty in dealing with both public and private matters.

Just by looking at the fact that someone like Ju Gwan-cheon was sitting in the position of inspector general, you could tell what kind of person the current governor of Gangseo Province was.

“It was your father who did it.”

“······yes?”

It was a fact that I had no idea about at all.

Your father rarely spoke of anything related to you.

“At that time, the governor of Jiangxi Province was a corrupt official who committed many evil acts. Since the governor was like that, the other officials of Jiangxi Province were also like that.”

“······.”

“In Gangseo Province, people were dying of starvation every day. It was not uncommon to see people who could not stand the hunger and even ate human flesh.”

“······.”

“It was terrible. It was so horrible. And yet, the lord of Gangseo Castle enjoyed the banquet every day. Your father… couldn’t just stand by and watch that happen.”

A dazed mind.

I couldn’t believe that my father had done such a thing. But I didn’t think that Grandpa Park Jin-Hyeon was lying.

That would be the case, my father had once said so.

About 15 years ago, when I first picked up a sword under my father.

My father said to me.

[Un-ah, in the past, a man named Tang drove out Geul and became king.

King Wu defeated Zhou and became king.

So, people said.

How can it be considered chivalrous for a subject to assassinate his own king?

However, this father thinks a little differently.

Those who harm benevolence are called traitors, and those who harm righteousness are called thieves. Those who harm others are nothing more than beasts.

Tang and King Mu killed the ‘beast’, not the ‘king’, this father thinks.]

Then my father said,

He said he once saw a child beaten to death by the magistrate.

The reason was that he blocked the magistrate’s path.

The child’s father is said to have reported the case to the authorities, claiming that it was unfair. The authorities ignored him, but the father did not move from the office for a day or night.

It was the evening of a late afternoon when the day and night were coming to an end.

The father was only able to get his child beaten just enough to keep him from dying and then be driven away. The father, now a corpse, buried his child in the ground in solitude.

They say it was one of those damn cold winter days like today.

The ground was frozen and there was no digging. There were no hoes or plows.

Abi had nothing.

Father’s fingernails were broken and bleeding. The flowing blood soaked the frozen ground. Only Father’s tears, sitting down and flowing, melted the frozen ground.

The size of the pine ground was too large to bury a child.

It is said that it was not until the next day that the father found out the reason.

······The father was buried next to his dead child.

My father said he once saw a girl who was born in a brothel.

The girl was treated by the man day and night while her body was still young.

One day, the girl started to have morning sickness. The conception of life. A blessing for some, a disaster for the girl.

The brothel owner abandoned the girl on the street.

The world was too harsh for a girl who was not single.

······The two lives grew cold like that.

He said that he once saw a scene where a severe famine had struck a certain town.

The people of the town, who had nothing to eat, made clay and roasted the fruits to eat. The soil provided nutrients to plants, but it did not provide such nutrients to people.

So, people started starving to death on every street.

······And yet, the county magistrate gained weight day by day.

There are many. There are so many.

The various screams that are buried silently in this world.

My father said.

No matter how much they cry, no matter how much they shout, the world will not listen to them. It will not listen to them.

My father also said:

So he took up a sword.

A world where sunlight does not reach.

I’m talking about that remote place.

Here, there are people who died unjustly.

Here, there is a sadness that you have ignored.

If the world still does not look after us, I will scratch the world and inflict wounds on it.

If the world still does not remember us, I will tear the world apart and carve scars into it.

So······.

There was a scream buried in silence here.

The tears that couldn’t flow were right here.

I will tell the world.

That they all existed, existed together under the same sky called the world······.

You will testify.

My father took up the sword for such people.

My father pledged to become a sword that could contain such people.

My father did not say that it was the right path.

He did not even say that he worshipped righteousness.

It’s not even my father’s black sword.

It’s not righteousness.

It is only the sword of ‘hyeop (俠)’.

That’s what he said.

* * *

After receiving treatment safely, I headed back to the mission office.

But my heart was not at ease.

It was more ‘confusing’ than uncomfortable.

I’m hearing about my father’s past and actions for the first time.

I walked with a thumping pace.

That was when.

“Oh my, what kind of fate is this?”

Suddenly, I heard a clear and refreshing voice calling me.

When I looked at the place, there was ‘Dang So-hyang’.

“This, this, it seems like the relationship between me and Prince Cheongun is not an ordinary one.”

“······Didn’t you leave the village?”

To my words, Dang So-hyang smiled and replied.

“I was going to do that, but there’s still some time left until the wedding. So I was just looking around.”

Dang So-hyang glanced at the peaceful scenery of our village.

What would there be to see in a remote rural village······.

“This is the first time in my life that I’ve been this far out.”

To Dang So-hyang, everything was new and exciting.

Dang So-hyang was born with a weak body.

To her, the world beyond Sacheon was a world she had only heard of through rumors, a world she could only hear about with her ‘ears’, not her ‘eyes’.

I just looked at her like that.

And then suddenly.

“You heard everything.”

Dang So-hyang immediately spoke to me.

A statement that leaves out many things.

But sometimes there were things you could tell without even trying to say them.

“Does that mean that you, Young Lady, accepted this marriage even though you knew everything?”

“yes.”

Dang So-hyang nodded and continued speaking.

“I don’t blame the elders. They just made difficult decisions for the sake of the family. Above all, my life is running out.”

Dang So-hyang, who does not hesitate to become ‘poison’ and ‘secret weapon’ for her family.

I had nothing to say.

I had nothing to say.

“Your Majesty, if there is a next life······.”

Tang So-hyang’s clear and transparent eyes turned towards me.

“Will you marry me then?”

Tang So-hyang’s face was as playful as before.

So I could have just dismissed it as a joke, but for some reason I couldn’t figure out what she meant by that, so I just kept silent.

When I didn’t say anything, Dang So-hyang pursed her lips.

“······This is too much. It’s not even this life, it’s the next life. Even if it’s just empty words, you can say that.”

“Even if it is the next life, how can one easily decide on marriage, which is a matter of human relationships?”

“That’s right. Marriage… is not something that can be decided so easily.”

Dang So-hyang smiled faintly.

It was truly a beautiful smile, but I could feel the bitterness within it.

So I had nothing to say.

There was nothing I could do either.

If this is the way of Sacheondangmun.

That’s it.

As an outsider and third party with no connection to the party, it was absolutely not my place to comment.

It didn’t work even if I argued about it.

So, this was all I could say to Dang So-hyang.

“It was nice meeting you, my lady.”

“It was an honor for me to meet the famous Imoogi!”

Dang So-hyang shouted loudly.

I couldn’t help but smile at that confident look.

She is a bright and strong woman.

Although she was born with a weak body, her mind and spirit were stronger than any other warrior.

“Then I will go now.”

Actually, there was no time to do this.

Since I had fainted without saying a word after tasting the Cheon-dun Sword Technique, time was of the essence.

By now the clamor would have subsided, so I had to go back as soon as possible.

Of course, Yeo Dong-bin would know how to explain it to me, but I didn’t have time to chat leisurely with Dang So-hyang just in case something happened.

Was it the same for Dang So-hyang?

“I should go now. Above all, my husband is waiting for me, and it’s not good to have a long conversation with another man.”

Dang So-hyang spoke with a smile.

The face I looked at was brighter than usual.

I walked past Dangso Hyang and around the corner.

That’s where I disappeared.

Dang So-hyang did not leave that place.

For a long time, blankly and without thinking.

Sitting alone in the spot where I disappeared······.

“Sob··· sob···.”

I guess I cried for a few hours.

A wall in a corner that Dang So-hyang’s eyes cannot reach.

I leaned against the wall in the corner.

She pretended to be strong, bright, and okay in front of people, but her ‘true feelings’ were not like that.

But Dang So-hyang couldn’t bring herself to express it.

A feeling that I couldn’t even express.

I am still and quiet again.

“Sob···.”

I heard the sincerity contained in Dang So-hyang’s heart and her ‘sadness’.

Tang So-hyang’s tears, flowing as she sat down, showed no signs of stopping.

I couldn’t see Tang So-hyang’s figure either, as she was hidden by the corner. However, the extent of her pain and wounds was clearly visible.

They say that the more you suffer, the more you mature, but······.

Some scars remain scars forever.

As I quietly raised my gaze, the sun was slowly setting beyond the horizon.

The day was ending with a red sunset.

But there was no one.

The one who listens to Dang So-hyang’s crying during the long hours as the day draws to a close.

···There was no one else but me.

Under this vast sky called the world.

Tang So-hyang, a frail and sickly woman, was clearly in pain.

But Dang So-hyang’s pain, sadness, and tears.

Without a sound.

Without anyone listening······

“Hehehehe···.”

It was buried quietly.

The sky was dyed red.

It is truly a beautiful sight.

That is why it is a truly heartless landscape.

As I take in that beautiful and indifferent scenery…

My father’s words suddenly pass by.

There are a lot. There are so many.

The various screams that are buried silently in this world.

No matter how much you cry, no matter how much you scream.

The world does not listen to their voices. It does not listen to them.

So the father wanted to speak up on their behalf.

A remote world where sunlight does not reach.

By pointing to that place, he meant to say that people also lived there.

If the world does not look back, it will scratch and leave wounds.

If the world does not remember, it will be bitten and scarred.

A world without screams that are buried silently.

A world without unshed tears.

My father hoped and dreamed that this world would become such a world.

The Sacheondangmun method was not ‘wrong’.

The only way and just cause to dismantle the Jang River Surochae, which was in collusion with the government, was for ‘Jeong (正)’ to be with Sacheon Dangmun.

Even though he could have taken control of the entire Yangtze River by marrying and joining forces with the Yangtze River Waterway Association, he refused to do so.

It is not about being greedy to own the Yangtze River, but rather giving it back to the people, so ‘righteousness’ also accompanies the Sacheondangmun.

only.

“Sob···!”

The only person who can’t be with us is Dang So-hyang.

Only Dang So-hyang wasn’t there.

The fate of one person and the fate of one family.

And further, the fate of the entire Yangtze River.

As I quietly lowered my gaze, a sword tied tightly to my waist came into view.

Cloud Dragon Sword.

The sword of ‘Shinbyeong-igi’, which means that if the owner commits an act that goes against morality, the owner will leave the sword, but if the owner is on the side of morality, it will cut down all enemies that stand in its way.

‘Is this the morality you speak of?’

I asked.

Woohoo.

Only the sound of the Yunryong Sword’s ‘sword sound’ could be heard faintly.

* * *

At the northern tip of Jiangxi Province, there is a huge lake called Poyang Lake.

In terms of size alone, it was the largest in the world, and was so large that it could even be called a ‘sea’ rather than a ‘lake’.

The northern end of this Poyang Lake was connected to the Yangtze River, and because of its large size, it played a role in controlling the water level of the Yangtze River by receiving water when it overflowed.

In the past, the first emperor of the imperial family was able to seize control of the world by winning the ‘Battle of Poyang Lake’, so the master of Poyang Lake could be said to be the master of the Yangtze River.

That was the reason why Dang So-hyang’s ‘wedding ceremony’ was held here at Pa-yang Lake.

A beautifully decorated Tangso-hyang.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that she went beyond being the ‘most beautiful woman in the world’ and today, she is the ‘most beautiful woman in the world’.

Several maids followed Dang So-hyang.

They were not from the Tang Dynasty.

There were no people from the Tang family here.

···It shouldn’t have been there.

There were many people congratulating the wedding. However, they were all members of the Jang Gangsu Rochae and unmanned.

Here, Dang So-hyang······was alone.

Tang So-hyang slowly raised her gaze.

At the end of my gaze, there he was.

The king of the Jang River waterway.

Sitting high on the platform, on the throne, he looked like a great king.

Tang So-hyang’s body flinched, trembling like a frightened deer facing a tiger.

······It was scary.

That’s what it means to die.

But Dang So-hyang took a step forward.

As the ‘dark weapon’ that stabs the King’s neck, and as the ‘poison’ that assassinates the King, heading towards the moment that could be the last······.

Dang So-hyang took a step forward.

which.

“I wouldn’t say this is the right path.”

It was a small voice that reached Dang So-hyang’s ear.

“!!!”

Tang So-hyang’s eyes opened wide.

Everyone who gathered at the wedding ceremony could not hide their surprise and bewilderment.

I turned my head and saw him standing there.

His face is invisible because he is wearing a mask.

Step by step─. Step by step─.

He took a step toward Dang So-hyang.

His imposing footsteps approached Tang So-hyang, crushing all around.

“I wouldn’t call this righteousness, and I wouldn’t say it’s the right thing to do.”

Soon, he stood in front of Dang So-hyang.

With that, he was facing the great king of the Jangjiangsu River, and he stood firm in front of the countless Jangjiangsu River soldiers, but he only showed his ‘back’ to Dang So-hyang.

It’s so wide.

It was a back that made me want to lean against it for just a moment.

Tang So-hyang’s small lips opened.

“ah·········.”

Now, ‘he’ was standing in front of Dang So-hyang.

Under the sunlight faintly breaking over the surface of Lake Pa-yang.

This moment when the whole world seems to have stopped.

“This is just the ‘way of chivalry’ that I want to walk.”

It was such a······strange moment.