As Prophet - Chapter 144



Only Noblemtl

Episode 144. Trying to Stop the War

It was no coincidence that Dalcheon headed to Jeon-ga after seeing the gathering situation in front of Gwanghwamun. If he could strike down the enemy leader, the matter could be easily concluded. He added 200 armors to the 50th cavalry and ran toward Jeon-ga with the additional support of Yu Seok-do.

Among the crowd of people walking through the streets, I could see a few remnants of their soldiers here and there. If that was where they were headed, I thought I could beat them up today.

‘Just stay right there. Don’t move and wait. I will take off your mask and stabilize Hanyang.’

My mind is busy as my thoughts continue. I run hard and try to recruit the armor that follows me, but it is still slow. I regret not going alone and cutting down all of them.

As I went a little further, I came to a turn at an alley where I could see Dongdaemun. The words ‘Be careful of dogs [當心狗]’ written by Yoo Seok-do caught my eye.

“Turn in there.”

“debriefing!”

Even though I had told them to be quiet, the soldiers’ shouts were loud. The road narrowed in the alley. It was barely wide enough for two horses to pass each other. I had no choice but to slow down.

But the feeling was definitely different. The dark energy was overflowing, and the colors that had been like a magic pot were almost gone. Did the hidden masters disappear? Dalcheon slowed down. It was not that he was controlling the speed, but it seemed unnecessary. He made a defensive line in the alley. If he attacked from the houses lined up on the left and right, he could suffer a crushing defeat. He widened his senses to check for an ambush.

The afternoon sun shone yellow on the thatched roofs. At the last alley, the front gate of the house was wide open. Dalcheon gave orders to the soldiers.

“Go inside and check the conditions!”

“insect!”

“insect!”

“insect!”

“insect.”

The soldiers rushed in, shoulder to shoulder.

There was nothing. There was not a single guard dog in sight where so many people had been hiding.

“There is none! There is no one!”

“doesn’t exist.”

“I don’t see a single rat.”

Dalcheon, who had landed on one side of the wide field, walked slowly, lost in thought. The assembly point was somewhere else, and the assembly point after the end was not here. It would have been better to chase after the defeated soldiers. It was already too late to regret.

Dalcheon called the military officer leading the soldiers and ordered him to return to Gwanghwamun.

“Isn’t the real person going?”

“I need to think about it. Tell him I’ll be there in a bit.”

“Are you in Hanyang?”

Dalcheon’s eyes sparkled. If it were them, they might have left Hanyang. If they didn’t want to be caught in his trap. It wouldn’t be hard to find the shadow of the master who was branded as a criminal. He already felt that there was nothing nearby. He must have left because he knew that he would do that. He left this place as soon as he was sent off. Did he go out to meet the Northern Army?

“If anything happens, and when the battle starts, tell them to send up white smoke. It looks like a confetti, and the smoke goes up into the sky.”

“Loyalty!”

“Please tell them that I’m going to take a walk around Hanyangseong.”

“Loyalty!”

The soldiers who had come rushing in like a pack of dogs were leaving like the tide. They say that the empty space left behind by people is left behind. I looked around the empty space that was left behind like a longing that had been performed and sighed in thin regret. The thought that someone was there remained like the wind.

I walked around the empty courtyard. I went to the conference room to look for any scraps of paper, and I also went over the back wall of the backyard that had blocked the entrance to the building, and looked at what seemed to be Yeoui’s residence. I wondered if I had planned my move in advance, because not a single letter remained.

Heaven helps those who help themselves, isn’t it? There was a noise at the entrance. I carefully entered, keeping my voice low, and when I confirmed that no one was there, my voice grew louder.

“Oh, there’s no one here.”

“They all ran away? What’s wrong with running away like this after causing trouble?”

“I told you not to come here.”

“I thought there would be someone left though!”

“What are you going to do? To tell the news of defeat?”

“The actual battle hasn’t even started yet.”

“By the way, that kid was amazing. He swung it once, and the flat white beam of light cut a person.”

“You’re the best in the world.”

“You’re bragging about being the best over guys like us, right? Surely not. The world of martial arts is endless.”

“What else can I do?”

“I told you not to come, but now that you’re here, I’m going to get cursed at.”

“Hey, just say something and you’ll go out. Why are you worried?”

Several people’s words were scattered in a chaotic manner, and I took it all in. I could see the situation at a glance. There must be some people who are looking in just in case. There must be another reason for not following orders.

“Let’s go later.”

“Where? To the gathering place?”

“That’s right. There’s not much time left.”

“Where have all the people gone?”

“It’s probably similar to us, where we go and who we listen to when we get there. Phew, let’s rest for a bit. Even if I wake up dead, I can’t go any further.”

I heard the sound of someone falling to the floor, and the heavy sound of the weapon landing weighed on my heart.

* * *

Tired guys talk a lot. They were talking nonstop, like people who were usually frustrated because they couldn’t talk. They say men don’t talk much, but when you put the right people together, they’re even noisier. Sometimes, I could see the fear of Dalcheon’s martial arts.

Dalcheon came out of the backyard without a sound and went into the wide hall, hiding himself on the main beam. Looking through the gaps in the wood, he saw six or seven people scattered here and there, and their situation was not good. Two were injured and one was almost dead. I thought I knew why they didn’t go to the assembly point. It seemed like there was no place to take the dying man.

“What should I do?”

“Just leave it! Everything will work out somehow!”

The injured one screams louder.

“I thought there would be a doctor!”

“I said it was empty. I told you all to go and not come back here. You guys should go to the assembly point. Don’t get in trouble later.”

Dalcheon jumped down. He landed on the floor, but he landed as gently as a cat, making no sound at all.

The eyes of the guy who was lying face down facing this direction gradually widened.

“Uh, uh, uh!”

“why?”

“Hey, what’s that over there!”

Those who had been lying down got up. How could anyone forget the man who came down like a god and swept away hundreds of soldiers? They jumped up and fixed their weapons, and one stood in front of his comrade who couldn’t get up. Dalcheon smiled gently and slowly approached.

“I have a few questions… Could you please answer them?”

The audience flinched at the polite tone of voice for a swordsman. Finally, a middle-aged man who seemed to be the leader of the group held his weapon upside down as a sign that he had no intention of being hostile and made a request.

“Save me.”

Dalcheon nodded.

“Of course. I didn’t come here to kill you. I came here to find a man named Yeo-ui, but he’s not here. He seems to have moved to another place. I don’t think you knew that either, but there’s no reason for you to fight each other.”

He spoke with a soft tone and even had a smile on his face, so I wondered if this was the person.

“Are you by any chance the person who was swinging the Cheongryonggeuk at Donuimun earlier?”

Everyone’s gaze turned to the Cheongryonggeuk that Dalcheon was holding. Even though he had killed so many people, it was clean without a drop of blood.

“That’s right. I’ll take it.”

“oh.”

The crowd held their breath. We too had our swords, but we were no match for him.

“I came here hoping that if we captured the water monster, we could resolve this peacefully without fighting. Could you tell me where he went?”

The middle-aged man shook his head.

“We are of the lower class. We do not know their ways. We are people who will die by the blind sword if we do as we are told. We cannot help you.”

“Then, could you tell me where you are gathering? If I go there and ask, they might know.”

“Please understand that I cannot betray my comrades.”

“I understand. Thank you. Okay.”

Dalcheon turned around. A well-trained horse was waiting cautiously at the door.

“Are you really just going to leave?”

“Then I have to go. What should I do?”

“Wasn’t it about cutting down lives like ours with one stroke of a sword?”

Dalcheon smiled with difficulty. He answered sadly, as if he really didn’t want to do it.

“I’m not trying to kill people. I’m trying to stop the war. Stop the chaos, stop the war, defeat the relatives… … What difference would it make if I kill you all here? Don’t worry at all. Just.”

“but?”

“If possible, I advise you to put down your sword and return to being an ordinary citizen, even though it may not be possible. There may be personal circumstances and difficulties that prevent you from doing so, but if you just turn your head, there is peace. Do not waver in this battlefield and retreat to a safe place.”

“… … Thank you for your words, Jinin.”

How would they know he was a true man? Since he didn’t shave his head, they might have thought he was a true man and not a monk.

We live our daily lives with our inner consciousness, but what others see is often quite different. No, most of the time, it is seen differently than what we think. Dalcheon thought he would be seen as a non-human, but when he heard that he was a true human, he smiled broadly.

As Dalcheon turned around and left, he spoke quietly.

“I told them to gather at the Manri-dong Pass below Namsan Mountain.”

“Why are you telling me? Your colleagues could be in danger.”

“I have a feeling that the True Man would not commit unnecessary killing. There is a leader of the First Army there, called Heukseok. His face is dark. However, the Lady you are looking for will not be there.”

“How many such gathering places are there?”

“I only know our gathering place. There must be at least four more. We have a strong belief in superstitions, and we have the Five Elements and Five Phases, and the generals also named their places after the Five Elements. So there must be five places in total.”

“Thank you. Anyway, get out of here. This place is already known and is not safe for you.”

“thank you.”

Dalcheon got on his horse and looked around. He thought it would be nice to have a school here. Maybe he could gather more people.

* * *

Dalcheon ran straight towards Namsan. He said it was before going to Manrijae, but black groups could be seen here and there. They were all dressed as mountain people, but they were all unmanned. He was not careful as he moved to the place he told him. Most of them were carrying weapons. It seemed like they didn’t care whether the people saw them or not.

When I looked at the place he had mentioned, there were several tents pitched, and soldiers were forming several phalanxes around them. There were two thatched huts in the center, and the tents and phalanxes were divided into several places along the slope, and they were in a neat and orderly manner.

“That’s the place.”

As I climbed up the ridgeline that was clearly visible, I saw the same military tents and formations on the ridge next to it, and they were gathered in the same shape on the ridge next to that. There were quite a few soldiers. There were already hundreds, and it seemed like they would go up to thousands. I narrowed my eyes and scanned the enemy lines. If there were five places like this, there was no chance of victory.

It would have been a shame if he had been caught in the eyes of those patrolling Hanyangseong. He would have shut the mouths of those patrolling along the wall. The Gyeonggi governor was suspicious for no reason. Didn’t he know that? No matter what he said, it was clearly a military camp.

I got off my horse and approached. There was a half-broken carrying pole that someone had put down, so I carried it on my back and leisurely crossed the mountain path.

“Hey, yum! Not this way! Go away!”

“Oh, yes.”

A fierce-looking guy blocked the path he was taking. Dalcheon pretended to go down and turned away.

As I climbed to a lower place below the ridge, I heard a commotion. They were busy checking the number of people to be called up and issuing weapons. All I could do was sigh.