As Prophet - Chapter 145



Only Noblemtl

Episode 145. Pursuit – Yeo-ui

There were so many trees cut down that there was no place to hide. There were three zelkova trees standing slanted on the slope, so I jumped up on them. I hid in the leaves and looked down at the army camp. I didn’t know how many troops were gathered in Hanyangseong, but it didn’t seem like an easy victory was possible.

At some point, Dalcheon tilted his head. There was a familiar face. It was Yu Damnyeon, the former defense officer who had fought under him during the Imjin War. Was he saying that he had participated in the rebellion?

This is different from the fact that the group of swordsmen simply increased their numbers and attacked. They are soldiers. They are skilled in the gathering and operation of troops, formations, and tactics. They were very natural in giving various orders to the military officers(?) who were commanding the group while sitting in the large tent.

“They even included those people. How many people are they? The king has ruined the country.”

He muttered without realizing it. He carefully examined the weapons and armor of the men that Dalcheon had handed out. They were all new weapons, so their blades sparkled in the sunlight. And just as he had feared, there was a bow. Why wouldn’t there be one? The group of swordsmen and the scoundrels had only come running with swords, so why didn’t those who dreamed of rebellion prepare for it? It wouldn’t have been a problem to bring in a few unmanned men.

Dalcheon looked blankly at the enemy camp. If this were to happen, Hanyang would become a sea of ​​fire. Should I call it a sea of ​​blood? It was fortunate that those they called the Northern Army had not joined them. If they had come from outside, this weak country would have been in shambles.

It seems that there are many possibilities open to people in their lives, but in reality, there are only a few. There are two options: either make the choices you see with sincerity, or give up and just watch the flow. Dalcheon suddenly felt the urge to give up. It was just a matter of raising a great army to replace the unruly king. Seeing that they were mobilizing so many people to attack, he vaguely assumed that at least the king’s influence had been reached, but the scale of the matter was different.

It wasn’t a fight within the royal family, but a large movement to overthrow the dynasty itself. The era of wood is passing and the era of gold is coming! So the guy who convinced those around him with the logic that he should become king is a guy with his own brain. Although he hides his face with a silver mask, he looks quite old, but why is someone who will die soon so greedy? Is he greedier because he is old and has a short life? If he had the wealth to mobilize that many people, he should have no trouble living happily for the rest of his life…

It’s pointless. What’s the point of trying to force my logic on someone who is in a different situation than me? To me, they are just something I can’t understand.

While Dalcheon was lost in thought, a man leading a dozen soldiers approached him. He was so absentminded that he didn’t even notice the man coming.

“Hey, what are you doing there?”

“Huh? Me? I’m here to watch out for you.”

“who?”

“Hey, Captain.”

“Who’s coming? Hehe.”

“He said that we should look at it more carefully.”

“You seem to have been separated because you are so clumsy and gossipy.”

“No. He said it was very important.”

The guy who judged Dalcheon’s face to be young and lacking something shook his head and turned around.

“Watch the net carefully!”

“yes.”

I waited for him to leave. I thought I had an idea of ​​what they would think of me. It was okay. I could pretend to be a sloppy militiaman.

Dalcheon came down from the willow tree and wore a gray band on his forehead like the others. He hung a red rag on his forearm and approached the central ridge.

The path was blocked from below. Two sturdy men stood with spears, blocking the path ahead. It was the entrance to a slow, winding path behind.

“Mommy, where are you going?”

“hey.”

“Why there?”

“It’s an errand.”

“what?”

Dalcheon lightly tapped his chest.

“I told you it was a secret and that you couldn’t tell anyone.”

“What is it?”

“I have to go quickly.”

When Dalcheon started crying, the guy who had been watching from behind stopped him.

“Just tell him to go. What could happen?”

“Aren’t you mobilizing even very young kids?”

He passed the two grumbling men. He passed them again. They were dressed like an army, but they were not. Dalcheon could clearly see that many people had gathered, but they did not know what to do. It seemed unnecessary, but it was because there were no rules or customs necessary to form a group. He could hear voices blocking individual actions here and there.

“Don’t go there!”

“Hold your place.”

“Keep your weapon with you at all times. Don’t leave it behind.”

“When you finish your work, report it and go.”

It was a messy military camp. It was obvious that it had been hastily put together. Dalcheon arrived at the deep part of the camp, pretending to be a young soldier. Dalcheon flinched at the sight of a round tent that looked like a Mongolian yurt. He was worried that perhaps the Dalja (? 子) guys had come down. Upon closer inspection, the shape was similar, but the composition was different. He let out a sigh of relief and passed by the guys standing around without paying any attention.

Dalcheon was holding a small jar in his hand, which he had obtained from somewhere. It seemed like someone had sent the young boy on an errand. He was not even the object of attention of those guarding the main camp.

He returned to the rear of the main camp, but there were soldiers guarding it as well. Dalcheon climbed up the slope behind, hid himself from their sight, and then returned secretly.

This time, it was not the road, but the sky. It jumped up and flew like a seed of sand, and landed gently on the tent. Through the hole in the center of the top, you could see everything below. A man in black was spreading out a map of Hanyang, deep in thought. There were four men who seemed to be subordinate generals on the left and right, and two soldiers guarding the inside of the entrance, making a total of seven people.

Dalcheon quietly stuck his head out and looked at the map. Black circles were drawn in the four directions: east, west, south, and north. Dalcheon was at the southernmost point. He squinted his eyes and checked the locations of the circles. There was another circle north of Hyehwamun, and another circle at the bottom of the wall between Donuimun and Namdaemun. There was another circle at the bottom of Cheonggyecheon, not too far from Jonggak. He was surprised every time he checked the locations. Bukak seemed to be to the north, and he wondered if he could gather troops there.

It seemed that they were not simply gathering at Gwanghwamun, but were attacking and gathering somewhere in the middle. Those at Hyehwamun seemed to be aiming for Changgyeonggung Palace, and the troops at Bukak would infiltrate from the back of Bukgung Palace (Gyeongbokgung Palace). Those at Cheonggye seemed to be trying to take control of the government office street, and the troops between Namdaemun and Seodaemun were trying to occupy Donuimun. These were the troops that had already failed. It was a picture that explained how so many troops showed up.

As I was staring intently at the map, I happened to make eye contact with him. He was leaning back comfortably and looking upwards, and suddenly our eyes met. Dalcheon was surprised, and the guy was even more surprised. It took him a while to figure out the situation. While he was dazed, Dalcheon tore through a narrow hole and fell down.

When the bastard had half-pulled the sword from his waist, Dalcheon’s sword struck the bastard’s crown. His forehead shattered and his head flew off. When the four people who were meeting woke up in surprise, the bastard’s leader had already passed away.

Dalcheon ran towards you. The table with the map fell over with a noise.

“Hit!”

Dalcheon’s sword cut the mouth of the screaming man horizontally. The slow movement of half a beat was their trick. They didn’t expect there to be a dark attack, and they probably didn’t expect it to fall on the tent. By the time they came to their senses and responded, two of them had already fallen, spewing blood.

The two soldiers at the entrance ran. Dalcheon’s sword swung down diagonally. It was a large tent, but the inside was still narrow. Every time the sword flashed, I fell helplessly. The sword that the general who had been running screaming swung at was the first counterattack.

Turning his head to the side, he swung his sword horizontally across his stomach. Avoiding the large body of the helpless fallen man, he turned half a turn to the side and cut diagonally. One person’s neck and another’s chest were caught in the sword’s path that slowly descended like the sun setting over the western mountains. With a bang, they fell, spewing red blood like a fountain. One of the guards at the entrance who had been rushing in shouted, “Enemy,” as he went out.

There was no more room to stay. Dalcheon pulled himself up through the hole. A person climbed up to a height of a dozen feet. The soldiers who had come running from outside looked up like dogs chasing chickens.

Dalcheon, who had twisted his body in the air, ran away towards the north. He looked like a swallow that had been filled with water as he changed his posture and jumped out of the air. Several arrows flew and shouts of “Catch him!” “Kill him!” “The captain is dead!” and so on grew distant from his ears.

* * *

If you just distance yourself a little, life will turn into another indifference. I came down the ridge and galloped north. I belatedly thought I had left my horse behind, but I gave up. They couldn’t catch up with Dalcheon.

A village of people appeared. I ran through the alley like a squirrel, jumped over the wall, and then climbed onto the roof, jumping up and down. Before long, I arrived at the place where the circle was under Cheonggyecheon. There was an empty space in a square space surrounded by a moat like a house, and in the center of it, there was only one house with a wide porch.

It was a form in which the houses in the center were demolished to make room. It was the central army on the map. If you look from the outside, there are only dozens of thatched houses, so you would never think that this is a military camp. It was discovered because it was a Dalcheon that skipped over roofs.

I quickly turned my body and fell down, then hid my body. The walls of the houses leading to the center were connected to each other to prevent outsiders from entering, and several entrances were guarded by armed, strong men. There were quite a few people guarding the walls as well, and they were similar in shape to the previous house, except for the size. They surrounded the house to avoid other people’s attention, but it was easier to infiltrate.

Dalcheon had hopes that there might be a fortune here. He climbed over the empty house wall like a snake. He enlarged his observation and confirmed that there was no one there. He crossed the yard and went to the back wall, where he saw a group of soldiers cooking a meal in a house that was adjacent to the military camp inside.

‘They set up a military camp in the middle of Hanyang and are peacefully cooking meals… … .’

The saying that the darkness is under the lamp is truly true. Who would have thought that this was the gathering place of the rebels? I moved to the side and went to the house next door, but the situation was similar there. It seemed that each house surrounding the barracks was taking care of the needs of life.

I climbed up to the roof of the house behind me, hid in the straw of the thatched hut, and looked far away. Hundreds of people had gathered, but they looked different from Namsan. There were several square formations arranged at precise angles, and they were in a neat and orderly position. The military discipline was strict, as they moved quickly on horseback to control the soldiers.

In the central hall far away, there were about twenty people sitting together, and they seemed to be having a meeting as well. And here too, a man who seemed to be a commander was surrounded by soldiers. The only difference was that the soldiers were dressed in black. Dozens of people gathered together in a group, and it didn’t feel good. A cold, black, chilly air spread out. It wasn’t good. They were also gathered around the leaders, and it would be difficult to get through their aura and approach the leaders.

“Phew.”

I let out a short sigh and looked up at the sky. The gathering time they had mentioned was approaching. Are our troops preparing well? Dalcheon, who was staring at the enemy’s forces, was anxious, but those who were preparing without knowing what was going on and only listening to others’ words would not be so anxious. The word ‘defeat’ suddenly came to mind.

I can’t think straight and it’s not easy to make a decision. It’s because I thought that if I kill them here and leave, things will be easier. No matter how many people gather, they’re just a rabble unless they’re an army. It’s best to get rid of the general, but it doesn’t look easy for the central army.