Chapter 1948 - Return of The Mount Hua Sect

Chapter 1948. So It Was Still There. Within Me. (3)

“What in the world is happening?”

An enormous crowd had gathered before the main gate of the Imperial Palace.

What they were staring at was the countless ranks of the Imperial Army, and within their encirclement, the assembled civil and military officials.

Living near the Imperial Palace, they had often had opportunities to witness palace ceremonies. Even so, today’s spectacle felt utterly unfamiliar. To begin with, there were more Imperial soldiers and officials than any of them had ever seen.

At a glance, it was enough to make one suspect that everyone inside that vast palace was pouring out beyond its gates.

“L-Look over there.”

“Huh?”

“The white horses are coming out. Isn’t that... the Dragon Carriage?”

“The Dragon Carriage?”

Another turned his head at the question. Pure white horses emerged through the palace gates, and soon afterward, a colossal carriage drawn by a total of twenty-four white steeds revealed itself.

“Wh... Whaah! Bow your heads! Quickly!”

The people threw themselves flat onto the ground in panic.

Cold sweat seeped down their backs as the etiquette of the Imperial Palace came to mind.

‘What is going on?’

Some might find it strange. Living in Beijing, shouldn’t they have seen the Emperor’s carriage countless times?

But that notion was laughable.

Commoners of low station could not dare gaze upon the Emperor’s Dragon Visage. Much less his Dragon Visage, even allowing their eyes to rest upon the Dragon Carriage he rode in was an offense. Thus, it was customary to carry out Road Clearance beforehand, clearing and securing the route along which the Emperor would pass.

[Road Clearance. Cheongdo. 청도(淸道). The formal procedure of clearing all civilians from the emperor’s route before an imperial procession.]

And yet, a Dragon Carriage had appeared out of nowhere, without even a Road Clearance.

‘Just what is happening?’

Without a single prior announcement, the Emperor had suddenly departed the palace. There was not even the ceremonial honor guard that ordinarily accompanied an imperial procession. Not a single trumpet sounded. There were only the Jinyiwei advancing with grim faces, together with the assembled civil and military officials.

[Jinyiwei. 금의위(錦衣衛). “Embroidered Uniform Guard.” The Ming dynasty’s elite imperial guard and secret police, directly answerable to the emperor.]

The sight filled the people with overwhelming dread.

Something terrible had happened. Without question.

But that did not mean the common folk could do anything about it. All they could do was lie flat upon the ground until the entire procession disappeared into the distance, avoiding the razor-sharp edge poised above their heads.

Only after even the rearguard of the Imperial Army escorting the Dragon Carriage had vanished into the distance did the people finally begin, one after another, to cautiously raise their heads.

“W-What in the world is happening?”

“Exactly.”

Bewildered voices leaked out from every direction without pause. Yet every one of them went no further than voicing futile anxieties.

Naturally so. Here and now, even a single careless word could cost a man his head.

But whenever enough people gathered together, there would always be one or two who lacked even the ordinary caution everyone else possessed.

“What’s got them in such a hurry? It’s almost like they’re running away.”

“.....”

Silence fell in an instant. Everyone who had been speaking without pause turned deathly pale and stared at the man who had opened his mouth. Shrinking beneath the barrage of piercing stares, he flared up in irritation.

“W-What? Did I say something wrong? Huh?”

It wasn’t that what he had said was wrong. Rather, the problem was that it sounded right.

“R-Running away? How can you utter something so irreverent?”

“It’s not like I wanted to say it either, but the more I think about it, the stranger it seems. There wasn’t even a ceremonial band, no Road Clearance either. It looked like they were simply rushing people out.”

“...That’s not quite right.”

“Hm? What do you mean, not right?”

“It wasn’t only people that were leaving. I couldn’t see clearly because my head was lowered, but there had to be at least several thousand carts following behind them.”

“...S-Several thousand? Did you just say several thousand?”

“That’s what I said.”

The people’s eyes trembled violently.

Several thousand?

No matter how vast the Imperial Palace was, if there were several thousand wagons of that size, they could surely carry away everything within it.

“Then what does that mean? Are they relocating the capital?”

[Relocating the capital. Cheondo. 천도(遷都). The act of transferring the seat of the capital to another city.]

“Don’t be ridiculous! Relocating the capital? No one’s invading us, so why would they suddenly relocate the capital? Unless war has broken out, how could they possibly....!”

Just then.

“That war is about to begin.”

A clear, resonant voice rang out from somewhere. The murmuring crowd turned as one toward its source. A group of young civil officials, clad in official robes, was approaching. The dignified man leading them opened his mouth.

“So make your preparations at once. You must abandon this place and leave.”

“W-What do you mean by that? Leave? Are you telling us to evacuate?”

“Precisely.”

“Evacuate all of a sudden? Leave my home and go where? That’s absurd! Surely, my lord, you’ve been misinformed?”

At the somewhat confrontational question, one of the officials bristled and was about to snap back. But Jwa Gohak raised a hand to stop him and answered calmly in his stead.

“Then stay.”

“...What?”

“If you can’t believe me, then remain here. Those who do believe me, follow us. We will do everything in our power to see that you survive.”

“Is that something an official ought to say?”

“There’s no time for pointless arguments. Shouldn’t we be saving even one more life instead?”

Perplexity spread plainly across the faces of the people.

Had that young official tried to persuade them with endless explanations, they might have suspected he had some ulterior motive. But seeing how urgent he was, they had no choice but to believe.

Something was about to happen. If they remained here, they would never escape calamity.

“How could this...”

“What should we do?”

Seeing several of the people grow visibly frantic, Jwa Gohak nodded. To begin with, there was no end to explaining a matter like this with words. Once one or two people began to move, the rest would naturally be swept along by the tide.

“There are wagons left beneath the Imperial Palace walls over there. Those who are able, take one immediately and return home. If you’re transporting people, load people. If you’re transporting your belongings, load your belongings. As of this moment, every wagon within the Imperial Capital has been requisitioned by the Imperial Court. Ownership no longer matters. If you see a wagon, take it.”

“A-And after that?”

“Finish your preparations within three sijin and gather at the South Gate. Move! Now!”

[tl/n: Three sijin is roughly six hours.]

Naturally, not everyone sprang into action the moment they heard those words.

But that hardly mattered. Some immediately realized just how desperate the situation was. And when they saw those people racing toward the wagons Jwa Gohak had pointed out, everyone else’s sense of urgency followed close behind.

“I-I’m first!”

“Move aside! They said we have to get out of here now!”

“If you’re just going to stand there wasting time, get out of the way! I’m doing exactly what they said!”

Only after people began running, some ahead and others behind, did Jwa Gohak finally let the tension leave his body. He swayed slightly, and those standing behind him hurriedly caught him.

“Are you all right, Sahyung? Ah, no. Attendant Reader Scholar?”

“Just call me sahyung.”

Jwa Gohak repeatedly wiped at his pale face.

‘Thank goodness.’

He had put on a composed front, but truthfully, the strain had been unbearable.

The office of Attendant Reader Scholar might be considered an important post within the Imperial Court, but that was only among officials. To the common people, he was nothing more than a young upstart wearing official robes.

Expecting them to trust such a youth enough to abandon their homes and flee had never been an easy thing. Had he failed to rally them here, tens of thousands more lives might have been lost.

But this was enough. Once that many people began packing their belongings and fleeing in a panic, even those who knew nothing of the situation would naturally follow after them.

“Move. We don’t have time for this. Go encourage the people. Without anyone to coordinate them, this is the best we can do.”

“Yes, sahyung.”

Jwa Gohak’s sajes, now all officials themselves, hurried off in a rush. Then one of them suddenly stopped and turned back toward him, looking as though he still had something to say.

“Um... will there be enough time? It will take at least another full day for this many people to get through the city gates. And that’s the absolute minimum.”

“Time.... Well.”

Jwa Gohak’s gaze drifted toward the distant northern gate of Beijing.

“At this point... all we can do is trust the Commander-in-Chief.”

❀ ❀ ❀

The Commander-in-Chief stood atop the towering city wall, his heavy gaze cast downward.

After silently surveying the empty plain for a long while, he slowly turned his head and looked over the army filling the battlements.

‘Not a small force.’

That’s right. It’s not a small force.

Of course, compared to the empire’s glory a century ago, when one hundred thousand soldiers had guarded the Imperial Capital alone, it was nothing worth speaking of. Even so, no one in the world would call an army of fully thirty thousand men small.

And yet, the Commander-in-Chief’s heart remained heavy. Because he knew. He knew these men were little more than chaff. Their splendid armor concealed the truth, but they were not soldiers capable of truly fighting.

The Imperial Army had always been a contradiction. It had to be elite, for it existed to protect the Emperor. Yet for that very reason, it almost never went to war. If the Imperial Army was forced to take the field, it meant the tide of the war had already turned against the Empire.

A magnificent sword that should never have to be drawn. Who would devote themselves to honing such a blade?

That was why the true elite were no longer here. Nor should they have been.

‘Would things have been different had the Great General been here?’

Perhaps. No, he couldn’t say for certain. After all, wasn’t the reason the Great General had spent so many years on the northern frontier because even he could no longer endure the Imperial Court’s vicious struggles for power?

Even so, had he been here, the Crimson Banner Army would have been in Beijing. And the Emperor would never have been forced to flee before the heretics in such miserable disgrace.

Yes, perhaps...

“What a fool.”

The Commander-in-Chief bit down on his lip in self-reproach.

He was a military officer.

If such thoughts served the future, they had value. But if they amounted to nothing more than lamenting the present, they were utterly worthless.

Anyone could fight when victory was assured. Only one who could still fight when victory was impossible deserved to be called a military officer.

That was why he was here.

The Commander-in-Chief turned around. This time, he saw something different. Below the city walls, the people were hurrying about in frantic motion.

‘I don’t know.’

Was he standing here to protect the Emperor? Or was he standing here to protect them?

Only one thing was certain. Whatever it was the Imperial Army believed it was protecting, those civil officials scattered among the people were unquestionably trying to protect the people.

“....Even those spineless civil officials are staking their lives.”

“Commander-in-Chief?”

“Nothing. Are the preparations complete?”

“Everything is in readiness.”

At that, the Commander-in-Chief’s eyes shifted toward the cannons and fire arrows mounted atop the walls.

[Cannon. Hwapo. 화포(火砲). Hwa = fire; Po = cannon/artillery.]

[Fire Arrow. Hwajeon. 화전(火箭). Hwa = fire; Jeon = arrow. Incendiary arrows, often fitted with combustible materials.]

Combined with the city walls, cannons were among the most effective weapons for killing martial artists. Such defenses would not be breached easily. Not even if that demons came...

“The reserve cannons?”

“More than fifty are standing by.”

“Remove the fire arrows and replace them with cannons.”

“Commander-in-Chief?”

“Hurry.”

“Yes!”

The Commander-in-Chief clenched his teeth.

Against ordinary enemies, flaming arrows fitted with oil jars were little different from messengers of death.

But against the Demonic Cult, they would amount to nothing. The very time spent firing them would be wasted. Far better to fire one more General’s Cannon instead.

[General’s Cannon. Daejanggunpo. 대장군포(大將軍砲). A heavy cannon used during the Joseon and Ming periods, renowned for its immense destructive power.]

Once more, the Commander-in-Chief looked behind him.

The first time, he had looked upon his army. The second, upon the people. Now, the last thing he looked at was Beijing itself.

‘It will burn... just as it did a hundred years ago.’

He foresaw that future. But one thing would be different this time. Within the inferno that would consume this city, the enemy’s corpses would burn as well.

“Commander-in-Chief! Straight ahead!”

The Commander-in-Chief looked toward where his subordinate was pointing.

From beyond the horizon, something dark rolled forward like a bank of black clouds. At the sight of that ominous mass, the Commander-in-Chief gripped his spear so tightly it seemed it might snap in his hands.

“All units. To your positions.”

A grim resolve settled over the Commander-in-Chief’s face.

“Today, we fight the Demon.”

❀ ❀ ❀

If anyone wants to donate to motivate me (I'll use the money to buy the RAWs from Naver Series too). Thank you so much!

- Buy Me a Coffee

- Patreon

- Trakteer (this one for Indonesian)