novelraw Chapter 138 : Chapter 138
Chapter 138 : Chapter 138
Chapter 138 Treason (1)
"Did you say he has symptoms of memory loss?"
"That is correct, Your Highness... They say his memories have been intermittent since the severe injury."
"Tsk."
Prince Yeomseong clicked his tongue and turned his body away. Squad Leader Jo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and touched his lips.
"I permitted a large-scale subjugation because you were so confident that nothing would go wrong."
Frowning, Prince Yeomseong rose from his seat and walked to the window. Squad Leader Jo, who had been looking at Prince Yeomseong's back for a moment, cautiously approached from behind.
"Your Highness, you need not worry so much. Since General Hwang has decided to step in for Thousand Households Commander Ma..."
"That fellow is hot-tempered and is not the type to persuade others. In fact, there is a possibility that he will ruin things. Tell him not to move rashly and to exercise self-restraint."
"...Yes, Your Highness."
Prince Yeomseong, who was deep in thought, let out a loud sigh.
"Hoo. We are on the eve of a grand plan, yet there are so many incomprehensible things."
Prince Yeomseong, who had walked back to the bed with steady steps, opened a drawer in the side table, took out a book, and threw it at Squad Leader Jo.
─ THUD
Squad Leader Jo, who carefully picked up the book that had fallen to the ground, tilted his head.
"...It is the final verse of the Red Blood Art."
"What?!"
Squad Leader Jo looked at the book with surprised eyes and quickly flipped through it.
"How could this be..."
"I am the one who wants to ask. The messenger from the Blood Cult who visited here a while ago clearly told me to wait, yet the book arrived here this morning."
Prince Yeomseong turned his head and looked at Squad Leader Jo.
"It did not seem like a fake. However, I cannot seem to shake this nagging feeling."
Squad Leader Jo, who was slowly looking through the book, nodded his head.
"Your Highness, in my opinion, this verse appears to be genuine. It perfectly matches the flow of the verses we have known so far, and it precisely contains the core of the final remaining part."
"Yes. I spent the entire day examining the verse character by character, but I could not find anything strange. But if that is the case, why on earth did that messenger from the Blood Cult say such a thing?"
"...That is."
As Squad Leader Jo touched his lips again, Prince Yeomseong shook his head from side to side.
"Enough. There must have been some mistake."
Prince Yeomseong walked slowly around the room, lost in thought. Squad Leader Jo frowned and looked through the book several more times.
"I am beginning to think we need to proceed with the grand plan quickly."
Squad Leader Jo's head shot up.
"Now that the final verse of the Red Blood Art has arrived, there is nothing to be gained by dragging our feet. If even the Blood Cult can make such a basic mistake, we need to deal with it quickly before things get any more complicated."
"...Your Highness."
"Distribute this final verse to the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard immediately. The deadline is one week. They are to complete the Red Blood Art within one week and execute the grand plan."
"If you say one week... surely not?"
"That's right. The day that fellow Jin-pyeong moves to the shrine for the Heaven Worship Ceremony. We will carry out the great undertaking on that day."
"The Heaven Worship Ceremony. The Heaven Worship Ceremony..."
Squad Leader Jo quickly racked his brain and then nodded his head.
"The time is short, but... it is an excellent plan, Your Highness. It will be much easier to carry out the plan outside the Imperial Palace rather than inside."
"The Embroidered Uniform Guard's side may not be properly prepared due to Thousand Households Commander Ma's injury, so the Eastern Depot will have to pay more attention."
"I will keep that in mind, Your Highness. If you just trust and wait for us, we will soon change the master of the heavens for you."
Squad Leader Jo slowly prostrated himself on the ground and touched his forehead to the floor.
***
Jaun, with his whole body wrapped in bandages, put on the clean embroidered clothes that were laid out beside him.
He had wrapped himself in bandages to be conscious of others' eyes, but he had already recovered to the point where his movements were not particularly hindered.
'Shall I start moving now?'
The moment Jaun opened the door and stepped outside, the medic who was sitting at the table was startled and stood up.
"C-Commander? How are you already up and about... You are still in the stage of needing rest!"
"Enough. I know my own body better than anyone. I will recover in my own residence, so just send the medicine to my residence."
"Ah, the wound has not yet healed...! Uh, uh? Commander?"
Leaving the flustered medic behind, Jaun exited the pharmacy.
Jaun, who had scanned the busily moving people with his eyes, greatly expanded his senses.
'So many... who possess blood qi?'
Jaun frowned and stopped in his tracks. Most of the martial artists in the vicinity possessed a faint blood qi.
Even if it had not reached a high level, the number was much larger than he had expected.
Jaun, who let out a small sigh, slowly began to walk across the open space in front of the pharmacy toward the area where the pavilions were gathered.
Although he had obtained detailed information from the Hao Gate, it was an unfamiliar space that he was seeing with his own eyes for the first time.
Jaun surreptitiously glanced around to familiarize himself with the terrain and continued to walk forward.
The martial artists of the Embroidered Uniform Guard whom he encountered bowed their heads deeply with surprised expressions, but Jaun paid them no mind and walked straight toward Thousand Households Commander Ma's residence without hesitation. After walking for a long time, Jaun, who had arrived at the residence, pushed open the door and went inside.
"...Master Commander?"
The servants who were working in various parts of the house bowed deeply with surprised eyes.
"Everyone, get out. No one is to enter until I call for you."
The servants, who looked at each other with flustered eyes, soon bowed deeply and left the house.
As soon as the servants left, Jaun began to search every corner of the house.
'He probably didn't leave any documents about the treason. But... there's still a lot of other information to be gained.'
Jaun, who was quickly flipping through the documents on the table, began to sort out the information to be delivered to the Hao Gate and piled it up on one side of the table.
Subjugation plans.
The Emperor's escort guidelines and formations.
The organization's structure and hierarchy, and so on.
Since a variety of information was well-organized, more so than he had thought, the height of the documents quickly rose.
'It won't be easy to deliver this amount all at once.'
Just as he quickly skimmed through the documents, memorizing them and sorting out the most urgent information to keep in his bosom, he felt a familiar energy approaching from afar.
'...Squad Leader Jo?'
Judging from the refined Yin energy and its quantity, it was definitely Squad Leader Jo, whom he had encountered at Prince Yeomseong's manor.
'Tsk. It seems Squad Leader Jo had frequent interactions with Thousand Households Commander Ma, so it's a bit awkward to face him directly... But since he's the one most directly involved with the Blood Cult, I can't avoid him.'
Jaun quickly sat down in a chair and looked up at the ceiling with a tired expression.
Not long after, the door of the room where Jaun was staying swung wide open.
─ CRASH
Squad Leader Jo, who had flung open the door, entered the room with a stiff expression.
"...What do you think you're doing now?"
Jaun, who confirmed Squad Leader Jo's sharp gaze, shrugged his shoulders as if he did not understand.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sure I sent word for you to come to the Internal Affairs Inspectorate as soon as you left the pharmacy?"
"...My body is not yet in a state to do so."
Squad Leader Jo let out a sigh as if he were dumbfounded and bit his lip hard.
"Ha. There are only three days left. If the grand plan goes awry because of you... I will not let you be, even in death."
Squad Leader Jo's pale face shone even whiter today. Jaun turned his head toward Squad Leader Jo, who was glaring at him with his red lips trembling.
"Isn't General Hwang already proceeding with the grand plan anyway?"
"Do you say that even though you know full well that there are many things he cannot do!"
Squad Leader Jo let out a sharp cry and then took a deep breath, suppressing his anger.
Squad Leader Jo, who had been glaring at Jaun for a moment, took out the book with the final verse of the Red Blood Art from his bosom and threw it on the table where Jaun was sitting.
─ THUD
Jaun picked up the book that Squad Leader Jo had thrown and skimmed through its contents.
"I've gone to great lengths to replace the escort personnel for the Heaven Worship Ceremony with our people. Do I, a member of the Eastern Depot, have to do even this kind of thing?"
Jaun did not give any particular answer to Squad Leader Jo's words and focused on the contents of the book.
'It seems the Red Blood Art has been slightly modified. They haven't passed on the complete Blood Art to the Imperial Court. Still... if it's the Red Blood Art of this level, it should be enough to turn the tide of the battle.'
Squad Leader Jo, who was glaring at Jaun as he skimmed through the book, opened his mouth.
"...Thanks to you, only four of the Twelve Swords of the Embroidered Uniform Guard are participating in the grand plan. The Admiral is also in a very unpleasant mood. You know what kind of consequences await if this matter goes wrong, don't you?"
"My three clans will be annihilated, and the graves of my ancestors will be exhumed and desecrated."
The fists of Squad Leader Jo, who was looking at Jaun answering so calmly, trembled.
"...You know that and you're this relaxed? You bastard, are you still not in your right mind?"
Squad Leader Jo, with a stiff expression, walked with steady steps and gripped Jaun's shoulder tightly.
"Even if I somehow manage the rest, if you fail to complete the Blood Art, everything will be for naught. Only you, who have been involved from the beginning of the grand plan, can use the Blood Art to stand against the other Twelve Swords. So you must complete the Blood Art within three days, no matter what. At your level, even if you practice day and night from now on, it will not be enough."
"To achieve the grand plan... I suppose I must."
Jaun nodded and put the book in his bosom.
"Remember that on that day, only the Embroidered Uniform Guard can stay by the Emperor's side. You must complete the Blood Art somehow and launch a fatal ambush on the Five Swords who are guarding the Emperor right by his side. Only after that, by seizing the initiative through the Blood Art, can we barely succeed."
"I know that well, so stop nagging. Tsk. I heard the date of the great undertaking was changed a few days ago, what are the detailed plans?"
Squad Leader Jo, who was looking at Jaun, let out a deep sigh and shook his head from side to side.
"The detailed plans will be delivered on the day, so you just focus on your recovery. Everything will begin the moment the Emperor starts reading the prayer."
Squad Leader Jo, who was looking Jaun up and down with anxious eyes, chewed on his lips and then let out a loud sigh.
"Hoo. I really wonder if it's okay to proceed like this. One of the men who should be the most deadly sword has gone mad like this."
Squad Leader Jo, who was glaring at Jaun and clicking his tongue, turned his body abruptly. A faint scent of incense wafted to Jaun's nose.
Squad Leader Jo, who was walking out of the room, soon stopped in his tracks, took out a small wooden box from his bosom, and threw it at Jaun.
─ THUD
As soon as Jaun opened the wooden box, a clear fragrance began to fill the room.
"...It is a Plum Blossom Divine Pill. I persuaded the Admiral to give it to me when there were only two left in the Eastern Depot. I will collect ten times the amount after the great undertaking succeeds, so for now, somehow recover your body with that."
─ CRASH!
As Squad Leader Jo went out, he slammed the door with enough force to break it. Jaun, who had confirmed that he was far enough away, let out a sigh of relief.
'Hoo. That's a relief. If even Squad Leader Jo didn't find out, I don't have to worry too much in the future.'
In a situation like this, it seemed it would be much easier for him to act.
Jaun smiled with satisfaction and lowered his gaze to the wooden box in his hand.
'Besides, I never expected such a gift.'
It was none other than the Plum Blossom Divine Pill.
He had never imagined that he would obtain one of the three great elixirs of the Murim, along with Shaolin's Great Pill and Wudang's Grand Pure Pill, in a place like this.
'I've used up a lot of my energy recently... this is a good opportunity.'
While the elixirs of Shaolin and Wudang contained a unique righteous energy, the Plum Blossom Divine Pill of Mount Hua had no particular energy of its own, so it was an elixir that did not clash with other energies.
'The place is also perfect for taking the elixir.'
Where could be safer than the residence of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, located inside the Imperial Palace?
Jaun quickly organized the documents on the table and sat down in the center of the room in a cross-legged position.
Jaun, who had opened the wooden box and taken out the Plum Blossom Divine Pill, pushed the pill into his mouth.
─ SWOOOOOSH
The Plum Blossom Divine Pill, which melted without a trace as soon as it entered his mouth, went down his throat, and soon, a massive amount of energy began to race through his body.