Chapter 454 : Cornered Against the Wall (2)
Chapter 454: Cornered Against the Wall (2)
Back at the very beginning of the war, Il-mok had once spoken with Yang Gwang about the Wooden Boxed Thunder Bomb.
He asked the Provincial Military Commander of Gansu why the Western Military Command had refrained from freely deploying their Wooden Boxed Thunder Bomb and cannons even when they had them.
Yang Gwang's answer at the time was because the Western Military Command didn't have much gunpowder to spare. And not just the Western Military Command, he answered that every single military command was running low on gunpowder.
Part of it was that producing gunpowder wasn't easy. But the real issue was that the vast majority of the Empire’s gunpowder was being shipped directly into the Forbidden City instead of the front lines.
It’s been several months since that conversation.
As the war dragged on, the imperial forces occasionally deployed cannons and explosives, but it was never enough to turn the tide. Because of that, Il-mok had filed the intel out of his mind.
But the moment Il-mok heard word that the enemy leadership was pulling back to the Forbidden City, it came rushing back to him.
"I need to rejoin the main army immediately."
Seo Jae-pil gave him a puzzled look at those words.
"What are you talking about? You need complete bed rest, Left Guardian."
Where did he think he was going with a body that was practically stitched together?
Il-mok knew full well that he wasn't in any shape to be doing this. But he couldn't just sit back and take it easy here.
What if he was right? What if there was a massive stockpile of gunpowder still sitting inside the Forbidden City?
And what if the Cult Leader walked straight into that trap and got himself killed?
They had practically already secured victory at this point, so even if Wi Jin-hak died, they might still win the war. But the moment they lost their center, the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult would be plunged into chaos.
They might even end up winning the war and still fail to claim the Central Plains.
No, that wasn't even the real issue here.
‘I can’t let my Eldest Brother die. No, it's not just about him. I can't just stand by and do nothing.’
The hellish scene where the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult soldiers who had charged inside were wiped out in an instant.
It kept playing over and over in Il-mok's mind.
"There's information that must be delivered to the main army at this once!”
"Then I'll have a courier prepared right away, Left Guardian."
Il-mok shook his head at Seo Jae-pil's suggestion. "I'm going myself. I'd rather make the trip than sit here rotting in anxiety. Going myself would at least put my mind at ease."
Realizing that Il-mok had no intention of budging, Seo Jae-pil thought for a moment before throwing out a seemingly random question.
"Is this information really that critical to the outcome of this war?"
"It is."
"And if this information gets through safely, the war will be over soon?"
"Most likely."
Hearing that, Seo Jae-pil seemed to contemplate for a moment before nodding his head.
"Then I'm coming with you."
"Don't you have patients to look after here, Physician Seo?"
Seo Jae-pil shook his head at Il-mok's point. "Once the war ends, the influx of casualties will stop. If that really happens, there's really no reason for me to stay behind. So wouldn't it make more sense for me to travel with you to the main army and keep treating you along the way?"
It was a surprisingly reasonable argument.
In the end, Il-mok accepted Seo Jae-pil's proposal, and Seo Jae-pil left the ward to begin preparing for their departure.
Il-mok's maids stopped their training and started getting ready to head back to the front line with Il-mok.
About one hour later, everyone had finished their preparations and stepped out of the ward.
Waiting in front of the manor was a fairly large carriage drawn by four horses.
They climbed in and set off, leaving Xi'an behind and heading in the direction that the main army had been advancing.
Every time the carriage hit a rough patch and jolted hard, Il-mok let out a faint groan.
"Ngh."
Seeing him in such pain, Seon-ah and Jeong Hyeon's faces filled with helpless concern.
Unable to hold back any longer, Seon-ah was the first to speak. "Do you really have to travel to the frontlines yourself, Left Guardian? If you just give the order, I will go in your place."
Realizing he hadn't yet told them about his reasoning, Il-mok calmly began to explain his deduction. When he explained that the entire Forbidden City might be rigged as one giant bomb, everyone in the carriage turned pale.
The image of thousands upon thousands of people being swallowed by a massive explosion rose unbidden in their minds.
Ironically enough, the apocalyptic blast that the women pictured in their heads looked exactly like the devastating aftermath of Il-mok's World-Destroying Primordial Jade Palm. Mainly because that was the only explosion they had ever seen on such a terrifying scale.
Just then, the carriage lurched and Il-mok let out another faint groan.
Jeong Hyeon spoke up urgently, "T-The information is important, b-but there's no need for you to go yourself, Left Guardian. N-Now that I-I’ve heard it, I-I will go and deliver it personally."
"I'll go with her. Please trust us." Seon-ah stared at him, her eyes practically begging him to say yes.
Il-mok could understand how they felt.
He knew they had been throwing themselves into their training lately.
They were anxious that they had become completely useless to him.
Il-mok thought it over, then opened his mouth. "I still need to go myself."
Seeing their eyes wavering for a moment, Il-mok added before they could say anything else. "It's not that I don't trust you. Put yourselves in my shoes for a second. If you suddenly found out that I was about to walk into a deadly trap, would you be satisfied with just sending a letter and hoping for the best?"
"..."
Neither woman could find a single word to say.
If they found out Il-mok's life was on the line, they would throw themselves into danger without caring for their lives.
It was not a matter of trusting or distrusting someone else. If it comes to that point, the worry and anxiety in their mind would make them unable to sit still.
Realizing there was no way to change Il-mok's mind, the two women lowered their heads and replied. "We will do everything in our power to help to you, Left Guardian."
"W-we'll make sure we reach the main army as fast as possible."
As if to keep their promise, these two girls devoted themselves entirely to protecting Il-mok’s well-being.
The same was true for Seo Jae-pil, who had been quietly watching the conversation from the side.
Whenever they stopped the carriage to let the horses rest and restock their supplies, he would brew a large batch of medicine and divide it into portions for Il-mok to drink.
Each time he took the medicine, Il-mok would sit in the lotus position in the bouncing carriage and perform Qi circulation. Thanks to the treatment he had been receiving in Xi'an, his internal injuries had recovered somewhat.
With the Demonic Qi from his Lower Dantian, he spread the effects of the medicine evenly throughout the acupoints across his body and began working to heal his internal injuries.
While meditating through the journey, Il-mok suddenly found himself thinking of his Master and chuckled in nostalgia.
He was thinking of the memories when he first joined the Divine Cult.
Back then, he had just begun learning the Soul-Stealing Heartless Sword, and the late Heavenly Demon had told him that a martial artist must be able to perform a stable Qi circulation even in unstable conditions, and had made him practice it inside a moving carriage.
‘Did he actually foresee a situation like this?’
His Master obviously didn’t possess clairvoyance, but Il-mok could not help but feel that his Master might have actually done that on purpose.
Once Il-mok finished circulating the medicine through his system, Seo Jae-pil whipped out his acupuncture needles. The next step was to restore the Qi in the acupoints that were the slowest to recover.
Under normal circumstances, he probably would have ordered the carriage to stop.
Inserting needles into acupoints inside a rattling carriage was nothing short of madness.
But there was no time to spare right now.
‘Alright. He might be a certified mad scientist, but his skills are no joke.’
Forcing his anxiety down, Il-mok closed his eyes and let the mad physician do his work.
After several days of receiving treatment inside the moving carriage, they came across a unit of Heavenly Demon Divine Cult forces that had been left behind near Luoyang in Henan Province.
Zhuge Mun had wisely left them behind to hold the line and protect the army's supply routes just in case something went wrong.
Since their horses had essentially been running to their death for the past few days, Il-mok's crew swapped them out for a fresh batch and instantly set off for the main army again.
A few more days passed after that.
They passed through Henan and arrived in Hebei where the main army was said to have headed.
When they reached Handan, they found yet another Divine Cult unit occupying the walls.
But the main army was nowhere to be seen.
"The Cult Leader conquered this city three days ago. He didn't stop to rest and marched straight to Beijing."
That was the report they got from the local garrison commander.
‘It’s only been eight days since I first heard they were moving into Hebei. And the imperial army has already been pushed back all the way back to Beijing?’
It was clearly good news for everyone else, but hearing it only made Il-mok's suspicion grow heavier.
They switched out the worn horses again and drove the carriage toward Beijing.
They pushed on for four days straight by giving the horses only the bare minimum of rest. By the time the horses were on the verge of collapsing, they were able to reach the outskirts of Beijing.
"YEAAAHHHH!"
"The Heavenly Demon Descends! Ten Thousand Demons Obeys!"
A deafening chorus of hymns and war cries was echoing through Beijing.
Il-mok and his group hurried out of the carriage and looked around.
The walls of Beijing were scarred with the wounds of battle, and corpses were strewn all around near the walls. With no time to waste, Il-mok and his group sprinted through the gates and pushed into the heart of Beijing.
Maybe it was thanks to Seo Jae-pil and the maids' constant care that Il-mok's body felt considerably lighter than when they left Xi'an even though he is still not in any shape to fight at full strength.
Suddenly, a thunderous blast shredded through the chanting and cheering.
BOOM!!!
Il-mok and his group panicked and sprinted toward the sound.
‘Calm down. An explosion of that size isn't the main trap.’
It was a loud explosion, but nothing close to the earth-shaking roar that would come from the World-Destroying Primordial Jade Palm leveling everything in its path. It sounded more like when a Thunder Bomb or something similar had gone off.
After running through the streets of Beijing for a short while, they could now start to hear the shouting and hymns clearly up close.
A Heavenly Demon Divine Cult soldier wandering the streets of Beijing turned his head and spotted Il-mok.
"Huh?!"
Everyone knew the legendary Left Guardian was hundreds of miles away in Xi’an, so how could he appear here?
"L-Left Guardian? What are you doing here?"
Since the man had recognized him, Il-mok rushed up to him, "Where did the Cult Leader go?!"
The man pointed toward the walls of the Forbidden City.
"H-he went toward the Forbidden City."
"Damn it."
There was no time to explain anything, so Il-mok sprinted toward the Forbidden City.
The closer he got to the Forbidden City, the more Heavenly Demon Divine Cult soldiers came into view.
By the time he reached the outer walls and got a look around, the outer gates of the Forbidden City had already been breached.
Fierce fighting was still raging in and around the broken gates, and battle cries and screams poured in from every direction. Hymns and chants praising the Heavenly Demon rang out without stop.
"Kill them all!!!"
"Push forward!!"
"Glory to the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult!!"
And amidst all of this, the explosions of Thunder Bombs kept going off.
BOOM!
In the middle of the chaos, several soldiers spotted Il-mok and let out a roar.
"The Left Guardian is here!"
"The Left Guardian has returned to lead us to victory!!"
The cry spread like wildfire among those who recognized him.
"HELL YEAH!!!"
"THE ENVOY OF GOD IS HERE!!"
“VICTORY IS OURS!”
The morale of the already hyped up soldiers shot through the roof.
They look like they would gladly charge headlong into any trap the enemy had laid.
Realizing his mere presence had accidentally poured gasoline on the zealots' religious fervor, Il-mok's face twisted into a scowl.
"Get out of my way!!"
After pushing through the dense crowd, Il-mok finally caught sight of Wi Jin-hak in the distance.
His Eldest Brother was heading toward the inner walls of the Forbidden City.
Il-mok roared at the top of his lungs toward Wi Jin-hak.
"STOP!!!"