Chapter 194: Time Flows Like Water (1)
So-mu, who was sitting cross-legged, had a serious expression. His palm was pressed against the back of the child in front of him.
He was in the process of forcibly defeating Im Dok-yang by applying his true energy to the strength of Yeong-yeong, who possessed sixty years of internal energy.
“after.”
It was only after one more meal that I was able to stand up.
How could it be easy to use enormous magical energy in someone else’s body? Even his complexion turned pale, as if he had spent a lot of mental energy.
“It felt like my lifespan was getting shorter every time I do it.”
Although my mind and body were tired, my heart was relieved.
Grrrr-!
When I opened the door and came out, So-so was waiting on the floor with wide eyes like a rabbit.
The shiny bald head was funny, but it actually looked cuter.
“What happened, father?”
“Hmm. The transformation has just begun, so if you”re curious, go in.”
When So-so said that the job went well, a big smile appeared on his face. At the same time, he opened her arms and hugged his father.
“Thank you~ Dad is the best. Hehehe.”
“This guy. He”s pampering his father to his heart”s content.”
So-mu stroked his daughter’s smooth head and sat down on the floor to catch her breath.
Seolhwa asked as she was feeding the Mountain Lord in the yard.
“Are you finished?”
“Yes. When are you going to Yangju Mountain?”
Now that the Eunhwa Sect had been dealt with and So-so had returned, he was planning to resume training in the basin of Yangzhu Mountain. We need to achieve Lion’s Roar as soon as possible so that we can perform Jinilsimsogok together.
“To coincide with the day my husband leaves. When are you going?”
“It”s going to get busy after winter, so we should hurry. I”m going to have an audience with Ming Gong today and discuss it.”
So-mu was planning to go on a training path for the upcoming battle. I couldn’t put it off any longer because I wouldn’t have time if it wasn’t now. I was planning to go to the palace today to discuss it.
“You”re busy. Try drinking this.”
The bowl contained an unidentifiable cloudy liquid. The scent wasn’t very good, so I felt uneasy for some reason.
“what’s this?”
“Are you afraid I might poison you? Drink it quickly. I heard it”s good for men.”
“hmm.”
So-mu took a deep breath, stopped breathing, and made a solemn expression.
A cow’s sense of smell and taste was thousands of times more developed than that of an ordinary person. Therefore, the pain I felt could not help but increase.
It would have been better to drink poison. Every time the liquid passed down my throat, I felt sick from the disgusting taste and smell.
“That”s right. Drink it up.”
So-mu, who had finished his heroic deed, was quite surprised. As soon as you drink it, doesn’t the energy of the danjeon that was emptied come back again?
Judging by the heat felt in the danjeon, it seemed to be some type of elixir. In an instant, it felt as if my strength had increased by as much as ten years.
“Ugh. It tastes a bit bad, but I think the effect is good.”
“Can you feel it?”
“I can definitely feel it, but I can”t drink it twice. But where did you get this precious thing?”
After hesitating for a moment, Seolhwa approached the Mountain Lord, patted his head, and spoke.
“Huh, that? It”s a collection of our Darong”s secretions.”
“””what?”
I had briefly heard of it. The secretions of high-level spirit creatures were as precious as elixirs. I never thought I would collect it and feed it to myself. It was something I couldn’t even imagine.
When I took it without knowing, it was a medicine, but now that I knew about it, there was nothing I could do about my body’s rejection reaction.
“Keuuk!”
I tried to force myself to vomit, but it seemed like it had already been absorbed into my body and there was no sign of it coming out.
Suddenly, the Mountain Lord started purring in the yard. It seemed as if he was smiling.
As So-mu hurriedly stretched out his grip, a stream of water rose from the water bucket he had previously received as if being sucked in.
While I was frantically rinsing my mouth, Seolhwa spoke from behind as if it was okay.
“You mean it”s good for your body?”
I felt grateful, but at the same time, I felt resentful and as if I had been wronged.
“Hehe. I think it would be better for Yeon-mae to eat from now on. Let”s live a long and healthy life together.”
“I”m fine. Then, to my daughter”.”
It was then. The door burst open and So-so came out smiling.
“I”m fine too. Dad has to eat the good stuff. My friend made it pretty too. Hehe.”
Behind So-so’s back, Yeongyeong, who had completed his transformation, was coming out crouching.
The burn marks caused by the heat had disappeared everywhere, and her face was as white as the skin of a newborn baby.
The child had a dazed expression, as if what had happened to him was a dream.
“”Thank you, mister.”
It was a time when I didn’t have much conversation with people. So even though he didn’t know how to express it, her eyes clearly showed how grateful he was.
The accumulated mental fatigue seemed to go away with just one word from the child.
So-mu nodded with a kind smile.
“I am also happy to see that you have regained your original form. Now forget about your difficult past and only walk down a beautiful path.”
“yes””.”
At that time, Seolhwa, who was watching happily from the side, came carrying something from the basket next to him.
“Now, this is a commemorative gift. Please share them one by one.”
Before Yeongyeong could move, So-so quickly ran over and snatched it up.
“Wow, it”s so pretty!”
It was a winter hat that Seolhwa made by weaving hemp and silk.
A colorful rabbit was embroidered on the front.
“Pretty ladies like this shouldn”t be walking around with bald heads. Do you like it?”
“Yes, I love it.”
Youngyoung, who received a gift for the first time in her life, hesitated, feeling awkward. After a while, I tried pressing it on my head carefully, as if I were handling a treasure.
“Thank you.”
“Yeah, I”m glad you two get along well.”
So-so and Yeongyeong were leaving the house smiling brightly.
At that time, So-mu was on his way to the palace.
“Where are you going?”
So-so put his index finger to his lips and whispered in a low voice.
“I decided to perform a ritual together with Baeksang today.”
“Ritual? What ritual?”
“I can”t tell you. It”s our secret.”
Baeksang was the son of Chief Baekyak, a warrior of the Sanwa tribe, and was a child who learned martial arts.
What ritual do three children perform? Looking at my daughter’s expression, it was clear that she was planning something suspicious.
I wanted to follow him, but I didn’t have enough time today.
“Go somewhere and play quietly and don”t cause trouble.”
“Yes, father!”
So-mu said goodbye to the children and headed straight to the palace.
Today was a day designated once every seven days for the officials to rest. Therefore, wherever I went, the streets were very quiet.
When we arrived in front of Jang Yang’s office, the guarded stood up and spoke.
“I”ll take you inside right away, General.”
It seemed like he had received word from Jang Yang in advance.
After patting the guard on the shoulder and entering, I saw Jang Yang sitting at the table and busily moving his brush.
So-mu joked and slowly approached.
“You said that excessive work reduces efficiency and becomes toxic. So, didn”t you tell the officials to take one day off every seven days? How can you not put this into practice?”
Jang Yang, who wrote something in the petition he was reviewing, put down his writing brush and laughed.
“Heh, you”ve made a lot of jokes. Please sit down.”
So-mu smiled and sat across from him.
“You”re still the same. Why are you doing this?”
Jang Yang picked up the kettle and filled So-mu”s teacup that had been prepared in advance.
“It is said that if a person does his best, he can overcome even heaven. There are still starving and oppressed people in this country, so how can I put down this pen?”
“I”m worried that if I do that, the body will get damaged.”
“Hehehe. Okche, don”t talk like that. Is there any gold coming out of this old body?”
So-mu asked, grabbing the teacup.
“How about distributing some of the work to competent civil servants?”
“You are right. How can you say that there are no talented people in this country who are better than me? Even if that is not the case, we are finding the best candidates for each field and appointing them one by one.”
A faint smile appeared on So-mu’s face as he took a sip of tea.
“Then that”s a good thing, because I have to burden Mingong with another burden.”
Jang Yang was calm, as if he had already guessed the purpose of his visit. Because he had mentioned it before.
“It seems the time has come. I guess now is the right time.”
“Yes. I can”t put it off any longer. I plan to leave right away if Prince Ming permits.”
“What is there to allow or not? It is for the good of the country, so don”t feel burdened. The stronger you become, the stronger our national defense will be. By the way, where did you choose for the closing training?”
So-mu’s eyes turned to the strategy map attached to the wall of the office.
“It”s Mount Taigong. I chose a nearby location just in case.”
“It”s Mount Taigong… Although it”s a mountain with a rough terrain, it probably doesn”t matter to you. Nothing much will happen until winter passes, so don”t worry about the Privy Council”s business and just keep moving forward.”
“Yes. Thank you for your concern.”
At that time, I felt another guest approaching my office. The voice of the guard was heard outside first.
“General Yang Kang has arrived.”
“Please stop by.”
The door opened and a general armed with a small armor appeared.
He stood at the entrance, showed courtesy to Jang Yang, and then bowed his head again to So-mu.
“The great general was also with you. I was planning to visit you, but it just happened to work out.”
“Hmm. What”s going on?”
Judging from Yang Kang’s expression, it didn’t seem like it was bad news.
He answered in a happy voice.
“The production of Hoeryongpo has finally been completed. We are going to conduct a firing test now. Would you like to observe?”
Hoeryongpo was the name of the new catapult that So-mu had captured from Luoyang. The production of the first article for testing purposes was now complete.
It was So-mu who already knew the power of Hoeryongpo. And since I was the only one who could judge whether it had been successfully created, I had no choice but to observe.
So-mu nodded, stood up and guided Jang Yang.
“Minister Ming will also go with you.”
“Of course you should do that.”
Yang Kang took the lead along with the guarded and guided them to the location.
Since the experiment could not be conducted within the castle, we traveled on horseback.
The place we arrived after the eclipse was at the beginning of a rugged, deserted mountain.
The soldiers of the catapult unit, who had been waiting in advance, put their feet together and shouted slogans.
“insect!”
So-mu nodded and moved forward.
“Thank you for your hard work. Let”s get started right away.”
There was no reason to hesitate once we arrived.
The Hoeryong cannon had already completed preparations for launch.
The officer lowered his upper body and walked forward, clutching the red flagpole.
“firing!”
At a signal, a soldier approached and pulled the device that held the rope in place. Then the rope that was tied to it suddenly came loose and the heavy weight fell down.
Kwaang-!
A lever that soars at the same time. The coal fired from within flew through the sky with tremendous force.
A moment later, as it hit the cliff, a loud roar spread dozens of miles away.
Kwaaaaang-!!!
Stones fell around the impact point, causing a small landslide. The coal was buried half a length deep into the cliff.
Jang Yang was shocked by the power and was speechless for a moment.
“It”s still too early to be surprised.”
When So-mu gave the signal again, the officer waved the flagpole.
“load!!!”
About twenty soldiers clung to each other and pulled the rope fixed to the lever. Compared to the Great Artillery, the number of people was less than half.
Giggigigigig-!
As soon as I finished loading, the firing signal went off again.
“firing!!!”
Kwaang-!
Heavy coal flew up again. And an unbelievable sight unfolded. Isn’t it hitting the same location as before?
Kwaaaaang-!!!
This was possible because it was launched with the same force using weights.
The coal dug deep into the cliff was not even visible to the naked eye.
“How do you feel?”
Jang Yang muttered in an excited voice.
“No castle wall will be able to withstand it. Doesn”t it give you goosebumps to think that the Hui Dynasty was preparing to invade us with that weapon? This is the technology that was stolen from them, so we should return it as is.”
So-mu nodded and spoke to Yang Kang.
“Please prepare enough materials for Hoeryongpo by the time spring comes. So that we can assemble it right where we need it.”
It was difficult to move the catapult in its completed state due to its weight and bulk.
It was common to procure materials nearby and make them on site, but this has the disadvantage of taking a very long time and prolonging the siege.
Therefore, So-mu chose to prepare the materials in advance, transport them on a cart, and then assemble them at the destination. It meant that the upcoming Battle of Luoyang would be ended quickly.
“We will prepare without a hitch, General.”