Call Of The Spear [EN]: Chapter 534

Nangseon Gi Hwan Dam – Part 2, Episode 243

“You were right; we did meet him.”

Just as Cheonbeom said, upon arriving in Sangseo, they encountered the runaway.

However, he hadn’t anticipated finding him with the Sagye army in tow.

“Those are the ones!”

The triumphant way he shouts is rather irritating.

About a hundred soldiers.

Soldiers in Sagye attire, equipped with sturdy armor and spears.

They encircled Cheonbeom and Hori, while a fox-like man behind them was running his mouth.

“It’s them! They’re the ones who tried to kill me. There seems to be a suspicious movement trying to defy the Sagun [a military organization], and they must be involved! Punish them severely to uphold the law!!”

“That, that…! Listen to what that guy is saying!”

What a truly fox-like character.

His knack for fabricating stories and tattling is infuriating, a natural talent.

How can even his smile be so grating?

Hori seemed to be getting worked up, already poised to charge.

“Don’t stop me this time. I need to cut off that wriggling three-inch tongue of his right now!!”

As she was about to lunge, dozens of soldiers aimed their spears at her neck.

She narrowed her eyes, awaiting only Cheonbeom’s signal.

However, unlike her, Cheonbeom merely stroked his long white beard, as if amused by the situation.

“Beom!”

Ignoring Hori, Beom stepped forward and clasped his hands in greeting.

“It seems there’s some misunderstanding.”

“…This man is one of our soldiers. If we don’t act when a soldier is attacked, everyone in Sangseo will lose respect for the Sagun. Can you still call it a misunderstanding?”

“Of course. It’s easy enough to exchange a few words, so would you listen to what this old man has to say?”

“There’s no need to listen. Can’t you see the wounds they inflicted? He must be in league with the rebels who oppose the Sagun!”

“Shut up, Bihae.”

At that, the young man called Bihae flinched and lowered his head.

“I’ll hear you out.”

“First of all, we never attacked him. We were attacked instead.”

“Attacked?”

“We are simply Nangseon wanderers passing through. We happen to have a connection with Sangseo and were trying to cross that mountain.”

Beom looked at Bihae and smiled wryly.

“That suspicious fellow was on the mountaintop with injuries. Think about it. Being injured on a mountaintop far from Sangseo means he was in a battle, and not returning to Sangseo immediately means he had something to hide, wouldn’t you think?”

Before anyone could respond, Bihae stepped forward and spoke.

“That’s a lie! Those injuries are from when they attacked me, trying to kill me! If they were injuries from someone else, as he claims, I would have returned to Sangseo immediately! It’s my duty as a member of the Sagun to report this!”

“Then we should examine the injuries.”

Bihae’s brow twitched.

“If we look at the injuries, we can determine what kind of weapon or divine power was used, right? We can compare it with the weapons we possess.”

“That’s right. Bihae, let’s see the injuries.”

“Are you believing their words!”

“I’m not believing them, but it’s not difficult to take a look at your injuries. Besides, I have a duty to uncover the truth. Show me your injuries now!”

As if he had no choice, he removed his upper garment and displayed the wound on his arm.

A long, continuous laceration.

The area around the laceration had turned blackish, and the energy of Mokshintong [a type of divine power] was strongly present.

“Now it’s your turn.”

Beom and Hori slowly revealed their weapons. The more they revealed, the darker Bihae’s expression became.

This was because their magical tools and the Five Elements of their divine powers had no connection to Mokshintong.

After a moment.

The commander of the army, having confirmed this, looked down at Bihae with cold eyes.

Now the tables had turned.

Cheonbeom and Hori’s position grew stronger.

Cheonbeom was also unmatched when it came to eloquence.

The reason he had survived in the harsh world of cultivation until now was certainly not only due to his talent and luck.

Half of it was also because he was skilled with words. So, could a mere child’s words harm him?

No way.

The ability to plunge an opponent into hardship with a few words was something that Cheonbeom, who had lived for a long time, possessed in abundance.

‘You’re still far off, kid.’

And soon, the military leader’s judgment was delivered.

“Take him away, imprison Bihae, who has spoken falsely, and those people as well!”

* * *

A dark, damp, and filthy underground prison.

All the prisoners were wearing handcuffs on their wrists.

These handcuffs contained magic that prevented the free use of Seon’s energy and sealed physical abilities.

Whether they were Soseon [a cultivation stage] or Sangseon [a cultivation stage], their power was reduced to that of ordinary people.

Anyway, in such an underground prison.

A woman, an old man, and a young man were imprisoned together.

It was none other than Cheonbeom and Hori.

And Bihae.

“So, this is what you foresaw.”

Hori grumbled and glared.

When asked what she meant.

“I’m saying, was this dirty and damp prison life what you predicted?”

She seemed full of complaints.

“Of course.”

He joked out of embarrassment.

“Don’t lie! This guy is now spouting lies without even batting an eye!”

She was fuming.

Hori jumped up and tensed her whole body. She seemed to be trying to break the handcuffs.

“It’s no use. These are handcuffs made by the Sa family… I mean, from Geukyang Sangsan. Even a Hyangseon [a cultivation stage] can’t break them if a few restrictions are in place, so there’s no way you can break them by straining like that.”

As Bihae said was true, Hori couldn’t break the handcuffs even though she was straining so hard that her face turned red.

No, he didn’t let her break them.

Knowing his intentions, she glared at Bihae, even more furious, and growled.

“You son of a bitch, it’s all your fault! Why did you drag us into this and cause this mess!”

“It wasn’t that wrong either. You guys tried to kill me, right?”

“You bastard…!!”

Just as she was about to kick him.

Bang, bang!!

The guard watching the prison banged on the bars as if telling them to be quiet.

Then Hori’s gaze turned to Cheonbeom and twisted fiercely.

“How long are you going to stay like this?”

“Wouldn’t time solve it? Originally, most things are solved by time, that’s the wisdom of my long life….”

“Why do we have to spend time here! We can just leave!”

Well, that’s true too.

These handcuffs were like child’s play to Hori, and of course to Cheonbeom.

But even so, Beom didn’t bother to break the handcuffs.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been to Sangseo. This could also be a kind of enjoyment, don’t you think?”

He was already curious about how Saha would react if he told her this story.

“And it’s still okay. I’m also curious about the changes in Sangseo… In a few days, Chuk will also come here, won’t he? We need to know how Sangseo has changed to help him.”

Cheonbeom was only puzzled by the fact that the Sagye army, which had nothing to do with Sangseo, was stationed there.

It was a completely unexpected situation.

Of course, he already knew that nothing he needed to worry about had happened.

His Shinshik [spiritual awareness] could spread throughout the Sugye [a region] with just a brief deployment.

‘It doesn’t exactly feel like they’ve occupied it and made it a colony.’

So there was a need to find out more. If the Sagye army was occupying and oppressing Sangseo, he could just burn them all down.

“Hani, can I ask you something? I heard you’re a native of Sangseo.”

Then Bihae let out a hollow laugh as if he was dumbfounded.

“Old man, aren’t you too relaxed? This is a prison under the management of the Sagun. Once you’re imprisoned, whether the crime is light or heavy, you can’t easily get out.”

“Then is that the same for you too?”

“No, I’ll be released soon.”

“Hoo, how so?”

“Because my identity isn’t as unclear as you guys. I’ll probably be released soon after a few interrogations.”

Unlike his actions and tone, he had quite a pride in his status.

Why would such a guy become a soldier of the Sagun? This trivial guy strangely piqued Cheonbeom’s interest.

“I see.”

It seemed that quite a long time had passed since Sangseo and Sagun had been together.

“Looking at the situation, it seems that Sangseo accepted the Sagun, and the Sagun made a mutual defense treaty to protect Sangseo’s security and prevent invasions from foreign forces, right?”

“You noticed well. It’s been quite some time since that happened. Has it been a few hundred years?”

“Then it’s about time for the Sagun, who are slowly melting into Sangseo, to become greedy.”

Then his eyes widened and he was surprised.

“Old man, you know something? That’s right. Because of that, disputes between those originally in Sangseo and the Sagun have been happening frequently recently!? Uh… but why am I even saying this?”

Bihae was startled and unknowingly surprised by the old man’s eloquence, which naturally drew out various stories.

“Then you must be a Sangseo person doing espionage.”

“…Well? Maybe, maybe not. The Sagun’s military commander has quite a beautiful appearance, so all the men of Sangseo want to please her.”

The Sagun’s military commander is beautiful.

Cheonbeom couldn’t hide his laughter.

He felt like he knew why the Sagun was stationed here.

“I’m only telling you, so I feel like I’m losing out… Why did the old man come here? You came at a bad time and are suffering for no reason.”

Was it because they had exchanged a few words?

Bihae’s attitude seemed to have softened a lot compared to before.

His tone seemed a little more comfortable.

Was that why.

“I have someone to meet here.”

“Who? Do you have a hidden lover or something?”

“Well, something like that.”

Not a lover, but a wife.

“Oh… you’re capable? The women of Sangseo are all tough, so it wouldn’t have been easy to seduce them, how did you do it?”

“You’re too young to know, but if you have a deep taste like aged wine, women will know on their own….”

Cheonbeom, who was unknowingly spouting nonsense, glanced at Hori, who was staring at him silently, and coughed dryly.

“Then you could have just lived in Sangseo. Why did you leave?”

“Because I had something to do.”

“Old man, you had something more precious than your woman?”

He couldn’t answer the question that poked him. Bihae, who had been staring at him silently for a while, nodded on his own.

“Well, that could be. I also have great ambitions.”

“Since we met like this, can you tell me what it is?”

“I can tell you that much. Old man, consider it an honor to have met me. I’m going to be the king of Sangseo.”

To become the king of Sangseo, which is just a city.

It was a vague statement whether to say his vessel was big or small.

It could be said to be big as an ambition that a Soseon would utter, but it was ambiguous to a Wonseon [a cultivation stage].

“What are you going to do as the king of Sangseo?”

“First of all, I’m going to make all the women of Sangseo mine. I’m going to marry the daughters of all the families near Sangseo to eliminate disputes and grow Sangseo.”

“…It’s a somewhat foolish yet practical answer.”

It seems like it doesn’t make sense, but if you break it down one by one, it roughly makes sense. It’s not for nothing that families do political marriages.

Even the king of a country often eliminates disputes through political marriages.

“I don’t have talent in martial arts or the Five Elements, so my specialty is puppetry.”

For a Soseon, he was quite skilled at handling and making puppets.

He also seemed a bit skilled in scheming, so if he used it well, he would be able to deal well with those who wielded stronger power than himself.

“If I use puppets that look exactly like me, political marriages will be a piece of cake.”

“……”

I don’t know if he’s saying it sincerely or joking to deceive me.

Hori was also looking at him as if he was crazy.

“I’m going to become the king of Sangseo with puppetry. Those who ignored me won’t be able to say anything when that time comes, right? Of course, to do that, the first priority is to go under the Sagye’s military commander.”

“Under the military commander?”

Come to think of it, she was skilled at making magical tools.

She would also be good at handling puppets.

‘I’ve never seen it though.’

“The old man doesn’t know, but the Sagye’s military commander defected to Sugye. So she’s temporarily staying in Sangseo… I’ve heard that among the Hyangseons, she’s said to be as powerful as the Daechunmujang [a military rank] of Sugye. Of course, the puppetry that the military commander handles was said to be so powerful that it could play with the Ssangseondae [a military unit] of Sugye.”

His pupils sparkled as if his chest was full.

“So you’re going to go under the military commander, get promoted, learn puppetry, and become the king of Sangseo?”

“That’s right.”

It seems like there’s more to hide.

Cheonbeom looked at Bihae, who was smiling aimlessly, with strange eyes and turned his head.

“This way.”

A guard and a graceful woman appeared outside the bars.

“Bihae, come out.”

Bihae smiled brightly when he heard his name, then was startled and his face hardened.

It was the same for Cheonbeom, because the face of the woman looking for Bihae was quite familiar.

“Why all the way here….”

Bihae couldn’t bear to lift his face, and the woman looking at him didn’t say anything.

She quietly hugged him affectionately, released his handcuffs, and took him away.

“Hmm….”

Next to Cheonbeom, who was blank for a moment.

Hori said quietly.

“Is this what they call an affair of the wife?”

Cheonbeom’s face frowned.