Chronicles of the Lazy Sovereign Novel - Chapter 38

Chapter 38

It was a scene as if a massive wave made of shadows of hands were falling on Wei Yan-ho.

“Kyaaaaak!”

Moon Eun-ji also let a scream slip without realizing it.

Wei Yan-ho’s fragile body seemed about to be dragged and shattered by the wave at any time. However, Wei Yan-ho remained serene and serene as he watched the scene, carrying his wooden sword with indifference and bowing his head.

“Mmm?”

Even as he watched the Shadow Hand technique covering him, Wei Yan-ho did not move, as if he was thinking deeply of something.

Moon Eun-ji was startled and shouted at Wei Yan-ho.

No, she tried to scream.

But before the words could come out, the shadows of Nok Mok-pung’s hands completely enveloped Wei Yan-ho.

Moon Eun-ji closed her eyes tightly.

‘He’s… he’s dead.’

Anyone who received such a fierce attack with the naked body would die. Even she, who did not know much about martial arts, could guess.

Moon Eun-ji covered her mouth.

Otherwise, I felt like I was going to scream.

No, she felt like she was gonna burst into tears.

‘Because of me…’

If he hadn’t come to this place, he wouldn’t have died.

No, if she hadn’t screamed to stop him when he was trying to escape, she could have lived.

‘Because of me…’

Moon Eun-ji couldn’t even think of cleaning the tears that flowed.

“I’ve seen this somewhere…”

Moon Eun-ji’s eyes suddenly opened.

She heard his voice.

“Huh?”

The scene before his eyes was completely strange.

Wei Yan-ho remained there looking exactly the same as before.

As if Nok Mok-pung’s attack had been an illusion, Wei Yan-ho seemed completely calm and serene.

But Nok Mok-pung’s amazement face proved that it had not been an illusion. He looked at Wei Yan-ho with stunned expression for a long time before opening his mouth weakly.

“C-how did you do that?”

Wei Yan-ho responded calmly.

“You saw him, why do you ask?”

“…”

Nok Mok-pung breathed deeply.

He had definitely seen it.

At the time his Shadow Hand technique covered Wei Yan-ho, he moved calmly through the extremely small spaces between the attacks.

In a situation where thousands of shadows of hands attacked simultaneously, Wei Yan-ho had slipped his body through intervals of minutes.

And very slowly.

Moon Eun-ji thought it was amazing, Lee Wang-ya was impressed and Nok Mok-pung was surprised.

You see as much as you know.

Moon Eun-ji, who did not know martial arts, was simply amazed. Lee Wang-ya, who did know martial arts, was impressed by the level of Wei Yan-ho. Nok Mok-pung, who knew the level of his own martial arts, was able to perceive how amazing Wei Yan-ho’s foot game was, and was shocked.

‘Where the hell did such a monster come from?’

Nok Mok-pung could not even imagine the level of martial knowledge Wei Yan-ho possessed. Even Nok Mok-pung himself possessed martial skills that he could not match between people of his age.

However, Wei Yan-ho, who was much younger, possessed a martial dexterity that Nok Mok-pung could not even imagine.

‘Did she eat a pearl that grants wishes or something?’

It was an absurd story, but there was no other way to explain Wei Yan-ho’s martial dexterity.

The fact was that Wei Yan-ho’s martial dexterity was beyond what Nok Mok-pung had imagined, and Nok Mok-pung could not handle Wei Yan-ho.

Just by showing a step, Wei Yan-ho had broken even Nok Mok-pung’s fighting spirit.

“It’s strange, really.”

Lee Wang-ya asked.

“What do you mean?”

Wei Yan-ho bowed his head.

“I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

“Right now?”

I definitely saw the martial art that that gentleman used before, but I don’t remember where I saw it.

Faced with those words, Nok Mok-pung’s face hardened.

“Have you seen my martial art?”

“I definitely saw something similar before, but where did it go?”

Wei Yan-ho quietly looked at Nok Mok-pung with a worried expression.

Where did you learn that?

“…”

Nok Mok-pung sighed with a hardened face.

“I can’t tell you.”

“Hmm, then that’s a problem…”

Wei Yan-ho continued to reflect. As he saw him plunged into his thoughts, Nok Mok-pung lost the will to attack first and spoke with a slightly distorted face.

“I have a request.”

Wei Yan-ho looked up.

“For me?”

“That’s right.”

“Go ahead.”

“If I retire like this, would you let me go in peace?”

Wei Yan-ho looked at Lee Wang-ya.

“That won’t do.”

Lee Wang-ya stood firm.

“He says no.”

Nok Mok-pung looked at Lee Wang-ya.

He had understood that Lee Wang-ya, not Wei Yan-ho, had the power of decision.

“Please let me go, Your Highness.”

“Have you ever seen a Censorship official let a traitor go?”

“If I don’t come back, Dad will think things have gone wrong.”

Lee Wang-ya’s mouth shut like a clam.

“And he will make one last bet. Whatever the result, the imperial family will suffer irreversible damage.”

“…Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I know you’ll fail, because I think it’s best to seize the opportunity to plan for the future.”

“Why should I give you time to plan for the future?”

Nok Mok-pung spoke calmly.

“At least, His Highness could immediately prevent the problems that will plague the imperial family. An even greater storm could erupt in the future, but His Highness would have the opportunity to turn it into a gentle breeze.”

“Savvy bastard.”

Lee Wang-ya frowned.

If Lee Wang-ya captured Nok Mok-pung here, Nok Gi might think that the situation had gone wrong and try to overthrow the imperial family. Even if he failed, considering the forces Nok Gi possessed, tremendous chaos would be unleashed. And even if they repressed him, the imperial family would certainly suffer enormous damage.

If I ended up at that level, I’d be lucky, but the Nok Gi Lee Wang-ya knew was someone who could corner them with even more sinister plans.

“Are you telling me to watch with my own eyes how traitors beckon wide in the imperial family?”

“Isn’t that political?”

“Bastard…”

Lee Wang-ya let a deep sigh escape.

Without power, justice doesn’t make sense.

Lee Wang-ya knew better than anyone.

Nok Mok-pung’s words were completely cunning, but they pierced reality accurately.

Yeah, this was politics.

“If the Censorate manages to conquer a weakness of the East Palace, I think it’s not a bad deal.”

“This idea is from your own head?”

Nok Mok-pung outlined a subtle smile.

Lee Wang-already clenched his teeth.

“They say eunuchs are like rats, digging ten holes to escape…”

Lee Wang-ya silently looked at Nok Mok-pung before opening his mouth.

“Get lost.”

Nok Mok-pung bowed deeply to Lee Wang-ya.

“Thank you, and I trust you’ll shut the fuck up.”

Lee Wang-ya frowned and did not respond. Nok Mok-pung smiled slightly and looked at Wei Yan-ho.

Nok Mok-pung’s look at Wei Yan-ho was extremely complex. Because of this person, everything had gone wrong today. If it weren’t for her, there would have been no need to suffer such humiliation.

Feeling Nok Mok-pung’s gaze, Wei Yan-ho opened his mouth silently.

“As an answer to the advice I received earlier, can I also give you some advice?”

“Speak.”

“The Bone Reduction technique is a great martial art, but by using it simultaneously, its power inevitably decreases. If you really want to face me, you’d better undo that transformation.”

For a moment, a strange light shone in Nok Mok-pung’s eyes.

“I’ll keep that in mind for the next time we meet.”

“I don’t want to see you again.”

Not like that, at least.

Nok Mok-pung looked silently at Wei Yan-ho and then turned around.

“I’m coming.”

Behind him followed the Black Darkness.

“Mmm…”

Wei Yan-ho remained silent watching Nok Mok-pung walk away.

Moon Eun-ji approached Wei Yan-ho and asked him a question.

“What are you looking at so carefully?”

“I was thinking about how interesting that person is.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know that each person has different tastes, but I never thought that someone would feel so comfortable with a look so fat as to force themselves to look like that. In fact, humans are unknowable beings.”

“Isn’t that his real appearance?”

“Right.”

“So, how much does your true appearance measure…”

“I don’t know.”

“Could it be as big as a house?”

“Huh?”

Wei Yan-ho turned his head to look at Moon Eun-ji. Moon Eun-ji watched Nok Mok-pung with horror expression.

It seemed like a strange misunderstanding had occurred.

– Well, it doesn’t matter.

If Nok Mok-pung knew, he would hit the ground with frustration, but Wei Yan-ho simply ignored it.

“Well, anyway…”

Wei Yan-ho looked around.

Moon Yu-hwan looked at him with a pleased face, as if he said ‘I told you so’.

Lee Wang-ya frowned and put an expression as if this was not entirely satisfactory.

And middle-class people looked at him with faces that mixed admiration and surprise.

“Mmm…”

Wei Yan-ho shrugged.

“Anyway, I’m going to sleep, so I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Wei Yan-ho tried to escape from that place quickly.

“Why are you sleeping again?”

At the words of Moon Eun-ji, Wei Yan-ho said firmly.

“I’m guaranteed accommodation and full board! You’re not going to miss your word, are you?”

“Tch!”

Wei Yan-ho ran quickly to his room, worried that other words might come out.

“Don’t wake me up! I said it clearly! I’m going to keep sleeping until tomorrow! Don’t wake me up!”

When the pavilion door closed, Moon Eun-ji muttered quietly.

“What kind of person is that?”

Lee Wang-ya and Moon Yu-hwan nodded heavily.

“Indeed.”

However, this was how Wei Yan-ho successfully avoided the crisis that had affected the Grand Hanrim Academy.

And that the incident of that moment would begin to drag him into even greater matters was something that the current Wei Yan-ho could not know.

***

“So there’s the East Palace, the Censorship, and something about betrayal…”

“That’s what happened.”

“…”

“Why are you acting like this?”

It’s true, but Wei Yan-ho didn’t do anything, did he? It just happened that such events happened at the right time.

Guangqushen nodded heavily.

“That’s right.”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

– Yeah, that’s the scariest thing. Don’t you get it?

“Excuse me?”

“It does nothing in particular, but wherever it goes, these things inevitably happen. Sometimes it becomes the trigger, sometimes the key that twists the course of events. Anyway, somehow it gets involved in situations and worsens them. Without even realizing it.”

This incident was the same. If you think about it, if Wei Yan-ho had not been there, no influential people would have gathered, and then Nok Gi would have had no reason to take such extreme measures from the beginning. Wei Yan-ho did nothing, but only because of his presence, the situation became tremendously serious.

“Now that I hear it…”

“Isn’t it scary?”

Sa-ga, the Historian, couldn’t answer.

It’s scary, it’s very scary. What if there was a person like that around?

“I should avoid associating with them.”

That’s the right answer!

Guangqushen said sadly.

“But we didn’t know that back then.”

For the first time, Sa-ga looked at Guangqushen with sympathetic eyes.