Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon

Chapter 196 – Eunuch Jo (2)

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A group of people were climbing the mountain, each with their own weapons. 

There was a young man dressed in black robes embroidered with a dragon, and a middle-aged man dressed in blue. 

There was a young man in neat attire, like a scholar, and an old man with a shaved head. 

There was an old man who looked stubborn and reminiscent of a sword, another holding a long staff. 

Not only were there both young and old, their clothing was mixed too. 

It was quite the eye-catching combination. 

But what was most eye-catching were the two men walking at the front. 

In Zhongyuan, it was rare to see dark-skinned foreigners. Thus, they would be eye-catching wherever they went. 

But, as they were hiking up a mountain, no one paid them any attention. 

More accurately, there was no one to pay attention to them. 

The mountain they were climbing up, Little Wutai Mountain, was located just outside of Beijing. 

Usually, the mountainside would be dotted with hunters, woodcutters, and herbalists from the nearby villages. 

But now there was the Justice-Demon Alliance and the Beijing Defense Force and their mounting tensions. 

In such a volatile situation, civilians did not dare climb Mount Wutai. 

Thus, the group was able to climb the mountain without caring about the gazes of others. 

For how long had they hiked?

The young man in the black robes furrowed his eyebrows as he glanced at the foreigners walking ahead. And then he thought back to what happened just a few days ago. 

A voice had come from Oh Sam’s mouth. 

“If you want to meet me, follow these children.”

To meet you…

And apparently they would meet somewhere in Mount Wutai. 

It was a bit too close to Beijing to say that the former bureau chief was hiding. 

To exaggerate a little, Mount Wutai was right under the enemy’s nose. No matter how deep they were hidden, this was a bit too much. 

It was then.

Shhh.

The wind began to blow as they walked deeper into Mount Wutai. At the same time, the surroundings began to strangely distort. 

Woon-seong’s eyelashes trembled. 

Jegal Sung determined, “We’re in an illusion formation.”

Oh Neung, who was walking ahead, glanced back. “Don’t worry. This is proof that we are in the right place.”

Oh Sam added, “You must be careful from now on. You should follow our steps and avoid diverging from the path.”

As soon as he said that, numerous crossroads appeared before them. 

There was one crossroad, then the path divided into five, another path that had them scaling a cliff. 

Of course, the martial artists gathered here were at the top of the world. 

The harshly blowing wind was nothing to them. 

Even the weakest, King Jinseong, had strength equivalent to a 72 Supreme Master. 

How many roads did they cross?

“Hmm, was there such a place on Mount Wutai?” King Jinseong tilted his head.

Having lived in the Imperial Palace since childhood, King Jinseong had visited Mount Wutai several times. Nevertheless, he had never seen such a place during his previous visits. 

‘Sage of Earth and Sky’ Do Jin-myung suggested, “Perhaps you don’t recognize it because the scenery was temporarily changed by the illusion.”

Oh Neung shook his head. “No, that’s not it.”

Woon-seong looked around and said, “I see.”

Sheer cliffs and green hills surrounded them on all sides, with a small lake at the center. 

It was a sight he recognized. 

“The city of Hangzhou.” [1]

It seemed like the forks in the road had actually been some kind of gateway to Hangzhou. 

At the center of the lake was a small wooden house. 

“That’s it,” Oh Neung said, pointing towards it. 

Creak—

“I’ve been waiting.”

As Woon-seong entered the house, there was a voice that echoed naturally. 

Everyone tilted their heads and looked around. 

There was no one, but a voice had been heard. Woon-seong frowned and reached out. 

Woon-seong’s hand passed through the wall. 

No, it was not a wall. 

Since his hand passed through, it could no longer be considered a wall. 

The ‘wall’ shook and the surrounding scenery changed again. 

The walls disappeared. 

Beyond that was a man dressed in black. 

“I greet Your Highness.”

The man walked forward and bowed to King Jinseong first. 

At the greeting, King Jinseong looked like he wanted to rub his eyes. 

“It’s really you, Jo…”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

When he had last met Eunuch Jo, who was a chief in the Imperial Palace, King Jinseong thought the man had changed. He thought that even Eunuch Jo had been bought by the Inverted Sky. 

But now he knew that was wrong. The man’s attitude had not changed. Rather, it had been someone else entirely. 

Someone different from the real Chief Jo. 

King Jinseong clenched his fists tightly. 

In the meantime, Eunuch Jo was greeting the others who had gathered at the table. 

“It is an honor to have you all here. My name is Jo Woo-sang, a former eunuch in the Imperial Palace.”

“Hyuk Woon-seong.”

Woon-seong was brief, as always. 

Jo Woo-sang smiled bitterly. 

“The zenith of the Cult of the Heavenly Demon, the Heavenly Demon.”

Woon-seong nodded. 

Afterwards, the man also greeted Do Jin-myung, the Twin Stars, and Jegal Sung. 

After the greetings came a period of silence. 

In the silence, Woon-seong slowly raised his head. He did not want to waste his time with silence. 

The Justice-Demon Alliance encamped outside of Beijing was about to start a war. 

An extremely volatile situation. 

Woon-seong growled, “You must have a good reason for calling us here.”

Jo Woo-sang smiled. He did not avoid Woon-seong’s eyes and responded, “The Cult Leader wishes to enter Beijing right away.”

Woon-seong shook his head, “No.”

It was not Beijing that Woon-seong wished to enter. If they went to Beijing, they would need to fight the Beijing Defense. 

All-out war was not what he wanted. 

“We need a way into the Imperial Palace.”

The man stiffened. He then sighed. 

“You don’t mean to say that you’re just playing hide-and-seek and have nothing prepared, right?”

Perhaps it was because Woon-seong’s words had stabbed at a sore spot. But the man wasn’t playing around. 

“Wait a moment,” Eunuch Jo said before walking somewhere. He headed towards a wall on one side. 

It was a very ordinary wall, not like the illusionary one Woon-seong had stuck his hand through. 

If there was anything unusual, it would be the tiger painted onto it. 

Jo Woo-sang moved his finger to poke at the tiger’s beady eyes. 

Click—

There was a heavy thud and the tiger’s mouth began to move. 

It seemed like an ordinary wall, but it had a hidden mechanism. 

Of course it would, this was a safehouse that the former chief of the Eastern Depot had set up for himself after all. 

A moment later, the tiger’s jaws opened and a small space was revealed. 

Eunuch Jo stuck his hand inside without hesitation and searched around, pulling out a small roll of paper.

Shua—

Unfolding the paper revealed a map. 

Of course, just like the tiger painting, it was no ordinary map.

“This…”

King Jinseong recognized the map and his expression hardened. 

Eunuch Jo nodded. “Yes. A map showing all corridors inside the Imperial Palace.”

A map showing all the hallways inside the Imperial Palace. 

The existence of this map had huge implications. 

If someone with a grudge against the Imperial Court or a group of rebels had this map, someone big could happen. 

Jegal Sung sighed, “Sounds like a good match for traitorous rebels like ourselves.”

He said it like a joke, but no one laughed.

That’s because it was ironically the truth. 

The coalition of troops, including the demonic forces and King Jinseong, had to destroy the emperor. 

That made it a rebellion. 

The Buddhist Star said, “Then it seems like great things have already happened.”

It would not be too hard to enter the Imperial Palace quickly with this map in hand. 

When King Jinseong and the Twin Stars thought so, Woon-seong doused cold water on the atmosphere. 

“But don’t they also know this map exists?”

“What do you mean?” King Jinseong hurriedly asked. 

“It is a detailed map of the rooms and hallways inside the palace, but it is just a map. Looking at it, there are no secret passageways.”

Do Jin-myung nodded. “Then it is likely that the enemy also has a version of this map, my lord.”

King Jinseong’s expression had fallen. He turned to Jo Woo-sang. 

Seeing the king’s grim expression, Jo Woo-sang smiled slightly. “It is alright. I have already thought about that.”

Jo Woo-sang then pulled out a map of Beijing and the one of the palace over it. 

A map the size of two palms rested on top of a large map of Beijing. 

“In fact, there are several passageways that are not shown on this map.”

“Secret passageways?” 

Jo Woo-sang nodded. “Yes. In the event of major incidents inside the palace, past emperors have prepared passageways through which they can escape.”

Immediately after speaking, his fingers moved. 

A powerful heat rose from his hand and where his fingers touched turned black. 

Tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk-tuk-

In that way, he marked five spots on the map. 

“Every passageway is a two-way street. Is an entrance not an exit, and vice versa?”

There were five dots on the outskirts of Beijing. 

He pointed at the spots. 

“The places marked right now are the exits.”

Understanding what the eunuch meant, a vicious smile appeared on Woon-seong’s face. “Those could be our entrances.”

Jo Woo-sang nodded, smiling. 

“Exactly.”

[1] the city of Hangzhou is in Zhejiang Province; it’s more than 600mi (more than 1000km) from Beijing