Arc 22The Fall of Hanseong

Gu Moran’s forces broke the Japanese siege of Goryeo, rescued the prisoners in Hanseong, and destroyed Kuki Yoshitaka’s fleet at Incheon. After a secret letter implicated Kim Seung-hwan in betraying Goryeo, Gu Moran offered Kim Seon-a a choice about joining his next campaign.

  • Mei Boqian’s troops fought on Vanishing Shadow Island while Gu Moran’s forces seized Incheon, and Pu Yunshan destroyed a Japanese grain convoy to worsen Inukami Jusaburo’s shortages.
  • Gu Moran’s army defeated Inukami’s attack outside Hanseong, while Park Roejang arranged an ambush at White Sandbar and helped Gu Moran discover the plot.
  • Gu Moran survived the White Sandbar ambush, but Park Roejang died after revealing that the Satsuma soldiers could help open Hanseong’s west gate.
  • Gu Moran’s forces and the Satsuma soldiers broke through the west gate, freed Kim Tae-heung, and entered Hanseong as Inukami threatened the city’s prisoners.
  • Kim Seon-a, Lin Qingdai, and Tuoba Mang uncovered Choi Seong-min’s plot to seize Goryeo’s throne with Bloodline Gu, rescued the children, and captured Choi.
  • Gu Moran’s forces stopped Inukami from killing the prisoners and defeated Gu Debai’s rebellion, then prepared to face Kuki Yoshitaka’s fleet at Incheon.
  • Gu Moran lured Kuki Yoshitaka’s ships into a trap, and the Satsuma soldiers ignited the fire ships that destroyed most of the Wa fleet and led to Kuki’s capture.
  • Kim Seon-a found a letter bearing the Great Yan empress’s seal and a weapon linked to Kim Seung-hwan, and Gu Moran offered her the choice to join his campaign against the Wa emperor or remain in Incheon.
Chapters 526–550 Vol. 6 Read

Ch. 526Feint east, strike west to settle the outcome; the commander draws his blade and throws his own ranks into chaos

Gu Moran feinted east while secretly landing at Incheon Port, where his forces seized the harbor before dawn. As he prepared to advance on Inukami Jusaburo, the Japanese command learned its supply route and granaries had been destroyed and suspected a traitor among its generals.

  • Mei Boqian led three thousand Luoyang private soldiers ashore on Vanishing Shadow Island, where the defenders spotted them and the fighting began.
  • Gu Moran's fleet sailed west around the island and landed secretly near Changkou Town with Park Roejang's help.
  • Tuoba Mang's vanguard took the Incheon garrison by surprise, and Park Roejang presented the King's command token to the garrison commander.
  • Gu Moran confirmed that Incheon Port was under his control and vowed to finish off Inukami Jusaburo.
  • A Japanese soldier told Inukami Jusaburo that Great Yan forces had destroyed the supply route and granaries, prompting him to question his generals about a traitor.

Ch. 527Three Thousand Cavalry Descended in Divine Judgment, Subduing Fire Thunder Blasted Through the Grain Convoy

Inukami Jusaburo executed a grain officer and ordered the army to keep silent about its supply route, while Xue Huan spread rumors to deepen the Japanese soldiers’ fear. As Mei Boqian’s three thousand troops fought the Japanese advance force on the beachhead, Pu Yunshan attacked a grain convoy in a ravine with Subduing Fire Thunder.

  • Inukami Jusaburo questioned two grain officers, executed one, and learned the third was at the main camp in Busanpo.
  • Inukami Jusaburo ordered that anyone who discussed the supply route would be beheaded, and Xue Huan spread rumors about the granary being destroyed and food running low.
  • Mei Boqian led his three thousand troops against the Japanese advance force on the beachhead while Gu Moran’s fleet sailed away.
  • Pu Yunshan watched a Japanese grain convoy from ambush and signaled his three thousand cavalry to attack.
  • Pu Yunshan lit and hurled a Subduing Fire Thunder into the grain carts, setting off an explosion in the ravine.

Ch. 528A mire couldn't hold a battle saber; one kill was enough to break even

Pu Yunshan’s cavalry ambushed a Japanese grain convoy in a gorge, killing its escorts and burning the supplies. On Vanishing Shadow Island, Mei Boqian refused to retreat from the Japanese spear formation and charged toward it as the tide left his troops stranded.

  • Pu Yunshan signaled his three thousand cavalrymen to attack the Japanese convoy trapped by exploding carts in the gorge.
  • Pu Yunshan and his guards killed the ronin leader and captured Japanese soldiers trying to burn the grain.
  • Pu Yunshan ordered the captured supplies taken and the remaining grain and salted fish soaked in fire oil and burned.
  • At Vanishing Shadow Island, Mei Boqian snapped off an arrow lodged in his arm and bound his hand to his saber.
  • Mei Boqian kicked away an old retainer urging retreat and charged at a gap in the Japanese spear formation.
  • A Japanese standard-bearer thrust his bamboo spear toward Mei Boqian’s throat.

Ch. 529Soft Jade Against Iron Armor, the Prince Talked Them Into a Stupor

Gu Moran exploited the Wa army’s dwindling supplies and distrust of Inukami Jusaburo to persuade captured Satsuma soldiers to defect and open Hanseong’s west gate. The soldiers headed back to the city with orders to lower the drawbridge during Gu Moran’s planned attack at noon the next day.

  • Mei Boqian took a spear wound and killed a junior officer, inspiring the Luoyang soldiers to stand their ground against the Wa troops.
  • Wa grain escorts reported that Great Yan cavalry had destroyed the rice convoy, but Inukami Jusaburo killed one of them and threatened anyone who repeated the news.
  • Gu Moran’s vanguard found hungry Satsuma deserters at an abandoned relay station, where Lin Qingdai had captured and questioned them.
  • Gu Moran fed the squad leader and convinced him that Inukami planned to abandon the common soldiers and flee with the spoils.
  • The Satsuma soldiers agreed to guide Gu Moran’s army and lower Hanseong’s west gate during the attack, then returned to the city with food and promises of reward.

Ch. 530Holding the Goryeo Princess, Uncovering a Shocking Gu Poison Plot

Gu Moran’s party discovered that Bloodline Gu had contaminated the Han River and learned that a Goryeo royal attendant was among the victims, raising fears for the temporary palace and Kim Seon-a’s father. As Kim Seon-a struggled with panic, Gu Moran steadied her while Zhen Meili organized a plan to isolate the water and prepare an antidote.

  • Gu Moran explained why the Satsuma soldiers were unlikely to inform Inukami Jusaburo, then flirted with Kim Seon-a as she tried to mount her horse.
  • Yun Shuyue sent up three red-silk warning arrows, and Gu Moran’s party hurried toward the Han River gorge.
  • Gu Moran examined a dead imperial guardsman and found writhing red threads beneath his skin, while Shen Ling’er’s test showed that the corpse’s blood was poisonous.
  • Meng Jiuning identified the corpse as a Goryeo royal attendant and explained that Bloodline Gu spread through flowing water, warning that the temporary palace might already be affected.
  • Kim Seon-a feared for her father, but Gu Moran suppressed her surging White Tiger Gang Qi and reassured her that he would protect him.
  • Zhen Meili ordered combat engineers to build charcoal-and-quicklime filtration dams downstream, while Meng Jiuning and Shen Ling’er prepared an antidote.

Ch. 531A desperate counterkill! Xie Linyuan became a god of slaughter and came to the rescue with severed heads

Gu Moran learned that Grand Prince Anpyeong had betrayed Goryeo and planned a trap to draw Inukami Jusaburo’s starving army out of Hanseong. At the coast, Xie Linyuan rescued Mei Boqian’s besieged troops, and they captured the Wa outpost force.

  • Yun Shuyue reported that Inukami Jusaburo had forced twenty thousand Goryeo civilians onto Hanseong’s walls as human shields.
  • Gu Moli revealed that Grand Prince Anpyeong had secretly helped Inukami Jusaburo seize the palace on Ganghwa Island.
  • Gu Moran sent Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue to ambush the enemy’s flank while he led three thousand infantry to camp by the Han River.
  • Inukami Jusaburo, desperate for food, marched twelve thousand troops out of Hanseong to attack Gu Moran’s riverbank camp.
  • Xie Linyuan arrived at the coast after destroying two granaries and cut through the Wa rear ranks, letting Mei Boqian counterattack and capture two thousand prisoners.

Ch. 532The Great Yan Men Knew Magic! The Great Yan Men Could Fly, Too!

Gu Moran’s Great Yan forces used Subduing Fire Thunders to rout the Japanese army outside Hanseong. Kim Seon-a admired Gu Moran’s strength but warned that twenty thousand Goryeo civilians were being held hostage inside the city.

  • Gu Moran held his fire as the Japanese army charged, and Great Yan infantry blocked the enemy’s arrows with iron shields.
  • Gu Moran gave the signal for Great Yan elites to hurl Subduing Fire Thunders into the Japanese vanguard, tearing open the charge and throwing the army into confusion.
  • Zhen Meili fired five modified catapults, launching heavy Subduing Fire Thunders into the Japanese center and destroying Inukami Jusaburo’s command banner.
  • Japanese soldiers panicked and fled into Hanseong, while Inukami Jusaburo and his bodyguards shut the south gate to escape Lin Qingdai and Murong Xue.
  • Kim Seon-a praised Gu Moran but pointed out that the Japanese still held twenty thousand Goryeo civilians hostage inside Hanseong.

Ch. 533He entered the game unflustered, ten thousand thunder bombs scared the Wa raiders witless

Park Roejang entered Hanseong under a truce to persuade Inukami Jusaburo that Gu Moran planned to destroy the city with ten thousand Subduing Fire Thunders. He claimed Princess Royal Kim Seon-a had sent him with an offer to ally Goryeo with Great Wa against Great Yan, leaving Inukami to weigh the warning and the proposed alliance.

  • Gu Moran observed Wa soldiers forcing women and children onto Hanseong’s battlements and said he would avoid damaging the gates.
  • Park Roejang threatened to burn the grain carts unless Inukami Jusaburo sent men out, then entered the city alone after the Wa lowered a basket.
  • Inukami confronted Park over his past betrayal, and Park claimed Gu Moran planned to blow up Hanseong with ten thousand Subduing Fire Thunders.
  • Inukami doubted Park’s warning and forced him to eat raw wheat to test whether it had been poisoned.
  • Park showed Inukami half of Princess Royal Kim Seon-a’s bloodstained jade pendant and offered an alliance between Goryeo and Great Wa against Great Yan.

Ch. 534He Was Extremely Conceited by Nature, and Even More Fond of Women

Park Roejang gained Inukami Jusaburo’s trust by proposing a banquet ambush to kill Gu Moran, while Great Yan’s engineers discovered that bloodworms had survived the quicklime filtration dam and were heading for the vanguard’s wells.

  • Inukami Jusaburo forced Park Roejang to stab a civilian, and the old woman sacrificed herself by lunging onto the blade to save him.
  • Park Roejang claimed Gu Moran was conceited and infatuated with the Goryeo princess, then proposed luring him to a banquet on White Sandbar and attacking him with hidden water ghosts.
  • Inukami Jusaburo agreed to the ambush plan and kept Park Roejang under guard while ordering a mute soldier to deliver the invitation.
  • Zhen Meili and Great Yan’s combat engineers saw bloodworms emerge beneath the filtration dam and head toward the vanguard camp’s drinking wells.

Ch. 535Two beauties bleed to subdue the mother insects, the prince simmers soup to warm his beloved

Meng Jiuning and Shen Ling'er sacrificed their blood to poison the Nine-Segment Mother Insects breeding beneath Hanseong and threatening the army. Yun Shuyue delivered their medicine to the sewage outlet, killing the insects and freeing the infected soldiers.

  • Shen Ling'er discovered a Nine-Segment Mother Insect inside a dead carp and warned Zhen Meili that the river contained more mothers.
  • Murong Xue reported that dozens of soldiers were infected and that hundreds more had drunk contaminated well water.
  • Meng Jiuning proposed using her poisonous blood as bait, and Shen Ling'er insisted on contributing an equal share.
  • Meng Jiuning and Shen Ling'er bled into a basin and mixed their blood with stove soot and arsenic to prepare thirty medicinal balls.
  • Yun Shuyue and six scouts swam to Hanseong's sewage outlet and placed the medicine in the jars beneath its water gate.
  • The mother insects killed one another over the poisonous blood, and the blood threads in the infected soldiers shriveled and died.

Ch. 536A Hongmen Banquet? I'll Go Send Those Japanese Raiders to Their Graves!

After Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning lost blood helping kill the mother worm, Gu Moran discovered their injuries and cared for them. He learned that Inukami Jusaburo had invited him and Princess Kim Seon-a to a deadly banquet on White Sand Islet, but decided to go and turn the trap to his advantage.

  • Murong Xue found Shen Ling'er and Meng Jiuning collapsed by the river after they drew blood to kill the mother worm.
  • Gu Moran discovered Shen Ling'er's wound and learned from Murong Xue what she and Meng Jiuning had done; he ordered both women to rest and fed them ginseng soup.
  • Yun Shuyue delivered Inukami Jusaburo's invitation to peace talks at White Sand Islet, and Lin Qingdai recognized three marks on its seal as Park Roejang's signal that he was being held hostage.
  • Gu Moran burned the invitation and declared he would attend the banquet, hoping to help Park Roejang and persuade the Satsuma soldiers at Hanseong's west gate to open the city gates.

Ch. 537A scrap of cloth in the dark drain changes the killing game; soft armor fits a slender waist

Inukami Jusaburo discovered that Gu Moran had neutralized the gu poison and forced Park Roejang to help poison Gu Moran at the White Sandbar banquet. As Gu Moran prepared for the meeting, he gave Kim Seon-a celestial silkworm silk armor to wear beneath her disguise.

  • A Wa combat swimmer found poisoned oilcloth among the dead mother insects and told Inukami Jusaburo that Gu Moran had likely cured the gu poison.
  • Inukami Jusaburo poisoned Park Roejang and ordered him to serve Gu Moran red-crowned crane poison at the next day's banquet.
  • Inukami Jusaburo moved his shadow ninjas to the northern reed beds and ordered fierce-fire oil buried beneath the negotiating table.
  • Kim Seon-a entered Gu Moran's tent dressed in a thin robe, explaining that her appearance would make Inukami Jusaburo believe she was being humiliated.
  • Gu Moran dismissed Lin Qingdai, dressed Kim Seon-a in silver-white inner armor, and identified it as celestial silkworm silk.

Ch. 538White phosphorus and strong liquor burned the water ghosts; one Sea-Calming strike severed a Japanese sword

Gu Moran prepared Kim Seon-a for the meeting with Inukami Jusaburo and brought white-phosphorus-laced liquor to the White Sandbar. During the meeting, Park Roejang secretly marked the northern reeds as the hiding place of the water ghosts, and Gu Moran identified the poisoned wine as carrying a faint smell of tung oil.

  • Gu Moran fastened protective armor on Kim Seon-a and prepared ten jars of distilled liquor concealed with white phosphorus.
  • Gu Moran and his companions met Inukami Jusaburo and Park Roejang on White Sandbar for the arranged exchange.
  • Gu Moran acted crudely toward Kim Seon-a, causing Inukami Jusaburo to lower his guard.
  • Park Roejang spilled poisoned wine on Gu Moran’s sleeve and secretly scratched the character for north onto his hand.
  • Gu Moran spotted hidden water ghosts in the northern reeds and noticed a faint tung-oil smell in the spilled wine.

Ch. 539Liquor and White Phosphorus Set Off Chain Explosions, Turning the Wa Bandits into Human Skewers

Gu Moran pretended to be wounded after Kim Seon-a attacked him, drawing Inukami Jusaburo into revealing the Wa ambush. He ignited the hidden oil beneath the sandbar, setting off a devastating explosion among the attacking Wa forces.

  • Inukami Jusaburo demanded that Kim Seon-a dance for him, and Gu Moran pretended to agree while insulting and threatening her.
  • Kim Seon-a stabbed Gu Moran with her phoenix hairpin and drew a short sword, while Gu Moran knocked the table toward Inukami Jusaburo.
  • Inukami Jusaburo ordered his hundred shadow ninja and nine dual-sword warriors to attack Gu Moran, Lin Qingdai, and Tuoba Mang.
  • Gu Moran revealed that the hairpin had pierced a blood pouch and hurled two jars of Burning Blade liquor toward the charging shadow ninja.
  • White phosphorus ignited the liquor and the buried fierce-burning oil, splitting White Sandbar with an explosion and setting dozens of Wa shadow ninja ablaze.

Ch. 540A trap within a trap turns the tables on the shadow ninjas; the city falls today

Gu Moran and his allies defeated the Wa shadow ninjas’ ambush, though Park Roejang died after revealing the guard-change signal for Hanseong’s west gate. Gu Moran then ordered his forces to prepare to attack the gate that night.

  • Kim Seon-a fought through the flames while Park Roejang held back a Wa warrior long enough for Lin Qingdai to kill him.
  • Gu Moran stopped Inukami Jusaburo from escaping, broke his katana, and struck him into the river, but Inukami’s guards dragged him away by boat.
  • Park Roejang revealed that the Satsuma troops at Hanseong’s west gate changed their watchword that morning and left the signal written in blood on his palm before he died.
  • Kim Seon-a cut off the Wa leader’s head and placed it at Park Roejang’s feet, while Gu Moran covered Park’s body with his robe.
  • Gu Moran ordered Tuoba Mang to carry Park Roejang’s body to camp and announced that he would attack Hanseong’s west gate at the hour of the Dog.

Ch. 541Force my woman to be a hostage, and you've already given yourself a reason to die

At Hanseong’s west gate, starving Satsuma soldiers rebelled against the Inukami samurai, but concealed repeating crossbows slaughtered many of them. Inukami Jusaburo then threatened to burn Kim Tae-heung alive unless Kim Seon-a surrendered as a hostage, leaving Gu Moran and Kim Seon-a facing his ultimatum.

  • A Satsuma squad leader urged three thousand starving soldiers to seize the gate winch, claiming Inukami had betrayed them and Great Yan promised them food, gold, and passage home.
  • The Satsuma soldiers attacked the Inukami samurai guarding the winch, but the gate commander opened concealed firing ports and cut down more than two hundred with repeating crossbows.
  • Gu Moran and Murong Xue waited outside the west gate as the drawbridge remained raised and fighting continued inside the barbican.
  • Inukami Jusaburo suspended the bloodied Kim Tae-heung beneath the gate tower and threatened to set him alight if Great Yan advanced.
  • Kim Tae-heung urged Kim Seon-a to attack and protect herself, but Inukami struck him and ordered Kim Seon-a to surrender her sword and come alone as a hostage.

Ch. 542Quicklime mixed with sky-facing chilies shattered the defending general's defenses

Gu Moran used a feast and a fortune in rewards to turn Satsuma soldiers against Inukami Jusaburo’s defenders, while Zhen Meili’s quicklime-and-chili attack let Xie Linyuan rescue Kim Tae-heung and open the western gate. Murong Xue led Great Yan’s cavalry across the drawbridge and into the city.

  • Gu Moran stopped Kim Seon-a from rushing toward the moat and promised that her father would survive.
  • Gu Moran offered Satsuma soldiers pork, flatbreads, gold, and two women if they killed Inukami Jusaburo and opened the gate.
  • Satsuma soldiers used corpses as shields, stormed the bunkers, and fought the Inukami clan’s crossbowmen.
  • Lin Qingdai signaled Zhen Meili, who fired quicklime mixed with chili powder onto the western gate’s battlements, blinding Inukami Jusaburo and his archers.
  • Xie Linyuan crossed the moat, cut Kim Tae-heung free, and killed three Wa soldiers as the Satsuma leader broke the drawbridge’s winch pin.
  • Murong Xue led a thousand armored cavalrymen across the lowered drawbridge and charged through the open gate.

Ch. 543Promises with a beauty in his arms, a supposedly dead uncle invites him to die from the rooftops

After Hanseong’s western gate fell, Gu Moran rode toward the bell tower to rescue the twenty thousand Goryeo prisoners, only to find his supposedly dead uncle Gu Debai commanding Great Yan archers on the rooftops. Gu Debai aimed two hundred armor-piercing arrows at Gu Moran and invited him to dismount and die.

  • Inukami Jusaburo shattered the royal blood jade, then fled toward the bell tower with five hundred death warriors, threatening to use the imprisoned civilians as a shield.
  • Shen Ling'er treated the wounded king of Goryeo and warned that corpse poison was spreading toward his heart, so Gu Moran sent him to the rear camp under guard.
  • As Inukami’s men set fires across Hanseong, Kim Seon-a begged Gu Moran to save the twenty thousand prisoners, and he ordered Tuoba Mang to fight the fires while he and Pu Yunshan led cavalry toward the bell tower.
  • The system warned Gu Moran of danger as two hundred Great Yan naval archers blocked Bell Tower Street with heavy bows trained on his party.
  • Lin Qingdai recognized their rooftop commander as Gu Debai, Gu Moran’s uncle, who had been presumed dead at sea, and Gu Debai declared that he intended to claim Great Yan’s throne and kill his nephew.

Ch. 544Imperial Uncle, Plotting to Seize the Throne? Have a Paper Dragon Throne Instead

Gu Moran and his allies fought off Gu Debai’s ambush in Hanseong after Gu Debai revealed his plan to seize the Great Yan throne. Gu Moran shattered his uncle’s weapon in a rooftop duel, and Pu Yunshan’s cavalry blocked Gu Debai’s escape.

  • Gu Moran drenched himself and his horse with water to survive Gu Debai’s first volley of flaming arrows, then took shelter in a pawnshop.
  • Gu Moran sent Kim Seon-a, Lin Qingdai, and Tuoba Mang to investigate trouble near the cellar while he prepared to face the rebels.
  • Gu Debai revealed that he had secretly allied with General Inukami and declared that killing Gu Moran would clear his path to the throne.
  • Murong Xue led guards in using indigo-soaked quilts as shields, allowing Gu Moran to leap from the pawnshop roof and attack the rebel archers.
  • Gu Moran’s Second Rank Pure Yang Gang Qi broke Gu Debai’s nagamaki and injured his hands, forcing him to flee across the rooftops.
  • Pu Yunshan led three hundred armored cavalrymen into the back alley and blocked Gu Debai and his guards as they landed.

Ch. 545Hurling a Heavy Trough Barehanded, Saving Twenty Thousand from an Inferno

Gu Moran and Pu Yunshan stopped Inukami Jusaburo from burning twenty thousand Goryeo commoners, then captured him. Meanwhile, Kim Seon-a, Lin Qingdai, and Tuoba Mang uncovered a horrifying underground ritual and found Choi Seong-min dressed as Goryeo's sovereign.

  • Gu Moran reached the bell tower square and saw Inukami Jusaburo ignite a phosphorus fuse threatening twenty thousand Goryeo commoners.
  • Pu Yunshan smashed a three-hundred-jin bluestone trough into the paving, burying the fuse in mud and extinguishing the flames.
  • Zhen Meili shot Inukami Jusaburo in the knee, and Pu Yunshan silenced and bound him.
  • Kim Seon-a, Lin Qingdai, and Tuoba Mang opened a hidden passage beneath the altar and entered an underground cavern.
  • Kim Seon-a found Goryeo children being forced to drink blood-laced liquid while Choi Seong-min wore royal robes before a blood pool.

Ch. 546The White Tiger Roared in the Cellar; the Prince's Silver Tongue Struck at the Heart

Choi Seong-min revealed his treason and unleashed Bloodline Gu puppets against Kim Seon-a and her companions, but Kim Seon-a and Lin Qingdai fought back to protect the captive children. After Kim Seon-a pinned Choi Seong-min, he claimed that Gu Moran had died in an explosion, just as a man’s voice came from beyond the cellar door.

  • Choi Seong-min confessed that he had sold Goryeo’s military secrets to General Inukami and planned to seize the throne with drug puppets.
  • Choi Seong-min released eighty Royal Dragon Guards infected with Bloodline Gu, and Kim Seon-a hesitated to strike Kim Seok until Lin Qingdai killed him and warned that the guards were already dead.
  • Choi Seong-min threw a torch toward the cages holding five hundred children, prompting Kim Seon-a to unleash her Eastern Peak Tiger Spirit Art and crush the warriors blocking her path.
  • Lin Qingdai knocked away the torch and freed three cages while Tuoba Mang collapsed the stone door, blocking Choi Seong-min’s escape route.
  • Kim Seon-a pinned Choi Seong-min to a pillar with her sword, and he claimed that an explosion had killed Gu Moran and twenty thousand people.
  • A languid male voice came from beyond the cellar’s iron door.

Ch. 547Strip Them Bare and Hang Them from the Lighthouse; This Prince Will Wait for the Wind

Gu Moran reached Incheon with three thousand cavalry as Kuki Yoshitaka’s fleet advanced behind a chained-together floating fortress. With the wind and tide delaying his fire-ship plan, Gu Moran ordered two prisoners’ bodies displayed at the lighthouse and surrendered Wa soldiers brought forward to taunt the fleet while his army waited for a chance to strike.

  • Gu Moran arrived at Incheon with Kim Seon-a and learned that Kuki Yoshitaka’s fleet had sunk three patrol ships and was advancing toward the docks.
  • Xue Huan reported that Wa had armored its eighty atakebune and linked them into a floating fortress that Great Yan’s weapons could not penetrate.
  • Gu Moran assessed that the linked ships could not easily turn or flee, while Zhen Meili warned that the wind and tide would not favor fire ships until the hour of the Dragon.
  • Kuki Yoshitaka ordered his fleet to reach the docks before the tide ebbed, bringing it within five hundred paces as Wa archers prepared to fire.
  • Gu Moran ordered Pu Yunshan to hang Inukami Jusaburo and Choi Seong-min’s corpse naked from the lighthouse and make surrendered Satsuma infantrymen taunt the Wa fleet.

Ch. 548For a Thousand Jin of Rice, Burn Every Last One of These Bastards

Gu Moran’s forces held Kuki Yoshitaka’s fleet outside the harbor while preparing a fire-ship attack. With the tide turning and the wind rising, Gu Moran sent disguised Satsuma soldiers toward the chained fleet to ignite the boats and destroy the enemy ships.

  • Kuki Yoshitaka recognized the captive Inukami Jusaburo and, suspecting a trap, halted his fleet and sent ten kobaya to test the shore.
  • Kim Seon-a killed the lead kobaya’s helmsman and ordered Goryeo sailors to block the harbor with their ten remaining turtle ships.
  • Mei Boqian led eight hundred Luoyang private soldiers into the channel and sacrificed more than two hundred men to hold back the Wa vanguard.
  • Zhen Meili announced that the tide was ebbing and the southwest wind had risen, and Gu Moran revealed twenty prepared fire ships.
  • Gu Moran sent sixty Satsuma soldiers aboard the fire ships, posing as Inukami Jusaburo’s guards fleeing with captured gunpowder, while Pu Yunshan’s archers staged pursuit from shore.

Ch. 549Postwar Reckoning: Irrefutable Proof of the Empress's Collusion with the Enemy Uncovered

Kuki Yoshitaka’s fleet was destroyed in Incheon Bay after Satsuma fighters set fire to gunpowder boats, and Gu Moran’s forces captured the surviving ships and Kuki. After Kim Seon-a presented Goryeo’s submission memorial, she confronted Gu Moran about a secret letter bearing the Great Yan empress’s seal that ordered his death.

  • Kuki Yoshitaka ordered a gap opened in his chained fleet to admit twenty gunpowder boats, but Satsuma fighters set the boats ablaze and detonated their explosives against the atakebune.
  • Gu Moran led the Great Yan fleet out of port to attack the burning Wa ships, while Murong Xue stopped Kuki Yoshitaka from killing himself and captured him alive.
  • By noon, sixty-three of the Wa navy’s eighty atakebune had been destroyed, the rest had been captured, and more than fourteen thousand Wa raiders had been killed.
  • Kim Seon-a offered Gu Moran the Memorial of Submission of the Entire Nation, written by Kim Tae-heung, but held on to it as she questioned him about a secret letter found in Kuki Yoshitaka’s cabin.
  • Kim Seon-a said the letter bore the Great Yan empress’s nine-phoenix gold seal and ordered Kuki Yoshitaka to ensure Gu Moran and Goryeo’s royal family died in Incheon Bay; Gu Moran pulled her into his arms.

Ch. 550Picking sealing wax at the bow, a bloody seal on a state letter

Gu Moran showed Kim Seon-a evidence that Goryeo’s naval commander Kim Seung-hwan might be conspiring with the Wa pirates and warned that her father was in danger. He offered her two choices, and she cut her finger with her phoenix hairpin as the chapter ended.

  • Gu Moran examined the secret letter’s sealing wax and showed Kim Seon-a that it contained pine resin from Goryeo.
  • Lin Qingdai presented a short sword taken from Kuki Yoshitaka’s deputy, and Kim Seon-a recognized Kim Seung-hwan’s personal seal inside its hilt.
  • Gu Moran accused Kim Seung-hwan of betraying Goryeo and warned that he could hand Kim Seon-a’s father over to the Wa.
  • Mei Boqian arrived to ask what to do with the Wa pirate prisoners, then pretended to busy himself clearing the deck while listening nearby.
  • Gu Moran offered Kim Seon-a the choice of joining his fleet to attack the Wa emperor or staying in Incheon while he sent Kuki Yoshitaka to Gyeongsang Province.
  • Kim Seon-a stopped resisting and cut the pad of her index finger with her phoenix hairpin.
Arc 22 of 24
Arc 22 of 24