Chapter 367: The Man Beneath the Hood
The capital had always been a city that slept lightly.
Even after midnight, lanterns glowed outside teahouses, patrols crossed the streets, and merchants prepared for the following day’s business.
But during the past several nights...
Something strange had begun to spread across the kingdom.
Not a disease.
Not a rebellion.
A rumor.
A whisper.
---
"It happened again."
"I saw him."
"No... it couldn’t have been him."
"I swear on my ancestors, I saw a man in a black hood."
The whispers spread from tea stalls to marketplaces, from noble mansions to humble cottages.
Every storyteller seemed to have a different version.
Some claimed the hooded man was a wandering immortal.
Others insisted he was an assassin.
A few believed he was the ghost of an ancient general who had returned to seek revenge.
No one knew the truth.
Because no one had ever seen his face.
---
Near the eastern market, two night-watch guards walked their usual patrol.
The younger guard yawned.
"I can’t wait for sunrise."
His companion chuckled.
"You complain every night."
Before either could say another word...
A figure appeared at the far end of the street.
Tall.
Clothed entirely in black.
A hood concealed his face.
He walked calmly beneath the lanterns as though the entire city belonged to him.
The younger guard froze.
"...There."
The older guard followed his gaze.
His expression changed instantly.
"The hooded man."
Without hesitation, both guards ran forward.
"Stop!"
The mysterious figure never looked back.
His pace remained slow.
Steady.
Almost leisurely.
The younger guard stretched out his hand.
He was only a few steps away.
"Don’t let him escape!"
The hooded man turned into a narrow alley.
The guards followed immediately.
But when they reached the corner...
The alley was empty.
No doors had opened.
No walls had been climbed.
No footsteps remained.
Only silence greeted them.
The younger guard looked around wildly.
"Where did he go?"
The older guard’s face turned pale.
"He... disappeared."
---
By dawn, the story had spread through the eastern district.
By noon...
The entire capital was discussing it.
---
Inside a busy teahouse, customers leaned across wooden tables.
"I heard four guards chased him."
"They couldn’t catch him."
"My cousin says the man vanished into thin air."
"Nonsense."
"Then explain why no one has caught him."
No one could.
---
Farther south, an old woman selling flowers nodded knowingly.
"I’ve lived for seventy years."
"I’ve seen strange things."
"That man is no ordinary traveler."
The children surrounding her widened their eyes.
"Grandmother, is he a ghost?"
She smiled mysteriously.
"Perhaps."
The children immediately screamed in excitement before running off to tell their friends.
---
By evening, the rumors had grown even stranger.
"He walks without making a sound."
"He never casts a shadow."
"His eyes glow beneath the hood."
"He appears wherever the moonlight touches."
Each story became more unbelievable than the last.
Yet every storyteller ended the tale the same way.
"No one catches him."
---
At the western gate, several merchants prepared to leave before sunrise.
One young merchant whispered,
"If I see him, I’m running."
His older companion laughed.
"You’ve never even seen him."
"I don’t need to."
"The stories are enough."
The others laughed nervously.
Even those who mocked the rumors found themselves glancing over their shoulders.
---
Inside the palace, the Imperial Guards exchanged uneasy looks.
Captain Zhao placed several reports upon his desk.
"Again?"
A soldier nodded.
"Three separate sightings."
"The descriptions match?"
"Exactly."
"Black robes."
"Hood."
"Male."
"Walking calmly."
"And every pursuit failed."
Captain Zhao frowned.
"Increase the night patrols."
"Yes, Captain."
---
Not far away...
In a quiet courtyard...
Shin Gu stood beside a window.
A maid entered and bowed.
"My Lady."
"The city is speaking of nothing else."
Shin Gu pretended surprise.
"The hooded man?"
"Yes."
"They say he cannot be caught."
Shin Gu looked out toward the darkening sky.
"I see..."
The maid shivered.
"Do you think he’s dangerous?"
Shin Gu answered calmly.
"I think..."
"...people fear what they cannot understand."
The maid nodded before leaving.
Once the room was empty...
A faint smile appeared on Shin Gu’s lips.
"So..."
"The rumors have spread."
---
Outside the capital...
A farming village settled into the night.
A young shepherd walked home carrying a lantern.
As he crossed an old stone bridge...
He noticed someone standing at the opposite end.
A hooded figure.
Perfectly still.
The shepherd called out,
"Who’s there?"
No reply came.
Gathering his courage, he approached.
Step by step.
When he was only ten paces away...
A cloud drifted across the moon.
Darkness covered the bridge for only a heartbeat.
When the moonlight returned...
The figure was gone.
The shepherd dropped his lantern.
The next morning, he told everyone in the village.
By afternoon...
Traveling merchants carried the story to neighboring towns.
The legend grew.
---
Within days, the entire kingdom buzzed with speculation.
"He was seen near the northern forest."
"No, near the western mountains."
"My uncle saw him outside the capital."
"My brother swears he crossed the river without a boat."
Truth mixed with imagination until no one could separate one from the other.
---
Children began daring one another to stay outside after sunset.
Poets composed mysterious verses.
Travelers avoided lonely roads at night.
Even seasoned soldiers instinctively tightened their grip on their swords whenever they spotted a dark cloak in the distance.
The hooded man had become more than a person.
He had become a mystery.
---
Late one night...
On a deserted hill overlooking the sleeping capital...
The hooded man stood alone.
Below him, thousands of lanterns illuminated the city.
He quietly observed the kingdom.
A soft breeze stirred the hem of his cloak.
After a long silence, he spoke to himself.
"They’re beginning to look."
"They’re asking questions."
"They’re watching the night..."
He slowly turned away from the city.
"...which means they’ve stopped watching where it truly matters."
Without another word, he disappeared into the darkness, leaving only the whispering wind behind.
And throughout the kingdom, the legend of the hooded man continued to grow, with every sighting making him seem less like a man... and more like a shadow that no one could ever catch.
The palace, usually bustling with orderly activity, was unusually restless that afternoon.
Servants hurried through the corridors, their voices lowered to cautious whispers.
Palace maids gathered in small groups before quickly scattering whenever a senior official approached.
Even the imperial guards seemed more alert than usual.
One rumor had spread through the capital like wildfire.
"A hooded man..."
"They say he vanished into thin air."
"It happened in broad daylight."
"No one could catch him."
Every version of the story grew more unbelievable.
---
At the eastern palace gate, two guards stood discussing the incident.
"I swear I saw him."
The younger guard lowered his voice.
"He was dressed entirely in black."
"The moment Captain Zhao ordered everyone to surround him..."
"He disappeared."
The older guard frowned.
"Disappeared?"
"As if swallowed by the wind."
The younger guard nodded nervously.
"There wasn’t even time to blink."
---
Nearby, a maid carrying a basket overheard them.
She gasped.
"So the rumors are true?"
Another maid quickly whispered,
"My cousin serves near the Imperial Library."
"She said more than twenty guards witnessed it."
The first maid hugged herself.
"Could it be... a ghost?"
"Don’t say such things!"
"But how else could someone vanish?"
---
Soon the story spread through every palace courtyard.
Some claimed the mysterious figure was an assassin.
Others believed he was a spy from a neighboring kingdom.
A few elderly servants quietly muttered about forbidden cultivation and ancient dark arts.
No one knew the truth.
But everyone was talking.
---
Inside the Ministry Hall, several ministers had also heard the reports.
One elderly official stroked his beard.
"This is deeply concerning."
Another nodded.
"If someone can enter and leave the palace unnoticed, the imperial family’s safety is at risk."
A younger minister added,
"Perhaps the reports are exaggerated."
An older general shook his head.
"The guards involved are experienced veterans."
"They would not invent such a story."
Silence settled over the room.
---
Outside, Captain Zhao was being questioned once again.
A senior commander asked,
"Tell me exactly what happened."
Captain Zhao took a slow breath.
"We received reports of a suspicious man near the eastern gardens."
"My squad surrounded him from every direction."
"There was nowhere for him to escape."
He paused.
"Then..."
"He looked at us."
"And in the next heartbeat..."
"He was gone."
The commander narrowed his eyes.
"You lost sight of him?"
Captain Zhao slowly shook his head.
"No."
"He wasn’t running."
"He simply... wasn’t there anymore."
The commander remained silent.
He had fought in wars for decades.
He had seen skilled assassins.
Master archers.
Shadow agents.
But never anything like this.
---
By evening, the news reached the Inner Palace.
Concubines gathered together over tea.
One of them whispered excitedly,
"They say he wasn’t even human."
Another immediately covered her mouth.
"Don’t speak nonsense."
"But everyone is saying it."
A third woman quietly remarked,
"Whether man or ghost..."
"He managed to enter the palace."
"That alone is frightening."
The room became silent.
---
Far away, hidden within a deserted pavilion beyond the palace walls, a cloaked figure stood beneath the fading sunlight.
His face remained hidden beneath a dark hood.
He looked toward the palace.
Without moving.
Without speaking.
Only after several moments did a faint smile appear beneath the shadow of his hood.
"So..."
"They’re afraid already."
He turned.
His cloak fluttered with the evening breeze.
Then, silently, he disappeared into the forest.
---
Back inside the palace, the whispers only grew louder as darkness fell.
No one knew who the mysterious hooded man was.
No one knew why he had come.
And no one knew...
Whether he had truly vanished.
Or whether he was still somewhere inside the palace...
Watching.