Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 111

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#111

“…!”

I looked straight into Cheolwoong’s eyes.

“Furthermore, let me say this – the footwork, swordsmanship, and the meager amount of internal energy cultivation you’ve accumulated while surviving in this place. Honestly, everything is a mess right now. The basic framework is good, but it’s broken and misaligned in the middle. I can see traces of you self-teaching and patching things together. Don’t misunderstand me. The fact that you and the other Yellow Dragon Team members survived for years in this place is because your combat instincts were honed to the extreme in this hell, not because the quality of your techniques was good.”

“….”

“I will show you the way.”

I said.

“You say you’re the last disciple of the Chungpung Sect. Then don’t end it here – make that flower bloom. Debt? Arena? How long will you rot in a place like this? Will you truly accept that this becomes the final destination of the life you’ve endured? That’s not right.”

Cheolwoong looked at me for a long time. He parted his dry lips.

“…Why exactly?”

“What do you mean.”

Cheolwoong’s voice trembled.

“Why would someone like you, to someone like me. You could just threaten me. You could just say you’ll kill me. Why in this way….”

“You know it too. Loyalty gained through threats ultimately has its limits.”

“….”

“I need hands and feet I can trust without doubt. I don’t need tools. If I entrust my back to someone subdued through threats, I’ll get stabbed in the back someday. I don’t need that.”

I spoke calmly.

“Choose the right answer yourself. And take responsibility for it. If you do that, I will respond accordingly. No more, no less, just as the Chungpung Sect kept its faith. Do you understand?”

“….”

Something was crumbling in his eyes.

Walls built up over a long time.

Wariness.

Distrust.

And even the terrible thirst hidden beneath it all.

I believed my sincerity would reach him.

He was ultimately the same type as me.

The words I once wanted to hear.

The words I desperately wanted to hear until the world collapsed, I deliver them across time to another me standing before my eyes.

Because those were the words I desperately screamed to hear but ultimately never heard from anyone.

“….”

Cheolwoong slowly knelt down.

His forehead touched the ground.

“…I, Cheolwoong.”

His voice cracked.

“As the last disciple of the Chungpung Sect, staking the honor of Chungpung, I will serve you as my lord.”

I extended my hand.

“Stand up. And promise me.”

I spoke calmly.

“This will be the last time you bow your head throughout the rest of your life. No matter what desperate situation you face in the future, do not bow your head.”

“…!”

“Never again bow your head like when you begged for money to save your family. For that purpose, I also promise.”

I said.

“I will show you the way.”

Cheolwoong looked at that hand.

His eyes trembled.

“…No matter what difficulties there are.”

With trembling hands, he grasped my hand.

“Except for my lord, I will not bow my head to anyone.”

I helped Cheolwoong stand up.

Guk, who had been watching everything from the side, spoke.

“For reference, you’re the third comrade and I’m the eldest brother. Don’t forget that.”

“…?”

I patted Cheolwoong’s shoulder.

“It means welcome.”

“I understand.”

Suddenly Cheolwoong said to me.

“Ah, by the way, my lord. My real name isn’t Cheolwoong. It’s an alias.”

“Then what’s your real name?”

Cheolwoong hesitated for a moment.

“I’m embarrassed because this is the first time I’m telling this name to anyone other than my mother…. It’s not very manly either.”

“What is it, it’s fine. Tell me.”

He spoke with difficulty.

“It’s Wi Soja. It’s not a very manly name, is it? I just thought I should tell you my real name since you’re my lord.”

“….”

How much effort did I put in at this moment to not make any expression.

‘I thought there was something unusual about the movements from the Chungpung Sect, but… if his real name is Wi Soja….’

Was it before he earned his epithet?

I almost missed it, hidden behind the alias Cheolwoong.

Those movements. The sense of facing a hundred when crossing five weapons.

Once I recalled it, I became more and more certain.

‘If my memory is correct.’

In my previous life, there was an epithet that stained the Sects of the Central Plains with blood.

Hundred Weapons Ghost.

The one who unleashes a hundred assassination techniques with five blades.

From the Chungpung Sect. I heard he built up his unique martial arts from the bottom through nothing but killing and life-or-death battles.

Later he rose to become a public enemy of the martial world with fifteen gold ingots placed as bounty. He was eventually caught and beheaded, but in the process, over a hundred top-tier masters were annihilated in direct confrontations.

Even that end wasn’t because his strength gave out and he was captured.

He was sold out and captured through the betrayal of subordinates and comrades he had personally raised.

‘So this pit was the beginning of that monster.’

The name Wi Soja spreading to the world wasn’t for any other reason.

Just before being captured, sensing his end, he bit his finger and carved letters on a cliff, and it was only after he was caught that they learned it was his real name, Wi Soja.

He lived his entire life without family or connections, and instead met his end sold by the hands of subordinates and comrades he believed in and raised as his life’s purpose.

‘…Was raising the Yellow Dragon Team here also an extension of that?’

Now everything made sense.

Was it because he had these emotions and lived this kind of life that he met such an end?

‘Have I changed another person’s life?’

Though I don’t know whether that path will lead to something worse or better.

“Wi Soja, understood. However, until the Yellow Dragon Team is sorted out, I’ll continue calling you Cheolwoong to prevent confusion, so keep that in mind.”

“I think that’s good too. The kids know me as Cheolwoong anyway.”

“Good, then let’s move on to the rest of the Yellow Dragon Team.”

I crossed my arms.

“Including you, it’s forty-two, right? The remaining thirty-nine – if you persuade them, do you think they’ll immediately pledge loyalty to me? I’m thinking of nullifying all debts and removing their shackles.”

Cheolwoong was flustered by my words.

“You’re thinking of taking all of them under your command immediately? Then what happens to the arena… operations?”

I answered as if asking why he was stating the obvious.

“The arena will be closed as of today.”

“What?”

I spoke curtly to him, who was startled.

“The payment I made when acquiring this place in the first place was for a plausible justification to bring someone like you here while hiding my intentions. I never had any intention of maintaining an arena that might become a future weakness just to earn some petty money.”

“But money is coming in.”

“I can earn that elsewhere. I have something in mind.”

“…My lord.”

Cheolwoong’s mouth gaped open.

“You truly intended to free all of us… from being fighting dogs in this arena.”

“I don’t speak empty words. And while we’re at it, let me say this: my goal is to surpass the three young masters above me and become the Young Master to take control of the Namgung Family. Though I’m currently the Fourth Young Master, there will be hardships ahead.”

“…!”

Cheolwoong looked as if he’d been struck hard on the head.

I spoke to him.

“In that process, trampling the Third Young Master—which could be called revenge—is naturally a necessary step.”

“…”

Cheolwoong nodded.

“I will dedicate my life to you.”

“So the smooth persuasion of the Yellow Dragon Team would be difficult even if you spoke to them, is that what you’re saying?”

Cheolwoong spoke with difficulty.

“I’ll try speaking to everyone once, but… persuading me and the other thirty-nine are separate matters. They might openly rebel. Honestly, they’re really like wild beasts…”

“Even if you speak to them?”

“These are people whose lives are completely filled with distrust toward others and the world. No, it’s not just distrust—it’s hatred. And what you desire isn’t loyalty obtained through threats and oppression, is it?”

“That’s right.”

“Yes. They saw me get thoroughly beaten earlier, so they’ll at least suppress open defiance, but after spending years here, all that remains is malice. They’ll only be convinced if there are conditions that their hearts can truly accept.”

“I was already considering that sufficiently. And I have methods for dealing with it.”

I spoke to Wi Soja.

“Bring them all here. I’m going to settle this now.”

***

-Murmur murmur…

Nearly forty people were gathered in the waiting room.

Iron chains were fastened to their wrists and ankles.

Cheolwoong stepped forward.

“The owner of this place changes from today! The person who will become the new owner of this place will personally convey what he wishes to say to you all, so listen carefully!”

Murmuring.

Eyes mixed with suspicion and anxiety.

“Was the rumor about the owner changing true?”

“What is it this time? Last time too, that manager Sunbi bastard said strange things.”

“Anyway, outsiders all just use us and devour us. Haven’t we seen this once or twice?”

“True enough.”

I walked forward.

Thirty-nine pairs of eyes looked at me.

Hostility. Suspicion. Resignation.

And.

“Get lost.”

One guy stood up.

He was a large man.

The iron chains clanked.

“What are you supposed to be? I came out because Brother Cheolwoong called, but I’m sick to death of this. No, has Brother Cheolwoong also decided to wag his tail now that the owner has changed?”

The man spat.

“I don’t know what kind of precious young master you are, but what do you want from us?”

“Seok-cheol.”

Cheolwoong stepped forward.

“Watch your words.”

“Brother, no matter how much I’m the last one to join the Yellow Dragon Team and don’t know much, wrong is wrong.”

The man sneered.

“Even if we listen, it’s all the same talk. We’ll treat you well, trust us, we’ll reward you. The result? Fight until you bleed to death, or become crippled. Fuck, we’re already living well as fighting dogs, so what more do they need to do for us? What more are they demanding by calling us here and hovering around?”

I gestured for Cheolwoong to step back.

I stood in front of him.

“Do you really think that way?”

“Yeah. So if you’re going to play word games, cut it out. The older brothers are too indecisive to step forward anyway, but I’ll warn you—if you’re the new owner, act like a new owner and stand back and count money. If you tell us to fight, we’ll fight. That’s our use, so don’t let some clueless scarecrow—”

My hand shot out like lightning and grabbed his head.

“…!”

I slammed it down onto the table.

-Bang!

The dishes shattered.

“I watched you all while fighting Cheolwoong earlier, but among them, you especially caught my eye.”

Ceramic fragments scattered.

“I knew you would be the one to jump out.”

“You bastard…!”

-Crash!!!

I slammed him down repeatedly.

The shelf broke.

Plates were crushed.

Chairs were destroyed.

I grabbed Seok-cheol by the hair and lifted him up.

I looked directly at the bloodied man.

“I know your type. A guy with rebellious tendencies ingrained to the bone. But I’m not taking issue with that. Even that is fine with me.”

“Cough… cough…”

“But your biggest problem is that you can’t distinguish between when to speak and when not to speak, despite being unable to gauge your opponent’s abilities. Such a person is like a rotten fruit stuck in a fruit box when in a group.”

Seok-cheol panted.

“…Acting like you know…”

The man mumbled through his broken teeth, blood foam flowing.

“You’re just a rich family’s young master after all! Ptui…!”

I blocked the bloody spit Seok-cheol spat with my palm and shoved it right back into his mouth.

“Gack!”

I rubbed it in roughly and said.

“This is your answer, right? Got it. Then let me show you my answer to that too.”

-Swish!

From my arm, the Tangcheolswaea—green iron chains—uncoiled.

“Wh-what is this!?”

The chains caught the man’s ankle and flung him against the wall display case like throwing a wet rag.

-Bang!

“Aaaaah!”

It wasn’t over.

I began whipping him left and right like a whip, slamming him around.

-Bang! Bang! Crash!

Cracks appeared in the wall. Dust fell like rain.

“Aaaahhh!!!”

The porcelain on the shelf fell down.

Wood fragments scattered.

The man struggled desperately. He grabbed the iron chain and tried to break free.

“You… bastard…! Let go! Let me go!”

I twisted my wrist.

The iron chain pulled taut and the man’s body was slammed upside down into the ceiling.

“Gueok—!”

Then I slammed him down to the floor.

-Thud!!

Cracks appeared in the floor.

Blood spurted from the man’s mouth.

There was no more struggling.

No more cursing.

Dust from the ceiling fell like ash onto the sprawled man.

The waiting room became quiet.

Not even breathing could be heard.

I coiled up the iron chain and gestured.

“Guk, take this bastard and dump him somewhere on the market floor nearby. Make sure there’s no future trouble by crushing all his limbs completely.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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