Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 13

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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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#013

Looking back,

in my previous life, I was confined to the annex and rotted away day by day.

I was beaten by my older brother, Namgung Cheon, and no one ever called my name.

But even in the midst of all that, I think I had a desire to be recognized by my father, Namgung Cheonhyeok, the head of the Namgung Family, and to enter the mainstream once more.

To someone like me, one day a man named Wi Jacheon, a member of the Wi Family Quartet, approached me.

“Young master, you know what? A man must prove himself. The Entrance Competition coming up soon—you should participate in it.”

Such kindness was a first for me.

They were people with very bad reputations. They were said to be former bandits who had reformed and entered under the Sword Master to train.

Their words seemed right, so I desperately trained for the Entrance Competition… practicing even basic martial arts as hard as I could and took on the challenge.

Of course, I didn’t expect to place fourth in the Entrance Competition.

But I wanted to show that I was working hard.

To the servants who treated me like air, to my blood relatives, to my kinsmen, and to my father.

I wanted to show that I too wasn’t sitting around helplessly, but was working hard.

And such a me—

“Hehe, he really came out when told to come out. I, Wi Jacheon, eldest of the Wi Family Quartet, choose Namgung Hwi, blood relative of the Namgung Family and youngest young master, for the second match.”

I was called up right from the beginning like that.

Because I looked the weakest, because I seemed the most manageable.

I was simply treated as collateral for a safe second victory.

And I was beaten like a dog in front of my watching father,

in front of all the watching servants.

I couldn’t even extend one arm.

They were people with such overwhelming skill that there was question why they even appeared in the Entrance Competition, and I learned belatedly that they had come out for fun.

To them, I was just the ‘youngest young master,’ a sacrifice to elevate their reputation.

The format of the competition was proper and without violation.

But what transpired within it was absolute mockery.

They didn’t fight seriously.

Hit lightly, laugh, don’t dodge, laugh.

Under the pretense of ‘matching my skill level,’

they ridiculed me like handling a toy, and I couldn’t extend even one hand while ten thousand people watched, eventually covering my head and getting beaten.

“…Mixed blood, right? I heard rumors, but young master, were you really born under a servant mother?”

I remember Wi Jacheon’s face as he asked with a smile.

That night, I encountered them drunk in the marketplace.

And I attacked.

It wasn’t a fight.

Someone removed my belt and wrapped it around my neck,

someone stepped on my back.

I had to crawl on all fours.

Like a mule.

Everyone was watching.

All the people of Anhui.

And the last words that reached my ears.

“Damn… don’t get cocky just because we played with you once. Know your place, young master.”

“…Huff… huff.”

“Or else.”

Wi Jacheon whispers.

“Like your mother, that servant who couldn’t even eat a piece of meat. Should I smash all your front teeth too for you to understand?”

….

….

“Are you in your right mind?!”

It was the moderator’s sharp rebuke.

“Even one of the eldest of the Wi Family Quartet cannot guarantee victory, yet you want a one-against-four battle!”

He shouted at me with veins bulging in his neck.

“No matter how I’m just a moderator, I’m also responsible for safety. You should show recklessness in moderation! Come to your senses and quickly retract your statement—!”

“One against four!”

I cut off his words with a single stroke and shouted in a red voice filled with resentment.

“I formally request a one-against-four battle with no regard for any weapons for this one match!”

This entire game is rigged anyway.

If I just sit back like this, I’ll be devoured again.

I’ll become a chess piece again, manipulated at will.

Do you think I’ll let that happen?

Even though I have nothing right now…! Even though I’m just one person who simply returned without any sharp schemes, I won’t let this life be taken away.

I will carry out my own life…!

“You, you insolent bastard, where do you think you dare…!”

I look at the furious Bugaju Namgung Seong-tae.

I look at the Sword Master.

Finally, I look at the Wi Family Quartet.

Sparks flew between them and me.

“That request.”

At that moment, a clear voice cuts through everyone’s commotion in one stroke.

“I, Namgung Cheonhyeok, head of the Namgung Family, permit it in my name.”

-…!

The audience stirs.

“The family head… the family head opened his mouth at a mere Entrance Competition?”

“That Mad Dragon of Anhui?”

People were surprised.

No, it would be more accurate to say the Bugaju and everyone were surprised.

Namgung Family head, Namgung Cheonhyeok.

Possessing absolute martial power,

the one who raised the declining Namgung Family to its current legendary status based on the five masters he brought in by allowing outsiders.

From a certain period, he lost interest in everything and had no interest in family management or life-and-death authority.

Always dead-like gray eyes.

He rarely attended even official events and never expressed his opinions.

He left all administrative operations of the family to Bugaju Namgung Seong-tae,

and left the remaining detailed coordination to the five masters.

He just silently watched like a shadow.

But even so, everyone feared him and was afraid of his silence.

And such a person had issued an official command at a public venue after long silence.

“However— weapons are not permitted.”

Namgung Cheonhyeok looks at the murderous Wi Family Quartet.

And finally looks at me.

“Since this is a one-against-four battle outside normal regulations, neither side will receive any intervention until the words ‘I surrender’ from existing rules are spoken. I, Namgung Cheonhyeok, declare this.”

“….”

I feel his deep gaze.

What is he seeing through me?

“…This match shall be conducted based on martial fundamentals and roots—fist techniques, leg techniques, and body techniques—with free use of internal energy. Regardless of any outcome, non-interference during the duel is the minimum safety regulation for this confrontation.”

“We receive your command!”

The Wi Family Quartet prostrated themselves in unison.

“And. I command in the name of I, Namgung Cheonhyeok, head of the Namgung Family.”

Namgung Cheonhyeok spoke.

“Should this match result in challenger Namgung Hwi’s victory.”

After a brief silence, he continued.

“According to the Namgung Family’s old regulation of ‘five consecutive victories,’ without additional proceedings, said challenger shall immediately be decided as the official ‘Fourth Young Master’ eligible to challenge for the Soga Clan position through the Entrance Competition.”

Everyone murmured.

Even the head of the Namgung Family had given his word.

And it was Namgung Cheonhyeok himself.

With this, complete legitimacy was established.

The five disgruntled judges, the Bugaju, and even the Sword Master immediately fell silent.

“Furthermore, I declare once more in this place that the two rewards previously decided upon shall also apply to the Fourth Young Master selected through this special process. If anyone has objections to this, speak now.”

No one dared to object to that.

Thus the stage was set.

The Sword Master rose, grinding his teeth.

“Wi Family Quartet—Wi Jacheon and the rest, Wi Gahu, Wi Hojin, Wi Jiseung! All of you, step forward!”

“We receive your command.”

The eldest of the Wi Family Quartet, Wi Jacheon, stepped forward as the leader. Beneath his bronze skin was a massive frame that rippled with muscle.

-Shing.

The sword that had been drawn at his waist was sheathed again.

Behind him, all the others retrieved their weapons and stepped forward with clenched fists.

Wi Jacheon looked at me with burning eyes and said.

“Thanks to the family head’s mercy, you’ve avoided dying a miserable death today.”

“….”

“However, you’ll taste hell until the words ‘I surrender’ come out of your mouth. No one can interfere.”

The Wi Family Quartet slowly spread out to both sides.

Wi Jacheon spoke with a perfectly expressionless face.

“Today, you.”

The faces of everyone surrounding me showed not a moment’s carelessness.

“Won’t be walking down from here on your own two feet.”

The family head, Namgung Cheonhyeok, watched in silence.

Bugaju Namgung Seong-tae and the Sword Master watched with faces devoid of any humor.

From those who had come seeking simple entertainment to servants, maids, branch families, blood relatives—everyone related fell into silence as they watched.

The wind blew.

-Flutter….

The hem of my blood-red robe swayed.

At its edge, I could see the Bamboo Forest.

Myself burning to death.

Myself being mocked as a mule.

And even my past life self being humiliated by the Wi Family Quartet.

‘Assassins are certainly inferior versions of martial artists. We have no martial arts passed down through generations, no systematic transmission of internal energy. We are weaker than martial artists. That is reality.’

My master had said.

‘However, in this life, those who have nothing compared to those who have everything gain one weapon. That is desperation—deprivation.’

The blue sky.

A massive cloud was drifting by.

Covering the sun, slowly, the world grew dark.

My bangs swayed.

The wind blew.

My master’s words continued.

‘That cannot be explained by any superior martial arts manual. Only deprivation gives birth to creation. Techniques? Mental cultivation methods? Training stages? Such things are ultimately supplementary. In the end, people are just ripples emanating from the lake of the soul.’

The eyelids of my surrounding opponents blinked.

‘Show them. Prove to them. To those pathetic fools. To those arrogant ones who have everything through superior martial arts, who only enjoy without effort—show them the true “killing method” of one who crawled up from the very bottom, forged through desperation…!’

-Huu….

White breath scattered from my lips.

In the distance, banners fluttered.

-Gulp.

I could see the Adam’s apples of the Wi Family Quartet surrounding me move as they swallowed.

-Flutter.

I lightly shook both hands.

I raised both hands.

On my palms and fists were calluses hardened through hellish training.

They hadn’t even fully healed yet.

Sixty days.

For sixty days, I had undergone hellish training.

And not just anywhere.

Right here, in the very place where I had been humiliated by the Wi Family Quartet in the past, where I had suffered humiliation from Namgung Cheon every breathing moment—here I had trained to sever those bitter ties.

Even now, the wounds on my back from the Pasabeolsik, carved in stitch by stitch, would bleed when subjected to intense movement and exertion.

A red stream of blood flowed past my rough wrists hidden beneath the blood-red robe, pooling at my elbows before dripping down.

Sixteen times.

The number of times I had vomited during those sixty days.

Forty-eight times.

The number of times I had fainted from pain while carrying rocks and doing handstand push-ups, training various body techniques.

Seventy-two times.

The number of times I had pierced my skin with needles to drain blood and pus when it accumulated from scrapes.

All my fingernails hung loose as if ready to fall off, and I had survived all those days for just one moment—this moment.

Yes.

Only for this moment.

And to not repeat the regrets of that time.

-Swish.

I slowly rolled up the fluttering sleeves that had come down to my wrists.

I brought my rolled-up hands forward.

I placed my bloodied fist against my palm.

-Clap.

And toward the bitter enemies of my past life, I cupped my hands in salute and whispered.

“Come.”

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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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