Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 34

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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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#034

 

“From now on, please be extremely careful with your words and actions, Young Master.”

 

In front of the heavy doors of the Sacheon Tang Family patriarch’s reception hall, Steward Gam warned in a quiet but firm voice.

 

-Creak.

 

The door opens.

 

The Nine Sects Alliance and Five Great Families spread throughout this martial arts world each have their own characteristics, but there are set areas where they pour their wealth and abilities to most forcefully display their distinctiveness.

 

First is the main gate where countless people come and go, second is the reception hall where guests are welcomed. Finally, third is the conference hall that serves as the pride of their power and the center of their spirit.

 

The reception hall decorated with green jade and emerald clearly showed that this was indeed the domain of the Sacheon Tang Family.

 

“Master.”

 

Steward Gam bows his head.

 

“I have brought him as you instructed.”

 

And at the center, a man was standing.

 

The man in green robes standing while looking out the window, the patriarch of the Sacheon Tang Family. He slowly turns around to look at me.

 

“First time meeting. Nice to meet you.”

 

The man says.

 

“I am Tang Mujin.”

 

I blink.

 

‘…What?’

 

Tang Mujin’s additional words continue to ring in my ears, but my mind was filled with confusion.

 

‘Just now… what did he say…?’

 

I was reflexively responding and continuing the conversation, but I felt like I had been struck in the head with a blunt weapon.

 

‘Tang Mujin…? Tang Mujin of the Sacheon Tang Family? Wait. Come to think of it… why didn’t I think of that.’

 

How stupid.

 

If he’s the patriarch of this era, then naturally Tang Mujin would have to be the patriarch.

 

Steward Gam and Tang Mujin are having a conversation mixing small talk with the reason and circumstances of how I came to be here, but I can’t concentrate at all.

 

Everyone’s words buzz like a swarm of bees in my ears.

 

‘If it’s Tang Mujin, then Tang Mujin of the Sacheon Tang Family. No. No matter how much I think about it, this isn’t just someone with the same name. This is real.’

 

The reason I’m this confused is simple.

 

The patriarch of the Sacheon Tang Family that I remember, Tang Mujin.

 

In the original future, under the alias Heavenly Fragrance Poison Demon, he killed countless martial artists, went mad with rage, and even reached the rank of one of the Eight Evil Overlords, becoming an enemy of the martial arts world.

 

He went on a rampage, single-handedly destroying dozens of minor sects to complete annihilation, and was notorious not only for his martial arts skills but also for his use of poisons beyond normal categories and his wolf-like cunning that toyed with everyone.

 

He was eventually executed through a rabbit hunt-style alliance of forces regardless of faction, with all assassins like us mobilized to pursue him day and night.

 

Perhaps it was because of witnessing his appearance during that process, when he radiated that demonic green light in his eyes.

 

Too naturally,

 

I failed to think that he would naturally have had peaceful times,

 

and that his original starting point was as the patriarch of the Sacheon Tang Family.

 

There was one decisive thing about this.

 

‘What on earth happened.’

 

The Eight Evil Overlord, Heavenly Fragrance Poison Demon Tang Mujin in my memory had an extremely strong body through external cultivation using various arsenic poisons and blood techniques.

 

But the Tang Mujin before me now was different.

 

Skin that was pale to the point of being ashen, sunken cheeks. He looked like a well-crafted corpse with no vitality to be found, hardly seeming like a living person.

 

There’s no way they could be related.

 

No. Setting aside whether he’s the Heavenly Fragrance Poison Demon Tang Mujin,

 

is this truly the appearance of a patriarch leading one of the Five Great Families under heaven?

 

‘His internal energy is also extremely faint. Did he suffer some injury?’

 

I knew that after some incident, the Tang Family among the Five Great Families was rapidly declining.

 

I also knew it was declining to the point where there was talk that it should be excluded from the five families called the Five Great Families.

 

But there are degrees to everything.

 

If the Nine Sects Alliance represents the orthodox faction’s pure focus on martial arts in the martial world, then the Five Great Families are entities that encompass both martial arts and wealth in the orthodox martial world.

 

They’re not minor families either. The five families are places with more than thirty business establishments spreading in all directions like a spider web from the center, and the people living intertwined with that logistics and distribution are countless.

 

The Sacheon Tang Family in Sichuan is the center of such logistics and the center of martial arts.

 

But setting aside the future Heavenly Fragrance Poison Demon, for that leader to be…

 

Half-dead like this?

 

Something is strange.

 

And as an assassin who had faced countless situations, I reached a single conclusion.

 

This isn’t simply about the silver mine issue.

 

Something is happening to the Sacheon Tang Family right now.

 

‘Come to think of it, no one in the martial world was interested in why someone who was once the patriarch of one of the Five Great Families became a public enemy of the martial world.’

 

The martial world simply focused on eliminating the fallen former master of Sichuan in a panic, as if a disaster had struck.

 

No one knew how he came to be that way, no one tried to find out, and Tang Mujin himself never made a single excuse about his past until he was captured alive and hanged in the most shameful way for a martial artist.

 

‘From what I heard through the grapevine, it was the destruction of the Tang family. And his son’s death… was it?’

 

There’s one thing I’ve clearly realized through this opportunity.

 

Half-knowing information about the future can actually be poison and cause confusion.

 

‘I shouldn’t act rashly just because I know future information. I should actually be more tense.’

 

“Young Master?”

 

Steward Gam looks at me and asks in a puzzled voice.

 

I quickly act tactfully.

 

“I am Namgung Hwi, dispatched here as a representative of the Namgung Family through our Deputy Master, and became the fourth young master through the Ranking Competition. It’s an honor to meet the patriarch of the Tang Family.”

 

“Namgung Hwi.”

 

Tang Mujin looked me up and down with sunken eyes.

 

“Steward Gam, you may withdraw. Let us two talk.”

 

“Yes, I’ll be waiting outside, so please ring the bell when your conversation is finished and I’ll come right away.”

 

With that, Steward Gam withdraws. Only Tang Mujin and I remain in the reception room.

 

“Sit.”

 

Tang Mujin gestures toward the table.

 

The Sacheon Tang Family, including Steward Gam from earlier, had the scent of medicinal herbs along with incense when they moved.

 

And this was the same when moving the furniture chairs.

 

“Do you drink?”

 

“I don’t particularly enjoy it.”

 

“That’s unfortunate. I was hoping my conversation partner would like alcohol when having various trivial talks.”

 

“I don’t enjoy alcohol, but I can handle drinking heavily.”

 

“Is that so?”

 

He uncorks a purple-scented wine bottle and pours it into a porcelain cup prepared on the table, then offers it to me.

 

And Tang Mujin was also pouring directly into his own porcelain cup when he stopped.

 

“…Ah, wait. The servant must have made a mistake.”

 

He spilled the tea and alcohol poured before me onto the floor.

 

Then he personally took out two silver cups from the cupboard, poured again, and handed one to me.

 

Tang Mujin placed the alcohol in front of him, and after five breaths, picked it up and drank it down, then said calmly.

 

“I don’t know what Steward Gam told you, but I didn’t expect the fourth young master to come personally from such a distant place, even preparing such courtesy from the Namgung Family. Please tell the Master my thanks and that I’m sorry for not properly keeping our agreement.”

 

“Not at all. I’ve heard that our Namgung Family and the Sacheon Tang Family are one of the five families of the martial world, families that have built friendship over long years since the Grand Master’s time.”

 

“Is that so, thank you.”

 

He says that, but there’s no spirit or soul in that response.

 

Drinking alcohol repeatedly, Tang Mujin asks with an indifferent expression.

 

“What you’ve come here for, regardless of this and that, is ultimately to discuss matters related to the suspension of the silver trade.”

 

“Steward Gam’s request comes first-.”

 

“Steward Gam? Yes. I understand the intent, so I won’t say anything more about it. But… come to think of it, how many months has it been since the silver supply stopped?”

 

“It’s been three months.”

 

“Really? Has it already been three months since that incident happened.”

 

But there’s no regret or urgency in the eyes of the family head as he speaks.

 

I don’t understand.

 

‘The family head who should be most urgent… is this indifferent?’

 

He called me to the reception room as soon as I arrived tonight.

 

So at first, I thought he called me to discuss at least the current problems surrounding the Sacheon Tang Family.

 

But what is this now.

 

He called me here but only drinks alcohol.

 

And above all else…

 

“Haha, do you have a lover you’re seeing? What’s your favorite food? Speaking of food, I remember there’s a place famous for delicacies in the southeast-.”

 

At this point, he’s spouting nonsense that’s far too frivolous for what the head of a great Tang family should be saying.

 

‘…Is he not taking me seriously at all.’

 

I came here as a representative of the Namgung Family, albeit unofficially on the surface.

 

But right now, the head of the Sacheon Tang Family doesn’t seem to see me that way at all.

 

‘The slight look of disappointment when he first saw me… That wasn’t my imagination.’

 

My appearance is gaunt and ugly.

 

I have no presence either.

 

My build is certainly not the type of dignified martial artist’s physique one would expect.

 

On top of looking young, the family head, who wasn’t very proactive to begin with, seems to have completely lost interest.

 

“If we end early, Steward Gam will have something to say again, so come on. Drink up.”

 

He’s looking down on me, underestimating me, seeing me only as a green newcomer to the martial arts world.

 

This trend continued.

 

He pours and offers me alcohol, and I respond by drinking it.

 

And Tang Mujin talks about various trivial personal matters.

 

‘All his muscles have wasted away… His presence too… his internal energy too… Above all, his eyes are dead.’

 

I can’t shake my bewilderment.

 

This person being Tang Mujin, the Heavenly Fragrance Poison Demon who would shake the martial arts world, is a future event, and since it’s not important to my current situation, I decide to forget about it.

 

But even setting that aside, the disconnect is so severe that I wonder if this person is really the head of the Sacheon Tang Family, the last, fifth family among the Five Great Families that supposedly dominates the martial arts world.

 

What on earth happened to the Sacheon Tang Family before I came that turned such a person into this state.

 

And what will happen afterward to transform such a person to that extent.

 

Rather, because I have too much information, my mind is confused.

 

Whether he knows my feelings or not, the night only deepens amid useless small talk.

 

Time passes.

 

And at some point.

 

“How boring.”

 

Tang Mujin puts down the wine cup he was pouring with a shadowed face.

 

“As expected, since my companion isn’t the type to drink himself to death, it’s not the fun I had in mind.”

 

Tang Mujin gestured toward me.

 

“You should go in and rest now. Convey well to the Namgung Family that I’ll resolve the silver mine matter quickly and send word. You’ve worked hard coming such a long way.”

 

“…”

 

“I hear this is your first journey into the martial arts world? I don’t know what useless words Steward Gam said when he made his request, but forget them. Since you’ve come this far in your status as a young master, just tour around this area appropriately before returning. Today isn’t the only day, so let’s talk again tomorrow.”

 

I sense it intuitively.

 

If I part with the Tang family head at this moment, I’ll never be able to meet him again.

 

During the few days I’m at the Tang family, I’ll be thoroughly treated as an unimportant guest, eating a few meals before being sent away.

 

‘He’s defensive. Excessively so.’

 

Moreover, I could already tell from his words just now how he sees me.

 

In a way it’s natural, but he doesn’t trust me in the slightest.

 

If this continues, I’ll be sent away as if being driven out.

 

‘Tch…!’

 

I look around.

 

I smell the air.

 

For an assassin, the most important things are always information about the surroundings, analyzing and grasping it, and finally processing it into what you need.

 

The faster you can do this, the better you can survive as a first-rate assassin.

 

Even the most minute information from all directions, if I can find even a single clue, just one way out for me to live among all the information scattered everywhere-.

 

‘…Wait.’

 

For a moment I thought I was mistaken.

 

It was such a fleeting instant.

 

And the moment I checked again,

 

‘…Got it.’

 

I’m certain I’ve found a way out.

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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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