Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 72

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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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#072

 

“Is this the place responsible for the Baekdo Alliance’s supplies?”

 

I entered the Baekdo Alliance’s supply tent.

 

“Welcome.”

 

The blacksmith who was idly guarding the tent said.

 

“Since it’s so small, I’m running a temporary workshop here and handling supplies too. What do you need? If you came to sharpen a sword…”

 

“Lend me some tools and materials. I’ll do it myself.”

 

I threw off my blood-wind robe without hesitation beside the blacksmith who was gaping with his mouth open.

 

My current outfit was for fighting on flat ground and in general martial arts situations.

 

Along with the blood-wind robe, I removed and threw away the iron plates that had been on each major organ.

 

In the mountains, they would only get in the way.

 

On top of that, with restrictions on my internal energy usage, I should avoid fighting as much as possible, but if I absolutely had to fight, I needed to completely switch to the assassin’s method that unconditionally prioritized speed over the martial artist’s way.

 

I borrowed tough leather straps and wrapped them up to below my knees. Unifying my pants and legs.

 

I also tightly bound my sleeves around my forearms.

 

Suddenly feeling something slippery on the floor, I looked down at my shoes.

 

They were worn out.

 

“Do you have sturdy leather shoes?”

 

“Of course, they’re cheap but made from tough bull leather, if that’s acceptable to you, sir.”

 

“No problem at all.”

 

“Which ones would you like to try? There are several, but I’m not sure which size would fit. It might take quite a while.”

 

The blacksmith pointed to the floor where several leather shoes were scattered.

 

“I’ll find them myself.”

 

Understanding my body measurements was basic.

 

I scanned them with my eyes faster than the blacksmith could, and with just three hand measurements to gauge the size, I found and put on the most optimized shoes.

 

I unwound iron wire and wrapped it around the bottom of the shoes, then removed the metal from the toe of my old worn shoes and hammered it into the new shoes with nails. To prevent slipping on slopes.

 

“Haha, a martial artist… you know how to use a hammer too?”

 

The blacksmith, who had only been following orders until now, looked at me with amazement. During my assassin days, maintaining my own equipment was as routine as eating.

 

I wrapped a coil of leather straps around my waist.

 

There was a half-finished farming tool, a spade, next to the anvil.

 

I pointed to it for the blacksmith.

 

“Can I use this?”

 

The blacksmith looked puzzled.

 

“The spade…? You can use it, but that’s just something I made for fun when I was bored, so there’s no reason for you to use it…”

 

I picked it up without hesitation and placed it on the anvil. With five hammer strikes and some sawing, I cut off the end part.

 

I placed it in my right palm and wrapped it with leather straps.

 

I struck it against a wooden pillar a few times.

 

-Bang!

 

With just a brief pull, my body instantly shot upward and then came back down.

 

After confirming it worked, I spun it around to position it on the back of my hand.

 

I said to the blacksmith.

 

“The spade is quite useful.”

 

“…That’s not how you use it though.”

 

“I’ll take some leather straps too.”

 

I tied up my fluttering sleeves with the leather straps.

 

Over that, I took out all my existing weapons that I had hidden in my bundle and equipped them all.

 

Since I couldn’t use internal energy anyway, rather than wearing the Mukryongsanghwan on my arms, I fastened them separately around my waist where they couldn’t be seen, put the repaired iron gauntlet on my left hand, and wrapped Dangcheonswaeya around it.

 

“I’ll borrow this.”

 

As I left the forge, I snatched two awls that were by the door and tucked them into my calves.

 

It took less than half an hour to complete all these preparations.

 

I turned around.

 

“Bill Namgung Cheon… no, the Baekdo Alliance for the payment.”

 

“…Namgung…? Well, travel safely, sir.”

 

The blacksmith waved his hand in a daze.

 

And I immediately started sprinting toward Samyeong Mountain.

 

***

 

Wind brushed past my ears.

 

I deployed lightness skills, stepping on tree branches and rocks to propel my body forward.

 

Samyeong Mountain.

 

It was just as rumored.

 

Winding ravines with towering cliffs.

 

Even after running for an hour, I couldn’t see the end.

 

Water mist obscured my vision.

 

No matter where I looked, similar mountain terrain stretched endlessly.

 

Looking at the map and applying my own reasoning, I prioritized searching places where villages were most likely to be.

 

Among those, the first task I undertook was to sweep the outskirts first.

 

Very occasionally, there were cases where the most obvious places were overlooked because people neglected the easiest outer areas, thinking the light under the lamp was dark.

 

If I swept at high speed, it wouldn’t take long, so though it was troublesome, it was also the first thing that had to be done before beginning a full-scale search.

 

Half a day passed like that.

 

While sweeping along the boundary line, I encountered martial artists who were said to be surrounding the outskirts of Samyeong Mountain.

 

According to the martial artists performing the encirclement mission, they had been combing through this place like catching mice for a week already.

 

But their faces, as they confided that they hadn’t found any traces, were full of fatigue.

 

‘Did they exclude that fact from the explanation out of embarrassment?’

 

And at the same time, what came to my mind was puzzlement.

 

‘Guiryeongseuui… he doesn’t even belong to any organization, so is there really a need for the Baekdo Alliance to go to such lengths to catch him?’

 

If it was something that could be killed leisurely, they could just commission assassins.

 

Going to such lengths to mobilize full force to catch someone was really when they were a thorn in the side and removing them as quickly as possible would be of great help to oneself.

 

Having lived half my life as someone else’s chess piece more than anyone, I knew well that indescribable, subtle feeling.

 

“…Something doesn’t seem right.”

 

The search of the outskirts ended without results.

 

From the second day, I began to seriously enter the interior of Samyeong Mountain and search.

 

When another day had passed like that,

 

I felt signs of people below.

 

I stopped and looked down to see three or four martial artists searching along the valley.

 

‘They must be one of the scout groups that were dispatched in advance to keep watch.’

 

I lightly leaped and landed in front of them.

 

“Wh-what!”

 

The young man at the front was startled and reached for his sword.

 

The Haenam Sect martial artist’s eyes were full of wariness.

 

“What’s going on?!”

 

Martial artists came running from behind like a swarm of bees.

 

“Is it a bandit?”

 

“Where did this guy roll in from? Looking at his appearance, is he some Green Forest guy who got lost?”

 

They looked me up and down and snorted derisively.

 

With my legs wrapped tightly in leather straps and some unidentifiable monstrosity made from modified farming tools attached to my right hand, I certainly wouldn’t look like a proper martial artist.

 

The martial artist who first spotted me shouted.

 

“And what’s with that face looking like a crushed steamed bun? Why don’t you get lost? Where do you get off being so unlucky…”

 

Instead of responding, I took out my identification token from my chest and showed it.

 

“Namgung Family.”

 

“…What?”

 

“You’re the White Dao Alliance’s scouting team, right? I don’t know if you’ve heard, but I’ve also come to provide support.”

 

The young man’s sneer stopped dead.

 

“Na, Namgung Family?”

 

“I’d like to request your cooperation.”

 

The young man’s gaze alternated between the token in my hand and my fingers wrapped in leather straps.

 

In an instant, all the color drained from his face.

 

The other martial artists behind him also turned pale and began whispering among themselves.

 

“That Namgung Family really came to support the White Dao Alliance?”

 

“I heard yesterday. The Boatman came with one of the Five Great Patriarchs, Sword Master Hwirong…”

 

“I heard some Gekyeongbang guy got cocky and was crushed, is that true?”

 

“Crazy, anyway, you just called him a steamed bun.”

 

“Wow, he’s screwed…”

 

The atmosphere instantly froze.

 

It seems the rumor about Sword Master Hwirong taking down a Gekyeongbang martial artist had already spread.

 

And I was beginning to understand more and more why Seo Ganghyeok had clicked his tongue about the White Dao Alliance.

 

‘The dignity… can this really be called a righteous sect?’

 

Of course, the leadership I had encountered, and the sect leaders and family heads of each faction, had the feeling of martial artists from righteous sects that one would typically encounter in the Central Plains martial world.

 

But coming under their command, this was truly the epitome of a ragtag bunch.

 

Each one’s temperament was different, like a somewhat neatly dressed Green Forest, their speech lacked propriety, and they completely lacked the refinement characteristic of righteous sect martial artists.

 

At the slightest problem, they would pick fights like street thugs, and when things got even slightly unfavorable, they would tremble in fear.

 

I know from seeing cases like this.

 

Rapidly declining forces have two choices.

 

One is to maintain their size even if it means accepting a ragtag bunch, desperately pulling in even low-level martial artists from the surrounding area.

 

Or to maintain their pride and dignity while gracefully falling apart.

 

Under the momentum of the Six Sects and One Faction and the Five Great Families, it seemed the White Dao Alliance had chosen the former.

 

‘Of course, it’s not exactly the same situation, but seeing this makes the Sichuan Tang Family feel different in a new way.’

 

“So, sorry!”

 

The martial artist who had called me a steamed bun trembled and shouted without even being able to meet my eyes.

 

“I, I have committed a mortal sin! Being from a rural countryside sect, my eyes were crooked and I failed to recognize you, young master…!”

 

“Enough with the nonsense.”

 

I cut off his words and extended my hand.

 

“I need information. Can you help?”

 

“Yes? An, anything you say! I’ll tell you everything I’ve learned while scouting.”

 

The Haenam Sect martial artist bowed his head.

 

“How long have you been searching here?”

 

“Seven days… no, it’s been eight days now.”

 

“Results?”

 

“…I’m ashamed to say, there are none.”

 

The young man broke out in a cold sweat and continued speaking urgently as if making excuses.

 

“This damn Samyeong Mountain is so treacherous! There are over a hundred ravines, the path turns with every few steps, and water mist hangs year-round so we can’t even get a sense of what’s where.”

 

“Were there no traces at all?”

 

“Not completely none. Occasionally there were footprints and broken branches. But at some point they just cut off completely. Since they’re scattered as dots here and there rather than connected, it’s truly enough to make ghosts wail… People are living here, but with the bad weather, we simply can’t continue tracking.”

 

My eyes narrowed.

 

“I understand. Anything else you can think of, any peculiarities no matter how small?”

 

“Pe, peculiarities you say…”

 

“Even really trivial things are fine.”

 

He rolled his eyes and then shouted as if remembering something.

 

“Ah! Animals! There are unusually many wild animals in this area. Wild boars and deer and such. But while the scenery is the same, strangely beyond that northwest ridge, animals don’t seem to come near at all.”

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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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