Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 85

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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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#085

Moonlight tickled my eyelids.

My body was swaying rhythmically.

A body heavy like wet cotton.

My consciousness was hazy, and sensation hadn’t returned to the tips of my limbs.

It felt numb and tingling as if frozen.

Cold sweat broke out with every breath, and my whole body stung.

‘…Where am I.’

I opened my eyes.

The first thing that greeted my face was the cool night breeze.

What entered my sight was a white full moon over vast fields.

Below it, an endless yellow canola flower field rippled like waves.

Every time the wind blew, the petals swayed like waves.

With yellow light rippling like waves under the white wind, I wondered if this was another world beyond the Samdocheon.

“Your breathing changed. Are you awake?”

A voice came from in front of me.

A low, leisurely voice with a hint of playfulness.

“There was no cart or horse to carry you. You’re injured and your body is incomplete. So this was the only way, wasn’t it.”

It was Sword Master Hwirong.

I was being carried on Sword Master Hwirong’s back, swaying with his steps.

I was dumbfounded.

“What is this again-.”

“It shouldn’t be uncomfortable, right?”

He spoke in a cheerful voice as if nothing had happened and continued walking.

“During Kunlun’s final moments, I already did this plenty with our sect leader and others, so how could it be uncomfortable. Even when our sect leader was on his final journey, he praised my back as being quite comfortable. Of course.”

I opened my mouth to say something.

“…”

But in the end, I said nothing.

Thud. Thud.

A winding white path covered with sand stretched out under the moonlight.

It was a path that shone white as if someone had sprinkled salt on it.

“…What exactly were you trying to do?”

I asked after a long silence.

“That whole commotion, I mean.”

“Are you worried? About how the remaining White Dao Alliance members who lost all their leadership will react?”

“Any martial artist with common sense would naturally be worried.”

“You don’t need to worry.”

Sword Master Hwirong said.

There was certainty in his voice.

“Demanding accountability for incidents is only possible when there’s a balance of power.”

“What does that have to do with not needing to worry about this situation?”

“To demand accountability for this matter involving the Namgung Family, one of the Five Great Families, you’d need to have enough power balance and influence in the martial world to not care about making enemies. Then those would be at least one of the Five Great Families or Six Sects and One Faction that are currently taking control of the orthodox faction, not obsolete groups like the White Dao Alliance, right? Or maybe it’s the Nine Sects Alliance since two sects are rapidly rising these days? Anyway.”

The wind blew.

The canola flower field swayed.

“So who among them would step forward with sword in hand to represent the White Dao Alliance, which is obsolete and has constantly blocked their path while doing all sorts of cowardly things for their own benefit? Especially while prepared to make enemies with the Namgung Family, one of the Five Great Families?”

“…Naturally, no one would.”

“So today’s events will naturally be buried, though there’ll be some noise. No matter how much the White Dao Alliance remnants struggle, it’s meaningless.”

Sword Master Hwirong’s voice was calm.

“Rather, this incident will trigger a reorganization of the martial world after a formal investigation. Six Sects and One Faction with the Five Great Families. No, Nine Sects Alliance… In short.”

Sword Master Hwirong said.

“Instead of the rotten world of empty words that was the martial arts world until now, a forest of swords, a true world of only the strong. The martial forest will begin.”

The moon tilted slightly.

The canola flower field ended and a low hill appeared, then flower fields continued again.

Changing scenery, changing wind direction.

Even without asking, I could tell our destination.

We’re returning to the Namgung Family.

Under the moonlight, walking through the yellow canola flower field, Sword Master Hwirong said.

“By the way, you’re asking strange questions. The question I’m expecting is taking quite a while?”

“Pardon?”

“Hmm, maybe your head is still foggy from just waking up. Or maybe it’s foggier due to additional treatment from Guiryeongseuui and the pressure point treatment I applied for two days.”

“The question is late…? No, before that, two days? What do you mean you treated me for two days?”

Sword Master Hwirong chuckled. That laughter transmitted through his back.

“Isn’t it too quiet around here?”

“…”

“It’s already been two days since all the commotion ended.”

My mind went blank.

“Also, let me tell you in advance about those guys who were protecting you. Setting aside Guiryeongseuui, those two strange guys. Don’t worry. I sent them off well.”

My heart sank.

Gangbi.

Cheongwun.

Sword Master Hwirong noticed and quickly added.

“Not to the afterlife. I mean I sent them off well down the mountain.”

“Ah.”

“But don’t ask about their whereabouts.”

“Don’t ask?”

His usual playfulness disappeared.

Sword Master Hwirong’s voice lowered.

“Those guys, they protected you, a Central Plains person…?”

A chuckle mixed in. But this laugh was truly humorless, dry laughter.

“Haha. I wouldn’t have believed it until I saw it with my own eyes. Really unbelievable. The ignorant White Dao Alliance didn’t seem to notice even when seeing it right in front of them… but when I went from suspicion to certainty, I truly felt a chill in my bones.”

That great Sword Master Hwirong felt a chill in his bones…?

I was puzzled.

“Aren’t they simply martial artists from the Flying Red Palace?”

“That means you really don’t know. Then it’s even more surprising. Those guys really tried to protect a completely unrelated martial artist? Well, well.”

“Is there something about the Flying Red Palace sect that I don’t know? Or was the explanation that they’re martial artists from the Flying Red Palace false?”

“No. It’s true. But that’s like a second name they use as a cover. Their real name is different.”

“…?”

“Think about what happens if you change Bicheon from meaning celestial beings or fairies flying in the sky to the same syllables with different characters, Bicheon , and what the red in Hong might mean. The red thing flowing in your body too.”

The red thing flowing in my body.

“Blood…? What blood…?”

“Those guys threw their bodies to protect you like family. If even one of them had died to those ignorant White Dao Alliance bastards? Really… there would have been hell to pay.”

Then he cut off his words.

“Forget it. Anyway, that’s not what’s important in this situation. When the time comes, you’ll face it, and if there’s no connection, you’ll be separated forever. I only brought it up because I found it curious.”

He looked me over.

“Hmm. Are you that handsome? Or is there some kind of demonic charm about you that I don’t know? What with that letter from the Sichuan Tang Family head and all this, what’s going on?”

“The family head sent a letter about me?”

“Yeah. He asked me to treat you well for his sake. Of course, I just dismissed it as nonsense and burned it with Sammaejinhwa.”

A brief silence.

Sword Master Hwirong scattered a cold golden light from his eyes as he muttered.

“It’s the first time in his life that Namgung Hwi has sent such a letter to anyone, even as empty words. It would be more accurate to say he hurriedly burned it because he was worried about the repercussions.”

Sword Master Hwirong continued.

“I brought you along this time partly to resolve my questions about your existence, but it’s only gotten more tangled.”

“Questions?”

“Did you think I was joking when I said you seemed like an assassin? There’s killing intent in all your hand movements. The blood technique carved on your back, and the blood technique you activated in front of Ha Song. Where on earth did you learn them?”

“…”

“If it had been some trivial blood technique, I would have assumed you learned it from someone in the Namgung branch family and let it pass. But it’s not that simple, is it?”

My heart skipped a beat.

“That’s derived from Kunlun.”

“…What?”

It was an unexpected statement.

I had simply thought that my grandfather, seeing me despair over my weakened danjeon and inability to handle internal energy, had combined and created blood techniques used by existing assassins to make one optimized for my body.

“Of course, assassins’ blood techniques are mixed in, but that form of Pasa (Breaking Evil) is something someone took from Kunlun. The very word Pasa, meaning ‘breaking the trivial,’ is terminology used by Kunlun, which is tyrannical and violently hates demons. Typical assassin blood techniques aren’t that dramatic.”

Sword Master Hwirong’s voice was calm.

“Do you know why I saved you?”

“Because of the divine protection token? And probably because you were worried the Flying Red Palace warriors might die.”

I looked at Sword Master Hwirong.

“Honestly, it definitely doesn’t seem like you protected me because I belong to the Namgung Family.”

“All correct. But the decisive factor was your final blood technique, and your conduct that followed.”

Our steps slowed.

“If someone else had presented the divine protection token, I would have ignored it immediately. But I couldn’t ignore you. I don’t like saying this about myself, but I can usually see through most people’s essence after just a word or two. But the more I look at you, the less I understand.”

“If you don’t understand, are you still suspicious of me? Though you’re not really interrogating me.”

“If it came out through interrogation, would that be the truth? It doesn’t seem like it would be much help to me either.”

Sword Master Hwirong’s words carried a sigh.

“Decisively, I felt that your sincerity in that final blood technique was genuine.”

Sword Master Hwirong’s voice continued.

“Anyway, I was troubled. Based on your mindset and tendencies, I think your destination will be one of two things.”

A brief silence flowed. The wind blew. The canola flowers swayed.

“Even if not now, you’ll eventually become a traitor connected to the Marin Sect. Or, even if you didn’t intend it, as someone who inherited Kunlun’s techniques, you’ll say you can’t live under the same sky as demons, and truly become the very existence I’ve been waiting for my whole life—the one who will end this damn stalemate.”

“…”

“I don’t know the answer either. But regardless of which conclusion you reach, I came to the same conclusion that I need to watch you longer. So I decided to stop harboring doubts. That’s my conclusion.”

“What if it’s the former?”

“Then I’ll use you as bait and kill everyone involved. Anyway, my current conclusion won’t change.”

Stop harboring doubts.

That wasn’t the same as saying he would trust me.

But it was also saying he wouldn’t suspect me.

The wind blew.

The canola flower field rippled like waves.

Yellow waves swayed under the moonlight.

“Then let me ask you something too.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you still think, even now, that your story is over?”

“…”

There was no answer from Sword Master Hwirong for a long time.

Thud. Thud.

Only the sound of footsteps could be heard.

Two shadows slowly moved forward on the white path through the canola flower field.

Then suddenly an answer came.

“…Always.”

“…”

His answering voice carried resignation.

The voice of someone who had reached a conclusion long ago.

“…I like comic dialogues too.”

I said.

“Well, actually, most of the time I didn’t pay to watch them, but just saw enthusiasts clumsily chattering and dancing on mats spread in alleyways.”

Sword Master Hwirong Seo Ganghyeok looked pleased as if surprised by my words.

“Oh? Really? That’s surprising. To think you like plays—usually the young masters of prestigious martial families in the martial world dislike them as childish.”

Then he said curtly.

“You don’t need to force yourself to make up such stories just to get close to me—”

“As you’ve probably heard from others, I wasn’t your typical prestigious family young master.”

“…”

When I was young, after being beaten and shoved into feed troughs, I would sometimes leave the annex and watch such stories on the streets, and reality would fade away.

That hellish, endless reality.

Under the moonlight, I continued speaking.

“There’s a story I found really entertaining. That night when I went home and lay under my buckwheat hull blanket looking at the ceiling, I couldn’t sleep. My heart was pounding. I felt like I had just happened to be there breathing.”

I looked at the moon and said.

“Have you had that experience, Sword Master Hwirong? Have you ever encountered a story so interesting it changed your life?”

Sword Master Hwirong’s steps slowed a little.

“Of course I have. Absolutely.”

“Then do you remember what kind of day it was the day before you encountered that story?”

“The day before?”

Seo Ganghyeok laughed as if it was absurd.

“How could I remember that?”

“Still.”

Sword Master Hwirong laughed as if he didn’t need to think about it.

“I don’t know. I’d naturally remember such an interesting story, but the day before I encountered that story… I can’t think of it at all, so it was probably a very ordinary day.”

“Then when you spent that ordinary night before, you had no idea you’d encounter a life-changing story the very next day.”

“…I suppose not?”

I continued speaking.

“They say the end of one story is the beginning of another.”

“…”

Sword Master Hwirong’s breathing slowed.

“If the current play ended in the worst and most boring way, then wouldn’t the next story that follows definitely be more interesting than the current one?”

“…”

“And if luck is a bit better, the story that follows might be interesting enough to change your life. Just like how Sword Master Hwirong had no idea the night before encountering such an interesting story.”

Seo Ganghyeok gritted his teeth.

His voice changed.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Cut the crap. There’s no way that’s possible—”

“If the story you encounter that way is truly interesting, Sword Master Hwirong would actually feel chills.”

I said.

“‘Wow, I almost died without even knowing I’d encounter such an interesting story, I almost ended my own story.’ That’s what you’d think.”

“…”

“And at the same time, you’d think this: ‘Ah, I’m really glad I didn’t stop then and continued my own story.’ You’d say—”

Puhaha.

Sword Master Hwirong burst into laughter.

He put me down from his back.

No, he dropped me.

—Thud!

“Kuk!”

My entire body had stiffened, and I fell flat on my rear.

Sword Master Hwirong looked down at me.

The laughter had disappeared from his face.

His finger pointed at the space between my eyebrows.

“You seriously piss me off.”

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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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