Emperor Namgung Mu of the Thousand Years - Chapter 87

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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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#087

“…Dis… ciple?”

Her red eyes blinked slowly.

“If my ears are not mistaken, did the word that just came from your mouth truly mean disciple?”

“Yeah. That’s right. Say hello. This is Sword Master Yeomjak. You only saw her from behind the bamboo screen at the Secret Banquet last time, so this is your first time seeing her in person, right?”

“….”

Sword Master Yeomjak looked at me without saying anything. Then she turned her head toward Sword Master Hwirong again.

“You have truly gone mad. The Master was worried about your madness, and now it has finally caused trouble. Where do you get off playing master and disciple games with someone of unknown origins? Do you think the Namgung Family is your playground?”

That’s exactly what I’m saying.

Seo Ganghyeok responded with an indifferent expression.

“Those are harsh words. You’re making our disciple feel hurt.”

“I’m not hurt though.”

“What if you were hurt?”

“Shouldn’t you embrace them with love?”

“Ah, love?”

With a swooshing sound, red silk thread wrapped around Sword Master Yeomjak’s hand.

“Since my generosity does not extend that far, how about I wrap my Flame Sparrow Thread around your neck and burst it instead of love?”

“Disciple, endure well. You can do it.”

“Are you crazy? You should wrap it around your neck, why would you wrap it around mine?”

“The principles of the martial arts world have collapsed. The disciple is offering up the master’s neck as a complete sacrifice.”

Sword Master Yeomjak sighed.

The ornament on her head swayed, making the red veil flutter.

She pushed the cloth to one side.

The flickering gaze of red lotus eyes pierced into me.

“Boatman.”

“Yes.”

“Did you also agree to this nonsense? Or should I interpret this situation as a separate agreement formed between Hwirong Hall and the Boatman?”

There was nothing to think about.

“Of course, rather than agreement, it was more like being forced—”

“Wow, you called me ‘Elder Brother Seo’ so affectionately, and now you’re saying we’re strangers? My lord, if you keep speaking so coldly, this young lady will be hurt.”

“If you want to hear me call you elder brother, please just shut that mouth of yours. Can’t you manage that simple thing for even a moment?”

“Threatening so gently with that rough voice. Truly a man among men that even Ha Song feared. This young lady has fallen for you. Though you’re ugly, your heart is dependable, so may I ask which family’s disciple you are? Ah, Kunlun, you say? Hoho. Indeed, a Kunlun man.”

“This damn—”

Sword Master Yeomjak gestured.

—Swoosh!

Red thread, the Flame Sparrow Thread, cut through the air.

It cut off all conversation.

The canola flower field between me and Seo Ganghyeok was torn apart with a thunderous roar.

“You’re both the same. Be quiet.”

Usually, I don’t say unnecessary things.

But right now, at this moment.

I had to say just this much.

“Why… why do I have to go with you?”

“I hate noisy things the most. Boatman, you’re coming with me. And Hwirong, this is a message from the Master, so confirm it. Hand over the Boatman to me. And shut that chattering mouth.”

Sword Master Yeomjak flicked her fingertips.

The scroll she had been holding flew through the air, bound by silk thread.

—Crack!

It wasn’t a simple delivery.

The silk thread and scroll infused with internal energy rushed toward Seo Ganghyeok’s face like weapons, tearing through the night sky with a splitting sound.

“Hmm, it seems Sword Master Yeomjak is angry.”

Grinning, Seo Ganghyeok drew a line with one finger.

“An ordinary person would die just trying to catch that scroll, wouldn’t they?”

—Crash!!!

A shock sound that shook the air.

Between the neutralized energies, the scroll spun round and round in mid-air.

Seo Ganghyeok lightly caught it.

After looking at the seal stamped on the scroll, he spoke in a calm voice.

“If you had something like this, you should have said so earlier. Then I wouldn’t have played around.”

“I was trying to tell you. It’s your fault for not knowing moderation and playing around.”

“Really? I’ll admit that for now.”

“The Master said this. Northeast. There might be what you’re looking for there. He gave permission to depart immediately.”

“….”

Seo Ganghyeok unrolled the scroll.

After scanning it just once,

He immediately burned it in his grasp. His golden eyes gleamed.

“Understood. Boatman Namgung Hwi will be handed over to Sword Master Yeomjak from here, and I, Sword Master Hwirong, will leave right now.”

He patted my shoulder.

“Disciple. Then take good care of the house. I have unavoidable circumstances and need to leave in a hurry.”

“…Really, that damn ‘disciple’ thing until the very end….”

I let out a small sigh.

“Just go already. You’re making me dizzy.”

“Mm. And listen. Even though I may be speaking carelessly, we’re still close Kunlun brothers, aren’t we?”

“Don’t arbitrarily enroll perfectly fine people into other sects.”

“Anyway. Disciple. This is important. Listen before I leave.”

He approached my ear.

After glancing at Sword Master Yeomjak who was making a sour expression behind us, he quickly whispered.

“You need to be careful of that woman.”

“What?”

“Don’t ever be fooled by that dignified exterior. She’s a crazy woman that even I, Sword Master Hwirong, acknowledge as second to none among the Five Great Patriarchs. You think I seem crazy, right? Well, I admit it. I’m actually a madman.”

“If you can admit it so readily, don’t you think about fixing it?”

“No. Anyway, that woman is worse. Don’t be fooled by that noble exterior. Especially when you arrive this time, there will be a monthly ceremony held and you’ll receive various rewards, and there’s a high probability you’ll be asked what color thread you want to choose. No matter what pressure there is, you must never choose the red thread. Then she’ll use that as an excuse to happily go on another external mission—”

“I can hear everything, Hwirong.”

“Anyway, I’m leaving! Take care! Disciple, don’t die! Oh right, and Yeomjak!”

Seo Ganghyeok said.

“This time, please don’t get lost and go straight there. My disciple’s body is also in pain.”

“Hwirong. Let me say just one thing.”

Sword Master Yeomjak said.

“If you mention those words just one more time, I’ll rip out that tongue of yours.”

“…Mm.”

Seo Ganghyeok looked at me.

“Disciple. I did make an effort, right? Don’t resent me later for why I handed you over.”

“…?”

—Whoosh!

Seo Ganghyeok’s form disappeared like a mirage.

What remained was only the silence hanging over the canola flower field, and Sword Master Yeomjak and me.

Moonlight settled down coldly.

She slowly turned her body to look down at me.

Quiet silence.

Beyond the veil fluttering in the night wind, the blinking red eyes seemed like those of someone from another world.

It didn’t seem like she existed in the same world as someone like me.

From her, I could never feel any sense of kinship—only an intense awkwardness lingered.

Such a person spoke briefly, curtly.

“The whole world is so quiet.”

Suddenly, I felt tremendous intimacy and kinship with her.

“Follow me. Let’s go quickly.”

“Understood.”

And from this brief conversation, I could naturally tell.

Finally, a normal person.

Sword Master Yeomjak took the lead, her red robes fluttering.

I followed behind her, dragging my limping leg.

And that peaceful walk didn’t last long.

‘…Why does she keep going in that direction?’

As an assassin, the most crucial advantage against martial artists lies in understanding paths and surroundings well.

Someone like me couldn’t be mistaken.

The main gate of the Namgung Family definitely required following the Northern Main Road. But where she was heading wasn’t a road, but a densely overgrown bamboo forest. Beyond that was even a steep cliff.

“Excuse me, Sword Master Yeomjak?”

“Don’t talk and just walk. Or are you worried about ambushes when we’ve already entered the Namgung Family’s territory? Especially when you’re with me?”

“That’s not it.”

I stopped and asked carefully.

“Isn’t there no path that way? Or perhaps there’s a path only you know about, Sword Master Yeomjak?”

Her footsteps stopped.

She turned her head slightly to look at me.

“No path? What are you talking about?”

“As far as I know, that’s a bamboo forest so dense that even one adult would have trouble passing through, and behind it is even a cliff, so naturally there’s no path.”

Sword Master Yeomjak hesitated for a moment.

And she spoke nonchalantly as if nothing had happened.

“For a martial artist, if you break through, that place becomes a path, and if you cross over, that itself becomes a way of life. Wouldn’t it be shameful as a martial artist to rely on paths made by others and have your thinking confined?”

“…”

“What a martial artist should naturally do is pioneer their own path, and the same applies to me as a sect master. I’m setting an example.”

…For a moment I thought we had fallen into some kind of trap. What kind of nonsense is this now?

I always try to think logically.

Unable to understand the current situation, my mind indiscriminately listed surrounding information.

And suddenly I remembered what Sword Master Hwirong had said earlier.

…Even if she’s a martial artist, no way.

Right.

As Sword Master Yeomjak said, the current situation was just the result of a martial artist with somewhat misguided beliefs wanting to move forward, not what I was thinking.

-Whoosh.

Red flame energy rose from her fingertips.

“Just trust me. Where I walk will become the path. I’ll get you back to the Namgung Family in the shortest time.”

Right, she would return in the shortest time.

The problem would be doing so while devastating the surrounding terrain.

I didn’t know if she was directionally challenged or what, but I could clearly tell that for her right now, rather than admit she was lost, she was determined to pioneer a new straight-line path.

“I’m sorry, but I’m currently injured and my body isn’t intact.”

This too was really something I said after much deliberation to avoid hurting the other person’s pride.

“My reactions are slow, and I can’t properly use lightness skills either. I’m ashamed. So even if it’s a bit slower, how about taking a detour via the normal path? I know a way.”

Having said this much, any person would understand and reasonably take the original path.

Sword Master Yeomjak stared at me intently.

“Oh my, you’re injured? Ah, now I remember. Hwirong was late because he was carrying you. Something must have happened.”

“Yes.”

I nodded.

“Then since we’re returning to the Namgung Family now, we’re taking the fast, normal path, right? If we go right, there’s a normal path that can pass through the ravine-“

“No.”

She shook her head firmly.

“Martial artists pioneer paths. They advance. If we break through the bamboo forest here and cross the cliff, it’s a shortcut, so I came here knowing this—why are you being like this?”

This absolutely wouldn’t work.

I had tried not to ask this, thinking “no way,” but I absolutely couldn’t avoid asking.

“With utmost disrespect to Sword Master Yeomjak, I must ask.”

I moistened my lips.

“By any chance, are you lost?”

Sword Master Yeomjak flinched slightly, very slightly.

“…How could that be? How could I not find the way? It would be a mistake to think I can’t even find paths properly like some martial artist who only does secluded training.”

“…”

After a brief silence, Sword Master Yeomjak quickly added.

“Don’t worry. Even if I’m lost, if I break through, that becomes the path, and I have that much power.”

…Oh heavens,

Why are you doing this to me? Why are there no normal people around me? Have you abandoned me? No, right? It’s just my misunderstanding, right? There should be at least one normal person.

I took a deep breath and spoke calmly again.

“Pioneering paths is also a good method, but I’m deeply concerned that my body is still sluggish and I won’t be able to follow your lightness skills, Sword Master Yeomjak.”

“Oh my. Is it that bad? I understand.”

She blinked her red eyes with an “oops” expression.

And said.

“I’ll pioneer the path a bit wider for you. That should work, right?”

Damn you, heavens.

“Sword Master Yeomjak.”

“I understand, I understand. Really, the Boatman is such a fragile being that requires a lot of care. No wonder Hwirong carried you.”

She clicked her tongue and approached. Then she waved her hand.

“Let me see. It’s been a long time since I did this to my disciples back in the Jeoncheongpa days, so I’m not sure if I’ll do it properly.”

Unease crept over me.

“Wait a moment. What are you trying to do now-“

“Stay still.”

Sword Master Yeomjak spoke proudly.

“Your arm will fly off.”

-Whirrr!

In an instant, red thread, the Flame Sparrow Thread, shot out like a snake and wrapped around my body tightly. I looked like prey caught in a spider’s web.

I blinked.

“What is this…?”

“Now you’re perfectly safe from injury. Rest well on the way.”

-Whoosh!

Her figure shot toward the bamboo forest like a fired arrow.

“…Ugh.”

And at the end, I too, having become a cocoon hanging from red silk thread, was connected and bounced along.

-Crack! Snap!

Sword Master Yeomjak’s figure crossed the white night sky.

Tremendous speed.

Bamboo screamed as it split apart.

Whenever vines and grass blocked the way, Sword Master Yeomjak’s fingertips swept through.

At their ends, the Flame Sparrow Thread danced and everything around burst into flames as the path was pioneered.

Whatever blocked her path, no matter what it was, shattered and burst apart, making her advance itself that of an absolute master.

She crossed the ravine in just three sprints and climbed up the cliff vigorously, like a salmon swimming upstream.

And behind her, I dangled like baggage, following along.

-Thud.

-Thud, thud, thud….

Every time Sword Master Yeomjak took a step, I bounced around like a spider hanging from red silk thread, fluttering in the wind and getting knocked about in all directions.

Still, Sword Master Yeomjak’s words about safety weren’t lies.

The flame silk wrapped around my body encased me tightly like a scabbard, protecting me without wavering against any impact.

It was perfectly safe, truly like a cocoon.

Except that my appearance was really unsightly.

I thought calmly inside the violently swaying red flame silk.

In the current situation, two conclusions could be drawn.

First. Sword Master Hwirong’s concerns weren’t entirely groundless.

Second-.

“How irritating! Why do the same ravines keep appearing?!”

Looking at the third ravine and bamboo forest being indiscriminately burned and destroyed at Sword Master Yeomjak’s fingertips, I finished my thought.

This woman,

she really is a terrible sense of direction.

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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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