He Became the Genius Blacksmith of the Namgung Family - Chapter 143

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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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Chapter 143

Episode 143

“Someday I’m going to kick Hosiu’s butt for sure!”

Namgung Cheon-gang made this vow like a beast tamer who captures various fantasy creatures to battle.

“Squeak!”

And Baekseol cried like a cute lightning-breathing rat that a beast tamer carries around.

“Our Baekseol says she’ll help?”

“Squeak!”

“Aww, what a precious thing!”

Yellow and cute, three-pronged bird feet.

Baekseol mimicking kicking with those feet.

So adorable.

The sight of her wanting to help her dad is touching too.

Namgung Cheon-gang doesn’t hold back his swelling emotions and hugs Baekseol tightly.

“Squeak squeak!”

Baekseol, embraced in Namgung Cheon-gang’s arms, makes happy sounds.

“By the way—”

Namgung Cheon-gang’s eyes, holding Baekseol while scanning the surroundings, take in the room completely covered in dirt.

This place he was led to by Hosiu and the Manager is clearly a prison for confining people.

He finally entered the Tiger’s Den as he had hoped.

A common rock that appears when descending from the middle of Hoinsan was actually a secret passage into the Tiger’s Den, and this underground prison-like place is where it led.

“—Since Hosiu’s name came up, I wonder if he’ll be okay?”

Namgung Cheon-gang was temporarily confined in one of the empty spaces.

Since Hosiu went outside following the Manager, it’s like entering the heart of enemy territory.

Although he’s a rebel against his own will(?)

He’s still someone he’s gotten acquainted with.

He’s worried.

Like the feeling of worry when a neighbor you’ve seen for a long time suddenly stops appearing.

Just lingering affection, really.

“Well, judging by what he did to that Manager guy, he seems capable. He’ll find a way out somehow.”

Thinking about it now, Hosiu’s abilities shown on Hoinsan were quite outstanding.

How could someone who was laughing carelessly and getting beaten up change so dramatically in an instant?

Just thinking about the aura Hosiu emanated when he briefly showed his skills to the Manager still makes his hair stand on end.

Like seeing a fox under a round full moon night?

And a starving one at that, like a hundred-year-old demon fox with eyes glowing red.

‘Uh… hmm…’

Should I reconsider that butt-kicking plan?

Being enchanted and devoured by a fox demon would be a bit…

Moreover, judging by what he showed then, he doesn’t seem to be just an ordinary local resident, but someone of unusual status.

Do you know what happens when you kick the butt of someone of high status?

If officials get involved, even Namgung would cut ties saying ‘I don’t know such a person!’

‘Let’s… think about it later.’

Anyway, considering that high-status demon-like ability, worrying is pointless.

And is this really the time to think about others?

According to the Manager who fell completely for Hosiu, he’ll be put to work soon.

In other words, another third party will appear and drag him to the Blacksmith’s Forge.

In this situation, who’s worrying about whom?

I should think about my own business first.

“All the kidnapped blacksmiths will be at the forge I’m going to, right?”

“Squeak!”

“Yes. That’s right, Baekseol-a. That’s probably correct.”

The Manager left him here in a dazed state and went outside with Hosiu.

Meaning there’s no need to make him regain consciousness.

So he’ll be put to work in this state.

If the other blacksmiths are in a similar condition to him now, there’s no need to make the unconscious ones work separately.

Looking at it this way or that way.

They’re all gathered at the forge in this Tiger’s Den.

“This actually works out well. Rather than being scattered, having them all gathered in one place is perfect for making them regain consciousness at once.”

“Squeak! (Of course!)”

If they were scattered, finding them and making them regain consciousness would be a hassle.

Of course, whether they’re scattered or gathered in one place is something I’ll only know when I get there.

‘For now, I should check and wait.’

No one has come yet.

Even when I raise my martial arts energy and look around with Insight, there’s only me in the vicinity.

Moreover, since Cheonying followed and is hiding, if someone approaches, she would have sent a telepathic message long ago.

‘Come to think of it, Cheonying’s stealth ability is amazing too. Even the Manager didn’t know she was there, right?’

The Manager clearly didn’t look like an ordinary person.

I’m not sure what level he’s at.

But at minimum, he’s definitely at the Peak level.

‘His abilities are probably concentrated in stealth and detection too.’

He’s the person who guides the kidnapped people to the Tiger’s Den.

Wouldn’t it be impossible for him to have a low level and poor stealth and detection abilities?

If they were low, he would have been caught by Muyong already.

‘Of course, even if it’s not his natural ability, it means he has some kind of skill. There’s something I suspect… but well, I can find out later.’

Anyway!

‘Seeing that even such a person couldn’t detect a single hair, Cheonying’s stealth can be considered close to the highest level.’

As expected, a guard warrior sent down by the Master.

Even being different, she’s something special.

‘I once wondered if she was really a dedicated guard warrior for assassins when she was obsessed with pork.’

The pot-lid pork I encountered while purifying the tail villages starting from Sami Village.

Every time I saw her appear with chopsticks and sit down like a foreigner who tried pork belly for the first time and fell in love with it, I was suspicious!

But now I see it’s an outstanding, no, more than outstanding, magnificent stealth ability.

“I only knew it was spring after the meat was gone. Ah. Please forgive me for momentarily doubting the Master’s grace.”

Namgung Cheon-gang knelt down, then clasped his hands together and raised them high to the sky, seeking forgiveness.

“…”

Baekseol narrowed her eyes.

Even Baekseol seems to find it hard to watch her dad acting like this suddenly.

“…Well, being alone, I guess I was a bit bored, Baekseol-a.”

A lame excuse.

“…”

“…”

Namgung Cheon-gang covered his face with both hands in embarrassment.

At the same time, he senses someone coming down to the underground prison-like space where he’s confined.

‘Th-thank goodness. The embarrassment won’t last long!’

“…”

No, it won’t.

Baekseol, looking at the face buried in his hands.

Baekseol’s narrowed eyes are cold.

It seems like it will last quite a while.

“A new blacksmith has arrived… what, why are you burying your face in both hands? Are you sleepy? Did I spray too much sleeping drug? What’s this?”

The words of the third person who had newly appeared.

If only those words were true and it had been a dream born from drowsiness…

* * *

It seems they don’t particularly care after kidnapping the blacksmiths.

Or perhaps they have excessive faith in the ability of the drug that made the kidnapped blacksmiths dazed.

Since he received no special measures from the third person who came down to the underground prison to take him away.

It wouldn’t be strange for Namgung Cheon-gang to think that these guys have excessive confidence in their own abilities.

‘Thanks to that, I can at least survey the surroundings a bit.’

That said, he didn’t blatantly turn his head left and right to survey the area.

It’s not like he was going to announce “I’m perfectly fine, mister.”

He just rolled his eyes around.

Even so, it was enough to figure out what kind of place this was.

‘There’s a bridge over there, and a pavilion over there. There are also several fox statues scattered around. At this level…’

It looked exactly like a vast manor.

The kind of manor where someone with lots of money bought a large plot of land and decorated it lavishly.

It wasn’t just flashy though.

Since his insight confirmed people secretly hiding in the surroundings, anyone who wasn’t authorized would probably be subdued and eliminated in an instant.

‘So in the end, the tiger’s den is an incomparably splendid manor full of assassins…’

It doesn’t make sense that Muyong couldn’t find something like this, does it?

Do you have to enter secretly through some unidentifiable rock?

What could the Five Great Families not find?

Clang, clang, clang.

Moreover, the sounds of numerous blacksmiths working together echo without any soundproofing.

This alone is so noisy that even ordinary people would cover their ears and file noise complaints.

Could warriors not hear this?

To them, it would sound no different from thunder and lightning, so they could find it immediately and then some.

“Here, this is it. From now on, this is where you’ll bury your bones and soul. Know that it’s an honor. That you’re being buried here after having your abilities recognized as a member of Shincheon.”

The Tiger’s Den Forge they had arrived at.

It was enormous, like a pavilion where the sect leader of a mid-sized sect with nouveau riche tendencies would reside.

From the two giant chimneys rising above the forge’s roof, smoke poured out ceaselessly.

Tremendous heat that could be clearly felt due to its massive size.

And.

‘Terrible blood energy.’

Seeing and feeling all of this, certainty was added to his conviction.

That a ‘massive formation’ was spread out concealing this manor.

Well, otherwise it wouldn’t make sense for Muyong not to find it.

* * *

Clang, clang.

The interior of the massive forge was also massive.

There were at least two furnaces for melting and refining ore, and their size was tremendous.

Various refining tools hung on the walls here.

The material warehouse with wooden boxes stacked in front was so full it was overflowing.

For blacksmiths, this place would be heaven.

Clang clang.

However, the expressions of those working didn’t look like they were in heaven.

Expressions devoid of any emotion.

No, rather than having no expression, they seemed like their souls had left them.

Eight people in total.

These were exactly the blacksmiths who had disappeared from the nine tail villages.

Namgung Cheon-gang remembered them well since he had heard their descriptions.

Each one matched what he had heard.

‘As expected, they’re all here.’

His prediction was correct.

One wasn’t visible, but.

He must be somewhere around here.

‘Let’s see… Three of them are breaking large rocks.’

Rocks that they were smashing with their blacksmith hammers while having dazed looks in their eyes.

‘Wow. With that deep blood-red staining, it looks exactly like something sinister is sealed inside.’

Of course, it wasn’t something like a sealing stone.

The other two blacksmiths took the scattered rock fragments and hammered them with clang clang sounds.

It seemed they were trying to reduce the size.

They stopped when the pieces became small enough to fit in the palm of a hand.

‘That’s it.’

Those evil things that had been planted in the farmlands of the nine tail villages.

Now he was certain of their origin.

‘They weren’t made, but were processed pieces torn off from those rock masses.’

The processed rock fragments were put into wooden boxes.

Which were then placed among the wooden boxes stacked in the warehouse.

‘All the wooden boxes stacked in front of the warehouse contain blood essence stones.’

Even a rough count showed over 100.

He couldn’t even guess how many blood essence stones were contained.

He had no idea.

‘It looks like there’s enough to cover all the tail village farmlands and still have leftovers, but what exactly are they planning to use them for?’

Are there other tail villages?

The rock parts that weren’t refined into blood essence stones were gathered up by two other blacksmiths and brought to the workbench in front of the furnace.

There were three blacksmiths there.

There must have been rock masses that the two people had brought earlier.

They were melting them and mixing them with Baekryeonjeonggang to make something.

‘That’s…’

Namgung Cheon-gang recognized at a glance what was being made.

Links of a chain.

They weren’t of ordinary size.

At that size, they were almost equivalent to the chain links that support ships.

Why on earth would they make such things?

A sudden curiosity arose.

There was a blacksmith taking a completed link somewhere, so he naturally rolled his eyes to look, and then.

‘Wow.’

Clang, clang!

There was a chain-spear with a large blade being made in its completed form.

The last remaining blacksmith was there.

The blacksmith who had disappeared last among the nine tail villages, whom he had heard about from Samgo the village chief of Sammi Village, from Yongwu, and from the people of Sammi Village.

Since he wasn’t among those visible when entering the forge, he had wondered where he went.

‘There he is!’

Deoksu Blacksmith.

Perhaps because he was the person he had originally tried to find.

He felt strangely glad to see him.

“Now, you just need to work over there.”

The third person who had brought Namgung Cheon-gang to the forge said this and gave him a push.

“Huh? What’s with that guy that he’s not being used for refining Blood God Stones but going straight into making Soul-Sealing Bewildering Chains?”

The forge didn’t only contain the blacksmiths from the missing nine tail villages.

There were watchers monitoring the blacksmiths, and also guards prepared in case anyone awakened from their stupor.

Their number was roughly ten.

‘Two at the entrance, two each where the blacksmiths are working, and three here.’

It seems that chain is quite important.

Well, the name of the completed chain is the Soul-Binding Confusion Chain, isn’t it?

‘Anyone can tell it’s an S-rank sealing item, right?’

It makes sense to have three watchers.

Just from the clothes and aura of the person who approached with curiosity, he seemed to be the person in charge here.

‘Of course, there are the most hidden ones, not just those visible on the surface.’

Those confirmed by Insight, hiding within the blacksmith’s forge.

Thirty people in total, with ten of them hidden around the Soul-Binding Confusion Chain.

“The Grade 4 Manager said you’re Mak Noya’s direct disciple. If that’s true, it would be a waste to use you for divine stone refining.”

“Really? Then it would certainly be a waste to use your abilities on refining blood divine stones. The higher-ups were already pressuring us about when it would be completed, but thanks to this guy, it’ll be finished soon.”

“If it’s true, then yes. Anyway, handle him well.”

“Understood. But, what about that kid?”

Baekseol had followed beside Namgung Cheon-gang.

She was covered with black cloth.

So it was enough to mistake her for a child.

“I heard that kid is supposedly the child of this guy who claims to be Mak Noya’s direct disciple. They said not to remove the cloth covering, but well, it doesn’t matter.”

“That’s true. What could happen even if we removed it? We could use the kid as a hostage if needed.”

“Something like that. Anyway, sit the kid in a corner and make him work. Seeing how well he follows along, there doesn’t seem to be any particular problem, so you probably don’t need to worry much about it.”

“Understood.”

Hehehe.

Truly pleasant words to hear.

Aren’t they being careless?

‘I’ll soon show you that there’s no enemy as deadly as carelessness, you bad guys.’

Don’t come crying later when things go wrong.

Kekeke!

“Oh, should we inject some more stupor drug just in case?”

“Hmm. From what I can see, it seems like too much stupor energy has already entered him. When we went to get him from the underground prison, he was sleeping with his face buried in both hands.”

“Sleeping with his face buried to that extent? That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Isn’t he almost saturated with stupor energy?”

“That’s right. Tsk tsk. I wonder how much they used. Since it was hard for him to be active immediately, they must have thought it was the last time and poured it on liberally. Or maybe they did it properly because he was a direct disciple.”

‘….’

Namgung Cheon-gang wanted to bury his face in both hands again.

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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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