Ice Dragon of Namgung - Chapter 116

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 116
Namgung Geom had made bold promises to the people of Jang Ga Village, but he had no reliable means of eliminating the threat that Yuryongok posed to them.
For now, the crucial thing was to turn Yuryongok’s attention toward himself.
That way, Jang Ga Village might be spared.
The problem was that Yuryongok might draw Sa Pae Ryun into the matter.
To prevent Sa Pae Ryun from moving, he would need a legitimate reason.
It would have been simple if Seop Myeonghwan had actually killed villagers from Jang Ga Village.
But in truth, he had killed no one from Jang Ga Village at all.
However, there was one person he had killed—not from Jang Ga Village, but someone nonetheless.
A Medicinal Material Merchant.
Namgung Geom decided to use that fact.
He had witnessed Seop Myeonghwan killing the merchant by chance and had punished him for it.
But it turned out the merchant was Yuryongok’s Second Young Master.
Once he had established that pretext, he needed to confine this affair to himself and Yuryongok alone.
The Namgung Clan and Sa Pae Ryun must be given no opportunity to interfere.
To accomplish this, Namgung Geom intended to issue a public proclamation throughout the Martial World.
His killing of Seop Myeonghwan was a personal matter, unrelated to the Namgung Clan.
So if anyone sought revenge, they should come after him alone.
And since this affair concerned only himself and Yuryongok, the Namgung Clan and Sa Pae Ryun should not meddle.
By doing so, Namgung Geom would have to face Yuryongok alone.
Yuryongok was beneath the Seven Sects but still a force not to be dismissed lightly.
If Yuryongok threw its full weight at him, he would find it difficult to stand alone.
But Yuryongok would not stake everything on revenge either.
“First, I must move these bodies.”
Using a carrying pole from Jang Uk’s house, Namgung Geom transported the corpses of Seop Myeonghwan and his men to a place far from Jang Ga Village.
He left signs of combat around the area and carefully erased any traces leading back to the village.
By the time he returned to Jang Ga Village, dawn was breaking.
“So you didn’t sleep.”
Instead of sleeping, Namgung Geom had used Yungong to dispel his fatigue.
After eating breakfast with Jang Uk, he sought out the cave where the Binglong Huashen Technique had been discovered.
The cave lay deep within Cheon Jung Mountain.
It took more than two hours just to reach it from Jang Ga Village.
That was only because Jang Uk was a hunter with a nimble body; an ordinary person would have taken far longer.
“This is the place.”
Namgung Geom examined the cave.
It was hidden behind jagged cliffs, difficult to spot from the outside.
The entrance was just large enough for a single adult man to squeeze through.
Namgung Geom lit the Huosheji he had prepared beforehand and entered the cave.
Following the narrow passage inward, the space opened into a chamber large enough to fit ten people.
“This is where the remains were found, and the item I gave to the benefactor was hidden among them.”
Jang Uk, who had followed him in, spoke.
“What became of the remains?”
“I collected them and gave them a proper burial.”
“Was there anything else of note among the remains?”
“Nothing besides that item… well, actually. There was one other thing.”
Jang Uk spoke as if suddenly remembering.
“A ring—there was a ring.”
At Jang Uk’s words, Namgung Geom’s eyes gleamed.
“Do you still have that ring?”
“I gave it to my wife, so she would have it.”
Namgung Geom nodded and scanned the cave interior more carefully.
If this were truly a repository of Wuying Shentou, there would be mechanisms hidden somewhere.
Namgung Geom was himself well-versed in mechanisms and devices.
More precisely, this knowledge belonged to the body’s original owner.
The original owner had studied not only martial texts but also books on mechanisms and formation techniques.
And that knowledge had been preserved whole in Namgung Geom’s mind.
Calling upon that knowledge, he examined the chamber carefully.
After a long time of touching and tapping the walls, his eyes brightened.
He had found a spot that produced a distinctly different sound from the rest.
Namgung Geom examined the area around it in detail.
And he discovered a small groove carved into the surface.
The shape of that groove matched the ring exactly.
‘Could it be that the ring is the key to the mechanism?’
Namgung Geom recalled the ring that Jang Uk had given to his wife.
“Would it be possible for me to purchase the ring you gave to your wife?”
“The ring, you say?”
Jang Uk surmised that something was hidden in the eastern section of this place, and that the ring was the key to finding it.
But he saw no reason to feign knowledge.
He had learned something from last night’s events.
To meddle in affairs beyond one’s station was to invite death; discretion was the better part of survival.
“Is it a difficult matter?”
“Not at all. I’ll speak with my wife when I return below.”
“Thank you. Shall we head down then?”
Jang Uk asked nothing further and descended the mountain with Namgung Geom.
Jang Uk broached the subject of the ring with his wife, and she readily handed it over.
Though she gave it up, it was a dull, crude thing—hardly the sort of ring a woman would wear.
It seemed unlikely to fetch any price if sold, so she had simply kept it tucked away in a corner of her wardrobe.
Jang Uk had no idea why Namgung Geom wanted the ring, but there was no reason to refuse when someone offered to buy something useless to him.
Namgung Geom paid a fair sum and took possession of the ring.
“Then I shall take my leave.”
“Go safely.”
Namgung Geom departed Jang Ga Village at once.
He made directly for the cave where the remains of Wuying Shentou had been found.
Now that he had the ring, he was eager to verify his suspicion.
Entering the cave, Namgung Geom fitted the ring into the groove in the wall.
The ring slid snugly into place.
Click-click-click!
The sound of a mechanism engaging echoed through the cavern, and a section of the wall swung open.
Beyond it lay a small stone chamber.
Namgung Geom stepped inside.
Contrary to his expectations, the chamber held no glittering treasure—no gold, silver, or precious elixirs.
There was only a single chest resting upon a stone table in the center.
Namgung Geom felt a moment of disappointment, but he moved toward the table to examine the chest.
Within lay a book, a jade-green sphere that shimmered with ethereal light, and a leather pouch.
Namgung Geom examined the book first.
The Wuyingbijuan.
From the title alone, he could tell it contained the martial techniques of Wuying Shentou.
His instinct had not led him astray.
The Wuyingbijuan was indeed a secret manual of the Wuying Sect, the true school from which Wuying Shentou had descended.
The martial techniques of the Wuying Sect consisted of just two disciplines: the Wuying Heart Method and the Wuying Step.
The Wuying Heart Method focused on perfecting the complete erasure of one’s presence.
Should one master the Wuying Heart Method to its zenith, circulating one’s inner energy would leave no trace in the world—the heartbeat itself and even body heat could be utterly concealed.
It was a heart method that eluded even Namgung Geom’s Bing Baek Cheon Mang—a technique of absolute invisibility in its truest sense.
The Wuying Step was a footwork built upon the foundation of the Wuying Heart Method, a marvelous technique that concealed one’s form through the refraction of light.
From reading the Wuyingbijuan alone, Namgung Geom could appreciate how extraordinary the techniques of the Wuying Sect truly were.
Yet on the other hand, it struck him as absurd that someone possessing such remarkable martial arts had spent his time merely stealing from others.
What Namgung Geom’s martial prowess most lacked was the quality of stealth.
Should he incorporate the techniques from the Wuyingbijuan, his martial ability would rise to another level entirely.
As he turned the final page of the Wuyingbijuan, a map fell out.
It was a map marking a location, and the moment he saw it, he recalled the hidden refuge of Wuying Shentou.
This chamber was clearly a secret hideaway, and there was every chance that the main cache lay elsewhere.
Namgung Geom studied the map at length.
But he could not discern what location it indicated.
Frankly, he doubted whether anyone could identify the place from the map alone.
Namgung Geom folded the map and slipped it between the pages of the Wuyingbijuan.
Then he picked up the jade-green sphere, which radiated its luminous glow.
At first he could not guess its nature, but recognition came swiftly.
“The Bidujzhu!”
A sphere possessed of the miraculous power to detect poison as well as absorb it.
The Bidujzhu was so rare that no amount of gold could procure it—he had never imagined he would obtain one in such a place.
Namgung Geom smiled and set down the Bidujzhu.
With the Bidujzhu in hand, he would never have to worry about poison again.
Finally, he picked up a leather pouch and untied the cord that bound its mouth.
Inside the pouch lay a single medicinal pellet nestled in gold leaf.
The name “Dahuandan” was written clearly on the gold leaf.
The moment Namgung Geom saw that name, he started in surprise.
In the Martial World, there was nowhere else that used that name except for the Shaolin Temple’s Dahuandan.
“Could it be that the Wuying Sect actually stole a Dahuandan from Shaolin?”
Namgung Geom marveled at the capabilities of the Wuying Sect.
It was no accident that they had stolen the Binglong Huashen Technique from the secret repository of Beihaibing Palace.
Though that theft had cost them their life, pursued relentlessly by Beihaibing Palace.
If Beihaibing Palace were as it is now, they would have lost the Wuying Sect.
But Beihaibing Palace at that time was at the height of its power.
It was hardly surprising that even the Wuying Sect could not shake off their pursuers and met a solitary death in their hideout.
Likely, in those final moments, the Wuying Sect had opened a secret chamber and hidden away the treasures they possessed.
They were prepared in case the warriors of Beihaibing Palace ever found this place.
What remained curious was why the warriors of Beihaibing Palace at that time had never discovered it.
If they could track the Wuying Sect all the way to Cheon Jung Mountain, finding a hideout should not have been difficult.
Namgung Geom thought there must have been a reason for it.
In any case, Namgung Geom had now obtained the Wuyingbijuan of the Wuying Sect, the Bidujzhu to counter all poisons, and the Dahuandan from Shaolin.
It was well worth having found the Wuying Sect’s cave.
Having also obtained the Thousand Year Ginseng, his gains were substantial indeed.
Namgung Geom gathered the three items and left the stone chamber.
He then recovered the Mojihuan, the key that opened the chamber.
This Mojihuan was likely the key to opening the Wuying Sect’s hidden repository.
With the Mojihuan secured, Namgung Geom left the cave.
He descended Cheon Jung Mountain and made directly for Yeonam.
* * *
Upon arriving in Yeonam, Namgung Geom sought out a letter house.
The letter house was one of the branches of the Hao Sect—a relay station for sending and receiving correspondence.
They delivered letters regardless of whether the sender belonged to the Orthodox Faction or the Demonic Faction, as long as they were paid.
In that process, the letter house came into contact with countless pieces of information.
And all that information flowed directly to the Hao Sect.
That was why it was an iron rule in the Martial World never to send important information through a letter house.
As Namgung Geom entered, a young man quickly approached him.
“Welcome. We are the letter house that delivers news fastest to anywhere in the Central Plains. How may I serve you?”
“I wish to send a letter to Yuryongok.”
The young man flinched at the mention of Yuryongok.
From his reaction, one could see that Yuryongok’s notorious reputation was considerable.
“Please come this way and compose your letter here.”
The young man led Namgung Geom to another room.
There, brush and ink were prepared for letter writing.
Namgung Geom composed the letter according to the young man’s instructions.
The contents of the letter were as follows:
First, Namgung Geom of the Namgung Clan, while passing through Cheon Jung Mountain, had executed the Second Young Master of Yuryongok, who had killed an innocent Medicinal Material Merchant.
Second, this matter had nothing to do with the Namgung Clan—it was Namgung Geom’s personal decision, a quarrel between him and Yuryongok.
Third, Namgung Geom wished to give Yuryongok an opportunity for revenge. Should anyone from Yuryongok wish to exact revenge, let them challenge Namgung Geom. He would be waiting in Yeonam.
“Please deliver this letter to Yuryongok. And I would also like its contents to be made known throughout the Martial World.”
“That will incur additional costs. Is that acceptable?”
“I will bear the cost. Please do as I ask.”
“Understood.”
Namgung Geom paid the fee and left the letter house.
Once the letter he had sent reached Yuryongok and its contents became known throughout the Martial World, Yuryongok would find it difficult to seek aid from the Sa Pae Ryun.
Namgung Geom had declared that anyone from Yuryongok could attempt revenge.
But what if Yuryongok still sought help from the Sa Pae Ryun?
People would surely believe that Yuryongok feared Namgung Geom.
If Yuryongok had any pride, they would attempt revenge themselves.
And if he publicly offered them the chance for revenge and defeated them, even the Sa Pae Ryun would have no further justification to intervene.
Namgung Geom was curious how Yuryongok would respond.
“Will the master of Yuryongok come out himself?”
Namgung Bing-yong
Author |
Baek Wol Geom
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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