Ice Dragon of Namgung - Chapter 23

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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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Episode 23
The first thing Sa Do-gwang saw when he came to was Namgung Geom sitting in front of him.
At first, he couldn’t make sense of the situation.
Then it came back to him—Namgung Geom’s strike had knocked him unconscious.
Seeing that Namgung Geom was unharmed and he himself was captive, it appeared his entire group must have been overwhelmed by the Namgung Clan’s warriors.
“What happened to my men?”
“So you do worry about them, I see.”
Namgung Geom spoke as though surprised.
“You didn’t kill them all, did you?”
“Some are dead, but most are alive. However, it depends on how you behave from now on whether they remain safe.”
Sa Do-gwang’s brow furrowed.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I simply find the matter suspicious.”
“Suspicious of what, exactly?”
Sa Do-gwang asked as though he didn’t understand.
“The Janggang Water Route Alliance would never attack our main compound unless they’d lost their minds. That’s why I wonder if the Black Water Pirates were acting on someone else’s orders.”
“I didn’t even know there were Namgung Clan warriors aboard the Lee Family Estate’s ship.”
“But it is true you intended to attack a ship under the protection of our main compound.”
The Black Water Pirates couldn’t have been ignorant that the Lee Family Estate was a Namgung Clan power.
And they would have known full well that if they attacked one of the Lee Family Estate’s ships, the Namgung Clan would not remain idle.
Yet the Black Water Pirates had moved to attack the Lee Family Estate’s ship anyway.
It was unthinkable that they would disrespect the Namgung Clan.
It seemed far more likely they had reason enough to attack the ship that justified bearing the Namgung Clan’s retaliation.
It couldn’t have been mere profit.
The risk of return was far too great for that.
Namgung Geom suspected that someone with purpose had set the Black Water Pirates in motion.
“What I want to know is who ordered the attack on the Lee Family Estate’s ship. If you speak truthfully, I’ll see that you and your men are spared.”
At the mention of sparing him and his men, Sa Do-gwang’s eyes wavered.
But he could not reveal that he had been following the Black Water Pirates captain’s orders.
“No one ordered me to attack the Lee Family Estate’s ship. In fact, I had no intention of attacking it at all.”
“You had no intention of attacking it?”
Namgung Geom stared at him incredulously.
“I merely demanded a slightly higher transit tax than usual.”
“I suppose you’ve forgotten threatening to seize their goods if they refused to pay that tax.”
Namgung Geom let out a cold laugh and spoke again.
“That was merely a threat. Even if they hadn’t paid the transit tax, I had no intention of actually attacking them.”
Sa Do-gwang brazenly played dumb.
“Surely you don’t expect that excuse to work now?”
“For our river folk, threats are everyday business. If you hadn’t struck first, we would have negotiated to a reasonable point and withdrawn.”
“So you’re saying it’s my fault?”
Namgung Geom asked in disbelief.
“Yes. So release me and my men. We can consider this a misunderstanding and move past it.”
“You think I look easy to fool because I speak civilly.”
Namgung Geom rose from his seat.
From his entire body, an aura of such frigid cold emanated that it seemed to freeze the very air.
The extreme force overwhelming his body made Sa Do-gwang feel as though he were turning to ice.
A low groan escaped him.
Sa Do-gwang stared at Namgung Geom with startled eyes, gasping.
Namgung Geom’s presence was far more formidable than Sa Do-gwang had imagined.
“What are you trying to do?”
Sa Do-gwang cried out in a trembling voice.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you.”
Namgung Geom seized Sa Do-gwang’s wrist and channeled the power of the Cheonggung Bing-hwa Divine Art into him.
Extreme cold penetrated deep into Sa Do-gwang’s meridians.
A scream tore from his throat.
Sa Do-gwang shrieked as if blades of ice were slashing through his insides.
“If you can endure this pain to the end, then I’ll believe your words.”
At Namgung Geom’s words, Sa Do-gwang’s eyes flickered with desperation.
He felt as though he would die from even the brief taste of agony he’d already suffered.
He wanted nothing more than to escape this terrible pain at once.
“I’ll tell you everything. All of it, exactly as it happened.”
Namgung Geom withdrew the biting cold from his presence and regarded Sa Do-gwang directly.
“The Captain ordered me to do it.”
“Why did the Captain of the Black Water Pirates command you to attack the Lee Family Estate’s vessel?”
Sa Do-gwang shook his head.
“I don’t know that much. But it seemed like he wasn’t simply after the tea cargo aboard their ship.”
“There was another reason?”
“The Captain must have known that touching the Lee Family Estate’s vessel would bring retaliation from the Namgung Clan. He wouldn’t have ordered the attack merely for profit. As for what his true purpose was—I genuinely don’t know.”
“You still haven’t come to your senses.”
Namgung Geom reached toward Sa Do-gwang’s wrist, and Sa Do-gwang cried out in alarm.
“I’m telling the truth. I only guessed that the Captain had another objective—I truly don’t know what it was.”
Namgung Geom could tell that Sa Do-gwang was not lying.
“Then I’ll have to ask the Captain of the Black Water Pirates directly.”
At those words, Sa Do-gwang’s expression hardened.
“You’re not planning to attack their main base?”
“I made it clear—touch the main base and the Black Water Pirates will be annihilated.”
“If the Namgung Clan attacks the Black Water Pirates, the Alliance won’t sit idle.”
Sa Do-gwang invoked the Janggang Water Route Alliance, and Namgung Geom laughed as though it were beneath consideration.
“Will the Janggang Water Route Alliance truly stand against the main family to save one pirate crew?”
As Namgung Geom said, the Janggang Water Route Alliance would abandon the Black Water Pirates without hesitation rather than face the Namgung Clan.
Sa Do-gwang’s expression darkened for a moment.
But then he recalled a single fact and felt reassured.
“Can the Namgung Clan even locate our main base?”
The Janggang was a labyrinth of countless tributaries and branches.
The pirate crews of the Janggang Water Route Alliance hid their headquarters within those waterways.
Moreover, whenever discovery seemed imminent, they swiftly relocated.
Finding and subjugating a Janggang pirate base was no trivial undertaking.
The Namgung Clan would be no different in that regard.
So there was truly no cause for concern.
Namgung Geom’s expression grew meaningful.
“If we cannot attack the Black Water Pirates’ base, then we make the Captain come out himself.”
“How would you possibly draw the Captain out?”
Sa Do-gwang asked uneasily.
Namgung Geom offered no answer, only a smile.
At that smile, Sa Do-gwang’s unease only deepened.
It seemed certain that Namgung Geom truly possessed a means to lure out the Captain.
But this was Sa Do-gwang’s misunderstanding.
Namgung Geom had no concrete plan at the moment.
He was merely performing as though he did.
‘Not now, but something will come to me if I think on it.’
The matter of the Black Water Pirates was not urgent.
For now, the priority was transporting the Lee Family Estate’s tea to Nanjing within the appointed time.
‘Still, acquiring two warships for nothing is quite the windfall.’
Namgung Geom smiled as he regarded the Black Water Pirates’ vessels.
The warships were of medium size and quite serviceable.
Building a single warship requires considerable expense.
Having acquired two medium warships, it was an unexpected fortune indeed.
Namgung Geom decided to transfer the two vessels to the Janggang Naval Flotilla.
They would be a most welcome gift to the Flotilla, which faced a shortage of ships.
* * *
Half a day had passed since the destruction of the Black Water Pirates’ warships.
Namgung Seok-yeong, Commander of the Janggang Naval Flotilla, arrived leading the First Sword Unit personally.
“Commander Namgung Seok-yeong of the Janggang Naval Flotilla offers his respects to the Crown Prince.”
Namgung Geom studied the man bowing before him.
He appeared to be in his mid-thirties, with cultivation at the Peak Realm’s later stages.
“I’ve heard much about the Commander. I’m pleased to meet you at last.”
This was Namgung Geom’s first time seeing Namgung Seok-yeong in person.
Yet he had heard rumors of him before.
Namgung Seok-yeong came from a cadet branch, having begun as an ordinary soldier and risen to the rank of Commander.
With no backing whatsoever, he had become Commander of the Janggang Naval Flotilla through ability and merit alone.
The main household held Namgung Seok-yeong in high regard.
His three uncles had all made considerable effort to draw him to their respective sides.
But Namgung Seok-yeong sided with none of them, maintaining a strict neutrality.
Whoever became the next family head, he would remain loyal to the current patriarch, Namgung Pae.
Namgung Geom found such a stance appealing.
Meanwhile, Namgung Seok-yeong was inwardly startled by Namgung Geom’s aura.
‘The Peak Realm?’
If his eyes were not deceiving him, Namgung Geom’s cultivation was not inferior to his own.
No—it seemed to surpass his by a margin.
“I had heard that the Crown Prince cured his Gu Yang Meridian Blockage and mastered martial arts, but seeing it firsthand, your Realm is remarkable.”
Namgung Geom shook his head at Namgung Seok-yeong’s praise.
“I still fall short of where I must reach.”
“If the Crown Prince falls short, what are ordinary men like myself to do?”
“To call the Transport Master ordinary defies reason.”
“You say so only because the Crown Prince claims to fall short.”
“As the eldest grandson of the Namgung Clan, I must aspire to heights yet greater.”
“Seeing the Crown Prince refuse to settle at your current Realm and gaze ever upward fills me with hope for the future of the Namgung Clan.”
Namgung Geom shook his head again.
“If the Namgung Clan’s future burns bright, it will be thanks not to me, but to the countless martial masters like yourself who toil in the field.”
Namgung Seok-yeong felt a genuine stirring of emotion at Namgung Geom’s recognition of those who labored beyond the household walls.
“Be that as it may, our transport unit arrived late and caused you to come under attack from the Black Water Pirates. I apologize deeply.”
Namgung Seok-yeong lowered his head.
“No. If anything, I was too abrupt in summoning you. The fault lies with me.”
“What matter could be more pressing than the Crown Prince’s safety?”
At Namgung Seok-yeong’s words, Namgung Geom smiled.
“Your words are kind. As for the two warships we captured, I shall transfer them to the Janggang Naval Flotilla.”
Namgung Seok-yeong’s eyes widened at Namgung Geom’s words.
“Truly?”
“I heard the Janggang Naval Flotilla lacks sufficient warships. Though it is but two vessels, I hope they prove of some use.”
“They will be of great help. Thank you.”
Namgung Seok-yeong bowed deeply, his expression one of genuine gratitude.
“As for the Black Water Pirates we captured, handle their disposition as you see fit.”
“Understood.”
Normally, captured pirates were handed over to the authorities.
The officials would then send them to the frontier for labor service or conscript them into the military.
Namgung Geom asked nothing about how he would deal with them.
Namgung Seok-yeong would handle the matter well enough without being told.
“Then I entrust the escort to Nanjing to your care.”
“Rest assured. I shall see you safely to Nanjing.”
The Lee Family Estate’s vessel traveled under the protection of the Janggang Naval Flotilla toward Nanjing.
During the journey to Nanjing, they passed through the domain of the Janggang Water Route Alliance, but no one appeared to challenge them.
No pirate band dared stand against the Namgung Clan’s naval force.
Four days later.
The Lee Family Estate’s vessel arrived safely in Nanjing, and the transport unit delivered the tea to the Taeho Teahouse without delay.
Yi Hong-baek, master of the Lee Family Estate’s transport unit, expressed his gratitude to Namgung Geom repeatedly.
“The Lee Family Estate shall not forget the Crown Prince’s grace.”
“Protecting those loyal to the main household is merely my duty. To speak of grace is not fitting.”
Namgung Geom spoke as though it were a trifling matter.
“Nevertheless, a kindness received is a kindness received. Should the Lee Family Estate’s aid ever be needed, you need only say the word. If it is the Crown Prince’s request, the Lee Family Estate will render aid with all sincerity.”
Namgung Geom could sense genuine sincerity in Yi Hong-baek’s words.
“I am grateful. If the Lee Family Estate’s assistance becomes necessary, I shall not hesitate to ask.”
“Are you to return to the Namgung household immediately then?”
“If there is no other pressing matter, that is my intention. But why do you ask?”
Namgung Geom regarded Yi Hong-baek with a questioning look.
“It is that the Master of the Taeho Teahouse wishes to meet with the Crown Prince, and has an urgent request.”
Yi Hong-baek hesitated briefly before broaching the matter with careful words.
“The Master of the Taeho Teahouse?”
Namgung Geom tilted his head, puzzled.
The Taeho Teahouse was an enterprise operating dozens of establishments in Nanjing, Taeho, Suzhou, and beyond.
He could not fathom what business the Master of such a tea trading house could have with him.
“I hear the Xue Family Estate has been demanding excessive protection fees from the Taeho Teahouse, interfering with their business.”
Namgung Geom’s eyes flashed at Yi Hong-baek’s words.
“Did you say the Xue Family Estate just now?”
Namgung Bing-ryong
Author |
Baek Wol-geom
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(주) Samyang C&C
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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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