Ice Dragon of Namgung - Chapter 87

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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 87
Namgung Geom, who had been watching the residence of Cheonrae Hall, moved the moment he spotted the cat slipping out.
His form, wrapped in the Heavenly Wind Divine Method, gave chase like wind itself pursuing the creature.
The cat moved with both stealth and agility.
Despite its swift movements, it left no trace of its passing—silent as an assassin’s footfall.
What struck him more was how the cat selected only those paths invisible to the warriors of Silver Dragon Hall.
Namgung Geom maintained a careful distance, unwilling to alert his quarry.
If the gap widened, he risked losing the cat in the darkness.
Yet this posed no real problem for him.
He could track the creature’s body heat using the Frost White Heavenly Net.
Namgung Geom kept pace, maintaining a distance of ten paces behind.
The cat wound through the Namgung Clan’s compound in circles, as if desperately trying to shake off a pursuer.
‘This is no ordinary creature.’
Namgung Geom found himself quietly impressed by the cat’s cunning movements.
After looping through the compound several times, the cat seemed satisfied and made for a single destination.
Where it led him was none other than the residence of Namgung Hak, the commander of Cheonrae Hall.
‘Is Commander Namgung Hak truly a spy of the Cult?’
Yet he had no absolute proof.
He needed to confirm whether Namgung Hak controlled the cat.
Namgung Geom slipped into the residence undetected.
Despite the late hour, Namgung Hak was awake.
As the cat entered the residence, he reached out his hand.
“You rascal! Where have you been prowling about like a thief at night?”
It was clear Namgung Hak knew the cat well.
The cat approached him familiarly, rubbing itself against his body.
To any observer, Namgung Hak appeared unmistakably as the cat’s master.
If that were true, the odds were high that Namgung Hak had sent the cat to Namgung Byuk as well.
Namgung Geom resolved to apprehend Namgung Hak immediately.
‘First, I need to secure the cat.’
Since the cat might flee, he needed to capture it first to ensure it couldn’t escape.
‘I should test the Frost Dragon Transformation Technique here.’
During the journey back to the main house and since arriving, Namgung Geom had been studying and training the Frost Dragon Transformation Technique.
His efforts had yielded clear progress.
Yet until now, he’d found no opportunity to use it in earnest.
Eager to test the Frost Dragon Transformation Technique, Namgung Geom seized this chance without hesitation.
Using such a technique on a mere cat was like bringing a blade meant for oxen to swat a fly—excessive by any measure.
Namgung Geom drew upon the Inner Power of the Spear Palace Frost Fire Divine Skill and began unfolding the pattern of the Frost Dragon Transformation Technique.
In an instant, a frost dragon’s claw erupted from the space above the cat.
Frost Dragon Calamity Claw.
The first method of the Frost Dragon Transformation Technique—a killing move that summoned a frost dragon’s claws to strike.
The frost dragon claws themselves were hard and sharp, wielding tremendous power.
But what made them truly fearsome was the chain of Cold Qi that erupted from them.
The technique first ensnared the opponent with chains of Cold Qi, then the hard and razor-sharp frost claws would tear them apart.
Such was the Frost Dragon Calamity Claw.
Had Namgung Geom unleashed its full force, the cat would have been shredded to ribbons.
But the cat was vital evidence—he could not afford to kill it.
Namgung Geom refrained from using the claws themselves, binding the creature only with chains of Cold Qi.
The cat, startled beyond measure, kicked off the ground to evade the chains, but in an instant they caught and froze it in place.
“Who dares?!”
Namgung Hak spun around with a cry of shock.
Upon catching sight of Namgung Geom, confusion flickered across his face.
“What business brings the Crown Prince to my residence at such an hour? And why have you laid hands on my cat?”
Namgung Hak asked, his tone guarded.
“First, I apologize for entering at such a late hour without permission. Yet this matter is grave, and I had no choice but to trespass uninvited. I trust you understand.”
Namgung Geom spoke to him with proper courtesy.
He had no definitive proof that Namgung Hak was a spy of the Cult.
Thus, as commander of Cheonrae Hall, the man deserved respect.
“Surely your grave matter isn’t simply about capturing this cat?”
Namgung Hak gestured toward the cat, frozen and restrained.
“Is Commander Namgung Hak the owner of that cat?”
“Not the owner—just someone who visits from time to time. But why do you ask?”
Namgung Hak’s expression suggested he couldn’t fathom why Namgung Geom took such interest in a cat.
“That cat found its way to my second uncle, who’s been confined.”
“What of it?”
Namgung Hak asked as though the matter were beyond his comprehension.
He looked bewildered—the cat’s visit to Namgung Byuk was surprising enough, but he couldn’t see what made it a problem.
His expression betrayed someone entirely ignorant of the cat’s nature.
Namgung Geom studied his face carefully before explaining.
“That cat is a messenger cat. It delivered someone’s letter to my second uncle, then returned to your residence.”
At the words “messenger cat,” Namgung Hak’s eyes widened—then understanding bloomed across his features.
“Are you saying I used this cat to send a letter to the Lord of Cheonrae Hall?”
“The circumstances point in that direction.”
Namgung Hak’s brow furrowed.
By any reasonable account, he was the first to fall under suspicion.
“But I know nothing of this. I didn’t even know the cat was a messenger cat, and I’ve never sent any letter to the Lord of Cheonrae Hall.”
“That’s something we can verify at Silver Dragon Hall. I’d ask you to come with me there.”
Namgung Geom made the request with formal courtesy.
He could have subdued the man by force without difficulty.
But he had no solid proof yet that Namgung Hak was a spy of the Cult.
So he maintained every courtesy.
Of course, should Namgung Hak refuse or resist, force would become necessary.
Fortunately, Namgung Hak nodded without hesitation.
“Very well. Let’s go to Silver Dragon Hall.”
As Namgung Geom watched Namgung Hak comply so readily, his head tilted in doubt.
‘Is he not a spy of the Cult?’
If he were, he wouldn’t have gone so willingly.
He would have attacked or tried to flee.
But jumping to conclusions was dangerous.
Namgung Geom led Namgung Hak toward Silver Dragon Hall.
Upon arrival, Namgung Bing and Namgung Byuk were waiting.
When Namgung Byuk saw Namgung Hak entering with Namgung Geom, his expression hardened.
“My Lord!”
Namgung Hak looked startled at the sight of Namgung Byuk.
“I greet you, Second Uncle.”
Namgung Geom also offered his respects.
“Yes, it’s been a long time.”
Namgung Byuk returned the greeting perfunctorily, then fixed his gaze on Namgung Hak.
“The fact that the administrator has come here tells me the messenger cat must have gone to his residence.”
Namgung Byuk’s brow creased.
He trusted Namgung Hak, yet every circumstance screamed that he was a spy of the Cult.
“Then you received the letter, my Lord?”
Namgung Byuk nodded grimly.
“I received a letter written in the administrator’s hand.”
“In my handwriting?”
Namgung Hak asked, his eyes wide with genuine bewilderment.
‘He doesn’t look caught.’
As Namgung Geom observed him closely, his head tilted in puzzlement.
Namgung Hak didn’t look startled at being discovered—he looked caught off guard by something unexpected.
Yet expression alone proved nothing.
Eyes and features could be feigned as easily as anything else.
“See for yourself.”
Namgung Byuk handed the letter to Namgung Hak.
The moment Namgung Hak examined the handwriting, his face went rigid.
“This is not my writing. Someone has forged my hand.”
“But the word of Namgung Hak, the administrator, proves nothing.”
At Namgung Bing’s words, Namgung Hak spoke with conviction.
“There is a way to prove this letter is counterfeit.”
“What way?”
Namgung Byuk asked.
“This letter is indeed identical to my handwriting. Honestly, even I would find it difficult to tell them apart. But whoever forged this letter overlooked one thing.”
“You missed something?”
Namgung Byuk posed the question, and Namgung Hak nodded in response.
“When I write letters, I leave a mark of my own. But this letter bears no such mark.”
“A mark unique to the Chief Administrator?”
“I alter the stroke of a particular character differently from my usual hand. That’s how I leave the mark.”
Namgung Hak wrote out the character in question, deliberately varying its stroke from his typical style.
Yet the difference was so subtle that one would miss it entirely without close examination.
Only Namgung Hak himself could discern it.
The letter that Namgung Byuk received through the Messenger Cat bore no such mark.
Though it mimicked Namgung Hak’s hand perfectly, it had failed to replicate the mark.
“And how would you prove such a thing?”
Namgung Bing asked.
“By comparing it with the letters I’ve sent previously, I believe it can be verified.”
“Or did you deliberately omit the mark—to leave yourself an escape route?”
Namgung Geom raised the objection.
Namgung Bing’s expression shifted to one of surprise.
He hadn’t thought the matter through to that point either.
Namgung Hak’s face too showed dismay.
“If you speak thus, I have nothing further to say.”
Namgung Hak replied with a bitter smile.
Once suspicion ran that deep, there was no way to defend oneself.
“First, let us verify whether the mark appears in Chief Administrator Namgung Hak’s actual letters.”
Namgung Bing summoned a warrior from the Silver Dragon Hall outside.
He instructed them to retrieve letters bearing Namgung Hak’s hand.
“Given that the letter found at the Qingyang Branch House was forged, this letter too is likely a forgery.”
Namgung Byuk observed.
For reference, the letter discovered at the Qingyang Branch House had already been confirmed as a forgery.
Though the Branch House Master’s death made it difficult to verify the truth of his testimony, the other details had already revealed themselves as lies.
One could fairly say that Namgung Byuk’s suspicion had been dispelled.
“As the Hall Master says, the letter may well be forged. But how do you explain the Messenger Cat?”
The Messenger Cat’s visit to Namgung Hak’s residence was itself a fact requiring explanation.
“If someone forged the letter, couldn’t they have deliberately sent the Messenger Cat to Chief Administrator Namgung Hak’s residence?”
Namgung Byuk countered at once.
“The Messenger Cat is not human. I doubt it can be controlled so precisely to one’s whims.”
“If it can be made to carry a letter to Cheonrae Hall where I am, it seems hardly difficult to make it go to Chief Administrator Namgung Hak’s residence.”
Namgung Byuk pushed back.
“What my Second Uncle says is not without merit. When I pursued the Messenger Cat, it was cunning beyond measure.”
Namgung Geom explained how the cat had deliberately chosen paths without guards and circled aimlessly through the clan grounds as if trying to shake off its pursuer.
“Whether it was sent to Cheonrae Hall or went to Chief Administrator Namgung Hak’s residence, both are entirely plausible.”
“Then you and the Hall Master conclude that Chief Administrator Namgung Hak is not a spy of the Cult?”
“I trust Chief Administrator Namgung Hak. He could never be a spy of the Cult.”
Namgung Byuk spoke with conviction.
Namgung Bing nodded and turned his gaze toward Namgung Geom.
“It is premature to judge, but I too believe Chief Administrator Namgung Hak is not the one.”
“May I ask your reasoning?”
“A spy of the Cult is meticulous enough to use a Messenger Cat to send letters. Such a person would not have called the cat directly to their own residence.”
Of course, the cat had been made to circle about.
But if one wished to shake off pursuers, it would have been better to send it elsewhere entirely.
Ideally, to someone else who might then fall under suspicion as the spy.
“Above all, the pieces fit together far too neatly. That itself is suspicious.”
Namgung Bong-yong
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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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