Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 121

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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 121. The Geom-gwi Youhaeng-jeong
Step, step, step.
Namgung Ho Yeon strode purposefully toward Changgung Pavilion, while a girl in a sky-blue short jacket hurried along behind him in quick, short steps.
The girl, her hair tied back with a blue silk ribbon, kept her round eyes fixed on Ho Yeon’s back as she walked.
Thud!
“Oh!”
She caught her foot on a stone and stumbled forward, squeezing her eyes shut and bracing herself for the impact.
But the pain she expected never came.
Click.
Ho Yeon had spun around and stopped her with the tip of his index finger pressed to the space between her eyebrows.
Regaining her balance, the girl’s face flushed as she apologized.
“M-master, I’m so sorry.”
“Who’s your master?”
“Young Master Namgung Ho Yeon, sir.”
“Exactly—ugh.”
Ho Yeon exhaled sharply and looked down at the girl with displeasure.
“I told you to stay as a guest, didn’t I?”
“That’s impossible.”
The girl replied firmly to Ho Yeon’s words, her expression stubborn and resolute.
“The amount you paid to Geumobong Ru is a fortune I could never repay in a lifetime of labor.”
“That’s why it’s an advance to your father, I’m telling you.”
“An advance is still an advance. If my father fails in his task, that debt remains mine to settle.”
Cho Seon Hyang, the only daughter of Cheon Se Geuk, continued in a crisp, resolute voice.
“I do not forget the old days at the Chang’an market, yet one meal’s kindness merits repayment in gold. How, then, can one who owes ten thousand measures be treated as a guest?”
“I don’t… what?”
Ho Yeon blinked, muttering, and Cheonrae Geom spoke.
―You illiterate fool. That verse comes from Bai Juyi’s “Tale of Han Xin.”
‘Do you not forget the old days at the Chang’an market, yet cherish the kindness of one meal?’
―Long ago, an old woman in the Chang’an market gave rice to the struggling Han Xin, and when Han Xin became the King of Chu, he repaid her kindness with gold—the tale of “One Meal’s Thousand Gold.”
As Cheonrae Geom explained, Ho Yeon stared at Cho Seon Hyang with a blank expression.
‘Why is she quoting literature in front of me? Showing off how well-educated she is?’
Having earned the title of Il-mi at Geumobong Ru, called the finest establishment in Beijing, she was naturally skilled in poetry and texts.
Ho Yeon, who had no affinity for study since childhood, spoke in a disgruntled tone.
“Why Han Xin especially? Didn’t he die after being hunted down and abandoned? You telling me to die quickly?”
“That’s not it at all. Great affairs of the world must begin with small things. I wish to serve as your attendant and repay this great debt through small acts of service.”
―The saying of Laozi from the Daodejing: great worldly matters necessarily begin in the small. This girl truly possesses a noble spirit, Cheonrae Geom thought admiringly.
Though Cheonrae Geom spoke approvingly of the girl who quoted so earnestly, Ho Yeon’s eyes only narrowed further.
“You’re really not my type. You’re insufferable.”
“Huh?”
“Tch, do whatever you want.”
‘Anyway, I’ll be leaving the household soon, so even if she’s my attendant, there’s not much for me to do.’
With that thought, Ho Yeon left the bewildered Cho Seon Hyang behind and strode off dismissively.
‘I’m… not his type? That can’t be right…?’
Seon Hyang was stunned, her mind reeling.
For Seon Hyang, who had been groomed to become Geumobong Ru’s next Hwa-ya Ryeon-nong, this was an insult unlike any she had ever endured.
Hwa-ya Ryeon-nong meant “even the flowers pity me”—
a term of tender sympathy attached to the most celebrated courtesans of such establishments.
And Geumobong Ru was no ordinary house of pleasure; it was the most renowned establishment among Beijing’s ranks of officials and wealthy merchants.
The Hwa-ya Ryeon-nong of such a place was a woman whom even men of rank dared not treat carelessly, so the shock Seon Hyang felt could only have been profound.
‘Not his type… insufferable…?’
Seon Hyang, accustomed only to praise her whole life, trailed behind Ho Yeon in a daze, her mind blank.
She failed to notice that Ho Yeon’s stride had become considerably slower than before.
* * *
“I heard from the merchant of Tiannan Iron Workshop. If it weren’t for you, the supplies bound for Qingyang would have faced serious delays.”
Namgung Baek smiled as he gazed at his youngest son.
“It was nothing. Just a matter of handling it.”
“With that one skill alone, you could become the wealthiest man in the world.”
Namgung Baek shook his head at Ho Yeon’s casual remark.
‘The Cheonroe Jewang Singong has such a function? A magnetic field?’
Though he still didn’t fully grasp the concept, one thing was certain: Ho Yeon had excavated piles of iron ore from the lakeside of Soho.
The quantity was so vast that Ho Il Chi, the master of the Cheonrae Geom Forge, had grown excited, declaring he could produce weapons for half a year without pause.
‘At least the urgent matter is settled.’
The Samhan Merchants Guild’s tyranny had nearly disrupted the supply of military provisions.
Once again, the youngest son had overcome the crisis through sheer personal capability.
For this reason, Namgung Baek was troubled.
Apart from his trust in Namgung Ho Yeon, the boy’s demands were simply too unconventional.
“Is this truly just a pleasure excursion?”
“If heaven has its paradise, then earth has Suzhou and Hangzhou, or so your senior used to say. He claimed anyone fond of wine must visit both.”
“You’re not even a good drinker.”
“That’s you who can’t drink well. I do fine with alcohol.”
As Namgung Ho Yeon spoke with exasperation, Namgung Baek fixed him with a serious gaze and asked.
“If it’s merely a pleasure trip, your requests are excessive. The Changgung Guard, the Cheon Guard, the Biryeon Guard, the Iron Sword Brigade, the Great Yeon Guard—and on top of all that, you ask for an additional hundred warriors from the outer branch?”
Namgung Baek stared at him, demanding the truth.
Namgung Ho Yeon shrugged and replied.
“While we’re out on this excursion, wouldn’t it be good to conduct some ‘courtesy calls’ as well?”
“Ho Yeon. The Samhan Merchants Guild’s conduct is certainly reprehensible, but sending the main house’s military forces to Hangzhou could escalate matters dangerously. If we’re not careful and they throw their support to Gucheon Sung, it could become a serious problem.”
“Isn’t that precisely why I’m going?”
“What?”
As Namgung Baek’s brows twitched, Namgung Ho Yeon laid out his thinking.
“Father. Power unused is the same as no power at all. That’s what I believe.”
“……”
“Of course I understand your concerns. But now is the time to demonstrate our strength.”
A deep rumble echoed through the air.
Changgung Qi circled in Namgung Ho Yeon’s eyes, and a desolate, piercing aura rose from his azure pupils.
“The main house is no paper tiger. They must come to feel in their very bones that we are the tyrants of Gangnam who dominate Anhui.”
“……”
“The Namgung’s Spear of Heaven embraces allies and repels enemies—they need to learn this truth viscerally.”
“……”
“Sending only Sanggwan to Hangzhou won’t resolve this. To speak plainly, if he were to be assassinated, we’d lose the connecting thread that holds Anhui together.”
At Namgung Ho Yeon’s words, Namgung Baek’s brows twitched.
He had wondered whether they would truly resort to such extremes, but in an age of war, anything could happen.
‘I was already planning to ask the Hobeop Party to provide protection. But Ho Yeon sees even further ahead than I do.’
Namgung Baek studied his son intently and asked.
“What is it you truly want? To bring the Samhan Merchants Guild to heel and seize their interests?”
“No.”
“No?”
“Why bother with such tedious matters? We don’t own anything. We simply control everything.”
“Do you have some clever stratagem, then?”
When Namgung Baek asked, Namgung Ho Yeon smiled wryly and shook his head.
“A stratagem? There is none.”
“None?”
“Scheming, meticulous preparation, subtle plotting—these are the province of the weak.”
Namgung Ho Yeon spoke, remembering his past life.
Before he was called Geom-gwi, he had spared no means or method to exploit every opening in his opponents.
But after perfecting the Cheongeom, there was no need for such things.
One need only cut down whatever stood in the way.
“We are the strong. The power of the Namgung Clan that you have built rises above all their schemes.”
“……”
“Give the order for our departure. In your stead, I shall correct their manners.”
Namgung Ho Yeon’s words were rough and direct.
Yet their meaning was unmistakable.
‘Is this Ho Yeon’s Mudo? In a sense, it pierces through to the very root of martial practice.’
Why did one become a warrior and study martial arts?
Ask a hundred martial artists, and you would hear a hundred different reasons.
Yet if one examined those reasons carefully, their source would surely be the same.
‘To become strong, and to impose my will upon the world.’
Sensing that pure resolve, Namgung Baek felt his thoughts expanding.
‘Until now, I have been preoccupied merely with defending the clan.’
The circumstances had dictated it.
Becoming clan head while young, he had been forced to protect the weakened Namgung Clan from the packs of jackals who sought to devour it.
‘But the main branch steadily gathered its strength, and when Ho Yeon awakened to Geom-sim Gamung, that potential exploded.’
The Namgung Clan of today was not the Namgung Clan of old.
If the old Namgung Clan was a blunt blade worn dull by time, the Namgung Clan now was a finely honed masterwork.
‘Then, must not the very spirit with which I wield the sword change as well?’
Namgung Baek closed his eyes at the sudden epiphany that had found him.
‘Mm?’
Whoosh!
Sensing the uncommon surge of energy, Ho Yeon activated Uigi Yeondong and spread a telekinetic field around them.
The formidable power of the telekinesis pushed back even sound itself, shutting out all distractions from Namgung Baek’s focus.
Some time passed in this way.
Namgung Baek opened his eyes.
Boom!
His gaze had deepened, and the pale azure radiance seeping forth was profound and still.
“Congratulations.”
“Haha, I merely grasped a small thread. It’s all thanks to you.”
“Surely not. If such a thing were possible, I would have achieved enlightenment long ago.”
“Hahahaha!”
As Namgung Baek laughed freely, Ho Yeon spoke with evident curiosity.
“So, what was this enlightenment?”
“Nothing grandiose.”
Namgung Baek answered with a gentle smile at his son’s question.
“Only a small realization—that pushing forward is better than dwelling in regret.”
“Ah.”
Ho Yeon let out a sound of admiration.
His father walked the straight path of the Right Way, always pursuing what was stable and measured.
Both the defensive manner in which he governed the clan and his balanced martial arts, favoring neither offense nor defense exclusively, were extensions of that same principle.
‘A man who is the very model of an Orthodox sect practitioner.’
Ho Yeon found his father both frustrating and remarkable.
He understood well that not everyone could walk the righteous path.
‘What he needs is just a touch of flexibility. Too rigid, and even the strongest wood will snap.’
A hundred days of words meant nothing if one didn’t come to understand it oneself.
His father had become aware of his own shortcoming.
‘If I handle this right…….’
While Ho Yeon gazed at his father with an expression full of anticipation, Namgung Baek nodded and issued him a command.
“Ho Yeon. I grant you permission to set forth. Do as you wish. I shall support you from behind.”
“……Yes.”
Thus Ho Yeon’s journey to Hangzhou was decided.
* * *
“Hmm.”
A sturdy middle-aged man with bronzed skin stroked his chin.
This powerfully built man was Chang Gwang Yeo, the guild master of the Namgyeong Merchant Guild, one of the Top Ten Merchant Guilds of Tianxia.
He was known to be a formidable figure of Jiangsu Province, his martial prowess close to the highest echelon.
“The Haehoo Merchant Guild is becoming a problem.”
Chang Gwang Yeo muttered after considerable thought.
Until two years ago, the Namgyeong Merchant Guild had dominated most of Anhui’s merchant trade.
It had been possible because they held a tight grip on the Yangtze River, which connected to the Grand Canal.
But after the Haehoo Merchant Guild appeared, backed by the Namgung Clan, the merchants began to rally around them.
“I thought they were just drifters, but they have remarkable skill. They must be truly children of the Sanggwan Clan.”
The Sanggwan Clan was a unique house—both a martial family and a merchant family, rooted in Shanxi Province.
The merchants of Shanxi had earned their reputation during the Qin Dynasty, becoming known as the Jinshang Merchants.
True to their name—Jin meaning “to advance”—they possessed enterprising and daring natures.
The Sanggwan Clan, standing at the head of these Jinshang merchants, was renowned for their Silver Banking House business.
A Silver Banking House was an establishment that received silver and issued Silver Banknotes in return.
The Sanggwan Clan maintained Silver Banking Houses in all the major cities across the realm, earning fame by remitting exactly the amounts their customers specified on designated dates.
Because of this, the Silver Banknotes of the Sanggwan Clan were trusted as equivalent to actual currency.
“Tsk. Shanxi folk stirring up trouble all the way out here in Gangnam.”
A thin smile crossed Chang Gwang Yeo’s lips as he clicked his tongue in displeasure.
“Once they reach Hangzhou, they’ll stand as a rival to this guild. When they arrive in Hangzhou…….”
Whoosh.
Chang Gwang Yeo lifted his head and cried out into the empty air.
“Tell the brothers it’s time to feed the fish in the Yangtze River.”
It was a day half a month before the Samhan Merchants Guild conference.

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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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