Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 135

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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 135. The Sword Demon’s Evil Stems from the Yin Kill Sect
Creak!
Ho Yeon pushed the door open wide.
Thud.
Thud.
“Right, you two—get out.”
The two martial artists of the Namman hesitated at Ho Yeon’s word, then shuffled out.
Click.
As the door shut, Ho Yeon gazed toward the center of the room and spoke.
“You didn’t spin me any lies, did you?”
“Of course not. Cough! What would I gain from lying?”
The one answering Ho Yeon was a man who appeared to be in his mid-forties, bandages wrapped around his left shoulder.
Both his arms and legs were bound behind him with the Reverse Binding Capture.
The iron chain restraining him was the Ten Thousand Year Cold Iron Chain that Ho Yeon had brought back from the Bridge of Severing.
It was a binding that none but an Ascendant could hope to break free from.
“I’ve told you everything I know. Won’t you loosen these restraints?”
“Would you, if our positions were reversed?”
“I’ve already sealed your acupoints. What more do you fear?”
“Don’t be absurd. Your sect possesses the Sealed Blood Qi Art.”
Ho Yeon shot back the words with a faint smirk.
The Sealed Blood Qi Art was a technique that sealed the Hyeol Do and rendered Acupoint Sealing ineffective.
Along with the Blood Transfer Grand Method, it was a rare art for breaking through sealed meridian point strikes.
“I haven’t destroyed your dantian out of mercy. It’s because there’s still more to extract from you. If you killed yourself prematurely, that would be troublesome.”
“…But even so, there’s not much I know. If you wanted information, you should have kept Shirō alive.”
“True enough. I didn’t realize you were just an empty shell. Tsk.”
Ho Yeon clicked his tongue, regarding Kotaro.
He’d naturally assumed that the finest martial artist among the ninjas was their leader—but it seemed that wasn’t the case.
Thwip! Whistle!
‘Without this, I wouldn’t have believed him.’
Ho Yeon caught the short blade—a span in length—that he’d thrown.
It belonged to Kotaro, a seppuku blade that he’d acquired first after becoming a ninja, or so the man claimed.
‘A suicide blade, of all things. Why do they cling to such a tedious method? The mindset of the people from Dongying is hard to fathom.’
—Oi, Oniyaro! Seppuku is the sublime resolve of an honorable samurai! Don’t mock it, you fool!
Heuk Ya Tae Geom cried out, but Ho Yeon ignored him, alternating his gaze between the blade and Kotaro.
Since their first interrogation, Ho Yeon had already grasped a fair measure of this ninja Kotaro’s circumstances through Sword Heart Resonance.
‘So the Yin Kill Sect was composed of Eight Families? Now that I think of it, they did each have their own distinct character.’
Iga, Koga, Ranpa, Danwon, Sud, Koto, Hudo, and Huma—the Eight Families.
The man before him, Kotaro, hailed from the Huma Clan.
‘I thought they’d all scattered to Dongying back then, but apparently not.’
Ho Yeon recalled his days as the Sword Demon.
The Sword Demon had declared that he would erase the Yin Kill Sect from Zhongyuan—and he’d kept that promise.
When he pursued them even to Liaoning to slaughter them, the Yin Kill Sect at last fled through the Port of Daelyeon to Dongying.
He’d thought he’d driven them all out, yet here were the Huma—these wretches hiding and holding their breath in Zhongyuan all this time.
‘Now that I consider it, there’s nothing incongruous about him. Well, after more than three hundred years mingling with the people of Zhongyuan, it’s only natural.’
Kotaro’s outer appearance differed little from that of a Zhongyuan native.
In general, people from the eastern kingdoms carried a certain foreignness about them, but he seemed almost unnaturally at ease—scarcely a trace of that distinction.
‘Hmm. What to do with this one?’
Whistle! Catch!
Whistle! Catch!
Ho Yeon turned the blade over in his hands, lost in thought.
If he were Dan Wee Myeong—the Sword Demon—he would have simply killed him. That man’s nature was never to leave loose threads behind.
But Namgung Ho Yeon was different. He sought to use everything at his disposal to construct a fence around himself.
There was even precedent for it.
‘Just as I sent Cheon Se Geuk to the Geumgeom Mun, couldn’t I use this fellow as a game piece as well?’
This ninja Kotaro harbored a deep resentment toward the Yin Kill Sect.
After their defeat in the Yin Kill Internal War a hundred years past, the Huma Clan ninjas to which he belonged had been treated as mere tools ever since.
The Yin Kill Sect was an organization that should never have existed—a scourge without redeeming quality.
In a sense, this was an ideal opportunity to weaken their power.
‘Very well.’
Ho Yeon nodded to himself and posed a question to Kotaro.
“About two weeks left?”
“Left for what?”
“Before the antidote takes effect.”
“……!”
Kotaro’s eyes flew wide open.
How could he possibly know that?
“Gu Poison. It’s a method favored in Namman. Looks like the Yin Kill Sect managed to recruit a proper Ghost Summoning Witch.”
“Wait—you, how do you even—!”
“Strange though. With your Spirit Ability, you should be able to free yourself from the poison.”
“……My God.”
At Ho Yeon’s words, Kotaro mumbled dumbly.
He knew about his Spirit Ability—about Dual Possibility Coexistence?
Yes, if he used Dual Possibility Coexistence, he could gain some freedom from the poison’s influence.
By maintaining the superposition of possibilities and abandoning “observation,” he could let the future where the poison ravaged him and the future where it didn’t coexist, prolonging his life.
“……I don’t know how you found out, but even that’s not a perfect solution. Spirit Energy isn’t infinite, and besides, it’s only me running away alone.”
“Are you trying to break the Huma Clan free from the Yin Kill Sect? What’s your plan?”
“Even the Huma Clan…… I’ve given up guessing.”
The moment Namgung Ho Yeon spoke the Huma Clan’s name, Kotaro shook his head in surrender and answered readily.
“I was thinking of securing the Ghost Summoning Witch who manages the poison and demanding she lift the Gu Arts curse.”
“And then?”
“Once I’m free, I’d have to seek shelter under some umbrella. The Yin Kill Sect will never let the Huma Clan go.”
“Hmm…….”
“I was mainly considering information organizations. The Hao Mun, Jeog An Bi Gak, Geum Yi Jeon—places like that. If no one would take us, I was planning to slip into Xinjiang.”
“Xinjiang? You’d go to that barren wasteland?”
“Better than being used like a tool and then discarded. At least there’s freedom in that place.”
“True enough—it’s the territory of mad dark-skinned bastards.”
Ho Yeon nodded, then asked Kotaro a question.
“Wouldn’t Anhui be better than Xinjiang?”
“……What do you mean?”
“Come to the Namgung Clan. We’ll take you.”
“We’re…… assassins.”
“I know. I’ll have you hired into the Cheonil Tang—it’s the intelligence and information-gathering division. Your day-to-day work won’t be much different from what you’re already doing. That’s why you were thinking of information organizations in the first place, isn’t it?”
Ho Yeon smiled broadly as he spoke.
‘This is what you call having your cake and eating it too. Everyone wins.’
Break the Huma Clan free from the Yin Kill Sect while simultaneously dealing them a blow, all while strengthening the Namgung Clan’s forces.
Regardless of their origins, these men were capable, and in times of war, you could never have too many talented people.
‘At least within Anhui itself, I need an absolute intelligence network. I can’t keep squeezing information out of Hao Mun through extortion forever.’
Kotaro, reading Ho Yeon’s thoughts, murmured.
“……You’re no ordinary sect member.”
“I hear that often enough.”
“Do you trust us?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“I trust the situation you’re in.”
Step, step, tap.
Ho Yeon approached Kotaro and pointed the Sword Finger Technique at his heart.
Whoosh!
At the same moment, Uigi Yeondong activated, and Spirit Energy erupting from the upper dantian engulfed Kotaro’s entire body.
Then the interior of his body—bones, muscles, blood vessels, nerves, organs—became vividly perceptible before his eyes.
‘There it is.’
As Ho Yeon examined Kotaro’s insides, he found a small worm crouched below the heart.
“What are you doing—!”
“Wait. I’ll show you something interesting.”
Ho Yeon disregarded Kotaro’s confusion and wrapped the worm in a telekinetic field.
The moment he did, the worm sensed something wrong and began thrashing.
“Khhr-ugh!”
Kotaro’s eyes burst wide with the sharp pain blooming in his chest, his face contorted in agony.
But Ho Yeon paid no mind, moving the Sword Finger from the heart to the solar plexus, then along the esophagus toward the throat.
“Cough! Cack!”
Blood spilled from Kotaro’s mouth.
“Ugh…… what in the world……?”
“It came out.”
“……?”
At Ho Yeon’s words, Kotaro turned with a puzzled expression toward the pool of blood he had coughed up.
In the center of the blood pool, a black larva no thicker than a pinky finger writhed in agony, its entire body convulsing.
“Im, impossible……!”
Crack!
The moment Kotaro’s eyes went wide, Ho Yeon pressed down on the black larva with his thumb and crushed it.
Screech!
The black larva expired with a final, agonized shriek, spewing a vile miasma of poison as it died—but the toxin could not penetrate Ho Yeon’s body.
“You…… were a Ghost Summoning Witch all along!”
“A technique, yes.”
“A technique?”
“To survive in this harsh world, one must learn a few tricks.”
Ho Yeon chuckled and held up his blood-stained thumb toward Kotaro.
“Mark your contract here. If the Huma Clan works for the Namgung Clan, I will release you from the Gu Arts.”
“…….”
“I’m not saying I’ll work you like slaves, mind you. Wages will come like clockwork.”
“…….”
“If you want vengeance against the Yin Kill Sect, I’ll support you. I despise them too. I intend to wipe them from Zhongyuan entirely.”
Kotaro, who had been staring blankly at Ho Yeon, suddenly snapped to attention and cried out.
“If you would do so much for us! The ninja of the Huma Clan will serve you as our leader!”
“Not me—the Namgung Clan.”
“Of course! I will activate the emergency network at once and gather the Huma Clan ninja!”
“Tell them to come to Hefei. If you bring some Yin Kill Sect ninja heads along the way, that would be welcome.”
At Ho Yeon’s words, Kotaro hesitated a moment before asking him.
“It seems you bear considerable hatred for the Yin Kill Sect yourself?”
“You could say that.”
“Is there some particular reason……?”
To Kotaro’s question, Ho Yeon rose from his seat and muttered with a shrug.
“Nothing special. Just the usual—common enough grievances.”
* * *
Thud-thud-thud!
A man raced through the burning interior of a palace hall.
“It can’t be…… it mustn’t be……!”
The man repeated his denials over and over.
With each step he took, the licking flames seemed pressed down by some unseen force and extinguished in his wake.
Thud! Bang!
He kicked open the inner chamber door, and a frail woman’s voice came from within.
“Cough! Cough! W-who are you?”
“Gasp, gasp, gasp.”
The man walked toward the source of the voice, swinging his arms.
Whoosh!
The inferno that had consumed the room parted like a wave.
A middle-aged woman collapsed among the flames lifted her head.
“My…… heavens! You…… you were supposed to be dead?”
“Cough, cough! Who are you?”
“Ha Bin…… is it really Ha Bin?”
“Do you…… know me?”
When the woman confirmed it, Dan Wee Myeong could only stare blankly at her face.
Though the softness of childhood had faded from her cheeks, traces of the young Ha Bin remained.
The voice of a little girl bouncing her hair ribbons as she nestled against him echoed in his mind.
“Hehe! Brother Wee Myeong! I missed you so much!”
“Brother Wee Myeong, they say Beijing has fireworks. They say you can only see them once a year, during the Spring Festival. Could I ever go to Beijing?”
“Cough! Cough! I’m…… I’m fine. Please don’t make that face.”
Ha Bin, whose frail constitution had kept her perpetually coughing.
He had heard she had died from lung disease.
“Surely…… Brother Wee Myeong?”
“……!”
“Is it really you, Brother Wee Myeong? Cough! Cough!”
“Yes, that’s right. I am Dan Wee Myeong…….”
As Dan Wee Myeong nodded, Ha Bin’s eyes glistened with tears as she spoke.
“It’s been so long…… hasn’t it…….”
“…….”
“I’m sorry for back then…… I am. Cough! Cough!”
Ha Bin wept as she apologized to Dan Wee Myeong.
“I was so young…… I shouldn’t have left you alone like that…….”
“Ha Bin…….”
“I’m so sorry. Truly sorry. Please…… Cough! Cough! Ugh!”
As Ha Bin coughed, clutching her chest, Dan Wee Myeong rushed forward and steadied her.
“I’m sorry…… I’m sorry…….”
“That’s enough. I’ve forgotten the past. Let’s just get out of here.”
Dan Wee Myeong lifted Ha Bin into his arms.
Then.
A sharp prick.
A stinging sensation shot through the back of his neck, and a man in black night clothes dropped from the ceiling.
Crash!
The man thrust out his weapon—a single-edged blade that resembled a Curved Halberd.
Dan Wee Myeong reacted instantly. In one fluid motion, a sword drew from his waist and fell into his grip.
Clang!
As the spear thrust forward, the blade met it with perfect precision.
Whisper.
But the spear vanished from that spot, reappearing in an entirely unexpected trajectory.
Squelch!
Dan Wee Myeong felt a burning pain sear through his abdomen.
Yet his gaze remained fixed on Ha Bin in his arms.
“Brother Wee Myeong…….”
Ha Bin’s head tilted down as she looked up at Dan Wee Myeong, murmuring.
The spear pierced through her body and tore through Dan Wee Myeong’s abdomen.
Crack! Splinter!
Then, Ha Bin’s face twisted and warped, transforming into the face of a woman he had never seen before.
Thud!
The young woman who fell to the ground lay dead, a grimy needle clutched in her right hand.
“…….”
“Heh heh, you let your guard down. Sword Demon.”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
The man in black twirled his spear and sneered at Dan Wee Myeong.
“It was worth digging into the past. So the woman called Shin Ha Bin, the one who died of lung disease in a brothel in Chongqing—who would have thought she was the key to killing the world’s greatest Sword Demon?”
“…….”
“The face was crafted with meticulous care, based on eyewitness testimony. The fact that even the Sword Demon fell for it means it was flawless…….”
“I knew.”
“What?”
Dan Wee Myeong answered calmly to the man in black’s mockery.
“I knew from the start that she was fake.”
“……You knew and still fell into the trap? Is this suicide?”
“Even if she was fake…… I wanted to meet her once. I owed her an apology, but I only heard one instead.”
Dan Wee Myeong stared at the corpse for a moment, closing then opening his eyes.
At the same time, Ghost Qi began to surge and swirl in his pupils.
“So, who are you bastards?”
“The Yin Kill Sect. A name that will flutter across the Zhongyuan Martial World after we kill the Sword Demon.”
“The Yin Kill Sect. I’ll remember you. I swear I’ll erase you from the Zhongyuan.”
“Ha, boasting now, are we? You barely dodged a vital point, but you’re poisoned with pufferfish toxin. Even suppressing it with Nae Gong has its limits…….”
The man in black fell silent.
Because something unbelievable was happening before his eyes.
Whoosh-whoosh! Crackle-crackle!
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
The flames consuming the hall suddenly converged into a single point.
Dan Wee Myeong compressed the fire in his right hand, again and again, as he asked the man in black a question.
“Do you bastards enjoy fireworks?”
“F-Fire Walking Forbidden Technique?! Everyone, retreat……!”
“I hate it.”
Boom-crack!
The palace collapsed in on itself with the force of the explosion.
A new war of the Sword Demon had begun.

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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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