Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 138

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 138. The Sword Demon’s Admiration for His Father
Namgung Ho Yeon’s steps toward Changgungjeon were hurried.
After waiting for over an hour to receive a guest, he was finally about to meet them.
Creak!
As Ho Yeon thrust open the door to the family head’s chamber, his eyebrows twitched.
“Ho Yeon, you’ve come.”
A middle-aged man with bold features and an open, hearty countenance greeted him with a smile.
The fatigued complexion that had seemed worn by work was nowhere to be found; his luminous face radiated ease and composure.
And most of all.
Whoosh!
‘The wind embraces my entire body. Qi flows through me without the slightest obstruction—like the vast ocean unique to a warrior capable of the Daejoocheon.’
The ability to achieve Daejoocheon meant having opened the Life-Death Gate, the passage between the Conception Vessel and Governing Vessel.
Namgung Baek now possessed a total capacity of Qi he could release that was incomparable to before.
This realm was called Hwagyeong in the Jianghu, and those who had ascended the wall were honored with the title Wall-Breaker.
“Ha, you noticed everything?”
“How… Father. When on earth…?”
“Not long ago. I’m still clumsy at containing my Qi—if I’m careless even for a moment, my presence radiates outward.”
“How is this possible…?”
“It’s all thanks to you.”
Namgung Baek spoke with a gentle smile.
“After hearing your words, I reflected deeply on who I truly am. I had been so consumed with clan matters that I neglected myself.”
……
“I decided to pursue an ambition. I reached toward a place I thought I could never touch. And I reached it.”
……
“I braced myself against the wall and rose with all my strength. That wall has sometimes made things difficult for me, but it has also supported me. This father has ascended the wall as the head of Namgung.”
Ho Yeon listened to his father’s words in a daze, and felt a bitter sense of injustice.
‘Damn it all! So breaking through the wall is that easy? Then what about me? Why can’t I do it yet?’
Ho Yeon’s cheeks trembled.
A sudden urge surged up—the desire to tear open the Life-Death Gate with Uigi Yeondong right then and there.
Father had ascended the wall. It should be cause for celebration, but his heart… this heart of his…
“…Tell me.”
“Hmm?”
“Tell me too! How did you get up there? What was your foothold? Did you just climb up recklessly?”
“Pfahahaha!”
As Ho Yeon threw a tantrum, Namgung Baek burst into hearty laughter.
“Haha! Our youngest, who handles everything so smoothly, is asking his father for help for the first time.”
“You said it was all thanks to me. So let me benefit from Father’s grace too?”
“Heh heh, is admiration for this father sprouting up inside you?”
“Of course I admire you. So tell me already! I want to go up too! I’m going mad with frustration!”
Breaking through the wall was truly wonderful.
He knew that sweetness well.
Being stuck below the wall, reduced to sucking his fingers in envy, felt unbearably pitiful.
Namgung Baek savored the privilege of fatherhood as he watched his youngest son’s outburst.
“Heh heh, say ‘I love you, Dad. As much as the sky and the earth,’ and I’ll tell you.”
“Ah, I love you, Dad. As much as the sky… and the earth.”
Ho Yeon’s face flushed crimson as he mumbled the words in a voice so small it was barely audible.
“Ha! And I love you too.”
“If you don’t tell me after this……”
“What I felt is nothing grand.”
To his youngest, who glared at him, Namgung Baek replied with a soft smile.
“I acknowledged what I did not wish to acknowledge.”
“Yes?”
“As the eldest of the Namgung, I always had to be composed and someone you could rely upon.”
……
“But I was not as strong as I thought myself to be. I was, in fact, a coward. That is why I feared ascending the wall—not because of the view to be seen from above, but because I first imagined the pain of falling.”
……
“One might say: Man is not as strong as he believes, and only by accepting this does he truly become strong.”
Namgung Baek recited his insight, but Ho Yeon’s expression turned uncertain.
To acknowledge what one does not wish to acknowledge?
Man is not as strong as he believes, and only by recognizing this does he become truly strong?
―Ah, indeed. Truly upright and righteous understanding. A Righteous Sword has emerged from the Namgung Clan!
Cheonrae Geom marveled at this, but Ho Yeon merely furrowed his brow.
‘What nonsense is this? Some Zen riddle that only the learned can grasp? How’s an illiterate supposed to survive this?’
Something vague merely tickled at the edge of his awareness.
Ho Yeon hadn’t fully grasped what Namgung Baek was saying.
But it was clear that his father had willingly shared his understanding with him.
Ho Yeon offered his thanks with proper respect.
“Thank you for the teaching. I’ll devote myself even more earnestly.”
“Ha ha, it’s fine to arrive late. Your old father is pleased to see so much that’s new in our youngest.”
“That’s enough, isn’t it? I’ll head back up as soon as I can. Just wait right there.”
Ho Yeon grumbled, and Namgung Baek’s expression hardened as he watched, his smile fading.
“I’ve heard about what happened at the Three Ministers Conference. The Eumsal Mun, you say. A sect I’ve never encountered before.”
“There’s nothing strange about it. How many eccentrics and mysterious sects exist in this world?”
“To change seamlessly into another’s face like that. I worry about the chaos it could sow.”
Namgung Baek’s eyes gleamed with azure light as he continued.
“What if they’ve already infiltrated the main house…!”
“Ah, don’t worry about that.”
“Hm?”
“I have a keen nose. I’ve memorized their scent, so if they try anything funny, I’ll bite their heads off.”
“…?”
Namgung Baek sent him a questioning look, but Ho Yeon skipped the detailed explanation.
‘I can’t tell him I got used to it by slaughtering those Eumsal Mun bastards endlessly when I was a Sword Demon.’
Ho Yeon fell silent.
Namgung Baek, who had been watching him with a meaningful gaze, spoke.
“You’re hiding something again, aren’t you?”
“I’m not hiding, exactly…”
“Don’t tell me there’s something else you haven’t mentioned to your father?”
“Well… I was meaning to tell you. I’ve picked up some talented individuals, you see.”
“Talented individuals?”
“Ah, or should I say individuals of talent? Anyway, how it happened was…”
Ho Yeon explained to Namgung Baek about Ko Ta Ro and Hu Ma and the circumstances of the talented individuals.
During this, he made an excuse that he’d learned the method of the Gudu Cleansing Ritual from some swordsman who had come down from the southern regions.
After hearing Ho Yeon’s account, Namgung Baek spoke with a thoughtful expression.
“So you’re saying the Namgung Clan should take in a branch family that lost out in the internal power struggle within the Eumsal Mun?”
“They’ll be useful. Father, you were worried about the Thousand-Face Technique, but we can use it too, since they came from the Assassin branch. If we set up a new Assassination Branch for them…”
“That’s not acceptable.”
“Sir?”
“The main house follows the Orthodox Faction. Even if we gain advantage through Heretical methods, it will only return as greater loss later.”
“But these are wartime circumstances…”
“Precisely because it is wartime, maintaining human decency becomes all the more essential.”
At Namgung Baek’s firm words, Ho Yeon smacked his lips.
‘Where’s the humanity in planting spies and purging the upper ranks? I thought he’d loosened up after achieving Wall-Breaker, but he’s still rigid as ever.’
―Hey, you fool! Is this about being flexible or rigid? This is just the Demonic Path!
―Puh-hahaha! Let’s just corrupt your father!
Hearing the words of Cheonrae Geom and Heukya Tae Geom, Ho Yeon replied to Namgung Baek.
“Still, I agree with your point about building an intelligence network. We’re especially lacking information about the regions south of the Yangtze.”
“That was confirmed at this Three Ministers Conference in Kangnam. The regional powers there are so far removed from the main house that control doesn’t reach them.”
Ho Yeon’s eyes brightened as he continued.
“Why don’t we hurry and get your elder brother married?”
“Hm?”
“The Cheongyang Family is a representative provincial power south of the Yangtze. Father, surely you’ve achieved Wall-Breaker—isn’t this the perfect time?”
“Hmm…”
Namgung Baek fell into thought.
It was true that if the bond between the Cheongyang Family and the Namgung Clan strengthened, it would prove of great benefit.
The Cheongyang Family, established in the direction of Guhua Mountain, was a master wielding strong influence throughout that region.
Above all, they were people who had extended their hand to the Namgung Clan in times of difficulty.
Namgung Baek nodded.
“These are wartime circumstances, but precisely for that reason, the world needs love. Very well. I was about to send supplies to the Cheongyang Family anyway—I’ll sound out their intentions through that channel.”
“Once Hu Ma and the talented individuals arrive, I’ll perform the Gudu Cleansing Ritual and send them to you. If we arrange a letter and dispatch it to Cheongyang, they’ll gather information of their own accord. They’re experts at that sort of thing.”
“Good. I’ll examine whether they’re people worth taking under our roof.”
“Thank you.”
Namgung Ho Yeon bowed his head.
In truth, accepting Hu Ma had been his own decision, but Namgung Baek had gracefully let it slide at an appropriate point.
‘Phew. So this is what they mean about Father being soft when it counts?’
He had no way of knowing that Namgung Baek had resolved to give his youngest son—the one who dragged scandal in his wake—a thorough education.
“Ho Yeon, the Sword Demon has come calling, I hear.”
“Ah, that? Well, you see…….”
“I’ve heard the whole story. Acting without a word to your father. I’m disappointed in you.”
“That is… it wasn’t even certain, and I didn’t know if he’d come or not, so I was just laying groundwork as a precaution…….”
When Namgung Baek regarded him with an expressionless gaze, Ho Yeon’s excuses withered on his tongue.
“……I’m sorry.”
“Do you truly regret it?”
“Yes, I’m reflecting on my actions.”
“Anyone can offer regret in words.”
“Sir?”
“Copy the Classic of Filial Piety and the Book of Rites five times each, from beginning to end.”
“F-five times?!”
At his father’s horrific punishment, Ho Yeon’s eyes widened in dismay.
That insufferably tedious tome spouting nothing but platitudes—he had to copy it?
How was this different from a mental cultivation technique?
He’d have preferred reading the Yeolheuk-sik Demonic Art a hundred times and writing essays about it.
―Excellent. Now the boy shall finally have propriety instilled in him.
The Cheonrae Geom exulted, but Ho Yeon despaired.
“Father, surely five times is too many…….”
“You still haven’t come to your senses. Ten times.”
“No, but I have to break through the Wall, you know? I don’t even have enough time to train……!”
“Fifteen times.”
“……I’ll do ten.”
Realizing resistance was futile, Ho Yeon hung his head.
* * *
“Hhhhh…….”
Stepping out of his father’s quarters, Ho Yeon exhaled deeply.
Just thinking of copying the Classic of Filial Piety and the Book of Rites set his head pounding already.
―Ahem! Young master, this old blade shall provide you a preview. “Filial piety is the root of virtue and the source of civilization.” This is a passage from the opening chapter of the Classic of Filial Piety, wherein the sage Confucius instructed his disciple Zengzi…….
As the Cheonrae Geom launched a mental assault, Ho Yeon immediately severed the Sword Heart Resonance.
“Tch, get lost. I need to get some Dang Dang Dang… hm?”
Ho Yeon’s footsteps slowed as he turned toward Dang Dang Dang.
“Mom, I’m telling you, it’s real. The way sesame seeds just pour out everywhere, and standing next to him alone makes your whole body tremble, you know?”
“Ho, that wooden lump Cheon Se Geuk?”
“That’s what I’m saying! I thought he was a completely different person. Seon Hyang should see his true face.”
“If you envy them so much, why don’t you hurry and find a lover yourself, Sang A?”
“I don’t envy them!”
“Oh? Then why are you upset? Could it be you’re not choosing not to find one, but rather… can’t?”
“Mother!”
Peng So Hwa and her mirror image, Namgung Sang A, chattered away like sisters as they walked.
“Huh?”
Ho Yeon blinked.
His sister was here at the manor?
He’d heard she’d come to arrange supplies for the Cheongyang Family.
What captured Ho Yeon’s attention, though, wasn’t his mother or sister, but the girl between them with her hair in ribbons.
“In heaven, may we be born as Lovebirds; on earth, may we be joined as Connected Branches. Though heaven has its Lovebirds and earth its Joined-Branch Trees, how can such a beautiful young lady as yourself have no match?”
The girl spoke with perfect diction, her round eyes blinking sweetly, and a warm smile bloomed on the lips of both Peng So Hwa and Namgung Sang A.
“A Song of Everlasting Sorrow, is it? Do you fancy Bai Juyi?”
“Oh my, listen to her speak so prettily. Where did this child come from?”
The eyes of the two women gazing at the charming girl seemed to drip honey.
The girl, who had been beaming, noticed Ho Yeon watching from afar with a baffled expression, and brightened at once.
“Ah! Master!”
She was the only daughter of Cheon Se Geuk.
Cho Seon Hyang.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————