Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 146

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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 146. The Blade Ghost Hears of Yichang
“Yichang, then. It’s been a while since I’ve visited.”
“Have you been to Yichang before?”
“Long ago, briefly. It’s famous for the Three Gorges, after all.”
The Three Gorges referred to the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River—the Qutang Gorge, the Wu Gorge, and the Xiling Gorge.
“That’s right. I’ve heard the Qutang is majestic, the Wu is beautiful, and the Xiling is bizarre.”
Cho Sun Hyang chimed in agreement with the remark, continuing the thread.
“And it’s also the hometown of Wang Xiao Jun!”
“Ah, that woman who was sold to the Xiongnu?”
……
“Wasn’t it because she didn’t bribe the portrait painter, so she ended up being sold? Really, in this world it’s all about money and connections.”
Cho Sun Hyang watched as he nodded thoughtfully, chewing over the moral of Wang Xiao Jun’s tale, and couldn’t help but think to herself.
‘Should I have copied the Classic of Filial Piety and the Book of Rites for her?’
While Cho Sun Hyang harbored this small regret, a voice reached her ears.
“But I’m puzzled why Yichang specifically. Isn’t it a place where thousands die every year?”
“Pardon?”
“I remember it as a water disaster region located at the boundary between the upper and middle Yangtze.”
“That was…… a hundred years ago, wasn’t it?”
“Hmm?”
As he looked at her, Cho Sun Hyang tilted her head and spoke.
“The Three Gorges Dam was built, and flood damage dropped sharply.”
“The Three Gorges Dam?”
“A massive dam—Zhongyuan’s greatest—was constructed upstream of the Xiling Gorge. You didn’t know?”
“No.”
At his word, Cho Sun Hyang began explaining it in detail.
“A century ago, after the great catastrophe—the Three Gorges Water Calamity—killed over one hundred fifty thousand people, the Silver Dynasty’s imperial court completed this epochal engineering marvel over thirty years.”
“Is that so?”
“Through the Three Gorges Dam, water level control became possible, and Yichang is no longer a disaster zone. The bonus is that water is stored for agricultural use.”
“That’s remarkable. How did they manage it?”
“Building techniques transmitted from the Western Regions were applied, along with the martial masters of the imperial court at the time. It’s one of the Silver Dynasty’s greatest achievements.”
Cho Sun Hyang raised her finger as she continued.
“Because of this, the locals’ support for the imperial court is absolute. You mustn’t speak ill of the dynasty.”
“……Why would I?”
“Just…… I’m worried about various things, so I’m giving you the warning.”
Clop-clop! Clop-clop!
Rumble!
As Cho Sun Hyang opened the carriage window after their conversation ended, the mountain path came into view.
Ordinarily, if a young master of a prominent clan traveled, both sides of the path would be densely lined with guards, but around the carriage there was only emptiness.
“But is there really secret protection?”
“If you could see it, would it still be secret protection?”
“That’s true, but…”
“Didn’t I tell you? Tens of thousands of martial artists have gathered in Yichang now.”
“They’re not your protection, though.”
“If there isn’t any, I’ll create it.”
“Pardon?”
As Cho Sun Hyang turned to look at him, he flashed a meaningful smile and spoke.
“I just pick a few spirited ones and keep them close. It turns out to be quite lucrative.”
He recalled Cheon Se Geuk and So Tae Rang.
The more game pieces you have, the better it is.
Having taken a liking to recruiting talent through several experiences, he was in high spirits.
“How do you mean?”
“Beat them senseless.”
“I’m sorry?”
As Cho Sun Hyang stared at him in disbelief, he chuckled and spoke.
“You’re not a martial artist, so you wouldn’t know. The burning thirst for martial prowess.”
……
“Any who won’t flee even when beaten to the brink of death—those have a certain kind of spirit, I’d say…… Hm?”
His brow twitched as he spoke.
Then his expression twisted.
“Look at those fellows, would you?”
“Pardon?”
“You said you wanted to see the secret escort in action, didn’t you?”
“Well… I am curious about it.”
“Then I’ll show you.”
Ho Yeon spoke toward the carriage window.
“Wind-Shadow Guard. We have visitors ahead.”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh!
The moment Ho Yeon’s words ended, black shadows erupted from around the carriage like a gale.
* * *
“This is ridiculous. What kind of contract is this?”
“Heh, right?”
“We’re not bandits.”
Clang!
A burly commander with a unkempt beard slung a Great Saber across his shoulder as he spoke, and his subordinate laughed awkwardly in agreement.
“Ha, haha. That’s right. We’re the Nakcheon Gang. And most importantly, our boss isn’t just any wandering swordsman — he’s renowned! Hehe.”
“See that I don’t have to get involved.”
“Of course not! The carriage is coming alone with no escort whatsoever. It’s a sure thing!”
As the subordinate spoke with confidence, Jong Yo Beom stroked his beard and muttered.
“It’s an odd contract, I’ll say. Destroy the carriage and kill everyone? Must’ve made a real enemy out of someone.”
Not a capture, not a robbery — but complete annihilation?
“Well, as long as we get paid.”
As Jong Yo Beom chuckled, dust appeared in his line of sight.
“Here it comes. Get ready.”
Thirty mercenaries of the Nakcheon Gang were positioned on a hilltop.
Boulders and logs were piled thick on the slope, ready to be sent tumbling down the moment the carriage drew near.
Clop-clop! Clop-clop!
Rumble-rumble-rumble!
Soon enough, the carriage came racing straight toward the base of the hill.
Jong Yo Beom curled his lip and raised his left hand.
It was the signal to release the avalanche.
“For a dull contract, this is turning out pretty lucrative… huh?”
In that instant, Jong Yo Beom thought he was seeing things.
Whoooosh!
With a sudden gust of wind, ten figures in black robes materialized.
‘Assassins?!’
Jong Yo Beom’s eyes widened at the sight of their garb.
They wore black martial robes, their wrists and ankles cinched tight so the fabric wouldn’t flutter in the wind.
Across their chests, the silhouette of wind was embroidered in white thread, and each of them wielded a peculiar hybrid weapon — neither quite spear nor quite blade.
“Fire!”
At Jong Yo Beom’s command, ten archers waiting in the rear unleashed their volleys in unison.
Twang-twang-twang!
Ten arrows flew true toward the black-robed figures the instant the bowstrings snapped.
These were the pride of the Nakcheon Gang, drilled by Jong Yo Beom, a man of military stock.
Most mercenary bands did not maintain archers.
It was precisely this capability that set the Nakcheon Gang apart in the cutthroat world of hired blades.
But.
Ding-ding-clang!
The black-robed figures twirled their curved long blades, and the arrows simply bounced away.
A strange current of wind shifted the arrows’ trajectories as a bonus.
Slash! Slash-slash!
“Ugh!”
“Gah!”
“Argh!”
The black-robed figures touched down and began their assault in earnest, transforming the black wind into a crimson one.
Their movements were as light and swift as the breeze itself.
This was the work of the Humma School’s secret art: the Technique of Light Wind.
The martial disciplines of the Humma School drew their full power from the principles of lightness technique, which kept the body weightless.
“These insane bastards!”
Watching his men fall like wheat before a scythe, Jong Yo Beom swung his Great Saber horizontally and unleashed a Blade Wind.
Boom!
Whoosh!
The three figures in black garments around them lifted off the ground like pebbles and flew through the air.
Seeing this, Jong Yo Beom’s eyes lit up and he shouted.
“These bastards are light on their feet! Whatever you do, clash weapons with them! Come on!”
Crash!
Jong Yo Beom swung his Great Saber in pursuit.
The figure in black, parrying swiftly with the Curved Long Blade, flew backward a good thirty feet before landing.
The distance worked in their favor, but the problem was that the impact seemed to have little force behind it.
“What sorcery is this?”
“Sorcery? That’s a harsh word.”
Whoosh! Tap!
So Tae Rang descended before Jong Yo Beom like drifting down on feathers and landed.
“It’s a refined discipline that harnesses the buoyancy of air. I’d appreciate it if you’d spare the insults.”
“What? Buoyancy?”
“Air may be invisible, but it has density and currents. Master these well, and a human body can become one with the wind itself!”
Tap!
So Tae Rang planted his foot.
Rising like a thermal updraft, he dove downward with his Curved Long Blade aimed at Jong Yo Beom’s heart.
Whistle!
“Fool! I’ll cut you in two!”
Jong Yo Beom sneered at his opponent and raised the Great Saber overhead.
Unless the man was a master of the Kunlun Sect, there was no way he could change direction mid-fall.
All his talk of buoyancy and grandeur meant nothing—it would be his undoing.
Shimmer!
A single thread of Blade Energy bloomed from Jong Yo Beom’s Great Saber.
He stood among the upper echelon of Named-rank wanderers.
“Hah!”
Slash!
With a confident battle cry, Jong Yo Beom brought the Great Saber crashing down.
Yet there was no trace of alarm on So Tae Rang’s face as he descended from the sky.
For while his body plunged toward Jong Yo Beom’s heart, his mind had already shifted its aim to the man’s neck and completed its evasion.
‘Dual Existence.’
Boom!
Jong Yo Beom’s Great Saber struck the ground with a thunderous crack, kicking up clouds of dust.
When the dust settled moments later, the sight that emerged was nothing like what the Nakcheon Gang members had expected.
“Gck—cough!”
So Tae Rang’s Curved Long Blade had pierced straight through Jong Yo Beom’s neck at a diagonal angle.
“The—the gang leader is down!”
“Aaaah! These men are demons!”
“Run!”
As the Nakcheon Gang leader fell dead in an instant, the gang members scattered in panic and fled in all directions.
Rather than bunching together, they dispersed—as if their instincts knew exactly how to maximize their chances of survival.
“Hunt them all down. Leave none alive.”
Whoosh!
But as So Tae Rang’s men moved at his command, within the span of a single breath, every wanderer who had fled lay dead.
Footstep, footstep.
Tap, tap.
Having finished his work, So Tae Rang approached the carriage and tapped at the window.
Click!
The window opened, and a sullen-faced Ho Yeon poked his head out.
“Done?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“Who were they?”
“Ah, I’m afraid I didn’t ask.”
“Hah, so you just killed them all as usual? And here I thought you were reinventing yourselves as an intelligence organization.”
“…My apologies. I’ll search the bodies for information.”
“Never mind. They’re probably nobody important anyway. Clean up and let’s move. I’d like to sleep at an inn tonight.”
“Understood.”
After So Tae Rang left, Ho Yeon turned to face the other direction and asked a question.
“Hey, you alright?”
“Ah, ah… ooh…”
Cho Sun Hyang trembled violently, her head bowed.
At the sight, Ho Yeon smacked his lips and muttered.
“Tsk, asked to see and so I showed her.”
“Martial… martial artists are… I never knew they could be so terrifying.”
“I’m a martial artist too, you know?”
“You’re… different, Master.”
As Cho Sun Hyang shook her head and murmured, Cheon Rae Geom spoke.
―Different indeed. This girl isn’t just any martial artist—she’s a Public Enemy of the Martial World, after all.
‘Quiet.’
Bang!
Ho Yeon shut the window and turned to Cho Sun Hyang.
“What are you going to do? Yichang must be crawling with martial artists by now.”
“……”
“Want to turn back? We could catch a courier service at the next town……”
“No, no! I don’t!”
Startled by Ho Yeon’s words, Cho Sun Hyang lifted her head abruptly.
“I, I’m just not used to it yet! It’ll be fine soon!”
“……well, all right.”
Ho Yeon studied her for a long moment, then shrugged and closed his eyes. Shortly after, the carriage lurched into motion.
* * *
Clop-clop!
“Whistle—impressive, really?”
A man whistled across a hillside slick with blood.
Glancing around, he muttered to himself.
“The Namgung Clan had assassins on their payroll? That’s rather unusual.”
The man nodded, then chuckled and spoke.
“But that Lightness Technique doesn’t mesh well with our clan’s martial arts.”
Scratch, scratch, scratch!
He withdrew a booklet from his sleeve and scribbled something in charcoal, his tone brimming with confidence.
“A gentle breeze pales beside a great gale—it barely registers.”
A long spear was slung across the man’s back.

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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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