Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 181

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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 181. The Sword Demon Meets the Fighting King
Can a man become rain?
It was the sort of metaphor that might appear in any verse, yet Myo Hae, master of the Cheon Geum Gwan, witnessed today that it was possible.
A blue light flashed across the dry sky like a bolt from heaven, and Gong Seo, the Poison Eye Ghost, exploded in mid-air.
Patter-patter-patter!
Blood Rain fell.
Myo Hae and the staff of the Cheon Geum Gwan stared in stunned silence at the surreal spectacle.
“Th-this is……?!”
Myo Hae, the first to regain his composure, turned ashen as he studied the man in the bamboo hat.
The man, withdrawing his striking fist, stood with weight on one leg in a casual stance and looked back at him.
“Myo Hae. The situation’s turned quite mysterious, hasn’t it?”
“G-great master!”
The man he’d taken for nothing more than a wealthy merchant’s son had just struck down Gong Seo, a Peak Master Realm cultivator radiating lethal intent, in a single blow.
He was undoubtedly a monster of at least Peak Extreme Realm caliber, if not beyond.
‘Who in heaven is this? His voice sounds young, yet his martial power is this immense! Could he be a master sent by Gucheon Sung?’
Judging by the brutal precision of his technique, he was clearly a properly trained Heterodox Sect master.
As it happened, Myo Hae had recently heard that Gucheon Sung had been intensifying pressure on the Dohwa Mun.
Reading the situation swiftly, Myo Hae rubbed his palms together in flattery.
“Hehehehe! Your Excellency! Might I have a moment of your time?”
“Go on.”
“First, we are overjoyed that you’ve sought out our Dohwa Mun. Our Sect Master has urged us most earnestly to receive you with the utmost courtesy should you visit.”
As Myo Hae probed his guest, he issued a veiled warning.
It was bluster meant to convey: We knew you were coming, and behind me stands the Dohwa Mun.
“And?”
“Hehe! I shall speak favorably of you to our Sect Master. Surely our Dohwa Mun, now separated from Hao Mun, will need new lodgings and patronage?”
“Ho?”
“Should you share your name with me, I, Myo Hae, will stake my reputation on conveying your message to the Sect Master. Which of the Nine Heavens do you hail from?”
“Y-you mean……?!”
“Kyaaaah!”
The moment the name “Nine Heavens” was spoken, Hap Jae and Toe Gi, the wandering mercenaries, gasped in horror.
To think the gambler they’d sat alongside was actually a master from Gucheon Sung.
“I’m no Heterodox Sect… huh?”
Namgung Ho Yeon, the man in the bamboo hat, paused mid-sentence, bewildered.
A delicious idea had just occurred to him.
Ho Yeon smiled wickedly and spoke.
“Kehehehe! When you hear my name, will you know it?”
“……I listen intently.”
“Never mind the sect. This one is known as the Blue Killer Ghost, the False Life Cutter.”
“The Blue Killer Ghost, False Life Cutter?”
Myo Hae’s brow furrowed.
It was a name and epithet he’d never heard before.
‘A blue murderer spirit—how ominous. No mention of a sect? Could it be… could he be from Cheonoe Cheon?’
As thought tumbled upon thought, Myo Hae’s eyes widened.
In Gucheon Sung, there existed one sky beyond the nine heavens themselves.
It was the heaven of heavens—the sky where the direct subordinates of Gucheon Sung’s Heavenly Lord, the Ten Thousand Heavens Sage Emperor, Baek Ak Gyeol, gathered.
Cheonoe Cheon.
“Myo Hae, this is a gambling house, yes?”
“……It is.”
“I just won money, didn’t I?”
“…….”
“You’re not bringing it out?”
“Y-your Excellency, surely you’ve come to convey the will of the Nine Heavens……?”
“That’s separate. This is my side income.”
Snap!
Ho Yeon pointed upward to the upper levels of the Cheon Geum Gwan as he continued.
“Don’t tell me you have no money. Go up to the third room. Open the ceiling and you’ll find a hidden attic, won’t you? The pouch looks heavy.”
“……!”
“You there, mercenary. Go up and bring it down.”
“Y-me?”
“What, weren’t you hired by me?”
“Ah… I understand.”
Thump-thump-thump!
Hap Jae bounded up the stairs.
But no one stopped him.
Myo Hae regarded Namgung Ho Yeon with eyes full of resentment and spoke.
“…Sir. That money isn’t mine. It’s the entire revenue from Hwangsan City, meant to be sent to our Sect Master.”
“Well, that’s convenient then. If a subordinate makes a mistake, the leader bears the responsibility.”
“Sir! Do you truly intend to make enemies of the Dohwa Mun? This incident could rupture relations between our sect and Gucheon Seong!”
As Myo Hae delivered his threat, Namgung Ho Yeon burst into hearty laughter as if he’d been waiting for it.
“Kha-ha-ha! What? Relations with Dohwa Mun? Who cares about such things! You’re just a rabble from Hao Mun getting above yourselves.”
“…”
“Kheh-heh, you’re all insects I can replace anytime. Now the Geo Mun leader—he’s reasonable enough to talk to. But you Dohwa Mun lot are getting cocky.”
At Namgung Ho Yeon’s words, Myo Hae’s eyes narrowed.
‘He’s met the Geo Mun leader? These rats have been scheming behind the scenes!’
The Dohwa Mun and Geo Mun had formed an alliance to control Hao Mun.
They’d agreed not to bring in outside forces, yet these men broke their word?
‘The Geo Mun leader must have other designs! Could he be trying to monopolize Hao Mun by pulling in Gucheon Seong?!’
Watching Myo Hae’s eyes dart with quick calculation, Namgung Ho Yeon smiled faintly.
‘If it works, fine. If not, so be it.’
Either way, it served his purposes.
The seeds of discord often grow from the smallest suspicion.
If Geo Mun and Dohwa Mun—both hostile to Lu—turned on each other, wasn’t that the best possible outcome?
‘And I’ve secured funding for the Nak Jeon Dan operations too. I’m working quite efficiently, aren’t I?’
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Just then, Hap Jae came down from upstairs carrying a heavy leather pouch, tottering under its weight.
“Huu! I’ve brought it.”
“How much?”
“That… I’m not entirely sure.”
“Is that so? If it’s short, I’ll count it as a gracious gift. If it’s over, I’ll take the surplus as compensation.”
In other words, all of it was his.
Myo Hae’s cheeks trembled with barely contained rage.
Swish-swish! Swish-swish!
Namgung Ho Yeon swept both the gold and silver coins from the table into the leather pouch with meticulous care.
In the process, he tossed a dozen gold coins to Hap Jae.
“That’s your share.”
“…Isn’t that too much?”
“That includes your hire. Go buy yourself a decent blade. I noticed you have combat instincts.”
“T-thank you! Great Hero!”
At Namgung Ho Yeon’s praise, Hap Jae bowed deeply, overwhelmed with emotion.
A master had recognized him, and he’d earned coin.
The fortune-teller had said today was lucky—so it was his fate to meet a noble soul?
“You there, girl.”
“Y-yes?”
“Is there a quiet room nearby where we can talk? I need to split this with that gentleman.”
This time Namgung Ho Yeon addressed the crouching Toe Gi.
Even as her entire body trembled, her gaze remained fixed on the gold coins Hap Jae held.
“Y-yes! Please, come to our shop!”
“Good. Let’s go, old man.”
“…Mm.”
A faint smile played at the corners of the Middle-Aged Man’s lips as he rose from the table.
* * *
“Ugh! This tastes awful!”
Namgung Ho Yeon took one bite of the Qing Xiang Chao Wu Ji and grimaced.
This dish of lightly stir-fried black chicken with vegetables was a local specialty of Anhui along the Changjiang.
Ordinarily, the tender, subtly chewy meat of the black chicken harmonized beautifully with the delicate fragrance of vegetables, making it a perfect accompaniment to drink.
But this Qing Xiang Chao Wu Ji was seasoned haphazardly, and above all, the oil was so heavy that his mouth felt slick and unpleasant.
“What does ‘light fragrance’ even mean? Isn’t it supposed to be clean and subtle? If you’re going to ruin it like this, don’t use the word ‘light’ at all. That’s a mockery of ‘light’! As Cheong Sal Gwi, I cannot forgive this!”
“I-I’m terribly sorry.”
Toe Gi, who had brought the dish, bowed her head.
“Tsk-tsk, now I see why it turned out this way.”
Namgung Ho Yeon cast his eyes around the establishment and clicked his tongue.
Dust settled thick on the tables—it was clear no customers had come here in months, let alone days.
“Predictable. You left that pleasure house, scraped together whatever you’d saved, and opened this place, didn’t you? And with that pitiful cooking skill, you’ve run it straight into the ground.”
“……It’s somewhat different. At first, I actually hired a quite capable chef.”
“And then?”
“He ran off with the establishment’s operating funds.”
“……Mm.”
Namgung Ho Yeon smacked his lips and took another bite of the Qing Xiang Chao Wu Ji, and Toe Gi watched him with anxious eyes before speaking.
“Sir, if it doesn’t taste good, you don’t have to eat it.”
“Mm-mm, I’m not leaving food on the plate. Don’t you know they say you’re punished in hell for that?”
Toe Gi murmured quietly, her gaze fixed on Namgung Ho Yeon as he worked his chopsticks.
“……I was foolish.”
“Foolish how?”
“I shouldn’t have trusted people so easily. After all that happened at the pleasure house, and yet I…….”
Namgung Ho Yeon glanced at Toe Gi as she berated herself, then let out a small snort.
“The scoundrel who cheated you is the one at fault. There’s no shame in being victimized.”
“It was truly my last…… money. Though I lack skill in cooking, I do have an eye for fine silk, so I thought I might try opening a cloth shop…….”
“And that’s why you gambled?”
“……It’s mere excuse-making, but stepping out into the world, I realized there’s so very little I’m capable of doing.”
Just then, tears began to seep from the corners of Toe Gi’s wrinkled eyes.
“Mama, you came?”
“Mmm. It smells yummy.”
“Hey, you two!”
Two small children toddled out from the back of the establishment, rubbing their eyes with the heels of their hands.
“Huh? Mama, are you crying?”
“Wow! The Qing Xiang Chao Wu Ji!”
The older boy, who appeared to be the elder of the siblings, approached Toe Gi as she shed her tears.
The younger girl, his sister, came running toward the table where Namgung Ho Yeon sat.
Namgung Ho Yeon asked her.
“You like this, don’t you?”
“Yep! Hyang A likes the Qing Xiang Chao Wu Ji that Mama makes the most!”
“Ah, Hyang A! Come here! Hurry now!”
Toe Gi embraced the boy and called the girl back.
Namgung Ho Yeon chuckled softly and handed the plate of Qing Xiang Chao Wu Ji to the girl.
“Go on, eat it all.”
“Really?”
“That’s right, I’m not hungry.”
“Thank you, kind mister!”
Patter-patter-patter!
The girl holding the plate ran off, beaming broadly, toward her mother and brother.
“Take the children and step outside for a while.”
“B-but…….”
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to skip the bill.”
Namgung Ho Yeon waved his hand dismissively, and after a moment’s hesitation, Toe Gi withdrew, taking the children with her.
“Well then, shall we discuss business?”
“……Hmm.”
Namgung Ho Yeon looked at the middle-aged man sitting across from him, tilting his wine cup.
Ordinary build. Ordinary face. A man you could see anywhere—save for one thing that set him apart from all others.
His eyes were dead.
That empty gaze, indifferent to all the world’s affairs, merely stared quietly at some distant point beyond the void.
“Let’s split it fifty-fifty. I did throw in a bit of my own money without asking, but I put up more from the start anyway, didn’t I? No complaints?”
“Hmm.”
“Well, this ought to come to well over three thousand silver taels? Congratulations. You’ve become a man of wealth overnight.”
“Hmm.”
“Quite the taciturn fellow, aren’t you? Where did that vigor from when you were calling out the dice game go?”
The middle-aged man, who had been ignoring Namgung Ho Yeon’s questions, suddenly spoke, tossing the words out as if they meant nothing.
“Indeed, you’re a meddlesome one. What business do you have with me?”
“……Ah, what? You knew?”
Namgung Ho Yeon chuckled and spoke.
“Then help me out. I’ve been breaking my back on this alone.”
“Why should I help someone who’s been obstructing me?”
“Obstructing? Me?”
Namgung Ho Yeon tilted his head, and the Middle-Aged Man spoke.
“That final roll of the dice. You should have lost all your money there.”
“And you’re still unhappy even though I helped you?”
“An interference. I truly am cursed with misfortune.”
“Cursed? I only touched the final hand. The first two were all your own luck, or so I’d say.”
“Which is precisely why I’m unlucky.”
The Middle-Aged Man spoke nonsense, his gaze suddenly rolling in their sockets.
Gulp—!
Meeting those hollow black eyes, Namgung Ho Yeon felt as though he were being sucked into a fathomless darkness, his very entrails twisting within him.
“But enough of that. Now tell me the real reason you sought me out. This business about the Blue Killer Ghost and the False Life Cutter won’t work on me.”
“Heh, that was rather clever though. For a bit of improvisation, it had its charm.”
“Have you come to avenge Hojup Dohwa Mun?”
“Whether it’s Hojup Dohwa Mun or some shabby imitation, I couldn’t say.”
Whish!
Namgung Ho Yeon removed his bamboo hat.
The Middle-Aged Man’s brow twitched.
“I am Namgung Ho Yeon.”
Namgung Ho Yeon’s tone shifted, and he smiled gently.
“I took the liberty of following you, casting aside courtesy, because I wished to make you a proposal.”
…….
“The Fighting King. Yang Wu Tian.”

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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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