Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 184

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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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Episode 184. The Sword Demon and the Limp
Clang, clang, clang!
“Come now, get in line! You there—no cutting in!”
A one-eyed man banged a wok with a ladle, bellowing at the top of his lungs.
It was lunchtime, and from the enormous pot in the kitchen wafted a savory aroma that stirred the appetite.
“Anyone who cuts in line—I swear on the name of this Master Chef Swordsman that they’ll eat last!”
The martial artists who had begun shuffling forward froze at Bang Pung Gae’s threat, their feet stopping mid-step.
“Hah! In this kitchen, my word is law. If you don’t like it, take over as head chef tomorrow!”
Bang Pung Gae burst into raucous laughter.
But no one dared object.
“Heh, for someone who looks like a heterodox master, why is his cooking so good?”
“Right you are.”
“Still, we should count our blessings. Without Pung Gae, we’d be eating gruel.”
“Ugh, just thinking of that charred rice from the third day still makes my mouth feel dry.”
What did martial artists who only knew how to wield swords know of cooking?
The state of their meals had been tragic—ingredients treated not with reverence but as adversaries to be struck down.
Enraged by this, Bang Pung Gae had rolled up his sleeves and taken charge of the kitchens of the Nakjeon-dan.
From that day on, the Master Chef Swordsman Bang Pung Gae achieved the status of being as sacred and inviolable as Namgung Ho Yeon.
“Kre-hehe, you really do need skill in this world. Eh!”
Bang Pung Gae puffed out his chest with satisfaction.
While others toiled over construction, he was the one building meals—what a feeling.
Was this how a master felt, watching novices labor and sweat while he moved at his ease?
“Yum, this looks delicious!”
“There’s chicken in it.”
“Looks like there’s pork too?”
“Let us give thanks for this meal!”
The meal began amid cheerful chatter.
After a grueling day’s work, the midday meal brought natural smiles to people’s faces.
From a distance, Gongsun Ilbi watched the scene and murmured to himself.
“To bring such happiness to people… Pung Gae truly is remarkable. And here I am, so utterly useless…”
A bitter taste filled his mouth.
When he first ventured into the Martial World, he had thought he would become the kind of magnificent master found in storybooks.
The hidden disciple of the Sword Emperor.
The secret weapon of the Hwangsan Sect.
How grand it all seemed.
He had even created an alias for himself—the Ten Thousand Swords of Hwangshan—and took pride in it.
“But it was all worthless. Was I merely someone ignorant of the world and its ways?”
“Not knowing the world means not knowing to fear it? What nonsense is that?”
“Hmm?”
Gongsun Ilbi turned at the voice behind him.
Namgung Ho Yeon stood there, holding a rice bowl.
“Have you come to eat?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m blocking your path. Go on through.”
“And you?”
“I’ll eat alone later. They seem uncomfortable when I’m around.”
Gongsun Ilbi scratched the back of his head.
Ho Yeon understood what was happening.
‘So a distance has grown between him and the others since his identity as the Sword Emperor’s disciple was revealed?’
It made sense.
If a friend you’d played with at the academy turned out to be the young master of a wealthy family—
And not just any wealthy family, but one of the three greatest fortunes in Zhongyuan—
Even the most naive child would naturally grow wary of such a lord.
“So you’ve become the Limp?”
“…”
“Hah! Who told you to hide your identity anyway? Why in the world did you do that?”
“…”
“Didn’t you clearly say last time that you wanted to gather followers?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
At Ho Yeon’s persistent questioning, Gongsun Ilbi let out a deep sigh and continued.
“I heard the Baekmu Academy was opening, and I saw it as an opportunity. Desperate people would gather there in droves.”
“Desperate people?”
“Those starving for martial strength.”
Gongsun Ilbi spoke while watching the spring-summer students eating their meal.
“My target was them.”
“Mm?”
“I planned to select those with firm resolve and righteous hearts, then propose they rebuild the Hwangsan Sect with me.”
“…….”
“In return, I would teach them martial arts. The Hwangsan Sect’s techniques are unrivaled under heaven. I thought everything would go smoothly. But…….”
Gongsun Ilbi glanced sideways at Ho Yeon.
“Your existence was a variable. Before I could even make a move, you’d already taken control of the spring-summer class.”
“Ah?”
“If my sword technique surpasses yours, withdraw from the spring-summer class.”
Ho Yeon, recalling Gongsun Ilbi’s past wager, nodded in understanding.
‘So that’s why he said something like that.’
Now grasping the situation, Ho Yeon spoke.
“That’s pathetic.”
“……True. As a newcomer to the Martial World, I misjudged my own abilities.”
“Why does ability come into it? I’m talking about you as a person.”
“Mm?”
As Gongsun Ilbi blinked, Ho Yeon continued.
“I’ll teach you martial arts, so come rebuild the Hwangsan Sect with me? What, are you a toad? ‘Here’s an old house, give me a new one in return’?”
“…….”
“Your basic thinking is flawed. That approach is for recruiting subordinates, not for finding true partners.”
Ho Yeon smiled faintly and posed a question to Gongsun Ilbi.
“Rebuilding the Hwangsan Sect? It’s easier said than done—a lifelong pursuit that might never be completed. How is your proposal different from buying another person’s life with martial arts?”
“…….”
“Would anyone worthy agree to your offer? Would they truly stand beside you for a lifetime, devoted to restoring the Hwangsan Sect? Or would they simply take your teachings and run?”
With each word Ho Yeon spoke, Gongsun Ilbi’s head bowed lower.
Not a single word was wrong.
Gongsun Ilbi asked earnestly.
“Then what should I do? Teach me.”
“It’s obvious. First, lay bare your heart.”
“Lay bare my……heart?”
“Your dream of rebuilding the Hwangsan Sect. Have you ever told anyone?”
“…….”
“You haven’t, have you?”
Ho Yeon laughed softly.
Not only lacked experience, but no sense of how to proceed either.
A mountain within mountains.
“How can you inspire devotion in someone when they don’t know what you’re thinking? You’ve got the order completely backward. It’s not ‘I’ll teach you martial arts, so help me rebuild the Hwangsan Sect.’ That’s not it at all.”
“Then……teach martial arts to those who would help rebuild the Hwangsan Sect?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“But…… if there’s no benefit, who would follow me?”
“Those who follow you without expecting reward—aren’t they the truest companions?”
At Ho Yeon’s words, Gongsun Ilbi fell silent.
“First, share your dream. Make your dream become their dream. I know a man like that.”
Ho Yeon laughed softly.
The person he was thinking of was none other than this:
Changcheon Geomjon—Namgung Cheon Gang.
‘I didn’t understand it before. Why don’t the people of the Namgung Clan resent that old man, the very architect of the clan’s ruin three hundred years ago?’
The answer was singular.
Because Changcheon Geomjon was Namgung itself.
That’s why the Namgung Clan never spat upon their own faces.
His dream was everyone’s dream.
“Sharing a dream…….”
Gongsun Ilbi mumbled absently.
He’d never thought of it that way.
He’d only ever worried about how to convince people.
“But you—why do you want to rebuild the Hwangsan Sect?”
Ho Yeon turned to Gongsun Ilbi, whose eyes had gone distant.
Gongsun Ilbi’s gaze drifted toward the dining hall, his voice dropping to a murmur.
“I just…… wanted to see this.”
“See what?”
“Not eating alone. Greeting each other when we wake. Sharing drinks together in the evenings……”
Gongsun Ilbi stared up at the sky, his voice thick with longing.
“If I could just build a Hwangsan Sect like that, I thought Master might return. That was all…… that was all I wanted.”
“……”
When he finished speaking, Gongsun Ilbi’s shoulders sagged, his head dropping low.
Ho Yeon watched him for a long moment, then broke into a broad grin.
“What’s that? It’s simple.”
“…… Hm?”
“You can do it right now. Watch.”
Ho Yeon lifted his right foot.
Then he stamped it down hard.
Boom!
A heavy tremor erupted through the hall.
Everyone eating looked up in alarm, their heads snapping around in unison.
“What—what is it?”
“The Head?”
“Are you hungry, sir?”
“Hey Bang Pung Gae, you didn’t feed the Head?”
While the Chunha class trainees stared at Ho Yeon’s sudden appearance, he opened his mouth.
“I am disappointed in you all!”
“What?”
“Why? Why is that?”
“You mad fiends! Did you eat all the chicken legs?”
“I—I’m sorry! I thought you preferred the breast!”
While the trainees stood bewildered,
Ho Yeon grabbed Gongsun Ilbi and yanked him to his side, shouting.
“Why are you all ignoring him like this?”
“M-me? Namgung’s auxiliary member?”
“Disrespecting the head of this house? Outrageous! All of you sleep outside from tonight on!”
“What—what do you mean?”
“When did we ever do that?”
“Gongsun was the one who first kept his distance!”
The trainees began to protest in a chorus.
Ho Yeon’s voice cut through.
“Quiet! He told me he doesn’t want to eat alone, that he wants to eat with everyone! How can you corner him like this? You’re all being far too cruel!”
“No, that’s not…”
“Ugh, being alone with the Head? It’s terrifying.”
“…… He must have been suffering a lot.”
“You should have looked after him!”
“What? You’re closer to him than I am, you brat!”
“Namgung, please…… please stop……!”
In a single instant, Gongsun Ilbi—now the Chunha class’s appointed outsider—pleaded with a face burning crimson.
But Ho Yeon smiled reassuringly and shouted on.
“If I see him eating alone again, there will be no sparring matches with any of you! Understood?!”
“Oh nooooo……”
“Greet each other when you wake. Share drinks together in the evenings! That’s an order!”
“Sob…… sob……”
Gongsun Ilbi was openly crying now.
Into the ears of the newly appointed “person of concern,” Ho Yeon’s merciless voice rang out.
“There might be another outsider hiding among you. You overlooked how group life runs by the law of the jungle.”
“That’s not true!”
“We get along!”
“It’s unfair!”
“Silence! From now on, I will receive Heart Voice Letters! Any trainee who is being bullied must write to me!”
Ignoring the bewildered reactions of his classmates, Ho Yeon turned to Gongsun Ilbi.
“Since becoming head, I’ve been neglectful. I apologize.”
“…….”
“In return, I’ll give you a week of personal instruction and sparring.”
Ho Yeon smiled with unmistakable meaning.
‘Heh heh, excellent. The Sword Emperor’s swordplay. There might be some clue hidden there!’
Just as Ho Yeon, having achieved his goal, was trembling with delight.
Gongsun Ilbi had turned charred black as burnt charcoal and muttered to himself.
“……It’s over. I just…… want to die…….”
* * *
At the summit of Hwangshan, Yeonhwa Peak.
Surrounded by numerous mountains that resembled a lotus flower in form, the peak had been given its name accordingly.
Among the Four Wonders of Hwangshan—bizarre rock formations, gnarled pines, hot springs, and sea of clouds—the three wonders save the hot springs gathered here at Yeonhwa Peak.
On the sheer cliff face, twisted red pines twisted upward, their roots gripping the stone.
Around them spread a gossamer veil of cloud, forming a landscape of pure mystery.
It was beautiful as a realm of immortals—yet one inexplicable sight marred the perfection.
Hundreds of stone monuments, erected at the peak’s summit.
“Heaven and earth achieve harmony through themselves, lacking nothing. Why does mankind cling to desire and fail to become natural?”
A man standing before the arranged monuments muttered these words.
Wearing a long grey robe, he appeared to be a young man in his mid-twenties.
Yet the serene Immovable Heart that dwelt in his eyes blurred his apparent age.
“Water changes shape according to its vessel and flows most peacefully when it settles. If one abandons desire and humbles oneself, emptying the heart as the earth receives falling rain, then the vacant mind becomes a vessel to hold the Way.”
The young man murmured these enigmatic words, drawing pink flowers one by one from the bouquet in his hand and laying them before each monument.
“Senior Woo Do. I saw azaleas on the path up. Contrary to your build, you had a love for flowers.”
With each flower he placed, the youth traced a different memory, offering his tribute to each monument.
Whether it was reverence or repentance, there was an air both solemn and sorrowful in his movements.
At last, having placed flowers before every monument, the young man lifted his head and spoke softly.
“So the age of warfare has truly begun. The brilliant light of the Radiant Star will cast shadows darker than ever before. History will be rewritten in blood.”
A low rumble echoed through the heavens.
The eyes of the youth gazing upward turned transparent, as if perceiving what remained invisible to the world.
“Yet why does a rebel against heaven walk within our sect?”

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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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