Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 213

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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 213. The Sword Demon Carries the Plum Blossom Fragrance
In Huayin County, Shaanxi Province, stands the Western Peak—one of the Five Sacred Mountains of Zhongyuan.
Huashan, famous by name.
Those visiting Huashan for the first time often find themselves startled by how unlike their imagination the mountain truly is.
The character “hua” alone suggests a mountain blooming with flowers, beautiful and serene.
But in truth, Huashan was known for its steep terrain and sheer cliffs—the Most Dangerous Mountain Under Heaven.
“Huashan has five major peaks: Zhaoyang Peak, Lotus Peak, Luo’an Peak, Jade Woman Peak, and Cloud Platform Peak.”
“I see.”
“Particularly Luo’an Peak, which serves as the western peak of Huashan itself—the poet Du Fu praised three peaks standing out from the crowd, and don’t they resemble lotus blossoms rising from the water?”
“Now that you mention it, they truly do.”
Un Am spoke with pride about Huashan, his face alight with enthusiasm.
Beside him, Nan A nodded along, playing the part of the willing listener.
From behind, Hye Il pointed to the violet ribbons hanging from each branch. “Un Am, what are those?”
“Ah, those are Purple Qi Comes from the East.”
“Purple qi coming from the east?”
“It derives from a legend—when Laozi traveled westward, purple clouds followed him from the east.”
“Oh!”
“From east to west, that is, auspicious violet qi arriving at Huashan. The disciples tie them here, one by one, in hope of such blessings.”
“I see!”
Hye Il nodded at Un Am’s passionate explanation, while beside them Gwang Myeong gasped for breath.
“Huff! Huff! I’ve always thought Kunlun was the most wretched mountain in my life, but as of today, that’s changed. Huashan is the truly wretched one.”
“My, Gwang Myeong! What an unseemly thing to say!”
At Gwang Myeong’s grumbling, Hye Il looked back in alarm.
But the Huashan disciples following behind wore smiles and showed not a trace of offense.
“Ha ha, we understand well. We ourselves shudder when crossing the Changkong Suspended Path.”
“If our master sends us on an errand, the very thought fills us with dread.”
“Still, it’s an excellent place to train the Divine Method. One careless slip and you fall to your death, after all.”
“…Then shouldn’t that be avoided?”
The traveling party, which included members of the Three Paths One Flower, had come to Shaanxi Province during a month of free time.
It was close to Hubei, where the academy stood, but more importantly, the Huashan Sect had extended them an invitation.
“It’s a shame Sword Demon didn’t come with us.”
Un Am murmured wistfully, and Nan A asked with playful mischief.
“A family outing requires the proper arrangement. Un Am, are you dissatisfied that we came in place of Leader Namgung Ho Yeon?”
“Not at all! I’ve received much kindness from all of you, so this time I wish to repay that debt.”
Un Am waved his hand in flustered denial, and Gwang Myeong cried out.
“Un Am, you’re not claiming to have treated us by buying a bowl of noodles, are you? I want meat!”
“Gwang Myeong! How unbecoming of a Daoist is that sentiment? Eating meat only weighs the qi down and hinders cultivation.”
When Hye Il reproached him, Gwang Myeong scoffed and replied.
“Hmph! Haven’t you seen Leader Namgung Ho Yeon? He eats meat at every meal and look how powerful he’s become!”
“That, well, that’s martial cultivation. We’re Daoists.”
“I’m a Daoist and a martial artist both, so I can eat meat. You stick to vegetables.”
“That’s fine. Then eat with me. We’re friends, aren’t we?”
“I refuse! Eat by yourself!”
Gwang Myeong and Hye Il began their usual bickering, but the others around them simply continued their conversation as if nothing were amiss.
“It’s only been a few months since we left, yet it feels like years.”
“Truly. So much has happened in that time.”
“Hehe, we’ve returned!”
“And we haven’t returned alone. The plum blossom has returned with us.”
The faces of the Huashan disciples bloomed with smiles like flowers in spring.
A rumor was spreading rapidly through Zhongyuan.
The rumor went thus:
South Wind Carries, Huashan Plum Blossom Returns.
A wind blown from the south carried the fragrance of plum blossoms back to Huashan.
The fragrance of plum blossoms had returned to Huashan.
It was a rumor that spread after the Huashan disciples defeated the notorious executioners and massacre corps of Suradomunmun in Anhui by an overwhelming margin.
Most people were astonished by the news that the Huashan Plum Blossom Returns.
But the Huashan disciples themselves placed even greater importance on what preceded it: South Wind Carries.
A wind blown from the south.
That is, Namgung Ho Yeon.

“It’s all thanks to you, sir.”
“Indeed, your brilliant insight has restored three hundred years of Huashan’s lost history!”
“Truly, a master for the ages! Un Am, a mere guest minister position won’t do. We should create a new title to strengthen the bond between you and the sect!”
The disciples of Huashan Sect lavished praise upon Namgung Ho Yeon.
Some who had regarded him with suspicion at first had begun to change their minds.
They had attributed the restoration of the Fine Willow Drift entirely to Un Am’s efforts.
So when Un Am suggested they practice before the Heuk Juk Won where Namgung Ho Yeon was staying, considerable resistance had emerged.
“Heh, the boy’s something else. Didn’t he insist with a stern face that he couldn’t share the secret techniques?”
“Well, that was…….”
At Un Am’s words, Ja Heon, the fourth-generation disciple, mumbled sheepishly.
“That was before I truly understood Master Namgung’s character. Things are different now!”
Ja Heon’s eyes gleamed as he praised Namgung Ho Yeon with fervent admiration.
“With just a glance, lost martial principles came alive again! And to extract perfect meaning and intention from corrupted form and method—truly, you are the reincarnation of our founder Yun Hui himself!”
“Ha, I appreciate the sentiment, but creating a new position would be impossible, I’m afraid.”
“Why not? For such a debt of gratitude, even making him a Grand Paramount Master would be insufficient!”
Everyone turned to look at Ja Heon with eyes that agreed.
Un Am, wearing a faint smile, shook his head gently and spoke.
“I barely managed to persuade him to accept even the guest minister position. If I’d breathed a word about something like Grand Paramount Master, he’d grimace and flee for the hills.”
“Ah…….”
“Well, given his nature, he can’t abide being bound by titles.”
“Tsk, what a waste.”
After exchanging various remarks, the party arrived at the Upper Palace, the summit of Lotus Peak.
Before the Upper Palace, a throng of people as thick as clouds had gathered to welcome them.
“Waaaahhhhh!”
“The disciples have returned!”
“Ja Gyo! Ja Min! Are you hurt?”
A roar of cheers erupted like wildfire.
The disciples, having returned home, quickened their pace with overflowing emotion.
But Un Am gazed ahead with a tense expression at the figure leading the assembly.
The old Daoist, with hair and beard like white silk, possessed a sharp, dignified air from his long, angular jaw and prominent cheekbones.
He was none other than the current Sect Leader of Huashan, the Heavenly Flow Sword General, Woo Il.
He was Huashan’s glory—the one who had crossed the divide with only the Heavenly Flow Absolute Sword when the plum blossoms vanished from Huashan.
“You’ve come.”
“I pay my respects to the Sect Leader.”
Snap!
Un Am knelt before Woo Il and drew the Purple Essence Divine Sword from his side, offering it with both hands.
“For the crime of distributing Sect Leader Tokens without authorization, I accept the punishment.”
“…….”
Clear eyes gleamed within Woo Il’s deep-set gaze.
He recognized that Un Am had achieved rapid advancement.
‘Just over a year since the Yongbong Conference. Has the world forged this child? Or…….’
Woo Il spoke.
“Before that—where is the One Who Returns the Plum Blossom?”
“Namgung Ho Yeon has returned to Hefei with his family.”
“I see. A pity. I had prepared many gifts for him.”
Tap.
Whissh!
Woo Il accepted the Purple Essence Divine Sword and slowly drew it.
Then the blade, beautiful as amethyst, revealed itself.
Click!
Woo Il quickly resheathed the sword and handed it back to Un Am, speaking.
“This sword is yours.”
“But, but…….”
“I entrusted this sword to Muk Gyeong, and Muk Gyeong entrusted Huashan to you.”
Woo Il continued with a gentle smile.
“And you have kept your promise, returning to Huashan with the plum blossoms. The Purple Essence Divine Sword is the sword for the one who tends the plum blossoms of Huashan. There is no one else fit to wield it but you.”
“…….”
“Ordinarily, teaching the sect’s martial arts to an outsider would be a grave crime, but if it was the judgment of the token’s bearer, the matter stands differently. All the more so.”
Tap!
Woo Il helped Un Am to his feet by the shoulder and continued.
“What the Huashan Correct Sword does is the will of Huashan. So long as Huashan endures, your choice is Huashan’s choice.”
“Wait, Sect Leader! That’s……!”
Un Am started in alarm at Woo Il’s words.
Huashan Correct Sword.
The righteous blade of Huashan.
This title held special meaning because it referred to only one person in all of Huashan.
“Third-generation disciple Un Am. No—Sect Leader Disciple Un Am, you shall bear the Purple Essence Divine Sword.”
“No, Sect Leader, I cannot! My senior brothers are more worthy, and there are disciples far more talented than I. How could I possibly……!”
Sect Leader Disciple.
Those words meant only one thing: the designated successor to the next Sect Leader.
Un Am turned about frantically, his voice rising.
“I am no genius—I am not even gifted! When taught one thing, I can barely grasp that one thing. I am a dullard, Sect Leader. How could someone like me ever bloom as the highest blossom on the highest branch?”
Un Am looked around for agreement, but the Huashan disciples whose eyes met his simply smiled in silence.
From their bearing, Un Am understood that the Sect Leader’s proclamation was no hasty impulse.
“How is this…….”
Woo Il spoke to the bewildered Un Am.
“Un Am. You are mistaken about something.”
“……Yes?”
“The Sect Leader of Huashan is not the highest blossom on the highest branch.”
Woo Il smiled gently and continued.
“The Sect Leader of Huashan is the fertilizer.”
“……!”
“Your sacrifice to elevate others, your habit of crediting your brothers’ achievements rather than your own. Truly, this makes you fit for the role of Sect Leader Disciple.”
“But, but…….”
“This is the last wish of an old tree. I have bloomed nothing myself. So I ask you—let the Zhongyuan know that plum blossoms still exist in this world.”
“Sect…… Leader…….”
Un Am gazed upon Woo Il.
The Sect Leader was the one his disciples most revered and yet most feared—always rigorous, always strong.
Yet now that same man looked down at him with eyes as desperate as a withered tree thirsting for rain in the summer heat.
‘So that’s it…… He hasn’t said as much, but he’s exhausted, isn’t he…….’
Seeing the Sect Leader vulnerable for the first time, Un Am’s eyes trembled faintly.
In truth, he had every right to be tired.
He had devoted his entire life to reviving the declining Huashan Sect.
Though men say victory and defeat are matters of chance, the Sect Leader had always rallied and encouraged his followers even on battlefields where defeat was already sealed.
We can do this.
We can rise again.
We can show the world Huashan’s spirit.
Yet surely, deep in his heart, he must have longed to surrender.
‘His resolve must have shattered dozens of times each day, his shoulders crushed under countless burdens of worry.’
How much pain had he endured?
How many times had he fallen and risen again?
Un Am could not imagine it.
‘I……!’
Un Am pressed his lips tightly shut.
Time passed in silence.
At last, Un Am inclined his head.
“……This disciple Un Am accepts the Sect Leader’s command.”
Thunk!
As Un Am took the Purple Essence Divine Sword into his hands, Woo Il’s expression eased.
“Thank you.”
“Yet Sect Leader, you are mistaken.”
“Mistaken?”
“You have not failed to bloom anything, Sect Leader.”
“……What?”
“You have bloomed me and my brothers.”
“…….”
“We disciples have quenched our thirst with your sweat, and we have grown as we are, using your time as our nourishment.”
“…….”
“From this day forward, we shall serve you. You, Sect Leader, rest in the most beautiful place and watch. Soon, the plum blossoms shall fill the sky above Zhongyuan.”
“…….”
Un Am’s resolve sent blood rushing to Woo Il’s eyes, his lips trembling like silkworms writhing beneath bark.
Woo Il forced down the tempest of emotion, his voice shaking as he spoke.
“Don’t you dare retire me on a whim. Heavenly Flow Sword Master. I’m not dead yet.”
A fresh wind swept across Huashan, billowing soft and light.
Within it drifted the subtle fragrance of plum blossoms.
* * *
“All right then, let’s be off.”
“Really?”
“I’ve been meaning to apologize to you. By rights, this burden should have fallen to me.”
“Yes!”
“Ha ha, you little rascal. You’re that pleased?”
“Of course I am!”
“Ha ha ha! If you’re pleased, then I’m pleased too. Baekmu Academy, you say? It’s been far too long since I took an outing with my Ho Yeon.”

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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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