Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 217

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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 217. Geom-gwi’s Fortune-Beckoning Cat
A dark place.
Lamplight.
Faint shadows fell ominous.
Screech! Screech! Screech!
With an unpleasant sound like a snake slithering past, a man of unknown appearance wielded his brush.
“I didn’t expect you to grow so large. I could have sworn I’d trimmed you back then.”
At the man’s gloomy voice, the lamplight seemed to sense the chill and wavered.
As it did, the man’s shadow stretched long, and within it the thickly furred form of a Taotie flickered into view.
“She was a broken child from the start. Or rather, I broke her. Kheh-kheh-kheh!”
The man laughed.
From childhood, Jegal Ahyeon had displayed such brilliance that she became the talk of the Jegal Clan.
Not merely sharp-minded, she possessed martial talent so exceptional she came to be called the Sword Phoenix.
It was certain that in time she would rise to become the pillar of the Jegal Clan.
For that reason, she needed to be destroyed by any means necessary.
“I surrounded her with every sort of petty schemer. They harassed her mother, spread sordid rumors, and sowed hatred toward the Jegal Clan in her heart.”
His design succeeded.
With her mother’s death, Jegal Ahyeon lost her mind.
Stricken with Mental Derangement Disease, she suffered fits at unpredictable moments and fell from the family head’s favor.
Because of this, she was sold to the Moyong Clan and was fated to rot her life away in Liaoning.
And yet…….
“What? Hye Bong the Wisdom Seeker? Khreh-khreh-khreh!”
Whoosh!
The lamplight flared violently.
The Taotie’s horns jutted from within the man’s shadow, expressing his hatred.
“Three Mountains Blockade, Lake Breakage Route, Void Entry.”
The man murmured Jegal Ahyeon’s stratagems, which had unfolded across Anhui and Gangseong.
Three Mountains Blockade.
Guhwa Mountain, Hwangsan, and Jeyun Mountain woven together as a barrier to create a defensive line.
Lake Breakage Route.
Send a secondary force to Poyang Lake to cut off the flow of supplies and starve the enemies.
Void Entry.
Strike the weak points by dispatching Namgung Ho Yeon, a Realm-Breaker whose mobility and concealment are unrestricted, while the enemy’s houses stand empty.
Meticulous and orthodox in foundation, yet bold where boldness was required.
Even when withdrawing the secondary force, she displayed the cunning to mobilize the young family head stationed in Wuhan.
“Frustrating though it is, I must admit it. Anyone can devise a strategy, but few can actually execute one.”
The man acknowledged his foe.
Know Thy Enemy Know Thyself—the foundation of warfare.
The enemy was formidable.
“That woman could hold the world in the palm of her hand through intellect alone. She is a talent most worthy of the Divine Strategist Zhuge.”
Gnash!
The man ground his teeth.
To acknowledge and to celebrate are two different things.
The surname Jegal was his pride and his everything.
That some foreign woman should inherit it—such a thing could not be permitted.
“Very well. If you truly bear the name Jegal, then let us see if you can survive.”
Screech! Screeeeech!
The man’s brushstrokes grew violent.
Conveniently, the organization also regarded her as a thorn in their side.
The moment for the Borrowed Knife Murder had come.
* * *
A new semester had begun.
Once again, countless students entered Baekmu Academy through examination.
And the ones who became the talk of the intake were none other than
“Wow, warriors from the Namgung Clan!”
“Hah, with such piercing light in their eyes—such arrogance—they must indeed be from a prestigious orthodox house.”
“Do you know who the two leading them are?”
“Of course. The one on the right is Namgung Cheong Gang, the young family head of the Namgung Clan, called the Emperor’s Sword Dragon. The one on the left is Namgung Ja Ryang, marked as the next Changgung Pavilion Master, known as the Green Dragon of Changgung.”
The students gazed at the warriors with blade-like presence, their eyes full of yearning.
“This gaze cuts deep.”
“That’s understandable enough. Ho Yeon’s become quite the name, hasn’t he?”
“Don’t talk as though it’s someone else’s business. You’re no less known yourself. They call you the Nine Flower Protector for having blockaded Docheon for months on end.”
“And you, Ja Ryang—I hear you’ve made quite a reputation with the Changgung Treasure Guard.”
“Ah, I concede. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Hehehehe.”
As Namgung Ja Ryang made a show of shuddering at the goosebumps, Cheong Gang laughed.
Changgung Pavilion had been consumed with clearing the backlog of treasure guard assignments.
Even when they turned down new contracts, the long-term commitments and accumulated work orders kept piling up.
To unilaterally break a contract after making a promise, claiming urgent family business, would naturally result in a loss of trust.
Consequently, Namgung Ja Ryang and the other members of Changgung Pavilion had been forced to roam the Martial World without respite, carrying out their assignments.
Behind those two, the other Changgung members were exchanging words.
“Phew, it’s a relief to have some breathing room.”
“That’s right. I feel like it’s been months since we’ve had a chance to rest like this.”
“Rest? This isn’t an ordinary academy. We should think of it as a temporary Murim Alliance and stay alert at all times.”
“Is that so? The youngest young master said it was just a boring academy.”
“That’s by his standards, of course.”
Those who had lived worn down by work had recently found breathing room as the clan eased its pressures, freeing them from treasure guard missions.
Instead, they’d been sent to Uichang and admitted to Baekmu Academy—but this was no mere academy. It was a Dragon Pool Tiger Den.
The members of Changgung Pavilion, aware that a single moment of carelessness could prove fatal, couldn’t easily set aside their vigilance.
“In any case, I was worried Ho Yeon was struggling alone. Good to hear he’s thriving.”
“What? Struggling alone? The new semester had barely started when Nakjeondan’s enrollment skyrocketed. I heard they’re already approaching three thousand members.”
At Cheong Gang’s words, Ja Ryang responded with disbelief.
Ho Yeon had entered Baekmu Academy as a lone wolf, without his clan’s aid, and become the leader of the largest faction.
“Don’t you think our help was unnecessary?”
“Ja Ryang, the struggle I spoke of is about the presence of blood kin. Ho Yeon gets lonely easily—how much he must have suffered all this time without family by his side.”
“You…… Ah, never mind.”
Ja Ryang opened his mouth to respond to Cheong Gang’s words, then thought better of it.
‘Cheong Gang’s coddling of the youngest—it’s not a new thing…….’
Even after marriage, he still referred to him as the youngest; there was simply no cure for such favoritism.
Just then, as the conversation between Cheong Gang and Ja Ryang continued,
a man emerged from the throng of people gathered nearby.
Step, step, step.
He had distinct, handsome features, but the bloody smile hanging from his lips and his bloodshot eyes made him an unsettling presence.
“Oh, if it isn’t Mo Yong Cheol, the Shamanic Sect Master!”
“The Southern Sea Falcon!”
“Second rank in the Practice Quarter, right after the Thunder Sage!”
“Tsk!”
At the sounds coming from those around him, Mo Yong Cheol ground his teeth.
He’d earned the epithet “Southern Sea Falcon” by making a name for himself through water combat in the Southern Sea.
It meant striking enemies swiftly as a hawk sweeping across the vast waters of the Southern Sea.
People praised it as a great achievement, but to Mo Yong Cheol, that epithet was nothing but shame.
‘A falcon? Hehehehe, some are called generals, yet I’m merely a bird?!’
Crack!
Once again, the sound of something shattering echoed from his head.
Thump-thump-thump!
Sensing the ominous aura radiating from Mo Yong Cheol, both Cheong Gang and Ja Ryang stiffened.
“Hehehehe. So the Emperor’s Sword Dragon and the Changgung Azure Dragon have gathered together, I see?”
“What brings you here?”
“Hehehehe. I merely came to offer greetings. I heard you two were both assigned to the Yellow Bamboo Faction.”
Grin!
Mo Yong Cheol smiled.
He too had been assigned to the Yellow Bamboo Faction.
‘The Yellow Bamboo Faction is already in my grasp. If they thought to gain any scraps, they’re sorely mistaken.’
Mo Yong Cheol’s eyes narrowed.
Now the Namgung Clan’s intention in deploying forces to Baekmu Academy was clear.
‘Ho Yeon seems likely to become Student Council President, so they’re lending him their strength. Hehehehe!’
Mo Yong Cheol’s eyes twitched like those of a stroke victim.
He had expected that if he achieved results at Baekmu Academy, his clan, the Moyong Clan, would provide support.
But no matter how long he waited, there came neither support nor even a word of encouragement.
‘Hehehehe! That’s it then. The main house’s principle is Endless Competition Peak. Nothing matters but first place.’
With each response from the clan, Mo Yong Cheol’s deviant thinking accelerated further.
In this world, there was no meaning to anything but being number one.
Currently, Namgung Ho Yeon held that position.
What had made Namgung Ho Yeon number one was the existence of the strategist Jegal Ahyeon.
‘Jegal Ahyeon! Jegal Ahyeon! Jegal Ahyeon!’
Mo Yong Cheol’s eyes began to burn with fanatic obsession.
Thud, thud, thud.
He then brushed past Namgung Cheong Gang and Namgung Ja Ryang without a word of greeting.
“What the—why’s he like that?”
…….
Namgung Ja Ryang looked bewildered by Mo Yong Cheol’s behavior, while Namgung Cheong Gang’s eyes grew dark and troubled.
* * *
“What’s this?”
“A gift.”
“From whom?”
“Seon Hui asked me to give it to you.”
“My sister-in-law?”
Whoosh!
Ho Yeon tilted his head and unfurled the scroll that Jegal Ahyeon had handed him.
A delicate literary painting revealed itself.
“……A cat?”
What caught his eye first was a small cat lying lazily on the floor.
Before the cat sat candies and tea, and behind the building stretched a vast sky with towering clouds.
“This is our house, isn’t it? My room, no less.”
“Hehe, look here a moment.”
“Hmm?”
On the left side where Jegal Ahyeon pointed, a poem was inscribed with the title “Fortune-Beckoning Cat.”
“A cat that summons good fortune?”
It was a peculiar title.
Ho Yeon read the poem aloud.
An orange cat’s gait so graceful,
How lovely is its every step.
Cold eyes yet a warm heart within,
Beneath the chill glows gentle warmth.
When stroked, blessings bloom of their own,
Fortune petals unfold at your touch.
It rests in quiet in the old dwelling,
Still and serene within these familiar halls.
Now and then it finds sweet candies and tea,
Savoring gentle treats by chance.
Soft paws brush against azure sky,
Gentle claws trace the heavens.
With a single smile, forgiveness falls on all,
One laugh absolves the world.
“Huh?”
After reading the poem, Ho Yeon furrowed his brow with a puzzled sound.
What kind of cat-like nonsense is this?
Truly a rather enigmatic poem.
“Wow! What a beautiful poem!”
Just then, Cho Seon Hyang, who had been quietly reading the poem from behind, let out an exclamation.
“I can feel the quiet atmosphere and peaceful everyday life. It’s so warm and emotionally rich!”
“Impressive, isn’t it? Such harmony between painting and poetry is quite rare in literary art.”
“Truly. And what’s most extraordinary is the cat’s peaceful smile—it’s absolutely mysterious.”
“Do you know who this cat is?”
“Of course I do!”
Jegal Ahyeon and Cho Seon Hyang chattered away about the literary painting.
Watching them, Ho Yeon smacked his lips.
“Tsk, is this a culture only the learned can appreciate? It doesn’t resonate with me.”
―Ah yes. Young one, this poem was written with great care, thinking of you. Be sure to thank her properly when you have the chance.
At Cheonrae Geom’s words, Ho Yeon gave a wry laugh.
‘Come on, why would she write a poem thinking of me? It’s just some cat lying around.’
―Pffhaha! A Maneki-neko! It looks exactly like you!
‘Don’t you dare compare me.’
―Argh! That’s cruel!
While Ho Yeon was conversing with the swordsmen, Cho Seon Hyang, who had been examining the poem closely, suddenly opened her eyes wide.
“Oh, On Yu the master?”
She gazed at the crimson seal mark stamped beneath the poem, her face filled with astonishment.
“Good heavens! This is a work by On Yu!”
“On Yu the master?”
“An emerging literary figure in Beijing these past few years! Their distinctive warm writing style is unparalleled—high officials say they can’t find enough of their works!”
“This one?”
“Their gender, age, and background are all unknown, and they don’t produce much work. Wow! I’ve actually seen a piece by On Yu!”
Cho Seon Hyang bounced with excitement, and Ho Yeon nodded in acknowledgment.
If someone from Geumobong Ru, the finest establishment in Beijing, said so, it had to be true.
“Hmm? Then it must be quite valuable. I should thank your sister-in-law for this.”
―Goodness! Such a vulgar creature! Don’t judge art by money!
‘That’s nonsense. Art only matters because it has value. Hmph! Looking at it again, it’s quite excellent. Especially this cat’s face—I rather like it.’
Ho Yeon, admiring the Literary Painting with a satisfied expression, turned to Ahyeon and asked.
“Did you get one too?”
“Huh? Oh, yes.”
“What is it?”
“Oh, it’s nothing.”
Flutter. Rustle.
As Ho Yeon pressed further, Ahyeon released a messenger pigeon and quickly tucked the letter into her bosom.
With an awkward expression, Ahyeon scratched her cheek and spoke.
“I received word from the clan. It seems… I’ll need to step out for a bit.”

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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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