Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 218

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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 218. The Sword Demon’s Strategy Regarding His Elder Brother’s Wife
Hoo-roo-hoo!
Hoo-roo-woo-hoo!
The owl’s cry echoed sharply through the night.
It was nighttime.
Xingmen Mountain, south of Baekmu Academy.
The Tang poet Li Bai had sung of autumn on Xingmen Mountain in his poem “Autumn Descending Xingmen Gate,” but winter possessed its own beauty, no less striking.
Especially blanketed in falling snow, Xingmen Mountain resembled a palace carved from white jade.
Crunch, crunch!
A woman in a wind-breaker, wearing a bamboo hat, arrived at the mountainside and turned to look behind her.
Beyond the Yangtze River, Baekmu Academy gleamed like Bulya Fortress from below.
As the woman gazed at that sight for a moment, a cold male voice came from behind.
“You came.”
“…!”
The woman spun around quickly.
A masked man with a sword at his waist stared at her with bloodshot eyes.
“Are you from the Tianji Squad?”
“……”
“What is this all about? The Household Master himself sends an urgent letter. How is this possible?”
“……”
“And to suggest breaking the betrothal with the Namgung Clan? I simply cannot accept it.”
Whoosh!
The woman removed her bamboo hat.
It was Jegal Ahyeon.
“Answer me. Where could there be a better bridegroom than Namgung Ho Yeon?”
“Heh, well. What about Mo Yong Cheol?”
“What… did you just say?”
Swish.
The man removed his mask.
Sharp, refined features; a crooked mouth bearing a cold, mocking smile.
It was Mo Yong Cheol.
“You…?!”
“Jegal Ahyeon. Come to me.”
Ahyeon’s eyes widened, and Mo Yong Cheol’s bloodshot gaze began to burn with intensity.
“You were meant to be mine from the start. Namgung Ho Yeon just snatched you away from me!”
“…A trap?”
Ahyeon frowned as she asked.
“How did you even forge the Household Master’s seal?”
“Khe-khe-khe! If you find a skilled forger, it’s nothing. Besides, I’ve seen letters from Jegal Shinsan myself.”
“…Why go to such lengths to lure me out here?”
“Because you wouldn’t have come otherwise.”
“I see. You were afraid I’d bring Ho Yeon with me. That’s why you spoke of breaking the betrothal and—”
“Stop spouting nonsense!”
Kwaa-kwaa-kwaa-kwaa!
Mo Yong Cheol unleashed a wave of Spirit Energy.
The fierce snowfall reversed direction, swirling upward.
“Who fears whom? I merely wished to give you one final chance to choose!”
“If that’s the case, the answer should have been clear then. At the Baekga Geom-hoe, you heard it yourself.”
At Ahyeon’s words, a memory from years past flickered through Mo Yong Cheol’s mind.
“It seems I never had a chance from the beginning. Well, I understood your feelings well enough. I only hope you won’t regret this later.”
“I don’t think such regret will come to pass. I wish you good fortune in whatever lies ahead, Master Mo.”
“I have never regretted that choice I made then.”
“Heh-heh-heh! But circumstances have changed.”
“Circumstances… have changed?”
Ahyeon’s brows trembled.
Mo Yong Cheol drew his sword—Baldo.
Chyang!
Whoooong!
White sword energies streamed from Mo Yong Cheol’s blade, weaving together into a torrent of force.
“Behold! Namgung Ho Yeon was not the only one to achieve Ascension! I have transcended as well!”
“…….”
“You think that’s all? I have people who support me. Their influence spans the entire Zhongyuan!”
“…….”
“If the two of us join hands, the Student Council President position will be a trifle. Once that’s done, I’ll recommend you to them. Then you too can become a Realm-Breaker!”
“…….”
“I chose Namgung Ho Yeon because I saw potential in him. Now come to me. I’m superior to that wretch!”
Jegal Ahyeon, listening to Mo Yong Cheol’s hoarse voice, spoke with a look of pity.
“Why have you fallen apart like this?”
“……What?”
“Once you burned with ambition and overflowed with pride, but now you’ve lost even that. You’re nothing but a dog on a leash, barking uselessly.”
“You…… wench!”
“Don’t project your desires onto me. It’s repulsive.”
“……!”
Crackle!
Mo Yong Cheol felt his head burn hot at Jegal Ahyeon’s scorn.
The snowflake that touched his brow melted instantly into water, and in that moment, the thread of his reason snapped.
“Kekekeke! Jegal Ahyeon, you’re mine! You always were!”
“Nonsense. Ho Yeon and I are bound by a prenatal betrothal. You’re an outsider.”
“Hehehehe! With you in hand, I can break that arrogant pup Namgung Ho Yeon and become Student Council President!”
“……You’re mad.”
Jegal Ahyeon stepped back with disgust written across her face.
No matter how she looked at it, Mo Yong Cheol was no longer in his right mind.
“Where are you going!”
The moment Ahyeon showed signs of fleeing, Mo Yong Cheol immediately deployed the Chuimyeong Seom Step.
Boom!
Snow erupted with a thunderous crack, and Mo Yong Cheol’s form appeared at the lower left of Ahyeon in an instant.
“Gasp!”
Whoosh!
Ahyeon drew her blade quickly and cut at Mo Yong Cheol.
Then something impossible happened.
Creak-crack!
Pop-pop-pop!
A grotesque sound emanated from Mo Yong Cheol’s entire body as it twisted like taffy, evading Ahyeon’s strike.
“What——!”
“Got you!”
Tap-tap-tap!
Mo Yong Cheol struck Ahyeon’s vital acupoints, rendering her helpless.
Gripping Ahyeon’s jaw like a wooden puppet, Mo Yong Cheol erupted in laughter.
“Kehahahaha! You were always meant to follow me! Their power is boundless! Brainwashing a single person is child’s play!”
“What a worthless man you are.”
“……!”
At the voice that rang out suddenly, Mo Yong Cheol’s eyes widened as he spun around sharply.
Step, step, step!
A man in blue robes was ascending the mountain slowly.
Tall frame, broad shoulders. A solid chest and straight spine. Strong, bold features framed by an icy, chilling gaze like a frozen pond.
“Who are you?!”
“When begging for a woman’s heart fails, you resort to force? Hopeless and beyond redemption.”
“Namgung Cheong Gang!”
Step!
Namgung Cheong Gang planted himself before Mo Yong Cheol.
Rumble!
An aura like the frost-sharp presence of an emperor arose, beginning to dominate the surroundings.
“How did you——!”
“I was asked to do something.”
“……What?”
“To capture the puppet when it appears.”
“……!”
Mo Yong Cheol recoiled in shock.
He knew? About the organization?
He’d been reading my moves all along?
“Who on earth?!”
“Jegal Ahyeon.”
“What? No, that’s impossible! To fall into a trap when you could see it coming—she’d never be foolish enough for that!”
Mo Yong Cheol stared at Jegal Ahyeon with an expression of disbelief.
Then Namgung Cheong Gang spoke.
“Well done, Yamanaka. Return to your original form.”
Crack-crack! Pop!
Jegal Ahyeon’s face twisted and contorted, then transformed into an expressionless woman’s countenance unlike anything seen before.
Thud!
“What—what is this?!”
Mo Yong Cheol’s jaw went slack in shock, and the woman collapsed into the snow, sprawling across it.
“Careful now. She’s a valuable asset to Pungak. I’d prefer you didn’t rough her up.”
“What is all this? What are you talking about?!”
“Haven’t you heard? In Guhua Mountain, there’s an assassin with a thousand faces who visits each night to collect the heads of her companions.”
Thousand-Face Technique.
A forbidden art of transformation.
Pungak, dispatched to Qingyang, had become the foremost contributor to plunging Docheon into chaos through various information operations and deceptions.
“The Ease-Transformation Art! You deceived me!”
“And not just you.”
As Mo Yong Cheol cried out, Cheong Gang continued with a sneer.
“Your shameless face, wearing the mask of the Jeong-pa and shaking hands with suspicious villains, is the true transformation.”
Shing.
Cheong Gang slowly drew his ink-dark Emperor Sword and declared.
“Prepare yourself. For daring to harm someone of this household, you deserve ten thousand punishments.”
“You cursed dog!”
“Azure Chaser, Namgung Chang Seong.”
Boom—boom—boom—boom!
Beneath an expanse of white snow, the blue sky began to spread brilliantly, illuminating the surroundings with an otherworldly radiance.
* * *
“So it was Mo Yong Cheol after all?”
The figure in black watched the standoff between Namgung Cheong Gang and Mo Yong Cheol from her perch in the tree, murmuring to herself.
“Lately, the fluctuations in his emotions have grown fiercer. As if he were trying to prevent something.”
The figure in black was Jegal Ahyeon.
The moment she received the letter bearing the Household Master’s seal, she had seen through it as a trap.
‘The seal hadn’t been forged. That’s how I could be certain.’
Ahyeon’s eyes narrowed.
Now it was certain.
The identity of the traitor.
“I could have stepped in myself. But having him play his part was the right choice. Thanks to that, we gained time to form the encirclement….”
“Don’t move.”
“…!”
Ahyeon’s body went rigid.
The distorted voice from behind and the cold touch of a blade at her throat—both froze her in place.
“Planning something amusing?”
“….”
“Why didn’t you include me in this fun?”
“What…? Oh!”
As Ahyeon quickly grasped the situation, she felt the emotion caught by her Psychic Resonance and exhaled in relief.
“Phew… Ho Yeon, you scared me.”
“Hmm? Didn’t fool you?”
“How on earth did you know?”
Ahyeon turned her head around.
Ho Yeon slipped the Wol Hyeong Dan Hong back into his sleeve as he answered.
“I followed Mo Yong Cheol’s movements. Then I spotted our people.”
Ho Yeon shrugged, sensing the presence of Changgung Society members scattered throughout the area.
“Got curious about what was happening, kept watching, and saw some kind of theatrical performance unfold on a moonlit night.”
“…Did you know all along? That Mo Yong Cheol was the council’s puppet?”
“Of course.”
“Since when?”
“From the beginning.”
Ho Yeon let out a soft chuckle and continued.
“I felt the same uncanniness in him as I do in Gwang Bi Chang or Chu Um. Plus, Ha Young confirmed it, and lately his Spirit Energy Projection has been wavering.”
“What do you mean…….”
Ahyeon didn’t fully grasp all of Ho Yeon’s meaning, but it was clear he’d discerned something suspicious about Mo Yong Cheol through some method of his own.
“You were thinking of using counter-espionage too?”
“I wouldn’t call it that exactly. He was too big a fish to just grab and crush outright. I figured I’d wait and let him make the first move.”
Ho Yeon shrugged as he spoke.
“He seemed useful enough anyway. The man wanted to become Student Council President, so naturally he’d clash hard with Gucheon Sung to get there, wouldn’t he? Thanks to that, Guangdong’s been stabilized. Not bad for a piece of trash, really.”
“…….”
Ahyeon fell silent.
Ho Yeon lacked theoretical knowledge of strategy and tactics.
Yet he possessed an instinctive ability to find the best path forward.
‘Remarkable. He moves like a general who’s crossed the chasm between life and death a hundred times over.’
As Ahyeon regarded him with admiring eyes, he turned back to her with a peevish look.
“So, why did you sideline me and team up with my brother instead?”
“Well…….”
Ahyeon hesitated before answering.
“You have a tendency to make things bigger than they need to be.”
“What?”
“Sigh. This operation is part of the Small Bait, Great Catch strategy.”
“Using a small lure to catch something large?”
“Which means we need to handle it quietly. And honestly, whenever you’ve stepped in, nothing’s ever ended quietly, has it?”
“…….”
Just as Ho Yeon’s brow furrowed, Cheon Rae Geom and Heuk Ya Tae Geom, who’d been listening to the exchange, laughed.
―Bwahahaha! Young miss, she really does know you well. Your fiancée has you pegged.
―Phahahaha! If the oni had stepped in, it’d already be boom-boom-bang-bang with sparks flying everywhere!
“Tsk.”
Unable to deny it outright, Ho Yeon clicked his tongue, and Ahyeon tried to soothe him with her next words.
“Still, I’m glad you came. Mo Yong Cheol being a Realm-Breaker was unexpected. Let’s go help.”
As Ahyeon rose from her seat, Ho Yeon grabbed her shoulder.
Tap!
“Wait.”
“Ho Yeon?”
“You won’t know which is better until you test them against each other.”
Ho Yeon smiled brilliantly, his gaze fixed on the clearing where a powerful Qi Wave was beginning to erupt.
“My brother’s a genius, after all.”

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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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