Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 27

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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 27. The Sword Demon Meets Wolmyo
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
The boy thrust the Short Sword downward with all his might, raising it high into the air.
At the tip of that blade was a mysterious cat with blue eyes and silver-tinged gray fur.
The cat lay nestled in the boy’s arms, its tail swishing peacefully.
“Ngh!”
Slash!
Just as the boy squeezed his eyes shut and drove the Short Sword forward at the cat—
Thwack!
“……Huh?”
“As an animal lover, I can’t let this scene slide.”
The boy could now see the man who had seized his wrist.
His expression was sullen, yet his features were so striking that it would make anyone’s eyes widen.
‘Who is this? A foreigner? No—a half-breed, by the looks of it.’
The moment bewilderment crossed the boy’s face, Ho Yeon’s brows twitched.
Those eyes peering from beneath his shaggy hair shone with a brilliant blue, like jade hewn from jade itself.
‘A servant’s child, perhaps?’
The foreigners who came from Arasa mostly took on dock labor, and it seemed one of the servants working here had caught the eye of one such man, resulting in this child.
Judging by his shabby appearance and worn clothing, he was likely a servant helping his mother with work in this place.
“……Let me go.”
“Before that, answer me one thing. Why have you become a cat hater? Is there such a custom in Arasa?”
At Ho Yeon’s question, the boy let his hair fall across his face, concealing his blue eyes.
Then he answered in a small voice.
“A cat hater…… No, I’m not. I’ve never even been to Arasa…….”
“Then why were you trying to kill it?”
“Wolmyo is my…… only friend.”
“What?”
When Ho Yeon stared at him uncomprehendingly, the boy clenched his teeth and cried out.
“By killing the being I cherish most with my own hands……! I’m steeling myself to survive! So please, let go!”
“…….”
Ho Yeon gazed at the boy for a long moment, then released his wrist and spoke.
“Well, it’s your cat—do as you wish. However.”
Snatch!
Ho Yeon grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck and yanked it from the boy’s arms.
He pointed to the hindquarters where the tail connected and continued.
“If you’re going to kill it, don’t do it so clumsily. Strike here instead, cleanly and at once.”
“……What?”
“The Seven-Upper Seven-Lower One-Point Vital Strike. Count seven vertebrae upward and seven downward, then strike the single point you find, and life ends. This is the cat’s Life Gate.”
“…….”
“This part, what you might call the lumbar region of the spine, contains a bundle of nerves. Sever it, and whether human or beast, death is instantaneous.”
“…….”
At Ho Yeon’s matter-of-fact tone, the boy stared at him in shock before speaking.
“That’s…… cruel.”
“What?”
Ho Yeon’s face twisted with disbelief.
“You’re the cruel one. If you’re going to kill it, do it mercifully in a single stroke, don’t draw it out. Actually, hand it over. I’ll do it for you.”
“No, you can’t!”
“What, you little brat?”
“Eeek!”
The boy clutched the Short Sword and shrank back, while Ho Yeon, suddenly cast as the aggressor, furrowed his brow.
“Meow!”
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The cat, as if protesting that Ho Yeon leave the boy alone, extended its soft paws to rake at him.
“Oh, look at this impudent little beast. Want me to beat the tar out of you? Huh?”
“Hiss!”
At Ho Yeon’s threat, the cat bared its fangs and thrashed against his grip.
“Stop, please! Don’t hurt Wolmyo!”
“……Are you insane? A moment ago you said you were killing the being you cherish most to steel yourself?”
“Ugh…… Sob……!”
Stung by Ho Yeon’s rebuke, the boy wept bitterly, tears rolling down his cheeks like bird droppings.
“Ugh! B-but what do I do? Wolmyo’s going to die today anyway!”
“What? Why?”
“Because I’m… a thorn in everyone’s side… Ugh! It’s my fault that Wolmyo….”
As the boy stammered through his words, Ho Yeon scratched his disheveled hair in thought.
‘Hmm, being ostracized among the servants? Because he’s part Arasan?’
The boy’s blue eyes were certainly striking.
Where Je Gal Ah Hyun’s deep auburn eyes held an exotic quality, the boy’s eyes—blue as the sky itself—were utterly alien.
‘When the Arasans first came to the Central Plains, people mistook them for demons. Say no more.’
Being different from others meant exposure to discrimination and contempt.
Ho Yeon knew this all too well.
And so he felt compassion for the boy.
“…Tsk. I’ll look after him while we’re here.”
“I… beg your pardon?”
“This mochi of a thing.”
Ho Yeon scooped up Wolmyo by the scruff of the neck, letting the creature dangle.
Wolmyo gazed back and forth between the boy and Ho Yeon in bewilderment.
Pat. Pat. Pat.
Ho Yeon ruffled the creature’s fur roughly as he spoke in a gruff tone.
“I’m an animal lover, you see. While you’re here, I’ll keep this one safe.”
“…Who are you, sir?”
“Ho Yeon of the Namgung Clan.”
“Namgung… Ho Yeon.”
The boy stared at Ho Yeon in a daze, his lips parting slightly.
Embarrassed by the intensity of the gaze, Ho Yeon turned away and cleared his throat.
“Ahem! I do this because I want to. No thanks necessary.”
“Sir…!”
“No matter what others say, don’t lose heart. Your eyes are as beautiful as the Azure Sky. That’s the highest compliment a Namgung can offer.”
“…!”
Step, step, step.
Ho Yeon walked away, and the boy’s blue eyes trembled like turbulent waves as he watched his retreating figure.
* * *
The next evening.
The Baekga Sword Tournament officially opened.
The Geomun Pavilion, where the first gathering was held, was already packed with Late-Stage Experts.
Yet upon closer inspection, one could see that the crowd of Late-Stage Experts was divided into three distinct factions.
“Ha-ha-ha! Come now, everyone—raise your cups! I, Mo Yong Hu, propose a toast!”
A man in his mid-thirties, standing nearly seven feet tall with a powerfully built frame like a god of war, laughed boisterously and raised his wine bottle.
“Ah! Allow me to pour!”
“For you, sir!”
“Ha-ha-ha! Please, remain seated. I wouldn’t dream of troubling our guests. Old Mo Yong shall do the honors himself.”
Mo Yong Hu, the eldest of the Mo Yong Clan, waved off those who tried to approach.
Yet despite his words of moving, he did not rise from his seat.
He merely closed his eyes in concentration.
Then.
Splash!
“Oh, magnificent!”
“Remarkable!”
“The Void-Capturing Technique!”
From the wine bottle Mo Yong Hu held, clear liquor rose like a dragon and soared into the air.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The liquid dragon ascended, pouring an identical measure of wine into each Late-Stage Expert’s cup before vanishing.
Those who witnessed this display were left stunned.
‘The Void-Capturing Technique! Has Mo Yong Hu reached the Peak State?’
‘The Void-Capturing Technique harmonizes one’s own Internal Energy with that of an object, allowing precise manipulation of the flow of Qi….’
‘It requires profound Internal Energy, Peak concentration, and deep understanding of Qi—fail in any one aspect and it becomes impossible.’
Even if Mo Yong Hu, at thirty-five, was the oldest among the Late-Stage Experts gathered here.
What he had just demonstrated was no mere parlor trick.
‘The Void-Capturing Technique is the first gate on the path to the Sword Control Art.’
‘Mere abundance of Internal Energy alone cannot achieve it.’
‘If Mo Yong Hu were to reach the realm of the absolute Peak State and complete Spirit-Sword Unity…?’
‘Perhaps one day I’ll master the Energy-Controlled Sword like the Sword Emperor does.’
‘Truly, the Flashing Dragon!’
The eyes of the Late-Stage Experts watching Mo Yong Hu began to gleam with intensity.
A prodigy of the white-robed martial world who had blazed onto the scene at the Dragon-Phoenix Assembly nine years prior, earning the alias of Flashing Dragon.
Now, it seemed, he meant to cast off the label of Late-Stage Expert and prove his ambition to become the young heir of the Mo Yong Clan at this very Baekga Sword Tournament.
“Heh. A performer, he is not.”
Mo Yong Cheol, who had been observing the display, twisted his mouth as he muttered to himself.
At that, one of the Late-Stage Experts who had been mesmerized by Mo Yong Hu’s prowess snapped to attention and began fawning over Mo Yong Cheol.
“Ah, haha! Indeed, the Swift Blade Formless! You too possess command of the Void-Capturing Technique, Young Master!”
“I do not.”
“……Pardon?”
The Late-Stage Expert who had posed the question fell silent at Mo Yong Cheol’s curt reply.
Mo Yong Cheol, letting out a soft chuckle, spoke again.
“What’s required to kill an enemy is a single blade stroke—not parlor tricks like that.”
“Ah, yes, of course! Unless one were a legendary Sword Demon, what use would the Void-Capturing Technique be?”
The Late-Stage Expert hastily backpedaled, but Mo Yong Cheol’s attention had already shifted away from him.
Then another Late-Stage Expert spoke up to Mo Yong Cheol.
“Haha, well then, Young Master Mo Yong. What a perfectly matched pair you make.”
“Indeed! One might even say it’s the meeting of dragon and phoenix!”
“I concur.”
The other Late-Stage Experts chimed in one after another, and there was a genuine warmth to their words.
For although Mo Yong Hu’s features were sharp, he was undoubtedly handsome.
But more than that, the woman in white sitting quietly beside him—Je Gal Ah Hyun—possessed a mysterious beauty unlike anything found anywhere in the Central Plains.
“Heh, how kind of you.”
“…….”
Mo Yong Cheol nodded with a satisfied smile, but Je Gal Ah Hyun merely kept her silence, her head bowed.
Watching her, Mo Yong Cheol tilted his cheek and asked her quietly.
“What’s the matter? Your complexion seems troubled.”
“……It’s nothing. Perhaps the weariness of travel lingers.”
“Heh, I have some skill in medicine—allow me to take your pulse.”
He reached out smoothly.
As he spoke, Mo Yong Cheol extended his hand toward Je Gal Ah Hyun’s wrist.
Slap!
Je Gal Ah Hyun struck his hand away and forced an awkward smile.
“I’m fine. I know my own body well enough.”
“…….”
Mo Yong Cheol’s eyes darkened.
He had intended to display intimacy with Je Gal Ah Hyun, to give the impression that the Je Gal Clan was backing him.
But with that single gesture, his plan not only crumbled—it backfired entirely.
Several of the Late-Stage Experts began to glance back and forth between him and Je Gal Ah Hyun.
‘……What on earth is this woman thinking? Does she mean to raise her own worth now, at this late hour?’
Mo Yong Cheol’s gaze turned cold, but Je Gal Ah Hyun was in no state to notice.
Because.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
‘Ahhh! My head…… it hurts so much……!’
Her Heart-Sensitive Resonance had activated, and she was bearing the full brunt of every wave of desire and emotion that crashed through Geomun Pavilion.
Her vision flickered in a dozen colors, and the space between her brows burned with heat as her head throbbed as if it might split open.
‘Ho Yeon! Help me……!’
For a month with Ho Yeon, she had lived as an ordinary person.
But now her Heart-Sensitive Resonance was spiraling out of control again, and Je Gal Ah Hyun felt she was on the verge of another episode.
Just then.
Creak!
The doors of Geomun Pavilion opened, and a man in Blue Martial Robes stepped inside.
“Oh my?”
“Who is that?”
“Wow……!”
The female Late-Stage Experts were the first to react.
The jade-like face of the man who had entered Geomun Pavilion was striking enough to capture every eye.
“That robe. He’s from the Namgung Clan.”
“Then that must be Ho Yeon of the Namgung Clan.”
“Is it true? That Gui Tu Do Gui cut down the Demon of Heaven’s Edge?”
The male Late-Stage Experts around him observed the man’s blue martial robes and deduced his identity.
The youngest son of the Namgung Clan, a noble house in decline.
Ho Yeon.
“Wait—what’s that on his shoulder?”
“A cat?”
“…Why?”
The Late-Stage Experts fell into confusion.
A grey cat hung draped across Ho Yeon’s right shoulder like a piece of laundry.
“Yawn. What? Did I come too early?”
Ho Yeon muttered through a yawn.
The Late-Stage Experts around him wore strange expressions.
More than an hour had passed since the gathering began—how could he have arrived too early?
Save for the young master of the Tang family, who had declared his absence due to illness, Ho Yeon was the last to arrive.
‘Damn it. I timed it so I’d show up when they form the brackets at the end, but it seems that hasn’t happened yet?’
But from Ho Yeon’s perspective, he had indeed come early.
He’d arrived late precisely because he hated watching those brats flex their necks and preen—only to discover he’d been far too conscientious.
‘I’ll just wait in some corner, grab some snacks, and…’
Just then, as Ho Yeon’s gaze swept across the room, it caught on an unexpected figure.
“Ah…!”
The boy who had leapt to his feet wore neat white martial robes embroidered with chrysanthemums in gold thread.
But shaggy bangs hung low over his forehead and eyes, giving him an overall disheveled appearance.
“Huh?”
It was the scrawny, quick-witted kid he’d met yesterday.
As Ho Yeon tilted his head in confusion,
a blue light flashed through the boy’s eyes.

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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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