Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 5

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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 5. The Sword Ghost’s Confession
“How is your body feeling?”
“Quite well, thank you.”
“That’s a relief. I’ve been so caught up with clan matters that I haven’t been able to visit you as often as I’d like—forgive me.”
“……No, there’s nothing to forgive.”
Ho Yeon averted his gaze from Namgung Baek’s warm smile and bowed his head.
‘Tsk. Spineless. A clan head shouldn’t apologize so casually.’
Back when he was Dan Wi Myeong, his personal creed had been simple.
Better to be a ruthless aggressor than a hapless victim.
‘Victims earn pity at best, but aggressors inspire fear.’
In this brutal Joonghwon martial world.
If you grin and carry on pleasantly, people will walk over you.
A clan head must be cold and merciless, cutting down enemies without hesitation, etching the entire household’s terror into people’s minds.
That’s the only way to prevent all manner of scoundrels from underestimating and rushing at you……
“Ha ha, all the same—I’ve prepared a gift for you, so cheer up.”
As Namgung Baek bustled about, his grin spreading wide.
There wasn’t a trace of a clan head’s dignity to be found.
‘Tsk, tsk. A complete disaster. Is this really the Namgung Clan? Where are all the sharp ones I knew?’
Just as Ho Yeon was clicking his tongue inwardly.
Namgung Baek placed a wooden box wrapped in blue cloth on the desk.
“Go on, open it.”
“Yes.”
Rustle, rustle.
Click.
Following Namgung Baek’s words, Ho Yeon unwrapped the cloth and opened the box’s lid.
At once, a fresh, pleasant fragrance filled the room.
“What is this……?”
“Ha ha, it’s called the Hundred Virtues Body-Strengthening Pill. I obtained it through an acquaintance of the Hundred Virtues Medical House.”
“…….”
“It’s an elixir that enhances stamina and nourishes the body, so it won’t have much effect in combat, but you should still gain about five years’ worth of inner strength from it.”
“…….”
“Come now, swallow it quickly. I’ll help guide your Qi.”
Ho Yeon looked at the dark, unremarkable pill sitting alone in the box and let out a sigh.
“Sigh……”
Click.
Namgung Baek watched Ho Yeon close the box lid and gave him a puzzled look.
“What’s wrong? I wouldn’t call it a spiritual pill exactly, but the Hundred Virtues Body-Strengthening Pill is quite famous……”
“How much was this?”
“Hmm?”
“It looks almost like a spiritual pill—it can’t have been cheap, can it?”
When Ho Yeon asked, Namgung Baek cleared his throat and replied.
“Ahem, didn’t I tell you? I obtained it through an acquaintance.”
“So, how much did you pay for it?”
“Well……”
Seeing that Ho Yeon wasn’t about to drop the matter, Namgung Baek reluctantly opened his mouth.
“Hmm, normally you’d need to pay 600 taels, but I got this one for 500—quite a bargain.”
“In silver?”
“……In gold.”
“What the hel—!”
At Namgung Baek’s explanation, Ho Yeon barely managed to swallow the curse rising in his throat.
What? Five hundred taels of gold?
That’s ten thousand taels in silver?
Unless gold mines had been erupting for the past three centuries and rendered the metal worthless, this was an astronomical sum.
In Beok Gyeong, where land prices were notoriously steep, that amount would easily purchase a modest estate.
“Human life is priceless. One cannot put a value on a person’s life, so don’t worry yourself over such things and swallow it now.”
Human life is priceless, he says.
What sort of nonsense is that?
Then why do ronin exist?
‘If you walk into the slums right now, there are plenty of lives you could buy for pocket change.’
Meanwhile, sitting before Ho Yeon’s eyes was a pill worth five hundred taels of gold.
This was not something everyone could obtain.
Therefore, Namgung Baek’s words contained a contradiction.
What he truly meant to say was something like this:
Your life cannot be measured in value.
“That’s enough.”
“Ho Yeon?”
“I’ve recovered completely. It would be wasteful for me to take this medicine.”
“Huh, fainting five or six times a day, and you claim you’re all better? You expect your father to believe that?”
“It’s just that…….”
Ho Yeon hesitated for a moment.
Should he really tell them?
He’d agonized over it countless times before coming here, but still hadn’t reached a decision.
‘To get what I want, I need to show my hand to some degree. But…….’
“……You monster.”
“Dan Wi Myeong? That bastard was just lucky.”
“Why does only he have such power!”
“It’s sorcery!”
“Kill him!”
Words he’d heard countless times during his days as Dan Wi Myeong still echoed relentlessly in his mind.
People do not accept those who are different from them.
If the person was mediocre, it was bearable.
One could hide their own failures by pretending to console someone lesser than oneself.
But if the person was exceptional?
Through them, one saw one’s own inadequacy and grew furious.
‘And they’d try to destroy it regardless. That’s how even the fractured court factions united and came at me like a pack of dogs.’
Perhaps.
These people were the same, weren’t they?
They’d withdraw all the goodwill they’d shown so far and treat me with malice and hostility?
‘Heh, well, it doesn’t matter. I’m used to it.’
Ho Yeon suddenly realized he’d been worrying needlessly.
After spending the past few weeks in this soft clan, his heart had grown soft as well.
‘It doesn’t matter if everyone becomes my enemy. After all, in this world, you’re born alone and die alone. That’s all there is.’
Having finished his deliberation, Ho Yeon opened his mouth.
“It’s because I’ve become a Yeongnungja.”
“……!”
* * *
A Yeongnungja.
One whose upper dantian has opened, allowing them to wield the power of the spirit and display all manner of extraordinary abilities.
In the past, the term Yeongnungja referred to shamans or sorcerers.
In some regions they were treated as demons and put to death.
But after the emergence of one particular being.
The evaluation of Yeongnungja underwent a complete reversal.
The Sword Ghost, Dan Wi Myeong.
The greatest martial artist of his age, and an existence from whom no one of comparable caliber has emerged in the three centuries since.
To capture the Sword Ghost, an unprecedented alliance of the Samdo Alliance was established, but the result was mutual destruction.
The martial artists of Joonghwon felt terror at the Sword Ghost’s overwhelming martial prowess, and were simultaneously captivated by it.
After the Sword Ghost Blood Incident, each clan and faction endeavored to produce an existence like the Sword Ghost.
They secured Yeongnungja and poured astronomical sums into developing and researching their abilities.
In the process, several truths about Yeongnungja came to light.
One of them was that the more one used their Spiritual Ability, and the more one pushed beyond their limits, the stronger it became.
‘Ho, Ho Yeon has become a Yeongnungja? Then the reason he faints several times a day is because he’s been using his Spiritual Ability?’
Namgung Baek was taken aback by his youngest son’s sudden confession.
But even more startling news followed.
“My Spiritual Ability is the power to sense and communicate with the heart of the sword.”
“That, that’s Sword Heart Resonance! The Spiritual Ability of our ancestor, the Heavenly Sword Sovereign Namgung Cheon Gang……!”
Crash! Thud!
At Ho Yeon’s words, Namgung Baek rose from his seat in great shock.
Sword Heart Resonance.
According to what was written in the Azure Sky Secret Record, a text that only Clan Heads may read.
The Heavenly Sword Sovereign Namgung Cheon Gang mastered the Sword Heart Resonance and could wield all the clan’s martial techniques with perfect freedom.
“Then……!”
Whip!
Namgung Baek’s head snapped around.
On the wall hung an old, worn sword in a plain scabbard—a blade that seemed to embody the very weight of history.
The Cheonrae Sword.
‘Of course! That’s why Ho Yeon collapsed inside his room! The reason for that unidentified Heavenly Thunder Qi dwelling in his body was precisely……!’
Namgung Baek, his expression impassive, turned to his youngest son with a question.
“Is it possible…… that you studied the Heavenly Thunder Sovereign Divine Art from the Cheonrae Sword and cultivated your inner strength?”
“Yes.”
“……!”
At Ho Yeon’s answer, Namgung Baek’s eyes widened sharply, and he moved slowly toward his son.
His gaze burned with a crimson gleam, his expression contorted with intensity.
‘Just as I thought…… indeed.’
Ho Yeon sensed something bitter stirring within him at his father’s fierce reaction.
The man wore a gentle mask and laughed carelessly enough, but he was a martial artist through and through.
He must have felt jealousy upon learning that his son had restored a lost divine art.
‘No matter. In fact, this is better. This is a bargain. As long as I hold the secrets of the Heavenly Thunder Sovereign Divine Art in my hands, I have value.’
Humans were assessed by their utility in the world, nothing more.
His value, as the keeper of the clan’s lost divine art from three centuries past,
would be as irreplaceable as a treasure that no one dared carelessly discard.
‘One piece at a time, we’ll exchange what we desire. They’ll recover the lost divine art, and I’ll gain a place of safety within the Namgung Clan.’
While Ho Yeon was calculating the gains and losses of this transaction in his mind,
Thud!
an angry Namgung Baek seized his youngest son’s shoulder and cried out.
“You foolish boy! What if something had gone wrong with you!”
“……!”
At his father’s words, Ho Yeon’s eyes flew wide, his mouth falling open slightly.
It was nothing like what he’d anticipated.
He’d been certain the man would demand the secrets of the Heavenly Thunder Sovereign Divine Art.
What?
“Why on earth did you do this! Why did you take such a reckless risk!”
“I…… it was…….”
“If something had happened to you! Do you understand how many would weep!”
“I…… I…….”
Ho Yeon, overwhelmed by the force of his father’s presence, stammered an excuse.
“It was…… I thought you’d…… be pleased…….”
“That trivial martial art! We can do without it! But if you were lost! How would your mother and I go on!”
Crash!
Namgung Baek pulled his youngest son into a tight embrace across his broad chest.
“…….”
Trapped in that embrace, Ho Yeon gazed blankly up at the ceiling.
Thump, thump, thump!
He heard the sound of a heartbeat.
Was it his own heart beating?
It couldn’t be…….
“Forgive me for shouting. But promise me—no more reckless dangers like that.”
“……Yes.”
Moments later, as Namgung Baek’s composure returned and he spoke in a stern voice, Ho Yeon simply nodded in silence.
Then Namgung Baek stroked his hair gently and murmured,
“So that’s what it was. Sword Heart Resonance. That’s why you kept collapsing so often.”
“…….”
“You were conversing with your sword, desperately trying to recover lost memories.”
“…….”
“From now on, don’t do that anymore. You are the young lord of the great Namgung Clan and my son, no matter what anyone says.”
“…….”
Thump, thump, thump!
Thump, thump, thump!
As Ho Yeon listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat,
he felt, for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, as though he had stepped away from a fierce battlefield.
* * *
“Huh huh huh, Sword Heart Resonance. So my son has awakened Sword Heart Resonance?”
Some time had passed.
Namgung Baek and Ho Yeon sat across from each other at the desk once more.
Namgung Baek couldn’t suppress the laughter that kept bubbling to the surface.
“Well then, this sword is yours.”
Click.
Namgung Baek drew the Cheonrae Sword from where it hung on the wall and handed it to Ho Yeon.
“…….”
Ho Yeon took the Cheonrae Sword in silence.
‘……I suppose this was the goal all along, but I never expected it to come so easily.’
To learn how to handle Heavenly Thunder Qi, the Cheonrae Sword was absolutely essential.
But the Cheonrae Sword was a legendary blade forged from Yuntel and the sacred treasure of the Namgung Clan.
It was certainly not something to be handed over to others on a whim.
‘I thought I’d have to ask him to teach me the incantations of the Heavenly Thunder Sovereign Divine Art in exchange, but to think I’d obtain it so simply……’
Ho Yeon accepted the Cheonrae Sword with an uneasy expression and glanced sidelong at Namgung Baek.
“Huh huh huh.”
His face was lit up with such unbridled joy.
Unable to bear that gaze any longer, Ho Yeon opened his mouth.
“Um, Father. I have something I’d like to ask.”
“Dad.”
“Pardon?”
“If you call me Dad, I’ll tell you anything. It’s been so long since I heard that word—I’ve missed it.”
This man.
What is my age.
“D-d-d…… ad.”
“Huh huh, that’s right. What could our precious youngest be curious about?”
Ho Yeon mumbled it softly, fighting through his shame.
Namgung Baek, satisfied with the answer, nodded and asked his question.
Ho Yeon sighed before responding.
“Well, I watched Cheong Gang’s Changgoong Muae Sword Technique in Yeongong Hall, and something seemed off about it.”
“Off?”
“Something felt unnatural.”
“……Did you use Sword Heart Resonance?”
Ho Yeon nodded at Namgung Baek’s question and replied.
“Yes. I consulted with the oldest blade in Yeongong Hall, and it told me the sword technique had been corrupted.”
‘Though in truth, it’s because I know Namgung Cheon Gang’s sword.’
As Ho Yeon wove truth with falsehood, Namgung Baek’s expression grew grave, and he stroked his chin in thought.
“Hmm…….”
“I was curious about the reason…….”
“Ah, so it was as I suspected.”
As suspected?
When Namgung Baek murmured as if he’d already guessed something, Ho Yeon’s ears perked up.
Then he heard something unexpected.
“It all stems from Sword Ghost. That cursed demon.”
……Pardon?

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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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