Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 51

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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 51. Sword Demon and the Heukya Tae—A Swordsman’s Code
―Hey! Hey! Hey! Listen up, you brat!
“What are you saying?”
―You little bastard! Don’t lay your filthy hands on this samurai’s body! You fool!
“What kind of madman is this?”
Though Ho Yeon couldn’t understand the words, the tone made it ninety percent certain they were curses, so he flung back an insult of his own.
―It says: “You foul-mouthed brat. Don’t touch my body, you idiot.”
The Cheon Noe Sword translated the Heukya Tae’s words for him.
Sure enough, they were curses.
“This bastard—how dare you speak that way to your master?”
As Ho Yeon glared at the Heukya Tae, a man’s voice cut through, sharp with indignation.
―What? A master? Are you insane?
―A samurai chooses his shogun! A weakling like you—who would acknowledge you as his master? That’s absurd!

“This mad sword—you want to die? Should I melt you in a forge? Besides, you understood my words just fine. Why won’t you speak in Han?”
―I hate it! You little bastard!
―I refuse, you damnable brat.

Clang!
Ho Yeon drew the Heukya Tae from its sheath.
The mysterious black blade curved with subtle grace, its form flowing like water.
The wavy bloodlines along the fuller drank in the light, and the blade itself was thicker than most swords yet thinner than a saber—a distinctive width altogether.
But Ho Yeon paid no mind to its beauty and simply slammed it against the ground.
Clang!
―Argh! What are you doing!
―Stop it! What’s wrong with you?
“Correction.”
Clang!
―Quit that, you fool!
―Stop it, idiot.
“Respectful speech.”
Clang!
―Don’t you dare! If you chip me, who’s going to fix it? You?
―That’s what he’s saying.
“Oh, so you do know how to speak Han. But you forgot the respectful tone, didn’t you?”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Ho Yeon brought the Heukya Tae down against the stone floor in rapid succession.
The blade curved and flexed like a bow, trembling with each impact.
―Ugh! A samurai does not bend to outside pressure! Fool! I would sooner commit Seppuku!
―Heh. A strange one, indeed.
But the Heukya Tae never once lapsed into respectful speech with Ho Yeon.
Ho Yeon’s mouth twisted, and he asked the blade a question.
“Why are you so bent out of shape? What did I do?”
―You stole me from a mighty swordsman through cowardly means! Damn it!
“Cowardly means? A mighty swordsman?”
―If you’d killed Mo Yong Sang Cheon and claimed me through that victory, I could’ve served you as my shogun! But you—you took me with nothing but silver tongue!
“…….”
―And worse, you yourself are weak! I despise being held by a weak man’s hand! Send me back to Mo Yong Sang Cheon!
From the Heukya Tae’s outcry, Ho Yeon grasped what was truly bothering the blade.
‘So it hates that I—weaker than the Sword Master—obtained it through mere talk instead of strength? Because it fancies itself a samurai who serves only the strong?’
Ho Yeon found the situation absurd, yet he could understand the blade’s perspective to some degree.
In his past life, he had severed the head of a Japanese pirate captain who ravaged Jeol Gwang Province and claimed the Heukya Tae from him.
The blade saw that as a legitimate procedure.
“……How strong would I need to be for you to acknowledge me as your shogun?”
―At the very least, you’d need to draw out your Sword Light, you bastard!
“I can’t do that right now.”
―Ha! Listen to you, boasting like a charlatan! I hate liars, fool!
“What about becoming a Sword Demon?”
―Huh?
At Ho Yeon’s words, the Heukya Tae trembled, its thin voice faltering with bewilderment.
―Sword Demon? Ah, Oni Yaro.
The Heukya Tae Sword continued, its voice wistful as if lost in memory.
―If you speak of the Weiming, he was the finest master I ever served. A true warrior who stood alone and noble against the world.
“……Really? Is that so?”
―Of course! Had that wretch not died as he did, I would still be watching his back even now.
“Well. What’s the point of speaking ill of the dead.”
Ho Yeon shrugged dismissively, but the Heukya Tae Sword replied in a voice utterly transformed from before.
―You. If you mean to insult my comrade, cease at once. Melt me in the furnace instead. I will never follow you.
“Comrade……”
―Just as humans feel affection for their swords, so too do swords feel affection for their humans. A youngster like you wouldn’t understand, but I am no mere blade—I am a Beloved Sword that holds memory within me.
The Heukya Tae Sword spoke with gravity, and Ho Yeon’s smile deepened.
―No matter what anyone says, the Weiming is a warrior worthy of respect and, above all, my comrade! I will never forgive any who insult him!
At the Heukya Tae Sword’s cry, Ho Yeon washed his face with his palms.
Then he laughed.
“Ha ha, ha ha ha ha!”
―…… I have nothing more to say to you.
“Heh heh heh, I’ve got plenty more though?”
―I refuse. I will not exchange words with one who mocks my only comrade.
“Tell me a bit more. What sort of person was the Sword Demon?”
―…….
Ho Yeon asked playfully, but the Heukya Tae Sword, its feelings genuinely hurt, offered no reply.
Ho Yeon scratched the back of his head and murmured.
“Oops, did I go too far? Bear with me—it’s been ages since we last met. How was I to know we could actually understand each other? I suppose living long enough will show you all sorts of things.”
―……?
“It’s me, Heukya. Weiming.”
When Ho Yeon revealed his true identity, the Heukya Tae Sword spoke with a growl.
―If you think to mock me……!
“I’m serious. I’ve returned. I’m glad to meet you again.”
Whoooosh!
Ho Yeon tossed the Heukya Tae Sword into the air and activated his Uigi Yeondong.
The long blade rose vertically, coming to hover face to face with Ho Yeon.
―This… this power is Weiming’s……!
“Heh heh heh, from the moment we first met in Jeol Gwang Province, you’ve always held a place among the best blades. There was no sword like you for cleaving through the rabble in one stroke.”
―It can’t be! Oni Yaro died! He fell to a treacherous ambush from cowardly dogs!
“That he did. I don’t know why either. But I’m grateful I’ve come back to life.”
Click!
Ho Yeon grasped the Heukya Tae Sword.
The black blade stood tall and proud, reaching toward the ceiling.
“I’ve known nothing but swords my whole life. That’s why I thought I had no comrades—yet here one stands before me.”
―Are you… truly Weiming?
“Now I’m Namgung Ho Yeon. You remember the old man Namgung Cheon Gang? I’ve become his distant descendant.”
―If you truly are Oni Yaro……!
At Ho Yeon’s words, the Heukya Tae Sword cried out in trembling excitement.
―My comrade! Shall we not once more censure the world of the Jianghu together!
“Heh heh, of course. Wait a little longer. I’ll rise up soon enough.”
As Ho Yeon and the Heukya Tae Sword found common ground, the Cheon Noe Sword, feeling left out, gave a deliberate cough.
―Ahem! These thoughtless young blades, chattering away only to each other like that.
―And who might this elder sword be? Are you strong?
―How dare a mere youngster speak so curtly! And yes, I am strong! Because I am Dae Gon Dae!
―What? Dae Gon Dae? Splendid. Backwards it’s still Dae Gon Dae. Wonderful.
As the two swords conversed through Geom Sim Gam Eung, Ho Yeon thought to himself.
‘I’d always thought Geom Sim Gam Eung was an ability far inferior to Uigi Yeondong, but maybe that isn’t true.’
It was simply a matter of different applications.
Geom Sim Gam Eung possessed its own unique role that only it could fulfill.
And Ho Yeon found that deeply satisfying.
‘Good. My lost blades. I must find them again.’
At the same time, Ho Yeon could now set another purpose alongside his goal of making the Namgung Clan the greatest clan under heaven.
Borrowing Mo Yong Sang Cheon’s words, rebuilding the Namgung Clan was Public Desire; recovering his old blades was the realm of Private Desire.
―Oni Yaro! The hour of vengeance has come! Let us grow strong and swiftly announce to the cowards that we have returned!
The Heukya Tae Sword cried out without restraint, and Ho Yeon, smiling faintly, nodded his assent.
“Revenge sounds good. First, let’s find out who these bastards are.”
Ho Yeon’s gaze turned toward the bed.
There lay another sword, bound together with the Heukya Tae Sword.
It was a blade snapped clean in half at the middle—Yuk Gu Pae’s Suro Zansal Sword, severed by Mo Yong Sang Cheon’s Kwang Sword.
Tap.
Ho Yeon grasped the broken blade and activated Geom Sim Gam Eung.
Zing! Zinging!
Yuk Gu Pae’s sword emitted a faint radiance, transmitting its will to Ho Yeon.
“Of course. I can mend it. In exchange, you tell me something.”
Ho Yeon asked with a cold smile.
“You must have heard—who ordered the Hae Shin Bang to bring me in?”
“There’s a spoiled child of the Namgung Clan in this place!”
“No need for long speeches! Hand over this Namgung Ho Yeon, and we’ll let you pass unscathed!”
Yuk Gu Pae made no effort to hide his purpose.
He himself was a supreme master, and he’d mobilized the elite forces of the Hae Shin Bang aboard three merchant vessels—he’d been certain of victory.
In truth, had Mo Yong Sang Cheon not been present, the situation would have grown considerably dire.
This was why Ho Yeon needed to know.
Who had bared their fangs at him.
Zing!
Zinging!
Yuk Gu Pae’s sword began to spill forth its faint radiance.
And Ho Yeon, listening quietly to that tale, suddenly curled his lips upward and muttered.
“Look at these pathetic wretches.”
The enemy had been identified.
* * *
Bang!
“Failed, you say!”
A stout, middle-aged man slammed his desk and vented his fury.
U Chief Manager, standing before him, stammered his reply.
“That is, we haven’t received word from them at all.”
“Namgung Ho Yeon returned this morning! Then it must be a failure!”
The middle-aged man roared, bristling with indignation.
“You extorted that much money and still failed? Lee No, chief of the Hae Shin Bang! You dare make a fool of Baek Won Gwang?!”
The middle-aged man was Baek Won Gwang, master of the Baekun Trading Company.
A magnate of Hab Bi who had amassed wealth through silk brokerage alone.
‘The Baekga Geom-hoe was a golden opportunity!’
He had waited for the moment Namgung Ho Yeon stepped outside his clan.
So when he learned that Namgung Ho Yeon would attend the Baekga Geom-hoe, he immediately paid the Hae Shin Bang a fortune to commission them.
Capture Namgung Ho Yeon alive, or kill him if need be.
The Hae Shin Bang was a connection forged in gold through their transhipment ventures.
“What Suro Zansal? What Jang Gang Suro League? They couldn’t even catch one brat!”
Yet the Hae Shin Bang had betrayed his expectations.
Namgung Ho Yeon had returned safely to his clan.
‘That cursed boy ruined the family’s fortune! The little wretch I’ll tear to pieces…!’
Grind.
Baek Won Gwang gnashed his teeth at the thought of Namgung Ho Yeon.
One day, fire had suddenly broken out in the silk warehouse, and he’d been forced to pay an enormous penalty to the Geum Neung Trading Company; his dealings with the imperial court had ceased as well.
When he’d traded with Namgung Baek and received the northern farmlands, he’d thought he’d extinguished the immediate crisis.
The lands between Dong Po Lake and Dae Bang Lake were precarious, yet they promised stable harvests.
‘But then why did the earth suddenly die? Why on earth?!’
Yet for reasons unknown, the soil had withered; the northern farmlands had become a barren wasteland where not a single blade of grass would grow.
‘I’d bought up promissory notes at ten times the market price to absorb the Namgung Clan…!’
All that effort and capital had turned to ash.
Had it ended there, he might have cursed heaven and been done with it.
But.
“What scheme did you pull? Transforming the western wasteland into Seo Ok To!”
Bang! Bang! Crash!
Baek Won Gwang, in a fury, pounded his desk repeatedly.
What? The Dark Warrior died and the White Tiger was born?
A Divine Dragon has been born to the Namgung Clan?
It was complete nonsense.
“Huff! Huff! There must be something—something he’s hiding! That bastard must know a way to revive his sect!”
“But… is such a thing truly possible through human effort…?”
“Then how else do you explain Seo Ok To? The tea leaves harvested there are flying off the shelves as we speak!”
Baek Won Gwang’s eyes filled with blood-red veins.
He had tried to capture Namgung Ho Yeon and extract the secret from him, but failed.
Without reviving the northern fields, there was no hope for the Baekun Trading Company.
“…Since it’s come to this, I’ll seek their help again.”
“Huff! M-Master! This is far too dangerous. If we’re caught—!”
“That’s precisely why I’ve maintained these connections! Stop wasting time and make contact!”
“…Yes, sir.”
U Chief Manager swallowed hard and nodded.
“What of Won Ui?”
“That is… well…”
“At the pleasure houses again?”
“…So it appears, sir.”
Bang!
At U Chief Manager’s words, Baek Won Gwang slammed his fist on the desk and roared.
“Bring him here at once!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Clatter! Thud!
As U Chief Manager rushed from the room, Baek Won Gwang—who had been fuming moments before—drew a long breath and muttered.
“There. Yes. It’s time Won Ui played in the deep waters too.”
His only son, for better or worse.
It was time he learned to think clearly and became the true heir to the Baekun Trading Company.

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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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