Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 58

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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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Chapter 58. The Sword Devil Reaches Shaanxi
The air in Yingbin Tower grew thick with heat and excitement.
“Good heavens, this is an extraordinary opportunity! To meet with the imperial family itself—and the Third Princess, no less, who is renowned as the most beautiful under heaven!”
Namgung Sang Bo trembled with flushed cheeks, lost in happy imaginings.
“I’ve heard that when she bought a cheap ring in the streets of Beijing and wore it, cheap rings suddenly became all the rage among the noble families for a time.”
The Third Princess: Eun Cho Ae.
In a word, she was an object of longing.
Noble blood as a princess of the imperial house, and beauty proclaimed as the most exquisite under heaven.
Learning so profound that Hanlin Academy scholars debated with her for three days and nights, paired with artistic gifts in poetry, books, guqin, and painting.
Most of all, the fact that the Emperor favored her above all his daughters anchored her lofty status.
To receive the favor of such a talented princess was to be marked as the finest of the fine.
“She merely wished to meet the owner of the tea leaves, though—she made no mention of purchasing tea from Seo Ok To.”
Sang Gwan Hae examined the letter carefully before speaking, and Namgung Sang Bo rushed to respond, foam at the lips.
“Those of high station are wont to avoid making commitments beforehand. Once we meet in person, the matter of purchasing the tea will surely arise.”
“Hmm, I should go myself.”
Namgung Baek, who had been listening thoughtfully to the exchange, nodded and spoke.
One could not send merely the household treasurer or foreign affairs minister to meet with imperial blood.
Then Ho Yeon opened his mouth.
“Father, I must be the one to go.”
“Hmm?”
“Look here. It says: ‘I should like to meet the tea owner, the benefactor of the peddler Man Hong Ki.'”
Namgung Ho Yeon pointed to the letter, and Namgung Baek’s brows twitched.
“You mean to say—she is referring to you, as someone connected to the merchant Man Hong Ki?”
“Precisely. Moreover, I hold rights to Seo Ok To, so I can claim the title of tea owner as well.”
“Hmm…….”
Namgung Baek deliberated carefully.
This was certainly a fine opportunity.
After a year of careful cultivation, the tea business was only now beginning to expand—an opportunity to give it wings.
‘Yet it carries equal risk.’
Namgung Baek had received word of the tumultuous state of affairs within the Silver Dynasty Imperial Court through his connection by marriage to the Hebei Peng Family.
The imperial house was currently embroiled in fierce hidden struggles, with the consorts’ families and high officials vying to establish the heir they each supported.
Drawing a line to the Third Princess in such circumstances meant risking the displeasure of opposing factions.
‘Politics are untouchable. There is nothing good to be gained from entanglement with them. Painful as it is, perhaps this is when the clan must set aside ambition and withdraw.’
Just as Namgung Baek’s deliberations deepened, Ho Yeon spoke with casualness.
“We meet, and if she wishes to buy, we sell—if not, so be it. What’s so complicated about it?”
“Ho Yeon. This is a matter that demands careful thought.”
“What is there to overthink about selling tea leaves?”
Namgung Ho Yeon met his father’s eyes, speaking with a blend of guile and genuine earnestness.
“Father, in the end, what matters is the Namgung Clan itself. If we maintain our pride as martial artists and stand firm, we cannot be shaken by any external circumstance whatsoever.”
“…….”
Namgung Baek fell silent at his son’s words.
He was moved, and there was much he perceived in them.
‘……This is shameful. Have I lost faith in the clan’s strength as Ho Yeon possesses?’
The boy’s reasoning was sound.
The Namgung Clan was, in essence, a martial house.
Warriors must prove their worth through the Martial Way itself.
‘Our clan’s strength has grown through continued expansion, and a year ago, when Ho Yeon awakened Sword Heart Resonance, we began to flourish.’
The Namgung Clan now possessed a solid foundation that yielded to no other power.
With the flourishing escort business and the prospect of supplying tea from Seo Ok To to the imperial court, it would be like a dragon grasping a wish-granting orb.
The very image of a dragon holding the pearl of fortune in its mouth.
“Very well. To set caution above seizing opportunity that arrives would not serve the clan. I shall accept the invitation.”
Clang!
At his father’s affirmative answer, Ho Yeon clenched his fist beneath the table.
‘Heh, this might work out without lifting a finger.’
In truth, Ho Yeon harbored little genuine interest in supplying tea to the imperial court.
Whether the court recognized it or not, premium tea would sell regardless.
What Ho Yeon aimed for was to have someone else remove the thorn that festered near the Namgung Clan’s doorstep.
‘Smuggled salt trading is, after all, illegal commerce forbidden by the realm—a matter for official intervention.’
Originally, he had intended to seek out Dang Se Ki and ask if he had connections with the provincial governor of Sichuan.
According to intelligence gathered through the wooden-masked ones’ swords, the salt operations were linked to Ban Ji Hwa of Sichuan Province.
But it was obvious that the imperial daughter would carry more weight than the provincial governor of Sichuan.
‘Good. Fortune smiles on me.’
It was just as Ho Yeon was grinning to himself that Namgung Baek’s low voice reached his ears.
“Mm. Ho Yeon. Tell your mother yourself. If you’ve barely just returned and already speak of leaving again….”
“…Wait?”
“Ahem. Your father will rise first.”
“Hold on. Father? Dad!”
Ho Yeon called after him at the top of his voice, but Namgung Baek had already unfurled the Divine Movement Technique and slipped out of Yingbin Tower.
* * *
Searing heat.
Humid steam.
Salty air.
In a place where all these things mingled together, hundreds of people moved with feverish haste.
“Hngh, hnngh…”
“Gasp, gasp!”
“Uuugh…”
Every one of them uttered sounds of agony, yet their faces were invisible.
They all wore wooden-masked ones carved from wood, featureless and blank.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
One wooden-masked one swung a massive axe without pause, splitting wood.
Another wooden-masked one loaded the logs onto a carrier frame and trudged toward an enormous furnace.
Crash!
As the logs tumbled into the furnace’s belly, sparks erupted and seared the wooden-masked one’s withered skin with burns.
But the wooden-masked one showed no sign of pain, moving without reaction as it carried the frame back again.
Above a dozen massive furnaces lay similarly enormous iron pans, their centers hollowed into a concave shape like an inverted cauldron lid.
On one of the pans lay white salt crystals piled delicately like fallen snow.
Whack! Scrape! Whack! Scrape!
Around it, a dozen wooden-masked ones gathered, scooping boiled salt into long-handled shovels.
Once a pan was cleared of salt, wooden-masked ones carrying water buckets approached and doused it.
Screeeech!
Hisssss!
Damp, salty steam spread through the air.
“Move faster!”
“Fail to meet today’s quota and you eat nothing!”
“Any crew that doesn’t scrape three or more salt trays a day faces salt punishment!”
The iron-masked ones among the wooden-masked ones shouted to drive them on.
“Uuuh…”
“Gasp! Gasp!”
“Gack! Hnngh!”
At the mention of salt punishment, the wooden-masked ones pushed harder, breath rising to their throats despite exhaustion.
Salt punishment was a torture in which the condemned were stripped naked and buried alive in pits filled with salt.
Endured even once, it brought the agony of hell itself and lingering aftereffects—a dreadful penalty beyond measure.
Beneath this Salt Prison lay chambers branching like an ant’s nest.
Most were spaces where salt slaves dwelt, but one particularly spacious chamber was decorated lavishly.
Mother-of-pearl furniture and gold-leaf porcelain graced it; silk screens and silver censers adorned it.
“What? No word from Dong Da Ju?”
“No, sir. We lost contact with him six days ago in Hefei.”
“What happened?”
“We cannot determine the exact circumstances, but given Dong Da Ju’s temperament, this silence is…”
The Gold-masked One, broad-shouldered in a yellow flying fish robe, received the report from the Silver-masked One in a black long robe, and spoke in grave tones.
“Something has gone wrong.”
“On investigation, Dong Da Ju went with five elite salt slaves and ten first-class salt slaves to conduct business with the Baiyun Trading Company.”
“The Baiyun Trading Company?”
“They were a merchant house we traded with actively in the past. Recently they reached out expressing intent to resume smuggled salt trade.”
“What are the odds it was their doing?”
“Slim. The forces they can buy with money would struggle to overcome Dong Da Ju.”
The Gold-masked One nodded to the Silver-masked One’s report and muttered.
“True. Dong Da Ju’s martial prowess is no trivial thing. With five elite salt slaves and ten first-class ones besides, he’d give even a major clan’s assault force a run for their money.”
“If it was the act of an individual, we face a formidable foe. If a collective, there may be a force targeting us.”
“Impossible. Have we forgotten whose protection we enjoy?”
The Gold-masked One waved his hand dismissively and continued speaking.
“The theory that Dong Da Ju ran afoul of some master or other at least has the ring of plausibility.”
“…What should we do, then?”
“What do you mean ‘what should we do’? Send word to the slaves. Tell them to dispatch a new superintendent. While we’re at it, we should expand operations a bit. It’s time we grew this business.”
“Understood.”
Footsteps. Footsteps. The door closed.
Once the Silver-masked One had left, the Gold-masked One—who had fallen into thought for a moment—suddenly burst into laughter.
“Puh-hehehe, ahahahaha!”
As the Gold-masked One’s booming laugh erupted, his broad chest swelled like a pufferfish.
The yellow flying fish robe stretched dangerously at the seams, splitting open on either side.
Beneath it, the gold armor he wore underneath caught the light and gleamed brilliantly.
“How splendid it is to be free from that suffocating palace!”
Crack!
The Gold-masked One clenched his fist—a hand so thick-boned it looked more like a bear’s paw than a human’s.
“Everyone thinks I’m nothing but a hunting dog, but they’re wrong. I became a wolf long ago.”
A low growl rumbled from his chest.
Yellow qi coiled around his fist like unraveling thread, then condensed into a mysterious radiance as if gathering starlight itself.
Gangqi.
The Gold-masked One was an accomplished master of the Transformation Realm—a level typically reached only by sect leaders and the foremost experts of their schools.
“With the Society at my back, I can reach the ends of heaven and earth. With the Society Master’s grace, I could surely attain the truth that all phenomena arise from mind!”
His eyes blazed.
The Gold-masked One’s pupils ignited with crimson ambition.
For now he was trapped in this vile underground, peddling salt like some common wretch.
But the day the Society Master revealed himself to the world—on that day, he would stand at that man’s side and look down upon all creation.
“May the Society endure eternal glory! Ahahahaha!”
The Gold-masked One’s laughter, praising the Society’s immortal ascendance, mingled with the screams of the salt slaves and the salt-laden air.
* * *
Shaanxi Province boasted numerous famous natural wonders: Mount Hua, counted among the Five Sacred Mountains as the Western Peak, and the Yellow River, which traced its northern boundary—along with many other celebrated sites.
Among these, the provincial capital of Xi’an was a city rich in history, having served as the capital of several dynasties.
It was a cultural center, home to countless historic landmarks: the Great Goose Pagoda, the Small Goose Pagoda, the Qianling Mausoleum, the Xingiao Temple, the Famen Temple, and the Xiangji Temple, among others.
‘Well, I made it here somehow.’
Namgung Ho Yeon gazed out through the carriage window at the serene city sprawling below, running his tongue across his teeth.
After his father had cowardly fled, it had been no easy task persuading his mother.
When her son, just returned from months away, spoke of venturing out once more, Peng Xiao Hua had grown thoroughly sullen—and so she’d come along.
That was how it came to be.
“Ha ha, it’s wonderful to be away from Hefei after so long.”
“Won’t Father be lonely by himself?”
Namgung Sang A, sitting beside the delighted Peng Xiao Hua, spoke with concern.
At this, Peng Xiao Hua let out a soft laugh.
“You silly thing. Do you think Father is a child?”
“By now he’s probably eating dinner alone.”
“If you were so worried, why didn’t you stay behind?”
“Because I wanted to see Xi’an too.”
Namgung Ho Yeon watched the mother and daughter converse across from him, then leaned close to Mo Yong Yul sitting beside him and whispered.
“You be careful too.”
“What?”
“Choose your wife wisely. Unless you fancy being abandoned and eating alone.”
“…You ought to be the one taking precautions.”
“Hm?”
Mo Yong Yul met Namgung Ho Yeon’s gaze with a look of pity.
Namgung Ho Yeon blinked, then shrugged with a rueful smile.
“Anyway, my father dumped everything on me and ran off. Serves him right. Heh heh heh.”
Namgung Ho Yeon chuckled, picturing his father sulking alone somewhere, and found it rather satisfying.
‘Feels like a family outing. Tang’s off in Sichuan because he was caught shirking duties, and Sang Gwan went to Hefei to set up trading posts and branch offices, so they couldn’t come.’
The true purpose of this journey was to meet the Third Princess and secure a supply contract for tea leaves.
In the time between obligations, he’d have to endure sightseeing dragged along by his mother and sister—but there was no reason to expect major complications like the Baekga Geom-hoe or Hwaedongjidan appearing.
“Ah, what peace of mind.”
The carriage carrying Namgung Ho Yeon rolled forward with a rumble.
Not long after it passed.
A soft sliding sound.
A man dressed entirely in black—black robes, black hat—materialized like a ghost, his eyes gleaming with an eerie light as he watched the departing carriage fade into the distance.
“…….”

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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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