Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 67

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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 67. The Sword Ghost’s Returning Needle
“Meow! Meow!”
“Hiss! Hisss!”
In the back courtyard, Weol Myo and Jeok Seo were playing around without restraint.
Weol Myo lay on the ground swinging a cloth mallet, while Jeok Seo dodged this way and that, humoring the play.
“Pant! Pant! Gasp!”
Slash! Slash! Slash-slash!
Mo Yong Yul stood in the back garden, sword drawn, executing the Yeon Hon Sam Sik relentlessly.
As his swift blade carved through the empty air, his expression—half-hidden beneath shaggy bangs—looked desperately urgent.
‘Yeon Hon Sam Sik won’t be enough. I need something like Geon Gon Pa Seom Geom or Seom Gwang Bun Un Geom……!’
Mo Yong Yul was thinking about running before he’d even learned to walk properly.
There was no choice.
‘Older Brother is still advancing at this very moment. He’ll keep pulling further and further away until one day he disappears into a distance I can never reach.’
When that time comes, will he still be able to stand at Older Brother’s side?
Crunch!
Mo Yong Yul gripped the sword so hard it hurt.
Again, Older Brother had left him behind.
When told to wait, he’d said nothing, only nodded his head.
‘He says I’m helpful, that things became easier because of me, but the truth is Older Brother could’ve handled everything perfectly fine without me.’
Watching Older Brother, only astonishing things ever happen.
Turning Pa Wang Moon and Yeom Moon against each other so they destroy themselves?
Anyone can think of such things. But executing them, making them reality—that was a completely different dimension of skill.
“Before long, you’ll feel my words in your very flesh. Ho Yeon is already a dragon prepared for ascension.”
“…… That woman was right.”
Mo Yong Yul murmured, recalling Jegal Ahyeon’s words.
“She understood. Staying at Older Brother’s side now wouldn’t be much help.”
That’s why Jegal Ahyeon had returned to her family.
By now, she was likely gathering influence desperately within the clan, receiving support in countless spiritual medicines and martial techniques to raise her level.
Meanwhile, he had fled his own clan and followed Older Brother.
At first, being with someone he admired had felt so wonderful, so joyful, but gradually doubt crept in—had he made a mistake?
‘Was my judgment too hasty? Should I return to the clan too? If I compete with my brothers and become a successor, will Older Brother acknowledge me?’
Negative thoughts and feelings churned inside him.
Perhaps because of that, a dark aura rippled faintly through Mo Yong Yul’s blue eyes.
‘This won’t do. I can’t fall behind. I want to go forward with Older Brother! Why am I so useless?!’
Bite!
Mo Yong Yul bit his lip so hard that blood dripped like tears.
“Hiss?!”
“Meow!”
At that, Jeok Seo’s nose twitched and his head snapped up.
Weol Myo scooped up Jeok Seo and set him on her head, then bounded toward Mo Yong Yul.
“Meow!”
“Chirp-chirp!”
“…… I know. I’ll stop now.”
When Weol Myo and Jeok Seo cried out with worry in their eyes, Mo Yong Yul nodded and wiped away the blood.
Then.
“You seem to have much on your mind.”
“……!”
From the direction of the wall came a man’s voice, ominous as a raven’s cry.
Whoosh!
“Who are you?!”
Mo Yong Yul spun, blade leveled at the source.
A man in all black—black robes, black hat—stood ghostlike atop the wall.
“I have long awaited this meeting with you.”
“I don’t know anyone as suspicious as you! Reveal yourself!”
“My name is Mu Yeong Jin.”
“…… Mu Yeong Jin?”
Shadow and dust?
It was impossible to think of this as the name of an ordinary person.
“You wouldn’t have heard of me. This is the first time I’ve revealed my name, after all.”
“What?”
“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Mu Yeong Jin, the current Master of Hao Mun.”
“……!”
As Mu Yeong Jin offered a formal bow, Mo Yong Yul’s eyes widened until they seemed ready to split.
What? The Master of Hao Mun?
‘I was told that no one knows the Master of Hao Mun’s true identity. Not whether they were man or woman, young or old.’
Across this vast Central Plains, countless intelligence organizations thrived.
When you counted both the official intelligence divisions run directly by the various sects and noble houses, and the independent minor organizations, ten thousand was hardly an exaggeration.
Among all these proliferating intelligence networks, only five names ranked among the elite.
Gae Bang, Jeok An Bi Gak, Dong Chang, Geum Yi Jeon. And Hao Mun.
If you set aside Dong Chang as merely the Imperial court’s secret intelligence bureau, then Murim effectively had four supreme intelligence organizations.
Gae Bang belonged to the Murim Alliance. Jeok An Bi Gak served Gucheon Sung. Geum Yi Jeon was staffed by those whom money moved—the penny-pinchers.
And lastly, Hao Mun was a gray faction that had emerged after the Geom Gwi Blood War, claiming neutrality and never siding with any power.
“……A person whose identity nobody knows claims to be that very person? There’s no easier lie than that.”
At Mo Yong Yul’s words, Mu Yeong Jin nodded and opened his mouth.
“You want proof, then.”
“If you’re thinking of pulling out some credential and deceiving me—”
“Seol Na Hwa.”
“……!”
At the name that fell from Mu Yeong Jin’s lips, Mo Yong Yul’s jaw dropped.
“How—how do you know my mother’s name—!”
Seol Na Hwa.
A name that, save for his father and himself, no one in the world knew.
Those three characters had just tumbled from a stranger’s mouth.
“Does that suffice as proof?”
“…….”
“Dear me, it seems I’ve only deepened your suspicion. That wasn’t my intention at all.”
Mu Yeong Jin spoke with a cracked, strained voice, as if troubled.
“You cannot fathom how long I have waited to meet you. I swear I mean you no harm. Please, set your mind at ease.”
“……Why me?”
“Fifteen years ago, I received astounding news from the Heavenly Maiden of Tianshan. That a Spiritual Master of Hao Mun had been born. The first in three hundred years.”
“……Heavenly Maiden? Spiritual Master? Three hundred years?”
As incomprehensible words poured forth, Mo Yong Yul’s brow furrowed.
Yet Mu Yeong Jin did not answer his unspoken questions. He pressed on.
“From that moment, we mobilized every resource of our organization to find the Spiritual Master.”
“…….”
“And finally, a year ago, we discovered your existence.”
“…….”
“You were being persecuted within the Moyong Clan. I wished to make contact at once and bring you to us, but even we could not simply scale the walls of the Moyong estate.”
Mu Yeong Jin’s words tumbled faster, while Mo Yong Yul retreated step by step.
Step. Step. Step.
Following him, Mu Yeong Jin clenched his fists and continued.
“The Spiritual Master finally appeared, and yet we had to wait! We saw the Baekga Geom-hoe as our chance. You would leave the estate, and an opportunity to approach you would come at last.”
“……Then why didn’t you contact me then?”
“Not out of choice, but out of necessity. There was always a terrifying person at your side, eyes blazing with vigilance.”
“A terrifying person?”
“Namgung Ho Yeon.”
At Ho Yeon’s name, Mo Yong Yul’s steady retreat came to an abrupt halt.
“My brother?”
“We could not approach him. He seemed to see through all space itself. Several of our disciples fell to him—the problem being that none of them ever understood how.”
“…….”
“If you stay by my side, at the very least you won’t die by the sword in your sleep. What do you say? Will you ally with Unit Five?”
Ho Yeon’s words came back to him.
So it was true. He had been watching over me all along.
A smile played at the corners of Mo Yong Yul’s mouth, and Mu Yeong Jin, who had been studying him intently, spoke again.
“In Dandong, he even saw through the disguise of one of our disciples who had been posing as a medicinal herb merchant for over thirty years.”
“Ha, my brother knows everything there is to know.”
“Because of this, I was forced to wait for another chance. From Liaoning to Hefei. From Hefei to Shaanxi. From Shaanxi to this southern edge of Sichuan, I followed you.”
“But why? What even is this Spiritual Master you speak of?”
At Mo Yong Yul’s question, Mu Yeong Jin answered in a trembling voice.
“The fulfillment of our Hao Mun’s long-held desire. One who will plant pride in the hearts of we who are despised by all!”
“……Even if you say that, I’m powerless. Whatever you want, I won’t be able to make it happen.”
Mo Yong Yul dragged his blade across the ground, muttering with bitter self-mockery.
Mu Yeong Jin shook his head and pointed to Weol Myo and Jeok Seo.
“That’s not true. You possess ability.”
“……You can’t mean…”
“Yes. We know you are a Spirit Ability User.”
Mo Yong Yul stared at Mu Yeong Jin for a moment, then sighed and murmured.
“I thought Sugam Dongtong would be enough. But it falls short. That much isn’t sufficient to stand beside him.”
“Sugam Dongtong?”
At Mo Yong Yul’s words, Mu Yeong Jin muttered in confusion, then suddenly burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha! Ahahaha!”
“……What’s so funny?”
“Hahahaha! Forgive me. Sugam Dongtong? Your Spirit Ability is far more profound than that.”
“……?!”
“Find Xiao Yao Zhuang in Hefei. There I shall reveal to you the truth of your genuine power.”
“Wait, hold on!”
A soft rustling sound.
Mo Yong Yul called out urgently, but Mu Yeong Jin had already merged with the wall and vanished from sight.
Only his raven-like voice lingered in the back courtyard.
“You will come. I am certain of it.”
“…….”
After Mu Yeong Jin vanished like a ghost, Mo Yong Yul stared for a long while at the wall where he had disappeared, murmuring blankly.
“My true…… power?”
* * *
The blade gleamed!
The Silver Blade reflected the lamplight, shining a deep red.
The eyes of Gong Yeo An, the woman in white mourning clothes watching it, also burned crimson.
“Father…….”
When she closed her eyes, her father’s face appeared with perfect clarity.
Her father had been a man of virtue.
He gave free treatment to patients without means, and when plague swept through, he threw himself into uncovering its cause.
He traveled to remote villages to treat an elderly man with a lame leg, and even gathered neighborhood children to teach them their letters.
“Yeo An. Do not resent the world. Surely this world is moving toward something better.”
‘Father. I fear I am not as virtuous as you are. This world seems only worthy of resentment.’
Remembering her late father, Gong Yeo An’s teeth clenched, and a steely resolve crystallized in her eyes.
“Take your chastity then. I give it freely. But in return, you shall give me your life.”
Jeok Sa Heun, the Faction Lord of Pa Wang Moon.
The enemy who had driven her father into desperation, forcing him toward the Iron Chain Pavilion.
The thought of nestling in the arms of an enemy with whom she could not share the same sky made her gag.
But for revenge, she would smile and fawn before him.
“Father. Please wait. Soon your daughter, Gong Yeo An, shall offer you a formal greeting—along with the head of her enemy.”
Tonight, she would die.
Together with Jeok Sa Heun.
“Pardon me.”
At that moment, a voice came from beyond the door.
The voice of a man who had been lodging at the clinic with his younger brother for the past several days.
Remembering her father’s words to help those in peril, she had readily offered him a room.
“Yes? What is it?”
“I’ve come to return the needle I borrowed.”
“One moment.”
Click! Creak!
Gong Yeo An hid the Silver Blade within her garment and opened the door.
A man who appeared worn and weary handed her a needle case and spoke.
“I cleaned it thoroughly. You’ll want to sterilize it by boiling, of course.”
“It doesn’t matter. I won’t have need of it anymore.”
“Hmm? Didn’t you say you would carry on the family trade?”
Ho Yeon tilted his head in puzzlement, and Gong Yeo An smiled as she replied.
“There’s something far more important.”
“Ah, I see. And I’m sorry—I won’t be able to keep my promise about getting you silk thread.”
“What?”
When Gong Yeo An questioned what Namgung Ho Yeon had said, he stepped aside from the doorway and continued.
“One cannot mourn the living, after all.”
“What do you me—Gasp!”
As he moved away, the courtyard came into view, and Gong Yeo An’s eyes flew wide open.
Gaunt and his skin hanging loose, yet it was her father Gong Ja Cheong—the man she had dreamed of—standing beneath the moonlight.
“Yeo An. How have you been?”
“You—you’re—Dad?”
“Ha ha, I’m a bit late, aren’t I? Forgive me.”
“Aaaah!”
Tap-tap-tap!
With a cry, Gong Yeo An burst from the room and flew across the courtyard in bare feet, throwing her arms around Gong Ja Cheong.
“Dad! Dad, is it really you? Is it really you?”
“Heh heh, of course it is.”
“Sob! Wah—waaah! Dad!”
“My, my. A grown woman showing tears—what use is that? Come now.”
Even as Gong Ja Cheong spoke, tears streamed down his own face as he began to pat his daughter’s back.
The tears of father and daughter were surely saltier than salt itself.
“Sniff! How can you be here? You were supposed to—”
“It’s a long tale. But tell me—do we have any comfrey in the medicine storage?”
“Sniffle! A little bit remains.”
“Many have suffered skin wounds. It seems we’ll be busy from now on.”
Namgung Ho Yeon, who had watched the reunion of father and daughter, quietly made his way to the back courtyard.
“Mm. Hmm?”
“You’ve come, brother.”
“Yes. Were you not sleeping?”
“I was waiting.”
Namgung Ho Yeon roughly ruffled Mo Yong Yul’s hair as he opened the door to the room.
Creak!
“Get inside, you wretch. We leave at first light, so you need proper rest.”
“…Yes.”
Mo Yong Yul clenched his fists as he watched Namgung Ho Yeon enter the room ahead of him.
Not only were the hand gripping the doorknob trembling faintly, but a heavy scent of blood emanated from him.
‘So this is what Xiao Yao Zhuang was like?’
Mo Yong Yul’s jaw tightened as he recalled Mu Yeong Jin’s words.

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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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