Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 69

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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 69. Sword Ghost Destroys White Cloud
Rumble-rumble!
A carriage arrived at the main gate of the Namgung Clan residence.
Namgung Ho Yeon’s party, who had departed for Xi’an, had returned to Hapbi.
“Ahem. Cough, cough.”
Namgung Baek, who had come out to greet them, cleared his throat with a cold expression on his face.
More than ten days of brooding alone in his quarters had built up a weight of loneliness that now threatened to burst forth.
‘The eldest won’t come out until he completes his great work—he’s locked himself in his meditation chamber. My daughter and wife are worried about the youngest and followed him, so they’ve abandoned me too.’
A husband is alone.
He wrestles with documents late into the night in his study, eats his solitary meals in silence.
Not one child comes to inquire after his health, and when he reaches his bedchamber, there is no wife to greet him—only sighs escape him unbidden.
‘This time, I will not let this pass so easily.’
Namgung Baek resolved that today he must display a husband’s authority.
He was determined to sulk quite thoroughly.
Click.
Just then, the carriage door opened, and Paeng So Hwa stepped out gracefully.
‘What? What could have happened?’
Namgung Baek was startled when he saw Paeng So Hwa glancing about like a startled deer.
His wife had always been beautiful, but today she looked even younger than in her maiden days.
Looking more closely, her skin seemed supple and luminous with a radiance he hadn’t seen before.
“Oh, my dear!”
Paeng So Hwa, catching sight of Namgung Baek, broke into a brilliant smile and rushed toward him.
“Don’t—don’t run! What if you hurt yourself!”
“Hehe! Have you been well?”
“Well… ahem. I have not.”
Namgung Baek, nearly ready to forgive her for her beauty, caught himself and cleared his throat with renewed resolve.
Then Paeng So Hwa, her eyes curved into delicate crescents, flew into Namgung Baek’s arms like a sparrow.
Thump!
“I have missed you so dearly that I lost sleep every night.”
“Oh! Really, is that so?”
“Of course. Did you not miss me either?”
As Paeng So Hwa gazed up at him with a fragile tenderness like a single magnolia bloom, Namgung Baek’s cheeks flushed.
“I did… I did miss you.”
“Hehe, I’m so happy! Here—this Seoho Brush, it’s something you love. I searched through Xi’an with a fine-tooth comb to select just this one for you.”
Paeng So Hwa smiled radiantly and produced from her garments a fine brush made of yellow weasel hair, handing it to him.
“You shouldn’t have gone to such trouble…”
Even as he said this, Namgung Baek’s lips curved upward with barely contained delight as he accepted the brush.
The thought that his wife had chosen this gift with him in mind filled him with a joy that seemed to lift him skyward.
Tap-tap.
Next, Namgung Sang A descended from the carriage and glided down to land before Namgung Baek with a display of her Lightness Skill.
The young girl’s skin too shone with an inner glow, and standing beside her mother, they looked like sisters.
“Good heavens, what on earth…?”
“Father, this is called the Chengni Inkstone—a famous inkstone of Shaanxi!”
Namgung Sang A produced a dark inkstone carved with clouds and sun in exquisite relief—even at a glance, it was clearly a fine piece of craftsmanship.
“Ha! So this is to tell me to do nothing but work? Your wife brings me a brush, and my daughter brings an inkstone.”
“Yeosan was truly beautiful! Especially the scenery at Huaqing Palace—it was absolutely breathtaking!”
“Eh? Huaqing Palace requires an imperial invitation to enter, doesn’t it? Surely…?”
“Hehe, thanks to Namgung Ho Yeon. He kindly asked Princess Huaqing on our behalf if we might visit the hot spring.”
“My goodness, you mean the hot spring where a hundred illnesses are cured? The one that Yang Guifei favored?”
Namgung Baek, distracted by his daughter’s cheerful chatter and his wife nestling against him, had completely forgotten his resolve to be cold and stern.
“I have returned.”
Finally, Namgung Ho Yeon descended from the carriage and walked toward them slowly.
“Ah, Ho Yeon! How did it go?”
“I concluded a formal contract. The agreement is with the Finance Department.”
“Ha-ha-ha! Well done. Thanks to you, the tea from Seowok Estate can now make its name known throughout Zhongyuan.”
“It was merely… good fortune, really.”
Namgung Baek shook his head. “It was not mere fortune. This would never have come to pass if you had not shown goodwill to every merchant you met.”
As Namgung Baek spoke, Namgung Ho Yeon scratched the back of his head.
“By the way, our youngest comes back empty-handed?”
“Ah, I do have something to give.”
Namgung Baek then asked playfully, and Ho Yeon drew an account book from his sleeve.
“Hmm? What is this?”
“An interesting book, sir.”
“Is it some precious Buddhist scripture?”
“Far more interesting than that, I’d say.”
Ho Yeon smiled meaningfully and passed the book over. Namgung Baek accepted the Finance Department’s ledger and began to study it slowly.
“This… what is this?!”
As Namgung Baek turned through the pages, his expression hardening, he soon discovered the name Baekwun Trading Company and his eyes widened.
“Father?”
“Dear? What is the matter with you?”
“Ah, it’s nothing at all.”
Namgung Baek hastily closed the account book and sent an inner transmission to Ho Yeon.
『Ho Yeon, I’ll need an explanation for this.』
* * *
The central district of Hapbi City.
Beyond the whitewashed brick wall beside Chunha Lake, joyful laughter was spilling out.
“Bwahahaha!”
“Pfffahahahaha!”
The pair shaking with laughter, their faces split wide with delight, were Baek Won Gwang and his son Baek Won Ui.
“Look at this, Father. This is the money I’ve earned in just one day!”
Thunk!
As Baek Won Ui opened the wooden chest on the table, gold glinted inside.
The chest was packed tight with gold coins like merchant vessels moored in a harbor.
“Bwahahaha! Well done, my boy—you’ve finally become a true merchant!”
“Haha, I do what I set my mind to!”
“Indeed. I’ve had such troubles weighing on my heart, but seeing you today—all my worries have washed away.”
Baek Won Gwang gazed at his son and nodded with evident pride.
The thoughtless boy who used to frequent the pleasure quarters and cause trouble had grown into a mature, capable man.
“Heh heh, now I understand. So this is what the world truly is.”
Baek Won Ui spoke to his father with an easy smile.
“Money comes so easily. It’s like my eyes have opened.”
“So you’ve finally discovered the pleasure of earning coin. I should have taught you sooner.”
“No, Father. Had you told me too early, I might have run away. It was the right moment—I was ready to break free from my shell.”
Baek Won Ui spoke humbly, recalling the humiliation he had suffered at the hands of the dandies.
‘The man I was then and the man I am now are not the same. I have witnessed an entirely different world.’
Baek Won Ui no longer felt shame about what had happened.
Now that he had become a merchant handling tens of thousands of gold coins daily, such petty matters seemed utterly trivial.
‘But vengeance is vengeance. Dang Se Ki, Namgung Sang A—those two wretches will pay the price.’
A cold gleam flickered in Baek Won Ui’s narrow eyes.
“Father, now that I’ve learned the joy of making money, I wish to learn the satisfaction of spending it.”
“Mm? What do you mean?”
“We must take revenge on the Namgung Clan, must we not?”
At Baek Won Ui’s words, Baek Won Gwang’s brows twitched.
In truth, he harbored his own grievances against the Namgung Clan.
“How?”
“What methods does a merchant have? We use money, of course.”
Baek Won Ui continued with a meaningful smile.
“I’ve heard that many martial families, having witnessed the success of the Namgung Clan’s escort service business, are preparing to follow suit.”
“Aha?”
“If we provided them with funds, could we not obstruct the Namgung Clan’s operations?”
Baek Won Gwang nodded with a satisfied expression at his son’s proposal.
“You think just as I do.”
“Heh heh, like father, like son, yes?”
“True enough. Yet you still lack boldness.”
“Boldness? In what sense?”
As Baek Won Ui asked for guidance, Baek Won Gwang opened his mouth with a contemptible smile.
“Krrrhehe, I plan to hire the Black Snake Gang.”
“The… the Black Snake Gang?”
Baek Won Ui opened his narrow eyes as wide as they would go as he repeated the words.
The Black Snake Gang was a band of masterless mercenaries notorious for taking on only the filthiest of work.
All members were upper-tier elite, and their leader, Chu Eum of the Cruel Snake Sword, was a peak master.
“But wouldn’t hiring them require tens of thousands of gold coins?”
“It’s fine. This is an investment.”
“An investment, you say?”
“The name of Seowok Estate has begun to spread beyond Hapbi.”
Baek Won Gwang continued, his expression turning sour.
“I’ll hire the Black Snake Gang to burn down Seowok Estate and destroy the tea seed crop.”
“……!”
“Once we sabotage their escort service business as well, the Namgung Clan will run short of funds. Then we’ll seize Seowok Estate at a pittance. I’ve done this once already. The second time will be simple.”
Baek Won Gwang could not bear the fact that his chosen Northern Farmland had become wasteland while the Namgung Clan’s chosen Western Land had turned into fertile soil.
‘I was not wrong. From now on, I’ll prove it!’
Baek Won Ui felt his father’s resolve and nodded in agreement.
“Father, what about this idea?”
“Do you have another good thought?”
“Heh, the Namgung Clan sponsors an orphanage, don’t they?”
“Mm?”
“We’ll have the Black Snake Gang take those children as hostages. For the Namgung Clan, losing the children they’ve been protecting would be utterly shameful, wouldn’t it?”
“Ah! Won Ui, you’re cunning indeed!”
Baek Won Gwang’s face lit with pride at how his son was growing to resemble him.
Just as father and son were conducting their sinister conversation, something happened.
“Mm? What’s all that commotion?”
“I’ll go check, sir.”
Hearing the disturbance outside, Baek Won Ui rushed from the office.
“What in the world is happening! Who dares make such a disturbance inside the Baekwun Trading Company—wait?!”
Baek Won Ui stopped dead in his tracks, his voice catching.
Because those who should never set foot in the trading company compound had just entered.
‘Those—aren’t those the warriors of the Namgung Clan? How did they…?’
Fifty-odd martial artists in blue robes marched toward the office in perfect formation.
At their head was Namgung Ho Yeon, three swords at his waist and a single book tucked at his side.
“What—what on earth is this! Why are they here!”
“Ah, there’s the pig.”
As Baek Won Ui flushed red and shouted, Ho Yeon looked up at him.
From just behind Ho Yeon, a middle-aged man with a face that looked incapable of bleeding spoke flatly.
“Young Master Ho Yeon, you should use proper language.”
“Discipline Master, calling him ‘pig’ is just a term of endearment.”
“‘Young’ is a term applied to animals. This fellow hardly appears so young. In that case, ‘pig’ would be the more appropriate expression.”
“Ah, is that so?”
As Ho Yeon nodded, Namgung Jung Ak, the Discipline Master, gazed at the youngest young master with affection and offered a faint smile.
“What—what are you all doing! Stop them!”
“B-but…….”
“Ughhhhhh……!”
“I—I can’t.”
Despite Baek Won Ui’s orders, the guards only hesitated and fell back.
The warriors of the Namgung Clan, once called the supreme family of the realm, could not be opposed by mere hired swords whose bond to the Baekwun Trading Company was as thin as their pay.
“So, pig, you’ve been eating well selling salt?”
“H-how did you…!”
“It’s all written here. Since you’re the ringleader, you and your father will both have your necks in nooses by nightfall.”
“……!”
As Ho Yeon held up the account book, Baek Won Ui’s face drained of color and he staggered backward.
‘We—we’ve been found out! I have to run!’
Somehow, the salt smuggling had been discovered—and execution awaited.
Thump-thump-thump!
Baek Won Ui threw his heavy bulk toward the stables.
“Discipline Master, go to the office and bring Baek Won Gwang.”
“Yes.”
Whoosh!
Ho Yeon vanished from where he stood, having given the order to Namgung Jung Ak.
Then, moments later, he appeared before the gasping, fleeing Baek Won Ui and drove a fist straight into his solar plexus.
Boom!
“Agh!”
“You little bastard. No, listen here. Didn’t you say something last time? That in Hapbi, gold matters more than the sword?”
Ho Yeon watched Baek Won Ui retch and smiled faintly.
“Go ahead. Try to buy me off.”
“I’ll give you one hundred thousand gold coins!”
“Really?”
“I could give you more! Please, just let me go!”
Baek Won Ui pleaded desperately, but Ho Yeon shook his head, a cold smile playing at his lips.
“No.”
“Why, why not?!”
“Because my sister hates you.”
“I… what?”
In Ho Yeon’s eyes as he gazed at the ashen-faced Baek Won Ui, a crimson murderous energy churned.
The first time Ho Yeon became Ho Yeon, he’d walked through the marketplace holding his sister’s hand.
She’d given up the butterfly-patterned sleeping mat because it was too expensive, and when she tried to buy his younger brother a Silver Bracelet Knife, this creature had raked her with filthy eyes.
From that moment on, Baek Won Ui’s name had never been erased from Ho Yeon’s ledger of death.
“It took time. Tsk, tsk. Without a righteous cause, it’s so hard to kill just one person—how could we ever run an orthodox sect this way?”
“Ugh, aaaaagh!”
Baek Won Ui, terrified by Ho Yeon’s murderous gaze, made to flee once more.
Whoosh!
Finger Wind erupted from Ho Yeon’s fingertips, striking Baek Won Ui’s acupoint.
Thud!
As Ho Yeon turned his head away from the collapsed Baek Won Ui, like a wild boar shot through with arrows, he caught sight of Baek Won Gwang being dragged into the courtyard by the collar, Namgung Jung Ak’s grip unyielding.
“Let go, let go! Do you know who I am? I’m Baek Won Gwang! Do you know who’s backing me? Huh?!”
Baek Won Gwang thrashed and shouted, straining with all his might to resist, but he couldn’t break free from Namgung Jung Ak’s iron grip.
Ho Yeon watched the scene unfold impassively, then spoke quietly.
“We’ll be taking back the Northern Farmland. That’s land our father held dear.”
For all the wealth and renown the Baekwun Trading Company possessed, its destruction took less than half a day.

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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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