Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 94

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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 94. The Sword Demon’s Daughter’s Wisdom
“Jegal Ahyeon.”
“Is that not Hui Bong?”
“I heard she entered the Military Division, but has she already shouldered such heavy responsibilities?”
“They say barbarian blood runs through her veins — yet I see no flaw in her.”
Hummmm. Huuuummmmm.
A torrent of conflicting emotions poured in through the Simseogamhwa technique.
But Jegal Ahyeon felt no headache at all.
Namgung Ho Yeon was watching her with an expression of bewilderment.
‘What are you?’
‘Hehe, just watch.’
After meeting his eyes for a moment, Jegal Ahyeon turned to address the assembled crowd.
“We have requested aid from the Murim Maeng, but they say only that it remains under review. No definitive answer has been forthcoming.”
“Those bastards are insufferable.”
“Are they not our brothers in the white banner faction of the martial realm? Of course they should help us!”
“Do they expect us to grow weak before they’ll lift a finger?”
The moment the Murim Maeng’s name was spoken, grievances spilled forth from many in the room.
“Could it be that the Gucheon Sung and Murim Maeng have joined hands?”
“No. Surely not even they would go so far.”
“What wouldn’t they do?”
“There’s no possibility… or rather, none at all.”
Some had grown so bitter that they openly suspected collusion between the Gucheon Sung and the Murim Maeng.
‘There have been too many clashes during the Dragon and Phoenix gathering.’
As Namgung Ho Yeon gauged the shifting mood around them, Jegal Ahyeon continued.
“We will continue to request their support, but we cannot afford to rely solely on their aid. We must stand united among ourselves and overcome the trials before us.”
“Well spoken.”
“Who needs those fools!”
“We are enough.”
‘Hmm.’
At her words, Namgung Ho Yeon smiled faintly.
The rift between the two alliances was not something that could be healed in a day or two. Better, then, to exploit it in another way.
Was she deliberately stoking animosity toward the Murim Maeng to unify the Baekga Maeng members?
“If we know ourselves and our enemy, we shall never know defeat. First, we must understand the strategy employed by the Gucheon Sung. They used Illusion from Nothing to sow discord within us, wielded Feint as their tactic, and struck with the Distant Alliance, Nearby Attack technique.”
As Jegal Ahyeon spoke, those assembled fell into thought.
Illusion from Nothing was a stratagem of creating reality from the void—spreading false information to sow chaos within an opponent’s ranks.
Indeed, the white banner martial realm had split into factions, faces flushed with shame, and as all eyes turned eastward with this clamor, the enemy had struck from the west.
“Distant Alliance, Nearby Attack?”
“Is that not a variant of the Chaos Strategy—befriending the distant and striking the near?”
“So who do they ally with, and who do they strike?”
While the crowd murmured among themselves, Jegal Ahyeon spoke.
“I stake my reputation on this: the enemy will surely concentrate their efforts next on Severing Bonds from Behind.”
“Severing Bonds from Behind?”
“Cutting ties from the shadows?”
“What does that mean?”
“Allow me to illustrate.”
Jegal Ahyeon fixed her gaze on Namgung Ho Yeon and posed her question.
“You were ambushed on the way to Jeongju, were you not?”
“…That’s true.”
“The assassins employed the Shadow Blade technique of the Danli Sega.”
“That’s a lie!”
A man on horseback cried out loudly in refutation.
“We would never do such a thing! The Vice-Master of the Sipjacheongeomdan came forward to clear our name… and yet he fell to the poison—!”
Danli Sanwol gritted his teeth.
Deputy Master Danli Jeok had stepped forward to dispel the false accusation, only to lose his life to an assassin’s poison.
Now, with enemy attacks looming, the absence of even one supreme master weighed far too heavily.
“Yes, I believe so as well. This must have been a scheme of the Gucheon Sung.”
“Indeed.”
“A plot to drive a wedge between the two great families of Anhui.”
“The power of suspicion is terrible—simple, but devastatingly effective.”
As heads nodded at her words, Danli Sanwol took a deep breath and withdrew.
“Lord Danli Sanwol. I hear that Gumsucae is advancing westward.”
“……That’s right. The Sukju region has been laid waste, or so they say.”
“Gumsucae! Isn’t that one of the Sippalcae?”
“They were the ones who controlled the Gyeongseok Mountain region, if I recall correctly.”
“We’ll need to keep a close eye on the movements of the other brigades as well.”
Jegal Ahyeon asked, and Danli Sanwol nodded. The others’ eyes widened in alarm.
The eighteen most powerful bandit strongholds under the Green Heaven’s domain were called the Sippalcae, and their military strength was not something a major sect could simply dismiss.
Though they lacked numbers of masters, they made up for that deficit through the blunt tactics of coordinated assault, a straightforward approach that proved devastatingly effective.
“We’re currently considering Wa Yang and Mong Seong as our defensive line.”
“Are you certain about this? Gumsucae’s forces are said to exceed ten thousand soldiers.”
“Bah! A rabble of undisciplined bandits, nothing more. They’ll crumble before the Danli Sega’s true strength!”
Danli Sanwol shouted, but barely concealed anxiety flickered across his face.
‘According to Heukodан’s intelligence, an unidentified force has joined Gumsucae. Until we know who they are, we can’t afford to act rashly. Curse it all—if only the former lord were still alive……!’
Sensing Danli Sanwol’s unease, Jegal Ahyeon smiled knowingly and spoke.
“Don’t worry. There will be reinforcements.”
“Reinforcements? From whom, exactly…….”
At her words, Danli Sanwol glanced around.
With Gucheon Sung’s rapid movements expected any moment now, no Sega would have spare troops to commit elsewhere—or so he thought.
“From the Namgung Clan.”
“What, what?!”
“Eh?”
Danli Sanwol was taken aback and looked toward Namgung Ho Yeon, while Ho Yeon turned to Jegal Ahyeon with an expression that plainly asked: What nonsense is this?
Jegal Ahyeon continued.
“The Namgung Clan has sent forces to Cheong Yang to block Do Cheon’s northward advance. Isn’t that so?”
“……True.”
“In this situation, will Gucheon Sung concentrate his forces on Cheong Yang, or on Bu Yang where the Danli Sega resides?”
“……Surely on both?”
When Ho Yeon answered with a question, Jegal Ahyeon smiled and shook her head.
“No.”
“Hmm?”
“If I were him, I’d deploy a trump card and crush the Danli Sega first.”
Whoosh.
This time, Jegal Ahyeon looked at Danli Sanwol and posed a question.
“Do you see where I’m going with this?”
“You, you don’t mean…….”
“You do see it.”
Noting his reaction, Jegal Ahyeon continued.
“Geographically speaking, the Danli Sega at the northern edge is more vulnerable than the Namgung Clan in central Anhui.”
“And so?”
“If I were in his position, I’d destroy the Danli Sega utterly and take control of northern Anhui. Then, in time, Do Cheon would advance in earnest from the north.”
“…….”
“Two strike one. The tactic of two forces overwhelming a single opponent. The Namgung Clan alone couldn’t withstand enemies pressing down from both north and south simultaneously.”
Silence hung over the assembly hall as Jegal Ahyeon laid out her analysis.
Her words were chillingly apt, and the reason was their disturbingly plausible reality.
“Wonggyogeungong…….”
“Baehusudanyeon.”
“Two strike one…….”
Now the others could fully grasp what Jegal Ahyeon was saying.
“The terror of this tactic is that if you misplay the first move, you’re caught in the trap entirely.”
“……You can’t restore a destroyed Sega once it’s gone.”
“Exactly.”
“This, this is……!”
As Jegal Ahyeon and Namgung Ho Yeon spoke, the faces of Danli Sanwol and the other Danli Sega members drained of color.
In other words.
The enemy’s first target was the Danli Sega, and the Namgung Clan came second—a bitter truth no one wished to hear.
‘Sunmangchihan. When the lips are gone, the teeth feel the cold.’
Ho Yeon nodded, and his admiration deepened.
‘A stratagem woven with meticulous care. And she saw through it all in mere hours?’
Jegal Ahyeon’s chestnut eyes gleamed like stars, alight with a brilliant clarity of mind.
A low, resonant hum echoed through the hall.
At the same time, her upper dantian activated, and Spirit Energy began pouring outward in thick, undulating waves.
“The situation is much the same across other regions. Gucheon Sung seeks to divide us psychologically first, then physically.”
“Good heavens…….”
“A man said to harbor a thousand stratagems in his crimson eyes. This scheme surely springs from the mind of Sama Hwan, the Red-Eyed Strategist.”
“Thunder Heaven! The Sama Sega!”
Jegal Ahyeon swept her gaze across the people gasping in shock, then continued in a voice heavy with meaning.
“Sama Hwan founded this stratagem on a single belief.”
“What belief?”
“That we would not aid one another.”
…….
…….
…….
The crowd fell silent at Jegal Ahyeon’s words.
In truth, they harbored no desire to shed their own blood supporting other Segas.
“This makes clear what our enemies fear. Gucheon Sung dreads the unity of the Baekga Maeng.”
…….
“Which is why the assassin employed the Danli Sega’s Concealment Sword technique. He sought to plant suspicion in the Namgung Clan, making them hesitant to offer aid.”
…….
“My friends. We are the Baekga Maeng—the Alliance of a Hundred Houses. Should a hundred roofs overlap one another, no tempest nor calamity shall touch us.”
Whoooosh! Whoooosh――!
At Jegal Ahyeon’s earnest plea, the crowd’s chests trembled with emotion.
Simseogamhwa.
Before she met Ho Yeon, Jegal Ahyeon had deemed this a curse.
She drew indiscriminately upon the emotions of those around her, forcing them into harmony with her will.
‘But I was wrong. It was a blessing.’
Jegal Ahyeon gazed at Ho Yeon and smiled softly.
‘I only wished you would understand me. Truly understand my heart.’
Perhaps because of this longing, her spiritual ability had undergone great transformation over the past two years.
Simseogamhwa evolved from merely sensing the emotions of others into a two-way art—one that could transmit her own heart as well.
“Let us aid those among our alliance who have fallen into hardship. Helping them is helping ourselves, and helping ourselves is serving our own truth.”
The crowd stood moved by the sincerity in Jegal Ahyeon’s words.
The Righteous Path carries its own strength.
Even if they had grown selfish to endure the harsh currents of the world, they remained Orthodox cultivators at heart, and within them lived a desire to do what was right.
This was Jeongshim—the Righteous Heart.
“Hem, ahem. I spoke too harshly before. My apologies.”
“Not at all. Had our positions been reversed, I would have done the same.”
“I shall render whatever aid I can. We are all kin of Honam, after all.”
“Thank you! I shall repay this kindness a hundredfold!”
Throughout the chamber, voices rose in pledge of support.
“Tsk. When someone speaks only truth, there’s nothing left to refute.”
Ho Yeon scratched the back of his head and murmured, while Namgung Ja Ryang and Namgung Mun Yeon smiled beside him.
“Hehe, what a righteous young lady—already the betrothed of whom?”
“Pfft! I can already see how tightly bound you’ll be, living under her thumb.”
Tsk.
Ho Yeon clicked his tongue and turned away, looking toward Jegal Ahyeon.
‘……She truly is different from me.’
Where he viewed the Alliance merely as a vessel to gather all their disparate strengths into one, she saw it as something far greater.
‘In my days as a Geomgwi, I would have scoffed. Back then, I could barely survive alone.’
But now he was surrounded by many.
To protect them, what was needed was not a single Sword Goblin, but many Sword Fences.
Step, step, step.
Ho Yeon moved forward.
Namgung Ja Ryang and Namgung Mun Yeon followed without a word.
Snap.
“Oi, Carrot.”
“What, what is it?”
Danli Sanwol flinched at the sight of Ho Yeon.
Painful memories of past encounters with him surfaced in his mind.
“You still playing around with Mo Yong Cheol?”
“……I severed that connection after that day.”
“Why? Won’t you play with me?”
“…….”
“Poor thing. Shall I keep you company?”
“What…… are you talking about?”
As Danli Sanwol regarded him with wary eyes, Namgung Ho Yeon chuckled and spoke.
“On our way home, let’s stop by your place for a bit.”
“What…… did you say?”
“We’re going that way anyway. Come with us. Just feed us well, and I’ll take care of any bandits for you.”
Snap!
Namgung Ho Yeon pointed his thumb at Namgung Ja Ryang and Namgung Mun Yeon standing behind him as he continued.
“We’re specialists in that sort of thing.”
“Ha, well versed from years of escort work, you see.”
“Haha! Rest assured. We’ve made a career of bandit suppression.”
“…….”
Danli Sanwol’s eyes trembled faintly.
Memories of his past mistakes surfaced, filling him with shame, yet gratitude swelled in his chest at the offer of support for his clan.
Thump!
Danli Sanwol seized the Poquan stance with vigorous energy and cried out to Namgung Ho Yeon.
“Thank, thank you! Such magnanimity—repaying enmity with kindness! I swear I shall repay this debt!”
“Ha, are you a magpie? Go ahead and repay it. You’re just a carrot to me.”
Caught off guard by the fervent response, Namgung Ho Yeon let out a bewildered laugh, and Danli Sanwol nodded emphatically, shouting once more.
“I shall indeed! You may call me Danli Carrot if you wish, my benefactor!”
“…….”

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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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