Namgoong the Sword Ghost - Chapter 98

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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 98. The Sword Demon Arrives at Dangli
The atmosphere in Buyang was unsettled.
More than ten thousand bandits of the Geumsu Bandits had begun their westward march from Gyeongseok Mountain, and Sukju had already fallen.
The Dangli Clan had formed defensive lines at Wa Yang and Mong Seong to halt the bandits’ advance.
Yet no one knew when the bandits might plunder civilian settlements and wreak devastation.
“Master Chu! We’ve been waiting for you!”
“Let us in.”
Creak!
At Dangli Sanwol’s command, the gate keepers opened the doors, and the party gasped in wonder.
“Wow! What is this?”
“A bamboo grove, it seems.”
“My word, a bamboo forest within the clan estate? How charming.”
“Tender shoots arise and flow of themselves in silence.”
As the main gate opened, the view was nothing but verdant bamboo stalks swaying gently.
When Sam Do Il Hwa marveled at the sight, Dangli Sanwol smiled with evident pride.
“Haha, you mustn’t wander into the bamboo grove simply because it looks beautiful, friend.”
“Why is that?”
“We are in wartime now. The Nine Palace Bamboo Formation will be active.”
“The Nine Palace Bamboo Formation?”
“It is a labyrinth array constructed using the power of the Nine Palaces—Sun, Li, Kun, Zhen, Center, Dui, Gen, Kan, and Qian. You may easily lose your way, so do not venture in without a guide.”
At Dangli Sanwol’s explanation, the party examined the bamboo grove with fresh curiosity.
It hardly looked like an array at all, yet knowing it was one made it seem altogether different.
“Hmm, so this is what an array looks like?”
Namgung Ho Yeon was gazing about thoughtfully when Cheon Roe Geom’s voice drifted into his mind.
―Listen well, boy. We entered through the Kan Palace, which carries the element of water—a threshold palace where Earth Qi flows in and out to harmonize with Heavenly Qi. It signifies hardship and peril as well.
‘How does this old master know arrays so well?’
―Hmph! Who do you think I am? Among the greatest of the great, I am the grandest of all! Compared to the vast knowledge stored in this body, an array like this is but child’s play.
―Remarkable indeed!
As Huk Ya Tae Geom gasped in admiration, the swelling Cheon Roe Geom continued.
―Ahem! Odd-numbered palaces carry the nature of Yang, while even-numbered ones embody Yin.
‘How could you possibly tell?’
―One can discern it from the placement and spacing of the bamboo stalks. Do you see that cluster of twenty-four stalks on the left?
‘Bamboo everywhere in all directions—where am I supposed to count twenty-four?’
―Tsk-tsk-tsk, you’re as blind as they come. That very thing is a Lock Gate constructed using the twenty-four solar terms. If you were to cut them down, even you would be isolated from your surroundings for twenty-four breaths.
“Interesting?”
“What is?”
“Nothing much. Just found something amusing. Heh-heh.”
Namgung Ho Yeon smiled knowingly, and Hye Il tilted his head, watching him with confusion.
Then, the sound of struggling voices began to echo.
“Please, I beg you! What wrong have I done to the Dangli Clan?!”
“Be silent! Take him to the thunder prison!”
“The orders were clear—resist and die. Do you wish for death?”
“Ugh!”
A contingent of soldiers was moving while surrounding a lean man.
His hair hung wild and unkempt, and the light that flickered in his eyes was far from ordinary.
‘……Perfect Stage? No. Beyond that.’
Namgung Ho Yeon’s brows twitched as he regarded the man.
The momentum emanating from him was mighty enough to be called Early Absolute Master.
‘What is this sense of familiarity?’
And above all, the viscous flow of Internal Qi streaming from the man felt strangely intimate to him.
“Who is that man?”
Dangli Sanwol too seemed curious about the stranger’s identity.
A member of the Black Five Squad, clad in night garb, answered.
“Ah, that would be Jeol Ik Bi Gak, sir. In preparation for the coming war, we conducted a thorough sweep of Buyang Prefecture to root out spies. We apprehended him when we discovered he was concealing his true identity.”
“Jeol Ik Bi Gak? Wings broken, and running on feet instead?”
“His original epithet was the Chaos Wind Sword Demon.”
“What?! A Sword Demon hand?”
As Dangli Sanwol exclaimed in shock, the Black Five Squad member nodded and spoke.
“He lost both arms when he was defeated in a power struggle within the Gwigeomun. His ligaments were severed.”
“Extraordinary—a swordsman of Perfect Stage, losing both arms, yet not taking his own life. Truly remarkable.”
“When word spread that he’d lost both arms, those with old grudges came after him—but he repelled them all using only his Leg Technique. That’s how he earned the alias Broken Wings.”
At the Black Five Squad member’s explanation, Dangli Sanwol nodded and spoke.
“Either way, we need to keep him detained. Excommunicated or not, he spent time with Sword Heaven. If he turns spy, that’s trouble.”
“Sword Heaven, you say…….”
Ho Yeon murmured to himself as he overheard the exchange between the Black Five Squad member and Dangli Sanwol.
One of the Nine Heavens.
Sword Heaven. Gwigeomun.
Ho Yeon had been considering paying a visit there someday.
Because…….
‘My clan family is supposed to be there, isn’t it?’
Watching the man being dragged away, Ho Yeon’s eyes gleamed.
* * *
“I heard the news.”
“I’m…… sorry.”
“How can Dangli Jeok’s death be your fault? He fulfilled his duty as vice-commander of the Ten Character Heavenly Sword Group.”
Dangli Sanwol hung his head low.
Before him stood a middle-aged man with an expressionless face—Dangli Hwan, Clan Master of the Dangli Clan.
“Through his death, Dangli Jeok proved the clan’s innocence. It was a noble passing.”
“Ugh…….”
Even at Dangli Hwan’s words, Dangli Sanwol clenched his teeth against the bitterness welling inside him.
With Dangli Jeok murdered by Chu Eum the Merciless Sword Demon, not only had the clan’s military strength suffered—its very spirit had been crushed.
“We must set aside what’s past and focus on what lies before us. Your brothers are holding back the Geumsu Bandits in Wa Yang and Mong Seong respectively.”
“Then I should sortie as well, Father! Send me out!”
“Of course you have your duty as a clan member. But your role is not on the battlefield.”
“Sir?”
“You have an acquaintance with Namgung Ho Yeon, don’t you?”
“An acquaintance, perhaps. We’ve met, at least.”
At Dangli Hwan’s question, Dangli Sanwol’s ears burned crimson.
Truth be told, their first meeting had been terrible. That’s why, even at the Dragon Phoenix Gathering, he’d made every effort to avoid him.
Yet unlike himself, Namgung Ho Yeon had put the past aside and declared his support for the Dangli Clan.
The comparison shamed him deeply.
“Well done.”
“Sir?”
“According to the Black Five Squad’s leader, Namgung Ho Yeon is an Absolute Being of the next generation. It’s virtually certain he’ll be counted among the Ten Fingers Ten Clan Mark.”
Dangli Hwan’s eyes brightened as he continued.
“Early Absolute Master at eighteen. No talent has matched him since ancient times. Even the legendary Bodhidharma or Zhang Sanfeng could not have achieved so much at that age.”
“…….”
“Your accomplishment in maintaining his favor—even winning his support—is no small matter.”
“No…… I couldn’t.”
“Your role is to nurture that relationship and draw out his continued support. You can do this, can’t you?”
“…… Yes.”
At the order to exploit their acquaintance, Dangli Sanwol nodded heavily.
Dangli Hwan opened his mouth once more.
“And I’ve also received a report on the Long Spear Corps. Is it true they employed a Formation Array?”
“It is. I don’t know who the master was, but they must be a formation expert of extraordinary skill—the kind who could summon wind and clouds.”
“The Mystical Mountain’s Master wishes to meet them. Persuade Namgung Ho Yeon and discover the identity of that formation master.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“If the reports of Namgung Ho Yeon’s Thunderbolt Divine Light Dragon technique and the Long Spear Corps’s might are true, that’s invaluable to us. This is no mere show of support.”
Dangli Hwan’s eyes gleamed brightly.
When he’d first heard that elite forces from the Namgung Clan would arrive alongside their support, he’d been skeptical.
Relations between the Dangli Clan and the Namgung Clan had never been good.
Both were rooted in Anhui, and the Dangli Clan had long worked to outmaneuver the Namgung Clan in their bid for a place among the Ten Houses.
‘Yet the Namgung Clan sent elite troops. No wonder they’ve been called a great house for so long.’
Dangli Hwan was deeply impressed by the Namgung Clan’s gesture.
Whether it flowed from their confidence or was a calculated strategic choice to support fellow Baekga Maeng members, he couldn’t say.
But one thing was clear: the Namgung Clan had extended a hand of reconciliation first.
“Good faith deserves good faith in return—that is the way of humanity. Once we’ve eradicated the Geumsu Bandits, our main clan will support the Namgung Clan in turn. Don’t feel too guilty about using Namgung Ho Yeon.”
“Understood.”
Dangli Sanwol, sensing that Dangli Hwan had seen through his heart completely, nodded with a visibly brighter expression.
“And what of the Later Generation Disciples from Moudang, Kunlun, Huashan, and Emei?”
“They claim to be friends of Namgung Ho Yeon. Regardless of the sect’s position, they’ve volunteered to aid the Baekga Maeng.”
“Hmm. Quite remarkable spirit for young martial artists. However, committing them to the front lines is altogether another matter.”
“Sir?”
“Consider this: should they fall in battle, the Dangli Clan cannot escape responsibility.”
“Ah……!”
At Dangli Sanwol’s reaction, Dangli Hwan nodded and continued.
“We’ll keep them at the estate to perform routine duties instead. Supply escort duty should suffice.”
“That may be so, but they are all Perfect Stage martial artists. To leave such skilled warriors unable to fight on the battlefield…….”
Dangli Sanwol spoke with evident regret, and Dangli Hwan shook his head.
“Supply escort is an important duty in its own right. And the front lines are far too perilous. The enemy’s identity has been revealed.”
“What?! Who are they?!”
Dangli Sanwol pressed urgently.
If Jegal Ahyeon’s prediction was correct, Gucheon Sung had deployed a decisive trump card to crush the Dangli Clan.
Indeed, an unknown force had joined the Geumsu Bandit rabble.
Depending on their identity and combat strength, the entire course of the battle would shift dramatically.
“The Demon General Cannibal Squad.”
“Kgh……! Gwancheon!”
Dangli Sanwol’s eyes widened in horror.
The Demon General Cannibal Squad was the infamously ruthless unit of Gwancheon, composed exclusively of those within Gucheon Sung’s nine factions who had mastered Demon Magic.
The squad itself was danger incarnate, but their commander was the true problem.
“No……surely not……?!”
“Unfortunately. The Devouring Demon General, Jin Huk Cheon, has been sighted.”
“……!”
* * *
Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood.
A hackneyed metaphor, often used to describe unspeakable carnage.
Yet those who witnessed true carnage would understand that the phrase was anything but trite.
A mountain of corpses.
A sea of blood.
Caw! Caw! Caw!
Crows wheeled through the landscape of savagery that human cruelty had wrought.
The mountain of corpses was their feast, and the sea of blood their fountain.
Crunch! Crunch-crunch!
Snap! Snap-snap!
From the heart of this desolation, a sound rose that was unsettling and grotesque.
“Hrmm…….”
“Nngh…… Ngh…….”
“Huff. Huff.”
The Geumsu Bandits, who should have been watching for threats, were instead fixed upon the mysterious sounds emanating from the center.
Though they too were martial artists of sorts, the figure in the center seemed of a different order entirely.
“Hmm…….”
When a dissatisfied voice drifted from the center, the bandits stiffened to the point of paralysis.
“Is this all?”
“Y-yes, it is!”
At the flat inquiry, Hwa Ja Chung, one of the Geumsu Bandits’ Great Hall Masters, answered in a trembling voice.
Though he was a Perfect Stage master and a murderer by trade, before this presence he was nothing but a frightened child.
“Hardly satisfying.”
“I, I apologize……— Ugh!”
Hwa Ja Chung turned to respond hastily, but froze in shock.
In the center stood a tall, emaciated man.
He appeared to be in his mid-forties, though the long hair tied behind his head had gone white.
His loose black robes were drenched in blood, and his expressionless face was equally smeared.
Drip. Drip.
What he held was a human skull, half-devoured and stripped of all recognition.
The Devouring Demon General. Jin Huk Cheon.
“No different from what I was told.”
“Uuuu—!”
As Jin Huk Cheon’s entirely black eyes gleamed, Hwa Ja Chung trembled like an insect caught in a web.
“You said that when war came, I could feast upon the flesh of the strong. Did you deceive me?”
“No, no! This is merely the skirmish! The true battlefield lies further west!”
“Is that so?”
“If we go to Wa Yang and Mong Seong! There will be plenty of worthy opponents to satisfy the Demon General, sir!”
As Hwa Ja Chung, gripped by the terror of death, explained desperately, Jin Huk Cheon’s gaze turned westward.
“Very well, let us go then. If we can but find the Way of Fine Cuisine, what is a thousand leagues but a trifle? Hehehehe.”
Jin Huk Cheon’s hollow laughter echoed out across the Mountain of Corpses, Sea of Blood.

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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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