Namgung Heavenly Demon - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 17

A week had passed since the family head’s order was given.

However, Namgung Cheon had taken no action whatsoever.

Because of this, while some elders still held expectations for the third young master, the majority could not withdraw their worried gazes.

No matter how outstanding his achievements in the martial journey had been, the general consensus was that Namgung Cheon was still too young and inexperienced to handle such a complex problem involving even the Sable Alliance alone.

Especially the mockery from those led by Seven Elder Namgung Do grew more blatant with each passing day.

“Tsk tsk. Where did all that fierce momentum go? He’s holed up in his quarters and won’t come out.”

“He talked big, but now that it’s time to actually start working, he got scared.”

Their ridicule spread throughout the family, but Namgung Cheon, the actual subject of these rumors, showed himself nowhere.

At that moment, in front of Namgung Cheon’s quarters.

Cutting through the cool morning air, the swords of Namgung Cheon and Mujin crossed.

Clang―!

The two swords clashed and separated in midair dozens of times.

The moment Namgung Cheon’s sword pierced through his opponent’s opening to aim at his throat, Mujin’s sword also stopped precisely in front of Namgung Cheon’s heart.

“Whew.”

Mujin exhaled briefly and wiped the sweat that had formed on his forehead.

“You grow sharper by the day. Soon even my ten seconds won’t be worth much against you, young master.”

It was hard to believe such admiration came from a disciple of the Wandering King and a supreme master.

Namgung Cheon lowered his sword without reply and headed to the table.

The tea water prepared earlier was growing cold.

With practiced movements, he poured tea into two cups.

Mujin sat across from him and drained his tea in one gulp.

Then, fidgeting with the empty teacup, he asked the question he had been holding back for days.

“Young master.”

“Speak.”

“Is it really alright to just stay like this?”

Mujin’s gaze turned outside the quarters, toward the south.

“There are ominous rumors saying you got scared and are hiding, or that you’ve given up out of exhaustion.”

He frowned as if he couldn’t understand.

“With your skills, young master, you could go to Hefei right now and cut down a few conspicuous Heterodox Faction bastards to shut their mouths… Why are you staying so still?”

The Namgung Cheon that Mujin knew was a man faster and more relentless than anyone.

Yet at this most crucial time, he was staying so still.

Namgung Cheon slowly took a sip of tea.

Only after savoring the bitter fragrance spreading in his mouth did he set down his teacup and speak.

“When muddy water is stirred up, do you know what you must do to see what lies at the bottom?”

“…Muddy water?”

“If you forcibly stir it with your hand, the water will only become murkier.”

Namgung Cheon’s gaze turned to the clear tea water in his cup.

“You must leave it alone. With time, heavy things will sink and light things will float away. Only then can you finally see the stones stuck to the bottom.”

Only then did Mujin realize Namgung Cheon’s true intention.

The family head’s return and Namgung Cheon’s martial journey had stirred up massive muddy water in Anhui’s underworld.

Right now, the Heterodox Faction members were fighting among themselves while simultaneously watching Namgung’s moves and being extremely tense.

Rashly intervening at this time to make enemies of everyone would be the worst strategy.

Namgung Cheon was waiting.

Until the weak things unqualified to survive in this chaos would fight among themselves and be eliminated.

“Then how much longer do you plan to wait?”

At Mujin’s question, Namgung Cheon raised his head to look at the sky.

The midday sun was blazing hot overhead.

“One week.”

A cold smile crossed his lips.

“That should be enough time for most of the dust to settle.”

He rose from his seat.

“Now I should go check what stones remain.”

* * *

The heart of the Namgung Clan where all information gathered and all plans began, Hyeongi Hall.

Namgung Cheon’s first step started with obtaining information from Hyeongi Hall.

As Namgung Cheon approached Hyeongi Hall, the door opened as if it had been waiting.

And an old man in scholar’s robes appeared.

The master of Hyeongi Hall and the family head’s strategist, Mukhyeon Duke Namgung Hak.

“I have been waiting, Third Young Master.”

Namgung Hak immediately guided Namgung Cheon inside.

The interior of Hyeongi Hall was like one vast world where dozens of strategists ceaselessly moved books and maps.

Namgung Cheon looked at the massive map on the wall and got straight to the point.

“Give me information on all Heterodox Faction groups known by name in Anhui.”

Namgung Hak’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

He gave orders without a word, and soon dozens of books were piled like a mountain on the table in front of Namgung Cheon.

“This is everything Hyeongi Hall knows.”

After finishing his words, Namgung Hak quietly left the room.

Namgung Cheon stood before the mountain of information.

Then he immediately picked up one of the books placed on top.

Rustle.

His eyes flowed smoothly down the text without obstruction.

‘Compared to the volume of reports that poured in during the Great War between Orthodox and Heterodox, this is a drop in the ocean.’

It took only half an hour to read one book.

After confirming the information, he began sorting: useless ones to the floor, meaningful ones to the left, and those requiring reserved judgment to the right.

Half a day later.

When Namgung Hak, curious about the progress, quietly entered the room again, he doubted his own eyes.

The mountain of books was scattered messily on the floor, and only four books remained on the table.

“…Have you checked them all?”

Namgung Hak asked with an involuntarily trembling voice.

“Thanks to you, I saw them well, Hall Master.”

Namgung Cheon answered briefly and silently looked down at the four books remaining on the table.

‘It’s insufficient.’

He grumbled inwardly.

Hyeongi Hall’s information was thorough in showing the comprehensive situation of each faction.

However.

‘The most important thing is missing.’

His eyes gleamed coldly.

Having finished all his assessments, he rose from his seat.

He gave Namgung Hak a light bow and immediately left Hyeongi Hall.

After Namgung Cheon departed.

Left alone, Namgung Hak remained motionless in the empty room for a long while.

His gaze alternated between the dozens of books scattered messily on the floor and the four books placed on the table.

‘How did he accomplish this in just half a day?’

The information given to Namgung Cheon was everything about Anhui’s Heterodox Faction that Hyeongi Hall had accumulated over decades.

Within it were tangled like threads: outdated information of already vanished sects, complex alliances and separations between factions, and the rise and fall of countless figures.

It was such a vast amount that even Hyeongi Hall’s strategists had to work day and night for several days to read the current situation.

But Namgung Cheon had selected the four most crucial sects without error in just half a day.

Namgung Hak picked up one of the four books that Namgung Cheon had left behind with trembling hands.

“Truly… you have been hiding yourself all this time.”

And the fact that such a Namgung Cheon had now revealed his claws.

Namgung Hak’s gaze unconsciously turned toward the window, toward Changryong Hall, the pavilion of the young family head.

Until now, no one had doubted that the owner of that place was the eldest son Namgung Hwi, who was away at the Murim Alliance.

But.

‘…Things might change a little.’

Namgung Hak unconsciously swallowed dryly.

* * *

As the sun set and the oil lamps hung in Hefei’s bustling district began to light up the streets one by one, pushing away the heat of the day.

Namgung Cheon left Hyeongi Hall and exited the family compound together with Mujin.

“You said information was lacking, so where are we going?”

Walking through the darkened streets, Mujin asked.

“You’ll know when we get there.”

Where Namgung Cheon’s steps stopped was a back alley reeking with foul odors, reached after turning several times from the main street lined with splendid brothels.

And in the deepest part of that alley stood an inn with a worn signboard where the paint had peeled off, making the characters hard to read, with the name Chwiweoljeom faintly carved on it.

It was an utterly shabby place that didn’t match at all with the elegant name meaning “intoxicated by the moon.”

Creak—.

As they opened the squeaking door and entered, the stale smell of alcohol, sweat, and loud voices hit them all at once.

Inside was already full of ruffians who were drunk and shouting loudly.

The appearance of Namgung Cheon and Mujin in their gleaming silk clothes and twin swords was enough to draw their attention.

The noisy inn suddenly became quiet, and all eyes turned toward the two men.

Mujin unconsciously placed his hand on his sword hilt.

These ruffians wouldn’t be a problem, but it was better to avoid unnecessary commotion.

However, Namgung Cheon ignored all those gazes and walked straight to the most secluded table to take a seat.

Then a server approached with a sly smile.

“What would you like to order?”

“Baekhwaju and Chilseon chicken.”

Baekhwaju and Chilseon chicken.

Wine brewed with various flower petals and chicken steamed with seven precious ingredients.

The server made a bewildered expression.

“We don’t have such fancy things in a small inn like this. Please go somewhere else.”

As he turned around as if issuing an order to leave, Namgung Cheon took something from his bosom and lightly threw it onto the table.

Clang.

With a clear metallic sound, five ordinary copper coins scattered.

The server’s steps stopped right there.

Namgung Cheon pushed two of the scattered coins with his fingertips, separating them from the rest.

‘And finally.’

He flipped the two separated coins so that one showed heads and the other showed tails.

At that moment, the server slowly turned around.

The sly smile had completely disappeared.

Baekhwaju and Chilseon chicken.

These were basically code words for contacting the Haowen Clan.

But what was far more important was the number and arrangement of the coins.

And the number and arrangement of coins that Namgung Cheon had shown was…

‘Red grade.’

It was the code word requesting red grade, the highest among white, yellow, and red information grades of the Haowen Clan.

Red grade was only used when discussing information that could shake an entire city, and the branch leader had to personally handle it.

Cold sweat flowed down the forehead of the server—no, Haowen Clan Hefei branch leader Pyoyang.

He decided to stop pretending to be a server.

Scrape.

Pyoyang pulled a chair and sat across from Namgung Cheon.

And the moment he sat down, all noise in the inn ceased.

Then the men who had looked like drunken ruffians quietly rose from their seats.

Without giving Namgung Cheon a single glance, they silently bowed their heads to Pyoyang and left the inn.

The inn that had become empty in an instant.

Only then did Pyoyang reveal his true nature.

“Haowen Clan Anhui branch leader, I am called Pyoyang.”

He identified himself first, then looked at Namgung Cheon for a moment before continuing.

“May I hear the reason why the Third Young Master has sought out this Haowen Clan?”

Namgung Cheon furrowed his brow.

Not asking about the reason for a request was the basic principle of information dealers.

But Pyoyang was clearly violating this.

“Is it the Haowen Clan’s way to ask why someone ordered drinks after they ordered them?”

An unexpected counter-question.

Pyoyang’s eyes wavered.

‘He’s no ordinary person.’

The attitude of lightly deflecting his probing move and instead trying to seize the initiative.

Information about Namgung Cheon quickly flashed through Pyoyang’s mind.

The youngest son of the Namgung Family who had no presence.

A supreme master who had recently begun to stand out starting from the sword selection, then defeated all the masters of Hefei in just ten days.

‘I thought he was just a greenhorn who had gained great martial prowess through some fortuitous encounter.’

That was a mistaken thought.

Pyoyang cleanly retreated a step.

“My apologies. I was discourteous to an honored guest.”

He returned to his original role.

“So, what information do you seek?”

Only then did Namgung Cheon open his mouth.

“Guangxie Sect, Black Tiger Sect, Bisalpa, Jinquanpa. I want everything about them. Even the most intimate information.”

The moment those four names flowed from his lips, Pyoyang’s expression hardened once again.

They were the sects currently standing out most among Anhui’s Heterodox Faction.

Pyoyang’s mind began working in complex ways.

‘A Namgung prince seeking information about the Heterodox Faction?’

And a prince who was barely past twenty at that?

Pyoyang shook his head inwardly.

‘That can’t be right.’

Then a thought suddenly occurred to him.

The family head’s return.

And the Third Young Master’s activities ending as if timed to match.

‘Moreover, there’s no way the Third Young Master would have originally known the red grade code word. Then…’

All circumstances led to one conclusion.

‘…Is this the will of the Namgung Family?’

That meant Namgung Cheon’s visit here and his request for intimate information about the Heterodox Faction was also the will of the Namgung Family.

Pyoyang made his decision.

No matter how Orthodox they were, in Anhui, a request from the Namgung Family could not and should not be refused.

Having finished all his calculations, Pyoyang opened his mouth.

“Please give me three days.”

“What’s the price?”

“There is none.”

Pyoyang spoke decisively.

“How could the Haowen Clan in Anhui discuss a price for Namgung’s affairs?”

At those words, a faint smile appeared on Namgung Cheon’s lips.

‘Namgung’s affairs.’

It was exactly as he had intended.

From the beginning, he hadn’t expected the Haowen Clan to readily provide information.

The Haowen Clan was a group that moved purely based on profit.

To make them move with something other than money, he had to show them something much greater.

‘That being the authority the Namgung Family holds in this Anhui.’

The family head’s return and his own movements.

At this time when all of Hefei was watching Namgung’s next move, his appearance at the Haowen Clan.

All these circumstances were the perfect move to plant the grand misconception of the Namgung Clan’s will in Pyoyang’s mind.

And finally.

The Haowen Clan’s secret code that a young master who had just passed his coming of age couldn’t possibly know.

It was the wedge that turned Pyoyang’s speculation into certainty.

That what he was doing was not Namgung Cheon’s personal recklessness, but part of a grand plan in which the entire Namgung Clan was moving.

Everything was rolling along exactly as Namgung Cheon intended, within the palm of his hand.

“Then come find me in three days.”

Namgung Cheon left those words and immediately rose from his seat.

Mujin, who had been standing behind him, also followed like a shadow.

The creaking door closed, and after the two figures completely disappeared into the darkness.

Pyoyang, left alone, couldn’t rise from his seat for a long while.

As the taut tension released, he realized his back was damp with cold sweat.

‘Namgung Cheon…’

He recalled Namgung Cheon’s eyes.

Deep and cold eyes that seemed to see through everything.

They weren’t the eyes of a young man who had just passed his coming of age.

‘A storm will blow through Anhui.’

And at the center of that storm would be that young master who had just overwhelmed him.

Pyoyang’s eyes narrowed.

He had an intuition.

That from now on, he must not miss even a single moment of that man’s every step.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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