Namgung Heavenly Demon - Chapter 47

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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 47

 

Dongjeongho.

 

Dongjeongho, which spans the border between Hubei and Honam, boasted an endless vastness worthy of its reputation.

 

The sound of boatmen rowing their oars echoed leisurely across the clear water surface that reflected the sky perfectly.

 

“Wow! The water and sky form one color, and the wind and moon are endless!”

 

Mujin, who had gotten off the boat, couldn’t close his mouth at the magnificent scenery spread before his eyes.

 

“The words of the ancient poet were not lies. Master, look at this breathtaking landscape!”

 

Mujin adjusted his bundle and pointed to various parts of Dongjeongho like an excited child.

 

“Is this your first time here?”

 

At Namgung Cheon’s question, Mujin cleared his throat deliberately and answered.

 

“Well, it’s not exactly that, but it’s still beautiful every time I see it, isn’t it?”

 

Namgung Cheon chuckled and nodded.

 

In his previous life, he had visited this Dongjeongho only once.

 

He felt it then, and he was feeling it now, but it was a scenery that truly deserved to be called a heavenly view.

 

Namgung Cheon gazed quietly at the lake.

 

The wind blowing across the calm water surface brushed against his clothes.

 

Even the fishy smell carried by the wind felt fragrant.

 

Even among the countless crowds, Dongjeongho’s unique leisurely energy enveloped his entire body.

 

‘Good.’

 

Namgung Cheon moved his steps with a brief appreciation.

 

Near the riverbank, outdoor tea houses lined up facing the lake were abundant.

 

The group settled on an outdoor platform with the best view of the lake.

 

Mujin plopped down and called for a server.

 

“Silver needle tea and some candied fruit here. Plenty of it!”

 

Shortly after, when the silver needle tea and candied fruit arrived, Mujin picked up his chopsticks as if he had been waiting.

 

Namgung Cheon lifted his teacup and moistened his lips.

 

The warm tea water flowed down his throat, relieving his travel fatigue.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

“Excuse me…”

 

A small voice came from behind.

 

When Namgung Cheon turned his head, a young boy who appeared to be about five or six years old was standing there hesitantly.

 

Though his clothes were dirty and he wasn’t even wearing proper shoes, his eyes were as clear and deep as the lake.

 

The child extended his dirt-covered hand toward Namgung Cheon with a very tense expression.

 

On his tiny palm lay a round, smooth pebble.

 

It was a pretty stone that had been washed by river water for a long time, perfectly round without any sharp edges, and shining transparently in the sunlight.

 

Mujin looked at the child while chewing candied fruit and smiled warmly.

 

“Are you giving this to us? It’s a very pretty stone.”

 

At Mujin’s gentle voice, the child relaxed a little and said shyly.

 

“Big brother looks cool… I wanted to give you a present…”

 

At those pure words, Mujin burst into laughter.

 

“Haha! You have quite an eye, don’t you? Yes, this big brother is indeed cool. You’re going to be someone great!”

 

Mujin shamelessly pointed at Namgung Cheon and didn’t spare his praise.

 

The child grinned at Mujin’s words and looked at Namgung Cheon.

 

Namgung Cheon picked up the pebble the child had offered.

 

Though it was a cold stone, perhaps because it had been touched by the child’s hands, a lukewarm warmth remained.

 

Then, a woman came running hurriedly.

 

She seemed to be the child’s mother.

 

In her hands, wearing shabby hemp clothes, was a bundle.

 

“Young Boy! What are you doing!”

 

The woman pulled the child toward her and bowed deeply to Namgung Cheon’s group.

 

“I’m, I’m sorry, young master! The child is immature and has been rude.”

 

Though her appearance was shabby, her speech was filled with courtesy.

 

She hesitated for a moment, then carefully took out something wrapped in crumpled cloth from her bosom.

 

“It’s not much, but please take this… The child really likes people.”

 

It was a few pieces of rice cake.

 

It seemed to be what the mother and child were planning to eat on the roadside.

 

Namgung Cheon alternately looked at the woman’s rough hands and the sparkling eyes of the child hiding behind her, looking up at him.

 

People who had nothing material but generous hearts.

 

It was an unfamiliar kindness.

 

But he didn’t dislike that unfamiliar feeling.

 

Instead of taking the rice cake, Namgung Cheon lightly held up the pebble in his hand.

 

“This is enough.”

 

“Pardon?”

 

“The stone is pretty.”

 

Namgung Cheon spoke indifferently and put the pebble in his bosom.

 

The woman looked at him with a bewildered expression, then soon smiled brightly with a mixture of relief and gratitude.

 

“Thank you, young master. Thank you for being so generous. Young Boy, you should greet him properly.”

 

The child smiled brightly and said.

 

“Thank you!”

 

The mother and child disappeared back into the crowd.

 

The child kept turning back and waving at Namgung Cheon as they left.

 

Namgung Cheon didn’t take his eyes off their retreating figures until they completely disappeared.

 

The pebble in his bosom felt warm.

 

“You’ve changed a lot too, Master. In the old days, you wouldn’t have even given them a glance.”

 

Mujin chuckled and said.

 

Namgung Cheon didn’t respond and picked up his teacup.

 

As he tilted the teacup, the tea slowly flowed down his throat.

 

‘…It’s warm.’

 

A smile played around Namgung Cheon’s lips.

 

* * *

 

After drinking tea at the tea house, the group climbed up to Akyangnu.

 

Befitting the greatest pavilion under heaven, its grandeur was magnificent.

 

Upon climbing the three-story pavilion, the entire view of Dongjeongho came into sight.

 

Before long, the boundary between sky and water had dissolved, and Dongjeongho’s waterway was burning red.

 

The light ripples breaking on the lapping waves sparkled brilliantly like golden scales.

 

“Magnificent, truly magnificent.”

 

Mujin quietly admired and filled Namgung Cheon’s wine cup.

 

“Here, take this. Wine cannot be missing from such scenery.”

 

Namgung Cheon brought the wine cup to his mouth.

 

An elegant wine fragrance, like the scenery, lingered around his nose.

 

It was a peaceful late afternoon when everything was perfect.

 

However, at that moment.

 

“Young Boy! Young Boy!”

 

Someone’s loud voice came from below.

 

Namgung Cheon put down his cup and looked down below the railing.

 

In the middle of the riverbank, the woman they had met earlier was pushing through the crowd with a pale face.

 

“He was just here! Young Boy!”

 

The woman grabbed people like a madwoman, wailing desperately.

 

“Please… please help me find my child! He was holding my hand just a moment ago!”

 

But people only shook her off as if annoyed, or clicked their tongues and passed by.

 

“Tsk tsk, you should be more careful in crowded places.”

 

“The child probably just wandered off somewhere. He’ll be back soon.”

 

Most treated it as just another common disturbance.

 

But Namgung Cheon was different.

 

His eyes were intently fixed on where the woman stood, the exact spot where the child had disappeared.

 

A strange light flickered over his coldly sunken pupils.

 

‘Could it be.’

 

He slowly drew up his qi sense.

 

Then all the energies around him began to be felt clearly.

 

Among those countless energies, Namgung Cheon found one that was alien.

 

A sticky, damp energy clearly different from that of ordinary people.

 

It was energy lingering exactly where the woman had been standing.

 

‘The level is crude, but it’s definitely the energy of Seophon Sool.’

 

Namgung Cheon’s eyes flashed.

 

Seophon Sool, an evil art that clouds people’s minds to control their souls.

 

However, the energy wasn’t strong, so he had to draw up his qi sense to detect it accurately.

 

Even so, it would be more than enough to target ordinary people, especially to kidnap a young child.

 

‘To use Seophon Sool in broad daylight with so many people around.’

 

Moreover, what reason could there be to kidnap a child?

 

Judging by that mother’s appearance, they couldn’t demand much ransom.

 

Then.

 

‘The child itself must have been the purpose.’

 

At that moment, the events in Anhui flashed through Namgung Cheon’s mind.

 

‘Black Tiger Sect.’

 

They too had kidnapped children.

 

Whether the children had parents or not, they gathered children indiscriminately.

 

And those kidnapped children were sold to the Guimyeon Association of Honam.

 

‘Guimyeon Association.’

 

Honam and kidnapping.

 

Could this really be unrelated to the Guimyeon Association?

 

‘It wouldn’t be.’

 

At the same time, he clearly felt the texture of the pebble in his chest.

 

Namgung Cheon slowly rose from his seat.

 

Then Mujin asked in surprise.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

Namgung Cheon walked away without looking back, muttering quietly.

 

“To return the favor for a gift.”

 

* * *

 

Bang!

 

Black Wind Division leader Akmugyeol struck the table with his fist.

 

His face was a mixture of blatant displeasure and helplessness.

 

‘Why on earth….’

 

Crackle―.

 

The letter in his hand was crumpled miserably.

 

The report he had submitted about the Guimyeon Association’s atrocities.

 

This was the Military’s reply to it.

 

‘Just this week, fifty children disappeared from Akyang alone.’

 

Their evil deeds were becoming bolder by the day.

 

Akmugyeol unfolded the crumpled letter again.

 

Only one line was written inside.

 

―

 

Where the wind does not reach, the black wind does not blow either.

 

It meant that since the Sable Alliance wouldn’t move, the Black Wind Division shouldn’t get involved either.

 

This was the Military’s response to his petition for subjugation.

 

‘I cannot understand.’

 

It had been several years since the Alliance Leader entered seclusion.

 

Because of that, all real power was effectively in the Military’s hands.

 

But why.

 

Why does the Military leave those beast-like bastards alone when they’re undermining the Alliance’s prestige?

 

‘No matter how treacherous their stronghold Monghwando may be, the Black Wind Division could certainly eliminate them if we acted. And yet….’

 

The Alliance’s inexplicable silence.

 

It was suffocating Akmugyeol with frustration.

 

He threw down the crumpled letter.

 

There was nothing more he could do anyway.

 

Since those were the Military’s orders, he could only watch their atrocities.

 

Just as he was giving up.

 

“Division Leader.”

 

Budan-ju’s voice came from outside the door.

 

“Speak.”

 

“An urgent report just came in from the Dongjeongho area.”

 

At the mention of Dongjeongho, Akmugyeol’s brow furrowed.

 

“The Guimyeon Association again?”

 

The area around Dongjeongho was a place where the Guimyeon Association frequently appeared.

 

Because there were many people, paradoxically, one or two children disappearing didn’t become big news.

 

But Budan-ju’s following answer completely exceeded his expectations.

 

“The third young master of the Namgung Clan, Namgung Cheon is… tracking the Guimyeon Association.”

 

“…!”

 

Akmugyeol’s eyes widened greatly.

 

‘Namgung Cheon?’

 

It was a name he had forgotten for a while since returning from Anhui.

 

The bastard who had given him a strange sense of defeat with his unconventional martial prowess and behavior.

 

Why was he in Honam, and why was he interfering with the Guimyeon Association?

 

At that moment, Akmugyeol’s eyes narrowed.

 

‘No, it doesn’t matter.’

 

Whatever the reason, it wasn’t important.

 

What mattered was just one thing.

 

Unlike himself, who was bound by the Military’s orders and couldn’t move, that bastard wasn’t constrained by anything.

 

Wasn’t he a young master of the Namgung Clan, a pillar of the Orthodox Faction?

 

‘With just the justification of chivalry, there’s nothing in Tianxia they can’t cut down.’

 

Akmugyeol glanced back at the Military’s letter he had just thrown down.

 

And he rose from his seat.

 

With the corners of his mouth subtly raised.

—————
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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