The Hwangbo Clan’s Beloved Live-In Son-in-Law - Chapter 101
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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 101
I’m not quite sure how we managed to cross that treacherous path of Xiliang Gorge.
With Namgung Bin on my back, barely breathing, I simply crossed by taking advantage of the fog and darkness of night, sometimes hanging from cliffs, sometimes getting slapped by water.
“What crazy bastard?!”
From early dawn, an inn at the entrance of Yiling quietly opened.
The owner, who came out angry at the stones being thrown from outside without any guests entering, unconsciously started hiccupping.
“You took good care of the horses, right?”
Had it been about a week?
It was because the large guard who had left two horses in their care suddenly emerged from the dawn fog.
“Yes. Yes sir. We, we’ve been taking good care of them.”
The innkeeper quickly bowed his head and glanced up at the man.
Then he made a “huk” sound again and lowered his head.
His mind became complicated.
“Bring out the horses.”
“At, at this hour, sir?”
“Of course. Isn’t an inn a place where people enter in the evening and leave in the morning?”
“…The drum for opening the gates hasn’t even sounded yet. Per, perhaps you could have a meal before leaving.”
“….”
The early hour of the beginning of the mao period (5-7 AM).
Perhaps about an hour remained before the gates would open.
In a way, the innkeeper’s words made sense, but Xie Baowei only stared at the innkeeper without saying anything.
At this, the innkeeper trembled and brought out the horses from the stables.
Xie Baowei nodded and took the reins.
“Do you need more for the horse care fee?”
“You, you’ve given us plenty, sir.”
“I see. Then.”
Xie Baowei left with those words.
This time the innkeeper waited sufficiently for Xie Baowei to leave before raising his head.
His breathing trembled again.
“I’m certain, certain.”
His soaked body, as if he had become a water ghost, clearly looked like he had just crossed Xiliang Gorge, but his shoulders and back were full of red blood.
However, there didn’t seem to be any wounds on his body.
He had certainly carried someone who was injured.
It was two days ago that rumors shook Yiling about the blood demon of Wushan crossing Xiliang Gorge and Chokmaeng guards losing their lives in the process.
While everyone was spending days filled with tension, it was strange that nothing had happened despite all the rumors.
“He’s only just crossed now!”
The innkeeper quickly raised his head and ran somewhere.
Where was the Chokmaeng branch around here?!
His body hurriedly disappeared through the dawn fog.
Dong. The drum for opening the gates sounded behind him.
***
“It must have been those rice balls that were wrong.”
Namgung Bin’s condition was getting worse and worse.
Of course, it was largely due to crossing that treacherous path of Xiliang Gorge for four days without properly treating his wounds or eating properly, sleeping fitfully while hanging from cliffs and hiding in the shadows of the mountain paths, but Namgung Bin’s words were a bit different.
“After eating them so well.”
Crossing the Xiliang Gorge area, a narrow gorge with flowing water, by land was truly not something to do twice.
For Xie Baowei, who had already thought “I can’t do this twice” when crossing, the return journey carrying an extra burden was even more difficult.
In the midst of this, he barely managed to bring out rice balls wrapped inside a bundle from some cliff cave, but they had swollen from the cold dew of the gorge and gone bad.
Even so, Namgung Bin had said they were delicious and asked if there were more.
How could there be more? That was the last of it.
“Or maybe we didn’t remove enough of that snake’s poison before eating it.”
“It wasn’t even a poisonous one.”
Though water was everywhere, there was actually little drinking water.
Not only the Yangtze River mixed with muddy water and flowing sediment, but there was no way there could be clean water on the narrow cliff paths. Being pursued, there was no leisure to look for dripping water from cliff crevices or rainwater.
They barely found one blind snake and squeezed out its blood to drink.
It was so delicious that he drank it without even knowing it was fishy.
“In all my life, this is truly the first time I’ve received such treatment.”
“Were you always this talkative?”
Chuckle chuckle.
When Xie Baowei spoke bluntly, Namgung Bin laughed quietly.
That sight of him not even having the strength to laugh out loud made him inexplicably angry.
Why is this guy acting so friendly?
“Your body.”
“It’s fine. I’m recovering.”
“Bullshit.”
It was the road from Yiling toward Ganling.
The Jegal Family’s communication ship they had used coming here had long since disappeared.
No, they could have found it if they tried, but Namgung Bin had dissuaded him.
“Would the Dang Family be the only ones targeting my life?”
Those were Namgung Bin’s words.
Namgung Bin spoke too naturally of that saying that in Gangho there are no eternal friends or eternal enemies.
He would have done the same, he declared coldly.
And they moved without stopping at any village, choosing only paths that weren’t roads and places that couldn’t be roads.
“I was captured by the Magyo.”
“…Huh?”
That religion spread among the people under the name Shenghuo Religion was a transformation of the doctrine that remained from when the Magyo was called the White Lotus Sect before it became the Magyo.
“Originally it was ‘True Void Homeland, Maitreya’s Descent, Light and Dark Subjugation.'”
The idea of waiting for the distant future Maitreya for the true homeland to return to after death, not losing light even in darkness, changed into words like Maitreya’s manifestation, present world bliss, and Myeongangyeokjeon.
This was often seen especially in places where life was harsh, but recently its influence had grown so much that it was visible even in Anhui.
Though they thought it dangerous, it had only spread little by little among the people so they just kept a rough watch, but it turned out the Magyo was behind it.
Namgung Bin chuckled dryly.
“That bastard Lim Junggeol is the Magyo leader. How utterly astounding it was.”
“…Holy shit.”
Namgung Bin spoke without rest.
Even as his wounds festered and his throat dried up, his voice cracking, he opened his mouth as if trying to convey everything to Xie Baowei.
Suddenly, Namgung Bin uttered incomprehensible sounds with his cracking voice.
“Karnax, Vis Tus. Necros, Pala Rami.”
“Oh? Western Regions language? I know something similar too. Tiara Shabda Karma Rataya Svaha.”
“…?”
“What’s with those unlucky eyes?”
“No, I thought there’s no way you’d know.”
“Then why did you say it?”
“Just in case?”
Damn it.
Xie Baowei grumbled.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know either. I just say it when my body hurts and it gets better.”
“Why are you only telling me this now?”
“It’s something you use when fighting. If you do it after everything’s over, it just wears your body down more.”
“…Crazy. Using something like this. Are you insane?”
Damn it.
Xie Baowei grumbled.
“What about yours?”
“I don’t know either.”
“This damn thing.”
Chuckle chuckle.
Namgung Bin laughed again.
“I understand it originated in Sichuan but is spreading in all directions. Its arrival in Anhui is recent… It’s truly cunning. They could be minions of the Magyo, or they could just be believers of the Shenghuo Religion.”
Present world bliss.
Such sweet words indeed.
Rather than dying to leave behind a name, let’s gain bliss in this present world.
But the method is frightening. Not striving and working hard alone.
Myeongangyeokjeon.
Wasn’t it about pulling down those above and climbing up?
That doctrine obtained only by the extreme few who were deeply absorbed in the Shenghuo Religion was something the Namgung Family had difficulty extracting.
Shenghuo family.
That religion claiming everyone is family under the name of Shenghuo, instead of lifting each other up, tries to pull down everyone who isn’t Shenghuo.
“I thought it was dangerous, but still. Haha. Laziness comes back to bite like this.”
Perhaps thanks to Namgung Bin’s caution, the two people still hadn’t encountered any pursuers.
It might be because they walked where there were no paths and spent nights with brief naps, but it was truly fortunate.
However, Namgung Bin’s body grew thinner by the hour.
No matter how incredibly sturdy a martial artist’s body might be.
It was because his nearly depleted internal energy and untreated wounds had been neglected far too long.
“Seulhye is someone you can trust. But I don’t know about the others.”
“That arrogant strategist. I want to flick her forehead.”
“Seol-a is a tender child. She only became tough to hide that tenderness.”
“It’s awkward to say this to her brother, but… she has no manners.”
“Lüli is.”
“What. That brat.”
Chuckle chuckle.
Namgung Bin laughed playfully.
When talking about those close to him like this, some life briefly returned to his dying face.
“Lüli is a good friend. She’s also the first person I felt competitive with. My father used to say: Keep friends close, enemies even closer.”
“Huh, so that’s why you pretended to be close?”
“Haha. Brother Xie, it’s not like that. You can only feel competitive when you’re roughly matched in caliber, right?”
Damn bastard. Anyway, talented people are so unlucky.
Xie Baowei grumbled.
Then suddenly, he spoke to Namgung Bin who lay there weakly.
“Just herbs won’t work anymore.”
It was a makeshift bed woven from reed grass in some swamp’s Reed Forest.
The weather not being cold was at least fortunate.
Xie Baowei was quite a good herbalist. Sometimes he would disappear and reappear with good herbs in his hands.
But here he couldn’t deeply boil those herbs or mix them properly to feed him. That wasn’t his domain.
Not all herbalists become physicians.
Just helping with hemostasis, dissolving blood clots, and supplementing vitality. Even that was only possible by chewing raw herbs.
And originally, raw medicine also contains poison.
“Proper treatment is needed.”
“At least not here. We need to get to Wuhan.”
This was already Hubei land.
Whether Ganling or Chichi, the path to Wuhan was lined with countless people related to Namgung.
Normally, just the name Namgung Bin alone, no. Even just a rumor that any direct descendant of the Namgung Family was coming would have set everyone abuzz.
Namgung Bin trusted no one.
Could he even trust his own brothers?
When Namgung Bin began helping his father manage the family business. His father had said only one thing.
“There is only one throne. Its owner has neither family nor friends.”
When he reached Ganling, he was nearly at death’s door.
With high fever burning through him and dying, he had no choice but to rush to a physician for medicine.
Even though he needed several days, no, several months of recuperation, he fled in the dead of night after just one day.
Even under the terrible fever and chills, Namgung Bin remained detached.
He was like someone who had accepted death.
“If I go first, please cremate me. I don’t want my family to see me like this.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
Before long, they eventually encountered a pursuit team.
They weren’t particularly strong, so Xie Baowei could handle them.
Meanwhile, Namgung Bin had to hold his breath in the mud with only a reed tube, causing his wounds to worsen.
“Fortunately. Their forces aren’t that strong yet.”
The level of the pursuers, their speed, the looseness of their encirclement.
Even as high fever overtook his body again, Namgung Bin never stopped thinking.
Xie Baowei silently handled the cleanup.
“…You seem accustomed to this kind of work?”
“Well. Everyone has their circumstances.”
Watching Xie Baowei easily clean up, Namgung Bin made a comment.
Xie Baowei trembled thinking of those terrifying superiors who would still target him.
At that, Namgung Bin chuckled again.
“Brother Xie has things he fears too?”
“Of course, don’t you?”
“Many.”
Many.
They decided to take the river route from Chichi to Wuhan.
“Since we’ve been tracked, we’ll be discovered wherever we go anyway. Speed is better.”
Xie Baowei didn’t object to Namgung Bin’s opinion.
Instead, he bought a boat and hired someone.
The boat was just the right size for two horses and three people. The boatman they hired was a quiet, honest person.
Namgung Bin was right. In a situation where they were already being pursued, it was a matter of speed rather than direction.
There were many boats on the Yangtze River.
There were large vessels the size of houses, and many small boats like the one their party rode.
The boatman skillfully navigated the boat as if there were roads on that vast river.
“We’ll arrive in half a day.”
The boatman spoke as if trying to encourage them, seeing Namgung Bin’s condition.
However, by then Namgung Bin couldn’t even manage a faint smile.
During that half day, the small boat their party rode was attacked three times, and even after enduring the last attack, the boatman stayed with them.
“Over there.”
“That’s Wuhan Three Garrisons.”
Six hours after departing with the red walls of Chichi at their backs.
Having left early at dawn, as the sun was setting, the massive outline of Wuhan revealed itself under the red glow of that sunset.
“We’ll reach Wuhan Ferry in another half hour.”
Even at this point, he wasn’t afraid of pursuit.
If there were forces that could break through all those countless eyes and troops even here in Wuhan, he would have to die.
No, even if he lived, it would already be beyond control.
Xie Baowei looked back at Namgung Bin.
“Hey.”
…We’ve almost arrived.
Namgung Bin’s eyes were unfocused.
Xie Baowei urgently pressed Namgung Bin’s forehead.
No, actually there was no need to press his forehead.
The heat that had been rising from his body throughout the journey could no longer be felt.
His pulse was extremely faint.
As if it might stop at any moment.
“Hey. Bin.”
Xie Baowei shook his shoulder with trembling hands without realizing it.
At that shaking, powerlessly, Namgung Bin’s hand dropped.
It fell.
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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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