The Hwangbo Clan’s Beloved Live-In Son-in-Law - Chapter 94
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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 94
Namgung Bin was a prepared heir.
He was the eldest son of the eldest son, and when he was born, he was the grandson of the household head at the time, and when he grew up, he was the son of the household head at the time.
He was smarter than anyone else in the great family and excelled not only over his peers but even over those older than him.
He grew up being expected to succeed as if it were natural, and because those expectations were justified, he grew to exceed them.
The only regrettable thing, if anything, was that he matured quickly because he was so outstanding, but no one except his mother could think of it that way.
-Karnax, Vis Tus. Necros, Pala Rami.
When Namgung Bin opened his eyes, the world seemed filled with incantations.
Those low, ominous, and chilling words sometimes felt reverent, mysterious, and sacred.
But the ominous feeling remained.
Splash.
His body wouldn’t move.
When he slowly turned only his neck and eyes to look down, his body was stretched out in a thin water container.
The body that didn’t seem like his own was emaciated.
His head was dazed and confused.
How many days, or rather, how long had it been?
Memories that didn’t seem like his own floated in his mind.
Events that didn’t feel like his own came to mind, like things that happened a million years ago.
They were numb, emotionless memories.
“Let me see.”
It was a voice he was hearing for the first time.
No, it was definitely a voice he had heard often and was familiar with, but it meant it was the first time Namgung Bin was hearing that voice.
Recognizing that ‘voice’ was the beginning.
Namgung Bin looked at the ceiling with a dazed gaze once, then turned his head to look to the side.
The voice was flowing from a man who had his back turned.
“Oh my, this medicine… where is this medicine?”
At first it was a leisurely voice, but gradually the man’s voice became urgent.
It seemed that something that should have been in the bundle he was searching through wasn’t there.
What is he looking for?
He wanted to ask, but no words came out.
When he tried to lift his arm again, it remained immobile.
After struggling a bit more, he realized that both his hands and feet were tied.
Pop.
Namgung Bin dislocated his thumb joint without hesitation.
Simply pressing his hand against the floor surface and pushing hard was enough.
Although he couldn’t put strength into his whole body, his lifelong trained body was sufficient to create the breathing needed to dislocate his own joints.
Even though the pain was severe, it didn’t feel severe. From the beginning, even now it was ambiguous whether this was a dream or reality.
“Huh?”
He dislocated the other side in the same way and then pulled his wrists out from the bindings.
It was around then that the man turned around.
The man who had been humming with a sigh of relief after apparently finding what he was looking for made eye contact with Namgung Bin and was startled.
It was strange.
His half-open eyes were still full of turbidity, so why did it feel like they had made eye contact?
It was an ominous thing.
So the man tried to quickly insert a needle with somewhat trembling hands.
Without even checking that his hands were free.
Thud.
“Ugh!”
Namgung Bin, who had instantly raised his body, grabbed that hand and drove it straight into the man’s forehead.
The man collapsed with a shocked expression as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have seen.
Namgung Bin caught the falling man’s body and carefully laid him down.
When he checked his pulse, he was alive but had no consciousness.
Whatever had been driven into his forehead was clearly not good.
He roughly pushed him aside and first gathered the belongings the man had been rummaging through.
Considering the combination and amount of medicine, he wanted to take the long needle from the forehead too, but it was obvious that it would already be contaminated by mixing with that man’s brain matter.
Ah.
The incantations that had been filling the surroundings stopped.
Only after they stopped did he realize they had been audible the whole time.
“Hey. How long is this going to take.”
Another man entered just as he was drawing a short blade to cut the bindings on his ankles.
“…Oh!”
The short sword cut through the air and lodged itself in the man’s forehead.
It was exactly the same spot where the long needle had been embedded.
The problem was that there was another man following behind him,
-Shriiiiek!
“He has escaped!”
And that man was much smarter.
Because he didn’t dare face Namgung Bin directly and ran away while shouting.
Namgung Bin looked in the direction the man had fled with an expressionless face.
Then he got up and carefully loosened his body.
He didn’t know how long he had been tied up, but judging by his physical condition, he could tell it wasn’t just a day or two.
At first he staggered, but by the time he gathered the dead man’s clothes and put them on, he had adapted.
The weapon he had taken was an ordinary iron sword.
Namgung Bin seemed familiar with it too, swinging it around a few times before stopping.
The place where he was located was some kind of cave.
It was constantly dark, damp, and cool.
There were several such rooms, but they were all empty.
Namgung Bin thought of nothing else and simply walked and walked and walked again in search of an exit.
Dim light illuminated the path.
There were plenty of human traces, but none were visible.
It felt as if he had become some vicious minion of evil, which was amusing. He didn’t actually laugh though.
In his mind, memories kept surfacing endlessly. Memories of several months. He had interacted with people he didn’t even know, empathized with them, and got along with them. It was truly a strange thing.
“Friend.”
When he finally stepped outside, it was indeed someone he didn’t know.
“Baeksan.”
His completely hoarse voice sounded awkward.
Even more awkward was the man’s name that came from his own mouth.
“Where are you trying to go?”
The sunlight he received after so long was too strong, making it hard to open his eyes.
Namgung Bin could only gauge the man’s lower hem with his barely opened eyes.
Outside was a forest, and he had just emerged from some cave.
More than ten guards surrounded the area.
Only by circulating a handful of internal energy could he finally open his eyes.
As expected.
An unknown man.
Yet he was in his memory.
“I must go home.”
“Didn’t you agree to stay?”
“I did?”
The man nodded his head. Namgung Bin shook his head expressionlessly.
That couldn’t be.
“Your memory isn’t intact, I see. Are you saying you’ve forgotten all those times?”
The man spoke in a gentle voice, trying to persuade him.
At first glance, it seemed like a voice that was truly sympathetic.
Namgung Bin raised his head and looked up at the sky once.
A deep breath was drawn in quietly, yet endlessly.
Though there was no sign of exhaling, Namgung Bin’s chest that had swelled up somehow settled down.
His wavering eyes regained their light.
“My memory is intact. I haven’t forgotten anything.”
At those words, the man was momentarily speechless. His voice trembled.
“Then, let’s return together.”
“That won’t be possible.”
Namgung Bin’s aura changed completely.
“How could I forget the Hundred Families of Saduchon?”
The Namgung Family is a great house that influences several provinces.
Within their territory, the name Namgung alone is enough to smooth over everything.
What they wanted always came into their hands, and what they disliked disappeared.
So, how many enemies would they have?
“What about the Yeom family of Jeokwoo Trading Company, and Sancheng’s Lee Family is the same.”
The fragrance of wine brewed by the Hundred Families of Saduchon was said to reach the capital. Their brewing method that shook a generation didn’t survive beyond that generation.
The silk that Jeokwoo Trading Company first brought shone even among the famous brocades. Thus they couldn’t protect their silkworms.
Sancheng’s Lee Family was a bit different. A martial family that dared to look down on Namgung’s martial arts while under the Namgung name.
It wasn’t just those three.
Those related to them or similar to them.
All those who had reason to cry out that they couldn’t stand under the same sky as Namgung were here.
“Do you remember?”
The man, Baeksan, asked.
The gentle expression from just moments ago was nowhere to be found.
No, even before that, killing intent had been piercing his skin, so what was the point?
“Of course. I remember everyone. San.”
Namgung Bin said.
It wasn’t for reasons like morality or chivalry, or guilt.
“That’s fortunate. Even the wise make mistakes. Nothing is more frightening than a hidden blade, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Haha. Namgung fears us?”
“Of course. Heaven’s net may seem sparse, but it never lets anything slip through.”
“…Wasn’t Namgung the one who considered itself heaven?”
“That’s precisely why. It’s all the more frightening.”
Namgung Bin nodded his head.
An ordinary iron sword rose toward the sky.
Even with his gaunt body and unstable breathing, when Namgung Bin raised his sword, it was as heavy as a towering mountain peak.
Baeksan frowned.
“Finally, I’ll repay even a handful of my family’s grudge.”
Namgung Bin’s lips twisted.
“Try it.”
That was the beginning.
***
“Hmm.”
Baeksan staggered back.
Namgung Bin didn’t bother to pursue him.
Instead, he entangled the thrusting sword and severed the wrist, then pulled the slashing one to block the spear strike flying from behind.
Then he simultaneously kicked forward and punched to the side to create space, before leaping into that space and delivering a great slash.
In an instant, three men each clutched their wounds and retreated.
The remaining ones didn’t dare think of pressing the attack further.
“…Indeed.”
Baeksan unconsciously opened his mouth, then his molars ground together with a crunch.
What was he doing, admiring the man he was supposed to kill?
Yet that naked, gaunt man remained aloof even while surrounded by dozens of guards.
Like the suffocating sky he had once looked up at from behind his mother, who stood dazed before his father who had cursed the heavens and taken his own life.
Truly high, and blue,
And indifferent.
Crunch.
Baeksan’s teeth ground together again.
This was Baeksan who had slashed at empty air while shedding tears of blood. Ten years had passed since then.
He had met people like himself.
Not all shared the same heart, but one thing was the same.
That was enough.
“Icheng! Sullyeon! Yeonhoin!”
Baeksan shouted.
Then the man clutching his wrist and two others looked at each other.
Eyes met eyes and heads nodded.
What passed between them was a promise.
After that small nod, the three men launched themselves forward.
No, not three.
Three, then another three, then three more.
Groups of three continuously alternated from Namgung Bin’s left, right, and rear, targeting openings.
One.
“Urgh.”
The man whose wrist had been severed and dropped his sword. Icheng was the first to fall.
His hand barely managed to grasp Namgung Bin’s ankle.
Two.
“Ahhh!”
Sullyeon grabbed the arm even as his throat was slashed.
Even that was shaken off with a single movement and he collapsed, but it was fine. That one action opened a path to death.
Three.
“Huff.”
Clang!
For the first time, Yeonhoin’s great sword clashed with Namgung Bin’s blade.
Despite having trained for years at the shortest, over ten years at the longest, this was the first time.
Despite the opponent being left neglected for months without proper food, this was the first time.
But what people originally call that first time.
They call it the beginning.
The beginning of slaying the dragon that was a prestigious great family.
Baeksan declared resolutely.
“Next.”
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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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