The Hwangbo Clan’s Beloved Live-In Son-in-Law - Chapter 97
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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 97
Huff. Huff.
Namgung Bin exhaled roughly.
No matter how hard he tried, his breathing wouldn’t settle.
Leaning against his sword, he took a long time to carefully regulate it before his breath finally returned.
“Haa.”
Even so, rough breath that couldn’t quite be settled poured out in a long stream.
Namgung Bin barely lifted his head that had been leaning against the handle and stood up from his position.
The corpse where he had last thrust his sword twitched in response to his movement.
Namgung Bin released his grip from the sword without hesitation.
Standing unsteadily, he looked up at the sky.
The cold sky was so clear it was unbearable to look at.
So clear that he wanted to hide, ashamed of his blood-soaked appearance.
“I survived again.”
It had been a fortnight worthy of being called a death struggle.
Sometimes he dug into the ground, sometimes he hid his body high up in tree branches.
Sometimes he hung from sheer cliffs, sometimes he only breathed while submerged in waterways.
But what made Namgung Bin more miserable than all that was having to end the lives of these clumsy pursuers.
“Is my life truly worth this much?”
Third-rate guards who couldn’t even be called warriors blocked his path.
Those who charged at him screaming would grab his trouser legs when knocked down, and bare their teeth when their arms were cut.
Those who rushed at him with tears streaming could only smile when their breath was cut off, showing how miserable their lives had been.
There were old ones, young ones, and those who looked very young.
“Magyo.”
If it had been the usual Namgung Bin, he would have subdued them all without breaking a sweat and left, but not all of those chasing him were third-rate.
Standing alone, Namgung Bin faced the incoming wind.
The fresh wind swept through his body once, lifting his spirits, but at its end came the scent of blood again, making him dizzy and stagger.
“Indeed, it is demonic.”
Namgung Bin muttered with clouded, tender eyes he had never shown before, then gritted his teeth.
When he closed and opened his eyes, a firm light settled in them again, but once cracked, jade can never be whole again.
Namgung Bin’s head turned toward where the wind was blowing from.
Though he had been pushed around and driven out, drifting like duckweed, he hadn’t truly drifted without direction.
His solid roots found a way to live without losing his way or wandering aimlessly.
Quietly listening, he could hear something from far away.
Birds, animals, people.
And water.
The sound of rushing water as fierce, rough, and intensely powerful as the overflowing breath of life!
Namgung Bin glanced once at where footsteps could be heard, then launched his body forward.
It was always the same.
Where there is human breath, there is water.
And in this land of Sanxia Wushan, where there was water, there was a way to live.
Breaking through those who would block it, he had finally
reached the place where that sound could be heard.
“…Demonic.”
Following that sound of water, Namgung Bin brushed his pounding heart once and muttered lowly.
He took a deep breath and moved.
In an instant, his form disappeared.
It was supreme movement technique, stealthy and swift beyond comparison to a fortnight ago.
***
Tang Dieshan, an elder of Chokmaeng, was from a distant branch of the Dang Family and worked for the Zhumo Merchant Guild in Dalzhou.
Except for being a Tang, he had little connection to the Dang Family, but with that name alone he greatly expanded the Zhumo Merchant Guild and even managed to join Chokmaeng.
His becoming an elder was recent, but his dealings with those called Shenghuo Religion went back a bit longer.
“This time it’s real, I tell you.”
Shenghuo Religion was a new religion that emphasized worldly pleasures a bit more.
Actually, rather than a religion, it was more like people helping and supporting each other since life was so harsh, spreading among the common folk through word of mouth like a kind of mutual aid society, and that was why Tang Dieshan believed in Shenghuo Religion.
Sacred Fire Family, Worldly Bliss.
For him, wasn’t this a truly appealing doctrine?
“Didn’t you all see it too? With so much innocent blood spilled, what more certain proof could there be?”
Under the flame of sacred fire, everyone was family, so helping and supporting each other was natural.
Tang Dieshan’s faith returned as solid help, and as the help grew, Tang Dieshan’s faith deepened too.
As time passed, Tang Dieshan’s position within the religion rose quite high, and he knew well that what lay behind it might be more troublesome than expected.
But well, it wasn’t that important.
Worldly bliss.
In this harsh world, was there anything more important than eating well and living well?
Thus Tang Dieshan became the first to discover bloodshed in the depths of this misty Wushan,
and because of that, didn’t he get to move around the famous Bichiryeong of the Dang Family and the Qingshigol guards of Chokmaeng with just a word?
“…This time it’ll be certain, right?”
“Ah, I told you it is.”
In the rough mountain valleys of Wushan, it was hard to call paths paths and valleys valleys.
The thick fog became a natural maze, making it difficult to gauge position easily.
At most, only the people living within knew their own village and one or two other villages.
This was why Tang Dieshan was chosen as both proposer and guide for the subjugation force.
Tang Qihun, the Remnant Shadow Hand Stone Hero, second leader of the Dang Family’s Bichiryeong, nodded at Tang Dieshan’s words.
It had already been seven days and nights since they’d come up empty following his words.
There had been the unfortunate incident of losing one member along the way, but fortunately no major problems had occurred.
“Before this lawless bastard causes more bloodshed, let’s hurry! I’ll cut his throat the moment I see him.”
Fan Chong, the Rock-Breaking Axe, first leader of Chokmaeng’s Qingshigol, burst into anger and stood up.
Several of his subordinates had slipped and gotten injured, so he had reason to be angry, but most of it was accidents caused by his own impatience.
When Tang Qihun raised his hand to cut off the momentum, Fan Chong, who seemed ready to charge at any moment, quieted down as if he had never been angry.
Tang Qihun’s eyes went back and forth between Fan Chong and Tang Dieshan for a moment, then shook his head slightly.
Whatever was between the two of them, it seemed time to end this tedious and meaningless pursuit.
“Let’s go.”
.
.
.
-Whistle.
Tang Qihun’s premonition soon proved correct.
One day after persistent tracking from where the bloodbath had occurred.
At the edge of Wushan, three from Bichiryeong’s second unit, five remaining from Qingshigol area, and Tang Dieshan encountered a man.
The scattered Bichiryeong and Qingshigol members who had split up following different traces would be returning after hearing the whistle.
Soon, responding whistles could be heard from far away, each with different time intervals, twice.
Farther than expected.
It would take less than half a hour… or maybe over two hours.
But it didn’t matter.
“Who are you.”
Tang Qihun had never seen Namgung Bin. He should have seen someone of that caliber, but Tang Qihun was someone who rarely left Sichuan.
No, he was someone who couldn’t even understand why one would bother with affairs outside Sichuan.
He wasn’t even curious about figures outside the castle.
Nevertheless, he had heard the name Namgung Bin to the point of being sick of it.
Nam Gilin . Blue Sword .
“…Are you really the young household head of Namgung?”
He had heard that he was handsome enough to remind one of Song Ok and Ban An, but what he saw before his eyes was a haggard man with a gaunt face, skin and bones barely holding together.
The severe wounds all over and the blood covering his entire body wasn’t all flowing from him alone.
For blood to be so congealed in the thick fog of Wushan, how much must he have been covered in it.
Even now, around his body, blood mixed with moisture was becoming mist, continuously emitting a red and murky aura.
“They say he’s called Blue Sword because his righteousness is like the sky and his tranquility like the sea.”
But this one was emanating a rough aura no different from a beast.
Tang Qihun tilted his head curiously.
Is this that Namgung Bin?
Blue Sword. No, the Heavenly Sword of the next generation.
No.
The greatest sword under heaven of the next generation?
Maybe not.
No matter how much rumors inflate, the name Namgung, the weight of being the greatest under heaven, doesn’t float so easily.
“Reveal your identity.”
No matter how wounded and starved, a tiger’s cub is still a tiger, and a dragon’s child is still a dragon.
Tang Qihun let his hand hang down with an indifferent face.
His body’s center lowered slightly and pulled back.
His long sleeves covered his hands.
This was the famous Dang Family’s basic stance, Falling Flower Hand Sunken Abyss Style .
Tang Qihun selected a hidden weapon from within his sleeve.
Whether that person was Blue Sword or not was something to confirm after subduing him first, but if he really was Blue Sword…
Among bladeless weapons with less harm, a sphere would be better.
It was then that the man’s mouth opened.
“Did the Dang Family also have running dogs of Magyo?”
“What.”
The cracked, dry voice of the man who had been leaning against a tree trunk with only shallow breathing was dripping with fatigue.
As if his head hurt, the man briefly frowned, and killing intent began to creep out from his body.
So thick and heavy was that aura that even the grass on the ground it invaded seemed to lie down following its direction.
Suddenly Tang Qihun’s hand went cold.
It was because he had unconsciously changed the sphere he was holding to a blade.
Damn it.
Changing back to a pill, Tang Qihun opened his mouth.
“Just a madman after all. No need to listen further.”
He put force into his voice.
He intended to push back the surging killing intent.
“Your killing intent reaches the heavens.”
“What?”
Breaking the flow once more, the man spoke.
As Tang Qihun tilted his head again, a loud shout burst out from beside him.
“There’s no way that person is Namgung Bin! No, whether he’s Namgung Bin or not, since he caused that bloodbath on this Sichuan land, he deserves to die!”
It was Tang Dieshan.
At the same time, several blade edges flew through the air from the side.
Clang clang!
Sparks flew from the sword the man held and several puppets flew through the air.
Tang Qihun shouted.
“Inhyeok! Insan!”
Without even waiting for his signal, two members of Bichiryeong’s second unit had stepped forward first.
The five guards of Qingshigol also rushed out all at once.
Fan Chong ran ahead of them, holding his great axe.
“Stop!”
Tang Qihun charged forward in great anger.
In an instant, swords and axes became entangled, and blades clashed with blades.
Hidden weapons flew through the momentary gaps, and cloudy powder scattered along each trajectory.
The man had looked like he could barely stand, but once he began to move, he seemed like a completely different person.
Clang clang clang!
The sound of metal clashing echoed through the forest.
Tang Qihun’s hand grabbed the shoulder of Insan, who was leaping to the side.
Insan gritted his teeth as he watched the hidden weapon that had left his hand once again graze past the man’s earlobe.
It had been a perfect strike!
“What are you doing!”
Tang Qihun shouted as if in shock.
Due to the nature of being warriors from the same family, all the leaders of Bichiryeong were like brothers to each other.
Though they might not match Yuluo, which was said to contain only the Dang Family’s greatest talents, no one could look down on Bichiryeong.
Bichiryeong had grown by embracing that pride and supporting each other.
“Captain. We must kill him now.”
“The Household Head’s order was to bring him back alive.”
Tang Qihun said with a growl.
Insan likewise bared his teeth.
Insan had followed him like a youngest brother.
“Brother!”
Tang Qihun’s eyes wavered.
“We must kill him now! That’s the only way the Dang Family will survive!”
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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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