The Hwangbo Clan’s Beloved Live-In Son-in-Law - Chapter 99

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

Chapter 99

If Changukmueom Sword is the swordsmanship that represents Namgung, then there is only one martial art that represents Namgung.

One that no one could dare criticize even if claimed boldly.

The power of a king who looks down upon the world.

​

“…Brother.”

​

Soon, the people who had scattered in the empty forest began to gather one by one.

They had to tend to the two fallen Qingshigol warriors, chase after the traces of the vanished blood demon, and stop Tang Dieshan who was raging wildly.

Even while the Bichiryeong and Qingshigol warriors who arrived late gathered around with bewildered expressions, Tang Qihun and the Jeok Brothers remained silent.

Then Tang Dieshan began whispering back and forth with one of the villagers who had been guiding them with a stern face, and the villager disappeared into the darkness.

It was when Tang Dieshan was glaring at Tang Qihun once again.

Jeok Inhyeok approached Tang Qihun with a hardened face and opened his mouth.

​

“Brother.”

​

A slightly deeper conviction settled in his voice.

Tang Qihun shook his head irritably in response.

​

“Stop. Stop it.”

“However, Brother.”

“Oh my.”

​

Even though Tang Qihun raised his stern aura, Jeok Inhyeok persistently clung to him.

He too had felt it.

He knew what words would come from his mouth without having to listen.

How could he not know that concern?

Tang Qihun had momentarily thought the same thing.

​

“Brother… perhaps we might be letting go of a great enemy of our generation.”

“I told you to shut up!”

“L-Leader? Inhyeok?”

​

Tang Qihun burst out in anger.

The other members who didn’t understand turned around with startled faces.

Before them, the Jeok Brothers, who had only seemed young, stood with their heads held high as they faced each other.

That made it even more surprising.

​

“The Butterfly Illusion lost its power. The wind stopped, and even the world seemed to halt.”

“…”

​

Tang Qihun could no longer shout and turned his head away.

The reason his shouting and aura lost their strength was because he too felt a sense of crisis.

In the martial arts world, both righteousness and chivalry belonged only to the strong.

Power. Overwhelming power.

Righteousness and chivalry that knelt and begged before such power was nothing but begging.

​

“I have never seen anyone with such sword energy at that age.”

​

Jeok Inhyeok spoke quietly.

Conviction dwelt in his voice.

​

“Leader. I must kill him without fail. Whatever you say, Leader, I cannot let him live.”

​

Jeok Inhyeok bowed his head toward the back of Tang Qihun’s head, who couldn’t look at him.

Jeok Inhyeok extended his cupped fists and nodded to his younger brother.

Soon the Jeok Brothers began to move.

Along with them, Fan Chong and two Qingshigol warriors followed behind.

​

“Leader. No, Brother. What is this about?”

“Why is Elder Tang acting like that, and where are Inhyeok and Insan going? And why is Leader Fan following them?”

​

The members approached, watching those who had disappeared without a word.

The remaining Qingshigol warriors who were confused watching those who had vanished were the same.

However, Tang Qihun said nothing and just stared blankly at the ground.

​

For a long while, wordlessly, quietly, silently.

Only staring endlessly at the Butterfly Illusion that had fallen alone on the ground.

​

***

​

Namgung Bin followed the sound of water, constantly moving his feet.

He barely lifted his legs that dragged on the ground like they weighed a thousand pounds, searching for stones to step on as he ran.

No matter how much he ran, it was slower than an ordinary person’s quick walk.

The internal energy he had barely managed to control was also depleted from the recent battle.

The overexertion at the end was largely to blame.

His danjon throbbed.

​

“…Damn it.”

​

Namgung Bin stopped moving and spat out a curse.

His voice was lighter and less tense than expected.

​

“Those Dang Family bastards, how underhanded.”

​

Going for the back of the head like that.

Just like when he was six years old.

Namgung Bin deliberately grumbled more lightly.

When he spoke this lightly, even serious matters felt like light affairs.

It was his own secret method of calming his mind and body.

​

-Karnax, Vis Tus. Necros, Pala…

​

“Damn it.”

​

Throb.

Again. Again that incomprehensible voice. Song. Resonance. Meaning.

Namgung Bin clutched his head and staggered.

Whenever he let his guard down even a little, he could hear this. If he just listened, he felt at peace.

The pain came when he tried not to listen.

The sound was always there.

So he was always in pain.

Namgung Bin shook his head and stood up, leaning against a tree.

He had gripped so hard that his fingers dug into the trunk.

Bark crumbled and fell, stained with blood once more.

​

Huu. Ptui.

​

Namgung Bin shook his head once more and bit the inside of his mouth to regain his senses.

The spit he expelled was mixed with blood.

It would leave another large mark, but there was no choice.

Every path he intended to take was full of human presence anyway.

Now was a time when speed was more necessary than stealth.

​

Namgung Bin’s feet pressed deep into the dirt ground.

The sound of water grew louder.

​

Just a little more.

If he could just get around here.

If he could just break through there.

After breaking through the thick mist, dense grass, and rough stone paths.

Namgung Bin’s vision suddenly opened up.

Normally, he would have run toward the sunlight filtering through those tilted branches with a slightly racing heart full of anticipation, but now he had reached this place running frantically with a much more desperate heart.

​

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa.

​

It was a place he could recognize from the rough sound of water that had been deafening his ears and the water droplets that had been soaking his entire body.

The sunlight that had been shining through lush leaves for nearly half a month warmed Namgung Bin’s body.

In the wide-open view, fierce currents literally carved and re-carved the stone walls as they flowed between massive gorges.

A few steps further, and below the sheer cliff, a club-like waterway created foam as it struck against the rocks.

Xiliang Gorge.

The natural fortress that was both the entrance and exit of Shu wound beneath his feet.

​

Hup. Ha.

Namgung Bin caught his rough breath and took a deep breath.

A different moisture from the mist wetted his lungs.

As his constantly stuffy vision cleared, he momentarily forgot his hunger and fatigue.

What pleased him more was that sky.

The blue sky truly struck his heart.

It was a landscape that naturally stirred up his heroic spirit.

Hup.

Namgung Bin leisurely raised his arms and expanded his chest.

The breath he held to the fullest went in endlessly.

Ha.

Then, without knowing when it changed, the breath he began to exhale continued for a long time.

Good.

His breathing had returned.

​

“So this is where you fled? It’s quite a decent place to use as a grave.”

​

A familiar voice came from behind Namgung Bin.

It was Jeok Inhyeok.

Through the very path Namgung Bin had emerged from, a hole was punched through the grass that had been so narrow it was difficult for even one person to pass through.

Jeok Inhyeok and Jeok Insan, Fan Chong and two guards – five in total – were mixed with thirteen or fourteen guards from some unknown place.

Their momentum was truly menacing.

However, Fan Chong kept glancing sideways, seemingly puzzled by those mysterious guards.

Namgung Bin nodded and answered.

​

“Wouldn’t it be a bit cramped to bury twenty people?”

​

Though it was below Xiliang Gorge, this wasn’t exactly the exit.

It was a path that curved far below the enemy’s wide encirclement.

The road to Yiling required going further north.

However, rather than engaging in a chase with enemies on his back, it was better to face swords with a bit of breathing room.

The path to finding life in the gap between life and death sometimes required retreating.

As a direct descendant of Namgung, he had never once learned how to give up.

Namgung Bin raised his sword.

These swords he had picked up and discarded along the way were difficult to use for long, given the nature of Namgung swordsmanship that frequently clashed blades.

If only it could endure just this battle.

​

“Your mouth is still alive.”

​

Jeok Inhyeok sneered.

Then, without adding more words, he let his hands drop.

His hands fell like falling petals, hidden by wide sleeves with only the fingertips barely visible as they fluttered.

No more words were necessary.

However, Fan Chong couldn’t just let it pass and quietly approached Jeok Inhyeok’s side to ask carefully.

​

“I say, Flying Swallow. Those fellows are…?”

​

Flying Swift Twin Wings. The aliases of Jeok Inhyeok and Jeok Insan.

No matter how much of a Bichiryeong guard he was, Fan Chong was also the leader of a martial force called Qingshigol.

Their relationship had never been this difficult, but today’s Jeok Inhyeok gave off such a dangerous atmosphere that a cautious voice escaped without him realizing it.

​

“…They are people helping our family. There’s no major problem, so let’s catch that bastard first and think about it later.”

“The Jeok family had such people?”

“That’s not what’s important right now, is it?”

“…You, what’s with your tone right now.”

“Hero Fan.”

​

Jeok Inhyeok firmly shook his head and gestured toward Namgung Bin.

At that arrogant response, Fan Chong opened his mouth once more, then frowned and stepped back.

But as he said, that wasn’t what was important now.

What was important was cutting off that enemy of the Dang Family, that bloodline of Namgung.

Fan Chong forcibly swallowed his inexplicable uneasiness and bit his lips.

Then he gripped his axe tightly.

He would resolve this displeasure after catching that man.

​

“Understood.”

​

With the gaze of the Jeok Brothers behind him, Fan Chong stepped forward.

Along with him, two subordinates from Qingshigol and unidentified guards also advanced together.

​

“…Words are no longer.”

“Necessary.”

​

The words Fan Chong began were finished by Namgung Bin.

Thud.

Once again, Fan Chong stomped the ground.

From the previous battle, he had fully felt the man’s greatness.

But now their numbers had more than doubled, and even he couldn’t easily gauge their level.

Yes. It’s definitely possible.

On his second step, having cast off his hesitation, Fan Chong’s axe cleanly chopped down from the sky.

​

Clang!

​

The battle began again.

​

“You bastard!”

​

Fan Chong felt the force of his downward axe strike being deflected, spinning as Namgung Bin’s sword swept it aside, and gripped the axe handle even tighter.

Though he might be simple, his martial prowess was not something to be ignored.

Charging in headfirst recklessly was his strength, but with that one strength alone he had earned the Chokmaeng’s recognition.

He wasn’t stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice.

The axe that had been helplessly following the blade flying from another direction suddenly became a bit faster, then abruptly stopped.

Rather than pushing back against the rotating force, he had pushed in the same direction and twisted.

In that instant came the hidden daggers and projectiles thrown by the Jeok Brothers.

When the guards’ chopping and thrusting blades, which he had tried to block with the broad face of his axe, left Namgung Bin’s body completely exposed.

​

Still.

​

Once again, the world stopped.

Three types of projectiles and five hidden daggers, six iron balls floating in mid-air stopped as if nailed there,

Then clattered to the ground.

The same happened to the five blades that had been striking toward Namgung Bin, and likewise to Fan Chong’s body that had been charging again.

A chilling feeling as if someone had grasped their hearts, a coolness as if a blade was at their throats, an oppressive feeling that made it seem impossible to raise their heads came in succession.

It was truly a moment that could be called an instant, but a presence that made that instant feel like an eternity.

​

When they felt time flowing again, Fan Chong’s knees, which had stopped mid-charge, hit the ground,

And the forms of the five guards who had occupied all sides and charged in crumbled like flower petals.

Namgung Bin still stood among them, holding his sword high as if nothing had happened.

​

This is….

​

“Emperor Sword Form….”

​

Fan Chong muttered unconsciously.

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