The Patriarch of the Northern Heavens - Chapter 11

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Master of the Bukcheon Sword Family – Chapter 11

“You have something to tell me?”
I regarded him calmly and posed the question.
I could roughly guess what it was.
It was probably about his relationship with Elder Won-ju.
But I didn’t let it show.
I waited for Sa Gong-cheon to speak first.
“Yes.”
“Go ahead.”
“Young Master. I am….”
Sa Gong-cheon, his expression pained, knelt down with resolve and lowered his head.
“…In truth, I was sent as a spy by Elder Won-ju.”
“I already knew.”
“What?”
I smiled at the bewildered Sa Gong-cheon and spoke.
“I knew that much from the moment you first arrived. Wasn’t it obvious? Elder Won-ju, desperate to eliminate me and the Family Head, would never have simply assigned just anyone to watch us.”
“…!”
“Of course he would have carefully selected his own people to place beside me. To report my every move and action. Am I wrong?”
“No, no. You’re exactly right.”
Sa Gong-cheon answered in a startled voice, apparently shocked that I had deduced even that much.
“But I don’t understand why you’re revealing this fact now. Why risk being branded a traitor?”
“That is….”
Sa Gong-cheon sighed and spoke.
“Because I no longer wanted to deceive you, Young Master.”
“Me?”
“Yes. From the first day, you treated me with warmth. And everything I’ve witnessed of you so far has been more than worthy of following as a lord.”
Thus Sa Gong-cheon began to explain slowly.
From your usual competence in handling affairs.
To the righteousness of sparing Nam Cheon’s life out of concern for him.
And how you treated your subordinates well, and just now distributed food and wealth to the villagers.
“Young Master, you are truly the very embodiment of a righteous hero. I could not bring myself to deceive such a person.”
“Hearing that, I feel ashamed. I’m no righteous hero. I simply acted on what I believed was right while pursuing my own interests.”
“Yet even that is something many in this world cannot do. For example… someone like me. I consented to Elder Won-ju’s plan to have you killed.”
“So the Red Wolf Gang’s attack was indeed Elder Won-ju’s doing?”
“Yes. I don’t know the details, but it was his work. And following his orders, I deliberately left you alone to face danger.”
My suspicion had been correct.
Sa Gong-cheon hadn’t failed to follow me—he had deliberately left me behind.
He looked at me and spoke in a somber voice.
“But you did not blame me. Even though I failed in my duty to protect you, you smiled and forgave me. When I heard those words, I could not bear the weight of my guilt.”
“So that’s why you’re confessing now?”
“Yes.”
Sa Gong-cheon answered while lowering his head.
“I will accept any punishment for this. You may strike me down, remove me from your guard, or turn me over to the family’s Jipbepdang. I am truly sorry. Young Master….”
“Raise your head. If that’s what you wish, I shall deliver your punishment.”
I spoke in a gentle voice.
Sa Gong-cheon slowly lifted his head, his expression gloomy.
I flicked my finger and gave him a light chop on the forehead.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
“This is the punishment I bestow upon you. Since you have received it, henceforth devote yourself entirely to your duties as my guard and protect me with even greater diligence.”
“Yes, yes?”
Sa Gong-cheon blinked in confusion, as if he did not understand.
He was shocked that I had forgiven his transgression so lightly.
“Why do you look so bewildered?”
I spoke to him with a gentle smile.
“You confessed your sin to me. That alone was enough for me to know you harbored no intention of harming me. Besides, you have caused me no actual harm, have you?”
“That is….”
“Reporting my whereabouts to Elder Won-ju? Anyone would have done the same. If someone else had taken your place in my guard instead of you, the result would have been identical. Leaving me alone on the Battlefield? Did I suffer even a single scratch because of it?”
No.
“In conclusion, you have done nothing to deliberately cause me direct harm. Therefore, your sin cannot be anything but light.”
“Young, Young Master…!”
Sa Gong-cheon’s eyes trembled.
His expression was deeply moved.
I patted his shoulder and continued.
This was where it became important.
“But I am curious about one thing. Why did you follow Elder Won-ju?”
“That was….”
Sa Gong-cheon closed his eyes tightly before opening them again to speak.
“…It was because of my daughter.”
“Your daughter?”
“Yes. My child has been in poor health since birth. Even when she seemed healthy, she would periodically suffer from fevers and seizures. There were times when the fever grew so severe she hovered at death’s door. It is a condition caused by an excess of yang energy in her body.”
“Does she possess a Solar Constitution?”
“It is likely a weaker variant of that. If Rin truly possessed a Solar Constitution, she would not have survived this long. However, she certainly carries a similar condition.”
Sa Gong-cheon exhaled a very deep sigh.
“That is why I needed money. To save Rin, I needed medicine that could dissipate and neutralize her yang energy. But such medicine was far too expensive. It was an amount my monthly wages could never afford.”
“So you entered Elder Won-ju’s service.”
“Yes. After learning of my circumstances, Elder Won-ju proposed that I become his hunting dog. From that point on, I lived in his shadow, handling the dirty work that could not be spoken of to others. But….”
“That’s enough. I understand the situation well enough.”
In truth, from my perspective, it was merely a reconfirmation of something I already knew.
‘Now is the time.’
I realized that the moment had come to unveil the plan I had conceived since my first meeting with Sa Gong-cheon.
“Sa Gong-cheon, if there were a way to cure your daughter’s constitution, what would you do?”
“…!”
Sa Gong-cheon’s eyes widened, and he asked in a trembling voice.
“Is that truly possible?”
“I cannot guarantee it. But there is a possibility.”
“P-please, tell me!”
With his daughter’s life hanging in the balance, it was only natural that he had lost his composure.
I gazed into his eyes and spoke calmly.
“There exists a miraculous herb called Moonlit Yin Grass—a spiritual plant brimming with yin energy that grants ten years’ worth of inner power with a single harvest.”
“A miraculous herb infused with yin energy…!”
“With that alone, I could suppress the yang energy dwelling within your daughter’s body. Barring any unforeseen complications, she should never suffer from fever again.”
“B-but how could we possibly obtain something so precious…?”
“This is a secret, but I happen to know where it grows.”
“…!”
Sa Gong-cheon’s expression shifted to one of utter astonishment.
The look of someone who could scarcely believe that I possessed such knowledge.
Yet it was the truth.
I remembered from my first life the bloodshed that had erupted over the Moonlit Yin Grass.
‘It was a tumultuous affair that stirred much commotion.’
Was it two or three years from now?
It would have been around the time I had just ascended to the position of family head.
On an unnamed mountain some distance from the Bukcheon Sword Family, an unfortunate herb gatherer discovered the Moonlit Yin Grass.
In his carelessness, he boasted of his find to a fellow gatherer….
That very night, the herb gatherer was murdered, and the Moonlit Yin Grass was stolen from him.
The culprit was none other than the fellow gatherer who had heard of the discovery.
Boldly, he attempted to auction it among martial artists, seeking a handsome profit.
Had he possessed the martial strength or backing to protect himself, he might have earned a considerable fortune….
‘But such things were hardly within the reach of an ordinary herb gatherer.’
Inevitably, he too was slain, and the Moonlit Yin Grass was seized once more, sparking a great upheaval thereafter.
Both righteous and demonic sects alike participated in the struggle to obtain it, without distinction.
‘In the end, it fell into the hands of the sect master of the Blood Blade Sect, a demonic faction.’
In any case.
That was now merely a vanished past that would never come to pass.
The Moonlit Yin Grass would now be used to treat Sa Gong-rin, Sa Gong-cheon’s daughter.
“I was planning to retrieve it soon anyway, so this works out well. Come with me. Once I obtain the Moonlit Yin Grass, I shall give it to you.”
“Do you truly mean it…?”
His expression was one of bewilderment.
He simply couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
In truth, his skepticism was a perfectly normal reaction.
What martial artist in this world would willingly surrender such a precious spiritual medicine to another so easily?
Yet I had determined that giving the Moonlit Shadowy Herb to Sa Gong-cheon was far better than claiming it for myself.
This decision stemmed not merely from the fact that he was a martial master who had ascended to the realm of Harmony.
‘Sa Gong-cheon extended considerable kindness to me even in my first life.’
In those days, when I stood isolated and despised by every member of the family, the goodwill of him and a few others shone like a beacon through the darkness.
Though I cannot repay the debt I owe them from that time….
I can certainly repay those who show me kindness now.
And that is precisely why I was yielding this precious medicine.
I patted Sa Gong-cheon on the shoulder and spoke.
“Then let us depart at once.”
Tonight, the Moonlit Shadowy Herb would fall into our hands.

* * *

I suggested to the Gale Wind Brigade, who were eager to return to the family immediately, that they rest for a while.
I offered the excuse that remnants of the bandit gang might return and harm the villagers.
Fortunately, the members of the Gale Wind Brigade also wished to rest for a day, so they readily accepted the proposal to remain in the village.
We slipped away from the village under the pretense of taking a brief night stroll.
“Fortunately, the habitat of the Moonlit Shadowy Herb is not far from here.”
With our lightness technique, we could arrive within an hour’s time.
Sa Gong-cheon and I deployed our full speed beneath the light of the full moon.
Sa Gong-cheon gazed at me with astonishment in his eyes.
My speed when executing the lightness technique must have exceeded his expectations.
“Young Master. Were you perhaps concealing your true strength?”
“Perhaps. Think of it as you wish.”
I responded with a meaningful smile, refusing to elaborate.
And shortly after.
We arrived at our destination—the Unnamed Mountain.
“It is here. More precisely, it lies hidden within a cave partway up this mountain.”
“The Moonlit Shadowy Herb is in this place….”
“I do not know the exact location perfectly either, so let us make haste. We must return before dawn.”
“Yes.”
We climbed the mountain with urgency.
Fortunately, the mountain had gentle slopes, making it easy to ascend despite the late hour.
Relying on the information in my memory, I located a cave partway up the mountainside.
‘A cave where the air feels colder than elsewhere… that is likely the one.’
Just as I was about to enter the cave.
Whoosh!
A snake suddenly emerged from the ceiling, its maw gaping wide.
This was clearly the creature’s lair.
Whoosh!
I immediately drew my blade and swung it at the serpent as it lunged toward me.
The headless body of the snake rolled across the floor.
“My, what extraordinary reflexes you possess.”
Sa Gong-cheon spoke with a hint of bewilderment upon witnessing the scene.
From his expression, he was now nearly certain that I had been concealing my true abilities.
Well, misunderstandings happen to everyone.
I shrugged and stepped deeper into the cave.
Soon enough, I discovered the Moonlit Whisper Herb located where faint moonlight filtered through an opening in the ceiling.
However.
“Hmm?”
I could only tilt my head in confusion at a situation that differed from the intelligence I had received.
The reason was simple.
There were not one, but two roots of the Moonlit Whisper Herb growing in that spot.

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