The World’s Greatest Martial Arts Instructor - Chapter 244

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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 244. So Come In

 

 

Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu.

The two walked toward the School Building with worried expressions.

They couldn’t help but worry.

For unknown reasons, someone hiding the Namgung surname had met with the younger brother of the Namgung Family Head.

Moreover, the two seemed to know each other.

“The Instructor did go with them, but…”

Namgung Ji-hu muttered.

With that Monster there, nothing major would happen, but he still couldn’t stop worrying.

His heart pounded roughly.

It was the same for Namgung Ji-yu.

“Hm? What’s wrong? Why do you look so grim?”

Just then, Dang Jin-san, who was heading to the School Building, spotted the two and approached to ask.

“…”

Namgung Ji-hu couldn’t give any answer.

His face hardened even more.

Dang Jin-san’s gaze turned to Namgung Ji-yu.

“What’s going on?”

Seeing their expressions, Dang Jin-san wiped away his playful demeanor and asked with a serious face, thinking this was no ordinary matter.

“Well…”

Namgung Ji-yu spoke briefly.

Someone from the Namgung Family Estate had come and left Gyoryong Hall together with Instructor Ha.

And in that group was also a one-armed Laborer named Nam Hwi.

They were worried because someone from the Namgung Family Estate had suddenly appeared.

That’s what she said.

She told the story while appropriately hiding what needed to be hidden.

She couldn’t reveal Nam Hwi’s true identity.

“If Instructor Ha stepped in, it’ll be resolved somehow.”

Yeon Ha-min said quietly.

Baek Ri-pyeong nodded beside her.

Dang Jin-san also had an agreeable expression.

“But you two are still worried, right?”

At Dang Jin-san’s question, the two didn’t answer, but he could tell anyway.

“Well, then we have no choice but to go find them directly.”

Dang Jin-san spoke as if the conclusion was already decided.

“How?”

Namgung Ji-hu asked.

It had been quite a while since the three had left.

Moreover, they didn’t even know where they had gone.

How could they find them in the vast Muchang?

Hearing Dang Jin-san’s words, regret washed over Namgung Ji-hu that he should have followed them from the beginning.

At Namgung Ji-hu’s question, Dang Jin-san turned around.

At the end of his gaze.

Ha Seol-ran was there.

“Me, me?”

Ha Seol-ran was startled.

It was because he had suddenly looked at her.

Dang Jin-san grinned.

“You know where Instructor Ha is, don’t you?”

Ha Seol-ran glanced around for a moment, then slowly nodded.

Elder Brother and Master’s presence was much harder to sense compared to other people.

She had lost track of them many times.

She had even wondered whether she could really find them if the two seriously put all their effort into hiding their presence.

But right now, Elder Brother wasn’t particularly hiding his presence.

If so, finding him was now easy.

A presence that had a fainter sense of existence than others.

That was Elder Brother.

Elder Brother habitually kept his presence faintly scattered.

Before realizing this fact, it was hard to find him, but after realizing it, it became easy.

At Ha Seol-ran’s affirmation, Namgung Ji-hu was surprised.

“How?”

It was the same words as before, but the emotion contained in them was completely different.

“Now, now, that’s not what’s important. Go find them now.”

Dang Jin-san patted Namgung Ji-hu’s shoulder.

Ha Seol-ran told them the location in as much detail as possible.

Going together would make it easier to find them, but the atmosphere between the two somehow suggested that wouldn’t be appropriate.

Thus, Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu left Gyoryong Hall.

 

***

 

“A proposal?”

At Namgung Hwi’s question, Namgung Hwa-u nodded.

“There’s nothing to hear. My resolve won’t change.”

Namgung Hwi was firm.

“As your father, you’d better listen. I think I know what feelings led you to that resolve.”

“…”

Namgung Hwi pressed his lips tightly shut.

“Branch family.”

A short single word flowed from Namgung Hwa-u’s mouth.

Namgung Hwi’s eyes trembled.

“If it’s revealed that those children are yours, they’ll become branch family members. Very distant ones at that. Branch family members who cannot learn martial arts beyond the Great Flame Sword Technique. But those two children have already learned the Azure Sky Unhindered Sword. They’ve built up Internal Energy with the Changung Daeyeon Mind Technique.”

Strength entered Namgung Hwi’s remaining fist.

“Ji-hu has even learned the Emperor Sword Form, hasn’t he? The family elders will never just leave that alone. They’re old fools stuck in cramped rooms. They’ll surely try to reclaim the martial arts.”

Reclaim the martial arts.

What method would that be?

Something already learned and in one’s head.

“They can’t erase memories from the head, and there’s no justification to kill them… so it would probably end with destroying their Dantian. But for a martial artist to lose their Dantian…”

“Stop it.”

Namgung Hwi finally spoke up.

“That’s what you’re worried about, isn’t it? That’s why you’re trying to settle things with elder brother alone. Even knowing you’ll die. Do you want to vent the resentment built up in your chest?”

Namgung Hwa-u didn’t stop talking.

Each of those words stabbed at Namgung Hwi’s heart.

Because there was nothing wrong with what he said.

“You see, if I become the Family Head, I’ll abolish such stuffy family laws. We’re all of the same Namgung bloodline, yet we divide again into direct and branch lines, and limit the martial arts one can learn based on how close or distant they are to the direct line? It’s foolish. It’s struggling to weaken ourselves.”

Namgung Hwi’s expression changed.

He never imagined that Namgung Hwa-u, a direct descendant, would harbor such radical thoughts.

Noble families naturally valued bloodlines, so most drew distinctions between direct and branch lineages.

This was because they believed it preserved bloodlines and strengthened the family.

“Talent does flow through bloodlines. I won’t deny that. However, the place where talent carried by bloodlines blooms has no distinction between direct and branch lines. Just like you and me.”

Namgung Hwa-u gazed intently at Namgung Hwi.

His eyes held resentment.

The many brothers of his father, who had been the Family Head.

Among them, the most outstanding was the youngest, Namgung Hwa-u.

But he was excluded from the start simply for being the youngest.

Among the brothers, the eldest with ordinary talent became the Young Family Head and then Family Head solely for being the firstborn.

When he couldn’t produce an heir, Namgung Hwa-u had harbored quiet expectations.

But he overcame that problem through vicious means.

“I would allow anyone bearing the Namgung surname to learn all the family’s martial arts. Then achievements would be revealed according to talent. Among them, I’d select those with outstanding achievements to pass down the Emperor Sword Form and make them candidates for the next Family Head.”

Namgung Hwa-u was merely the Family Head’s youngest brother. And the Hocheon Corps Leader of the Jeongcheon Alliance.

He had no authority to decide such things.

Yet he was confidently discussing his plans as if he were the Family Head himself.

“Among them would be Namgung Ji-hu. That child as well.”

At those words, Namgung Hwi’s eyes widened.

“Brother, knowing full well that Ji-hu is of branch lineage blood, you would never do such a thing.”

Namgung Hwi bit his lips, contemplating.

“For that to happen, I’d first need to become the Family Head.”

That was the problem.

What good was all this talk?

Namgung Hwa-u was nothing.

“This is my plan. And for what I’ve said to come to pass, I need your help.”

Namgung Hwa-u made his proposal not with conditions of personal advancement for Namgung Hwi, but with the futures of Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu.

Namgung Hwi quietly looked up at the ceiling.

Then he drank his liquor.

“Do you think I would trust the Namgung family?”

What returned was a question.

It was natural.

He had trusted the Young Family Head of the Namgung Family Estate, only to be betrayed and nearly killed.

And the natural order had been disrupted.

The one making this sweet proposal before his eyes was that man’s brother.

It was a similar situation to back then.

How could he easily trust?

At that question, Namgung Hwa-u nodded. His expression showed complete understanding.

Then he turned his head.

At the end of his gaze was Ha Mu-baek.

“There’s a guarantor here.”

At those words, Ha Mu-baek frowned.

He had planned to go to the Namgung Family Estate with Namgung Hwi to help.

He had brought him here in case this bastard Namgung Hwa-u tried anything foolish.

But suddenly dragging him into being a guarantor.

“Do you know who this person is?”

“The Hocheon Corps Leader.”

Namgung Hwi answered briefly.

“More precisely, the former Hocheon Corps Leader. I’m the current Hocheon Corps Leader. Anyway, what do you think this person’s true martial power level might be?”

“I cannot tell.”

At Namgung Hwi’s answer, Namgung Hwa-u nodded.

“As expected, someone of your caliber can tell. Well, you seem to have reached a higher realm than me. This man single-handedly sealed off the Peng Family.”

At Namgung Hwa-u’s words, Namgung Hwi’s eyes widened.

An individual destroying a group.

He had never even imagined such a thing.

“If it’s this man, even if I hide in the depths of the Namgung Family Estate, he could kill me.”

Namgung Hwa-u spoke with certainty.

Though he disliked Ha Mu-baek, he acknowledged his skills.

The hero of the last war.

Namgung Hwi looked at Ha Mu-baek with an expression of disbelief.

Ha Mu-baek nodded slightly, confirming Namgung Hwa-u’s words.

“If I break my promise, you may kill me anytime. Seeing that friend followed you all the way here, it seems he has a relationship with you.”

Namgung Hwi’s eyes trembled with complex emotions.

He was contemplating what to do.

He simply couldn’t reach a conclusion.

“I hope you do break that promise. Your behavior annoys me, so I’ve come to want to kill you.”

Before Namgung Hwi could make a decision, Ha Mu-baek’s permission came first.

At those words, Namgung Hwa-u chuckled.

“If only to avoid dying by your sword, I’ll definitely keep my word.”

“Let me ask one thing.”

At Namgung Hwi’s words, Namgung Hwa-u nodded.

“Why on earth would a direct descendant Youngest Young Master think such thoughts?”

Direct descendants were precisely those who held all the benefits and privileges in noble families.

He couldn’t understand why Namgung Hwa-u, being direct lineage, would try to destroy those benefits and privileges.

“Direct lineage? Hah. Even among direct lineage, there are ranks. My father was the Family Head, but my mother was merely that father’s concubine. You stay in the outer courtyard, so you seem unaware of that fact.”

A bitter smile played around Namgung Hwa-u’s lips.

“Bloodlines are damned things. That’s why I never married. So I wouldn’t pass on this damned bloodline.”

Namgung Hwi’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t known this fact.

Finally, he made his decision.

“I’ll accept the proposal. What should I do?”

At Namgung Hwi’s words, Namgung Hwa-u smiled broadly.

“A wise choice.”

His expression was satisfied.

“What you need to do is one thing. Turn the Namgung Family Estate upside down. Expose all of that bastard Namgung Hwa-hyeon’s shameful acts and cause a commotion.”

“Are you telling him to die?”

Ha Mu-baek interjected.

If he did that, all the family warriors would come running.

“I’ll stop them. It needs to be made public. Until now, I only had circumstantial evidence, no physical proof, so I couldn’t act.”

“There’s still no physical proof. There’s just someone making claims. How will you prove those children are Namgung Hwi’s children? Resembling faces won’t be nearly enough, will it?”

At Ha Mu-baek’s question, Namgung Hwa-u nodded.

As if he had already considered this.

“Do you know there’s a mystical art to verify family bloodlines?”

“So I’ve heard.”

“If there’s a mystical art to verify family bloodlines, wouldn’t there be one to confirm if someone is a father’s child?”

At Namgung Hwa-u’s words, Namgung Hwi’s eyes widened.

“Such a mystical art exists? Chu Dong clearly said that was an impossible technique… that even Mosan Sect didn’t have such an art…”

Namgung Hwa-hyeon had been meticulous.

He too had first confirmed whether mystical arts existed that could verify father-child relationships.

“Mosan Sect wouldn’t have it. But Seonyu Valley does.”

Ha Mu-baek also looked at Namgung Hwa-u with a somewhat surprised expression.

To think such mystical arts exist.

And in Seonyu Valley, no less.

“Since it’s a mystical art that would cause many troublesome problems if it became known… Seonyu Valley keeps it extremely classified. It’s also an incredibly difficult mystical art, so there’s currently only one person capable of performing it. Ma Jin-gi, I believe his name was…”

The most difficult problem had been resolved.

In that case.

“Even so. I think we should first hear the opinions of those directly involved.”

Ha Mu-baek said, crossing his arms.

“Those involved?”

Namgung Hwa-u’s question.

“The two children. It’s their lives, after all.”

At Ha Mu-baek’s words, Namgung Hwi trembled slightly.

Those words meant.

He would have to reveal to the two children that he was their father.

After a moment of contemplation, Namgung Hwa-u agreed.

“Let’s do that.”

Then he looked at Namgung Hwi.

Only Namgung Hwi’s decision remained.

“I don’t know…”

He couldn’t make a decision.

“Let me tell you one thing. The two children think that you’re probably not their father. Ji-yu is quite a clever child.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because they were secretly investigating the secrets of their birth within the family estate. It’s only natural after experiencing their father’s coldness and hearing people’s whispered conversations. That’s why the child was sent to Gyoryong Hall.”

As a female, Namgung Ji-yu cannot become the Family Head.

So if they wanted to prevent her from becoming Family Head, they only needed to send Namgung Ji-hu to Gyoryong Hall.

There was such a reason for sending Namgung Ji-yu along as well.

“Then…”

Namgung Hwi needed to make a decision but couldn’t bring himself to do so.

Creak.

At that moment, Ha Mu-baek rose from his seat.

“Let’s ask them directly.”

He strode toward the tavern door and threw it wide open.

There stood Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu with startled expressions.

“I put up an energy barrier so you wouldn’t have heard anything. So come in.”

At Ha Mu-baek’s words, the two hesitantly stepped forward.

—————
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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