Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 163

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

Third-rate Martial Arts Family, Greatest Under Heaven – Episode 163
Though I had been cursed at unexpectedly and my face contorted with rage,
Namgung Cheon-hu’s response remained composed.
“A bastard’s whelp, you say. Is that how you address me, the Soga-joonim, Baek Yang-hwi?”
Meanwhile, Yang Hwi raised his voice even higher and pointed an accusatory finger.
“Besides you, are there any other bastard’s spawn here?”
It was an excessive insult for the Soga-joonim of the great Namgung Family to bear.
Especially when the content even demeaned the Family Head himself.
The Changcheon Sword Sect Members seated around them emanated a fierce killing intent, each flicking the hilt of their sword with their thumb.
A silent warning that if he spoke further, they would draw their blades and strike.
But Yang Hwi paid no heed.
Instead, as if to spite them, I met their killing intent with my own and drew my sword first.
As though my rage had risen to the crown of my head and I had lost all composure.
“I’m sick of your schemes, Namgung Cheon-hu! You bastard!”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Ten blades gleamed with their cold edges, yet Namgung Cheon-hu alone did not draw his sword.
He quietly surveyed his surroundings and posed a brief question.
“Did you come alone?”
“What, are you planning to commit murder and cover it up? That would be just like you.”
Some of the Changcheon Sword Sect Members stepped forward toward Yang Hwi.
Namgung Cheon-hu raised his hand to restrain his subordinates.
“You misunderstand. I’m merely curious why the Young Master of your clan sought us out in the dead of night. And alone, no less.”
“Ha!”
Yang Hwi exclaimed as if exasperated, then continued.
“Do you think I wouldn’t know you’ve joined hands with Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol?”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying. Are you now defaming me, the Soga-joonim?”
Yang Hwi’s entire body trembled.
His eyes were bloodshot with rage. The emotion poured forth in his voice and erupted.
“Today… hundreds of black-robed thugs attacked the main clan. We suffered unspeakable losses! All because of you!”
Though he showed no outward sign, the moment Namgung Cheon-hu heard that furious cry, he felt immense satisfaction.
‘The fact that he came all the way here means his scheme succeeded. It seems he managed to inflict serious damage.’
It was a half-success, yet the first fruit he had borne since arriving in Gangseong.
Ever since coming to Gangseong with the resolve to spare no effort in his schemes, Namgung Cheon-hu had failed at everything he had planned.
‘Baek Yang-hwi. Baek Yang-hwi.’
That Baek Yang-hwi, who always maintained an attitude as if victory were assured to be his.
Now he was unable to control his surging emotions and was in a state of agitation.
He had lost his composure so thoroughly that he came here alone, suspecting the Namgung Family of espionage.
‘If I kill him now, I can eliminate a great calamity before it takes root in the future.’
Previously, Namgung Cheon-hu had sworn an oath.
That even if I had to cover myself in disgrace, I would surely sever the life of this Baek Yang-hwi.
One thing, though—I need to verify this further.
Without an intelligence network, I couldn’t ascertain the Baek Family’s current situation.
It didn’t seem likely, but… if it were him, even this display could be an act.
“You seem agitated, so I’ll overlook your rudeness. Baek Yang-hwi. What nonsense is this about the Baek Family suffering harm because of me, the Soga-joonim?”
“Stop playing dumb!”
“Well, I genuinely don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“Namgung Cheon-hu!”
Namgung Cheon-hu deliberately let a faint smirk cross his face.
Simultaneously, he replayed Baek Yang-hwi’s reactions from the beginning until now.
‘He hurled curses at me. That means he’s certain of my collusion.’
This was a man who had always maintained respect toward the Namgung Family’s Soga-joonim in his outward words and demeanor, whether sincere or not.
For such a man to suddenly spew insults…
-Namgung Seong-il. Send three men to scout the surroundings and determine if anyone else is present.
-Understood.
As I issued the command through sound transmission, I posed a question.
“Baek Yang-hwi. First, let me ask you this. What possible reason could you have for thinking that I, the Soga-joonim, joined hands with the Black Path?”
“Ha! There are dozens of reasons!”
Listening to Yang Hwi’s subsequent words, I could confirm one thing.
‘All of it is circumstantial suspicion. There’s not a single shred of concrete evidence of collusion.’
The mere circumstances and suspicions spouted by some insignificant Baek Family member could never surpass the lofty authority of the Namgung.
And the Baek Yang-hwi I knew was not the type to commit such foolishness without decisive proof.
In other words, the probability that he had lost his composure and been swept up by emotion had increased.
“Very well, let’s say that’s true. Then you’ve walked straight into the grasp of someone who conspires with enemies. Aren’t you afraid of being slaughtered?”
“Hah, at your age and still so foolish. Then go ahead and kill me.”
“Ho. You think I cannot?”
“I told the household members of my family that I was coming to meet you, Namgung Cheon-hu.”
Namgung Cheon-hu suddenly felt a surge of excitement.
Could it be? Could it really be?
Did he truly use such a guarantee as insurance?
“You, Namgung Cheon-hu, will never reveal your true nature. Slaughter? Go ahead and try.”
From my perspective, Baek Yang-hwi was spouting off with absolute certainty that he could never be killed.
‘His attitude… is the same as always.’
The attitude of someone who reads people’s hearts with uncanny precision and exploits them.
Unbounded confidence in himself.
The only difference from before was that his certainty was a miscalculation.
-Soga-joonim. There is no one within ten li of here.
-I see. Understood.
I wasn’t even acting to create a witness.
In other words, whether he had intended this or was simply making a mistake no longer mattered.
‘Haha, this easily? I’m getting an opportunity to kill him?’
During the months I spent in Kangxi, I came to understand one thing: Baek Yang-hwi was the driving force behind everything the Baek family accomplished.
In other words, if I simply killed him.
All my failures would vanish like bubbles.
‘No. Once more.’
Everything I had suffered at Baek Yang-hwi’s hands crystallized into a final resolve.
Namgung Cheon-hu retraced Baek Yang-hwi’s every attitude and word from beginning to end.
And then he became certain.
‘Killing him today will cause no problems whatsoever.’
Unless a righteous sage of a major sect rivaling the Namgung Family—one bearing such prestige and authority, and whose cultivation had reached such heights as to deceive the eyes of multiple peak masters—suddenly appeared.
-Yes, kill him. There will be no consequences.
You informed the household members beforehand?
Baek Yang-hwi died en route here in an attack by the Black Bandits.
That is what will have happened.
-Kill him. To claim what is yours entirely. To slaughter all those who stand above you!
In that moment, my younger brother’s face overlapped with Baek Yang-hwi’s.
-Kill him.
-I will kill.
Everything I was born to learn was learning to possess.
So why would I hesitate in acting upon what I have learned and mastered?
-I will kill.
‘I will kill.’
Darkness filled Namgung Cheon-hu’s spirit.
Though he did not realize it himself, this darkness came from without.
He lifted his head and gazed upon Baek Yang-hwi—his younger brother Namgung Cheon-yeong.
‘The Family Head wanted me to bring shame upon the clan for its sake.’
Ink near ink becomes black. Such is the way.
So the Family Head should not harbor resentment.
‘I will kill.’
The Changcheon Sword Sect Members who received the silent transmission deployed their encirclement.
Only then did Namgung Cheon-hu see Baek Yang-hwi’s face twisted with anxiety and fear, and he grinned with his mouth split wide.
The words that would follow needed no elaboration.
The future Family Head of Changcheon Namgung would need to be tongue-tied, after all.
“Yes, everything you said was right. So die.”
Ten Changcheon Sword Sect Members unleashed their sword qi simultaneously.
‘No matter how much of a genius you are, you are still but a sprout.’
A monstrous sprout that has reached the peak realm, perhaps.
But still a sprout.
A fragile existence to be trampled.
“Namgung Cheon-hu! Do not do something you will regret!”
“Hahahaha! Regret!”
I would do no such thing.
I had already crossed that line.
‘That bastard’s final moments… I wish to savor them as long as possible.’
“Kill him quickly.”
A dangerous man. Namgung Cheon-hu hunted Baek Yang-hwi without a moment’s carelessness until the very end.
Half a double hour had passed like that.
“Impressive. To endure this long alone, and in such an exhausted state.”
“Huff… huff…”
“Will you not activate your Latent Force?”
“…”
“Ah, I see. You’ve already activated it once, haven’t you.”
This man’s recovery of Primordial Qi was unusually swift.
Yet even he could not attempt to activate Latent Force twice in a single day.
“I shall finish this myself. Die, Baek Yang-hwi.”
Namgung Cheon-hu raised his sword.
The sword energy of Changung Muae, the supreme technique of the Great Namgung Family, stained his blade.
In the moment he brought the sword down.
A chill ran through the air.
In Baek Yang-hwi’s eyes, raised upward, laughter glimmered.
At that same instant, Namgung Cheon-hu realized someone had appeared before his eyes.
“Amitabha Buddha. Amitabha Buddha.”
A middle-aged Buddhist monk chanting the Buddha’s name with eyes closed, as if in regret.
As the Soga-joonim of the Namgung Family, Namgung Cheon-hu recognized his opponent immediately.
A disciple of the Shaolin Abbot and an elder who handles external affairs for the Shaolin in the shadows.
The Righteous Heart Arhat, Beop-gak.
‘Heaven itself. Do you truly abandon me?’
Namgung Cheon-hu simply closed his eyes.
Of all times, of all places—a Shaolin elder of such rank was here.
‘Baek Yang-hwi. This is your design.’
Yet, even so.
It was the will of Heaven.
The will of Heaven that favored the other, not himself.
‘So it is. You were one who grasped not only talent but also Heaven’s fortune in your hands.’
The darkness deepened further.

* * *
The constant problem when dealing with Namgung Cheon-hu had always been evidence.
‘That bastard definitely joined hands with Hyeong-san Eum-hyeol.’
Since Chu Dal had even stolen a glimpse of the letter, this much was certain.
The only problem was that it amounted to nothing more than circumstantial suspicion.
‘Even the physical evidence—the letter announcing the attack—becomes useless if I cannot prove it came from Namgung Cheon-hu’s residence.’
It was enough to drive one mad with frustration.
I knew for certain he was in collusion, yet I could not expose it.
If I made it public prematurely, the Namgung Family’s reputation would shield them, and they would strike back.
So I, Yang Hwi, laid a new trap.
‘If there is no evidence, then I will create a witness instead.’
A witness the Namgung Family could not suppress, someone objectively credible in everyone’s eyes.
‘Originally, I had intended to ask my uncle.’
The moment I learned the attack would come three days hence, I sent Jeon Seo-gu to the Jegal Family.
By now, Jegal Seol-ha should be out to meet Jegal Seon, who was rushing here.
However, perhaps the timing had not aligned, for there was still no word.
Then, unexpectedly, one person appeared.
Beop-gak, a disciple of the Shaolin Abbot and an elder of Shaolin.
‘Excellent. The perfect witness. Far more objective than my uncle in terms of credibility.’
I, Yang Hwi, lifted the corners of my mouth into a smile as I gazed at Namgung Cheon-hu.
“At last, it is finished.”
“….”
“It has been long, Namgung Cheon-hu.”
Relief flooded through me—like gulping down a bucket of cool water after a parched throat.
As I felt this satisfaction, Beop-gak’s voice transmission pierced the minds of all present.
-Amitabha Buddha.
-This humble monk is called Beop-gak of Shaolin.
-The Namgung Family has committed deeds that should never be done.
-As one who follows righteousness, I cannot stand idle and have intervened.
-Has the Namgung Family truly conspired with those tainted by ash and sought to persecute Baek Do, and not content with that, attempted to murder this child?

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