Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Even the Young Leader Smiles!
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Inside the chest lay a neatly arranged black fan.
I reached out and carefully lifted it.
"I was curious what kind of weapon the Mad Laughing Bombardier would make—"
"I have to admit, this is a fine piece of work."
The weapon, which had seemed so impossibly complex from the blueprints, had been perfectly realized.
Length, material, weight distribution, exterior design, internal mechanisms, even the tricky firing device's adjustments—all of it.
But what surprised me most wasn't that.
It was the intent behind its use.
I'd layered in four levels of intent, and he'd read them all flawlessly, implementing them without issue.
This was something not even shown in the blueprints. I'd figured even a master craftsman might miss it.
That's why I'd planned to add a finishing process myself to fill in any gaps, but he'd made that unnecessary.
The Ghost King Sword's essence was preserved without any material loss.
In other words, it looked like a fan, but it wasn't one.
It was a concealed weapon—and a sword.
A sword with razor-sharp edges.
Here was the gateway to the ideal I'd long pursued.
Thump, thump, thump!
My heart raced.
Now, finally, I felt like I could chase after my master's legacy.
* * *
‘I wonder how this kid will handle it.’
Tang Chu-yong watched Unhwi stroke the fan without moving.
Even though he'd made it himself, it was an extraordinarily intricate weapon.
In his life, he'd crafted countless exotic arms, but this one stood out as the most overwhelming.
A fan infused with the Tang Clan's hidden weapon principles, yet fully functional as a sword.
Even his damnable older brother, who'd collaborated on the forging, had said as much.
‘Coming up with these functions shows how vast his arsenal of martial theory is... and then trying to pack it all into a sword? For a Tang clansman, he's a real oddity. We should keep a close eye on him.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘I’ve prepared a little gift to see what he’s made of.’
‘A gift? ...Looking at that grin, it’s clear you’re itching to torment the servants again—malice is plastered all over your face!’
‘Ahem! What are you saying? It’s not just for me. It’s good for me, the Tang Clan, and the kid too. Heh heh heh heh!’
‘Sigh. Fine, what is it?’
‘If he shows off his swordsmanship—’
Tang Chu-yong recalled what the Dark Elder had said, clicking his tongue lightly.
He didn’t know the exact nature of this damnable gift, but Unhwi’s reaction to it would clearly determine a great deal.
* * *
I stroked the fan for a good while.
Tang Chu-yong spoke up.
“How is it? To your liking?”
“This—”
I snapped my head up.
“It’s perfection itself.”
“Pah hah hah ha! So you do have an eye for quality. I am Tang Chu-yong, the Old Half-God Craftsman! Nothing in this world escapes my hands without being forged!”
“Rumors don’t do you justice—they fall far short. I never dreamed you’d pull this off. The Half-God Craftsman’s reputation is well-earned. Thank you so much. Please accept my bow, elder!”
“Knowing this old man’s greatness is enough. Ahem!!”
Watching Tang Chu-yong puff up with exaggerated pride almost made me chuckle.
His arms were scorched with powder burns, his beard singed—he must have struggled hard.
But pretending it was nothing endeared him to me.
Since I was truly grateful, I bowed deeply to humor him.
I gripped the fan tightly.
A thrilling sensation coursed through my hand.
The more I looked, the more it screamed masterpiece.
Shwaaak!
I flung it open, revealing the black fan blades.
“As you can see, the inner blades are made by melting down that bizarre sword you gave me into paper-thin sheets, layered atop one another.”
Tang Chu-yong had lit his pipe at some point and was adding detailed explanations.
Just as he said, each inner blade was wafer-thin, like sheets of paper, all uniformly thick.
Especially when stood upright—the faint wave patterns etched densely into each one.
Every single blade had been forged with intricate, precise folding techniques.
「To do this by hand... it must have been no easy task.」
「And barely any loss of the Ghost King Sword’s mystic power!」
Even the Fifteenth, original owner of the black sword, was impressed.
“But the outer layer needed to securely support the innards, so I used some material I had on hand.”
The outer layer gleamed with an odd sheen—not ordinary metal.
“It looks like ivory.”
“You know your materials?”
“I only caught a glimpse.”
“Spotting it at a glance is impressive enough. You’re right. Ivory. Pretty stylish, eh? Had some time left, so I carved it a bit.”
「It appears to be ivory from the Black Ridge Elephant, a spirit beast. A premium material used to prevent mystic power leakage in magic tools—extremely rare these days. To use it so casually... astonishing.」
“The handle is rosewood.”
「Not just any rosewood. Ironheart Wood—rosewood aged over five centuries, hard as steel.」
“The tassel at the base—”
With each explanation from Tang Chu-yong, my admiration shifted to bewilderment.
...What the hell did this old man make?
It seemed far more vicious and terrifying than my blueprints...
“I added a bunch of features I thought might be useful, so it’s packed with functions. But the real charm of this fan lies elsewhere.”
I flinched.
「Y-Young Leader. That guy’s eyes—」
「He’s lost it.」
「Sh-should we just... let this happen...?」
The lingering spirits felt it too.
Madness glittered in Tang Chu-yong’s eyes!
I swallowed dryly without thinking.
“Wh-what...?”
“What else? An explosion, naturally.”
“......”
For a split second, I recalled the Mad Laughing Bombardier’s infamous cackles during blasts.
“See that tassel dangling from the bottom? Pull it hard to switch modes. Give it a tug.”
The tassel?
With a tense face, I yanked the red tassel.
Clack!
A clever mechanism whirred inside the handle, and tiny holes opened at the tips of the fan blades.
Iron pearls glinted within.
“Lightly now.”
Fwoof, fwoof, fwip!
A gentle pull launched them, embedding in the ceiling.
A clean, covert burst of multiple strikes.
Exactly as requested.
Perfect for emergency hidden weapon use in a pinch.
“Now hard.”
Clack!
The mechanism engaged again, revealing rain needles far finer than the iron pearls.
“Light again.”
Pop pop pop boom!
I aimed downward slightly at the wall.
Dozens of rain needles burrowed deep.
Rumble—
Unlike the precise iron pearls, these scattered on impact—dozens of tiny needles spraying out.
Scatter shot, clearly.
White gunpowder smoke wafted from the fan.
“Hard pull changes the mode, light pull fires, right?”
“That’s right. Pick as needed.”
Iron pearls for stealthy assassinations, rain needles for emergencies—ideal.
A superb explosive hidden weapon.
But.
“Heh heh, your face says you’re not impressed.”
“Not exactly—”
Truth be told, my initial tension had deflated.
More projectiles and power, sure, but not much different from my design.
Did he need to act so smug?
But Tang Chu-yong’s sly grin persisted.
“Heh heh heh! Too early to say it’s over.”
“?”
“Pull once more.”
Once more?
My design only had two modes.
A third one, apparently.
Tension mixed with anticipation.
What would the Half-God Craftsman’s bomb-maker prowess show?
I tugged the tassel again.
Clunk!
This time, the sound was much louder than before.
Tang Chu-yong’s grin widened, fangs bared.
「S-something feels off—」
In that instant, the lingering spirits—who’d suffered under Tang Chu-yong in life—scattered in horror.
Why the unease?
“What does this mode do?”
“It explodes.”
Huh?
How’s that different from the last two?
“All the projectiles you just fired.”
“!!!”
“You’ll be blown away.”
My eyes widened.
Meaning the embedded ones could detonate secondarily!
Hidden weapons were typically expendable.
Use once, discard unless recovered.
Reusable explosions?
Revolutionary.
Depending on use, lure enemies into complacency, then trigger mass slaughter.
「For that, each projectile needs its own powder charge—」
「How does he manage such precision?」
The spirits sighed more than marveled.
A genius craftsman of the Sichuan Tang Clan, indeed.
“Well? Mind-blowing, right?”
Euh hah hah hah!
Tang Chu-yong leered like a pervert, tongue flicking out.
The true Mad Laughing Bombardier emerged.
「The Mad Laughing Bombardier laughs! He laughs!!」
「Aaaah! My PTSD is flaring! PTSD!!」
The spirits that fled earlier buzzed frantically.
And...
Heh heh!
“Yes. It kills.”
I grinned right back.
「Eeeeeek!」
「Th-the Young Leader smiles too! That grin—he wears it when plotting something wicked!!」
「C-come to think of it, the Young Leader’s temperament rivals the Mad Laughing Bombardier’s—」
Weapons weren’t the path-seeking tools those Nine Great Sects fools claimed.
They were for killing.
As long as they brought victory to allies, that was enough.
Ultimate efficiency and dominance.
The true pinnacle of demonic arts.
In that sense, the three-stage mode thrilled me.
“Euh hah hah hah! Knew you’d get it!”
“Of course, of course. Puh heh heh heh heh!”
“Heh heh heh heh heh!”
“Puh heh heh heh heh!”
「...First time I truly pity the murim folk.」
「The Young Leader and Mad Laughing Bombardier in cahoots. Oh no—」
Rare materials like Black Ridge ivory and Ironheart Wood must’ve reinforced durability against these blasts.
Grinning, I gripped the red tassel hard.
Time to test the final explosion.
But.
Kwarrr rumble—
Pew pew pew pew!
“...Huh?”
Something utterly unexpected happened.
The fragments from what I thought was a simple blast rocketed straight toward me.