Chapter 92
Chapter 92
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: The Elder’s Rebellion
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“May this brother offer some advice to his younger brother?”
People turned puzzled eyes toward Namgung Baek.
Some among them made no effort to hide their displeasure.
After all, his attitude in bluntly cutting off the words of the family head—the greatest figure in the clan—was clearly out of line.
Moreover, casually referring to elder and younger brother in such a formal setting was beyond their common sense.
It was undoubtedly a violation of clan law.
But Namgung Baek calmly brushed off the stares from those around him and looked straight at Namgung Jangcheon.
The atmosphere in the surroundings twisted in a bizarre fashion.
“Elder Namgung Baek, what do you think you’re doing?”
“The Family Head is speaking!”
“Outrageous! Sit down at once!”
The elders’ expressions hardened. They rebuked Namgung Baek.
Great Elder Namgung Wigyung spoke in a stern tone.
“Elder Namgung Baek, you’ve gone too far. Wasn’t the Family Head in the middle of speaking? Sit down now.”
It was a voice laced with reprimand and veiled anger.
Normally, Namgung Baek would have backed down, but this time he didn’t budge an inch.
Instead, he took another step forward, approaching Namgung Jangcheon.
“You, Elder!”
Namgung Wigyung’s voice rose a notch higher, and the atmosphere grew ever more strangely tense.
Just then, a sly smile flickered across Namgung Baek’s lips before vanishing quickly.
Namgung Jangcheon’s brow twitched.
“Enough.”
He raised a hand, signaling the other elders to stand down.
The elders hesitated to press forward and withdrew.
“Very well. Let’s hear this advice of yours.”
Namgung Baek let out a scoff at Namgung Jangcheon’s words.
“I’m just so regretful that I have to say this.”
He swept his gaze around the room as he spoke.
“Once, our main family vied for the top spot among the Five Great Families, but now even our position at the bottom is under threat. Isn’t the Black Dragon Sect eyeing us greedily? And it’s not solely because our family has weakened.”
It was a brutally frank exposure of the Namgung family’s current standing.
Harsh words. Some trembled with rage at them.
Even amid those sharp glares, Namgung Baek pressed on.
“All of this happened because of silence. Why did we stay silent until things reached this point?”
“So now that we have the capacity, we’re going to address it!”
“No, it’s already too late. We should have acted the moment we recognized the problem. Making excuses and staying silent is why dogs bark without fear, isn’t it?”
He stared straight at Namgung Jangcheon as he continued.
“What do you plan to accomplish now with those half-baked ideas? And when do you intend to fix the situation? Do you truly not know why our family has fallen to this state?”
“I’m not here to listen to your criticisms. So what’s your main point?”
“It’s about the root of the issue.”
Namgung Baek fixed Namgung Jangcheon with a subtle expression as he spoke.
“What do you think is the most unnecessary trait in one who leads a war?”
Without waiting for Namgung Jangcheon’s response, Namgung Baek continued.
“Weakness. Needless mercy. Indecisiveness.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Who would trust and follow a Family Head with such flaws? How can we go to war behind a leader who endangers the family and expect victory?”
Namgung Baek’s tone and presence shifted in an instant.
“Who would follow the Family Head now?”
His voice brimmed with dignity, and the atmosphere grew heavy with an immense, unyielding weight.
The elders’ faces stiffened as they glared at Namgung Baek.
But his momentum didn’t waver in the slightest.
Namgung Jangcheon and Namgung Baek’s gazes locked in midair.
An suffocating intensity clashed and tangled in the space between them.
“So? What is it you want by saying this?”
At Namgung Jangcheon’s words, Namgung Baek shouted.
“I’m saying the Family Head is on the wrong path. How do you expect to fight a war with such thinking?”
“…….”
“If I were Family Head, I would have long ago eradicated everything threatening our family. Crushed it, ground it underfoot, made it so no one dared even glance our way. It was something that should have been done for the family’s sake—why haven’t you?”
Namgung Baek’s voice echoed widely through the banquet hall.
“And now, what do you think you can change?”
With a resolute shout, Namgung Baek declared.
“But I am different. I can make our family stronger than ever, ensure the likes of the Black Dragon Sect can’t even breathe in Anhui Province. I can lay the foundation to make ‘the greatest under heaven’ a reality not just in the past, but right now.”
It was as if something long suppressed erupted like a volcano in a fierce explosion.
“What you’re only now trying to do half-heartedly is something I thought of long ago.”
A heavy silence and confusion descended upon the banquet hall.
At that moment, the Tenth Elder and Twelfth Elder stepped forward to stand behind Namgung Baek. The Third Elder followed, adding his voice.
“He’s right. The Elder has always spoken of the family’s future in this way.”
“Since when has our main family cowered before black path riffraff?”
“If it’s wrong, it must be corrected. Why does the Family Head try to play the good man even to our enemies?”
The other elders’ faces hardened instantly.
The sudden outburst from some elders at this unexpected moment was utterly bewildering.
Who could have anticipated such defiance?
“You lot! W-what is the meaning of this?!”
“Insolence! Do you know what this implies?!”
“Enough! Do not cross the line further!”
“You scoundrels! Are you trying to dethrone the Family Head?!”
The remaining elders bellowed in fury, but Namgung Baek and the elders aligned with him didn’t flinch.
Namgung Jangcheon glared at Namgung Baek and his supporters.
“Is this the ‘righteous path’ you speak of?”
“It’s not a matter of right or wrong.”
“Then?”
“I told you. It’s about doing what must be done.”
“Nonsense!”
Thud!
Namgung Jangcheon lightly struck the armrest, unleashing his aura.
The tidal wave of momentum crashed toward Namgung Baek.
The elders’ faces paled, but Namgung Baek calmly withstood it.
His aura, sharpened like a keen blade, pushed back Namgung Jangcheon’s majestic energy.
Namgung Baek raised his voice.
“See for yourself if I am wrong.”
Infusing his inner energy, he roared. His lion’s roar-like cry filled the entire banquet hall.
“Those who agree with me, stand and show yourselves!”
Before Namgung Baek’s voice had even faded.
A stir rippled through the audience filling the thousand-pyeong banquet hall.
And one by one, they rose from their seats.
The elders’ eyes widened in shock.
Eight elders glared at the audience rising one after another, veins bulging in their necks.
“Th-those...!”
“What is this?!”
“Sit down, all of you! Do you know where you are?!”
These were the people of the Namgung family gathered from across Anhui Province.
Distant branch family members and those who had served the family for decades were rising at Namgung Baek’s call.
The very members comprising the family were siding with Namgung Baek.
The elders’ shock and fury upon witnessing this surpassed imagination.
It was only natural, with some elders followed now by the family’s internal members rising up.
“W-what’s going on?”
“Why are you doing this?”
“Hey, stop, sit down!”
The audience was equally bewildered.
People who had been laughing and chatting just moments ago suddenly turned serious and stood, which was shocking and disconcerting.
Mok Jin-hwa was no exception.
“L-Lord Jin of the State, what’s this?!”
“…….”
“Do you realize what kind of discourtesy this is? No, this is really…….”
Mok Jin-hwa couldn’t finish his words.
The murmuring uproar turned to silence in an instant.
Namgung Jangcheon’s eyebrow twitched.
“Are you inciting a rebellion?”
At his sharpened voice, the corner of Namgung Baek’s mouth curved up.
“Rebellion?”
“Don’t you know what these actions mean?”
“No, I know. All too well. I’m simply reclaiming my rightful place.”
The people standing in the banquet hall stared toward Namgung Baek.
In a slow but firm tone, Namgung Baek declared.
“From this day forward, I, Namgung Baek, shall rewrite the history of our family. We will reclaim the pinnacle among the Five Great Families.”
“…….”
“Will you step down of your own accord, or be dragged down?”
A chilling declaration echoed through the banquet hall.
As the elders stared in wide-eyed fury, the Third Elder placed a hand on his waist.
Shing!
With a chilling sound, the Third Elder drew his sword.
Clang!
With a clear, ringing sword-drawing sound, the other elders behind Namgung Baek also unsheathed their blades.
Namgung Jangcheon’s brow twitched.
Clang, clang, clang!
Claaang!
People standing in various spots around the banquet hall drew swords hidden at their waists or in their sleeves, aiming them at the others.
“Gasp!”
“W-why are you doing this?!”
“Everyone, snap out of it! What is the meaning of this?!”
“Step aside if you don’t want to die!”
Shouts flew back and forth as the audience leaped to their feet.
Led by Great Elder Namgung Wigyung, the elders began to muster their auras.
Namgung Jangcheon rose from his seat of honor, glaring at Namgung Baek with a face full of rage.
“Are you saying family blood will be spilled among retainers?!”
“It depends on your choice.”
As his calm voice rang out, the Crescent Bow Squad by the left wall drew their gleaming swords and surrounded the elders.
Claaang!
At the same time, the Heavenly Wind Squad on the right split in half, turning their blades on each other.
Seeing the suddenly turned Crescent Bow and Heavenly Wind Squads, Namgung Wigyung unleashed a roar of fury.
“You bastards! What do you think you’re doing?!”
The Crescent Bow Squad said nothing. Their swords didn’t waver.
Namgung Baek strode step by step toward the center of the banquet hall.
“Kill all who resist.”
Chaos erupted throughout the hall.
And amid the turmoil, one person alone remained utterly composed.
Slurp.
Namgung Hyeok sat quietly, taking a long swig of his drink as he let out a hollow chuckle.
‘Hahaha, he actually went and did it?’
* * *
Geon Cheon-hwi, who had been glancing toward the banquet hall, toyed with his sword.
Tak Hyuk-dong muttered beside him.
“To think we’d come to the Harmony Banquet too. Talk about living long enough to see everything.”
“……I’m not sure if this counts as ‘coming.’”
Jang Woong scratched the back of his head as he eyed the distant banquet hall.
It was a truly ambiguous position.
They were a hundred paces from the Azure Dragon Squad guarding the front of the banquet hall—not exactly on sentry duty, and certainly not attendees. Utterly vague.
They were even hiding behind a single wall, making one wonder what the point was.
“But Captain, why’ve you been fiddling with that sword? The hilt’s gonna fall off.”
“Leave him be. Must’ve taken one too many hits to the head.”
“That’s exactly it.”
Geon Cheon-hwi scowled at their chuckling.
“Shut it.”
“……Just worried, that’s all. Worried.”
“Stand properly.”
Tak Hyuk-dong cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Who’s watching anyway?”
The entire Namgung family grounds were in disarray due to the Harmony Banquet.
The outer perimeter was busy with guards on watch, while inside was chaos preparing for the event.
“Captain, you lack awareness. Standing here like this is just a polite way of saying ‘take a break.’”
“It’s an order.”
“……He said ‘stand by,’ not ‘mount a guard.’”
Despite Tak Hyuk-dong’s grumbling, Geon Cheon-hwi said nothing more.
Tak Hyuk-dong muttered on.
“With the family’s elite warriors glaring from every direction, what lunatic would draw a sword and charge? Come on. Plenty of other guards besides us.”
That was true.
The Harmony Banquet was no different from Dragon Lake Tiger Den in terms of security.
Geon Cheon-hwi had sensed something off from the recent string of suspicious incidents, but it was just a vague hunch.
There must be a reason Namgung Hyeok had them waiting here, he thought idly.
As Tak Hyuk-dong said, what madman would pull something shady at the Harmony Banquet...
Geon Cheon-hwi, who had absentmindedly turned toward the banquet hall, suddenly widened his eyes.
Shing.
“Huh?”
A servant moving along the wall drew his sword.
“……A sword?”
Thud thud thud thud.
Huh?
Not just one?
Dozens of servants followed in a line.
Shing.
……All drawing swords?
Geon Cheon-hwi’s jaw dropped, and Tak Hyuk-dong, sensing the oddity, whipped his head around and flinched.
“Th-those crazy bastards—what the hell are they doing?!”
The servants carrying supplies toward the banquet hall overturned their carts and pulled out weapons.
The Thunder Dragon Squad stared in dumbfounded shock and bewilderment, but something even more shocking happened.
Claaang!
The Black Tortoise Squad guarding the entrance spotted the servants—not to subdue them, but instead flung the doors wide open!
As if struck hard on the back of the head, they reeled in a daze.
Geon Cheon-hwi was the first to snap out of it, his eyes bulging.
“R-rebellion!”