Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: The Sacrifice
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The sun had set.
And the moon had risen.
It was a bright full moon.
The Mid-Autumn Festival.
In the heart of autumn, the full moon bathed the world in rich, bountiful light.
The one night in the year that belonged to women.
Men retreated indoors, vanishing from the streets.
On this night alone, women who never dared venture out after dark claimed the roads as their own.
Women carrying lanterns lit up the streets, while men climbed to the pavilions and halls, watching the scene with delight, toasting with cups of wine and reciting poetry.
It was the unique elegance of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
On this night, they set aside their worries and drowned in the beauty of the moon.
Men drank their fill, and women roamed the streets freely.
Each in their place, reveling in the romance of the festival in their own way.
Women longing for children pushed through the crowds toward the shrine early, desperate to touch the stone pillar at least once.
Married women who already had children and needed money to raise them bustled about, hawking midnight snacks they had packed.
Young girls buzzed with excitement over their first taste of nighttime mischief while playing games, and the grandmothers watching over their granddaughters quietly wished that their own final days might be as warm and gentle as the light of that full moon.
And at last.
The drum announcing the Spirit Moon Festival echoed from the drum tower.
"Let's go see the goddess."
"I wonder which goddess will descend this year?"
"They say if you greet Lady Hanga, you'll gain her beauty."
"Really? Hurry then! The closer to the front, the more you'll get, right?"
"I heard the courtesan suddenly chosen for Hanga went missing..."
"No way. It's the Nangong Clan's event."
"True. Maybe it's a surprise to startle us? My friend works at the embroidery hall, and she said they put a ton of effort into this year's Moon Flower Army. Probably hiding it to keep the hype."
The women chattered as they abandoned their tasks and gathered to watch the Spirit Moon Festival.
The route was the same every year.
The spots where Hanga could be seen were already packed with those who had staked them out early.
Latecomers shoved at the backs of those ahead, desperate for a better view.
The Moon Wing Corps, the Nangong Clan's elite unit composed solely of women warriors, darted about, separating overly dense crowds.
Those who missed the river moon scene clamored to at least join the ritual offering.
Women hoping to present offerings to Hanga and receive her blessings stood on tiptoes or climbed onto wooden planks they had brought, craning their necks.
And before their eyes.
The true Hanga appeared.
A girl walked by in a beautiful skirt of pure white light overlaid with a subtle blue hue.
If a fairy walked, would it be like this?
Her steps were so light and graceful that not even a footfall could be heard.
Her unmoving chest seemed not to draw breath at all.
"Ah..."
"Lady Hanga..."
She was the incomparably beautiful Moon Flower Army leader.
But no one paid her any mind.
Not even the woman who had earlier boasted to her friend about the embroidery hall master's involvement and how stunning this year's Moon Flower Army would be.
Now, she simply clasped her hands and prayed, gazing at Hanga's face.
May I be joined with a mate as fine as you.
May I avoid the sorrowful fate you endured.
May I become as beautiful as you.
May I become like you...
May I...
The prayers of the people, the wind, their hearts filled Namchang County.
'This is dangerous.'
Wi Sowol sensed people offering tributes where she stood, even kissing the spot, and gradually pieced together the outline of what was happening.
Human will alters the energy of the world.
Daoists call it heavenly resonance.
Yangming scholars explain it as the principle where mind is reason, reason is energy.
When people feel joy, the energy caresses them softly.
When people feel fear, the energy lashes at them fiercely.
The energy does not detect good or evil.
It simply changes according to human will.
This change is so subtle that it rarely affects human lives.
Natural disasters are merely phenomena of nature; calamities born from human will are exceedingly rare.
However.
If there exists one who can wield this energy, altered by the intense collective will of the masses...
'Mijinhyang... is she turning the Spirit Moon Festival into their religious rite?'
Wi Sowol had already reached the stage.
The moment her foot touched it, the ritual dance would begin.
The ceremony showing Hanga ascending to the heavens, carrying the people's wishes.
And the one bearing those wishes skyward was Baekha.
'Priestess Jang, you were in league with them.'
They had schemed desperately to thrust Baekha into that role.
Unfortunately.
Wielding the qi of great nature was not a feat unique to Baekha.
'Don't misuse it.'
The instant Wi Sowol circulated her Great White Light True Qi and stepped into the dance ritual.
Wuuung-!
From the Nangong Clan's compound in the distance, a massive surge of energy erupted.
"We're under attack!"
That single cry transformed the Nangong Clan's compound entirely.
Those immersed in the Mid-Autumn Festival's peace reverted to razor-sharp blades.
The Nangong Clan's Ten Sword Corps instinctively knew their duties and rushed to their posts.
Soon, the stench of blood from the battlefield enveloped the compound.
The clash of blades, the whoosh of warning signals, the crash of collapsing buildings—all erupted across the Nangong grounds.
A perfectly planned assault.
Despite the surprise attack without warning, the Nangong Clan's response was astonishing.
This was the prowess of a clan vying for the title of the world's greatest martial family.
The prestige of the Sword King Clan, hailed as the supreme sword family under heaven.
But one man's arrival punched a massive hole in their defenses.
Ku-ku-ku-kuwaaang!!
A thunderous roar shook the night sky as if a thunderbolt cannon had detonated.
Piercing the smoke from the destruction, a hulking figure set his dirt-caked foot in the Nangong courtyard.
The man's stride did not halt.
It could not.
Five Cloud Thunder Corps warriors charging to block him lost their heads in an instant.
Five with a single stroke.
A terrifying slash.
He cleaved through any man in his path, shattered any wall that rose before him.
The man carved straight through the Nangong compound.
And his eyes locked on his target.
The largest building in the Nangong grounds.
The main hall.
Also called the family head's quarters—it was the heart of the Nangong Clan.
And the spot where he would plant his blade.
Just before the man could take another step.
The great doors flew open first.
A foot crossed the threshold.
Its footfall boomed like a drum on the earth.
A harsh sound followed.
The friction of something dragging across the ground.
The scraping of flagstones rang out deafeningly.
All eyes turned to the source, widening like saucers.
It was a sight too shocking to conceal.
An arm hanging loosely at his side, sword gripped in that hand.
The blade scraped and dragged along the flagstones.
The sword's form was impeccable.
Beneath a hilt intricately wrought in gold on sunset-hued rosewood, the sleek blade of heavenly azure steel gleamed with a subtle heavenly blue sheen.
The four characters "Responding to Heaven, Obeying the Mandate" engraved on the blade stood out boldly in its curves.
Answering heaven's call, submitting to the heavenly decree.
It was the sacred relic symbolizing the head of the Nangong Clan.
The Sword King's token, bestowed after saving the emperor.
The Heavenly Sequence Sword.
And there it was, its tip jammed into the ground like some cheap thug's walking stick.
As if he weren't wielding the sword, but leaning on it like a cane as he shuffled along.
"Fa... Family Head...!"
Only one man in the world could treat it so.
The current head of the Nangong Clan.
Sword King Nangong Jae.
His appearance was beyond words.
His thin summer robe and unbelted outer garment hung open, exposing everything.
No sign of a sash at his waist.
His face was deathly pale.
His sunken cheeks gave him a stern, hardened look.
With each step, stray hairs fluttered in the wind from his haphazardly tied locks.
Thud-
The tip of the Heavenly Sequence Sword finally caught on something and stopped.
There, Nangong Jae's steps halted as well.
Still holding his sword lowered, he faced the uninvited guest in his home.
"...The loser of this era has arrived."
Nangong Jae chuckled.
How laughable he must seem.
It was all his own fault.
With the family head out of his mind, how pathetic the Nangong Clan must appear to onlookers.
Thus, correcting him was his own duty.
"Worm. State your name."
A mad question.
His body swayed, plainly intoxicated by some mix of exhaustion or liquor, barely holding itself together.
Yet somehow, he uttered such words with utter confidence.
The intruder sought a formal confrontation.
Knowing who this Sword King was, he believed the Sword King must clearly know who he was as well.
His mouth opened.
"I am Peng Majun. Wielder of the Corpse-Severing Clan-Ending Blade. The sword that, alongside your Nangong blades, will erase the Zhu from under heaven."
Nangong Jae sneered.
Corpse-Severing Clan-Ender?
Slicing corpses and severing lineages.
Acting as if he alone had brought it about.
"So be it. A Peng Clan mongrel, as I thought. Worthless dogs who failed to protect their master against the Sword King's blade. Why come to us? If you seek your home's ruiners, strike Seonwoo first. They were the ones who took Beiping."
"It was your Nangong swords that halted the Peng blades."
The martial clan of Hebei Peng, who had risen in rebellion alongside Prince Yan.
They had served as his close aides from the moment he clashed with the northern barbarians, sharing his fate until their mutual destruction.
When Prince Yan launched his final desperate strike on the capital.
The Peng Clan led the vanguard, breaking through the passes faster and more destructively than any other.
Victory was at hand.
Eternal glory loomed.
Prince Yan had the Jianmen Emperor in his sights, only for Nangong blades to sever that vision.
Before those blades, the Peng could not protect their prince.
They had failed.
"Today's the day... I correct that failure from back then."
"Come then."
Nangong Jae declared boldly, the Heavenly Sequence Sword still planted in the stone.
"For I am the Sword King."