Chapter 50
Chapter 50
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Honeyed Words, Hidden Sword (9)
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Nangong Baek.
At just eighteen, he had earned a place among the Hundred Great Masters. Until Sua appeared, he was the youngest genius in martial history to reach the first-rate realm—and the Young Lord of the Nangong Clan.
I already knew his story well from Nangong Yeon. But honestly, I had no clue why a guy like that was staring at me with such guarded eyes.
That said, I had zero intention of letting Nangong Baek's rudeness slide. If it were just me, maybe—but right now, I had three disciples I was responsible for.
"Your expression isn't looking too friendly. Does my being alive bother you that much?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"If your emotions are spilling out onto your face, I'd say you've already said everything you wanted to."
"......I'm sorry. It's a personal matter. I couldn't help myself......"
At my remark, Nangong Baek paused in thought for a moment before bowing his head and apologizing to me. My disciples gasped in admiration at this resolute side of him they'd never seen before.
Good is good.
That was how I'd lived my life so far.
So usually, I let most things go.
But this time, there was no way I could overlook it. If things had gone even slightly wrong, my disciples would've been captured by the Demonic Cult as prisoners. We only got lucky thanks to Go Gyeom and Ma Gang.
If even one of them had been missing, it would've played out exactly as they planned—that much was clear. Of course, the Demonic Cult bore the worst of the blame. I knew that full well.
But did that mean the Nangong Clan and the Orthodox Martial Academy bore no responsibility at all? Not a chance. They were the ones who'd organized this whole procession to begin with.
'Your precious Hundred Great Master nearly got my disciples killed. If you're going to vouch for someone, you'd better pay the price. I'm not letting this slide.'
"M-Master? Is something wrong?"
"I'm fine. But I'm not letting this incident go—just so you know."
"Still, our opponent is the Murim Alliance. Maybe think it over one more time......"
Of course, I wasn't an idiot. The Murim Alliance no doubt had plenty of those peak experts from wuxia novels—Illumination Realm, Transcendent Realm, you name it. But just because I lacked money and power didn't mean I lacked pride.
"As expected of Master."
"Nothing to fear with you by our side, Master!"
"You bet!"
"......Truly, Great Hero, your depth is on another level. I feel a bit more at ease now."
'Huh? What's his deal?'
I tilted my head. Honestly, it was no different from the words I'd spat out for anyone who wanted to hear. Yet Nangong Baek seemed to let his guard down upon hearing them.
No, seriously—why?
Was it because of that earlier ambush?
If so, then maybe he was worried about Nangong Yeon, who had become my disciple......?
'Maybe he's not as bad as I thought.'
I could sort of understand his feelings. From what I'd heard, Nangong Yeon had stormed out of the Orthodox Martial Academy. Suddenly joining some stranger as his disciple.
If I were in Nangong Baek's shoes, I'd be just as wary.
That said, Nangong Yeon's fidgety demeanor was a bit suspicious too.
Something had clearly happened between those two, but I had no idea what. Shrugging off the question for now, I pressed on toward the Shandong village with the Nangong Clan warriors.
The rumor of a summit between the Nangong and Moyong Clans must have spread far and wide already. Shandong's marketplace was bustling with far more people than I'd expected.
"Looks like merchants flocked here after hearing the news."
"It's a summit between the Nangong and Moyong Clans, after all. It's no surprise if other sects and clans send delegations."
"They can't pass up a rare chance like this."
The Nangong Clan went without saying. And with the Moyong Clan resuming ties with the orthodox Murim Alliance, it made sense they'd want to make their presence known.
"But I thought you said the entire Murim Alliance couldn't show up openly due to appearances?"
"That's not wrong. That's why they're coming to Shandong under plausible excuses."
"Plausible excuses like......?"
"Visiting relatives in Shandong, or just traveling through—those kinds of things. Plausible excuses are a dime a dozen."
Nangong Baek, who was personally guiding us through Shandong, added the explanation. So basically, they couldn't show up officially without losing face, so they were making excuses to come anyway?
"People who live and die by their reputations."
"You'd do well to watch your step around them too, Great Hero."
They always smile to your face, but they've got a knife ready behind their backs at any moment.
Sure enough, there were more than enough excuses to visit Shandong.
The most common and safe one was to celebrate the Nangong-Moyong Clan summit. It was the most straightforward justification for sending a delegation.
With so many people flooding in, the merchants were thrilled, hawking their wares and food in the marketplace. In short, it had turned into something like a fairground.
Three days remained until the summit. Ideally, we'd stay at an inn and browse the markets until then—but Nameless approached it from a completely different angle.
'The Demonic Cult openly dragged in Hundred Great Masters to stab us in the back. You think they'd do nothing even in Shandong?'
Of course, Shandong was packed with heavyweights from orthodox clans and sects like the Nangong and Moyong Clans. But that didn't mean we could let our guard down.
If we could relax just because they were "orthodox," we never would've gotten backstabbed by a Hundred Great Master they endorsed and guaranteed. After some deliberation, Nameless made his decision.
"We're going straight to the Moyong Clan."
"Pardon? But won't they be busy preparing for the summit?"
"Sua hasn't seen her family in ages—she should catch up. And above all, in this Shandong, the only ones we can trust are the Moyong Clan."
"I don't really need a reunion...... but that reasoning makes sense."
Securing a safe base took priority. Nameless sticking by his disciples all day would be ideal, but gaps were inevitable.
"Besides, you'd all feel awkward with me hovering constantly."
"You're right, Master."
"Not me."
"I'm fine! If it's Master!!"
"......Master???"
Nangong Yeon stared at Nameless in disbelief. But explaining it away in detail would only make things weirder, so Nameless smoothly changed the subject.
"Decision's made. We move now—time's short."
"Understood."
Luckily, finding the Moyong Clan's residence wasn't hard. At the entrance of the manor the Nangong Clan had rented under their name, Nameless ran into a familiar face.
"It's been a long time, Great Hero Nameless."
"Long time no see. Moyong Sa, right?"
"That's me. Thanks to you holding back, we get to meet again like this."
"Good to see you too, Young Hero Moyong Sa. You look healthy—glad to hear it."
After exchanging brief pleasantries, Nameless and Moyong Sa got down to business. Moyong Sa was one of the few in the Moyong Clan Nameless could truly trust.
"You fell for their vile scheme. Glad you made it out safe, Great Hero."
"This incident taught me a harsh lesson about my own failings. I won't sit back and take it anymore."
"Do you have a plan in mind?"
"If they come at us, we hit back. This time, I'm going after them myself."
Taking a hit without retaliation wasn't Nameless's style. Especially not when his precious disciples had nearly been lost. Hearing this, Moyong Sa tilted his head and replied.
"I get what you mean. But how do you plan to track them down?"
"That's what we'll figure out starting now."
"They might've pulled out entirely. From what I heard, this was a massive failure for the Demonic Cult—a huge investment down the drain, plus serious losses."
From the Demonic Cult's perspective, their elaborate plan had collapsed, with heavy casualties to boot. Retreating made more sense than stubbornly holding on.
That was Moyong Sa's take, and upon reflection, Nameless saw the logic in it. He'd been about to leave his disciples here and wander off in a rage.
In the end, had his anger blinded him to reason? Nameless took a deep breath to calm himself. Fine—let's act rationally.
"Got any good ideas?"
"The art of war says: Never neglect scouting and vigilance."
What nonsense is that? Why bring that up now?
"Just like they infiltrated the Moyong Clan, they've surely snuck into the Nangong Clan too. For now, rooting out the Demonic Cult spies in the Nangong Clan might be the best move."
Nameless nodded at Moyong Sa's words. Not a bad suggestion at all.