Chapter 186
Chapter 186
Chapter 186
"Phew, now I can finally live a little."
The guest room they arrived at after being guided following the meeting with the family head.
Nam-gung Cheon flopped onto the soft bed and let out a sigh.
Since he'd spent several days in a rattling carriage, his back was aching.
Seo-jin looked around various parts of the guest room and warned.
"Don't relax too much. Though the family head is friendly toward us, it seems not everyone in the Nam-gung Family is like that."
Seo-jin recalled the expressions of the family members who withdrew earlier according to Nam-gung Hwi's command.
Though none openly showed discontent, there were quite a few who swallowed discomfort that was obvious at first glance.
Not only did they not welcome Seo-jin's group as outsiders, but the atmosphere suggested they disliked the family head's hospitality itself.
The reason would surely be because Seo-jin's group joining would give strength to the family head's intention to oppose the imperial palace.
Nam-gung Cheon spoke with both hands behind his head.
"Well, who would want to oppose the imperial palace? They're following because it's the family head's words."
"Right. So it's best to be careful. Those who have ill feelings toward us might pick pointless fights, so be mindful of your behavior."
"Yeah."
Seo-jin added one more warning to Nam-gung Cheon, who answered half-heartedly.
"And make sure to remember."
"What?"
"That here, you're Nam-gung Rin's younger brother."
"Son of a—"
Whoosh—
Seo-jin dodged the pillow Nam-gung Cheon threw and opened the guest room door.
Seeing this, Nam-gung Cheon asked with a puzzled expression.
"Where are you going?"
"There's something I need to check on."
"You said to be mindful of our behavior? Why are you trying to wander around outside this late at night?"
"I'm just going to the bathroom for a moment. The ones wandering around…… are my summons."
Seo-jin left those words behind and stepped outside the guest room.
***
Upon arriving at the guest room, Gongsun Yu-hwa began nodding off.
Dan Mok-hyeon reassured her and carefully laid her on the bed.
"Don't worry and sleep well, young lady. You'll be safe here."
"……Yes, grandfather."
Yu-hwa answered obediently, then forced open her heavy eyelids to give a goodnight greeting to Nam-gung Rin, with whom she'd become quite close over the past few days.
"Sister, sleep well too."
"Yes, I'll be sleeping soon too, so don't worry and sleep."
"Yees……."
Perhaps exhausted from the long escape, Gongsun Yu-hwa fell asleep immediately.
Well, she had traveled the long distance from Liaodong to Nanjing, then fled here to Hefei while threatened with her life.
Her tension must have completely released with the thought that she'd reached the safe Nam-gung Family.
After confirming Yu-hwa had fallen asleep, Dan Mok-hyeon expressed his gratitude again.
"How can I repay this kindness?"
Not only had their lives been saved, which was already a great favor, but thanks to them they'd safely entered the Nam-gung Family and met the family head.
Nam-gung Rin held the old man's hand and smiled.
"It's still too early to speak of kindness. I'll accept thanks after you two have safely escaped."
At those words, Dan Mok-hyeon smiled brightly and turned his gaze to Hyeon-wol.
"By the way, who is this young lady that she knows about old figures of the Nam-gung Family?"
The group had safely entered the Nam-gung Family and received the family head's recognition all thanks to the information Hyeon-wol provided.
Nam-gung Jin, whom they'd appropriately used as Nam-gung Rin's great-grandfather, had been a real person.
How did she know about someone who left the family over a hundred years ago?
"Hmph, that's naturally because……."
Hyeon-wol was about to boast as always when she suddenly closed her lips.
"N-nothing. I just have ways of knowing everything."
"I see."
Since she seemed reluctant to answer, Dan Mok-hyeon didn't ask further.
Nam-gung Rin, who had been watching from the side, left the room with Hyeon-wol and Se-yeon, worried Yu-hwa might wake.
"Then we'll be going. You rest well too, sir."
"Yes, have a peaceful night."
After the group left.
"……."
Dan Mok-hyeon sat in a small chair beside Gongsun Yu-hwa's bed.
Rustle—
Faint signs of people moving busily near the guest rooms where the group was staying.
Dan Mok-hyeon fell asleep while tracking the source of those signs with his eyes closed all night.
***
The next day.
A neat breakfast was delivered to the guest room where Seo-jin's group was staying.
Though he worried there might be poison or something, to Seo-jin and Dan Mok-hyeon's eyes there seemed no particular problem.
"Delicious."
Rather, perhaps the cook's skills were excellent, as his appetite that had disappeared from eating only rations for several days was returning.
After the meal, Dan Mok-hyeon and Gongsun Yu-hwa were summoned by the family head and quietly headed somewhere.
They would probably ask about the circumstances and discuss how to escape the imperial palace's eyes going forward.
Taking just the two separately seemed a bit dangerous, but Dan Mok-hyeon assured them that Nam-gung Hwi was a trustworthy person and there was nothing to worry about.
Thanks to that, the group could tour the Nam-gung Family's estate without worry.
"I am the Young Family Head of the Nam-gung Family, Nam-gung Mu-jin."
A fine-looking man greeted them with a cupped fist salute.
Nam-gung Mu-jin, son of Nam-gung Hwi and the family's heir, had volunteered to personally guide Seo-jin's group.
Following him, the Nam-gung Family estate they toured boasted a size beyond imagination.
"Wow, it's damn huge."
Indeed a family that dominated Anhui County. As Nam-gung Cheon said, it was tremendously massive.
'I couldn't see properly at night because it was dark, but this is impressive.'
Halls arranged in a refreshing manner and vast training grounds.
Just from the size alone, one could tell this place had once bustled with numerous servants, maids, and outer disciples.
However,
"There don't seem to be many people."
Now, compared to the size of the estate and halls, there were few people, making it look very desolate.
At Seo-jin's words, Nam-gung Mu-jin opened his mouth with a sigh.
"That can't be helped. Most of the family members left the family according to the family head's order."
Nam-gung Hwi had declared his decision to oppose the imperial palace and proclaimed that all who wished to leave should leave.
Nam-gung Mu-jin continued in a complicated voice.
"But I understand. Not everyone can practice chivalry and fight. Those who cannot hold swords should rightfully leave. Father also understood this and gave ample travel expenses to those who wished."
Seo-jin asked him.
"What does the Young Family Head think of the family head's decision?"
It was a sensitive question, but Nam-gung Mu-jin answered readily.
"Naturally, I think it's reckless."
"……."
As Seo-jin's group looked at him at a loss for words, he continued.
"Though the Nam-gung Family calls itself emperor in swordsmanship and is a great family dominating Anhui County, opposing the government would be excessive."
Now that lower-rank warriors and outer disciples had left, the number of first-rate or higher experts the Nam-gung Family could mobilize was only about three hundred.
Of course, this wasn't a small number.
No, since it was the Nam-gung Family called the greatest among the Five Great Families of the martial arts world, they would possess this many masters.
However, there would be no disagreement that against the enormous force that was the imperial palace, this was military strength like a handful of sand.
"But then why……."
At Nam-gung Rin's question, his face hardened.
"Father knows this fact better than anyone. Yet the reason he resists is……."
Nam-gung Mu-jin clenched his fist hard, recalling past conversations with his father.
***
After the imperial palace's proclamation regarding the martial arts world was issued.
The elders and senior members of the Nam-gung Family engaged in heated debates day after day, raising their voices.
At the end of those long discussions, Nam-gung Hwi expressed his intention not to submit to the imperial palace.
That night.
Nam-gung Hwi summoned Nam-gung Mu-jin to the study late at night.
Mu-jin, full of complaints, shouted at his father.
'Why on earth did you make such a decision? We're closest to the imperial palace! The Brocade Guard's masters will slaughter us!'
Mu-jin pointed out the future of the Nam-gung Family like a candle before the wind and shouted at the top of his lungs, but.
'Mu-jin.'
Nam-gung Hwi looked up at the moon outside the window and spoke with a calm demeanor.
'At least someone must say that what's wrong is wrong. Even if it's the imperial family we've pledged loyalty to. Also, if we kneel first because we're closest, no one will resist this tyranny.'
'But why must it be us? There's the Shaolin, the leader of the Orthodox Faction, and there's Wudang and Mount Hua too, aren't there?'
'Fear is contagious. If someone kneels first, everyone will follow and kneel. But if we raise the banner of chivalry and take the first step, renowned chivalrous heroes of the Orthodox Faction will rise like clouds.'
'…….'
'However!'
Bang—
Nam-gung Hwi stamped his foot and clenched his hands clasped behind his back.
'If we kneel and put down our swords, everyone will follow and submit! That's not just the Nam-gung Family but the entire martial arts world kneeling! And that too beneath the feet of the demonic cult that calls itself the White Lotus Cult!'
The fact that the imperial palace was allied with the White Lotus Cult was an open secret.
Everyone who knew anything knew that behind it stretched the vicious demonic cult's hands.
Yet to pledge unconditional obedience under the name of imperial command—that's neither a loyal subject following the emperor's will nor a martial artist practicing chivalry.
'But there's no guarantee others will follow and rise after us, is there?'
Since chivalrous heroes with integrity in the martial arts world were only a handful, and most were just swindlers who moved according to immediate profit and loss.
At Mu-jin's worried question, Nam-gung Hwi spoke in a strong voice.
'That may be so. If that happens, our Nam-gung Family will be recorded as the last martial artists who fought for the martial arts world's peace. Though the martial arts world may disappear, our righteous spirit will be passed down to future generations! That there definitely were last martial artists who fought against the great evil's tyranny!'
***
"This is Father's intention. Even if the family faces annihilation, he believes someone of future generations will inherit that spirit."
Clench—
Nam-gung Mu-jin concluded while gritting his teeth. Nam-gung Hwi's intention was conveyed through his words.
"……."
Nam-gung Cheon and Se-yeon seemed to feel something from his words, as they were already clenching their fists with hardened gazes.
Seo-jin also respected Nam-gung Hwi's intention.
Nam-gung Hwi who didn't compromise with reality and raised his righteous spirit until death, and the few of the Nam-gung Family who followed him.
Such people would be true martial artists.
"Ah, I got too excited. I'll continue the tour."
Nam-gung Mu-jin snapped to attention and walked ahead.
It was while Seo-jin's group was touring the estate following Nam-gung Mu-jin.
"Ah, there you are. The Master of the Finance Pavilion has invited all of you."
A servant approached and made a report.
At the words of the Master of the Finance Pavilion, Nam-gung Mu-jin frowned and asked the servant back.
"Uncle? Why would he?"
***
The training ground they arrived at following the servant.
Master of the Finance Pavilion Nam-gung Heun, younger brother of family head Nam-gung Hwi and uncle of Nam-gung Mu-jin.
He was waiting for Seo-jin's group along with a group of warriors.
"Sparring, you say?"
At Nam-gung Mu-jin's question, Nam-gung Heun nodded.
"That's right. Though my elder brother recognized them, how can we entrust our backs with peace of mind without knowing the abilities of comrades we'll fight alongside?"
"……That makes sense."
"In addition, I'd also like to see the branch family's swordsmanship that left the main family and developed independently for a long time."
Nam-gung Mu-jin fell into thought after hearing his uncle Nam-gung Heun's explanation.
His uncle who had no interest in pursuing martial arts and was fond of wine, women, and money games.
He was someone who enjoyed scheming behind others' backs, so he was someone whose thoughts were completely unknowable.
The reason Father didn't dismiss such a person and appointed him as Master of the Finance Pavilion was because he was at least skilled with schemes and calculations.
'Uncle was definitely opposed when Father proclaimed a fight to the death.'
For such an uncle to suddenly request sparring from the guests, talking about comrades to fight alongside.
He wanted to stop it right away, but first Nam-gung Mu-jin asked the guests' thoughts.
"What will you do?"
After exchanging glances with Seo-jin and making a decision, Nam-gung Rin readily accepted the proposal.
"It's rather an honor that you're requesting sparring. It seems it will be a good opportunity to see the main family's martial arts."
When Seo-jin's group accepted the sparring, Nam-gung Heun nodded as if pleased.
"I'm grateful you say so. Then it would be good to warm up lightly first."
Swish swish—
Following Nam-gung Heun's gesture, the first to step onto the training ground was a guard warrior under Nam-gung Heun.
Seo-jin looked him up and down to gauge his ability.
'His ability is…… just so-so.'
If measured by the level on this 60th floor, he was barely first-rate. It seemed he was sent out to appropriately assess their abilities.
Since that was the case, Nam-gung Rin couldn't step forward from our side either.
Since she mainly learned Taoist Arts and wasn't particularly versed in swordsmanship, someone else had to step forward.
"I'll……."
Perhaps his body was itching, as Nam-gung Cheon with a pleased expression was about to step forward when.
Tap—
Nam-gung Rin grabbed his arm and stopped him from going out.
"Cheon-ah, he doesn't seem like an opponent for you to face."
"Pfft."
Hyeon-wol and Se-yeon holding back laughter at the younger brother treatment.
Though Nam-gung Cheon's face turned bright red, he didn't cause further disturbance.
In the end, Nam-gung Cheon withdrew and Seo-jin stepped forward instead.
Step—
"I'll learn from you."
When Seo-jin stepped onto the training ground and bowed, Nam-gung Heun tilted his head.
"Have you also learned the Nam-gung Family's swordsmanship? I don't feel the characteristic aura though."
"Yes. As you said, I haven't learned the Nam-gung Family's swordsmanship. However……"
Seo-jin smiled at the warrior before his eyes.
"Against an opponent of this level, it seems I can easily subdue him even without such superior martial arts."