Chapter 174
Chapter 174
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter Title: Signs of War Clouds (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The banquet had ended.
As night deepened, Nangong Musan received a summons and went to find Nangong Chan.
His younger brother Nangong Il-joon and Nangong Yong-ho were already there.
'What could it be at this late hour?'
Swallowing his puzzlement, he took a seat, and Nangong Chan immediately asked.
"Musan."
"Yes, Father."
"How far did you see through Yun-ho's sword today?"
'It's about that.'
Having already spoken of it once, Nangong Musan answered without difficulty.
"He has considerable skill. Above all, his eyes were sharp."
Spotting an opening in an instant is no easy feat.
"He must have gritted his teeth and worked hard at it."
"Is that all?"
"He certainly seems to rank among the prodigies now. I thought he's finally grown to a point worth recognizing."
"If only the main family had noticed his talent sooner."
This was the regrettable part.
"You're talking about his age."
"Yes. At Yun-ho's age, it's a problem for learning advanced martial arts."
Twenty-one was far too late to start a new technique.
'Most begin family arts before even turning eleven.'
The more intricate the art, the sooner it must be learned, before the muscles and bones harden.
To condition the body through prior training to suit the art.
'With age, impurities build up in the body, making it hard to cultivate inner power.'
This was why they had hastily named Nangong Yong-ho as heir.
To redirect support from a child with no potential to a genius with a guaranteed future.
"That's all you saw."
But the response felt somehow unsatisfactory.
"Did I miss something?"
"There was no flaw in the instructor's sword."
"Pardon?"
Then how could he sever a power-infused blade with a weak tree branch?
"It wasn't cut by brute force."
Nangong Chan asserted firmly, adding with deep admiration.
"He read the opponent's technique and precisely pierced the flow of inner power. The key was severing the sword energy's grain."
Splitting a log lengthwise is hard, but following the grain to cleave it is easy.
"You're saying he instantly read the technique's and power's weakness, then broke its pulse?"
"Exactly."
"No way!"
Nangong Musan could hardly believe it.
Reading a martial art's flow and severing its pulse—wasn't that the realm of masters?
'Even I haven't reached that level yet.'
He asked urgently.
"Does that mean Yun-ho isn't without talent?"
"Perhaps our judgment was hasty."
Nangong Chan brushed his white beard.
"If he were dull, how could he grasp a truth that even I barely sensed in my later years?"
Muttering, Nangong Chan's eyes gleamed sternly.
"Tell me straight. Do you know about this?"
Under his father's chilling gaze, Nangong Il-joon felt his heart sink.
For a mere student to so easily dismantle an instructor's assault surpassed even his own expectations.
"Th-that..."
As he stammered, Nangong Yong-ho stepped in to defend him.
"Grandfather. Isn't the priority now Uncle's accountability?"
"Y-yes, Father. Turning Yun-ho's heart comes first, somehow."
"That's true enough."
Nangong Chan turned to Nangong Musan.
Seeing his flustered son, he lowered his voice.
"What do you think the family head should do?"
"...If it's true, it's talent the main family must reclaim—no, secure."
"Now that's what I like to hear."
Satisfied, Nangong Chan drove the point home to Nangong Musan.
"Just one technique, but enough to judge his gift. His age is a flaw, but..."
Having earned the title of Sword Saint, Nangong Chan was seldom surprised.
Yet his grandson's growth truly astonished him.
"We can't just discard such potential."
"I'll bring him back to the family, no matter what."
"Are you confident?"
To Nangong Chan's question, Nangong Musan replied without hesitation.
"Nothing is impossible before the Nangong Family's name."
Step. Step.
The one emerging from the bamboo grove stopped, gazing at the ruins beyond.
"This is... the Nameless Manor?"
The Nameless Manor, scarred by slaughter, looked desolate.
Once massive pillars lay broken and scattered, and tidy walls were crumbling in places.
"Ha. Unbelievable."
Surveying the lifeless ruins, Palcheon Sado clicked his tongue.
"Which bastards dare."
As rage boiled, red embers sparked around him.
Rooooar!
The embers erupted into massive fire pillars, shooting toward the manor.
Boom!
Boom boom!
Roar!
The remaining debris collapsed, swallowed by colossal flames. Palcheon Sado trembled with fury.
"You there."
"Greetings, Demon Apostle!"
A black-clad man approached at the call. Palcheon Sado demanded.
"What happened here?"
"The Nameless Manor vanished under mysterious assailants."
"What were the plants we sowed in the lesser branch doing?"
"Th-that is..."
Rarely hesitating, the black-clad man reported the truth.
"Not just the manor—everything in the lesser branch is gone."
"Everything... gone?"
"Yes. All our setups around the lesser branch have been erased."
People, if people there were.
Supplies and gold, all of it.
"Even the scouts were hit."
Palcheon Sado's face twisted at the words.
"Ha!"
Hahaha!
Laughing skyward maniacally, he stopped—heat flickering in his eyes, scorching the surroundings.
"Who did it?"
"We don't know yet."
"You don't know."
Smoke rose from the prostrated black-clad man's body.
"Gah!"
Roar!
The smoke ignited in an instant.
He cried out desperately.
"Argh! Mercy!"
Roar.
The flames devoured even his screams, reducing him to charred remains.
"Hmph!"
As he sought another target.
Whoosh.
Mist in the air coalesced into a red shadow.
"Demon Apostle."
Even recognizing his loyal subordinate, Palcheon Sado's killing intent didn't fade.
The blood-cloaked figure quickly prostrated amid the heat singeing his robes and reported.
"The Awakening Stone has moved."
"...!"
Only then did the searing heat subside.
"Where? Where's the stone headed?"
"Right here. The lesser branch."
"The lesser branch?"
"From our plant in the Murim Alliance. The stone is definitely coming here."
And.
"Sword Saint Changcheon Singun has appeared at the lesser branch."
"!"
Palcheon Sado let out a gloomy chuckle at the news.
"That old Changcheon Singun?"
The heavy-arsed old monster moves, unexpectedly.
"Even rotten fish has its flavor? Impressive. Perhaps the Nangong Family was behind the Nameless Manor too."
"No confirmed link to the Nangong Family yet..."
"Doesn't matter."
Cutting him off, Palcheon Sado grinned with exposed malice.
"From the start, wielding world-toppling power yet scheming from shadows was their downfall."
Just burn anything suspicious.
Roar.
Flames wisped from his shoulders like a demon's aura. Palcheon Sado declared.
"No more hiding. First, turn that Sword Saint's name to ashes."
His depleted patience fueled intensely hot killing intent.
"Summon all of Bloody Flame Division."
Time to burn the lesser branch to the ground.
Beyond that, starting from the branch, incinerate the world.
"I'll make it a spectacular blaze."
Roar.
Fierce flames swirled around the apostle's body.
The Inspection Department's scribe was a familiar face.
"We meet again."
The rat-tailed mustache man was distinctly memorable.
'The one who came to the swamp whining.'
He had deemed the lavish residence an illegal structure and tried to demolish it.
Tensing suddenly, but unexpectedly, the man was amicable.
"Don't be so guarded. I'm not petty enough to bring up old grudges."
Ink-stained scholars always had smooth words.
'But shady tricks behind the scenes.'
Not relaxing, Chu Un-hwi listened as the man whispered.
"Truth be told, it was quite satisfying. Ajeong-geun, that senior instructor, was a headache."
"A headache?"
"Constantly under investigation for bribes and favoritism, but we could never pin solid evidence."
"Ah."
"He even sneered at me as a weak scholar in martial arts."
Ajeong-geun's abrasive nature, hated by many, proved useful here.
"Self-inflicted."
"Exactly. Seeing my second target vanish feels like a toothache cured."
"Haha."
Chuckling, Chu Un-hwi nudged playfully.
"Well then, go easy on me."
"Come on, didn't I say?"
Shrugging, the scribe narrowed his eyes.
"You're my first target."
"......"
"We haven't forgotten the swamp incident."
Slippery bastard.
'Hate ink-stained types.'
Chu Un-hwi grumbled inwardly.
Murmur. Murmur.
By the time the Inspection Department meeting ended and the scribes emerged, dusk had fallen.
The weary scribes surveyed the gathered crowd and took their seats.
"We now declare the discussed disciplinary levels."
Clack.
Striking the desk with a palm-sized wooden gavel, the scribe announced.
"For Silver Hall Instructor Geum San..."
Gulp.
All eyes turned to the man at the far right.
Silver Hall instructor, summoned as a person involved in the incident.
'The one who stabbed Ajeong-geun, probably?'
The punishment was pronounced.
"Instructor Geum is charged under [Instructor Assault] for harming Senior Instructor Ajeong-geun! Suspended one year and half-monthly pay deducted!"
"Unjust!"
The man bellowed, pointing accusingly.
"That bastard! If he hadn't thrown the senior instructor! It wasn't intentional!"
The scribe firmly cut off the shouts.
"The punishment considers lack of intent. Deliberate harm to a senior would mean at least expulsion and prison."
"Urk."
"Next!"
Subsequent punishments were all harsh.
'Injuring a colleague starts at half-year confinement.'
Some faced expulsion for excessive force or poor handling.
Faces crumpling like the sky had fallen increased in real time.
"Final! Temporary Instructor Chu Un-hwi!"
His name was called.
'Please, innocent. Please, innocent.'
Praying fervently inside.
"Tch, that punk."
"Prison at least."
"No, prison then crippled tendons—I'll do it myself."
Curses flew from all sides.
Clack.
"Quiet! Quiet!"
Calming the room with the gavel again, the scribe shouted.
"The discipline for Temporary Instructor Chu Un-hwi is..."
Pausing briefly, he bellowed.
"No punishment!"
What—?
Not just the accused, but the spectators too blinked in disbelief for a moment.
"No way!"
Outcries erupted everywhere.