Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: The Nangong Clan
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The Nangong Clan
Due to his continued binge drinking, Ho-jeong, who was practically unconscious, began spilling every word that came to mind, true or not.
“Y-Young master. Please don’t say such things...”
One of the guards standing silently behind Ho-jeong jumped in alarm to intervene, but the words had already spilled out.
“Oh my, An-hwi’s top beauty... You mean Lady Seol Yak-byeong of the Seol Clan?”
The courtesans were startled by Ho-jeong’s words.
As women whose profession was cultivating their beauty and selling smiles, they were always sensitive to talk of other beautiful women.
An-hwi’s top beauty, Seol Yak-byeong, was an existence who drew envy and admiration from every woman in An-hwi Province, beyond just An-gyeong.
To marry someone like that?
The courtesans grew even more curious about this handsome young master’s identity.
A few courtesans couldn’t hold back their curiosity and probed with questions, but Ho-jeong deflected with flirtatious banter and jokes.
It seemed this young master had no desire to reveal his identity.
Just as they licked their lips in disappointment, the brothel’s youngest courtesan cautiously spoke up.
“Then, are you a martial artist too, young master?”
“Hm?”
Ho-jeong tilted his head and looked at her. The young courtesan, whose face had flushed at the sight of him, spoke in a timid whisper.
“I vaguely heard that the lady of the Seol Clan has a marriage pledge with a famous martial clan. So...”
“Martial artist... Well, if you think about it, yeah, I guess I am one?”
Ho-jeong chuckled as he replied.
The courtesan’s face lit up, and she fired off another question.
“Th-then... Can you fly through the skies with lightness skill and shoot out sword qi too?”
-Pause
“......”
Ho-jeong froze for a moment at the young courtesan’s innocent question.
Then, he suddenly burst into roaring laughter.
“Pfft, hahahahaha—!!”
“Wh-what’s so funny?”
Ho-jeong kept laughing as if he’d heard the funniest thing in the world.
The other courtesans began giggling along with him.
The senior courtesan next to the youngest stroked her head affectionately, finding her bewildered expression adorable.
“Heh heh... Lightness skill, sword qi... Yeah, I used to imagine that stuff when I was a kid too, heh.”
Finally reining in his laughter, Ho-jeong downed the liquor in his cup in one gulp.
He looked at the youngest courtesan and smiled as he answered.
“You must’ve read some street-side novels or something. Even martial artists can’t do that stuff. Lightness skill, sword qi—it’s all fiction.”
“...Really?”
The youngest courtesan tried not to show it, but disappointment was plain on her face.
Seeing that expression softened Ho-jeong’s own in a strange way.
It overlapped with his own childhood self.
The innocent days of youth.
There had been a foolish little kid lost in street novels, dreaming of soaring through the skies and swinging sword qi.
“Hmph.”
A wry smile tugged at his lips as he recalled that childish self. But he quickly shoved the memory aside and pulled the courtesans on either side into his arms.
“Eek!”
“Enough of that boring talk—let’s get to the real fun~! The night’s still young!”
“Yes~!”
Once more, the courtesans’ coquettish laughter echoed from the top floor of Cheonun House.
*
Nangong Clan Lord, Island Thunder Sword Nangong Seon-u, returned to the clan not long after.
The moment he saw his master, his face lit up, and he embraced her tightly.
“Sister Yeo! How long has it been?”
“Over ten years already.”
Master hugged her sworn brother back with a grin, then quickly composed herself and introduced Hwa-ryeon.
Only then did Hwa-ryeon, who had removed her disguise, bow politely to the Nangong Clan Lord.
“It’s been a while, Great Hero Nangong. I am Ju Hwa-ryeon, daughter of the former Tyrant Heaven Fortress Lord.”
“...Sister.”
More shocked than when he saw Master, the clan lord soon turned to her with a slightly hardened expression.
His gaze carried a hint of reproach and resentment.
Master met that look head-on.
“I know what you’re thinking. But will you hear us out first?”
The clan lord gazed at Master with complicated eyes for a moment before sighing and nodding.
“...Shall we head to the clan lord’s chambers first?”
And so, we followed the Nangong Clan Lord to his chambers.
As we headed to the deepest part of the vast estate, I expanded my senses to their limit.
I’d felt it earlier, but confirming it now made it certain.
Sparse.
There were far too few people in this massive estate.
And most of them seemed to be servant girls or laborers who hadn’t trained in martial arts.
Where had the other blood relatives of the Nangong Clan gone?
I desperately wanted to ask, but it was hard to butt in recklessly.
In the end, I arrived at the clan lord’s chambers without saying a word.
We entered the office inside and took seats to the left and right of the clan lord, who sat in the head seat.
“First, tell me why the daughter of the former Tyrant Heaven Fortress Lord has come here.”
“Younger brother Nangong...”
Master called to him at the faint hostility in the clan lord’s voice, but his eyes remained fixed solely on Hwa-ryeon.
Hwa-ryeon quietly endured that sharp gaze and pulled out a worn booklet.
It was the Blood Burst Technique recovered from those Dark Heaven Division bastards.
“This is...!”
The clan lord jolted to his feet in shock, recognizing it instantly from the words “Blood Burst Technique” on the cover.
“T-To appear here with such a vile thing—what is your intent!”
“To issue a warning.”
“What... warning?”
Hwa-ryeon explained to the bewildered clan lord what had happened in Gun-gang County.
The assassination attempt by the Dark Heaven Division and Shin Je-gon.
And the perfect justification Tyrant Heaven Fortress now held—the Blood Burst Technique.
“N-No, that can’t be...!”
Not only the clan lord, but Nangong Hyeon and Lady Seol beside him also paled.
They were probably imagining the horrific scenario we’d once conjured.
“Clan Lord, Tyrant Heaven Fortress now possesses perfect justification to suppress all martial sects.”
“......”
“And given what Tyrant Heaven Fortress is doing here in Hebi, you can already guess how they’ll use it.”
“...Hoo.”
The clan lord slumped into his chair with a sigh that seemed to cave the earth.
Hwa-ryeon pressed on relentlessly, even as he massaged his brow as if his head ached.
“The current Tyrant Heaven Fortress has lost its original banner and is running rampant. If this continues, countless martial sects will be branded as colluders with the Demonic Cult and crushed mercilessly.”
“...So, what do you propose?”
The clan lord, who looked years older in an instant, asked. Hwa-ryeon replied curtly.
With a word all too familiar to me.
“The Murim Alliance.”
At that, the clan lord’s eyes widened, and Nangong Hyeon murmured blankly.
“Murim... Alliance?”
“Yes. The Murim Alliance. Unite all the righteous sects’ power as one to stand against Tyrant Heaven Fortress.”
*
To cut to the chase, the Nangong Clan Lord rejected our proposal.
-If what Lady Ju Hwa-ryeon says is true, it’s something we ought to join, of course. But with the Nangong Clan’s current situation on the brink of collapse, it’s too much to prepare for something that hasn’t even happened yet. Apologies, but we can’t join you.
Hwa-ryeon left the clan lord’s chambers without protest.
She remained silent even on the way back to the guest quarters.
“...Is she down because we were rejected?”
Seeing her like that, Seol-i approached me and whispered.
Down because of rejection?
“No, not at all. Look how fiercely she’s burning inside.”
“...What does that even mean? How can you tell?”
“How? It’s obvious from her face.”
I shrugged and approached Hwa-ryeon.
“So, what’s the plan? Investigate first, as expected?”
She nodded at my question.
“Yes. We need to uncover the truth behind what’s happened in the Nangong Clan lately.”
“Then we start with the most recent incident. So...”
“Wait, hold on!”
As we discussed plans, Seol-i suddenly shouted and cut in.
“Huh? What’s up?”
“What’s up? No— what are you even planning to do? The clan lord rejected the request, so why are we suddenly talking about investigating?”
Seol-i’s face plainly screamed that she had no idea what was going on.
Come to think of it, maybe it was moving too fast for a fourteen-year-old?
I explained it simply so she’d understand.
“So, the clan lord said they can’t help us right now because the clan’s in crisis, right?”
“...Yeah?”
“That means if we resolve the clan’s crisis, they can help us, doesn’t it?”
“Ah...!”
Seol-i’s eyes widened as understanding dawned.
“So we’re stepping in to help the Nangong Clan. To get them to accept our proposal.”
I flashed a grin and turned my head.
Just then, Nangong Hyeon and Lady Seol, who had stayed behind in the clan lord’s chambers unlike us, were stepping out.
Spotting us first, the two approached.
Nangong Hyeon spoke with an apologetic expression.
“I’m sorry it turned out this way. You came to share such crucial information on purpose...”
“It’s too early to say that already.”
“Pardon?”
Nangong Hyeon looked puzzled at my words.
I immediately said I wanted to personally investigate the ‘misfortunes’ that had befallen the Nangong Clan.