Chapter 76
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Friend
Namgung Hwa entered the dungeon to free her captive comrades.
She wanted to help Namgung Urin and the Namgung Family’s Azure Sky Sword Brigade alongside her Black Moon Sect comrades, but there was no need, nor should she.
Her comrades from the Black Moon Sect must not know that she was a member of the Namgung Family, nor that Namgung Urin himself had come to their sect.
No one must ever know what happened here today. Not until the day Moyong Gu, the Martial Alliance Leader, dies.
As Namgung Hwa entered the dungeon, her comrades erupted with joy.
“Sister!”
“Sister!”
“Did you succeed?!”
With a pleased expression, Namgung Hwa opened the iron gate of the cell where her comrades were held and spoke.
“Thank goodness. It looks like no one is hurt.”
All ten who had been captured when she left were safe.
Sowol, now out of the cell, threw her arms around Namgung Hwa. Haewol, Nawol, and Chuwol hugged her too. When the men, overjoyed to be alive, also tried to embrace her, Namgung Hwa shot them a glare.
As if to say, ‘Where do you think you’re putting your hands!’
“…It’s just, we’re so happy.”
So the men had to settle for hugging each other.
Sowol spoke.
“Thank you, sister. Are you okay?”
Sowol looked Namgung Hwa up and down, checking for injuries.
“Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
She wanted to share in their joy, but the thought that this was the last time she would see her comrades brought a lump to her throat. She tried to hide her feelings by busying herself.
Patting Sowol’s back warmly, Namgung Hwa said,
“We don’t have time for this. Let’s move. We need to take down that bastard Sect Leader and all his followers.”
“…Sister?”
Sowol found her words strange. Namgung Hwa couldn't possibly be unaware that it was an impossible task with the Shadow Brigade present.
“Don’t worry about the Shadow Brigade.”
Sowol and the others stared at Namgung Hwa, wondering what she meant.
“I’ll explain later. Let’s get moving. It’s about to get loud.”
The bloody clash between the Shadow Brigade and the Azure Sky Sword Brigade would begin any moment.
“…Alright.”
As Sowol and her comrades left the dungeon, they saw the bodies of the dead Shadow Brigade members.
“…Sister? How did this…”
“I said I’ll explain later. Now, you all wake the others and eliminate the Sect Leader’s followers. I’m going to take that bastard’s head. Got it?”
The ten comrades nodded in agreement.
And so, Namgung Hwa and her ten comrades from the Black Moon Sect moved with the swift, silent grace of assassins.
* * *
Namgung Urin walked slowly toward the direction the Shadow Brigade member had indicated. The one hundred members of the Azure Sky Sword Brigade had already formed a two-layered encirclement around the residence of Moyong Hu, the Commander of the Shadow Brigade.
Even with a two-layered encirclement, if Moyong Hu was determined to escape, he could likely break through.
Moyong Hu possessed that level of martial prowess.
However.
Moyong Hu would not make that choice. He wasn’t foolish enough to miss the opportunity to kill the Young Lord of the Namgung Family with his own hands.
Yes.
Moyong Hu would believe he was more than capable of doing so.
Namgung Urin strode unhesitatingly down the path shrouded in deep darkness.
The Murong Family.
The very ones who had driven the Namgung Family to the brink of annihilation six years ago.
The Murong Family, who had spilled Namgung blood, inflicted pain, and shattered their spirits.
He was now walking to confront Moyong Hu, a man of that same Murong Family. Namgung Urin felt an overwhelming urge to spill Murong blood, inflict pain, and shatter their spirits in return.
Of course, killing Moyong Hu alone would not quench that thirst.
He would have to be satisfied with this act as a way of not forgetting the past etched deep in his heart, of watering his parched soul.
Hadn’t he promised his mother he would no longer be consumed by revenge? Besides, he believed that revenge could wait until he had reached the highest peak in the martial world.
The highest peak in the martial world.
To become the greatest under heaven.
Revenge was something to be gained in the process.
He didn’t want to hurt, injure, or scar the hearts of those he loved and cherished by being lost in a frenzy of vengeance.
Namgung Urin’s steps halted.
Just as he had expected, Moyong Hu, the Commander of the Shadow Brigade, was waiting for him with a smirk, his men at his side.
From where Namgung Hwa was, the sounds of clashing swords and the screams of dying men could be heard.
With a sinister… no, a childishly mischievous laugh, Moyong Hu spoke.
His demeanor was strange, but Urin dismissed it. He had information that Moyong Hu’s personality was odd. There wasn't much information, however, as Moyong Hu had not appeared in the martial world until recently.
“I sent her to kill you, but you came together? Was it a mission to kill or a romantic rendezvous? How is it that you two came hand-in-hand like you’re on the same side? I’ve never heard of an assassin and her target falling in love. I just can’t understand this situation. How about it? Can you explain it to me? Oh, and also. Did you not hear that the Martial Alliance’s Shadow Brigade was here?”
Moyong Hu tilted his head repeatedly, a wicked grin on his face, as if he found the whole thing amusing.
He looked just like a child. No, it felt like something was missing.
Hadn’t everyone seen one in their neighborhood at some point?
The village idiot.
The neighborhood simpleton who, despite being a grown man, had the mind and mannerisms of a child due to some mental deficiency.
Yes, it was just like that.
That wasn’t to say the Shadow Brigade Commander before him was a village idiot. Such a person could never become the commander of the Murong Family’s elite Asura Sword Brigade, let alone the commander of the Martial Alliance’s Shadow Brigade.
Sometimes, there were incredible geniuses among such people.
“Judging by your expression, you came here knowing I was the Shadow Brigade Commander… Did the Namgung Family Head not come?”
He mixed the words of an adult with those of a child.
“Looks like you’re having fun.”
Just like a child.
“Of course, it’s fun. So fun. That something like this could happen in the martial world is so bizarre and entertaining. I’m about to break out in hives from wanting to know what I don’t. And I’m so intrigued as to why a little brat like you came instead of the Namgung Family Head. Please, won’t you tell me? I’m dying of curiosity right now.”
At Moyong Hu’s innocent appearance, which seemed to house a waterfall of wickedness and childish mischief, Namgung Urin smiled as if seeing something fascinating and replied.
A year ago, Namgung Urin’s personality would have been a perfect match for Moyong Hu’s.
“What should I tell you first?”
“Ooh. You’ll tell me?”
“It’s not so difficult. Go on, name it. What do you want to know first?”
Moyong Hu was delighted by Namgung Urin’s very positive response.
“It’s best to hear it in order, right? Yes. Right. Well then… why did the woman I sent to kill you come here so friendly-like with you? Did you really get intimate? Did she fall for your face? Right. Come to think of it, that assassin bitch was a real looker! Wow! Is this a match made in heaven?”
Namgung Urin couldn’t help but laugh.
If he weren’t from the Murong Family, this was a man he might have actually wanted to befriend. Of course, the age difference made that impossible.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but it’s not that kind of match. We’ve just known each other for a long time.”
Moyong Hu’s eyes widened.
“A long time? How long? The Young Lord of the Namgung Family knew an assassin? Wow! That’s a truly unbelievable story. But that’s strange. If you knew each other, why did she go to kill you? Was she deceiving us from the beginning?”
“No, not that. It seems she hit her head and lost her memory for a while. She didn’t even recognize me at first. But her memory’s back now. How about that?”
“Wow! That’s a really amazing story. So things like that really happen. It’s like something out of a novel. Must have been fun.”
“It wasn’t fun.”
It was joyous, but it was also accompanied by sorrow for those who would never return.
“No. It’s fun for me.”
He was definitely not in his right mind.
“Next question.”
“Hmm… right. The Namgung Family Head. Why did a young brat like you come instead of the Namgung Family Head? Even knowing I was here? That’s what I don’t get.”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Obvious? I don’t think so. He sent his Young Lord to his death. That doesn’t make sense. I don’t understand it, but the Namgung Family is rising again after only six years, right? But he sends you to such a dangerous place, no, a death trap?”
“Not a death trap. A place to kill you.”
“You? Kill me? Or is someone hiding among them?”
The one hundred members of the Azure Sky Sword Brigade had already scaled the walls of the Black Moon Sect and revealed themselves.
“Me. That’s why I’m standing face-to-face with you. Why? You don’t like it? Is it because I’m too young?”
“I like it, but as you said, you’re too young. I’m the Commander of the Martial Alliance’s Shadow Brigade. Before that, I was the Commander of the Asura Sword Brigade. Don’t you get it? A greenhorn like you can’t do anything to me. This is nothing short of an insult.”
“It seems to me you’re overestimating yourself. Has that thought ever crossed your mind?”
Moyong Hu frowned and tilted his head.
“Overestimating…? No. Everyone around me acknowledged me. What about you, then? Aren’t you here because you overestimate yourself? Or is the Namgung Family Head an idiot?”
“No. If anything, my problem is that I underestimate myself too much.”
“Tch. Such a show-off. This isn’t fun anymore. In the end, you’re just saying you’re the best. No fun. Well, that does make it more interesting, though.”
“Yes, I find it interesting too. That a madman like you exists.”
Moyong Hu didn’t flinch at being called a madman. It seemed he himself believed he was mad.
“Isn’t the martial world going mad? Watching it while being a little mad yourself is quite entertaining. You should try it. Ah! Your title is the Mad Dragon, right? No wonder we get along so well. Go on, go a little madder. The world will look different.”
He was certainly not the village idiot. For a village idiot, he knew far too much.
“I’ll pass. But how long are we going to have this war of words? Don’t we both have business to attend to?”
“Ah, right. What a shame. That we had to meet like this. I feel like you could have been my one and only friend.”
Moyong Hu was extremely fond of Namgung Urin. He’d never had such an interesting conversation with an opponent before. Those who spoke with Moyong Hu either got angry or were reluctant to talk to a madman who was clearly lacking something.
So it was a great shame. That they were enemies who had to kill each other.
“Friend?”
“Yes, friend.”
A disbelieving laugh escaped Namgung Urin’s lips.
“Friend, my ass. You and me, friends? Hehehe. You’re imagining the unimaginable. You’re really something else.”
There’s a limit to how crazy one should be.
“Kikiki. Thanks for the compliment. See? I told you we have something in common. What do you say? Let’s really be friends, huh? Let’s be friends, okay?”
“Cut the crap. There’s a difference between having a crazy streak and being completely insane like you.”
“Come on. It’s just a fine line.”
“Wow, this is driving me crazy. Fine. Let’s say we become friends. Then what? What changes?”
The situation of them trying to kill each other would remain the same.
“The cruel reality of the martial world, where one must kill a friend! Ah! How beautiful is this world? Isn’t it magnificent just to imagine?”
“Nothing special. You’re still going to kill me in the end.”
“Of course! Could you create a more magnificent martial world than this?”
“I think it would be more beautiful if you and I became friends, joined hands to kill the Martial Alliance Leader, and set the order of the martial world right. How about that?”
Moyong Hu’s eyes widened.
“Ooh! I like that! Why didn’t I think of that? Right! It’s because I only just met you! The match made in heaven wasn’t between you and that assassin bitch, it was between you and me! Hehehehe! You and I are soulmates! Hehehehe!”
It was impossible to tell if he was being serious or just playing around.
That madman.