Chapter 250
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 250
Chapter Title: How Did You Know?
Gong Son Bi-yeon took the lead, with Ha Mu-baek following close behind. The three from the Namgung Clan trailed after Ha Mu-baek.
Chu Dong said he would stay back at the lodging.
It had to feel awkward for him.
He'd been expelled from the Mosan Sect, after all, and now here he was at Pure Stream Valley.
Dinner with the Valley Lord, no less.
The banquet hall they entered behind Gong Son Bi-yeon was spacious yet understated, exuding quiet elegance rather than ostentation.
True to its purpose, the table was laden with a variety of exquisite dishes.
Gong Son Mu-oe waited with a broad smile on his face.
"Haha, have you shaken off your travel fatigue? Come, sit."
Gong Son Mu-oe welcomed Ha Mu-baek and his group warmly as they arrived in the hall.
His gaze lingered on the Namgung clansmen as well.
"Indeed, the Warm Orchid Flower. A beauty beyond words."
At Gong Son Mu-oe's lavish praise, Namgung Ji-yu gave a slight bow of her head.
With Gong Son Bi-yeon present, she had not veiled her face.
Here, Ha Mu-baek met Gong Son U-gyeong for the first time—Gong Son Mu-oe's son and Gong Son Bi-yeon's father.
They exchanged greetings, then passed the time chatting amiably about recent events.
Every dish was superb.
As the mood warmed...
Gong Son Mu-oe set down his cup and turned to Ha Mu-baek.
"I'm delighted you've come to our valley, of course. But you, who hates even the slightest exertion... there must be some matter that brought you all this way."
Gong Son Bi-yeon gave a subtle nod at her grandfather's question.
Having dealt with Ha Mu-baek herself, she knew his temperament well enough.
That was why only the three Gong Sons were present from Pure Stream Valley.
Ha Mu-baek clearly had something to discuss.
Gong Son Mu-oe's eyes shifted to the Namgung siblings and their escort.
It wouldn't be anything inconvenient for Ha Mu-baek himself.
So it had to involve them, he surmised.
"I've heard there's a wine sorcerer named Ma Jin-gi here in Pure Stream Valley."
Chu Dong had mentioned the man was over a hundred years old, so Ha Mu-baek spoke with utmost courtesy.
At the mention of Ma Jin-gi, Gong Son Mu-oe's face registered genuine surprise.
He hadn't dreamed Ha Mu-baek would bring up that name.
"Hah. How do you know of him...?"
"I heard he's quite advanced in years."
"A correction—he still is."
As Ha Mu-baek asked with concern, Gong Son Mu-oe chuckled dryly.
Those sighing in relief weren't Ha Mu-baek, but the Namgung siblings and their warrior escort.
Gong Son Mu-oe's gaze naturally turned to them.
He studied the three carefully.
Suddenly realizing something, his expression flashed with shock before quickly settling.
"Hah."
A sigh escaped him.
"I thought those rumors floating around the jianghu were baseless, but they were true after all..."
Namgung Ji-yu and Namgung Ji-hu flinched at his words.
Ma Jin-gi.
They were stunned that Gong Son Mu-oe had pieced together the whole story just from the name and their reactions.
"Grandfather, what do you mean?"
Gong Son Bi-yeon asked cautiously.
Gong Son U-gyeong tilted his head in confusion as well.
"Bi-yeon, go fetch Elder Ma."
Instead of an answer, she received an errand, but with the heavy atmosphere, Gong Son Bi-yeon rose carefully and left the hall.
Silence hung for a moment.
The only sounds were Ha Mu-baek quietly eating and sipping his drink.
Gong Son Mu-oe addressed him.
"How did you know?"
"Pardon?"
"About Elder Ma. Precious few in the jianghu know of his arts."
"Someone with full access to the alliance's records told me."
Ha Mu-baek replied nonchalantly.
Gong Son Mu-oe nodded gravely at the answer.
He had once casually mentioned Ma Jin-gi and his arts to the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
During some uproar over a clan's succession, as he recalled.
He hadn't imagined it would be recorded there.
Gong Son Mu-oe looked at the Namgung siblings and Namgung Hwi with pity.
"The Namgung Clan must be in turmoil."
His voice brimmed with regret.
Gong Son U-gyeong was utterly baffled.
What did Elder Ma's arts have to do with any of this?
It stung that his father and these outsiders knew something the sub-valley lord did not, and were discussing it openly.
"No need for that face. We kept it secret from the world, so naturally from you too."
Noticing his son's hurt, Gong Son Mu-oe soothed him.
"And Instructor Ha—if not for you, that art might have vanished from the world."
Ha Mu-baek now tilted his head at Gong Son Mu-oe's words.
"Ah, Father..."
Gong Son U-gyeong jumped in surprise.
He knew what those words implied.
"I'm a father too. I planned to try it as a last resort. I just said that because you seem too reliant on him."
Gong Son Mu-oe smiled wryly.
This time, it was a conversation lost on Ha Mu-baek and the Namgung group.
Gong Son Mu-oe turned back to Ha Mu-baek.
"Even so, against the Namgung Clan... wouldn't that be tough, even for you?"
Ha Mu-baek smiled faintly.
"Straightening what's crooked and twisted is just difficult and laborious. Dealing with the Namgung Clan? Well..."
An arrogant response.
As if facing the Namgung Clan posed no challenge.
Yet Gong Son Mu-oe merely nodded in agreement.
Where in the world did such a warrior come from?
Truly wondrous.
"Hoho, Valley Lord. You summoned this old man?"
At that moment, a cackling laugh preceded a gaunt elder with a skeletal frame entering the hall.
His hair and long beard were pure white.
Any stranger would have prostrated themselves, mistaking him for an immortal.
"Elder, please, come join us."
Gong Son Mu-oe rose to greet Ma Jin-gi.
The others stood as well.
"So, what's the occasion?"
Ma Jin-gi asked as he took his seat.
Gong Son Bi-yeon, who had followed cautiously behind, sat as well.
"An important guest of our valley requested you."
She had given him a rough explanation on the way.
Ma Jin-gi's eyes turned to Ha Mu-baek and froze there.
His eyes trembled fiercely.
"Hah. I never imagined such an extraordinary figure existed in this world."
Ma Jin-gi exclaimed in admiration.
What had he seen in Ha Mu-baek?
He offered no details.
His gaze then scanned Namgung Ji-yu, Namgung Ji-hu, and Namgung Hwi before returning.
"I don't know how you found out, but I can guess why you've sought me."
His words were directed at the Namgung siblings.
"That guest is the benefactor who cured Little Proprietress."
"It was merely my master's doing."
Ha Mu-baek said plainly.
"Hah. So you're the one who saved my life."
Ha Mu-baek tilted his head at Ma Jin-gi's words.
He'd only treated Gong So-yu—how was that saving Ma Jin-gi's life?
"This is a vital secret of our valley. Can we trust the Namgung young master and lady to keep it?"
At Gong Son Mu-oe's question, the two—no, all three including Namgung Hwi—nodded solemnly.
"Hm. They might already know, being the Namgung young master and lady. Our valley possesses something called the Divine Scripture."
The two nodded faintly at Gong Son Mu-oe's words.
They had heard of it before.
The Divine Scripture of Pure Stream Valley.
The mysterious tome that elevated the valley's liquor arts to the pinnacle of the world.
A rumor whispered secretly in the jianghu.
"The Divine Scripture is the origin and end of our valley's arts. We once believed it all-knowing and all-powerful."
A wry smile tugged at Gong Son Mu-oe's lips as he spoke.
"Yet it seems it's neither."
Gong Son Mu-oe affirmed Ha Mu-baek's observation.
"Indeed. We opened it, but received only 'impossible' as the answer."
He referred to seeking a cure for the previous Valley Lord's affliction.
Of course, he didn't mention such specifics.
"Even so, I recently considered opening it again."
Ha Mu-baek could infer from that.
"It demands a price, then."
"Lifespans."
Ma Jin-gi answered.
"Opening it this time would have shortened several lives, mine included. I'd likely have met my end at heaven's appointed time."
Ma Jin-gi smiled faintly.
"To find a cure for the Nine Yin Severed Meridians?"
The Pure Stream Valley folk nodded at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"Hm. Sounds less like a Divine Scripture and more like a Demonic Tome."
The Namgung group started at Ha Mu-baek's blunt remark.
Namgung Ji-yu had harbored similar thoughts herself.
A being that traded knowledge for human lifespans.
Calling it a book was questionable at best.
"Hahaha. You're right. That's why we rarely open it these days."
Ma Jin-gi laughed in response.
"Yet we still call it the Divine Scripture because it doesn't merely answer our questions—it floods us with fragments of countless liquor arts. As the one who leads the rite here in the valley, I've gathered the most."
It seemed an inscrutable entity.
The Divine Scripture.
"Among them was the art you seek."
The Namgung siblings swallowed dryly at those words.
Ma Jin-gi looked at them and Namgung Hwi.
"Father and children, right? I can tell at a glance, but others couldn't."
Gong Son U-gyeong and Gong Son Bi-yeon were stunned.
They knew exactly who Namgung Ji-yu and Namgung Ji-hu were.
The Namgung Clan's eldest daughter and son.
The young lady and young master.
Yet their father was that one-armed warrior sitting with them?
Shocking.
"Ah..."
Gong Son U-gyeong let out a small gasp.
He grasped the meaning of his father's words—the rumors were true.
He had heard them too.
But seeking Ma Jin-gi's help meant...
"Could it be... there's an art to verify parent-child bonds?"
Gong Son U-gyeong asked in disbelief.
He had never imagined such a thing existed.
How could he?
Bloodline-proving arts were profoundly complex on their own.
"I pieced it together from Divine Scripture fragments."
Ma Jin-gi replied calmly.
All the pieces fell into place for Gong Son U-gyeong, letting him understand the conversation.
He couldn't hide his turmoil.
"The Namgung young master and lady having a separate father... this is monumental. Naturally, this old man must go to the Namgung Clan and prove it, yes?"
"We're ashamed to ask, but please."
Namgung Ji-hu and Namgung Ji-yu rose together, clasping their hands in salute.
"We beg you."
Namgung Hwi stood too, bowing deeply with clasped hands.
"Tell me the full story."
Ma Jin-gi said, eyeing the three.
Namgung Ji-yu recounted it.
Having already heard valley secrets and come to beg a favor, she had no reason to hide.
Once it broke in the Namgung Clan, the jianghu would buzz anyway.
The Pure Stream Valley folk listened raptly to her tale.
When it ended, their faces mingled pity and outrage.
Such heaven-defying acts for clan leadership.
Violating natural order, killing father and mother.
How could it be?
"Instructor Ha sent a benefactor like you to right this wrong, it seems. That's how we cured Little Proprietress without opening the Scripture."
Ma Jin-gi said evenly.
"You mean...?"
Namgung Ji-yu asked with hopeful eyes.
"I'll help. We'll go to the Namgung Clan and use the art."
Ma Jin-gi nodded.
"Th-thank you."
The three Namgung rose as one, bowing low.
Their faces flushed red.
"I'll come too."
Gong Son Mu-oe spoke up.
"Father!"
Gong Son U-gyeong cried in alarm.
A valley sorcerer meddling in another sect's affairs was risky enough; the Valley Lord himself?
"Someone needs to vouch for Elder Ma."
Gong Son Mu-oe said calmly.
"But that could strain relations with the Namgung Clan..."
Ties between the Nine Great Sects, Five Great Clans, and New Eight Gates were already strained.
They shared the righteous faction umbrella, barely.
Pure Stream Valley inserting itself could fracture that beyond the two factions—pitting old guard against newcomers.
"Heh, once this is over, the Namgung Clan might become our valley's closest ally."
Gong Son Mu-oe glanced at Ha Mu-baek as he spoke.
With him so invested, the Namgung Clan's fate seemed clear.
Namgung Hwa-hyeon received word that his youngest brother, Namgung Hwa-u, had taken leave and returned to the main house.
"What scheme is that fool up to? Tch."
He had pushed him into the Hocheon Corps leadership to keep him away from home.
Yet here he was, back after just a year, on leave.
It irked him.
In his foul mood, he set down his teacup.
Crack.
The saucer split with a crack.
It was part of the set used by the Namgung Clan Lord.
A priceless heirloom, and now this sudden fracture.
What could it mean?
Namgung Hwa-hyeon's face darkened further.
The saucer bore the Namgung Clan's emblem: a blue sky motif.