Chapter 262
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 262
Chapter Title: Because I'd Forgotten
A morning dawned.
The weather was brighter than usual, as if yesterday's colossal battle had been nothing but a dream.
However.
The collapsed ruins of the grand banquet hall bore witness that last night's events had truly taken place.
The Namgung Clan's morning was cloaked in an unnatural silence, unlike any other day.
It was only natural.
After such pandemonium.
If things had been bustling as usual, that would have been the real anomaly.
Even so, people were beginning to stir, one by one.
Namgung Clan retainers emerged with dazed expressions, as if it had all been a dream, only to jolt awake at the sight of the inner courtyard's devastation.
Namgung Hwa-woo faced the six surviving elders from the Elder Council.
"You fool. You went and made an utter mess of things."
Namgung Jong scowled as he spoke.
"We must keep to the proper bounds."
Namgung Hwa-woo replied calmly, setting down his teacup.
But Namgung Jong stared at him with utter disdain.
"Not because you crave the clan head's seat?"
His eyes gleamed sharply.
Namgung Hwa-woo nodded.
"I won't deny it. Such ambitions were there, plain as day. From my youth. That's why I sought to join the alliance. When I learned of Namgung Hwi's existence, I schemed with those very desires in mind."
His tone was far too serene for such a man.
Like a monk who had attained enlightenment.
He slowly lifted his teacup, took a measured sip, and set it down.
"But here's the thing."
All six gazes converged on Namgung Hwa-woo.
"You all saw it. You all lived it. Last night."
What Namgung Hwa-woo meant.
They knew it all too well.
They were only sitting here because mercy had been shown.
"It was all for naught."
A murmur laced with profound emptiness from Namgung Hwa-woo.
"The clan head's seat I yearned for so desperately. Our great house... brought low by a single warrior......"
Last night.
After it was all over.
As he lay upon his bed in his chamber, the thought that filled Namgung Hwa-woo's mind.
It was no thrill of triumph at finally seizing the clan head's position, his long-held goal achieved.
Rather, the hollow realization that his clan.
The mighty Namgung Clan.
Had crumbled beneath one man's hand.
Regret.
Pity.
Sympathy.
A storm of emotions raged within.
This was not the vision Namgung Hwa-woo had painted.
A relentless cascade of unimaginable spectacles.
Thoughts left unprocessed.
He had simply ridden the current.
But this outcome? No, not this.
If he swayed the Elder Council and claimed the clan head's seat.
What would the clan think of him?
Ha Mu-baek's puppet?
Ha Mu-baek's installed overlord?
For now, shock held their thoughts at bay.
But come daylight, it would change.
With that in mind, sleep had finally come.
This morning, en route to the Elder Council, he had passed several retainers in the inner courtyard.
Their eyes confirmed last night's hunch.
They bowed politely, but their gazes brimmed with aversion.
A bitter smile tugged at his lips unbidden.
The elders before him held much the same look.
Snapping from his reverie, Namgung Hwa-woo locked eyes with Namgung Jong once more.
"It made me think—what's the point of becoming clan head?"
"Heh heh. After kicking up this storm, now you want to wash your hands of it?"
Namgung Jong moistened his lips with tea before asking.
"No thought of retreating. For the clan's rebuilding, I'll do whatever it takes. But if I push for clan head now, it'll only tear the house apart. Plenty see me in poor light, after all."
"You'd have factored that in, no doubt."
"I did. But it all fell apart. Because of Ha Mu-baek. Him."
The reason Namgung Hwa-woo's plans unraveled had nothing to do with schemes.
Ha Mu-baek's strength had surpassed all imagination.
Who could have dreamed one man would topple the entire Namgung Clan?
Who could have foreseen him carving through the Elder Council like that?
"It's plain as day—my elder brother Namgung Hwa-hyeon lacks the qualifications. And so do I."
At Namgung Hwa-woo's ready concession, intrigue flickered across Namgung Jong's face.
'Heh heh. Faced with such overwhelming might, he's finally seen reality......'
An unforeseen turn.
Last night's frets over blocking his ascent now seemed pointless.
"Only."
Namgung Hwa-woo sipped again and pressed on.
"Only?"
"I made promises to Namgung Hwi, Ji-hu, and Ji-yu."
And so Namgung Hwa-woo slowly unveiled his vision for a renewed Namgung Clan.
The tale, no short one, drew to a close.
"Heh......"
The elders heaved deep sighs.
Small wonder.
All six seated here hailed from branch lines, after all.
To direct descendants, Namgung Hwa-woo's proposal was thunder from a clear sky.
To branches, a beacon of fresh hope.
Talent over bloodline.
The Namgung name alone suffices for lineage.
A reform transcending mere change.
"Whoever becomes clan head, I hope you'll honor this as best you can. And grant the Great Thunderbolt Spear Sword to Ji-hu."
With that, Namgung Hwa-woo rose.
"Heh heh, heh heh heh. You toss promises like confetti, then dump the mess on us. Cheeky brat."
Namgung Hwa-woo halted at Namgung Jong's words.
"Fine. Off with you."
At the dismissal, Namgung Hwa-woo bowed deeply and turned away.
He paused just shy of the door.
"I've come to see I lack the qualifications, so I withdraw... but to raise the Namgung Clan proudly once more upon the world, I'll pour in every ounce of my fervor."
Only in that moment did Namgung Hwa-woo's eyes gleam.
As he departed the Elder Council unburdened, realization dawned.
No rule said a being beyond imagination like Ha Mu-baek couldn't arise from the Namgung Clan.
He himself could never be that figure, but he would lay the cornerstone for one among them to rise so.
That became Namgung Hwa-woo's new purpose in life.
'Yes. That's enough.'
Heading to his quarters, he encountered more retainers.
Eyes laden with myriad sentiments.
Armed with fresh purpose, Namgung Hwa-woo met those gazes steadily and pressed on.
Around noontime.
The Elder Council visitors were Namgung Hwi's family.
Namgung Hwi, Namgung Ji-hu, Namgung Ji-yu.
They sat across from the six elders.
"Hwi. What are your plans now?"
"Goals achieved. Time to head back."
"Head back? Where?"
Namgung Jong started at Namgung Hwi's reply.
A master who had perfected the Emperor Sword Form.
Attained the transcendent realm, no less.
With most guardian elders slain.
In these dire straits, every expert counted.
And Namgung Hwi was leaving?
No—did a Namgung clansman even have another home to return to?
"Back to the village that gave me new life. I left to die, but lived. So, back where I belong."
"And your martial arts?"
Namgung Jong pressed.
"Demand them, and I'll yield. I can vow never to wield the Namgung blade again. But crippling my dantian? No."
A calm yet resolute reply.
Namgung Jong's eyes shifted to the siblings.
"Ji-hu and Ji-yu?"
"Returning to the Dragon Training Pavilion. Second-year cadets still. Changing names too. No longer direct line, branch now—branch surnames required."
Namgung Ji-hu stated evenly.
"Dropping the generational mark. Just Hu from now on."
The generational syllable marking direct descent.
Always embedded, rendering direct names bisyllabic.
Namgung Ji-hu would excise it from his own.
"Me as well."
Namgung Ji-yu affirmed she'd become Namgung Yu.
"Hmm......"
Namgung Jong sank into thought.
"Heard from Hwa-woo."
Namgung Hwi offered a wry smile.
"Ignore it if you wish. Greed clouded me then. Kids safe is all that matters. Heed the rest, but shield these two completely."
Namgung Jong regarded the speaking Namgung Hwi.
Namgung Hwa-woo, and now Namgung Hwi too in such a state.
"Doesn't matter to us. Clan's will is ours. But neither Hu nor I can lose our dantians."
Namgung Ji-yu—nay, Namgung Yu—declared with bold countenance.
Three souls.
One kin.
No trace of lingering ties to the Namgung Clan lingered in them.
Their demeanor was, in a way, comprehensible.
Even Namgung Jong harbored such sentiments.
What was this house worth, to bind a lifetime?
Such thoughts had stirred in him.
Ha Mu-baek's prowess, transcending mortal bounds.
It had wrought this change in them.
The guesthouse lay hushed.
Only natural, really.
Namgung clansfolk knew full well who occupied it—no one dared venture near.
Chu-dong remained barricaded in his chamber.
Drawing divinations without cease.
Each one spat out the same.
Sheol —Tongue.
'Wh-what in the world... why... why......'
Chu-dong's face had drained bone-white.
Was the drench from yesterday no mere sweat, but actual water?
Had his judgment erred?
Unable to divine then, he had trusted it and poured his all into his tongue.
The omen unchanged. Tongue with water, three water shifts to form living flesh.
Now, it should herald sheng —life.
Yet still tongue.
Another loss at the gambling table.
This one, life on the line.
Creak.
His door slid open.
Ha Mu-baek.
"Wh-what brings you......"
Ha Mu-baek fixed Chu-dong with a steady gaze.
"Your business here is finished."
Chu-dong's features warped strangely.
Omen still tongue, yet business done.
What of him?
"But not quite over."
Ha Mu-baek continued.
"Guard that tongue well. No loose talk of last night or the children. Wag it idly, and......"
The unspoken threat hung clear.
Chu-dong nodded vigorously.
At last, the omen's riddle unraveled.
Mouth sealed till death's door. Fail that, and.
That monster......
"Where you hole up? Beggar's Sect will tell me quick enough."
Even surveillance via the Beggar's Sect.
Such a monster could manage it.
"Y-yes, understood."
Chu-dong stammered through chattering teeth.
"Then, be off. Henceforth, sorcery or speech—think twice, thrice. Another stunt like this, and......"
Ha Mu-baek turned away.
Morning talks with Namgung Hwi, Namgung Ji-hu, and Namgung Ji-yu already concluded.
Chu-dong? Released thus.
The tongue admonition? Purely Ha Mu-baek's notion.
Let such a blabbermouth roam free, and even nonexistent rumors would spawn.
Chu-dong scrambled his belongings and bolted from the Namgung Clan.
Under those piercing stares, his legs flew.
"He's gone."
"Yes."
Ha Mu-baek's curt reply to Gong Son Mu-wai.
"Not sure letting him loose is wise."
Gong Son Mu-wai voiced unease.
No internal energy, yet sorcery at his command.
Namgung Hwa-hyeon eliminated—no leash left.
What if he flung spells recklessly like before?
"Measures in place. No rash moves."
"If you say so."
Gong Son Mu-wai nodded.
"Something happen last night?"
"Nothing at all."
"Yet you look preoccupied."
Old ginger burns hottest.
Gong Son Mu-wai pierced Ha Mu-baek's mood at once.
Ha Mu-baek mustered only a wry grin.
"True enough. Worrying over nothing. You'd manage."
With that, he withdrew to his room.
Ha Mu-baek vaulted onto the guesthouse roof.
A habit.
Climbing high to scan the horizons.
No clue when it took root.
Yet when turmoil clouded the mind, surveying from on high eased the chokehold somewhat.
"Jianghu......"
Truth be told, he'd never pondered it before.
Lived for vengeance.
Lives now to conclude it.
Ha Mu-baek shadowed Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader So Hwi-woong because revenge hung unfinished.
The Mountain-Crossing Great Wall alone proved that.
But now, doubts crept in.
Was the jianghu So Hwi-woong envisioned one that could fulfill his revenge?
The jianghu Ha Mu-baek desired.
None existed.
Revenge ended—that was all.
"Does it even matter now?"
Last night.
He had all but felled the Namgung Clan single-handedly.
Even Ha Mu-baek marveled inwardly.
He'd suspected he might, but it unfolded far swifter than imagined.
Days as Dragon Training Pavilion instructor had reshaped even him.
"Because I'd forgotten."
Forgotten the imperative to end his revenge.
Devoted solely to the Dragon Training Pavilion's daily grind.
Those pesky brats.
Their doing.
Last night.
When So Hwi-woong urged him to live for the jianghu he craved.
Revenge resurfaced at last.
"This way of living suits me fine."
Ha Mu-baek murmured softly.
A faint smile graced his lips.