Chapter 95
Chapter 95: Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven
“Young Lord. A dispatch has just arrived from the main house.”
Perched on the topmost terrace of the premier pavilion overlooking Lake Chaohu, Namgung Cheonhu gazed past the sprawling waters below, where ordinary travelers appeared as insignificant as crawling insects. In his hand, he lazily swirled a jade cup filled with Heavenly Fragrance Hundred Flowers Wine, an indulgence priced at a full gold nyang for every pour.
“Read it aloud.”
“As you command. They are demanding to know the date of your return.”
Formally speaking, Namgung Cheonhu was currently away from his young lord responsibilities under the guise of leisurely travel. In truth, the core hierarchy of the Namgung noble house knew absolutely nothing regarding the Sword King’s Tomb. Driven by an ambition to claim every secret of the crypt entirely for himself, he had hidden all investigative progress even from his own family elders.
“What response should we offer?”
“……”
Silence lingered as Namgung Cheonhu chose deliberation over an immediate reply.
The Tang Clan… Of all the unexpected factions, the Jin Estate had somehow crossed paths with the Tang Clan.
To his estimation, the Baek house had never truly registered as a threat; they were little more than disposable pawns dancing on strings held by Sichuan’s masters. Even if the youth acknowledged as their eldest young lord displayed the rough promise of an uncut gem, set beside the peerless brilliance of the Namgung noble house, he was nothing more than an insect hurtling straight toward an open flame.
Had that cunning hound Jin gleaned additional secrets, or was this intersection a stroke of dumb luck?
His musings dragged him into deeper unease, a suffocating urgency coiling around his chest like a tightening garrote. In that instant of vulnerability, an ominous presence haunting the ancestral halls flashed through his mind.
Namgung Cheonyeong, his second younger brother.
A terrifying anomaly of nature who, at a mere fifteen years of age, struck genuine dread into the marrow of a twenty-nine-year-old heir.
Within the main house… only raw power commands reverence.
They did not parade their hunger openly like lawless villains of the dark path, yet the ancestral doctrine of the Namgung noble house rested purely on martial supremacy. The mantle of clan patriarch was reserved exclusively for the most powerful offspring among the siblings. Between himself and that boy stood a gap of roughly fifteen winters.
Could the succession be stolen away… before Father breathes his last…?
Had Cheonyeong merely possessed the brilliance of a generational talent, Namgung Cheonhu would never have suffered this gnawing terror of his birthright being usurped. Yet his brother eclipsed ordinary prodigies entirely; one could state without hyperbole that the realm had never seen his equal throughout history. A monstrous existence transcending the natural boundaries of mankind.
It should be cause for celebration. A supreme blessing securing the family’s eternal dominance…
Once, the Namgung noble house reigned undisputed at the pinnacle of the Five Great Houses, a monumental titan commanding unconditional deference across the martial world. Yet with each fleeting season, their prestige subtly slipped. While they certainly retained a spot among the elite handful of sovereign forces across the land, watching one’s supremacy erode invariably drove a man to manic desperation.
Even putting that freak Cheonyeong out of mind, to reclaim our family’s ancient preeminence, I alone — the true heir of Great Namgung — must monopolize every scrap of legacy buried inside the Sword King’s Tomb.
Only with that sovereign power could he wrest the undisputed crown of the Five Great Houses away from the Paeng clan and their revered Great Sea Dragon King Blade.
“Juyong.”
Namgung Juyong, the shadow guard who had pledged two decades of his life at Namgung Cheonhu’s side, offered a reverent reply.
“Your servant listens, Young Lord.”
“Relay a dispatch to the main house. Inform them that my return will take another month. Instruct them to resolve ordinary administrative matters on their own authority, setting aside only critical emergencies for my attention.”
“At once!”
Neither he nor the elite swordsmen of the Azure Sky Sword Corps could afford to pull back now. The moment their boots crossed the threshold of the ancestral compound, breaking away for another covert expedition would become an impossible dream. He had to seize the beast by its horns without hesitation.
To rip a horn from living flesh… spilling blood is inevitable.
Even if the path veered away from conventional righteousness, grand chivalry justified the cost. As the ancient saying went, the Great Way has no gates (大道無門) — upon the sovereign road, no barrier could stand.
“Summon the men to depart. We march for the Jin Estate immediately.”
“As you command!”
“Understood!”
The trek from Lake Chaohu to Gyesu normally demanded five days of steady travel. However, on their second day out, when they had barely traversed half the distance, an emergency messenger intercepted Namgung Cheonhu with startling tidings.
“Young Lord! A directive has arrived from the main house ordering an immediate inquiry into disturbing whispers that have begun spreading like wildfire across Anhui and Henan!”
“Disturbing whispers? What sort of whispers?”
“Word is… frantic rumors place the location of the Sword King’s Tomb right on Baeksu Mountain!”
Blazing indignation erupted across Namgung Cheonhu’s features.
“Rumors of the Sword King’s Tomb? On whose authority?!”
“The precise source remains unclear… However, the elders order us to divert straight to Gyesu and verify the truth for the clan.”
“Dispatch an urgent messenger bird to the estate this instant! Demand to know what evidence prompted this commotion!”
“At once!”
Throughout their rapid march, courier birds sliced back and forth across the skies without pause. With every fresh fragment of information brought to his hands, Namgung Cheonhu’s expression sank into darker fury.
“Young Lord! Operatives from the Hao Sect have begun peddling treasure maps!”
“Treasure maps? Could it be the document stolen from the Jin Estate?!”
Jin Geumbo! You insolent traitor, how dare you turn on me!
“We have secured a transcript of the diagram being circulated!”
Snatching the parchment, Namgung Cheonhu scoured the ink marks, his pupils abruptly expanding.
It shares common points, yet… the structure diverges significantly.
Leaving aside the fact that this rendering proved vastly superior in geographic precision compared to Jin Geumbo’s schematic, its foundational layout was entirely distinct. In truth, this wildfire had not originated from an act of treachery by Jin Geumbo.
“You confirmed the original remains with the Hao Sect?”
“Indeed. It indicates an external party was hunting the Sword King’s Tomb independent of the Jin Estate.”
This was an absolute catastrophe. To have such a tempest break just as the prize was within his grasp… Namgung Cheonhu ground his teeth until they ached.
“Drive our pace to its absolute limit! Head directly for Baeksu Mountain in Gyesu!”
Throughout the grueling sprint, urgent messages from the clan arrived in rapid succession.
“Young Lord, reports confirm the Hao Sect has successfully auctioned copies of the map to over ten prominent sects!”
“To make matters worse, loose wanderers who caught wind of the rumors are descending upon the region in droves!”
“Young Lord!”
Pushed beyond his patience, Namgung Cheonhu unleashed a thunderous bellow.
“What calamity is it now?!”
“Th-the Greenwood has stirred into motion…”
“The Greenwood? What scale of force?!”
“Clan scouts report… that five of the Ten Greenwood Heroes are actively marching at the head of their elite contingents…”
Every single champion among the Ten Greenwood Heroes wielded command over a retinue of ten peerless killers. The coordinated mobilization of five such figures carried martial weight comparable to the full deployment of one of the Nine Sects or Five Great Houses.
“Curse them! Curse every last one of them!”
Though the ancients claimed even the wisest strategist was prone to an occasional miscalculation, this timing felt intolerably cruel. It seemed as though the Sword King’s Tomb, having lingered virtually within his fingers, was being violently snatched away right before his eyes. Yet amidst the chaos, a crucial solace sustained him: the internal blueprints of the crypt remained exclusively his secret.
At the very least, our house’s — no, my own definitive superiority remains untouchable. It matters little how many rabble charge into that grave!
As their boots carried them into the outskirts of Gyesu, the sheer concentration of traveling pugilists exploded visibly. Yet because his retinue openly wore the prestigious uniform of the Namgung noble house, none among the roaming packs dared cross their path.
“Young Lord. The contingent shadowing our vanguard swells with every passing li.”
The sheer presence of the Namgung noble house was more than enough to silence the doubts of wanderers who had merely drifted in out of curious speculation. They took the mobilization of the peerless Namgung noble house as undeniable confirmation that the rumors were authentic. The trailing ranks mushroomed constantly, eventually stirring a whisper of apprehension even in Namgung Cheonhu’s chest.
“Young Lord. The rabble trailing our tracks already surpasses several hundred blades.”
“……”
The vanguard of the Azure Sky Sword Corps accompanying him numbered thirty swordsmen. Since the overwhelming majority of their pursuers were bottom-feeders, an outright clash would bring an effortless slaughter, yet throwing his elite troops into pointless skirmishes was an unnecessary drain of strength.
“Maintain the march.”
Thus, when their path finally brought them to the base of Baeksu Mountain…
“…Young Lord.”
“Securing the Sword King’s Tomb under the cloak of secrecy… appears entirely impossible now…”
The slopes of Baeksu Mountain were already overrun by martial artists who had surged in from every corner of Jiangnan. Yet the true gravity of their predicament did not stem simply from the sheer swarm of blades.
“Namu Amitabha. Have guests from the revered Namgung noble house graced us with their presence?”
“……”
“This poor Daoist is Cheongso of Wudang.”
Before them stood a Daoist of Wudang, flanked by several dozen senior disciples. Recognizing Cheongso, a renowned master possessing the terrifying martial status of a sect elder, Namgung Cheonhu’s jaw hardened as his expression twisted into an ugly grimace.
“Pffft-khehehehe!”
“……”
“Bwahahaha!”
“…Does this truly bring you so much delight?”
Yanghwi tossed an answer back to Chudal without a moment’s hesitation.
“Naturally! Why wouldn’t I savor this? Watching the mighty Namgung noble house choke on dirt is pure ambrosia. Wouldn’t you agree, Brother Tang?”
Tang Gun typically presented himself with the serene decorum and composed grace expected of an orthodox prodigy. By all accounts of his character, he was hardly one to revel in another person’s public humiliation, yet at this moment, an uncontrollable smirk stretched from ear to ear across his face.
“Truly, it lifts a heavy weight from the spirit. A magnificent sight indeed.”
“Heh, isn’t it just?”
Hovering just an arm’s reach away, Gu Ak could not help but spit out an irritated grumble.
“You two can laugh all day, but I was inches from death to pull this off!”
“Come on, you walked back through that door in one piece, didn’t you? What more do you want?”
“I was almost butchered! I strode in claiming to be one of the Ten Greenwood Heroes, and what happens? A genuine champion of the Ten Greenwood Heroes wanders into the camp! My soul nearly left my flesh!”
Gu Ak’s mind violently flashed back to the ordeal at Samho Stockade. Infiltrating the bandit stronghold under the fabricated identity of Mountain Blood Axe Gu Eok, complete with the classified passphrases to secure noble guest privileges, had unfolded like clockwork. Discarding the forged map under the pretext of carrying out personal instructions from the Mountain Lord and slipping beyond the stockade gate had seemed equally flawless. The nightmare began when, by an impossible twist of fate, an authentic figure from the Ten Greenwood Heroes arrived unannounced, triggering a frantic pursuit where Gu Ak had barely escaped a gruesome end.
“I knew your supposed grand design was just made up on the fly! You swore you had thought through every contingency! It was utter madness!”
“Yet your blood is still circulating, isn’t it?”
“……”
“Besides, they say a ghost who dies well-fed carries a healthy flush in the afterlife…”
Ahem. Perhaps that was pushing the jest a bit too far even for my tastes.
Regardless.
“The board is primed. Every piece sits precisely where it belongs.”
“Do you actually possess a functional scheme?”
“Naturally. Look at how seamlessly the whole tapestry is coming together.”
Sects of every caliber had descended upon Baeksu Mountain, churning alongside a sea of unaligned wanderers. Amidst such massive upheaval, blending into the surrounding shadows would be child’s play.
“Dropping vague hints to provoke the Namgung noble house was the decisive stroke.”
“Precisely. After the disastrous Sword King’s Tomb Bloodbath of the past, skeptics would have dismissed the hearsay as cheap bait, but watching those proud Namgung peacocks charge in eliminated every shred of doubt.”
A full three days had elapsed since the arrival of the Namgung noble house upon the ridges of Baeksu Mountain. Today marked the exact fifteenth day promised in their arrangement with Jin Geumbo.
“Time for us to move out as well.”
“We ought to finalize our gear.”
“Procuring rations takes precedence, does it not?”
Scavenging for meals deep within the subterranean chambers of the Sword King’s Tomb was an impossibility. Hauling an ample hoard of supplies before entering remained the only sane path.
“How much weight should we carry?”
“Underestimating the journey invites starvation, yet overloading our packs will compromise our martial agility.”
As the companions fretted over the logistical dilemma, Yanghwi threw out a casual instruction.
“Pack one month’s worth for every person. Rely strictly on preserved dried meats and fasting pills to keep the physical volume down.”
“A full month’s provisions?”
“Do you possess concrete rationale for that timeline, Little Brother Hwi?”
“Of course.”
At present, Yanghwi’s party maintained a steady stream of updates tracing every step taken by the Namgung noble house. With so many pugilists swarming the heights of Baeksu Mountain, buying reports off the Hao Sect came at dirt-cheap prices.
“Our duty is simply to mirror whatever those arrogant Namgung dogs do.”
The Namgung noble house held sole possession of the architectural secrets guiding the interior of the Sword King’s Tomb.
“Yet we haven’t seen the Namgung noble house stocking up on local provisions either, have we?”
“They took care of their provisions long before arriving here. They intentionally avoided shopping locally so rivals wouldn’t deduce their preparations.”
“Granted, each of their swordsmen carried bulging satchels, but how could you confirm those held rations?”
“When our paths crossed at Lake Chaohu, they travelled stripped down for light marching. They had abandoned heavy trunks, yet even in that state, those specific packs never left their shoulders.”
Tang Gun could only shake his head in utter disbelief, his heart filled with deep respect for the terrifying sharpness that could dissect such minuscule clues during a momentary encounter.
“A brilliant deduction. If that is the case, the procurement of supplies rests in your capable hands. Yeon and I must attend to numerous specialized arrangements of our own.”
Given the complex martial arsenal of the Tang Clan, the duo required extensive private preparations before plunging into mortal combat. Yanghwi gave an approving nod, turning to ready their subterranean expedition alongside Gu Ak and Chudal. Adu remained glued right to his heels.
“Rice cakes! We must carry rice cakes as well!”
“Forget it. They take up far too much pack room.”
“Tch. Any proper trip requires rice cakes.”
“This is hardly a leisurely picnic.”
“Hmph.”
Devoting an entire day to securing every necessary provision and an additional day to march from their inn toward the mountain, they finally reached their destination. Based on the geographic markings on the treasure map, the portal leading into the Sword King’s Tomb was carved not into the summit, but nestled inside a hollow basin halfway up the slope.
“The closer we venture toward the basin, the denser the crowd becomes,” Tang Gun noted, observing the diverse factions maintaining tense distances as they surveyed their rivals.
“To be expected.”
“Indeed, ample days have passed for the sharpest minds to crack the clues.”
It was right around the moment when skilled scouts would naturally decipher the riddle of the map and pinpoint the general terrain. Just as those words left his mouth…
“Oh?”
Far down the ridgeline, the distinctive uniforms of the Namgung noble house came into clear view. Positioned directly alongside them stood a gathering of Daoists draped in solemn black robes.
“Wudang?”
The edges of Yanghwi’s lips curled into a sharp, mocking grin. Have those recluses already crossed the expanse from Hubei?
Sanctimonious frauds unworthy of the title of Daoists.
It appeared plunging into the Sword King’s Tomb was bound to offer far greater amusement than he had dared to hope.
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