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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 122
Chapter Title: A Path of Duty
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Clang—
The subordinate's clashing sword fell, and his body, neck sliced, dropped to its knees with a thud.
Beyond him stood Namgung Mucheon.
He had carried out his words without hesitation. *If you don't kill them, I will.*
Seop Mugwang stared blankly at the corpse of his subordinate collapsed at his feet.
‘I don't want to die.’
He had clearly said so.
At the very last moment, when he must have known his breath was fading, his subordinate had said those words.
There had been no hesitation in Namgung Mucheon's sword.
He knew it was the right answer.
But to remain unfazed after witnessing his subordinate's beheading right before his eyes was another matter entirely.
“…”
Namgung Mucheon looked at Seop Mugwang, who was staring down in despair at his dead subordinate, and let out a low sigh.
Sheathing his sword, Namgung Mucheon addressed the Heukryongdae.
“Take the injured to the infirmary and collect the bodies. These are men who died carrying out a mission for the main family. Do not treat them with disrespect.”
The members of the Heukryongdae answered in unison and moved with perfect coordination.
Namgung Mucheon then addressed the others who had gathered.
“Let us move to the Cheonho Hall. Seolhwa, you come as well.”
Only then did the gathered people notice Seolhwa, who was standing where Namgung Mucheon's gaze was directed.
Amidst glances asking, *Since when?* Seolhwa and Ryeon came down from the wall.
Seolhwa and the others gathered in the Cheonho Hall.
The elders and senior members of the family, having heard the news, also assembled.
The atmosphere was heavy.
Members of the Bipunggeomdae, who had been on a mission, had returned without orders and attacked the main family in its own courtyard. It was nothing short of a grave matter.
It hadn't been long since they had rooted out the Daesura Hyeolgyo's minions from within the family and expelled the forces that were causing turmoil.
For such an incident to occur again before the unsettled atmosphere had even calmed down, the mood could only grow more severe.
“Seolhwa, step forward.”
Seolhwa stood in the center of the Cheonho Hall.
The gazes of the family elders focused on a single child.
“Can you tell everyone what you told me?”
Nodding, Seolhwa looked around at those gathered in the Cheonho Hall.
The family heads, the elders, and even the captains of the sword brigades.
Their expressions had changed significantly from what she had seen when she first came to the Namgung Sega.
A sense of crisis had been added to the once-peaceful expressions of those accustomed to a comfortable life, and faces once filled with smiles were now hardened.
They were getting ready.
“It's a type of godok.”
Seolhwa began to speak, looking at each of the hardened faces.
“After implanting godok throughout the blood vessels, if the host body dies, the implanted godok bursts and its blood flows out. That blood becomes a poison that swells the blood vessels, causing the internal energy to surge. When that energy travels through the blood vessels and gathers in the dantian and the crown…”
*Bang.*
Seolhwa opened her hand.
No one failed to understand what she meant.
“The condensed internal energy explodes, and its power is proportional to the amount of energy one possesses.”
The members of the Bipunggeomdae were all masters of the Jeoljeong realm.
If a full sixty years' worth of internal energy—and from five of them, no less—had exploded on the spot, no one present, aside from Namgung Mucheon and Seop Mugwang, would have survived unscathed.
“There is a way to solve it by removing the godok, but it must be done without the host noticing. If the godok dies and the poisoning begins, there are only two options: let them explode, or sever the cervical spine before they do.”
Seolhwa pointed to her own neck.
That was precisely why Namgung Mucheon had beheaded the Bipunggeomdae members.
Seolhwa, who had instantly recognized their condition, had hastily explained the situation to Namgung Mucheon via telepathy.
“Removing the godok would have been best, but as you know, they attacked the main family instead of asking for help.”
Seolhwa looked at Seop Mugwang.
A cold fury emanated from him, his expression harder than ever before.
“If they weren't trying to betray the main family, there's only one answer. The one who implanted the godok was nearby, using it as leverage to control them.”
And Seolhwa knew who it was.
‘Hyeolma.’
If it was a being whose presence even Namgung Mucheon couldn't detect, it could only be Hyeolma.
Having met him at the inn, the fact that he was here in Hefei was also beyond doubt.
The one who would order the Bipunggeomdae to attack the main family and watch the scene with a smile from somewhere.
‘Khahahaha! Ha, hahaha!’
Hyeolma's laughter rang vividly in her ears.
It was the same mocking laughter she had heard from Hyeolma as she lay dying in her previous life.
“Using a weak poison powder, not fighting back desperately—that must have been the best the returning members could do. The Bipunggeomdae members probably…”
He surely would have enjoyed watching the Bipunggeomdae members suffer this time as well, and would have burst into laughter at the sight of the Namgung Sega in chaos.
“They came back to die. At the hands of the main family.”
Finishing her words, Seolhwa looked around at the family members.
She gazed at their shocked expressions.
Although it hadn't been officially announced, those present knew of the existence of the ‘Hyeolgyo’.
They were, after all, the first to be investigated when rooting out the spies hidden within the family.
But they only knew of its existence, and had only heard about the incident at the Surochae. For those who hadn't witnessed the situation firsthand, it was difficult to grasp its severity.
It was not easy to be wary of an indistinct enemy.
But today, they had seen.
The ‘Hyeolgyo’.
Their cruelty, and the possibility that they could destroy the main family at any time.
“I will take responsibility and go.”
Seop Mugwang stepped forward.
He was calmer than usual. That very calmness, however, spoke volumes of his devastated state of mind.
Though he reacted to everything with an air of annoyance and seemed uninterested in family affairs, he was a man who cared for his people more than anyone.
Those who knew Seop Mugwang's character felt a sense of pity seeing him like this.
Seop Mugwang spoke to Namgung Mucheon.
“I sent fifteen of my men to Yunnan. Five of them returned today in this state. As the captain leading the Bipunggeomdae, I have a duty to protect my subordinates. So send me…”
“No.”
The one who stepped forward to stop him was Seolhwa.
Before Namgung Mucheon could say anything, Seolhwa stood beside Seop Mugwang and addressed Namgung Mucheon.
“It's true that only five of the fifteen members sent have returned. But is it really possible that only five of the fifteen were captured by them? If so, wouldn't a report warning of danger have come from the other ten?”
Hyeolma had come to her and stated it clearly.
That he would take her master.
This incident was a trap to lure out Seop Mugwang. No, it wasn't even a trap.
Who would call something a trap when the target is announced and openly lured?
“They are aiming for you, Captain. This incident is their scheme to shake the main family. You mustn't send him, Grandfather.”
But why would Hyeolma choose such a method, even when the intention was so obvious?
“I don't care about that.”
Seolhwa gently closed her eyes.
“The mere possibility that they're alive is enough.”
She clenched her fists tightly.
“I will go. I'll go even if you try to stop me, Brother.”
In her previous life, Pungnoesin had gone to Yunnan for a similar reason and met his end there.
At the time, Seolhwa had no direct connection to the incident, but she had heard how he died.
*He came even though it was obvious he would die. They say people from the orthodox factions die for their pride, and that's exactly what he did.*
“I must save my men. I have to go. So I will go.”
*What a pathetic death, wasn't it?*
“You won't be able to save them.”
Seolhwa turned her head to look at Seop Mugwang.
“They won't let the remaining members live. You've seen their cruelty. It's probably too late even if you go now.”
They've set a trap and are waiting for their prey to walk in. Would they so easily give up the bait?
They would have already killed the remaining Bipunggeomdae members. The Hyeolgyo she knew was that kind of organization.
“If you go, you won't survive. To the main family, the life of one captain is far more…!”
“They are not to be dismissed so lightly.”
“…”
“My subordinates are not men to be dismissed so lightly.”
“…”
“Those men… they'll be waiting for me.”
*Why didn't you come?* they had said.
*Why didn't you help us?* they had resented.
*I don't want to die,* they had screamed.
These were the last words of the men who came back to die at the hands of their own family.
How could he hear those words and not go?
How.
“I will go, Family Head. I will go and return.”
Namgung Mucheon slowly closed his eyes.
The Cheonho Hall was enveloped in silence.
Ten members of the Bipunggeomdae were there.
They were a key part of Namgung's forces, but their survival was uncertain, and this was undoubtedly a trap set by the Hyeolgyo.
Going to such a place was like walking into one's own grave. However.
“I permit it.”
The ten Bipunggeomdae members there were all men who had dedicated their lives under the name of Namgung.
“Heaven does not turn its back on the world.”
Even if it was only for the lives of ten men.
“To ignore their suffering and betray our faith is by no means the act of one who follows the righteous will of Heaven. If they are dead, it is only right that we retrieve their bodies. If they are alive, they must be desperately waiting for the main family's support.”
The main family is Namgung.
“Go. Go and fulfill your duty.”
