There’s a crazy bastard after all. (2)
“Namgung Hwang?”
“The Emperor’s Sword?”
The Five Swords, who had followed Chung Myung down the mountain, widened their eyes in shock.
“Namgung Hwang took the Azure Sky Sword Unit [창궁검대 – chang-gung-geomdae] and went to Jiujiang?”
“Shaolin summoned him, but instead of going to Shaolin, he’s attacking Maehwado?”
“Seems like it.”
Baek Cheon stared blankly at Chung Myung with a dumbfounded expression. Normally, Baek Cheon was good at keeping a straight face, but the shock this time had clearly gotten to him.
“…Why?”
Chung Myung grinned slyly.
“Sasuk. If you’re going to lead people from now on, there’s one thing you absolutely have to keep in mind.”
“What’s that?”
When Baek Cheon asked with a worried look, Chung Myung replied as if it were no big deal.
“There’s nothing more pointless than trying to find reasons behind a madman’s madness.”
“…”
“If that didn’t quite make sense, let me put it another way-”
“No, Chung Myung. I understood right away.”
“…Huh?”
Yoon Jong quickly nodded from the side.
“I understood too.”
“I completely get it.”
“Same here.”
“…Then why are you bastards all looking at me while saying it?”
Well, who else would they be looking at?
They’re talking about you.
After a moment of hesitation, as if choosing his words carefully, Yoon Jong spoke.
“Come to think of it, there is a reason. Namgung Clan must’ve been thoroughly humiliated back then at the Yangtze. We only saw a glimpse of it, but knowing Namgung Hwang’s temperament, the Emperor’s Sword…”
“Yeah. He’s probably been honing his blade – no, his sword – ever since.”
Everyone shuddered as they recalled Namgung Hwang, eyes wide and sword slashing through the air. Just remembering that overwhelming sword energy, something far beyond mere swordsmanship, made their skin ache with dread.
“Then right now…”
“Yeah.”
Chung Myung grinned and nodded.
“He’s probably going berserk by now, don’t you think? Kekehehehe.”
❀ ❀ ❀
Kwaaaaaaang!
An entire pavilion was blown away.
Even dozens of military cannons firing simultaneously could never create such devastation.
And yet, what had caused this was nothing more than an iron sword, not even four ja [尺(자)*] long.
“You vile bastards of the Evil Sects!”
Namgung Hwang’s roar burst forth like a lion’s.
“Drive those goddamn water dogs** who dared to set foot on Gangbuk’s lands from this place!”
“Understood!”
The Azure Sky Sword Unit, acting on Namgung Hwang’s command, scattered like streaks of light in all directions.
Just from the sheer momentum of their charge, it was clear how bitterly they had trained and sharpened themselves over the past three years.
Namgung Hwang’s eyes blazed with a terrifying gleam.
“Black Dragon King!”
Three years.
For some, it was a long time. For others, short.
For Namgung Hwang, it had felt like an eternity.
He had relived the shame, the humiliation, and the crushing disappointment in himself every single day.
The only thing that sustained him through that gut-wrenching pain was the hope that after enduring for just three years, he could sever the heads of those detestable Jang Ilso and the Black Dragon King with his own sword.
And then, at the height of his torment, news reached him that among all of Sapaeryeon, it was the Black Dragon King himself who had led Surochae into Gangbuk.
“You son of a bitch!”
Crack!
Namgung Hwang ground his teeth.
If even a shred of respect for the name Namgung [南宮] remained in his mind, he wouldn’t have dared to cross the Yangtze – not even alongside Sapaeryeon, let alone on his own.
So when Namgun Hwang came to his senses after unleashing his fury, he was already charging towards Jiujiang at the head of the Azure Sky Sword Unit.
“Dowi!”
“Yes, My Lord!”
Namgung Dowi – Namgung Hwang’s son, who had endured bone-crushing training over the past three years – answered resolutely.
Three years had transformed him from a promising young talent into a full-fledged swordsman, and the confident heir apparent of the esteemed Namgung clan.
“Lead the Azure Sky Sword Unit and turn every last one of those pirates into fish food! Show the world that even after suffering humiliation once, honor and righteousness still live on in the name of Azure Sky!”
“Yes!”
As Namgung Dowi charged ahead, Namgung Hwang fixed his fierce gaze forward.
“Hmph!”
He had indeed received the summons from Shaolin. But Namgung Hwang had not the slightest interest in its contents.
‘Cowards!’
Ordinary people might avoid death, but martial artists must never shrink from it. Especially for those who waved the banner of chivalry and justice, retreating from danger out of fear of losing their lives meant losing everything.
“I should have died back then.”
If only those meddlesome bastards from Wudang hadn’t interfered, if only Shaolin and Qingcheng hadn’t joined in their foolish intervention…
Then he would never have had to shamefully beg for his life, nor would the glorious name of Namgung have been dragged into the mud in his generation.
Kuung!
Namgung Hwang stomped his foot hard onto the ground.
“No. Those are nothing but excuses!”
If Namgung Hwang had truly possessed the courage to disregard his own life, if he had genuinely wished for the name Namgung to represent absolute righteousness, he could have drawn his sword even then.
What had held back his blade in that critical moment had been none other than his own weakness.
And that truth made it all the more unbearable for Namgung Hwang.
“Spilled water cannot be put back into the bowl. But-!”
Namgung Hwang’s eyes burned with intense determination.
“I can fill it anew. Today, I shall reclaim the name of Namgung!”
At that moment, he saw a massive horde of pirates rushing towards him with fearsome momentum.
“Block them!”
“Those damn bastards! Do you even know where you are!”
“Namgung Clan isn’t worth shit! Kill them all!”
As the swarming pirates rushed towards him like a hive of bees, Namgung Hwang gripped his sword so hard it seemed it might snap in two.
“You…!”
He slammed his foot onto the ground once more. At the same instant, a dense white sword energy surged from the hilt, rising with a fearsome intensity.
The energy was so thick and profound that it hardly seemed to be mere sword qi – it wrapped completely around Namgung Hwang’s sword, radiating dazzling light.
Kwaang!
The emperor’s gait as he carries out his duty.
And this was the Emperor’s Sword.
“Oooooooooh!”
Namgung Hwang raised his sword high above his head, then slashed downward in one swift motion.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
It was impossible to believe the sound came merely from a swung sword. It thundered like an exploding cannon.
But even harder to believe was not the sound, but the sheer magnitude of the sword energy unleashed.
From the tip of that small sword emerged a towering, white sword energy, literally the size of a house. Seeing this massive wave of energy covering the entirety of their vision, the pirates’ faces turned pale in an instant.
“Ru- Ru…!”
Before they could even finish shouting ‘Run!,’ the immense white sword energy engulfed them completely. Not satisfied with just this, it continued onward, carving a massive scar along the central street, racing forward – and forward still.
Kwakwakwakwakwa-boom!
A power so overwhelming, even witnessing it with one’s own eyes defied reason.
Even if it had been internal energy released outright, the sheer force would’ve been staggering.
But this? This monstrous energy had been unleashed through a sword?
It was a moment that made everyone understand – why Namgung Clan was known as the Azure Sky Namgung, why it had maintained its place as the head of the Five Great Families, and why the Lord of Namgung Clan had always been a proud contender for the title of Greatest Swordsman Under Heaven.
“You petty Sapa bastards! Do you even know who you’re standing in front of?!”
Having swept the front lines clean with a single stroke of his sword, Namgung Hwang now stood alone, roaring in defiance – his presence so overwhelming that even the term divine general [신장(神將)] felt insufficient.
“Uwoooaaaahhhhh!”
“It’s Namgung Clan! Namgung Clan has come to save us!”
“Namgung!”
“One of the Five Great Families is here!”
Those who had been cowering in the relatively safe pavilions, waiting and watching anxiously, finally burst out into the open and shouted in joy.
Even if Namgung Clan had disappointed them in the past, there was simply no comparing them to these savage pirates.
Seeing them come all the way here to slaughter the pirates with their own eyes – all past resentment melted away, and in its place, trust began to take root.
“Don’t come out yet! Those filthy pirate bastards are still crawling around! I’ll give you peace of mind soon enough!”
At his words, the crowd quickly nodded and hurried back inside, sensing that this long nightmare was finally nearing its end.
“Hmph!”
Namgung Hwang nodded, preparing to stride forward again.
But just then, someone quietly approached from his side and spoke.
“Hyeong-nim.”
“What is it?”
Namgung Hwang turned his head to look at the man standing beside him.
The Lion Sword [사자검(獅子劍)], Namgung Myeong [남궁명(南宮明)] – Namgung Hwang’s younger brother and the leader of the Azure Sky Sword Unit.
“Will this… be all right?”
“What do you mean?”
“…I understand how you feel, Hyeong-nim, but it seems like we moved too rashly. I’m worried this might spiral out of control…”
“Namgung Myeong!”
Namgung Hwang’s voice boomed like a cannon, making Namgung Myeong flinch and shrink back.
“When did you become such a coward?”
“T-That’s not what I meant…”
“Listen carefully!”
Namgung Hwang glared at him with eyes sharp enough to kill and said:
“In a world full of fools, the wise man is always mistaken for the idiot.”
“…What?”
“A swordsman needs no justification to cut down the Evil Sects! What more reason could we possibly need?!”
There wasn’t a shred of doubt in Namgung Hwang’s voice.
Only an unwavering certainty.
“We suffered because we failed to treat the obvious as obvious! Because we couldn’t call what was right – right; and what was wrong – wrong!”
“M-My Lord, I only meant…”
“Silence!”
Namgung Hwang shot Namgung Myeong a glare fierce enough to devour him whole.
Of course, Namgung Hwang understood.
He understood that Namgung Myeong was only worried about the consequences Namgung Clan might suffer because of this.
But now he knew.
A sect that only chases profit will last at best a hundred years.
To carry its values for a thousand, ten thousand years beyond that- it needs something greater than gain or loss.
Those blinded by the small will always fail to see the great.
And those who fail to see the great are doomed to perish.
At that moment, the image of a person came to Namgung Hwang’s mind.
A small swordsman, covered in wounds.
A boy soaked in blood, screaming in rage.
Back then, Namgung Hwang hadn’t been able to meet the eyes of that young swordsman.
He didn’t even have the courage to try.
When the boy turned to face him, he had instinctively looked away.
What had driven Namgung Hwang into true agony all these years wasn’t the humiliation.
It was shame.
The shame of not being able to meet those eyes.
“Never again…”
Namgung Hwang clenched his fist.
“Never again will I look away from someone’s gaze. Never again will I do anything that leaves me unable to hold my head high! I am Namgung Hwang! The Lord of the Namgung Clan – The Emperor’s Sword, Namgung Hwang!”
“Hyeong-nim…”
“If you have time to worry, raise your sword. A swordsman of Namgung Clan speaks with his sword, not his tongue!”
“Yes, My Lord!”
Determination soon lit up in Namgung Myeong’s eyes as well.
Right and wrong – he still couldn’t say for sure.
But one thing was certain: his Lord had staked everything here and now.
As his brother, as a member of Namgung Clan, and as the proud commander of the Azure Sky Sword Unit – he had no choice but to answer that resolve.
“Let’s go!”
“Yes!”
Seeing the sea of pirates swarming in from the docks, Namgung Hwang gripped his sword once more.
“Crush those Sapas!”
A surge of white sword energy erupted from his blade, soaring high into the sky.
To the clearest sky of all.
________
*’Korean foot’ – archaic measure of 30.3 cm approx.
**물개 – seal, but it’s funny how it literally means ‘water dog.’ Probably as an insult we can say water dogs.
________
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Return of the Mount Hua 
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