Chapter 43 - Heavenly Wind Sword Art

When their discussion reached that point, Namgung Byeok raised a hand, drawing everyone’s attention back to him.

“I would like to hear more from the Changgung Sword Unit Leader and the Muae Sword Unit Leader, but however I look at it, we have no time. A great deal remains unconfirmed, but one thing is certain.”

He paused and swept his somber gaze over the assembly. Finally, he looked straight ahead and spoke gravely.

“The Namgung Clan is surrounded.”

Surrounded. A simple word, yet at that moment it carried more weight than any longer expression could have. As he said it, Namgung Byeok instinctively knew that the Namgung Clan faced its greatest crisis since first hanging up the plaque proclaiming it the House of Kings.

Those gathered here were the people who ran the Namgung Clan. His words brought home to them, too, that the time had come to take up their rusted swords after so many years.

As everyone standing in the King’s Hall grimly pondered the word “surrounded,” another figure appeared inside, his robes rustling violently just as Namgung Hu’s had upon his arrival.

This time it was Namgung Il, commander of the Cheonpung Unit, who had gone to search for the intruder.

The instant Namgung Byeok saw him, he asked curtly, “Did you find him?”

He did not specify whom he meant, but everyone present knew.

“We could not.”

Namgung Il bowed his head, looking distraught.

“Surely he must have left some small trace?”

“... My apologies.”

Namgung Il offered an apology in place of a negative answer.

“Have you searched the entire estate?”

“We have yet to search the King’s Hall.”

That was only natural. Who would even think of infiltrating the King’s Hall? Even after slipping into the Namgung estate, an intruder would have to overcome many barriers to reach this place. Above all, how could anyone evade the eyes of the clan’s foremost masters, who resided within the hall?

After hearing Namgung Il out, Namgung Byeok considered in silence for a moment before speaking slowly.

“Very well. Go back out and scour the estate once more. You must find that man.”

“Yes, sir!”

With that reply, Namgung Hu immediately left the King’s Hall again.

“Now, we are back where we were. The intruder remains at large, and outside, men we suspect are likely demonic soldiers of the Heavenly Demon Castle have surrounded the Namgung estate. Speak freely about what we should do from here.”

Namgung Byeok, patriarch of the Namgung Clan, had declared once again that the clan was surrounded. It was nothing less than a proclamation that the time had come to fight.

Namgung In was the first to step forward. Without hesitation, he repeated the argument he had been making all along.

“This proves that everything the intruder left in his message was true. If Do Heo-ok intends to aid the enemy from within on the day the moon is full—his very wedding day!—nothing could be more dangerous. Moreover, our recent scouting will have alerted those outside that we know of their presence. There is therefore a strong possibility that they will attack the Namgung Clan early, rather than wait for the full moon. For that reason, I believe taking Do Heo-ok into custody must be our highest priority. If he happens to know the core of the Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation, something irreversible may occur.”

The Three Emperors Nine Kings Formation was a defensive formation installed along the estate’s outer walls in preparation for an emergency. Once activated, it would isolate the Namgung Clan from the outside world, but in return, it could protect the estate completely. Should Do Heo-ok destroy its core, however, they might be unable to activate it at all. That was precisely what Namgung In feared, and why he kept insisting that arresting Do Heo-ok came first.

Namgung Byeok gave Namgung In a quiet look, then surveyed the others. No one challenged Namgung In now.

At last, he nodded.

“Since there appear to be no objections, that is what we must do. Dear me. Hye will be terribly disappointed. Ha ha...”

At his hollow laughter, the elders lowered their heads. They could imagine how he must feel.

Everyone here who had watched Namgung Hye knew how deeply she loved Do Heo-ok. As her father, he could hardly be at ease when duty required him to drive a dagger into his daughter’s heart. Yet averting the crisis facing the clan mattered far more now. He had no choice.

“I, too, would like to address the patriarch.”

After Namgung In had finished, Namgung Jung stepped forward in turn. Namgung Byeok nodded, granting him leave to speak.

“If we are to take Do Heo-ok into custody, I believe we must also search the King’s Hall, which has yet to be investigated. Though the possibility is remote, someone helping him may be hiding here. The man who left the blood-and-bone inscription may also be concealed here. Whatever his reasons, he too has drawn his sword against the Namgung Clan. Allowing him to remain on the estate when we do not know his exact intentions is like swallowing a red-hot sword. While we search the King’s Hall, we must also send scouts outside again to ascertain the enemy’s numbers and identity.”

Namgung Jung still leaned toward believing that Do Heo-ok could not have done such a thing. Nevertheless, an unknown force had indeed surrounded the estate. That being so, he felt it was right to follow Namgung In’s advice for now and act on the assumption of the worst.

“Well said. Does anyone else have an opinion?”

No one answered Namgung Byeok’s weighty voice.

“Then we shall conclude today’s meeting here. The Cheonpung Unit will continue searching the estate as before. The Muae Sword Unit is to bring Do Heo-ok here from the temporary guest quarters immediately. The Imperial Sword Unit and Changgung Sword Unit will search the King’s Hall thoroughly. Everyone else is to leave the estate in the direction of Hefei and ascertain the enemy’s numbers. The elders will stand by in the Elders’ Hall and prepare for any contingency. Understood?”

Namgung Byeok swiftly assigned everyone a role. Those assembled answered in unison, then streamed out of the King’s Hall like an ebbing tide to carry out their duties.

Silence soon settled over the once-noisy hall.

His mind, however, remained tangled and clamorous.

What tormented him most was the ominous feeling that the inscription would come true exactly as written, along with another question.

“Who in the world is that man, and what is his purpose?”

He could not stop wondering about the identity and intentions of the man who had written the blood-and-bone inscription.

Capturing him would answer everything, but Namgung Byeok did not think the Cheonpung Unit, the Imperial Sword Unit, or the Changgung Sword Unit would find him.

Had he been easy to catch, he would never have acted so brazenly in the first place. Namgung Il would already have brought him in as a prisoner when he first entered the King’s Hall earlier.

“An enemy? An ally? Or perhaps...”

Even without knowing who he was, Namgung Byeok would have been glad if he were an ally. No—even knowing for certain that he was an enemy would have been less unsettling.

Not knowing.

Everyone fears the unknown. Even the ruler of a clan as mighty as the Namgung Clan could not escape that fear. How much more so now, in the face of an unprecedented crisis?

Now only Namgung Byeok’s low sighs quietly filled the King’s Hall, breaking its silence.

While Namgung Byeok sighed over the unidentified intruder connected to the Three Sacred Lights and the blood-and-bone inscription, Dong Bongsu, the very man responsible, was “dancing” empty-handed in his room at the East Heaven Guest Hall.

Enemy? Ally?

Such distinctions meant nothing to him. He was simply on his own side.

This was not some general theory of friend and foe, such as the idea that there were no eternal enemies or allies. He was simply someone who walked his path utterly alone. That was Dong Bongsu, and that was how he lived.

Of course, to adapt to New Murim Online, survive, and continue hunting, he might sometimes share a drink with an enemy. If necessary, he could even tear out and chew the livers of those who appeared to be allies.

Fundamentally, however, Dong Bongsu was a man who pressed forward alone. If he had to distinguish between enemies and allies, everyone other than himself was either an enemy or prey. The concept of an ally had never existed in his instincts.

WHOOSH, WHOOSH.

Dong Bongsu swung his fists forcefully from side to side several times. Then he would suddenly thrust them hard forward before drawing them back. The sounds of his successive movements filled the room, low and powerful.

Why was Dong Bongsu dancing?

In truth, it only looked like a dance. It was not one, though calling it a sword dance might perhaps have been accurate.

His vigorous movements resembled dancing only because he held no sword. As he spun and darted into every corner of the room like a crazy bitch, he was actually retracing his battle with Gosangong aboard the sailing ship. It was, one might say, a virtual combat simulation enacted with his own body.

As his imaginary battle with Gosangong approached its climax, his fists and body moved with increasing ferocity.

As always, his thoughts never stopped even as his body moved. While reviewing the battle, his brain was simultaneously devising counters to his own movements.

‘I nearly died.’

The more he retraced the fight, the more he realized just how much danger he had been in.

What if he had been Gosangong, and Gosangong had been him?

‘I wouldn’t be here now.’

The Heavenly Wind Sword Art Gosangong had used was an excellent sword art. He had simply failed to make proper use of it. Had Gosangong only been able to deploy its moves at the right moments... Dong Bongsu would have lost a hundred times out of a hundred.

‘Weak.’