Chapter 31
Namgung Jeong.
The young heir of the Namgung Family and the sworn younger brother of the Master of the Xiao Family.
I was incredibly shocked when I learned that fact.
‘Whoa, the Namgung Family. Whoa.’
I couldn’t help but marvel.
What was the Namgung Family, anyway? They were the head of the Five Great Families, famous martial clans of the Central Plains, and wasn’t it a family that usually took on the protagonist role in web novels?
I hadn’t read that many martial arts novels, but every now and then, I’d seen a ponytailed man in blue clothes on the cover of a novel. To meet someone I had only ever seen in books here…
But did Namgung Jeong appear in <The Lord of Heavenly Pillars>?
‘I don’t think he did, did he?’
To be honest, even if he had appeared, I might not remember him very well. After all, in <The Lord of Heavenly Pillars>, male supporting characters were usually just minor characters who appeared briefly before disappearing.
I thought about it for a moment, but when I still couldn’t remember anything, I shook my head and hurriedly pretended that I knew him.
“Ah, a-ah~! So you are Hero Namgung Jeong! I’ve heard so much about you. Your reputation throughout the martial world is truly tremendous. Aren’t you the Thunder Emotion Sword, who strictly punishes evil above and cares for the weak below?”
“Hmm.”
“And as our Estate Master’s reliable younger brother, I hear you have done so much for the Xiao Family by faithfully fulfilling the duties of a sworn brother. The people of the estate praise you so much that they must have worn their tongues raw and–”
“Enough, enough!”
Namgung Jeong frantically waved his hand at my embarrassing flattery.
“Boy, your tongue is so smooth that even the greatest sycophant in history couldn’t keep up with you! Enough. Just tell me where you work. Judging by your appearance, you look like one of the boys who attends to guests.”
I smiled awkwardly and answered politely.
“No, sir. I am a servant belonging to Sonangwon.”
“Yes, Sonang…… Sonangwon?”
“Yes. I serve Miss Xiao.”
Namgung Jeong’s mouth fell open.
“You serve Ari?”
Namgung Jeong also seemed to know Miss’s personality well, as he looked doubtful.
I gave Namgung Jeong a rough summary of everything that had happened up until now. Since he was the Estate Master’s sworn brother, I figured he would find out everything eventually anyway.
After hearing the whole story, Namgung Jeong was impressed.
“Remarkable, truly remarkable. No one has ever been able to break Ari’s stubbornness. I could tell from your first impression, but you really are persistent.”
At the unexpected praise, I scratched my cheek.
“Hehe, you flatter me…”
“Then why did you do it?”
“Pardon?”
Suddenly, Namgung Jeong’s expression turned cold.
“Why did you get involved this time? You said you nearly got into serious trouble once before. Even knowing it was dangerous?”
“Uh…”
“From what I’ve heard, you did something even more foolish this time. Did you really think you wouldn’t get caught? Your opponent even harbored a tremendous grudge against you. And this time, Ari wasn’t there to help you. Why did you recklessly throw yourself into it and hasten your own death?”
“That…”
I hesitated for a moment. Namgung Jeong was right. I had been reckless this time. So should I simply admit that, or should I come up with some sort of excuse?
After thinking about it, what eventually came out of my mouth was this:
“I just… stepped in.”
“What?”
“To be honest, I didn’t have time to think that deeply at the time. The situation was becoming increasingly urgent. Everyone was just looking out for themselves, and it seemed like if no one stepped forward, something really terrible would happen to that young lady.”
“……”
“Either something terrible happens to her, or something terrible happens to me. Aren’t the two pretty much the same? If that’s the case, I figured I might as well take the gamble… Something like that, I suppose.”
Namgung Jeong frowned and asked,
“Did you know that young lady?”
“No?”
“You didn’t even know her, so why would you go that far? No one would even thank you for it, and you could easily end up suffering an injustice yourself.”
“That’s true, but…”
I answered,
“Someone had to do it.”
Even as I said it, I smiled bitterly.
‘Since when did I become so full of justice?’
Come to think of it, it was a ridiculous thing to say. I had recklessly stepped forward because it was something someone had to do. Yet I had neither strength nor power… nothing that would make me qualified to be that ‘someone.’
Perhaps Namgung Jeong felt the same thing, because he burst out laughing.
“Something that had to be done. Hahaha! Do you think that makes you some great chivalrous hero? No. You’re nothing more than an ordinary fool who will die a dog’s death from recklessly showing off your courage. Do you know what people call someone like you?”
“What do they call them?”
“An idiot.”
“……”
“They call people like that idiots.”
I stared blankly up at Namgung Jeong. He was clearly insulting me, yet when I looked closely at his expression, he didn’t seem particularly displeased.
If anything, he looked strangely pleased, which somehow…
“And I don’t dislike such idiots.”
Namgung Jeong smiled brightly.
“How about it? Will you become my disciple?”
***
Namgung Jeong followed Chief Steward Jeok’s guidance toward his elder brother while thinking.
‘What a funny kid.’
Meeting the boy at the inn had been a coincidence.
The distance from Anhui Province to Guangdong Province was quite considerable. If his elder brother had been near Anhui Province, he could have gone to see him quickly, but unfortunately their paths had crossed, so he had no choice but to return to Guangdong Province.
Namgung Jeong hurried along the road. He had news he needed to deliver as soon as possible, so by the time he finally arrived after rushing for several days, he was quite exhausted.
‘Let’s go somewhere, anywhere, and at least satisfy my hunger.’
The place he entered happened to have some thugs inside.
“Something I can take along for the night and have some fun with… Hey, you!”
The thug, who looked like a pretty-faced playboy, immediately began harassing a young woman. Deep wrinkles formed between Namgung Jeong’s brows. He was already exhausted, and now some thug was getting on his nerves as well.
Namgung Jeong was just about to throw a chopstick aimed at the thug’s acupoint, thinking that he should teach the brat a suitable lesson and chase him away, even though he didn’t know which family the brat belonged to.
“Ah, my stomach! My stooomach!”
A boy suddenly began making a huge commotion.
Because of that, Namgung Jeong couldn’t step in and ended up awkwardly watching the situation unfold. Before long, however, he realized that the boy was pretending to be sick.
The boy was rolling around with his entire body while subtly glancing toward a certain corner.
Right toward that thug.
‘That boy, surely…?’
That ‘surely’ turned out to be correct.
The boy had deliberately caused the commotion in order to save the young woman.
Namgung Jeong wondered if the boy might be some hidden master and watched him carefully, but the boy turned out to possess no strength whatsoever. He was on the verge of being kicked by a servant who wasn’t even at the level of an ordinary third-rate martial artist.
Out of curiosity, Namgung Jeong saved the boy. He was rather surprised when he later learned that the boy was a servant of the Xiao Family… and, moreover, Xiao Yanli’s attendant.
But at the same time, he was disappointed.
Did the boy not realize that his actions could cause trouble for his master? When he learned that it could even affect his elder brother’s family, he found himself displeased with the boy.
However, when he coldly questioned him, the boy answered:
“Someone had to do it.”
What was chivalry, after all?
Wasn’t it doing what was right by helping the weak against the strong… in other words, stepping into situations that no one else was willing to deal with?
That was how most chivalrous heroes were.
They stepped forward to help with things everyone else ignored, things that offered no benefit and might even bring them harm themselves.
Because it was the right thing to do.
Thus, those with power became chivalrous heroes, while those without power died pointless deaths.
That was how acts of chivalry worked.
Then what would happen to this boy?
“Will you become my disciple?”
Namgung Jeong had blurted out those words impulsively, simply because he was curious.
Even though he didn’t know the boy’s background or even his name.
Still, he had a strange confidence. It wasn’t as though the boy didn’t know who he was. And if the boy had any sense at all, he would naturally agree…
“No.”
“What?”
The boy looked Namgung Jeong straight in the eyes and asked clearly,
“A great family is based on its clan, isn’t it? Can someone as lowly as me, who has absolutely nothing to do with the Namgung Family, become your disciple?”
“You could change your surname and be incorporated into the family. Ah, of course, to learn the Namgung Family’s superior martial arts, legitimacy would be necessary, but if I adopted you as my son, that would solve the problem…”
“Then would I have to follow you to the Namgung Family?”
“You’d become a member of the Namgung Family, so of course. I’m not saying you have to remain in the family, though. You could travel the martial world with me…”
“Then I suppose I really can’t.”
Then, as if to spite him, the boy’s eyes began to well up with tears.
“Goodness, Hero Namgung has given this ignorant country bumpkin an opportunity that will never come again in his lifetime, but this lowly one fears that his utterly lacking talents will only cause trouble, so I must decline. Therefore, I humbly beg Your Excellency to show mercy with your great compassion and magnanimity…”
“Enough, enough! I only said it on a whim, so forget about it!”
When Namgung Jeong recoiled in disgust, the boy smiled brightly.
“I am truly grateful. However, I cannot leave the Xiao Family. I have received a great favor from the Xiao Family, and until I repay that debt, I cannot leave this place. I ask that you please understand, Hero.”
Then he respectfully bowed his head.
Watching him, Namgung Jeong clicked his tongue in regret. The more he saw of the boy, the more he liked him, but now that he had already said to forget about it, he felt awkward bringing it up again.
‘What kind of enormous favor did he receive that he would go this far? Ha, that boy is righteous and witty as well. He’d be perfect to inherit my teachings… Should I ask my elder brother to give him to me?’
In the end, Namgung Jeong had no choice but to part ways with the boy at the Xiao Family, promising to meet again another time.
Lost in various thoughts as he walked behind Chief Steward Jeok, Namgung Jeong soon arrived in front of the study.
The door opened, and someone he was glad to see came out.
“Elder Brother!”
It was his sworn elder brother, Xiao Cheong-ja.
The sworn brothers, reunited after a long time apart, embraced one another and reveled in the joy of their reunion.
They entered together, holding hands, and spent a long time catching up.
It was only after the night had grown deep that Namgung Jeong finally brought up the main subject.
“The Demonic Cult is on the move.”
Comments (0)