Ah! The Namgung Clan
Episode 020
That So-Called Proof (3)
The person approaching from afar was the Patriarch, Namgung Museong. All this time, Namgung Ganghae had come and gone from this place countless times to look after Namgung Suhak, but he had never laid eyes on him even once.
But judging from what Namgung Suhak was saying, it seemed he had not come just once or twice.
Of course, there was nothing wrong with a nephew visiting his uncle. It was only strange because Namgung Suhak called him a bad man.
Namgung Ganghae slipped outside through the window. He intended to watch without being noticed.
"Uncle. I have come."
Namgung Museong called out to Namgung Suhak from the courtyard. But the latter merely continued watching through the door crack and did not step outside. So Namgung Museong entered the house and grasped the door.
"No! Bad man! Go away!"
Namgung Suhak held the door handle tightly, holding the door shut. Then Namgung Museong smiled and took something out.
"I brought some candy as a gift for you, Uncle. If you don't want it, I suppose it can't be helped. I'll just throw it away."
"What? Candy?"
At the word "candy," Namgung Suhak forgot all about holding the door and dashed outside.
"Where is the candy? My candy!"
"Right here."
Namgung Museong held the candy in his hand and shook it. At that, Namgung Suhak tried to snatch it. It was not the movement of a senile old man. It was the agility from when he was called the Namgung Divine Sword.
However, Namgung Museong had anticipated this and quickly stepped back while hiding the candy behind him.
"My candy! Give it here!"
Namgung Suhak let out a strange cry and lunged at Namgung Museong. Then Namgung Museong struck his hand, attempting to break it. It was the intermediate martial art, the Daeyeon Nineteen Forms.
Namgung Suhak caught it and twisted it in the opposite direction, capturing it. It was also the Daeyeon Nineteen Forms. Originally, the Daeyeon Nineteen Forms was a seizing art created for the purpose of stealing an opponent's weapon when one lost their sword. Yet now, it was being used to snatch the candy from Namgung Museong's hand.
Tatatatatak!
The two men's hands interlocked and separated at high speed, repeating over and over. Then Namgung Museong fully spread his left hand and began to use palm techniques instead of a seizing art.
It was the advanced martial art of the Namgung Clan, the Heavenly Thunder Palm Technique. The Heavenly Thunder Palm Technique was a martial art based on the thunder energy cultivated through the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art.
However, Namgung Museong had achieved barely thirty percent mastery of the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art. It was because he had only learned a little as a child. Afterward, the elders of the clan had all died, so he had been unable to inherit the rest.
It was not only the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art. All the advanced martial arts were the same. He only remembered three stances of the Lightning Thirteen Swords, and he had not even learned the Heavenly Thunder Finger Technique and the Explosive Thunder Divine Fist. Therefore, he had no idea what the Heavenly Thunder Record and the Sovereign Sword Form—which only the Patriarch learned—were like. He had never even seen them.
That was why he had to cling to Namgung Suhak. That man was once someone called the Namgung Divine Sword. He knew all the advanced martial arts, and of course, the clan's secret ultimate techniques.
The problem was that he had gone senile. Therefore, Namgung Museong could not properly learn martial arts from him. In the end, the method he had thought of was to spar like this.
If they kept fighting, he could steal Namgung Suhak's martial arts.
They were not perfect, of course. But it was better than not doing it.
Anyway, thanks to doing just that, Namgung Museong had mastered seven stances of the Lightning Thirteen Swords, an advanced martial art, and most of the Heavenly Thunder Palm Technique. That was also why he had come like this today.
As soon as the morning training ended, he had pondered deeply the reason for Namgung Ganghae's sudden improvement in martial arts. Soon, the answer came to him.
Namgung Ganghae had taken on the unpleasant tasks of the clan. Among them was looking after Namgung Suhak. So it was clear he had received help by chance.
Once he found out, he could not sit still. That was why he had come here.
Puh-puh-puh-pung!
Their palms and arms clashed and bounced off each other. Namgung Suhak neutralized the Heavenly Thunder Palm Technique that Namgung Museong was using with the Explosive Thunder Divine Fist. For an instant, greed flashed in Namgung Museong's eyes.
He wanted to see more of the Explosive Thunder Divine Fist. The Heavenly Thunder Palm Technique was characterized by continuous attacks based on fast hand movements. Therefore, once he unfolded a stance, he relentlessly thrust out his palms and swung his arms without rest.
In comparison, the Explosive Thunder Divine Fist was a fist technique focused solely on power. Because it unleashed stances with all one's might, with the intention of finishing everything in a single blow, it was completely opposite to the Heavenly Thunder Palm Technique.
Pung!
"Kuk!"
Having blocked Namgung Suhak's fist, Namgung Museong let out a suppressed groan and staggered back. Then Namgung Suhak closed the distance in a single step.
Namgung Museong quickly drew the wooden sword at his waist and swung it. It was a sharp attack, but Namgung Suhak leaned his waist completely backward to avoid it.
In the meantime, Namgung Museong leaped back to widen the distance and threw a wooden sword at him. Namgung Suhak caught it on impulse, and Namgung Museong charged forward relentlessly.
Tdadadak! Tak!
Namgung Museong unleashed the Lightning Thirteen Swords. Although his internal energy was pathetic, he had practiced the stances to death, so he could skillfully use applications and variations.
Under Namgung Museong's fast and brilliant stances, Namgung Suhak was gradually pushed back. Then, suddenly, Namgung Suhak's stances changed.
It was a stance of the Lightning Thirteen Swords that Namgung Museong did not know.
He barely defended against the attack while trying his best to memorize it. But stealing a martial art in the midst of such an exchange of offense and defense was by no means an easy task.
Moreover, Namgung Suhak knew no moderation. He gritted his teeth and charged in order to snatch the candy.
Watching the two men spar while hiding beside the thatched hut, Namgung Ganghae's eyes grew wide with surprise. He had seen the likes of Namgung Juseok, Sangwan Irok, and the Janggang Six Evils fight, but this level was different. He had thought Namgung Museong's skill would be similar to Namgung Juseok's, but it was not.
At that level, he could have dealt with the troublemaker Namgung Byeongseo, not to mention the two men who accompanied him. Then why had he simply let them go?
The two fought for about a quarter of an hour more. Then, when Namgung Suhak threw down the wooden sword he was holding and burst into tears, they were forced to stop.
"Hnng! Give me my candy! My candy!"
"Hehe. I understand. Here it is."
Namgung Museong held out the candy tucked at his waist. At that, Namgung Suhak promptly snatched it and ate it.
"Thank you again today, Uncle."
Namgung Museong bowed his head slightly in greeting, when suddenly Namgung Suhak shouted loudly.
"You rascal!"
"What is the matter?"
"How dare you try to steal my martial arts without my permission! You must truly wish to die!"
His aura was tremendous. Namgung Museong was momentarily overwhelmed and involuntarily faltered and stepped back. Right then, Namgung Suhak changed completely.
"Bad man. Go quickly. Go away."
"Huh!"
Namgung Museong was drained. Just how many people in the world could withstand an aura like the one from moments ago? That was why it was regrettable, tragic. If only Namgung Suhak had been sound of mind, the Namgung Clan would not have fallen so far.
Heaving a deep sigh, he left the bamboo forest. Namgung Ganghae, who had been hiding until then, slowly approached Namgung Suhak. Then the latter smiled innocently and broadly.
"Brother! Look at this! It's candy!"
"Yes, Elder. It looks delicious."
"I won't give you any."
"Haha."
Namgung Ganghae sat on the wooden platform and reflected on what he had just seen. Just how much training did one need to fight like that?
"Bad man."
Having finished all the candy, Namgung Suhak began cursing Namgung Museong again.
"The Patriarch is not a bad man. Since you cannot teach him martial arts, he has no choice but to do that."
"He is a bad man."
There was no point in saying more when they could not communicate. Namgung Ganghae rose to leave. But Namgung Suhak suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
"What is it?"
"Come here."
Namgung Suhak went behind the thatched hut. It was filled with tall, straight bamboo.
"Why have we come here?"
"I wrote this down."
He pointed with his finger at a rock. What could he have written here?
Namgung Ganghae approached and examined it, but there was nothing special. Then he noticed something odd about the bamboo among the grass. Upon closer inspection, it was a bamboo slip.
As he unrolled the bamboo connected by string, powerful handwriting caught his eye. It was not written with ink but carved with something sharp.
"Heavenly Thunder... Record? Not the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art?"
The internal energy cultivation method of the Namgung Clan's advanced martial art was the Heavenly Thunder Divine Art. Yet here it was called the Heavenly Thunder Record. It was not a misspelling.
"Ah!"
Only then did Namgung Ganghae remember.
The Heavenly Thunder Record was the secret ultimate technique that only the Patriarch of the Namgung Clan could learn.
"Elder. This is...."
"I realized my mind was not whole and wrote this down bit by bit."
"What?"
Namgung Ganghae turned around in surprise. Namgung Suhak was standing upright with his hands behind his back. That appearance was as elegant and dignified as it had been the night before.
"Where is Juseok?"
"Ah, Uncle... he is dead."
"Hm... There is a lack of talent as it is; this is truly regrettable. Is Heaven trying to abandon the Namgung family?"
Namgung Suhak lamented, looking up at the sky. He had placed his hopes on Namgung Juseok. Therefore, whenever he came to his senses, he came here and wrote down the method to cultivate the Heavenly Thunder Record on the bamboo slips. It was so he could give it to him later when the time was right.
"Museong lacks the talent to become Patriarch. Juseok seemed better suited in many ways, but he had one flaw: he lacked ambition. That is why Museong became Patriarch thanks to Juseok's concession."
It was the first time he had heard this. But it made sense. Namgung Museong had continuously been cold and dismissive toward Namgung Ganghae, blaming Namgung Juseok for his death. It was unbecoming of a Patriarch's character.
"You shall learn this."
"What? Me?"
"Yes. In a way, things turning out this way seems like the will of Heaven."
"But this is a martial art that only the Patriarch can learn."
"Correct. Therefore, you must become the Patriarch later."
"I cannot bear such a burden."
"You have exceptional talent, having learned the Solitary Spirit Sword I taught after seeing it merely twice. Furthermore, you look after me despite everyone else shunning me, which shows your character is upright. Most importantly, you are young, so you can grow as much as you want going forward. You are the right person for this."
"Even so, the Patriarch will not permit it."
"Hmph! What is he worth?"
Namgung Suhak scoffed, finding it ridiculous. He might have seemed impressive to Namgung Ganghae, but to him, Namgung Museong was merely a nephew. He had watched him since he was a snot-nosed child.
"Hm. But if he learns of this, he might covet it. Therefore, you must not tell anyone until you have mastered both the Heavenly Thunder Record and the Sovereign Sword Form. Hide it thoroughly."
"The Sovereign Sword Form as well?"
"If you look behind that rock over there, there should be another bamboo slip. I have written about the Sovereign Sword Form there. But you cannot understand it from writing alone. The same goes for the Heavenly Thunder Record. Unless you receive direct instruction, you cannot master it."
"Then how should I train?"
"First, train based on what is written on the bamboo slips. Whenever I come to my senses, I shall teach you. Of course, it will not be easy. But there is no other way."
"Did you know that the Patriarch occasionally comes to spar with you?"
"I know. Thus, be careful not to be discovered."
"Would it not be better to tell the Patriarch..."
"As you know, the Heavenly Thunder Record and the Sovereign Sword Form are martial arts that only the Patriarch may learn. But with Museong's talent, he cannot master either in depth. If he knew, he would be devastated. Given his temperament, he would likely give in to greed."
Having spoken that far, Namgung Suhak let out a deep sigh.
"Do you think he will make you the young patriarch?"
"That is...."
"If you speak of the Heavenly Thunder Record and the Sovereign Sword Form, he will not let you live."
"From what I have seen, the Patriarch is not such a bad man."
Namgung Ganghae did not yet know the cruelty of the martial world. He did not know that people would draw blades against even their own parents and children for the sake of advancing their martial arts. In short, he was still pure. Uncorrupted by the mundane world.
"Do not forget that the future of the Namgung family now rests upon you. I trust only you."