Tangmunjeon - Chapter 405



Only Krnovel

Tangmunjeon Episode 405

The man from the south

“I don’t think there are any traitors among the Jeongpa Unmanned. Most likely, they are traitors of the Demonic Cult.”

When Dang Mu-jin spoke in a calm voice, Namgung Myeong asked back.

“Why are traitors to the party excluded?”

“There’s no one who would hold a grudge against me.”

Namgung Myung immediately tried to refute Dang Mujin’s words.

There is no one in the world who is as diligent as Dang Mu-jin and gets involved in so many things, so how could there not be someone who holds a grudge against Dang Mu-jin?

But after thinking about it carefully, I found Dang Mu-jin’s story to be quite persuasive.

It wasn’t because Dang Mu-jin maintained harmonious relations with everyone. It was just that all the clans and families that failed to maintain harmonious relations with Dang Mu-jin were wiped out.

The Jewon Baekga clan that had requested the assassination of the monster, the Taeui Geommun clan that had joined hands with Salmak, and the Sima Sega clan that had planned things using patients with pulseless veins were all wiped out. It was not Dang Mujin’s intention that the last bloodline of the Jewon Baekga clan be cut off, but anyway.

Namgung Myung clicked his tongue.

“He pretends not to be, but he’s actually a cruel guy.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose. Anyway, Namgung Myung. Do you remember who the poisoned liquor came from?”

“Of course I don’t know. How do you remember that?”

The group’s gaze was focused on Namgung Myung. If you stole something, wouldn’t you normally remember that much?

Namgung Myung answered awkwardly.

“It must have been the person to my right. I never steal with my left hand.”

“Well, using the prosthetic hand I made for you to steal is something no human would do.”

“No. That’s because you can’t feel anything with a prosthetic hand. Stealing is all about having a good feel for things. It’s a job that requires keen senses…”

Well, Namgung Myung wasn’t the type of guy to care about that kind of thing.

Hong Geol-gae intervened and asked.

“Didn’t something come out of your left sleeve earlier?”

“The left sleeve is just for storage.”

“ah···.”

After that story, Dang Mu-jin and his party fell into deep thought.

Who was on Namgung Myung’s right just now?

‘···I don’t know.’

I remember some people, but I can’t remember where most of them were.

How can you remember who is where when people are all jumbled together?

Finally, Dang Mu-jin stood up and said.

“There’s no choice. I’ll go with the regular method.”

“···The correct method?”

“Everyone in the community right now, check out everyone.”

*

The party of Dang Mu-jin began to interrogate everyone staying at the communal mountain one by one.

Not only did he not bring up the topic of poison, but he also had no need to hide his purpose. He was trying to find out if there were any spies mixed in. Doesn’t that sound pretty plausible?

Of course, some people were a little displeased, but no one directly protested. This was because the achievements of the party’s party were so high, and all the elders agreed.

There was no need to worry about pride, since we were looking at everyone, not just suspecting a specific individual.

“They say it’s Son Dam of the Jongnam faction.”

“Oh, yes. Take a seat over there. It won’t take long.”

When Dang Mu-jin and his friends first started interrogating people, they looked quite nervous.

With all these big names sitting here and there, which you can’t find anywhere else, you can’t help but feel intimidated.

However, the expressions on the faces of the people who came out after the interview were not dark.

“Sondam. What do you want to ask inside?”

“He asked me a few trivial questions and then sent me out right away. Don’t worry.”

Contrary to what one might expect from an interrogation, the interrogation of Dang Mu-jin and his party did not last long.

I didn’t ask any questions that were difficult to answer, and I didn’t ask any detailed questions. It was more like a simple interview than an interrogation.

Eventually, the people who gathered in the common group stopped caring much about the interrogation. They were all just doing their own thing, and when they were called, they would just go and come back for a bit.

In three days, almost all the sects’ interrogations were completed. Only one place remained: the Tang family.

Dang Mujin’s nervous expression was evident. If he couldn’t find the suspicious people among the people of other sects, doesn’t that mean that the culprit is in the Dang family?

Fortunately, however, there was no suspicious person among those who came from the party.

There was no one strange among the Sam-an-bul, and even among the martial artists from the Demonic Cult that I was most worried about.

Hong Geol-gae said, stretching.

“It’s all over… You still can’t find it? Are you going to start over? Or should I just accept it as inevitable and move on?”

Dang Mu-jin shook his head.

“No. There’s still one left.”

Dang Mu-jin looked at the only name written on the wooden tablet that was not erased: Nam-woong.

After a while, the sliding door opened and Namwoong came in.

“Hello, Master Jang. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the others.”

“Are you the great Namwoong?”

“Yes, that’s right. It’s been five years since I joined the Tang family.”

“I know. Just sit there.”

Nam Woong was a man in his early forties.

The impression was manly to put it nicely, and somewhat ferocious to put it badly.

However, contrary to the impression, Nam-woong’s presence was very faint during normal times. Dang Mu-jin would only recognize Nam-woong once a year.

And Nam Woong had one special characteristic. Among the martial artists belonging to the Dang family, he was the only one, excluding Dang Mujin, who was not from the Demonic Cult.

Nam-woong’s expression was calm, but Hyun-gong noticed a strange expression on Nam-woong’s face.

‘The movement of the pupils is unstable.’

‘My breathing is rapid and my toes and fingers are twitching.’

Dang Mu-jin also noticed that Nam-woong’s condition was different from others, so he lightly nodded to Hyun-gong. Hyun-gong nodded slightly in response.

Dang Mu-jin asked Nam Woong the first question.

“Do you know why you are here?”

“Yes. I heard that there might be a spy from the Demonic Cult.”

“Do you have anything to say? Is there something you’d like to talk about honestly?”

“Well… nothing in particular.”

A question and answer that has been repeated more than a hundred times.

But this time, Hyun-gong got up from his seat, approached Nam-woong, and crouched down in front of him.

“Are you sure you don’t have any?”

“yes.”

“Do you have any idea?”

“···yes.”

Hyun-gong looked back and spoke to his friends.

“I think it’s a lie?”

Namwoong’s body froze.

His heart sank, and all sorts of thoughts flashed through Nam-woong’s mind. Was this just part of the interrogation? Was he just trying it out for once?

But the atmosphere was not good.

“I’m not lying…”

At that moment, Namwoong felt pressure pressing down on his back.

Namgung Se-ga-ju Namgung Myung, who had been sitting in front of him just a moment ago, was now behind Nam-woong and was pressing his back with his knee.

Nam-woong lay on the floor struggling without knowing what was going on.

“Why are you suddenly doing this! I’m not a liver or anything! I haven’t even left the party headquarters in the past five years!”

But Dang Mu-jin paid no attention and placed three small objects in front of Nam-woong.

A milky bead, a tiny ring, a letter with unknown contents.

Dang Mu-jin asked Nam-woong.

“Which of these do you think caused this situation to occur?”

“I… I don’t know!”

“Tell me anything.”

“Letter, isn’t it a letter!”

Then Hyun-gong chuckled.

“Your answer of letter is good, but your gaze is unnaturally avoiding the poisonous drink. As if you absolutely must not look at it.”

“Just because the beads aren’t suspicious!”

Before I knew it, Dang Mu-jin had taken off his black scabbard.

Dang Mu-jin stood in front of Nam-woong, holding a shining white sword like a cane.

“Try to convince me.”

“What do I need to know to persuade…”

“If you don’t know where to start, just tell me everything. You didn’t intentionally infiltrate the party from the beginning, did you?”

Nam-woong realized. If he couldn’t convince Dang Mu-jin here, he might really die.

Nam Woong told his story in a trembling voice.

*

Namwoong was a fisherman from Haenam Island, far south.

Nam-woong was honest by nature and good at fishing, so he was recognized as a capable fisherman from the age of fifteen.

Nam-woong thought that he would spend his whole life catching fish like everyone else. He had no complaints.

However, on the day Nam-woong turned sixteen, pirates who had been staying on a small island nearby appeared near Haenam Island.

In normal times, pirates kept in close contact with the fishermen of Haenam Island, and sometimes even traded with them.

But that day was different. The pirates began to plunder the fishing village indiscriminately, seemingly without a care in the world.

“Stop it!”

Some fishermen tried to stop the pirates with harpoons, but they were no match for the skilled pirates. Among the fishermen who attacked the pirates and were captured was Nam-woong.

“Boss. What should we do with this guy?”

“Kill me or take me. Do whatever you want.”

A moment when life is at stake.

But luck did not turn away from Nam-woong. A certain thief intervened and suggested that they save Nam-woong.

“We’re already short on personnel, so if a problem arises later, it’s better to take them with us for now even if it means killing them.”

“Really? Do as you wish.”

The pirates decided to take Namwoong with them.

Later, Nam-ung found out why the pirates had attacked Haenam Island. They were about to finish their piracy and decided to act as bandits in the Yangtze River.

Suddenly, Nam Woong, who was a fisherman, was dragged inland to the vicinity of the Yangtze River and became a pirate.

The day when Nam-woong, who had been doing odd jobs, went out to do odd jobs for the first time.

The man who had insisted on saving Nam-woong asked Nam-woong.

“Nam-woong, you. If you do something foolish, you might get stabbed and die. Be alert today. Got it?”

“yes.”

“Hey kid. Let’s go!”

However, Nam-woong survived that day, and the man who brought him died.

The moment I realized that there were extraordinary martial artists on the boat, I jumped into the river without hesitation.

After that, the water quality continued several times.

There were days when we easily plundered ships, and days when we escaped without plundering them.

If it was successful, there was no significant damage, but if it failed, several people died easily. However, Nam-woong, who was quick-witted, always survived.

The young fisherman became a sergeant in a group of fishermen, then the youngest, then a fairly experienced fisherman, then the captain, and finally the leader.

It was more than twenty years since the day he was captured, when Nam-woong was thirty-eight years old.

“Boss! May you live long and prosper!”

On the day he became the leader of a group of bandits, the bandits gathered and bowed their heads in front of Namwoong.

Only then did Namwoong come to his senses.

‘···Why am I here like this?’

As always, I did my best in my position, but I ended up becoming the leader of a group.

The sixteen-year-old fisherman disappeared somewhere. Only the remains of the many murdered people remained.

That night, Namwoong’s sleep was not comfortable.

After tossing and turning for a while, Nam-woong fell asleep and had a dream about his hometown.

It was a dream of the days when I would go out to sea on a small boat and come back with a catch full of fish.

But when Nam-woong returned in his small boat and stepped onto the shore, a large crowd of people came running towards him, bowing their heads and shouting.

“Your Majesty, you have arrived!”

Nam-woong woke up with a start. It wasn’t even the boss, it was the lord.

‘What a dog dream···.’

Nam-woong quickly forgot the content of his dream. But one thing. The scenery of his hometown did not leave his mind.

Nam-woong thought about it for a long time and then made a decision. He decided to give up on the water supply and return to his hometown.

But I didn’t want to return home empty-handed after nearly twenty years.

‘···I’ll just have to make one last go.’

After thinking carefully for dozens of days, Nam Woong chose a suitable target.

As the martial arts competition was taking place in Mu Chang, there was no way a master would be on that ship. Nam Woong disguised himself as a merchant and boarded the ship with two of his men.

But there are no absolutes in the world.

Nam Woong met Dang Mu Jin’s party of four and the bloodthirsty Jang Il Nam on the boat.

“···That’s what happened.”

Nam Woong spoke up to that point and looked at Dang Mu Jin’s expression. Since he had mentioned that he was a former enemy, he was afraid that he would be stabbed at any moment.

But the party leader’s reaction was indifferent.

“I’ve known for a long time that you were a traitor. I think everyone except Elder Jang Il-nam knew that, right?”

“Oh, yes. I am reflecting on the things that happened during my time in the military.”

Nam-woong answered hesitantly, but Dang-mu-jin didn’t show much interest.

“I didn’t keep you alive because you seemed to have reflected on your actions. I kept you alive because Elder Jang Il-nam took you as his disciple.”

“Yes. I didn’t bring that up to make excuses. I just wanted to tell you that I didn’t sneak into the party on purpose.”

“There’s something more important. Why did you have the poisoned wine? Were you planning to sneak up on me and take advantage of the opportunity?”

“no!”

Nam Woong waved his hands desperately.

“Actually, I had no intention of participating in this Jeongma War.”

“···What is that story?”

“Elder Jang Il-nam lived in the same house as Elder Samanbul, and the warriors from the Demonic Cult followed Elder Samanbul. Naturally, I also had many opportunities to hang out with the warriors from the Demonic Cult. That’s why I was brought here.”

This is a bit of a rambling story. Nam-woong wasn’t very good at talking.

Dang Mu-jin frowned and asked for further explanation.

“Tell me more.”

“I was sitting around chatting with friends from the Demonic Cult, when Elder Sam-an-bul suddenly appeared and started talking about the Demonic Cult War. Since I’m not from the Demonic Cult, I didn’t want to get involved in the Demonic Cult War… But everyone else cheered and said they would participate. Sam-an-bul said he would accept that everyone would participate.”

It was such a way of handling things that was so typical of the Three Eyes Buddha and the Demonic Cult’s martial arts masters that Dang Mujin was speechless.

But Dang Mu-jin opened his mouth again with difficulty.

“···Then why didn’t you tell me even if it was late? It’s not like we’re going to the next house to play, it’s the Jeongma Daejeon.”

“It’s really not easy to bring up the story of lighting a candle in front of the old man, Sam-an-bul. He’s such a scary person.”

Dang Mu-jin nodded without realizing it, then came to his senses.

“No, no. What you need to talk about now is the poison bottle story. Why do you have the poison bottle?”

“I’ve heard stories about how great Jang Ju’s poisoning skills are. I’ve even heard that if he’s unlucky, the people around him can get poisoned too. I’ve also heard that Gyu Cho Gae, my close friend, has been poisoned dozens of times.”

When Dang Mu-jin looked at Hong Geol-gae, Hong Geol-gae turned his head.

There were not many cases of Hong Geol-gae being poisoned. At most, there were two or three instances of him being poisoned while fighting.

The rest were addicted to snoring while sleeping, but Namwoong couldn’t know that much.

Namwoong said sheepishly.

“I can understand being killed by a sword. I did a lot of bad things when I was young, so I guess I’m being punished by heaven. You can think like that. But I’d be too scared and hate to be poisoned and die while I’m still around. I’d rather be alive and return home…”

“So, you took the poisoned liquor that was in the party?”

“Yes. I know it’s stealing, but… I thought it would be okay to borrow it since no one else was using it, so I stole it.”

Dang Mu-jin looked at Nam-woong and asked.

“How accomplished are you now?”

“I can withstand it without losing to any of the demonic sect’s martial artists, except for the elder Sam-an-bul.”

Dang Mu-jin muttered softly. As expected.

Despite his faint presence, Nam Woong’s achievements were outstanding.

One of the reasons Dang Mu-jin was suspicious of Nam-woong’s intentions was because Nam-woong’s accomplishments seemed far superior to Dang Mu-jin’s memories.

To Dang Mu-jin, Nam-woong seemed like he could defeat most of the martial artists from the Demonic Cult, not just those who were not defeated.

It means that among the best, one must be at least mid-to-upper level.

No, maybe it’s more than that.

After five years of instruction from Jang Il-nam, a man of unparalleled talent, it is only natural that he has achieved considerable success.

“Take it.”

Dang Mu-jin threw a poisoned drink at Nam-woong.

Nam-woong reached out his hand in a panic to receive the poisonous drink, and looked at Dang Mu-jin with a bewildered expression.

“Take it.”

“Yes? Is that okay?”

Although the poisonous liquor is rarely used, it is an extremely valuable item. Most likely, its price will be quite high. Nam-woong’s expression brightened noticeably.

Dang Mu-jin thought that the expression resembled Jang Il-nam’s a little bit.

“I won’t say anything out loud. And I was going to send you back home right away, but that would be difficult.”

“Oh, yes. I don’t even expect that much.”

Namwoong nodded with a bright expression, perhaps thinking that he had somehow resolved the misunderstanding.

Dang Mu-jin spoke to Nam Woong.

“You said you were quick-witted, so I guess you’ll be able to survive the Great Battle of Jeongma somehow?”

“I’m not confident, but… I’ll try.”

“Do your best. If you survive until the end of the Jeongma War, I will give you a crown of gold. If you return to Haenam Island with the gold, you can say that you have returned home in glory.”

“Oh my, that’s too much!”

“Go back and rest.”

Having led the party for the past several years, Dang Mu-jin has realized one thing.

The point is that if you can get a capable person, it is right to give them money.

‘It’s fortunate that we discovered talent, even if it was late.’

The party leader was delighted.