‘What?’
Lee Sungmin did not understand what he was seeing at that moment
The Sword Dragon, Namgung Heewon.
He was known as the prince of the Namgung, the next heir in line. What had happened?
Lee Sungmin looked at Heewon who was in the middle of the square blankly.
The passerby in the square did not seem to care about Namgung Heewon.
In the middle of the crowded square, such a large cage was placed and Namgung Heewon was tied and bound with chains. And yet… everyone went around him like it was normal.
“Hey, you there.”
Lee Sungmin caught one of the civilians walking by in the square. The passerby blinked at Lee Sungmin, who stopped him.
“What do you want?”The man asked with a confused and puzzled face.
“What the hell is… that…?”
Lee Sungmin hesitated and then asked about Namgung Heewon, pointing his hand at the cage. When asked by Lee Sungmin, the man glanced at Namgung Heewon who was bound to chains inside the cage.
“Is this your first time in Belador?”
“Yes.”
“Ah, that guy in the cage. He’s the heir to the Namgung Family, or was. The Namgung family have used this as a punishment for him.”
“What did he do to deserve this from his family?”
“He disobeyed his father, the Patriarch of the Namgung Family.”
“What?”
Lee Sungmin was dumbfounded at the man’s answer and asked again for clarification as he could not comprehend what had transpired in his time away at sea and in the Elven Forest.
“I don’t know the details. It seems that Namgung Seju was very angry because of a particular incident. Thanks to that, Namgung Heewon has been living like that for the past 3 months.”
Lee Sungmin couldn’t understand. What did Namgung Heewon do that deserved such a harsh and brutal punishment? And why did his father, of all people, do this kind of thing? It was too far, even if they were blood-related.
Moreover, what he did not understand was that Namgung Heewon was accepting this punishment quietly.
The metal bars in the cage looked thick and durable. But Lee Sungmin knew that if Namgung Heewon truly wished, he could cut the bars easily and escape at any time.
However, Namgung Heewon was sitting there silently and accepting such treatment.
“Don’t get close to him just because you’re curious. If you do that, Namgung Seju won’t stay still.”
“Okay thank you for telling me everything.”
Lee Sungmin stood far away and looked at Namgung Heewon as the man he was talking to, continued his errands. At this distance, Lee Sungmin could still send a message through his internal energy to Namgung Heewon.
[Hey…why the hell are you doing that?]
Lee Sungmin sent a message to Namgung Heewon.
Namgoong Heewon’s shoulders suddenly shook and the chains holding his arms clanged around lightly.
Namgung Heewon lifted his head from the ground. Namgung Heewon’s eyes shone through his messy and outgrown bangs. He looked around slowly as he heard a message in his head that he didn’t quite recognize.
[This way.]
Lee Sungmin once again sent a message to Namgung Heewon to let him see the trace of internal energy he left on purpose.
Namgung Heewon’s eyes then met with Lee Sungmin’s. Although the distance was quite far, Lee Sungmin definitely saw Namgoong Heewon make a curious expression.
[Who are you?], Namgung Heewon asked back.
[What the hell did you do in order to be treated so horribly like that?]
Namgung Heewon asked a question, but Lee Sungmin didn’t even bother to answer his question and just fired his own right back at Namgung Heewon.
Namgung Heewon, who was still a good distance away, had his facial expression shake in confusion at the words.
[And who’s asking?]
[Someone who knows you.]
[The name Namgung Heewon is pretty famous, there’s thousands of people in Eria who know my name due to my family’s influence, and I wouldn’t even know a single one of them.]
[…It’s Lee Sungmin]
Eventually, Lee Sungmin sighed and just decided to give Namgung Heewon his name..
Namgung Heewon’s face hardened immediately at the words. Seeing this, Lee Sungmin realized he shouldn’t have revealed his name so early.
He didn’t even know how Namgung Heewon was processing the false information spreading about him killing Zhuge Taeryong and his wife Murong Seojin.
[I see.]
After a small period of silence, Namgung Heewon nodded his head. He looked at Lee Sungmin with a bitter look.
[I want to ask you a question.]
[What do you want to ask?]
[Did you really kill Zhuge Taeyrong and Murong Seojin?]
In the end, Namgung Heewon cut to the point and asked the question Lee Sungmin was expecting to come out eventually.
Lee Sungmin kept his mouth shut. Namgung Heewon patiently waited for Lee Sungmin to answer.
[I didn’t kill him.]
Lee Sungmin decided to speak frankly without hiding anything..
[Didn’t you see it for yourself? I didn’t kill them, and I even let them go back on their own.]
[I know…]
Namgung Heewon’s shoulders shook. He seemed to know that Lee Sungmin would answer like that in the first place, but didn’t want to believe it.
[I thought so. But… everybody kept repeating the same words that were spread around. They all said that you really did kill those two.]
[I told you. I didn’t kill them.]
[I knew it.. This must have been a conspiracy. But who…? Wait the Black Dogs. They must have led Zhuge Taeryong and Muron Seojin and killed them, thus placing the blame on you.]
[Maybe.]
[Hah, I was told time and time again by my father that you were the murderer. I told him that I would never believe it… But in the end, I was right.]
Namgung Heewon raised his hand and brushed back his hair.
Lee Sungmin felt bitter as he saw the extent of the poor state Namgoong Heewon was in. He truly did not expect to meet up with Namgung Heewon in Belador, let alone see him in such a pitiful state.
Lee Sungmin once again asked.
[So, why are you locked up like that?]
[….He told me to go kill you.]Namgung Heewon answered with a bitter smile.
[Because of what happened in the Forest of Temptation with two heirs being murdered in cold blood, and the last heir, myself, somehow miraculously escaping. The prestige and honor of the Namgung Family would have been in jeopardy. That was why my father told me to go kill you and resurrect our honor.]
[So what happened after that?]
[In the beginning, I never believed that you had killed Murong Seojin nor Zhuge Taeryong. But, my father kept telling me that it was confirmed by the higher ups in the Murim Alliance. In the end I held firm to my stance that you were innocent and that I would not kill you.]
Namgung Heewon lowered his hand, which was holding his bangs back, letting them fall back down swaying over his eyes. However, Lee Sungmin could see the violent rage and hatred glowing in Namgung Heewon’s eyes as he spoke next.
[My father was furious that I kept my stance. He had always maintained close connections with the other groups in the Murim Alliance. Because of this, he thought that I was disgracing all of Murim and a shameful son. All of that happened, and due to it… I’m here now.]
[Can’t you escape anytime you want to though?]
Lee Sungmin asked Namgung Heewon with curiosity. Namgung Heewon did not answer….
[I don’t understand why you still keep yourself locked up like that. I can feel that your internal energy has not gotten any worse since the last time I saw you. At your current level of strength you would be able to cut through this cage easily.]
[… It was because I wasn’t sure.]
Namgung Heewon grinned.
[I didn’t know whether my father was right or wrong. I had grown up trusting him and the Murim Alliance… but even with what you told me and the fact it contradicted with my father’s word, I was caught stuck being indecisive. Although this treatment was bearable to an extent, the toughest part about it was the shame of having my bowel movements in public.](T/N : basically shitting himself in public. That’s what bowel movements are.)
Namgung Heewon slowly lifted himself up.
[Did you come here knowing that I was trapped here?]
[………It was just a coincidence.]
Although Lee Sungmin answered honestly that he did not come on purpose, Namgung Heewon did not look disappointed.
[It doesn’t matter if it’s a coincidence. Your presence here has convinced me.]
[But what if I’m lying to you about all of this?]
[Well then, are you lying?]
[No.]
[Then, why would you say that in the first place?]
Namgung Heewon grumbled and broke through his chains binding him as he approached the metal bars. He raised his hands and grabbed the bars tightly.
[I’m thinking of escaping from here.]
[What will you do after that?]
[I respected my father. But I don’t know right now. My father… chose the word of the Murim alliance over his own son. He’s been so blinded with honor and image, yet he did not bat an eye at doling out this punishment to me. … I don’t plan on going back to my family right now, that much is certain.]
Lee Sungmin stood around and looked at Namgung Heewon’s face. Namgung Heewon, who was gripping the iron bars, laughed aloud.
[If I escape here, my family and my father will come to try and catch me. I’m going to get out of this city and shake them off. I’m going to visit the Murim Alliance and ask them for the truth.]
[Do you think they’ll listen?]
[I don’t know about that. Perhaps, as they have done to you, they will charge me with a faulty crime. If they do, then I might as well know that I will not live my life by anyone else’s terms anymore.]
Lee Sungmin was silent for a moment. The iron bars held in Namgung Heewon’s hands began to twist.
People passing through the square were surprised and stopped walking. They opened their mouths as they watched the iron bars shatter completely and Namgung Heewon walk out of the cage like nothing had happened.
[I’m going to meet Sima Ryunju of the Sama Order.]
Lee Sungmin spoke to Namgung Heewon. Namgung Heewon, who completely escaped the bars, stopped walking. He looked surprised and looked at Lee Sungmin.
[Sima Ryunju?]
[Yes.]
[Why him?]
[The Murim Alliance continues to brandish me as a rogue and actively pursue me. I don’t have the power to directly confront all of them right now, so I’m thinking of borrowing the power of the Sama Order. Also.. Sima Ryunju seems to view me in a positive light, so things might go well.]
[………that’s a surprise. Sima Ryunju is quite a mysterious person.…]
[Would you like to join me?]
Lee Sungmin asked a question. Namgung Heewon’s face froze at the words.
He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and answered.
[……no. I don’t think it’s right for me to do so. I need to find out the truth first, and I still do not know of his character. But I do know of the atrocities committed by the Sama Order and their practitioners. It would not sit right with my morals, even if it’s for you.][Okay.]
Lee Sungmin nodded at Namgung Heewon’s answer.
Lee Sungmin recommended Heewon to travel with him, but honestly he didn’t expect him to join in the first place. Although Namgung Heewon was disappointed with the Murim Alliance and his father, he still had filial ties and was raised morally upright.
It was impossible for him to go with Lee Sungmin and join the Sama Order.
[Okay.]
Lee Sungmin raised his hand and touched his face. Not his face, but the face mask that he had gotten used to for the past two months.
[If it’s not too hard to move your body, then leave this city right now.]
Lee Sungmin laughed as he sent the message to Namgung Heewon. Lee Sungmin’s purple and gold internal energy started to simmer underneath the tips of his toes.
[What… are you trying to do?]
[What else? I’m going to buy you time.]
[What…?]
[Didn’t you say so yourself? That it would be hard to escape from the pursuit of your family and father right now?]
[Why are you… doing this?]
[You must remember… that I used to call you my big brother.]
Lee Sungmin looked around saying so. He could hear the sounds of horses galloping from afar.
The warriors of the Namgung Family were approaching their location and rapidly speeding up as the seconds passed.
[…And also because you believed me without doubting me once. That’s all I have for a reason.]
[But……]
[Don’t worry.]
Lee Sungmin spoke through the internal energy with a smirk.
[Don’t worry, I promise since they are from your family, I will not kill a single one of them.]
Whoooong.
Lee Sungmin’s spear started to resonate and then in the middle of the square, a bright surge of purple and gold light burst forth in the shape of flames… all originating from Lee Sungmin’s spear.
Watching the incredulous feat of Lee Sungmin, Namgung Heewon swallowed his saliva.
Even in the Forest of Temptation…… Lee Sungmin’s martial arts was at a much higher level than that of Namgung Heewon.
It had only been a few months since then and yet in the meantime, Lee Sungmin had already become so unfathomably strong that Namgung Heewon could not even dare to measure how much power Lee Sungmin could wield.
‘If I had that much strength……then even if my father came at me, he would not last even 10 seconds…….’
Namgung Baek, the Patriarch of the Namgung Family. He was once called the highest sword, and was still one of the most skilled warriors in the world who wielded a sword.
However, that same Namgung Baek, was no better than his own son in this current point in time.
[Go.]
Lee Sun-min repeated to Namgung Heewon again. Namgung Heewon hesitated and then kicked the ground up and shot forwards in the direction opposite Lee Sungmin and the Namgung Family warriors.
Lee Sungmin felt both the internal energy of Namgung Heewon leaving the square and the several presences of the warriors approaching him.
[Ugh, how troublesome.], Heoju suddenly complained.Lee Sungmin smirked as he spoke.
“That’s just how it is.”