Chapter 170

He didn’t try to deny it. After all, it was something he couldn’t refute.

Trying to make excuses would only expose the flaws immediately.

Namgung Woo accepted the situation as it was and spoke.

“May I ask how you knew?”

“There’s no need for formalities. As I said earlier, I firmly believe you are the one to serve as the family head.”

Namgung Baek cut to the chase and answered promptly.

“Since the family head asked, I shall answer. At first, I didn’t know. I assumed you were a descendant born from the Sword Emperor’s union with another woman after he disappeared.”

However, that assumption was soon discarded.

The reason was that Namgung Woo was far too ignorant about the Namgung Family.

If he had inherited the martial arts of the Namgung Family as a descendant of Namgung Jin, he should have at least heard a thing or two about what the Namgung Family was, its structure, and its rules. Yet, there was no trace of such knowledge in Namgung Woo.

Even Namgung Sol had some knowledge of the Namgung Family through the records left by Namgung Sihee.

“To think that only martial arts were taught without proper knowledge—it’s clear the family head was far too ignorant about the main family.”

Yet, it was impossible to explain his martial arts if he wasn’t a descendant of the Sword Emperor but of another Namgung.

Here, Namgung Baek formed a new hypothesis.

‘Perhaps Namgung Woo is a successor who inherited the arrangements left by Namgung Jin after his death?’

Such things weren’t uncommon.

Reclusive masters, fearing their martial arts would be lost, would create secret manuals and hide their tombs in special vaults.

In fact, the Thunderbolt Technique mastered by Yang Kwae and Yang Jeong was a perfect example.

Learning martial arts solely from a secret manual was like climbing a mountain blindly without a guide, compared to having a master.

The Yang brothers had delved into the martial arts for two generations, yet they couldn’t fully unleash its potential or even reach the peak until they met Namgung Woo.

But even that could be explained if Namgung Woo was born with a once-in-a-lifetime genius intellect. In fact, Namgung Woo was born with special eyes, so if his talent supported it, he might have achieved such a level just from the secret manual, according to Namgung Baek’s judgment.

“I apologize for saying this, but I’ve looked into various things about the family head. When I learned that you initially avoided being involved in Namgung affairs, I became convinced that you weren’t originally a blood relative of the main family.”

“As the elder expected, I don’t carry the blood of the Namgung Family. But it’s true that I am a Namgung.”

“…May I ask if you were an illegitimate child?”

Namgung Baek, as the Small History Elder, was well aware of many of the Namgung Family’s illegitimate children.

There were quite a few who contacted him to have their names added to the family records.

The Namgung Family even applied the son-in-law system to daughters’ children, recording them as Namgung in the genealogy. Some daughters were sent away, but those cases were mostly for political marriages between factions.

Thus, even the children of daughters were treated the same as those of sons, marked only as external descendants in the ancestral order. There was no other distinction between blood relatives within the Namgung Family besides direct and collateral lines.

They did accept retainers and guests, but martial families, generally composed of blood relatives, used various methods to increase their numbers to stand against larger factions. This was part of that.

Namgung Sol, being the daughter of Namgung Sihee, was also called Namgung, knowing the Namgung Family’s policies.

“That’s not it either. I came from Haedong. My ancestral home is likely Hamyeol.”

“Haedong? That’s Joseon. Hamyeol… I’ve never heard of it; my knowledge is limited.”

“From what I know, the Namgung of Hamyeol share the same roots as those in the Central Plains. They are said to be descendants of the Ji clan of the Zhou Dynasty.”

“I see. Then, it’s not entirely accurate to say the family head has no blood relation to the main family. You are a distant, very distant blood relative.”

Namgung Baek stroked his beard, seemingly convinced.

Having inherited the Emperor’s Sword Form and being the only hope for the Namgung Family’s reconstruction, Namgung Baek accepted Namgung Woo as the family head. Even if he were of humble origins, Namgung Baek resolved to serve him as the family head.

Still, it wasn’t without regret. He couldn’t help but wish it had been someone from the main family.

But now that he knew Namgung Woo was truly a Namgung, even that lingering regret was swept away, leaving him utterly satisfied.

“But the martial arts…”

At those words, Namgung Woo tightly closed his lips. This nonverbal expression of refusal made Namgung Baek give up on probing further.

Namgung Baek was here to fulfill his duty as the Small History Elder, not to interrogate the family head. If Namgung Woo didn’t want to speak, that was that.

“Family head, I feel deeply apologetic to your parents, but I must ask you to transfer your lineage.”

Namgung Baek was extremely cautious. He even adjusted his posture to be more reverent.

But for Namgung Woo, who lived in a future where family records were a joke and no one cared about their origins, it wasn’t a difficult request.

“I will do so.”

“…Family head.”

Namgung Baek stepped down from his chair and prostrated himself before Namgung Woo.

“Elder, why are you doing this?”

“…I have committed a great sin against you, family head. This sin, I will gladly accept once the main family is rebuilt. And I will always remember the sincerity you show for the main family, dedicating my life to serving you as a loyal servant.”

Namgung Baek had dedicated everything to the family.

For the sake of the family, Namgung Woo was abandoning his own lineage and transferring his allegiance.

The weight Namgung Woo felt and the weight Namgung Baek felt were as different as heaven and earth.

After barely calming him down, Namgung Baek concluded his lengthy preamble and got down to business.

“First, family head, your age this year is twenty-seven. Is that correct?”

“That’s correct, but isn’t ‘age’ a term used for the imperial family?”

“To us, you are like a king. And the Namgung Family has long been called the Sword King Family. A sword king is still a king.”

It didn’t seem entirely accurate, but since Namgung Baek wouldn’t openly say such things in front of the imperial family, Namgung Woo let it slide.

“Then you were born in the third year of Gyeongtae. Hmm… the third year of Gyeongtae…”

Namgung Baek quickly calculated in his head where to place Namgung Woo in the family tree to make it fit perfectly.

‘Placing him as the son of the previous family head would make him too young.’

The previous family head, Namgung Hyu, died in his late forties during the Sword Family Blood Feud. At that time, the young family head was slightly younger than Namgung Woo, making it a bit awkward to place him as a grandson.

‘But placing him as a great-grandson would create too large a gap.’

A grandson it is.

‘The Sword Emperor was severely injured in the fight against the Blood Sect and went into seclusion. During that time, he met another woman and had an illegitimate child. That would be around the third or fourth year of Gyeongnyeong.’

If so, the Sword Emperor’s (hypothetical) son would now be around fifty.

If he had Namgung Woo in his early twenties, it would be just the right time to have a child, making it perfect.

The problem was that the Sword Emperor Namgung Jin had a child at such a late age…

‘Even if it sounds a bit irresponsible, please accept it, former family head, as a punishment for abandoning the family.’

In terms of generational hierarchy, he would be on the same level as the previous young family head, giving him the justification to inherit the unfinished Sword Family Blood Feud.

“Then we need to place one person in between. What was your father’s name? It would be more convenient for you, family head, if we used your father’s name.”

Well. Namgung Woo didn’t have many good memories of his parents, so he wasn’t particularly attached.

In fact, he was closer to his grandparents than his parents. So it was easier for him. Rather than the grandparents who showed him the family records while holding him in their arms, he felt less hesitation using his father’s name, whom he was more distant from.

“Let it be Namgung Shin.”

That night, two more names were added to the Namgung Family’s genealogy.

Namgung Shin, son of the Sword Emperor Namgung Jin. And his son, Namgung Woo.

And a line was drawn from Namgung Hyu’s name, originally right below Namgung Jin, pointing to Namgung Woo.

It was the line signifying the succession of the family head.

§

Beijing came into view.

Having returned to Beijing in less than a year, the city had already recovered from the damages of the past turmoil and returned to normalcy.

The unchanged scenery.

But the visitors had changed.

The party, which had once consisted of only three people, had now grown more than tenfold. The one who used to look around in awe at everything unfamiliar and strange now looked at the world as his own, with a clear purpose and a firm gaze.

Namgung Woo crossed Beijing’s gates at the forefront of Changcheon Pavilion.

It was a new beginning.