Chapter 1

When Namgungse was the youngest Confucius, he was a plant in a greenhouse.
You’d think that being the youngest Confucius would be a peaceful existence, with a brilliant teacher and easy access to the best of the best.
You are mistaken.
I lived as a killer ghost.
As the fifth and youngest Confucius, I never met my father, the patriarch of the family, and grew to resent him for never showing his face when my poor mother was ill.
To save her, and to prove my worth, I volunteered for the army.
And when I had earned some merit, however slight, my family sought me out.
When I could benefit the Southern Palace by honoring my military exploits.
South Palace Wall.
Yes, it was only then that my name was called by the family.
That was the only time they would turn their heads to me.
I had to burn myself to prolong my mother’s life even a little.
I cried on the bloody battlefield. I sharpened the tip of my sword to get rid of all the pent-up emotions.
But by the time I was thirty and earned the title of Sword Demon, my mother had moved on, and when I returned to my family, none of them welcomed me back, so I went on a mad rampage on the battlefield.
“The army, not the clan, can have enough of you. There are hundreds of people who believe in your name and follow you.”
Having recognized my abandonment by the clan, and holding a prominent position in the army, he said he would recommend me for the position of Captain of the Thousand People.
“There are hundreds of people who have not lost their lives because of me.
Dozens of operations have been carried out safely because of my rampage without taking care of myself.
It was ridiculous.
The families who should be looking at me don’t look at me.
The battlefield that needs me needs me.
It was absurd.
Grasping at straws, I put a smokestack in the family name. I asked what I should do with this offer from the military.
I didn’t hear back.
I had no choice. Even if I returned to my family, no one would look out for me.
I joined the military.
I rose to the position of captain of the Tianyin.
Nothing motivated me more than to finally have people who would look out for me.
“Captain. Someone has come to see you.”
I looked up and saw members of the family who had never visited me in my entire life.
They were my kinsmen, my brothers, who looked at me with more contempt than anyone else.
2Confucius came to me.
“Give me your hand,” he said, ”and I will inscribe three thousand characters of your name into the family name. I will give you as many riches and women as you wish.”
3Gongzi came to him.
“I’ll make sure your mother is recognized as a member of the family, …… and I’ll give her a good position, as long as she’s not greedy.”
The Fourth Duke came to him.
“It is my honor to take you back from your wandering ways. Stop arguing and follow me!”
My comfort.
The friendship of brothers.
None of that mattered. All I cared about was becoming a vassal myself.
I shook my head.
I said no, that I could not return, and three of my brothers spat on the ground.
And in time, the one man who had not sought me out until now arrived.
It was Confucius, the Great Duke.
I began my congratulations to the Grand Duke.
I thought it would be no different. What’s the point of a brother you’ve only just found?
It’s been decades.
And even if they were brothers, they would still want the same thing.
“……I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I came so late.”
I’m sorry I came too late.
The first words that came out of my mouth, coming from someone who seemed so much younger than me, were an apology.
There was nothing false about it, but I didn’t accept it. No, I didn’t.
“……I’m late.”
“I know. You’ve already come too far.”
The Grand Duke never once mentioned the family name in my presence. He didn’t ask me to help him compete for the title.
I assumed it was a ploy to arouse my sympathy, just a way to appease me.
“I put my mother in a good place. Although you have not been given a place on the family estate, I will be sure to take you there when you become the head of the family.”
“I don’t expect to be treated like that now.”
“I am sorry, I am truly sorry.”
“If that’s your apology, you should have sent it to……. No, thank you. If you have something to say, say it. I’m ready to listen to anything you have to say, so don’t sell useless sympathy.”
My voice had risen to a pitch that even I couldn’t control.
It was strange.
I hadn’t reacted with such fervor when the other three masters came.
“The Gazoo Competition……. A mere southern palace, if it can be a southern palace at all.”
I clenched my teeth at those words.
Who is he to talk like that in front of me?
In front of me, the Grand Duke collapsed like a broken man and bowed his head toward me.
“The family is sick, the family is sick. It has become irreversibly ill, and I can no longer do it alone. Please, please, please return and save it.”
Even as I heard his last words, I gave my blessing.
I couldn’t be swayed by these words.
“……!”
Yeah. Worthless words.
“Captain ……!”
The family name is dying. How ridiculous.
What kind of family is the Southern Palace?
“……Captain!”
Flash!
The commander’s words woke me up.
“What are you thinking about, you don’t answer even once when I call you. Ever since you had a visitor recently, you’ve been thinking a lot. If you have something on your mind, you should share it with me.”
“What’s wrong?”
“You know there are a lot of guys here who like to drink and listen to stories.”
“Never mind.”
The ripples in my mind didn’t subside after the captain left the barracks.
“The clan is sick, the clan is sick. It’s irreparably damaged, and I can’t do it alone anymore. Please, please, please come back and save it.”
Nan Gongban.
I can’t forget the image of him collapsing in front of me.
The words in his voice didn’t sound false.
After days and days of agonizing, I pushed myself to my feet.
“No.”
I turned to face the monkfish leader.
“Do you know how many followers you have?”
“I know …….”
“Is it really the best choice you can make to abandon those who are loyal to you for something so unclear?”
“If you don’t go, you will regret it.”
“Someone told me not to go.”
So what.
You say you can’t, but I never said you shouldn’t go.
“Put you on leave. Your place will be vacant. I swear by the name of the monkfish troupe leader, Huang Tianhu. Perhaps then, you will be able to take on the role of Ten Thousand Warlord instead of Ten Thousand Warlord.”
I looked at Huang Tianhou. Huang Tianhou also looked at me with a calm gaze.
“This is the teacher who first recognized me in all the world, the benefactor who guided me, and he speaks to me without any emotion as he leaves.
He is the one who corrected me when I tried to walk the path of Sura, and he is the one who is responsible for me to the end.
Yes, he is. I thought of him as a father.
So I bowed down as my body dictated and bowed nine times, and Madaha bowed his head to the ground before him.
I pointed my finger at the ungrateful man and begged him to humiliate me.
Huang Tianhao, who was laughing absurdly at my behavior, could only say goodbye.
With that, I left the army, where I had served for over twenty years.
After leaving, I traveled to the Southern Palace City in Anhui Province.
The Six Great Families.
The Jie Gal family, the Huang Bo family, the Sichuan Tang family, the Mo Yong family, and the Hebei Fang family.
And the greatest of them all, the Six Great Families, was called the Namgung Family.
He returned to the Changchuan Nan Gong family after a twenty-year absence.
He has returned to his position as the most powerful man in the army, leading killer ghosts, sword ghosts, and hundreds and thousands of others.
Hmph.
The cheap bamboo shoot liquor, the most popular drink in the army, flowed down the tombstone.
Though she wasn’t buried on the family estate, her grave was set in a large plot of land, in full view of Anhui, and there was a rusting box next to it.
“…….”
These were the letters I had been writing to her every month until I heard that she had passed away.
I could feel that the Grand Duke cared.
I could feel the Grand Duke’s care.
There was something stirring inside me, but I didn’t show it.
When I returned to Sega after saying goodbye, I was told that a banquet was being held. However, only the Grand Duke was there, having returned after twenty years.
I was glad, because the years without anyone to greet me had been long and hard.
As long as one person welcomed me, it was enough.
I didn’t realize it would be the last time.
“……Kuck, kuck, kuck!”
The Grand Duke collapsed before my eyes. Seeing the blood gushing from the corner of his mouth, I tried to reach him, but my strength drained out of me.
How could I believe that someone had poisoned the food at a banquet with the Grand Duke?
Decades of strength had been wasted, and I couldn’t lift a finger, as if my dense muscles were useless.
Was it because the delicate and sharp senses I had honed in the army had been dulled by the Archduke’s generosity upon his return to Sega?
No, it was my own fault.
I was drunk for a moment. I had forgotten what this place was like for a moment as the emotions of finally being accepted back in Sega washed over me.
When I finally looked up, the Grand Duke of the Southern Palace Sega was crawling toward me.
His lips were chanting over and over again.
“…….”
I could barely hear what he was saying.
“……Mi, I’m sorry. For the rain, for the bastards.”
The last word in a faint breath was another apology, followed by a string of curses, probably directed at the people who had made the family sick.
I’ve never been able to figure out why the Archduke was killed and I was killed, but I do know one thing.
As the Grand Duke told me.
The House is sick.
The House was sick, and the Archduke would have run around trying to cure it.
So it was.
The house was sick.
And what the Archduke told me was not a lie.
Indescribable emotions rushed through me, but my closed eyelids prevented me from continuing. Reaching out, I barely managed to reach out and close the Grand Duke’s eyes.
The last for the family.
For the Grand Duke, I may not be the worst thing that could happen.
My life and death may be considered a dog’s death by some, but it means something else to me that my life and death will end in this family.
Please go to a good place. Brother.