The Weakest in the World’s Strongest Village
Chapter – 17
The clouds veiled the moon, cloaking the sky in darkness.
“Something’s burning.”
“Huh?”
“Your house is on fire, sir.”
“W-What!?”
Namgung Gu hastily peered over Kang Yu’s shoulder.
But all he saw was pitch-black darkness — not a flicker of light, not even as small as a firefly.
Yet there was no reason to doubt it.
If the Lord of the Ten Dragon Medallions said it, it was true.
“T-Then…!”
“Hold on tight.”
“Y-Yes!”
The scenery blurred past, faster and faster.
After some time—
“D-Damn it…”
The blazing Namgung Estate finally came into view.
Tall pavilions and outer walls stood engulfed in black smoke.
Crimson flames were consuming five centuries of Namgung history, reducing it to ashes.
Kang Yu and Namgung Gu landed before the main gate.
A wave of heat struck their bodies.
The acrid scent of burning wood filled the air.
With most of the Namgung forces out in Soho, the estate was nearly defenseless.
Just as Namgung Gu had feared, the situation was chaos — yet oddly, not a single clash of weapons could be heard.
They’d been perfectly caught in a feint — a classic “sound in the east, strike in the west” ploy.
Namgung Gu dashed into the burning inner hall.
Among the roaring flames lay the collapsed forms of the estate’s guards and inner disciples.
He fell to his knees and lifted the nearest guard in his arms.
Through blurred vision, the man recognized him.
“M-Master of the Outer Hall…”
“A-Are you all right!?”
There was no way he could be.
The man had a deep wound across his chest — clearly fatal.
Even with luck, he wouldn’t last long.
Realizing his fate, the guard forced out his final words through blood and breath.
“After… the Elders left the estate… we were attacked… by unknown assailants. Black robes… around twenty… They wielded swords and spears… Even the underlings were no mere grunts… at least first-rate, some nearly peak-level… Their leader’s strength… unfathomable… cough”
Even in the face of death, the guard was determined to report everything.
Namgung Gu clenched his teeth at the man’s devotion.
“I understand. Don’t speak anymore. Save your strength—”
The guard reached up with a trembling, bloodstained hand and grasped Namgung Gu’s.
“…Lady Sahwa has been captured. You must hurry. They went… toward the main hall… cough”
Tears of blood welled in the guard’s eyes.
“Thank you… For teaching us lowly gatekeepers martial arts when you had the time… I’ll never forget your kindness, even in the afterlife… Please… please protect the Namgung Clan, my lord…”
“D-Damn it…”
Namgung Gu’s tears fell freely.
The guard’s eyes slowly closed.
“Please… protect Nam…gung…”
Pop.
Something round was placed into the dead man’s mouth.
Suddenly, the air filled with a sweet fragrance, cutting through the smell of smoke and blood.
“…??”
An unknown energy began to swirl through the man’s body.
The gaping wounds across his chest and stomach sealed before Namgung Gu’s eyes.
Vital energy surged from his lower abdomen, spreading through his limbs.
Even his internal energy — his qi — grew by half a level in an instant.
“!”
Namgung Gu recognized the scent and the power.
The Great Rejuvenation Pill — Dae Hwan Dan .
Shocked, Namgung Gu turned his head toward the man with the wooden box.
The Lord of the Ten Dragon Medallions, Kang Yu, was calmly moving between fallen guards and disciples.
“?”
“?”
Wherever he went, the dead and dying were rising to their feet, bewildered but alive.
Their clothes were torn, but their energy burned brighter than ever before — stronger even than before the battle.
A guard who had clearly seen death’s gate moments ago now stood up, touching his miraculously healed chest.
“W-What… what is this…?”
Namgung Gu swallowed hard.
The Dae Hwan Dan was a peerless elixir — the kind of treasure for which martial artists would sell their kin, master, or sect.
And yet this man was handing them out as if they were nothing.
Namgung Gu followed after Kang Yu through the flames.
“W-What are you doing?”
“Hm?”
“I-I’m grateful, of course, but… shouldn’t you be careful with those pills?”
Kang Yu blinked.
“Why? Medicine’s for sick people, right?”
“…”
Kang Yu continued, breaking or sharing the pills as needed depending on each person’s condition.
As the wooden box grew lighter, the dead came back to life one after another.
Namgung Gu silently watched from behind.
‘Medicine’s for sick people, right?’
The Lord of the Ten Dragon Medallions had once called peerless techniques by odd, mistaken names — perhaps as a joke, perhaps out of ignorance.
But this time was different.
The wooden box clearly said “大還丹” — Dae Hwan Dan.
He knew exactly what it was.
And still, he used it all on low-ranking guards and attendants — precious to Namgung, yes, but insignificant in the grand scheme.
Anyone else would have valued the pills far above these men’s lives.
Maybe even Namgung Gu himself, deep down.
Namgung Gu clasped his hands together.
Then he bowed deeply toward Kang Yu, who still moved among the flames.
Crackle. Crackle.
Thick smoke filled the air.
The stench of burning.
Roaring collapses.
Flames devouring pavilions.
Amid the chaos, a masked man dropped to one knee before a black-clad figure — the leader.
“We’ve found her. Opposite of where she claimed she’d be.”
The leader’s mask shifted slightly, as if he were smiling.
He turned around.
“Not bad. She’s got wits — even with a blade to her throat, she tried to mislead us.”
Before him lay Namgung Sahwa, the Namgung heiress, collapsed in her ceremonial robes.
“So this is the brat who sullied Namgung’s name. At least she’s loyal enough to protect her own base.”
“…”
The leader turned back around.
“Let’s move.”
Just as he was about to leave, the masked subordinate asked:
“What shall we do with this woman?”
“She’s Namgung’s blood all the same. Do as you wish.”
With that, the leader disappeared.
The subordinate reached for his waist — and Namgung Sahwa recoiled in terror.
“W-What are you doing…?”
Clatter.
But instead of what she feared, a sword landed at her feet.
“Take it.”
The masked man drew his own blade.
“We’re not like you people. You’re Namgung’s rightful heir, aren’t you? I’ll give you the chance to defend yourself.”
Sahwa hesitated, unsure of his intent, until he nudged the sword toward her with his boot.
“Take it. We’re not like you.”
“…”
She stared at the weapon.
The man before her was likely a mere underling.
While she — Namgung Sahwa — was of the great Namgung bloodline, an academy-certified swordmaster.
And there was only one opponent.
She snatched up the sword and unleashed a blue sword aura.
“You bastard!”
Clang!
Her blade met his — but he blocked it effortlessly.
“Heh. The Blue Wind Sword Technique, huh?”
He laughed mockingly and swung his sword with brutal force.
The impact sent Sahwa spinning backward.
“Kyaah!”
His kick slammed into her exposed waist.
“Pathetic worm!”
She rolled across the ground.
“The proud heir of Namgung fights worse than a gate guard!”
He laughed loudly and slashed down.
His strikes had no form or technique — only raw, crushing power.
Yet to Sahwa, they felt like mountains crashing down.
“Hah…!”
She tried desperately to parry, but her swordsmanship was too shallow.
When others trained, she drank.
When others meditated, she played.
When others sweated through hardship, she laughed at them.
Because victory had always come easily — Namgung’s name was her sword, her strength, her shield.
Everything bent to that name.
But now, as Namgung burned—
Clang!
“Hhup!”
She realized her insignificance.
The effort she once mocked was worth more than her life now.
She was nothing — a hollow heir, losing to a nameless grunt.
Her sword began to crack.
The blue aura flickered out.
Then,
Clang!
Her blade snapped in half.
The enemy’s sword stopped precisely between her brows.
“Shameful excuse for a Namgung.”
Sahwa clenched her teeth.
“Kill me.”
The masked man sneered.
“You’re a pretty one, aren’t you? Maybe I shouldn’t waste you.”
He tapped his lower body suggestively.
“What do you say? There might be… another way to spare your life—”
“Ptuh!”
“…”
He wiped the spit from his mask slowly.
His eyes grew cold.
“You’ve got some spirit, I’ll give you that.”
His sword rose to strike—
BOOM!
A thunderous impact sent him flying backward.
Sahwa opened her tightly shut eyes.
Several figures in tattered Namgung uniforms had arrived.
“You bastards! I almost died! What took you so long!?”
She shouted, though tears streamed down her face.
Then she looked up — and saw him.
A tall figure with the Ten Dragon Medallion hanging at his waist.
The man she had been searching for only an hour ago.
The Lord of the Ten Dragon Medallions.
She quickly wiped her tears.
“Th-Thank you for saving me, Lord Ten Drag—”
“I—”
Kang Yu and Sahwa both froze as they recognized each other’s faces.
Her brows furrowed.
She knew him.
“You—you—!”
Crack.
The sound of something snapping — her nose.
“!?”
A sharp headbutt followed.
SMACK!
Sahwa’s eyes rolled back as she collapsed, bleeding from her nose and mouth, teeth shattered.
“What the heck? This lady’s crazy.”
Kang Yu muttered, brushing off his hands.
He couldn’t help it — before she could unleash the power of the Heavenly Tiger Spirit again, he had to knock her out.
“Whew. That was close.”
Namgung Gu rushed to Sahwa’s side in panic.
“S-Sahwa!”
But she was already unconscious, bleeding and limp.
“L-Lord Ten Dragons! What are you doing!? Why did you—”
“Why!? She’s the one who tried to gouge my eyes out at the inn! Swung her sword at me and said she’d kill me if we met again!”
“…”
Namgung Gu fell silent.
He didn’t need to question it — that was exactly what Namgung Sahwa would do.
Given her temper and arrogance, she was lucky to still have her head.
He sighed inwardly — and if he was honest, seeing her knocked out was oddly satisfying.
“Let’s go.”
Kang Yu leapt through the flames.
Namgung Gu gave instructions for Sahwa’s care, shook his head, and followed.
At the same time—
Crash.
Several black-clad figures smashed through a wall three spans thick and entered the underground vault beneath the main hall.
[Namgung Secret Treasury
“Open it.”
The iron door — the cause of all this chaos — slowly creaked open, letting in the light.
