Chapter 24
The Outer Hall martial artists of the Namgoong Clan—Ilryong, Imoe, and Sambong—had originally been bandits operating around Mount Huangshan.
Mount Huangshan lay south of Hefei, where the Namgoong Clan was based. Thanks to the clan’s constant raids to wipe out local bandits, making a living through banditry had become increasingly difficult.
Then one day, Sambong returned from the village with unexpected news.
“Brother Ilryong! Brother Imoe! Take a look at this! Namgoong is recruiting martial artists!”
Namgoong might as well have been their mortal enemy. And yet, it was also a name so grand and overwhelming that they couldn’t help but admire it from afar.
“Banditry is filthy and pathetic. I can’t stand it anymore. So how about we become Namgoong martial artists? We know some martial arts, and it doesn’t seem like they’re checking background qualifications.”
“...”
“What if they find out we used to be bandits?”
“...”
“We’ll just say we were trying to make a fresh start! They’re not going to kill us for that, right? I mean, it’s Namgoong we’re talking about. Hahaha...”
Even those three mountain bandits knew that without the Namgoong surname, it was difficult to become an Inner Hall martial artist.
But that wasn’t their goal anyway.