My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 10. The Eldest Son of the Sacheon Dang Family
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
The village head’s rooster, notorious for its faulty memory and tendency to crow at odd hours in the dead of night, had decided today to crow on schedule with a clear, vigorous voice.
Apparently proud of itself, it crowed for more than half an hour before finally catching hell from the village head for its efforts.
And so another day dawned in peaceful Sodam Village.
The weather was particularly fine today.
“Tee-hee!”
Poke, poke, poke.
A small girl with skin white as fresh snow and both cheeks blushed the color of peaches stared intently at something with her enormous eyes.
Her tiny hands worked at it very seriously, prodding and pressing.
“So-yul? Where’s little Yul?”
Her mother’s voice called from outside.
Any other day, she would have bounded out excitedly and thrown herself into her mother’s embrace, but today something kept her perfectly still.
In fact, she grew even more focused.
Her lips had somehow puckered and stuck out.
It was unmistakably a habit she shared with her mother.
“…Oh? So you were here?”
Paeng Seo-yeon soon found Yeo So-yul.
The girl was perched on the belly of her father, Yeo Yun-hui, who was still asleep in bed.
Yet even as Paeng Seo-yeon entered the room, So-yul’s concentration remained unbroken.
Paeng Seo-yeon tilted her head quizzically.
“What on earth is my little girl doing that she won’t even answer her mother?”
Without quite realizing it, Paeng Seo-yeon’s footsteps became careful as she crept closer to her daughter.
Drawing near and peering over her shoulder,
“Pffft, pffft.”line>
What Yul had been so industriously working on was none other than Yeo Yun-hui’s face.

Hmm-hmm. Hmm-hmm.
His face was already covered in black scribbles.
Completely oblivious to this fact, Yeo Yun-hui merely slept on, his lips working with that satisfied smacking motion.
It seemed she’d been playing with charcoal from the courtyard.
She had always enjoyed drawing with charcoal-stained hands on small rocks or paper, and today she’d apparently discovered a new canvas.
This particular canvas seemed delighted with the arrangement, grinning away.
It was rather amusing, really.
Before she knew what she was doing, an equally gleeful Paeng Seo-yeon began adding her own strokes to So-yul’s artwork.
“Here, Yul. Yes, right here too. And this spot.”
“Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!”
It wasn’t long before Yeo Yun-hui’s face was covered from end to end with charcoal.
“Hmm?”
Yeo Yun-hui’s eyes fluttered open as he began to stir.
He caught sight of two figures grinning wickedly right in front of his face and scratched his cheek.
“…What are you two doing? Right now?”
“Nothing, sir. Nothing at all. Right, Yul?”
“Yep! It’s nothing, Dad!”
“Huh?”
As Yeo Yun-hui tilted his head in confusion, the two of them bolted for the door and fled outside.
A bemused expression on his face, Yeo Yun-hui let out a soft chuckle.
Whatever was happening, he simply found it delightful.
Rising from bed, Yeo Yun-hui stretched his arms overhead.
“Ahhh.”
When was the last time he’d slept so deeply and peacefully?
Both body and mind felt refreshed, as though a weight had been lifted.
During his time as the Blood Demon, he could never have imagined such a thing.
He had always kept his nerves on edge, chasing someone or other.
He had remained vigilant, fearful that someone might be hunting him, never allowing himself to slip into deeper sleep.
When he did manage to close his eyes, it was only for two or three hours at best.
He had lived in a constant state of shallow sleep, ready to move the moment his eyes opened.
In truth, even when he wanted to sleep deeply, sleep would not come to him.
The moment he closed his eyes, in the suffocating darkness he would hear his wife weeping, calling his name—his little Yul crying out for him.
How could sleep possibly come when that voice echoed in his ears?
But now…….
“…….”
Yeo Yun-hui pressed his lips together firmly.
That was the past. No—it was something that had never happened.
Something that would never happen.
“Right then.”
With a shake of his head, Yeo Yun-hui shook off the nagging unease and headed slowly toward the courtyard to wash.
But then—
“Ah? What is this?”
Only when Yeo Yun-hui saw his reflection in the water did he notice his face.
Paeng Seo-yeon, who had been watching alongside Yeo So-yul and stifling her giggles, quietly brought over a towel.
“…Ha ha. Sorry, I’m sorry. It’s just that So-yul was having so much fun.”
“You don’t seem any less pleased about it yourself.”
“Oh, you caught me?”
Yeo Yun-hui took the towel she offered and wiped his face, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
At that, Yeo So-yul drew near and looked up at him with a sullen expression.
“Dad, are you mad?”
“Hmm? No, no. Dad’s not mad. It’s fine.”
Yeo Yun-hui smiled softly and stroked his daughter’s hair.
Her face brightened at once.
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Of course!”
“Then… can I do it again?”
“Hmm? Y-Yeo So-yul, that’s…….”
“Pfft!”
Seeing his stammering form, his wife burst into delighted laughter, and Yeo Yun-hui found himself laughing as well.
Ha ha ha!
From the modest little house in Sodam Village, joyful laughter spilled out.
Soon the three of them began eating breakfast together.
The weather was fine, the breeze pleasant, and the soup his wife had prepared tasted especially good today.
In the middle of the meal, Yeo Yun-hui suddenly spoke to his wife.
“By the way, I need to make a quick trip to the neighboring village.”
“What? Today? What about dinner?”
“I’ll probably eat there before coming back.”
“I see.”
Paeng Seo-yeon nodded without any apparent concern.
Since Yeo Yun-hui occasionally went to the neighboring village to teach writing or attend to some business, she thought nothing unusual of it.
What Paeng Seo-yeon had not considered at all was that this “neighboring village” he spoke of was now a very different place from any he had visited before.
‘Well, if I can get there and back quickly, it’s the neighboring village. Yes, of course it is.’
Moments later, having repackaged his true destination as a simple trip to the neighboring village, Yeo Yun-hui tried to soothe his guilty conscience.
Soon he finished his bowl of rice and completed his meal.
Then he set off toward the neighboring village.
It was Sacheon.
***
“Mmm.”
An ornate bed, luxuriously appointed.
A man who had been sleeping half-naked sprawled across it slowly rose.
Sharp-eyed and bearing a dissolute air, it was Dang Gu-hui.
His head throbbed and his body felt heavy.
Had he drunk too much yesterday?
Still in a haze, he gathered his wits and reached for the cup of water beside his bed, drinking deeply from it.
Ahh.
Having barely collected himself, Dang Gu-hui called out toward the door.
“Is anyone out there?”
“You called, Young Master?”
As a servant entered, Dang Gu-hui asked what time it was.
The servant, keeping his head bowed, answered carefully.
“Hmm.”
Dang Gu-hui let out a long sigh.
Having slept quite late, it seemed he would need to get up and attend to things soon.
On any other day, he might have rested easy, but today he had an important drinking engagement that he couldn’t miss.
‘I must bring them to my side today. If only that were done…….’
Dang Gu-hui rose from his seat and prepared to depart with the help of his attendants.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that day and night had almost entirely reversed for him of late.
It was clear this was hardly the lifestyle befitting the First Son of the Sacheon Dang Family—an Orthodox Prestigious Family and one of the Five Great Families representing the entire Martial World.
His descent into this pattern had worsened since Dang Jin-u, the current family head and known as Poison Rain, had entered Closed Cultivation two years prior.
With no one to check his already willful nature, he had become utterly unbridled.
Dang Gu-hui heeded no one.
Soon an attendant held up a mirror, and after adjusting his appearance one last time, Dang Gu-hui left the room.
Just then,
“Brother.”
At that single voice blocking his path, the face that had worn an expressionless mask throughout suddenly crumpled.
It was his younger brother, Dang Mu-jun.
“You’re going to Cheongwharu again?”
“Why should I need your permission for such things?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Dang Mu-jun shook his head at Dang Gu-hui’s curt reply.
“Mother worries greatly. She fears rumors might spread about your daily visits to Cheongwharu. She hopes you might abstain for a time.”
“Enough!”
Dang Gu-hui, who rarely indulged in emotion, suddenly erupted.
“Now you presume to lecture me, hiding behind Mother’s name?”
“Brother……!”
“You think yourself above me, don’t you? Admit it.”
“N-no, brother! How could that possibly be true?”
“Don’t call me that!”
At those words, Dang Mu-jun went rigid.
Dang Mu-jun.
The greatest prodigy the Sacheon Dang Family had ever produced.
Not only was he recognized by the current family head Dang Jin-u, but the former patriarch Dok Jon cherished him as his most favored grandson and disciple—a name known throughout the entire Martial World.
Because of this, the pressure and inferiority Dang Gu-hui, the First Son, felt toward Dang Mu-jun were profound.
Though brothers in blood, the being Dang Gu-hui hated most was his younger brother Dang Mu-jun.
No—hatred was an inadequate word; Dang Gu-hui abhorred Dang Mu-jun’s very existence.
Yet there was nothing he could do about the damned wretch just now.
Dang Gu-hui glared at Dang Mu-jun with glistening eyes.
“No matter how people exalt you as a once-in-an-age prodigy or whatever else they prattle on about, the successor to this Sacheon Dang Family is I, the First Son. How dare you presume to tell me to restrain myself?”
“…Mother longs to see you greatly.”
“That too is my concern. Keep out of it.”
…….
“Move. I can bear your face no longer.”
Dang Gu-hui shoved past Dang Mu-jun roughly.
Dang Mu-jun slowly turned his head.
He stood motionless, watching the receding figure of his brother grow distant.
An ineffable desolation dwelt in his eyes.
Dang Mu-jun closed his eyes tightly.
‘Father. What am I to do…….’
The chasm with Dang Gu-hui widened endlessly, with no bridge to cross it.
Today, his troubles deepened beyond measure.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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