My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 116

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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 116. An Uninvited Guest
The first night’s banquet was arranged in a spacious garden.
The sun had set and dusk had fallen, yet the Nam-goong Estate blazed with light.
Beautiful and resplendent.
The banquet was not a gathering meant only for the Clan Patriarchs and their heirs—it was for everyone.
The Jek-wol-dae of the Sichuan Dang Family, the Cheol-hyeol Cheon-geom-dae of the Hwang-bo Family, the Yu-ryong Geom-dae of the Zhuge Family, the Baeklang Dae of the Hebei Peng Clan, and the Changgung Geom-dae and Cheon-poong Geom-dae representing the Nam-goong Estate.
Everyone took their places at the numerous tables arranged throughout the garden and began their meal.
The defining feature of this banquet was how generously the seating had been spaced, allowing for comfortable conversation and exchange among all present.
Wine was provided at each table.
On such occasions, wine always seemed to taste particularly sweet.
Of course, none of those gathered were unskilled enough to make mistakes from drinking.
At the grandest table at the head of the garden sat the Clan Patriarchs.
Since the Five Great Families Gathering rotated between the clans every two years, each family took great care with their banquet preparations.
At minimum, none wished to be heard saying they had done worse than another family.
Thus, the banquet the Nam-goong Estate had prepared for today was truly magnificent.
Three days of such delicious food and such splendid hospitality.
The Baeklang Dae members’ hearts were positively aflutter.
“Wow. This is incredible, isn’t it?”
“No kidding.”
Of course, they had attended banquets during the Five Great Families Gathering held at the Hebei Peng Estate several years prior.
But before meeting Yeo Un-hwi, they had gotten into every kind of trouble imaginable and eventually had to go into seclusion, so for the Baeklang Dae this was truly their first banquet in ages.
Moreover, whenever a gathering was held at another family’s estate, it had always been Elder Gu Wang-pyo and the Baek-mu Dae who accompanied the Patriarch to such events, so opportunities like this had been rare for them.
And above all, the Nam-goong Estate’s banquet was the most lavish and magnificent they had ever seen prepared by any of the families, so the Baeklang Dae couldn’t help but gape in awe.
Before long, they all found themselves watching Yeo Un-hwi.
He let out a soft chuckle and spoke.
“Why are you all staring like that? Tonight, enjoy yourselves to your heart’s content. Just don’t make any foolish mistakes from drink, or you’ll taste hell when we return.”
“Come on, we’re already tasting plenty of hell in our everyday training anyway.”
“That’s right. We’re so used to it now, hell doesn’t even scare us anymore.”
As the brothers Ki-soo and Ki-sang joked around brazenly, Yeo Un-hwi tilted his head with a crooked smile and replied.
“Ho, then shall I promise you an even deeper hell?”
“Huh? No, that’s not what we—” Ugh. Ugh.”
“Hey. Will you two shut that trap of yours? Hm? These mouths that summon ruin—what am I going to do with you?”
Gu Tae-san and Peng Do-hwan rushed over and quickly clamped their hands over Ki-soo and Ki-sang’s mouths to prevent them from digging deeper, while O Chae-mu hurried to smooth things over with a nervous laugh.
“Ahaha! I-I apologize, Commander. Please pay no mind to these fools.”
“Is that so?”
“Y-yes, sir. Ahem. Well then, everyone take your seats and let’s eat.”
“Yes.”
Before the good mood could be ruined by those idiots, O Chae-mu, as deputy commander, quickly gestured the Baeklang Dae to their places.
Soon all the Baeklang Dae members had found their seats in small groups and began eating with genuine pleasure.
Nor was it only the Baeklang Dae.
Everyone who had come to the gathering was already enjoying the banquet.
Boisterous laughter and conversation erupted from every corner.
It was then—
Wait?
The Baeklang Dae members sensed an odd gaze and turned their heads.
It appeared that the other martial forces attending the banquet were all stealing glances at the Baeklang Dae.
Why?
It was because the Baeklang Dae was one of the most watched groups in the current Martial World.
The martial force that had severed the head of the Absolute Demon.
Seeing the Baeklang Dae in person sparked even greater fascination.
But truthfully, the Baeklang Dae members still found the attention burdensome.
After all, it was not they who had killed the Absolute Demon, but Yeo Un-hwi alone—a feat accomplished by him single-handedly.
It felt awkward to receive such attention for something that was not their accomplishment.
Yet Yeo Un-hwi’s thoughts on the matter were different.
When the Baeklang Dae faced the Absolute Demon and witnessed his overwhelming power, not a single one of them gave up; they threw themselves at him to the very end.
How much strength that action cost the Absolute Demon mattered little.
What mattered was the spirit of the Baeklang Dae—their refusal to yield to evil until the last moment.
And so Yeo Un-hwi genuinely regarded that deed as something accomplished together with the Baeklang Dae, not by him alone.
Moreover, Yeo Un-hwi believed that in the not-too-distant future, slaying the Absolute Demon would become but a trivial matter for the Baeklang Dae.
In any case, at the sight of the Baeklang Dae’s awkward embarrassment, Yeo Un-hwi smiled with amusement and continued his own meal.
And not long after,
“Good evening.”
Several warriors who had been watching quietly could no longer contain their curiosity, and one by one they began approaching the Baeklang Dae members and striking up conversations.
“I’m Jin Cheon of the Jek-wol-dae.”
“Guk-ryang of the Changgung Geom-dae.”
“Min-joong of the Yu-ryong Geom-dae.”
All of them wore expressions brimming with goodwill.
As a result, the Baeklang Dae members showed flustered responses.
They had only ever grown accustomed to being treated as idiots and troublemakers by everyone else.
After receiving nothing but such treatment for so long, when warriors belonging to the renowned martial units of the Five Great Clans approached them first and expressed genuine interest, the Baeklang Dae found themselves at a loss.
Of course, they could confidently say they knew how to handle provocation just as well as anyone.
“…Hmph.”
And naturally, not everyone harbored goodwill toward them.
Those who were confident in their own abilities, or who took great pride in their own martial units, believed the Baeklang Dae’s achievements were simply the result of a little good fortune.
Consequently, there were not a few who wished to test themselves against the group directly.
But despite this, none of them dared create a disturbance at such a formal occasion.
They all understood full well how important the Five Great Families Gathering was.
To cause trouble over such a trivial matter of vanity would tarnish not only the honor of their own martial unit, but their family name as well.
So even if their hands itched and their lips grew restless, they had no choice but to endure.
Unless, of course, they approached with genuinely good intentions.
And so, for all these various reasons, the first evening’s banquet proceeded in a most peaceful and pleasant manner.
But then, at that moment.
“Patriarch.”
“What is it?”
“The thing is……”
The leader of the Cheon-poong Geom-dae, having received an urgent message from one of the Nam-goong Estate’s warriors, approached Nam-goong Hwan and whispered to him.
Immediately, Nam-goong Hwan’s brow furrowed sharply.
“Hmm. Yes. Have them brought in.”
“Yes, understood.”
“What is the matter?”
When the other patriarchs of the Five Great Clans saw Nam-goong Hwan’s expression, he answered them coldly.
“An uninvited guest has suddenly arrived, someone I never invited.”
And not long after, the door opened roughly and someone entered.
Leading a sizeable entourage with them.
“So here you all are.”
The peaceful atmosphere of the banquet went quiet, as though cold water had been thrown upon it.
***
All eyes turned toward the newcomers who had just burst into the banquet hall.
Judging by the aura they emanated, they were warriors of considerable skill, not far below the martial units that represented the Five Great Clans.
The middle-aged man with an aquiline nose who stood at the forefront of their group surveyed those gathered in the banquet hall, his expression twisted into a cold smile.
Yeo Un-hwi, observing them quietly, raised an eyebrow slightly.
He had spotted a familiar face among them.
A woman whose beauty was striking, yet whose face carried an unmistakable cruelty.
‘Dan-mok Hwa-ryeon.’
She was the very woman who had suffered a decisive defeat in a Martial Duel against his wife, Peng Seo-yeon, not long ago, and had fled in disgrace—now appearing at the Five Great Families Gathering.
If that was the case, then these people were……
“What brings you here? The patriarch of the Dan-mok Family, no less? I have no recollection of extending an invitation.”
Nam-goong Hwan, the patriarch of the Nam-goong Estate and the Celestial Sword, met the uninvited guest with cold courtesy.
But Dan-mok Che-ol, the patriarch of the Dan-mok Family, was utterly unfazed by these words and instead let out a contemptuous laugh.
He had always despised the Five Great Families Gathering—and indeed, the Five Great Clans themselves.
It was perhaps because he could not forget the days long past, when the Dan-mok and Moyong families had together been called the Seven Great Families.
But both the Moyong and Dan-mok families had fallen into decline due to a certain ‘incident’ they had caused in the past.
At the time, the patriarchs of both the Dan-mok and Moyong families had stepped down from their positions to take responsibility for that affair, and afterward, the Seven Great Families became five, known as the Five Great Clans, excluding those two.
The Dan-mok Family had recovered some of its strength in recent years, but still it fell far short of comparison with the Five Great Clans.
However, the current patriarch of the Dan-mok Family, Dan-mok Che-ol, was known as an arrogant man of volatile temperament.
“Hmph. I didn’t come here because I wanted to! But how could I possibly restrain myself?”
“What do you mean?”
Immediately, Dan-mok Che-ol’s gaze turned toward Peng Mugang.
“I have business with the patriarch of the Peng Family!”
“With me?”
“Hmph. Is that so.”
Dan-mok Che-ol glared at Peng Mugang, whose expression had turned puzzled.
“Does the Peng Family know no shame? You must know why I’ve come.”
“I’m afraid I haven’t the faintest idea.”
“You’ve all conspired to humiliate my daughter, Hwa-ryeon!”
“What?”
To Peng Mugang, the absurdity of it was suffocating.
“Don’t play innocent with me! I’ve heard it all! You forced my daughter into a Martial Duel, deployed some underhanded trick to make her lose, and turned her into a laughingstock!”
Ha.
Yeo Un-hwi, observing from the sidelines, could barely suppress a bitter laugh.
What on earth had this man heard that made so little sense?
Dang Mu-jun and Hwang-bo Cheon-u, who had been present at the time, shared the same bewilderment.
All three turned their eyes toward Dan-mok Hwa-ryeon, who stood behind Dan-mok Che-ol.
Yet Dan-mok Hwa-ryeon’s face remained brazenly unmoved.
‘You’ve managed to disappoint me to the very end, Hwa-ryeon.’
Dang Mu-jun shook his head.
Dan-mok Hwa-ryeon had fabricated a story for her father and presented it as truth.
What was even more ridiculous was that Dan-mok Che-ol had swallowed her words whole and appeared at the Five Great Families Gathering leading his followers—a display of the blind leading the blind.
Like father, like daughter.
They were remarkably alike: both interpreting situations as they pleased and acting on impulse without so much as a glance at what was actually happening.
Such people existed.
Mad souls who bent reality to their liking and called it truth.
“It seems there’s been some misunderstanding. Surely that cannot be.”
“Yes. There’s no need to be so agitated. Come, let us discuss this calmly.”
While Dang Jin-u puzzled over the situation, Hwang-bo Gyun, sensing the gravity of things, stepped forward with disarming ease.
Peng Mugang, under any other circumstance, would have roared with fury and drawn his blade on the spot. But given where they were, he exercised restraint and kept his words to a minimum, every muscle taut with patience.
And yet—
“I came fully intending to lay waste to the Peng Estate, but when I heard you were here, I chose the path of a man of the Martial World and came instead! So listen well to what I say!”
“That’s enough now.”
“Enough?! Clan Patriarch Peng! I am speaking plainly to you!”
Dan-mok Che-ol pointed an accusing finger at Peng Mugang, his voice trembling with fury.
Seeing Peng Mugang give in so readily had emboldened him.
“It was already beyond tolerance that you took back a woman who abandoned her family for some low-born wretch. But to exploit our precious daughter because of one shameless child—I will not let this pass!”
“What did you just…?”
In that instant, a colossal force erupted from Peng Mugang’s body.
Dan-mok Che-ol had crossed a line that should never be crossed.
His patience had run its course.

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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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