My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 119

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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 119. An Invitation from the Nam Gung Family Estate
How long had he been screaming?
“Uuurgh.”
Dan Mok-cheol trembled violently as he pressed down on his meridians to stanch the bleeding.
Otherwise, he would bleed out and die within moments.
Soon Dan Mok-cheol glared at Yeo Un-hwi with bloodshot eyes, barely suppressing the excruciating pain.
“How dare you! How dare you do this to the Patriarch of the Dan Mok Family and expect to walk away! The Murim League! The Nine Sects and One Way will not stand idle!”
“Ah, is that so? Seems you’re quite close with them. Lucky for me—I never cared much for those people anyway.”
“You dare speak with such—!”
“But really, if no one ever knows, what’s the harm?”
“What, what are you saying? You don’t mean to silence the witnesses.”
“Correct.”
Scrape.
In that instant, Dan Mok-cheol felt something strange.
What was this? An incomprehensible sight unfolded before his eyes in a heartbeat.
He saw his own body, distant now in his vision.
How could this be?
What is this… Ah! I understand now. I’ve already….
Only then did Dan Mok-cheol realize.
His neck had been severed.
“Aaaaaaaahhhhh!”
As Dan Mok-cheol’s head hit the floor, Dan Mok-hwaryeon screamed.
“Father! You’ve gone mad! How could someone calling themselves righteous commit such a horrible act!”
“Pft—righteous? Who says I’m righteous? I’m not righteous. Not heretical either, come to think of it. Certainly not Demonic Sect.”
“What are you—!”
At the incomprehensible words spilling from the Hebei Peng Clan’s son-in-law, Dan Mok-hwaryeon’s face twisted in confusion.
Then Yeo Un-hwi smiled thinly once more.
But Dan Mok-hwaryeon found that smile utterly chilling.
“Why would you go this far? What grave crime could we have possibly committed to deserve this!”
“Why? You’ve committed many. Grave crimes.”
At Yeo Un-hwi’s words, which seemed to suggest he knew everything, Dan Mok-hwaryeon’s face went white.
The secrets she and her family had hidden from the world naturally surfaced in her mind.
But Dan Mok-hwaryeon quickly shook her head.
No. There’s no way that man could know. Absolutely not.
There was no way those matters could have leaked out!
“Well, clearly insulting the Peng Estate and my wife, and putting them in danger—those are grave crimes in themselves. But there’s more, isn’t there.”
“What, what do you mean.”
“Play ignorant if you must. Fine. Very well. If your memory fails you, I’ll spell it out for you.”
In truth, it mattered little to Yeo Un-hwi how Dan Mok-hwaryeon responded.
What mattered was that he knew everything.
The terrible secrets that she—and her family, the Dan Mok Family—had hidden.
“You loaned money to ordinary people as if unconditionally, only to impose interest rates that swelled like rolling snowballs, stripping away their estates and lands. On top of that, you sold children into slavery in various places. The fortune built that way was quite substantial.”
Dan Mok-hwaryeon’s eyes widened as though they might split.
She could not believe it.
That was a secret the Dan Mok Family had kept locked away within itself alone.
Moreover, those deeds had been carried out through an organization under a different name, not the Dan Mok Family directly.
That was why the Dan Mok Family had recovered its standing so swiftly, unlike the Mo-yong Family.
It was not merely Dan Mok-cheol’s doing.
Dan Mok-hwaryeon herself had committed such acts and worse alongside her father, again and again.
Without anyone knowing.
“That was, that was necessary to restore our family’s fortune!”
“Stop spouting such nonsense. It’s not worth hearing.”
Yeo Un-hwi approached Dan Mok-hwaryeon slowly, his aura expanding further.
“Gasp, uuurgh… hack.”
Dan Mok-hwaryeon staggered and gasped for breath.
It was nearly impossible to breathe beneath the tremendous force radiating from Yeo Un-hwi.
An absolutely overwhelming presence.
Dan Mok-hwaryeon had never encountered such an absolute being in her life.
No one compared.
Not the Patriarchs of the Five Great Clans with their Ten Great Masters, nor even the Master of the Murim League itself.
Where in the world did such a monster come from.
But there was no time for such thoughts.
Yeo Un-hwi had drawn close enough to stand directly before her.
Dan Mok-hwaryeon, drained of all color by terror, stumbled backward and screamed.
“No, no, don’t! I want to live! I want to live!”
“No. There are far more people who would rejoice at your deaths than at your living. I’m one of them. So now, die.”
Yeo Un-hwi raised his blade slowly.
“Aaaaah! No!”
Believing this her final moment, Dan Mok-hwaryeon clutched her head and squeezed her eyes shut.
Where had it all gone wrong.
Her life had been perfect.
Then someone came to mind.
A woman radiant with warmth and a smile without flaw.
Peng Seo-yeon.
Dan Mok-hwaryeon despised her with a terrible intensity.
Everything about her—so utterly unlike herself—filled her with revulsion.
She had shone with genuine brilliance, loved by all without ever having to strive for it.
She had smiled as if untouched by the world’s filth, so pure, so dignified, so alone.
Yes, it was you. If you had never been…
Dan Mok-hwaryeon never recognized her own fault, not even at the end.
And then,
Crunch.
Her consciousness extinguished with that sound.
***
Yeo Un-hwi returned to the Nam Gung Family Estate not long after.
Only the Baeklang Dae and Peng Sejin knew of his absence.
But no one asked him about it.
They seemed to understand why without being told. That was why asking felt dangerous.
Besides, in a place where so many ears listened, it was better to wait until they returned to the Peng Estate to hear the details.
As the Baeklang Dae and Peng Sejin exchanged worried glances, Yeo Un-hwi let out a soft laugh.
He had just finished erasing every corpse and trace.
Thoroughly, so that no one could ever recognize what had happened.
The Dan Mok Family was not like the rulers of the Golden Manor, who did not care if bodies were found openly.
If their corpses were discovered, matters would grow grave.
And this was near the Nam Gung Family Estate, where the Five Great Clans had gathered.
Evidence had to be removed, and suspicion needed to be avoided.
No one would ever know what had transpired there, no matter how much time passed.
And so the Clan Patriarch of the Dan Mok Family and all those with him, including his daughter, simply vanished.
“Wahaha! This bastard! You’re already drunk?”
“Drunk, I—who’s drunk! Hiccup!”
“Good grief! Hey, before this fool stands up and starts dancing again, just give him more to drink and lay him down. If we let him dance, we won’t be able to show our faces tomorrow!”
“What? Are you insulting my dancing? Watch this—I’ll show you real skill! Hiccup!”
“Ugh, come on! Give him more to drink! Just stick the cup in his mouth!”
The first day’s boisterous banquet was drawing to a close.
After the initial caution, the Baeklang Dae had returned to their rowdy revelry, drinking and laughing without restraint. Watching them, Yeo Un-hwi smiled lightly and passed his cup along.
Then,
“Greetings. You are the leader of the Baeklang Dae?”
When he turned, a striking, handsome man stood before him.
He was a familiar face.
He had to be—he was famous.
He was Nam Gung Sang-hyeok, the Heavenly Dragon, one of the Six Dragons.
“There is something I wished to discuss with you.”
He smiled thinly at Yeo Un-hwi.
***
The next day.
From early morning, the members of the Baeklang Dae gathered in the open ground before their quarters.
All dressed formally.
Why?
Because the entire Baeklang Dae had received a special summons.
From Nam Gung Hwan, the Clan Patriarch of the Nam Gung Family, who bore the title of Emperor’s Sword.
That was the reason Nam Gung Sang-hyeok had come calling the night before.
Yet for some reason, Peng Do-hwan stood among the lined-up Baeklang Corps looking utterly anxious.
Gu Tae-san turned to Peng Do-hwan with a puzzled expression and asked.
“Why do you look like a ghost? Going somewhere to die?”
“It’s just… doesn’t something feel off?”
“Off? We’re going as invited guests—what’s off about that?”
“Well, yes, but it’s not just anywhere. It’s the Nam Gung Family Estate. They’re famous for their pride, you know. And I’m thinking people like that probably don’t think in ordinary ways.”
“If they don’t think ordinary?”
The Baeklang Corps members, including O Chae-mu, who had been listening to their exchange, joined in.
Peng Do-hwan stroked his chin and spoke gravely.
“Why would the Nam Gung Family invite us?”
“Well, it must be about the Absolute Demon.”
“Right. They’re probably just going to thank us.”
At the words of the Ki-su and Ki-sang brothers, Peng Do-hwan heaved a long sigh.
“That would be some relief, at least.”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Do you really think they’ll simply thank us for taking their vengeance? What if they’re actually angry and picking a fight because we stole a revenge they’ve been grinding their teeth over for so long?”
By ordinary logic, if someone killed your sworn enemy for you, gratitude would be the natural response.
But most people were just that—most. There were always those who saw the same situation differently.
And besides, weren’t all martial artists strange sorts to begin with?
The Nam Gung Family especially—they were among the strongest houses to have dominated the Martial World for generations, the most quintessential of martial artists.
It would be foolish to make hasty judgments about how they might react, or so Peng Do-hwan believed.
Hmm.
The other Baeklang Corps members, who had been thinking simply before, took on serious expressions.
His words held weight.
One by one, they began to fear the Nam Gung Family’s invitation.
“Are we really sure we should just go like this?”
“What if they chop our heads off when we get there?”
Do-gyeong, standing nearby, smacked the backs of the Ki-su and Ki-sang brothers, who had gone too far with their speculation.
“Say something sensible. Why in the world would they cut off our heads? Are we the Absolute Demon?”
“Right. Even if they tried, they wouldn’t go that far.”
“Then why invite us separately and make it so scary?”
Well.
Unease spread by Peng Do-hwan had them all trembling.
The same was true of O Chae-mu and Gu Tae-san.
Having seen all manner of strange people in their time, they perhaps understood why such a reaction was inevitable.
Then,
“Haha. You’re all getting ahead of yourselves with worry.”
Yeo Un-hwi appeared late, smiling.
He must have overheard the conversation the Baeklang Corps had been having.
“You’ve arrived.”
“Yes. Did everyone sleep well?”
“Yes. We drank so heavily that everyone passed out completely.”
They had meant to drink moderately, but when the Dan Mok Family stirred up the atmosphere like that, the wine flowed all the more freely down their throats.
After Yeo Un-hwi disappeared and returned later, there was a moment of sobriety, but being simple-minded and quick to forget, they soon went back to drinking steadily.
In any case,
“But what do you think, Commander? About the invitation?”
“From the Nam Gung Family, you mean?”
“Yes. I confess it troubles me.”
“Your concerns might be justified, or they might not be. But what good does it do us to worry about it now?”
Yeo Un-hwi smiled as he spoke.
“That we met the Absolute Demon at the mountain fortress and fought him and took his head—it was chance, but it happened. And that deed is nothing to be ashamed of; rather, it’s something to be proud of. Yes?”
“Yes, sir. It is.”
Among the Baeklang Corps members at the time, only Peng Do-hwan had not been present.
And precisely because of that, he could speak with more certainty.
That beheading the Absolute Demon was undoubtedly a feat worthy of praise.
“So whether they thank us for it or challenge us on it, we have no reason to worry. We’ve done nothing shameful. And since we didn’t even know where the Absolute Demon dwelled or hunt him deliberately, we have even less reason. Yes?”
“That’s right.”
“So even if they demand why we stole their revenge, we shouldn’t shrink back. And if they are the Nam Gung Family, we are the Baeklang Corps that guards the Hebei Peng Clan. There’s no reason to lose our confidence. So straighten your spines.”
At Yeo Un-hwi’s words, the anxiety that had plagued the Baeklang Corps vanished completely.
Instead, his chest began to burn hot once more.
That was right. If they were the Nam Gung Family Estate, then we were the Hebei Peng Clan.
If there was no wrong in our conduct, then we should face them with confidence.
Watching the keen light return to the eyes of the Baekrang Corps members, Yeo Un-hwi smiled.
“I spoke carelessly, it seems.”
“Needless worry does the body no good. Rid yourself of the habit of fearing things that haven’t even come to pass.”
“Yes, Commander.”
As Yeo Un-hwi gave an encouraging pat to Peng Do-hwan’s shoulder, the young man nodded with renewed resolve.
“Come then. Shall we go?”
“Yes!”
Soon the Baekrang Corps began to move, Yeo Un-hwi leading the way.
Their destination was the Nam Gung Family Estate, to the Patriarch’s residence.

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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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