My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 122

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

Chapter 122. Seed of Destruction
“Father! Grandfather! Uncle!”
The moment everyone who had departed for the Five Great Clans gathering returned, Yul-i waved her hands with unbridled delight.
Perched on Gu Wangbiao’s shoulders—not cradled in his arms, but sitting firmly atop them—she wore the most endearing smile.
Everyone, including Yeo Un-hwi, smiled back at her.
The members of the Baeklang Dae did likewise, grinning at the sight of Yul-i.
After spending so long surrounded by rough, gruff men, seeing the adorable Yul-i felt like stepping straight into paradise.
“You must be weary from your long journey.”
Dan Hee-young, who had come to welcome them, smiled warmly as she greeted Peng Mugang.
Peng Seo-yeon stood beside her mother, beaming at Yeo Un-hwi.
Yul-i approached as well.
Or more precisely, Gu Wangbiao, who was carrying Yul-i on his shoulders, drew near.
“Grandfather!”
Meeting Yeo Un-hwi’s gaze, Yul-i laughed brightly before turning her eyes toward Peng Mugang.
“Goodness, my little granddaughter. Have you been well?”
“Yes! I was lonely, but Uncle Grandfather played with me every day, so it was so much fun!”
“Uncle… Grandfather?”
“Yes!”
Yul-i then looked toward Gu Wangbiao.
The two had grown remarkably close, gazing at each other and laughing.
Unable to contain himself any longer, Peng Mugang wasted no time in pulling Gu Wangbiao aside.
“A word with you, if you don’t mind.”
The two men stepped to the side, positioning themselves face to face.
Of course, they lowered their voices so Yul-i wouldn’t hear.
“What is it, Clan Patriarch?”
What is it?
His expression was unchanged from every other day, his tone the same—yet today it struck Peng Mugang as audaciously brazen.
“Elder Gu, we go back a long way, don’t we?”
“We do.”
“And you know I’d walk through fire and death for you.”
“As would I. Haha.”
“But I won’t share my granddaughter’s affection. Do. You. Understand?”
At this point, he should have taken the hint.
But instead,
“I’m afraid that would be difficult for me.”
“What?”
“I would gladly give my life for you, Clan Patriarch. However, it’s unfortunate that Yul-i has grown so fond of her Uncle Grandfather here. What am I to do? Haha!”
“…What underhanded scheme did you employ?”
“Surely you jest! I merely displayed my benevolent and attentive nature. Children do adore such grandfathers, do they not? Hahaha!”
What he left unspoken was that he’d relentlessly tempted her with gift bundles every single day—even unto death.
Peng Mugang, who never suspected Gu Wangbiao capable of such a backstab, let out a low growl.
“Are you truly going to play this way?”
Yet Gu Wangbiao’s expression made clear he had no intention of backing down.
Just then,
“Ho. So you’re Yeo Soryul, are you?”
Hwangbo Gyun had descended from the carriage and was looking down at Yul-i.
“Huh? Who are you, grandfather?”
Yul-i’s large eyes gleamed as she gazed up at Hwangbo Gyun.
Her appearance was nothing short of precious.
Hwangbo Gyun’s face split into an enormous grin in an instant.
“Me? I’m someone who becomes your great-grandfather!”
“Great-grandfather?”
Peng Mugang’s eyes widened at this development.
That audacious old fool! Who said you were her great-grandfather?
What in blazes were these old men doing?
Being a grandfather with a charming granddaughter was proving to be an exhausting ordeal.
***
“What… in heaven’s name is happening?”
Dang Jin-woo stood with eyes wide, surveying the horrific scene where walls were painted with blood.
A catastrophe had befallen the Sacheon Dang Clan upon the Five Great Clans’ return from their gathering.
Many of the Sacheon Dang Family members had died in a manner so horrifyingly brutal it defied comprehension.
It had happened while the Clan Patriarch Dang Jin-woo and Dang Mu-jun were away for several days attending a Five Great Clans council meeting with Jeok-wol-dae.
All in the span of just a few short days.
And the one responsible for this horrific deed was…….
“It’s Young Master Dang Gu-hwi, sir!”
“He suddenly emerged from his room and began deploying the Killing Method indiscriminately!”
The surviving members of the Sacheon Dang Family, their bodies trembling, reported the truth to Dang Jin-woo.
Somehow, Dang Gu-hwi—a man who had never been able to move on his own—had suddenly left his room and begun systematically slaughtering everyone in sight.
Then, his body drenched in blood, he had laughed with an eerie, twisted sound before vanishing, speaking these words:
That he would destroy this cursed Sacheon Dang Family with his own hands, in the most terrible way imaginable.
“That makes no sense! How could a man who couldn’t even move possibly have gotten out and deployed the Killing Method?”
“I—I don’t know, sir! But it’s the truth!”
The one recounting the events lay flat against the floor, trembling.
Dang Jin-woo’s murderous aura suddenly erupted, filling the air with terror.
His eyes burned crimson with fury.
“Father.”
Dang Mu-jun, equally bewildered, nevertheless forced himself to remain composed as he tried to calm his father.
Under his son’s urging, Dang Jin-woo suppressed his rage as much as he could and questioned the elders.
“How many casualties?”
He soon learned that more than fifty of the Sacheon Dang Family’s warriors had been killed.
“The boy has gone completely mad. Nothing else could explain it!”
Dang Jin-woo’s entire body shook.
This was fury that transcended mere disappointment in a son.
“I’m issuing a warrant for his arrest. As of this moment, Dang Gu-hwi is an enemy of the Sacheon Dang Family.”
His voice was ice itself.
“If circumstances are unfavorable, there’s no need to take him alive. Kill him on sight, by whatever means necessary. And make sure the other clans hear of this!”
“C-Clan Patriarch! Spreading word to the other clans would bring disgrace upon our Sacheon Dang Family’s name!”
“Foolish talk at a time like this!”
One of the elders attempted to remonstrate, but the raw fury in Dang Jin-woo’s gaze silenced him. He closed his mouth and said nothing more.
Dang Jin-woo shouted once more at those who hesitated.
“What are you waiting for? Move!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Dang Jin-woo’s gaze then turned toward Dang Mu-jun.
Meeting his father’s eyes, Dang Mu-jun could not begin to measure the depth of rage his father felt.
Dang Jin-woo then spoke to Dang Mu-jun, making certain all present would hear.
“Mu-jun. That wretch has committed a crime beyond all forgiveness. From this moment on, consider your elder brother dead. I shall do the same.”
And with that, Dang Jin-woo disappeared into his chambers.
Dang Mu-jun exhaled deeply.
What on earth could have happened in his absence?
***
The day before Dang Jin-woo and Dang Mu-jun returned to the Sacheon Dang Family.
Wheeze. Wheeze.
A grotesque sound, as though air were leaking from a punctured lung, echoed repeatedly through the room.
Dang Gu-hwi lay in his room, unable to move, breathing laboriously.
As always.
All he could manage was the act of breathing itself.
‘How did I come to this? How?’
Dang Gu-hwi lay in a dark room where no one would find him, ceaselessly cursing and resenting the world.
Nor did Dang Gu-hwi ever seek the blame within himself.
He was that kind of man.
Yet despite this, there was nothing whatsoever he could do.
Dang Gu-hwi could only lie there, waiting for death, a pitiful creature incapable of anything else.
Then, at that very moment,
[Are you wronged? Does the world fill you with resentment?]
A voice reached his ears.
In an instant, Dang Gu-hwi’s pupils dilated as he gasped for breath.
‘Who—who are you?!’
Unable to move his body or speak, he cried out within himself.
A scream no one could hear.
[Does it matter who I am?]
Yet his voice replied as though he could hear the words Dang Gu-hwi had cried out silently within himself.
It was a sound that rang not from the ears, but from deep within the mind.
Strange and unsettling—a sensation that made his skin crawl.
Yet strangely, Dang Gu-hwi found himself wanting to hear that voice again and again.
It continued to echo inside his skull.
[Do you desire power?
Then remember. That single adversary whom you curse above all others.
It shall grant you endless darkness and strength.]
Curse… an adversary?
Dang Gu-hwi’s eyes rolled as several faces came flooding back to him.
The first to surface was that masked man—the one who had claimed to be Peng Seo-yeon’s husband.
The very architect of his ruin.
Grit.
That bastard could never be forgiven. Never.
But—
‘No. No, that’s not it.’
A deeper resentment dwelled within him. A more ancient curse. A hatred that ran far more profound.
In an instant, all thought of Yeo Un-hwi was erased from his mind.
And two other faces bloomed in their place.
First came the memory of his father.
That man who had looked upon him with such contempt at the sight of his condition, offered no vengeance, left him to rot, and never returned.
‘How could you do this to me? How could you?’
And then.
The final face to emerge.
That single existence which had transformed his brilliant life into a prison of inferiority.
It was Dang Mu-jun.
‘Yes. It was you. All of this—it was because of you!’
He had thought of it countless times.
That day.
When he had fallen to the masked man and become what he was now.
His brother had appeared at just the right moment, arriving as if by providence to save him.
But could it truly have been mere coincidence?
No. Absolutely not.
It had been far too perfectly orchestrated—a script written with meticulous care.
Yes. Now it all made sense.
That masked man must have been prepared by him.
The story about knowing of Peng Seo-yeon’s affair and coming for revenge—all of it was a lie.
The more he considered it, the less it held together.
How could the mere husband of that woman be a master of such caliber?
The only meaning such an impossible scenario could carry was singular.
‘Heh. Yes. All. All of it was your plan.’
By some method he could not fathom, Dang Mu-jun must have conspired with such a formidable master to reduce him to this—a cripple who could neither speak nor move, unable to do anything at all.
And he would confess all the wrongdoings his elder brother had committed to their father.
Then their father would abandon him and make Dang Mu-jun the heir instead. That was the plan.
Fallen victim to that scheme, he had been cast aside by the Sacheon Dang Clan.
And Dang Mu-jun had faced that master himself and become a hero who saved his brother.
‘I was played. Like a dog.’
Perfectly. Absolutely perfectly played.
Heh.
Behind that innocent smiling face had lurked such vicious malice all along.
You. You alone I can never forgive.
Dang Mu-jun. My brother—my curse incarnate.
[Hehehehe… another Seed of Destruction has been perfected. Kehehehe.]
Once that singular, towering rage and hatred found its target, his body began to be engulfed in black energy.
[Yes. That’s it.
Pour forth your hatred.
And bestow the flames of destruction upon your house and all the Central Plains Martial World.]
Thrummmmm.
Not long after, Dang Gu-hwi’s body slowly began to levitate, and soon great tendrils of black energy radiated outward from his form.
The painful cries that had first escaped Dang Gu-hwi’s lips slowly began to fade.
“Aaaahhhhh… Uhhhhhhh…….”
Then, slowly rising to his feet, Dang Gu-hwi opened his eyes.
Both his eyes had turned pitch black.
‘I will give you the most terrible hell imaginable, brother.’
And that day.
Dang Gu-hwi vanished from the Sacheon Dang Clan.
He slaughtered everyone in sight.
The greatest traitor in the history of the Sacheon Dang Clan was born.

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