My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 151

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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 151. The Crimson March
“We’re almost there now. Everyone prepare yourselves.”
“Right. Let’s do this.”
A merchant caravan was making its way along a mountain road.
This was one of the fastest routes toward Hebei.
But the moment one of them spoke, the others let out heavy sighs and pulled something from their robes.
Coin purses.
They were preparing the tribute payments in advance for the bandits who would soon appear.
“Ugh. What are we doing with our lives?”
“I know. Handing over money to those rotten bastards—it makes my blood boil!”
The merchants couldn’t help but exhale their frustration; there was no joy in what lay ahead.
The eldest among them suddenly stiffened and gestured for silence.
“Quiet, all of you. Watch your tongues. What if they hear? Haven’t you learned from last time? Do you want another beating like that?”
The bandits who controlled this road were utterly without conscience.
The previous ones had at least shown some caution and restraint—there’d been some semblance of order to their dealings.
But whether the leader had changed or they’d brought in entirely new men, these ones now drew blades first and asked questions later of anyone who passed.
The merchants traveling this road had already suffered at their hands once before.
They’d tried to negotiate and reduce their payments, and nearly lost their heads for it—stripped of everything they carried.
“What of the magistrate? Does he do nothing?”
One merchant, though he’d prepared the tribute as instructed, couldn’t help but voice his bewilderment.
Another trader laughed dryly at the question.
“Ah, so this is your first time on this road? I hear you haven’t been in business long.”
“Yes. It turned out that way.”
“Well then, listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you.”
His expression grew serious as he offered his counsel to the newcomer.
“The magistrate won’t help you. Not now, and likely not in the future.”
“But how can that be?”
“When we ordinary folk report this to the authorities, they don’t send men to actually deal with it. Most magistrates are either too lazy or they take bribes and look the other way.”
Even the man offering this advice sighed heavily—the reality was unbearable.
“Say there’s one honest official who might listen to us. What good does it do? The corrupt ones won’t tolerate such a person. They’ll remove him by any means necessary. After all, an honest man only cuts into their profits.”
“I see.”
“So what choice do we have? We have business to conduct, and we must use this road. We pay the tribute and accept it. A cursed situation, truly.”
The newcomer fell silent.
What more could be said?
The merchant who’d explained it all shook his head and continued walking.
“Anyway, we’re nearly there. Once we crest that hill, they should appear.”
All the merchants tensed, preparing to hand over their tribute.
Hoping against hope that today would pass without incident.
But no matter how long they waited, no one appeared.
Something was wrong.
Uneasy, several merchants left the road and pushed through the undergrowth to scout the area.
They feared being careless only to be ambushed later and suffer for it.
And then—
“Aaaahhh! C-corpses!”
The ground was strewn with bandit bodies.
A veritable sea of blood.
And the corpses—every single one was torn to shreds.
Horrifically so.
“Good heavens. What… what happened here?”
Who could have passed through this way?
They didn’t yet know.
They didn’t yet know that corpses would pile high along every road ahead.
Someone was walking a terrible path of blood.
Toward Hebei.
***
“So the Murim League has received word and shown no reaction whatsoever?”
In a certain secret chamber.
Jin So-baek’s face twisted as he listened to his subordinate’s report.
“Yes. It appears they have no intention of taking immediate action.”
“Damn it!”
Jin So-baek slammed the desk in his fury.
Were they genuinely out of their minds?
It was true that the source of the information was unclear, and hesitation was understandable.
But shouldn’t they at least send someone to investigate, to verify the facts?
Yet they weren’t moving at all.
‘Do they not care whether it’s true or false? Even if the Peng Estate in Hebei falls to the Demonic Sect?’
A hollow laugh escaped Jin So-baek’s lips.
The Murim League was far more rotten than he’d imagined.
“Damn it!”
How had things come to this?
Jin So-baek’s discovery of the Demonic Sect’s movements was no accident.
Sensing something amiss in their recent stirrings, he had kept them under close watch for some time.
Then suddenly, they began to move in earnest.
The Demonic Sect divided its forces into several contingents and dispersed them in different directions.
And soon after, those scattered units began to converge, slowly circling inward toward a single point.
That point was none other than Hebei.
Had only a small force mobilized, he wouldn’t have thought it so grave.
After all, they had always operated covertly within the Martial World.
But this time was different.
What troubled him most was that the force they’d dispatched exceeded all expectations.
‘Four of the Ten Demon Fortresses are on the move.’
This astonishing fact had emerged from painstakingly tracking their movements and analyzing their strength through various methods.
And to make matters worse, Gwak Un-do—the third in line and widely regarded as the most formidable candidate for the position of Demonic Sect Leader—had also stepped forward.
Such a force was little different from waging outright war.
They had prepared themselves with meticulous care.
Clearly, they weren’t coming to Hebei for a pleasure tour.
They had lost their elite contingent and the Black Demon Fortress there in the past.
What else could their objective be?
A mere investigation? No—they clearly suspected the Peng Estate in Hebei.
And they were moving to strike it.
Speculation, you say?
One need only look at the blade and manpower the Demonic Sect had drawn to see it.
Had they merely wanted simple pressure or intimidation, they would never have mobilized forces of this magnitude.
This was no hollow show of strength.
They were the Demonic Sect.
And the Demonic Sect had never sheathed a blade once drawn without spilling blood.
Jin So-baek was certain of his judgment.
With crisis hovering at the threshold, a frantic Jin So-baek racked his brain until the Murim League finally came to mind.
In the Orthodox Martial World, what other great power existed to stand against the Demonic Sect?
Assembling all five of the Great Clans at once would have been ideal, but that was impossible.
Above all, there was no time.
And if even one or two of the Five Great Clans fell short, the effort was already lost.
A clumsy recruitment of the Five Great Clans would only magnify the damage.
So he had hurried to inform the Murim League, the sole power great enough to check the Demonic Sect.
But he hadn’t expected the Murim League to respond like this.
“These so-called Orthodox Sect bastards truly know how to put on a show!”
Jin So-baek rose from his seat with a click of his tongue.
He moved swiftly to prepare for departure.
Bae Cho-jin, one of his trusted subordinates, asked in bewilderment.
“Where are you going, sir?”
“To the Peng Estate in Hebei.”
“What? But sir… the Demonic Sect could arrive any moment.”
“There’s still time. And they need to hear this from me directly.”
They wouldn’t know yet.
They had to understand what situation they were in.
A mere letter might not convince them. So Jin So-baek had decided to go himself.
At this decision, Bae Cho-jin asked with incomprehension written across his face.
Why go to such lengths? Weren’t they simply supposed to sell information and be done with it?
To this, Jin So-baek replied.
“Of course that’s how it normally works. It’s just that this is… how should I put it. Simply a show of consideration for a valued client.”
Jin So-baek understood perfectly well.
That his answer would sound quite strange to others.
But what else could he do?
When he himself couldn’t make sense of it.
Even as he told himself this was an investment in the future, he knew full well it was neither sensible nor rational.
Properly speaking, he should have walked away.
But…….
Anyway, deeper thoughts could wait.
Right now there was no time for pointless debate.
Jin So-baek’s steps toward the Peng Estate in Hebei quickened with urgency.
***
“Grandfather! Grandmother!”
Yul-i had just finished her day at Sowol Academy and returned to the Peng Estate with Peng Seo-yeon.
“Goodness, our Yul-i is so spirited and lovely today. Did you enjoy your time at the academy?”
“Yes! It’s always joyful and wonderful there!”
Yul-i beamed with delight.
Sowol Academy had become an indispensable place for her.
It was filled with everything she loved.
Friends, teachers, and the beautiful grounds of the academy itself.
Each time she returned home, her naturally cheerful face would bloom brighter still, radiant as a flower.
Of course, there was one thing lately that dimmed Yul-i’s spirits: she hadn’t seen her father in some time.
Her father had stayed away from home far longer than she had expected.
Yul-i counted the days until he would return.
When he came back, she wanted to rush into his arms and tell him everything about the academy—every little detail, no matter how small.
And then, as always, father would smile and ruffle her hair.
The thought alone made her happy.
She loved her father so very much.
Of course, she loved her grandfather and grandmother too.
“Hehe.”
Watching Yul-i fidget with excitement as she recounted her day, Peng Mugang and Dan Hee-young couldn’t stop smiling.
She was truly lovely and cherished.
Because of such a granddaughter, they spent their aging years in boundless happiness.
Peng Mugang especially felt this way.
Wherever he went, talk of his granddaughter never left his lips.
The problem was all the ruffians who surrounded them, doting on the girl as if she were their own granddaughter.
Why had he never known such happiness before?
Then suddenly his gaze fell upon Peng Seo-yeon’s face.
The daughter who had given birth to such a lovely granddaughter filled him with pride and gratitude.
But he had never once expressed such feelings to her.
Though he now openly doted on Yul-i before all eyes, the weight of all those years made him feel awkward and shy around his daughter still.
Then, all of a sudden,
“…I hear you’ve taken up cultivation again?”
Peng Mugang, who had been lost in thought, suddenly spoke to Peng Seo-yeon.
“I? Ah. Yes…….”
Peng Seo-yeon trailed off, bracing herself for another lecture.
But then,
“In that case, you’ll need someone to guide you properly.”
Words she never expected came from Peng Mugang’s mouth.
“I’m not sure when I’ll have the time, but if you need anything, just say so.”
Peng Seo-yeon fell silent, her face blank with shock, until Dan Hee-young nudged her.
She understood that Peng Mugang had gathered his courage.
His offer hung in the air as Peng Seo-yeon’s continued silence made him uncomfortable, and he began to withdraw his words.
“Unless you’d rather not. If you don’t want my help, I won’t force…….”
“No!”
Finally grasping the situation, Peng Seo-yeon answered louder than she intended.
Her face shone with unmistakable joy.
“I’d love that. Then please, I’d be grateful.”
“Ahem. Yes. I understand.”
Peng Mugang cleared his throat matter-of-factly and nodded.
But did he realize?
His face had flushed in a way that didn’t suit him at all.
“Anyway, you really are something. Pfft!”
“Why are you laughing like that? What did I do?”
“It’s nothing. Ha-ha-ha!”
Dan Hee-young could no longer contain herself and burst into giggles.
While others saw Peng Mugang as a roaring tiger or some other fearsome beast, to her eyes he could only ever be her endearing husband.
The distance between her husband and daughter, which had seemed impossible to bridge, had drawn one step closer.
Yes. That was how it worked—one small step at a time, things could only improve.
And so laughter filled the gardens of the Peng Estate in Hebei once again.
It was then.
“Father!”
Peng Sejin appeared, his voice urgent.
“What is it?”
For some reason, Peng Sejin’s face was ashen.
At the sight of his son’s grave expression, Peng Mugang’s features hardened.
“I think you’ll need to come with me for a moment, sir.”

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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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