My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 16

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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 16. Let’s Return to Hebei
“No. That’s impossible.”
A night of perfect peace.
Peng Seo-yeon shook her head firmly at the words Yeo Un-hwi spoke—words that shattered that tranquility.
“My love.”
“Father will never forgive me for leaving the clan. And beyond that, even if I could excuse myself somehow, he would never forgive you.”
For years, she had somehow managed to forget that place and move on.
After drifting painfully from place to place, they had finally settled here in Sodam Village, and only then had her heart begun to find peace.
But to undo all those years of hardship they had endured together and return now…….
She didn’t want to. But why?
Now, there was nothing in this world more precious to her than her husband and daughter.
To return would be unthinkable—impossible for her.
Peng Seo-yeon could not understand why Yeo Un-hwi had suddenly spoken such words.
Of course she longed for her family and the place where she was born and raised.
But her father had never truly approved of her love for Yeo Un-hwi, and had even gone so far as to fabricate marriage proposals, desperate to separate them.
Several of these proposals had come from serious suitors.
So she had fled. Abandoning everything.
Because she could see a future where she would lose Yeo Un-hwi if she stayed.
A life spent regretting the path not chosen—the one she truly wanted—was a fate she refused to accept.
On that dawn when she crept away from her clan, Peng Seo-yeon had resolved firmly.
No matter how much she longed for them, no matter how much she wished to see them, she would willingly bear the cost.
And yet this moment now troubled her as deeply as that day had.
She had never imagined—not in her wildest dreams—that it would be Yeo Un-hwi who spoke of returning.
“My father has surely erased me from his life by now. And I have become someone who no longer exists within the clan. If you suggest returning now, what will everyone say?”
In truth, the opinions of others meant nothing to her.
If Peng Seo-yeon had cared about such things from the start, she would never have fallen in love with Yeo Un-hwi—a mere orphan and tutor—nor would she have abandoned everything to run away with him.
But how would her father regard her and her husband upon their return?
Perhaps he would see it as her surrendering to the clan, regretting the youthful presumption and recklessness of her younger days.
That possibility filled Peng Seo-yeon with dread.
But Yeo Un-hwi’s thoughts were different.
“No, it won’t be like that. Your father still yearns for you as his daughter.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“Think of Yul-i.”
Peng Seo-yeon looked at her husband as if asking what he meant.
Yeo Un-hwi continued carefully.
“No matter what Yul-i does, could we ever erase her from our hearts and minds? Wouldn’t we always worry about whether she’s well, whether she’s safe? Wouldn’t we always want to see her?”
“But—”
“Of course he was angry. Very angry. You defied him and then vanished like that. But that’s not all there is. I’m certain—a parent’s heart is the same for all of them.”
……
Peng Seo-yeon fell silent for a moment, moved by her husband’s words.
And Yeo Un-hwi spoke with complete sincerity.
He had not understood the saying that you only truly know a parent’s heart after giving birth to a child—not until before Yul-i was born.
But as Yul-i grew, he came to know it with piercing clarity.
The depths of that love for one’s child.
Though Yeo Un-hwi was an orphan, he was profoundly grateful for this knowledge.
“Though your father is known to be formidable, I don’t believe he’s so cruel as all that. He may never fully accept me as family, of course—ha.”
Yeo Un-hwi scratched his head.
“But you and our daughter Yul-i—he will certainly welcome you both.”
“My love.”
“Trust me. He’s surely been waiting every night for you to return home, longing for his daughter. And shouldn’t we start telling Yul-i that she has a grandmother and grandfather?”
“Well, of course…….”
Peng Seo-yeon had imagined more than once how much her father and mother would cherish Yul-i.
But she had quickly extinguished those hopes and expectations.
Because she had believed it impossible.
And the reason she had never spoken of it was because of her husband, Yeo Un-hwi.
Though he had never spoken it directly, Peng Seo-yeon sensed that her husband felt remorse toward her.
And it was true.
Yeo Un-hwi carried a constant weight of guilt toward his wife, Peng Seo-yeon.
He believed that this woman—precious as jade and gold to her family, showered with love and expectations since childhood as a Renowned Martial Family’s treasured daughter—had sacrificed everything because of him.
If his wife had never met him, how much more would she still be enjoying?
Yeo Un-hwi was certain that Peng Seo-yeon must have lived a brilliant, magnificent life.
But why had he brought up such a topic with her today?
The incident with Dang Gu-hwi this time had weighed heavily on him.
He had failed to protect her. In his past life.
And only in this life had he learned the truth.
About his wife’s poisoning and the conspiracy hidden behind it.
Fortunately, he had not lost his wife in this life, but the more Yeo Un-hwi thought about it, the more his chest sank with dread.
He had vowed, after his Regression, to live protecting his family going forward—yet in the brief time he spent at the Cave of the God of Martial Arts seeking strength, something had nearly happened to his wife.
A thought had seized him.
What if he had been even a moment too late?
What if that poison worked not with a slow burn, but claimed its victim instantly upon contact?
It was unbearable to contemplate.
If so, might he not have spiraled into revenge, consumed by it once more in this life as well?
He could not say what would have become of him, though his daughter Yul-i existed—that much remained uncertain.
In any case, after returning from Sichuan, Yeo Un-hwi had pondered endlessly.
What method could ensure his family’s safety?
Was there a way to keep them absolutely secure even during his absences?
And he had arrived at an answer.
To return to his wife’s family home.
It was undoubtedly the finest option available to him.
Even in his past life, right until the moment he faced death as the Blood Demon, the Hebei Peng Clan had remained untouched by calamity.
In fact, barring some catastrophe like the Heavenly Demon Sect itself marching into the martial world and waging a war that shook its very foundations, the Hebei Peng Clan—one of the Five Great Houses—would never face serious peril.
And there was one more thing.
Peng Seo-yeon did not know this.
Even when Yeo Un-hwi and Peng Seo-yeon had fled the Hebei Peng Clan in that Flight in the Night, her father, Peng Mu-gang, had opposed their union with absolute finality.
‘Even if heaven itself split in two, he said he would never permit it.’
Yeo Un-hwi had believed that Peng Mu-gang would never forgive him—or his daughter for abandoning the clan—not even until his dying breath.
But that had not been the truth.
How did he know?
Because not long after his wife died, Peng Mu-gang appeared at Sodam Village.
The man called the Tiger of Hebei.
Even the Hebei Alliance, which had once held sway over the entirety of the Central Plains, bent to his will—yet on that day, Peng Mu-gang had cradled his cold, still daughter and wept without end.
And, unbelievably, he had apologized to Yeo Un-hwi.
He said it was all his fault.
That his stubborn insistence on having his way, forcing his will upon his daughter, had brought everything to ruin.
Then he had made an offer: would Yeo Un-hwi not send Yul-i to the Hebei Peng Clan?
‘He promised to raise her as the most precious treasure in all the world.’
Yeo Un-hwi had refused the offer.
It was a time of deepest despair, grief-stricken beyond measure.
Now there was nothing left to him but his daughter Yul-i.
And so a stubborn pride had seized him—to raise her well, to show everyone that he could.
But not long after, Yeo Un-hwi came to regret that decision bitterly enough to wish for death.
He should have sent her when Peng Mu-gang had asked.
Had he done so, his daughter would not have perished alone in that burning house, waiting for him.
Because of that refusal, he had spent his days afterward consumed by vengeance, living as the Blood Demon, until he became the martial world’s greatest enemy and met a wretched end.
So now,
having been granted Regression and a second chance, he could not afford such foolish choices again.
Everything had to be reconsidered.
There was no place for pride.
He had lost nothing yet. That was what mattered.
For now, he had obtained the Power of the God of Martial Arts in this life as well, and he harbored no doubt that he could defeat anyone save the Twelve Highest Masters.
And given time, he believed he could overcome even that barrier.
But he had entertained another thought.
If he possessed no martial skill, if he could not defend his family by force—what would be the wisest course in that darkest scenario?
He had considered this hundreds upon hundreds of times.
And gradually, several paths had come into focus.
Soon the answer became clear: powerless as he was in that hypothetical, the superior choice would be to return to the Hebei Peng Clan.
Had he remained there from the start, who would have dared harbor thoughts of poisoning and murdering his wife?
Not even Dang Gu-hwi could accomplish such a thing.
Not unless he wished to provoke open war between the Hebei Peng Clan and the Sichuan Dang Clan.
No, looking at what he had done, the White Paths—who valued ‘visible righteousness’ above all else—would unanimously side with the Hebei Peng Clan.
And Yul-i would not suffer the same fate as in her past life.
That was certain.
As the weakest among them, the best choice he could make would also serve as sound counsel for Yeo Un-hwi, who possessed the Power of the God of Martial Arts.
Right now, he and his family needed the Hebei Peng Clan as a safe sanctuary.
Yeo Un-hwi was convinced of this.
And for the sake of that, whatever trials lay ahead for him now were utterly insignificant.
Nothing could be more important than losing his family.
Of course, there was a possibility that small incidents might occur once he went to the Hebei Peng Clan, but he was no longer so guileless, foolish, or weak as to meekly accept petty harassment and insult without question.
So there was nothing to worry about.
“Everything will be fine. Let’s go back. To Hebei.”
Unlike his usual self, Yeo Un-hwi spoke with conviction.
And faced with such resolve, Peng Seo-yeon could not simply object.
“But if you think you can’t take it anymore, we slip away again, yes? Hah.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
At Yeo Un-hwi’s words, Peng Seo-yeon finally let out a soft laugh.
Her face still bore that worried, hesitant look, but Peng Seo-yeon nodded.
Yeo Un-hwi gently embraced her.
And so they decided to leave Sodam Village and return to Hebei once more.
But before that, there was one thing left to do.
Yeo Un-hwi’s eyes gleamed as he patted Peng Seo-yeon’s back.

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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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