My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 32

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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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Chapter 32. A Matter No One Desires
A fortnight had passed since Peng Sejin was ambushed by mysterious beasts and returned.
During that time, the Habuk Peng Family had mobilized all available personnel to investigate who had orchestrated the attack, but the truth remained elusive.
Yet the clue unraveled from an unexpected quarter—when word spread that Peng Sejin had survived, one of the Habuk merchants involved in the conspiracy was seized by such terror at not knowing when his guilt would be exposed that he voluntarily confessed.
He was the one who had secretly applied a scent to Peng Sejin that would not fade for four days.
“Spare me, I beg you. My eyes were blinded by greed for a moment, and I……!”
But mercy was not forthcoming.
Though he had confessed of his own accord, this did nothing to appease the roaring tiger’s wrath.
Only his family was spared, on the condition that they leave Habuk.
And the true architect behind it all: the Hwang-geum-jang.
The culprit turned out to be far more formidable than expected.
The Hwang-geum-jang was a merchant organization with influence spreading across the entire Murim, and their wealth was immeasurable.
It was already common knowledge throughout the Murim that they would undertake any vile work for coin without hesitation.
Yet the power they wielded through that fortune was not to be taken lightly, and no one dared lay hands on them carelessly.
Regardless, what they had done against the Peng Family could never be forgiven.
Peng Mugang, having learned the identity of the culprit, had no intention of leaving them be.
But then, astonishingly, a startling truth came to light.
The Hwang-geum-jang had burned to ash several days prior, and the three masters who ruled it had recently been discovered at the foot of a cliff in Goshan, their skulls shattered and their bodies exposed.
It would have been difficult to identify them by their remains alone, so thoroughly had they been stripped bare,
but the unique marks and adornments etched upon their bodies—insignia of the three who governed the Hwang-geum-jang—remained, and through these they were recognized.
In any case, the Hwang-geum-jang had been a burdensome adversary for the Peng Family, yet that adversary had now vanished entirely.
Even more astounding was that the enormous treasures and riches that had been housed within the Hwang-geum-jang had disappeared without a trace.
Those who rushed to the burned ruins hoping to salvage anything of value came away empty-handed.
It was utterly bewildering.
Each time such astonishing news came to light, Peng Mugang and Peng Sejin found themselves thinking of the mysterious master of unknown identity who had saved Peng Sejin that night.
Who on earth could he be?
Others would surely never have dared to entertain such a notion.
Yet the two men of the Peng Family harbored a faint suspicion.
They merely kept shaking their heads because it made so little sense.
***
“Why don’t you entrust him with something?”
The master’s study.
Dan Xiyung broached the subject abruptly in the midst of her quiet conversation with Peng Mugang over tea.
Peng Mugang regarded his wife with a puzzled expression.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Our only son-in-law, of course.”
Understanding dawned on Peng Mugang’s face, and he let out a snort of amusement.
He clearly remained dissatisfied with Yeo Unhui.
Though lately another peculiar reason had surfaced as well.
In any case, the man was one you could half-understand and yet not truly fathom.
He grumbled as he spoke.
“A son-in-law? More like a freeloader.”
“Precisely why you should help him avoid earning that name.”
Peng Mugang didn’t budge an inch despite Dan Xiyung’s words.
Dan Xiyung’s eyes narrowed as she fixed her gaze upon her husband.
“You’re not seriously planning to leave him idle and do nothing? You ought to help him settle in properly.”
“How can you ask me to entrust work to someone who spent his whole life reading books and studying?”
“We can’t know that for certain. Still, he’ll do well at whatever you give him.”
“On what grounds?”
At Peng Mugang’s question, Dan Xiyung smiled knowingly and replied.
“You can tell just by looking at him.”
“I don’t know. Looking at him, I can’t make heads or tails of anything.”
“You really…….”
Flinch.
When Dan Xiyung’s eyes blazed, Peng Mugang visibly cowered.
Indeed, the only thing Peng Mugang truly feared was Dan Xiyung.
A man who seemed unmoved even if ten thousand troops descended upon him—would he show such trembling elsewhere?
Seeing her husband thus, Dan Xiyung released a long, deep sigh.
“I’m not asking you to grant him some grand title or position. I’m simply saying we should entrust him with something so he can settle in well here.”
Yet despite Dan Xiyung’s words, Peng Mugang shook his head once more.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. If anything, handing this over to the wrong person will only breed more gossip—that he’s living well off the back of a good marriage, that’s what they’ll say.”
“If he stays quiet now, that’s exactly the kind of talk that will spread anyway.”
Ordinarily, when Peng Mugang spoke with such conviction, even Dan Xiyung would yield without argument.
But today, Dan Xiyung showed no sign of backing down.
This was the first time his wife had ever shown such resolve. Peng Mugang found himself thoroughly bewildered.
Instead, Dan Xiyung pressed forward with even greater firmness.
“Even if it’s not something many people would covet or want to do, even if martial skill isn’t immediately necessary—let him take on something he can do well.”
“Hmm, something others wouldn’t readily choose to do, then…….”
In the end, Peng Mugang decided to accept his wife’s counsel.
Yet Dan Xiyung had been thinking of simple administrative matters, while at that very moment Peng Mugang’s mind had turned to something entirely different—a fact of which Dan Xiyung remained blissfully unaware.
“Well. If you insist on it so strongly…….”
“Truly?”
“Yes. I understand your meaning well. I shall do as you wish.”
Dan Xiyung’s face brightened at once.
Delighted by her husband’s unexpectedly swift agreement, she beamed like a child.
But beside her, a meaningful smile was spreading across Peng Mugang’s face.
‘I wonder if those fellows are keeping themselves in check. Tsk.’
***
“Please, I beg you—spare us! We’ve given you everything we have!”
Along a narrow road in Habuk, a band of armed men wielding swords was terrorizing a group of merchants laden with goods on their carts.
Watching them tremble, the sword-wielding brigands laughed with glee.
“What are you saying? Surely you have more.”
“B-but what do you mean…….”
“Your lives, fool! Hahahaha!”
“Ahhhhh!”
As those Nanggin—rootless wanderers—seized the passing merchants, stripped them of everything, and were now reaching for their very lives,
“Hold on right there.”
a new group suddenly appeared before them.
One of them stepped forward and spoke.
“So you’re the ones—those who prey on travelers passing through this region.”
“Huh? Who are you?”
The Nanggin leader’s eyes narrowed as he looked the newcomers up and down.
Apparently convinced they were kindred spirits in the same trade, he issued them a warning.
“By the look of you, you seem to be in the same business as us. But this territory’s already claimed, so you’d best find somewhere else. Even so, there are rules in this game, yes?”
“Hah. Boss. These fellows think they’re in the same league as us.”
At those words, the eldest of the newcomers, displeased, shot a glance at the largest among them.
“I was talking about you.”
“What? That was meant for me, boss?”
“You’re all much the same anyway. Boys! Cut them down! We can’t lose our territory!”
“We don’t need your territory, you bastards!”
The men in rough dress, appearing to be Nanggin themselves, drew their blades with furious faces and rushed at those who had been about to harm the merchants.
But their skill was no common thing.
“What—what is this!”
Though the Nanggin band greatly outnumbered them,
they were being completely overwhelmed by these newcomers.
In mere moments, every last one of the brigands lay sprawled on the ground.
Only the captain and a single subordinate remained standing.
The bandit leader’s face went pale as he glanced about in panic.
Then he grabbed a nearby woman and pressed a blade to her throat.
“Kyaaahhhhh!”
“Don’t—don’t come any closer! Come any nearer and I’ll slit this woman’s throat!”
At the sight of this, the enormous figure of one of the newcomers let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha. Look at him. Calls us the same as him, then takes a hostage. What’s your logic, exactly?”
“Right. Suddenly we look like his accomplices to him.”
“But it’s already too late. You’ll never escape this place.”
“What? What nonsense is that——”
As the Nanggin leader’s head tilted in confusion,
Twang! Twang!
Thud! Thud!
A pair of arrows, faster than lightning, flew in and pierced straight through the heads of the Nanggin leader and his subordinate in quick succession.
“Gaaaahhhhh……”
Thud. Thud.
And so the Nanggin captain and his remaining subordinates crumpled to the ground, wind holes through their skulls.
The Nanggin band that had cast terror across this entire region had met their end.
Soon the oldest-looking man among the mysterious group swept his gaze across the surroundings, confirmed there were no survivors left, and approached the merchants.
“Are you unharmed?”
“U-uh. P-please, we’re begging you.”
“Hm?”
Yet all the merchants looked at their saviors with eyes that were anything but grateful.
“P-please, just spare our lives. We’ll give you anything you want.”
“What? Now listen here—”
“Pfahahaha!”
The massively built man burst into laughter.
“See? I told you so. You do look like that to them too. Hahaha!”
And so misunderstanding, tears, and laughter tangled together,
“Wait… what’s that?”
One of the merchants present belatedly noticed two emblems on the chests and backs of those he’d mistaken for Nanggin bandits.
On the men’s backs was the mark of the Peng Family, and on their chests, a white wolf was embroidered.
“W-wait… could it be? The Baek-lang-dae?”
“The Baek-lang-dae? That’s the military force representing the Peng Family, isn’t it?”
“That’s right. It was the Baek-lang-dae! As fearsome as the rumors say, truly.”
Only then did the merchants understand the formidable skill displayed by their mysterious saviors.
“Well then, we should head back. We’ve finished our task, and the main house might scold us for loitering outside too long.”
“But surely, even under Geunsin, we could be given a little leeway when we do work like this?”
“Right. I wanted to have a drink on the way back. We save people and get treated like prisoners?”
“Exactly. Sigh, no wonder we’re frustrated—it’s our fault for beating up that nobleman’s son so much. It was the first time I’d ever seen the family head that angry.”
“But that bastard had it coming! He wasn’t even human!”
“Hey, hey! No more pointless chatter—let’s go!”
The Nanggin—no, the Baek-lang-dae—disappeared somewhere into the distance, leaving only bright laughter in their wake.

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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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