My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 35

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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 35. Hidden Intentions
“Ah, there you are!”
When O Chae-mu appeared—the eldest among Baekrang-dae and its de facto leader—Gu Tae-san rose from his seat.
“You bring our family head into this place. How could you be so rude?”
“What? No, I—”
“Hold your tongue.”
“Yes, sir.”
The savage aura that Gu Tae-san had been radiating moments before vanished entirely; he bowed his head without a sound in O Chae-mu’s presence.
‘So this is the man.’
O Chae-mu.
The pivot point of Baekrang-dae and its leader—a master whose absence, many believed, would have meant Baekrang-dae’s dissolution long ago.
Peng Wu-gang clearly held him in high regard.
Everyone wondered why they did not entrust him with the position of master.
Yet Peng Wu-gang had in fact offered him the title many times.
But he had refused each time.
Insisting that someone more suited would one day appear.
Whether it was a lack of ambition for high station—the kind anyone might harbor—or absence of desire for fame, he was certainly an uncommon man.
Hmm.
In truth, Baekrang-dae was a place of deep fascination to Yeo Woon-hui.
So when Peng Wu-gang commanded him to take charge of it, he did not hesitate.
Rather, he welcomed the prospect.
By the time he had resolved to return to the Peng Family, he had nearly forgotten that Baekrang-dae even belonged to them.
But this recent matter had brought the memory flooding back.
The Baekrang-dae that Yeo Woon-hui remembered was not like this.
A band of wanderers who hunted down the villains of the Murim.
That was the Baekrang-dae he knew.
For one who had moved through the world as the Blood Demon, striking down the necks of notorious criminals, he could not help but feel drawn to their unrelenting path.
Though in those days they were known as Jeokrang-dae rather than Baekrang-dae, the fact that their true nature was once the martial vanguard representing the Peng Family—this was widely known.
He recalled that they had not bothered to hide it.
That Yeo Woon-hui should now take charge of Baekrang-dae before they had even left the Peng Family and become Jeokrang-dae—a curious twist of fate indeed.
It was strange in its own way.
He was curious.
Curious why those who possessed such righteous principles had left the Peng Family to become wanderers under the name Jeokrang-dae.
Yet now, having met them face to face, he thought he understood.
These men were not the sort to bend to any organization’s discipline.
The Baekrang-dae he had observed upon arrival seemed less like righteous martial masters of a prominent clan and more like a fierce pack of wolves.
How could one not smile at the sight?
Wolves brimming with justice and righteousness, maddened by injustice.
It was like gazing upon a contradiction made flesh—a union of things both fitting and utterly incongruous.
And the man before him embodied this atmosphere more than anyone.
At first glance he seemed a distinguished master of a great house, yet his eyes burned with a savagery, an arrogant pride, the noble ferocity of a solitary wolf.
‘No wonder he fell from favor.’
How could ordinary members of a prestigious clan ever contain such men?
Even if the family head Peng Wu-gang embraced them, those beneath would not endure it.
These men needed someone who could fully conceal their wild nature.
In that sense, O Chae-mu was hardly suited to lead Baekrang-dae.
If anything, he would only deepen people’s preconceived notions about them.
His qualities alone would suffice, yet considering all the circumstances within the Peng Family, he was precisely the wrong choice for the position.
Perhaps O Chae-mu understood this himself.
Perhaps that was why he had refused all those offers.
‘So that’s how it is.’
One truly could not know a person without meeting them.
“I must first apologize. Tae-san made a grave error.”
Rather than answer, Yeo Woon-hui smiled.
“I happened to overhear what you said on the way in, quite by accident. I understand your purpose well enough. Of course, if it is the family head’s order, it must be obeyed. Master, I bow before you.”
O Chae-mu lowered his head with an acquiescent expression.
Yeo Woon-hui nodded in turn.
“I appreciate your understanding.”
“Not at all. Then I shall gather the members at once. They must see your face and offer their proper respects.”
“Very good.”
Yeo Woon-hui nodded, and O Chae-mu quickly moved through the residence, summoning the scattered members to assemble.
Since word of the sudden gathering had already spread among them, their faces betrayed their displeasure.
They genuinely regarded O Chae-mu as their rightful leader, no matter what anyone else said.
So there was no way they could welcome the figure the main house had suddenly sent, claiming to be their new leader.
And a son-in-law married into the family who had never properly learned martial arts? To them, he was nothing but a pitiful, useless burden.
Even if they did stir up trouble now and then, that didn’t change the fact—Baekrang-dae was one of the martial forces representing the Peng Family.
And yet the main house would place such an incompetent man as their leader? How could such an absurd decision even be made?
The loyalty and respect they’d held for Peng Wu-gang, the family head who never wavered under any circumstance, was curdling into endless disappointment.
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Yeo Woon-hui.”
In the small courtyard of the shabby residence, all the members gathered.
And Yeo Woon-hui stood before them, meeting their eyes.
Hostility toward Yeo Woon-hui was plainly written across their faces and the very air between them.
It was a savage pressure that would have made ordinary men’s knees buckle.
Among them were the twin brothers he’d first encountered upon arriving here, and the woman who’d beaten them soundly.
‘Their names were Gi Su and Gi Sang, if I recall. And Do Gyeong.’
In any case, judging from their expressions, they felt the same way.
Yeo Woon-hui laughed inwardly.
‘So I’m truly that unwelcome, it seems.’
He couldn’t blame them.
Had their positions been reversed, he likely would have acted the same way.
But that didn’t mean he intended to retreat gracefully.
For one, this was his father-in-law’s command. And regardless of what they thought of him, he found Baekrang-dae genuinely interesting.
Moreover, if it were possible, he hoped they would remain as Baekrang-dae and become the Peng Family’s blade, rather than turning into Jeokrang-dae.
“I can see from your expressions that this hardly feels like a warm welcome. But I’m in a position where I can’t easily leave either, having come here on the family head’s orders. So during whatever time we spend together, I’d prefer we got along. How long that’ll be, I couldn’t say.”
His frankness caught them somewhat off guard, their faces betraying surprise.
But that hardly meant the oppressive atmosphere would suddenly brighten.
Yeo Woon-hui, unbothered by their coldness, pressed on.
“And I have no intention of lording over you or barking orders. Pay no mind to me—just continue doing what you’ve been doing all along. That’s all.”
With that, Yeo Woon-hui ended his greeting.
After a perfunctory farewell, he left Baekrang-dae’s quarters, and into the strange, unsettled atmosphere he’d left behind, someone finally spoke.
“Should we take what he said at face value?”
“As if. That’s hardly likely.”
“Still, O Chae-mu. Why did you accept this?”
“What do you mean?”
Despite Yeo Woon-hui’s reasonably decent greeting, it was almost inevitable.
Within Baekrang-dae, his reputation had hardly improved.
He hadn’t cowered like a mere scholar, nor had he acted arrogantly beyond his station, and it was precisely because of this that Baekrang-dae found him all the more suspicious.
In that atmosphere, Gu Tae-san quietly turned to O Chae-mu, who had been silent.
“Why accept him at all? You should have driven him out from the start, told him to stop spouting nonsense and leave.”
“And then? Would he have seemed like the sort to leave so easily?”
“…Well.”
That wasn’t the case.
Yeo Woon-hui was the man who didn’t even blink when Gu Tae-san punched a wall to pieces.
It was extraordinary.
That was no way for a scholar to behave—one who’d never learned martial arts before.
Even being generous and assuming he’d only just begun studying martial arts, it still didn’t add up.
Was he simply bold? Or what was he relying on?
To stake everything on being a son-in-law married into the family showed no ordinary resolve.
From that brief exchange between Gu Tae-san and Yeo Woon-hui, overheard from outside, O Chae-mu quickly grasped the situation.
“So what are you thinking? Will you just leave him be? Accept him as our leader?”
“Certainly not. A man who knows nothing of martial arts sitting above us? What would that make of Baekrang-dae’s honor? That wouldn’t be us at all.”
They couldn’t allow a man to seize the position of Baekrang-dae’s leader merely because he was a son-in-law married into the family.
This was not a seat they’d rejected for the sake of handing it to the likes of him.
Gu Tae-san looked at O Chae-mu with curiosity.
“So you do have another plan in mind?”
“Driving him out ourselves wouldn’t be wise. We’re already out of favor with the main house as it is—causing more trouble here would only worsen our position. If we stir up a larger incident now, the family head will surely be deeply disappointed in us.”
“Ah, so you’ve thought of a way?”
“Tsk—you need to learn patience. This impatience of yours will be your ruin.”
“What can I do? It’s how I was born.”
As Gu Tae-san kept pressing, O Chae-mu clicked his tongue.
The two of them were like real brothers.
That was why Gu Tae-san found O Chae-mu the most comfortable to be around — yet at the same time, he was the one Gu Tae-san feared and struggled with the most.
To that degree, Gu Tae-san revered and followed O Chae-mu.
In a situation like this, it was precisely the former dynamic at work, which was why Gu Tae-san kept pestering O Chae-mu relentlessly.
Faced with his younger brother’s impatience, O Chae-mu shook his head and promptly laid bare his plan.
“Make him leave of his own volition.”
“Of his own volition? How would that work?”
“Simple — make him feel that if he stays here, he won’t live to see his natural span. Then he’ll have no choice but to leave, won’t he?”
At O Chae-mu’s words, the corners of Gu Tae-san’s mouth lifted at once.
He’d been thinking only of chasing the man out outright; it hadn’t occurred to him to employ such a method.
O Chae-mu continued, unfolding his reasoning.
“The fellow probably thinks he’s struck good fortune — a mere scholar becoming a son-in-law of the Hebei Peng Family, one of the Five Great Clans — and has bloomed with pride. But faced with hardship, he’ll never accept it. He’ll turn tail and flee back to his home, begging for a different post.”
“Ah, I see it now!”
“Then go, fetch me the recent commissions that have come to Baekrang-dae.”
At his word, Gu Tae-san’s face lit up with keen delight.
That was the reason O Chae-mu had agreed to take Yeo Woon-hui in the first place.
And he harbored not the slightest doubt that his stratagem would succeed.

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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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