My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 40

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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 40. This Incompetent Scholar Was No Ordinary Man?!
Thanks to Geuk Ak So Ma’s secret martial art, the Gyeoksalji, all members of Baekrang-dae had been rendered completely incapacitated.
Rather, this had been the case ever since he unleashed the O Ryun Do Jin.
The only mercy was that none of them had split their skulls open like the bandits had—not yet.
“I’d originally planned to toy with one of you per day, but I’ve reconsidered.”
Geuk Ak So Ma spoke, his eyes gleaming wetly.
“From this moment on, I’ll tear your limbs apart one by one and watch you die. Begging for your lives won’t help. Hehehehe.”
“You won’t… have it your way!”
From among those sprawled on the ground, O Chae Mu forced himself up with everything he had left.
If he didn’t hold the line, his comrades would all perish.
However overwhelming the opponent, that was his burden to bear.
But then—
“Grgh… I’ve… still got this. Damnable bastard.”
Though his body could no longer move, Gu Tae San also roared through gritted teeth.
The other members of Baekrang-dae felt exactly the same.
“I’ve got fight left…!”
“I do…!”
“Hah…”
Watching his men hold their ground despite the agony, O Chae Mu let slip a hollow laugh.
Stubborn bastards. But men to be proud of.
Who was it, then—who had brought them to this place to die?
“It was me. All of it.”
He had been the one to decide to come here today.
O Chae Mu regretted that decision bitterly.
For such a petty reason—that he couldn’t accept him as the leader of Baekrang-dae—he had dragged them into this.
Wait. Where was he? Where was he now?
Geuk Ak So Ma’s sudden appearance had made O Chae Mu momentarily forget about Yeo Unwhee.
‘Perhaps he fled. If so, that would be a mercy.’
He harbored no resentment about it.
For someone untrained in martial arts, running was only natural—and it was better that way, better for him to survive, even if he fled.
And then it happened.
Thump.
A hand settled on O Chae Mu’s shoulder.
“That will suffice. Leave the rest to me. Step back, if you would.”
A familiar voice came from behind him.
That scholar—the one ignorant of martial arts, the man who’d become leader of Baekrang-dae by pure luck and nothing else.
What in the world was he saying now?
And yet, strangely enough—
Hearing that man’s voice, O Chae Mu felt an inexplicable calm settle over him.
Of course, it was utterly absurd.
Absurd, and yet…
Yeo Unwhee stepped past O Chae Mu and moved forward slowly.
“Who are you?” Geuk Ak So Ma tilted his head, watching this man stride toward him.
There was something distinctly peculiar about him.
In this place soaked with blood, he alone seemed to exist elsewhere—something fundamentally different from the others.
The man came to stand before Geuk Ak So Ma.
“I am Yeo Unwhee, leader of Baekrang-dae.”
“Leader? So you are the head of these men?”
“Whether they acknowledge it willingly, I cannot say. But yes, that is so.”
As Yeo Unwhee nodded, Geuk Ak So Ma laughed in disbelief.
Until now, he had assumed O Chae Mu was the commander of these arrogant fools.
But it was not O Chae Mu—it was this delicate-looking youth who held the position.
“And such a man has remained silent as a mouse until now?”
“Does that require explanation?”
“Ha, shameless indeed.”
Even as Geuk Ak So Ma’s contempt dripped from his words, Yeo Unwhee remained unmoved.
He truly seemed fearless. Or else he had something to rely upon.
“So then, why step forward now, after remaining silent all this time? Do your men look as though they’re about to die, and you’ve come to beg for their lives?”

Even as he spoke, Geuk Ak So Ma studied Yeo Unwhee carefully.
He wondered if this man might be the source of that tremendous murderous intent he’d felt when he received the Baekrang-dae’s congratulatory strike moments ago.
But it didn’t seem to be the case.
No such formidable presence emanated from this man.
Had he deliberately concealed his aura?
‘That’s impossible.’
It could never happen.
Even the sect master of Gudaemun wouldn’t be able to perfectly hide his aura in his presence.
He must have been mistaken earlier.
While Geuk Ak So Ma pondered this in silence, Yeo Unwhee smiled faintly at him.
“If I asked you to spare us, would you consider it?”
“That depends on what you’re willing to stake, doesn’t it?”
A lie.
Geuk Ak So Ma had killed everyone who’d ever laid eyes on him. Everyone, without exception.
That was why, despite becoming the Murim’s public enemy, he’d managed to survive this long.
But why had he bothered to listen to conditions?
Simple curiosity.
He wanted to know what this fearless wretch was relying on, what gave him such confidence.
And more than anything, killing someone after first kindling hope—after letting them believe they might live—was exquisitely enjoyable.
The expression on a human face when hope and despair crossed was never tiresome to watch.
“Don’t be deceived!”
O Chae Mu cried out, watching the situation unfold.
Striking a deal with such a demon was folly.
Even if words seemed to flow smoothly now, in the end they would only be used and discarded, killed miserably without mercy.
Geuk Ak So Ma’s intentions were transparent as glass—yet Yeo Unwhee alone seemed blind to them.
Whatever he was thinking, whatever courage drove him forward like this, it would all come to nothing.
O Chae Mu’s voice cracked as he tried to stop Yeo Unwhee.
“He has no intention of letting us live. He’s simply……!”
“Silence!”
Thump-thump-thump.
Geuk Ak So Ma’s tremendous murderous intent bore down on O Chae Mu in an instant.
He could not forgive anyone who interrupted his pleasure.
“Gasp——!”
The crushing pressure became agony, and blood vessels burst across O Chae Mu’s eyes.
Geuk Ak So Ma laughed savagely as he watched.
“Or shall I simply kill all of you here and now without bothering to listen?”
“Hnnngh——.”
As O Chae Mu’s body reached the limit of what it could endure under Geuk Ak So Ma’s power,
Whoosh.
Yeo Unwhee stepped in front of him.
“What are you doing?”
“That’s enough.”
“What?”
“We were in the middle of a conversation, weren’t we?”
Geuk Ak So Ma regarded Yeo Unwhee quietly for a moment, then nodded.
He was curious what gave this young wretch such bold confidence, what trick he might possess. He decided to hear him out.
If he disliked what he heard, he could always crush the boy’s skull without hesitation afterward.
“Fine. I’ll listen. Tell me what you’re willing to stake.”
“First, what I want is the lives of myself and everyone from Baekrang-dae. To return safely, that is.”
“That’s something I decide after hearing your terms. I despise delays. Speak plainly—what can you stake?”
“You’re quite impatient, aren’t you? Very well. What I can stake is.”
Yeo Unwhee smiled at Geuk Ak So Ma, who was growing irritable with his measured pace.
“A death somewhat less painful than you deserve.”
“What… did you…?”
Geuk Ak So Ma’s face went rigid as stone.
He’d assumed Yeo Unwhee would offer money, treasures, something material.
Instead, words utterly beyond expectation had tumbled from the boy’s lips.
Words so absurd he almost wondered if the man had lost his mind entirely.
The sheer audacity of it left Geuk Ak So Ma momentarily blank-faced before his features twisted.
“What did you just say? Kill me? A death less painful?”
“This is the best I can manage. What of it?”
“Are you mocking me right now?”
“Mock you? Never. I’m not the sort to jest about such things. I’ve given this sincere thought, and I’d suggest you do the same.”
“This lunatic!”
Geuk Ak So Ma’s face flushed crimson and then purple—the man who had come hoping to play with desperation had instead been thoroughly ridiculed.
Humiliated not by martial skill, but by a mere three-inch tongue in an instant.
“How dare you mock me?”
Geuk Ak So Ma, trembling with rage, flicked his finger.
Snap.
With the intent to shatter his skull like a watermelon in a single motion.
But then—
Whoosh.
“Now, now, we’re in the middle of a conversation. Is that polite?”
Geuk Ak So Ma’s eyes widened as if they might tear open.
The reason was—
“Dodged? My Gyeoksalji?”
And with such ease, no less.
“Yes, you.”
“Why would you do that?”
As Geuk Ak So Ma’s words stumbled from his lips against his will, Yeo Unwhee smiled without a care.
Until now, only two people had ever dodged the Gyeoksalji—a technique unique to Geuk Ak So Ma, born of his Tanjigong mastery.
Now there were three.
The other two occupied two positions among the Wunae Sibijwon.
That anyone besides them had ever evaded the Gyeoksalji was, quite simply, unprecedented.
‘It cannot be. It simply cannot be!’
Geuk Ak So Ma’s eyes sharpened at once.
Snap-snap-snap.
Thinking it mere luck, he unleashed a barrage of Gyeoksalji in succession. This time, there would be no escape.
Surely one coincidence was enough.
And yet—
“Now, now.”
Snap-snap-snap.
Burst-burst-burst-burst-burst!
This time, every single Gyeoksalji dissolved in mid-air.
Geuk Ak So Ma’s eyes widened a second time as if they might tear from his skull.
He had seen it.
The Gyeoksalji he had launched being annihilated by another Tanjigong—no, another Gyeoksalji fired from Yeo Unwhee’s hand, canceling each other out.
“How can you even wield Tanjigong—no, how can you wield the Gyeoksalji?”
“I simply watched what you do and tried to imitate it.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Believe it or don’t—that’s your choice to make.”
“You damnable bastard…….”
Curses spilled from Geuk Ak So Ma’s mouth.
From the very beginning until now, he had felt himself being toyed with by this boy.
But what drove him to the brink of madness was the realization that Yeo Unwhee’s answer was not a lie.
He could tell.
He could discern whether his opponent spoke falsehood or truth.
Yeo Unwhee was speaking only truth.
His eyes, the tremor in his voice, his bearing—all of it was proof.
Geuk Ak So Ma, quicker than anyone at deceiving, killing, and reading people, could be certain of this.
And that was what drove him mad.
This was impossible. Utterly impossible.
To mirror his technique at a mere glance, with such nonchalance? How could such a thing even be possible?
Not even the ten geniuses of the Gudaemun Sect, nor the Six Dragons and Three Phoenixes could accomplish such a feat.
Even the Wunae Sibijwon could scarcely manage a pale imitation—and yet this man spoke of it as though it were nothing.
A genius among geniuses. No—the words fell short. Did he possess the supreme talent of the realm itself?
Where in heaven’s name had such a monster suddenly appeared from?
Geuk Ak So Ma did not know.
The man before his eyes possessed not merely the supreme talent of the realm, but the supreme talent of all ages.
Geuk Ak So Ma’s face had turned rigid as stone.
And in the heart of the Great Demon Lord, called the Absolute Evil, an unfamiliar emotion began to stir.
It was… fear.

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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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