My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 51

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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 51. A New Wind Blows
They say a person faces exactly three critical choices in their lifetime.
Perhaps one of those three moments was today.
No one could know what future this choice would bring him.
Peng Dowhwan closed his eyes briefly to steel himself, drew one deep breath, then opened them again.
And,
Whoosh.
He stepped back and knelt respectfully before Yeo Unhwi.
“Hm? What’s this about?”
Yeo Unhwi’s expression turned quizzical.
“From today forward, I have resolved to follow your path, sir. I humbly ask that you accept me as a member of the Baekrang Unit.”
“You wish to join the Baekrang Unit? Are you certain? You won’t regret this?”
Peng Dowhwan shook his head as he answered.
“Even should such a day come, I will endure it well.”
“Ha. Aren’t you being rather too honest? You ought to say it won’t happen at all.”
“Is that so? Ha. I’m the sort whose lies show through rather easily.”
“Though you do have the air of someone quite skilled at intrigue.”
“Come now. That’s hardly the case.”
At Yeo Unhwi’s words, Peng Dowhwan waved his hand emphatically in denial.
At his response, Yeo Unhwi laughed heartily once more.
“Well then, sir…”
“Yes?”
“Will you accept me?”
“Of course. Everyone else is already welcoming you, after all.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
As Peng Dowhwan tilted his head in confusion, Yeo Unhwi smirked and pointed toward something.
Peng Dowhwan’s gaze naturally followed.
“Oh!”
There stood the members of the Baekrang Unit, including O Chaemu and Gu Taesan.
“…How long have you all been standing there?”
The Baekrang Unit members swarmed toward the startled Peng Dowhwan.
“Well, I always knew this day would come, but you’re rejoining us as a member? Let’s see… that would make you the youngest, wouldn’t it?”
“Oh, so does that mean I’m finally not the youngest anymore?”
“Ah, no. You joined long before him, so you’re still the youngest.”
“That can’t be…”
Lee Jaewu, the Baekrang Unit’s youngest member, who had momentarily brightened at the prospect, now slumped in disappointment, and everyone burst into laughter.
“In any case, welcome. Ha!”
“Welcome!”
“We look forward to working with you again.”
A pleased smile had settled on Peng Dowhwan’s face.
Everyone nodded.
Thus, those who had once roamed Zhongyuan under the name Jeokrang Unit before the return, purging evil together, were reunited.
As Yeo Unhwi watched them, something stirred strangely in his heart.
He desperately hoped that in this life, neither they nor he would meet such a miserable end as before.
‘No—I will ensure it.’
Yeo Unhwi set his resolve with iron certainty.
***
A new wind was blowing through the Peng Family Residence.
At the center of that wind was none other than the Baekrang Unit.
When they returned after beheading Geukak Soma and their confinement was lifted, people expected their accomplishment to be remarkable—but predicted they would soon stir up trouble again.
It was the pattern the Baekrang Unit had always shown.
So few believed this time would be different.
Some even worried they might cause even greater problems than before.
Though born from an inability to overlook injustice, the Baekrang Unit’s recklessness in charging headlong without thought had always been a concern—and now, surely, it would only grow worse.
It was a reasonable apprehension.
Yet days passed without incident.
Instead, they devoted themselves entirely to training each day.
As they returned to their quarters each evening exhausted from training, everyone could only wonder and marvel.
They had changed?
Most believed it impossible—that they would soon revert to form—but regardless of what others thought, the Baekrang Unit simply continued to train, day after day.
And so people began to gradually accept that the Baekrang Unit had genuinely changed.
Along with that, another unbelievable thing occurred.
“Heh, well this is something.”
Peng Mugang let out a hollow laugh, as if utterly baffled.
What kind of absurd business was this?
“Don’t tell me you’re lodging a protest because you’re dissatisfied with my earlier decision.”
“No, sir. That couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“Then why on earth did you come up with such an idea?”
“I simply wish to walk alongside the Baekrang Unit, even if only as a regular member. This is my genuine heart, Clan Patriarch.”
Peng Mugang gazed silently at Peng Dowhwan, whose face was utterly serious, then shook his head.
No matter how he turned it over in his mind, Peng Mugang could make no sense of Peng Dowhwan’s decision.
“You are a man expected to become the commander of one of the Three Great Martial Units in the future. That is why, despite my many faults, I offered you the position of Baekrang commander early on. And yet you now come before me claiming you wish to enter the Baekrang Unit as nothing more than an ordinary member? Do you truly expect me to accept such a thing?”
He himself had not issued such an order with any malice, deliberately meaning to humiliate Peng Dowhwan—the boy had volunteered of his own will.
To any ear, it was genuinely unreasonable.
“Of course I understand it makes no sense. But I have come to realize that I am still unfit for such a position. Therefore, I wish to begin again as an ordinary member. Please, I beg you to permit this.”
“But why the Baekrang Unit specifically? There are other places, are there not?”
“It must be the Baekrang Unit. Nowhere else holds meaning for me. Clan Patriarch, please grant me this.”
“Hah. You’re something else, aren’t you.”
Not quite to the degree of his own son Peng Sejin, but Peng Dowhwan was nonetheless a talent the Peng Family took pride in. Naturally, Peng Mugang held him dear.
Though his father had a tendency to be overly lenient, the boy had grown straight and true regardless.
So much so that Peng Gyeongho, Peng Dowhwan’s own father, had already refused such a proposition before, yet Peng Mugang had planned to entrust him with a commander’s position in the not-too-distant future.
But now, out of nowhere, he came asking permission to become an ordinary member of the Baekrang Unit—it was no wonder a hollow laugh escaped Peng Mugang’s lips.
From the look of him, there seemed no point in further persuasion.
Glancing once more at his face, Peng Dowhwan’s expression showed not a trace of wavering.
Hm.
Through years of dealing with countless people while pursuing the cultivation of Martial Arts, Peng Mugang had grown certain in his judgment.
This one was resolved. Such a face would never break its will—of that he was certain.
There was no point in dwelling on it further; it would only waste time.
Presently, Peng Mugang exhaled a long breath and nodded his head.
“Very well. I consent. But you must speak to your father yourself about this. There is nothing more exhausting to me than discussing a matter involving my son with his father.”
“Yes, understood.”
“Don’t laugh. I find you most disagreeable right now.”
“My apologies, Clan Patriarch.”
“Your resolve won’t waver, will it?”
“No, sir.”
“Heh. Get out of my sight, then.”
Peng Dowhwan bowed quickly and left the room.
There was no telling what further scolding awaited him otherwise.
“How did the discussion go?”
O Chaemu and Gu Taesan were waiting for him outside.
Peng Dowhwan shrugged his shoulders toward them.
“Don’t even ask. You both know the Clan Patriarch’s temperament well enough.”
“So he refused? Surely you didn’t fail to secure his permission?”
“What are you talking about? I got his permission one way or another.”
“Oh!”
“You did well. Hah.”
“But there’s still a greater hurdle ahead, isn’t there?”
Gu Taesan spoke with lingering concern.
Peng Dowhwan then asked back.
“A greater hurdle?”
“Peng Gyeongho.”
“Ah. My father, you mean.”
“He’s unlikely to consent so readily. How can you be so confident?”
“No, I’m not confident at all.”
“Hm?”
Peng Dowhwan shook his head as if it were obvious, and O Chaemu and Gu Taesan exchanged puzzled glances.
Not confident? What did he mean by that?
“Then… what is your plan?”
“What plan? I’ll deceive him, of course.”
“What? Deceive? The elder?”
“Then what?”
When O Chaemu and Gu Taesan’s faces registered shock, Peng Dowhwan’s mouth twisted into a crooked smile.
He spoke with the air of someone explaining something patently obvious.
“If I’m honest, it’ll be Father saying just that. Yes, my son, I’m impressed—you turned down the Clan Patriarch’s proposal and now you want to start fresh as a member of the Baekrang Unit. Wonderful. I’ll support you with all my heart. Don’t you think that’s what he’d say?”
“Not a chance.”
“Right. Definitely. He’d probably be even more terrifying than the Clan Patriarch about this.”
“So imagine how I feel—I’m the one involved. But do you think I’d be stupid enough to face him head-on? Of course not. I’ll have to deceive him. Thoroughly.”
Was this man serious?
O Chaemu and Gu Taesan nearly laughed aloud at how casually Peng Dowhwan spoke of deceiving his own father.
Whenever he got like this, they recalled how Peng Gyeongho used to seek them out and scold them, insisting that Peng Dowhwan had learned nothing but mischief during his time in the Baekrang Unit as a boy.
But they’d always felt wronged by the accusation.
Peng Dowhwan was simply born that way.
They’d learned things, certainly, but not a soul had ever believed that they hadn’t learned his tricks from him.
It was probably because of his looks. That tall, handsome face—unmistakably masculine.
Damn this world. They resented a place where even something like appearance could be weighed and judged, determining whether people would believe you or not.
Well. Anyway.
“So how exactly do you plan to deceive him? How are you going to fool someone like that?”
“I’ll join the Baekrang Unit and pressure the Clan Patriarch, showing him who really deserves the position. That way, he’ll hand over the seat himself.”
“Wait—you’re not actually planning to do that, are you?”
“You think that’s possible?”
“Is it?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Exactly. And don’t joke about it even. We’d be terrified if the Clan Patriarch heard.”
All three of them had glimpsed fragments of the power Yeo Unhwi wielded.
Their caution was warranted.
“Anyway, if you keep deceiving him like that, what happens later?”
“Later?”
“Yes. Eventually, if you can’t actually take the position, won’t he come after you?”
“Ah, well… yes, I suppose he would.”
…….
It was clear.
This man hadn’t thought even a moment ahead.
O Chaemu and Gu Taesan were certain of it now.
“Why worry about that now? We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, once Father sees the Clan Patriarch’s true nature later, he won’t be able to say anything to me. I’m sure of it! Ha ha.”
That answer had just been improvised on the spot.
Now O Chaemu and Gu Taesan looked at Peng Dowhwan with expressions of complete disbelief.
“Right. Anyway, I should head off now. I need to go and deceive Father—no, I mean, speak with him. See you later.”
“Yeah.”
Watching Peng Dowhwan hurry away, the two of them reflected.
How foolish they’d been to believe so firmly that this man alone was fit to lead the Baekrang Unit. To think he lived only for the moment like this…….
Or had something changed? Well, either way.
“So, shall we head to training?”
“Yes, sir!”
Soon the two made their way to the training grounds for the day’s drills.
Today, like every day, it was hell.

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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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