My Father Is the Number One Under Heaven - Chapter 53
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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 53. An Unsettling Visitor Arrives
“Young Miss, good day to you.”
One of the Baekrang Unit members approached and greeted her, and Yuli broke into a bright smile.
At the sight of this, Gu Tae-san made a fuss.
“Goodness, brother. I used to hate children, but suddenly my thoughts have completely changed.”
“The children don’t hate you?”
“What are you talking about? They all cry with joy when they see me, they really do.”
“They’re crying because they’re scared. You can’t tell the difference?”
“Oh my. Look at you saying such things.”
Gu Tae-san waddled his heavy frame toward Yuli with a laugh and waved his hand.
At this, Yuli’s face registered surprise and she took a step back.
Seeing this, Yeo Un-hwi’s expression grew curious.
“Strange. Our Yuli wasn’t afraid of the Clan Patriarch at all—she actually liked him.”
“What? Oh, no, I don’t understand why….”
Gu Tae-san looked deeply wounded.
He had naturally assumed he was far less frightening than the Clan Patriarch.
Not just assumed—anyone he asked would have said the same thing.
But then….
“I’m at a loss.”
Yeo Un-hwi tilted his head, equally baffled.
“Young Miss, even you understand that one should choose their companions carefully.”
“But why me? This is unfair.”
The remaining Baekrang Unit members began laughing, holding their sides.
It was now proven—a face more terrifying than the Clan Patriarch himself.
This couldn’t be right!
As Gu Tae-san’s face crumpled, Yuli gathered her courage and approached, tugging at the hem of his pants.
“Don’t cry, okay? Stop it!”
“Oh, our precious Young Miss!”
As Gu Tae-san reached down to lift her with an moved expression, Yuli yelped in alarm and scampered away.
“Oh no. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Ha ha ha ha!
Seeing Gu Tae-san scratching his head, everyone burst into laughter.
That was when it happened.
“What’s everyone so delighted about?”
Someone appeared on the scene.
“Crown Prince, you’ve arrived.”
It was Peng Sejin, the heir of the Peng Clan.
The entire Baekrang Unit turned to greet him.
Peng Sejin regarded them with an affable smile.
“I hear you’ve all been working so diligently lately. They’re saying it’s no longer the Baekmu Unit or Baekho Unit that represents the Peng Clan, but the Baekrang Unit.”
“You’re too kind. Given all the shortcomings we’ve shown until now, we still have a long road ahead. We’re simply grateful for your generous regard.”
“That’s right! We still have a long road ahead!”
“Hmm.”
At O Chae-mu’s words, Peng Sejin’s expression showed faint surprise.
It wasn’t mere false modesty—their faces were utterly sincere.
This was not the Baekrang Unit he had known until now.
They truly had changed.
At the center of that change was unmistakably Yeo Un-hwi.
‘Excellent. Very good.’
Peng Sejin smiled faintly. He was pleased by the Baekrang Unit’s transformation.
And he welcomed the healthy tension it brought within the Peng Clan.
Still water breeds corruption.
Though the Three Great Martial Forces bore a single name, the Baekho Unit and Baekmu Unit, apart from the Baekrang Unit, had long enjoyed broad acclaim from all people.
That wasn’t the problem in itself. Up to that point, all was well.
But receiving only praise with no one to challenge them meant they could not help but grow complacent in every way.
Complacency bred decline.
In no way did this serve the Peng Clan’s interests.
But suddenly, the Baekrang Unit achieved incredible feats—not just within the Peng Clan, but across the entire martial world—and began receiving praise.
Rather than boasting endlessly of their accomplishments and spreading tales of their deeds, they instead returned to their roots, training relentlessly from dawn to dusk.
For those who remembered what the Baekrang Unit had been like merely months ago, the transformation was as if heaven and earth had been remade.
In any case, it was amid all this that Peng Sejin came calling.
“What brings you all the way here, Crown Prince?”
In private, Yeo Un-hwi spoke freely at Peng Sejin’s urging, but here before everyone, he was perfectly content to observe the proper decorum befitting the Peng Clan’s Crown Prince.
“Ha. I hear you’re taking a rest today.”
“That’s correct. I thought that if I kept nothing but training, it might make me ill, so I decided to rest.”
“Excellent. Timely rest is worth a hundred training sessions. And it seems I’ve arrived at just the right moment.”
Peng Sejin smiled and nodded.
“The reason I came, brother, is to ask you something.”
“Yes, please speak.”
“Would you care to go on an outing with me?”
“An outing?”
“Yes.”
Yeo Un-hwi watched Peng Sejin smile at him and couldn’t help but look puzzled.
***
“Sejin wants to go out?”
“Yes. So I stopped by to change into something more suitable. We’re to meet in about an hour.”
“Is that so?”
Yeo Un-hwi nodded toward his wife, Peng Se-yeon, who had replied with evident surprise.
Peng Se-yeon then smiled brightly.
She felt genuinely pleased.
Though her younger brother was kind to everyone, Peng Sejin was far more careful about drawing boundaries than appearances might suggest.
Even holding the position of Crown Prince, he was someone who would not be easily swayed by anyone and knew how to walk his own path in silence—and this was his greatest strength. Because of this nature, he tended to avoid forming personal relationships at all unless he had genuine interest in someone, maintaining an appropriate distance otherwise. So when Peng Se-yeon heard that her brother had invited her husband on an outing, she naturally found it heartening.
Her brother was beginning to show interest in her husband.
“Will you come with us?” Yeo Un-hwi asked.
Peng Se-yeon shook her head.
“No.”
If her brother had approached Yeo Un-hwi first with this proposal, then clearly he wished to have various conversations with him.
If that weren’t the case, he would have sought her out first.
“I’ll sit this one out. You go and enjoy yourselves. And do show Yuli plenty of beautiful sights.”
“Very well. I shall do so.”
Soon after, Yeo Un-hwi finished his preparations, received Peng Se-yeon’s farewell, took Yuli by the hand, and stepped outside.
Peng Sejin was already waiting at the front gate, fully prepared.
“You’ve arrived.”
Seeing Yeo Un-hwi and Yuli approaching, Peng Sejin smiled.
“You’re here sooner than I expected.”
“Have you been waiting long?”
“Not at all. I’ve only just finished my own preparations. Well then, shall we be off? It’s not far from here. Come now, Yuli—let’s go on our outing.”
“Outing! I like outings!”
Yuli delighted in the word so much that she cried it out again and again.
Soon after, Yeo Un-hwi set out alongside Peng Sejin, several martial attendants, and servants.
Among them, Yuli held her father’s hand tightly, her eyes bright with wonder at the clear sky overhead.
***
“The Sailim Dan… tsk.”
In the study of the Peng Clan Patriarch.
“Yes. They are said to be heading here after concluding their schedule at Guzhou Noga.”
“I see.”
Peng Mugang, Patriarch of the Peng Clan, nodded.
It was information he had already heard once before in passing.
In truth, this was merely a confirmation of what had already been arranged with the Murim League.
According to what he had heard, before the unit’s formal expedition, they wished to broaden their horizons one last time by visiting not the existing schools, but the prestigious clans, so that their members might witness such houses firsthand.
While it was hardly a matter of great consequence, it was nonetheless the custom of renowned families to take pains in receiving guests befitting their reputation.
“Still, we should see that everyone makes thorough preparations for what is, after all, a distinguished visit. There must be no slip in our hospitality that would bring shame upon my name.”
“Yes, sir.”
“But, there is one thing, Patriarch.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
Several of the elders opened their mouths with obvious discomfort.
They seemed both eager and reluctant to speak at once.
Peng Mugang, who had dealt with these elders for years, sensed something amiss in their demeanor.
“There are certain… peculiar rumors circulating about them.”
“Odd rumors? What rumors are you talking about? Tell me.”
In the end, one of the elders, hesitating, relayed to Peng Mugang everything he had heard.
According to what he’d gathered from various sects—excluding those with real power like the Namgung Clan and Sacheon Dang Clan—every prestigious family he’d heard about had suffered considerable trouble and hardship because of them.
The arrogant and shameless misdeeds they committed were already spreading as rumors.
However, because these people had come from the Murim League, the sects merely complained and cursed behind closed doors; as yet, no one had dared to openly confront them or the Murim League backing them.
Naturally, it was fear of repercussions. The sorrow of sects without power, so to speak.
Yet to call the sects that had suffered at their hands truly powerless would have been inaccurate.
They were prestigious clans renowned throughout their respective regions, second only to the Five Great Clans.
It was simply that the Murim League was a force of such magnitude.
In truth, apart from the Five Great Clans, who would dare raise their voice against them?
Even the Five Great Clans would find them difficult adversaries to make enemies of.
“Hah. If what you say is true, those are some genuinely wretched fellows.”
Yet upon hearing the account, Peng Mugang burst into laughter.
“They strut about with the Murim League at their backs, brazenly disrespecting all. This is really something.…”
“So these ruffians coming to the Peng Clan troubles you?”
“It does.”
A natural sentiment. Who would want to entertain such guests?
If they’d remained unknown, perhaps it would be different; but now that the truth was known, there was no helping but to feel unwelcome toward them.
“Those men carry on as if they’re producing something great, putting on airs at every turn—and in the end, what emerges from them are just ruffians like these. Hahahaha!”
For some reason, Peng Mugang’s laughter was not easily subsiding.
“So I venture to suggest, sir, that it would be better to refuse them, difficult though it may be.”
“Why? Didn’t you say the Namgung and Sacheon families remained quiet?”
“In truth, words alone don’t capture it—they weren’t entirely peaceful either. It seems those families too had their heads aching over disputes that were difficult even to challenge.”
“Tsk-tsk.”
That figured; it was almost impressive how such restless, itching-bodied ruffians knew just where to cause trouble.
But then,
“No. Let’s receive them as planned.”
“But Clan Patriarch—”
“Haven’t we already promised to receive any guests? If we refuse now, that itself will cause trouble. In fact, it might even lead to worse headaches.”
At Peng Mugang’s words, the elders fell silent.
“Besides, the optics displease me. From the outside, it would look as though we fear and are avoiding such ruffians.”
“Well, that would certainly be the case.”
“Let’s see, then. Let’s see how recklessly and fearlessly these ruffians will rampage.”
Seeing the expression on Peng Mugang’s face, the elders realized there was no talking him out of it, and each exhaled a sigh.
In any case, the elders were already beginning to feel the onset of a headache.
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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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