The Patriarch of the Northern Heavens - Chapter 2

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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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Master of the Bukcheon Sword Family – Chapter 2

“…!”
Wang Ho swallowed hard, his trembling gaze fixed upon me.
I had never imagined he would dare utter such an accusation as embezzlement.
“No, no! A misunderstanding! Embezzlement? I would never entertain such thoughts!”
“Then we shall rewrite the ledgers from the beginning. This time, bring the correct amount.”
“Young Master. This matter falls under Elder Wang’s jurisdiction. Surely you understand what would happen if Elder Wang were to learn of this?”
Wang Ho spoke with a contemptible smile.
I found it utterly absurd.
Now that discovery loomed, he had the audacity to invoke Wang Jin’s name—such shameless self-preservation.
The fact that I had entrusted this wretch with the position of administrator filled me with self-loathing.
I addressed him with cutting sarcasm.
“Was the embezzlement done under Elder Wang Jin’s orders? How convenient—you’ve just revealed who controls the slush fund. Thank you for the confession.”
“What? No, that’s not what I meant….”
“And Wang Ho. As the Young Master of the Bukcheon Sword Family and acting family head, I hereby strip you of your administrative position and impose punishment. The sentence shall be….”
I drew the blade hanging at my waist.
Sring.
A chilling metallic ring echoed through the chamber.
“One arm and ten years in the dungeon should suffice.”
“What!”
Wang Ho recoiled in shock.
My words carried no hint of jest—anyone could see I meant every syllable.
He had grasped that I truly intended to sever his arm and cast him into the dungeon.
“….”
He glared at me with savage intensity.
His eyes burned with considerable rage.
Rather than acknowledging his wrongdoing and seeking redemption, he seemed consumed by a mixture of grievance and fury he could no longer contain.
“Young Master. Please sheathe your blade. I fear you might injure yourself through careless handling. You could end up bedridden like the family head.”
“Is that a threat? I wasn’t aware you had ever concerned yourself with my wellbeing.”
“If you truly draw your blade against me, I shall have no choice but to counterattack.”
“Hah. So you’re confident you can defeat me bare-handed?”
“….”
Wang Ho did not answer.
But the way his fists clenched spoke volumes—he deemed a response unnecessary.
It was only natural, after all.
At this time, I, the Young Master of the Bukcheon Sword Family, was renowned as a sickly wretch who could barely stand upright, much like my father.
Though I had become Young Master as the sole direct heir, whispers of my unfitness to lead were commonplace—so frail and weak-willed was I deemed.
‘For the longest time, I believed it was the illness that defined me.’
But later, when I discovered it was poison… the fury that consumed me was indescribable.
Scorching flames seemed to incinerate the depths of my chest.
‘No, compose yourself.’
What mattered now was Wang Ho standing before me.
I deliberately wielded my blade clumsily, aiming for Wang Ho’s arm.
He twisted his body as though mocking the attempt, then thrust his fist forward.
The power behind that punch was considerable.
If I took it directly in my current state, I could suffer grave injuries.
“First, calm yourself and clear your head!”
Wang Ho acted recklessly, trusting in his uncle, Elder Wang.
I deliberately twisted only halfway, allowing his attack to connect.
Crack!
Whether bone had fractured or not, searing pain radiated through my arm.
Yet despite the agony, laughter escaped me—for this was precisely what I had orchestrated.
“Now your true colors emerge. You have just added the crime of attempted assassination of the Young Master of the Bukcheon Sword Family to your charges.”
“The Young Master seeks to kill me without cause, so I merely defended myself.”
“Is that so?”
That was the moment.
“…!”
Suddenly, the blade in my hand bent in an extraordinary manner.
Wang Ho stumbled backward in shock.
He could never have imagined such swordsmanship flowing from my hands.
Thus the momentum shifted entirely in my favor.
“Administrator Wang Ho. Your crimes are as follows.”
I spoke while sweeping my blade in a grand diagonal arc.
“First, the embezzlement of funds rightfully belonging to the family and its warriors through document falsification, thereby enriching yourself.”
“…!”
“Second, your resistance to the just punishment I, as acting family head, personally decreed. Your violation of the sacred laws of our house.”
“What…?”
“And most importantly, third: inflicting grave wounds upon the Young Master and attempting his assassination.”
My blade writhed like a serpent before slashing across Wang Ho’s throat.
“For these three crimes, I execute you.”
Splurt!
Blood sprayed forth, defiling the Administrative Office of the acting family head.
Wang Ho’s body crumpled like a puppet with severed strings, his head nearly severed.
I stood drenched in his warm blood, gazing down at his corpse.
And I could truly comprehend it now.
‘This sensation is real.’
That I had genuinely returned to the past.

* * *

Thud!
Wang Ho’s body, his neck severed, collapsed forward onto the floor.
Blood from his corpse had turned the Administrative Office into a grotesque mess.
Now, what was I to do?
If I emerged completely unscathed, it wouldn’t look particularly convincing.
After a moment’s deliberation, I withdrew a small dagger.
Then, with a swift motion—
I drew the blade across my own neck, creating a shallow wound.
Blood trickled down along the thin line.
Satisfied with the result, I placed the dagger in Wang Ho’s hand.
Moments later.
“What in the—gasp!”
Drawn by the commotion, the family’s warriors burst through the door, their faces contorted in shock.
The Administrative Office was drenched in blood, and my neck bore fresh blade marks.
My rolled-up sleeves revealed massive bruises as well.
“What is the meaning of this…?”
“Young Master! What has happened!?”
“Administrator Wang Ho attempted to kill me.”
“…!”
The warriors’ faces paled at my calm declaration.
“Administrator Wang tried to kill you? What do you mean by that?”
Mak Yang-ji, who appeared to be their captain, asked in bewildered alarm.
I gazed down at Wang Ho’s corpse and explained methodically.
“I discovered serious embezzlement in documents Wang Ho submitted. When I confronted him about it, he threatened me instead. As I moved to punish him, he attempted to take my life. I had no choice but to kill him in self-defense.”
“…!”
“I had intended to subdue him and spare his life so he could face justice, but my strength proved insufficient to restrain him without fatal consequences. That is all.”
“I… I find it difficult to believe. Surely Administrator Wang would never…”
“You find it difficult to believe?”
This fool had just made a critical error.
My eyes flashed as I spoke.
“Then are you suggesting I inflicted these wounds upon myself?”
The wound on my neck could perhaps be self-inflicted, but the bruises on my arm—those were unmistakably the marks of martial technique. I could never have created them myself.
At minimum, it proved Wang Ho had attacked me.
“Ah, no! I misspoke. My apologies.”
Mak Yang-ji hastily offered his contrition.
A faint smirk escaped my lips at the pathetic sight.
“In the future, choose your words more carefully. I find it rather distasteful when someone defends a man who tried to kill me in my own presence.”
“Y-yes, I shall remember this well.”
Mak Yang-ji’s expression twisted into something grotesque.
His face screamed disbelief, as though reality itself had shattered before his eyes.
Yet how could it be otherwise?
Was I not once a feeble creature, incapable of raising my voice even to subordinates?
And yet here I stood, commanding the very situation itself.
Mak Yang-ji and the family’s martial artists could only listen in stunned silence to the aftermath.
It was something the old me could never have imagined in a thousand lifetimes.
But this was undeniable reality.
So Mak Yang-ji could do nothing.
“In any case, now that you understand the situation, dispose of the body at once. The Administrative Office grows filthy—it’s most unpleasant.”
“Yes, understood. Remove Steward Wang Ho’s corpse immediately!”
Mak Yang-ji ordered his subordinates to clear away Wang Ho’s body.
While they worked, I applied medicinal salve to my neck from the first-aid supplies kept in the room.
‘The wound on my arm… fortunately, the bone remains unbroken.’
I had deliberately inflicted it to create evidence of a mutual struggle, but a fracture would have proven far more troublesome.
Recovery would have demanded considerable time.
In any case, having administered first aid, there was no reason to waste further moments.
I departed the Administrative Office at once and made my way to the Jipbepdang, where the family’s laws were upheld and enforced.
“Y-young master? What brings you to this place…?”
The head of the Jipbepdang and his martial artists seemed startled.
For the puppet family head proxy to visit the Jipbepdang in person was unheard of.
Moreover, my appearance suggested I had been attacked by someone.
“I have come to lodge an accusation.”
“An accusation?”
“Indeed. Against Steward Wang Ho—for corruption and treason.”
“…!”
Yet upon hearing my grievance, they could only grow more astonished.
They learned that Wang Ho had not merely committed corruption, but had attempted to assassinate me.
Fearing their disbelief, I produced the documents I had brought with me.
“These records are proof that Wang Ho embezzled funds. And these wounds are proof that he sought to kill me.”
“We shall search Steward Wang Ho’s quarters immediately.”
“I am grateful.”
Fortunately, Jipbepdang Head Seo Un-hui was no parasite feeding upon the family like Wang Ho.
In my first life, he was simply a man who performed his duties with quiet diligence.
Because of this, I could trust him and entrust the matter to his hands.
Perhaps my swift action bore fruit?
Before even half an hour had passed, the Jipbepdang’s martial artists discovered vast piles of silver coins in Wang Ho’s quarters.
By any reasonable measure, such a fortune could never have been accumulated from a steward’s monthly stipend.
We had uncovered the full extent of Wang Ho’s embezzlement.

* * *

That incident turned the entire family upside down.
It was already an enormous scandal that one of the administrators had embezzled the family’s funds.
But the revelation that Wang Ho had attacked me, the young family head, and attempted to silence me made it infinitely worse.
I could have been murdered.
Naturally, the fallout was severe.
The Jipbepdang had begun conducting sweeping investigations, summoning everyone connected to the incident.
And amidst all this chaos.
“Exhale.”
I, the very architect of this catastrophe, found myself alone in the Training Grounds—a place only the family head and his successor could enter.
I had done everything I could for now, and I needed to gather my thoughts before taking the next step.
‘First, I have returned to the past.’
There was no doubt about that.
At first, I wondered if it was a hallucination before death, but the sensation of gripping the blade and cutting down Wang Ho was far too vivid to dismiss as mere fantasy.
‘And the cause is likely this family head’s seal ring I possess.’
Yet the seal ring had shown no response whatsoever since then.
As if it had fulfilled its purpose.
‘Perhaps it cannot be used a second time.’
That was acceptable.
By returning me to the past, it had already paid for itself many times over.
And I had no intention of squandering this opportunity.
I wanted to seize it and change my future, no matter what it took.
How could I fail if I simply persevered?
The answer was simple.
‘First, I must grow stronger.’
In my past life, the greatest reason I was manipulated by various people was my weakness.
I had assumed the position of family head unprepared, leaving me powerless.
‘That must have been their scheme all along.’
I would not be foolish enough to fall for the same trick twice.
At the very least, I needed to cultivate enough martial strength to protect myself.
‘Then, first.’
I resolved to accomplish what only I could do.
I drew in a breath and began to cultivate a martial technique I had obtained near the end of my previous life.
Vajra Yaksha Divine Art.
The very technique that had transformed me from weakness into a warrior of the Harmony Realm and beyond in an instant now unfolded before me.

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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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