Third-rate Martial Family Becomes the Best Under Heaven - Chapter 123

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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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Third-rate Martial Arts Family, Greatest Under Heaven – Episode 123
The nights of Hangzhou were colder than one might expect.
With the vast West Lake right beside the city and Zhejiang Province itself bordering the sea, the winds blew with considerable force.
At thirty years of age, I had already reached a realm where the cold held no power to inconvenience me.
‘Has it truly been a decade since I left my family to wander as a masterless swordsman?’
With such thoughts occupying my mind, I offered the long robe I had been wearing to my client.
“The wind grows sharp. Please, wear this.”
“Thank you, Namgung Cheon-yeong.”
She bowed her head slightly in gratitude, and for a moment our eyes met.
Quiet and therefore refined.
“Why do you look at me thus?”
“It is nothing. For one called the finest courtesan of Hangzhou, I find myself seeing nothing particularly extraordinary.”
Though her beauty was renowned enough to spread across ten thousand leagues throughout the realm, such matters stirred nothing within me.
“It is merely empty fame. Unlike you, who grasps the title of Nangjoong Jeil-geom at such an age.”
“Nangjoong Jeil-geom is nothing. It is a name barely spoken in the eastern reaches of the Central Plains, still far from being discussed throughout the realm. My fame too is equally hollow.”
The two of us, dismissing each other’s renown as mere empty reputation, continued our walk along the West Lake Area.
Suddenly, So Wol-hyang gazed up at the sky and released a sigh.
It was so prolonged that I wondered if it might never end.
“What troubles weigh so heavily upon your heart? Ah, forgive me—that question overstepped. Pretend I never asked.”
So Wol-hyang gazed quietly at her bodyguard before offering a faint smile.
She was always surrounded by men eager to cross whatever boundaries she set.
Watching me, who never once stepped beyond the lines I had drawn, brought her a sense of ease.
“Namgung Cheon-yeong. It has already been three months since you took on the task of protecting this courtesan.”
“Has so much time passed? I am grateful. My purse shall grow heavy from this.”
“You accepted the commission without even setting a price, yet you speak such words. It troubles me greatly.”
“That is precisely why I say it. The amount I demand shall be of my own choosing.”
Yet So Wol-hyang understood well.
I had accepted this commission in pursuit of the chivalry I sought, and one such as I would never demand excessive compensation.
A relationship forged through the promise of payment.
Yet So Wol-hyang could regard only me as her true ally.
For there was not a single soul beside her upon whom she could truly rely.
“All men wish their children clever and bright, yet brightness has ruined many a life. I wish only that they grow foolish and dull, yet without misfortune.”
“So Dong-pa’s ‘On Washing the Child.'”
So Wol-hyang regarded me with surprise in her eyes.
Though I had shown many facets unlike an ordinary man, I remained a masterless wanderer.
She had not expected me to name the work upon merely hearing its recitation.
“You possess knowledge of literature as well?”
“My family tradition emphasizes both the martial and the literary. I have grown quite fond of the poems So Dong-pa left behind.”
“You are the child of a distinguished lineage.”
“Merely a fallen third-rate martial arts family.”
So Wol-hyang observed Yang Hwi for a moment as he shrugged his shoulders.
“May I ask what this is about?”
“There’s nothing to hide, so I can tell you. Though it won’t be particularly entertaining.”
“I would like to hear it.”
He began to speak.
My father, who took in an orphan like me who knew no meaning in life and made me his son.
A son who inherited his father’s dream.
All these years of desperate effort for a dream that became the purpose of my life.
“That’s how it came to be.”
“….”
“You’re making me embarrassed, looking at me like that while staying silent.”
“So you too… were someone pursuing a dream that wasn’t truly your own.”
“Hmm. I suppose so.”
The wind pushed against the lake’s surface, creating ripples and waves.
“Have you heard of someone named So So-so?”
“Of course. She was the greatest courtesan of all time and a woman of extraordinary talent. The great So Dong-pa, one of the Eight Masters of Tang and Song, even left behind verses praising her.”
“Then you must also know the tales of So So-so.”
“Naturally. Her story of love is as poignant as that of Xiang Yu and Yu Ji, if not more so.”
So So-so, who parted from her beloved after devoting her life to him due to unfortunate circumstances, fell into melancholy and passed away at a young age.
Later generations often cited So So-so’s tale as a symbol of the deepest devotion.
“That is the common understanding. However, there is a hidden history to it.”
“Hmm? A hidden history, you say? What kind?”
“So So-so did not die young from melancholy. She passed away early due to childbirth.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because she was my ancestor.”
“Wh—what?”
Yang Hwi’s eyes widened as he stared intently at So Wol-hyang.
With her exceptional beauty and her mastery of music and arts that captivated an entire era, it was not strange that she could be a descendant of So So-so.
“That is not all. You mentioned admiring So Dong-pa. He too is one of my ancestors.”
Even for someone like Yang Hwi, it was impossible to maintain composure at such words.
So Dong-pa, counted among the greatest literary masters of all time and one of the Eight Masters of Tang and Song, was a descendant of So So-so, the greatest courtesan of all time?
“Is this truly so?”
“Why would I speak falsehoods?”
“That may be true. But did So So-so pass her name to her descendants as a woman?”
“There is a reason for that as well. My name certainly traces back from So So-so.”
“I see. Ah, now I understand. The Wol-hang-ru Master knows of this fact?”
The reason why So Wol-hyang, a courtesan whose fame rivaled the greatest in the world, would employ a mere wanderer as her bodyguard was simple.
The one who should have protected her was instead oppressing her.
From the time she was a young girl until now, he had continuously destroyed an entire household for his own profit, yet shamelessly played the role of benefactor.
“You are truly perceptive. Yes, that is correct.”
So Wol-hyang employed the one known as Nangjoong Jeil-geom—a name whispered throughout the eastern reaches of the Central Plains, from Gangwon to Zhejiang—as her bodyguard for a single reason.
To escape the clutches of the Wol-hang-ru Master, who had bound her for nearly two decades.
“What say you, Namgung Cheon-yeong? The commission you’ve accepted is to protect me, a descendant of So So-so and So Dong-pa themselves… to protect me…”
She drew a deep breath and continued.
“From one who knows my worth and will never release me for that very reason. My pursuer is a villain who stops at nothing, who cares not for morality or method. If you fear this, if you worry about suffering loss, I shall withdraw the commission even now.”
“….”
A brief silence followed. Then Yang Hwi simply chuckled softly.
“I see. Then let me set my price. Sing me a single verse.”
So Wol-hyang’s eyes widened. It was rare to see such an expression on her perpetually composed and elegant face—it lent her an unexpected charm.
She seemed to come alive in that moment.
“Surely that is too little. Please reconsider your words.”
“Not at all! A verse sung by the descendant of So So-so and So Dong-pa! Such a price rivals treasures worth ten thousand gold—I absolutely must accept it!”
He spoke with exaggerated fervor, his words tumbling forth.
“Better still, set it to melody—one of So Dong-pa’s poems. A poem by So Dong-pa, sung by his descendant. Merely imagining it is extraordinary.”
“….”
She laughed. A smile bloomed across So Wol-hyang’s face like a flower in full blossom.
“Will you not come to regret this?”
“Ah, I exhausted all my regrets the day I was born.”
“….”
A voice like celestial jade echoed across the West Lake Area.
Caressed by the lake breeze, embracing the cool, serene air of Hangzhou with her entire being.
Yang Hwi closed his eyes and savored the melody.
A month passed after that day.
So Wol-hyang’s commission came to its end.

* * *
So Wol-hyang felt a moment of bewilderment.
The source of her confusion was Yang Hwi, who gazed at her with distant, nostalgic eyes.
‘Why does the Young Master look at me that way?’
The kind of gaze one might see upon reuniting with a lost friend after countless years of separation.
Yet this was only our second meeting—such emotions and attitudes made no sense.
‘Truly, the Young Master is a peculiar one.’
But her bewilderment didn’t end there.
‘Why is he so aggressive toward Master Lu Ju?’
Unlike their discourteous first encounter, the Baek Yang-hwi I had come to understand was a man who possessed yi—the art of propriety.
Here, yi meant not mere law and form, but benevolence and humanity.
From the attitude Jegal Seol-ha displayed as his disciple and the words he had offered to me,
I could infer that Yang Hwi possessed a warm heart.
So it felt all the more strange that he would show such harshness toward the Yuehang Pavilion Master alone.
“How much do the debt and favor amount to in total?”
“…Why do you ask?”
“Because I wish to forgive it all in your stead and take my sister with me.”
Even now, his directness in asking was a gesture lacking respect for the other party.
‘If I had known it would come to this, I should have said from the start that I had no intention of following.’
My family, the So clan, had once faced tremendous hardship.
When our house was on the verge of collapse and our family scattered to the winds, it was the Yuehang Pavilion Master who saved us.
I had engraved that debt of gratitude into my very bones, and I remained at the Yuehang Pavilion as a courtesan to repay both the favor and the debt.
To leave the Yuehang Pavilion and follow Yang Hwi and Jegal Seol-ha?
‘That would be repaying the Master’s kindness with ingratitude.’
In those impoverished days when my mother had to cut her hair and sell it in the marketplace, and my father, who knew nothing but scholarship, had to do menial labor.
The courtesans of the pleasure house would offer my mother silver coins marked with ash, coveting her body.
My father fell ill with a chronic disease, and without ten taels of silver each month for medicine, his death would have been no surprise.
Those were days filled with the thought that life was hell. No—they were hell itself.
It was the Yuehang Pavilion Master who ended those years of suffering.
Before being the proprietor of the pleasure house, he was my benefactor.
‘A debt of gratitude so profound that a lifetime would scarce repay it. As a daughter of the So clan, I cannot abandon all five virtues—benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness.’
As So Wol-hyang harbored these thoughts, the conversation between Yang Hwi and the Yuehang Pavilion Master flowed into her ears once more.
“Then even after repaying both debt and favor, my sister cannot leave the Yuehang Pavilion.”
The Yuehang Pavilion Master had promised to forgive all the expenses incurred in saving the So clan and would release me from my contract whenever he wished.
In other words, there was no reason to hesitate in answering.
“….”
Yet the Yuehang Pavilion Master remained silent for a long while.
As if such a thing should never come to pass.
Even if the Yuehang Pavilion Master ordered me to leave, I had no intention of following Yang Hwi.
Though I was grateful for his regard in promising me a share of the profits, I could not let greed for money make me forget the debt of gratitude I owed.
Instead of voicing my true thoughts, I watched the Wol-hang-ru Master for a moment.
‘Master Lu Ju. Why do you hesitate to answer…?’
“Why won’t you speak? By your own earlier words, you should be able to answer readily in the affirmative.”
“….”
The Wol-hang-ru Master’s response was evasion.
“It is not a matter for the Young Master to concern himself with.”
Emotion crept into his words. His tone grew sharper as well.
As if he regarded Yang Hwi as an enemy.
“I am the one who decides what to concern myself with. So answer me, Lu Ju. Can my sister obtain her freedom?”
“Wol-hyang’s debt is also my property. By what right do you presume to overstep so brazenly!”
So Wol-hyang felt ripples disturbing the surface of her own heart.
His words were correct. Not a single flaw in them.
And yet.
“Wol-hyang, do not worry yourself. You need only refine and cultivate your talents. I shall handle all matters concerning your family and finances.”
It was undeniable that this attitude bore no resemblance to the Lu Ju of the past, who had offered only warm words and made kind promises.
‘Surely Master Lu Ju was… always one who encouraged my dreams and merely wished for me to persevere.’
By nature, people are drawn to seek joy.
In those bitter and terrible days of the past, music and dance were So Wol-hyang’s only solace.
What had once been a means to escape pain had now become her dream and the very purpose of her life.
Like So So-so, who transcended the station of a courtesan to earn the title of greatest under heaven and receive the praise of all people.
Like So Dong-pa, one of the eight great poets of the Tang and Song dynasties, who left countless celebrated verses for posterity.
She too wished to display talents unmatched beneath heaven and leave her name as the third of the So clan to reach the pinnacle of music and dance.
“Why do I treat you so well? Simply because I wish to see Wol-hyang gain fame through music and dance equal to that of your ancestors. That alone is enough for me.”
‘That is what you said, Master Lu Ju.’
“Rights, you say? Then I ask you, Lu Ju. I intend to begin investigating the bloodline of So Dong-pa starting tomorrow. Will you have any objection?”
It was in that moment.
The Wol-hang-ru Master’s face twisted grotesquely.
“What, what…! What in the world are you saying! Silence yourself, you wretch!”
The Wol-hang-ru Master, having lost his composure, bellowed.
The ripples that had stirred in So Wol-hyang’s heart transformed into a tempest.
“Why? Like a thief with itching feet, you reveal yourself.”
“I told you to be silent!”
“By what right do you demand silence? Tell me more of your scheme. I suspect there exists a hidden hand behind the downfall of a clan bearing the So name. What do you make of this, Lu Ju?”
“…Profit…!”
The two continued for some time thereafter, hurling accusations and insults at one another like stones.
To a degree I could no longer bear to witness.
“Enough. Enough. Enough.”
So Wol-hyang interjected between the two with a small, quiet yet resolute voice.
Yang Hwi closed his mouth as if he had been waiting for this, while the Wol-hang-ru Master, struggling to suppress his fury, fell silent for a moment.
“I have witnessed both of your shameful conduct.”
“….”
“….”
“First, Young Master. Your words are nothing but baseless suspicion and paranoia.”
“Yes, Wol-hang! After all I have done for you, how can you speak such nonsense? Come now, let us leave this place at once!”
So Wol-hyang ignored the Wol-hang-ru Master’s outcry and continued speaking.
“Then please, Master Lu Ju, tell me the truth.”
“…Wol-hang.”
She gazed at her benefactor with hollow eyes.
She could not believe that mere moments of conversation had planted such doubt within her heart.
Yet at the same time, she possessed a keen intellect sharp enough to perceive the undercurrents flowing beneath their brief exchange.
The kindness and affection the Wol-hang-ru Master had consistently shown her.
His present demeanor, which stood in stark contrast—utterly different from his usual self.
So Wol-hyang pressed her hand against her chest, drew a deep breath, and only then managed to continue.
“Is it truly acceptable for the Young Master to investigate the affairs that have befallen my family?”
‘Please, Master Lu Ju, say that it is.’
But her benefactor betrayed her hopes.

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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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