Episode 4
Chapter 2: Entering the Martial World (1)
There is one rule regarding the Muryeong Pae.
The martial families and sects belonging to the Northern Expedition Alliance are not limited in the number of disciples they can bring.
In other words, one could enter the Northern Expedition Alliance by snatching another’s Muryeong Pae through power or force along the way.
“My grandson will soon enter the martial world. I shall tell him to aid the Paeng family, so do not worry about that. And stop crying.”
Paeng Yeongho and Jong Mimi prostrated themselves before Jang Hamyeong and wailed.
“We are ashamed, but we wish to receive Hyung-nim’s aid.”
The Paeng family accepted Jang Hamyeong’s help.
Paeng Yeongho and Jong Mimi had no idea what kind of chaos this help would bring to the martial world in the future.
* * *
About twenty days after the women of the Baekri family visited, Jang Seonu returned to the village with the village youths.
The cart was loaded with all kinds of weapons, clothing, dishes, and other daily necessities.
They had also brought several cattle, which soon entered the ranch established on one side of the village.
When Jang Seonu returned, the village children ran out in excitement.
Seonu distributed rice crackers and snacks he had bought in Jeoja to the children.
After returning home and finishing his meal, thirty to forty relatives of the family were all sitting on the outdoor wooden platform waiting for Seonu.
Seonu looked up at a pine tree near the platform.
A white eagle was staring at him and screeching.
It was an eagle named Eungil, an errand runner for his grandfather.
Realizing something was amiss with his grandfather, Seonu quickly went to the platform and sat down.
“You must go outside once more.”
Jang Muho spoke decisively, as if giving an order, the moment Seonu sat down.
“The martial world?”
At Seonu’s question, his mother nodded.
“This is your father’s letter. Read it.”
Seonu carefully read through the letter his mother handed him.
“I’ll go and come back. Simple as that.”
His mother cautioned Seonu, who spoke as if it were no big deal.
“There are those you must be careful of when you go out into the martial world. First, there are the Ten Great Masters, and above them are the Celestial Four Heavens. The Ten Great Masters are opponents you can handle, but the Celestial Four Heavens are….”
“I know. I’ve heard plenty about the martial world from those bandit bastards. Grandfather has told me many stories as well.”
Seonu cut off his mother and replied.
“What you must keep in mind is that you must never trust the Central Plains bastards. Understood?”
“Yes.”
“Still, it’s fine to befriend those who seem trustworthy.”
When his father interjected, Seonu nodded in agreement.
“Yes. I’ll do that.”
“And don’t forget to bring your bride back with you.”
“Father, really.”
As Seonu scratched his head in embarrassment, smiles formed on the faces of the relatives gathered on the platform.
They had come out to bid farewell to Seonu.
They had also come to give him warnings, having experienced the martial world once or twice themselves.
But the current Seonu seemed to have no need for such warnings.
He had already taken care of the bandits himself and knew the treachery of men.
“Hyung. When you come back, you have to bring your sister-in-law.”
“Oppa, buy me a present too.”
Seonu’s younger siblings clung to him, reluctant to part.
* * *
Baekri Cheon waited for his son and granddaughter with bated breath, each day feeling like ten years.
The shock of Jang Hamyeong’s appearance and his words was so great that the worsening dementia seemed to subside.
The prosperity of the Baekri Clan today was all thanks to Jang Hamyeong.
Yet he said his grandson would take everything away.
“You still haven’t found them?”
At Baekri Cheon’s thunderous shout, the retainers who had gone out to find the women of the Baekri family and returned bowed their heads and answered.
“There are many roads leading to Liaodong, so time is needed, Grand Patriarch.”
“Silence! Find them at once!”
After Jang Hamyeong’s visit, Baekri Cheon could neither eat nor sleep properly.
Day and night, he urged the retainers, commanding them to find Baekri Un and Baekri Yuha and bring them back.
Baekri Cheon had been carrying on like this for a month now.
No matter how iron-like a martial artist was, failing to eat and sleep properly would inevitably ruin his health.
Moreover, Baekri Cheon was advanced in age.
‘Please, they must return empty-handed.’
Even as his body wasted away and he lay on a sickbed, his mind was filled with Jang Hamyeong’s roars.
He had said that if they returned with some kind of gift, their relationship was over.
If the annulment was decided, Jang Hamyeong would not look back.
Moreover, he said that hundreds of people had been left unsaved because of him.
They were likely Jang Hamyeong’s acquaintances.
‘Still, they are smart children; they wouldn’t come back having recklessly annulled the marriage.’
Baekri Cheon pinned a faint hope on his son and granddaughter.
* * *
“Father. Shouldn’t we send Yugwang to the Northern Expedition Alliance as soon as possible?”
Hwa Soha, Paeng Yeongho’s daughter-in-law, visited her father-in-law daily with an anxious heart.
But not only her father-in-law, but even her mother-in-law simply smiled quietly.
It was a smile she had rarely seen before.
“My child. Bring the grandchildren to the room.”
Hwa Soha did not understand her mother-in-law’s command but followed silently.
She called her son and daughter, and upon entering the room, her mother-in-law opened her mouth with a solemn face.
“You must listen carefully. Soon, a precious guest will visit our clan. You must not be neglectful in treating that young guest. And that person will take Yugwang and Mijin to the Northern Expedition Alliance.”
“Mother?”
Hwa Soha could not understand her mother-in-law’s words at all.
Her clan had received only a single Muryeong Pae.
Then who in the world was this precious guest, and how could three people go to the Northern Expedition Alliance?
As if answering his daughter-in-law’s question, Paeng Yeongho pulled out three Muryeong Paes from his bosom and placed them on the table.
Hwa Soha, Paeng Yugwang, and Paeng Mijin were greatly surprised.
“Where did these come from, Father?”
“There was someone with whom I had a connection long ago. A very great person. I called him Hyung-nim. He obtained these Muryeong Paes for us. And his grandson is coming here.”
Having answered his daughter-in-law, Paeng Yeongho turned his gaze to his grandchildren.
“Yugwang. That person’s grandson may be a few years younger than you. But revere and follow him as you would a master. Understood?”
Paeng Yugwang bowed his head at his grandfather’s strict command and answered.
“I will do so, Grandfather.”
“You too, Mijin.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
As the grandchildren followed his words without complaint, Paeng Yeongho explained the reason.
“In the martial world, there are martial gods called the Celestial Four Heavens. But it is likely the Five Heavens, not four. The one I call Hyung-nim is someone who could easily occupy one of those heavens. He is such a person’s grandson.”
* * *
The retainers of the Baekri Clan finally discovered Baekri Un and Baekri Yuha and urgently delivered Baekri Cheon’s message.
“The command is to return to the main house at once.”
At the retainer’s report, Baekri Un urgently asked.
“Did Father say that?”
“Yes. He has neglected his health, and his condition has greatly deteriorated.”
When they left, aside from the signs of dementia, he had been very healthy.
What could have happened in two months to cause such poor health?
Baekri Un and Baekri Yuha hurried back to the main house.
They passed through the main gate like the wind, went around the buildings, entered the building where Baekri Cheon resided, and carefully announced their return from within.
“Father. Your unworthy son Un and Yuha have returned from Liaodong.”
“Quickly… quickly enter!”
Despite his poor condition, his voice rang out loud and clear.
When the two of them opened the door and entered, Baekri Cheon, who had been lying on the bed, barely raised himself up.
Baekri Un hurriedly approached to support him, but Baekri Cheon waved his hand away and asked.
“Did you successfully arrange the marriage?”
“No. It was a humble household, so we thoroughly broke off the engagement and returned. In exchange, we obtained an incredible sword and swordsmanship….”
“You fool!”
*Cough! Hack!*
Cutting off his son’s answer with a roar, Baekri Cheon vomited a lump of blood with severe retching.
The anguish in his heart had exploded all at once.
“Ah, Father!”
“Grandfather!”
Baekri Un and Baekri Yuha were greatly startled and tried to support Baekri Cheon, but he fiercely pushed their hands away once more.
“Away, get away! Go back to Liaodong and fix your mistake….”
*Kuek!*
Vomiting blood once more, Baekri Cheon collapsed onto the bed.
“Call the physician! Hurry!”
Baekri Un shouted toward the outside in disarray.
Baekri Cheon, who had collapsed on the bed, barely grabbed his son Baekri Un’s collar with a trembling hand.
“You have committed a grave mistake….”
“Father. Your condition is critical now. Please speak no more.”
“Ah, I cannot. Hurry and go back….”
Baekri Cheon tried to speak with a face full of despair, but Baekri Yuha cut him off.
“Grandfather. You must first receive treatment from the physician. And I will absolutely never marry a man like that.”
At Baekri Yuha’s words, tears streamed down from Baekri Cheon’s eyes.
What was to become of the clan’s future now?
And he lost consciousness.
Baekri Cheon’s health recovered somewhat after the physician visited.
However, the mental shock was so great that dementia rushed in rapidly.
He kept repeating to his family that it wouldn’t do, to the point that those listening felt suffocated to bursting.
“Father. Where they live may be special, but it cannot compare to our family. A marriage requires a certain degree of match between both sides; their household falls far short compared to ours.”
Baekri Un looked at Baekri Cheon’s dementia with pity, spoke thus, and left the room.
He then gathered the elders and experts of the Baekri Clan and announced that he had found Seo Hong’s sword and swordsmanship.
The rumor of Baekri quickly spread throughout the martial world.
Many boasted that Baekri Un had killed the Hundred-Faced Ghost Seo Hong and obtained the sword and swordsmanship, thereby earning the qualifications of the Ten Great Masters following in his father’s footsteps.
It was a welcome rumor at the Baekri Clan.
No, rather, they fanned the flames of that rumor.
They deliberately had Baekri Yuha carry Seo Hong’s sword and walk around the vicinity.
When the beautiful Baekri Yuha emerged in Jeoja carrying Seo Hong’s sword, attention was inevitably drawn.
The rumor became fact and spread throughout the martial world.
A few days later, seven disciples from the Baekri Clan headed for the Northern Expedition Alliance carrying Muryeong Paes.
It was a splendid departure befitting a great clan.
* * *
The expressions of the Greenwood bandits lying prostrate on the ground were pitiful.
The remarkably young man standing before them continued to nag.
“If you wield such deadly weapons and demand money, wouldn’t passing travelers be terrified? You might as well lie prostrate on the ground and beg. Then perhaps someone might take pity and toss you a few copper coins. Isn’t that so?”
“That’s right. We were blind and failed to recognize the Great Hero.”
“Then lay out everything you have.”
At the young man’s demand, the bandits pulled out the money pouches from their bosoms and respectfully placed them before him.
“Go in.”
As the bandits pulled out the pouches, the young man shook the blade he was holding and pointed to one spot.
Where he pointed was a huge pit, created with a single slash of that blade.
Had they known he was such an incredible master, they would never have blocked the road to rob him.
But what use was regretting what had already passed?
The bandits entered the pit one by one and laid their heads above the ground.
The young man swung his blade once, and the earth behind the bandits split deeply and lengthwise, covering the front pit.
As the soil rose up to the bandits’ heads, pitiful screams begging to be saved could be heard here and there.
The young man roughly scraped the dirt away with his foot so that only the bandits’ noses were visible, then gathered the scattered pouches and put them into the bundle he was carrying.
From the clinking sounds within, it seemed the bundle was also full of copper coins.
“If you do this again next time, I will cut off your heads. Understood?”
The young man looked at the bandits who couldn’t even answer, smirked, and set off down the road.
“Ah, it’s so far. I must be nearing Hebei now.”