Chapter 4

 Chapter 4:

Wei Yan-ho was deep in honey-sweet sleep.

The strange thing was, no matter how much he slept, it was never enough. You’d think that sleeping a lot would make you less sleepy the next day, but that wasn’t the case.

The day after sleeping deeply, he would get sleepy even earlier.

Wei Yan-ho’s sleep had accumulated layer upon layer like this, and now if he didn’t sleep more than eight shijin a day, fatigue would overwhelm him and he wouldn’t be able to keep his wits about him.[TL/N: Shijin (时辰) is an old Chinese time unit equal to two modern hours.]

Wei Jeong-han would foam at the mouth and curse whenever he saw this, but what could be done about sleep constantly coming? It wasn’t Wei Yan-ho’s fault that sleep kept coming. How could sleep coming be Wei Yan-ho’s fault? It was sleep’s fault.

That’s why Wei Yan-ho was righteous even today.

The sunlight warmly illuminating his face seemed to be forcing him to sleep soundly.

Just then, the door opened.

“Brother, wake up!”

Wei Yan-ho scrunched his face and hugged his blanket tightly.

He could feel the force pulling at his blanket.

“Wake up! Wake up! You bear! You have to wake up!”

Wei Yan-ho gripped his blanket even more tightly. But this little demon trying to wake him today didn’t seem to have any intention of giving up.

“Wake up!”

“Ugh!”

Wei Yan-ho poked his face out from under the blanket and shouted.

“Ah, go away! Why are you bothering people from the morning and making a fuss!”

Usually, Wei Su-ryeon would have gotten angry and left by now. But today’s Wei Su-ryeon didn’t know the meaning of giving up. Wei Su-ryeon hit the blanket *thwack, thwack* and shouted.

“You have to wake up! Or you’ll be in trouble! Hurry up and wake up!”

“Go! Won’t you go? Why are you giving trouble to your heaven-like big brother from the morning again? Hey, get lost!”

“You have to go out and train quickly!”

“You do it, you. Huh? Su-ryeon, this big brother is very tired right now, so you go train.”

Wei Su-ryeon’s cute cheeks puffed up.

“You will regret it”

Wei Yan-ho, receiving the adorable threat, couldn’t help but chuckle.

This little thing was already trying to toy with people.

“Regret what.”

“I clearly warned you, brother. Don’t say anything different later.”

“Whatever.”

Wei Yan-ho rolled himself up in the blanket like a cocoon.

Wei Su-ryeon frowned and let out a shriek!

“Whether you get beaten to death or not!”

After Wei Su-ryeon spat out her curse and left, Wei Yan-ho irritably buried his body in the bed.

“Sheesh, what kind of kid likes training so much. Her name was really well chosen.”

Having escaped from the clutches of his sister who bothered him from the morning, Wei Yan-ho happily closed his eyes again.

Wei Su-ryeon coming to find him was a very painful thing, but there was one thing to be gained from it. The fact that Wei Su-ryeon came meant that Wei Jeong-han, who usually tried to devour Wei Yan-ho, wouldn’t be coming, and from now on he could sleep more deeply.

In this world, if you lose something, you also gain something.

‘Should I sleep a bit more.’

So now it was time to sleep sweetly.

*Creak.*

But just then, the door opened again.

Wei Yan-ho, who had just been about to fall asleep, woke up.

‘That damn girl really!’

*Thud.*

*Thud.*

‘Huh?’

Wei Yan-ho, who had been about to get angry, closed his mouth. He had thought Wei Su-ryeon had come back, but something was different.

The footsteps were too heavy and dull to be Wei Su-ryeon’s.

‘Is it father?’

The footsteps slowly approached him.

‘I should say I trained. Since I actually did, he won’t say anything. If he presses me about why I did it so briefly, I can make an excuse that he didn’t tell me to do it for long. Then he’ll tell me to do it longer tomorrow, but today I can rest a bit more…’

“Get up.”

A quiet voice was heard.

But Wei Yan-ho didn’t move.

If he just lay there a little longer…

*Whack!*

Just then, unbearable pain was felt in his head.

“Aaaaah!”

Wei Yan-ho screamed and shot up from his spot. Where was there a law that said you could hit someone’s head so suddenly just because they didn’t listen after being told once!

“You could just talk, why!”

But Wei Yan-ho’s words couldn’t continue.

It wasn’t his father, but a sturdy young man looking at him with a rigidly hardened face.

“…Brother?”

“How many *shijin* do you think you’ve been sleeping?”

“When did you come?”

“I asked first.”

Wei Yan-ho glanced out the window.

The sun was high in the sky.

“It’s mid…day…”

The young man’s face hardened slightly more.

Wei Yan-ho made excuses with a desperate face.

Wei Yan-ho knew very well that his brother was most dangerous when he made that kind of face.

“No! No! Brother! I trained at dawn today! I trained intensely so I was tired and slept a little! Really, brother!”

Wei Yan-ho frantically made excuses, waving his hands desperately.

If his father or mother had pressed him, Wei Yan-ho would never have acted like this. Rather, he would have gotten out of the situation with a leisurely answer.

But such things didn’t work on the person in front of him now.

‘When did he come back!’

Wei San-ho!

The eldest son of the Guangdong Wei Family and Wei Yan-ho’s only brother.

Compared to Han Sang-ah, who couldn’t scold Wei Yan-ho due to guilt that she couldn’t take care of him, or Wei Jeong-han, who felt distant from Wei Yan-ho because he had been away from home, Wei San-ho had no reason to make allowances for Wei Yan-ho’s circumstances.

And Wei San-ho was the type of person who valued martial arts training even more than Wei Jeong-han and couldn’t stand to see his younger brother go astray.

And…

“You trained?”

“Yeah!”

“Come outside.”

“…Huh?”

“Let’s see how much you’ve improved during the three years I was gone.”

“…”

Wei San-ho was also the very person who had taught Wei Yan-ho while their father was away.

“If it doesn’t satisfy me, you’d better be prepared.”

Wei Yan-ho’s face became pitifully distorted.

‘I’m screwed.’

Wei Yan-ho and Wei San-ho faced each other in the Training Ground.

The two holding wooden swords looked at each other.

“I really did train…”

Despite Wei Yan-ho’s excuses, Wei San-ho was firm.

“Then show me.”

“Ugh…”

Wei Yan-ho let out a deep sigh.

Wei San-ho had been a martial arts fanatic even when he was at home.

And he was the person who had driven Wei Yan-ho harder than anyone else.

He often left home or went into seclusion for training, but when he wasn’t doing that, he was someone who couldn’t stand to see Wei Yan-ho being lazy.

If he hadn’t been there, Wei Yan-ho would have become an even worse lazybones than he was now.

Although they were brothers, there was a six-year age gap, and because he had taken care of him since he was a baby, Wei Yan-ho didn’t dare rebel against Wei San-ho.

At least for Wei Yan-ho, Wei San-ho was much more like a father than Wei Jeong-han.

Three years ago, after leaving home saying he was entering the Hidden Dragon Martial Academy, Wei Yan-ho’s life had blossomed, but now he had returned without a word.

“What are you doing?”

At the pressing words, Wei Yan-ho flinched and looked at Wei San-ho.

‘Ah, whatever!’

Wei Yan-ho gripped his sword tightly.

“Hiyah!”

Wei Yan-ho’s sword cut through the air.

It was the Biryong Bicheon technique from the Biryong Cheonsang Sword, the secret martial art of the Guangdong Wei Family.

Thwack!

But Wei Yan-ho’s *Biryong Bicheon* didn’t look like a dragon flying at all. Wei San-ho’s wooden sword swept lightly, and Wei Yan-ho’s wooden sword was knocked away and flew through the air.

Wei San-ho, who had struck away Wei Yan-ho’s sword, raised his wooden sword.

“Ah!”

Wei Yan-ho covered his head with both hands.

What would happen next was obvious. That cruel wooden sword would surely try to tap and check if Wei Yan-ho’s head was well-cooked.

But strangely, Wei San-ho’s wooden sword didn’t strike down on Wei Yan-ho’s head. Wei San-ho, gripping his wooden sword tightly, looked at Wei Yan-ho for a long time with a rigidly hardened face before lowering his sword.

A low sigh naturally escaped from his mouth.

“Three years have passed.”

“…”

“Three years is enough time to learn a sword technique, enough time to break through a realm.”

Wei Yan-ho couldn’t answer.

“But you… have gotten worse than three years ago.”

Wei Yan-ho felt like crawling into a mouse hole.

It wasn’t because of Wei San-ho’s scolding. Scolding was something he always heard, and ordinary criticism couldn’t penetrate Wei Yan-ho’s thick skin.

What kept making Wei Yan-ho shrink was the sincere disappointment that appeared on Wei San-ho’s face.

But Wei Yan-ho’s feelings couldn’t compare to Wei San-ho’s feelings. The one who was truly disappointed right now was Wei San-ho.

Wei Yan-ho wasn’t weak. Wei San-ho knew this too.

Among others his age, Wei Yan-ho’s skills were quite outstanding.

Wei San-ho, who had seen countless people at the martial academy, was fully aware that his younger brother’s level wasn’t something to be disparaged.

Nevertheless, the reason Wei San-ho was disappointed was that Wei Yan-ho’s level had become lower than it was three years ago.

Now Wei Yan-ho might have gained a little more strength than in the past, but his sword mastery was incomparable to his past self.

Wei San-ho’s feelings upon realizing that his younger brother, who should have been called a genius at nine years old, was now at just an ordinary level at twelve, were devastatingly tragic.

‘What should I do.’

Obviously, during his absence, Wei Yan-ho had thrown aside training and lazily done whatever he pleased.

The time Wei San-ho could stay here was only about two weeks. After that time passed and he returned to the martial academy, Wei Yan-ho would repeat the same life as the past three years.

Wei San-ho had no intention of standing by and watching such a thing.

“Go to your room.”

Wei San-ho left those words and turned his body sharply to walk away.

Wei Yan-ho hesitantly watched Wei San-ho leave. In the past, there would have been a big commotion, but strangely, his brother just left.

‘It’s good that I didn’t get beaten, but…’

Wei Yan-ho was somehow more anxious about the unusual situation.

If he had gotten violently angry or beaten him up, he wouldn’t have felt so anxious, but now that he had left like that, he felt even more anxious.

“*Kik kik.*”

Just then, laughter was heard from behind. Wei Yan-ho’s head turned sharply.

“Wei Su-ryeon!”

“Yeah?”

“You knew, didn’t you?”

“What?”

Wei Su-ryeon played dumb.

“Don’t pretend you don’t know! You knew big brother was coming today!”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me!”

Wei Su-ryeon calmly asked back.

“Did you ask?”

“This…”

Wei Su-ryeon laughed *kyaruru* and ran away.

“Before saying something to me, thinking about what big brother will do should come first, right?”

“Hey! Won’t you stop there?”

Wei Yan-ho fumed and then let out a deep sigh. Well, what would have been different if he had known? Wei San-ho’s anger wasn’t because Wei Yan-ho was lazy, but because his training level had decreased.

If martial arts could be improved by cramming, no one would bother with training.

“Eing.”

Wei Yan-ho walked to his room with drooping shoulders, *trudge trudge*. Sensing the storm that was about to hit him from now on.