CLS-Chapter 206

Chapter 206

“So you infiltrated the Green Forest again…”

“Yes.”

“And while observing, you noticed them whispering among themselves?”

“Yes!”

“Then you got caught, and they followed you all the way here?”

“Yes!”

Watching Peng Daoji answer so energetically, Wei Yan-ho felt dumbfounded.

“Hey, beggar.”

“It’s Jang-il!”

“I have something I’m curious about and want to ask.”

“Hm?”

“Are people from the Peng Family originally this useless?”

Jang-il began to fall into deep contemplation. He should say no, but the problem was he couldn’t just say no outright.

But he also couldn’t say yes with the person in question right in front of him.

“Well… uh, so…”

Jang-il barely found words to escape with.

“It’s not that he’s useless, but rather that his usefulness lies elsewhere. When it comes to charging first into enemy lines to raise morale and strike down foes, there are none like the Peng Family. Yes, just like Zhang Fei!”

“Doesn’t that mean he has no brains?”

“No, no, that’s not it. The idea that the Peng Family is stupid is just prejudice.”

“Then what about this guy?”

When Wei Yan-ho pointed at Peng Daoji, Jang-il clutched his head. No matter how much he tried to escape, the reality before his eyes wouldn’t let him go.

“Whether it’s the Namgung or Zhuge families! Idiots can emerge from any of them!”

“…Are you sure?”

“I’m telling you, that’s how it is.”

Wei Yan-ho glared at him.

“Can this really be solved at just the ‘stupid’ level?! Infiltrating the same place twice, suffering the same thing twice, and getting the same crap thrown at people!”

Stab! Stab!

Wei Yan-ho’s words became daggers that pierced Peng Daoji again and again.

“After causing all that commotion, you should have at least brought back something. What? You don’t know? You just got chased away? Is this something a person should say?”

Stab!

Peng Daoji’s body gradually shrank.

“What on earth was Military Advisor Grandfather thinking, sending this guy to infiltrate such places over and over? Why?”

Jang-il spoke as if it was no big deal.

“Still, he does find something. Usually, infiltrating twice and finding something both times is difficult work. He manages that difficult task.”

“Oh my, what a remarkable person. Accomplishing such difficult things again.”

Wei Yan-ho glared at Peng Daoji with eyes ready to pop out.

“At this rate, I’ll have seizures just hearing the sound ‘Peng.'”

Actually, it was Peng Daoji who had seizures just hearing the sound ‘Wi.’

When Jang-il was wondering how on earth to resolve this situation, someone stepped forward to help.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t judge the Peng Family based on that person alone.”

“Hm?”

Wei Yan-ho turned his head to look in the direction the voice came from. There stood a man wearing identical clothing to Peng Daoji, looking straight at Wei Yan-ho.

“Oh? Um, you?”

“I am Peng Do-hyeong!”

Peng Do-hyeong shouted loudly. How long had they been taking classes together, yet he still couldn’t recognize his face? Every time it rained, his side that had been hit by stones thrown by Wei Yan-ho would ache with “ow, ow!”

The person who had left wounds carved deep into his bones that wouldn’t disappear even after ten years couldn’t even recognize the face of the person he had beaten!

Peng Do-hyeong forcibly suppressed the rage rising from deep in his chest.

“The Peng Family is definitely not a place where idiots gather. It’s also the Peng Family that has produced numerous scholars. It’s not that the Peng Family is stupid—that person is stupid.”

“That person?”

Wei Yan-ho tilted his head.

“Aren’t you from the same family as him?”

Jang-il whispered in Wei Yan-ho’s ear.

“There are some circumstances, so their relationship isn’t good.”

“Really?”

Even so, calling someone from the same family “that person” and “this person” while dismissing them in front of others seemed strange.

“Hey, aren’t you younger than him? Just looking at your face, you’re clearly younger.”

“That’s right.”

“Then he’s your older brother, isn’t he?”

“Hmph!”

Peng Do-hyeong spoke as if it was absurd.

“Who would acknowledge the child of a concubine as an older brother? I’ve never had such a brother!”

“Hm?”

Wondering what this was about, Wei Yan-ho looked at Jang-il again. Jang-il glanced at both of them and began whispering in Wei Yan-ho’s ear again.

“Those two are indeed brothers, but Peng Daoji’s mother had a rather low status.”

“Ah, really?”

“You could say Peng Do-hyeong is the legitimate heir.”

“Ah, I see.”

Wei Yan-ho slowly nodded and looked at Peng Do-hyeong again.

“So… you’re the legitimate heir, and he’s illegitimate?”

“That’s right.”

“So you can’t acknowledge him as an older brother?”

“It’s only natural.”

“Ah, right, well…”

Wei Yan-ho nodded as if he understood. There was nothing more foolish than meddling in other people’s family affairs. The wisest thing was to let others handle their own family matters.

But…

‘Why am I getting annoyed?’

His reason was telling him that, but something kept bubbling up inside. He felt like something was poking and prodding from within. Looking quietly at Peng Do-hyeong’s face, which was quite handsome, he kept thinking it would be just perfect to punch once.

‘No, let’s not get involved.’

He was about to turn away with a bitter taste in his mouth, but Peng Do-hyeong, still not having cooled his anger, began to press Peng Daoji further.

“The same goes for you!”

“…Do-hyeong.”

“Who gave you permission to call my name?”

“I’m sorry.”

Peng Daoji’s shoulders drooped.

“The Peng Family name is not something for someone like you to bear. If you’re going to continue tarnishing the Peng Family name like this, immediately remove that martial uniform and return the Peng surname. When I return to my family, I will hold you accountable for this incident no matter what. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“It… it doesn’t seem like such a big mistake…”

Wei Yan-ho smacked his lips, and Jang-il poked Wei Yan-ho’s side.

“Didn’t you call him stupid just a moment ago?”

“Well, he was trying his best in his own way, but his words are a bit…”

“Harsh?”

“It’s not that…”

But Peng Do-hyeong, in his excitement, didn’t seem to hear their conversation.

“From the beginning, father’s recognition of you was out of sympathy, not because he wanted you to do something under the Peng Family name. But if you keep causing trouble like this and damaging the Peng Family’s reputation…”

Whack!

Thud!

Struck on the back of the head, Peng Do-hyeong collapsed to the ground like a corpse.

“Ah, that bastard talks way too much.”

“Just because he’s a person…”

“I was going to try talking it out, but he just kept whining. Ugh, what kind of guy is this?”

Wei Yan-ho kicked the collapsed Peng Do-hyeong a few times with his foot. But Peng Do-hyeong, completely unconscious, didn’t move at all.

“Won’t there be problems if you assault a Peng Family heir like this?”

“It’s fine.”

Wei Yan-ho shrugged his shoulders.

“I may look like this, but I’m his teacher. It’s just a teacher giving his student some guidance for his own good. If they make a fuss about something like this, that wouldn’t be right.”

“Will the Peng Family accept that logic?”

“If they don’t?”

If they don’t, the Peng Family’s foundation would be uprooted.

Wei Yan-ho alone was questionable whether the Peng Family could handle, but if Wei San-ho came running with fire in his eyes, and even Wei Jeong-han, who had been nagged by Han Sang-ah, stepped forward?

‘Total annihilation.’

Jang-il thought that perhaps the name “Number One Under Heaven Guangdong Wei Family” might echo throughout the world. And not necessarily in the distant future either. With just the power of these three people here, they could steam-cook and devour most established families with room to spare.

“Huh? Why is this guy lying here?”

Wei Yan-ho asked as if he knew nothing.

“He seems to be sick.”

“Oh dear, he shouldn’t be sick. Load him carefully onto a horse.”

“Yes.”

And shameless too.

Just as Jang-il was thinking he should never get entangled with the Guangdong Wei Family, someone gently tugged at his sleeve.

“Hm?”

Surprisingly, the person who tugged at his arm was Jin Ye-ran.

“What are you doing?”

“…Pardon?”

Why was this woman talking to him?

‘She’s really pretty up close.’

Though a beggar had no business coveting a beauty, appreciating beauty was something anyone could do.

But that beauty didn’t seem to hold any particular favor toward him.

“Everyone else is working.”

“Listen here, miss. If a beggar works, he can’t beg for alms. It’s not that I don’t work, but that’s just how beggars are.”

“I understand, so go help them.”

“No, you don’t seem to understand what I said?”

“Hurry up.”

“…”

What was this strange authority?

Jang-il looked at Jin Ye-ran with a reluctant gaze. It was a slightly different expression from what she had shown until now.

“If we don’t bury them properly, it could cause problems for travelers. If we bury them carelessly, wild animals might disturb the corpses and cause trouble. We need to dig deeper.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Go help them.”

“Yes…”

Only then did Jang-il understand why he couldn’t make a peep and was following Jin Ye-ran’s words. Jin Ye-ran was speaking to him not as a member of Wei Yan-ho’s group, but as a physician.

Perhaps thinking that leaving things as they were could create patients, Jin Ye-ran’s tone was utterly solemn. As a doctor, Jin Ye-ran was someone so devoted and strict that she was called a saint.

Jang-il, a neighborhood loafer beggar, was no match for her.

“Dig that spot deeper!”

“Yes.”

“Don’t bury them carelessly, pack it down thoroughly.”

“…Yes.”

“Don’t straighten your back while working! We need to hurry and finish so we can leave.”

“But!”

Jang-il finally glared.

“Why isn’t Yan-ho working?!”

“It’s better if we finish quickly so he can rest. Finish up over there.”

“…Can’t you hear me?”

“What are you doing? Aren’t you going to work?”

“Good grief…”

Jang-il came to realize a sad truth. That fairness doesn’t exist in this world.

While Jang-il was busily digging the ground, Gong Mu-jin, Seok Mun-cho, and Wei Yan-ho discussed the current situation.

“This doesn’t seem like an ordinary matter. We need to think about what to do.”

“It’s certainly a serious matter, but it’s not related to these children. If we send the children back just because something happened, who would believe that?”

Wei Yan-ho nodded at Seok Mun-cho’s words.

“There are already rumors that our strength is lacking, and if we send the children back for this reason, people will only say that the Righteous Martial Alliance avoided the match for trivial reasons.”

“Hmm, that wouldn’t do.”

Wei Yan-ho had no choice but to worry.

The identity of those who bit poison and committed suicide wasn’t clear. Since Peng Daoji handled things so ambiguously, it wasn’t clear whether they really came from a Green Forest den, or whether Peng Daoji mistook people disguised as Green Forest bandits for actual Green Forest bandits.

“For now, let’s send a written report to Military Advisor and wait for instructions.”

“From here?”

“…We’ll have to go to Mount Hua.”

Sensing the uneasiness in Wei Yan-ho’s voice, Gong Mu-jin patted his chest and said,

“The journey might be a bit difficult, but once we reach Mount Hua, we’ll be safe. Who would dare invade Mount Hua?”

“That’s also true.”

Wei Jeong-han responded with a smile to Gong Mu-jin’s bold declaration, but the smile couldn’t completely hide the uneasiness within it.