CLS-Chapter 492

Chapter 492:

To be honest, Baek Hoe-myeong was not someone who particularly enjoyed the taste of tea.

Those versed in the way of tea are said to detect the subtle differences in flavor and become absorbed in their mysteries, but Baek Hoe-myeong was someone who preferred cold water to tea.

He might understand the way of alcohol, but the way of tea simply didn’t suit his temperament.

Even so, there were times when he would sit before tea like this, lost in thought.

He might not know the taste of tea, but he did enjoy its fragrance.

The delicate tea fragrance that wafted up had the effect of calming one’s mind.

Under normal circumstances, that is.

Though he could feel the gentle tea fragrance at the tip of his nose, Baek Hoe-myeong’s mind was not calm in the slightest. Because something far more stimulating than the tea fragrance sat before him.

The being who always stimulated him.

The old man who was his father and called the Lord of White Sword Castle sat before him.

A breeze blew gently.

A single strand from his neatly combed white hair fluttered in the wind. Even that sight was like a painting.

“The wind is blowing.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Tranquility is a good thing. But if there were no wind in the world, that too would be a sorrowful thing.”

“Indeed.”

“What do you think?”

Baek Hoe-myeong lifted his head slightly.

“What do you mean by that…?”

“Do you think what we are doing can bring new winds to the martial world?”

Baek Hoe-myeong fell into contemplation without answering for a moment.

What should he say in response?

If someone else had asked, he could have answered easily, but words that came from the mouth of the White Sword Castle Lord carried a different weight.

“It will not merely be wind.”

The old man quietly raised his head to look at his son.

“The wind will not stop at being wind. Soon it will become a storm, become a typhoon, and purify the filthy things. When the world looks at us again, they will face an inescapable typhoon.”

“Hmm.”

The old man quietly nodded his head.

With a face that seemed both pleased and displeased… a face whose true feelings could not be read.

“Hoe-myeong.”

“Yes, Father.”

“You are now of age, and it’s time for you to have your own convictions.”

“That is so.”

“So I will ask you one thing. I ask not as your father, but as the Family Head of the Baek Family to the Young Family Head.”

Strength filled Baek Hoe-myeong’s body. The position of Young Family Head of the Baek Family was still a burden too heavy for him. Even so, he did not retreat and looked straight at his father.

“Please ask your question.”

“Do you think what we are doing is right?”

Baek Hoe-myeong closed his mouth.

He had not expected such a question to come.

“Why do you ask such a thing…?”

The old man smiled gently.

“I simply wanted to hear your opinion. I am not testing you, nor do I have a desired answer. I simply want to know.”

The old man turned his head to gaze at the distant sky.

The wind blew.

“I have spent far too long thinking alone.”

A trace of emptiness crept into his voice.

“My thoughts have hardened, my will has solidified. I have built solid, unshakeable fortress walls within my heart. There was work to be done. So I simply did it. Not once did I doubt that what I had done was wrong. And now it is time to see the results. Knowing this fact, one thing has become curious to me.”

“…”

“The fortress walls I have built are incomparably sturdy. But I did not examine the ground on which I built the fortress walls. I was simply rushed with urgent feelings to lay the foundation stones. From a castle built too high and too sturdy, one cannot see below. One can see distant places, but cannot see the ground. So I ask.”

The tea came to his hand.

As the slightly cooled tea naturally began to simmer, he brought the tea to his lips and savored a sip.

“Did I build my castle in the right place? Perhaps I overlooked the process of examining whether it was proper to build a castle in this place before building it?”

Baek Hoe-myeong looked at his father with fresh eyes.

A giant.

This person is a giant.

Not because he was his father. Even if they had not shared a drop of blood, Baek Hoe-myeong would have respected and followed this man. As far as he knew, there existed no one greater than this person in this martial world.

Though he was his father, Baek Hoe-myeong had never once followed him as a father. This person was too immense to be bound by something as small as fatherhood.

Even so, he felt no regret, no disappointment. Giants have their own way of life.

Such a father was now showing his inner self for the first time.

The solid fortress walls that seemed like they would not be worn away even a little by a thousand years of weathering in the wind were now opening their gates to him.

Baek Hoe-myeong was deeply moved.

After contemplating for a long while, Baek Hoe-myeong opened his mouth.

“I am endlessly grateful that Father has acknowledged me. But I still do not know if I am qualified to offer my opinions to Father.”

Baek Hoe-myeong swallowed his saliva and continued speaking.

“However, since Father desires an answer from me, I will speak my thoughts. Father, this is what I think.”

He stopped speaking and Baek Hoe-myeong closed his eyes.

Knowing how important this answer was, knowing that there must not be even the slightest deviation… he thought and thought again.

The answer that came after much deliberation was this.

“I know what Father is concerned about. The world will be drenched in blood. Our power is immense. But the martial world is also immense. So inevitably, we cannot help but call forth blood. The common people will suffer hardships, and the world will be turned upside down. Is this not what you are concerned about?”

The old man did not answer.

But that silence served as an answer.

“Father, resentment is something that is not forgotten, but sometimes it must be forgotten. For the world to be at peace, someone must close their eyes. If we close our eyes and turn our heads away, the world will be comfortable as it always has been. But I want to ask one thing.”

Baek Hoe-myeong’s eyes blazed.

“Why must we be righteous?”

“…”

The gazes of the old man and Baek Hoe-myeong intertwined.

“Was Emperor Taizu righteous? Was Emperor Gaozu of Han righteous? In the end, being right is merely an evaluation made by later generations. If we are victorious, then we will be right. But if we are defeated, then we are wrong. Who will remember what reasons and what circumstances lie within that?”

The old man nodded his head.

“Father, no! Family Head!”

Baek Hoe-myeong spoke boldly.

“White Sword Castle can forgive the world. And it can bestow goodwill for the world’s sake. But the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family cannot forgive the world. And it will return what is owed to the world. Are you the Lord of White Sword Castle, or are you the Family Head of the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family?”

“I am…”

The old man answered without the slightest delay.

“The Family Head of the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family. From the moment I ascended to the position of Family Head, from the moment I inherited this position from my dying father, I have never once forgotten that I am the Family Head of the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family.”

“Then what are you hesitating about?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The old man’s face became resolute.

He had simply wanted confirmation. Not from within his own mind, but from another person’s words.

Everyone wants to hear at least once that you were not wrong.

Knowing that he had already mounted the tiger’s back and could not stop, that was why he wanted confirmation once more.

“The preparations?”

“They are complete.”

“Yes, I see. How are those two boys?”

“They are full of enthusiasm, saying they will perfectly accomplish their assigned tasks.”

“That’s how it should be.”

The old man smiled gently.

That’s how it must be.

“It’s too late to turn back. Then we have no choice but to advance.”

“Family Head.”

It was not Father. The old man knew that difference.

Baek Hoe-myeong bowed his head and spoke.

“I cannot dare imagine how heavy the weight placed on those shoulders must be. I cannot dare imagine how rough the thorny path that the Family Head has walked until now must have been. However, I, no, not just I but everyone in the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family is following only the Family Head’s back.”

“Mm.”

“Please do not waver. Please remain steadfast. Please be our guiding star. If you do so, we will risk our lives and fight for the glory of the Ten Thousand Swords Baek Family.”

The old man nodded his head.

“I showed you a foolish side of myself.”

“No.”

“There will be no wavering. I am someone who cannot waver. I have never wavered even once. It was merely confirmation.”

“I think so as well.”

“When do we begin?”

“Uncle will do it.”

“I see. That child.”

“Yes.”

The old man turned his head to gaze at the distant sky.

“Variables must be eliminated. Heaven is spiteful, after all.”

“Since Uncle has personally stepped forward, that bastard will no longer be able to hold out. We will organize the world starting with Sichuan.”

“That’s how it must be. Well then, go.”

“Yes. Then.”

Baek Hoe-myeong bowed deeply and withdrew with quick steps. Baek Hoe-myeong, who had withdrawn to where the Family Head was no longer visible, sighed quietly.

‘Strange.’

There was a slight sense of unease.

His father was someone who did not waver. He had confirmed it with his own words, but there was what he had seen over the past several decades. But why did he suddenly say such things at this point?

To acknowledge Baek Hoe-myeong and see the right time to pass on the position of Family Head?

That couldn’t be.

The proper time is after everything is finished. He couldn’t entrust the harvest of the field he had cultivated his entire life to someone else. But then why ask such things now?

Baek Hoe-myeong bit his lip slightly.

‘I need to pull myself together.’

Change at this point is an unnecessary element. If the Family Head shows a different side than before, he must fill that gap. Baek Hoe-myeong left the garden with rough steps.

“It has already begun.”

It cannot be undone. Now no one will be able to stop it.

In the pavilion of the garden that Baek Hoe-myeong had left, the old man was quietly looking up at the sky.

The sky.

Yes, the sky.

He was following Heaven’s mandate. The mandate of Heaven to avenge the grudges of those who died unjustly.

So what would he hesitate about?

However, one thing.

“…Looking at my back, you say?”

Baek Hoe-myeong’s words pierced into the old man’s heart.

A slightly bitter smile formed coldly at the old man’s lips.

“Martial world, martial world… The time has come to receive repayment for the price of your sins. I have waited far too long. And…”

The old man closed his eyes.

It could be heard.

The sound of the wind.

The wind that had been tickling him passed by, and new wind blew again.

“Ten Thousand Swords…”

Like chasing an elusive phantom, the old man reached his hand toward the void. The old man who grasped the empty air laughed hollowly.

“Ten Thousand Swords, Ten Thousand Swords… Heh heh heh, Ten Thousand Swords…”

The old man’s hand slowly drew an arc.

As if dancing.

Like an old man intoxicated with joy performing a bent-back dance, the old man’s hand gently swept through the air.

Woooooooong!

The garden full of blooming flowers split in half. But soon, as if it had been an illusion, the garden returned to its appearance no different from before.

The old man looked down at his own hand.

With a face mixing satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

“How far must I chase? Ten Thousand Swords, Ten Thousand Swords…”

No one would be able to know now what the old man was pursuing.