Chapter 3

Chapter 3: 

Wei Jeong-han’s face contorted sharply at the voice that came from somewhere. In contrast, Wei Yan-ho’s face instantly brightened with joy.

“Mom!”

Han Sang-ah.

Wei Jeong-han’s wife and Wei Yan-ho’s mother was approaching them.

Wei Yan-ho glanced at Wei Jeong-han’s expression.

However, while it appeared on the surface that he was reading Wei Jeong-han’s mood, in reality he wasn’t reading Wei Jeong-han’s mood at all but was explaining the situation to Han Sang-ah.

Nod.

Han Sang-ah caught Wei Yan-ho’s intention and nodded her head.

She clicked her tongue while looking at Wei Jeong-han.

“What a fine thing you’re doing.”

“*Khrm*.”

Wei Jeong-han coughed loudly with a displeased expression.

“Leaving the bright daylight alone and making noise in the neighborhood at this late hour—what kind of behavior is this?”

“How can there be day and night when it comes to educating one’s child!”

“There is day and night when it comes to making a disturbance.”

Wei Jeong-han became like a mute who had eaten honey.

“Yeon-ho.”

“Yeah!”

“It’s late today, so go inside now.”

“Yeah!”

As Wei Yan-ho was about to head to his room with delight, Wei Jeong-han glared at him with murderous eyes.

Wei Yan-ho flinched, pulled his neck in, and stopped in place.

“Now Sang-ah!”

As Wei Jeong-han’s voice rose, Han Sang-ah’s eyes narrowed.

“There is a proper time for learning. If you scold a child who is already lazy until this late hour, what will happen tomorrow? If you truly intend to discipline that child, you should discipline him early tomorrow morning instead.”

“But…”

“Am I wrong?”

“No.”

‘I absolutely had to fix that brat’s insolence today!’

Wei Jeong-han glared at Wei Yan-ho and shouted.

“I’ll stop here for today. But don’t think this is the end! Tomorrow! If you’re not training when I return from my outing tomorrow, I’ll really fix your insolence! Do you understand?”

“When are you coming back?”

“What do you need to know that for?”

“So I can make a plan and…”

When Wei Jeong-han picked up the switch that had fallen to the ground, Wei Yan-ho cut off his words and said awkwardly.

“I guess there’s no need to be particularly curious about that. I’ll do as you say.”

“*Kkeung*.”

Wei Jeong-han grabbed his forehead.

The next day.

Wei Jeong-han headed toward the main gate with quick steps.

The sun was already setting behind the western mountains.

He was on his way back from attending the sixtieth birthday celebration of someone he was usually close to.

But Wei Jeong-han’s head was filled only with thoughts of Wei Yan-ho.

‘He’ll be training today! No matter how lazy that brat is!’

Wei Jeong-han thought this way, but on the other hand, he also acknowledged the reality that this was a foolish expectation.

He was his child.

The son he knew was the best under heaven at crushing people’s expectations and the greatest of all time at being lazy.

‘But surely… he’ll at least pretend to be doing something. Or he’ll at least be out in the training ground.’

After getting that angry, if he didn’t even do that much, where would he be human? If he was a human being wearing human skin, he couldn’t possibly ignore all of that and just lie sprawled out.

“Have you returned!”

The guard Wi-sa who was watching the main gate bowed his waist.

“Quickly open the door!”

“Yes!”

*Kiiiiik!*

The door opened and the training ground came into view. Wei Jeong-han’s eyes moved rapidly left and right.

‘He’s not there!’

Veins bulged on Wei Jeong-han’s forehead.

“Where is that brat?”

“What do you mean?”

“Yeon-ho! Didn’t that brat come out to the training ground!”

Wi-sa smiled awkwardly.

“I haven’t seen him today…”

“*Kkeueung*.”

Wei Jeong-han clenched his fist tightly and headed toward Wei Yan-ho’s quarters.

‘That can’t be.’

Surely not.

Still, he was human, and after seeing such an angry appearance yesterday, he wouldn’t be sleeping calmly.

Surely not!

*Slam!*

Wei Jeong-han roughly opened the door and entered Wei Yan-ho’s room.

And Wei Jeong-han could see that his thoughts were wrong.

Since Wei Yan-ho was also human, it seemed he couldn’t sleep calmly after seeing Wei Jeong-han so furious.

But the problem was that even while awake, he was lying on his bed.

“You came early?”

“…”

At the sight of Wei Yan-ho half-sitting up and clutching his blanket, Wei Jeong-han’s energy completely drained away.

Wei Yan-ho was also letting out an awkward laugh, as if the current situation was very embarrassing. It was the moment when Wei Yan-ho’s plan to go out and pretend to train at the right time when Wei Jeong-han returned was exposed.

Wei Jeong-han closed his eyes while looking at Wei Yan-ho’s awkward smile.

If he couldn’t find peace of mind, he might end up holding a funeral here.

“Didn’t you hear what I said yesterday?”

“Well, of course I heard it. I have ears too.”

“Then?”

“I was going to train…”

“You were going to?”

Wei Yan-ho smiled awkwardly.

“Well… I was going to rest just a little bit before starting, but before I knew it, time had…”

“*Kraaaaak!*”

Wei Jeong-han rushed at Wei Yan-ho.

“*Aaaaak!*”

Wei Jeong-han grabbed Wei Yan-ho’s neck and lifted him into the air, shouting.

“You’re hopeless! Today I’ll pound out the laziness that’s embedded in your bones!”

“C-calm down!”

“Calm down? Did you say calm down? Calm down?”

“Yes, Father! I think you should calm down! You’re getting older, you should think about your health too.”

Without another word, Wei Jeong-han threw Wei Yan-ho onto the bed.

*Thud!*

“*Aak!*”

Wei Jeong-han raised his hand.

“Let’s have you get a beating today!”

“C-calm down, I said!”

That day, the sound of a pig being slaughtered echoed through the Guangdong Wei Family.

* * *

“Let me see.”

“It hurts!”

“Be quiet!”

Han Sang-ah rubbed her son’s eye socket that was bruised black and blue.

“*Ouch!*”

Han Sang-ah struck Wei Yan-ho’s back.

*Smack!*

“Ah! Why are you hitting me again!”

“You got hit because you deserved it! That’s why I keep telling you to tone down your laziness!”

“I really was going to get up before Father came back.”

Looking at Wei Yan-ho grumbling, Han Sang-ah let out a deep sigh.

‘It’s all my fault.’

Han Sang-ah looked at Wei Yan-ho who was pouting with his lips sticking out.

It wasn’t as if she enjoyed seeing her child being so lazy.

Nevertheless, the reason Han Sang-ah protected him so much was because she was partly responsible for Wei Yan-ho becoming so lazy.

Wei Jeong-han had left on his martial journey when Wei Yan-ho was young.

At that time, Han Sang-ah had just given birth to Wei Yan-ho’s younger sister, Wei Su-ryeon, not long before. Thanks to this, Han Sang-ah had to take care of the newborn child while managing all the big and small affairs of the family.

Filling the void left by her husband who had suddenly left was already a burdensome task. On top of that, raising a newborn was an even more difficult task.

Even ten hands wouldn’t have been enough, and being worn down by work and childcare all day long, she would often fall asleep exhausted.

Still, she paid attention to the eldest son Wei San-ho and the newborn Wei Su-ryeon, but she was also human, so there were limits to what she could do, and she couldn’t help but neglect Wei Yan-ho who was awkwardly stuck in the middle.

Only after Wei San-ho left for the academy for training and Wei Jeong-han returned to take on the role of family head did Han Sang-ah realize that her second son had become the world’s most incomparable lazy boy.

And she could see that the reason was because he hadn’t received proper attention at an age when he should have been growing up receiving his parents’ love.

‘It’s all my fault.’

When she realized that the cause of all this lay with herself, who hadn’t been able to give him attention when the child was growing up, and with his father who had left him behind, she couldn’t be harsh with Wei Yan-ho alone.

Thanks to this, Han Sang-ah had become an endlessly weak mother to Wei Yan-ho, unlike with Wei San-ho or Wei Su-ryeon.

“To beat a child like this.”

Han Sang-ah’s eyes narrowed coldly.

Although she had rushed in late to bring Wei Yan-ho away, Wei Yan-ho had already become black and blue by then.

“My goodness, this man.”

Han Sang-ah ground her teeth, *grr grr*.

Hitting the child is fine!

When disciplining, you might pick up a switch!

But how could you make such a precious son’s eyes like this!

“How long are you going to keep being lazy like that!”

Wei Yan-ho flinched and hunched his shoulders.

Han Sang-ah let out a deep sigh.

“Starting tomorrow, you should also stop being lazy so your father doesn’t get angrier. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“Yeah!”

Han Sang-ah let out another deep sigh while looking at Wei Yan-ho who was smiling brightly.

“*Kkeueung!*”

Wei Jeong-han held his head and let out a groan.

“Are you troubled because of the second young master?”

Cho Bang, the chief steward of the Guangdong Wei Family, comforted Wei Jeong-han.

“If it’s not that brat, what else would I be worried about?”

Cho Bang smiled.

“The young master will soon come to his senses too.”

“Come to his senses?”

Wei Jeong-han shook his head vigorously.

“No, no. Look at what that brat does! He’s not the type to come to his senses that easily!”

“But the young master is also a martial artist’s son. Even if he’s a bit lazy now, he’ll soon walk the path of a martial artist.”

“*Kkeung*.”

Wei Jeong-han held his head.

Walk the path of a martial artist?

Easy to say!

What kind of martial artist is a brat who holes up in his room for four days sleeping when you tell him to train!

“Why did you let the boy get this way!”

Cho Bang spoke with a face clearly showing he felt wronged.

“How could I touch the young master who receives the madam’s protection!”

“*Kkeung*.”

Wei Jeong-han let out a deep sigh.

“It’s all my fault.”

Wei Jeong-han had left on his martial journey when Wei Yan-ho turned two years old.

He thought it would be a martial journey that would end in about two years at most, but getting involved in various incidents, he was only able to return home after a full eight years had passed.

Thanks to this, he was able to gain the excessive nickname of Righteous Hero Sword, but what he lost was too great.

When he returned home, he found that his once-modest wife had become more terrifying than a tiger, and the child he once cherished as the apple of his eye had turned into a lazybones who was frightening just to look at.

“Didn’t they say ‘Cultivate the self, regulate the family, order the state, and bring peace to the world’? It’s not wrong for a martial artist to leave on a martial journey to temper himself.”

Chief Steward Cho comforted him.

But Wei Jeong-han didn’t find those words pleasant to hear.

“Are you saying I was too obsessed with self-cultivation and failed to regulate my family?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“…Well, what of it. That’s the truth.”

Wei Jeong-han’s sigh deepened.

He wasn’t supposed to be leaving home in the first place.

He thought it was the way of a martial artist. He thought if he got older, he wouldn’t be able to leave. He wanted to stand properly as a martial artist before protecting his family.

No, perhaps the burden of having to shoulder the family and go out was too heavy.

But that martial journey had ruined his child.

“Whew”

“…”

Chief Steward Cho smiled.

“Don’t worry too much.”

“Do I look like I won’t worry?”

“Family head, the second young master is more intelligent than you think.”

“Hm?”

“It’s true. When he was young, he was definitely much more intelligent than the first young master. I even thought the family hierarchy might be shaken if things continued like this.”

“Is that so?”

Chief Steward Cho smiled.

“He has excellent fundamentals. So…”

“Only the fundamentals will be excellent.”

Wei Jeong-han gave a bitter smile.

“What good are excellent fundamentals! His mental state is rotten from the start!”

“I wouldn’t say rotten…”

“Do you know what other people call our child?”

“…”

“Lazy turtle! They call him a lazy turtle! The second son of the Great Guangdong Wei Family is being treated like a turtle!”

“Lazy turtle…”

Wei Jeong-han’s eyebrows rose slightly.

“You’re thinking it fits well right now, aren’t you?”

Chief Steward Cho waved his hands.

“How could that be!”

“*Kkeung*.”

Wei Jeong-han jumped up from his seat.

“This won’t do! I can’t face Father even in death like this! I must somehow fix that brat’s mental state!”

“But would that be easy?”

“If only Sang-ah wouldn’t interfere, I could fix it even by beating him!”

Wei Jeong-han’s voice was choked with regret.

But after abandoning his home for eight years, he had become a man who became infinitely small whenever he stood before Han Sang-ah.

“*Sigh*, it’s all my karma.”

Wei Jeong-han’s sigh deepened.

Cho Bang smiled slyly.

“Still, there must be a way.”

“A way?”

“Yes. Have you forgotten? That person will return soon.”

Wei Jeong-han’s face brightened.

“That’s right, that’s right. Yeon-ho, that brat is going to meet the grim reaper.”

Wei Jeong-han smiled with pleasure.

The person Wei Yan-ho feared most in the world was approaching the house.

—