CLS-Chapter 401

Chapter 401:

The old man looked up at the sky.

“How blue it is.”

The clear sky without a single cloud was dyeing the old man’s heart blue as well.

“Isn’t the sky always blue?”

“That’s right.”

The old man quietly nodded his head.

“The sky is blue. Always clear. Sometimes clouds may cover the sky, but that’s just us looking at the clouds, not the sky changing.”

“That’s correct, Father.”

“Hoe-myeong.”

“Yes.”

Baek Hoe-myeong bowed his head at the old man’s call.

“Things aren’t going as you wish, are they?”

“……”

The answer didn’t come immediately. The old man’s question was that difficult to answer.

“There was a… small problem, but it’s not enough to affect the grand plan.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

The old man didn’t ask any further.

But Baek Hoe-myeong’s heart became even more anxious.

Because this old man was that kind of person.

Even though he seemed to be just wasting time in this garden, he was someone who didn’t miss anything in the world. There was no way he wouldn’t know that Baek Hoe-myeong’s words were a poor excuse.

“It seems like it hasn’t affected the grand plan yet.”

“I think so too.”

“But it can’t go on any longer.”

“……”

The old man reached out and stroked the flowers in the garden.

“Wei Yan-ho, wasn’t that the child’s name?”

“……Yes.”

Baek Hoe-myeong bit his lip slightly.

‘Damn it.’

Every time that name came up, it felt like his heart was jolting.

At first, he thought it was just a minor problem that could occur during the process of carrying out the grand plan that only happened around that bastard. But soon that bastard began to destroy everything as if sent by heaven to stop their work, and now the situation had reached the point where the entire grand plan could be ruined because of that one bastard.

So how could he not be angry?

Mount Hua, the Imperial Palace… everything was ruined because of that bastard.

“There’s anger in your heart.”

Baek Hoe-myeong quickly bowed his head.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. When you’re angry, it’s natural to be angry. Your weakness is that you try to hide yourself too much.”

“Yes.”

“There are natural principles in this world.”

Baek Hoe-myeong quietly waited for the old man’s words.

“That the sky is blue is a natural principle. And that water flows downward is also a natural principle. If you can continuously let the water stream flow, even if it meets mountains and cliffs and stops, it will eventually flow into the sea.”

Baek Hoe-myeong closed his eyes.

Listening to the old man’s words, it felt like his impatience was disappearing.

“If there’s a huge rock in front blocking the water from flowing, people try to move the rock away. But that’s not the answer. What we need to do is gather the water flow. If we send enough water to generously reach the sea, even going around and around the rock, it will eventually reach the sea.”

“I was foolish.”

“It’s fine if you understand now.”

The old man smiled.

Kind eyes.

Warm eyes.

But Baek Hoe-myeong didn’t feel comfort from those kind eyes. Because he knew that kindness could turn into sharpness at any time.

His father was that kind of person.

Even his own children weren’t important to him. Only restoring the lost honor of the family and making those who oppressed them remember the name of Ten Thousand Swords was everything to him.

For that, he wouldn’t hesitate to make any sacrifice.

Even if it was his own child.

“Grand plan, grand plan… Everything is called a grand plan, but there’s only one true grand plan. Now, tell me. Is there no problem with the grand plan?”

“……”

“Why is there no answer?”

When Baek Hoe-myeong hesitated to answer, the old man’s voice became slightly cold. Baek Hoe-myeong trembled and prostrated himself on the ground.

“Father, this unworthy son failed to prevent a minor problem due to my incompetence.”

“Failed to prevent?”

“It’s not that I failed to prevent it……”

Baek Hoe-myeong’s words began to get tangled.

The choice of words was wrong. This wasn’t something he could have done anything about. But saying it this way made it seem like it was something he could have prevented but failed to due to his foolishness or negligence.

“It was unavoidable.”

“I see.”

Even though he corrected his words, the coldness didn’t disappear from the old man’s voice.

“That means you can resolve it now, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. Of course. However……”

Baek Hoe-myeong hesitated several times before opening his mouth.

“I don’t know if I should mention this, but there’s information that Wei Yan-ho is heading to where the problem occurred.”

“Wei Yan-ho……”

The old man quietly raised his head to look at the sky.

‘Like a corn on the foot.’

Like a corn that had sprouted on the sole of his foot, it kept bothering him. He wanted to pull it out cleanly, but if he pulled it out roughly, the blood he would have to shed wouldn’t be insignificant either.

But ignoring it made him too concerned.

“Huuu.”

The old man shook his head a couple of times and opened his mouth.

“Hoe-myeong.”

“Yes, Father.”

“The world eventually flows according to principles. I didn’t want to do something like forcibly diverting the water flow.”

“Yes……”

“However.”

The old man’s voice became resolute.

“Living in this world, there are times when you must eventually do things that go against your will.”

“That means……”

The old man looked at Baek Hoe-myeong with slightly colder eyes.

“Call your uncle.”

“M-my uncle, you mean?”

“Yes.”

The old man quietly nodded.

“Your uncle has rested long enough, so now he should earn his keep. Originally, letting that child go was also your uncle’s mistake, so now he should resolve that mistake himself.”

Baek Hoe-myeong bowed his head even deeper.

“If Uncle steps forward, wouldn’t it be as good as already resolved?”

“That would be nice.”

The old man turned around with a hollow laugh.

Realizing that the old man had finished speaking, Baek Hoe-myeong bowed deeply and backed out of the garden.

‘Now Wei Yan-ho is finished too.’

If his uncle stepped forward, no one in the world could remain safe.

Absolutely not.

***

In a way, it was a grand affair.

Receiving an invitation from the Sichuan Tang Family, who was practically the head of the Heavenly Alliance as a member of the Righteous Martial Alliance.

Moreover, if you looked into the details of the matter, it wasn’t the Righteous Martial Alliance that the Sichuan Tang Family invited, but Wei Yan-ho himself. There was no one to look closely into the meaning of this, but from a martial world historical perspective, this was a very important matter.

So it seemed like he should do something important……

“Then what should I do?”

“You don’t need to do anything. Just chew on some jerky.”

“……What?”

“Rest.”

“But didn’t I come here to do something?”

“You have meaning just by being there. I permit it. Rest as you please.”

“What?”

“I said I permit it.”

“What?”

This was the conversation between Wei Yan-ho and Wei Jeong-han last evening.

Wei Jeong-han was a very caring father, but he was also a very cold father. Wei Jeong-han loved his children, but he was never blinded by that love.

Regarding this matter, Wei Jeong-han thought that Jang-il was a hundred times more helpful than Wei Yan-ho.

What help would it be to clumsily take Wei Yan-ho around when he would only cause trouble?

Of course, the reason for bringing Wei Yan-ho was precisely to cause that trouble, but he didn’t want it to interfere with the work he had to do.

Thanks to this, Wei Yan-ho was left in his room from the first evening after arrival.

‘This feels strange……’

Of course, Wei Yan-ho didn’t dislike being left alone. Wasn’t being left alone by the world his ultimate life goal?

But when he was actively left alone by the Tang Family that he had crossed over to with some enthusiasm, his back felt a bit restless.

‘It’s not particularly bad though.’

The Dark King paid a great deal of attention to Wei Yan-ho.

The room he was staying in was obviously luxurious. It was luxurious enough to make one think that perhaps the Dark King had given up his own room. Looking at the location, that probably wasn’t the case, but it was certainly the best guest room.

On top of that, three servants were assigned to him.

Wei Yan-ho was an efficient person who didn’t particularly need human assistance.

He was someone who had lived for five years eating only moss in a cave without a single person around, so what need would he have for servants while staying in such a nice room?

Both Wei Yan-ho, who felt the presence of the servants guarding outside his room, and the servants guarding outside Wei Yan-ho’s room when he gave them no work to do, found each other equally idle and bored.

“The blanket is cozy too.”

It seemed like the first time he’d seen such a blanket in the world. This heavy feeling that seemed to press down on his body had the effect of naturally making a person fall asleep.

And how warm it was on top of that.

The blankets used in the Imperial Palace were also very luxurious, but they were of a different class from this place. The things used by the imperial family would naturally be more luxurious than here, but when comparing guest quarters to guest quarters, you had to give it to the Tang Family.

Moreover……

“Excuse me……”

“Yes!”

Drrrk! Bang!

As soon as he opened his mouth, the door burst open and a servant rushed inside.

“Perhaps some water……”

“I’ll bring it right away!”

“Would you prefer cold water or warm water?”

“Cold, please.”

“Please wait just a moment. Is there anything else uncomfortable?”

“……No. It’s fine.”

“Yes, then.”

It was hard to tell whether this was treating a guest or treating an Asura who had crawled up from hell.

When Wei Yan-ho was in the Imperial Palace guest quarters, he was just one of countless guests of unknown origin, but here he was an honored guest personally invited by the family head. Naturally, the treatment had to be different.

‘At this rate, I might really become a bound spirit here.’

Wei Yan-ho was truly feeling a sense of crisis.

It was comfortable.

It was too comfortable.

Wasn’t Wei Yan-ho someone who had always lived reading others’ faces throughout his life? But Wei Jeong-han wasn’t absent – Wei Jeong-han was present and still permitted him to rest comfortably.

Where could such an absurd case exist?

‘Subtly uncomfortable.’

Wei Yan-ho also couldn’t dance and sing when the stage was properly set for him.

When everything in the world began to revolve around him, even the pleasure of being lazy disappeared. Originally, isn’t laziness sweet when you’re being lazy when you shouldn’t be?

“Mmm……”

When the servant brought a cold water jug with dew droplets forming on it, Wei Yan-ho first received and drank the water.

‘Should I try doing something?’

It was a historic moment.

This would never have been possible for the Wei Yan-ho of before, but having rolled around in the martial world countless times, he couldn’t remain as lazy as he once was.

Thanks to being thoroughly lazy for five years when he couldn’t be, the will to do something had emerged.

‘My heart feels unsettled too.’

Moreover, no matter how lazy he was, with his older brother captured by the Demonic Cult, it was uncomfortable to lie around doing nothing and being lazy like this.

Not that him doing something would improve Wei San-ho’s situation.

“I guess this won’t do.”

Wei Yan-ho jumped up from his seat and straightened his clothes.

He didn’t know what there was to do, but he should go out first.