Chapter 88. The Entire World is My Home (9)

Chapter 88. The Entire World is My Home (9)

So-Hoon was also satisfied with the arrangement. His main worry had been this very issue, as he had calmly assessed his own skills over the past few days. He was now certain that although he was good at leading a small troop in battle, he was extremely inexperienced in leading a large squadron and assessing the state of a battlefield.

Thus, as long as Woo-Moon would take charge as the commander during war, he didn’t mind leading the squadron during peaceful times.

“What do you think, Woo-Moon? You’re okay with this arrangement, right?”

Seeing how considerate they all had been for him, Woo-Moon eventually agreed.

“Understood. Let’s do it this way.”

“Good. Then, from now on, you’re the commander of the Invincible Forged Squadron.”

Woo-Moon smiled at So-Hoon.

“Then, please take care of me, Vice Commander.”

“That’s what I wanted to say, Commander.”

“Good. Then, let’s move on to the second issue.”

Woo-Moon was quite surprised by Baek Ye-ye’s words.

"What, there’s something else?”

Ye-Ye looked over at Mu-Hoon with an innocent expression. He cleared his throat sheepishly and softly said, “They say that a dispute arose between the Justice Coalition and the Hegemon Clan. It’s referring to what happened with the Zhuge Family in Shandong Province. The Zhuge Family says that what happened was entirely the Hegemon Clan’s fault, but the Hegemon Clan refutes it, saying that the Zhuge Family’s contribution wasn’t small, either. After a fierce battle to decide who was at fault, it was eventually decided that seven representatives from each side would come forth to resolve the issue with a set of spars.”

“Spars?”

“That’s right. Thus, I hope you will participate in the spars alongside the Ten Distinguished Swords as representatives of the Iron Sword Baek Family.”

Woo-Moon had to think about it. Although, on the one hand, he wasn’t very happy about the prospect of leaving his family, on the other, he was rather keen on seeing his younger brother again, which was fairly likely if the Justice Coalition was involved. Moreover, he was excited about the prospect of sparring with the Hegemon Clan’s elite.

There would definitely be a lot for him to learn in the spars.

“Then, yes, I’ll participate. But do I really have to go with the Ten Distinguished Swords?”

The Ten Distinguished Swords were actually the Seven Distinguished Swords right now, considering the one who lost his life in Red Fog Valley and the imprisoned Do-Gun and Heon-Won. Thus, they were currently in the process of selecting three more members from the next generation of talents.

“While the Baek Family Representative will definitely be you, don’t you think that the other kids should also go and gain some experience? I would like you to take them with you.”

“Hmm...”

‘But it’s easier to travel alone...’

Although Woo-Moon had his reservations, there wasn’t anything pressing enough for him to refuse a request that the patriarch had gone out of his way to make.

“Understood. Then we’ll all set off together.”

“Thank you for humoring me.”

“Then, when would we be departing?”

“You should be fine to set off in ten days.”

***

It took Ah Sam and Jae-Hwa three days to return to the Song Residence from the clinic. However, upon their return, Jae-Hwa now not only stopped looking down on Ah Sam, but even called him hyung.

Two days later, Woo-Moon called all of the guards over.

Looking over them, the guards looked as if they had become entirely different people compared to when Woo-Moon had brought them to the estate. Their shoulders were broader, their backs straight as an arrow, and their bodies rippling with muscles and without an ounce of fat.

There was even a sharp aura that occasionally flickered in their eyes.

“The reason I called you here today....” Woo-Moon said, dragging out every word. He threw the books in his arms one by one to each guard.

“Was to give each of you a suitable martial art.”

The guards’ faces lit up at those words.

Each of them had developed a strong desire for martial arts after they had resolved themselves of their deaths during the succession ceremony.

“Ah Sam, you have exceptionally long arms and excellent muscles. Although your body type is suitable for fistfighting, I think you’d do even better with archery. Jae-Hwa, you’re agile, intelligent, and would excel in anything I give you. But I think your personality leans toward the saber.”

Ah Sam was given an archery art, while Jae-Hwa was given a saber art.

Woo-Moon then moved on to the rest of the guards.

Throwing weapons, footwork, glaive, fist, sword, spear, whip—each one of them had a different martial art to learn.

“...I can’t be fully confident in the martial arts I gave you as I was the one who made them. They aren’t something I created out of experience or practice, but by meditating on the Martial Arts Fundamentals. However, I made sure to stick to the fundamentals as much as possible while merging all of the insights I’ve learned into a single form. Still, as I also had input from Ma-Ra as I created them, I think they would be pretty good. I have to go to the Justice Coalition for a little while. I hope that in the meantime, you don’t get lazy and train diligently. You all are our family’s guards.”

At Woo-Moon’s last words, the guards smiled sheepishly. Some of them even belatedly felt embarrassed, blushing at the thought that they were the guards of the Song Woo-Moon, the current strongest in the Iron Sword Baek Family barring his grandfather, yet they still only had this level of strength.

‘These little brats really are kind-hearted.’

“Hmm. Is that so?”

There was another short silence before Dae-Woong spoke again.

“Actually, on that day, my mind was in a daze after what happened in that stone chamber, and I was so confused that I couldn’t come to my senses.”

Woo-Moon had seen it, too. Dae-Woong appeared similar to how Woo-Moon himself had been in the past—when he had been in a daze, immersed in the landscape painting.

“What are the three major factions the gangho is divided into right now?”

“The Night Sects and One Gang and the Seven Great Ancient Families have formed a loose alliance called the Justice Coalition, while the Evil Faction has gathered around the powerful Hegemon Clan in the west, and the Lust Emperor has united the wandering members of the Black Hand and formed the Black Bull Gang.”

“Then, other than the three major factions, what about the hidden forces?”

“There’s the Heavenly Demon Cult and the all-female Phoenix Palace.”

“Anything else?”

“I don’t remember hearing about any other forces other than those two.”

“Good. It makes sense that those are all the forces currently known in the gangho. But, there actually were two other forces besides them.”

Woo-Moon inferred that what Dae-Woong was about to explain was related to his background.

“And what are they?”

“One is the Western Nihility Gate, which was destroyed thirty-four years ago, and the other is a place called the Martial Heaven.”

“Which one did you belong to?”

Dae-Woong closed his eyes tightly.

“My father—your grandfather—was the last Gatekeeper of the Western Nihility Gate.”

Woo-Moon’s eyes widened. He thought about something for a moment before asking another question.

“Was the Western Nihility Gate a good place?”

“The Western Nihility Gate was located deep within the mountains. It was a place where disciples had gathered like family and lived happily without any disputes, quarrels, or greed. Or—no, maybe I’m just remembering the good parts because I only saw it when I was young.”

“Regardless, to you, it was still an incredible place. But why was it destroyed?”

Dae-Woong shook his head.

“I was too young, and at the time, the only things I was interested in were martial arts and going out to play. I don’t have many memories about the details, but I clearly remember that it was the Martial Heaven who attacked us.”

“Martial Heaven...”

The Heavens of Martial Arts. That was a rather grand name, to say the least.

“Both the Western Nihility Gate and Martial Heaven were hidden sects that weren’t known by the gangho. That’s why not a single person knows that there was once a sect called the Western Nihility Gate that was attacked and destroyed by another sect known as the Martial Heaven. Well, at least now, you know.”

“...Do you plan on getting revenge?”

Dae-Woong closed his eyes tightly as he composed himself. The reason he hadn’t told his wife or son about this after coming to his senses was because of his deeply conflicted feelings about revenge.

“It seems that the reason for the memory loss I suffered when I was young is the shock I’ve been through.”

“By shock, you mean...?”

“My father, mother, and siblings all died before my eyes. My older sister even told me that I needed to live no matter what and sent me off smiling, even as she was dying with a sword through her stomach. My family, my friends... all of them were gone, my entire world was gone. I was so soft-hearted and weak that I couldn’t handle those painful memories, and to cope, I guess my brain just erased them altogether.”

Woo-Moon couldn’t fathom how great Dae-Woong’s sorrow and rage must be as he listened to his father’s story. Because he couldn’t grasp that sorrow properly, he tried to imagine himself in that position.

His father dead, his mother dead, his younger brother dead, all for his sake. His grandfather, Si-Hyeon, Ma-Ra, Eun-Ah, the guards... even the friendly villagers of Unhan, all cruelly murdered in an instant.

Woo-Moon’s eyes widened in shock as a horrifying bloodlust filled him. He had gotten so good at his visualization training that these imagined emotions felt more real than reality.

Quickly getting control over his emotions, Woo-Moon answered his own question.

“So then you must have chosen revenge now, father.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“...Then?”

Dae-Woong grinned as he tousled Woo-Moon’s hair with his massive hand.

“You little tyke. I guess you still don’t know a parent’s heart.”

1. Literally Village of the Shi Family, in Chinese. ☜

2. The word for “coal” is a combination of “rock” and “charcoal,” and the word for “rock” is also the Shi family name—one of Shi family names, at least. ☜

3. East Asians will often shorten someone’s name to a single syllable out of affection. ☜