Chapter 38: The Meaning of Ordering One’s House (1)

“First Elder, I need a little explanation about the current situation.”

Dancheon Gang's cold gaze turned towards the First Elder.

“Is that possible?”

It was a statement like a calm daily routine, but his voice carried a heavy weight that commanded the entire audience.

I would say it was a demeanor not lacking in a Clan Head of the prestigious martial clan, the Dancheon Clan.

Since the black steam was still shimmering from the First Elder's body, revealing the proof of his demonic arts, he was not asking because he couldn't grasp the situation.

He was now showing the weight of a Clan Head.

“…….”

The First Elder’s mouth showed no sign of opening, as if it had been clamped shut.

“Hmm. I was going to give you, who have devoted your loyalty to the clan for a long time, a chance to make an excuse, but if you won't speak, I suppose there's nothing to be done.”

Dancheon Gang, who had been holding his hands behind his back, took out his right hand and gripped his sword.

It was a stance too ambiguous to be called a starting stance, yet an intangible ground energy that pressed down on the audience filled the space.

“Keuk.”

The First Elder seemed to have felt something more than I did, as despair was etched on his face.

I had previously judged the First Elder to be at the skilled stage of the State of Harmony.

A stage one step ahead of me.

I also knew.

The fact that my father, Dancheon Gang, was a supreme martial artist who had surpassed the skilled stage of the State of Harmony and reached the mature stage.

I don't know how One Thousand Kills eliminated the absolute master Dancheon Gang in the future ten years from now, but now that everything has been clearly revealed, it would be out of the question.

“Damn it.”

Was it because the First Elder also knew this well?

He gave up on resisting and seemed to be gathering his internal energy in his Dragon Spring Point to withdraw his body.

But even that did not go as planned.

That fleeting moment before the ethereal lightness art of the Transcendent Peak could even begin.

Seokduk.

With a light cutting sound, a red line appeared on the First Elder's neck.

Although no blood spurted out, everyone knew that his face and body would be separated.

Even the First Elder himself.

“…….”

Sensing his impending death, he spoke his lifelong hidden identity for the first time.

“Heavenly Demon… return…….”

Tuk.

Without even finishing his last words, the life of the Extreme Demonic master who would throw Shandong into chaos in the future was fleetingly extinguished.

Teguldegul.

The fallen head rolled to the feet of a certain person.

“Where do you think you're running?”

It was Dancheon Gang's shadow, Bang Yeo-baek.

The First Elder couldn't even react properly to Bang Yeo-baek's elusive swiftness that caught him off guard.

“Hmm. A shame.”

Dancheon Gang's impassive comment followed.

“Hoo-.”

Only then did I, with all the tension released, let out a sigh.

Teolseok.

As if all his energy had been depleted, my elder brother, Dancheon Hak, collapsed onto the floor.

“You have worked hard.”

The gaze of Dancheon Gang looking at the two of us seemed to contain the warmth of a benevolent father.

Uncle Yeo Baek silently patted my shoulder.

* * *

In front of the Clan Head’s quarters.

“Please forgive me.”

The woman Baek Yeo-hae was on her knees.

Her usual neat appearance was gone, and her hair was even let down like a sinner's.

The retainers of the Dancheon Clan were restless at her appearance, but no one dared to step forward.

“Clan Head, please, listen to my story.”

Saying so, she prostrated herself on the ground again.

It was a plea that had lasted for a good half a day.

As a woman with a weak body, she continuously begged for forgiveness, so her energy was waning and her voice was cracking.

“Please forgive me.”

Baek Yeo-hae's ‘seokgo daejoe’ (Kneeling on the cold ground and awaiting punishment) showed no sign of stopping.

Nevertheless, no word was sent down to her from inside the Clan Head’s quarters.

The situation, like a silent violence, showed no end even as time passed.

It was the shocking news that the First Elder, who was in charge of the Council of Elders, was a spy of the Demonic Cult.

No matter how thoroughly they tried to keep it quiet, it could not be a secret within the clan.

It meant that it was only a matter of time before everyone in the clan found out about this fact.

Furthermore, everyone in the clan knew.

The fact that the matriarch of the Dancheon Clan, Baek Yeo-hae, who was now pleading in front of the Clan Head’s quarters, and the First Elder, who was a spy of the Demonic Cult, had a closer relationship than anyone.

Baek Yeo-hae would make the eldest son, Dancheon Hak, the Clan Head, and the First Elder would keep the Head of the Guard, Bang Yeo-baek, in check.

It was an open secret that no one in the clan didn't know that their collaboration, where their interests aligned, had continued for nearly ten years.

The only fortunate thing was that Baek Yeo-hae, the daughter of the Baek Clan, and the First Elder, who had started as a guest of the Dancheon Clan and entered the Council of Elders, had formed their relationship within the Dancheon Clan.

Few suspected that Baek Yeo-hae's origins were also that of a Demonic Cult spy.

Nevertheless, Baek Yeo-hae was performing ‘seokgo daejoe’.

Then, right now, what was the crime of the woman Baek Yeo-hae?

In most cases, ignorance could be called innocence, but it did not apply in all cases.

Especially for those who had much, ignorance and incompetence could sometimes be a great sin.

She was the matriarch of the clan and the guardian of the successor.

Indeed, her authority within the clan was immense, so there was no one among the retainers who did not watch her expression.

Her ignorance, who had enjoyed absolute authority, could not be dismissed as innocence; it had to be called a very grave matter.

Moreover…….

Some whispered that Baek Yeo-hae was a victim and felt sorry for her, while others still whispered that Baek Yeo-hae must have known something.

It was because information whose truth had not been determined had a way of growing on its own.

People who, while rationally thinking she was not a spy, could not easily shake off their suspicions, continued to emerge.

In the face of a question that could not be easily resolved, her plea was ultimately inevitable.

It meant it was a process of being forgiven and regaining recognition within the clan.

Nevertheless, one could not deny that this scene was truly cruel.

“Please forgive me.”

With parched lips and a body trembling from exhaustion, Baek Yeo-hae prostrated herself on the ground again.

There was someone who could not bear to turn away from this scene.

Teolseok.

Baek Yeo-hae felt the presence of someone kneeling beside her.

Her gaze fell on a person for whom she would not regret giving her own life.

“Why did you come here!”

The stern voice of Baek Yeo-hae, who had been pleading feebly, echoed through the Clan Head’s quarters.

Even though she was clearly exhausted, her voice was filled with strength, so it was not difficult to guess the meaning Dancheon Hak held for her.

“Mother.”

Dancheon Hak quietly called his mother.

“This is my matter.”

Saying so, Dancheon Hak averted his gaze.

Then he shouted.

“Please forgive me!”

The action Dancheon Hak took was the same as Baek Yeo-hae's.

Seokgo daejoe.

Dancheon Hak himself pleaded for his own sin.

“What is this behavior! You have nothing to do with this. Go! Go away!”

Peok. Peok.

Baek Yeo-hae's feeble fists struck Dancheon Hak's shoulder.

It was the first time in her life she had struck her son.

Although her fists were extremely weak, Dancheon Hak's expression contorted greatly.

“Please forgive me!”

Dancheon Hak could have easily avoided her fists, which had not learned a single martial art, but he silently took the blows and only repeated his pleas for forgiveness, prostrating himself on the ground.

Baek Yeo-hae, who had given up on hitting him, grabbed Dancheon Hak's collar.

“Hak, it's not too late. Hurry and go back. This matter cannot become a flaw for you; this mother will make it so.”

The succession competition was just around the corner.

Baek Yeo-hae's worry was that this action itself would become a flaw and that Dancheon Hak might not receive the position of Clan Head.

In the first place, what was the reason Baek Yeo-hae was begging for forgiveness so desperately?

Wasn't it to not become a hindrance to her son's future?

“Please, just stay out of it. Hm?”

And as soon as those words ended.

Dancheon Hak's gaze, which had deepened since his journey in the Jianghu, fell on his mother.

“Mother.”

“Go away!”

Baek Yeo-hae shrieked.

But that fierceness could not move Dancheon Hak's heart.

“I am no longer a child in your arms. I am the one who will succeed the Dancheon Clan. I must be able to solve my own problems myself.”

It was a low but resonant voice.

The child, for the first time, had become a man and was defying his mother.

* * *

“Tsk.”

I secretly hid and watched the entire scene.

I would say that the process, which I thought might be enjoyable, had placed a stone in my heart.

I do not like the woman Baek Yeo-hae.

It was because she had always sent me displeased glances.

It could also be said that it was because she had never once given me a mother's benevolent and warm gaze.

Although I know the reason why she had to be cold to me, how can I help it if I feel bitter?

How can I stop that bitterness from turning into hatred, is what I'm saying.

A young age.

Isn't it perhaps inevitable that a child who does not get what they longed for comes to hate it?

But now, after regressing, I also know another fact.

It was information I had actually known for a long time but had been denying in the depths of my heart.

That is, the woman Baek Yeo-hae had not caused me that much harm.

It's not that there was none, but that it wasn't great.

Only after becoming Myeong-gae did I know.

How those who are usually called illegitimate children are treated.

Wasn't even Namgung Tan's illegitimate son, Baek Jang-sam, a completely erased existence from the clan?

Wasn't that child growing up as a servant of the Namgung Clan, his very existence denied?

I, who have spent ten years in the Beggar's Gang, know that even the Namgung case is on the better side of things.

Now that I know the contempt and persecution that the illegitimate children of other prestigious clans live under, I also know that it is difficult for me to say my life was desperately unfortunate.

The woman Baek Yeo-hae.

She clearly disliked me.

It could also be seen that she was wary of me.

She was wary of me receiving support, and she was wary of me growing.

She was wary of me standing on my own two feet in the clan.

To her, my existence was not a second son but a rival to the eldest son.

But to the question of whether I was ever harmed by her… I don't know.

It was because I know that even her most active move, the matter of the engagement with Yang Su-rin, her scheme was extremely passive.

In the previous life, wasn't the condition of the contract between Baek Yeo-hae and Yang Su-rin not to harm me but to not provide any support at all?

The most active operation she had personally carried out against me would be the trick of trying to marry me off to a prestigious clan after I had obtained the alias of the Dragon.

I don't know.

So, do I evaluate the woman Baek Yeo-hae positively?

Or do I like her?

My head shook on its own.

No, it's not that.

I dislike her.

I can't like her, who was wary of me and only thought of me as a stumbling block.

Honestly, I know that I won't be able to sincerely call her mother now.

But…….

-Are you thinking of leaving the clan?

-Having lost the succession competition, isn't it the right thing to leave the clan?

Baek Yeo-hae, who had been contemplating for a long time.

-……Stay healthy.

A single word she barely managed to utter, as if squeezing it out.

I don't know why I'm thinking of my last encounter with her in my past life right now.

“Hoo-”

While in the Beggar's Gang and experiencing the Great War of Righteousness and Evil, I am confident that I have seen more of the ugly side of people than anyone else.

And at the same time, I cannot deny that I have also seen more of the potential that people possess than anyone else.

Just as I and Lee Chun-baek became friends.

Just as that sly Dancheon Hak became such an upright adult.

Perhaps in this life, even Baek Yeo-hae…….

Teobeok.

Before my thoughts could even finish, my body was already standing next to Dancheon Hak.

I deliberately ignored the surprised look in Dancheon Hak's eyes and Baek Yeo-hae's gaze that seemed to ask ‘Why are you here?’.

Teolseok.

I knelt down.

My appearance became the same as Baek Yeo-hae's and Dancheon Hak's.

“Please forgive me!”

My voice echoed through the Clan Head’s quarters.

Perhaps in this life, I could be the first to extend a hand.

I think such a vague thought came to me.