novelraw Chapter 14 : Chapter 14
Chapter 14 : Chapter 14
Chapter 14: Baldy, hurry up and fetch the bone.
“I’ll do it. The Nine Phoenix Gates.”
At my firm voice, the gazes of the blood relatives, who were elegantly engrossed in their meal, all turned to me.
The Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom’s round, goldfish-like eyes blinked repeatedly.
“……Wh-what did you just say?”
“I said I would take on the Nine Phoenix Gates. What is the procedure? Is there anything I need to prepare separately?”
“Th-this is the most beautiful grandson in the world!”
As if strength surged from somewhere, he shot up and rubbed my face with his soup-stained beard.
I couldn’t argue with a seventy-year-old man who had his wish granted, so I had no choice but to endure it.
“I knew it! What kind of grandson is our grandson to dare follow the path of a petty man who hopes for a fluke! Does it make sense that a descendant of the Martial Marquis has no such courage! Uhehehe!”
“First, please let go of this….”
“Steward!”
The steward, Yi Sabaek, shot up and rushed over.
“Speak, Grand Clan Head.”
“What are you doing right now? Our Little Echoing Energy has just decided on the Nine Phoenix Gates, and you’re still going to be eating?”
“Yes?”
“I’m asking how long it takes to prepare and activate the Nine Gates!”
If you don’t have tact, you’re no steward.
Yi Sabaek, who was rapidly rolling his eyes, continued his answer with a determined expression.
“According to the regular schedule, we can activate the Nine Gates on the upcoming Start of Winter, but….”
“But?”
“Please give me half a month! I will do my best to expedite the delivery of the elixir!”
“Clan Head!”
Feeling uneasy at the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom’s firm cry, my father’s pupils were definitely trembling slightly.
“Please state your command.”
“Should our Hwi’s resolve be shaken because of a mere elixir?”
It seemed his intention was to get things done right away before my mind changed.
But while the original Jaegal Hwi might have, I had absolutely no intention of revoking this decision.
Why would I give up something this good?
“Then….”
“Bring out the Great Cycle Pill.”
Murmur, murmur.
The blood relatives of the Jaegal Clan were visibly agitated.
Of course, I too was beyond surprised.
The Jaegal Clan still had a Great Cycle Pill left?
‘Hah, more than a hundred years have passed?’
Over a hundred years ago, the Jaegal Clan had saved Shaolin from the Calamity of the Blood Alliance by displaying meticulous strategy.
The Shaolin Abbot of that time, Great Master Won-yul, was greatly impressed and sent three Great Cycle Pills to the Jaegal Clan in gratitude for their merit.
It took decades just to manufacture a cycle pill, and moreover, unlike small cycle pills, great cycle pills succeeded in refinement with extremely rare probability.
If one were to rank the priceless treasures of the Jianghu, it was a treasure that sat at the very top.
And I get to eat that?
This Grand Master of the Underworld who had always salivated over the elixirs of the Orthodox Faction fellows?
‘I will serve you with utmost filial piety, even if it means grinding my bones to powder! Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom!’
Looking at him again, the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom was a good person.
A person must grow old while giving like this for their end to be beautiful.
“However….”
“Don’t tell me you feel it’s a waste?”
“…….”
I, too, glared at my father with a gaze similar to the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom’s.
I’m still your son, and moreover, with grandfather stepping up like this, are you really going to stop this?
Suddenly, then.
A middle-aged, scholar-like Jaegal who was arranging his spoons with elegant gestures slowly rose from his seat.
“Grand Clan Head, this action goes against the public justice that the clan has long upheld. The reason the reputation of the Divine Skill Jaegal could resonate throughout the world is because we have upheld public justice in all matters.”
“Hmph! Unfair?”
Jaegal Yeseong’s eyes venomously swept over the crowd.
“If Hwi is sent away like the second son, the only one left in the Martial Marquis line will be Cheon-ah. What if something happens to Cheon-ah, who is scheduled to enter the Jianghu? Do you think this Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom doesn’t know your dark intentions?”
I could roughly guess how the situation in this Jaegal Clan was unfolding.
Just because they were the blood relatives of a single clan did not mean they were all friendly.
These Jaegals too must have been divided into various branches by their ancestors, and such factions would inevitably compete with each other, shouldering the different aspirations of their predecessors.
But it was surprising.
It seemed the Martial Marquis line was the direct orthodox lineage of the ancient Jaegal Martial Marquis, but could that bloodline have persisted for so long without being broken?
It was not easy for a single bloodline to continue for a hundred years.
Most clans follow the principle of primogeniture, and if for one generation only daughters were born or the wife was infertile, that line would be cut off.
One slip-up in a single generation would be the end, but to have protected it for hundreds of years meant that the tenacity of the Martial Marquis line to preserve their bloodline was extraordinary.
The Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom’s eyes were blazing with the long-standing tenacity of that Martial Marquis line.
“Fine! I will follow your so-called principle of public justice! But if, by any chance, something happens to Hwi! The responsibility will be shared by all of you!”
Because I had such a magnanimous personality, I had rarely been impressed by a man’s spirit, but this old man’s spirit was enough to make me genuinely piss my pants.
Did the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom have this side to him?
Of course, considering his achievements as the former strategist of the Murim Alliance who led the war against the Demonic Cult to victory, his influence was not incomprehensible.
Still, this was the family of the Orthodox Faction, which valued justification and righteousness the most.
The justification clearly leaned towards the public justice that the middle-aged Jaegal was advocating, but my grandfather had subdued it with spirit alone.
I was once again relieved that he was on my side.
“That is not a reasonable responsibility!”
“That is an excessive measure!”
The Jaegals who were not of the Martial Marquis line rose up like wildfire.
If this were the Great Murim Alliance, flipping the dining table and swinging the Divine Blade of Mad Martial Arts once would end all decisions.
But unfortunately, this was the center of the Orthodox Faction, where everyone’s justification had to be satisfied.
Moreover, uniting the will of scholars whose heads were filled with all sorts of learning was, in a sense, an extreme profession.
Only then did I become solemn about my father’s troubles.
This was a very difficult place to be the head of.
“This family is running so well! So well! Did I go through all that hardship to see this dirty sight!”
“F-father….”
“Who might you be? Ah? Isn’t it the head of the Divine Skill Jaegal who is trying to cut off the Martial Marquis line by driving his son to the underworld?”
The seventy-year-old man was sulking.
For reference, I was more afraid of an old man sulking than a woman getting angry.
An old man’s ego is as stubborn as the years he has lived.
As things were heading towards a dead end, my father finally cast aside even his dignity as the Clan Head.
“Father… this Myeong-won will contemplate deeply. But to make this grave decision right here, right now, is….”
“I will perform the Golden Basin Hand-Washing!”
“F-father?”
Oh dear, here it comes, the lying-down protest.
I don’t know if all the old people in the world go somewhere to get sulking lessons together, but the end is always that lying-down protest.
As I was looking at my father with pity, the even more ill-tempered voice of the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom was heard again.
“Wasn’t it a prearranged retirement anyway? You all don’t listen to this old man’s words anyway! I have no intention of meddling in the clan’s affairs any longer!”
“I still need you, Father….”
“Hmph! What are you doing, Steward? Hurry and bring the golden basin!”
Considering the footsteps the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom had left in the Jianghu, his influence and reputation were easily on par with the Murim Alliance Leader.
Naturally, the Jaegal Clan would want to live under the eaves of the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom for as long as possible.
The Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom, who enjoyed an absolute reputation, was to wash his hands in a golden basin and sever all ties overnight?
It was as clear as day that the prestige of the Jaegal Clan would plummet.
Trapped in a checkmate like that, my father gulped down the teacup on the table.
“Hoo….”
My father, who had downed the hot tea in one go, let out a long sigh and then spoke in a voice that seemed to have aged ten more years.
“Everyone, you may all leave.”
“Clan Head!”
“Are you trying to make me take out the Phoenix Command Seal?”
In the end, the blood relatives of the Jaegal Clan fell silent.
Some of them were clearly displeased, but what could they do when the Clan Head was about to take out the clan’s sacred object.
After everyone had left like that.
“Let’s do it this way.”
“What do you mean?”
My father was gazing at me with a cold expression.
“If, as Hwi boasted, the Great Tiger Gang crosses the Yangtze River with the Black Lords and moves north, I will gladly give him the Great Cycle Pill.”
“Hoo?”
My grandfather’s eyes shone strangely.
As expected of the previous generation’s strategist, he had immediately grasped my father’s true intentions.
I smiled and said.
“You intend to make it so that the Great Cycle Pill is not a privilege given only to our Martial Marquis line.”
“That’s right. The Great Cycle Pill is a reward.”
“That’s right! The merit of predicting the movements of the Underworld in advance and informing the Alliance is by no means small! It is an act that has elevated the reputation of the Divine Skill Jaegal, so it is only right that a reward be given!”
Justification.
My father had just created a justification that would quell all the complaints of the clan.
A chill ran down my spine anew.
To think of using it like this in the midst of all this.
“Indeed, a brilliant plan! One can grumble that the reward is too big or too small, but the justification itself is extremely reasonable! Indeed, my son, worthy of being the head of the Divine Skill Jaegal!”
“You praise me too highly.”
Then my father looked at me and twisted the corners of his mouth.
“Are you scared?”
Hee-ya, getting his revenge like this too.
Of course, I smiled leisurely, showing all my teeth.
“Not a chance.”
“A man’s word.”
“Is worth a thousand pieces of gold.”
The Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom was pleased with my bold answer and smiled, but his eyes were full of worry.
“Will that leader of the Great Tiger Gang really be able to gather the people of the Underworld and move north?”
This was not a question about my ability to persuade Gang Yeon-shin, but a doubt about his ability.
I was confident about that.
He had managed himself so thoroughly that his reputation was on par with the Seven Kings of the Great Murim Alliance.
If a man like Gang Yeon-shin made a move, there was only one problem left.
Whether the people of the Underworld would acknowledge and accept my survival.
“If they want to live the rest of their lives in peace, they’ll move north.”
“Hmm?”
Somehow, my Great Cycle Pill was now hanging on that baldy Gang Yeon-shin.
If he were to mess things up, I might go on a rampage again like in the old days.
Grind!
“That’s just how dogs are. When the master throws a bone far away, they run to fetch it as if their balls are about to fall off.”
“You act as if you know the leader of the Great Tiger Gang personally. How can you, who have never even been out in the Jianghu, speak as if you know about him in detail?”
“Well, do I really need to be close to him to know?”
I let out a chuckle towards the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom, who was frowning with a vague expression.
“Although the human condition is infinitely varied, by the time a person reaches fifty, the traces of their life are laid bare on their face. The path a man like the Hegemon of the Fist has walked is as clear as a waterway. There is no need to observe him personally.”
I regretted it as soon as the words left my mouth.
Because I felt that I had revealed a level of experience that was too old for me.
I was not the Martial Emperor now, but an eighteen-year-old of the new generation.
I was tense, but surprisingly, the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom was laughing heartily.
“Ehehehehe! You mean it’s the insight of Little Echoing Energy? How interesting! That’s interesting! Clan Head, isn’t this boy’s way of speaking something else?”
The former strategist of the world, that Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom of the Murim Alliance, just believed my words so readily without any resistance.
Looking at the Old Man of Heavenly Wisdom, who just laughed without thinking no matter what I said, a question suddenly arose in me.
If I had married, if I had a grandchild, would I have grown old like that?
I entertained such an imagination for a moment, then shook my head.
What family could a treacherous Underworld person have in their fate.