Chapter 182
'I wonder how things are going now...'
A faint worry was on Moyong Baek's face as he counted the stars in the night sky.
How could he be calm when he had sent his daughter, who was as precious as the apple of his eye, and the heir of his family to a dangerous place teeming with demonic beasts?
Yeon So-so, who was watching her husband with a sidelong glance, seemed to have hardened her heart even more, and she gently approached and caressed Moyong Baek's shoulder.
"Honey. Are you thinking about the kids?"
"I can't help but worry."
"So-ah is there. So-ah will protect Hwa-ah and Su-ah."
"I believe so too."
Fortunately, Moyong Baek and Yeon So-so trusted So-ah strongly.
That even if an extremely bad situation were to unfold, So-ah would protect his family.
"By the way, thinking about So-ah gives me a headache again."
As he thought about So-ah, another worry suddenly came to Moyong Baek's mind.
"Why is that? So-ah has now become the strongest master of the Orthodox Path. What's there to worry about!"
Moyong Baek and Yeon So-so also knew.
It was from the time So-ah had broken up the Eastern Depot by himself.
The fact that So-ah, not content with reaching the Profound Realm after taking the <Vajra Bronze-Man God Core> in the Valley of Ten Thousand Poisons, had become a God of War based on the unprecedented power of 'awakening'.
Although they had not mentioned it, both of them did not doubt that the current So-ah would not be inferior even when compared to Master Gong-seung or Master Yong-gak, who were considered the top masters in the Orthodox Path.
"Of course, what's there to say about So-ah's martial arts. With that skill, he would be safe even in hell."
"...Then what's the worry?"
"Phew!"
Moyong Baek let out a sigh.
Yeon So-so, who was even more curious, urged her husband.
"What is it, why are you hesitating? Tell me frankly."
At that, Moyong Baek looked around and, realizing that there was no one, opened his mouth in a low voice.
"So-so... I don't know how you will hear this, but I have always been thinking of adopting So-ah as our son."
"What did you say? Adopting So-ah as our son??"
Yeon So-so's eyes widened.
"That's right. Of course, he is already registered as an external disciple, but despite that, I wanted to adopt So-ah as our son."
"Hmm... I also think of So-ah as a son. But to adopt the grown-up So-ah as our son... he himself wouldn't accept it."
That's right.
If he had intended to adopt So-ah as his son, he should have suggested it when So-ah had first knocked on the door of the family on an errand for the God of War.
Even if So-ah considered the Moyong family as his own home, since he was already well over his coming-of-age ceremony and was an adult, becoming someone's adopted son could be a somewhat awkward matter.
Moreover, considering So-ah's personality, he would probably be quite embarrassed.
It was highly likely that it would just be a burden to So-ah.
But.
"That's right. So-ah might not accept it. But the reason I want to do it so much is because I have chosen So-ah as the next head of our family."
"So-ah... as the head of the Moyong family?!"
Yeon So-so could not help but be repeatedly astonished at Moyong Baek's words.
Although the Moyong family could not be said to be a completely blood-related family like Namgung, Zhuge, or Tang, if you consider its long history and the dignity of the family, it would not be inferior to be called the number one family in the Central Plains.
In the first place, wasn't it the family of the Yan imperial family?
Considering common sense and custom, the fact that So-ah had become the great disciple was already an unconventional event.
But even the family head!
Such a shocking event would have no precedent even when looking at the entire Central Plains.
"So-so. We owe So-ah a debt. If my father had not left So-ah to us, we would probably be suffering great hardships as a scapegoat of a political strife by now. But So-ah, for the people of our family who are not even related by blood, has dedicated his youth even at a young age. Isn't he still muttering it like a habit? That he will make our family rule the world."
"Honey..."
As she chewed on Moyong Baek's words, Yeon So-so's heart ached.
Although So-ah was always confident and cheerful, there must be a lot of pain behind that.
And So-ah, having overcome that wound, had dedicated himself to the Moyong family.
"With such a So-ah, how can I seat someone else as the family head? Therefore, for a long time, I have been planning to adopt So-ah as our son and then appoint him as the next family head. But now, it seems that I can't do that anymore."
"Why is that?"
"Because So-ah now has a real older brother who has achieved success as the head of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."
"Ah!"
Yeon So-so let out a sigh.
The fact that So-ah had a real older brother, Jin Won-tak, who was a self-made man, was certainly something to celebrate.
But paradoxically, So-ah, who had found his real blood relative, would now not want to become the adopted son of the two under any circumstances.
Even if So-ah wanted to become their adopted son, his real older brother, Jin Won-tak, would oppose it with all his might.
"Of course, it's a good thing for So-ah, but I'm disappointed about that. Perhaps I have been thinking of So-ah as a son born from my heart for a long time."
Moyong Baek dropped his head and muttered weakly.
He was originally a soft person to live as the head of a martial family, and he was a human who would throw his life away like a straw for his children.
It was needless to say that his sense of futility and loss due to So-ah would not be small.
Yeon So-so, who knew his feelings, gently grasped his hand.
"Brother Baek."
Also, she called her husband by a name she would never use in normal times.
"Sister Yeon."
Moyong Baek also called Yeon So-so 'Sister Yeon' and looked at her with affectionate eyes.
"We only need to know one thing."
"What is that?"
"So-ah's happiness."
"So-ah's happiness..."
"Whatever decision So-ah makes, we just have to support and believe in him unconditionally. So-ah is a much smarter and more intelligent child than us. Even without being told, even without interfering, So-ah is a child who will live his life enjoying his own happiness."
"Hmph. That's true."
"So let's just think about So-ah's happiness. If So-ah wants to be the family head, we'll make him the family head, and if he one day finds his real older brother and leaves our family..."
"..."
"Then we just have to wish for So-ah's happiness."
As she said that, the corners of Yeon So-so's eyes became moist.
Just imagining So-ah leaving seemed to break her heart.
But Moyong Baek could not help but admit that his wife's words were a hundred times right.
"You're right. Whatever it is, I will also only think about So-ah's happiness."
The two clasped their hands even tighter.
Looking at the moon and stars in the night sky, the Moyong Baek couple quietly wished for the martial luck and happiness of the great disciple of their family, the son born from their hearts, So-ah.
***
"What?!"
"What's going on?"
"You crazy bastard!"
It was as expected.
As soon as he performed the mountain peak flick on the gisaengs and shouted in the brothel, a few gangster brats who were managing the brothel came running, frowning as much as they could.
Of course.
'They don't look like they have any guts.'
In So-ah's eyes, they looked like nothing more than prey.
"Oppa-a-a!"
"Oppa-deul!"
"That brat... that brat, he's a complete psycho!"
Seeing the gangsters, whether it was because they felt a sense of relief or because their sorrow had exploded, the gisaengs, who had been clutching their heads in pain, shed tears and clung to them.
At that, as if they were men, the pimps, as if they were King Yama of the underworld, cursed with a menacing expression and a rough voice.
"Hey. Young friend. Where are you barking? Huh?"
"Ma! Are you crazy? Are you good at fighting? Where are you from? You son of a bitch, ma!"
"Today, I'll just pull out your intestines and make a soup, okay? Where did a brat who hasn't even dried the blood on his head come from and act rowdy? Ma! Do you know where this is? Hey?!"
What are these bastards saying!
It was a 'Hainan dialect' that was so hard to understand.
But this was not the first time So-ah had heard the Hainan dialect of the gangsters.
"Wow... it's really strange, so strange!"
"?!"
So-ah, who had let out an unknown admiration, curled the corners of his lips.
"The brats of the Liaoning Triad also used the Hainan dialect. How come the gangster bastards of my hometown, Sichuan, also use the Hainan dialect? But you guys are a bit clumsy, are you really from Hainan?"
That's right.
In So-ah's ears, no matter how he thought about it, the brats' dialect felt clumsy.
'Don't boast about your fists in Hainan. Because of that saying, all the gangsters pretend to be from Hainan. Kekekeke.'
So-ah at once realized that the brats were clumsy gangsters who were just pretending to be from Hainan.
"And by the way. If you guys use the thick Hainan dialect and frown like that, what, do you think I'll be scared? Kekekek. You idiot bastards."
So-ah's sharp one sentence.
Further conversation was meaningless.
The brats, without a word of warning, swung their pot-lid-sized fists at So-ah's face.
They thought they had hit his face.
But So-ah had stuck out his head just before their fists reached him, and,
"A-a-a-a-ak!"
They had ended up hitting So-ah's head, which had been mastered to the extreme with the Iron Head Art.
A shock as if they had hit steel came up from their fingertips.
As expected, the brats' fists were shattered.
'...?!'
Only then did the gisaengs realize that something was seriously wrong...
"Everyone! Did you all see? This brothel is a den of crime, a den of crime! It's common for a gisaeng to threaten a customer with a knife, and the gangsters came in a group and tried to hit a customer, right? Should we deal with these guys or not?!"
So-ah, leaving behind the gangsters who were running wild, clutching their broken hands like a wild boar that had been shot, shouted to the other customers who were watching the situation.
At that,
"We should deal with them! Of course we should deal with them!"
Jeon Woo-chi raised his hand and shouted.
'If it's come to this, the banquet table is all set!'
Thus, So-ah had secured all the justification.
'All I have to do is pick up a spoon and eat?'
The justification to beat the gangsters to death.
Now.
"Now! Then, thanks to your support, from now on, the Great Tiger Sect will be taken over by me!"
The time had come to find the practical benefits.
***
"Kwa-a-a-a-ak!"
"Please-e-e-e-e-e!"
"S-Spare me!"
There is no exception.
There is no exception.
It is always the same.
This strange phenomenon, where a human who has met So-ah in a bad way always kneels and rubs his hands like a fly, was now so familiar that Jeon Woo-chi did not even feel any particular emotion.
"Y-Young master! Please stop..."
"Spare me... spare me, oppa!"
"Just once... I... I have committed a mortal sin. I did not recognize the hero of the martial world... sob, sob... just once!"
The gisaengs, just like their pimps, knelt neatly next to them and pleaded.
Their condition was already not good.
The men's clothes were all torn, and they were only wearing their undergarments, and their bodies were broken here and there, and the gisaengs' faces were also swollen from being slapped by So-ah.
"Anyway, this brat and that brat! They have no guts, no guts. They kneel right away after being hit a few times? Tsk-tsk. How did they do human trafficking with such a weak heart? They didn't know when they were doing bad things, right? That they were nothing."
The gangsters' faces turned pale blue.
Because they had realized that the grim reaper in front of them was not just being rowdy to avoid paying for his drinks, but had approached them with a plan to investigate their human trafficking.
"Bring your boss right now."
"Y-Yes! Great hero!"
"Ah, and!"
"Yes?"
"Tell your boss."
"W-What?"
"To come with all the house documents, land documents, promissory notes, and all the wealth of the brothels, inns, and restaurants that you guys have. If he comes empty-handed, I'll beat him more."
"?!"
"Aren't you going?"
"I-I'm going!"
As So-ah glared at them, the gangsters hurriedly left Yeongwol-ru.
'You son of a bitch! Who do you think our boss is! You're f*cked now!'
'What? Bring the land documents and house documents? Is this crazy bastard trying to extort money, of all places? Is he really crazy?'
'If I tell the boss, there will be a funeral!'
Until then, the gangsters did not know.
Because they did not know, they must have had such futile fantasies.
Because the one who was really f*cked was them.
(End of Chapter)