Confession (5)
A fierce blizzard howled outside. Whiiiiiing! It looked like it would rage on until tomorrow. As the snow grew thicker with time, visibility dropped to almost nothing.
Tak! Tak! The window rattled incessantly.
Figuring he'd gotten enough sleep for the night, Yeon Hojeong stroked the haft of his Gwangryongbu.
Wuuuuung. As if sensing its master's mood, the axe let out an eerie hum.
How much time passed like that?
"You asleep?"
Yeon Hojeong set down the Gwangryongbu and rose to his feet.
"No, sir."
"Then let's eat."
"Yes, sir."
The door opened, and Yeon Wi entered. He glanced around the room before speaking in a subdued tone.
"Doesn't look like you stopped by the dining hall. And you didn't eat here either."
"That's right."
Yeon Wi raised his hand. In it was a heavy bundle.
"Figured as much, so I packed some food."
Yeon Hojeong smiled faintly.
"You're the only one, Father."
"What about Bi-a?"
"Doesn't seem hungry. Said she'd turn in right away."
"I see."
Yeon Wi nodded.
"Then it's just us. I'm starving myself."
He unwrapped the bundle on the table. Boiled pork and neatly portioned chicken appeared. Though chilled by the cold night, a faint aroma still lingered.
"Got any liquor?"
"Yes."
Yeon Hojeong fetched a bottle and two cups from the corner shelf.
Yeon Wi held out his cup.
"Pour me one."
Yeon Hojeong respectfully filled it. Yeon Wi stared down at the cup for a moment before draining it in one go.
Yeon Wi rarely emptied his cup in a single gulp. Unless he was in high spirits, he always sipped in two stages.
"Pretty strong stuff."
"It's baekju."
"You have one too."
"Thank you."
Yeon Wi filled Yeon Hojeong's cup. Yeon Hojeong received it and downed it just as swiftly.
The liquor hit his empty stomach, warming his throat and belly in an instant. A wave of intoxication surged, then quickly faded.
"……."
The two men regarded each other in silence.
Yeon Wi finally spoke, still watching Yeon Hojeong steadily.
"Seems Military Strategist Jegal was quite shocked."
"I imagine so."
"To think such a force lurked beyond the western frontier—truly astonishing. And any one of them possesses enough power to topple the Central Plains... Chilling, just to consider."
"The power itself isn't the issue. It's how they wield it."
"How they wield it... Yes, you're right."
The existence of the Mad God Three Sects had shaken Yeon Wi to his core as well. Saneumgyo, Sinhwa Church, and Gwanghyeolgyo. For Saneumgyo to be backing Muk Ryong Bu of all things—that was why superior intelligence was no excuse for complacency.
Who could have imagined they'd bypass the northern Central Plains from the western frontier to reach the south? And their financial might. To sustain a colossal organization like Muk Ryong Bu meant resources rivaling the Martial Alliance itself.
"I knew it deep down," Yeon Wi said with a wry smile. "But seeing this drives it home: eternal peace will never come."
"Depends on how you define peace."
"True enough."
Yeon Hojeong could tell. His father wasn't really talking about the Mad God Three Sects.
It was about him.
"I could tell you weren't joking."
Yeon Wi's gaze deepened. His eyes, clouded with turmoil and passion, remained clear and profound.
"That confession of yours... that you'd lived a long life and returned."
"……."
"There was no lie in it, at least. You weren't deceiving me or Bi-a."
"……."
"Even so, I couldn't help worrying. Had my son injured his head somewhere? Or was it some cruel jest?"
"I understand."
Yeon Hojeong gave a bitter smile.
"That's one reason I held back from telling you until now."
Yeon Wi felt words catch in his throat. His son's wry smile and hollow tone tore at his heart.
I'm not ready.
Yeon Wi looked up at the ceiling.
I'm not ready. I hurt my child again with needless words.
His eldest was narrow-minded. Toward enemies, at least.
His eldest was broad-minded. Toward his own people, at least.
It might never happen, but even if his own father betrayed him, he'd never hate. He'd try to understand, and ultimately succeed.
Yeon Wi sighed deeply.
Do I still lack faith in Hojeong?
No. He trusted his eldest son. His second son too, and even Muk Bi.
If there were degrees to that trust, it burned brightest for his eldest.
He'd never give anyone else the same level.
But...
Damn it all.
Honestly, it was still hard to believe. This era, this vivid reality, was his son's past? The world wasn't meant to flow this way? In the true course of history, the Myeong and Moyong families would unite to annihilate the Yeon clan?
Unbelievable. The stuff of wild tales, barely found even in legends.
No matter how much I trust my son, a story like this...
It was hard to swallow.
Thinking back...
Suddenly, Yeon Wi recalled a past scene. During the ancestral rite, when his eldest—who'd always kept his distance—had embraced his estranged younger brother. And approached him step by trembling step, eyes quaking.
His chest tightened abruptly. That moment remained vivid.
Perhaps no other in his life had shocked him so.
I never imagined my eldest, who always avoided me, would look at me that way.
His son's trembling gaze held every imaginable emotion: joy, sorrow, rage, despair, pity, love. A whirlwind of feelings, born of experiences beyond imagination.
And his son claimed to have pierced through those unimaginable trials to return to the past.
And after that...
Post-rite, his eldest had transformed completely. No more fear of his father; instead, an empathy akin to his late wife's. Martial prowess exploded geometrically. And that uncanny insight to read the greater game—unlearnable from books.
Of course. Even a veteran wanderer's eye couldn't match such depth and sharpness.
Looking back, it was bizarre. Such perception from a youth not yet twenty?
Suspicious, naturally.
But he hadn't doubted his son. Why question what was easier to accept? Doubting others was exhausting enough; he wanted none of it with his boy.
Yes. He didn't want to treat his son like an outsider.
He just wanted to believe.
So he did. Ignoring how utterly unnatural it was.
Yeon Wi closed his eyes.
"Your Bi-yeon Simbeop mastery surged explosively."
"……Yes."
"You memorized all the Yeon Family Five Divine Arts formulas as a child."
"I did."
"You said you'd shake the Myeong family starting with catching that traitor Taekyeong. And you did."
Yeon Wi opened his eyes and met Yeon Hojeong's gaze.
"Because you knew they'd attack the main house?"
"I knew they'd attack. And they were targets for vengeance besides."
"……."
"From another angle, the Myeong are worse than the Mad God Three Sects to me. Because of them... I lost everything."
Yeon Wi sighed again.
His son had lost everything. And that everything was family.
You fool.
Yeon Wi berated himself.
Was it so hard to believe him?
His son spoke truth, from the heart. Mentioning family lives, no less.
The boy he knew wouldn't jest about such sacred things.
So why couldn't he accept this hard-won truth? Like before, when he'd attributed the divine insight and explosive growth to blossoming talent.
Why probe and torment his son now?
"……Hah hah hah."
Yeon Wi let out a hollow laugh.
"What a wasted life. Truly wasted."
Yeon Hojeong bowed his head.
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry? What do you have to apologize for?"
"……I've always wanted to tell you. But looking back, it was I who didn't trust you. That's why I waited until now."
"……."
"It's my failing, not yours. No need to blame yourse……."
"No. My life was wasted."
A massive tremor shook the eyes of the father gazing at his son.
"Wasted. I could've just believed you like before—like your words just now. What was so hard about that? Why agonize like this?"
Yeon Hojeong looked up at Yeon Wi in surprise.
"Father."
"Thinking back... yes. Your actions since then—I should've understood even more. The martial arts and insight you showed aren't for someone your age."
"……."
"And whether you lived long and returned... that's not for me to debate."
"Father."
Yeon Wi grasped Yeon Hojeong's hand.
"Hojeong."
"……Yes."
"You've suffered so much."
Yeon Hojeong's eyes quivered violently.
"Main house annihilated, cast alone into the world, enduring amid those ruthless black path scum, teeth gritted. How much hardship that must have been—beyond my imagining."
"……!"
"In your memories, I must've been a parent unfit for the name—a utter disgrace. Returning to the past to understand such a father bit by bit... no easy feat."
Yeon Hojeong bowed his head again. Meeting his father's eyes suddenly felt impossible.
"To think how much you agonized before saying this—makes me want to gouge out my eyes. I thought I'd finally understood my son, yet I still missed what mattered."
"No."
"Hojeong."
Yeon Hojeong looked up. Pride shone on Yeon Wi's face.
"You did well coming back. Truly, you've suffered greatly."
Yeon Hojeong's eyes shook anew. Even the strongest master in black path history, who made the world's wickedest tremble—before blood kin, he was just a frail man.
Yeon Hojeong bowed once more. A clear droplet fell to the table.
"I'm home, Father."
"Welcome home."