Chapter 21: Academic, Regional, and Blood Ties (1)
Chapter 21: Academic, Regional, and Blood Ties (1)
From the next day onward, I stopped attending the academy.
I settled into a repetitive daily routine: training with Peng Jeon-gun in my martial uncle’s inner courtyard, eating my meals, flipping through a few books, cultivating my internal energy, and then falling asleep...
The academy classes weren't much to write home about anyway.
The provincial civil service exam didn't require the kind of deep, analytical essay writing that needed a scholar’s lecture; it was mostly just filling in the blanks through rote memorization. There was no real need to attend classes for that.
If there was any reason to visit the academy in person, it was to build connections with the noble families, but did that even matter anymore?
Not after I’d already resolved to start a rebellion alongside a member of the imperial family.
Whether I succeeded or failed, there was no point in maintaining my status at the academy.
If I succeeded, the most powerful connection in the country would already be on my side. If I failed, any connections I made at the academy level would vanish anyway. One doesn't exactly attend alumni reunions when there's a terrorist in the graduating class.
"Then why on earth did you even bother coming to the academy in the first place?"
"Just having my name on the register was enough."
"No, I mean, if that was the case..."
Peng Jeon-gun paused with his saber raised, looking down at me with a somewhat bewildered expression.
When I gave him a slight beckoning gesture, he let out a short, dry laugh and raised his saber again.
The blunted iron blade rose slowly above his head.
"How's your hand?"
"As if you'd go easy on me even if I started crying and complaining about the pain."
"You really are an unlovable brat."
Peng Jeon-gun’s saber vanished from my sight in an instant.
By the time the blade reappeared in my vision, my left hand was already intercepting the middle of its trajectory.
Again—clack, clack, clack.
The wind from the saber swept past my cheeks.
The pitch-black blade dyed my vision.
As I swung my fists amidst the onslaught, I heard Peng Jeon-gun’s voice.
"Your defensive forms are mature enough. Draw your blade."
The moment I heard those words, my right hand flew to my waist.
This one was a real blade, its edge honed to a razor sharpness.
Flowing with his offensive, I rested the saber against my shoulder and twisted my body.
A sequence of training: the Mountain King Steps, the Heart-Protecting Fist, and the Hunyuan Blade. It was a repetition of the training that had continued for months, starting from the Purple Tiger Hall of the Peng Family.
"I have a question."
"What is it?"
Clang! The saber fell, not missing the moment my breathing hitched slightly as I opened my mouth.
This cowardly Black Path bastard. Of course, having lived as a Black Path scoundrel for ten years in my past life, I had already anticipated the attack.
I deflected the strike with a Heart-Protecting Fist and continued speaking.
"The Mountain King Steps don't have any techniques for retreating, do they?"
"That’s right."
"Then what happens if you encounter a martial artist at a higher realm than yourself? Even if the Family Head is one of the Three Venerables of the World, it’s not like every warrior in the Peng Family is the strongest in the Central Plains, is it?"
"Aha, so you're wondering how to run away. Hmm. You're at the stage where you'd be curious about that."
Peng Jeon-gun curled his lips into a predatory smirk and gripped his saber.
This time, internal energy was infused into the strike.
Until just now, he had been swinging his saber at the level of a third-rate martial artist who couldn't utilize internal energy, but from now on, the intensity was approaching a level worthy of his name.
The gauntlets blocking the saber strikes began to scream.
My hands started to go numb.
This was an attack at a level I couldn't block yet.
"You die."
"...Pardon?"
"Every warrior of the Hebei Peng Family dies if they cannot advance. They die in every fight they cannot win. It is always 'breaking the pots and sinking the ships.' Because from the very beginning, we do not learn the path of turning our backs to flee—"
—Boom!!
The gauntlet that blocked the next strike shattered, and my hand was forced back violently.
In that opening, Peng Jeon-gun’s body lunged deep into my space.
"Treat every struggle as a life-and-death duel, and pour everything you have into it without reservation."
—Whoosh!
I thrust my fist toward Peng Jeon-gun’s body as he entered the range of my Iron-Shattering Hammer, but he caught my wrist with an unwavering smile.
"So, always fight with the resolve to die right then and there!"
"If I do that—"
—Shing!!
The saber in my right hand—the pitch-black blade with its razor-sharp edge—descended toward Peng Jeon-gun’s exposed neck.
The Iron-Shattering Hammer had been a feint from the start.
It possessed enough power to easily crush ribs if it connected, but in the Peng Family, such a move was considered a mere distraction.
However, as if he had expected it, Peng Jeon-gun raised his left arm and caught the blade.
It was the Soul-Stealing Empty-Handed Catch, using only his thumb and forefinger to precisely avoid the edge.
The blade came to a dead stop as if caught in an iron crowbar.
I stared at the saber, which wouldn't budge even with all my strength, and let out a hollow laugh.
"What if I actually die?"
"I'll avenge you."
Peng Jeon-gun gave a wide grin, released the blade, and stepped back.
The duel... no, the sparring session was over.
I sheathed my saber and shook out my stiff wrists.
Peng Jeon-gun watched me as he drove his saber into the ground of the training field.
"When a warrior of the Hebei Peng Family fights with their life on the line, they always leave a mark. And we never fail to find the marks left by our kin."
There are hundreds of reasons why the Hebei Peng Family is considered part of the Black Path, but the most prominent among them is...
"If we find it, we will surely have our revenge. We will always collect the blood debt for even a single drop of a Peng Family member's blood with a life."
Cruelty.
"If the culprit cannot be found, we annihilate every sect in the vicinity. Until the culprit is captured and offered before the gates of the Peng Family. Even if they flee from one end of the world to the other. Without fail."
The Hebei Peng Family is relatively indifferent to favors, but they are a family that always repays a grudge tenfold.
And this was the very way the Hebei Peng Family survived in this land of Hebei.
"So don't worry. If your opponent has any sense at all, they wouldn't dare try to harm a direct blood relative of the Peng Family."
"Well, that’s certainly a comforting thought."
Peng Jeon-gun left with a smirk.
And a week later, just as I finished taking the provincial exam...
At the entrance of my academy quarters, the heads of five Tiger Wind Squad members had arrived.
Their foreheads were stamped with the seal of the White Lotus Cult, and they had been preserved in salt.
"Son of a..."
* * *
"Peng Hyeon-hui!! A member of our family is dead because of your stubbornness!"
My third brother, Peng Hyeon-cheon, shouted, the veins in his neck bulging.
This guy was three years older than me, yet he still hadn't mastered the Hunyuan Blade.
Because Peng Jeon-gun had washed his hands of his education, dissatisfied with his talent, he was currently evolving into the person who hated me most in this household.
"It was the fault of the Tiger Wind Squad. How can you say it was the youngest's fault?"
My eldest brother, Peng Hyeon-ryang, smiled as he restrained Peng Hyeon-cheon.
For the record, he was the one who had conspired with the White Lotus Cult to get rid of his seven-year-old youngest brother.
It was his discretion that allowed Hwa-yeong and me to go out that day.
Even the disappearance of Choi Ho-yeong’s warriors in the middle of it all is highly suspicious.
"None of this would have happened if he hadn't insisted on doing something as trivial as studying in these dire times, brother."
My second brother, Peng Hyeon-jeong, glared at me with burning eyes.
He was the one consolidating his position by recruiting the third brother and handling the affairs of the Inner Hall.
Perhaps because he was competing for the succession with the eldest brother, he would often bark at me whenever he found an opening, just to check the eldest brother who was 'protecting' me.
Honestly, even that was likely Peng Hyeon-ryang’s intention.
Ever since I got engaged to Hwa-yeong, it seemed he had been working to isolate me within the family.
"Enough."
The cold voice silenced the room.
The murmuring elders and my brothers all instantly shut their mouths, stepped back, and bowed their heads.
At the end of the Sanwang Pavilion—the massive hall where the family's major affairs were decided—the Peng Family Head sat leaning slightly.
It was very rare for the Family Head to step out of his private quarters personally, so the atmosphere among the family elders was stiff and frozen.
The Hebei Peng Family was currently clearing out the remnants of the White Lotus Cult in the Hebei region.
However, these were cultists that even the imperial family hadn't been able to uproot for at least 200 years.
Their headquarters were unknown, and it was impossible to tell where even their branches were planted.
Thus, the search that had lasted for three years had yielded little progress.
They had succeeded in clearing out those who occasionally revealed themselves, but a full-scale conflict had rarely occurred.
Recently, the search was actually in its final stages.
Since there were no results, it was becoming difficult to commit more personnel.
In the midst of that, the White Lotus Cult, which had been quiet for nearly a year, had launched a sudden raid.
And they had done it on the very day I took the civil service exam, as if to mock us. The Peng Family was now in an uproar, like a poked hornet's nest.
"Have you found any traces?"
At my grandfather's voice, the elders began to look as if they’d rather bite their tongues off.
After hesitating for a long time, they answered with their heads bowed.
"We are doing our best to conduct the search..."
"What about the Hao Clan?"
"They said they would cooperate actively..."
"Send a letter to the Assassination Pavilion. Recall the family members sent to the Dragon Slaying Alliance, and send Black Vouchers to the Ten Thousand Ghosts Alliance and the July Society."
"The Black Vouchers...! Yes, yes, Family Head."
The murmuring of the elders grew even more anxious.
I tugged on the sleeve of Peng Jeon-gun, who was standing beside me with his head bowed.
"What are Black Vouchers?"
"It means he’s summoning the leaders of the Ten Great Sects of the Black Dao."
"Hmm, I assume it’s not for a friendly get-together?"
"...The last time they were sent, according to the records, was 90 years ago. That was when the Righteous-Demonic War broke out."
"Oh."
Certainly, delivering the severed heads of five Peng Family warriors in neat packaging as a mockery is a declaration of war.
As I nodded quietly, the surroundings fell silent.
Peng Jeon-gun quickly nudged my side with his elbow.
When I looked up, the Peng Family Head was looking down at me.
His face was as dry and unreadable as ever.
"Hyeon-hui. It seems your brothers believe this is your fault. Is that your opinion as well?"
"Does my opinion matter?"
At my words, Peng Jeon-gun struck my side once more.
It was an impact almost like he was firing an Iron-Shattering Hammer from his elbow, but I ignored him and stepped forward toward the center of the hall.
"It doesn't."
A small smile played on the Peng Family Head’s dry lips.
The elders with their heads bowed and my brothers glaring at me probably didn't see it.
This was another test, unique to my grandfather.
"But a man who cannot even voice his own opinion has no business standing in this place."
No opinion, no suggestion mattered before the Peng Family Head.
Because in this place, the only thing that mattered was the will of the Family Head.
However, one who didn't even possess such an opinion was not allowed to enter the Sanwang Pavilion of the Great Hebei Peng Family.
His gaze, carrying that meaning, was looking down at me.
I looked straight up at my grandfather and spoke.
"Our kin were harmed because I said I would take the civil service exam. Yes. This is my responsibility. How appetizing must a ten-year-old direct descendant, staying in Beijing during a war, have looked to them?"
"!!"
The elders raised their heads and looked at me.
I turned my back.
Turning away from the Family Head’s gaze and my grandfather’s eyes, I looked around at the members of the Peng Family in the Sanwang Pavilion.
Along with the eyes of my brothers, filled with anger and hostility, I looked at these grandmothers and grandfathers who had regarded me as nothing more than a cute youngest grandson—the elders with whom I had only maintained a relationship akin to that of friendly neighbors.
I put strength into my voice.
I couldn't afford to remain an ignorant ten-year-old boy here.
From the moment I stepped into the Sanwang Pavilion, I was not a ten-year-old child, but a member of the Peng Family.
"The conflict with the White Lotus Cult was triggered by me in the first place. You will remember the incident three years ago when I slaughtered the warriors of the Black Dragon Gang with my own hands. Yes, the conflict arose because the White Lotus Cult tried to kidnap me, and I went to Beijing of my own accord to take this opportunity to uproot the White Lotus Cult from the land of Beijing."
"But didn't you gain nothing! Didn't the rebels, who were monitoring your every move, take action just to insult our entire family!"
"That is correct. That is why I say it is my responsibility."
On the way back from the provincial exam, just as all missions were over and we were about to return to the family, the culprits had struck.
Even when I had intentionally exposed myself, the enemies had remained quiet for three months.
After waiting for the moment I was most vulnerable, they had cut off the heads of our kin and thrown them at us in mockery.
And even after that, not a single trace could be found.
I bowed once toward the elders watching me and turned around.
Facing my grandfather who was looking down at me, I knelt on one knee and said with my head bowed:
"Therefore, I will not run away from my responsibility."
"Do you mean you will accept punishment?"
"I mean I will take my revenge."
"Revenge? You?"
"Yes, Family Head. What would change even if we sent out the Black Vouchers now, rallied the Sima Alliance, and declared war? As they always have, the White Lotus Cult will hide somewhere in the Central Plains, and as they have for the past 200 years, they will vanish without a trace again. We won't be able to find them through force."
"Then what?"
"What did they want when they did this? They are likely hoping that you, Family Head, will send out the Black Vouchers, declare war, and cause another bloody incident in Beijing."
Those who were driven into a corner in the Hebei region to the point of being almost uprooted.
Those who, even after barely infiltrating the imperial family by investing all their strength, had consumed so much influence that they couldn't even move for the time being.
Why would such people provoke us?
It’s to divert our attention.
Since they caused an incident in Beijing, the Peng Family’s strength will be concentrated throughout Beijing.
Because we will recall our personnel and launch another full-scale search.
This is likely a strategy intertwined with two traps.
One: There is no way the Peng Family’s search will be conducted peacefully.
The Peng Family doesn't act that way.
Naturally, if we stir up Beijing, we will inevitably draw the attention of the noble families and the government offices in Beijing.
Last time, we managed to bury it using the connections we had firmly established, but will it be the same this time?
Will the government continue to ignore the Peng Family even if such things are repeated?
No. Influence is a resource that is consumed every time it is used.
Stirring up Beijing would be an act of disrespect toward the government, and eventually, the government will lose its patience with the Peng Family running wild in Beijing.
The reason for such a tactic?
'Because they know I’ve been in contact with the Hao Clan... Perhaps they even know that the Pure Stream Faction is holding hands with the Hao Clan.'
They couldn't possibly know that we're plotting a rebellion.
If they did, they wouldn't even need to handle things this complicatedly.
Because even if they uprooted every member of the Pure Stream Faction associated with Cheon U-rin right now, there would be no backlash.
Even if they don't know that, the Pure Stream Faction is bound to be an eyesore from Noble Consort Yeongjeong’s perspective.
The role of the Hanlin Academy has always been to keep the imperial family and the government in check, and I heard they are currently clashing repeatedly with the Noble Consort, who is trying to expand her power by mobilizing the eunuchs.
They are preventing the Peng Family from reaching out in the midst of the competition between those two.
As a first move for that, they provoke the Peng Family to make them run wild in Beijing, building a justification.
'And they make us turn our eyes away from Hebei.'
This is the second possible reason.
If the Peng Family’s attention, which is spread across Hebei, is concentrated on Beijing, the Peng Family members scattered throughout Hebei will naturally have to be withdrawn.
Perhaps somewhere in this vast land of Hebei, one of the Peng Family members was approaching the enemies' secret base. They must have reached out to me in Beijing to hide that.
These two are the most certain reasons imaginable.
It could be both, or perhaps neither, but...
The fact that they didn't launch a full-scale offensive or try to assassinate me, but instead provoked us at a level of precisely targeting and killing only my guards where I was...
"In that case, wouldn't we be able to ruin their plans just by not doing what they want?"
"Then does your 'opinion' mean we should do nothing?"
"No. It means I will collect the blood debt myself."
"...What?"
"If their goal is to make the entire family wander around looking for them with blades drawn, wouldn't I be able to ruin their plans just by stepping forward alone?"
The search parties deployed in the Hebei region will remain as they are.
And we won't release the mad, rage-filled Peng Family warriors into Beijing.
Instead, a single direct descendant who has taken responsibility will be in Beijing alone.
Becoming an incredibly appetizing bait.
No, rather than bait... it’s more like a provocation.
I’ve already figured out your scheme. Even if I leave a single direct descendant in Beijing, would you even dare to touch him?
Something like that.
"That method should have failed."
"Yes, because they would have known I had guards. They would have known it was a trap."
"Then what do you intend to do?"
"So, if there are no guards, they will target me. We didn't move even when the guards were harmed... then do you really intend to stay still even if a direct descendant is harmed? They’ll think like that."
A low groan escaped Peng Jeon-gun.
Everyone else was staring at me in silence.
Ignoring all the noise, I looked up at the Family Head.
"If you allow it, I will go to Beijing alone."
"What if those bastards ignore you? How long do you intend to stay in Beijing?"
"I will not return until I have captured and killed the culprits who harmed our kin."
"The ones assigned to protect you were at least first-rate warriors. Five of them died without leaving a single trace. What can you possibly do alone?"
"I cannot say in this place."
"Hah."
My eldest brother must have a way to contact the White Lotus Cult.
If I blabbed the whole plan here, my life would just be snuffed out.
The Peng Family Head, who had been quietly looking into my eyes, gave a slight smile.
"Peng Jeon-gun."
"Yes, Family Head."
Peng Jeon-gun stepped forward and prostrated himself.
In the meantime, the glares directed at me were no joke.
"How far has Hyeon-hui’s Hunyuan Blade progressed?"
"He is familiar with at least the forms and the essence. I have taught him everything that can be learned from the Hunyuan Art."
"Then it is well. It is only right for a warrior of the Peng Family to stand alone at that realm. I grant your request."
As I bowed my head and stepped back, the elders all raised their heads toward the Family Head at once.
To throw a mere ten-year-old, a fledgling who hadn't even been initiated for five years, into a den of danger where enemies were hiding without a single guard... their expressions were filled with such sentiment.
The elders of the Peng Family looked back and forth between me and the Family Head with expressions overflowing with worry, wanting to say something.
However, once the Family Head’s command was given, they followed without questioning.
That was the family law of the Peng Family.
As we left the Sanwang Pavilion, Peng Jeon-gun approached and whispered.
"What are you planning?"
"It’s a secret."
"This is driving me crazy. Do you really want to die? No matter how arrogant you are, this isn't a matter of a level you can handle. The Family Head is right. You’re saying you’ll face the ones who slaughtered five first-rate Peng Family warriors all by yourself."
"I’m not alone, though."
"What? Who on earth in Beijing would help you? Ah. Don't tell me...?"
"Yes, my network has expanded quite a bit."
My friends from the Hao Clan and the Pure Stream Faction wouldn't just sit by and watch a company they just started investing in go bankrupt in less than a month.
The Peng Family couldn't find any traces in Beijing?
Then it means it’s not a matter of the martial world.
And I was the only person in this boneheaded family who had connections in the scholarly world.
*
"Pardon?"
"I’ve left home, senior. Would you be able to provide room and board?"
"No, this is a gisaeng house, you know?"
"I am aware."
"A ten-year-old is a bit risky..."
Dan So-hye massaged her temples as she looked at Peng Hyeon-hui.