Chapter 51
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Grow Tall and Strong (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Hoo…”
“Haa…”
“Hng…”
Tense sighs burst out one after another.
They came from the escorts heading home for the first time in over a year.
“Hyeak.”
“…?”
Of course, one of them was a bit odd. It was Escort Kamjo’s sigh.
As everyone stared, Kamjo scratched his head and averted his gaze.
“Ahem. I was just trying to make a different sound from everyone else and slipped up.”
“…”
Kang Moo-seon shot Kamjo a pitiful look before turning to Moo-jin.
He had toppled Yi Mu-gi, broken the formation, and earned recognition from the entire Sichuan Yun Family—an incredible feat—yet his expression remained utterly calm, unchanged.
As if such monumental events were no big deal.
“You’ve grown a lot. A whole lot.”
“…?”
“You talking about me?”
“Yeah. When did a scrawny kid like you get this big? That Linked Qi Realm, huh? Must be the fresh air.”
Kang Moo-seon marveled at Moo-jin, now tall enough that he had to look up.
“Well, the air was pretty good, yeah.”
Moo-jin recalled those now-distant memories with a faint smirk and asked,
“Anyway, you don’t seem nervous, brother. The escorts look tense as hell.”
“Hm. Honestly, it’d be a lie to say I’m not.”
Kang Moo-seon rolled his stiff neck from side to side.
It was home, after over a year away.
He knew full well how much heartache his disappearance must have caused everyone, so guilt and tension weighed heavily on him.
“Don’t worry. They’ll be thrilled, just like yesterday.”
“Talking like you’ve been through it.”
“I have. I came home too.”
Kang Moo-seon had been gone just over a year, but Moo-jin had been separated from his family for over thirty.
Even after all that time, family was family—they’d welcomed him warmly, just as familiar and comfortable as yesterday.
So it would be the same for everyone else.
“Hoo… Yeah. Only one way to find out.”
Kang Moo-seon turned his gaze forward. The Diamond Escort Agency compound came into view.
He swallowed dryly before the grander, cleaner gates than he remembered.
“Don’t block the way—get in there.”
Moo-jin gave his hesitating brother a light push, sending him inside.
Kang Moo-seon stepped into the agency despite his braced feet.
“You lot too—head on in.”
“…!”
The escorts’ and Kang Moo-seon’s faces stiffened as Moo-jin led them inside.
There were far more unfamiliar faces than familiar ones, leaving them rigid.
“What’s this? We’re closed for the day. Who’re you?”
The escorts swallowed hard at the arrival of Ma Du-gwang, ugly and vicious-looking at first glance.
They knew it wouldn’t happen, but his brutal face instinctively drew their hands to their swords.
“Huh? Brother?”
Spotting Kang Moo-jin behind the escorts, Ma Du-gwang’s fierce face broke into a wide grin as he bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.
“You’re back, brother!”
“Yeah. Introduce yourself. This is my little brother.”
“…!”
Ma Du-gwang’s eyes went wide at the words.
“Brother, did you succeed?!”
“Yeah. Not everyone, but I brought back who I could.”
“…! I-I’ll fetch the Agency Leader!”
Ma Du-gwang bolted inside to spread the joyous news.
“Moo-jin.”
“Yeah?”
“That guy reliable?”
Kang Moo-seon eyed Ma Du-gwang’s retreating figure warily.
“I sense evil faction energy from him…”
“He is evil faction. But he’s reformed now, so no worries.”
“Is that so?”
Kang Moo-seon still frowned and tilted his head.
“Tch… His face is a real mess.”
“…”
Kang Moo-jin had no reply.
Truth be told, even Moo-jin thought Ma Du-gwang’s mug was pretty savage.
“Moo-seon… Moo-seon!”
Diamond Escort Agency Leader Kang So-gong rushed out barefoot and enveloped Kang Moo-seon in a tight embrace.
His second son, whom he’d thought dead.
At first, he’d refused to believe it—surely he was alive somewhere. But as time hardened his heart, he’d eventually given up.
And cursed the heavens. How could they take a son before his father?
Yet the son he’d abandoned hope for with a heart-wrenching ache… had returned.
“My son… my son…!”
Kang So-gong staggered forward. His trembling legs wouldn’t let him walk straight.
“Father… I’m sorry it took so long.”
Kang Moo-seon bit his lip to hold back tears, sharing a heartfelt hug with his father.
Feeling his father’s warmth, it finally felt like home.
The home he’d dreamed of for the past year… longed for amid that hellish formation.
“Hng…”
“Hngh.”
The returning escorts tearfully embraced their close comrades.
Relief and joy at safely returning home set their hearts ablaze.
“I thought… I’d never see you again.”
Kang So-gong stroked his second son’s face repeatedly, praying it wasn’t a dream.
His touch was excessively gentle, lest he grip too hard and shatter the vision.
“Father, don’t worry. I’m really back.”
Kang Moo-seon, eyes red, forced a smile.
“Heh…”
Even sorrow turned to a smile—that was so like him. A smile crept onto Kang So-gong’s lips too.
“Hngh. Uncle.”
Kang Soo-yeon, clinging to her father’s leg, shed fat tears like a chick.
Not just her—everyone in the agency was weeping or had red-rimmed eyes.
The long-accumulated longing, sorrow, and joy moistened even the driest eyes.
“Hng… hngh… kugh!”
Ma Du-gwang, bawling like a waterfall, blew his nose into his sleeve. Unsightly as he was, he was weak to such touching scenes.
“…!”
Eun Do-hyeon, hastily wiping tears, glared wide-eyed. That damned Ma Du-gwang had blown his nose on his sleeve.
Swipe—
Won Yu-hwa, watching awkwardly, quietly stepped outside the gates.
She slipped away from the agency unseen,
and only after getting a suitable distance
“Hoo…”
did she exhale the breath she’d held.
“Good to see them all so happy.”
Unlike her words, Won Yu-hwa’s expression remained awkward.
With only her grandfather for family, such scenes still felt strange and hard for her.
“It’ll be over soon.”
She turned at the familiar voice from behind.
“Brother?”
“Bear with it, even if it’s uncomfortable. It’s been a while for them.”
“That’s not it.”
Won Yu-hwa’s eyes, gazing at the sky, reflected the crescent moon.
“I’m just… jealous.”
“Jealous?”
“I never had someone like you, brother. Someone to protect and save my family.”
Eldest son Kang Moo-woong, second son Kang Moo-seon, Agency Leader Kang So-gong—without Kang Moo-jin, they’d all be dead.
The agency would have crumbled, and lone survivor Kang Soo-yeon would have starved on the streets.
That they lived, reunited, sharing sorrow and joy—it was all thanks to Kang Moo-jin.
“Luck played a part too. I did my best, but I wasn’t certain.”
Father, brothers—all in peril. He’d given everything to save them at every turn, but certainty? No.
No matter how strong, Kang Moo-jin was still human.
“That’s what makes it even greater, brother. You push forward without faltering, no matter how tough.”
“…”
“Never bending in any crisis. How cool is that?”
Won Yu-hwa’s sparkling moonlit eyes turned to Moo-jin.
“That must be why. I like you more every day, brother.”
She bashfully beamed and looked away.
“As a warrior, as a person—so don’t get the wrong idea?”
“…Yeah. Let’s head back in.”
Moo-jin scratched his nose and stepped toward the agency.
Won Yu-hwa, ears red as persimmons, grinned at his back.
“Wait up, brother!”
“Mm…”
Back inside, Moo-jin rubbed his chin awkwardly.
Everyone who’d been embracing moments ago now bowed with clasped fists toward him.
“What’s with this? You’re embarrassing me all of a sudden.”
“What do you mean? We’re just showing our gratitude.”
Kang Moo-seon, beside Agency Leader Kang So-gong with fists clasped, grinned.
“Us reuniting like this, the agency growing this much—it’s all thanks to you. We’ve got some shame; we have to say thanks properly at least once.”
“Come on, no need for that between family…”
“This father agrees. Without you, Moo-jin, we’d all be as good as gone. In the jianghu, saving lives is the greatest debt. We need a chance to repay, even a little, the one who saved us all.”
The escorts nodded in agreement with Kang So-gong.
Not just those saved from Yi Mu-gi—many here owed Moo-jin big and small favors.
Ma Du-gwang, living on the edge in an evil sect, had his future redeemed.
Iron Fist Squad’s Do-ryang, Jo-yu, Eun Do-hyeon, and others received martial arts instruction, crossing the peak realm wall they’d thought insurmountable.
Other ronin-turned-escorts gained proper treatment and teachings, not just meager pay for risking death.
Even the hires from the recent Taiyuan escort mission escaped precarious, aimless lives for stability.
In a way, the current Diamond Escort Agency was built by Kang Moo-jin’s fists… no, his graces.
“Thank you, Moo-jin.”
“Thanks, boss!”
“Thank you, Escort Leader!”
They called to him in their own ways, formally clasping fists.
Over a hundred escorts bowing and thanking in unison—it resonated deeper than even the Sichuan Yun Family scene.
Even Moo-jin, stoic in most things, felt his expression shift subtly.
“…”
That vibrating emotion in his chest made him bow his head.
“Moo-jin, you crying?”
“Heh, son, are you really?”
Father and brothers smiled, assuming he was holding back tears.
Moo-jin, whose face rarely changed unless his clothes got dirty, surprised them.
“Whoa! Brother?! Actually crying? Never knew you could! So monsters do cry—truth at last?!”
Ma Du-gwang seized the moment, approaching with a mischievous grin.
“Boss! Really crying?! Last time I cried from tough training, you said it wastes muscle!”
“Yeah! Train extra for every tear!”
“Boss, train with us!”
“Woo! Extra training for every drop!”
The nearest Iron Fist Squad members teased with grins.
But they overlooked one fact.
“…All you who just spoke, front and center.”
“…!”
Kang Moo-jin was the type to swing fists even in touching moments.
“Not coming? Fine. I’ll come get you.”
Eyes fierce like a tiger’s, Moo-jin charged the Iron Fist Squad.
“Eek! B-brother, mercy!”
“Fine. Won’t kill you.”
Moo-jin’s massive hand clamped Ma Du-gwang’s head.
“You’re first.”
“Huh?!”
“Fly!”
Whoosh—!
Ma Du-gwang’s feet left the ground in an instant, soaring far into the sky.
“Aaaahhhh!”
His scream filled the clear blue heavens.