Chapter 638
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 638
Chapter Title: Then, Kneel
In the end, Great Chief Steward Kang headed up to the fifth floor.
He had done everything in his power to welcome Ha Mu-baek, but the old man's antics left him no choice but to step in.
After all, he was the branch leader of the Righteous Heaven Alliance's Nanchang branch.
One of the strongest figures in Nanchang.
If he set his mind to harassing Etwang Pavilion, things could get extremely troublesome moving forward.
'Whew. He kept eyeing the sixth floor... and now trouble's brewing...'
If it was anyone else's misstep, it was his own.
That man was on the fifth floor, yet he'd guided Ha Mu-baek's group to the sixth and immediately served the food.
After hearing from the fifth-floor attendant about the man's disgraceful behavior—sticking his head out over the railing, flaring his nostrils, and sniffing the air like a beast—he shook his head in disbelief.
A madman.
Still, he couldn't delay a distinguished guest's meal.
What irked Great Chief Steward Kang the most was that this precious guest, visiting after years, had to endure such a ruckus right below.
Of all places, the fool had sat directly under the sixth floor.
In other words, a master of the guest's caliber would sense every bit of the disturbance.
It was simply mortifying to think of troubling the guest's ears.
With that, Great Chief Steward Kang arrived on the fifth floor and quickly approached the old man's table.
"About time you showed up. What pressing matter kept you so long?"
The old man's complaint flew at him the moment he arrived.
"The Pavilion Lord repeatedly emphasized your visit, so my reception was delayed. My apologies."
Great Chief Steward Kang bowed deeply to mask his expression.
"Escort me."
The old man barked the order curtly at him.
"As I mentioned before, the sixth floor is the Pavilion Lord's private space. It's not meant for receiving guests, so..."
"Are you insulting me?"
The old man's voice, thick with killing intent, cut him off.
"I can sense the kids' presence, and the aroma of all those delicacies wafting down, yet you call it the Pavilion Lord's private space? Has his great-grandson come to visit or something? Your grandsons, Chief Steward Kang."
Fierce killing intent bore down on Great Chief Steward Kang.
He bit his lip hard, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
A civilian like Great Chief Steward Kang couldn't possibly withstand the killing aura of a warrior who'd risen to branch leader of the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
The terrifying pressure made his whole frame shudder violently.
[Send him up.]
Ha Mu-baek's transmission rang in his ear.
Just as expected, he knew everything about the situation here.
Etwang Pavilion was a famed landmark of the martial world, drawing plenty of martial artists.
Ha Mu-baek had sensed countless presences through his senses and simply ascended to the sixth floor without a second thought.
However.
The commotion from below was growing increasingly out of hand.
And not for any other reason, but because of them.
Moreover, the voice drifting up and that presence both felt familiar, like someone he'd crossed paths with before.
He couldn't pinpoint exactly who, though.
Truth be told, it wasn't someone noteworthy enough to stick in Ha Mu-baek's memory.
With the fool's antics reaching a peak and even putting Great Chief Steward Kang in a bind, Ha Mu-baek couldn't just stand by.
He hesitated a little because of his disciples.
He didn't want the children exposed to such an ugly spectacle.
But these kids had endured far worse, hadn't they?
He trusted their steadfast resolve.
Since the ruckus stemmed from him, Ha Mu-baek decided not to let it slide any longer and sent a transmission to Great Chief Steward Kang.
Send him up to the sixth floor.
The fool's vulgar words had sunk to deplorable depths.
"Understood."
Great Chief Steward Kang heeded Ha Mu-baek's transmission and dropped any further attempts to dissuade the old man.
The fool's behavior wasn't the issue; the distinguished guest's wishes took precedence.
He only regretted that such a lout had bothered the guest at all.
"Hmph. About time. Had to drag my grandsons into it before you'd yield. Lead the way."
Great Chief Steward Kang bit his lip at the old man's arrogance, but since he was leading ahead, the Nanchang branch leader remained oblivious.
"Didn't know a place like this existed."
He'd visited Etwang Pavilion countless times, yet this passage was new to him.
As soon as the stairs led to the entrance, the old man shoved Great Chief Steward Kang aside, strode forward, and flung the door open.
And there, the sight that unfolded before him.
First to catch his eye was the vast dining table laden with exotic delicacies.
True enough, there were whole roasted animals.
Not one, but three of them.
No wonder the aroma had been so intoxicating.
And there were the two children whose presences he'd sensed.
"Gasp."
Two beauties so stunning they stole his breath.
And one man sitting with his back turned.
Yeon Ha-min scowled at the sudden intruder.
Even with Ha Mu-baek's prior warning, the old coot's face soured her mood on sight.
"Well, well. Beauties like these... Chief Steward Kang, you didn't summon me here? You should've invited me properly for some poetry and revelry with them."
The old man turned to berate Great Chief Steward Kang behind him.
At that moment, Ha Mu-baek rose from his seat and turned around.
As the old man whipped his head back to ogle the women again—
Their eyes met.
"Heok."
A cry of shock escaped the old man's lips.
Utterly different from his initial gasp—this was pure alarm.
Ha Mu-baek eyed the old man before him with sharp scrutiny, then tilted his head.
A face he definitely recognized.
The presence and voice matched his memory.
"H-Ha... Ha Mu-baek...?"
The old man stared at him, murmuring in a quavering voice.
His face brimmed with disbelief, as if questioning why this man was here.
"Looks like you know me."
Even if Ha Mu-baek didn't remember him, plenty of people knew Ha Mu-baek.
Take Heavenly Eye Pavilion, for instance: while only a few of its warriors knew Ha Mu-baek personally, most of them recognized his name.
"Y-You...!"
But what nerve had Ha Mu-baek struck with his question?
The old man ground his teeth and exuded killing intent.
"How dare a mere Dragon Training Pavilion instructor not recognize me?"
His voice growled with fury.
That rage-filled tone was all too familiar.
It clawed at the depths of Ha Mu-baek's chest—he'd heard it before.
A voice that instinctively made his fists itch.
Ha Mu-baek stared steadily at the old man before him.
"Ah."
Then it clicked.
"Discipline Hall Lord Un Hak-ja?"
"That's right, you bastard! I'm Un Hak-ja! How dare a Dragon Training Pavilion instructor like you look at the Righteous Heaven Alliance Nanchang branch leader that way? Kneel right now!!"
It was a full-throated roar.
Ha Mu-baek gazed at the bellowing Un Hak-ja with utter incredulity.
"Is your head just rotten, or do you lack any capacity to learn? Whew."
A deep sigh escaped Ha Mu-baek's lips.
Un Hak-ja.
A disciple of the Kunlun Sect, once the Discipline Hall Lord of the Righteous Heaven Alliance.
When Ha Mu-baek was demoted from Hocheon Corps Leader to Dragon Training Pavilion instructor, Un Hak-ja, alongside Heavenly Eye Pavilion Lord Gong Son Dan-gyeong, had delivered the verdict to him personally.
As punishment.
The charge: assaulting a superior officer.
Ha Mu-baek refused to accept demotion for an assault he hadn't committed, so the moment the order was handed down, he made it real by actually assaulting his superior.
The sequence was reversed, but he had indeed struck his superior.
And that superior was the Discipline Hall Lord Un Hak-ja at the time.
Hocheon Corps Leader ranked around fiftieth in the Righteous Heaven Alliance, while Discipline Hall Lord was seventh.
Undeniably a superior.
A murderous aura seeped from Ha Mu-baek's body.
He clenched his fist.
The moment Un Hak-ja saw it, a throbbing pain stabbed his lower abdomen.
That day.
The first spot Ha Mu-baek's fist had plunged into.
Suddenly, his jaw ached.
The target of the strongest blow.
His jawbone had shattered, leaving him unable to eat properly for a while.
And as a side effect, he'd developed a gluttonous appetite.
"Y-You bastard...!"
Un Hak-ja trembled violently.
"Whew. Fine, let's check those rankings you love so much. What rank is the Nanchang branch leader, exactly? Or rather, why is a former exalted Discipline Hall Lord acting like this here?"
Ha Mu-baek muttered genuinely curious, and the question scraped at Un Hak-ja again, igniting his rage anew.
"It's all because of you, you damn cur!!!"
Ha Mu-baek had beaten him soundly that day, leaving him bedridden from the aftermath.
But Un Hak-ja, consumed by lust for power, desperately tried to reclaim his Discipline Hall Lord position—and failed.
The Jegal Clan intervened.
They impeached him for overstepping his authority during Ha Mu-baek's demotion process, and it was upheld.
The result: demotion.
To Nanchang branch leader.
The ranking Ha Mu-baek asked about was meaningless.
Not even a provincial branch leader—just a branch head of a single circuit.
A post that wouldn't crack the top two hundred, let alone one hundred.
Though he lorded over Nanchang like a king.
"What did I even do? You said assault on a superior, so I obliged just as you wanted."
"Grind."
Un Hak-ja gnashed his teeth at Ha Mu-baek's words.
"So, what rank are you now?"
Ha Mu-baek pressed the ranking question again.
"Higher than a worm like you."
Un Hak-ja couldn't even utter his own rank.
From seventh as Discipline Hall Lord to outside two hundred as Nanchang branch leader.
He knew shame, at least.
"Higher than me... really?"
Ha Mu-baek grinned as if amused.
"A Dragon Training Pavilion instructor—no, a lowly Fierce Dragon Corps regular instructor! A nobody not even in the top two thousand...!"
"Who said that? That I'm a regular Fierce Dragon Corps instructor at the Dragon Training Pavilion."
"Ha? I delivered your assignment order myself."
"So, how long did you think I'd stay in that post? Got your ears sealed off since your demotion to Nanchang branch leader?"
"W-What?"
Un Hak-ja flinched at Ha Mu-baek's question.
"Heavenly Eye Pavilion Fierce Dragon Corps Leader. That's my current position."
Ha Mu-baek grinned again.
A sneer.
Mockery aimed at Un Hak-ja.
"W-What? Even so, the Fierce Dragon Corps is just Demon-Sealing Corps cannon fodder!"
His information truly was outdated.
The Demon-Sealing Corps had disbanded ages ago.
"And? What rank is the Fierce Dragon Corps Leader?"
Ha Mu-baek asked with a dismissive look.
"T-That..."
Un Hak-ja faltered.
As former Discipline Hall Lord, the headquarters rankings were etched in his mind.
And among them was the Fierce Dragon Corps Leader.
Cannon fodder or not, it was still a combat unit commander.
Not a terribly low rank.
Which was why it had stayed vacant so long.
To let the Demon-Sealing Corps exploit the Fierce Dragon Corps easily.
"You know it well enough, don't you? Former Discipline Hall Lord Un Hak-ja."
"Kuh."
"Don't tell me you've forgotten everything since becoming Nanchang branch leader? As dumb as ever, huh?"
Un Hak-ja shuddered at Ha Mu-baek's insulting words.
"Around... one hundred eighty..."
He ground out through clenched teeth.
"And Nanchang branch leader?"
"Outside... two hundred..."
His voice quivered faintly.
The two subordinates who'd followed Un Hak-ja up were at a loss.
Yeon Ha-min and Ha Seol-ran watched with keen interest, while the two children seemed to grasp the situation.
Great Chief Steward Kang's face was half triumphant, half apologetic.
"Right, that's it. I'm around one hundred eighty, you're outside two hundred."
Ha Mu-baek pointed at himself, then Un Hak-ja.
"Then, kneel. You punk. That's an order from your superior."