Chapter 650
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 650
Chapter Title: Get Out of the Way
"What a crazy bastard."
His honest impression slipped out of his mouth.
Yeon Gong-hu flinched at the blunt curse. But he quickly regained his composure.
It was because he remembered his father mentioning Ha Mu-baek's unfiltered speech and actions.
'Even in front of the Righteous Heaven Alliance Leader, he says whatever he wants.'
"So, to protect your mother from your uncle's clutches, you can't reveal your skills or leave the clan."
Ha Mu-baek spoke as if he had grasped the entire situation.
"That's right."
Ha Mu-baek nodded and turned his gaze away.
Then he muttered.
"She certainly is a beautiful woman."
Yeon Gong-hu was startled by Ha Mu-baek's words.
Those words were clearly about his mother, but how could he call her beautiful?
Ha Mu-baek had never seen his mother before.
Yeon Gong-hu looked where Ha Mu-baek's gaze was directed.
"That direction..."
It was the way to the annex where his mother stayed.
A place where she was virtually imprisoned.
But it was hidden by trees, out of sight.
"She always watches over you from there like this. Even though she can only see the trees."
From those following words, Yeon Gong-hu realized that Ha Mu-baek had pierced through the dense foliage and seen his mother's figure.
The more time they spent together, the more astonishing things kept happening.
He was also surprised by his mother.
He had never imagined she was watching over him like this.
At this late hour.
"One question."
"What is it?"
"If your mother leaves the Yeon Clan, what will you do?"
"Are you asking if she'll go somewhere safe?"
It was another question instead of an answer to his query.
"Safer than here."
"First, I need to check where Mother is staying. And if I'm certain, then I'll pursue the path to becoming stronger."
His eyes were steady and resolute, without a hint of wavering.
"Good eyes. Alright. See you tomorrow."
With those words, Ha Mu-baek vanished.
As if he had never been there at all, he disappeared perfectly.
Without leaving a single trace.
"What in the world..."
He was truly elusive, appearing and vanishing like a ghost.
The day broke.
Ha Mu-baek's group was having breakfast on the first floor of the inn.
Unlike the previous day, Ha Mu-baek's expression was a bit hardened.
Ha Seol-ran could guess the reason.
Her brother had gone out last night, saying he had somewhere to be.
Yeon Ha-min and the children didn't know, but she did.
She had sensed it through her qi perception.
The location of the Hubei Yeon Clan—her brother had been there.
'Is there something bad going on in Ha-min's family?'
She couldn't help but think that.
[Toughen your hearts before heading to the Yeon Clan.]
Ha Mu-baek's transmission reached Yeon Ha-min and Ha Seol-ran's ears.
He was using a transmission because it wasn't something the young disciples should hear.
Yeon Ha-min's expression didn't change.
Ha Seol-ran was surprised by her calm demeanor.
But from the start, she had no expectations for the Yeon Clan, so she wasn't surprised.
She had thought it was only natural.
However.
As long as her mother was safe.
That was all.
[I don't know why there are so many crazy bastards among people with the Yeon surname.]
At Ha Mu-baek's following transmission, Yeon Ha-min's expression finally shifted.
She furrowed her delicate brows.
The words "crazy bastard" gave her an ominous foreboding for some reason.
'No way, nothing happened... right?'
Her anxiety was plain to see, but Ha Mu-baek didn't show it.
It was better for her to prepare her mind now than to learn the truth upon arriving at the clan.
After finishing their meal like that.
The group headed to the Yeon Clan.
It might have been better to leave the two young children at the inn, but with no suitable guardian, they had no choice.
Ha Seol-ran was still anxious.
More than anything, being separated from Ha Seol-ran was unsettling even for Ha Mu-baek himself.
It wasn't that he didn't trust her.
It was to ease his own unease.
They headed west of Yichang like that.
Walking along the grand boulevard, a massive clan house soon came into view—so grand that "magnificent" seemed an understatement.
The Hubei Yeon Clan house.
The Yeon Clan.
"Hoo."
The moment the Yeon Clan came into sight, Yeon Ha-min let out a deep breath and strode confidently toward the main gate.
As the gate drew nearer, she naturally removed her veil.
She intended to show her face boldly, announce her return, and then meet her mother.
Ha Mu-baek followed right behind her, with Ha Seol-ran bringing up the rear with the children.
"Who...?"
The gate guard, spotting the group approaching the main gate, started to demand their identity but froze.
A familiar face was coming toward him.
Exquisitely beautiful.
A beauty so otherworldly, it seemed unfit for the mortal realm.
"Yeon Ha-min...?"
A hesitant, dazed mutter escaped his lips.
Though soft, it rang clear in Ha Mu-baek's ears.
He immediately scowled.
How dare a mere gate guard address the clan head's granddaughter so casually?
It instantly revealed how Yeon Ha-min was treated in the Yeon Clan.
"I'm back."
Yeon Ha-min fixed the guard with a chilling gaze and spoke coldly.
"A-Are you really the young lady?"
The guard snapped to attention at her icy voice and asked in a trembling tone.
"Who do you think I am?"
Hadn't he just muttered her name to himself moments ago?
"N-No, I mean..."
He responded immediately to her voice, colder than ice.
"Open the way."
Yeon Ha-min said, eyeing the open space beyond the wide-open main gate.
"I-I'll send word inside."
He blurted it out hurriedly and signaled to the clueless newbie who had barely grasped the situation.
"I'm returning to my own home, and you want me to send word first?"
Her cold voice sharpened even further.
"Th-That's..."
The guard stammered.
He was going mad.
No superiors around, and the one guarding the gate with him was a greenhorn who had joined the clan less than half a year ago.
So, that kid didn't know Yeon Ha-min's face.
He didn't know who she was, so he was just standing there watching.
She seemed like an outsider, yet also an insider.
He couldn't make a judgment.
Especially since she seemed to know his senior.
He didn't know what to do.
He had only been in the clan for six months and had been on gate duty for just three days.
"Get out of the way."
A ferocious aura rose from Yeon Ha-min's body.
The guard recoiled in shock and stumbled aside.
'H-How...'
Several months ago.
Yeon Ha-min had suddenly vanished from the clan.
It was more like an escape.
The clan had been thrown into chaos.
Especially since she had no internal energy, not even a single form of martial arts, yet she disappeared without a trace.
So.
Just a few months ago, the woman before him couldn't have withstood even a single punch from this gate guard.
She was just an ordinary woman.
That was why so many—no, most of the clan's warriors had eyed her with lustful gazes.
Even if they did, she had no means to resist.
Though she bore the Yeon name, no one in the clan helped her.
They just had to watch out for two people.
Yeon Baek-jin and Yeon Gong-hu.
Ah, and the young lord Yeon Baek-ryang too.
For different reasons, though.
He was the type to rage if anyone dared look at the woman who would be his with such eyes.
But now.
Just the aura emanating from her body made the guard's skin prickle.
It was the pressure only a master of high realm could exert.
He couldn't believe it.
As the guard stepped aside, the path cleared.
Yeon Ha-min strode in without hesitation, followed by Ha Mu-baek and the group.
The newbie guard, who had somewhat pulled himself together at the sight of strangers entering, tried to block them.
But a single glance from Ha Mu-baek froze him solid.
Thus, Yeon Ha-min entered the Yeon Clan.
Warriors patrolling the grounds and people bustling about their tasks.
Those who crossed paths with Yeon Ha-min were startled.
Someone who shouldn't be in the clan had suddenly appeared.
Before the guard who had let her through could even report it, word spread from those who encountered her directly to the clan head's residence.
Yeon Ha-min ignored the people who gawked in shock at her.
They weren't human to her.
Even when she lived in the clan, they weren't human.
Demons in human skin.
Nothing more, nothing less.
At least, not to Yeon Ha-min.
That's why she could completely ignore them, even after so long.
Yeon Ha-min headed straight to her mother's residence.
But.
"Not that way."
She had to stop at the voice from behind.
It was Ha Mu-baek.
"How would you know, Corps Leader...?"
As she voiced her doubt.
"That way."
Instead of answering, Ha Mu-baek pointed in one direction.
The western side of the clan.
An annex tucked in the corner there.
That was where Yeon Ha-min's mother now resided.
Not the northeastern corner where they had stayed before.
Since meeting her mother came first, Yeon Ha-min quickly headed there.
But the clan's tongues were faster than her steps.
As Yeon Ha-min walked briskly.
The maids and servants of the annex were already whispering that she had returned to the clan.
Of course, the news reached Jin Na-yeon, Yeon Ha-min's mother.
Jin Na-yeon, who had been sipping tea after breakfast, jumped up at the report from her attendant maid.
Though called her personal maid, she was really a watcher assigned by the temporary young lord.
The maid's eyes were icy as she delivered the news.
No, more like interrogating.
But Jin Na-yeon paid it no mind.
She had no time for that.
Her daughter had returned.
To a place she absolutely should not come back to.
Even if Yeon Baek-ryang was gone, this was still hell for her.
Jin Na-yeon rushed out of the annex.
She had to meet her quickly and get her to leave the clan.
As she hurried along, a man appeared.
Yeon Gong-hu.
"G-Gong-hu."
Jin Na-yeon called her son desperately.
"Yes, Mother. I heard the news too. Let's hurry."
He had already heard about Yeon Ha-min from Ha Mu-baek the day before.
So he had been waiting anxiously ever since.
He quickly escorted his mother along.
Around the time the clan was buzzing over Yeon Ha-min's sudden return.
The temporary young lord, Yeon Baek-pung, was overlooking the clan from the young lord's office.
"I thought it was unlikely when I heard she was in Yichang. But to brazenly return to the clan..."
Yeon Baek-pung bit back a sinister smile.
Yichang.
The Yeon Clan's stronghold.
In other words, the Yeon Clan dominated every corner of Yichang.
She might have gone unnoticed on the boat, but from the moment she disembarked, every move was reported back to the clan.
They might not know everything about the world outside, but information within Yichang was perfectly grasped.
And all that intel flowed to him, the young lord managing the clan.
That's why he already knew Yeon Ha-min wasn't alone.
"Ha Mu-baek, huh..."
Yeon Baek-pung gazed down at the clan with cold eyes.
"No, no. This might actually work out perfectly. If you care about your daughter, you'll finally kneel to me, Na-yeon."
A faint heat simmered in his calm mutter.
Heat and desire directed at one woman.