Grudge
Originally, Yakseon had been a physician with a modest little clinic.
Like any other doctor, he possessed some skill with acupuncture as well.
He didn’t have much, but he had still lived a reasonably happy life.
He had raised his only son upright and proper, and that son had even followed in his footsteps to become an outstanding physician.
His talent had been so exceptional that he was summoned by the emperor himself and appointed as an imperial physician in the palace.
After completing five splendid years of service as an imperial doctor, his son and daughter-in-law came to live together with him at the clinic.
There, a granddaughter was born as well. There was nothing in the world to envy.
At least, up until that point.
It had been strangely, almost excessively happy.
That was why Yakseon had never once considered that misfortune might come for him.
The tragedy happened in the blink of an eye.
He had gone out as usual to gather medicinal herbs, but that day his mood was strangely foul.
“Looks like rain is coming.”
The sky was dark and heavy, and the air was thick with dampness, exactly like the weather before a downpour.
Still, he had to collect the herbs, so Yakseon hurried toward the mountain.
“Incredible. Hehe.”
Luck had been on his side.
Rare medicinal herbs that he normally couldn’t find even if he washed his eyes and searched were practically begging to be picked, displaying their lush, tempting forms.
He stuffed his basket with everything he could find and returned to the clinic with light, cheerful steps.
Then the old man’s basket slipped from his powerless fingers and fell to the ground.
“Yu, Yuseon…!”
His son—his only son—lay cold and lifeless.
Beside him lay his daughter-in-law as well.
In a single morning, he had lost both his son and his daughter-in-law.
The only mercy was that his young granddaughter had survived.
Burying the rage that surged within his chest for the moment, Yakseon had no choice but to quietly leave the village with his granddaughter.
“Why?”
I tilted my head and asked.
“Shouldn’t you have asked the villagers?”
“They were all already terrified. Even if I asked, would they have given a proper answer?”
They wouldn’t.
Ordinary people who knew the terror of martial artists never opened their mouths recklessly.
When their own lives were on the line, how could they wag their tongues carelessly?
“That would have been fortunate enough.”
Yakseon’s expression twisted instantly.
“Just thinking about that bastard makes my chest feel like it’s being torn apart. Torn apart.”
“……”
His granddaughter, Uigyeong.
At such a young age, she had become little more than a living corpse.
“That child was attacked by a demon’s hand. I saw demonic energy in that tiny body that it could never possibly endure.”
And so Yakseon had traveled across the country, gathering herbs and concocting medicines in order to save his granddaughter.
That was how he had earned the title of Yakseon.
“You dig up my past like this just to threaten me?”
“……”
“If that’s the case, then I absolutely cannot follow your words. Let’s end this here.”
At those words, I let out a small sigh.
I had no intention of simply letting him go.
“It was the Demonic Cult. Not just any demon, but members of the Demonic Cult.”
“……What?”
“The ones who murdered Your Lordship’s son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter were demons belonging to the Demonic Cult.”
Demons.
Even among demons, there was a clear difference depending on whether they belonged to the Demonic Cult or not.
Those who revered orthodox demonic ways, accepted the will of the Cheonma, and followed his convictions.
Dangerous beings who believed more firmly than anyone in the logic of power, and therefore held that the weak must be culled.
When the Demonic Cult moved, the demons moved with it.
Like a single, organized army.
The Demonic Cult controlled the demons and had drenched the Central Plains in terror with their overwhelming military might.
“Demons of the Demonic Cult? Why on earth would the Demonic Cult…?”
“Because you are Yakseon, sir.”
Just as everyone else sought Yakseon, the Demonic Cult had also chased after his whereabouts.
And they had left a warning.
By taking the lives of his children in exchange.
“I don’t understand. If that was their goal, wouldn’t it have made more sense to take them hostage? Why take their lives?”
“Do you think their way of thinking is the same as ours?”
I awakened Yakseon’s ignorance with a cold tone.
The world had been too peaceful, so people had forgotten about the demons and their nature.
“I have no power. Revenge? I don’t even dare dream of it.”
He had simply lived each day against his will, harboring only resentment.
“Just go back. Revenge? I’ve thought about it, but I have neither the strength nor the ability to carry it out anymore.”
Hah, persuading him was no easy task.
In truth, I had known he wouldn’t come around so easily.
Hadn’t I already experienced his stubbornness in my previous life?
“Elder Yakseon, I need you. I need you desperately.”
Sa-an Gwi-gun.
To drag that bastard out into the open, I absolutely needed Yakseon’s help.
No ordinary method came to mind for drawing him out.
“Even if they are demons of the Demonic Cult, it changes nothing. What could they possibly do? The Nine Great Sects stand firm, and the Five Great Families are there as well, aren’t they?”
“What if they are all devoured by the Demonic Cult and cannot escape destruction?”
“That’s impossible……”
“How can you be so certain?”
“They are called prestigious families for a reason. You know that better than anyone. Their foundations, built over hundreds of years, and their solid internal strength—something like the Demonic Cult……”
“It is not ‘something like’ the Demonic Cult. I know because I have suffered at their hands.”
At those words, Yakseon tilted his head.
“Suffered? From what?”
“I lost everyone precious to me, reached a point where I could do nothing, and endlessly hid and ran away.”
At that, Yakseon’s brows narrowed.
Of course. My current appearance was only fifteen at most—sixteen or seventeen at the very oldest.
From Elder Yakseon’s perspective, the words of such a brat would be hard to believe.
“Loss? Emptiness? Loneliness? There was only one emotion that transcended all of those.”
“……”
“Helplessness. That helplessness of being unable to do anything drove me even more insane. Do you know what I did then?”
“What… did you do?”
“I learned, consumed, and wore anything and everything without regard for means or methods, and slaughtered every last demon.”
Right now, I was trying to recruit him without regard for means or methods.
Even if it meant revealing my secrets by bringing up memories from my previous life.
I needed him no matter what.
Because I hated Sa-an Gwi-gun, the Demonic Cult, and even Cheonma himself with a burning passion.
“If you do not step forward now, you will remember this retreat again and again in the future and regret it. No, regret won’t even be enough. Because it will already be far too late to turn back.”
Hah. The more I spoke, the more disorganized my words felt.
But after hearing me, Yakseon seemed to have received some kind of shock. He stared silently into my eyes until the very end.
It looked like something had emotionally struck him.
It was time to plant the decisive words.
“If there were a way to save your granddaughter, Elder Yakseon, what would you do?”
“Hah… save her? Even I, called Yakseon, could not find a way.”
He clearly didn’t believe me.
“I do not speak empty words.”
Leaving those words behind, I stood up from my seat.
Yakseon would need time to think as well.
I packed my things and headed up to my room.
There was no need to rush.
Now the one who had become desperate was Yakseon.
Meanwhile, on the Zhushan Archipelago.
Crackle. Crackle!
Late at night, in the middle of the forest, Ju Tae-sung and Ju Seung-hyeok sat before a campfire, looking like beggars.
Their appearances were utterly ragged.
“Tired?”
The one who broke the heavy silence was Ju Tae-sung.
At his question, Ju Seung-hyeok smiled faintly and shook his head.
“I’m not tired.”
“There are many problems, aren’t there?”
“Yes. It certainly seems that way.”
“When you stay still, things become hidden and hidden again, so you can only see a portion. It is the head of the family’s job to judge the whole based on that portion and make decisions.”
At those words, Ju Seung-hyeok paused for a moment.
After pondering, he slowly opened his mouth.
“Actually, Woo-jin came to see me.”
“……”
At the mention of Woo-jin, Ju Tae-sung lifted his head and looked at Seung-hyeok.
“He told me to become the young patriarch.”
“……!”
At those words, Ju Tae-sung’s expression twitched.
But it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
“So, have you made up your mind?”
“I still… don’t know. Honestly, I lack confidence.”
Becoming the young patriarch meant inheriting everything the family possessed.
He would have to step out of the late-stage talents and become the true young master of the family, leading it forward.
He would need to manage and operate countless businesses, trading companies, and everything within the Ju Family’s domain. Strength alone was not enough to become the family head.
“The family head must be perfect.”
Ju Tae-sung spoke slowly.
“It’s a ridiculous statement. Humans can never be perfect. Only a god could be perfect in all things. Nevertheless, the family head must be perfect.”
It was contradictory.
Knowing one could never become perfect, yet still having to strive for perfection.
“In that regard, you are lacking.”
“……!”
“That is why I have agonized over it again and again.”
“Have you ever considered someone other than me?”
At that, Ju Tae-sung nodded.
“Of course.”
“Is it… Woo-jin?”
“……”
Ju Tae-sung remained silent for a while.
He seemed to be thinking about something, then nodded once more.
“That boy was obsessed with alcohol and obsessed with women. He caught and beat servants like rats every single day. He caused many problems.”
“Yes, he did.”
“Did he cause incidents? There were more than a few warriors who ended up shedding blood at the wrong time after clashing with the Black Path. However……”
Ju Tae-sung’s eyes sank heavily.
“What if all of that was an act?”
“……”
“That boy doesn’t know. How much I already know.”
Ju Tae-sung fiddled with his beloved sword, the Tiger White Pointed Sword.
It was a blade that had been with him for over sixty years.
Now he felt empty without it by his side.
“That boy detected strange movements within the family. I knew about them too, but just as I was about to move, Woo-jin acted first.”
“Could the beginning have been Mother’s incident?”
“Correct. That boy awakened my spirit. After that, I monitored his movements and everything happening within the Ju Family.”
“There must be… something, then?”
Ju Tae-sung gave a faint nod.
“That boy remained in the family. What do you think he will do?”
“I’m not sure. I apologize.”
“There is no need to apologize. In any case, that boy… is changing the family right now. Slowly, and very tenaciously. In that respect… he is quite similar to me.”
“Then are you torn between me and Woo-jin?”
“No. I stopped agonizing over it quite some time ago.”
Ju Tae-sung spoke as if relieved, straightening his chest and letting out a breath.
For some reason, a faint smile had spread across his usually expressionless lips.
A smile that somehow looked peaceful.
“Woo-jin wants to make you the young patriarch. He boldly declared it himself. He asked if it would be all right for him to be greedy.”
“……”
“The meaning behind those words seemed to be… asking whether I could handle it if he became greedy.”
At that, Ju Seung-hyeok bit down hard on his lower lip.
“That doesn’t mean I excluded you. You simply never showed greed, so I never brought it up. I have always considered you the one who would succeed me.”
“Should I be happy about that?”
“Think whatever you like. I will never force you. I will simply wait. You will become the pillar of the family, and Woo-jin will become the roots. Just as the high-quality nutrients filtered and absorbed by the roots spread through the pillar to every branch and bear sweet fruit.”
Clang!
Finishing his words, Ju Tae-sung immediately picked up his sword.
Then he lightly flicked his finger, extinguishing the campfire with a burst of energy.
Killing intent rose from all directions.
“Prepare yourself.”
“Yes, Father.”
With a slightly firmer expression, Ju Seung-hyeok drew his own sword.
How long had it been since he had spoken with his father for such a long time?
‘Greed.’
It seemed… he was starting to feel a little greedy.
‘In the end, if you don’t move yourself, you cannot accomplish anything, Brother.’
And so he was trying to move on his own.
The first step.
Thus, Ju Seung-hyeok’s steps toward becoming the young patriarch had begun.