Chapter 21
Chapter 21
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Divine Thief's Return
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The next day, Baek Clan Manor welcomed the guest they had long been waiting for.
A man who wrote his name as Yeo Ga-e Hyeok-ja had shown up at the manor, claiming to be Rang-rang's father.
"Please, come in, good sir. If I may be so bold, do you have any way to prove that you are indeed Miss Rang's father?"
At Baek Mu-ryang's question, Yeo Hyeok drew a plaque from within his robe.
Anyone could see it was a matching pair with the one Rang-rang possessed, and when he infused it with qi, it even hummed and trembled in resonance.
"I believe this suffices as proof."
All those seated nodded in agreement. Yeo Un-jeok—no, Yeo Hyeok—slowly turned his head toward Rang-rang.
The gaze he fixed on his daughter, whom he hadn't seen in decades, churned like a raging tempest.
"A-rang... my daughter..."
Rang-rang simply stared back with a look of utter unfamiliarity. And why not? She couldn't even remember ever having a father.
But blood ties were heaven's own law and earth's truth.
Rang-rang suddenly recalled events from nearly twenty years prior.
Yeo Hyeok's face was identical to that of the guest who had given her the plaque all those years ago before departing.
"Fath... er?"
Clutching one of Gu-ak's hands in a death grip as if terrified, Rang-rang—no, Yeo A-rang—hesitantly stepped forward.
"A-rang..."
Yeo A-rang's hand touched Yeo Hyeok's cheek, and his rough hand covered hers atop it.
In that instant, tears the size of chicken droppings welled from Yeo A-rang's eyes.
"Father! Father!"
Yang-hui stood beside Baek Mu-ryang, quietly watching the touching reunion of father and daughter.
'What a wonderful turn of events.'
A short while later.
Having composed his emotions, Yeo Hyeok once more cupped his fists in salute.
"I have gathered such esteemed guests and committed many rudenesses."
"We understand, so worry not, old sir."
"I am grateful for those words. Then, might this Yeo presume to make one further request of the clan leader while I am here?"
"A request...?"
"Before I speak, allow me one question first. Is there anyone present who ought not hear vital secrets?"
Baek Mu-ryang swept his gaze around the room before settling it on Yeo A-rang and Gu-ak.
It was rather awkward to call out the very daughter and son-in-law involved, so he simply nodded.
"Speak freely."
Yeo Hyeok rummaged in his robes and produced two ancient books, handing them to Baek Mu-ryang.
Books that looked easily two hundred years old at the least. Baek Mu-ryang's eyes bulged as he skimmed the opening pages.
"This is—no, it can't be...!"
Supreme arts brimming with profound principles.
What was more, they were founded upon the Baek clan's own martial tradition.
"Old sir, an explanation is in order."
"Might I reveal my sect in its stead? Have you perchance heard of the Shadow Ghost Gate?"
An exclamation immediately burst from Baek Mu-ryang's lips.
"The Divine Thief Lineage!"
Down through the generations, figures known as divine thieves had appeared in the jianghu.
A vein without a formal gate, passing down thieving skills godlike in their finesse.
'To think this old man is a successor of the Divine Thief Lineage?'
A voice transmission from Yeo Hyeok reached the puzzled Yang-hui.
-The previous generation's divine thief was involved in the Sword King Massacre Blood Debt as well.
-Even after this old man was branded a public enemy of the martial world for his role in that massacre, I survived all these years evading pursuit solely because my master took me as his disciple and granted me a new identity.
Several lingering mysteries suddenly made sense.
For instance, how the man called Fake Deer for Horse possessed at least peak realm cultivation.
"The two martial arts presented to the clan leader were gathered by the ancestors of my master's line, a branch that split from the Baek clan's martial vein."
There in that spot, Yeo Hyeok dropped to one knee and offered the deepest courtesy he could muster.
"I know of the grace the clan leader showed my daughter. In repayment thereof, I return these two arts."
Baek Mu-ryang trembled, overcome by emotions beyond words.
What had caused the Baek clan—once numbered among the Five Great Clans—to decline day by day?
Over centuries, they had lost every martial art save the most basic cultivation method.
'At last... the main house has ascending arts of its own!'
This was no small matter. It was akin to laying a fresh foundation and framework for the clan as a martial house.
Of course, it would take arduous time for Baek Mu-ryang, a mere second-rate practitioner, to master them himself and pass them on to his children and retainers...
Baek Mu-ryang's gaze locked onto Yang-hui.
A genius who had fully comprehended both arts in a span incomparably swifter than his own—a son he had adopted, yet who had received without giving back, leaving only guilt.
"Old sir!"
He was not without questions about the circumstances. He could guess there were untold details and secrets.
But the moment he received those two arts, nothing else mattered.
Springing to his feet, Baek Mu-ryang leaped forward, dropped to one knee before Yeo Hyeok in kind, seized his hand, and pulled him upright.
"You merely did what was right, yet you bestow such immense grace upon our house—I know not where to stand."
"Compared to the vast grace the clan leader showed, this is but a trifling courtesy."
"This Baek thinks otherwise. Allow our house the chance to repay it."
"If you insist... then might this old man and his daughter impose upon the Baek clan as guests?"
To take in a successor of the Divine Thief Lineage as a guest retainer.
It would be hard to advertise far and wide, but for Baek Clan Manor, it was an enormous stroke of fortune.
The saying "not even blue flies would dare complain of hunger" fit perfectly.
"As if we would refuse. Old sir, Miss Yeo—I shall grant you an entire wing."
Yeo Hyeok smiled in contentment and naturally shifted his gaze to Yang-hui.
-This old man offers one more secret.
-Per our agreement, I did not peek at the contents, but merely knowing the truth seems a rather significant vulnerability.
The sole successor of the Divine Thief Lineage. A tremendous secret indeed.
Baek Mu-ryang knew Yang-hui had orchestrated the situation.
Thus, he needed a fitting pretext for countermeasures—and this provided the perfect one.
Yang-hui quirked the corner of his mouth and sent a transmission back to Yeo Hyeok.
-A masterful stroke, old sir.
Yeo Hyeok's eyes widened in an instant.
-How are you using transmission?
-A bit of practice, and it came naturally?
Sound transmission was a type of sound art, one that demanded considerable skill and internal energy to perform.
It was hardly a technique a child not even a year into martial arts could casually employ.
-Shall we count this as yet another gift freely given?
"Hahaha!"
Yeo Un-jeok let out a laugh laced equally with astonishment and delight.
Watching this boy's growth would surely become the second greatest joy of his days at Baek Clan Manor.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Baek Clan Manor had a tradition of convening senior councils to deliberate and resolve major family affairs.
In truth, they had only been held once every three or four months at most in recent times.
With no grand undertakings afoot, there had simply been no weighty matters demanding attention.
But.
"Senior councils have become awfully frequent of late. All thanks to Young Master Hui's merits."
Han Chief Steward—one of the council attendees—sat beside Yang-hui with a pleased smile.
Baek Mu-ryang then announced the start of the meeting and raised the first item on the agenda in earnest.
"In the past few months, our house has achieved tremendous growth both internally and externally. To be precise, we have laid the groundwork."
The bloody clash of the three gangs now dubbed black path tyrants by the folk of Ak-an County.
From its conclusion, the Baek clan had gained the Lake Shadow Tower enterprise.
Naturally, every retainer had plunged into a frenzy of activity without a moment's rest.
"The newly acquired martial arts are part of that foundation as well. Hui, what is your progress on the two arts?"
"I have brought both to the first stage, laying the bare minimum foundation needed to pass them on to others."
"Truly? And in a mere seven days?"
"Yes."
Baek Mu-ryang voiced his genuine admiration.
"Exceedingly well done. Then from today, let us begin instructing the retainers."
"Understood!"
"Next: Pavilion Leader Baek Ik, how fares the management of Lake Shadow Tower?"
Gu-ak oversaw Lake Shadow Tower alongside his wife, the ever-righteous Yeo A-rang.
As if he had been waiting for the topic, Gu-ak immediately voiced his concerns.
"Lately, the Advance Teaching Gang has been picking petty fights. It seems they have their eyes on Lake Shadow Tower."
Lake Shadow Tower was the highest-earning business among those once managed by the Crimson Gang.
It was undoubtedly a grand prize for Baek Clan Manor, whose leader was second-rate at best and retainers numbered barely a dozen.
"Is it because Ak-an County's power structure is hardening into a two-river regime of the Protection Assembly and Advance Teaching Gang?"
"Precisely. Having reorganized their own power base, they seem eager to expand once more."
Having heard the opinions of those assembled, Baek Mu-ryang stroked his chin in thought.
"A grave issue. For the time being, our house must remain undisturbed."
"Why is that, clan leader?"
"Ah. My sworn brother has sent a letter. He has business nearby and wishes to visit our manor."
"Is the Lying Dragon Matchless coming?"
Baek Mu-ryang's sworn brother was none other than Zhuge Seon, young clan leader of the famed Zhuge Clan and known as Lying Dragon Matchless.
The Zhuge Clan was renowned for its strategists, yet their young leader was the subject of rampant rumors as an utter eccentric obsessed with martial arts.
It was a famous local tale how such a man had been so moved by Peerless Righteous Helper Baek Mu-ryang's righteousness that he proposed a Peach Garden Oath-style brotherhood and claimed the role of younger brother.
'Uncle visiting the main house at a time like this is unprecedented.'
Come to think of it, in his previous life, this was when his father had been laid up recovering from Gu-ak's rampage.
That must have been the reason.
'Hold on. In that case...'
"Clan leader. Will uncle be visiting alone?"
"As the young leader of the Zhuge Clan? He wouldn't travel without an escort detail. Oh, and his daughter will be accompanying him as well."
'Hm? Uncle's daughter?'
Uncle Zhuge Seon had an eldest son and a second daughter under his roof.
Or rather, had—for his second daughter, Zhuge Seol-hwa, had met an unfortunate end at a tender age.
'This is before that incident happened. Wait... no way...?'
Yang-hui shelved the sudden thought for the moment. The others were still mulling the immediate crisis.
"If the Advance Teaching Gang's provocations are the issue, I have a clever stratagem."
All eyes turned to Yang-hui.
"A clever one, you say? What is it, Young Master Hui?"
"Simply spread the rumor that the Zhuge Clan's young leader will soon visit our house. No black path gang would dare lay a hand on us then."
"...If that's the whole of it, I wouldn't call it clever."
He had a point. Yang-hui's proposal was no true solution, merely a stopgap to postpone the headache.
"Naturally, it's not the whole. During the time we buy, the Baek clan must build up our forces."
The black path gangs' immediate covetousness stemmed from the Baek clan's pitifully meager power.
"Our house now possesses a business generating steady revenue. Moreover, our collaboration with the Baek Book Merchant Group will soon yield a new source of funds. Clan leader, I propose we recruit a large influx of retainers."
Baek Mu-ryang stroked his chin.
"Hui, you are right. Then, what sort of people would you have us take in?"
"Two categories. Talents for the future. And combat-ready forces we can deploy at once."
"Using the Zhuge rumor to buy time for swelling our ranks."
"Precisely, clan leader."
"And how do we go about recruiting these retainers?"
Obviously, without advantages to becoming a Baek Clan Manor retainer, combat talent would prove elusive—even if promising youths were tempted.
Of course, Yang-hui already had solutions prepared.
"Twofold: the Heaven-Covering 108 Swords and a righteous justification."
"Hm? The Heaven-Covering 108 Swords is our house's new treasured supreme art. We cannot teach such a divine technique to every retainer."
A fair objection, yet Yang-hui shook his head.
"My analysis shows the Heaven-Covering 108 Swords divides into front eighteen, middle eighteen, and rear eighteen forms—a total of fifty-four initial moves. The deeper principles emerge only toward the latter stages."
In other words, while the full Heaven-Covering 108 Swords was a peerless sword art, transmitting only the front portion equated to a first-rate technique.
In his previous life, he had deliberately composed it this way precisely to instruct not only direct kin but a broader array of retainers.
"Using the Heaven-Covering 108 Swords as bait seems unwise. We'd have droves fleeing the moment they learned it."
"You intend it solely for talented youths, to cultivate strength for the future. Am I correct, Hui?"
"Yes. But to enlist battle-tested warriors as retainers, we'll need another hook. A justification, for instance."
"Speak your mind."
"It's simple. Increase our numbers with folk like Brother Gu—no, Pavilion Leader Baek Ik."
In a word: absorb black path gangs into the retainers.
In Yang-hui's view, it was the surest way to swell Baek Clan Manor's forces immediately.
'Father and the others will oppose it, of course.'
Sure enough, Baek Mu-ryang and Han Chief Steward stared at Yang-hui with furrowed brows.