Pay‑to‑Win King of Martial Arts (Novel) - Chapter 170 - I, Muk Hui-yeong (7)

Chapter 170 – I, Muk Hui-yeong (7)

The accounting report ended without issue. It could not have ended any other way. Even by my standards, Peng Chae-hyang’s report had been perfectly acceptable.

After all, one can only seize on flaws if one knows what one is talking about. Someone at my level could easily have torn into several weak points in Peng Chae-hyang’s presentation, but Peng Gyeong-seung was not that adept at office work.

“…From now on, do this with your own strength. Do not borrow the hands of others.”

That was the single thing Peng Gyeong-seung left behind for Peng Chae-hyang before departing. There was no praise even at the end.

Once Peng Gyeong-seung left the Hall Master’s office, Peng Chae-hyang sank to the spot as though her legs had given out.

“…Huaa.” “You worked hard.”

Peng Chae-hyang looked up at me. She had done little more than report for about two gak, yet her face had turned haggard and she looked utterly exhausted. Even so, she smiled as if she was simply happy it was over.

“Thank you. It is the first time. It has never ended this quickly before. Usually it takes at least over one si-jin. Because I get scolded.”

“There was nothing to be scolded over.”

“It was all thanks to you. Thank you. I never dreamed I would receive help in this sort of thing.”

Only after sitting and catching her breath a few times did Peng Chae-hyang manage to stand. She must have been thirsty, because the moment she got up she began gulping down water.

“This may be a rather presumptuous question.”

“Yes?” Peng Chae-hyang answered briefly, then took another drink of water before asking,

“Is he really your biological father?”

“Pffft!”

She happened to turn her head toward me when she asked, so the water flew in my direction. No matter how confident I was in my lightness skill, there was no dodging a sudden spray of water from someone’s mouth, and I took the full blast.

“…”

She had even spat it out with her mouth completely full, so there was quite a lot of it. My hair and face were soaked.

“Ah! Sorry. I mean, you said something so strange.”

Peng Chae-hyang hurriedly grabbed her sleeve with her fingertips and started rubbing it all over my face. Only after she had wiped away most of the water did she finally pull back. Peng Chae-hyang glanced at me awkwardly.

“…Are you alright?”

“Yes.”

“I am sorry.”

“It is alright. My question was odd too.”

From my point of view, it had been a perfectly reasonable suspicion. To begin with, the outward appearance alone made no sense. Peng Gyeong-seung looked, as members of the Hebei Peng Clan usually did, like a bandit chief, while Peng Chae-hyang was a soft-lined beauty with a delicate air about her.

But even more unbelievable than that was the way Peng Gyeong-seung treated Peng Chae-hyang. I had thought perhaps he might simply be a somewhat strict father, but at that level he looked more like someone frustrated that he could not devour her whole.

“In any case, he really is my biological father.” “I see.”

“I know why you asked, at least. Father is kind to other people, but unusually strict only with me.”

“And what do you think the reason is?”

“Hmm… Normally I would not say this, but somehow I ended up hearing about your personal life too, so perhaps it would not be right not to tell you.”

Peng Chae-hyang sat in the Hall Master’s chair. I naturally took the seat opposite her.

“While listening to your story earlier, there was something I wanted to say. But I was interrupted because of Father.”

“What was it?”

“That you have suffered a lot. And that I am sorry. I made assumptions about your background far too hastily.” The assumption she meant was probably that she had decided I came from some great family. I shook my head.

“It is fine. It was far more polite than saying I looked like I came from a poor family. To be honest, it even felt nice.”

“What a strange joke… Anyway, I wanted to say you really went through a lot. Hearing how you grew up like that made me feel ashamed for no reason.”

“There is nothing for you to be ashamed of. From what I see, you have grown up well too.”

“I get scolded by Father every day.”

“That is your father’s fault, not yours.”

“You are the first person who has ever put it that way.”

Peng Chae-hyang gave a small laugh. That was likely true. Since Peng Gyeong-seung was such an overwhelming figure, she had probably heard nothing but words like, Your father must have his reasons, or, As his child, you should simply obey. “Anyway, I think the reason Father is so strict with me is because of Mother.”

“Your mother?”

“Yes. My mother died early too. More precisely, she died while giving birth to me.”

I nodded. In the Central Plains, women dying in childbirth was more common than one might wish.

“I was far too young to remember it, but I am told Father used to say often that I was a monster born after devouring my own mother.”

“So even a great martial artist and Clan Head can fail to be a good father. To blame that on his daughter.”

Peng Chae-hyang rolled her sleeve up to her shoulder. For someone raised under such pointlessly conservative rules, that alone must have taken considerable courage. In fact, her face had already reddened.

What entered my eyes was a burn scar winding over the side of her left arm like a snake. The skin where the scar did not reach was pale, making the contrast all the sharper. “When I was a baby, Father apparently left a fire burning in the room and simply went out. I am sure he did not do it on purpose, but it could have ended far worse. Fortunately Black Elder came in after hearing me crying. After that, Father left me to Black Elder and White Elder.”

Peng Chae-hyang spoke in a gloomy voice. She seemed to regard the serpentine burn scar as a kind of symbol of the relationship between her and her father.

“He sounds insane.”

“…Pardon?”

“Ah, my apologies.”

“…I see.”

The words had slipped out in a moment of anger, and I apologized at once. No matter how much of a lunatic Peng Gyeong-seung might be, that was not something to say in front of his daughter.

“As you know, this is naturally a secret. To be honest, I have never told this even to other younger-generation heirs of great families whom I have known since childhood. But somehow I ended up telling you, Mister Muk.” “Meaning you consider me special?”

“Do not say ridiculous things!”

“It was a joke.”

Peng Chae-hyang flared up at once and her face reddened. Why did she not understand that the more honestly she reacted, the more I wanted to tease her? If she went her whole life without realizing it, all the better for me.

“Hurry and let your ankle heal. I want to fight you one more time.”

Peng Chae-hyang said that while fanning herself with her hand. It was obvious she wanted to change the topic quickly, which made me laugh. Peng Chae-hyang immediately pulled a sulky face and asked what I found so amusing. Somehow, I felt as though I had grown a little closer to her.

* * *

Some pasts seize hold of the present self and ceaselessly try to drag one back to that earlier time. Hearing Peng Gyeong-seung’s story made me realize it. He was still trapped in the past where his wife had died. And that had created an innocent victim named Peng Chae-hyang. Once I had finished what needed doing and returned to my room, I reflected on myself once more. Then what about me?

In my previous life, Father died in loneliness. From time to time I sent people from the merchant company to deliver him money, but I never once visited him myself, always using busyness as my excuse.

And now, too, nearly three years had passed since I began my second life, yet I still had not gone even once to see Father.

Perhaps I too was still nothing more than a child detained by the past of that time. I tried to cast that away. The wounded self that still occupied one corner of my heart and kept tightening its hold on me.

Only after throwing that old past into a colorless, scentless vessel of memory did I feel willing to see Father again. The space emptied inside me by throwing away the past became filled instead with new thoughts and the energy of nature.

Then I understood.

To contemplate oneself meant to empty oneself.

Slowly, I cast away my pasts. Of course, casting them away did not mean forgetting them.

It meant stripping off the shackles I had been wearing.

The more I contemplated, the more the energy of nature flowed into my body, until before I knew it my whole body was brimming with purer natural energy than ever before.

Closing my eyes and erasing the five senses, I felt the energy of nature in its entirety. As I experienced a cool clarity reaching even the deepest place of my heart, the area between my brows began to itch.

My brow seemed to wriggle, then with a cracking sound it opened.

At the same time, through that space between my brows, a new world unfolded before me.

“…Ah.”

Without meaning to, I let out a cry of wonder within that ecstasy. Threads of five colors, blue, red, white, yellow, and black, were harmoniously intertwined.

I slowly extended my intent.

To my astonishment, in that place I could even see the color and form of my own intent.

The color of my intent was a dark blue tinged with violet.

To be able to see the color of intent meant I now had a clear guide for how far I could accept nature. Since I could directly see how far my intent could stretch, there could hardly be a more obvious answer than that.

Even more astonishing was that I could faintly see the intent of others as well.

If one could see the path of force emission, which was ordinarily formless, that meant one could predict the opponent’s next move.

I opened my eyes. At my present stage, all I could do was cast away the memories that had just risen to the surface.

Yet I sensed it instinctively.

There were still countless worries and thoughts inside me that continued to tighten around me. If I could cast those away as well, I would be able to move on to the next stage.

For now, I had to be satisfied with this much.

I leaned against the window and felt the wind brush past me. My hair swept across my forehead.

To feel the present me without thinking of anything else.

At this very moment, I was resting my arms on the windowsill, receiving the wind.

There was nothing that needed to be thought about. * * *

The physician had said it would take ten days for my ankle to fully heal, but in only five days it recovered completely.

That meant Peng Chae-hyang and I were going to spar.

“You recover quickly. If I twist mine badly once, it takes me half a month.”

Peng Chae-hyang tilted her head. I thought perhaps my recovery had sped up because I had kept trying to draw in the energy of nature. After all, a quiet healing power lay within that energy.

“Are you ready?”

“Of course.”

Peng Chae-hyang’s face was flushed. She really had been waiting all this time to fight me again. Only four of us were present in the sparring arena: Peng Chae-hyang, Black Elder, White Elder, and me. Black Elder would act as referee, and White Elder would observe. I had wondered whether the arena would be opened so others could watch, but with no one else here, the pressure was a little lighter.

“One moment.”

The referee, Black Elder, stepped up to Peng Chae-hyang and whispered something in her ear. It seemed he was giving her advice. Peng Chae-hyang nodded in a serious voice. Watching that, I turned toward White Elder, who was standing by.

“Have you got no advice for me?”

“Hmph. If you harm even a single strand of the young lady’s hair, today will become the day of your funeral rites.”

“Thank you for the excellent advice.”

Both Peng Chae-hyang and I were using real blades, but with a referee at Black Elder’s level of mastery, and with neither of us harboring hostility toward the other, there was little chance of a real accident.

It looked like Black Elder had finished giving his advice, because he returned to the center. “This time the result will be different, Mister Muk.”

Perhaps because of the advice she had received, Peng Chae-hyang now looked even more confident as she drew her saber. No matter how many times I saw it, the sight of her frail form wielding such a massive blade still felt strange.

“Shall we begin?”

As I spoke, I raised my sword. The blue-and-red tassel symbolizing Taiji brushed against my wrist.

“The referee is the one who is supposed to start it.”

Black Elder cleared his throat in displeasure. Peng Chae-hyang and I locked eyes. Just before Black Elder could declare the start, the door to the closed sparring arena burst open.

Everyone turned toward the door without exception. Since a direct descendant of the Hebei Peng Clan was using the arena, there was only one person who could enter like this.

“…Father.” “Did I not tell you that unless we are alone, you are to call me Clan Head?”

The one who had come was Peng Gyeong-seung, Clan Head of the Peng Clan. Peng Gyeong-seung folded his arms and took a place beside White Elder.

“I came only to watch the spar. Pay me no mind. Begin, Black Elder.”

It made no difference to me, but Peng Chae-hyang could not help being affected. In fact, her aura grew sharper still. It seemed the thought of not being allowed to make a mistake or lose in front of her father had gripped her.

After glancing around uncertainly, Black Elder gave the start in a booming voice.

“Begin!”

At the same instant, Peng Chae-hyang kicked off the ground.

I focused power between my brows and opened my eyes. The blue intent extending from Peng Chae-hyang’s saber was rushing swiftly toward me.