Chapter 47. Twin Swords of the Wind and Clouds (22)

A middle-aged woman with eyebrows raised sharply upward and who appeared to have a lousy personality stuck her head out of the carriage. Her appearance was...prominent in its own way.

She screamed at the sight of Song Woo-Moon. He looked like a total country bumpkin, and his plain and shabby carriage was in the way!

“What is that monstrosity? Why is it blocking my path? I demand that you hurry up and dispose of that trash immediately! I need to get to the banquet hall quickly.”

“U-understood, Ma’am!”

The movements of the gatekeepers became faster as the warriors who were guarding the middle-aged woman’s carriage also rushed forward toward the carriage that the Song family was riding in.

“Hurry up and flip the carriage over!” The middle-aged woman's guard commanded the gatekeepers as if they were his own subordinates.

The two gatekeepers, especially Yong Hwa-Pyeong, frowned, but they endured the insulting orders as there was nothing they could do.

‘Isn’t that too much? They arrived first, so even if they were to move, they should be going into the compound first,’

they thought to themselves.

Of course, they were unable to say that to the influential residents of the Iron Sword Baek Family.

“Hmm?”

As the warriors lined up in front of the carriage, Woo-Moon looked over with a mischievous look in his eyes.

Seeing such a bright-eyed youngster blocking their path, the guard captain spoke, looking at Woo-Moon with a laughable gaze.

“I’m going to have to move your carriage aside.”

Although the guard captain wasn’t outright speaking informally, his tone was all but dripping with disdain. It seemed he had already judged the Song family by what they looked like on the outside.

Of course, in response, Woo-Moon’s words were just as disdainful.

“Mmm, that makes sense, but what if I say nah?”

The guard captain looked at Hwa-Pyeong with a cold gaze. “What did you say his name was?”

“Song Woo-Moon.”

Neither of them knew this name. Moreover, looking over at the lady he was escorting—Seo Cheong-Cheong, the first concubine of the Iron Sword Baek Family—it was clear that she also didn’t have any idea who this Song person was.

‘Then...’

Cheong-Cheong’s guard captain, Mak Hwi-Ji, gave orders to his men.

“It seems this boy wants to taste some fists and kicks. Go move aside this carriage, even if you have to use force.”

“Understood!”

Inside the carriage, Sang-Woon and Jin-Jin sneered as they saw the guards' actions. As for Dae-Woong, because something like this was happening as soon as he had arrived at his in-laws, he was rather at a loss.

‘What’s going on? No, no, it’s fine. We have Woo-Moon, our smart boy; my wife is also here. They’ll handle it.’

Thinking so, he simply relaxed and waited for things to happen.

As his mother and grandfather still didn’t come forward, Woo-Moon had no idea about their intentions. Of course, he couldn’t just let these guys do whatever they wanted.

With that in mind, he grabbed the hand of a guard who was forcibly trying to jump onto the coach seat and threw him onto the ground.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The guard seemed to have Second Class cultivation. Even though he was miles ahead of all those they had fought until now, the result against Woo-Moon was fairly different.

Hwi-Ji barked as he glared at Woo-Moon, “You dare? Do you want to die?! To think you’d attack us in front of the Iron Sword Baek Family!”

“What, so you’re talking down to me now? Alright, we’re going all the way then. Does the Iron Sword Baek Family treat its guests like this right before its gate?” Woo-Moon said with a sneer.

At those words, Cheong-Cheong and Hwi-Ji flinched simultaneously.

It was true that nothing good would happen if this incident became known to the outside world or the family head and the elders.

Usually, whenever Cheong-Cheong were to act like this, the other person would quietly get out of the way, almost as if it was natural. That was because, in Heifei Castle, the Baek Family was synonymous with royalty.

That was why she had acted so boldly this time as well... but things seemed to be taking a strange turn.

‘These vulgar commoners! How dare you run wild without knowing your betters?!’

Cheong-Cheong and her guards had already taken a step forward, and if they were to apologize or concede at this moment first, people would definitely chalk it up to Cheong-Cheong being just a lowly concubine and laugh at her behind her back.

With a venomous expression, Cheong-Cheong spat out in response, “Whatever kind of guests are you that we don’t even know your names? Did you really think that our Iron Sword Baek Family would treat just anyone as a guest? Guard Captain! Hurry up and move aside that carriage.”

“Understood!”

At that time, Woo-Moon’s eyes turned over to Hwi-Ji’s hand.

Before anyone had realized it, the guard captain’s wand was holding the hilt of the sword at his waist.

“What, you plan on drawing that sword? Are you sure you want to do that? You and I both know that you will regret it later.”

With these words, Woo-Moon also sent a message to Sang-Woon.

–Are you really not going to stop this? Is it really okay if I make a mess like this? Will it be okay?

Sang-Woon answered casually, as if it was no big deal.

–Do whatever you want, kid.

–Then please tell me how far I can go. I know I can’t kill them, but what about serious injuries? Or should I hold back even more?

–When I said “do whatever you want,” I really meant

whatever

. How annoying...well, anyway, it won’t be good if we make a fuss right now, so just break some bones here and there.

–Understood.

Woo-Moon’s tone was rather irritating. Infuriated, Hwi-Ji quickly drew his sword in response.

“Yeah, I’ve drawn it. What are you going to do about it? Huh?”

Suddenly, Woo-Moon’s face grew in size rapidly.

The distance between Hwi-Ji and Woo-Moon was roughly three zhang.[1] Woo-Moon covered that distance in a single leap, landing in front of the guard captain in the blink of an eye.

Thwack!

Woo-Moon’s hand stretched out to cover Hwi-Ji’s face, grabbing it in one move and dragging the guard captain with him.

BANG!

Hwi-Ji’s back smashed the ground hard. Still gripping his face, Woo-Moon harrumphed.

“I told you not to draw your blade, didn’t I? Didn’t?!” he said, violently picking up Hwi-Ji and throwing him forward.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

Horrified by Woo-Moon subduing Hwi-Ji in a single move, the guards froze for a moment before surrounding him.

Cheong-Cheong pointed a finger at Woo-Moon and spat with an even more venomous expression.

“You... you, you!! How dare you attack a guard captain of the great Iron Sword Baek Family?! Don’t even think about leaving here alive!”

“Mmm, and why should I care about what you say, lady?”

At that time, Jin-Jin looked over at her father in the carriage.

“

Cough, cough

! What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Why don’t you get out before this gets worse?”

“Um... well, an elder like me shouldn’t get involved in such squabbles.”

“Why don’t you go anyway?”

“Um... she probably won’t even recognize my face. As you know, I haven’t been back to the Iron Sword Baek Family in a while.”

“Go. Now.”

“O-okay...”

Meanwhile, Cheong-Cheong looked over at Woo-Moon’s frowning expression and could feel the resentment that lay deep inside her over her status as a mere concubine bubbling over, and her sense of victimization exploded.

“What the hell are you doing? Hurry up and take him down and make him kneel before me!”

Right as the warriors were about to attack Woo-Moon, Sang-Woon leisurely emerged from the carriage.

“

Hmm

. Having come home after so long, I feel like the barking of the dogs here really has gotten too loud.”

The guards and Cheong-Cheong’s hearts sank for a moment.

‘What...what is this feeling?’

Sang-Woon let out his Absolute Master aura for the slightest of moments before reining it in.

“Child, what’s your name?”

The guards found themselves unable to attack Woo-Moon and just stared at Sang-Woon's approach.

As he leisurely walked forward, Cheong-Cheong’s expression betrayed her disgust and irritation as she said haughtily, “And who are you supposed to be? How does someone who looks the same age as me find the gall to go around calling people children?”

Sang-Woon grinned.

“Right? Well, I guess I do look a little young, don’t I. What do you think? Don’t I seem cool?”

“W-where does a crazy person like you even come from?!”

“Oh dear! Even the word ‘crazy’ came out! Looks like this little girl whose only merit is her half-decent face is really just picking and choosing all of the things she wants to regret later.”

“How dare you!”

“Alright, this prank is not funny anymore. I am Baek Sang-Woon.”

The Palm Martial Emperor, Baek Sang-Woon.

It was a name that anyone involved in the

murim

in any way would recognize, let alone members of the Iron Sword Baek Family.

Cheong-Cheong was momentarily shocked by the impact of the name, but her shock only served to fuel her anger.

“How dare you?! An asshole like you who doesn’t know his place dares to call himself Baek Sang-Woon?!”

At that moment, the air around Sang-Woon’s body trembled slightly as a bright, shining bead appeared in his palm. Seeing it, the eyes of Hwi-Ji, who was lying on the ground with a broken arm, widened in shock.

“I-is that a palm sphere?”

A skill on the level of the palm sphere wasn’t something that any random beggar could use. Hwi-Ji, who was the guard captain of the Iron Sword Baek Family’s first concubine, couldn’t even dream of it—he couldn’t even form blade aura yet

After hearing Hwi-Ji’s words and seeing what was in Sang-Woon’s palm, everyone’s faces were filled with astonishment.

An undecipherable auspicious qi circled around the brightly shining palm sphere within Sang-Woon’s hand.

‘...That’s incredible!’

Woo-Moon thought, his eyes becoming hazy in admiration.

Sang-Woon pointed his hand at the sky, releasing the palm sphere.

WOOSH!

Suddenly, a strong wind blasted in all directions, and the epicenter of the vortex it caused centered on the Baek Family manor.

The palm sphere flew into the sky, ascending to a height not even the birds could reach, piercing through a passing cloud. The velocity of its movement was such that for a moment, the cloud seemed to stretch out in the direction of the sphere before breaking into pieces and scattering in all directions, soon disappearing completely.

Amid the people who were distracted by the scene, Sang-Woon’s calm voice rang out.

“In the

gangho

, they call me the Palm Martial Emperor.”

Cheong-Cheong’s heart almost stopped at the sight.

‘H-he’s the real Palm Martial Emperor! The Palm Martial Emperor!!’

The Palm Martial Emperor Baek Sang-Woon, one of the Eight Heavenly Martial Emperors, was currently the eldest member of the Iron Sword Baek Family.

Simply put, he was the granduncle of the family head—the brother of the family head’s grandfather. The elders of the Iron Sword Baek Family were actually his nieces and nephews.

‘I-I’m ruined...!’

And Cheong-Cheong had spoken rudely to this very man. With her status, she didn’t even have the right to look at him directly, but she had even ordered her guards to get rid of the carriage he had been riding....

Cheong-Cheong felt fear descend upon her, as if someone had begun to squeeze her heart. Her legs almost gave in as the painful sensation took over.

Right then, another beautiful woman walked out from behind the gates.

“You’ve returned. It’s been some time, granduncle.”

The woman was the eldest sister of Baek Mu-Hoon, the current head of the Baek Family. She also happened to be one of the true authority figures of the Baek Family: Baek Hye-Ryeong.

She smiled warmly at Sang-Woon as she greeted him.

When Sang-Woon saw her, he smiled and said, “Ah, so it’s you. Your name was... Hye-Ryeong, right?”

“I’m honored that you remember me. Thank you, granduncle.”

From the moment she appeared, Hye-Ryeong hadn’t glanced at Cheong-Cheong a single time, leaving the concubine to feel like she was falling into an abyss as she lowered her head without saying a single word.

It was the same for her guards.

“I thought you always traveled alone, so who might be that young hero accompanying you? Also, that carriage...”

When she said that, the carriage door opened, and Dae-Woong emerged first, followed by Jin-Jin.

Hye-Ryeong’s eyes squinted momentarily as she looked at Jin-Jin’s face, thinking hard as it was a face she had seen somewhere before.

“Ah!” she soon exclaimed in surprise, as if she had remembered something, and ran over to Jin-Jin in a single bound, grabbing her hand.

“Aunt!” Hye-Ryeong cried. Tears dropped from her eyes, in unison with the deluge displayed by Jin-Jin. “I thought you died! You’re alive, you’re alive!”

Hye-Ryeong was now forty, while Jin-Jin was thirty-eight this year. Based on their ages, Hye-Ryeong was the elder, but hierarchy-wise, Jin-Jin actually held a higher status—hence the odd way of addressing each other.

Jin-Jin responded with a faint smile.

“Yes... I was lucky and able to preserve my life. As time passed, I found myself able to return and greet you like this, dear niece.”

“Where have you been all this time? Why didn't you come back sooner? We were so distraught when you...”

“As you probably figured out...there were some...circumstances.”

Hye-Ryeong looked over at Dae-Woong.

“Then, is he...?”

“Yes, he is my husband.”

Dae-Woong smiled innocently and bowed in greeting.

“H-hello.”

Jin-Jin frowned slightly.

‘I should have taught him before. You have a higher rank than her, why are you bowing so deeply? And why are you stuttering like that?’

“It’s nice to meet you, uncle. You really are a man of great stature!”

“Hahaha, I guess I am quite big.”

It was then that Hye-Ryeong asked what she was most curious about, pointing over to Woo-Moon.

“Then, that young hero is...?”

1. 1 zhang is approximately 3.33 meters. ☜