"To someone like me, Lord Baek bestowed the name 'Yang-hui of Justice.' So please, address me as Yang-hui. Steward Han, would you hear me out for a moment?"
"Go on, young master."
"You've said, Steward, that despite my worthiness, I lack the rightful justification to become the family head's son. So, if I were to create that justification, would that suffice?"
Steward Han looked at him, puzzled.
"Creating justification? What do you mean by that?"
"How about if I provide such great assistance to the Baek family that no one can deny it?"
Steward Han nearly shouted in agreement, barely stopping himself from slapping his knee in approval. It was as if heaven itself had provided a lifeline at the perfect moment—solving the dilemma of how to sway the family head.
'He's a child with a sense of honor! How fortunate!'
"With such merit, the entire family will surely agree. Head, perhaps this is the right course."
Baek Mu-ryang looked steadily at Yang-hui.
"Yang-hui. It was my desire to adopt you as my son. You don't need to feel obligated or shy away."
It seemed that both Steward Han and Baek Mu-ryang assumed Yang-hui was simply making a polite excuse to decline the adoption. But Yang-hui had already decided to live this life as the son of his father, just as he had in his previous life.
'Now, it should be just about time… Ah, here it is.'
Commotion arose outside, and suddenly, the large front gate of the Baek family estate was torn from its hinges.
Boom!
Though the sturdy ironwood door didn't break, it fell out of its frame. Through the now-exposed entrance, a group of a dozen black-clad thugs marched in, led by two men.
'The Blood-Hound Gu-ak and the Black Demon Buk-ak-sin. Just like in my previous life.'
The gang's leader, Gu-ak, roared in a loud voice.
"Baek Mu-ryang of Justice! I'm here to collect blood debt!"
The family gate symbolizes the family's dignity, and though that gate had been destroyed, Baek Mu-ryang remained silent, his expression icy rather than angry. The energy emanating from the two men at the front was not beneath his own.
"Are you Gu-ak of the Blood-Hound?"
"You've heard of my ill-famed name, it seems. Yes, it is I."
"I've never antagonized the Hon-gyo faction. How dare you show such disrespect?"
"Disrespect? You've opposed the great Hon-gyo faction. Did you expect anything less than this treatment?"
For a moment, Baek Mu-ryang's face hardened.
"What do you mean by opposing Hon-gyo?"
The Hon-gyo faction was a powerful, dark sect in Mujoo County's Ak-an district, ranking among the top three forces. They had an aggressive drive to expand their influence. Their sudden assault on the Baek family manor had a simple reason.
"Today, you wiped out Na-heuk's faction, which was under Hon-gyo's flag! You know exactly what that implies, don't you?"
Baek Mu-ryang let out a bitter sigh. The Na-heuk faction was just third-rate lackeys that he could have wiped out single-handedly, but Hon-gyo was different. Frankly, the Baek family's forces were a tenth of Hon-gyo's.
"I merely punished those who turned against human decency. Did you know that the Na-heuk faction was involved in both human trafficking and drug distribution?"
"Whether they betrayed humanity or heaven, they were still under Hon-gyo's flag. The punishment should have been Hon-gyo's to give! You, the righteous Baek Mu-ryang, have overstepped."
He wasn't entirely wrong. If the Na-heuk faction truly operated under Hon-gyo's banner, attacking them first was an overreach.
"I was only following the path of justice. Should I have simply ignored evildoers when I encountered them?"
"Such words are befitting of a righteous figure like yourself."
At this, Buk-ak-sin, who stood silently behind Gu-ak, burst into laughter.
"Righteous Baek! It seems the rumors were true—you can't simply ignore wrongdoing when you see it. Hahaha!"
"Control yourself, Buk-ak."
"Apologies, big brother. It's just that seeing Baek Mu-ryang behave exactly as his epithet suggests—'the pure-hearted yet powerless idealist'—well, it amused me."
Watching Buk-ak-sin shrug with nonchalance, Yang-hui ground his teeth secretly.
'That cocky bastard.'
Baek Mu-ryang of Justice was the head of the Baek family and a second-rate master. The word '施' in his epithet, Shi, also means 'to boast' as well as 'to uphold justice.' Buk-ak-sin had just mocked him as someone who shows off his virtue without any substantial power.
'I was debating what approach to take, but this works well enough. Black Demon Buk-ak-sin, today will be your last.'
With that thought, Yang-hui did what he couldn't in his past life at this time.
In one slow breath, he drew in the energy around him, feeling it saturate the air.
And at that moment, the world changed. His senses opened fully to the flow of energy around him.
'The average lackey here has around ten years of internal energy. Buk-ak-sin has around thirty, and Gu-ak close to forty.'
To anyone else, this feat would have been incomprehensible. Even with an extraordinary sense of energy, estimating the internal energy stored in another's dantian without a specialized technique was considered impossible. His intensely keen perception was a talent gifted by the heavens alone.
'By comparison, the family's own warriors have little internal energy, and father has about thirty years' worth. Clearly, our family isn't capable of holding them off.'
There was no helping it. After all, to keep the family business running, there had been little time left for martial cultivation. Although the Baek family bore the title of a martial clan, they could hardly live up to it—a clan in name only, sustained by second-rate strength at best.
The head was a second-rate warrior, and most of the family's members ranked third-rate. A third-rate martial clan through and through. That was the Baek family—a clan more often referred to as the Baek household.
'In my past life, today was when our family suffered an irreparable wound.'
That day, Baek Mu-ryang had sustained injuries that required months to heal, and the family was robbed of its savings. The Hon-gyo faction hadn't taken it for any substantial gain but to humiliate them—publicizing it to warn other martial clans against challenging those under the Hon-gyo's banner.
'I won't let my father and family endure that disgrace again.'
Fortunately, Yang-hui's thirty years of memories included valuable insights into Hon-gyo, some of which would prove useful now.
Yang-hui leaned over and whispered to Baek Mu-ryang.
"Father."
"Yang-hui, stay out of this."
"I have a plan to help us get through this situation."
"What are you talking about?"
"There's no time to explain. I intend to use some things I learned while roaming the streets."
The situation was urgent. Without further permission, Yang-hui ran toward Gu-ak.
He gave a courteous martial greeting to Gu-ak.
"Brother Gu! Greetings!"
For a moment, Gu-ak's rough face showed complete bewilderment. Everyone in the yard, not just Gu-ak, seemed equally stunned.
"Brother… Gu?"
To note, Gu-ak was about twenty years older than Yang-hui.