I threw on a coat and ran straight outside.
"Master! Please help me!"
The desperate cry was coming from the direction of the residence of this body's father, Baek Mu-heun.
It's a familiar voice.
'What's going on at this late hour?'
It was a late hour when most people were asleep.
At this time, coming to the military base to look for my father was no ordinary task.
After a while, when we arrived in front of my father's residence, I saw a little boy kneeling before my father under the lamp and crying.
'What about that guy?'
This is a boy named Jang.
The second son of the lumber shop owner, the leader of the runny nose dogs I teach.
This is the guy who came to me this morning with a grumpy expression and asked me to teach him martial arts quickly.
At that moment, what my father had said a little while ago came to mind.
-The lumber shop owner came to see me earlier. He said that his son, who was sent to the military, came back as a corpse.
No way… … Are you here to complain because you feel wronged by the fact that I ordered you to drink some coffee?
"This is so fatal… … ."
The moment I was about to say something in tears, the runny-nose dog sniffled and shouted.
"Please save my brother!"
"Master Baek! Please save my son!"
Looking back, I saw the lumberjack carrying a bloody boy behind the runny nose.
"What on earth is going on?"
The father's expression hardened as he checked the condition of the bloody boy.
He received the boy from the lumber shop owner, laid him on the floor, and examined his condition.
'It's a wound inflicted by martial arts.'
I quietly walked over to my father's side and checked on the boy's condition.
Even though it was crude, it was a wound inflicted through martial arts.
"Ugh… … ."
The boy squirmed and moaned as his father touched and kneaded his body here and there.
When Koli saw that, he started to shed tears and snot next to his brother.
The boy's father, Mr. Jang, also had a desperate expression.
"Please save our firstborn!"
The boy covered in blood was the eldest son of the lumber shop owner and was five years older than the runny-nose dog I was teaching.
The father sighed in relief after examining the boy's body.
"There are a few broken bones, but no internal organs were damaged. There is no danger to his life. We will administer emergency treatment, so let him rest here for today, and take him to the hospital tomorrow for a proper examination."
As his father touched several points on the boy's acupuncture points, the boy's expression relaxed and he fell asleep.
My father was well-versed in medicine, having visited doctors and sought out medicinal herbs in every possible way to care for his sick wife and son.
He was especially better than most doctors when it came to trauma, so much so that villagers would come to him before the doctors when they were injured.
"Oh my, thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Your Majesty, my brother isn't going to die, is he? Are you sure he's okay?"
Mr. Jang, the lumberjack, kept lowering his head, and Mr. Jang, the runny-nosed man, still held onto his father's clothes with an anxious expression.
"Don't worry. You'll be fine after a few days of rest."
His father held Jang-i in his arms and stroked his head. The boy cried in his arms and then fell asleep.
My father passed the sleeping runny nose to me and asked Mr. Jang in a soft voice.
The expression on his face was as cold as ice, unlike before.
"Who the hell does this?"
The hairs on my arms stood on end at the first feeling of my father's murderous intent.
'I expected it, but… … .'
He said with his mouth that he was just a worthless, unmanned person with no nickname, but in my opinion, that wasn't the case at all.
"that is...."
Mr. Jang of the lumber shop was at a loss for an answer.
He seemed worried that something big might happen because of one word he said.
His father reassured Mr. Jang.
"Don't worry. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on."
"I got hurt while hanging out with my friends… … ."
"I feel a bit bad saying this myself, but Jang Il-i is one of the best in terms of skill among the children of the same age who learned martial arts from me in this village. And the injuries Jang Il-i sustained… … were not the result of the martial arts I taught him."
"that is...."
It was when Mr. Jang of the lumber shop was still hesitating and unable to answer.
"It's the work of the Jinmu-gwan guys!"
Jang-i, who had been in my arms, suddenly woke up and shouted with a pouty expression.
"They were the ones who started the fight with you first! They said the martial arts taught at Baekmu-gwan were cheap and looked down on you!"
"Jinmu-gwan?"
Jinmu-gwan was a military officer who entered the neighboring village a few months ago.
I heard by rumor that Jinmu Gwanju was a distant collateral branch of the Namgung family.
'It must be a boast. Even though he is from a collateral line, what's so regrettable about the Odae family is that he came to a remote place like this and became a military officer.'
Anyway, my father had no interest in the new military officer in the next town, and he didn't care.
Because Baek Moo-kwan was already a veteran who had been teaching martial arts here for over 20 years.
But that indifference continued until today.
They crossed the line.
"Did they say that?"
Jang-i nodded vigorously in response to her father's cold gaze.
"Yes! He said that Baekmu-gwan's martial arts were poor and that his martial arts were much stronger!"
"Did several of Jinmu-gwan's disciples attack Jang Il-i?"
"That's not it… … There was one person… … ."
Jang-i cried out after mumbling for a while.
"Still, that was cowardly! Yangsam knows all about our martial arts!"
"… … It was that bastard Yangsam's doing."
Even though he was a poor official, my father believed that he would not teach martial arts to anyone who he felt had a bad personality.
Yangsam was one of those guys. He was a kind and honest kid when he was young, but as he got older, he became a bit rebellious and was kicked out of the military post after being scolded severely.
It seems that Yangsam has recently learned martial arts at Jinmu-gwan.
"That bad guy picked a fight with my brother! My brother didn't want to fight, but he cursed at my master and my parents… … ."
Yes. Even adults can't tolerate their parents' insults.
I heard that a man named Yang Sam held a grudge against the disciples of Baek Moo-gwan who had driven him out.
But here I have one question.
'Did Yangsam do this alone?'
The wounds on Jang Il's bloody body.
There was something I noticed while looking at Jang-il's wounds next to his father.
'I used a slingshot.'
If the hands of that guy named Yangsam had been a little more cruel, the eldest son of the lumber shop owner, Mr. Jang, could have become permanently disabled.
It was too vicious a method to be taught in a rural military academy.
"Umm… … ."
My father seemed to be thinking the same thing as I did, as he looked worried with deep wrinkles on his handsome forehead.
"Oh, it's because the kids were fighting. As long as my son is safe, I'm okay with that."
When his father's expression hardened seriously, Jang waved his hand, perhaps sensing that things were about to get worse.
He was a simple countryman.
It's enough to make your heart race just from seeing your son get beaten so badly that he's covered in blood, but you're also afraid that if a fight breaks out between real martial artists, you'll get in trouble.
"Today's work."
The father, who had been lost in thought, raised his head and spoke to Mr. Jang.
"I will meet with Jinmu Gwanju in person tomorrow morning to finalize the arrangement."
"I'm worried that things will only get worse… … ."
The father smiled and spoke to Mr. Jang, whose expression was full of worry.
"Don't worry. I'll just give you some good advice."
"Yes. I will only trust you, Master Baek… … ."
"It's getting late, so you should go now. I'll take care of Jang-il until tonight."
"Oh my, thank you! Thank you so much!"
Mr. Jang kept bowing his head in gratitude, and Jang, who had a runny nose, threw a tantrum demanding revenge for his brother but was dragged away by Mr. Jang's ear.
I saw them out the door on behalf of my father.
The teachings of JinJinmu-Kwan and his disciples about the method of killing grass never left my mind.
'Will it end with advice?'
My father said that things would be resolved through discussion, but I had a feeling that things would not be resolved that easily.
* * *
The ominous feeling came true.
"Hey, what's the fuss about so early in the morning?"
The man who spoke in a brash manner was a giant who was a hand taller than my father.
'This guy who looks like a bandit is a collateral branch of the Namgung family?'
I can tell just by looking at your footsteps.
What type of martial arts does the opponent master, what kind of constitution does he have, what fighting habits does he have, and what level of skill does he have?
I had the experience of teaching countless trainees of the Blood Demon Sect and observing the masters.
In light of that experience, the bandit-like guy in front of me was second-rate at best.
Above all, this guy… ….
"Last night, our disciple of Mu-gwan fought with Jin-mugwan's disciple and was badly injured."
"I don't know why you're so sensitive about kids fighting."
My father politely brought up the matter, but that bastard, Namgung Wook, picked his ears and showed a rough attitude.
"… … Jang-il's body was badly injured fina fight between kids."
"As boys grow up, they fight and get hurt. How can a man be a man if he is afraid of getting hurt like a girl?"
Namgung Wook treated Baek Mu-Heun with an attitude of blatant disregard. It meant that he had come to question her like a girl.
I couldn't help but know the meaning of that smile, but there was no change in my father's expression.
My father spoke calmly, carrying his luggage on his back.
"I don't know if Jinmu Gwanju teaches martial arts to make children into great men, but I teach children so that they can grow up healthy and be able to defend themselves from bandits. That's why I don't teach them methods that could seriously harm people."
Father turned his head and spoke to one of the young men standing behind Namgung Wook.
"Yangsam. You almost killed your friend last night. Do you know that?"
The young man avoided meeting his father's cold gaze, then gritted his teeth and said.
"It was a fair fight!"
"Do you think so?"
"That, that… … ."
"Hey. What are you doing to our students?"
Namgung Wook stood between his father and Yangsam with his huge body. He glared at his father with a fierce expression.
"If you feel wronged, I will teach you a harsher lesson. What kind of kid goes to someone else's business and causes trouble just because he got beaten up a little?"
"Listen here."
"Well, if the teacher is not good at martial arts, then his student will suffer as well."
"her...."
Namgung Wook openly challenged his father.
Before we knew it, onlookers were crowding around us.
I looked around and thought.
'It was a trap.'
This makes it certain.
Jinmu-gwan took advantage of this situation and ordered Yang Sam to attack Jang Il.
And when my father came to visit, he started to pick a fight and embarrass me in front of people as if he had been waiting for me.
If my father just backs down here, he will be known as a coward and there will be no more students at Baekmu Hall in the future.
Then, wouldn't it be okay for a father to suppress this guy with martial arts?
"Look, Baekmu-gwan-ju. Do you think it's okay for children's fights to turn into adult fights? You can go back now. I'll tell our students not to bully the weaker kids in the future."
Namgung Wook was gently nagging his father with words, but he did not directly start a fight.
Here, the excited father applies for the first round of martial arts.
'He's just a little kid who came here to seek revenge for losing a fight with the kids.'
Even if my father won the duel, there was no way good news would spread.
'That bandit-like guy used his brain quite cunningly. No, did someone else use his brain?'
Since Jinmu Hall had not yet settled in, there were not many students enrolled.
But what happened today will be talked about one way or another.
Perhaps… … as the evaluation of Baekmu-gwan goes down, the evaluation of Jinmu-gwan will go up.
"Ahem! I guess you all don't know."
Perhaps because he thought this was his chance, the goatee man who had been standing quietly next to Namgung Wook spoke loudly as if to let the onlookers hear.
"The great swordsman Namgung Wook who is here is the eighth cousin of the great swordsman Namgung Jehak, the King of the Heavenly Swords, who is a daily instructor at Cheonmu Academy. He is the bloodline of the great Namgung family!"
The onlookers were abuzz at the names Cheonmuhak-gwan and Namgung Se-ga.
Even in this rural area, the names of the Odaese families were surprisingly great.
Namgung Wook coughed loudly and waved his hands.
"Ahem! I'm just a distant relative. I just work hard to live up to Namgung's name."
I bet my ass off that that bastard is not Namgung.
Anyway, here, no matter what choice my father made, he was bound to suffer a loss.
If I hadn't come forward.
"Hey. Then, is the martial arts that Jinmu Gwanju teaches to his students also Namgung Se Ga's martial arts?"
"hmm?"
Namgung Wook looked at me, who was standing next to his father, with a look that said, "Is there a kid like you?"
I said, shrugging my shoulders in fear.
"This is my first time seeing the martial arts of the Five Great Families… … Is it true that Jinmu-kwan teaches the martial arts of the Namgung Families?"
He chuckled at my rustic expression and speech, then said with his shoulders tense.
"If you look closely, you could say that. Of course, you can't say it's the main branch, but if you look at its roots, it's the same martial arts… … ."
The onlookers exclaimed, "Wow!"
The goatee man's expression slightly crumpled as if he sensed something strange, but I spoke before he did.
"Huh! That must be why his power is so great. Yangsam's skills have improved by leaps and bounds in just a few months!"
"you...."
My father looked at me as if asking what I was doing, but I shut his mouth with a wink and continued speaking.
"I have seen the miracles of the Five Great Kings in my life! My grandmother has opened her eyes!"
"Hahaha! You have quite an eye for detail. If you want, I can teach you too!"
Sigh.
A thin smile appeared on my lips as I could no longer bear it.
"Yes. I really couldn't imagine that there would be such a thing as murder in the Namgung Se-ga's martial arts. I thought it was a Sapa martial arts because it was so full of murderous intent."
"...what?"
The expressions of Namgung Wook and Goatbeard, who had been proud of my words, hardened, and the laughter of the Jinmu Academy students who had been secretly mocking us suddenly stopped.
Namgung Wook's face gradually became distorted like an evil spirit.
"What did you just say? If you keep messing around with your mouth… … ."
"They said it was like Sapha martial arts. Why, there are things like that. It's a martial art that you learn very quickly in the beginning, but if you keep learning it, it's the kind of martial art that'll make you a cripple."
"What, what, what!"
Even the onlookers who were watching us with puzzled expressions showed expressions of shock, showing how embarrassed we were.
The goatee next to Namgung Wook trembled with a flushed face.
And the more they panicked, the deeper the smile on my face became.
"Hey. No way? There's no way you would teach something like Sapa martial arts in the name of the Daenam Palace Family, right?"
By the way, not all of Sapa's martial arts are evil and dangerous.
Among them, some were as profound as the Jeongpa martial arts, and some had almost no side effects.
But there is a huge difference in public perception.
For example.
"From now on, I can brag to everyone I meet about seeing the Namgung Segae's new skills, right? And I'll also add a link to the Murim Alliance."
All the blood drained from Namgung Wook's face.