Chapter 571: My Family Also Has a Little Something to Inherit

TL: FoodieMonster007

"How are you going to counterattack?"

At Geom Mugeuk's question, Lee Ahn spoke a single name.

"Through Yeom Baekjin."

Lee Ahn had accurately deduced that he was at the center of this incident.

"The way he approached Division Leader Seo, and the way he appeared here today. That man definitely knows something."

Geom Mugeuk and Seo Jin both nodded.

"First, we need to find out if he's an enemy or not," Lee Ahn stated, her gaze turning toward Seo Jin. "And Yeom Baekjin will definitely approach Division Leader Seo again."

"I'll try to find out his intentions then," Seo Jin offered.

"No! There's no need for that," Geom Mugeuk interjected. "That man… something about him feels unsettling. The way he looks at Division Leader Seo is unusual, too."

He could tell.

Lee Ahn had felt it as well. There was a certain ominousness in Yeom Baekjin's eyes, a premonition of the catastrophic fate their destinies held. What was now simple interest would grow beyond their control and eventually lead them both to ruin.

Lee Ahn, we have to change that fate.

Lee Ahn turned to Geom Mugeuk.

"Young Cult Leader, please find out what Yeom Baekjin uncovers from Pyo San."

"I will."

Who else could she possibly make such a request to? And who else would answer so readily?

She realized it again. She was fighting this battle with the finest sword and shield in the murim. That was why it was also a fight she could never afford to lose.

"In the meantime, I'll visit the branches of the All-Knowing Hall and the Hidden Moon with Division Leader Seo to get the information we need. The counterattack will begin based on that information."

The purpose of taking Seo Jin to the branches of the All-Knowing Hall and the Hidden Moon was to show her how to contact them and receive information.

"Alright, see you later."

Just as Geom Mugeuk was about to leave, Lee Ahn spoke from behind him.

"Thank you, Young Cult Leader."

"For what?"

"For everything."

Lee Ahn understood better than anyone how difficult it was to watch over someone from the sidelines like this. It would be much more comfortable for him to step in directly. Yet, Geom Mugeuk was giving her a chance to gain experience and grow.

Geom Mugeuk was grateful to Lee Ahn for always saying thank you. She probably didn't know how much strength those words from someone he liked gave him. It was the ultimate power that allowed him to endure until the very end.

The power of that one phrase, "thank you."

We know this, yet we make mistakes. We say those words several times a day to others, but we don't say them for years to the person we should, all because they are close to us.

"If you're grateful, pay me back with money!"

Geom Mugeuk leaped away.

Watching him vanish in an instant, Lee Ahn muttered as if to herself.

"Then I couldn't repay you even if I went bankrupt dozens of times."

When Pyo San regained consciousness, he found himself sitting in a chair with his vital points sealed. He had suddenly lost consciousness while following Yeom Baekjin, and when he awoke, he was here.

Where am I?

He felt an intense heat all over his body. Weapons hung on every side, the walls were scorched, and the flames of a furnace blazed red like lava.

Pyo San could tell where he was. This was the smithy operated directly by the Yellow Dragon Academy.

The martial arts academy had so many members that dozens of weapons were damaged or destroyed daily. To handle this, the Yellow Dragon Academy ran its own smithy to supply weapons and sold the surplus to outsiders.

Why did he bring me here?

There was no one else working in the smithy. A man stood before him with his back turned. Pyo San immediately recognized the pure white hair.

Yeom Baekjin was examining a pile of weapons in the corner, but he sensed Pyo San had woken up without even turning around.

"Everything piled up here is defective. They look fine on the outside, but they're unusable. Later, they'll be melted down in that fiery pit and be reborn as new weapons."

Pyo San spoke cautiously.

"Even if you're the Principal's younger brother, you can't do this to an instructor, can you?"

Yeom Baekjin didn't turn, but Pyo San could feel his cold smile.

"Someone who tries to kill a cadet is no instructor."

"Kill a cadet? What are you talking about?"

Pyo San flatly denied the accusation, but if that had been enough, he wouldn't have been captured in the first place.

Yeom Baekjin turned and approached Pyo San. Bending down, he met the seated man's eyes with an incredibly cold gaze. The surroundings were scorching, but only Yeom Baekjin felt frigid.

Pyo San suddenly remembered what Gi Seok had said.

[Yeom Baekjin is a more calculating and ruthless person than anyone.]

Pyo San sensed that his life was on the line.

"I only want one answer."

It wasn't about Seo Jin, the deceased Lim Hyeon, or the deceased Bang So of the White Snake Society. What Yeom Baekjin truly wanted was a single location.

"Where is that place?"

"!"

Pyo San's heart sank.

He knew. Yeom Baekjin already knew.

Forcing himself to remain calm, Pyo San met Yeom Baekjin's eyes and answered.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Displeasure bloomed openly on Yeom Baekjin's face. He made no effort to hide his emotions.

"I'm not one to ask twice. However, just this once, I'll ask again. Where is that place?"

Pyo San could feel it. If he didn't answer, he would really die.

However, he also knew they wouldn't let him live even if he did answer. Furthermore, his superiors would never let him live for revealing the secret here. He truly hadn't expected Yeom Baekjin to move so boldly.

When no answer came, Yeom Baekjin stood up without any lingering attachment and turned away.

"Here, unnecessary things have only one fate."

Yeom Baekjin's subordinates came forward and pulled Pyo San to his feet. They dragged him toward the blazing furnace as if to burn him alive.

"Wait! Master Yeom! All the members of the White Dragon Class saw you take me. If you kill me, you won't be safe either."

Yeom Baekjin just stood there silently with his back turned.

He won't kill me.

But his subordinates pushed Pyo San's face toward the fiery pit. The searing heat brought a wave of extreme terror. Even if they didn't kill him, his face would be completely ruined.

"Please! Don't do this! I don't know anything."

As if to prove they weren't just trying to scare him, the martial artists kept pushing. He resisted desperately, but with his inner arts sealed, how could he overcome their strength?

"Aaaaargh!"

It was so hot. They say the pain of burning to death is the most agonizing. He never thought his life would end like this.

It was at that very moment.

"Are you really planning to burn him to death?" a calm voice echoed.

At those words, the martial artists pushing Pyo San stopped.

"Aaaaaaaah!"

Pyo San fell backward, scrambling away from the fire. One side of his face was red, as if it were half-cooked. A moment later and his face would have been completely ruined. Pyo San gasped for breath.

The person who appeared was none other than Yeom Baekjin's older brother and the Principal of the Yellow Dragon Academy, Yeom Baekyin. His presence was no ordinary one. Those who hadn't seen him might think he was just a martial Principal, but from him, one could feel the air of an absolute master.

He was Yeom Baekjin's older brother by one year, and as expected, the two looked alike. However, the auras they exuded were quite different. Unlike the free-spirited Yeom Baekjin, Yeom Baekyin had a well-organized and restrained feel. His hair was also jet black.

Lined up behind him were the martial artists who directly protected the Principal. Among them was Gi Seok, Pyo San's superior.

Yeom Baekjin wasn't particularly surprised by his brother's appearance. He was so composed that he seemed to have expected Yeom Baekyin to come. At their arrival, all of Yeom Baekjin's subordinates quietly retreated through the back door.

"What brings such an esteemed person to a humble place like this?"

"What are you trying to do right now?"

The two brothers' gazes tangled in mid-air. It was a look that said they both had so much to say but were holding it all back.

"What am I doing? I was having a conversation with Instructor Pyo."

Yeom Baekjin walked toward Pyo San. He looked at the flames that had almost burned the man to death and said, "It was a very heated conversation between men. Wasn't it, Instructor Pyo?"

Pyo San said nothing, but his eyes were filled with resentment.

Gi Seok stepped forward and prompted Pyo San.

"Tell the Principal what happened."

Pyo San bowed politely to Yeom Baekyin and then reported the day's events.

"Today, there was an incident during the White Dragon Class's duel where a cadet died. Master Yeom captured me because of it and forced me to confess, asking if I was involved."

Since many eyes were watching, he didn't mention the place he had been asked about.

Yeom Baekyin asked his younger brother, "Is that true?"

"Except for the fact that the cadet who died today was a guy from the White Snake Society."

Pyo San said urgently, "You can't conclude that based on a single tattoo."

"You also left out that the guy has a history of killing an instructor."

At those words, Pyo San couldn't say anything.

Yeom Baekyin said calmly, "As the Principal, I will investigate this matter myself."

At that, Yeom Baekjin laughed.

"I'm sure you will."

His tone implied, 'Aren't you on their side too?', causing Yeom Baekyin's expression to harden.

"Take Instructor Pyo to the Principal's office."

The subordinates behind him took Pyo San and left.

Yeom Baekyin warned sternly, "From now on, don't interfere in the martial arts academy's affairs at all! If something like this happens one more time, I won't forgive you either."

After that cold remark, Yeom Baekyin was about to turn away when Yeom Baekjin spoke from behind.

"Are you even interested in the martial arts academy's affairs?"

Yeom Baekyin flinched and stopped in his tracks. When he looked back, Yeom Baekjin had his back turned, staring only at the flames of the furnace.

Yeom Baekyin stared at his younger brother for a moment, about to say something, but he swallowed his words and continued on his way.

For a while, Yeom Baekjin stared blankly at the fire. Then, the moment he turned his head to leave, he flinched and froze.

Someone was standing in front of the defective weapons piled in the corner.

Yeom Baekjin was inwardly startled. No matter how complicated his thoughts were, how could he not have known someone had entered? If that person had tried to attack him, he might have been hit.

"Who are you?"

A man wearing a White Dragon Class uniform turned toward him. It was Geom Mugeuk. For some reason, he had revealed himself directly.

"Ah, Master Yeom!"

Yeom Baekjin's gaze naturally turned cold.

"What were you doing here?"

"Ah, I was looking to see if there were any reusable weapons among these. There must be some that are perfectly fine but were unlucky enough to get mixed in and are fated to be melted down, right?"

The two men's gazes tangled in mid-air.

Yeom Baekjin was convinced that Geom Mugeuk was no ordinary person. The fact that he moved around with a beauty like Lee Ahn, that he became close with Seo Jin upon entering the academy, and that he showed himself here.

The bastard revealed his presence on purpose. Otherwise, he would have disappeared quietly. From where did he start listening?

Yeom Baekjin asked Geom Mugeuk, "So? Did you find anything worth fixing?"

Geom Mugeuk stared intently at Yeom Baekjin and said, "I can't tell just by looking. Most of them probably seem fine at a glance, but when you actually try to use them, you realize they're trash."

Geom Mugeuk walked over to the side of the fire where Yeom Baekjin was standing.

Yeom Baekjin secretly raised his inner arts, preparing for a surprise attack.

However, Geom Mugeuk simply crouched down in front of the furnace. Staring at the fire for a moment, he recalled the past.

"I remember playing with fire with my older brother when I was young."

Yeom Baekjin looked down at him with a cold gaze, just listening.

He's full of openings.

Everything was an opening. It seemed he could kill him with a single blow right now. The back of his head, his neck, his back. They all felt like openings. Yet, he didn't feel the urge to strike. It was a strange feeling, a reluctance to fight. He wasn't the type to experience such a thing.

"I remember being scared back then, wondering if my brother would push me into the fire. That anxiety still remains."

At the mention of his brother, Yeom Baekjin's expression hardened. It was clearly a story brought up after seeing the meeting with Yeom Baekyin.

He was here since then.

That meant neither his brother nor the other martial artists had noticed this person hiding.

"You don't seem close with your brother."

"We tried to kill each other. My family also has a little something to inherit."

"How much is it?"

"Quite a lot."

"Then your brother must be dead by now."

The firelight flickered on Geom Mugeuk's smiling lips.

"No. He's alive. In fact, we're quite close now."

"Then you must not have had much to inherit."

Geom Mugeuk said with a meaningful smile, "If you want, I can tell you the secret. How not to shed blood between brothers amidst a power struggle! How about it? I'll tell you if you buy me a drink."

"I don't need it."

He was clearly no ordinary person, but he spouted so much nonsense that it was difficult to grasp his true nature.

Geom Mugeuk, who had been crouching, stood up and once again stood before the pile of scrap metal.

"Shall we take a look? To see if there's at least one thing that doesn't need to be melted down?"

He was a really strange guy. Regardless of his skill level, Yeom Baekjin never thought someone would make such a suggestion.

"Why are you obsessed with this?"

"There are too many things being thrown away in this world."

Geom Mugeuk turned to look at him and added, "It's unfair, isn't it? To be thrown away like this when it's perfectly fine."

The flames of the furnace flickered hotly on Yeom Baekjin's face as he stared at Geom Mugeuk.

"Who are you?"