Chapter 86. The Entire World is My Home (7)
Woo-Moon’s position within the Baek Family was very different from before.
Due to revealing Hye-Ryeong’s plot and preventing a crisis, many people admired him and were grateful for his martial prowess. Even so, Woo-Moon was still the youngest person in the council of elders.
Elder Han responded to him with a disapproving expression.
“What, do you think we’re discussing this to such an extent because we just want to worry? Then what do you think should be done?”
“Is there any provision in the Family’s Code that says a woman can’t be the matriarch?”
The second he finished his sentence, many elders looked at him directly. Only a fool wouldn’t have understood what Woo-Moon was insinuating.
“Ye-Ye cannot be the patriarch.”
“The Family has never had a woman serve as the patriarch.”
Woo-Moon simply ignored them and repeated the question, this time with more...intention.
“So. Is there. Any provision. In the Family Code. That says. A woman. Can’t serve. As the matriarch?”
Gong-Su, whom Woo-Moon had saved just two days ago, glanced at the elders around him before answering, “There is no such provision in the Family Code.”
“Then, among all of the younger generation talents of our family, is there anyone who is as outstanding in as many aspects as Ye-Ye?”
Do-Gun and Ye-Ye were by far the best in terms of cultivation among the younger generation talents of the Baek Family. Now, since Do-Gun had been imprisoned, Ye-Ye was the undisputed best younger-generation talent of the Iron Sword Baek Family.
Of course, Woo-Moon was excluded from the classification of younger generation talents, as he was stronger than even the current patriarch himself, and technically, he was a member of the elder generation as well. In addition, he was related to the Baek family through his mother and was actually a member of the Song family on paper, so he couldn’t run for the position anyway.
“There isn’t anyone, right? Then, it’s simple. Ye-Ye can take over as the matriarch. Considering her martial arts and leadership skills, she will be an excellent leader of the Iron Sword Baek Family, right?”
A female elder spoke with a somber expression upon his words.
“Yes, just like you said, Ye-Ye is impressive. That’s what makes it even more of a shame. It would have been amazing if she had been born as a man...”
Another elder spoke up.
“Even if there is no such provision in the Family Code, how could we appoint a woman as the new patriarch?”
“Why does it matter if she’s a man or a woman if she has the ability? Then, how about this? Mu-Hoon will continue to serve as patriarch in the meantime, but for the next three years, Ye-Ye will personally handle all of the practical duties. All you have to do is watch how she does for the next three years before making your decision. Does that work for everyone?” Woo-Moon reasoned.
Some elders still opposed the idea, as if they didn’t want to accept even the idea of a woman leading the clan. Still, in the end, the council decided to accept Woo-Moon’s proposal, considering Ye-Ye’s impressive ability and the fact that there weren’t any suitable alternatives.
From this day forward, Baek Ye-Ye would run the Iron Sword Baek Family in everything but name.
After the council of elders, Woo-Moon descended into the basement prison, heading to the deepest underground level where the worst of the Baek Family criminals were imprisoned.
Having reached the bottom, Woo-Moon was faced with two doors made of iron. He used his key to unlock the door with the sign “Baek Hye-Ryeong” written on it and opened it wide.
Hye-Ryeong was sitting there with her back to the door, looking at the wall. She did not even flinch as Woo-Moon entered, and neither did she turn to look at him.
“Considering you opened the door without any hint of fear, you must be Woo-Moon.”
Although the door had been opened, Hye-Ryeong didn’t act rashly. There was no point, as it wasn’t as if it were possible for her to overpower Woo-Moon and escape. Moreover, Hye-Ryeong knew that his shadow, Ma-Ra, was also an expert who had reached the Transcendent Class despite her dainty and beautiful appearance.
“Yes. Seeing you like this is really nice, Hye-Ryeong.”
“Kekeke. The bed you provided for us is really delightful. What do you think? Do you want to spend a few days with us here?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m a little sensitive, so I can’t sleep on a hard bed. It makes my muscles cramp. Anyway, I came because I have something I wanted to ask.”
“The Iron Sword Baek Family has already become your playground, so what would you even have to ask me, who’s trapped in prison and unable to do anything?”
“One of your subordinates wasn’t a member of the family. That brat holding the leaf fan you stared at scarily that day. He suddenly bolted, so I tried to catch him. But, for some reason, he ended up committing suicide. Who is he?”
Hye-Ryeong seemed momentarily shocked when she heard that Mu Heon had died.
‘There’s no way that they would attack the Family out of revenge for Mu Heon’s death, right? No...no, they wouldn’t. If they were prone to doing something like that, they would have moved so secretly in the first place. We should still be okay.’
It took some time before Hye-Ryeong turned to look at Woo-Moon directly, and when she finally responded, her voice was quivering.
“You don’t need to know anything about him. Just never associate with those bastards. Forget everything about him!”
Surprisingly, Woo-Moon could see fear deep within Hye-Ryeong’s gaze.
“There was a mysterious group that attacked my grandfather some time ago. The Blood Cloud Devil Emperor was among them, too. That brat who ran away from us earlier is a member of that same group, right?”
“I don’t know, and you should forget about them, too.”
Woo-Moon was now a member of the Baek Family. That had become an undeniable fact. Thus, Hye-Ryeong was afraid that Woo-Moon would eventually become involved with them. She kept denying it, hoping Woo-Moon would let it go.
She had no other choice, as she had wanted to control the Baek Family, not destroy it.
Although Woo-Moon asked several more times, Hye-Ryeong only repeated the same thing over and over again, refusing to tell him Mu Heon’s identity. In the end, Woo-Moon had no choice but to turn back.
Looking at his back, Hye-Ryeong’s feelings of jealousy toward Jin-Jin flared even more.
‘If only Do-Gun’s talent was half as good as this brat’s!’
As Woo-Moon was about to close the door, Hye-Ryeong shouted spitefully, “If you’re leaving, tell your mother not to come here again. I will never eat the food that bitch gives me!”
From the day that Hye-Ryeong and Ju-Ryeong had been imprisoned, Jin-Jin visited every morning and personally brought them their food.
“I don’t want to stop my mother from doing something she likes.”
Clang. Click.
The door closed and the key twisted in the lock. Hye-Ryeong was so angry that she screamed.
“Damn you all! You insist on making me angry till the end!”
***
Three days later, in the middle of a sunny afternoon, Woo-Moon happily napped on the side of a grassy hill near the Baek Estate.
“Hmpf...”
Woo-Moon felt something tickling him and he instantly swatted at whatever was bothering his nap.
“Hehe!”
He could hear the sound of suppressed laughter.
“Hey!”
Woo-Moon opened his eyes wide and snatched the stalk of foxtail grass that was going right up his nose.
“You little—”
“Ahhhhh!!!”
Si-Hyeon and Gun-Ha ran away, screaming as they messed with Woo-Moon. As he looked at them with a smile, he felt something tickling him under the nose again.
“What are you doing?”
Ma-Ra was tickling him with a foxtail, completely focused. She looked at Woo-Moon, now with a slight warmth to her gaze.
“How is it?”
“... It tickles.”
“I see.”
She turned the foxtail around and tickled herself in the same place. However, she then frowned slightly.
“I don’t tickle.”
“Hand it over.”
Woo-Moon took the foxtail from Ma-Ra and dexterously tickled the tip of her nose. She frowned even more.
“Stop.”
“It tickles, right?”
“Yes. Weird.”
Although she couldn’t feel that itchy feeling when she did it herself, when Woo-Moon did it, it tickled terribly.
As Ma-Ra was lost in thought, her brows furrowed adorably. Si-Hyeon, who had run away earlier, walked up to them.
“Where’s Gun-Ha?”
“She went back home because she was a little hungry.”
“I see!”
Woo-Moon lay down again, flat on his back with his arms spread wide.
“Ah, how nice,” he said, looking up at Si-Hyeon and Ma-Ra. “You two should lie down and look at the sky with me. It’s really refreshing.”
“Should I?”
“Okay”
The two beautiful girls lay on the hill with Woo-Moon, forming a three-pointed star with their heads in the center.
Si-Hyeon smiled in spite of herself as she smelled the fragrant scent of grass, felt the cool breeze, and basked in the warm sunlight.
“Ah! This is nice.”
Ma-Ra didn’t seem to be in a bad mood, either.
At that time, someone came running over with a lunchbox in hand.
“Young Master Song, Young Master Song!”
“Huh? Ah, so it’s Hwa-Pyeong. What brings you here?”
Hwa-Pyeong responded with a grin.
“Hehe. Am I not your right-hand man, Young Master Song? I thought you might be hungry, so I prepared a packed lunch for you.”
Woo-Moon glared at Hwa-Pyeong with a scary look in his eyes.
“Hmm.... And you’re absolutely sure you didn’t come here to see Ma-Ra or Si-Hyeon?”
Hwa-Pyeong panicked. Clearly, Woo-Moon had hit the nail on the head.
“N-n-no, that’s not it at all! How could I...!”
“Well, whatever, let’s eat.”
“Okay.”
“Okay!”
Although it wasn’t any different from their usual fare, their lunch tasted even better due to eating outdoors. As Hwa-Pyeong had packed plenty of food, the four of them were able to eat to their hearts’ content.
“Now that my stomach is full, I guess I’ll take another nap.”
Si-Hyeon rolled her eyes sweetly as Woo-Moon laid down again like before.
“They say you’ll turn into a cow if you lay down right after you eat, you know?”
“That doesn’t sound that bad! I could live leisurely grazing on grass without having to fight anyone. Don’t you think it would sort of nice to become a cow?”
“Caught and eaten in the end,” Ma-Ra said softly.
“Ma-Ra, you’re being too pessimistic. Now, now! We shouldn’t waste such beautiful sunlight. We should nap a little more. Ma-Ra, lie down with me.”
Ma-Ra nodded as if she didn’t mind, laying her head against Woo-Moon like before.
“Well, if Senior Brother and Lady Ma-Ra are going to sleep, then I guess I have no choice but to join,” Si-Hyeon said. However, the truth of the matter was that she wasn’t fond of the idea of Ma-Ra lying affectionately with Woo-Moon without her, wanting to be a part of the affection as well.
Si-Hyeon lay to Woo-Moon’s right while Ma-Ra was on his left. No matter where he looked, he saw a girl more beautiful than the most gorgeous flower, as the unique scents of the two girls wafted to the tip of his nose.
‘This is what heaven feels like.’
Hwa-Pyeong hesitated as he stood between Ma-Ra and Woo-Moon.
“Um, Young Master Song. Do you think I could lie down, too?”
“Yeah, you can.”
“Thank you!”
“But, go lie down over there on your own, not with us.”
Although it wouldn't have mattered if Hwa-Pyeong was a woman instead of a man, Woo-Moon refused to let him ruin this heaven.
Hwa-Pyeong had greatly looked forward to the prospect of laying down next to Ma-Ra. However, hearing Woo-Moon’s following words, he trudged past her, answering in a downcast voice, “Understood...”
“What’s with this sudden mood? So you really did have nefarious intentions.”
“N-no! That’s definitely not the case, I just...”
“Zzzzz.”
As if he didn’t care for Hwa-Pyeong’s excuses, Woo-Moon suddenly began to snore, pretending to be asleep.
‘Oh, you really make me want to just...AAARGH!’
Hwa-Pyeong shook off his anger and went to lie down.
At that time, Eun-Ah returned from her frolicking in the nearby forest, which she had entered to play as she pleased. She must have tired herself out as she shuffled over slowly before curling into a ball on Woo-Moon’s stomach and falling asleep.
Thus, time passed quickly for the four napping people and one animal.
“Yawwnn.”
“Has it nearly reached time?” Woo-Moon said as he stood up and stretched his legs. Ma-Ra looked up at the sun’s position.
“Yes.”
“Si-Hyeon, Si-Hyeon, wake up.”
“Huh? What? Is it already morning...?”
“What do you mean, morning? Wake up quickly, little lady.”
“Ah! Oh, senior brother.”
Si-Hyeon must have been exhausted from staying up all night to deal with Merchant Guild issues, as she had fallen asleep very soundly.
“I think it’s time for us to go down now. There’s something important coming up.”
“Something important? Oh, that’s right! Today’s the day, isn’t it? The day Jae-Hwa and Ah Sam fight,” Si-Hyeon said.
“Yes. Do you want to join?” Woo-Moon asked.
“I’d love to!”
Eun-Ah leaped onto Woo-Moon’s shoulder as the four walked down the hill and headed toward the Baek Estate.
“Huh? W-wait, let’s go together, Young Master!” Hwa-Pyeong said, belatedly rushing after them.
***
The spar began and Ah Sam and Jae-Hwa faced each other, demonstrating the Heavenly Lunar Fist.
‘He thinks I’m going to lose to this stupid bastard? Me? I’m going to lose to someone this slow?!’
Jae-Hwa’s pride had been greatly damaged by what Woo-Moon had said the other day.
‘Then, I’ll just show you the difference between me and this brat!’ he thought to himself, conscious of Woo-Moon’s gaze.
As soon as he finished thinking, Jae-Hwa kicked off the ground and rushed forward, sending a quick flurry of blows toward Ah Sam.
“Oh ho.”
Jae-Hwa’s three punches were so quick and exquisitely done that even Woo-Moon briefly uttered a cry of admiration.