Tadak, tadak.

Cheonyeong sat by the campfire, staring at the embers that soared with the heat and then vanished.

It was a quiet night.

The first day of training.

He could hear the soft breathing of the children who had collapsed into a deep sleep from the strenuous training they had never experienced before.

"Family Head."

"Yeah?"

"Not sleeping?"

"You go ahead."

Yongcheon shook his head at Cheonyeong's words.

"We can only sleep when the Family Head sleeps."

At Yongcheon's words, Cheonyeong let out a dry laugh as he looked at the Tang siblings waiting for him.

These punks...

He had raised one set of sworn siblings well.

Their title had changed from Captain to Family Head, but they remained the same.

Just like when they had once made a straw cloak and piled up grass to make a bed just for him.

He felt a renewed sense of reassurance.

That there were kids who thought of him this much...

But...

Cheonyeong's gaze, which had been looking at each of his siblings' faces, stopped at Sanghui.

You... you're not waiting for me, you're waiting for Yongcheon.

You damn kid, fallen in love.

I should make them sleep apart or something.

There are so many kids around... why the hell are they sleeping stuck together so shamelessly?

Aigh, let's just leave them be.

Someday, they'll all have to find good partners and get married.

Well, I can just think of it as you two being the first to hold a wedding in our Tang Family's estate.

Well, it's still too early to talk about that.

"Why? Is there something on my face?"

As Cheonyeong continued to stare, Sanghui pulled at the front of her clothes and rubbed her face.

Careless kid.

...Your belly fat is showing.

Anyway, her awareness as a woman only seems to exist when she likes Yongcheon.

"Tch, if you can't sleep, everyone come over here. Let's have a drink."

"Alcohol!?"

At those words, Chunil threw off his straw mat and sat by the campfire as if he had bounced there.

What was that just now?

Body-Shifting Technique?

How was he so fast?

Cheonyeong clicked his tongue at Chunil's speed, which was like a flash of light.

A madman for alcohol.

Later... he might get the title of 'Joo-gwang' [Alcohol Fiend].

Alcohol Fiend, Tang Chunil.

Well, it suits him, in a way.

"Baekgang."

"Hoyeon Brigade Master, Tang Baekgang."

"..."

"Speak, Family Head. What is this Hoyeon Brigade Master, Tang Baekgang, curious about?"

Baekgang, having been called, diligently attached his title to the front.

He must have liked it.

His shoulders were puffed up... and why are you guys looking so envious?

Cheonyeong said with a dry laugh.

"How are the kids?"

"Hoyeon Brigade Master, Tang Baekgang. The kids... they're having a hard time, what else."

"..."

"It must have been the first time they've ever run like that. We were the same, weren't we? Our breath catching in our throats, our lungs feeling like they would tear... if you hadn't beaten us from time to time, we wouldn't have been able to keep up."

The kids nodded at Baekgang's words.

"We were hit a lot."

"Chunil was hit a whole lot."

"He's a heavy sleeper in the morning."

Seeing him flinch, it seemed Chunil had recalled the pain of that time.

It was a rod of love.

For your own good...

"Don't you hit the kids."

"Huh? Why?"

"If they can't keep up, just leave them be."

"...So why?"

"We can't take along those who can't endure."

"Ah..."

Baekgang and the kids nodded at Cheonyeong's words.

"Then what about us?"

"..."

"Why did you hit us?"

Chunil, who had been hit the most among them, asked with a puzzled expression.

Cheonyeong was slightly flustered by the question.

"As for why I hit you..."

"...?"

"...Have a drink."

"Okay!"

As his cup filled up, Chunil completely forgot the question he had just asked and swallowed his saliva.

Simple-minded punk.

What a relief.

"More importantly, the Yin Hand Chamber might start attacking from now on."

"The Yin Hand Chamber?"

"Yeah."

"Why would they?"

"By now, they've probably figured out what I'm going to do."

Yongcheon, who had been listening silently, asked at Cheonyeong's words.

"Family Head."

"Yeah?"

"By any chance... are those Yin Hand Chamber guys the ones who brought down the Mandeok Estate, which was your family?"

"...Huh?"

"It just seems that way."

Well, I'll be.

How is it that this big, stolid guy is so quick-witted at times like this?

Cheonyeong nodded his head.

"That's right. The Yin Hand Chamber's Master, Lee Ilpyeong, my home was ruined because of that bastard. The same goes for the business of Old Man Ahn, who is sleeping over there."

Cheonyeong briefly brought up the story of the past.

The children who listened silently either frowned or expressed their indignation.

"Sons of bitches... we have to smash them to pieces."

"That's right. How dare those damn bastards do such a thing to our Family Head."

Cheonyeong wore a puzzled expression as he watched them get angry, each adding a word.

They had decided to become sworn siblings under the Tang name, but why were they huffing and puffing like this when it wasn't something they had experienced themselves?

"Calm down, everyone."

"How can we be calm?"

"There's nothing to be angry about. It has nothing to do with you..."

"The Family Head's business is my business!"

"Huh?"

Starting with Yongcheon, one by one, they added their words and shot to their feet.

"The Vice-Family Head is right! The Family Head's business is our business."

"Damn right! Who are we? Aren't we Tangs? We're one family now!"

"This bastard Chunil, his tongue has loosened up with the alcohol. You said it well. Let's completely wreck them. That bastard called the Yin Hand Chamber Master."

"Yeah! Let's go! Let's go right now! Let's end him."

Everyone was indignant as if it were their own business, and ready to step forward as if it were their own business.

...Well, this is nice.

You guys, at times like this.

Cheonyeong, who was watching quietly, waved his hand.

"Sit down. All of you. This isn't something to be done so recklessly."

"Okay."

The kids, who had stood up with great vigor, scurried back to sit by the campfire at Cheonyeong's words.

"They may be an Unorthodox Faction gang in the Ganyang region, but the Yin Hand Chamber is not as easy as you think."

"Is it that much?"

"It is. There are only six of us. And now we have quite a few family members to protect."

"Hmm..."

As Cheonyeong looked at the children sleeping on the straw mats, the Tang siblings nodded.

"For now, Baekgang, you focus on training the kids. But don't hit them, and let the ones who run away go. We'll only take the ones who endure. Let's hold the official initiation ceremony for the remaining children then."

"Hoyeon Brigade Master, Tang Baekgang! I receive the Family Head's command."

"Good."

Cheonyeong let out a small laugh and patted Baekgang's shoulder.

...They're envious.

"The rest of you, for now, train as usual and go around doing good deeds during the day."

"Like usual?"

"What about the Yin Hand Chamber?"

"The time is not yet right."

"Is it that important?"

Of course.

It was said that the most important thing in war is timing.

If the timing is not right, there is a possibility of defeat no matter how strong one is.

Even a great master can die from a stray blade that happens to fly by in an unprepared situation.

Therefore, judging the timing is one of the most important things in war.

As the first step, he had cut off the collusion between the Yin Hand Chamber and the government.

By now, Garrison Commander Han Utae would have raided and arrested Jeong Hapryeo and his cronies.

That was enough.

From now on, it was a matter between martial artists.

Furthermore, the public's resentment against the Yin Hand Chamber was rampant.

It wasn't a huge deal yet, but through continued good deeds, he had planted a positive perception of the Tang Family's estate.

So when the war begins, it will appear to people like a fight between good and evil.

Public sentiment will naturally turn towards the Tang Family's estate.

The time has come.

But there is a problem just as important as timing.

The justification.

It would be a very easy task for Cheonyeong to charge in right now and take the Yin Hand Chamber Master's head.

In the past, he had skills superior to anyone as an assassin, and now he had even obtained a martial art called Samyang.

Why would he be afraid of a mere regional Unorthodox Faction leader?

But now he was not an assassin, but the Family Head of the Tang Family's estate.

His actions would determine the reputation of the Tang Family's estate.

He had to show them.

There had to be a reason that everyone could accept for the fight between the Yin Hand Chamber and the Tang Family's estate.

A past grudge?

Seven years had passed.

What was written in the ledger given to Han Utae was Anga Mokhyang's, not the Mandeok Estate's.

There was no way a guy who specialized in plotting conspiracies would have left behind records of the past.

If the captured corrupt official Jeong Hapryeo were to say that the fall of the Mandeok Estate was justified at the time, the grudge would not serve as any justification.

The testimony of the merchants who had suffered all this time was the same.

The plea of the weak.

Who would even acknowledge it?

No matter how well the powerful treat them, the dissatisfaction of the weak never disappears...

That could not be the reason for the Yin Hand Chamber to be crushed.

There absolutely had to be a justification.

That came first.

Only then would no one be able to interfere in this fight.

"...For now, let's wait for the right time."

The children looked dissatisfied at Cheonyeong's decision but soon nodded.

The alcohol bottle was already empty.

The night had also deepened...

"Alright, let's all go to sleep then."

"...Okay."

Just as Cheonyeong stood up with a bright smile.

"...?"

A rustling sound reached his ears.

Not the tossing and turning from within the Tang Family's estate... but from outside?

Suddenly, goosebumps rose on his skin.

Along with an unexplainable unease, his ears opened wide.

Jjiiiik!

At the sound of something taut being pulled, Cheonyeong's eyes shot open and he whipped his head around to look.

Twang!

The unique reverberation that occurs when a string is released...

And then.

Shwiiik!

A faint sound of something piercing the air.

He knew because he was an assassin.

The sounds made when a hidden weapon is thrown... this was definitely,

"An arrow?!"

The moment Cheonyeong recognized the weapon's identity and twisted his body, Yongcheon blocked his path.

Thwack!

"Keuk!"

An arrow lodged itself in Yongcheon's shoulder.

No, why...

He could have easily blocked such a weak arrow, why would he get hurt protecting him? 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Yongcheon!"

Sanghui's startled eyes widened, and she soon looked in the direction the arrow came from with murderous eyes.

A sudden attack.

Yongcheon's injury.

"It's an ambush! Protect the kids first!"

"Okay!"

At Baekgang's shout, the Tang siblings threw themselves towards the sleeping children.

However.

"You sons of bitches! I'll kill you!"

Sanghui, whose anger had shot to the top of her head at the ambush on Yongcheon, the object of her affection, launched herself towards the direction the arrow came from.

"Sanghui!"

Cheonyeong urgently called after her, but she didn't seem to have any intention of listening.

"Dammit! We've been discovered! Kill them!"

A shout in the darkness.

And the faint shape of a person.

Jjiiiik!

Ping! P-ping!

Arrows were fired in succession.

"Dammit, Sanghui..."

His face contorted, Cheonyeong stomped the ground hard to increase his speed, intending to protect Sanghui.

However.

Thwack! Th-thwack!

Without reducing her running speed, Sanghui twisted her body to avoid fatal wounds and, with the arrows still embedded, stomped the ground hard.

Kuuuuung!

A strong vibration shook the earth.

The hair tie grazed by an arrow was cut, and her hair flew about wildly.

And from the internal energy she emitted, the stones rolling on the ground... shot high into the air.

"How dare you hurt Yongcheon?"

A venomous voice erupted from Sanghui's lips.

Taaang!

And her kicking foot struck one of the stones that had floated into the air.

Swish! Thwack!

"Keuk!"

The stone that flew through the darkness struck someone, creating a scream.

"Dammit! Everyone, aim for that bitch!"

Someone's command.

The arrows would be aimed.

However, Sanghui didn't even give them a chance to draw their bowstrings.

Papakak!

She began to grab the stones that rose and fell, scattering them indiscriminately towards where the enemies were.

Bbak! Bbagagak!

There was no specific target.

But it didn't matter if there wasn't.

Because Sanghui's hidden weapon technique had filled the entire area in front of her without a single gap.

And Cheonyeong had to stop in his tracks.

"That girl... when did her skills improve so much?"

It was astonishing.

He had trained her, but wasn't her hidden weapon technique quite something?

Could it be... is that the power of love?

The kind that draws out unprecedented potential...

(End of Chapter)