Chapter 125
“Kuaaaaaaah!”
“Kkeueueuk! Ura-cha-cha-cha-cha!”
*Grrrk.*
“Hey, you! Snap out of it! Don’t fall asleep! Sir, this guy fainted!”
“Lay him down over there and splash some water on him!”
“Yes, sir!”
The White Wolf Unit’s training continued peacefully today.
Continuing to endure training of a completely different intensity than before, the White Wolf Unit was diligently practicing the Wind Dragon Primordial Art that Yeo Un-hwi had taught them in a clearing on a high mountain peak every early morning.
It was truly not easy.
Just as Yeo Un-hwi had promised, it was going to be a truly difficult time.
The White Wolf Unit was only able to endure because it had occasional days off.
And so, today’s training was also coming to an end.
“Good work.”
As soon as the training was finally over and Yeo Un-hwi disappeared, all the members of the White Wolf Unit collapsed onto the ground.
They rested, staring blankly at the sky.
How much time had passed?
“What should we prepare?”
Gu Tae-san was the first to speak as he wiped away his sweat.
O Chae-mu replied.
“Well, I want to prepare something special too, but I don’t know what to do.”
They were talking about a birthday gift for Yul.
No one had told them to prepare a gift, but it seemed everyone wanted to prepare at least one.
But they couldn’t decide what to get.
“Tsk tsk. Why are you worrying about something like that?”
“I know, right.”
The brothers Gi-su and Gi-sang clicked their tongues and shook their heads as they looked at Gu Tae-san and O Chae-mu.
“Huh? Have you two already picked something?”
Gu Tae-san looked at them with a surprised expression.
Gi-su and Gi-sang smiled confidently.
“Of course. We picked it out a long time ago. We sometimes used to give gifts to the little kids in the neighborhood.”
“Ha. No way, you guys. You had that side to you?”
“My, my, did you think we were just some third-rate neighborhood thugs who only went around fighting?”
“This is quite disappointing.”
“So what did you prepare?”
“Well, well, I can’t just not show you.”
“What is it? Stop playing hard to get and show us already.”
Gu Tae-san’s face went blank when he saw what the brothers Gi-su and Gi-sang triumphantly took out.
“Isn’t that a dagger?”
“Yes. A dagger for self-defense.”
“You’re going to give that to Yul? And you’ve been giving them to neighborhood kids all this time?”
“Of course. The kids love it. Besides, the blade is serrated, so it has a unique cutting feel...”
“You idiots!”
As if he didn’t need to hear any more, Gu Tae-san brought his fists down on the heads of Gi-su and Gi-sang.
“Aack! That hurts!”
“Does it? My heart hurts too, seeing you bastards who’ve raised countless little bandit gangs. Come here and get some more!”
“Heek!”
“Sister, please stop him!”
Fleeing from the fiercely rampaging Gu Tae-san, Gi-su and Gi-sang looked at Do-gyeong, but she just shook her head as if they were pathetic.
When on earth would those two ever grow up?
Regarding Yul’s birthday gift, Yeo Un-hwi had already said that it was fine, that they didn’t need to prepare anything, and that just congratulating her would be enough.
But the White Wolf Unit had only said its members understood, and were all secretly agonizing over it.
And it was the same for the White Martial Squad, led by Elder Gu Wang-pyo.
A rumor was spreading that from the moment Elder Gu Wang-pyo learned of Yul’s upcoming birthday, he had been agonizing daily over preparing a wonderful gift on a different level from his usual gift bundles.
The only martial force not swept up in the birthday gift worries within the Peng Family was the White Tiger Unit.
“Everyone’s making such a fuss. Haha. I wonder why they’re going to such lengths.”
The members of the White Tiger Unit, who had seen the state of the White Wolf Unit and the White Martial Squad, let out hollow laughs.
Unlike the other boisterous martial forces, the White Tiger Unit, which had not been swept up in the atmosphere, seemed particularly relaxed.
As expected.
Their master, Peng Seo-jin, was not one to be easily swayed by such an atmosphere.
How dependable.
But that was their very, very big misunderstanding.
Just as the White Tiger Unit’s training ended, Peng Seo-jin spoke.
“White Tiger Unit! I’m calling a meeting after lunch. Tell everyone to attend!”
“Yes? A m-meeting, sir? Why so suddenly?”
“It seems we too must gather and decide through a meeting.”
“Decide what, sir?”
“The birthday gift. Yul’s birthday gift.”
“You want to hold a meeting for that? Like the other martial forces?”
“Why, do you have a problem with that?”
Peng Seo-jin’s eyes gleamed.
At the sight of his gleaming eyes, which didn’t appear unless it was a combat situation, the members of the White Tiger Unit flinched.
When Vice Commander Heo Uk-il, standing behind him, gestured with his head as if to say they should play along, the members finally grasped the situation and smiled awkwardly.
“N-no, sir. Of course we should! Ahahaha! Isn’t that right, everyone?”
And so, as if he couldn’t lose to the others, Peng Seo-jin also began a meeting with the White Tiger Unit, putting their heads together to decide what to get for Yul’s birthday.
Was that all?
Everyone in the Peng Family who knew Yul had the same worry.
Because they all loved and adored Yul.
“Yap! Hyaahh!”
While the Peng Family was bustling with preparations for Yul’s birthday gift, Yul was once again diligently learning martial arts from her grandfather, Peng Mugang.
“Ugh. What should I get her? I really have no idea, no idea at all.”
Peng Mugang, who had been watching Yul lovingly as she diligently swung a small wooden saber, let out a short sigh.
He still hadn’t decided on a birthday gift.
For some reason, the more he thought about what to give her, the only thing that came to mind was that damn blade, blade, blade.
Shaking his head at his own pathetic state, Peng Mugang once again stared intently at Yul, who was training quite hard.
Then he suddenly opened his mouth.
“Yul.”
“Yes! Grandpa!”
Yul looked up at Peng Mugang with her big eyes.
“What do you want for a gift, Yul?”
“A gift?”
“Isn’t it your birthday soon?”
“Ah! That’s right!”
At first, Peng Mugang had wanted to surprise her with a secretly prepared gift.
But at some point, he started to think that while a surprise gift was nice, listening to what Yul really wanted and giving her that was a better idea.
“I want a gift, a gift I want is... hmm.”
Yul tilted her head for a long time, pondering, as if nothing came to mind.
“Or is there any wish you have?”
Calling it a wish sounded quite grand, but he threw out the question thinking he could surely grant his young granddaughter’s wish.
“Ah, I have one for that!”
At Peng Mugang’s words, Yul’s face lit up in a bright smile, as if something had come to mind.
And at his granddaughter’s answer, Peng Mugang’s eyes widened as far as they could go.
Soon,
“Yes. I feel the same way.”
Peng Mugang smiled gently at Yul.
That day, Peng Mugang decided what to do for Yul’s birthday gift.
Thanks to that, it looked like he would be busy for a few days.
What on earth was the wish Yul had told Peng Mugang?
Yul’s birthday arrived on a day with perfectly clear weather, full of joyous laughter.
“I thank everyone who has come to my granddaughter’s birthday today. I hope you all have a wonderful time.”
People came from all over to celebrate Yul’s birthday, as befitting the birthday of the granddaughter of the Peng Family, which held sway over the Hebei region.
The head of the Peng Family, Peng Mugang, smiled broadly as he looked at the numerous people who had visited the Peng Family.
Beside him, Dan Hee-young, Peng Seo-jin, Yeo Un-hwi, holding Yul in his arms, and Peng Seo-yeon greeted the guests in clothes more splendid than usual.
*Murmur, murmur.*
It was truly a festive atmosphere.
Every corner of the Peng Family had been beautifully decorated for this day.
Although there wasn’t enough time to invite figures from all over the Murim, it was clear that this was the most splendid and grandest party held this year.
“Yul! Happy birthday!”
“Su-ah!”
Yul’s friends from Sowol Academy also came to her birthday party.
Yeo Un-hwi and Peng Seo-yeon smiled as they watched Yul, who was soon surrounded by her friends, laughing brightly.
Though there had been this and that, they thought it was a very good decision to bring Yul to Hebei and have her attend Sowol Academy.
If they hadn’t, Yul might have seemed lonely on a day like today.
“Are you really giving out food? For free?”
“Of course! It’s an order from the Family Head. There are seats prepared over there, so feel free to eat as much as you like and take some with you!”
“My goodness, what a day. Hahaha!”
A rumor had also spread that everyone who visited the Peng Family, regardless of their status, would for some reason be provided with free food today.
Naturally, many people visited the Peng Family, and not a single one was turned away, and all got to taste the delicious food prepared by the Peng Family to their heart’s content.
That wasn’t the end of it.
One of the largest training grounds in the Peng Family had been changed beyond recognition.
The children who saw it gasped in amazement.
“Wooooow!”
A large playground that children would love had been created.
There were the usual play structures that children liked, as well as things they had never seen before.
Among them, what caught the children’s eyes the most was a water play area made by digging a moderately sized pit under a large slide.
The depth was just right, so there was no danger of falling in or getting hurt, and light balls were floating on the water for the children to play with.
Preparations had been meticulously made right next to it so that the children coming out of the water could wash up cleanly.
Even better, it wasn’t just the invited friends from Sowol Academy who could play there.
All the nearby children could come in and play together.
Of course, these things didn’t just appear out of nowhere; the three major martial forces had all been mobilized and had to work quite hard.
But they too felt a proud smile spread across their faces as they watched Yul, her friends, and the neighborhood children all laughing and playing happily together.
And so, Yul’s birthday party became a day where all the townspeople smiled, just as Yul had wished.
Dan Hee-young, who had looked around at the birthday party Peng Mugang had prepared, looked at her husband with a surprised face.
“My goodness, you’re really something. How did you think of this?”
She was at the point of doubting whether this was really her husband, who had only ever gifted their children with sharp blades.
“Haha. Is that so?”
Peng Mugang laughed awkwardly as he once again recalled the wish Yul had told him a few days ago.
“I wish it could be a day where my friends, Grandpa, the neighborhood kids, and all the uncles and aunts can be really, really happy and laugh!”
The little one.
He had asked what she wanted, what she wanted to do, and she had given such an answer.
Peng Mugang found his granddaughter even more lovable for it.
So Peng Mugang had tried his best to create such a day for Yul and for the people.
Of course, the ones who did all the hard work were the warriors of the Peng Family, including the three major martial forces below their leader.
Naturally, he planned to give them a separate reward.
Enough so that no grumbling would come out.
“Thank you! Thank you!”
“The slide is so much fun!”
“Hey everyone, come play over here!”
Anyway, Yul’s birthday party was becoming a day filled with the sound of people’s laughter, just as she had wished.
The people of the world came to know about it thanks to this birthday party.
The rumor that the head of the Peng Family disliked and was displeased with his daughter was not true.
In fact, he cherished and loved his daughter and granddaughter more than anyone.
It wasn’t as if he had calculated such a thing from the beginning.
In the meantime, Hwangbo Gyun, who had been gone for a while, appeared with a confident face and held out a book.
When asked what it was, he said it was an internal cultivation method he had secretly poured his heart and soul into creating, and that he would personally teach it to Yul.
At that, Peng Mugang snorted loudly and threw the book far away, causing Hwangbo Gyun to turn pale and dive after the book, shouting.
“Uwaaah! No! My precious internal cultivation method! You Peng Family bastard, I won’t forget this!”
“Elder Gu, what’s that in your hand?”
“Ahem. Ah, it’s nothing.”
When Peng Mugang asked with a frown, Gu Wang-pyo stealthily put the book he had been taking out back into his robes.
The title “Butterfly Saber Art” was faintly visible.
And so, Gu Wang-pyo held forever in his heart the Yul-exclusive saber art he had created over several days, filled with his own enlightenment.
Anyway, they truly were grandfathers who had prepared absurd gifts.
Just as the three grandfathers, including Peng Mugang, were bickering over Yul’s birthday gift.
“Hahaha!”
A loud laugh was heard, and someone appeared before them.
“The Peng Family is full of joyous laughter. I’ve come on a very well-chosen day.”
“Hmm? You, you are?”
Peng Mugang’s eyes widened when he saw a man in shabby clothes.
“Have you all been well? It’s been a long time.”
The middle-aged man grinned.
A completely unexpected figure had just visited the Peng Family.