Chapter 16
"No. We can't do that."
On a perfectly peaceful night, Yeo Un-hwi's words shattered that peace. Paeng Seo-yeon shook her head firmly with a resolute expression.
"Honey."
"Father will never forgive me for leaving the family. No, even if he might overlook me, he absolutely won't let you off the hook."
For a long time, she had tried her best to forget that place.
After wandering here and there with great difficulty, they had finally settled in Sodam Village and only just begun to find some peace of mind.
But now, to throw away all those years of hardship and return? She didn't want to do that. Why on earth would they?
Now, nothing in this world was more precious to her than her husband and daughter.
Returning was simply unthinkable for Seo-yeon now.
She couldn't understand why Un-hwi was suddenly saying this.
Of course, how could Seo-yeon not miss her family and the place where she was born and raised?
But her father, who had refused to accept her love for Un-hwi until the very end, had even tried to arrange a marriage she didn't want in an attempt to separate them.
There were even a few serious proposals that came in.
That's why they left. Giving up everything.
Because she saw a future where she wouldn't be able to be with Un-hwi if they stayed.
She had no desire for a future where she would clearly live the rest of her life regretting a path she never truly wanted.
On that day when she secretly left her family in the early morning, Seo-yeon had resolved herself.
No matter how much she missed them or wanted to see them, she would gladly endure it all.
For Seo-yeon, the current situation was causing her as much turmoil as back then.
She never dreamed that Un-hwi, of all people, would suggest going back.
"Father has probably already erased me from his life. And I've become a person who no longer exists to the family. So what would everyone say if we suddenly went back now?"
In truth, she didn't care about other people's opinions.
If Seo-yeon had cared about such things in the first place, she never would have fallen in love with Un-hwi, who was just an orphaned scholar, let alone given up everything to run away with him.
But how would her father look at her and her husband?
Perhaps it would seem like she was crawling back to the family, regretting her youthful rashness and willfulness.
Seo-yeon really hated that idea.
But Un-hwi's thoughts were different.
"Honey, it won't be like that. Your father still misses his daughter, I'm sure of it."
"No, how can you be so confident?"
"Think about Yul."
Seo-yeon looked at her husband as if to ask what he meant.
Un-hwi continued carefully.
"No matter what Yul might do, could we ever erase her from our hearts or minds? Wouldn't we worry about her and want to see her, wondering if she's doing well?"
"But,"
"Of course, he must have been very angry. Not only did you go against his wishes, but you disappeared like that. But that's not all there is to it. I firmly believe that all parents' hearts are the same."
Seo-yeon fell silent for a moment, seemingly choked up at Un-hwi's words.
And Un-hwi truly believed what he was saying.
He hadn't understood the saying that you only know a parent's heart when you have a child of your own until Yul was born.
But after Yul was born and as they raised her, he came to understand deeply.
How profound that love for a child truly is.
Though Un-hwi was an orphan, he was so grateful to have learned this fact.
"Though he's known for being a very strong-willed person, I don't think he'll be that harsh until the very end. Of course, he probably still won't think of me as family, haha."
Un-hwi scratched his head.
"But I'm sure he'll welcome you and our daughter Yul."
"Honey."
"Trust me. I'm certain he spends every night missing his daughter, waiting for you to return. And shouldn't we start telling Yul that she has grandparents?"
"Well, of course..."
Seo-yeon had thought more than once or twice about how much her father and mother would have adored Yul if they saw her.
Though she had quickly pushed away those feelings of anticipation and excitement.
Because she thought it was impossible.
And the reason she hadn't brought it up even more was because of her husband, Un-hwi.
Though he had never said it directly, Seo-yeon had noticed that her husband felt guilty towards her.
And that was true.
Un-hwi always carried a sense of guilt towards his wife, Seo-yeon.
He thought that this woman, who had been cherished and had so many expectations placed on her as the precious daughter of a prestigious martial arts family, had given up everything because of him.
If his wife had never met him, how much more would she be enjoying right now?
Un-hwi was certain she would have lived an amazing and glamorous life.
So why did Un-hwi bring this up to Seo-yeon today?
It was largely influenced by the recent incident with Tang Gu-hwi.
He couldn't protect her. In his past life.
And in this life, he learned for the first time.
About his wife's poisoning and the plot hidden behind it.
Fortunately, he hadn't lost his wife in this life, but the more Un-hwi thought about it, the more his heart sank.
After regressing, he had resolved to live protecting his family, but in the brief time he went to the Martial God's cave to gain power, something had happened to his wife.
He thought about it.
What if he had been too late?
What if that poison hadn't been the slow-acting kind, but one that took a life instantly upon infection?
It was terrifying.
If that had happened, perhaps he would have lived consumed by revenge in this life too?
Though with their daughter Yul, it's hard to say how things might have turned out.
In any case, that's why Un-hwi had been pondering ever since returning from Sichuan.
What would be the best way to protect his family?
Was there an absolutely safe way to ensure their safety even when he had to be away?
And then he thought of it.
Returning to his wife's family.
It was undoubtedly the best option Un-hwi could choose.
Even in his past life, until the moment he met his death as the Blood Demon, his wife's family, the Hebei Peng Family, hadn't been caught up in any major troubles.
No, unless the Demonic Heavenly Cult invaded the martial world and started a life-or-death battle, there was little chance of anything unusual happening to the Hebei Peng Family, one of the Five Great Families of the martial world.
And one more thing.
There was something Seo-yeon didn't know.
When Un-hwi and Seo-yeon first ran away from the Hebei Peng Family, her father Peng Mugang had been firmly against their relationship.
*He said he would never allow it, even if the sky fell.*
Un-hwi himself thought that her father would never forgive his daughter who had abandoned the family, or himself who had caused it, until the day he died.
But that wasn't true.
How did he know?
Because not long after his wife died, he appeared in Sodam Village.
Peng Mugang, the man called the Tiger of Hebei.
The Hebei Hegemon who once ruled the entire Central Plains with his blade, on that day he held his cold, lifeless daughter and wept endlessly.
And unbelievably, he apologized to Un-hwi.
Saying that all of this was his own fault.
That things had turned out this way because he had stubbornly insisted on forcing his own will on his daughter until the end.
Then he made an offer. Would Un-hwi send Yul to the Hebei Peng Family?
*He said he would raise her as the most precious thing in the world.*
Un-hwi refused that offer.
It was a time when he was utterly despondent after losing his wife.
Now he had nothing left but his daughter Yul.
So he was filled with a stubborn determination to raise Yul well, as if to prove something.
But not long after, Un-hwi regretted that decision to the point of wanting to die.
He should have sent her when Peng Mugang offered.
If he had, his daughter wouldn't have lost her life waiting alone for him in a burning house.
Because of that, he lived consumed by revenge as the Blood Demon afterwards, and ended up meeting a miserable end as public enemy of the martial world.
So,
Now that he had regressed and been given a new chance, he couldn't make such foolish choices again.
He had to rethink everything.
There was no reason to be stubborn.
He hadn't lost anything yet. That was important.
For now, he had obtained the Martial God's power in this life too, and he was confident he could face anyone except the "Twelve Venerables of the World" without losing.
He was confident that with time, he could overcome even that.
But he considered this thought.
What would be the best choice he could make in the worst-case scenario, assuming he had no martial arts, no power to protect his family?
He thought about it hundreds, thousands of times.
And he lined up the few choices that came to mind.
Soon he realized. The best option for a powerless version of himself would be to "return to the Hebei Peng Family."
If they had been there from the start, who would have dared to even think of poisoning and killing his wife?
Even Tang Gu-hwi wouldn't have risked it.
Not if he didn't want an all-out war between the Hebei Peng Family and the Sichuan Tang Family.
No, given what he had done, all the Orthodox Factions who valued "visible righteousness" above all would unanimously side with the Hebei Peng Family.
And Yul also wouldn't suffer the same fate as in his past life.
That's right.
The best choice for the weakest version of himself would also be the best option for Un-hwi with the Martial God's power.
Right now, he and his family needed the safe haven of the Hebei Peng Family.
Un-hwi was certain of this.
And whatever he might have to endure from now on to make that happen was completely unimportant.
Because it couldn't be more important than losing his family.
Of course, there was a possibility of minor incidents occurring once they went to the Hebei Peng Family, but he was no longer naive, foolish, or weak enough to meekly endure petty harassment and insults.
So there was nothing to worry about.
"Everything will be fine. Let's go back. To Hebei."
Unlike usual, Un-hwi was resolute.
And seeing him like this, Seo-yeon couldn't simply keep refusing.
"But if it becomes unbearable, let's run away again. Haha."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Seo-yeon finally cracked a smile at Un-hwi's words.
Though her face still showed traces of worry and reluctance, Seo-yeon nodded.
Un-hwi gently embraced Seo-yeon.
And so, they decided to leave Sodam Village and return to Hebei.
But before that, there was one thing they needed to do.
Un-hwi's eyes gleamed as he comforted Seo-yeon.