Chapter 24
"Excuse me, may I have a word?"
At the Hebei Peng Family estate.
Someone approached Yeo Un-hwi as he was strolling through the well-tended garden.
He appeared to be a warrior belonging to the Peng Family, with an emblem near his chest that only squad leaders wore.
"What is it?"
No Il-bong's face twitched for a moment at Yeo Un-hwi's words.
It was because of his overly casual way of speaking down to him.
But Yeo Un-hwi was the husband of Paeng Seo-yeon, the eldest daughter of the Family Head.
Perhaps such informal speech was only natural.
It's just that most people in the Peng Family, including No Il-bong, couldn't accept that fact.
'Hah, look at this guy.'
Though his insides twisted, that wasn't important right now.
No Il-bong quickly hid his emotions and smiled pleasantly.
"Well, since you've now become part of the Hebei Peng Family, I felt it was a shame we haven't had much interaction. So I humbly came to make a suggestion."
"Is that so."
"I've heard you usually devote yourself to scholarly pursuits, but if you're amenable, how would you like to join us for morning exercise?"
"Morning exercise?"
"Yes. It's nothing more than jogging a lap or two around the area each morning, so there's no need to feel burdened."
"Hmm."
"Wouldn't it be a good opportunity to take care of your health as well as your studies?"
No Il-bong gently coaxed Yeo Un-hwi with crescent-shaped eyes.
However, contrary to No Il-bong's casual words, the Hebei Peng Family's morning run was known among the warriors as "Hell's Morning Run."
It was far from simply jogging a light lap or two around the area.
It was an annual event for even a healthy new recruit with good stamina to vomit and collapse after just one of these runs on the first day.
But of course, there was no way this scholar would know that fact.
After pondering No Il-bong's suggestion for a moment, Yeo Un-hwi nodded.
"Alright, let's do that."
No Il-bong smiled cheerfully at that answer.
"Then I'll see you early tomorrow morning."
Soon Yeo Un-hwi turned and went on his way.
Watching his retreating figure, No Il-bong broke into a completely different, malicious grin.
Tomorrow, that scholar bastard would taste hell.
All he had to do was laugh his heart out while watching him sprawled out pathetically, vomiting.
Hehehe.
Just thinking about it was thrilling.
And so, No Il-bong couldn't wait for tomorrow to come.
Early morning, before the chill of dawn had fully dissipated.
Paeng Seo-yeon woke to rustling sounds beside her.
Rubbing her eyes sleepily as she half-rose, Paeng Seo-yeon saw Yeo Un-hwi preparing to go out.
"Where are you going?"
"Ah, I'm just going for a light morning jog."
"A jog?"
"Yeah. I was invited."
An invitation this early in the morning?
Paeng Seo-yeon tilted her head at her husband's puzzling words.
Lately, he seemed oddly busy from early hours for some reason.
"I'll be back."
Yeo Un-hwi flashed a grin at the perplexed Paeng Seo-yeon.
Peng Seo-jin, who had been busy reviewing family documents, suddenly raised his head.
"Morning run?"
"Yes."
Peng Seo-jin's brow furrowed.
It was because of the report from Heo Uk-il, the man who could be called his right-hand man and the Deputy Commander of the White Tiger Unit.
Peng Seo-jin himself was the Commander of the White Tiger Unit.
Anyway, Peng Seo-jin was aware that the atmosphere towards Yeo Un-hwi in the Peng Family had been growing increasingly negative lately.
So, although his father Peng Mugang had said he wouldn't lend any support, Peng Seo-jin couldn't just stand by and watch.
However, directly intervening to tell people not to mess with Yeo Un-hwi would only add fuel to the animosity towards him.
So Peng Seo-jin had secretly assigned one of his trusted men to keep an eye on Yeo Un-hwi.
To watch over him and make sure he didn't suffer any undue harm.
But now, a morning run?
This was completely unexpected news.
"Ah, this is troublesome."
If the warriors had simply invited Yeo Un-hwi to join them for a morning run and he had readily accepted, there was no justification for him to intervene.
Of course, if it were just a normal morning run, there would be no problem at all.
But Peng Seo-jin knew.
He knew how many warriors tasted hell every morning because of that run.
Hmm.
Peng Seo-jin's brow furrowed.
But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't come up with a solution.
A way to save Yeo Un-hwi from the morning run.
"It seems my brother-in-law is in for quite an ordeal today."
Peng Seo-jin let out a wry laugh with a troubled expression.
The Peng Family training ground.
Men with uniformly large builds and fierce looks were gathered, warming up lightly and chatting.
"He really agreed to come?"
In the midst of this, a man with a comparatively gentle appearance asked in surprise.
"That's what I'm saying."
"But is that really okay? What if something happens..."
"Bah! What's the problem? I simply invited him to join us for the morning run. It's not like I asked him to train with us all day."
"Well... that's true."
"I'm just going to teach him a little lesson. The other warriors want it too. To flatten that arrogant, shameless face of his."
"Hmm, I see. But I still feel uneasy about this somehow."
"Just leave it to me. I'll take care of everything. Today, I'm going to teach that scholar bastard who doesn't know martial arts exactly what it means to live as a son-in-law in our Hebei Peng Family. Haha!"
The squad leaders had mixed reactions to No Il-bong's excited chatter.
Some agreed and wanted to teach Yeo Un-hwi a lesson, while others felt uneasy and worried.
No Il-bong was just one of many squad leaders.
However, the man with the gentle appearance didn't like how No Il-bong had invited Yeo Un-hwi to the morning run without consulting them first.
After all, Yeo Un-hwi was the husband of Young Lady Paeng Seo-yeon from the main family line.
Though he too found Yeo Un-hwi disagreeable, he wondered if this was the right way to go about it.
But as things stood now, it did seem difficult to raise objections to simply inviting him to join the morning run, as No Il-bong had said.
The problem, if there was one, was that this morning run was known to many as "Hell's Run."
Moreover, today's run was to be led from start to finish by No Il-bong, who had invited Yeo Un-hwi.
Even he found it hard to find fault with that.
After all, it was an absolute rule that the morning run was led by each squad leader in turn, and on that day everyone had to follow that leader's commands without question.
"But."
Another squad leader spoke up.
"We can only teach him a lesson if that scholar bastard actually shows up. What if he doesn't come at all? Won't it all be for nothing?"
"Well... that's true."
No Il-bong licked his lips.
"If he doesn't even show up for the morning run we agreed on, what can we do? We'll just have to think he's only that much of a man."
Well, that would damage his reputation even further in its own way.
It was clear that the talk about Yeo Un-hwi would only get worse after that.
But he didn't really care about that.
The only thing that would be disappointing was not being able to properly torment that scholar bastard.
But just then,
"He's coming, over there."
One of the warriors spoke in a voice only the squad leaders could hear.
At those words, everyone's heads turned in that direction.
There, Yeo Un-hwi was walking towards them with an unhurried gait.
"Oh, so he's not a coward after all?"
The same smile spread across the faces of all the squad leaders present.
"Am I late?"
"No, sir. You're right on time."
"I see. And you all are?"
"These are the other squad leaders in the Peng Family, like myself."
"Hello. It's nice to meet you."
At No Il-bong's words, Yeo Un-hwi looked at the squad leaders, and the men each greeted him and introduced themselves.
Soon Yeo Un-hwi nodded.
"Well then, let's get started. I'll join in among the others."
"What? Ah. Ah. Yes. Understood."
For a moment, No Il-bong's face turned red.
'Damn this scholar bastard.'
He was irritated by how Yeo Un-hwi spoke down to him so naturally while maintaining a subtle air of composure.
But he quickly managed his expression.
That wasn't important right now.
Soon, No Il-bong put on an artificial smile and stepped in front of the warriors.
"Alright, we'll start the run as usual! Make sure to keep your ranks and files in order no matter what!"
"Yes!"
Soon, without any unnecessary words, the run began.
The numerous Peng Family warriors ran while maintaining their ranks and files.
How much time had passed?
'Oh? Look at that.'
'He's not bad.'
Yeo Un-hwi was doing much better than the others had expected.
Everyone found it somewhat surprising, but not overly so.
After all, up to this point it had been at a level that any average adult could keep up with.
But the real challenge was about to begin.
Soon, after passing through the Peng Family's main gate, they headed towards the mountain known to be the most treacherous among those near the Peng Family estate.
This was the reason why the Hebei Peng Family's morning run was so infamous.
A smile spread across No Il-bong's face.
'Let's see you die now, scholar bastard. You'll be wishing for death soon. Hehehe.'
All the others doing the run had the same thought.
Today, they had one goal.
To teach this slick scholar bastard a harsh lesson.
They were certain.
That before long, Yeo Un-hwi would be sprawled on the ground, crying and begging that he couldn't go on anymore.
That he would soon be showing the pathetic sight of vomiting everything in his stomach.
The warriors thought that today's morning run might be even more entertaining than usual.
But,
'Whew, the morning air really is nice.'
They didn't know.
That Yeo Un-hwi was thoroughly enjoying this time right now.
His footsteps were lighter than ever.