Chapter 50
"Urgh... Are we going to die before we even get stronger?"
One of the White Wolf Unit members who had collapsed to the ground as soon as Yeo Un-hwi disappeared groaned.
"Weren't you so confident earlier that you wouldn't give up? Now you're whining?"
"That's right. If you can't handle it, just leave. I'll endure somehow."
"Come on now. Who said anything about leaving? I was just grumbling a bit."
"Heh. Once you start grumbling, there's no end to it. You'd be better off saving your energy instead of talking."
"Yes, yes."
That's when,
"Brother. Over there."
"Hm?"
Suddenly, one of the White Wolf Unit members spotted Peng Do-hwan in the distance and spoke to O Chae-mu and Gu Tae-san.
Naturally, their gazes turned towards him.
Ahem.
Sensing their gaze, Peng Do-hwan quickly turned and left the training ground.
"He must have seen everything we did today. Will that be alright?"
"That's right. What if he goes and says something strange somewhere? It could become troublesome."
In response to the members' words, O Chae-mu shook his head.
"Just leave him be."
"But..."
"Besides, our training like this will become known eventually. There's no need to keep it secret, it's fine."
At O Chae-mu's words, everyone nodded.
"Well, if you say so."
Judging by their expressions, it seemed they had gotten a glimpse of the commander's true nature.
If not, he would have come over and meddled in all sorts of ways by now.
O Chae-mu and Gu Tae-san, having known Peng Do-hwan for years, could roughly guess his current state just by looking at him.
And his mind must be very complicated right now.
O Chae-mu and Gu Tae-san found themselves smiling without realizing it.
They were curious to see how the prideful Peng Do-hwan would react.
"Tsk."
Peng Do-hwan, who had tried to follow Yeo Un-hwi all day, returned to his room in a daze after witnessing the White Wolf Unit's absurd training.
He flopped onto his bed and thought for a long time.
He decided to cool his head and think things through one by one.
What exactly were these thoughts?
He couldn't understand why they were doing such excessive training when the Peng Family wasn't about to go to war or anything.
One thing was certain - the current White Wolf Unit was very different from the one he had known.
At the center of it all was Yeo Un-hwi, who had recently become the new commander of the White Wolf Unit.
'Sigh. I don't know. I just don't know.'
He felt like his thoughts were going in circles.
He fell asleep like that, lying on the bed lost in thought.
It felt like he had exhausted his mental energy all day long.
He had been constantly surprised, so it was understandable.
He didn't open his eyes again until early the next morning.
'Hmm. I must have fallen asleep.'
He sat up with a groggy face.
Despite sleeping soundly, he didn't feel refreshed at all.
It was probably because his mind was still troubled.
But he didn't think he'd be able to fall back asleep even if he lay down again.
He soon slowly got up and went outside.
He thought the morning air might make him feel better.
"Hmm. This is nice."
It was a bit chilly, but he felt fairly good nonetheless.
So his plan to just get some fresh air for a moment changed.
Peng Do-hwan's early morning walk ended up being longer than expected.
But then,
He saw someone passing by in the distance.
Hm? That was...
It was Yeo Un-hwi. He was certain.
Peng Do-hwan instinctively hid himself.
It was truly strange.
Even though he hadn't particularly intended to follow him, they happened to meet like this.
He was heading somewhere in the early morning.
'Where could he be going at this hour?'
Peng Do-hwan wore a puzzled expression. He was curious.
Before he knew it, he found himself following Yeo Un-hwi.
Whoosh!
As soon as Yeo Un-hwi left the Peng Family compound, his movements began to speed up, eventually reaching a pace that was difficult to keep up with.
"Urgh."
Even for Peng Do-hwan, who was quite confident in his lightfoot skills, it was incredibly challenging.
One wrong move and he would lose him.
If he slowed down even for a moment, Yeo Un-hwi would disappear into a tiny speck.
So Peng Do-hwan exerted all his effort not to lose sight of Yeo Un-hwi.
That's how fast Yeo Un-hwi was.
It was truly astounding the more he thought about it.
Who had said this man didn't know martial arts?
He felt a surge of anger, wanting to tear out the mouths of those who had mocked Yeo Un-hwi as a scholar who knew nothing but reading books and spread such rumors.
How much time had passed?
"Huff, huff."
Fortunately, he managed to keep following Yeo Un-hwi without losing him.
But Peng Do-hwan didn't know.
If Yeo Un-hwi had truly set his mind to it, Peng Do-hwan wouldn't have even been able to think about following him in the first place.
Right now, Yeo Un-hwi was essentially taking a morning walk.
Moreover, he was certainly aware of Peng Do-hwan's presence behind him.
So, he had simply allowed it.
For Peng Do-hwan to follow him.
'This, this place...'
Before he knew it, as he frantically chased after Yeo Un-hwi, he found himself climbing a mountain.
It was a mountain known for its rugged terrain and high peaks, a bit far from the Peng Family compound.
As long as one didn't overexert themselves, climbing this mountain shouldn't be too difficult, but he had been pouring all his energy into following Yeo Un-hwi.
"Huff, huff, huff."
Naturally, he soon found himself gasping for breath.
At the summit of the mountain, which they had reached at some point,
Peng Do-hwan, who had been breathing heavily, lost sight of Yeo Un-hwi while trying to catch his breath for a moment.
'Where, where did he go?'
Peng Do-hwan quickly looked around, but he couldn't see him.
Then he spotted a small clearing at the mountain's peak.
As he quietly approached,
'There he is!'
Yeo Un-hwi was standing quietly in the center of the clearing with his eyes closed.
Relieved, Peng Do-hwan silently held his breath and watched Yeo Un-hwi.
Soon, Yeo Un-hwi opened his eyes, grasped the sword at his waist, and slowly raised it towards the sky.
'What is he doing?'
That's when,
Kuuung!
'Urgh?'
An enormous energy suddenly began to fill the surroundings.
And then,
Kuuuuuuuung!
Sword energy began to gather relentlessly above the blade in his hand, quickly growing to a massive size.
A colossal golden energy, so immense it overwhelmed the observer, was condensing there.
Peng Do-hwan's eyes widened in shock.
Shuaaaaaaak!
The sword energy then shot up towards the high heavens.
Kuaaaaaaaaang!
Soon, a massive hole appeared in the cloud-filled sky.
"Good heavens... What, what is that..."
Overwhelmed by the incredible sight, Peng Do-hwan unconsciously sank to the ground.
Sunlight began to shine through the hole in the sky, illuminating the clearing and Yeo Un-hwi.
The scene was utterly fantastical.
It looked mystical, beautiful, and even sacred.
Faced with this tremendous sight that defied description, Peng Do-hwan's mind went completely blank.
He completely forgot why he had come here, for what purpose, and how.
What he saw that day was truly divine martial arts.
Afterwards, Peng Do-hwan could barely remember how he had returned to his room.
Yeo Un-hwi, who had demonstrated such incredible martial arts, disappeared shortly after, and he had trudged down the mountain in a daze.
Then he lay on his bed and slept all day.
For some reason, he was able to sleep soundly.
Though nothing had been resolved and questions still remained, he felt strangely at peace.
The next day.
Peng Do-hwan left his room dressed neatly.
His face no longer showed any trace of the worries and troubles that had plagued him in recent days.
"Hm? What's the matter?"
Today, like yesterday, Yeo Un-hwi was at the training ground.
It was before the White Wolf Unit members had arrived.
Unlike yesterday when he had watched from afar, Peng Do-hwan stood directly in front of Yeo Un-hwi.
Yeo Un-hwi raised one eyebrow slightly as he looked at Peng Do-hwan.
"It was you who beheaded the Extreme Evil Laughing Demon, wasn't it, Commander?"
In response to Peng Do-hwan's question, Yeo Un-hwi simply looked at him quietly.
He didn't deny it at all.
Which meant,
"I thought it was strange. Thinking about it rationally, even if the Extreme Evil Laughing Demon had been injured, it would have been nearly impossible for the current White Wolf Unit to behead him. I heard he wasn't even unconscious."
Moreover, not a single person had died or suffered irreversible fatal wounds... It didn't make sense.
Peng Do-hwan now felt he understood. How things had happened.
It was this man. It was because of this man that all of it had been possible.
The story about the Extreme Evil Laughing Demon being injured was likely untrue as well.
Soon, Yeo Un-hwi smirked and folded his arms.
"Isn't your assessment of the White Wolf Unit too harsh?"
"You may not know this, but I spent most of my childhood with the White Wolf Unit. As such, I pride myself on acknowledging them more than anyone while also knowing them better than anyone."
If he hadn't known Yeo Un-hwi's true nature, he might have thought they had accomplished a truly miraculous feat.
Assuming they had been blessed with incredible luck.
But now it was different.
He had come to know a bit of Yeo Un-hwi's true nature.
He had also clearly seen how the prideful White Wolf Unit members treated Yeo Un-hwi and how much they followed him.
Moreover, that impossible scene he had witnessed in the clearing at the mountain's peak early yesterday morning had made Peng Do-hwan fully understand the current situation.
"It seems you've already come to your own conclusions?"
"Indeed, I have."
"So?"
"What do you intend to do from now on?"
Peng Do-hwan was curious.
What exactly this man had in mind.
"Hmm. That's quite a grand question. Well, if I must answer."
Yeo Un-hwi stroked his chin for a moment before slowly continuing his answer.
"Let's say it's protecting those I love? I don't have much interest in anything else."
It might have been a somewhat disappointing answer.
He had expected something more grandiose to come from his mouth.
But why did his heart start pounding so strongly?
Yeo Un-hwi's words weren't finished yet.
"So I intend to protect my beloved family and this place from everything in the world. And I won't show any mercy to those who threaten them."
"Even if it's anyone?"
Peng Do-hwan swallowed hard.
His voice was trembling without him realizing it.
"Even if it's the Demonic Cult, the Murim Alliance, or even the Twelve Venerables of the World?"
Yeo Un-hwi nodded as if it were obvious.
"I will. Gladly."
If someone else heard this, they might laugh scornfully or scoff, thinking he must be crazy.
But to Peng Do-hwan, that answer didn't sound strange at all.
No, he thought that this man might really do it.
Protecting those he loved from everything in the world.
It was such a simple yet profoundly moving idea.
And so, Peng Do-hwan, who had simply lived as his father Peng Gyeong-ho wished since leaving the White Wolf Unit, was gradually opening his eyes.
And,
'I want to be with this man.'
He also wanted to dream together with this man.
Peng Do-hwan looked intently at Yeo Un-hwi standing before him once again.
The choice he was about to make... might be something many people would find strange and laugh at.
His father, Peng Gyeong-ho, would probably be the most furious.
Nevertheless, he decided to trust his own judgment.
Soon, Peng Do-hwan opened his mouth towards Yeo Un-hwi.