Chapter 76
Oh no!
Peng Mugang, who had completely forgotten about Yul-i in his moment of excitement, looked down at the child in his arms.
Yul-i was looking up at Peng Mugang with tears welling up in her eyes.
Peng Mugang's face showed utter bewilderment.
With her lips quivering on the verge of crying, Yul-i asked her grandfather:
"Grandpa, do you hate Daddy?"
"Ah, no, that's not it..."
As Yul-i gazed up at him with those big eyes, Peng Mugang was at a complete loss.
He quickly looked to his wife for help.
But Dan Hee-young avoided his gaze.
Left with no choice, he turned to Paeng Seo-yeon, but his daughter also averted her eyes.
Faced with the two women's attitude that seemed to say 'you reap what you sow', Peng Mugang carefully looked back at Yul-i.
Yul-i's eyes were still brimming with tears.
"How, how could that be? Why would Grandpa hate him?"
"Then do you like Daddy?"
"Well, that..."
Peng Mugang hesitated for a moment, then reluctantly squeezed his eyes shut and answered.
"Yes. I like him, I like him. Grandpa likes our son-in-law."
"Really?"
Yul-i's tears instantly vanished as she beamed.
"O-Of course! Really!"
"I love Grandpa so much too. I'm sure Daddy will feel the same."
"Haha. Y-Yes, yes. Thank you."
Yul-i laughed brightly as if she had never been on the verge of tears, and wrapped her arms around Peng Mugang's neck.
The tiny Yul-i ended up dangling from the large Peng Mugang's neck.
"Oh my, this little one. Haha!"
Peng Mugang guffawed at his granddaughter's aegyo.
And just like that, Peng Mugang's firm resolve to never call Yeo Un-hwi his son-in-law even if the sky fell crumbled the moment he opened his mouth.
"Pfft."
"Pffft."
Both Dan Hee-young and Paeng Seo-yeon burst into laughter watching Peng Mugang.
Paeng Seo-yeon's face showed that her anger had quickly dissipated as well.
In the end, even the unyielding Peng Mugang was just a weak grandfather in front of his granddaughter.
"But Grandpa."
"Yes?"
"What does 'rice bug' mean?"
"W-Well, you see, Yul-i. Umm..."
Faced with Yul-i's innocent question, Peng Mugang truly felt like dying.
This is why one should always be careful with words in front of children.
Hahaha!
Late one night, a clandestine meeting was taking place in a lavish pleasure house.
It was a banquet of some of the wealthiest merchants in the Central Plains.
Not all of them were present, of course.
It was more of an alliance where a few like-minded individuals gathered to discuss their businesses and help each other out.
As considerable time had passed since the start of the banquet, they had exhausted their topics of conversation and were running out of things to discuss.
Then someone abruptly brought up the 'Golden Manor'.
A group that would stop at nothing to make money, taking on any job that promised profit, literally raking in money at one point.
As a result, their wealth, power, and influence were enormous.
To give an idea of the extent, some said that if given enough time, the Golden Manor could wage war against any major faction with the money they had, while others claimed they could establish their own country if they so desired.
Such was the Golden Manor, but...
Their sudden downfall was still shocking to think about even now.
They truly vanished overnight as if erased, to the point where it was questionable whether 'downfall' was even the right word to describe it.
"To think the Golden Manor would disappear so anticlimactically."
"Indeed. I still can't comprehend how such a thing could happen."
"Perhaps the Twelve Venerables of the World were involved..."
"Come now. Surely not. How could that be?"
"That's right. I understand they prefer not to get involved in such conflicts."
Then what on earth...?
The wealthy merchants' minds raced with all sorts of thoughts, even as they dismissed them as implausible.
From what they had heard, the three merchant leaders of the Golden Manor were found dead at the bottom of a cliff with their heads smashed.
And all the vast treasures the Golden Manor had possessed had vanished without a trace.
What in the world had happened?
And where had all that money gone?
The wealthy merchants swallowed hard.
With that kind of money, there would be nothing in this world they couldn't accomplish.
"Hmm. What to do."
Yeo Un-hwi was scratching his head in an enormous secret chamber.
Before his eyes lay a massive pile of gold, silver, and precious treasures.
Enough to fill this huge room entirely.
Just how much was all this worth?
And where exactly was this place?
This was Yeo Un-hwi's secret location, known only to him.
A place that no one else could ever find, known only to him.
It was a hideout he had primarily used during his time as the Blood Demon, remaining undiscovered by anyone else even until his final moments.
Moreover, now that he had deployed formations using the Heavenly Martial Divine Art, it had become even more inaccessible to others.
But what were these immense riches before Yeo Un-hwi's eyes?
These were the treasures Yeo Un-hwi had taken from the Golden Manor.
He had left them untouched for a while due to various pressing matters.
But now he was thinking it was about time to put this money to use, and he was pondering how to spend it.
First of all, he wasn't particularly in need of money at the moment.
Since joining the Paeng Family, he no longer had to worry about basic necessities...
When he first started living with the Paeng Family, he was literally freeloading without doing any work, but now he even earned money as the leader of the White Wolf Unit.
Besides, as long as his wife and Yul-i could live happily without going hungry, he didn't need an excessive amount of money.
Then, perhaps... that should be the priority?
Yeo Un-hwi's eyes narrowed.
Lately, a thought had been crossing his mind.
The realization that money and martial arts weren't everything.
Thanks to his regression, he could anticipate and prepare for future events, but the information he possessed seemed fragmented and disjointed.
While some memories were crystal clear, many others were hazy.
It was only natural.
He had never dreamed he would regress.
He hadn't specifically tried to memorize useful information for a potential regression.
So far, he had managed well enough with the sporadic memories and information that surfaced, but now he couldn't rely solely on his own recollections.
Moreover, history was already changing bit by bit due to Yeo Un-hwi's actions, which made it even more challenging.
The incident with Jegal Gil was a prime example.
Originally, he had no reason to come to Hebei at this time.
According to the history Yeo Un-hwi knew, only Jo Min would have survived the encounter between the Scholar Forest Group and the Black Kill Squad, returning to the Murim Alliance to begin his activities as a spy.
Then he would have lived the same life as the Blood Flower Young Master.
But due to Yeo Un-hwi's intervention, Jo Min, along with the entire Black Kill Squad and Scholar Forest Group, met their demise, and the altered course of history led Jegal Gil to Hebei.
As a result, he faced a life-threatening situation much earlier than expected.
It was only by following him to the Murim Alliance out of an uneasy feeling that Yeo Un-hwi managed to save Jegal Gil's life.
While it was fortunate, it also sent a chill down his spine.
Yeo Un-hwi realized with certainty at that moment.
From now on, the course of history would flow in directions he could never predict.
If he failed to read those currents properly, he too would lose everything from this point forward.
He needed to learn and understand everything anew.
If that was the case, there was only one thing he needed most right now.
A smile spread across Yeo Un-hwi's face as he made up his mind.
The great city of Beijing.
As the seat of the Emperor, the city was thriving like no other.
A handsome man was walking through the streets of this vast and splendid city.
It was Yeo Un-hwi.
What business could have brought him to Beijing?
He soon entered a dilapidated pleasure house.
It was located on the outskirts of Beijing, a shabby establishment that seemed out of place among the numerous grand buildings, attracting few visitors.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we're closed for business today."
A young woman approached Yeo Un-hwi as he entered the pleasure house and spoke.
Yeo Un-hwi replied in a calm tone.
"I'm here for something other than what goes in the mouth."
The woman's expression changed instantly.
"Please wait a moment."
Yeo Un-hwi nodded, and the woman disappeared into the inner part of the pleasure house.
After a short while, she returned.
"Please follow me."
Yeo Un-hwi was soon led into a room by the woman.
"You can wait here."
Not long after the woman who had guided Yeo Un-hwi left, the door opened again and two people entered.
A middle-aged woman and a young man who appeared to be her attendant.
The woman, who seemed to be the owner of this pleasure house, sat across from Yeo Un-hwi, exuding an appropriate blend of elegance, dignity, and allure.
"What brings you here?"
Unlike the young woman who had tensely guided Yeo Un-hwi here, the middle-aged woman asked with a relaxed smile.
Yet there was an aura about her that subtly pressured the other party, the kind that would make an ordinary person lower their gaze and stammer at least once.
However, Yeo Un-hwi replied nonchalantly.
"I came because I need information."
"Information? I'm not sure what you mean. This is a place that sells alcohol and laughter."
"I came directly to Beijing, where I heard your leader is, because I find it tedious to beat around the bush. Let's dispense with the word games, shall we?"
At that moment.
Swoosh!
Chk. Chk. Chk. Chk. Chk.
As soon as Yeo Un-hwi finished speaking, five warriors appeared out of nowhere and held blades to his neck.
"Who are you?"
The woman's gentle voice turned cold.
She glared at Yeo Un-hwi with a sharp gaze, completely different from before.
"Who else? I told you, I came to buy information. Is this how the Hao Sect treats its customers? I'm disappointed."
"How did you find this place?"
"If you want to know, pay up. Or give me one piece of information for free."
The woman's eyes turned frosty at Yeo Un-hwi's casual joke, delivered with a smirk.
"Do you have a death wish? I'm not joking around."
"Neither am I. And."
Boom.
Suddenly, an enormous energy burst forth from Yeo Un-hwi's body, sending the five warriors who had been holding blades to his neck flying.
Thud. Thump. Thud. Thump. Thump.
They all crashed into the walls and fell.
"Urghh!"
"It's good to be cautious, but don't draw your blades so recklessly. I don't want to hurt anyone."
The faces of everyone in the room hardened at the unbelievable pressure.
Soon, the middle-aged woman asked in a trembling voice.
"W-Who are you?"
"I told you earlier, didn't I? Someone who came to buy information."
Yeo Un-hwi let out a deep sigh and then looked at someone other than the middle-aged woman.
"Let's stop this now. I want to talk with you."
And Yeo Un-hwi's gaze was directed at the young man who had appeared to be the woman's attendant.
A man with a very ordinary face and demeanor, the kind you might see anywhere in the world.
However,
"...How did you know?"
In an instant, the man's eyes and face changed.
As if he had become a completely different person.