My Dad Is the Strongest Under Heaven
Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Chapter 14. A Night in Sichuan
Crash! Crack-crack-crack! Boom!
Explosions erupted in rapid succession, rattling the walls of the pleasure house.
It was an exchange of blows at blistering speed.
A dazzling array of concealed weapons flew through the air under Dang Mu-jun’s command.
With his projectiles, he pressured and closed off every space where Yeo Woonhwi could possibly step.
At the same time, Dang Mu-jun wove in heavy, rapid unarmed strikes. To an outside observer, the clash appeared as though Dang Mu-jun were relentlessly overwhelming his opponent.
Yet the reality was entirely different.
How is this possible?
Dang Mu-jun’s eyes trembled violently.
The masked man before him was evading, deflecting, and parrying every single attack by a mere hair’s breadth.
Had it only happened a few times, it might have been luck, and Dang Mu-jun would indeed have held control over the fight.
However, after tens of exchanges, the masked man had not suffered so much as a single scratch.
No matter how unorthodox Dang Mu-jun’s strikes became, the man neutralized every one of them with uncanny precision.
In other words, the barrage that would look like flashes of lightning to anyone else was moving at a crawl in this man’s eyes.
When that realization struck, a chill ran down Dang Mu-jun’s spine.
The man was holding back.
Against him—Dang Mu-jun, hailed as the greatest prodigy in the history of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
It was a sensation he had never experienced in his life.
A feeling men called bewilderment.
Truth be told, Dang Mu-jun had already noticed that his elder brother, Tang Guhwi, was plotting something tonight.
That was why he had been watching from a distance outside Cheonghwaru.
And then…
What is that?
Suddenly, an immense presence had erupted from the top floor of Cheonghwaru.
It was a colossal power, greater than anything he had ever felt before.
Yet within it, Dang Mu-jun could sense a remarkably pure and pristine qi.
Because of that, Dang Mu-jun had assumed that whoever appeared where his brother was must be a senior master who had long since left the martial world—and one from the Orthodox faction, at that.
Nothing else would make sense.
Yet what was this?
This mysterious masked master possessed a ruthlessness in combat that completely contradicted the pristine qi he radiated.
His cruelty in battle was sharp enough to make even Dang Mu-jun—a son of the Sichuan Tang Clan, famed for their lethal methods—click his tongue in shock.
Furthermore, though his face was hidden, the man was young.
Anyone could tell that much.
Unless he was a master who had achieved rejuvenation through martial transcendence.
Perhaps that explanation made more sense.
Only then could such overwhelming power be justified.
An opponent I cannot defeat.
Yet before long, a faint smile unbidden crept onto Dang Mu-jun’s lips.
Facing someone so impossibly strong stirred a different kind of sensation within him.
The pure joy of pouring out every ounce of his power.
In that instant, the light in Dang Mu-jun’s eyes shifted.
“Hoo-oo-ooh!”
Taking a deep breath, Dang Mu-jun moved twice as fast as before.
Whoosh-sh-sh-sh!
Circling Yeo Woonhwi at blinding speed, countless hidden weapons poured from Dang Mu-jun’s fingertips.
Rumble! Crash!
The force and speed behind his projectiles were entirely different from moments ago.
As Yeo Woonhwi swiftly stepped back, Dang Mu-jun closed the distance in a flash and threw a punch.
The moment Yeo Woonhwi seemed to dodge, an upward kick struck on a completely different rhythm, snapping his head back.
Did it land? No, wait…
There was no sensation of impact against his foot.
Yeo Woonhwi’s head returned to its original position.
A faint smile touched his lips.
He even dodged that?
Dang Mu-jun had not even managed to shake the man’s composure.
Phew.
Dang Mu-jun stepped back.
He stood quietly, looking at Yeo Woonhwi.
He could not win. Not right now. Not against this man.
Whether the masked man had spared him or was merely toying with him, Dang Mu-jun truly felt the weight of defeat.
Dang Mu-jun…
Yeo Woonhwi already knew who he was.
The greatest genius in the history of the Sichuan Tang Clan, a name renowned across the entire Murim even before his regression.
Above all, he had been widely celebrated for his extraordinary sense of chivalric justice.
Back when he was the Blood Demon, Yeo Woonhwi would have scoffed at the very mention of righteousness.
How could he not? To him, the Orthodox faction was no different from the Demonic Cult.
Words like righteousness, chivalry, and virtue had only stoked his fury back then.
He had never once seen anyone actually live up to them.
Dang Mu-jun, however, had been different.
Before the regression, Dang Mu-jun had failed to become the Patriarch of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
The seat had gone to Tang Guhwi instead.
Afterward, Dang Mu-jun left the clan, spending all his wealth to run a small village for orphans, the elderly, and the destitute.
By chance, Yeo Woonhwi had once found himself indebted to that place.
Dang Mu-jun, without even knowing who he was, had offered him food.
When Yeo Woonhwi shook his head in refusal, Dang Mu-jun had not taken offense at all. Instead, wondering if his guest feared poison, he ate a bite right in front of Yeo Woonhwi to prove it was safe.
Then he brought a fresh portion, set it down, told him to eat at ease, and stepped away.
The deeper one’s malice toward the world, the more vividly an act of pure goodwill lingers in memory.
That day was one of the precious few in the Blood Demon’s life when he had eaten in peace and slept soundly.
And now, to meet Dang Mu-jun here like this.
He had thought they might cross paths again someday.
Yet he never imagined it would be in a moment like this.
It left him with deeply complicated feelings.
More than anything, he was astonished by the young man’s talent.
In their brief clash just now, Dang Mu-jun had broken through his own shell and grown.
In such a fleeting span of time.
It was hard to imagine just how strong he might become.
While Yeo Woonhwi looked on in admiration, Dang Mu-jun felt the bitter sting of defeat.
Dang Mu-jun’s gaze shifted to his fallen brother before returning to the masked man.
Letting out a deep sigh, he slowly spoke.
“Can you not end this here?”
“My vengeance is not yet finished.”
“Just how far do you intend to take this revenge?”
“Until he feels the greatest pain in this world.”
“Then let it end at this.”
“Hm?”
“My brother has already suffered severe injuries at your hands. It will take him a very long time to recover his martial arts. A very long time indeed.”
Dang Mu-jun continued.
At an age when one could still be called a rising talent, even a momentary plateau meant falling far behind one’s peers.
In that sense, the severity of the wounds Tang Guhwi had suffered would set him back drastically.
For someone as arrogant as Tang Guhwi, falling entirely behind would be agony.
That was the first punishment.
“Furthermore, whatever filthy plot my brother hatched in this place with those villains will be brought completely to light.”
When that happened, the Patriarch, Poison Rain Dang Jin-woo, who had been in closed-door cultivation, would have no choice but to step in.
Tang Guhwi would be stripped of his title as Grand Young Master, lose everything, and face severe punishment.
Dang Mu-jun had desperately hoped to prevent this very outcome, visiting Tang Guhwi repeatedly to offer warnings that were almost pleas.
That was the best he could do for his elder brother as a younger sibling.
Yet Tang Guhwi had pushed him away and refused to listen.
And in the end, it had led to this catastrophe.
With himself defeated, Dang Mu-jun could only pray that this masked master would accept his proposal.
“Fine. Let it be so.”
After appearing to ponder for a moment, Yeo Woonhwi nodded.
At that, Dang Mu-jun’s expression brightened.
Yeo Woonhwi, too, judged that letting Tang Guhwi live a miserable life paying for his crimes would be a harsher fate than simply killing him here.
However…
“There is one thing, though.”
Yeo Woonhwi looked at Dang Mu-jun.
“Everything sounds fine, but there is one detail I dislike.”
“What do you mean…?”
Ignoring Dang Mu-jun’s puzzled look, Yeo Woonhwi turned his gaze toward the fallen Tang Guhwi.
“The possibility of him recovering his martial arts.”
“…!”
“I will grant your request, but this part will be done my way.”
“W-Wait!”
Before Dang Mu-jun could shout another word, Yeo Woonhwi shifted instantly before the fallen Tang Guhwi and grabbed him by the collar, hoisting him up.
Then, placing a hand over Tang Guhwi’s dantian, he poured his inner energy into it.
Craaaack.
A gruesome sound echoed.
It was the sound of Tang Guhwi’s dantian shattering into pieces, completely destroyed.
“…Ghh, aaaargh!”
The destruction of one’s dantian was the ultimate despair and worst agony any martial artist could ever experience.
The unconscious Tang Guhwi was jolted awake by the sheer magnitude of the pain, letting out a bloodcurdling shriek.
Covered in tears and saliva, Tang Guhwi trembled violently from head to toe. Dang Mu-jun rushed forward, striking his acupoints to knock him unconscious once more.
Had he not done so, his brother might have died from the sheer shock of the pain.
“Did you… truly have to go this far?”
Dang Mu-jun looked up at Yeo Woonhwi with resentful eyes.
“I showed him great mercy. My original plan was to tear him limb from limb in far more gruesome fashion.”
“Just what kind of grudge did he incur against you?”
“A grudge far greater than anything you could ever imagine.”
Yeo Woonhwi met Dang Mu-jun’s gaze without the slightest waver as he answered.
“Do you think I went too far?”
“I do. Far too much so.”
“Then let me ask you one thing.”
“Go ahead.”
“Where were you, and what were you doing, while that beast of a brother of yours was running around causing all sorts of havoc?”
“What are you talking about? Of course I tried to stop him.”
“You tried, no doubt. Only within the boundaries you deemed safe. And when it didn’t work, you just shrugged and washed your hands of it.”
“…!”
“And while you did that, your brother stormed out of the house and beat anyone he laid eyes on. Today, I hear he severed the leg tendons of an innocent man. Did you know that?”
“T-That…”
“On the scale of good and evil, you surely stand on the side of good. But what you did was nothing more than hypocrisy. Without any real resolve to step up and stop that madman from hurting more people, you merely fretted over ruining your relationship with him, over bringing trouble to your clan. And while you hesitated, people who couldn’t even practice martial arts were dying and weeping tears of blood. You simply stood by and watched.”
Yeo Woonhwi had not intended to lash out at Dang Mu-jun like this.
Yet the young man had demanded an answer, and Yeo Woonhwi was simply giving him the reality.
“You still know nothing. You merely mimic righteousness out of emotion. To my eyes, you are still just a bystander.”
He said this in the hope that Dang Mu-jun would realize the truth and change that much sooner.
Because in this life, it seemed Dang Mu-jun would become the Patriarch of the Sichuan Tang Clan.
Because the future would be painted differently from the past.
And because he was a man fully capable of becoming someone greater.
Dang Mu-jun stood in a daze, struck speechless.
He wanted to shout that it wasn’t true, but his lips refused to part.
It felt as though the hidden depths of his heart had been laid bare.
What have I been doing…?
Yeo Woonhwi quietly looked at Dang Mu-jun.
What kind of life would you lead in this lifetime?
A faint curiosity rose within him.
Suddenly, he felt a commotion brewing outside.
It seemed a large crowd was gathering from all directions.
It was time to withdraw.
“I shall take my leave.”
“W-Wait.”
In the blink of an eye, the masked man vanished.
Dang Mu-jun looked around in disbelief.
To move with such elusive mastery that even his own eyes could not track him…
A hollow laugh escaped him.
“Just…”
Dang Mu-jun looked down at the unconscious Tang Guhwi.
“Brother, just what kind of monster did you make an enemy of?”
Dang Mu-jun stared blankly up at the night sky.
The moon shone brightly over the darkened lands of Sichuan.
