My Dad Is the Strongest Under Heaven
Chapter 48
Whooosh!
The moment the air rippled, Paeng Do-hwan felt an illusion—as though invisible walls were closing in on him from every side.
“Gasp!”
The staggering pressure constricted his chest, suffocating him where he stood.
Rumble—!
At the same time, the wooden sword descending slowly toward his head seemed to swell to an immense, monstrous size.
What kind of madness was this?
It had to be an illusion, yet the sheer terror coursing through him felt mortal and absolute.
Never in his life had Paeng Do-hwan experienced anything like it.
The moment the wooden blade drew right before his face, his eyes squeezed shut against his will.
Crushed from all sides, unable to move a single muscle while that colossal blade bore down upon him—what else could he do?
“Aaaargh!”
A scream tore from his throat.
And then—
The wooden sword halted, mere inches from his nose.
In an instant, the crushing aura that had suffocated the clearing vanished without a trace, as if washed clean away.
Hm?
Paeng Do-hwan opened his eyes.
He looked around in a daze.
The clearing was serene, as though nothing had happened at all.
Just as peaceful as when he had first arrived.
The distant chirping of birds drifted through the quiet air.
Thud.
Only then did the strength abandon his legs, and he collapsed onto the ground.
“Haaah… haaah. Haaah……”
Cold sweat drenched him from head to toe.
He could not make sense of what had just occurred.
What in heaven's name was that?
“Are you all right?”
Yeo Woonhwi extended a hand toward Paeng Do-hwan, who remained sprawled on the earth, panting and dazed.
Paeng Do-hwan stared up at him blankly.
Just what kind of man is he?
“Huh? What’s going on over there?”
Having finally finished his business, Noh Ilbong came running back, calling out from the distance.
Meanwhile, Yeo Woonhwi offered the utterly shell-shocked Paeng Do-hwan a faint, gentle smile.
At the sight of it, Paeng Do-hwan swallowed dryly.
For the first time in his life, he found someone’s smile terrifying.
It felt as though he had been bewitched by a ghost.
***
A few days later.
The entire White Wolf Troop gathered at the training grounds.
Yet the chosen site was the outermost training yard among the large grounds of the Paeng Family—a secluded place where hardly anyone ever set foot.
Why choose such a spot?
“Captain! All twenty-four members of the White Wolf Troop are assembled!”
“Hm.”
Following Oh Chae-mu’s report, Yeo Woonhwi stepped before the unit, and all the men bowed in unison.
“Greetings, Captain!”
“Good. Did everyone get plenty of rest?”
“Yes, Captain!”
Their resounding answer made Yeo Woonhwi nod.
It was utterly natural.
As though he had led the White Wolf Troop for years.
The very warriors who once looked upon him with contempt now accepted him without a shred of hesitation.
They accepted that this man was their commander.
Their attitude toward Yeo Woonhwi had shifted completely ever since he severed the head of the Extreme Evil Laughing Demon.
Those who had sustained injuries during the battle seemed to have rested well, their complexions bright and healthy.
Today marked their return from the leave granted after they subjugated the bandits, slew the villain, and returned to the Paeng Clan.
Now that the standing of the White Wolf Troop had changed, they needed to determine what missions they would undertake in the future and resume their training.
In the past, Oh Chae-mu and Gu Tae-san would have handled such matters on their own, but things had to be different now.
Because they now had a new captain.
However, before that—
“You said you had something to discuss?”
Before assembling the men today, Oh Chae-mu had sought out Yeo Woonhwi first.
He had mentioned that he and the entire troop wished to speak with him.
“Yes!”
Oh Chae-mu nodded firmly.
At that, Yeo Woonhwi let out a light chuckle.
“Surely you aren't still unhappy with me as captain and asking me to step down on my own? All of you?”
“N-No, of course not! How could that be!”
Though Yeo Woonhwi had only teased in jest, Oh Chae-mu stammered, frantically waving his hands in denial.
It seemed that incident would serve as prime material to tease him with for a long time to come.
Behind him, Gu Tae-san and the men exchanged smirks before immediately putting on aggrieved expressions to plead their case to Yeo Woonhwi.
“What happened last time was entirely Vice Captain Oh Chae-mu's doing! We were merely foot soldiers who knew nothing!”
“That's right! We were just being used! Vice Captain Oh Chae-mu is the true culprit!”
Oh Chae-mu’s face flushed bright red at the eager betrayal of the twins, Gi-su and Gi-sang.
He shot desperate glances at Gu Tae-san and Do-gyeong for support, but they merely stared off into the distant mountains, completely ignoring him.
“Hey! You bastards dare stab me in the back like this?! They say there's not a single soul in this world you can trust……!”
“Right. I’ll keep that in mind.”
When Yeo Woonhwi nodded in apparent understanding, Oh Chae-mu waved his hands once more, pointing an accusing finger at the men.
His indignant expression was truly a sight to behold.
“No, Captain! That's not it at all! Those rascals were in on it with me! It's all an act!”
“Tsk, tsk. The men and their squad leader seem equally lacking in loyalty. If things are like this, whom am I supposed to lean on?”
“Pardon my bluntness, Captain, but if you were to lean on anyone, their shoulder would collapse under the weight. It's far too much pressure.”
“What was that?”
Hahahaha!
A burst of laughter rippled through the yard.
Without realizing it, the men of the White Wolf Troop and Yeo Woonhwi were trading lighthearted banter.
It meant their hearts had truly opened to him.
Sharing a life-and-death battle forged an immense bond among martial artists.
Though in truth, their captain, Yeo Woonhwi, had never been in any real danger of losing his life to begin with.
“Let us put the jokes aside and get to the point.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Oh Chae-mu nodded. He glanced back once at the men behind him before turning to address Yeo Woonhwi with solemn resolve.
“Through our last battle, we realized all too clearly how lacking we are. Surviving that ordeal was entirely thanks to you, Captain.”
“And?”
“If we ever face an enemy like the Extreme Evil Laughing Demon again, we want to fight better than we did then. We also wish to be of some help to you, Captain. Therefore……”
Oh Chae-mu hesitated for a brief moment, drew in a deep breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“We want to become strong! Please make us strong, Captain!”
“Please make us strong, Captain!”
The moment Oh Chae-mu finished, the entire White Wolf Troop roared in unison.
It seemed they had gathered at this deserted training ground on the furthest outskirts of the Paeng Clan specifically to speak these words.
“You wish to become strong, is it.”
They did not carelessly boast about wanting to win.
They understood better than anyone the gulf between themselves and a great demon like the Extreme Evil Laughing Demon.
Acknowledging that difference without reckless arrogance was of utmost importance.
Only when one accurately grasped their own limits were they truly prepared to grow stronger.
In that sense, the White Wolf Troop was now fully ready to take the next step.
Even without Yeo Woonhwi’s intervention, these men would have grown stronger on their own.
After all, Yeo Woonhwi alone already knew the warriors they were destined to become.
The coordinated formation they had displayed during the battle against the Extreme Evil Laughing Demon still had immense room for refinement.
Yet above all, they had swallowed their pride and bowed their heads to plead with him.
Since they had come forward like this, Yeo Woonhwi could hardly turn a blind eye.
It was quite amusing.
To think that in his past life as the Blood Demon, he would become entangled like this with the men who were once the Red Wolf Troop.
Just as Yeo Woonhwi would no longer live the life of the Blood Demon, their fates, too, would be rewritten.
Yeo Woonhwi made up his mind.
He would make them far stronger than the Red Wolf Troop he once knew.
Of course, having inherited the martial legacy of the Martial God, he had achieved his strength without arduous cultivation in this life. Yet just as only those who have stood at the apex can perceive the truths of martial arts, he already possessed a complete grasp of what these men needed and what they had to discard.
Above all, as a scholar who had studied and taught texts for many years, Yeo Woonhwi was more than equipped to instruct and guide them.
“Very well. I shall do so.”
Yeo Woonhwi nodded.
At once, the faces of every man in the White Wolf Troop brightened.
“However, you had best steel yourselves. My methods are rather strict and grueling.”
“Yes, Captain!”
At his warning, they replied with expressions full of determination.
Oh Chae-mu and Gu Tae-san’s eyes gleamed with fierce anticipation.
‘Perhaps this turned out for the best.’
Since he had taken the mantle of Captain of the White Wolf Troop, this was a process they had to undergo sooner or later, provided they accepted him.
Yet commendably, they had approached him first.
Thus, Yeo Woonhwi would forge them into formidable warriors.
Far stronger than they could ever imagine.
So that no one beneath the heavens could ever look down upon them again.
***
“Ugh… N-No! Nooo! Aaaargh!”
In the dark chamber.
A man tossed and turned in his bed, drenched in cold sweat, locked in a violent nightmare.
With a strangled shriek, he bolted upright from his sleep.
“Haaah, haaah, haaah……”
It was Paeng Do-hwan.
Ever since that day at the training ground when he encountered Yeo Woonhwi, nightmares had plagued him relentlessly.
It had reached a point where ordinary daily life was nearly impossible.
At first, returning home after suffering such humiliation filled him with wounded pride and searing rage.
The pathetic sight of his own terror and Yeo Woonhwi’s faint, knowing smile kept flashing through his mind in tormenting loops.
To have marched up so full of confidence, offering to teach the man martial arts, only to end up in such a wretched state!
Yet that anger was short-lived; the shock of that day refused to fade, growing larger and more suffocating until it tormented him incessantly.
Thus, Paeng Do-hwan had shut himself in his room for several days, refusing both food and drink.
Naturally, everyone was baffled as to why a young master who had been perfectly fine until recently would suddenly act this way.
They merely assumed he had fallen ill.
Soon, word reached Paeng Kyung-ho, who rushed to his son’s quarters.
“What on earth is the meaning of this? Why are you huddled here like this?!”
His son sat huddled on the bed with the blanket pulled up to his face.
He appeared anxious, on edge, and thoroughly shaken.
The son who had boasted so confidently that he would use proper martial methods to force Yeo Woonhwi to step down as captain had changed far too drastically.
Something had undeniably happened.
The problem was that the boy refused to utter a single word about it.
Paeng Kyung-ho had intended to pry the truth out of him no matter what.
Yet the moment he caught sight of his son’s face, the words died in his throat.
“Good heavens, what happened to you……?”
“Please, Father… I beg of you. I wish to be alone right now, so please leave.”
Hollow, sunken eyes set in a gaunt, bloodless face.
Who could ever believe this was his strapping son, whose handsome smile had once shone with boundless confidence?
In the end, moved by his son’s desperate plea, Paeng Kyung-ho could only step out of the room with a bewildered expression.
He thought he ought to summon a physician at once.
“Ugh……”
In truth, Paeng Do-hwan was the one being driven mad beyond endurance.
Ever since that ordeal, he could not keep his mind steady.
That single moment kept resurfacing, haunting him over and over again.
Rumble—!
Trapped and immobilized under the colossal pressure bearing down from all directions, watching the gigantic silhouette of the wooden blade descend upon him.
“Khhh……”
Just recalling it made him squeeze his eyes shut in terror.
He wondered if this was what qi deviation felt like.
No, it felt as though qi deviation was already looming right before him.
Yet even amid this turmoil, a single question refused to leave his mind.
‘That man… just what is his true identity?’
An ordinary scholar?
Absolute nonsense!
Whatever the truth was, the man was an unfathomable grandmaster.
An absolute master who had reached a realm Paeng Do-hwan could not even dare to fathom.
Perhaps he was even equal to one of the supreme masters of the land, the Patriarch of the Paeng Clan, Peng Mugang. And at such a young age, no less.
Did such a thing even make sense?
‘Come to think of it, does the Patriarch know about this? No. From welcoming him into the clan without resistance to entrusting him with the White Wolf Troop… perhaps he knew all along……’
There was no greater misunderstanding.
Thus, endless chains of stray thoughts continued to torment him.
Only after agonizing for two more days did Paeng Do-hwan reach a decision.
He could not go on like this.
If he remained here in this state, he would truly suffer qi deviation.
The captaincy of the White Wolf Troop no longer mattered.
None of that was important anymore.
Even if it meant succumbing to qi deviation, he had to know.
The true identity of that monster whom everyone believed to be nothing more than a bookish scholar.
With that resolve, he finally stepped out of his room for the first time in days.