Chapter 4: A Tangled Journey (2)
Dinner passed in a sowhat subdued atmosphere. It wasn’t so heavy that one would call it grim, but for Wi Yeonho, it felt like dining with the demons of hell.
The rice grains felt like coarse sand in his mouth, and the cool tea churned his stomach like he was drinking lye.
‘I’m going to get indigestion. I’m definitely going to get indigestion.’
Wi Yeonho stole a glance, but Wi Sanho didn’t even look his way.
Wi Jeonghan wore a gentle smile.
“How’s life at the martial academy?”
“It’s going well.”
“No difficulties?”
“If training had no difficulties, it wouldn’t be called training. I think they’re just challenges I need to overco.”
Wi Jeonghan nodded repeatedly.
Looking from Wi Yeonho to Wi Sanho made his eyes widen, as if a warm spring breeze had begun to blow.
Look at that.
Couldn’t one even see a faint halo glowing around him?
“You must’ve gone through a lot while I wasn’t here.”
“You, Father, are the one who had it hard during the long Martial Arts Tournant Journey.”
“No. How could a martial artist call the Tournant Journey a hardship? You must’ve struggled to act as the eldest son. Had I returned a bit earlier, I would’ve been able to see you enter the academy...”
At the ntion of the Martial Arts Tournant Journey, Han Sang-a’s eyes sharpened slightly.
Flinching, Wi Jeonghan quickly closed his mouth.
Han Sang-a spoke.
“Do you have everything you need for your training?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not short on money?”
“I have more than enough. I don’t think you’ll need to send any living expenses this year.”
Han Sang-a shook her head.
“A man must always be prepared for anything. If there’s any left over, keep it. It’ll co in handy when you need sothing in a pinch.”
“Yes. I’ll do as you say.”
A warm smile blood on Han Sang-a’s face.
What a dependable son he had beco.
Sensing the mont was right, Wi Jeonghan opened his mouth.
“Sang-a, I’ve been a bit tight on money lately too—”
“You’d best keep your mouth shut.”
“...”
After glaring at Wi Jeonghan as if she would devour him, Han Sang-a turned her head again and smiled gently at Wi Sanho.
A reaction that could not have been more extre.
“Well then, are there no issues?”
“There is one.”
“Hmm?”
Tilting her head, Han Sang-a asked.
“What is it?”
“It’s about Yeonho.”
Wi Jeonghan frowned. Han Sang-a’s expression also slightly stiffened. Wi Yeonho’s shoulders crept up toward his ears.
“What about Yeonho?”
Wi Sanho spoke without hesitation.
“I need to take Yeonho to the academy.”
“To the martial academy?”
“Yes.”
Wi Jeonghan imdiately objected.
“Yeonho is still too young.”
“Twelve is more than old enough to enter the academy. There are even ten-year-olds who join, and so people begin after turning twenty. If soone ets the required level, age doesn’t matter. What matters is not the age, but the level. And from what I see, Yeonho’s current level is not lacking for entry into the academy.”
“But didn’t you yourself only enter at fifteen?”
“That was because I believed it was right to prepare more before joining. However…”
Wi Sanho glanced briefly at Wi Yeonho before continuing.
“Yeonho is different.”
At Wi Sanho’s firm declaration, Wi Jeonghan simply nodded.
To make him prepare more now?
They’d be lucky if he didn’t lose what little he had.
This ti, Han Sang-a raised an objection.
“Even so, it’s still too early for Yeonho. More than anything, I’m worried if that boy can even endure life in the academy.”
“His laziness is the real issue.”
Everyone fell silent at Wi Sanho’s blunt words that hit the mark.
Honestly, if they sent Wi Yeonho to the martial academy in his current state, it would be a disgrace to the family like no other.
“Indeed. If we send that boy without fixing his laziness first, it would be humiliating in the eyes of others. And I’m also worried about what he might end up learning there.”
Wi Sanho shook his head.
“There are limits to how lazy one can be in the academy. And with there, he won’t be able to act as brazenly as he does here.”
“Hmm…”
“He might be embarrassed at the academy. But if we keep him at ho, the issue won’t just be sha — it could ruin the boy. What’s more important to you: the prestige of our family, or raising the heir of our house properly?”
The latter was clearly more important.
“The latter… I suppose.”
Wi Sanho nodded.
“I believe so too. As you know, the boy’s talent is extraordinary.”
Wi Jeonghan scoffed.
“When it cos to being lazy, he’s the Greatest of All Ti, that’s for sure!”
As Han Sang-a’s gaze sharpened, Wi Jeonghan flinched and turned his head away.
“That’s not what I ant. His talent isn’t sothing I could even begin to compare myself to. If taught properly, he could make our family na known across the land.”
“Well, I don’t know about all that.”
Wi Jeonghan remained indifferent.
Even Han Sang-a nodded.
No matter how much he was their son, Wi Yeonho was simply too hard to see in a positive light.
Wi Sanho let out a quiet sigh.
Wi Jeonghan hadn’t watched him grow up, so he didn’t understand Wi Yeonho’s abilities. And Han Sang-a didn’t have deep knowledge of martial arts.
Given that, their reaction wasn’t so strange.
But Wi Sanho, who knew the truth, couldn’t give up so easily.
“In any case, I believe the best course is to enroll him in the Hidden Dragon Martial Arts Academy.”
Wi Jeonghan gave a small nod.
“Yes, that might be a way.”
However, Han Sang-a still objected.
“Yeonho is still too young!”
“But we can’t just stand by and watch, can we? You know exactly what’ll happen if we let him stay at ho like this!”
Han Sang-a let out a sigh and looked at Wi Yeonho.
She had heard that he left the house at dawn claiming to train, swung his sword a few tis, and then went back to sleep. Indeed, if things continued like this, Wi Yeonho would be completely ruined.
“Um…”
At that mont, Wi Yeonho opened his mouth.
“Don’t I get a say in this? I think I’m still not quite ready—”
“Silence!”
“Be quiet!”
“Shut your mouth!”
Attacked in order by his father, mother, and older brother, Wi Yeonho surrendered cleanly.
In the end, even Han Sang-a gave in to Wi Jeonghan’s persuasion and Wi Sanho’s gaze.
“Alright. Let’s send him. It’s probably the right path for Yeonho.”
‘No, it’s not, Mother!’
Wi Yeonho scread internally, but the words never made it out of his mouth.
And just like that, that evening, the decision was made: Wi Yeonho, the second son of the Grand House of Wi in Guangdong, would enter the Hidden Dragon Martial Arts Academy.
But at that mont, none of them could have predicted what this decision would lead to. It would take a long ti before they realized just how trendous an impact this seemingly small choice would have on the murim world.
“Ugh…”
Wi Yeonho wore the face of a warrior heading to the battlefield.
The only difference was that while a warrior going to war usually had a resolute expression ready to face death, Wi Yeonho looked like a new recruit trembling in fear at the thought of his first battle.
“Why do I have to go!”
Even his older brother hadn’t joined the academy until he was fifteen, and Wi Yeonho was only twelve.
Wasn’t this just completely unfair?
But now that even the mother he had counted on the most had surrendered, there was no one left to take his side.
No—there was exactly one person.
“Can’t you not go?”
Wi Suryeon clung to the sleeve of Wi Yeonho’s robe, her eyes brimming with tears.
If Wi Yeonho left, Wi Suryeon would be left alone at ho.
She absolutely hated that.
“I don’t want to go either.”
Wi Yeonho answered honestly.
“I’m not even old enough to be going yet, so why are they rushing ? Big Brother is so an!”
“Right…”
Wi Yeonho felt powerless.
Things had already gone too far to reverse with just Wi Suryeon’s outburst.
Wi Yeonho slung the bundles of luggage over his shoulder and trudged out.
He looked up at the sky, stifled with frustration.
“Sigh… The weather… Couldn’t it at least be nice!”
Far in the distance, the approaching dark clouds seed to foreshadow what lay ahead for Wi Yeonho.
As he stepped out to the training yard, his family and the household retainers were waiting for him.
“Hmm.”
Wi Yeonho walked toward the gathering eyes that greeted him.
“Did you sleep well?”
To Wi Jeonghan’s question, Wi Yeonho responded flatly.
“More or less.”
“Yes, I suppose you did.”
Normally, Wi Jeonghan would have snapped at that, but this ti, he didn’t get angry.
Not that it was the right ti for anger anyway.
Han Sang-a approached and took Wi Yeonho’s hand.
“When you get to the academy, always be careful. Be sure to eat your als. And try to stay clean while you're there. I’m worried you’ll disgrace our family na. If you get hurt during training, don’t just suffer in silence—go to the infirmary imdiately. I’m sure your brother will look after you well enough, but even so, don’t neglect your training. That region’s colder than here, so make sure you cover yourself properly at night. If you sleep lightly dressed like you do here, you’ll catch sothing! Wash your hands and feet thoroughly…”
“I’m not going off to war, you know…”
Wi Yeonho cut off Han Sang-a’s lengthy speech.
Looking heartbroken, Han Sang-a wiped away a tear and bowed her head, gripping Wi Yeonho’s hand again and again.
As a result, Wi Yeonho had to walk with Han Sang-a hanging on one side and Wi Suryeon clinging to the other.
“If you’re so worried, you shouldn’t be sending !”
Wi Yeonho yelled, and Han Sang-a flinched and turned her head.
Still, what could be done?
He had to go.
“Tch.”
Wi Yeonho sighed over and over in frustration.
Wi Sanho approached him.
“Are you all packed?”
Wi Yeonho tapped the bundle on his back.
“More or less.”
“Then let’s go.”
Wi Yeonho silently cursed his cold-hearted brother.
This was his first ti ever leaving ho—would it kill him to give him just a little more ti?
But Wi Sanho seed to have buried all human emotion sowhere and acted as heartlessly as ever.
“We’re already late because you overslept. We need to get going.”
“I said I get it.”
Grumbling, Wi Yeonho followed where Wi Sanho led him.
Two magnificent steeds were tied up, clearly top-class even at a glance.
“Hmm…”
Wi Jeonghan looked at the horses with disapproval, and Han Sang-a’s eyes turned sharp.
It didn’t sit well with him that they had spent a hefty sum on horses they would ride once and then sell off.
But Han Sang-a, who felt sorrow for her son’s departure, couldn’t bring herself to buy ordinary ones.
“Do I have to ride this?”
Wi Sanho nodded.
“I’ve never ridden a horse before, you know.”
“Hang on tight.”
“...That’s all I need to do?”
“As long as you don’t fall off.”
“…”
In truth, Wi Sanho didn’t need a horse at all.
If not for Wi Yeonho, he would’ve used movent arts and made his way to Henan on foot.
But Wi Yeonho was still young and lacked the stamina to endure the long journey to Henan.
Wi Yeonho cautiously climbed onto the horse.
The horse shook its head, but after a few calming strokes from Wi Sanho, it soon settled down.
“…Does this thing recognize people or sothing…?”
Wi Yeonho grumbled but knew better than to pick a fight with a horse.
After settling Wi Yeonho’s horse, Wi Sanho mounted his own.
“Well then, we’ll be off.”
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