I bit my lip.
This disgusting Qi was definitely from the Unorthodox Sect.
Since this was the Hebei Peng Clan, one of the prestigious orthodox clans, all the Qi here should have been pure and upright.
So why was I sensing such foul unorthodox Qi?
I started searching for the source of that presence.
“…”
My gaze settled on one man.
“Why do you ask?”
At Young Hero Peng—no, Young Clan Lord Peng’s question, I smiled and shook my head.
“It’s nothing. Anyway… do you know who that person is? They look like they know Young Master Peng Mun.”
“Ah…”
He nodded.
“Deputy Merchant Lord Eun is right. That one is one of my uncle’s people. They were nowhere to be seen when we returned to the main estate, so it seems they went somewhere.”
In that moment, the part that had been nagging at me snapped into place.
The eldest son, the former Young Clan Lord, was first-rate. With that level of talent, reaching Peak realm was about his limit.
In my previous life, as far as I remembered, Young Master Peng Mun never went beyond Peak realm. For a famous clan on the level of the Hebei Peng Clan, you needed to at least reach Profound realm to be worthy of the Clan Lord’s seat.
And it wasn’t just his martial arts. He was terrible at grasping a situation.
No matter how well I set up my plan, anyone with a halfway decent brain wouldn’t have just stormed into an inn like that.
Even after he became Clan Lord in my previous life, everything I saw and heard about his actions had been a mess that made no sense.
Even if the people of the Hebei Peng Clan weren’t exactly known for brilliance, that was still too much.
So then, how did someone like that manage to drive out his own younger sibling?
And how did he hire assassins, go after his own nephew’s life, and actually succeed, becoming Clan Lord in the end?
The most likely explanation was that he had a helper by his side playing the role of strategist, and once that person left, everything collapsed at once.
That helper was clearly that person over there.
Which left just one question.
Why did that helper do it?
Was the goal really to weaken the Peng Clan’s power, or even drive it to destruction?
Unless they had some deep grudge against the clan, that wasn’t something you could do so easily.
But I soon shook my head.
Was there any need to overthink it? I could just catch him and ask.
.
.
.
Two days had passed since Young Master Peng Mun’s punishment was carried out.
He kept passing out from the pain of the whipping, but they splashed water on him to wake him up and somehow finished all two hundred lashes.
Then they cut off his right hand.
If they destroyed his Dantian while he was in that state, his Qi would collapse, and the shock could kill him, so the destruction of his Dantian was scheduled for half a month later.
Right now, Young Master Peng Mun was confined in a small detached house.
That would be where he stayed from now on.
Meanwhile, the place he had originally lived was undergoing major renovations. The Clan Lord had ordered every trace of Young Master Peng Mun erased.
Once the work was done, Young Clan Lord Peng Gang-un would move in there.
Young Master Peng Mun had fallen from the position of Young Clan Lord to this miserable state in an instant, but I didn’t feel particularly sorry for him.
He had plenty of sins piled up already.
Because of his ugly jealousy and obsession, his younger sibling had been driven out of the clan and gone missing.
And his nephew had nearly died, forced to cross countless deadly crises.
In my previous life, that nephew eventually lost their life.
Thinking about what they went through, could anyone really call two hundred lashes and losing his right hand too harsh?
On top of that, in my last life, countless members of the clan died pointless deaths because of Young Master Peng Mun.
Even now, when I thought about the Clan Lord’s death, something about it felt off.
While I was lost in those thoughts, Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am hurried into my room.
“My lord!”
“Did something happen with that man?”
Escort Guard Jin Yu and Yeo Eung-am were currently keeping watch, on my orders, over the man from earlier who had given off unorthodox Qi.
Around twenty years ago, a man named Chu Seon had entered the Peng Clan as a servant. Apparently he caught Young Master Peng Mun’s eye and was shockingly promoted to Attendant.
I had thought he would show some suspicious movement soon and ordered them to watch him, and it seemed my expectations had been right.
“It’s an emergency!”
“An emergency?”
“He’s left the detached house.”
There was no way Yeo Eung-am would be this frantic just because the man had stepped outside.
“And… before he left the detached house, he served tea to the warriors guarding the area.”
Escort Guard Yeo Eung-am wasn’t finished.
“So we secretly got our hands on some of that tea and checked it. There was a sleeping drug in it.”
“What?”
Chu Seon moved quickly, cursing Peng Mun in his head.
‘That useless idiot! I spoon-fed everything to him and he still couldn’t swallow it! That dumb bastard! The only thing he’s got going for him is his bloodline, that damned waste of flesh!’
His curses kept getting nastier.
And it was no wonder. He had endured over twenty years for this one job.
And that idiot had managed to ruin everything in a single night.
He had received only one order from above.
‘Peng Mun. Make that man Clan Lord.’
In return, he had been promised an elixir.
A rare elixir that could raise his strength straight to Profound realm in one go.
He had already been stuck at third-rate before, only to shoot up to first-rate after taking a single elixir, so he had absolute faith in its effects.
So he joined the Peng Clan, attached himself to Peng Mun, drove out Peng Mun’s greatest rival—the second son—and made Peng Mun Young Clan Lord.
But then another obstacle appeared.
The Clan Lord discovered great talent in Peng Mun’s nephew, Peng Gang-un, and declared that if the boy won the Dragon-Phoenix Martial Gathering, he would give him the Young Clan Lord’s seat.
So they hired assassins, but the assassins suddenly ended up dead.
To figure out what had happened, Chu Seon left the clan for a while, and that was his mistake.
In the meantime, Peng Mun led his subordinates and did something incredibly stupid.
But even then, Chu Seon thought it would be fine.
Even if Peng Gang-un became Young Clan Lord, they could always take the position back later.
But for some reason, the Clan Lord ordered two hundred lashes, the cutting off of Peng Mun’s right hand, and even the destruction of his Dantian.
‘He didn’t lift a finger when his own second son was driven out, so what is he thinking now?’
It was enough to make Chu Seon seriously wonder if the second son wasn’t actually the Clan Lord’s real child.
In any case, the reason he was moving in such a hurry now was that a new order had arrived from above.
He was to rescue Peng Mun before his Dantian was destroyed.
As the current Clan Lord’s eldest and the former Young Clan Lord, Peng Mun had personally been involved in many major clan affairs.
He still had plenty of value.
The problem was that once his Dantian was destroyed, things would get troublesome in all sorts of ways. That was why the rescue had to happen beforehand.
So Chu Seon watched and waited for the right time, and when the security began to relax, he made his move.
At first, the guards refused the tea he offered.
But they were only human, and like last year, the cold this year was bone-chilling, so they eventually accepted the tea he kept offering.
Naturally, he hadn’t put the sleeping drug in at the start. He only added it after they let down their guard around him.
Through a small secret hole he had spent the last twenty years quietly preparing just in case, Chu Seon slipped out of the Hebei Peng Clan.
‘Good thing I made this hole.’
Then he rendezvoused with the warriors who had been hiding nearby.
“It’s time.”
“We’ve been waiting.”
They were warriors sent as backup from above.
There were only five of them.
The number was small, but each one was an elite first-rate expert. They quickly followed Chu Seon back toward the Hebei Peng Clan.
They slipped inside through the secret hole, then carefully made their way toward the small detached house where Peng Mun was confined.
The reason he had brought them was simple: Peng Mun’s frame was far too large to squeeze through the hole.
They would have to get him over the wall instead.
Peng Mun was a martial artist too, so under normal circumstances he could have vaulted over a wall easily, but the Peng Clan’s walls were extremely high.
On top of that, with his right hand gone and the aftereffects of the whipping still lingering, he needed help from other warriors.
They also needed people who could buy them time in case they were discovered while running.
The warriors guarding the detached house were fast asleep.
“Are you sure this is okay?”
“I used a pretty strong dose of sleeping drug. They’ll be out for at least half a day.”
Soon, Chu Seon opened the door and stepped inside.
Not long ago, Peng Mun had been drinking to endure the pain, but now he sat quietly in front of the low table.
“My lord, I’ll escort you out.”
“Those people you mentioned… they’re here?”
“Yes. They are.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
Carrying the bundle he had prepared earlier, Peng Mun rose to his feet and walked out of the detached house without a moment’s hesitation.
This was the clan that had abandoned him.
So abandoning the clan in turn felt only natural.
‘Just wait and see! I will never forget this, Father.’
After leaving the detached house, they reached a section of wall that was suitable for climbing over.
“Where are you all rushing off to?”
At the sudden voice, they all flinched.
“Ugh! You?!”
“Uncle, as far as I know, you’ve been forbidden from leaving your detached house, haven’t you?”
The one standing in front of them was Peng Gang-un.
The newly appointed Young Clan Lord, and Peng Mun’s nephew.
“And the people around you are warriors I’ve never seen before. They don’t look like our Peng Clan’s men. Why don’t you all return to the detached house?”
At those words, Peng Mun’s face twisted, and he snapped like he was spitting the words out.
“Shut up! This is all your fault!”
“How is any of this my fault? You brought every bit of this on yourself, Uncle.”
“No! You never should’ve been born in the first place!”
His eyes were filled with killing intent.
“Actually, this works out. I’ll kill you today and settle everything!”
He turned to the warriors beside him.
“Kill that brat for me and I’ll tell you where I’ve hidden my treasures.”
At that, the warriors looked at Chu Seon.
Chu Seon quickly weighed the situation. Peng Gang-un had only one escort with him.
But that unshaken, relaxed attitude bothered him.
‘Is he really trusting that one escort?’
Then he noticed Peng Gang-un’s hand trembling.
Chu Seon’s lips curled into a grin.
He was now certain it was just the two of them, and that the kid was only pretending to be calm.
And since things had already come to this, killing Peng Gang-un here would be better for them in many ways.
He nodded.
At his silent permission, the five warriors stepped forward.
Right then—
“Honestly now… Didn’t I make myself clear? Anyone who tries to harm Gang-un, I won’t forgive.”
“…!”
At that voice, Peng Mun and Chu Seon went rigid.
Because that voice belonged to…
Clan Lord Peng Jin-song.
Step. Step. Step.
Watching Peng Jin-song slowly walk toward them, they swallowed hard, tension written all over their faces.
With a complicated expression, he asked Peng Mun,
“Mun. Those people next to you, reeking of the Unorthodox Sect… did you call them here?”
“…”
“You should answer.”
The phrasing sounded gentle, but there wasn’t a hint of kindness in his voice.
Trembling, Peng Mun collapsed where he stood.
“F-Father, I… I just…”
“I said, answer.”
Peng Mun clenched his teeth, then shouted as if he had steeled his resolve.
“Yes! I was trying to leave this house! This clan abandoned me, so if I abandon this clan—”
But he never finished.
Something scraped across his face as it flew past.
When he slowly turned his head, a throwing knife was buried in the wall.
Drip.
Blood began to flow down his face along the fresh cut.
“I! Just how long! Am I supposed to! Keep putting up with you?!”
Peng Jin-song bellowed at him.
“Even when you drove your younger brother out so coldly, I pretended not to see. You’re my child, and that one is my child too. I wanted to believe you were at least sorry for it. But you weren’t.”
“…”
“And now even your own nephew… Even a beast wouldn’t be like you.”
Peng Jin-song let out a long, deep sigh, then laughed in empty exhaustion.
“Ha… Fine. Let’s end this here.”
Then he gave an order to the empty air.
“Throw them all into the underground dungeon.”
The instant his words fell, warriors rushed in from all around, dropping to one knee.
“We obey your command!”
Peng Jin-song gave Peng Mun one last glance.
“Drag that brat to the dungeon too. No exceptions.”
Today, I was finally leaving the Peng Clan.
Last night, Young Master Peng Mun made a foolish choice.
While keeping him under watch, I noticed suspicious movement and immediately informed Young Clan Lord Peng Gang-un.
It was the perfect chance to raise his prestige.
I also reported the matter to the Clan Lord. In the end, the final decision was his to make.
So the Clan Lord had come running.
Because of that, Young Master Peng Mun ended up thrown into the underground dungeon instead of staying in the detached house.
Everyone who had been with him was also locked in the underground dungeon, and they were being interrogated as we spoke.
The Clan Lord clearly found it suspicious that Peng Mun had been moving together with warriors from the Unorthodox Sect.
Soon enough, the full story behind this incident would come out.
I had done everything I could here, so now it was time to leave the Peng Clan.
I already had a pile of work waiting for me.
I had to get back to overseeing the Eunhae Merchant Group’s Beijing branch construction, and I needed to report to the Emperor about the Windcraft Fan’s sales numbers, along with a whole slew of other matters.
And…
Phew, just thinking about it made me dizzy.
Right then, Palgap stepped into the room and spoke.
“Young Master, there’s someone here to see you outside.”
“Hm? Who could it be?”
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt