Chapter 99: Brothers (2)

If I were to describe the Dancheon Clan before Myeong-gae, I could express it with the word ‘desolate,’ just like my quarters in those days.

But if I were to describe the Dancheon Clan now, well, it’s not easy. I can’t explain it in one word.

That’s how many changes have occurred in the Dancheon Clan.

The establishment of a gathering where the family members meet once a month to eat together is one of those many changes.

“I’m here.”

My steps, after bidding farewell to Chun-baek hyung, reached the dining hall located next to the Clan Head’s Chamber.

Everyone was already gathered.

Seeing that no one had picked up their spoons, it seemed they were waiting for me.

“Everyone, eat a lot.”

A single word from my mother, Baek Yeo-hae, signaled the start of the meal.

Unlike her chilly voice, the magnificent feast touched by her hands was steaming.

Although the clan has its own exclusive cook, I know that her touch is added to the meal at this gathering.

“I will eat well.”

A meal setting that has now become quite familiar.

“How is Hak doing these days?”

The biggest change would be that my father, Dancheon Gang, who had always maintained a solemn demeanor, now initiated small talk with us.

It may seem like a blunt question, but what was in my father’s eyes as he asked that question was not the eagle eye of a hawk trying to gauge my brother’s achievements.

He was simply asking about his son’s daily life. I can tell that he himself finds the question awkward and is fumbling.

Even without Myeong-gae’s trained insight, my father Dancheon Gang looked awkward enough for anyone to notice.

“Hmm? Is a question like this a bit strange?”

“No, Father.”

“You’ll give the child indigestion. Let’s talk after the meal.”

“Ah……”

My father, Dancheon Gang, is feeling awkward about his own appearance asking such small questions.

Nevertheless, he continues to try, so he should be called a true Clan Head and father.

In fact, looking at it now, I have such thoughts too.

The thought that perhaps the Clan Head Dancheon Gang didn’t really know how to play the role of a father.

At least, until he ascended to the position of Clan Head, the clan was a place of primogeniture and a field of competition for winner-takes-all.

It might have been inevitable that he had no time to ponder the role of a parent.

With an equally awkward expression matching my father’s awkwardness, my older brother Dancheon Hak opened his mouth.

“These days, I am receiving a lot of help from Mr. Lee. Sparing with him is a great help.”

This too was a commendable effort, a demeanor befitting the eldest son of the clan.

“That is a good thing.”

A satisfied smile appeared on my father’s face.

Mr. Lee refers to Chun-baek hyung.

Since they were of similar age and both were new masters who had reached the State of Harmony, Chun-baek hyung and my older brother Dancheon Hak served as good stimuli for each other.

It meant that they frequently held friendly spars and had continuous martial arts exchanges.

I know that for my older brother Dancheon Hak, who had only trained his martial arts within the clan, Chun-baek hyung’s sword, who had walked the path of a wanderer, was opening new horizons. It is a positive function of an honored guest.

My father Dancheon Gang’s gaze, who was nodding with satisfaction, now turned to me.

“Are you not leaving anymore?”

Hmm. The question seems a bit strange.

“Am I someone who leaves whenever I get the chance?”

“Were you not?”

“Ahem.”

Because the iron face I had polished in my Myeong-gae days had not been fully forged in this life, I cleared my throat and avoided my father’s gaze.

“Hahut.”

Hearing his laugh, I knew.

The fact that my father, Dancheon Gang, was greatly enjoying the current conversation.

“So, are you not leaving?”

Uncle Yeo Baek asked again, as if assisting my father. But the nuance of that question was also strange.

“Were you telling me to leave?”

“Surely not.”

My father quickly denied it, but…….

“Isn’t that right?”

“Ahem.”

Uncle Yeo Baek delivered the confirmation kill.

“Ah.”

I understood.

It must be because the ten percent of the appraised value of the Garden of Joy spirit herbs obtained from the last outing had recently arrived at the clan.

Indeed, it was the credit of the Murim Alliance.

-I don’t need it.

-We discovered it together.

-You were the one who discovered it. Aside from that, I don’t need it. I won’t take it. You take it all.

Because Chun-baek hyung stubbornly refused, and.

-You discovered it, so it’s yours.

-I belong to the clan.

-What do you want to do?

-Please grow the clan.

-Are you planning to work your father to the bone?

-Please think of it as filial piety.

-Hahut.

Because I had given everything to the clan, the entire ten percent had become the property of the Dancheon Sword Clan.

It would be right to say that the Dancheon Sword Clan was now on a solid foundation.

This is because money does not determine the strength of a clan, but it is also true that money is needed for a clan to become strong.

“Well, it seems it’s not a bad thing that you go out often, Myeong. Isn’t it that a man grows by traversing the Jianghu Murim?”

“Hmm.”

If it were a son who goes out and obtains an Immaculate Pomegranate, who goes out and earns a huge amount of money, I think I would want to send him out too.

In truth, I know that my father Dancheon Gang’s words are his own kind of joke, but…….

“Well, I’m planning to leave soon.”

I made it a reality.

“Oh.”

“Oh-”

Uncle Yeo Baek and my older brother Dancheon Hak did not hide their exclamations.

“Ahem. Well, don’t overdo it.”

My father, Dancheon Gang, was now saving face.

I did not miss the anticipation that welled up in my mother Baek Yeo-hae’s eyes, although she did not show it.

Pfft, a laugh escaped me.

Simply, I liked this moment of exchanging jokes with them under the name of family.

Enough to want to protect it at all costs.

***

‘There is a time for everything.’

This is a long-standing proverb of the Jianghu Murim that everyone, young and old, knows.

But I don’t think that proverb is completely accurate.

This is because it is closer to my values that small things can be planned and should be planned at any time, regardless of the timing.

-It’s raining today, so it’s not the right time. I should postpone my sword training until tomorrow.

Or.

-I drank too much rice wine yesterday, so my qi and blood are turbid, and I’m not in a perfect condition to circulate pure true qi, so it’s right to postpone my qi circulation until tomorrow.

Or.

-I’m still lacking, so I’m not a suitable person for Gapsuni. It would be better to confess after I’ve earned a little more money.

Or.

I have seen countless cases where people who talked about timing even in small matters did not get satisfactory results.

Didn’t they say that the first person was always unskilled in swordsmanship, the second person did not have solid internal energy, and the third person went to Gapsuni’s wedding as a guest and swallowed his tears inwardly?

Usually, it seems that those who look for the right time in small matters are more likely to have a weak will or are looking for a reason not to act.

These are facts I have witnessed myself while living my own years.

But if we look at it in the category of ‘big things,’ I don’t think there is a more correct saying than that proverb.

This is because big things have a point that cannot be overcome with human strength and effort alone.

It is right to plan for big things when the appropriate time, otherwise known as a stroke of good luck, comes.

This is also because ramming one’s head into something with a high probability of failure without proper preparation can be called foolishness, not steadfastness.

Therefore, to be precise, ‘There is a time for big things’ would be the truly correct proposition.

The thing I am trying to plan now is to achieve the Sixth Stage of the Healing Sage’s Mind Cultivation Art, Pacifying the World.

It is a new era that can be described as unprecedented, which no one, not even the creator of the Mind Art, the Grandmaster Healing Sage, has achieved.

That path can be called a big thing, both in terms of its difficulty and its importance.

Since obtaining the Five Great Elixirs of Murim is the main task, this is even more so because there is a point that cannot be solved by effort alone.

That was the reason I had been spending time at the Dancheon Clan.

It means that the right time has not yet come.

Because there was the time of the Yin Blood Divine Demon’s appearance, I was able to reconnect with Chwipung-gae, and because I had a deep connection with Chwipung-gae, I was able to obtain the Emerald Rescue Pill.

It was truly the right time for a big event, and it can be said that I harvested a corresponding excellent result.

But the process of searching for the remaining four of the Five Great Elixirs cannot be so smooth.

This is because, unlike the Beggar’s Gang, I did not form such a deep connection with Shaolin, Wudang, Mount Hua, and Kunlun, even in my Myeong-gae days.

Suddenly, a conversation I had with the storyteller, Mr. Gwak, one day came to mind.

-Myeong-gae, listen here. In fact, luck is a word that means the right time.

Discovering a spirit herb is because you were there at the right time, and obtaining a serendipitous encounter is because you were there at the right time.

Heck, even to pick up a single copper coin, you have to pass by that place at the right time.

There are countless types of luck, but the word ‘the right time’ must be included in the words that explain all types of luck.

If you think about it that way, in fact, luck is just another word for the right time.

-Mr. Gwak, what kind of dog-bone-licking nonsense is that? You need to know first that you have to eat the meat to fill your stomach.

-If you listen to the end, I’ll fill your begging bowl for today.

-To think that the right time is luck, what an interesting story! Mr. Gwak, hurry up and tell me the rest. I can’t stand the curiosity.

-A thought suddenly occurred to me. I wonder if this thing called luck has the shape of a reverse braided hairstyle.

-Oooh. As expected of Mr. Gwak. The novelty of that expression is beyond words.

After having such a useless conversation for about two hours, I got a full begging bowl, so looking back, that day too must have been the right time.

Anyway…….

Although it was just nonsense, it was also a saying that was not easily forgotten because his metaphor was so appropriate.

A reverse braided hairstyle seems easy to grab from the front, but if you hesitate a little and miss the moment, a slippery bald head appears, making it difficult to grasp.

-That is precisely luck. Myeong-gae, you must not miss the right time.

He was right.

What is missed with just a little hesitation is precisely luck, and the right time for a big event.

But that won’t happen to me.

This is because I already know what is a big thing and what is luck.

I am confident that I can recognize it just by seeing its existence from a distance, not just by realizing it after seeing the back of its head. This is because I am a regressor who has made sufficient preparations.

Considering the hardships of my Myeong-gae days, it would be fair to enjoy this much of a privilege.

Furthermore, I did not just sit on my hands while waiting for the time to come.

This was because I knew that those who sit on their hands while waiting for the time will not have the strength to grasp it even when the time comes.

Waiting for the time is a different thing from just letting time pass by.

I waited for the right time while sharing our martial arts with Chun-baek hyung, older brother Dancheon Hak, Uncle Yeo Baek, and father Dancheon Gang.

Just because their realms are lower than mine does not mean there is nothing to gain.

If there are a hundred martial artists, a hundred paths of martial arts are born.

It is also a quality of a top-tier master to glimpse a landscape that I have not yet seen on another’s path.

Didn’t I experience myself growing through my spars with Chun-baek hyung early on?

In fact, thanks to sharing martial arts with them, my abnormal growth has been further supplemented.

Nevertheless…….

To be honest, it would also be a lie to say that I am not impatient with the time that passes by helplessly.

This is because as soon as I passed the Summer Solstice of my twenty-third year, the season is approaching the Start of Autumn.

Considering Myeong-gae’s timeline, the Great War of Righteousness and Evil will break out in a little over six years.

My regression point was the beginning of my eighteenth year, so half of the time given to me has already passed.

The fortunate thing is that I have achieved the Fifth Stage without a single error from the plan made before regression, no, even more smoothly and quickly than that.

It means that I have enough leeway to wait for the right time with a cool head.

“Let’s have a match!”

As if to wake me from my thoughts, my older brother Dancheon Hak came to find me out of the blue.

“Suddenly?”

My bewilderment had no time to subside.

“No questions asked!”

This was because Dancheon Hak, who had shouted so, soared into the air with a swift movement.

For a moment, the thought, ‘Is he crazy?’ crossed my mind, but…….

“Hmm.”

I could not let my guard down.

This was because his achievement was quite surprising, as if my brother’s words, which had always promised for the next time, were not empty.

Kkang!

“Brother, that’s quite something.”

“I was always more something than you!”

“Hahaha.”

“Don’t laugh!”

It would be good to indulge Dancheon Hak today.

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