Where are you going?"
"Home."
"Huh?"
Wei Jeong-han's eyes widened in surprise.
"When you say 'home,' you mean the home I know, right?"
"Did you set up another household somewhere? Do we have two homes now?"
Crack.
Wei Jeong-han shuddered at the chilling sound coming from beside him. A wooden cup lay shattered into pieces, and tea water dripped steadily from a tightly clenched fist.
The sight alone would normally be dismissed as someone who couldn't contain their anger and smashed a cup, but the problem was who had broken it.
"S-Sang-ah… You don't actually believe this ridiculous talk, do you?"
"…I was being foolish."
Cold air practically radiated from Han Sang-ah's face.
"Of course. Now that I think about it, leaving the children behind for martial travels—that doesn't make sense. Unless you set up another household somewhere to rest comfortably, how could that even be possible!"
"…Wait, hold on! Sang-ah!"
"I'm going to kill this man!"
Wei Jeong-han dodged the flying chopsticks with all his might, tears streaming down his face.
Everyone in the world knew he had traveled the realm engaging in martial duels from the beginning. Where exactly was he supposed to have settled down and set up another household?
'That damn brat!'
All of this was because of that rotten son who didn't miss the opportunity to corner his father over one slip of the tongue. Wei Jeong-han quickly took the initiative before Han Sang-ah could open her mouth again.
"You're returning home—why is that?"
Wei Yeon-ho tilted his head.
"Do I need a reason to go home?"
"…No."
Wei Jeong-han spoke as if dumbfounded.
"But when I suggested going home before, you said you couldn't?"
"Back then, I needed to gain enlightenment through travel."
"So now you don't need to do that anymore?"
"No."
Wei Yeon-ho shook his head.
"It's not that."
"Then?"
"The Demonic Cult is running rampant in the world. If I keep wandering around traveling and such, it's the perfect way to lose my head."
Wei Jeong-han and Han Sang-ah both nodded simultaneously.
In such turbulent times, no one would leave home just to travel.
"But didn't you say problems would arise if you didn't gain enlightenment?"
"Well, when I thought about it backwards…"
"Hmm?"
Wei Yeon-ho spoke indifferently.
"There's no standard for how long or how much enlightenment I need to gain. And I can't just keep wandering the realm indefinitely."
"…That's certainly true."
For someone with wanderlust, it wouldn't be such a bad condition, but Wei Yeon-ho wasn't someone with wanderlust—he was someone who loved his room and walls.
In the past, leaving his room was something that happened maybe once every three days, if that.
If humans didn't have to go to the outhouse after eating, it wouldn't have been three days—he would never have left his room for an entire month.
'Come to think of it, for him, this really was suffering.'
It was a long distance for others too, and a difficult task even for others. Thinking that Wei Yeon-ho had gone through such a process, his son seemed admirable anew…
"N-no, this isn't right!"
Wei Jeong-han shook his head vigorously.
When he met Wei Yeon-ho again, what he thought he needed to be most careful about was eliminating the preconception that 'our son is lazy, so even if he doesn't do as much as others, it counts as effort.'
If he had the thought embedded in his head that because his son was lazy, it was okay for him to fall a little short compared to others, it would naturally be impossible to guide his child down the right path.
"If a man draws his sword, he should at least cut something. A fellow who ventured into the martial world with grand ambitions—how long has it been, and he's already scurrying home like a coward!"
"I never came out with grand ambitions though?"
"…Oh, right."
Let's not forget. That guy is Wei Yeon-ho.
Just as Wei Jeong-han realized anew how extraordinary his son was and was about to speak, Han Sang-ah opened her mouth first.
"There shouldn't be any problem with returning home, right?"
"I've been thinking about it…"
"Yes."
Wei Yeon-ho shrugged and continued.
"This thing called enlightenment seems to mean traveling to various places to see the world I don't know and experience things I haven't experienced before, but that doesn't necessarily have to mean the martial world. The first place I went was the scholarly world too."
"That's right."
"Then wouldn't there be something to feel at home too? I want to experience how the home I used to live in differs from the current home. Since my perspective and circumstances have changed from then to now, there's bound to be something new."
Wei Jeong-han nodded with a pleased expression.
"That's very convincing nonsense."
"You caught me."
"Hey, you brat! Does it make any sense to enter your home to gain enlightenment? Others don't hesitate to wander and beg for ten years to see the world, but what kind of fellow are you that you can't endure a few months and are already looking for home!"
"Well, is there a guarantee that you can only gain enlightenment by wandering outside? If we're going to argue that way, how do you explain Dharma the Great Master, who achieved enlightenment in martial learning through meditation under the Bodhi tree!"
"…That wasn't Dharma, that was Buddha."
"Ah… mistake, mistake."
Watching Wei Yeon-ho chuckle, Wei Jeong-han felt his heart ache anew.
"Don't you think about studying a bit before martial learning? A warrior doesn't necessarily need to pursue scholarship, but at least the basics…"
"A person of the martial world just needs to fight well."
Wei Jeong-han had nothing to say.
If some other young punk said such things, he could embarrass them by saying 'if you could fight properly, I wouldn't be saying this,' but Wei Yeon-ho really was good at fighting.
'Right, what's so important about studying? As long as he's healthy.'
Wei Yeon-ho was excessively fulfilling every parent's wish.
He's healthy.
Yes, too healthy.
"So you're going home?"
"Yes."
Wei Jeong-han's face became a bit more serious.
"Do you know what the current situation is like when you say you're going home?"
"I know."
"You know?"
"Yes, I know. The Demonic Cult is invading. It's a terrifying situation where the world could be sucked into the flames of war at any moment."
"…You know well."
Wei Yeon-ho chuckled and said.
"That's exactly why I need to go home quickly. If I wander around outside or stay with the Orthodox Alliance at a time like this, I'll get caught up in the war."
Wei Jeong-han spoke as if astounded.
"At times like this, rather than going home, you should be protecting the Orthodox Alliance. That's how you fight against the Demonic Cult bastards."
Wei Yeon-ho looked at Wei Jeong-han with a laugh.
"Me?"
"Yes!"
"Against the Demonic Cult?"
"Of course!"
"Me?"
"…"
Wei Jeong-han let out a deep sigh.
'I had forgotten for a moment.'
The person before his eyes was Wei Yeon-ho. No matter how strong he had become, there was no way Wei Yeon-ho would fight the Demonic Cult despite the annoyance.
'Right now, Yeon-ho is the person the Orthodox Alliance needs most.'
What father would want his child to get involved in fighting those dangerous Demonic Cult bastards?
Even if Wei Jeong-han himself had to return to the battlefield, he never wanted to put his children on the battlefield.
It's said that prestigious families tend to encourage their descendants to enter the battlefield, but Wei Jeong-han never agreed with such thinking.
What's important is people, not the family. What meaning would fame gained by sacrificing my child have?
However, the problem was that now, Wei Yeon-ho's absence wasn't something that could be filled by Wei Jeong-han's efforts.
'With Yeon-ho present, we could save countless lives.'
As a father, Wei Jeong-han didn't want to put Wei Yeon-ho on the battlefield, but as the martial artist Righteous Hero Sword, Wei Jeong-han needed Wei Yeon-ho's power.
"Urrgh."
Wei Jeong-han looked up at the ceiling with a resentful expression.
'Is there another father in the world with the same worries as me?'
A situation where he had to dissuade his son because his son was too strong for him to replace.
Other families have fathers protecting their children, but this could easily look like a father too scared to fight alone, clinging to his son.
"I understand your desire to return home, but Guangdong isn't that safe a place."
"It's better than here."
"…It's not particularly better than here."
"Ey, Father's political judgment is really poor. They're pushing from Shifan Mountain toward here, so Guangdong is safer. Did you forget that the Demonic Cult bastards were running wild here just yesterday?"
"Well, that's true, but…"
Wei Jeong-han began to lose in logic.
What made Wei Yeon-ho truly annoying was… looking at what he did, he absolutely didn't seem like he would be, but he was quite logical and had strong debating skills. Especially when it came to matters that seemed like they would inconvenience him, he created desperate logic.
"I want to go home."
Wei Yeon-ho spoke indifferently, as if there was nothing more to hear from Wei Jeong-han.
"…No, Yeon-ho. Won't you listen to your father for just a moment?"
Cold sweat began to flow from Wei Jeong-han's forehead.
If Wei Yeon-ho returned home like this?
'I'll be roasted to death.'
It was obvious that starting with Gwon Geuk, not to mention the Four Great Masters, even the heads of each sect would come at Wei Jeong-han as if to kill him. Countless people had already seen Wei Yeon-ho capture Gwang Mu-ryang.
When Wei Yeon-ho, who caught a supreme master like Gwang Mu-ryang—whom even the Plum Blossom Sword Immortal couldn't handle—like catching a mouse, said he was withdrawing from the front lines, who would just watch and do nothing?
Those who didn't know well would step forward saying they'd persuade Wei Yeon-ho and end up utterly humiliated, and those who knew well?
'They'll roast me instead of Yeon-ho.'
It was obvious without even looking.
The Four Great Masters would probably foam at the mouth and try to punch him in the jaw, and Gwon Geuk would pretend otherwise while subtly needling him, repeating 'a father who can't even move his own son lived in vain' every time he drank.
The heads of each sect wouldn't understand why he couldn't do anything about Wei Yeon-ho, so they'd think he was pulling some other scheme behind the scenes…
"Aaaaah! No! Absolutely not!"
Wei Jeong-han shouted as if he would breathe fire.
"Until dirt enters my eyes, I absolutely won't see such a sight! You must go to the Orthodox Alliance with me! Absolutely!"
"Is that so?"
"Yes! I won't accept any objections! If you think of me as your father, this time you must absolutely obey my words…"
Before he could finish speaking, Wei Yeon-ho casually turned his head to look at Han Sang-ah.
"Mom."
"Yes, my child."
"I want to go home."
Han Sang-ah smiled gently and said.
"If you want to go home, then go home. What's the problem? Let's leave first thing tomorrow morning."
"Okay."
Wei Jeong-han was speechless at the conversation that naturally ignored him.
"N-no, Sang-ah…"
"What?"
"Yeon-ho can't leave like this…"
Han Sang-ah's eyes began to harbor murderous intent.
"A son who suffered terribly in a cave for five years says he wants to go home, and that's what you say as a father?"
"No, it's not…"
"You abandoned him when he was young too, so what's this about? Eyes and dirt and what not? Open your eyes properly. I'll show you clearly how that dirt gets in your eyes right now!"
"…I was wrong."
After the conversation that clearly revealed the power hierarchy of the Guangdong Wei Family ended, Wei Yeon-ho's journey to Guangdong after five years was decided.