"Why must humans eat to survive?"
It wasn't particularly a philosophical question. He was just being lazy. Though Wei Yan-ho had come to appreciate the pleasures of fine dining, the enjoyment only lasted while eating.
Having to move his feet for such things was never a pleasant affair.
"Well, it's not too bad, actually."
Wei Yan-ho smiled contentedly as the sunlight shone down on him.
They say a person's eyes open when they have leisure, and while normally Wei Yan-ho would hate sunlight and stepping outside his room, having rested for so long had made his heart much more generous.
Taking a stroll in the sunlight like this wasn't too bad either.
Moreover, right now there wasn't a single person beside him telling him to do this or that. If he could, he would have liked to continue playing and eating in the Imperial Palace like this.
"But that's impossible."
Idle dreams are the more of a loss the more you have them. He had already learned long ago the truth that if the world has good days, it also has rough days.
"But considering how much I've suffered so far, shouldn't there be only good days for a while?"
Thinking of the hardships he endured meeting Baek Mu-han in that cave, even if only good things happened for the rest of his life, it wouldn't be enough.
"Sigh, what can you expect from my fate."
Wei Yan-ho lifted his head to gaze at the distant sky.
"Right, Master?"
Wei Yan-ho wasn't one to be unaware that the way the world was turning wasn't ordinary. The leisure he was enjoying now was like a mirage that could disappear at any moment.
Already there were signs of division everywhere. The moment these all burst forth simultaneously, the word peace would disappear from the martial world.
'Should I go to a distant country?'
He had no intention of being swept up in that chaos and suffering here and there. But Wei Yan-ho soon shook his head.
"Never mind. People live there too, so wouldn't there be turmoil?"
In the end, it wasn't the land that created trouble, but people. Wherever there were people, incidents couldn't be avoided. Wei Yan-ho had realized early on that the safest place was inside his room on his bed.
And right now, he had left his bed and was walking outside. Feeling anew how dangerous this was, Wei Yan-ho quickened his steps to return.
Though it was still incredibly slow.
Trudge trudge, as Wei Yan-ho walked along, he twisted his waist backward.
"Kkeuing-cha!"
Though Wei Yan-ho's body automatically maintained its optimal condition at all times, perhaps because rest had been so long overdue recently, various parts had stiffened up uncomfortably.
It shouldn't happen to a martial artist, but what of it? It wasn't like there would be any fighting in the Imperial Palace.
'How peaceful.'
People called the Imperial Palace a dragon's den and tiger's lair, but to Wei Yan-ho, there was no place more peaceful than here.
Though he hadn't experienced much yet…
"Hey."
"Hm?"
Wei Yan-ho's head turned around.
"Huh?"
Wei Yan-ho slightly furrowed his brow.
"What kind of person are you?"
Looking at the other party who asked out of nowhere, Wei Yan-ho couldn't help but fall into serious contemplation.
"Master told me not to judge people by their appearance."
But this was too stereotypical a look to avoid making a judgment.
Delicate eyebrows, round eyes, plump red lips, and a soft, rounded jawline… how should he put it?
"Cute? Cute?"
Well, what…
Objectively speaking, it was cute. It was an extremely cute child. So cute that even Wei Yan-ho, who didn't particularly like children, had to admit it was cute.
But despite having such cuteness, something felt uncomfortable. It was indeed strange that despite being so cute, he couldn't give a good impression to others.
"Is it because of the expression?"
Wei Yan-ho tilted his head.
In the past, Wei Yan-ho hadn't judged people by their appearance even when looking at Baek Geoumyeong disguised as Nok Mok-pung.
Appearance was something you couldn't be born with as you pleased, and it wasn't something you could fix through effort either. So judging people by their appearance was extremely foolish.
'…Or so I thought.'
But strangely, this little brat in front of him didn't feel endearing.
Wei Yan-ho slightly narrowed his brow and examined the child carefully.
"Ah, it is because of the expression."
Wei Yan-ho smiled as if he had realized something.
Those slightly upturned corners of the mouth and the eyes that seemed to look down on others were making people uncomfortable.
Should he say that arrogance showed on the face?
"What are you babbling about?"
"Huh?"
"Didn't I ask you? What kind of person are you?"
"Uh…"
Wei Yan-ho's mind worked.
Of course, he was inherently lazy, and since he had been lazy from the time he could remember, he was used to other people treating him roughly.
Actually, all the various faults people have have their own reasons and excuses, but laziness alone was something that deserved others' contempt without even room for excuses.
So he had lived with a broad heart, enduring others cursing at him and whispering about him…
"This little pipsqueak!"
No matter what, seeing this tiny thing opening its mouth like this made him feel like his insides were turning over.
"Pipsqueak?"
Fire sparked in the child's eyes too.
"Where do you get off calling me a pipsqueak! You lowly bastard!"
"Geez…"
Wei Yan-ho clutched his chest.
Lowly bastard. He had never heard such an old-fashioned, clichéd insult before. But that obvious insult was making him furious.
'Classics are classics for a reason.'
Wei Yan-ho, who gained the realization that obvious things are passed down for so long because they work so well, almost achieved enlightenment on the spot.
If it weren't for the realization stopping just in time, he would have almost written the legend of being the first martial artist in martial world history to gain enlightenment from being insulted.
Wei Yan-ho shouted loudly, containing his boiling anger.
"Are you perhaps royalty!"
"Huh?"
Looking at the bewildered child, Wei Yan-ho began his background check. There were certain beings in the world that you should never mess with, no matter how dirty and annoying they were.
"I'm asking if you're royalty."
"No."
"Then are you the child of a high official?"
"No?"
"Then do you perhaps have kinship relations with those called high officials from first rank to fifth rank, or are there people within your eighth cousin relationships who are very capable and frequent the Imperial Palace like their own home?"
"What are you babbling about? I'm not such a person."
"Ah, really?"
Wei Yan-ho looked at the child with suspicious eyes again.
"Don't change your story later and answer properly. Do you have anyone around you who holds government office?"
"No."
"Any royalty among your relatives?"
"I said no, you idiot!"
Wei Yan-ho felt one realization and one question arise simultaneously.
"Ah, you really have no connections?"
"I said so, didn't I."
"Then what are you relying on to pick a fight?"
"Pick a fight?"
The kid kicked Wei Yan-ho's shin.
Thwack!
"Aaaaah!"
Then he grabbed his foot and started rolling around on the ground.
"This isn't exactly self-defense, but it's not not self-defense either."
He just got hit.
"This bastard who should have his three generations executed!"
The kid jumped up from the ground and started glaring at Wei Yan-ho with venomous eyes.
But Wei Yan-ho felt wronged.
"What did I do!"
"You hurt my foot, didn't you!"
"Did I hurt it! You kicked it yourself and got hurt by yourself!"
"How dare this bastard!"
Wei Yan-ho clicked his tongue looking at the brat.
"The kid talks exactly like an old geezer."
"You just made a mistake."
"Huh?"
The kid started giggling.
"When you find out what you just did, you'll probably turn pale and beg me to spare your life."
"Ah, yes yes."
Wei Yan-ho waved his hand dismissively.
"Yes yes, please spare me. If you just spare my life, I'll be eternally grateful. Yes yes."
Looking at Wei Yan-ho speaking indifferently, the child shot fire from his eyes.
"You'll pay the price."
"Yes yes, I understand. So can I go now?"
"Kikikik."
The child's face became incredibly cruel.
"Too late, it's too late. Begging won't work now. When your fingernails are pulled out one by one, when your flesh is branded with hot irons, when your flesh is carved off bit by bit with a knife, I'll remember clearly what expression you make."
Wei Yan-ho looked at the child with a slightly stiffened face.
'What kind of words are coming from a kid's mouth?'
Of course, Wei Yan-ho didn't believe the saying that children are pure. No, to be precise, children can be pure, but they're not good beings. Children are the ones who catch bugs, tear off their wings and legs, and smile innocently.
Children just lack power; a child with power could be more cruel than adults.
Even taking that into account, the words coming from this brat's mouth went too far. It was amazing what kind of environment he must have grown up in to casually spout such words.
"Wow, this… completely lacks any sense."
"It's too late to regret. Not just you. Your family too, not a single person with your blood will survive."
"Oh, how scary."
"Kik kik, but I am merciful, so I'll give you a chance. If you gouge out both your eyes right now and swallow them with your mouth, I'll forgive you this once. If not…"
"Ah, wait a minute."
Wei Yan-ho cleanly cut off the child's words.
"You're being a bit too extreme, you know? Where are your parents?"
"Hmph! I have no parents."
"Ah, I see."
"How dare…"
"But that's not an excuse. There are kids who grow up to be disasters even with parents, and kids who grow up splendidly even without parents. I'm a typical example of the former!"
Wei Yan-ho pointed to himself with his thumb.
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"So I'm going to make you into the latter."
"Huh?"
Wei Yan-ho shrugged his shoulders.
"It's annoying, but I can't just pass by and leave alone a kid whose head isn't even properly developed yet and is in such bad shape. Well, it won't take much time, so I'll give you some simple education on behalf of your deceased parents."
"Education?"
The child smiled nastily.
"Do you think someone like you could dare educate me? I'm someone acknowledged as a prodigy by the greatest scholars under heaven. Someone like you can't teach me."
"No. I can."
"How? Are you going to discuss classics with me now, or discuss poetry and literature?"
"Tsk tsk tsk."
Wei Yan-ho waggled his finger.
"A kid is still a kid. You don't know anything."
"What don't I know?"
"Such dead knowledge is completely useless in the world. You must be young and don't know the world, but there's only one truth of learning that works in the world."
For the first time, something called curiosity appeared on the child's face.
"What's that?"
"Simple. The rod is medicine for brats."
"What?"
At that moment, Wei Yan-ho rushed at the child and kicked his bottom.
THWAAACK!
With a sound like a firecracker exploding, the child's body shot up into the air.
"Waaaaaaah!"
Listening to the child's piercing scream, Wei Yan-ho muttered.
"Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times… Ah, should I have said this before kicking?"
Oh well.
I'll tell him when he comes down.