“A letter to Nanchang? Why?”
“I’d like to send the other novel I wrote to the Hundred Books Old Bookshop in Nanchang.”
“Hmm? What are you planning?”
“You know Father gave me a sum of spending money far beyond what a child my age should normally possess, don’t you?”
“Of course. You accomplished something remarkable a month ago.”
Because they were still wary of drawing the Blue Snake Gang’s attention, the family had yet to make conspicuous use of the wealth. Still, Jeong Inhwa knew from Baek Muryang that a considerable fortune had come into their hands.
“To get straight to the point, I’d like to do a little business with the Hundred Books Old Bookshop.”
“You intend to sell the novel you wrote?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm....”
Although Jeong Inhwa had spent most of her life confined to her quarters from childhood onward, she was by no means a foolish woman.
Books were said to nourish the mind.
Having spent so much time indoors, Jeong Inhwa had read countless volumes and was fairly knowledgeable about the ways of the world.
And in her judgment, making money by selling fiction was no easy matter.
People of high status generally looked down on such stories, while books themselves were expensive because they were bound from costly paper.
“I don’t think it is a particularly good idea. Love Beyond the Precipice was certainly very entertaining, but most people would rather listen to a storyteller than buy a book.”
“I think so too.”
Those without much money would usually toss a few coins to a storyteller rather than purchase an expensive book.
Those of high status cared about appearances, so when filling their shelves, they chose the teachings of Confucius and Mencius rather than frivolous popular tales.
Selling such stories in book form was therefore hardly a sound business.
But Yanghwi was confident.
I just have to copy the One-Stroke Scribe’s method.
About fifteen years from now, a writer using the pen name One-Stroke Scribe would appear in the martial world.
It was said that once he put brush to paper, he would write an entire story in one uninterrupted burst.
He was also the author of more than half the novels Yanghwi knew.
The One-Stroke Scribe became recognized as a great literary master despite writing nothing but popular fiction.
Everyone had acknowledged it.
His works possessed enough value to be preserved for generations and devoured by readers for years to come.
The reason was simple.
Every work he wrote contained a profound and mysterious insight, yet was also so entertaining that once a reader began, putting it down became nearly impossible.
His popularity had grown so immense that even noble and prestigious households had made a fashion of filling their shelves with books written by the One-Stroke Scribe.
Though he grew so arrogant that he repeatedly crossed the line and eventually destroyed himself.
He had used his fame to seduce all manner of women.
Eventually, he had even seduced the lady of one of the Five Great Clans.
He died with all four limbs severed.
“I believe failure at a young age can become nourishment for future growth. I would like to try this once, so please allow it.”
Jeong Inhwa remained silent for a moment.
From the day they first met, this child had shown extraordinary wit and initiative.
That very day, the Baek Family had nearly faced a devastating crisis, only to escape disaster through this child’s scheme.
And as if that weren’t enough, he revealed astonishing martial talent.
Third-rate though the Baek Family might be, it was still a martial family.
Yet in only a month, Yanghwi had already earned the recognition of every retainer in the household.
My husband called him a heaven-born martial prodigy.
A child blessed with martial talent from heaven itself.
And if he had truly conceived and written the novel she had just read, then his literary talent was no less astonishing than his martial talent.
“Yanghwi.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“Sometimes I truly wonder whether you are actually eight years old. I almost find myself thinking that you might be some Daoist immortal who regained his youth and took on the appearance of a child.”
It was only natural that she would think so.
Yanghwi himself knew that he was moving far too quickly.
But—
If I want to make the family the Greatest Clan Under Heaven before my lifespan runs out, I don’t have enough time.
That was why he continued doing things that would make the people around him gape in shock, marvel in admiration, and eventually even begin to question him.
“Of course not. I’ve simply seen and heard more than most people since I was born.”
“Yes. I suppose that must be it. Very well. I will send someone to Nanchang, so prepare your letter.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
Having received permission, Yanghwi bowed and left Jeong Inhwa’s room.
He then wrote a letter to accompany the book and handed both to the retainer who would be traveling to Nanchang.
She could read it and ignore me, but the Chu Yongwol I remember would never do that.
Yanghwi was certain.
The moment Chu Yongwol read the letter and the book, she would come straight to Baek Family Manor.
If everything goes according to plan, the Baek Family will gain a source of funds with no competition to worry about.
The most common way for martial families to earn money was through protection work, contracting out martial artists to restaurants, pleasure houses, and similar businesses.
But leaving aside the low martial level of most of the Baek Family’s retainers, the family could not establish a source of income that way in the first place.
Most of the restaurants and pleasure houses in Agan County are under the protection of Black Path factions.
In truth, it went far beyond simple protection.
Most could practically be considered the property of those Black Path factions.
The moment the Baek Family tried to involve itself, the local Black Path powers would bare their teeth, believing their territory had been encroached upon.
Well, there are ways around that too. And for the retainers’ experience, we’ll eventually need to enter the protection business anyway.
For now, however, that was impossible.
So they needed to launch a new business and generate profit another way.
After all, no truly outstanding martial artist could be raised without abundant financial support.
And on that subject—
I need to pass on the martial arts I created as soon as possible too.
The Heaven-Harmonizing Origin Art and the Hundred and Eight Heaven-Covering Swords.
Yanghwi had created both during the more than ten years he had spent wandering the martial world in his previous life.
The sword art could wait.
But the Heaven-Harmonizing Origin Art needed to be passed on urgently.
When it came to internal energy, the earlier one began cultivating with a superior method, the better.
I need a plausible excuse. What would work?
Claiming that he had created it himself was absolutely impossible.
No matter how great a genius he might be, an eight-year-old creating a peerless divine art was beyond absurd.
That meant he needed some believable way to introduce the martial art without arousing suspicion....
Using someone else would probably be best.
*****
Excluding the Clan Head’s family, Baek Family Manor had twelve retainers in total.
Four came from vassal families that had served the Baek Family for generations.
The other eight, regardless of age, were either people whose lives the Baek Family had saved or orphans raised as retainers from childhood.
“Young Master, you’re training hard again today!”
“Young Master, if anyone ever looks down on you, just tell me. I’ll give them a beating they won’t forget.”
“Young Master, never forget that you are the one who will carry this family into the future.”
To them, Baek Heonso was Baek Muryang’s only son and the eldest son of the Baek Family, the family that had saved their lives.
As a result, Heonso had grown up surrounded by their affection and expectations from the moment he was born.
That had shaped the young Baek Heonso into someone who enjoyed—and craved—meeting other people’s expectations and being praised for it.
In truth, it could hardly have been otherwise.
Perhaps it would have been different if expectations, affection, and praise had been limitless.
But the existence of his younger sister, Baek Yeonyeon, had forced him to realize that they were not.
Baek Yeonyeon was the adorable darling loved by everyone in the Baek Family.
Even Heonso himself found it impossible to resent his younger sister for monopolizing everyone’s affection.
He adored her too much.
That alone said everything.
And so—
The only thing left for Baek Heonso was to work hard, study diligently, achieve results, and earn praise through them.
“You’re already becoming quite skilled with the Heaven-Covering Sword. Well done, my son.”
“A promising talent changes beyond recognition from one day to the next, yet the Young Master is diligent as well. He is certain to accomplish great things.”
“Heonso, I’m truly proud of you.”
From the day Baek Heonso first held a sword at the age of five, he had never skipped a single day of training.
Unlike Baek Yeonyeon, who would whine that she wanted to rest whenever she felt unwell, Heonso had never once taken a day off.
Whenever it became difficult, he repeated the same thoughts to himself.
I’m the eldest son of the Baek Family.
I’m the next Clan Head.
I’m the one who will have to lead everyone.
Perhaps that was why.
When he was told that some boy he had never even met was suddenly going to become his elder brother, rejection had come before welcome.
I’m already here! Why is Father taking him in as a son instead of just making him a retainer?!
For a boy who measured his own worth through the judgment of others, Yanghwi’s very existence felt like a threat.
He resented him.
Found him irritating.
Hated him.
And in childish frustration, Heonso had shown those feelings openly.
Then he got hit.
—You insolent little brat.
Words more shocking than any he had heard in his entire life.
Followed by a beating disguised as a spar.
What happened that day remained deeply engraved in Baek Heonso’s mind.
Because Yanghwi’s very existence was shocking and outrageous.
And—
That shock and outrageousness had not ended with the first day.
—Heonso. In the first move of the Heaven-Covering Sword, what matters is connecting the force generated from your lower body without interruption.
On the very first day he had ever held a sword, his elder brother surpassed him.
—When practicing the Six Directions Harmonization Art, you need to place as much strain on your body as you can bear, even when it hurts. That’s the only way to temper it properly.
Within only a few days, Yanghwi had mastered not only the sword art but the Six Directions Harmonization Art as well, then started giving Heonso advice that sounded suspiciously like instruction.
He’s showing off because he’s a genius.
He’s trying to steal all my praise.
At first, that was what Heonso thought.
But before long, he realized he was wrong.
—That’s it. Just like that. Well done, Heonso. Truly excellent. You really are Father’s son.
His elder brother showered him with praise, telling him he was worthy of being the son of the man Heonso respected more than anyone else.
—Little brother, you’re going to be the strongest pillar supporting the Baek Family. I know that weight is heavy, but I’ll be beside you to help carry it. So let’s do our best together. All right?
His elder brother had even comforted him, offering to share the burden of expectations that Heonso had been too young to tell anyone about and had quietly endured alone.
—Everyone, take this. It’s a special reward for everything you do for the family.
Then one day, Father suddenly gave money to every retainer in the household.
Apparently, that too had been brought home by his elder brother.
And the money they had been given was only a tiny fraction of the total.
It was an incredible accomplishment.
Something Baek Heonso could never have achieved.
Jealousy.
An emotion one felt when someone regarded as an equal moved ahead.
But when the other person was not merely superior, but so overwhelmingly beyond you that comparison itself became absurd, even jealousy became impossible.
And the emotion that filled the space it left behind was—
Admiration.
Brother... Brother Yanghwi....
This was an enormous change from Yanghwi’s previous life.
In that life, Yanghwi had been an orphan and a beggar.
He had therefore starved for affection and become intoxicated by the recognition of his new family.
He had cherished Baek Heonso as family and as his younger brother, but it had never occurred to him to look deeply into the boy’s feelings and care for him accordingly.
This life was different.
Yanghwi spent most of every day with the siblings and faithfully fulfilled his duties as their elder brother.
So this... is what having an elder brother feels like.
Someone who had never had an elder brother could not know what such a person was supposed to mean.
That was why Baek Heonso had initially felt envy and rejection when Yanghwi suddenly appeared and declared himself his elder brother.
But—
—Why did I sneak off with a silver piece? Obviously, it was to buy something delicious for my little brother and sister!
By watching Yanghwi, Baek Heonso was beginning to understand what an elder brother truly meant.
Unlike parents, who belonged to another generation, an elder brother stood close beside you.
Someone more dependable than anyone else.
Someone you could even lean on.
That was the place Yanghwi had come to occupy in Baek Heonso’s heart.
And now that same Yanghwi—
The elder brother who had accomplished something unbelievable against Black Path fighters on his very first day at Baek Family Manor, and who had amazed Heonso anew every single day since—
had caused another incident.
“One-Stroke Scribe! I came running the moment I received the letter you sent to our Hundred Books Old Bookshop!”
The speaker was a woman who looked barely past twenty, dressed from head to toe in silk.
Watching his elder brother grin at the woman, Baek Heonso thought to himself.
Brother has done something bizarre and outrageous... no, brilliantly inventive again.
“One-Stroke Scribe! Young lady that I am, I beg the author who sent me Eastern Lands, Western Soil to show himself at once!”