Star Instructor, Master Baek
Chapter 363: I Have a Gift For You

TL: FoodieMonster007

The lights of the White Dragon Manor did not go out until late into the night.

Reunited with Baek Suryong after a long time, the students chattered away without rest. They talked endlessly about the training they did during the vacation, what had happened, who they met, and where they had been.

Hyonwon Kang spun a heroic tale, "Our clan held a banquet, and can you believe it? That bastard Peng Sahyuk showed up! So I told him, 'Hey, Peng Sahyuk. Stop acting up and get lost quietly.' And then that bastard got scared of me and…"

A chorus of jeers erupted from the students.

"That's an obvious lie."

"If you're going to lie, at least do it properly."

"We enjoyed the story from your imagination, Senior."

"But it's true! Okay, maybe I just added a little seasoning…"

Baek Suryong sat back, planning to listen quietly to his students' stories. Unfortunately, they wouldn't leave him alone. They had all heard the rumors about the Azure Dragon Hero's deeds, even from far away.

And so, the students teased their teacher with mischievous smirks on their faces.

"Mr. Baek, is it true you caught a Blood Cult spy at the Murim Alliance?"

"Did you really save the poisoned Beggars' Gang Chief?"

"I heard the beggars bring you the rice they collect every day to repay your kindness…"

"At this point, isn't he literally the Beggar King?"

"I heard that in the Beggars' Gang, they secretly call him the Azure Dragon Divine Beggar."

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Hyonwon Kang's eyes glittered like a predator stalking its prey. "Fufufu, Mr. Baek…"

Baek Suryong's insult sensor went off. Before Hyonwon Kang could finish his sentence, he sighed, "Here we go again…"

SMACK!

The Black Dragon Pointer crashed down upon Hyonwon Kang's head with the force of a mighty thunderbolt.

"Oww! Why did you hit me! No, why did you only hit me!" Hyonwon Kang protested, clutching his head in pain.

Baek Suryong looked at him incredulously. "It's because you are the most satisfying one to hit, obviously."

"…Argh, I've had it with you! Everyone! It's time for Beat Up Baek Suryong Formation Number 158! Let's show him the results of our training!" Hyonwon Kang roared.

Unfortunately, no one joined him. The result was all too obvious.

BASH! WHACK! THWACK! THUD!

A short while later, a battered Hyonwon Kang lay spread-eagled on the floor, groaning, "So close… I could have landed a hit this time…"

Sighing, Yeo Min used her folding fan to dust off Hyonwon Kang. "What are you talking about? You couldn't even make Mr. Baek move a single step from where he stood."

"Oh, right! Hey, Min." Suddenly remembering something, Baek Suryong took a bundle out of his enormous backpack and handed it to Yeo Min with a grin. "This is a gift from your aunt."

"…My aunt?"

Nodding, Baek Suryong told the students the story of his trip to the North Sea Ice Palace.

Everyone's eyes grew wider and wider as he talked.

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"Senior Yeo Min's mother was from the North Sea Ice Palace?"

"Congrats on finding your family!"

"Phew! To think that you were a descendant of such a great family."

Everyone sincerely congratulated Yeo Min on finding her family.

Yeo Min stared at Eun Hwiryong's gift in disbelief. Inside the bundle were elixirs useful for learning ice arts, a handwritten letter, and items found only in the North Sea.

She muttered, "Actually, I heard from Madam Seo Ri'ae that my mom might be from the North Sea Ice Palace, but since my mom never talked about it, I thought I didn't have any family…"

Baek Suryong grinned. Yeo Min's white hair, the same as the many martial artists Baek Suryong had seen in the North Sea Ice Palace, swayed lightly in the wind.

The moment those North Sea guys see Yeo Min, no one will be able to deny her lineage.

"I told the Empress I would send you there after this semester ends, but if you want to go to the North Sea before then… you may do so," he added.

He had no intention of stopping Yeo Min even if she said she wanted to go to the North Sea Ice Palace right away. No matter how important the Heavenly Martial Festival was, it couldn't take precedence over family.

However, Yeo Min shook her head firmly. "No. I'll go there after the Heavenly Martial Festival. I'll win with my head held high, then go to my aunt and brag to my heart's content."

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Even after learning from Seo Ri'ae that her mother was from the North Sea Ice Palace, she hadn't changed her mind. Then and now, her decision remained firm.

Everyone's expressions lit up with excitement.

Only Hyonwon Kang furrowed his brows, muttering under his breath, "The North Sea Ice Palace…"

It was good that Yeo Min had found her hometown, but wasn't the North Sea Ice Palace too far from the Hyonwon Clan?

He asked hesitantly, "When you graduate, are you going to live at the North Sea Ice Palace?"

"Who knows? I haven't even been there yet," Yeo Min replied, shrugging.

"Kgh…" Hyonwon Kang pouted like a lost puppy.

Ignoring him, Baek Suryong asked Yeo Min, "Where is Madam Seo Ri'ae?"

"She comes every morning, so you'll probably see her at dawn."

"I see. I'll deliver the good news to her then." Baek Suryong nodded. He hadn't forgotten to ask the North Sea Ice Palace to pardon Seo Ri'ae, allowing her to return if she wished.

As they talked, an hour passed in a flash, and it was time for bed. All the students looked like they wanted to play more, but after Baek Suryong tapped his palm a few times with his Black Dragon Pointer and grinned, their complaints vanished.

"Morning training resumes tomorrow. Think you can handle it?"

"W-We're going to bed now!"

"Guess the heartwarming reunion is over…"

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Terrified, the students hurriedly returned to their rooms.

Baek Suryong did the same and briefly organized his belongings.

[They are good children,] the Divine Azure Dragon Sword suddenly remarked.

[Yeah, they are.]

Until now, Baek Suryong had deliberately kept the matter of the Divine Azure Dragon Sword hidden. He hadn't told his students or Namgung Su and Jaegal Soyeong, who had traveled with him from Wuhan.

After all, if he explained why the Dark Heaven Goddess resided in his sword, the truth about his heaven-defying fate would come out. He didn't want anyone else to know about that yet.

He pulled out the most precious item in his backpack, a long wooden box. He had wanted to give it to Mae Geuklyom earlier, but shortly after his return, his grandfather had left the White Dragon Manor so that he and the students could chat comfortably.

[It is late. Would it not be fine to give it to him tomorrow?]

"Shall we bet? I don't think that old man is asleep yet."

Smirking faintly, Baek Suryong left the White Dragon Manor and headed for Mae Geuklyom's residence at the Azure Dragon Academy. As expected, the lamps in the old man's house were still lit.

Baek Suryong knocked on the door. "Grandpa! It's me, Suryong."

"Come in."

Baek Suryong opened the door and entered to find Mae Geuklyom sitting in his pajamas.

"Why come all this way so late at night?" Mae Geuklyom asked. "We'll see each other tomorrow anyway."

"Did I wake you up?"

"…So what if you did? What's done can't be undone. Since you're here, let's talk for a bit."

Baek Suryong nodded, but he knew Mae Geuklyom hadn't been sleeping.

What a dishonest old man. There's no way someone who was sleeping would have a neatly folded blanket.

"How was your vacation? I heard many rumors about you," Mae Geuklyom began.

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Baek Suryong told him about his adventures over tea.

Suddenly though, Mae Geuklyom put down his teacup and stared at his grandson's face, frowning. "You seem to have lost some weight."

"Pardon? I haven't really noticed…"

Mae Geuklyom reached out and grabbed Baek Suryong's arm. "Have you been eating properly? Did you take the medicinal herbs I gave you before you left?"

"About that…"

"You punk! I knew it. You haven't been eating properly. You think you'll be healthy forever just because you're young?!"

Mae Geuklyom sighed deeply. He was constantly worried about his grandson, who seemed to be a bit of a workaholic. To make matters worse, he often saw his sickly daughter's face superimposed on his grandson's.

"Your parents loved playing around and having fun. Just who do you take after? You work yourself too hard!"

"…Could it be that I take after you, Grandpa?"

Mae Geuklyom laughed. "Hah! Look at this smooth talker."

Smirking, Baek Suryong handed his grandfather the wooden box. "Actually, I have a gift for you."

"A gift? You didn't have to…" Mae Geuklyom grumbled, but he opened the wooden box regardless. Inside was a neatly rolled and tied hanging scroll. "What's this?"

"Please unroll it."

"……"

Mae Geuklyom unfolded the scroll as requested, but as soon as he saw its contents, his breath caught.

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A single moment stretched into an eternity.

Three people were depicted on the canvas, but his eyes were inexplicably drawn to the one young woman's face.

His hands trembled, and his breathing became so erratic that he sounded like he was hyperventilating. Although this reaction was unbecoming of a martial artist of his caliber, he was that emotionally rattled.

Right now, in this moment, Mae Geuklyom was so defenseless he couldn't have blocked a child's fist.

"……"

There, on the canvas, was his daughter's smiling face. A face he hadn't seen in thirty years. A face he had never forgotten, not even once in his dreams.

"H-How… did you get this?" he choked.

"I met a painter named Pung Wol in Shaanxi," Baek Suryong replied.

He calmly recounted his meeting with Artist Pung Wol and how he had seen a painting of his parents in their youth hanging there. He also told the story of how his mother once barged into Artist Pung Wol's manor late at night.

"She apparently just strolled in during the wee hours of the night and demanded he paint her, can you believe it?"

Mae Geuklyom chuckled bitterly. "…If it was that child, she was more than capable of doing something like that. She was such a troublemaker when she was young, she went around putting bumps on the heads of all the boys her age."

Baek Suryong rose from his seat.

…I should give him some time alone.

"It's late. I'll take my leave for today," he said. "Goodnight, Grandpa."

"…Yes. See you tomorrow," Mae Geuklyom mumbled.

He watched his grandson walk away until he became a small dot and disappeared.

"Stupid, quick-witted brat."

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Finally, the tears he had been holding back flowed from his bloodshot eyes and trickled down his wrinkled cheeks.

"Damn it… this sight is too unseemly for an old man like me."

Wiping his eyes with his sleeve, Mae Geuklyom took the scroll and hung it on one wall.

"…Yakbing."

Missing his daughter's funeral was his lifelong regret. He knew people around him whispered, calling him a cold-blooded man, but he never once refuted it. He never once made excuses for himself.

No, what excuse could a pathetic father who couldn't even be there for his daughter's final moments because of his own emotional struggles possibly make? He had already decided to live as a sinner for the rest of his life.

"You look well."

He could see her son-in-law's bright smile as he sat next to her daughter. Unlike previously, he didn't look hateful, to say nothing of the grandson standing behind them.

To him, Baek Suryong was the most precious treasure in the world, his daughter's greatest gift that she left behind.

"You look well, and happy."

He smiled gently. Yakbing was smiling beautifully on the canvas, as if announcing that she was the happiest woman in the world.

Mae Geuklyom carefully touched his daughter's cheek with his finger. Though it was just paper, he could feel a strange warmth radiating from it.

Finally, he mustered the courage that had eluded him for thirty years.

"Will you… forgive this shitty father of yours?"

His daughter's warm smile seemed to say that she had already done so long ago.

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Official Baek Family Picture (from the side stories):