The Youngest Prince of the Zhou Family - Chapter 21

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Youngest Master of the Zhu Family (21)

Movement

“What are you hiding?”

Ju Tae-seong, Father’s sharp gaze seemed to see right through me.

I met Father’s gaze directly.

My heart stung, but I couldn’t show it.

Even the slightest mistake would let Father see through my lies immediately.

“Haven’t the Demon People committed countless unthinkable acts against the Orthodox Martial World?”

“They have.”

Ju Tae-seong nodded appropriately.

How could words fully express the madness of the Demon People?

“I think this might be part of that.”

“Is that the best excuse you can offer?”

With those words, he slowly stood up and approached me.

As if enraged, the surrounding air was distorting.

Suddenly, Father’s form scattered like mist, and before I knew it, he was reaching his hand toward me.

‘What?’

Startled, I reflexively drew up my internal energy and struck away Father’s hand.

“…”

“…”

A moment of silence.

In the quiet atmosphere, I realized I had made a proper mistake.

‘Oh no.’

One of the Ten Supreme Masters, said to be the strongest under heaven.

Moreover, Ju Tae-seong, who had surpassed the renowned Wudang and Mount Hua Sects known for their swordsmanship, even defeating the Namgung family of the blue sky among noble families to receive the title of Sword Master.

I had struck away his hand.

“…Though I only put 3-star level internal power into it, the you I know could never have avoided this.”

“…”

His voice was filled with certainty.

Father seemed to already suspect something.

“But you avoided it. And far too easily at that.”

“Do you need…an explanation?”

“No.”

Ju Tae-seong curled up one corner of his mouth and extended his hand again.

Father already knew.

He must have suspected something from seeing my unusual behavior.

Soon came a direct combat form, but at the end it contained the mysteries of the Phantom Hand Technique that shattered unpredictably, making it impossible to predict where it was aimed.

The problem was that I could see it clearly.

‘Ah, whatever.’

Among the countless feints being scattered, I thrust my left shoulder precisely toward the upper head gate.

It was a type of body technique that pushed my head further in, instantly closing the distance with the opponent.

“…!”

Father’s hand stopped abruptly in mid-air.

If he had struck down just a little more, it would have been dangerous enough to shatter my skull.

But that was only how it appeared on the surface.

‘The real thing is this.’

My left hand was touching Father’s pressure point.

“Admirable, but still too early.”

Thump!

Suddenly, a wave of true energy rose from my chest.

I floated up in the air and then plopped down on the ground.

When I closed and opened my eyes, Father was already placing his hand on my head.

But something seemed a bit strange.

‘Is he smiling?’

It was Father’s warm expression that I had never seen before.

“Well done. I thought you were just causing trouble and wandering around unable to focus your mind. When did you achieve such progress?”

At those words, I hurriedly got up from my position.

“I merely had a small enlightenment. It’s nothing to boast about.”

“Haha, at your age you not only deflected my Killing Hand imbued with 3-star internal power, but momentarily held my lifeline. That can never be ordinary.”

“…”

I had nothing to say.

I knew the Zhu Family’s martial arts inside and out from the beginning, even knowing all the methods to counter them.

After the noble families were destroyed by the Heavenly Demon, I had examined their martial arts to understand why the Zhu Family fell so helplessly, so I could know these things.

But I couldn’t just tell him that directly.

“However.”

Suddenly, Father’s cold voice reached me.

“You must not bring danger upon yourself by being overconfident.”

“…Yes.”

I nodded and answered.

“I will let this matter pass without further questioning. However, next time you must definitely tell this father or someone else before acting. Do you understand?”

It was unexpected.

For that cold-blooded Father to use such an affectionate word as “father.”

“Yes…I will do so.”

Feeling awkward, I forced a smile and nodded.

Father patted my shoulder and told me to go.

Watching Woo Jin turn and leave, Ju Tae-seong’s expression hardened for a moment.

He recalled Woo Jin’s footwork technique and body techniques from just before.

‘Dangerous and extremely filled with killing intent. It’s not the Zhu Family’s martial arts.’

To be considered martial arts of the same Orthodox Faction, that technique contained unusual killing intent.

Wasn’t it martial arts imbued with the poison heart of throwing one’s own body away to somehow take the opponent’s bones?

Martial arts with such characteristics were mainly handled by the Unorthodox Faction.

“I really can’t put my mind at ease.”

He had also heard reports that Woo Jin had stopped visiting pleasure houses recently.

Just when he thought his son might be maturing, he suddenly displayed martial arts thick with killing intent.

“Should I assign more guards?”

Ju Tae-seong’s worries only deepened.

​

* * *

​

Everything was a burden.

The past when I was called by all sorts of lowly and dirty names like the scoundrel of the world, the trash of the Zhu Family.

Then after the Demonic Cult’s rise, I suddenly became the last hope of the Orthodox Faction and became a star.​

The renowned masters of the Martial World who had made their names known died gloriously, and I alone wandered the world mastering all kinds of martial arts.

Slowly hunting Demon Cultists, I made my name known and became the sole shining star of the Orthodox Faction.

But that too was a burden.

The fact that there was only me.

Because I keenly felt that if I collapsed, everything would truly be over.

That everyone relied on me and everyone watched me.

In truth, there were countless times I wanted to run away.

But for the first time, Father had spoken.

​

‘I won’t ask about this incident and will let it pass. However, next time, you must tell either this father or someone else before taking action. Do you understand?’

​

That I’m no longer alone.

Could it be that single phrase, which seemed like nothing, was what I wanted to hear?

It feels like some tight knot that had been firmly blocking something inside me is finally loosening.

“Hehe.”

A pleasant smile naturally appeared on my face when—

“Woo Jin.”

I heard a familiar voice calling my name.

When I turned my gaze, Elder Oh and Uncle Ju Tae-hwi were waiting for me, smiling brightly as they looked at me.

“Uncle, it’s been a long time.”

“Yes, you’ve grown a lot since I last saw you. Hahaha.”

He’s the only one among the Elders who’s on my side.

Moreover, as the youngest among the brothers, he’s practically always busy handling all the dirty work within the family by himself.

“Have you finished all your missions?”

“Finished? There’s still a mountain of work to do. Those damn Dark Path bastards properly messed with one of the main house’s business establishments this time. To clean that up again… Sigh.”

Uncle was holding his head, seemingly getting a headache just thinking about it.

“Hmm, but anyway… this kid? Your physique has become quite solid, hasn’t it? The martial aura you’re giving off is also impressive… You must have been training hard?”

“A little.”

“It doesn’t seem like just a little? Ho.”

Ju Tae-hwi’s eyes lit up as he kneaded and squeezed various parts of my arms and thighs like he was kneading dough.

“Wow, look how solid you’ve become. This kid, this is really something special?”

His eyes flashed with interest.

My youngest uncle is the strongest master among the Elders.

Moreover, he was also one of the Ten Great Masters of the Martial World, said to be the strongest in the Central Plains.

Following Sword Master Ju Tae-seong, Blood Master Ju Tae-hwi.

Two unprecedented geniuses in the Zhu Family’s history had been born.​

Unlike Father, who properly inherited the way of the sword, my youngest uncle has always taken on missions at the front lines where he constantly clashes with the Dark Path.

Therefore, the masters of the evil and heretical paths gave Ju Tae-hwi the name Blood Master because he’s always covered in blood.

“By the way, you’re busy with work, so what brings you to the family estate?”

“Kid, I heard you pulled off something dangerous. How could I just sit still? They even said you wiped out the demon cultists?”

“That wasn’t something I did.”

The wiping out was done by the Red Dragon Corps and the Red Dragon Squad Leader.

“But you’re the one who made it happen, aren’t you? Hehe.”

Uncle laughed sinisterly, seeming quite pleased about something.

I didn’t bother to deny it.

He’s someone who treats me like his own child.

He’s someone so passionate that he doesn’t even marry and throws himself completely into the family’s affairs.

I didn’t want to disappoint such a person’s expectations.

“This time when I leave, I’ll probably wrap things up there and return within a year.”

“You’re coming back for good?”

“Yes. There’s already a lot of talk here and there. Being an Elder of a family and running around fighting like that every day… Ahem, it’s about time to hand things over to the squad leaders.”

That’s also because he’s too competent.

The few Elders who didn’t attend today’s Elder meeting are all deployed on missions.

While the Zhu Family being busier than other families compared to others might be part of it, it’s undeniable that their exceptional talents played a major role.

“You must return safely, Uncle.”

“Yes. I came in a hurry this time and left your gift behind, but next time I’ll give you something so amazing it’ll make your eyes pop. Hehe, look forward to it.”

With those words, Ju Tae-hwi turned around with a satisfied expression.

Uncle who says what he needs to say and quickly turns away.

As always, his personality remains refreshingly straightforward.

Only after my youngest uncle left could I finally be alone.

“Phew, is this incident roughly settled now?”

It seems like the Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s matter will be concluded like this.

If anything, it was fortunate.

If Father had pressed further, it would have been really troublesome.

It seemed like I managed to slip away appropriately.

Of course, given Father’s personality, he’s absolutely not someone who would just leave it at this.

He’s probably already deployed warriors to thoroughly track the demon cultists’ movements.

‘Of course, even if he does that, he won’t be able to find any traces.’

He won’t be able to find the Blood Hand Poison Emperor’s corpse either.

The Heavenly Demon never trusts others.

Even if they are the Twelve Demon Emperors.

The moment the Blood Hand Poison Emperor died, the prohibition technique embedded in his body would have been released, completely dissolving his corpse.

“Remnant Blood Kill Master, Do Gon.”

There’s no avoiding it.

He will definitely come.

Originally, the Twelve Demon Emperors don’t have any strong bonds with each other.

But Do Gon’s relationship with the Blood Hand Poison Emperor is a bit different.

Because they’re blood brothers?

No, before that, Do Gon would be enraged thinking that what was his had been stolen.

“Hah.”

I recalled all the past encounters with Do Gon and stood up from my seat.

There was no time to sit around like this.

Facing him would be incomparably more frightening and nerve-wracking than dealing with the Blood Hand Poison Emperor.

“Well, it’s about time to prepare.”

Since my regression, I’ve devoted myself to training without missing a single day.

Except for sleeping and eating time, I’ve constantly moved to elevate my martial arts realm, but it’s still not enough.

‘In my current state… at most first-class. But if there are two or more, it’s certain defeat.’

I’ve never once decisively beaten Mu Ying, who has reached first-class supreme mastery.

Of course, I haven’t used my full strength, but neither has Mu Ying.

‘To face Do Gon, this state won’t be enough.’

He’s incomparably stronger than the Blood Hand Poison Emperor.

Therefore, I needed a means to supplement the internal energy that was most lacking in my current state.

​Yes, a fortuitous encounter.

That fortuitous encounter that all martial artists hope will come to them at least once in their lives.

It was time to turn a fortuitous encounter for advancing my realm into inevitability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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