The Youngest Prince of the Zhou Family - Chapter 42
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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 (42)
Resentment
Originally, Yak Seon was a physician who owned a small medicine room.
Like any physician, he also had some acupuncture skills.
Though he didn’t have much, he was still quite happy.
He had raised his only son properly, and the boy had even followed in Yak Seon’s footsteps to become an excellent physician.
His skills were so outstanding that he even received a summons from the Emperor and was appointed as an Imperial Physician in the Imperial Palace.
After magnificently completing five years of service as an Imperial Physician, his son and daughter-in-law came to live together in Yak Seon’s medicine room.
A granddaughter was born there too, and there was nothing in the world to envy.
Of course, that was only until then.
Strangely, he had been too happy.
So Yak Seon couldn’t even think that misfortune would come to him.
The accident happened in the blink of an eye.
He had come out to gather medicinal herbs as usual, but his mood was particularly poor that day.
“Is it going to rain?”
The sky was dim and the moisture in the air was sticky, just like on a rainy day.
Still, since he had to go out to gather medicinal herbs, Yak Seon hurriedly headed to the mountain.
“This is incredible. Hehe.”
His luck was good too.
Precious medicinal herbs that were usually nowhere to be found even after searching thoroughly were revealing their luscious forms as if saying “come and take me.”
When he stuffed them into his wicker basket indiscriminately and returned to the medicine room with cheerful steps.
The old man’s wicker basket fell powerlessly to the floor.
“Yu, Yu Seon…!”
His son, his only son, lay there cold.
His daughter-in-law was lying beside him as well.
He had lost both his son and daughter-in-law overnight.
The only fortunate thing was that his young granddaughter had survived.
Burying his rising anger in his chest for a moment, Yak Seon had no choice but to quietly leave the village with his granddaughter.
* * *
“Why?”
I tilted my head and asked.
“Shouldn’t you have asked the villagers?”
“They were all already terrified. Even if I asked, could they have answered properly?”
They couldn’t.
Common people who knew the terror of Martial Artists would never carelessly open their mouths.
When their lives were at stake, how could they carelessly wag their tongues?
“It would have been fortunate if it had ended there.”
Yak Seon’s expression immediately contorted.
“Just thinking of that child makes my heart break. Break.”
“….”
His granddaughter, Ui Kyung.
At such a young age, she had become half-dead.
“That young child was harmed by the hands of Demon Cultists. I saw demonic energies that her small body couldn’t handle.”
So Yak Seon traveled all regions of the country gathering medicinal herbs and making medicines to save his granddaughter.
That was the reason he earned the nickname Yak Seon.
“Do you want to dig up my past like this to threaten me?”
“….”
“If so, I absolutely cannot follow your words. Let’s end this here.”
At those words, I let out a small sigh.
I had no intention of just letting him go.
“It’s the Demonic Cult. Not simple Demon Cultists.”
“…What?”
“The fierce beasts that harmed Yak Seon elder’s son and daughter-in-law and granddaughter were Demon Cultists belonging to the Demonic Cult.”
Demon Cultists.
Even among Demon Cultists, it differs depending on whether they belong to the Demonic Cult or not.
Those who revere the Orthodox Demonic Way and accept the will of the Heavenly Demon to follow his beliefs.
They are dangerous people who are more direct than anything else in the logic of power and therefore have the ideology that the weak should rightfully be eliminated.
When the Demonic Cult moves, the Demon People move.
Like one systematized army.
The Demonic Cult controls the Demon People and has painted the Central Plains with terror through tremendous military power.
“Demon Cultists of the Demonic Cult? Why would the Demonic Cult do such a thing?”
“Because you are Yak Seon, elder.”
Just as everyone sought Yak Seon, the Demonic Cult also pursued Yak Seon’s whereabouts.
And they left a warning.
With the lives of his children as substitute.
“I don’t understand. If that were the case, shouldn’t they have taken them as hostages instead? Why did they take their lives?”
“Do you think their way of thinking is the same as ours?”
I enlightened Yak Seon’s ignorance with a cold tone.
Because All Under Heaven had been too peaceful, they had forgotten the Demon People and forgotten their habits.
“I have no power. Revenge? I can’t even dream of it.”
He was just living day by day reluctantly, harboring only resentment.
“Just go back. Revenge? I’ve thought about it, but I have no power to practice it and no ability anymore.”
Phew, persuading him is quite difficult.
Actually, I knew he wouldn’t come over this easily.
Hadn’t I already experienced his stubbornness in my previous life?
“Yak Seon elder, I absolutely need you.”
Snake-Eyed Ghost Lord.
To bring that bastard to the surface, I absolutely needed Yak Seon’s help.
I couldn’t think of any way to draw that bastard out through ordinary methods.
“Even if they’re Demon Cultists of the Demonic Cult, nothing will change. What could they possibly do? The Nine Great Sects are standing firm like that, and aren’t there the Five Great Families as prestigious clans?”
“What if they’re all devoured by the Demonic Cult’s hands and can’t avoid the calamity of clan annihilation?”
“That can’t be….”
“How can you be so confident?”
“They’re not prestigious for nothing, don’t you know better? Their foundation built over hundreds of years and their solid internal strength, that mere Demonic Cult….”
“It’s not ‘that mere Demonic Cult.’ I also know because I’ve experienced it.”
At those words, Yak Seon tilted his head.
“Experienced? What?”
“I’ve lost all my precious people and reached a state where I couldn’t do anything, hiding and running away endlessly.”
At those words, Yak Seon’s brow furrowed.
Right, my current appearance is at most fifteen, or at most seventeen if being generous.
From Yak Seon elder’s perspective, he wouldn’t believe the words of such a brat.
“Loss? Emptiness? Loneliness? The emotion that transcended all of those was just one thing.”
“….”
“Powerlessness. That powerlessness of not being able to do anything drove me more insane. Do you know what I did then?”
“What did you… do?”
“Without choosing means and methods, I learned anything, ate and wore anything, and killed Demon Cultists like that.”
Right now, I’m trying to recruit him without choosing means and methods.
Even if it means bringing out my memories from my previous life, even if it means revealing my secrets to him.
I absolutely needed him.
Because I hated the Snake-Eyed Ghost Lord, and furthermore the Demonic Cult, and even further the Heavenly Demon itself… to an extreme degree.
“If you don’t step forward now, you’ll remember and remember this retreat in the future and regret it. No, even the word regret won’t be enough. It will be far too late to turn back.”
Ha, trying to speak at length makes it feel like my words aren’t organizing properly.
But Yak Seon, who heard my words, seemed to have received some kind of shock, silently staring into my eyes until the end.
Something seemed to resonate with him emotionally.
It was time to plant the decisive final words.
“Elder Yak Seon’s granddaughter. What would you do if there was a way to save her?”
“Huh… save her? Even I, who am called Yak Seon, couldn’t find a way?”
He seemed not to believe it.
“I don’t speak empty words.”
I left those words and stood up from my seat.
Yak Seon would also need time to think.
I packed my things as they were and went up to my room.
There was no need to rush.
Now it would be Yak Seon who was in a hurry.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the Jusan Archipelago.
Crackle, crackle!
Late at night, in the forest, Ju Tae-seong and Ju Seung-hyeok, looking like beggars, sat with a campfire lit.
The appearance of both men was completely disheveled.
“Is it hard?”
It was Ju Tae-seong who broke the silence.
At his question, Ju Seung-hyeok soon smiled faintly and shook his head.
“It’s not hard.”
“There are many problems, aren’t there?”
“Yes, it seems that way.”
“Originally, if you stay still, things get hidden and hidden again so you can only see a part. Taking that part and thinking about the whole, making judgments and decisions – that’s what a Family Head does.”
At those words, Ju Seung-hyeok paused for a moment.
Then, after pondering, he slowly opened his mouth.
“Actually, Woo Jin came to see me.”
“….”
At the mention of Woo Jin, Ju Tae-seong raised his head to look at Seung-hyeok.
“He told me to become the Young Family Head.”
“…!”
At those words, Ju Tae-seong’s expression flinched.
But there was no way to know what he was thinking.
“So have you made up your mind?”
“I still don’t… know well. Honestly, I lack confidence.”
Becoming the Young Family Head meant inheriting everything of the family.
Breaking away from being a late-born son and becoming the true young master of the family to lead it forward.
Since one had to manage and operate numerous business establishments, trading companies, and everything within the Zhu Family’s territory, simply being strong in martial power wasn’t enough to become a Family Head.
“A Family Head must be perfect.”
Ju Tae-seong slowly opened his mouth.
“It’s a ridiculous thing to say. People cannot originally be perfect. Being perfect in everything is something only a god can achieve. However, even so, a Family Head must be perfect.”
It’s contradictory.
Knowing you cannot become perfect, yet having to strive for perfection.
“In that regard, you are lacking.”
“…!”
“Therefore, I too have agonized and agonized again.”
“Have you ever had someone other than me in mind?”
At those words, Ju Tae-seong nodded.
“Of course.”
“Woo Jin… is it?”
“….”
Ju Tae-seong was silent for a moment.
As if thinking about something, then soon nodded again.
“That boy was crazy about alcohol and crazy about women. Day after day he would catch subordinates like catching mice, beating them up. There were many problems.”
“Yes, that’s how it was.”
“Did he cause some trouble? There are more than a few warriors who got into disputes with the Dark Path and shed untimely blood. But…”
Ju Tae-seong’s eyes sank heavily.
“What if all of that was an act?”
“….”
“That boy doesn’t know. How much I know.”
Ju Tae-seong fiddled with his beloved weapon, the White Tiger Point Sword.
A sword that had been with him for over sixty years.
Now it felt empty without it by his side.
“That boy detected strange movements within the Noble Family. I also knew about it, but when I was about to move, Woo Jin moved first.”
“Don’t tell me it started with Foster Mother’s incident?”
“That’s right. That boy awakened my mind. So after that, I monitored and observed that boy’s actions and everything happening in the Zhu Family.”
“There must be… something?”
Ju Tae-seong nodded slightly.
“That boy remained in the Noble Family. What do you think he’ll do?”
“Well, I don’t really know. I’m sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. Anyway, that boy is… changing the Noble Family now. Slowly, and very persistently. In that regard… he’s quite similar to me.”
“So you’re torn between me and Woo Jin?”
“No, I stopped agonizing quite a while ago.”
Ju Tae-seong exhaled as if relieved, straightening his chest.
Somehow, a faint smile was spreading across his expressionless lips.
A smile that even looked comfortable at first glance.
“Woo Jin wants to make you the Young Family Head. He boldly told me with his own mouth. Asked if he could try being greedy.”
“….”
“The meaning of those words seemed exactly like… asking if it would be manageable when he became greedy.”
At those words, Ju Seung-hyeok bit his lower lip tightly.
“That doesn’t mean I excluded you. You also didn’t show greed, so I just didn’t bring it up. I’ve always thought of you as material to succeed me.”
“Should I be happy?”
“Think about it yourself. I absolutely won’t force you. I’ll just wait. You will become the pillar of the family, and Woo Jin will become the roots. Just as roots filter and absorb quality nutrients that travel up the pillar and spread to all branches to bear sweet fruit.”
Clang!
Finishing his words, Ju Tae-seong soon picked up his sword.
Then he lightly sent out a Wind Finger Technique to extinguish the campfire.
Killing intent arose from all directions.
“Prepare yourself.”
“Yes, Family Head.”
With a somewhat more resolute expression, Ju Seung-hyeok drew his sword.
How long had it been since he had such a long conversation with Father?
‘Greed.’
It seems.
I’m starting to feel a little greedy.
‘In the end, if you don’t move yourself, you can’t accomplish anything, Eldest Brother.’
Therefore, he was trying to move on his own.
The first step.
And so began Ju Seung-hyeok’s steps for the Young Family Head.
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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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