The Youngest Prince of the Zhou Family - Chapter 55

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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 (55)

 

Mercy

 

Generally, when expressing levels of mastery, they can be divided into three stages.

 

Beginning, proficiency, and peak.

 

Beginning means taking the first step into that realm, proficiency literally means one’s understanding of that realm has ripened considerably.

 

And peak.

 

It refers to a state where one perfectly understands the insights gained within that realm, can skillfully deploy them in actual combat, and only needs to advance to the next realm.

 

In other words, Chu Mil, who had just barely surpassed first-rate beginning level, could never match Mu Ying, who was at first-rate peak.

 

Bang! Crash! Crunch!

 

With sounds of things breaking and shattering, Chu Mil and the rest of his group all rolled on the ground in unison.

 

The time it took for them all to collapse on the floor was merely a moment.

 

This showed how even within the same realm of first-rate, there could be vastly different levels depending on skill differences or the quality of martial arts itself.

 

“Th-this is impossible…”

 

Chu Mil was devastated.

 

This was the shame of the Zhu Family he had only heard about in rumors.

 

Woo Jin.

 

How could he not know that name?

 

The rumors had already spread loudly throughout Jiangxi territory.

 

Although he had shown incredible prowess in the recently held Zhu Family World Competition, he had dismissed it as mere rumors.

 

The problem was that he hadn’t even been defeated by that Woo Jin, but by his guard.

 

Step, step.

 

He was walking over.

 

Chu Mil couldn’t lift his face.

 

He was both angry and afraid.

 

“…I told you to kill them, but you didn’t.”

 

“I apologize, Young Master.”

 

Mu Ying sheathed his sword and bowed lightly.

 

In truth, if he had wanted to kill them, he could have done so easily.

 

Rather, cleanly cutting them down would have been the easier and faster path.

 

But Mu Ying had suppressed them all instead.

 

“I understand Young Master’s intentions, but isn’t sparing those who pose no threat like these also a luxury only the strong can afford?”

 

“Why? Why should we indulge in such luxury?”

 

“Because this is the Righteous Path.”

 

I ignored Mu Ying’s gaze and approached Chu Mil directly.

 

And I looked down at him.

 

His expression was clearly visible.

 

Fear, belated regret for what he had done.

 

And… that expression of considerable resentment.

 

“These people won’t reform just because you spare them. They’ll never be grateful just because their lives were saved.”

 

“…”

 

I grabbed Chu Mil’s shoulder and pressed down hard.

 

“I won’t say you’re wrong. You have your way and I have mine.”

 

Crack!

 

“Aaaahhh!”

 

I shattered one of Chu Mil’s shoulder bones.

 

Even if an acupuncturist came, reviving his arm would be nearly impossible.

 

Unless they fitted together each broken bone fragment piece by piece.

 

“When a seed sprouts, it inevitably grows leaves and bears fruit.”

 

Chu Mil’s expression properly contorted.

 

He clutched his shattered arm, trembling in terror.

 

“Whether that be resentment or fear.”

 

“…Ugh.”

 

With those words, I turned away.

 

Mu Ying couldn’t say anything.

 

I wasn’t trying to teach Mu Ying.

 

I was simply showing him that this is how I think.

 

Still, respecting Mu Ying’s wishes, I spared Chu Mil’s life.

 

Since this was the path to Black Pavilion anyway, I didn’t want to carelessly create incidents.

 

‘Right, not yet.’

 

When the Demonic Cult devours the entire Martial World, the distinction between Righteous Path and Dark Path won’t matter anymore.

 

No, the boundaries themselves will collapse.

 

It means the boundary between Righteous Path and Dark Path that was barely being maintained will crumble.

 

A world where the slightest regulation suppressing human nature disappeared was chaos itself.

 

‘They must realize it themselves.’

 

The pathetic behavior of the Righteous Path, praising themselves saying this is chivalry and this is righteousness.

 

Because that will come to an end on that day.

 

* * *

 

Chu Mil felt the gap in power.

 

A full forty-plus people couldn’t do anything to a single person and were completely routed.

 

Even though they could have been killed, not a single one of them died and all survived.

 

It also meant the opponent had shown that much mercy.

 

‘Twice now…’

 

This was the second time he nearly died at the hands of the Zhu Family.

 

Under the activity of the Red Dragon Corps and that mad squad leader called Mad Dragon, the group Chu Mil led at the time had properly collapsed.

 

Just before death, the Red Dragon Squad Leader had expressed regret at the Sword Master’s words to spare him and released Chu Mil.

 

‘Damn it… but to receive the gift of life like this again?’

 

It wasn’t that he had begged to be spared.

 

Since he was born a man, rather than pathetically begging for his life, the desire to properly live it up once was stronger.

 

But contrary to his wishes, he kept surviving.

 

“…”

 

Chu Mil looked around at his subordinates.

 

“Ah, really, if I had done it properly, I would have smashed that bastard, but my leg happened to be injured…”

 

“You too? Same here. I hurt my pinky finger at the mahjong parlor the day before yesterday…”

 

Each was venting their frustration in their own way.

 

“Ha, damn it.”

 

For some reason he didn’t understand.

 

“Maybe this path isn’t my path.”

 

His subordinates seemed pathetic.

 

It seemed like he should probably go down to his hometown and farm soon.

 

* * *

 

Mu Ying was silently stealing glances at Woo Jin, who was looking out the window without a word.

 

‘What could he be thinking?’

 

He had simply thought of him as a fifteen-year-old, small boy.

 

But time and again he broke that mold, revealing an unusually ruthless and overwhelming presence.

 

Radical choices and actions beyond expectation.

 

‘The attempted poisoning incident of Foster Mother too…’

 

It was something no one had noticed.

 

However, he had instantly recognized Foster Mother’s danger and persistently pursued and killed the culprit.

 

Moreover, what was even more inexplicable was that overwhelming martial prowess.

 

Looking at it this way, it seemed exactly like that of a fifteen-year-old boy…

 

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

 

The Zhu Family’s Supreme Technique displayed against Killing Lord Do Gon’s threat.

 

Even the ultimate technique that was only passed down directly to the Family Head had emerged.

 

Where was the end?

 

What exactly was he trying to show?

 

Extremely calm, rational, and also persistent.

 

Those two pupils, whose thoughts were unreadable, were filled only with cold light.

 

It was the same during Chu Mil’s attack.

 

‘Kill them all.’

 

That statement that came out naturally.

 

From beginning to end, there were no words about sparing anyone.

 

Even those whom Woo Jin had touched were unconditionally dead.

 

Perhaps Chu Mil was the only one who managed to save his life?

 

‘Sigh, I don’t know.’

 

I don’t know what’s right.

 

To blindly follow the will of Woo Jin, whom I’ve come to serve as my lord, was too cruel and completely contrary to the ideals pursued by the Righteous Path.

 

I had considered forgiveness and tolerance as pride as a Zhu Family warrior who inherited the spirit of the Righteous Path that practiced righteousness and chivalry.

 

Strangely, as the days spent with Woo Jin increased… that framework was gradually shaking.

 

* * *

 

It was a trivial matter.

 

After the very trivial attack by the Sogang Sect, the conversation between Mu Ying and me had noticeably decreased.

 

Mu Ying seemed to be thinking about something.

 

‘He’ll need time to think.’

 

It wasn’t just applicable to Mu Ying alone.

 

I was preparing for war with the Demonic Cult.

 

I had already eliminated two of the Twelve Demon Emperors.

 

To thwart the Demonic Cult’s plan itself, I had made countless considerations and plans.

 

The biggest obstacle to that plan was, paradoxically, peace itself.

 

The fact that no one was preparing.

 

‘Slowly… according to plan.’

 

There was no need to be impatient.

 

Just wait slowly and wait again.

 

Before the Demonic Cult moved, I had to quickly gain power.

 

“Young Master, we’re now entering Guangxi Province.”

 

The coachman’s voice awakened my thoughts.

 

The southernmost tip of the Central Plains, Guangxi Province.

 

Bordering Yunnan and the Southern Barbarian Lands, and also touching the sea, it was the greatest strategic point of the Dark Path that secured numerous trade routes.

 

Black Horn existed in Nanning, the capital city of that place.

 

Naturally following Black Horn’s status, numerous Dark Path sects had gathered there, and Guangxi Province operated according to the standards of power they had established.

 

“Huh.”

 

Tension suddenly filled my entire body.

 

Not everyone in the Dark Path was merciless and ruthless.

 

However, they were simply more free than the Righteous Path and a bit more loose with rules.

 

Therefore, what might be cruel and wrong from the Righteous Path’s perspective could also be judged as right from the Dark Path’s perspective.

 

What was wrong and what was right didn’t matter.

 

Differences in position were always relative.

 

“Stop.”

 

Then, a rather deep voice was heard from outside.

 

The voice was strangely familiar.

 

“Is this carriage from the Zhu Family?”

 

Someone was asking the coachman.

 

“Yes, that’s correct. Young Master over there.”

 

The coachman also quickly called me, and I opened the window to peek outside.

 

“…”

 

And I met eyes with a man.

 

‘Ah.’

 

I immediately remembered who he was.

 

‘Wi Gun-ak.’

 

The leader of the Black Ghost Sword Corps that Black Horn was proud of, and a master separately called the Black Spirit Death God.

 

He was probably waiting here to meet me.

 

In my previous life, I had quite a deep connection with him.

 

‘An upright man, one who devoted loyalty only to the Black Horn Master… someone like Mu Ying.’

 

A figure who stood on the Black Horn Master’s side in the collapsing Black Horn due to internal strife and devoted his loyalty to the end.

 

So I had no particular ill feelings.

 

“Are you the person sent by the Zhu Family?”

 

Wi Gun-ak tilted his head while looking at me.

 

From his perspective, I would appear as a young boy.

 

“That’s right.”

 

“…”

 

I nodded as I got out of the carriage.

 

Warriors lined up in a row, proudly fluttering Black Horn’s banner.

 

It was definitely the Black Ghost Sword Corps.

 

“Hah, is this treating Black Horn with contempt?”

 

He looked down at me and frowned.

 

He seemed to think that at least an Elder-level or leader-level person would have come, if not the Blood Venerable or Sword Master.

 

“This is the Youngest Master of the Zhu Family, please show appropriate courtesy.”

 

“…”

 

It was Mu Ying’s words.

 

Wi Gun-ak glared at his words for a moment, then curled up one corner of his mouth and openly sneered.

 

“Not even the Sword Dragon, but some unheard-of youngest master… how far should I understand this?”

 

“The Zhu Family’s…”

 

When Mu Ying was about to open his mouth in anger, I extended my hand to stop him and stepped forward.

 

“Don’t understand.”

 

“…What?”

 

“I said don’t understand. It means don’t use your brain when it’s not like you.”

 

It was a typical power struggle.

 

I don’t get beaten by such things.

 

Because I had experienced it sickeningly in my previous life.

 

“Do you want to die here?”

 

Wi Gun-ak slightly revealed his martial aura.

 

“That’s what I should be saying.”

 

Shing!

 

At those words, Mu Ying drew his sword first.

 

“If you kill me now, Black Horn might be destroyed because of you alone. Think carefully.”

 

“….”

 

At those words, Wi Gun-ak’s martial aura seemed to soften somewhat.

 

I already knew that Wi Gun-ak couldn’t kill me anyway.

 

This was just for suppression of initiative.

 

Since we were both in territories the other couldn’t touch, we were making the most childish threats we could manage.

 

“That bastard called Broken-Face Asura or whatever from your Black Horn targeted our family’s Foster Mother.”

 

“….”

 

“And she is also my Mother.”

 

At those words, Wi Gun-ak flinched and showed a surprised reaction.

 

“Let’s stop this petty pride battle here and just guide us to Black Pavilion. I’m exercising maximum patience right now.”

 

“Hah.”

 

At those words, the corner of Wi Gun-ak’s mouth twisted once again.

 

“You’re an interesting fellow.”

 

That bastard showed interest in me.

 

After staring at me for a while, Wi Gun-ak finally looked away first and raised his hand to clear a path for the carriage.

 

The carriage departed, with the Black Ghost Sword Unit providing escort behind it.

 

Contrary to expectations, we were able to advance toward Black Pavilion quite comfortably and quickly.

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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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