The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 12

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

The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company – Chapter 12

Chapter 12. Continuing the Thread of Fate (3)

“Brother! Come to your senses! Brother!”
Gwak Jun-ha called out to his brother repeatedly, but the unconscious Gwak Hyung-jin did not respond.
“Brother! Don’t die! Brother!”
Then it happened.
From a distance, the sound of approaching footsteps reached his ears, and shadowy figures came into view.
Gwak Jun-ha cried out with desperate urgency.
“Please help! Save my brother!”
Whether his voice had reached them or not, those figures drew steadily closer.
It was a strikingly beautiful youth, a bear-like large man, a warrior, and a physician carrying a medicine chest.
Gwak Jun-ha spoke through tears of anguish.
“My brother, my brother…”
The beautiful youth grasped Gwak Jun-ha’s trembling hand and spoke with warmth.
“You need not worry anymore.”

* * *

I gazed upon the child lying pale and bloodied, having lost so much vitality.
Was he twelve years old now?
Come to think of it, our ages were not so far apart.
I was fifteen, after all.
Yet having died at thirty-nine, I often forgot how young I truly was.
Ah, this wouldn’t do.
Regardless, that wasn’t what mattered.
His condition was clearly grave.
“Will he recover?”
The Physician nodded at my question.
“Yes, I brought sufficient medicine, and we arrived in time, so there should be no complications.”
“I’m grateful for your aid.”
I exhaled with relief, my hand pressing against my chest.
Fortunately, I had saved the child’s life in time.
And fortunately, I had recalled the memory in time as well.
Had I been even slightly later, I would have failed to save Master’s son.
I had not brought the Physician here to save the child in order to obligate Master into becoming my teacher through a debt of gratitude.
Of course, I would still ask him to become my Master, but not in this manner.
Master would always drink with a melancholic expression on his birthday and death anniversary of his eldest son.
That sorrow of burying a deceased child in one’s heart—I did not know it.
I had never married, and I had no children.
Yet each time I witnessed that expression on Master’s face, my heart ached terribly.
Perhaps the image of his son, bloodied and lifeless, could never fade from his memory.
This time, I desperately wanted to save Master’s eldest son.
So that he might live in Hubei Province with cherished memories, that was my wish.

The Physician examining the child spoke.
“The critical danger has passed. We must take him now for proper treatment.”
“Very well. I shall inform my father.”
Fortunately, the house had writing materials at hand.
I wrote a message on paper explaining that the injured child was being brought to the Eunhae Trading Company and instructing them to come to the Eunhae Trading Company Medical Chamber, then returned to the guild with both children.
.
.
.
After explaining the child’s circumstances to my father, I made my way back to the Medical Chamber.
Beside the sleeping child sat another boy, gripping his brother’s hand tightly.
“Big brother….”
A younger sibling desperately willing his brother to awaken.
I knew the younger one’s name.
Gwak Jun-ha.
He had been one of my Guard Warriors.
And he died that day when I was ambushed.
I smiled bitterly, recalling his final moments.

“Young Master, please escape at once. These are no ordinary foes.”
“What are you saying? We must go together!”
“It has been an honor to serve you all this time, Young Master. And thank you for bringing joy to my father. He never spoke of it, but in truth, my father was delighted to have met you.”
“Gwak Guard!”

With those words, Gwak Jun-ha forced me to flee and charged at the enemies.
In the end, I too perished,
And another memory he had left behind in life.

“Well, if I were to name my greatest regret, it would be that day when I was eight years old.”
“That day?”
“Yes, my older brother died then. If only I hadn’t pestered him to play with me that day… he would not have died.”

His gaze held the same intensity I had seen in my Master’s eyes.
If saving my Master’s eldest son was a disciple’s moral duty to his teacher, then repaying the debt of one who sacrificed his life for mine was something else entirely.
While I was lost in thought, Gwak Jun-ha asked me a question.
“Excuse me, but our brother really is going to be fine, isn’t he?”
I nodded.
“Yes. The Physician said so too.”
“Then why hasn’t he opened his eyes yet?”
“I’m keeping him asleep on purpose. He won’t feel pain while sleeping, will he?”
At my explanation, Gwak Jun-ha nodded in understanding.
“So let’s not be too impatient.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
The moment Gwak Jun-ha called me Young Master, the memory of that time overlapped with the present.
Without realizing it, my expression hardened.
Noticing my stiffened face, Gwak Jun-ha spoke carefully.
“Everyone here calls our brother Young Master.”
“Ah… I see.”
It was then.
“Young Master.”
Palgap entered the Medical Pavilion and found me.
“The child’s father has arrived.”
“Oh, is that so?”
I turned my head, and before I could prepare myself mentally, I faced him.
The man who had been my Master.
Gwak Myung-hyun.
Having just returned from his travels, he wore a sword at his waist. His face was unshaven and his clothes were worn, but his eyes blazed with clarity.
“Hyung-jin!”
He rushed toward the child lying on the bed, calling out his name, and examined him.
My Master looked exactly as I remembered him.
Whether from his refined martial skills or something else, he carried an air of cold intensity, yet few men possessed a heart as warm as my Master’s.
Gwak Jun-ha answered with a trembling voice.
“Father, brother and I were playing, and brother fell, and the bamboo pierced his belly, and… sniff…”
I patted Gwak Jun-ha’s back and offered a fuller explanation.
“Today, while taking a walk through the Bamboo Forest, I happened upon an injured child and treated him. Fortunately, he’s past the critical point, and he simply needs rest for a few days.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
My Master bowed deeply to me in gratitude.
To receive such a bow from my Master!
Flustered, I quickly waved my hand.
“No, no! It was simply a matter of fate bringing us together.”
“I don’t know how to repay this kindness.”
“The child was destined to live. So please, raise your head.”
I placed my hand on Master’s shoulder to help him to his feet.
In that instant, I felt Master flinch.
He lifted his head to look at me, and his eyes seemed bewildered by something.
Just then, as the child opened his eyes, Gwak Jun-ha cried out.
“What? Hey, Brother! Are you awake?”
Master quickly turned his head and asked urgently.
“Hyung-jin. Are you coming to?”
“Ah, Father…”
“Thank heavens! Thank heavens!”
Watching Master repeat his gratitude and Gwak Jun-ha rejoice at his brother’s awakening, I felt an indescribable emotion stir within me.
I couldn’t fathom Master’s heart, but I understood Gwak Jun-ha’s well enough. After all, I had felt that same inexpressible emotion when I saw Second Brother again—even though he had died with his head severed.
Yet my heart now felt something different from that.
Because I had saved a child who should have died.
Was that why?
Seeing Master and Gwak Jun-ha rejoice, my eyes inexplicably grew warm.

That evening,
a woman came to the Eunhae Trading Company Medical Chamber.
She was the mother of the child I had saved, and Master’s wife.
And she was also the woman who would one day be known by the name Bamboo Forest Weaver Woman.
In a sense, saving the child Hyung-jin might have been my way of repaying the Bamboo Forest Weaver Woman who had saved me.
But,
setting aside all those reasons, if I were to speak of the true reason I saved Hyung-jin, there was no grand reason at all.
Why would I need a reason to save a child who could be saved, a child who had died so tragically?
The moment I realized that today was the very day the child had died, I had no mind for calculations or schemes—I simply rushed to the Medical Chamber.
I forcibly brought a Physician with me and ran to the Bamboo Forest, and fortunately, I found the child in time and was able to save him.
Since I had learned from Gwak Jun-ha that his brother had died from excessive bleeding, I made sure to bring plenty of wound medicine and hemostatic powder.
“I am truly grateful, Young Master.”
“There is no need for such courtesy. It was simply a matter of fate.”
“I do not know how I can ever repay you…”
At the Bamboo Forest Weaver Woman’s words, I shook my head.
“I did not act in hope of repayment. So please, do not think such thoughts.”
I barely managed to dissuade her.
It was then that Master, who had been watching me, spoke.
“Young Master. Might I have a private word with you?”
.
.
.
A moment later.
Following Master, I arrived at the Bamboo Forest where his home stood.
Palgap and the Guard Warrior watched over me from a distance.
“I apologize for bringing you all the way out here.”
At Master’s words, I shook my head.
“Not at all. I suspect you brought me here because you didn’t want what you’re about to tell me to reach anyone else’s ears.”
“…You noticed?”
“Yes. After all, the place you know best is surely the safest place, isn’t it?”
“You’re quite perceptive.”
“You’re too kind.”
I answered respectfully.
In that moment, Master’s eyes shifted.
“Do you happen to know about the Hyun Ryong Constitution?”
“…!”
At that instant, I couldn’t help but be startled.
I had never expected Master to mention the Hyun Ryong Constitution.
Certainly, in the future I had experienced, Master had never spoken to me about the Hyun Ryong Constitution.
Yet now he brings it up… that means he knew about it before.
But there was something I couldn’t understand.
Even when we first met, he mentioned this Hyun Ryong Constitution to me.
If that were the case, in the future I experienced, Master surely would have mentioned my constitution as his disciple.
The difference between then and now was that this time I had consumed the Qingbing Shuemei Fruit, so fifty years of inner energy had accumulated in my dantian, and Hyun Ryong had moved directly to save me.
I watched Master silently without speaking, and Master smiled faintly and said,
“You understand.”
He had discerned it from my expression.
Master continued in a measured voice.
“In fact, when you touched my body earlier, I sensed that you possess an enormous amount of inner energy within yours, and that this inner energy has the nature of yin-attributed inner energy.”
“…”
“And I also discovered that your constitution is the Hyun Ryong Constitution.”
To be honest, I don’t even know Master’s exact realm of cultivation.
It’s certain he’s a master beyond the peak, but he never told me.
Given that he knows so much, there was no point in hiding anything further.
Especially not from someone I would serve as my master.
“How did you know?”
“About the inner energy being yin-attributed? That’s likely because the martial art I practice is the Frost Technique.”
“And about my constitution being the Hyun Ryong Constitution?”
At my question, Master looked at me and smiled.
Yet somehow that smile felt distant and wistful.
“Because I once happened to meet someone who possessed the Hyun Ryong Constitution.”
“Really? There’s someone else with the same constitution as me?”
“Yes, but I’m afraid I cannot tell you who. I apologize.”
That’s correct, but I’m unable to tell you who it is. I apologize.
There seemed to be something he couldn’t speak of freely.
In that case, I couldn’t very well press him on it.
If he felt I needed to know, he would tell me someday.
“It’s quite all right. If there are circumstances, there’s nothing to be done about it.”
Master opened his mouth to speak.
“The reason I’ve mentioned this is because you, Young Master, cannot learn the martial arts of the Two Rivers.”
“Presumably not, no.”
“So then, would it be acceptable if I were to instruct you in Bing Gong instead?”
“I beg your pardon?”
I was startled by this unexpected proposal.
I had been planning to suggest that he become my master, yet Master had made the offer first.
“The Physician told me that if you hadn’t discovered my eldest son, he would surely have perished.”
“That was merely… a matter of fate aligning.”
“I believe the same.”
Master continued.
“That you saved my child, and through that I came to meet you. That I came to understand your constitution and your inner strength. All of it is fate. And I would like to follow that thread of fate and instruct you in Bing Gong.”
Master clasped his fists in respect and bowed deeply to me.
“Please, grant me this permission.”
I was truly bewildered in every way.
I had never imagined that Master would ask me to become his disciple.
Yet my answer was already decided.
“I am the one who should be asking. Master.”
“You are granting permission?”
He seemed slightly surprised that I would accept so readily.
I smiled and answered once more.
“Yes.”
And so Master became my master once again.

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