The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Trading Company – Chapter 3

Chapter 3. Fifteen Again (3)

At those words, I quickly straightened my posture.
Hope flickered before me.
“I am listening intently.”
“As I said, the reason you are ill is that Hyun Ryong lacks the vital essence of water to sustain itself. Water embodies yin energy. So tell me—what must be done?”
The Black Flute Physician posed his question like a light Zen riddle.
The answer came swiftly to me.
“Replenish the yin energy… I should consume a spiritual elixir brimming with yin essence!”
“Correct. However, your body has been weakened to the point of fragility. If you consume a yin-rich spiritual elixir in your current state, your body cannot withstand the yin force within it. Had I discovered this five or ten years ago, you could simply take the elixir as is.”
“Surely not… Then what must I do? The way you speak suggests there is another method.”
The Black Flute Physician nodded gently.
“Indeed. Your body must gradually acclimate to yin energy. Only then, when you consume the spiritual elixir, will your body be able to endure it.”
“Acclimate to yin energy? Would consuming cold foods suffice?”
That was the first method that came to mind.
“That is one approach, certainly. But it would be slow and insufficient in effect.”
The Black Flute Physician smiled faintly and continued.
“Fortunately, the weather has turned cold and ice is forming. For the next hundred days, every night at midnight, you will submerge your body in ice water and practice the meditation technique I teach you for one hour.”
“I understand, but will that truly work?”
At my question, the Black Flute Physician laughed and countered.
“Does it sound easy?”
His question struck a nerve.
Because I truly had thought so.
“You will learn once you try. It is far from easy. Especially for you—the tonics you have consumed will make you suffer so greatly you will wish to lose consciousness.”
“What? Because of the tonics?”
At my question, the Black Flute Physician explained.
“All those tonics you have consumed—they all bolster yang energy. They have shortened your lifespan by years.”
“….”
Only a sigh escaped me.
All those expensive medicines I had sought out to heal myself were instead cutting years from my life.
But then a question arose.
‘Why did the other physicians not recognize my constitution when they took my pulse?’
When I voiced this question to the Black Flute Physician, he chuckled and answered.
“Because they are not physicians superior to me.”
“…I beg your pardon?”
“Not knowing your constitution, they simply mistook it for a deficiency of yang energy. Tsk, tsk.”
“I, I see.”
Black Flute Physician spoke to me in a comforting tone.
“In any case, remember this: you cannot skip even a single day. If you give up or fail, there will be no more time to heal your body.”
“Yes. I will do as you say.”
I nodded in acknowledgment.
If I could only cure this illness, what was there I wouldn’t do?
Hope had appeared before me.
From that day forward, my hundred days of ascetic training began.

“Ahhhhh!”
The moment I plunged into the ice water, I vividly understood why he had said it would be agonizing enough to make one wish for unconsciousness.
My skin felt as though it would tear apart, and every joint in my bones screamed as if being carved by a blade.
‘I must endure. I must persevere no matter what.’
I wanted to live.
I wanted to live and become the greatest merchant in The Realm.
And above all, I could not bear the thought of my death becoming a wound upon my family.
Thus I endured all hundred days, and with Black Flute Physician’s aid, I consumed the spiritual elixir.
I became healthy again, just as I had been in childhood.
With my restored health, I began participating in the management of the trading company, and from that point forward, our company began to grow rapidly.
.
.
.
“Brrrrr!”
As I recalled those past events, my body trembled involuntarily.
That bitter winter day, submerging myself in ice water and performing breathing exercises for two hours—even now, the memory of that ordeal was truly horrifying.
“But now I am fifteen years old. Hehehehe.”
That meant I could heal my terminal body simply by consuming the spiritual elixir, without enduring that grueling ice water training.
And I already knew where the yin-infused spiritual elixir was located.
I intended to use that elixir to restore my health.
However, since this could not be accomplished overnight, I had planned to use the winter solstice holiday.
The Eunhae Trading Company granted three to four days of leave every winter solstice.
Since my condition was not yet critical, I had intended to wait until then, but my plans had changed.
‘There is no harm in recovering my health quickly and learning martial arts sooner.’
The yin-infused spiritual elixir I needed was closer than I had thought.
It lay on the Back Mountain—the largest mountain in Chongyang County where the Eunhae Trading Company was situated.
But the night was already falling.
Venturing into a snow-covered mountain in the dead of night with this weakened body would be suicide.
Moreover, the spiritual elixir I sought could only be found during the hour of the Rabbit.
‘I must wait until dawn tomorrow.’
.
.
.
“Gasp… gasp…”
My breathing grew ragged.
Masked figures surrounded me from all sides.
My entire body was pierced with throwing blades and hidden weapons.
Thud, thud, thud.
A man approached. The Goat-Bearded Man.
He pointed toward something, and I followed his gesture.
Bodies hanging from the trees.
Those things dripping with blood were the corpses of my family.
The Goat-Bearded Man laughed wickedly and swung a blade gleaming with cold steel toward me.
.
.
.
“Gasp! Hah… hah…”
I jolted upright, my breath coming in ragged gasps.
With trembling hands, I touched my neck. It was still there.
“A dream… was it?”
No.
It was a dream, but one that reflected the reality I had lived through.
I looked down at my hands—still young and unformed.
My regression to fifteen years old was indeed real.
I would surely be tormented by this nightmare for some time.
My rage ran that deep.
‘Unless I deliver one crushing blow in return.’
I rose from the chamber and opened the window.
The sound of a drum echoed outside.
Three bell tolls.
The hour of the Tiger at its beginning—early morning.
If I departed soon, I could discover the spirit medicine by the hour of the Rabbit.
Just then, Palgap’s voice came from outside.
“Young Master! Did you cough?”
Palgap was waking me as I had instructed him the day before.
“Yes! I’m awake!”
I dressed quickly and left the chamber.
.
.
.
Thud, thud.
My feet sank deep into the snow with each step.
I was now ascending the Back Mountain with Palgap and a Guard Warrior dispatched from the Eunpung Corps.
Whenever I ventured beyond the Trading Company’s headquarters, I had to bring a Guard Warrior along.
Though the security in this region was adequate, the Eunhae Trading Company’s considerable influence meant there were occasionally those who sought to target our family.
Since I had not yet been assigned a personal Guard Warrior, I had to request one from the Eunpung Corps—the Trading Company’s martial force—each time I left.
“Young Master, are you certain you’re alright?”
Palgap called out from behind.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
Ever since I had awakened in the Hyun Ryong Body, my memory had grown sharp; even recollections from long ago remained vivid.
The spirit medicine I sought was called the Jade Frost Plum Fruit.
It formed when the accumulated cold energy gathered upon plum blossoms that bloomed amid the bitter chill of early spring, crystallizing into fruit upon the branches.
Its defining characteristic was, as the name suggested, a transparent blue hue like ice—neither green nor yellow.
And as befitted a spirit medicine, it brimmed with yin energy.
‘I’ve heard that a single Jade Frost Plum Fruit grants sixty years of inner cultivation.’
Sixty years—an entire lifetime of accumulated power.
With one Jade Frost Plum Fruit, a third-rate martial artist could become first-rate; a first-rate warrior could reach the pinnacle; and a pinnacle master could ascend to the transcendent realm.
It was a treasure comparable to the Eternal Snow Lotus of the Northern Sea Ice Palace or the Thousand-Year Frost Ginseng.
As the memories surfaced, a bitter smile crossed my face.
‘Which means a blood incident must have occurred.’

It was when I was twenty-seven years old.
At that time, the Eunhae Trading Company stood on the brink of an important transaction.
Moreover, since it had happened near our headquarters, I had gathered detailed intelligence and knew the circumstances well.

A Black Path warrior who had drifted into Hubei Province, where the Eunhae Trading Company was located, had supposedly discovered the Azure Frozen Plum Fruit by chance while hunting.
After obtaining it, he drank alcohol and, swept up in drunken impulse, committed an act of foolish bravado.
He boasted about the Azure Frozen Plum Fruit, which he had been carefully hiding, to his companions.
It was only natural that the eyes of those who saw the Azure Frozen Plum Fruit gleamed with greed.
In an instant, blades were drawn.
Though the Azure Frozen Plum Fruit was stolen from him, the Black Path warrior who barely survived sought aid from another Black Path Sect nearby.
The matter spiraled beyond control.
When word of it reached the Murim Alliance, they too became involved.
Ultimately, the Azure Frozen Plum Fruit fell into the hands of the Murim Alliance.
But in the process, approximately five hundred people died, and a considerable number of them were innocent civilians.
Moreover, the Azure Frozen Plum Fruit taken by the Murim Alliance was used as material for yet another blood technique.
If I were to obtain the Azure Frozen Plum Fruit, that future would not come to pass, would it?
Then the sacrifice of five hundred lives could be prevented.
Though it was somewhat regrettable.
A single Azure Frozen Plum Fruit would have allowed me to reach the pinnacle of a first-rate warrior that I had attained in the future, all at once.
Still, there was no helping it.
There were other spiritual medicines, but they were either located far away or prohibitively expensive to purchase carelessly.
My condition did not yet appear severe on the surface, and there was no request from a renowned physician like the Black Flute Physician.
I decided to think of it favorably.
If I could quickly heal my illness and master martial arts with this, I would be saving that time.
After organizing my thoughts, I resumed walking.
Since I was walking along the snowy path, my stamina was depleted rapidly, and my breathing gradually became labored.
“Young Master, shall we not turn back now?”
I shook my head firmly at Palgap’s words. To turn back after coming this far!
That was unacceptable.
“No. Just a little further….”
The Guard Warrior spoke from beside me.
“I too agree with Palgap’s words. It would be best to return now. The Trading Company Master will worry. If you continue to be stubborn, I shall have no choice but to carry you back by force.”
The Guard Warrior would truly do it by force.
“Then, just one hour more.”
I put on the most pitiful expression I could muster, and he reluctantly relented.
Now I had but one hour remaining.
I had to increase my pace.
Heading further north, I spotted the Elongated Rock from my memory.
Following the memory in my mind, I walked fifty paces west from the Elongated Rock.
And there appeared a tree.
A plum blossom tree growing wild on the mountain.
‘The third one from below… There it is!’
A translucent azure fruit hung upon its branches.
It was so transparent that it would be difficult to find if one did not consciously perceive its existence.
All that remained was to pluck it without the Guard Warrior noticing.
‘Should I ask Palgap to take the Guard Warrior elsewhere for a while?’
But no matter how I thought about it, my body simply didn’t have the strength to pick the Jade Snow Plum Blossom.
The world began to spin before my eyes.
The fact that I’d made it this far was only because this place was blanketed in snow, which eased my condition somewhat.
Whether it was my constitution or the cold weather and snow, I felt slightly more comfortable when they were present.
In any case, I needed to divert the Guard Warrior’s attention, and there was only one way to do that.
I quietly picked up a stone buried in the snow, and the moment the Guard Warrior looked away, I hurled it swiftly.
Thwack!
Fluttering sounds erupted!
Startled mountain birds took flight.
At the noise, the Guard Warrior tensed.
‘He won’t suspect I threw the stone deliberately—he’ll go investigate.’
I drove the wedge deeper.
“Huh? What was that? I could’ve sworn something was there just now?”
The Guard Warrior rushed toward me.
“To be safe, we should hurry down the mountain.”
It was the reaction I’d anticipated.
“Yes… ugh!”
I collapsed to the ground with a thud.
Then, with an apologetic expression, I spoke.
“I think I pushed myself too hard. Haha. My legs won’t obey me…”
“Then perhaps Palgap could carry you…”
Palgap shook his head.
“If I carry the young master through the snow and slip, it will only cause worse injury.”
The Guard Warrior’s face grew troubled, and then he spoke.
“Then I’ll investigate what that sound was and return. Please stay here.”
“Understood.”
The Guard Warrior headed toward where the sound had come from, and Palgap asked me.
“So, what would you have me do?”
He had seen through my act—that I’d deliberately diverted the Guard Warrior’s attention.
Palgap looked bearish and moved sluggishly, so people assumed he was dim-witted, but that was wrong.
He was clever and perceptive.
That was surely why Father had assigned him to me as my attendant.
I leaned close to Palgap and whispered softly.
“See that tree over there?”

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