The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 484
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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 Eun Hae Trading Company Chapter 484
Chapter 484. Mingming Trading Company (1)
We arrived at the Sichuan Branch of the Eunhae Trading Company.
“Gasp! Small… Small Guild Master?”
A warrior standing at the main gate of the Sichuan Branch recognized me and greeted me with a startled expression.
“I heard that the First Small Guild Master had gone missing. Oh dear, what should we do…”
Eun Jung-ho stepped forward from behind and spoke.
“I am here. Thanks to Seo-ho, I am unharmed. Thank you for your concern.”
“Gasp! You were alive! What a relief. No, this is not the time for that! Please come inside.”
He quickly struck the bell at the gate.
That signal meant the most important person had arrived.
It made sense—I was important too, but Eun Jung-ho, who had been missing, had returned alive, so sending that signal was warranted.
Soon, Uncle and a group of people came rushing out from inside.
“What is the matter?”
“The First Small Guild Master has returned! He was alive!”
“What?”
Uncle saw us entering the courtyard and soon rushed over with tears glistening in his eyes.
“Eun Jung-ho!”
“Uncle. I apologize for causing you such worry.”
“You were alive! You scoundrel! You were alive!”
“Seo-ho saved me.”
“Seo-ho did?”
“Yes.”
I bowed respectfully to Uncle and spoke.
“Father heard the news and said he would go to Sichuan himself, so I dissuaded him and came instead. While searching for places where my brother might be, I found him.”
“I see! Thank goodness, thank goodness… Come inside and rest.”
“Thank you.”
“But the child beside you…”
Uncle soon realized the identity and asked with surprise.
“Is that not Young Master Sung Yu-jin of the Mingming Trading Company who went missing together?”
At Uncle’s words, the child bowed respectfully.
“That is correct. I am Sung Yu-jin. I greet the Branch Manager.”
I sought Uncle’s understanding.
“It seems the Young Master will need to stay here for a while. His mind and spirit have not yet settled, and he refuses to leave Eun Jung-ho’s side.”
“Hmm… Yes, that is understandable. Do as you see fit.”
Uncle spoke to Young Master Yu Jin.
“You must have endured considerable hardship. Please rest comfortably before you depart.”
“Thank you.”
“Then I must send word to the Mingming Trading Company!”
“I would be grateful.”
“Ah, have you already informed your father? He must be waiting anxiously for news.”
“Yes. I sent word as soon as I found my Elder Brother.”
I had immediately dispatched Geumryeong to deliver the message, and had already received a reply.
The response carried my father’s relief in every word.
Upon arriving at my assigned quarters, I washed and changed into fresh clothes.
I had worried about finding garments befitting Young Master Yu Jin, but….
“These are clothes I wore as a child, and they fit you well.”
My Uncle’s second son, Elder Brother Chung Seok, had left behind clothes from his childhood, so I wore those instead.
After eating and resting with tea, Palgap brought news.
“The Merchant Guild Leader from the Mingming Trading Company has arrived in person. And the staff from our Eunhae Trading Company who were there have come with him.”
What? The Merchant Guild Leader came personally?
We hurried out to greet him.
“We pay our respects to the Merchant Guild Leader of the Mingming Trading Company.”
“Yu Jin!”
But the Merchant Guild Leader paid us no mind, his eyes fixed only on Young Master Yu Jin, whose collar he grasped tightly.
His face was overcome with emotion.
“G-Grandfather….”
“Yu Jin… you were alive! You truly were alive! Do you know how much we worried?”
“I am deeply sorry for the concern I have caused.”
“It is no matter. Your father and mother, and everyone else, will be overjoyed to see you alive.”
Everyone?
No, Merchant Guild Leader. Not everyone will be pleased.
He continued.
“Do not feel slighted that your father and mother did not come with me. They are searching for you in the lower regions. Now that word has reached them, they will return soon.”
In that moment, I recalled what Do Squad Leader had told us when we arrived at the Provincial Capital.
“Young Master Yu Jin is the only son of the Sub-unit Leader.”
“I see. Sub-unit Leader Sung Jun-min must have been deeply grieved.”
“What do you mean? Sung Jun-min is not the Sub-unit Leader. The Sub-unit Leader’s name is Sung Chung-min.
I was momentarily stunned.
What? The Small Unit Leader of the Mingming Trading Company I know is Sung Jun-min, isn’t it?
Wait.
Now that I think about it, according to my memories from my past life, the Elder Son of the Mingming Trading Company became a Small Unit Leader due to an unfortunate accident and died less than three months later.
That’s why Eun Jung-ho, who attended the Baekdae Trading Company meeting at the time, said, “The Small Unit Leader of the Mingming Trading Company has changed.”
And the Small Unit Leader of the Mingming Small Unit I met in my past life was Sung Jun-min.
“Oh my, I apologize. It seems you haven’t been a Small Unit Leader for very long.”
“Yes. It’s been two months now.”
A thought flashed through my mind.
Could it be?
Was that the reason someone tried to kill Young Master Yu Jin?
I asked urgently.
“Where is the Small Unit Leader currently located?”
“Huh? He should be on the southwestern slopes of Emei Mountain by now. Oh no! My mind was scattered. I should have asked about the well-being of my Eunhae Trading Company’s First Small Unit Leader first. Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“I am fine.”
Young Master Yu Jin stepped forward and added.
“I was able to survive thanks to Uncle Eun Jung-ho.”
“Yes, that’s right. How can I ever repay such a debt?”
This conversation wasn’t important right now.
“Merchant Guild Leader, I apologize. Please forgive my rudeness in leaving so abruptly.”
If my suspicion is correct, Small Unit Leader Sung’s life is in danger right now.
“Seo-woo Warrior and Jin Yu Warrior, follow me. And the rest of you—protect my Elder Brother and Young Master Yu Jin.”
“Yes!”
We mounted the Zhu River Horse.
If I used Small Unit Leader Sung Chung-min’s belongings to have Geumryeong find him, it would be faster.
However, it was difficult to explain this, and we didn’t have time to wait for Geumryeong to return.
We asked the Zhu River Horse to move at high speed.
“Neigh!”
The Zhu River Horse cried out loudly and increased its pace.
* * *
Though it was December, sweat beaded on Sung Chung-min’s forehead.
His only son had fallen into the river before his very eyes, swept away by the rapids and vanished.
“Father!”
My son had called out to me desperately, but there was nothing I could do.
Even now, when I closed my eyes, the image of my son being pulled into the rapids and disappearing haunted me.
‘Yu Jin…’
Truthfully, I had to accept that the chances of my son and Eun Jung-ho surviving were nonexistent.
Yet without finding their bodies, I felt my aching heart would never find peace.
How could I lay my son to rest without even recovering his remains?
My wife was staying at a nearby inn.
She too refused to leave, insisting she could not depart until our son was found.
“There’s nothing on that side. Let’s search the area next to it.”
“Very well.”
Most of those helping with the search around me were the guards who had come with Eun Jung-ho and employees of the Eunhae Trading Company.
Since Eun Jung-ho had been swept into the rapids while trying to save my son, I could only feel apologetic toward him.
“I am truly sorry. I don’t even know how to properly express my apologies.”
A warrior shook his head at my apology—Jeon Woo-jin, one of Eun Jung-ho’s guards.
“Please don’t say such things. My lord is not one to harbor resentment over something like this. Besides, your son has also gone missing alongside him, has he not? Now is the time to conserve our strength for words and focus entirely on the search.”
“You speak truly.”
So they continued the search, but found nothing.
They did discover several bodies.
But those corpses were not the ones they sought, and hope became disappointment, which transformed back into hope.
How many days did the search continue?
Nearly two weeks had passed.
Then I collapsed.
“Small Guild Master! Small Guild Master!”
“Come to your senses!”
I finally gave way.
I had pushed myself relentlessly through the search without proper food or rest.
Unlike the others, I was no martial artist, and my spirit was utterly exhausted.
When he opened his eyes, he realized he was lying on a chamber bed.
“Yu Jin….”
In truth, he was a man of cold rationality and meticulous precision.
It was precisely because of this that he had achieved considerable success and surpassed his brothers to become a Small Merchant Guild Leader.
Yet even such a man possessed human weakness—his love for his son.
Only when his son was born did he truly understand what it meant that one would not feel pain even with a child in one’s eye.
How could he possibly maintain his composure when such a son had gone missing?
Creak.
At that moment, the door opened and someone entered.
A prickling sensation swept across his body, raising the hairs on his skin.
“Who are you?”
“Oh? You were awake?”
The intruder wore black robes and a mask across their face.
‘Who is this? Where is everyone….’
But his thoughts could not continue further.
“I never expected you to be shaken to such a degree. It made things far easier for me.”
“You…. Do you mean to kill me? Who, who sent you?”
“You’re usually so sharp-minded, yet now that your son is gone, it seems your wits have turned to foolishness. If you were to die now, who would benefit?”
At those words, Sung Chung-min bit his lip.
There were more people who would gain from his death than he had realized. Yet the one who stood to gain the most was the Fourth—who had become the second choice in this Small Merchant Guild Leader competition.
“Jun-min?”
The Masked Intruder did not answer, but through the subtle movements of the mask, he could discern that his suspicion was correct.
And with it came another realization.
“Could it be that Yu Jin’s…accident was not an accident?”
“I simply gave him a slight push and he fell right through. I had already loosened the rope beforehand. I did not anticipate that the Small Merchant Guild Leader of Eunhae would fall along with him.”
“You bastard!”
Thud!
But at the Masked Intruder’s gesture, he could only collapse helplessly.
“Is anyone there? Help me! There’s an intruder!”
“Ah, it’s futile no matter how much you cry out. Everyone in this inn is fast asleep.”
Sung Chung-min could only clench his fists.
His Guard Warriors and attendants who had not participated in the search seemed to have already been subdued by this person.
The Masked Intruder gazed at him quietly and made his declaration.
“After one more sleep, everything will be finished.”
Through the open door, a sleeping fragrance drifted in, and Sung Chung-min felt his eyes growing heavy.
The intruder tore the bedding from the chamber and fashioned it into a long cord, which he wrapped around Sung Chung-min’s neck.
“And the world will know you took your own life, grief-stricken from the loss of your son.”
Sung Chung-min tried to resist, but as the sleep poison consumed him, his body would not obey even a single finger’s command.
A thought suddenly came to him.
Perhaps if he died this way, he might meet his son in the next world.
That was when it happened.
Crash!
Someone burst through the window.
The Red-Robed Young Man charged straight at the assailant and threw a punch.
Boom!
“Ugh!”
The force was so tremendous that the assailant’s body spun three full rotations before slamming into the wall.
“Huff, huff, huff—damn it! I almost didn’t make it.”
* * *
I caught my breath.
We had headed to the location the Mingming Trading Company’s leader had provided, and there we encountered members of the Eunhae Trading Company conducting a search.
“Aren’t you the Third Sub-unit Leader?”
“We are truly sorry. We failed to properly support the First Sub-unit Leader.”
I did not accept their apologies. There was no reason for them to apologize.
And there was something more urgent.
“Where is the Small Guild Master of the Mingming Trading Company right now?”
“He is at the inn over there.”
“He must be lying in bed, exhausted.”
Damn it!
I quickly headed toward that inn.
As I approached the inn, I sensed the aura of the Black Path.
However, it was not extremely strong, and it was spread out widely.
Whatever it was, the situation was quite dangerous.
I headed toward where the Black Path aura was strongest, and since there was no time to open the door, I simply broke through the window and leaped inside.
And I threw a punch directly at the masked figure.
Jin Yu Warrior, who had followed behind me, urgently covered his nose and spoke.
“It’s a sleep incense!”
I nodded and activated the Taiyin Ice-Sea Divine Art.
Since it fundamentally possessed the ability to clear the mind, I could resist the effects of the sleep incense.
After catching my breath and gathering my energy, I asked Sung Chung-min, still dazed, a question.
“Are you the father of Young Master Yu Jin?”
“What? Yes, that is correct, but…?”
“I have come to inform you that Young Master Yu Jin has been rescued.”
At my words, his eyes flew wide open as he asked back.
“What? Then… does that mean Yu Jin is alive?”
“Yes.”
I spoke with conviction.
“My elder brother saved Young Master Yu Jin. And Yu Jin misses his parents very much right now.”
At those words, the Masked Intruder, who had been driven into the wall, staggered to his feet and cried out.
“That’s impossible! He was caught in those rapids—there’s no way he could have survived! He was caught in the most dangerous rapids of all!”
Now that he mentioned it….
I realized I had never asked Eun Jung-ho how he managed to break through those rapids and climb back onto land.
Well, I could look into that later. For now, I needed to deal with this merchant.
I approached the Masked Intruder and, channeling my inner force into my fist, struck his abdomen once more.
“Gasp!”
As he gasped for breath and writhed in agony, I tore away his mask.
When his face was revealed, Sung Chung-min closed his eyes and exhaled a long sigh.
And when I opened them again.
“…!”
I felt a chill run down my spine.
So it was Young Master Sung Jun-min.
You’ve touched someone you should never have touched.
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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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