The Youngest Son of the Eunhae Merchant Group - Chapter 96

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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 96

Chapter 96. Eun Jin-ho, Missing (4)

Jin-ho cried out in pain as my shin struck his leg.
“Ugh!”
He gasped in shock.
“What—what is this? Were you a phantom?”
“No.”
I answered him.
“I came to rescue you. Let’s go home, brother.”
And I spoke to those beside him as well.
“I’ve come to rescue you all. Let us return to the Trading Company now.”
At my words, Jin-ho burst out loudly.
“Why did you come here? What about the family?”
“I came to rescue you, and I obtained permission from the family before coming. It was difficult getting that permission.”
Jin-ho cried out in frustration.
“No! That’s not the issue—this place!”
“I know. It’s made of mist, isn’t it? The place where people disappear when they enter.”
“You entered knowing that?”
I nodded at his words.
“Don’t worry. I’ve set up a mechanism to get us back out.”
At my words, hope began to dawn on the faces of those from the Sang Haeng Trading Company and the Pyoguk.
“You’re thirsty, aren’t you? Let’s quench our thirst first, then move.”
My companions and I set down the water containers we’d been carrying on our backs.
Jin-ho and his group rushed toward the water containers, filling their own vessels and beginning to drink.
If you give regular food to someone who has been starving for a long time from the start, it causes problems—you must first restore their strength with water and rice gruel before giving them regular meals.
Since we couldn’t provide proper care here, we had to be satisfied with quenching their thirst with water.
After catching their breath that way, they immediately began following us on our path.
As we walked along the rope I had laid out, I realized something was wrong.
It should have been taut since I’d tied it to a tree.
But.
Why did it feel slack and dragging despite my pulling on it?
We soon discovered the reason.
“Huh?”
Palgap held the rope with a bewildered expression, and its end was severed.
“Young Master, this….”
Without him saying more, we all understood.
I realized it would become difficult to leave this place.
Yet I refrained from voicing this aloud, for speaking it aloud would only deepen my fear.
Jin-ho asked me.
“If we wait here, won’t the others come searching for us?”
“That is….”
“…?”
“If we venture into the mist, we agreed to wait outside for two days. If I don’t emerge after two days, only then will we send someone else in.”
“….”
Jin-ho exhaled deeply.
“I’m sorry.”
My brother shook his head at my words.
“How could you have known the rope would be severed? There’s no need to apologize.”
“What should we do now?”
Jin-ho, who had been pondering my question, finally spoke.
“Let’s search for where the severed rope continues. Since the cut end is here, the other end must be nearby.”
We began moving, searching for the continuation of the severed rope.
Then Jin-ho called out to me.
“Seo-ho, why do you keep heading that way?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The path is this way. So why do you keep going toward the grassland?”
What was this brother saying?
The grassland?
No. I was moving correctly.
Rather, the others were the ones heading toward the grassland.
I began to understand why those who had gone missing could not escape from the forest.
This mist was obstructing all five senses, preventing proper judgment.
According to Jin-ho, no matter which path one took, it took a full three days of walking before the abandoned cart appeared.
This mist was making the path spiral endlessly in circles.
“Jin-ho, about where the cart was abandoned earlier.”
“What about it?”
“You said they walked for three days before giving up and abandoning the cart there, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Yet we arrived there in just a quarter of an hour?
Then Palgap cautiously asked me.
“Young Master, you’ve been doing this before as well—why do you keep trying to go where there is no path?”
“…You say I did this before?”
“Yes.”
“But you followed me well enough before, didn’t you?”
“That is because I am your servant, Young Master.”
I looked toward Lee Pil Warrior.
“Then Lee Pil Warrior as well?”
“I merely followed suit. It is the duty of a Guard Warrior to follow wherever his master leads.”
“….”
A hollow smile crossed my face.
For reasons I couldn’t quite explain, I remained unaffected by this mist. That’s why the correct path was visible to me.
That’s how I managed to find Jin-ho and his party in mere moments.
Had it been otherwise, we too would have wandered for three days until exhaustion set in before finding them.
So Jin-ho and his party had been walking in circles through a distance that should have taken far less time—for three entire days.
“Jin-ho. Right now, you and your party are walking through a grassland. The path I’m taking is the correct one.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look at the hem of your trousers.”
At my words, Jin-ho examined his trouser hem and immediately grew flustered. The grass stains had soaked through, a vivid green.
“Why is there so much grass stain….”
“Right now, this mist is deceiving your senses. That’s why you’ve been walking the same path over and over again.”
Jin-ho and his party nodded at my explanation.
They had experienced the maddening situation firsthand, after all.
“But for me….”
I couldn’t explain why the mist had no effect on me, but it seemed I needed some reason.
“The martial arts I’ve trained in must be the reason—the path appears correct to me. That’s why I found you so quickly just now.”
“I see.”
Fortunately, everyone seemed satisfied with the explanation.
“We’ll keep wandering at this rate, so wait here for a moment. I’ll search for where the rope is severed.”
“Will you be alright on your own?”
“Actually, going alone seems better right now.”
Lee Pil Warrior bowed his head.
“I apologize for being unable to follow you.”
“It’s an unavoidable situation.”
“I came to repay a debt of gratitude, yet….”
At Seo-woo Warrior’s words, I smiled and replied.
“You’re still proving invaluable to us.”
Jin-ho ordered everyone to wait briefly. Now that I thought about it, the way Jin-ho had been giving orders since earlier—he was clearly positioned as the leader of this expedition.
I observed Pyo Du, who had been moving alongside Jin-ho, and inwardly clicked my tongue.
I’d been completely outmaneuvered by Jin-ho.
In any case, I began wandering through the mist to find where the rope was severed.
As I expected, the mist merely obscured my vision somewhat.
It had no effect on me whatsoever.
Soon I found the point where the rope had been severed.
Looking at the cross-section, it hadn’t been deliberately cut.
The rope had simply been defective.
I retied the rope firmly and, unraveling the coil of rope as I went, returned to where Jin-ho was waiting.
“Jin-ho!”
As I approached Jin-ho and his group, they startled and looked at me with wide eyes.
“You’re back already?”
“Yes. Just as you said, there was a connecting passage nearby.”
I held up the rope I’d tied together to show them.
“We can leave now.”
“Good, let’s go.”
At my words, Jin-ho rose to his feet, and we began moving while gripping the rope I had connected.
And finally, we arrived at what had been the entrance to Muchul Musan.
But I couldn’t afford to let my guard down until the very end.
That’s why I deliberately didn’t tell them this was the entrance.
“Come now, let’s hurry.”
“Please move quickly.”
Thus I led Jin-ho and his group out of Muchul Musan, and I emerged last.
When I stepped out of Muchul Musan, what I saw was people weeping with joy at the sight of the blazing sunlight.
A full month.
They had endured a month of desperate circumstances.
I had seen it myself—corpses withered and skeletal scattered throughout—so their anxiety must have reached its absolute peak.
I understood perfectly why they wept so.
Still, I worried they might collapse from exhaustion if they continued like this.
As if sensing my concern, Mak Chung Pyo-du spoke.
“I understand your feelings, but it would be best to return to the inn, wash, eat, and rest.”
And he spoke to the members of the Search Party.
“We return to the inn.”
“Yes!”
.
.
.
We returned to the Eulrim Inn.
Having received advance notice, clean water had been prepared; we washed thoroughly and used expensive fragrant soap without restraint to scrub away the grime of days.
Those who finished washing first came to the Dining Hall and ate rice porridge.
Clink, clink, clink,
Normally they would chat about this and that while eating, but not now.
They were absorbed in eating porridge with their noses nearly touching their bowls.
Jin-ho was among them.
“Brother, you’ll get indigestion. I understand, but eat a bit more slowly.”
“You see…”
Jin-ho spoke while eating the porridge.
“I made a vow in that strange forest. If I ever escape, I will never waste food again.”
“….”
“Eating like this brings back memories.”
I chuckled softly.
“Still, eat slowly.”
Jin-ho finished an entire bowl of porridge in no time, then grinned at me widely.
“Ah, now I can see properly. Even when I was hungry and my vision was blurred, you had a handsome face, but seeing you like this—you really are handsome, my brother.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
I laughed and replied.
“Anyway, thank you for being alive.”
“I should be the one thanking you. I was angry earlier, but when I heard you came to rescue me… I almost cried.”
“Didn’t you cry when you came out of the Misty Forest earlier?”
At my words, Jin-ho cleared his throat awkwardly.
“Ahem, let’s forget about that.”
Then he continued with a smile.
“Thank you for saving me and our party.”
At that moment, Jung Chung approached us.
“Young Master Jin-ho.”
“Master Jung Chung.”
“I’m truly relieved you’re safe.”
Jung Chung’s eyes glistened with tears as he looked at Jin-ho, and seeing that, I spoke.
“Actually, Jung Chung here volunteered to join the rescue party.”
“Ah! Is that so? For my sake…”
“Young Master, you are my benefactor. How could I possibly stand idle?”
Through that exchange, I learned that Jin-ho had helped Jung Chung in some way.
I was curious what kind of help he’d given to create such a special bond between them.
It was something I hadn’t known even in my previous life.
I’d ask about it later.
For now, this was a time to feel alive.
.
.
.
Six days had passed since Jin-ho and his party were rescued.
Those who had suffered trapped in Muchul Musan had regained some of their strength.
In the meantime, the escort masters, cart laborers, and several members of the guild had headed to the Eun Hae Merchant Guild Tea Fields in Yunnan.
That place was filled with pu-erh tea ready for distribution, and we needed to bring it back now.
We had to move quickly to avoid missing the sales window.
They arrived with the tea today.
So now we had to depart.
Pu-erh tea, by its nature, absorbs odors quite readily. Therefore, we needed to move as quickly as possible.
After lengthy discussion, we decided to depart early tomorrow morning.
.
.
.
“Thank you for all your consideration.”
“It’s fortunate that you found the merchants.”
After expressing our gratitude to Sung Jun-baek, the Haeng-su stationed in Yunnan Province, we headed toward the Eunhae Trading Company.
But why did I suddenly feel so uneasy?
It was the kind of anxiety I felt whenever I had overlooked something.
What was it?
What had I forgotten?
Then it happened.
Rumble, rumble, rumble.
The ground suddenly began to shake, and only then did a memory surface in my mind.
An incident that had occurred when I was seventeen years old.
It was the earthquake that had struck Southern Yunnan.
I had heard that some merchants from the Sang Haeng Trading Company traveling on the mountain paths had been injured as a result.
At the time, I had quickly dismissed it from my thoughts.
It wasn’t a matter concerning our Eunhae Trading Company, and since the earthquake hadn’t been particularly severe, the roads had been repaired quickly.
But now, the trading company from my memory had become our trading company.
The ground trembled, and earth and stones tumbled down the mountainsides around us.
The horses panicked and reared in terror.
“Calm the horses!”
“They won’t settle!”
“Then release them entirely!”
“Yes!”
“Everyone, move to the side of the carriages! Don’t stick your heads out under any circumstances! You’ll die if your head gets crushed!”
Mak Chung Pyo-du, who had experienced such situations before, issued orders with remarkable composure.
Now that I thought about it, Seo-woo Warrior remained calm as well.
“Does Yunnan experience frequent earthquakes?”
“They occur quite often.”
I see. That makes sense.
Trading was dangerous enough, but the work of an escort master was certainly an extreme profession.
Then it happened.
“Young Master!”
The cry of Jin-ho’s guard pierced through the chaos.
I turned to see Jin-ho, unable to withstand the trembling ground, about to fall off a cliff beside the road.
Why was Jin-ho—?
Looking closer, it seemed he had been trying to protect Haeng-su when it happened.
My body moved faster than my thoughts could process.
It was thanks to Master’s training, I realized.
I seized Jin-ho’s arm as he fell and pulled him upward with all my strength.
Thud!
Jin-ho emerged above ground, but he hadn’t accounted for the recoil.
Our positions had reversed.
I felt the emptiness beneath my feet and released the hand I’d been gripping.
“Seo-ho!”
Jin-ho’s face, contorted in anguish as he cried out toward me, was my last memory.

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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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