The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 133

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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 Nakhyang Jin Family — Chapter 133

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A modest annex within the Allied Faction’s compound.
It had been built for important guests, and now the people of the Nakhyang Jin Family occupied it entirely. The delegates from the Martial Arts Alliance, fortunately gathered in a large main hall some distance away, had left the annex exclusively for our use.
I claimed the largest room within it.
It wasn’t quite as grand as my residence in Nakhyang, but it was tastefully appointed in its own modest way.
The room itself was evidence of how much effort Gam Cheong-un, the Master of the Allied Faction, was investing in the Nakhyang Jin Family.
“The room really is spacious, isn’t it?”
At the familiar voice, I furrowed my brow and turned my head.
It was none other than Chaeseoha.
She stretched languidly, then settled onto my bed and began rolling about as if it were her own.
I couldn’t shake the feeling that guest and host had somehow reversed positions.
“Do that in your own room.”
“My room is cramped. It’s barely large enough to work in anything.”
“…So you’re doing it here instead?”
“You’re the one who wants the item, Young Master. Surely you can afford to be accommodating?”
Chaeseoha lay sprawled across the bed, regarding me with a seductive smile.
It was the picture of temptation.
The problem was that none of her actions carried a shred of actual intent behind them.
I exhaled slowly and shook my head.
“That aside, the Allied Faction certainly treats you generously. They handed over this annex without hesitation.”
I nodded in agreement with her observation.
Yet considering the Allied Faction’s position within the broader Murim, it made sense.
Though they held one of the seats among the Rival Sects, they were regarded as inferior even to the distant Sea South Sect.
“The Allied Faction, known as the lowest-ranking of the Rival Sects—their new Master would naturally want to elevate their standing however he could.”
A smile escaped me unbidden.
It was quite possible that the escort service sent here was Gam Cheong-un’s doing as well.
Knowing that a mere invitation wouldn’t bring us, he likely orchestrated this deliberately, using the Allied Faction members at the Martial Arts Alliance to arrange the escort service.
The Nakhyang Jin Family would naturally arrive via the escort service and enter the Allied Faction, and with the timing aligned perfectly, such a situation could be manufactured.
“They’d go that far?”
“It’s possible. Especially for an organization as financially strapped as the Allied Faction. They might harbor hopes of gaining something, if fortune smiles upon them.”
Gam Cheong-un—renowned for his integrity and sense of justice.
Yet surely he harbored inferiority complexes toward the other major sects from childhood. Perhaps, at the moment he became Master, he wished for that moment to shine most brilliantly.
“The Murim is complicated. It really isn’t a place for someone like me.”
It’s Gam Cheong-un, known for his fair judgment and unwavering sense of justice.
However, it was impossible that he harbored no inferiority complex toward other Major Sects from childhood, so he may have decided that the moment he became Jangmunin was when he wanted to shine the brightest.
“The Martial Arts World is complicated. It’s really not a place for me.”
“Life is the same wherever you go. Just as those who oppose you appear when you establish a medical chamber or restore a clan.”
“Then I won’t do it.”
Chaeseoha shook her head as if merely hearing it gave her a headache.
While she believed healing people was a natural duty as a physician, she showed no desire to entangle herself in such political struggles or factional games.
I let out an incredulous laugh.
“You have no intention of reviving the Sega?”
“Why bother with something already ruined? It’s nothing but exhausting. I just want to live comfortably.”
Chaeseoha spoke without hesitation, as if she genuinely believed this.
Her swift answer revealed an unwavering conviction—there was not even a moment’s worth of conflict or consideration to be found.
I found myself shaking my head involuntarily.
I wondered what awkward situation might have arisen had Namgung Yeon overheard her words.
Then.
A familiar voice came from outside.
“Young Master, it is Yeon. May I enter?”
“Come in.”
They say even a tiger comes when you speak its name—this was precisely that moment.
The instant I granted permission, the door cracked open and Namgung Yeon poked his head through, offering me a respectful bow.
He then entered carefully with somewhat awkward movements.
Unlike someone who would stride into another’s room as if it were their own.
Yes, this was how it should be.
Once inside, Namgung Yeon noticed Chaeseoha lying on the bedchamber, seemed momentarily surprised, then quickly concealed his expression and looked toward me.
“We have guests.”
“Guests?”
“Yes, Paeng Sohyeop and Lady Eon.”
“I was wondering when they’d arrive.”
I exhaled a short sigh and rose from my seat.
Ever since word spread that I had entered the Allied Faction, they had been visiting whenever time permitted.
It seemed they wanted to flaunt their connection to me, or perhaps genuinely wished to spend time together. After all, these two were not the type to engage in overly calculated political maneuvering from the start.
Thanks to them, I had naturally come to gauge the atmosphere within the Martial Arts Alliance—one could say that was fortunate.
I gave a light nod and moved forward.
Just before leaving the room, Namgung Yeon’s gaze—sharp and peculiar—turned toward Chaeseoha.
Yet even as she received that piercing look, Chaeseoha remained unbothered, simply yawning and rolling about on the bedchamber.
Faced with the strange silence and tension that permeated the room, I found myself hastily closing the door.

* * *

The dining area for the Allied Faction disciples.
However, fewer people were present than I had anticipated—it wasn’t yet mealtime, and most of the disciples were engaged in training instead.
Among the sparse few occupying the space sat a handful of familiar faces.
Myself, along with Paeng Dohan and Eon Garyeo.
But there was also someone I was seeing for the first time, unlike the two I usually encountered.
None other than the first-generation disciple of the Allied Faction and the talented prospect groomed to lead it—Yak Hajin.
No matter how I looked at it, this gathering seemed orchestrated by Paeng Dohan and Eon Garyeo to introduce Yak Hajin to me.
“Haha—I never expected to meet again in a place like this! If I’d known, I should have traveled with you back then.”
“No matter how close we are, we do not travel together during an escort mission.”
“Eh? There’s such a rule?”
“The center of an escort mission rests not with me, but with Pyosa and the Warrior. We must not create circumstances that would inconvenience them, should we?”
“Ah…! Indeed, the Jin Family thinks differently from the start.”
At those words, Eon Garyeo’s eyes widened in surprise.
This is a world with clear hierarchies.
Whether Pyosa or Warrior, they remained subordinates, and if a superior wished something, there was nothing they couldn’t do.
Yet hearing that I refrained from doing so for their sake drew admiration across the faces of those present.
These people always think only of themselves.
“Truly remarkable. To think the Jin Family of all people would consider such things… I never would have imagined it.”
The one who spoke was none other than Yak Hajin, the first-generation disciple of the Allied Faction. Judging that he himself could not act the same way in similar circumstances, his gaze toward me held a glimmer of genuine respect.
Shake, shake.
I shook my head at that burdensome gaze.
“It is nothing remarkable, nor is it something only I think this way. Anyone from the Jin Family would hold the same thoughts.”
“Haha, Yak Sohyeop, the boy speaks truth. I remember when I attended the Family Head’s birthday celebration last time. Most of them acted and spoke that way. They don’t earn respect from people for no reason.”
Then Paeng Dohan straightened his shoulders and spoke with confidence.
It was as if he were saying, “This is the kind of person I am,” and it seemed to resonate well with Yak Hajin, who gazed at him with astonished eyes.
“At the Jin Family Head’s birthday celebration? You?”
“That’s right! Lady Eon was there with us too. Hahaha!”
At Paeng Dohan’s expression, which appeared far more pleased than when he’d met a renowned Murim master, Yak Hajin gazed at him with envious admiration.
The Nakhyang Jin Family was so renowned for maintaining distance from Murim connections that pride and envy were both justified.
At such a display, I felt an awkward expression cross my face.
I always feel it—Paeng Dohan’s words and actions are excessively burdensome.
I hastily changed the subject.
“Now that I think of it, I don’t see that person. The Master of the Taoist Priests…”
“Ah—you mean Master Hoyeon Munchu? Haha, so you’re interested in that renowned master too.”
“He is a famous figure. Incomparable to someone like me.”
“What! You’re more famous now, aren’t you?”
“Hoho, that’s right. You’re the Young Master So of the Nakhyang Jin Family, and you wielded Cheon Yul no less! Moreover, I heard recently… you even crossed blades with Plum Blossom Swordsmen Jin Ja-geom and Chonnam Ten Swords Ha Hyeok-jun? The Changryongdan is in an uproar because of it!”
“Ah, that’s right. Is that true? You held a three-way confrontation?”
The conversation shifted rapidly.
It was undoubtedly Baek Cheon and Oh Hyeon’s loose tongues that had spread the word, and it had reached here.
Perhaps Gam Cheong-un, the sect leader of the Allied Faction who had welcomed me, knew of this fact and treated me as an even more distinguished guest because of it.
“You’ve shown me great kindness.”
“Kindness? Well, considering who those people are….”
“Indeed. You have every right to take pride in it.”
As the three voices poured forth, I stroked my chin and swallowed a groan. It seemed increasingly impossible to probe into the identity of Hoyeon Munchu.
With the atmosphere having shifted this dramatically, deliberately bringing up that name or trying to discover it would be a poor choice.
In the end, I would need to redirect the conversation using something else.
“By the way, where is Moyong Sohyeop? I always saw him traveling with you, but I haven’t spotted him at all.”
“Ah… that fellow. Hmm….”
“Has something happened?”
“That Pyo Hyeong-geom, you see. Ever since he got thoroughly defeated by him, the man’s changed completely. He’s become taciturn, sharper somehow? I understand the feeling, but he’s keeping his distance from his companions too.”
Paeng Dohan furrowed his brow and vented his frustration.
It seemed to bother him that his closest friend was behaving this way even toward him.
Then he exhaled with a soft sigh.
“Even now, he’s rented a small private training hall and shut himself away in it.”
“A training hall?”
A martial artist living in a training hall was hardly unusual.
After all, a martial artist had no other way to prove themselves but through martial prowess.
Yet coming all this way only to do that seemed odd.
It would have been better either not to come at all, or to focus on life here if he had.
Otherwise, he should be actively searching for Pyo Hyeong-geom himself.
Of course, given Moryeong Hyeok’s nature as I understood it, he would have moved to find Pyo Hyeong-geom directly.
That aspect troubled me subtly.
As I furrowed my brow and fell into thought for a moment.
Paeng Dohan’s voice pierced my ears once more.
“The Cheonhajeilgeom School truly is remarkable… he still has martial arts to learn.”
“Still has… to learn?”
“Ah- it seems the Sword Emperor taught him new martial techniques. That’s why he’s been locked away in the training hall day and night.”
“He’ll probably demonstrate them at the martial competition coming up soon, I imagine? I’m looking forward to it. I hope he regains some confidence through it.”
Eon Garyeo’s words made Paeng Dohan nod in agreement.
The two seemed to be hoping for Moryeong Hyeok’s victory in the small martial competition to come.
The easiest way to escape the shadow of defeat was certainly to wash away that shadow with the memory of victory.
The Sword Emperor could not be unaware of this.
That was why he seemed intent on including him in this distant journey and having him participate in the competition, attempting to wash away the bitter memory of defeat.
After all, among those participating, there would be few who could truly stand against Moryeong Hyeok.
However.
Things are no fun when they go according to plan.
“By the way, where is Lady Namgung? I don’t see her among the Imperial Guards.”
“Ah- by now, she’s probably working up quite a sweat.”
At the question, laughter escaped me without thinking.
A predetermined defeat awaited here.

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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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