The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 141

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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 141

The moment I returned to where the group was gathered, drenched in blood, Chaeseoha was naturally the first to rush toward me.
She hastily laid me down and began examining me from every angle. Though the wounds were quite deep, she began treating them with practiced ease.
“What on earth do you keep doing to end up like this every time?”
“Still better than what happened in Anhui, isn’t it?”
“Are you joking? Look at this, and this too. If it had gone even a finger’s width deeper, it would have been catastrophic.”
Chaeseoha examined the deep wounds, using her fingers to test the surrounding areas for pain as she spoke.
With each press, I felt a sharp sting and instinctively clenched my teeth.
At that, her touch became gentler.
“We call this luck, you know. Don’t expect the same fortune next time.”
“I won’t.”
I nodded and steadied my breathing.
After she’d rattled off complaints like a chirping sparrow for some time, she fell silent and focused intently on the treatment.
I couldn’t shake the thought that without Chaeseoha, this would have been far more difficult.
“Young Master, who exactly were you fighting?”
“It doesn’t matter. Knowing wouldn’t help anyway.”
The question came from Namgung Yeon, who had been observing the situation.
She was the one who had watched my duel with Moyong Hyeok despite her injuries. Having witnessed my level firsthand, she naturally couldn’t gauge the strength of my opponent.
But soon she closed her mouth and abandoned her line of inquiry.
It seemed she sensed this wasn’t something to probe further.
Then.
After completing the initial treatment, Chaeseoha spoke up.
“You can’t ride a horse in this condition.”
“So it’s a carriage again? They’re so slow.”
“If you ride a horse with injuries like these, all the wounds will reopen. Not that I mind if you don’t care.”
She shrugged, and I found myself frowning involuntarily.
The distance between us and those who had gone ahead was already considerable.
Taking a carriage would only widen the gap further, but Chaeseoha’s words made sense.
Since we didn’t know what would happen at our destination, I needed to be in peak condition. Focusing on recovery was paramount, so a carriage was the right choice over horseback.
I lifted my head and looked at Namgung Yeon.
She gave me a puzzled expression.
“About an hour’s journey from here, you’ll reach Nanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province.”
“Is that so?”
“Go there and buy a carriage.”
I pulled a money pouch from my pocket and tossed it toward her. Namgung Yeon caught the heavy pouch and swallowed hard as silver and gold coins spilled out.
“You mean… alone?”
“Yes. I can’t go with you. Neither can So-ha.”
At her absurd question, I let out a hollow laugh.
I was wounded, and Chaeseoha was a physician tending to my injuries. Both of us were in no condition to move about freely.
Namgung Yeon moving was only natural.
Yet for some reason, she merely blinked her eyes and did not stir.
As though she had no idea whatsoever of what to do or how to do it.
Only then did I grasp a certain truth, and I pressed my fingers to the bridge of my nose.
“You’ve been raised with every comfort, haven’t you?”
“…I was not raised with comfort. It is simply that my older brother has done everything for me.”
“That is what we typically call being raised with comfort.”
“I share the same thought.”
From childhood, Namgung Yeon had devoted herself to the sword.
Save for that, her older brother Namgung Baek had shouldered all else, leaving her with scarcely any experience in doing anything whatsoever.
And to act independently, separated from him, doing something on her own?
She could not have even imagined such a thing from her position.
“When your older brother was away elsewhere, how did you manage to live?”
“My older brother would give money to others and ask for their help. The neighbor woman, or the grandmother from the house behind… Ah! And the server at the inn, who is also like an older brother to me.”
I felt my headache intensifying, and I exhaled a weary sigh. So in the end, it meant she could do nothing save grip a sword.
Chaeseoha, harboring the same sentiment, released a sigh of her own, dusted off her hands, and rose from her seat.
“The urgent matters are settled, so I shall go and return. I have even driven a carriage before, so you need not worry.”
At her words, I furrowed my brow.
Yet since I could not go myself, someone had to move. And at this moment, Chaeseoha seemed far more trustworthy than Namgung Yeon.
But I could not send her alone.
In the end, I sighed and spoke.
“Both of you go and return. I shall rest here, so do not concern yourselves with me.”
Is it not said that sleep is the finest medicine?

* * *

The two women who had ridden out hastily toward Nanzhou arrived not in the one hour they had mentioned, but rather in just under two hours.
It was their first time on this route, and the geography proved far more complicated than anticipated.
Moreover, the considerable time spent treating Jin Cheon-u’s wounds meant they had barely slept, let alone eaten properly.
With both body and spirit exhausted and hunger gnawing at them, both women appeared rather fatigued.
But the troubles did not end there.
The moment they passed through the city gate, Chaeseoha finally understood what had gone wrong as the gatekeepers’ gazes poured down upon her.
“Ah… the travel permit.”
“You didn’t bring it?”
“I forgot.”
Chaeseoha wore a bitter smile as she recognized her own oversight.
Namgung Yeon, having grown somewhat accustomed to such matters, thought it might not be a problem—but the moment they entered the city proper, she realized it was.
Every man’s gaze converged upon her.
People walking collided and tumbled as they stared at her; one could say that Chaeseoha alone had captured the attention of every man in the city.
For Namgung Yeon, experiencing such a thing for the first time, it was utterly bewildering.
Though she herself took pride in her own beauty and had walked the streets of Anhui, she had never seen people stare so intently.
“Let’s hurry.”
“Ah… yes.”
Chaeseoha urgently seized Namgung Yeon’s hand and pulled her forward.
The men who had been staring blankly parted awkwardly, though some seemed eager to speak—voices calling out “Hey, over there!” or “Miss!” echoed from various directions.
Namgung Yeon observed the spectacle and asked incredulously.
“Is this… something you’re accustomed to?”
“It used to be. It feels strange now.”
“It used to be?”
Namgung Yeon, who had not seen Chaeseoha’s troubled expression, tilted her head in confusion.
But as if unwilling to answer further, Chaeseoha ran faster, and Namgung Yeon had no choice but to follow.
Then, seized by a sudden doubt, she asked.
“Shouldn’t we go that way to purchase a carriage?”
“We’ve already reached Chengdu—why would we pay for a carriage?”
“… Young Master gave us money to buy one.”
“That was probably just meant for us to buy food and supplies along the way.”
“What?”
Namgung Yeon, still unfamiliar with the Nakhyang Jin Family and Jin Cheon-u, tilted her head in bewilderment.
But Chaeseoha paid no mind and continued running.
She had felt several men following them for some time now.
So she moved with even greater urgency.
Her destination was one of the establishments bearing the name Yunlong—either an escort house or merchant guild, along with a money exchange—establishments found in every major city.
From her experience thus far, the Yunlong Inn was always situated in the most bustling marketplace.
And indeed.
The Yunlong Inn came into view not far ahead.
The moment she saw it, she ran even faster, and without hesitation, pushed open the door and stepped inside.
In that instant, not only the diners but even the server’s eyes widened as they beheld two women who had burst through the door with such urgency.
“Hah, hah… I am Chaeseoha, sent here on the orders of the Young Master So of the Jin Family. Is there a manager present?”
“That would be me. You say you come from the Young Master So?”
At the mention of the Jin Family’s Young Master So, one man was the quickest to gather his wits, rising abruptly from his seat.
A middle-aged man with a portly, affable countenance.
His belly protruded considerably, and his frame was generously padded.
He approached Chaeseoha with unhurried steps, his expression puzzled as his gaze alternated between her and Namgung Yeon.
Yet his eyes remained fixed upon Chaeseoha, unable to look away.
Was that the reason?
Namgung Yeon stepped forward, positioning himself between them.
“I am Namgung Yeon, sworn protector of the Young Master. I have come to receive a carriage by his command.”
“A carriage for the Young Master? Where is he now? Why are only the two of you here?”
He was the manager of the Nanzhou Inn.
No matter how legitimate the Young Master’s orders, without proof, suspicion was inevitable.
The light in the man’s eyes that had lingered on Chaeseoha vanished, replaced by a gaze of doubt—wondering if these two were merely imposters claiming the Jin Family name.
It was Namgung Yeon who found himself flustered.
Jang Chuchyeong was not present, and without him, there was no means of verification.
As anxiety crept in—the fear of being dragged before the magistrate—
Chaeseoha withdrew from her sleeve an ornate jade token, exquisitely carved with the emblem of the Jin Family.
“This should suffice, yes?”
“…That token is carried only by the direct bloodline of the Jin Family… How could you…?”
“The Family Head gave it to me.”
“The Family Head?”
The man’s jaw dropped in shock.
That token, bearing the Jin Family’s symbol, could not be possessed by anyone outside the direct line.
Which meant Chaeseoha’s station was equal to that of the bloodline itself, and if it was Jin Ga-muk, the Family Head, who had bestowed it upon her, then she was destined to become the future mistress of the Jin Family.
Though she herself seemed unaware, her expression betraying only confusion at the man’s astonishment, those who witnessed it could not possibly overlook such a revelation.
“What are you all standing about for! Bring out the finest and largest carriage! And… is there anything else you require? Food, perhaps, or other provisions?”
“Ah, now that you mention it, we do need some things. And if you have anything to conceal our faces, I would be most grateful.”
“Of… of course! I shall prepare everything at once!”
“Please, take your time.”
The man rushed madly toward the kitchen, spurring the cooks onward. It seemed Jin Cheon-u’s provisions would arrive before those of the other guests still seated and waiting for their meals.
At this, Chaeseoha smiled faintly, her gaze turning toward the purse in Namgung Yeon’s hand.
“It seems this will take a moment. Shall we go and amuse ourselves?”

* * *

The third floor of the Yunlong Inn.
Men drinking there sensed the commotion and glanced out the window, their eyes widening in surprise as they spotted two women rushing toward the Yunlong Inn.
One woman appeared to be the very embodiment of beauty itself, while the other possessed considerable charm and grace.
These were members of the Gi Ryeon Hyeon Family, who wielded considerable renown throughout Gansu Province, though not quite matching the Allied Faction’s prominence, and were martial artists of such caliber as to earn the epithet “Four Swords of Gi Ryeon.”
Leading them was none other than Young Master Hyeon Illyang of the Hyeon Family.
He too was counted among Gansu Province’s finest talents.
Being effectively the second most powerful force in Gansu, they wielded both strength and authority with unparalleled mastery.
Young Master Hyeon Illyang of the Hyeon Family watched as the women who had entered now departed once more, a subtle smile playing across his lips.
“Those two women are truly like flowers.”
“Ha ha, indeed, Young Master. Especially that woman wearing the veil—wouldn’t she be the perfect flower to bloom beside you?”
I shall give you the most beautiful.
But give us the one beside her.
Their expressions seemed to convey such sentiments, yet Hyeon Illyang merely smiled in response.
Whatever I desire, I obtain.
In Gansu, the Gi Ryeon Hyeon Family wielded absolute power and authority without restriction, so there was nothing Hyeon Illyang could not acquire.
Yet soon after, Hyeon Illyang deliberately erased the images of those women from his mind and shook his head.
From Gireun Mountain to this place.
I did not come merely to covet women.
Though the face of that woman lingered stubbornly, refusing to fade despite my efforts, I must first accomplish the purpose of my visit.
Hyeon Illyang set down his cup and rose from his seat.
“Let us depart. Father’s birthday approaches soon, and I must present him with a fine sword.”
“Understood. Ha ha.”

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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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