The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 156

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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 Jin Family of Luoyang – Chapter 217

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As time passed, the Changryong Dan was gradually stabilizing.
However, the psychological toll from what the Demon Flower Sect had inflicted seemed to weigh heavily, and there were few who could manage even a simple smile.
Some had been devoured alive before everyone’s eyes, and many others had witnessed their comrades dying in gruesome fashion.
It would have been strange not to be traumatized by such horrors.
It seemed unlikely that the Changryong Dan would resume operations anytime soon.
They might even disband entirely because of this incident.
After two days of tending to the members’ conditions and providing further treatment, we were finally able to depart.
We had the Blue Heaven Sect to thank for that.
They arrived in haste, assessed the situation, and led the demoralized Changryong Dan back to the Martial Arts Alliance.
As I led the procession toward Shanxi at the very front, Jang Chuchyeong, who had drawn close beside me, furrowed his brow with evident displeasure.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t have slept a wink from the anger.”
“Most would feel the same. Moryeong Hyeok won’t find it easy to escape responsibility for this.”
“Is that so?”
“There are quite a few dead and wounded. The eldest son of the Hwangbo Family even had his arm torn off. Even the Eight Great Families, as tightly knit as they are, won’t be able to overlook this.”
My casual remark drew everyone’s attention.
They all seemed curious about what would unfold in the Alliance.
The disciples of the great families that comprised the Alliance were torn apart and killed.
All because of Moryeong Hyeok’s selfishness.
This couldn’t be dismissed as merely his problem—the many families that had supported the Moyong Family would certainly reconsider their judgment.
The Sword Emperor’s position would remain secure, but the eyes watching him would no longer hold the same regard, and above all, the position of the Number One Sword Sect would be shaken.
Moryeong Hyeok and Mo Yong-cheon would each sink deeper into a quagmire from which they could not escape.
I intended to shake things up a bit more.
To make them flounder helplessly in that mire.
It would be the Namgung Family that would bury that deep swamp with earth.
As I smiled with a faint curve to my lips, Cheon Yul, who had approached without my notice, wore a peculiar expression.
“If you didn’t like him, why not just kill him? Why keep him alive?”
Cheon Yul’s expression showed clear confusion.
His words were not without merit—my displeasure was undeniable.
The memory of what happened because he once had me cornered was still vivid before my eyes.
Part of me wanted to wring his neck a hundred times over, but there was a reason I refrained from doing so immediately.
“He’s already walking into hellfire of his own accord. Why hasten his demise?”
“Aha! So that was your thinking. I hadn’t realized.”
That arrogant child of the Moyong Family.
Compared to when I first met him, he had already suffered considerable ruin. But he needed to ripen a bit more before I could harvest the fruits.
Only when his body and spirit were completely shattered, when everything he held slipped away like dust, and he sat collapsed on the ground staring at empty hands—only then would the time be right.
Simply cutting off one’s breath is far too easy, is it not?
During the Black Ox Society incident, in that moment when I sought to break his neck.
I find myself wanting to express infinite gratitude to Paeng Dohan for standing in my way.
“But the Number One Sword Sect crumbling… I cannot even imagine it.”
“Has it not already happened once? Do not think too heavily on it.”
At those words, Cheon Yul glanced subtly at Namgung Baek and Namgung Yeon. They had seemed quite startled upon hearing the name Namgung Family, but in truth, it likely held little weight for them.
The current Number One Sword Sect belongs to the Moyong Family, and by the time he was born, the Namgung Family had already fallen.
For him, the name of the Namgung Family being forgotten is entirely natural.
In that instant, Cheon Yul’s brow furrowed.
I could sense what that expression signified.
“It is too late to cut out the roots.”
“Haha— is there truly nothing we can do even now?”
“Would you prefer to be severed first?”
“Ugh….”
Cheon Yul let out a groan while crossing his arms.
From his complicated expression alone, it was clear his wariness toward Namgung Yeon ran far deeper than toward Moryeong Hyeok.
Should he grow any stronger, he would undoubtedly come to see him as an obstacle in Sa Do-cheon’s path.
“Ah, forget it. I’ll leave such worries to the headache-ridden Cheon Yul of the future.”
“A wise decision.”
I smiled and turned my head away nonchalantly.
Cheon Yul was making every effort to shake off further thoughts of Namgung Yeon, yet it seemed far from easy, as he continued to sigh repeatedly.
In such moments, the best course is to redirect one’s attention elsewhere.
I posed a casual question.
“More importantly, we shall soon enter Shanxi. Are you prepared to return?”
“Ah, I keep telling you I’m not going, yet you keep trying to send me away.”
“What reason do you have for insisting on staying?”
“A reason for staying… is it not obvious? Being beside you makes me feel as though I could grow stronger, perhaps?”
Cheon Yul’s lips curled upward in a grin.
He had already experienced battle once before.
He could not fail to understand that the fighting there was ‘real’, so it was entirely natural for him to attribute the difference between himself and me to that experience.
The difference between one who wields a sword upon a martial stage and one who always faces life and death with blade in hand is inevitable.
He had come to realize just how comfortable an environment he had been raised in.
To grow stronger, and to become one capable of leading Sa Do-cheon forward, he cannot afford to be complacent.
Moreover, with the Heavenly Emperor Cheon Gong-hak as his grandfather, any misstep would inevitably invite endless comparison with his grandfather.
So he seeks to accumulate strength and experience, then?
“Surpassing the renown of Heavenly Emperor Cheon Gong-hak will not be easy. You may well die before achieving it.”
“Haha— it certainly won’t be easy, will it? I think the same, but… watching you makes me feel compelled to try, for some reason.”
Cheon Yul gazed at me intently, his eyes gleaming.
Eyes as though beholding a rival.
Burning within them was the resolve to catch up to me no matter what.
It seemed he harbored a firm conviction that if such a thing were possible, he could even surpass his grandfather.
I shrugged lightly.
“That’s impossible.”
“Ah, you’re burning with ambition yet crushing my spirit like this.”
Cheon Yul grumbled and turned his head with a disgruntled expression.
At the sight of him, I found myself smiling despite myself.
“Ah—I can see it now.”
Then.
Namgung Baek, who had been leading the way ahead, spotted a distant ridge. He then slowly surveyed the surroundings to check for anything amiss before turning back to me.
“Once we cross that ridge, we’ll be entering Sa Do-cheon’s territory.”
“We’ve fallen behind schedule more than I expected.”
“Haha, but at this pace, it seems we’ll arrive soon enough.”
“Yes, assuming nothing unexpected happens.”
Sa Do-cheon’s territory is renowned for being more treacherous than other regions.
It’s not merely a matter of poor roads.
The heterodox sects that traverse these paths are known for their unrestrained and bellicose temperaments.
A place where drawing swords occurs simply from making eye contact on the road.
Such individuals could be called heterodox practitioners, and Shanxi, being the domain of Sa Do-cheon, harbored the most ill-tempered among them.
After all, wasn’t Heavenly Emperor Cheon Gong-hak himself the same?
I turned my head, recalling those times.
“Is there anything we should be cautious about in Shanxi?”
“Things to be cautious about….”
Cheon Yul pondered, suppressing a groan as he considered various matters.
Though it seemed as though something might come to mind, the person I was asking was fundamentally the wrong choice.
Cheon Yul was Soocheonchu of Sa Do-cheon.
No one would dare pose a threat to him, so it appeared he regarded Shanxi itself as a safe place where nothing would occur.
I glanced sideways.
My attention was on none other than Namgung Baek.
Given that a large-scale merchant caravan was in motion, the Jin Family would have certainly used their intelligence network to scout various parts of Shanxi.
“Ah, yes! Since our relations with Sa Do-cheon have been favorable recently, there’s nothing particularly to worry about, but there is one thing that concerns me.”
“What is it?”
“It’s said that the surviving members of the Hyang-un Sega have gone into hiding somewhere.”
At those words, I nodded.
The Hyang-un Sega was a clan that had fallen by Sa Do-cheon’s hand.
However, they would believe the true culprit lies with me, so if they sought revenge, they could not find a better opportunity than this.
They could not draw their blades against the Jin Family of Luoyang, but with a merchant caravan, they could certainly hide and launch ambushes to inflict damage.
Then, as if just remembering, Cheon Yul clapped his hands.
“Ah—that’s right. Was it Hyang Do-an? That Family Head’s younger brother.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Namgung Baek nodded in agreement.
That alone made it clear he had dug quite deeply into matters. I could see that Namgung Baek’s meticulous nature was precisely what had kept him alive all this time.
“Who was chasing him?”
I directed the question toward Cheon Yul while studying his face.
Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Cheon Yul’s eyes widened. He swallowed a groan and struggled to dredge up the memories buried in his mind.
The pained sounds escaping him were truly pitiful to hear.
“Ah, that’s right! The Blood Robes Gang! They were the ones chasing me.”
The Blood Robes Gang—one of the numerous organizations that existed in Sa Do-cheon.
They were renowned for possessing considerable martial prowess. Their leader, Ma Chofung, was formidable in both skill and reputation, yet harbored a single weakness.
He was enslaved by money and women.
No matter how exceptional Hyang Doun’s abilities were, he should never have escaped the Blood Robes Gang’s grasp. Yet he had—which led to only one conclusion.
He must have paid them off.
He likely surrendered a substantial sum to ensure his survival.
Would the higher-ups not know of such a thing?
They knew, but turned a blind eye.
After all, the collapse of the Hyang-un Sega was an undeniable fact, and most of their interests had already passed into Sa Do-cheon’s hands.
Allowing a few survivors to slip away would cause no significant harm—such was their calculation.
I shook my head and sighed, then looked toward Jang Chuchyeong and Namgung Yeon.
“Keep it in mind, but don’t concern yourselves overmuch with it.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
However formidable Hyang Doun’s skills might be, or however fiercely he burned with vengeance against the Jin Family, it hardly seemed pressing.
Even if the fallen Hyang-un Sega still possessed some strength, it would be negligible at best. Such a force could never deal a meaningful blow to my current position.
The only exception would be… if he somehow gathered a faction around him?
I furrowed my brow, contemplating this possibility that had surfaced in my mind.
If that were to happen, it would become a considerably troublesome situation.
“What troubles you so?”
“Something your master caused.”
“Huh? There is such a thing?”
“There is. And quite a spectacular mess at that.”
Jang Chuchyeong tilted his head, clearly bewildered.
He appeared to have no recollection of it whatsoever.
Yet soon his complexion began to pale noticeably, and it was clear to anyone watching that he had grasped the meaning behind my words.
“I can only hope that the Green Forest you destroyed and this Hyang Doun or whoever he is don’t join forces.”
“Gulp!”
I caught the sound of Jang Chuchyeong’s hiccup and allowed a desolate smile to cross my lips.

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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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