The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 22

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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 83

Clang— clang clang—
“What, what is this? What’s happening?”
The sudden commotion stirred the residents to life, and they began looking around frantically. The sound of clashing blades echoing from all directions was far from ordinary.
The bewildered expressions on people’s faces caught my attention.
I observed this and smiled.
“Someone is attempting to overthrow Dowon Village.”
“What?!”
“Gasp!”
The people’s eyes widened in shock that transcended mere surprise.
Gulp—
They hurriedly glanced around and swallowed hard.
As if to prove my words, screams were erupting from every corner of Dowon Village.
The dazed expressions on their faces suggested they couldn’t distinguish whether this was a dream or reality.
I observed their reactions and drove the point home.
“If fortune favors you, you might be able to escape.”
“…!”
My single statement caused the frozen expressions to shift dramatically.
Those here were people who had abandoned all hope of leaving.
Either they had been sold to the Hao Gate, or they were death row inmates sent by the Imperial Palace.
Otherwise, they were mostly those seeking to hide their identities through the Hao Gate.
But even they likely didn’t know the truth.
That once you entered, you could never leave.
Thus, they had merely been enduring, waiting for the day of their death. But those unexpected words—that escape was possible—were enough to ignite a fire in their hearts.
“I should loot the Auction House while I’m at it. There seemed to be quite a few rare items there.”
“I’m coming too! Wait, shouldn’t we kill those bastards first? They have more stuff anyway!”
“Swords! Bring swords!”
Those who had suffered much at the hands of the nobles seized weapons.
Even if they could escape this place, without money it would be meaningless. That’s why everyone rushed toward the Auction House, the Gambling Hall, and other locations.
But there was an even more convenient method.
Killing the nobles.
They would surely possess considerable wealth.
The residents, eyes blazing with murderous intent, seized weapons and began to charge forward.
Among the residents were those with considerable martial skill. There would certainly be survivors from the Arena as well, and they would transform this already chaotic Dowon Village into an absolute hellscape.
I simply watched as the people scattered in all directions.
“It will become even more chaotic.”
Jang Chuchyeong, the Crown Prince, and the residents of Dowon Village as well.
An unprecedented crisis was unfolding since Dowon Village’s creation, and even if the Hao Gate deployed massive forces, they would struggle to contain it.
Moreover, the residents would begin looting and killing, doing their utmost to escape.
It was obvious that clashes would erupt not only with the Crown Prince’s faction but also with the Emperor’s forces during this chaos, which would give me ample time to make my move.
Additionally, Chaeseoha would serve as an excellent shield when I made my escape with her.
“Gaaahhh!”
“…These bastards, cough!”
“Die—!”
I listened to the sounds around me and slipped away from my position.
Moving with utmost discretion while blades clashed in every direction, no one could easily detect my presence.
“Kyaaah!? What is this, cough!”
“…Treason!”
At that moment, a loud commotion drew my attention to the Crown Prince’s movements.
Those moving under the Crown Prince and Chungho’s command began advancing with the ferocity of a tempest.
Anything blocking their path was cut down.
Without hesitation or mercy.
It seemed no one could stop their advance, as they displayed the resolve to conclude this matter with swift decisiveness.
Clang clang clang—!
“Hold the line! We must hold it at all costs!”
Of course, they were not ones to simply endure passively.
The Imperial Guards attending the Emperor were trained for such situations and made it their duty to protect him with their lives on the line.
They desperately held back the surging forces, buying the Emperor precious time.
Turning my gaze toward where the Emperor stood, I saw him hastily abandon his position, having grasped the gravity of the situation.
If the Emperor made it back to the Imperial Palace, he would win; if not, the Crown Prince would claim victory.
I let out a soft chuckle and looked in another direction.
Chaeseoha, bewildered by the sudden chaos, was being dragged away by one of the guards.
Even in such circumstances, it was clear they intended to secure her—the one who held the Emperor’s lifeline.
Then.
Something caught my heightened senses.
I felt an existence approaching with the momentum of a gale, clearly targeting me despite my suppressed presence.
Furrowing my brow and turning my head, I finally spotted a man.
“You!”
Approaching with the footwork of a Martial Artist, he drew his blade with a sharp edge—the martial arts of the Martial Artist, said to be one of the two pillars of the Nine Sects.
The moment his technique unfolded before me, I lightly twisted my body to evade and, seizing the opening, drove my fist forward to strike his abdomen.
Thud!
“Gasp!”
Gasping as if his breath were being cut off, he clutched his stomach and, unable to utter a single coherent word, collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.
“Impressive.”
I smiled as I observed him.
He had detected me suppressing my presence amidst the chaos and rushed forward….
Indeed, one does not simply become a disciple of the Martial Artist.
Had he possessed proper skill, I would have had a difficult time.
I moved with even greater caution, suppressing my presence entirely.
This was not the time to concern myself with others.
The Emperor had slipped away from the Arena.
His destination would naturally be the Imperial Palace—there was no safer place for him.
But he would not have taken the common entrances and exits.
Those were for distinguished guests, not for the Emperor himself.
I moved swiftly with a faint smile playing at my lips.
During my time as a resident of Dowon Village, I had discovered a place while searching meticulously for an escape route.
The deepest part of Dowon Village itself.
A special location where no light penetrated and where falling water had carved a small stream, leaving it utterly abandoned by all.
I made my way there and surveyed the surroundings.
The rough stone floor bore unmistakable signs of passage—traces that could only appear from many people traversing it dozens, hundreds, or more times over.
Observing this, I ran my hands along the wall surface.
Feeling the cold, solid texture of the stone, I moved slowly, tracing my fingers across it.
As I continued feeling along the extended wall for some time.
I sensed a hollow space within.
“Here it is.”
This was no ordinary place.
During my past time here, I had felt something.
Despite the absolute silence around me, I had strangely heard voices emanating from within the wall.
That could only mean one thing—there was a passage hidden within this wall.
Considering that Dowon Village had once served as a secret passage for the Iron-Blooded Emperor to infiltrate the Imperial Palace, the space within this wall would undoubtedly lead there.
I did not hesitate.
I drew my blade and swung it without delay.
The moment my sword, imbued with a keen edge, pierced through the wall and carved an opening, the hidden passage within revealed itself completely.
“Precisely as expected.”
Upon seeing this, a smile bloomed across my face.
The first reason was that this was no mere coincidence, and the second was that everything was unfolding exactly as I had anticipated in this moment.
I stepped inside without hesitation, my smile widening.
The Emperor would certainly be within this passage.
The prospect of our meeting filled me with eager anticipation.

* * *

“What in blazes is happening here?!”
“Y-Your Majesty! It is treason! Treason!”
“Treason?! How dare anyone commit such an act in my paradise!”
Night pearls studded everywhere cast the place in daylight brilliance.
As the Emperor passed through and heard those words, his brow furrowed deeply.
This place was none other than Dowon Village.
His paradise alone.
A place of indulgence he had created to do whatever he desired.
Those who displeased him were seized and imprisoned, discarded concubines could be ruined at leisure, and it was a place sufficient to turn the hearts of those who defied his will.
The fact that rebellion had erupted in such a place was utterly unbelievable to him.
Yet the voices reaching his ears dragged him back to reality.
“It must surely be him, Your Majesty. I have witnessed several using the martial techniques of the Martial Artists—there is no doubt.”
At Ga Inhoo’s words, a deep crease formed between the Emperor’s brows.
He already knew that the Crown Prince harbored discontent at not sitting upon the throne. Yet he had believed it impossible for his son to amass enough power to stage a rebellion.
But if it were Dowon Village, the matter was entirely different.
“Ha—my guard was lowered.”
How he had come to know, he could not say.
Yet if Ga Inhoo’s deductions were entirely correct, then the Crown Prince now stood in a position where he must stake his life to kill him, and he himself must stake his life to survive.
A bitter smile crossed the Emperor’s lips.
“Cough, cough!”
“…Are you well, Your Majesty?! Where are the physicians?! Attend to His Majesty’s condition at once!”
“I am fine. Let us move swiftly. Time is not on our side.”
The Imperial Guards leading the way quickened their pace. The situation was urgent, and pressed by the Emperor’s urging, they had no time to observe their surroundings carefully.
Then.
The Emperor’s body staggered as he coughed violently.
“Your Majesty!”
“Do not touch me. I am fine.”
The Emperor, barely steadying himself by grasping the wall, waved away the hastily approaching Ga Inhoo and resumed walking.
Yet soon a bitter smile played at his lips.
“Karma, it seems.”
“N-No, that is not so, Your Majesty.”
“No, it is karma indeed. I knew that in my childhood, my mother sold her body to seduce the ministers and make them support me. Yet I did not oppose it—I merely watched. For it was the only path by which I could ascend to the throne.”
The courtesan renowned as the most beautiful woman under heaven was none other than the Iron-Blooded Emperor’s mother.
No matter how untouchable she became through the Emperor’s favor, if such a woman seduced men first, they could not help but fall.
The reason he had severed the necks of those who had supported him upon ascending the throne was precisely this.
Because they had coveted his mother.
“Y-Your Majesty…”
“And the golden curved jade my mother pressed into my hand as she died made me who I am now.”
It was a curved jade that radiated a golden light as if cradling an imperial dragon. It had made the Iron-Blooded Emperor who he was and paved his path smoothly.
But a year ago, he had lost the jade.
I couldn’t even determine who had taken it or how.
Something I’d always carried with me had vanished without a trace overnight.
That’s when my body began deteriorating rapidly.
Whether it was due to the loss of the Curved Jade’s power or the emptiness of losing something I’d cherished, I couldn’t say for certain, but there was no denying that this marked the beginning of my decline.
Moreover, it was around that same time that the Crown Prince began openly revealing his ambitions.
“It must have been Mother who took it again. To punish me. Hahahaha.”
“Your Majesty, that is not the case!”
“Enough. Let us depart at once. We must return to the Palace and have that wretch kneel before me.”
“Make haste-!”
At Ga Inhoo’s cry, those walking ahead quickened their pace.
As a result, Chaeseoha’s footsteps, following from the very rear, accelerated as well.
She rolled her eyes about, swallowing hard as she searched for an opening.
The Emperor’s coughing had begun.
This meant the innate true energy activated through acupuncture was gradually losing its potency. Therefore, it would be no surprise if he collapsed at any moment.
If that happened, she would not survive.
There was only one chance to escape.
If she failed that single opportunity, there would be no second one.
The moment she gripped the poison vial tightly in her hand, ready to deploy it at any instant.
A voice came from somewhere.
“That’s quite an interesting story. A golden Curved Jade, you say? Tell me more about it in detail.”
Schwick-!
In that instant, the neck of the Imperial Guard at the front flew off.

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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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