The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 259

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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 259

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I escaped the mountain and traveled leisurely along the road.
Swept along by the current, I had drifted quite far downstream to Hubei.
But this was actually fortunate.
Since my destination, Mount Taishan, was located in Hubei anyway, the distance had actually shortened, making the journey more convenient.
With such thoughts, I turned my gaze toward the southwest.
A large town came into view in the distance.
At first glance, it was clearly a city rivaling Luoyang in scale, and beyond it, the massive mountain range shrouded in haze was Mount Taishan itself.
I hastened along the road.
As I advanced without hesitation through the bustling thoroughfare where countless people came and went, entering the town, the magnificent sight of Dongting Lake cradled within the town finally revealed itself.
I stood motionless, gazing at it for a long while.
Every landscape visible before my eyes remained unchanged from the past.
The shops here, the street vendors, even the paths where people walked.
As if reminding me of that day’s memories.
Things I had not wished to recall surfaced one by one.
Soon I halted my steps and fixed my gaze on one particular spot.
The path leading to the marketplace.
Several street vendors caught my eye in the surrounding area.
And one location.
“…Gwanbaek.”
Yes, the place where I had met Gwanbaek—haggard, shabby, and pitiful.
His appearance had been so wretched that it was astounding he was even alive, and I recalled how he had grasped my wrist with a bleary smile.
As that day’s memory surfaced in my mind, I realized one additional fact.
The sensation I had felt when his hand seized my wrist.
It was as if he were strangling my very soul.
Or rather, it felt like being captured?
I began to suspect that his ability might not be merely reading the Heavenly Secrets. The sensation had been far too bizarre.
I steadied my breathing once more and resumed walking.
To shake off even a fragment of those terrible memories from the past.
Yet with each step I took, that day of the calm before the storm, filled with laughter, burrowed deeper and refused to fade.
Unable to smooth the furrow between my brows, I exhaled a sigh and regained my composure, only then noticing that the sun was setting.
I turned my gaze and took in the scenery once more.
Numerous inns came into view.
Among them, the Yunlong Inn caught my eye—it had once taken down its signboard and changed its name, yet now displayed its name plainly once more.
In a secluded spot slightly removed from the Yunlong Inn, I could find the stables, which was where I had spent that final night.
“Looking at it this way, my feelings are quite renewed.”
I quietly approached the stable and found an empty spot to settle into.
Lying down on the damp, foul-smelling straw, I gently closed my eyes.
In the past, I had taken this for granted, but now spacious rooms, comfortable beds, and golden needles seemed far too natural to me.
That was precisely what I had accomplished.
I had strived to protect it and clenched my teeth to survive.
And all of the current circumstances were the result of that effort.
“But this alone won’t suffice.”
I wore a bitter smile.
Even with the strength of my past, it was woefully inadequate for vengeance.
However, now that I had far more to protect, I needed to become far stronger.
The moment I closed my eyes with such resolve.
Suddenly, a strange shadow fell before me.
Opening my eyes slightly to look at it, I recognized the face of a familiar person.
“Young Master Jin?”
“Paeng Sohyeop? What brings you to such a place….”
“Ha, that’s what I should be asking you. What business do you have in Hubei?”
I slowly raised my upper body and looked at Paeng Dohan once more.
As naturally as thread follows a needle, Eon Garyeo stood beside him, and when our eyes met, she waved her hand lightly in greeting.
The fact that these two were here meant….
“Is this Martial Arts Alliance business?”
“Ha, no. We… left the Martial Arts Alliance.”
“Left, you say…?”
“Exactly as it sounds. With what happened last time and the recent turbulence within and outside the Martial Arts Alliance… we simply decided to try things on our own and departed.”
Paeng Dohan and Eon Garyeo displayed an awkward yet resolute determination. From that alone, it seemed something had long been rooted in their minds.
And in that moment, I understood all at once.
“Are you embarking on a wandering journey through the martial world?”
“Ha! As expected of our Young Master Jin. You’ve hit the mark precisely. Originally, our goal was to make a name for ourselves in the Martial Arts Alliance and elevate the prestige of our clan….”
“But being pushed around by someone just doesn’t sit right with us.”
Paeng Dohan nodded at Eon Garyeo’s words.
If one remained within the Martial Arts Alliance, where hierarchical relationships were clearly defined, conflict was inevitable.
Moryeong Hyeok’s case was precisely such an example.
Though called friends, the difference between a unit leader and vice unit leader was bound to be vast, and ultimately, failing to stop it had nearly caused a grave disaster.
Of course, with the dissolution of Changryong Dan, new units under promising successors would soon be formed, but the two of them seemed quite reluctant about it.
In any case, though the circumstances differed, the current flowed the same.
In the past, I had left the Martial Arts Alliance and walked the path of a wanderer through the martial world, treading the way of a chivalrous hero. Paeng Dohan and Eon Garyeo, though the timing was far too early, now seemed to be walking that very path.
However, because the timing was premature, the circumstances were different.
Those who roamed the Central Plains martial world committing misdeeds mostly formed factions, and if not, they were largely those who had reached the upper echelons of the first rank.
There was no guarantee that incidents like the previous crisis would not occur.
Rather, they would likely encounter far more.
Should they survive such harsh trials, they would become martial artists worthy of leaving their names to posterity, but most people would crumble away and disappear into insignificance.
I was no exception.
I offered the question with a bitter smile playing at my lips.
“Wasn’t this decision made rather hastily?”
“Hmm? Does Young Master Jin also think the timing is off? Father did say something like that, but….”
Indeed, a seasoned expert recognizes such things at a glance.
I suspected they had rushed out on their own without hearing the Family Head’s full instructions.
That must be it.
When I simply kept my mouth shut without speaking, Paeng Dohan and Eon Garyeo exchanged glances, aligned their thoughts, and eventually nodded in agreement.
“Perhaps… are you uneasy about us?”
“Uneasy?”
“No, well… since it’s your matter, I’m not uneasy, and neither should you be….”
I trailed off my words and furrowed my brow.
Their tone somehow resembled the way they spoke when asking for money to buy alcohol.
Sensing the situation was taking a peculiar turn, I found myself studying them both, and they took another step closer, pressing further.
“We know it well. At our current level, we’re just asking to be cut down and killed somewhere.”
“Even Hyeok is no match for many of them. We’ve come to realize anew that all we can manage is catching small fry.”
Their self-awareness was better than expected.
So much so that it was hard to believe they were Moryeong Hyeok’s friends. Thanks to that, I felt assured they wouldn’t become guests who never return.
“I believe the two of you will do well.”
I nodded and casually turned my back toward the inn.
I had intended to sleep and indulge in nostalgia for the past, but it seemed these unexpected visitors would force me back inside the inn.
“Ha ha, then you two. I look forward to seeing you again.”
“Wait, Paeng Sohyeop!”
“Please stop for a moment, Sohyeop—or rather, Great Expert!”
Unexpected words rang out again, halting my steps.
The two men, moving with urgency, quickly blocked my path ahead, and with their resolute gazes, they seemed to have cast a snare around me.
I found myself unable to move an inch.
“Is there another matter?”
“Ahem! Well, meeting like this is also fate, so… what I mean is, isn’t it? Or perhaps not?”
“Ho ho—that’s right. We think this is an opportunity Heaven has given us.”
Words only the two of them could understand passed between them.
But that expression and those eyes.
I had seen that manner of speaking many times before.
Unmistakably, these were men whose pocket money had run out but whose thirst for alcohol remained.
As if finding it difficult to voice it again, they seemed to be watching each other to see who would speak first.
An incredulous smile escaped me without thinking.
Shaking my head in disbelief, I finally responded to what they were about to say.
“I understand.”
“Please take us in!”
“Please accept us!”
At the peculiar words that struck my ears, I furrowed my brow in confusion, and as I exhaled a sigh and offered my response, the expressions of the two men brightened.

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Gwanbaek stroked his chin as he gazed upon the Celestial Map spread before him. His eyes gleamed with vitality as never before, as if captivated by something fascinating and amusing.
“Is this the object the Divine Lord sought?”
“Hehe— yes, indeed. In the end, I could not obtain it, but….”
Gwanbaek wore a bitter smile.
To be more precise, he had never intended to obtain it.
Though he could not determine exactly where the Celestial Map pointed, he knew well enough what the heavens had concealed.
To Gwanbaek, it held no significance whatsoever.
Rather, it was the trace of beings whose very existence was abhorrent.
Yet now, having washed away even such sentiments, he sought to obtain it at all costs.
For himself?
No.
Though the power of the Gok Ok he had already accumulated rendered it still meaningless to him, it would undoubtedly become an extraordinary opportunity for those who followed him.
The Celestial Map pointed to precisely such a place.
Gwanbaek fixed his gaze upon the map once more.
The ink-black lines appeared tangled in disorder, yet there existed an order that only those who gazed upon it long could perceive.
The flow of mountain ranges, the pulse of water veins, and the knots of qi hidden within the earth.
“Mount Taeah… the Wuji Acupoint.”
At the two characters he uttered softly, the Baek Myeon-in surrounding him tensed subtly.
Simultaneously, a smile curved at Gwanbaek’s lips.
“That fellow did not see this?”
“Do you speak of Jin Cheon-u? We cannot say with certainty, but that is what was reported. Furthermore, it is undoubtedly true that Hao Munzhu delivered this directly to us.”
“Hehehehe—.”
Gwanbaek laughed, yet his gaze upon the man was far from favorable. There was nothing more dangerous than taking at face value the words that spilled from that fellow’s mouth.
Though he taught diligently, naivety still seemed to linger within him.
“That fellow would surely have opened it. Without doubt, he committed it to memory and returned the object in its place.”
“…!”
I held little interest in whether the dead one was truly Hao Munzhu or not.
After all, they were dead.
But if the one present at that place was Jin Cheon-u, I was certain that given his nature, he could not have refrained from examining this.
Thus he had opened it.
And that fellow would know.
The meaning of the countless ink lines inscribed upon the Celestial Map.
Though it would be no wonder if all the people under heaven failed to unravel the map’s secrets, he alone would surely recall it the moment he beheld it.
The fierce memories of that day and the final breath of a life that had ceased.
“Shall I obtain it? The traces of the Immortal who stood against the Divine?”
A faint sneer lingered upon his lips, refusing to fade.
It was as if someone had entered Jin Cheon-u’s mind—I could see with perfect clarity how he would move, as though the image were painted vividly before my eyes.
The fierce battles he had endured thus far were brutal enough that death would have been no surprise, yet he had ultimately emerged victorious and survived. However, now that the Twelve Pavilions were truly moving, he could not stand rooted in place and expect to win through combat alone.
Then something was necessary.
At the very least, something that surpassed his past level—or even transcended that.
Since he was a man whose purpose lay in protecting his family and surviving, he would not squander this opportunity carelessly.
Yet, I could not simply let him have an easy path forward.
After all, true growth is only achieved in moments of desperation.
“Take the children and go. Without question… he will already be there waiting.”
“”
“Hehehehe—”

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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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