The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 263

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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 263

Whoooosh—!
Paeng Dohan swung his saber again, his brow furrowing. He had thought his strike was perfectly placed, but his opponent’s body movements far exceeded his expectations.
As a gap opened when the blade tore through the fabric by mere paper’s thickness, the enemy’s sword flew toward him with terrifying speed.
Clang—!
It was none other than Eon Garyeo who slipped into the gap.
With nimble footwork, he extended his leg to sweep the flat of the blade, creating an opening, then rotated his body to strike the enemy’s chest again.
Thud—!
Though it was a strike imbued with considerable force, it seemed insufficient to break through the opponent’s protective technique, as he merely stumbled back a single step.
Yet in that instant, an opening appeared.
Slash—!
The blade flew with a speed that seemed impossible for the Paeng family’s saber technique, cleanly cutting across the man’s chest.
Whoosh—!
As blood sprayed before my eyes and I took another step forward to finish the cut, the man’s body suddenly retreated, and my blade slashed through empty air instead.
“Damn!”
“Haa, haa, haa….”
Though I had prided myself on facing considerable numbers as a member of the Changryong Dan, I was now acutely aware of the skill gap—so vast that all my previous experience seemed trivial.
The reason I could hold my ground like this was simple.
Slash—!
It was because of my existence.
My sword cut across the retreating man’s body.
Unlike the two men pouring sweat like rain with ragged breaths, my breathing remained steady and my expression unchanged from the beginning.
I simply swung my sword gently, yet delivered a strike that completely defied the opponent’s predictions.
Was that the reason?
Paeng Dohan shook his head as if in resignation.
“Ah… I knew it, but Young Master, you’re truly a monster.”
“Is that a compliment?”
I smiled bitterly and turned my gaze away.
With enemies scattered throughout Mount Taeah, anyone could predict that even if we hid, they would swarm us at the slightest commotion.
But the reality was slightly different.
Certainly, I could see their figures appearing here and there, but their numbers were fewer than expected, and though they attacked, it didn’t feel like they were desperately pursuing us.
They appeared sporadically, scattered across different locations.
They would appear as if they had been waiting, swing their blades, and attack relentlessly as they revealed themselves.
Since we were in a chase dynamic, everything seemed natural enough, yet there was something oddly unsettling about it.
Having lived in the position of the hunted for over a decade, I could not fail to recognize the difference between those who genuinely pursued their prey and those who did not.
This strange sensation I felt was precisely because of that.
Whoosh—!
At that very moment, a circular projectile came flying toward me. As if they had been waiting, it was a surprise attack.
At the same time, several figures appeared once more.
I narrowed my brow and deflected the circular projectiles hurtling toward me, then unleashed a torrent of sword energy at those rushing forward.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
A sharp strike came flying as if to cleave my body in two, but I threw myself left and right in an instant, and it merely tore through the fabric of my garment.
“We’re surrounded!”
Paeng Dohan drew his blade and gritted his teeth, while Eon Garyeo clenched his fists tightly with a tense expression.
However, I found myself questioning this entire situation.
I had already committed the terrain of Mount Taeah to memory.
In truth, the path we took to reach here was one that even the Divine Sect’s Heaven-Spanning Net could scarcely discover.
No matter how skilled these pursuers were, could they truly surpass the Divine Sect’s hounds?
Moreover, no matter how exceptional and superior Gwanbaek might be, he could not have taught me everything in the brief time since we both returned to the past together.
Yet they were locating us with precision, as if they knew exactly where we stood.
Something even the Divine Sect’s hounds could not accomplish.
This was why my frown remained and my unease did not fade.
Shhhhh—
In the moment my thoughts wandered, those scattered figures regrouped and formed a sword formation.
Their target was undoubtedly me.
As I evaded the blade striking fiercely at me, Paeng Dohan’s saber swept through the air with a violent gust of wind.
Whooooom—!
The threatening saber disrupted their movements, and I seized the opening that appeared, moving my sword accordingly.
Scrape—! Whoosh—!
I cut through one body and grazed another.
Those gathered in formation quickly seized their wounded comrade and threw themselves away, and I watched as they hastily vanished at my approach.
It was not merely one or two.
All of them disappeared as if fleeing.
As if they had realized this battle was turning against them.
And there seemed to be a determination not to lose even a single fighter easily.
I furrowed my brow as I confirmed this.
“….”
“Huff, huff— We’ve driven them off.”
“Thank goodness. We made it through again. I thought we were done for.”
Paeng Dohan drove his saber into the ground and sighed, while Eon Garyeo nodded and caught his breath, his tension easing.
Yet his eyes and expression maintained their vigilance, contrary to his words—for there was no knowing when or where such relentless enemies might strike again.
“I don’t know who they are, but I have to give them credit for their camaraderie. How many times have they already vanished carrying their wounded….”
“If they had kept coming, we might have died.”
“Don’t say unnecessary things.”
At Paeng Dohan’s harsh words, Eon Garyeo furrowed his brow.
But I too fully agreed with what he said.
Had they not retreated with their wounded as if unable to afford losing even a single comrade, the battle would have grown far more fierce.
However.
This lingering unease doesn’t dissipate easily, and therein lies the problem.
If it were merely a strategy to block our path and buy time, I could understand the situation well enough—it’s a tactic executed with precision. But the issue is.
The problem is.
“They caught on far too quickly.”
“Caught on to what?”
“Our location. It seems as though they’ve been pursuing us as if they already knew where we were, does it not?”
“…Now that you mention it, I do sense something like that.”
This is no mere suspicion.
At first, I thought it possible, but to have identified even the paths where we could hide and move undetected from the Divine Sect’s Heavenly Net? That should be impossible.
It defies all logic.
Then what could it be?
I expanded my perception and surveyed the surroundings.
The presence of countless creatures registered from all directions.
I wondered if perhaps they possessed animal communion like Jang Chuchyeong, but none of the creatures directed their gaze toward us or lingered in observation.
Then could their pursuit techniques simply surpass those of the Divine Sect?
I shook my head.
That too is impossible.
If that were the case, they would never have lost track of Hao Munzhu’s shadow for so long.
That incident had revealed their inexperience.
Then what truly explains this situation?
Gok Ok.
The Danju Man’s ability.
I cannot determine its exact nature, but his power possesses something capable of piercing through our exact location.
Does he use animals? No, that’s not it.
Or does he observe from the heavens?
I lifted my gaze to the dark sky, but sensing neither the form, trace, nor presence of anyone there made this possibility equally unlikely.
In that moment of contemplation, my eyes widened without my intention.
Now that I thought about it, it was far too familiar.
In the past, the Suljak’s Gakju and.
The new Suljak’s Gakju who succeeded after I killed the previous one.
Senses that transcended Gang Cheonho, who inherited the full power of the Mountain Lord.
A sensitivity so acute it surpassed humanity and exceeded beasts.
This moment mirrors that time precisely.
An existence with such keen perception it missed not even the slightest movement, faintest breath, heartbeat’s pulse, or single bead of perspiration.
That hellish time when no matter how or where we hid, we could never escape his senses.
Could he have acquired that power?
Or perhaps, though his face is concealed behind white makeup and I cannot confirm it, he might be the one who became the Suljak’s Gakju.
His name was surely…
Heo Baek.
I filed this thought away and turned my gaze elsewhere.
I could sense the scattered energy emanating from both their bodies. No matter how hard they tried to conceal it, their level was insufficient to hide it from me, and such a presence would inevitably be caught by keen senses.
Moreover, the faintest sounds, the scents carried on the wind.
If I could perceive such things from an extraordinarily great distance, then pinpointing our location would be child’s play.
Naturally, I came to understand this situation.
They employed hit-and-run tactics, appearing to waste time while I searched for the location indicated by the Heavenly Mechanism Diagram, and while they attacked as if pursuing us from behind, strangely they were giving us sufficient time to move.
As if they were granting us leisure to discover the ‘destination’.
“I nearly fell for it.”
I narrowed my brow and let a small smile cross my lips.
If everything I had just deduced was accurate, then I would have exhausted myself in a grueling battle with them, drained my strength, and the moment I discovered the location of the Heavenly Mechanism Diagram, they would have seized everything from me.
They would descend upon us with overwhelming numbers and achieve their objective in one fell swoop.
Whether all of this was fact or merely conjecture, I would soon find out.
“Both of you, focus on controlling your energy and suppressing your presence as much as possible.”
“Surely you don’t mean… they’re tracking us by sensing our presence?”
“That appears to be the case.”
“Damn it…!”
Paeng Dohan and Eon Garyeo clenched their teeth in frustration.
They couldn’t know exactly who it was or what I intended to do, but anyone would resent the fact that they were becoming the weak link in our escape.
I gazed at them and smiled faintly.
Then I opened my palm and drew forth my energy.
What surged up from my dantian gathered in my hand, revealing a sharp, blue force.
I couldn’t know whether everything in my mind was mere speculation or absolute certainty, but in situations like this, a small doubt often becomes the solution.
The power gathered in my palm began to compress further and further.
Compressing it, squeezing it more intensely.
The converging force intertwined and intertwined again, until it was on the verge of detonation.
Could you feel the power coalesced within?
The faces of Paeng Dohan and Eon Garyeo beside me turned ashen.
Looking at them, I found myself smiling despite myself.
“Run.”
“…!?”
“Hik!”
At my single command, Paeng Dohan and Eon Garyeo gasped in alarm, and the moment I confirmed they were rushing away, I wore a deep smile.
I could feel it.
The panicked energy of the two men scattered, their presence now unmistakably exposed.
If my suspicion was correct, there was no way he wouldn’t notice.
And now.
A clever stratagem to resolve my doubt.
I would certainly touch that superhuman keen sense.
I detonated the fully compressed and condensed power.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang—!

* * *

Heo Baek wore a smile of composure and leisure.
Jin Cheon-u undoubtedly knew where the destination was.
If I could use him, I was confident I could find the place Shin Ju mentioned without expending much effort.
That’s why I detected the two of them from as far away as possible, and while following them discreetly, I made sure they wouldn’t forget that I was in pursuit.
If the chase suddenly stopped, there would be nothing stranger than that, so I was carefully orchestrating the situation to lure his carelessness.
The sense of futility from when Jin Cheon-u shattered the Gok Ok right before my eyes still hadn’t faded, so this time I intended to repay him by stealing what he was after.
In the moment I was thinking such thoughts.
Through senses heightened far more acutely than usual, I felt the two of them moving their bodies again.
Where were they going?
Sensing that, I expanded my perception further and pursued them.
“…!?”
But something strange seized me.
A faint aura.
Not that of the two clumsy ones, but something more refined, pure, and crisp in sensation—this was undoubtedly Jin Cheon-u’s aura, which I had never felt until now.
Why had his presence suddenly revealed itself?
Unable to comprehend the situation, I sharpened my senses even more acutely.
To understand what he was trying to do.
But something was wrong.
His aura began to swell beyond control, and eventually it started to press against and shake my perception.
In the moment I felt my body trembling as my five heightened senses reached their limit under the overwhelming force.
“Could it be?!”
By the time I realized it, it was already too late.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang—!
An unbelievable sound pierced my ears.
As blood burst from my ears, every sense of Heo Baek transcended its limits, delivering unbearable agony.
“Grraaaaaaagh—!”

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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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