The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 272

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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 272

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My eyes trembled as I surveyed the empty chamber.
A lavishly appointed room.
Beyond the expensive furnishings, there was a spacious bed with bedding embroidered in gold thread.
The swords hanging throughout the walls were each worthy of being called masterpieces, and the landscape paintings covering the opposite wall appeared to be the rare works of a master artist.
A space where the owner’s authority was evident at a glance.
The air within felt oppressively heavy, cold enough to evoke the bitter winds and snow of winter.
The man who entered that place.
Examining the traces of the owner scattered throughout, I sat upon the bed and drew several deep breaths, struggling to maintain my composure.
“Father… where on earth could you be?”
The man—Moryeong Hyeok—recalled the vanished Sword Emperor.
Due to his father’s actions, the Moyong Family’s name had been greatly shaken. Moreover, those gathered around the Hwangbo Family were attacking the Moyong Family within the Martial Arts Alliance and attempting to expel them.
Furthermore, with movements to erase the Sword Emperor’s title and declare him a public enemy of the martial world, the elders were hastily entering the alliance to manage the situation, though it was far from easy.
Since the leaders of the Martial Arts Alliance had witnessed the Sword Emperor’s actions with their own eyes and were exerting every effort to capture him, it was only natural that the Moyong Family’s name no longer carried weight.
As the Moyong Family’s influence over the Martial Arts Alliance weakened, the Sword Emperor’s reputation crumbled, and even the Number One Sword Sect’s standing wavered—the minor sects that once trembled before the Moyong Family’s name had begun to mock them.
This was the Moyong Family now.
And moreover.
“Jin Cheon-u…!”
A surge of rage—!
I clenched my teeth, recalling Jin Cheon-u.
As if exacting revenge for that day, he had purchased vast quantities of the family’s trading company’s key goods, forcing us to acquire replacement stock at double the price.
Furthermore, with goods being hastily procured from various sources, quality inevitably suffered, which directly undermined the trading company’s reputation.
As quality declined, fewer people patronized the trading company. Unable to sell the expensively purchased goods, our capital flow stalled.
As if the Jin Family of Luoyang had resolved to bleed the Moyong Family dry, their actions dealt a considerable blow.
“You were here, Young Master So.”
At the sound of a voice, I snapped from my thoughts and turned my gaze.
A single figure entered the room wearing a bitter smile.
It was Muyong Chang, a branch member of the Moyong Family who served as manager due to his exceptional abilities and intellect.
“What is it?”
“Things are progressing as planned. It appears all of the Jin Family of Luoyang’s goods have been returned.”
“That… well, that’s good news.”
I smiled faintly and nodded.
Of course, they were cutting off our funds by purchasing vast quantities of our key goods, but the Moyong Family would not crumble from that alone.
We still possessed strength and wealth.
There were still countless ways to shake the Jin Family of Luoyang.
I exhaled a sigh and rose from my seat.
“It wouldn’t have been discovered, would it?”
“They’ll search for it, but it won’t be easy. The circumstances weren’t conducive to discovery in the first place, and given the nature of the matter, I selected someone who wouldn’t be found.”
Moryeong Hyeok nodded, his expression satisfied.
There was nothing quite as pleasant as the thought of crushing Jin Cheon-u’s pride.
His eyes gleamed with greater intensity than ever before.

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“Is this the place?”
“This seems to be it.”
Jang Chuchyeong and I surveyed the warehouse that Father had purchased.
It was packed with goods brought from Anhui, so full that nothing more could be added.
Given the state of things, Father must have intended to send the goods to the imperial court.
Goods sitting idle generate no profit, after all.
Imperial Guards surrounded the warehouse, rotating their watch in twelve-hour shifts, and everyone coming and going was there solely to transport goods.
First, I entered and examined the goods stacked inside.
At a glance, the quality of the grain was rather poor.
Considering that inferior goods would never have passed the Jin Family’s inspection, it was highly likely that the goods had been switched somewhere along the way.
I gazed at it briefly with a faint smile, then turned my attention elsewhere.
The one managing the warehouse was none other than Gu Gunbaek.
When our eyes met, he bowed his head.
“It wasn’t like this at first, was it?”
“No, it became this way at some point.”
Gu Gunbaek seemed to feel remorseful, unable to lift his head. Having been entrusted with managing this place, he couldn’t help but feel responsible for the defect in the goods.
Normally, this would have been grounds for dismissal.
I smiled faintly and examined the goods once more.
Grasping a handful of rice and smelling it, I detected a faintly sour odor mixed with something distinctly out of place.
It was clearly different from the smell of spoiled rice.
I wrapped it in a small cloth and placed it in my pocket.
When I turned my gaze away, I noticed Gu Gunbaek’s anxious expression.
“Have the grain removed and buried with lime. Try to do it as discreetly as possible.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to burn it?”
“It doesn’t matter in itself, but rumors will spread in all directions soon enough. That the Jin Family burned a large quantity of grain. Naturally, there will be no shortage of people curious about the reason.”
As I spoke those words, Gu Gunbaek closed his mouth.
It seemed he had only now realized that this was a matter requiring the utmost discretion, lest unsettling rumors about the Jin Family begin to circulate.
I gave Gu Gunbaek’s shoulder a light pat, then turned and began hurrying back toward the Sega.
Even as I walked, my mind continued to work.
No matter how skilled a merchant might be, they cannot evade the Jin Family’s inspection.
If the goods had been in such a state from the beginning, it would mean no inspection had taken place at all—in that case, it would be a simple matter to punish the person responsible for that duty.
But perfectly inspected goods suddenly spoiled?
This meant that either someone had slipped past the guards watching the warehouse for twelve hours and swapped the goods, or the substitution had occurred during transport—such reasoning seemed sound.
Yet even that was a ridiculous fantasy.
I knew too many eyes were watching for such a thing to occur.
Moreover, hadn’t Gu Gunbaek himself said as much?
That nothing had been amiss from the beginning.
I furrowed my brow and quickened my pace further.
The silhouette of Luoyang came into view, and I hurried toward the Sega.
There was something I needed to verify.
The moment I entered the house, I made my way to Chaeseoha’s quarters.
Opening the door and stepping inside, I found her standing there as always, blinking her eyes amid the thick aroma of medicinal herbs.
“It’s quite unusual for the Young Master to burst into my room like this.”
“I have an urgent matter. Examine this for me.”
I handed her the cloth that had wrapped the aged rice, and she accepted it with a nod.
Chaeseoha carefully placed it on the table and examined it, then brought it to her nose to smell it before looking at me with a puzzled expression.
“Where on earth did you obtain something like this?”
“I didn’t obtain it—it came from Father’s warehouse. The aged rice had an unusually distinctive odor, so I brought it here.”
“There must be quite a commotion.”
“Do you know what this is?”
“Yes, someone has dusted the rice with grain-decay powder.”
“Grain-decay powder?”
Chaeseoha nodded and carefully examined the aged rice.
The moment her fingers pinched and rubbed it, the powder scattered into the air.
“It’s harmless to humans, but it destroys grain. The moment it makes contact, what appeared sound at first gradually deteriorates over time, and insects swarm to it. Eventually, it becomes powder just like this. The odor is merely a side effect.”
“Such a poison exists?”
“I’ve never seen it before. It’s simply a poison so rarely used that it’s nearly forgotten. Do you happen to know the purpose of this poison, Young Master?”
“To cause harm to people or beasts, naturally.”
“Exactly!”
Satisfied with my answer, Chaeseoha broke into a radiant smile and pointed at me playfully.
It felt as though I were receiving praise.
“But this grain-decay powder is different. It causes no harm to people, but grain, as you can see…”
“It suffers damage.”
As she nodded vigorously, I found myself smiling as well. It seemed reasonable to conclude that someone had infiltrated the warehouse and secretly scattered the grain-decay powder.
And who would commit such an act?
Many names came to mind.
Someone with the stealth to slip past numerous watchers undetected, scatter the poison, and escape without a trace.
That was the crucial point.
A person connected to the Moyong Family, capable of handling poisons, and simultaneously possessing such exceptional stealth as to completely deceive the Sega’s warriors and infiltrate the compound.
I slowly turned the name over in my mind.
“Chwiayeok.”
“Hmm? Who is that?”
“You don’t know him? He’s quite the famous thief. If there’s money to be made, he’ll steal anything.”
Chwiayeok.
His martial prowess was unremarkable, but his concealment technique was so extraordinary that people said no one could match his mastery of stealth.
For instance, there was once an assassin from the Killing Gate who silently slit his target’s throat, yet Chwiayeok stood directly behind the assassin with eyes wide open watching the entire affair—and the assassin never once realized his presence before escaping.
With such formidable concealment skills, slipping past the Imperial Guards’ attention to enter the storehouse and scatter poison would be child’s play.
Or perhaps he struck while the grain was being transported.
I let out a small laugh and shook my head.
“That’s the most likely scenario.”
“Do you know of him?”
“Know of him, you say…”
I clicked my tongue lightly and shook my head.
What martial art would be most suited to hiding from the Divine’s gaze?
None other than concealment technique itself.
That’s why I searched every corner of the Central Plains to find Chwiayeok, and through those efforts, I managed to locate him and grasp the fundamentals of concealment technique, though imperfectly.
So then—did the Moyong Family set this man in motion?
I shook my head, dismissing the thought.
They wouldn’t engage in such troublesome acts in the current situation. With all eyes of the Central Plains upon the Moyong Family, it would be far too burdensome.
Then there must be others capable of moving even in such circumstances.
I smiled faintly and turned my gaze away.
“First, we must prioritize catching the thief.”
“The thief? Can you catch him? You said he was incredibly skilled.”
Of course, Chwiayeok’s concealment technique was unrivaled in the Central Plains.
Recalling the numerous past attempts to capture him that ended in failure, I knew that simply sensing his presence wasn’t enough to apprehend him.
But he wasn’t without weaknesses.
Alcohol, gambling, and women.
In truth, since he squandered his stolen money only on such indulgences, my assessment was that if I set my mind to it, capturing him was far from impossible.
I gazed quietly at Chaeseoha.
Did the meaning in my gaze bother her?
I saw her delicate brows furrow slightly.
“What? Why are you staring like that—you’re embarrassing me… Siri.”
“I believe I’ve found a certain method.”
“Huh?”
Chaeseoha tilted her head, unable to comprehend my words.
But knowing that men who didn’t understand even such an expression would inevitably fall for it, how could I not use it?
I raised the corners of my mouth and spoke.
“Have you ever gambled before?”
“Gambled? No… I haven’t.”
She was someone who had never properly earned even a single silver coin.
If she had money, filling her hungry belly would take priority over gambling, so she would never have fallen into such habits.
I withdrew a coin purse from my pocket and set it down.
A heavy pouch clinked softly.
“Why not go enjoy some light wine and entertainment instead?”
“Pardon?”
Chaeseoha stared at me intently, her expression still betraying complete bewilderment.
Behind her, the moon shone brilliantly in the night sky.

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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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