The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 275

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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 275

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“Ugh…”
A groan escaped Chwiayeok’s lips as consciousness began to return. His eyes, initially unfocused, gradually sharpened until he could fully perceive his surroundings, and only then did he look toward me.
“Coming to your senses?”
“…!”
My casual words seemed to strike him like a hammer blow.
I could see his eyes widen in violent trembling.
He lurched upright—
Frantically scanning his surroundings, he tried to determine where he was, but all that greeted him was darkness and the faint flicker of a single candle flame.
The moment he sensed danger, his presence instantly diminished.
Not merely diminished.
Soon I could neither hear his breathing nor sense any movement.
Though I had already recovered to my former level and possessed exceptional perception, his concealment technique was so flawless that I nearly lost track of him in that instant.
Truly, Chwiayeok.
That name was no empty reputation.
Just as the rumors claimed—that he left no footprints even while drunk—this man had now erased even the sound of his breathing.
Though he appeared to be nothing more than a dissolute wretch lost to wine and gambling, he was far from an opponent to be taken lightly.
Had I stumbled even once, the Jin Family’s walls would have become a playground for ghosts, as easily breached as a fallen gate.
I furrowed my brow and sharpened my senses.
A concealment technique that erased one’s very existence.
Trapped in this narrow room, despite his presence before me, I could not feel him at all. Had he not willingly entered and instead forced a pursuit, capturing him would have been far from simple.
I turned my gaze toward the source of a subtle shift in the air I sensed.
“Don’t waste your effort. Whatever you do will be meaningless.”
“…!”
I released my pressure as I spoke the heavy warning.
A weighty aura settled throughout the room, suppressing all directions.
No matter how exceptional his concealment technique, he could not completely deceive my senses and escape.
Especially not in such a confined space.
I opened my mouth, surveying the empty space before me.
“To be honest, I don’t think you’ve done anything particularly wrong. You were simply caught up in a scheme from the start, weren’t you?”
“…What are you saying…”
“I’m talking about you, Chwiayeok.”
“…”
Chwiayeok fell silent, closing his mouth.
Like someone actually taking a moment to think.
With neither Chwiayeok nor I speaking, only quiet silence flowed through the space.
I waited, giving him time to process the situation.
Time for him to comprehend his current circumstances.
And time for me to consider what words to speak.
Soon, Chwiayeok emerged from the darkness and gazed at me quietly before asking.
“What possible reason could you have for bringing me here?”
“I simply want to hear your story. About the Sak-gok powder.”
“What if I cannot speak?”
“Then it’s simple. If you’re unable to talk, it means either your tongue has been severed or your breath has stopped. One or the other.”
“…!”
In that instant, he swallowed hard and stumbled backward.
But the wall behind him left nowhere else to retreat.
He appeared to be desperately searching his mind for some way to escape this situation, yet finding no viable solution, he let out a groan while staring at me.
“What could I possibly have done to deserve this?”
“The Sak-gok powder. Even setting that aside, if you followed a woman and scaled her wall, your intentions seem rather clear, wouldn’t you say?”
“Ugh!”
Ignoring his startled flinch, I began examining the objects laid upon the table one by one.
Piled upon a small cloth was undoubtedly Sak-gok powder, while the other items consisted of silver coins, jewelry, and a promissory note.
Considering his profession as a thief, the items aside from the Sak-gok powder were all understandable, yet one thing troubled me.
I tapped the promissory note with my finger and spoke.
“A promissory note from Jincheon Exchange House… it’s only valid in Yolyeong.”
At my quiet murmur, tension flickered across his face.
Even as doubt crept in, relief also surfaced—
As though his eyes held the certainty that a mere promissory note could reveal nothing.
Observing his expression, I smiled.
In truth, this required no deliberation.
There was only one place in the Central Plains that could handle poisons and command Chwiayeok.
The fact that he moved for purposes beyond stealing for alcohol, gambling, and women meant his actions could only be explained by orders from those who had captured the phantom known as Chwiayeok.
I deepened my smile and spoke the name aloud.
“The Dan Li Family.”
At the mention of the Dan Li Family, his complexion turned ashen.
A family established in Yolyeong alongside the Moyong.
On the surface, they appeared to be a pharmaceutical clan focused on cultivating medicinal herbs and crafting elixirs, but in reality, they were exceptionally skilled in handling poisons, supplying them through the shadows, and accumulating wealth.
It would be no exaggeration to say that most of the toxins sold in the underworld, including Ha Omun, were produced by them.
If it were them, creating Sak-gok powder would be nothing unusual.
I laughed while observing the man’s darkened expression.
“You’ve been poisoned with Blood Scatter Toxin, haven’t you?”
“…!”
A poison of the utmost severity—it gradually disperses the blood qi within the body, and as time passes, the meridians and blood vessels become blocked while the entire body stiffens.
Without consuming the antidote at regular intervals, death is inevitable, leaving no choice but to obey those who possess the cure if one wishes to live.
When I had first found him, he was already poisoned, so I suspected he remained so even now.
What solidified my conviction was none other than Chaeseoha.
Before bringing him here, she had taken his pulse and confirmed that Chwiayeok was poisoned by blood mountain toxin.
“…How!”
From the expression on his face, I could roughly grasp the situation.
Since the Moyong Family found it difficult to move directly, they had mobilized the Dan Li Family, and Dan Li’s side entrusted the matter to Chwiayeok, who could be easily utilized without drawing attention.
Whether they had intended to use only the grain reserves or harbored other intentions remained unclear, but the mere fact that they had stationed someone like Chwiayeok in the Henan region suggested that bloodshed far beyond mere grain was a possibility.
Having concluded my thoughts there, I rose from my seat.
I hadn’t heard a proper answer, but it was already sufficient.
I had obtained what I needed, so further conversation held no meaning.
“…Where are you going?”
“There’s nothing left to hear, so I’m returning.”
“I… What about me?”
“When the time comes, I’ll have meals brought to you, so rest easy.”
“If… if I cannot obtain an antidote, I will die!”
I heard those words but paid them no mind.
I simply answered with a smile and opened the door.
At the same moment, I sensed his presence vanish.
He intended to escape the instant the door opened.
A small sigh escaped my lips at that very moment.
“Did I not tell you? That nothing will go as you wish, no matter what you attempt.”
“…!?”
Crack!
I unleashed my fist without hesitation.
With the violent sound of a melon shattering, his form materialized from empty space, and the opponent, struck across the face, flew backward pathetically, crashing against the wall and tumbling to the ground.
“Even the supreme concealment technique of the world becomes meaningless in such a confined space. How much more so when you and I stand upon different realms of cultivation?”
The fallen man’s complexion was stained with despair.
He stretched out his hand, displaying his will to escape this place by any means necessary, but the door slowly closed as Chwiayeok was drawn back into darkness once more.

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The answer had been predetermined from the very beginning.
Only the Dan Li Family, who had created and administered the blood mountain poison, could move Chwiayeok, who was addicted to it.
Yet despite this troublesome affair, the reason I captured him was precisely because Chwiayeok himself posed a threat.
What if what he held in his hand was not numbing powder, but a deadly toxin?
Considering that within the Jin Family, only I could discern his concealment techniques, countless lives might have been lost without caution.
To prevent such a calamity, it was necessary to capture him.
One cannot simply move about with a threat looming overhead.
It is undeniable that the Moyong Family’s influence was at work, yet without evidence, such suspicions held no meaning.
Still, I had no intention of letting this matter rest.
This was a game they had set up.
Once the board is laid, one must play along.
Whether for better or worse, both the Moyong Family and the Dan Li Family would soon become the subject of much discussion.
In the moment I narrowed my brow slightly.
I caught sight of Chaeseoha dozing in the courtyard of the annex.
Upon noticing me, she stirred from her drowsiness and waved her hand gently.
“Did you find anything?”
“Nothing significant. It was simply as expected.”
“Then why did you capture such a person?”
“Threats must be contained as much as possible.”
“To that extent?”
I smiled as I looked at her wide, rounded eyes.
To her, he appeared to be nothing more than a middle-aged man drowning in women, gambling, and wine—so she seemed quite shocked.
“You used me to lure in such a dangerous person?”
“Without you, he would never have appeared. Otherwise, I would have had to search through all of Henan like sifting through sand.”
With concealment techniques as sharp as his intuition, even attempting to capture him using Ha Omun’s intelligence network would have been difficult.
It had been that way in the past as well.
He was extraordinarily sensitive to being observed.
To the point where one might suspect it was a thief’s nature.
“In any case, it worked out well. We caught the culprit, and now we can rest easy, right?”
“No, one thing remains.”
“Again?”
“Now comes the time to meet those who sent him.”
“…Who would that be?”
“The Dan Li Family.”
At the name that escaped my lips, Chaeseoha’s eyes widened.
As a woman versed in medicine, she could not fail to know that name.
It was a household equally renowned in pharmacology.
“From such a place… truly?”
“You are a physician yourself, so you know. Pharmacology and toxicology are separated by but a single sheet of paper. Especially since they can also handle numbing powder.”
“I see…”
Chaeseoha nodded with difficulty, forcing herself to accept my words.
Yet her eyes betrayed her true feelings.
As if she harbored some connection to the Dan Li Family.
“Do you have a connection with them?”
“Ah, well, my father has some history with them… The Family Head there is his old friend.”
A physician and a pharmacist.
It was a combination that could hardly be more compatible.
However, if she spoke of him as a close friend, they must have shared a rather intimate bond. Yet despite having a place where she could entrust herself to their care, I couldn’t understand why she had wandered the Central Plains all this time.
While not quite on the level of the Moyong Family, the Dan Li Family was certainly capable of supporting a guest or two without difficulty. Moreover, given Chaeseoha’s nature, she would never have been idle—she would have become far more valuable than a mere guest.
As I expressed my confusion, she offered a bitter smile.
Then, she quietly pointed to her own face with her finger.
“Your face?”
“I didn’t want to show them my disfigured appearance?”
“No, that’s not it. I had stayed with my father there before… The Dan Li Family didn’t welcome us for who we were… they welcomed my father’s medical skills.”
The bitterness that lingered in Chaeseoha’s eyes did not fade.
Though she spoke with deliberate composure, a subtle tremor betrayed the harshness of what she had endured.
I found myself exhaling a quiet sigh.
“Is Liaoning a land where only skills matter?”
At those words, bitterness settled deeper into Chaeseoha’s expression.

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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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