The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 294

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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 294

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For reasons I couldn’t fathom, I was alive.
When I fell into the water, I believed only death awaited me.
The frigid current wrapped around my entire body, and my breath caught as though it would stop altogether.
The last conscious thought that surfaced was nothing but resignation before death.
Yet strangely, something pulled at my body.
Whether it was a hand or the current itself, I couldn’t tell, but as my body was dragged along, I retained the sensation of someone pressing an acupoint.
When I opened my eyes again, I lay soaked upon an unfamiliar shore.
Looking around, I found myself on a small island.
Mist hung low, obscuring the surroundings, while the scent of rain, wind, and the damp earth peculiar to the Yangtze River permeated the air.
Debris from scattered vessels lay tangled upon the shore in disarray, yet rather than dwelling on such sights, my gaze quickly swept across the area in search of those who should be here.
But no matter how thoroughly I searched, I could find no trace of Jin Cheon-u or Chu Hyeongi.
“….”
I brushed my wet hair back and steadied my breathing.
“At least… I should be grateful to be alive.”
I gathered my scattered thoughts and composed myself.
I couldn’t know exactly what had transpired, but dwelling on the past now served no purpose.
My gaze then turned toward my surroundings.
A short distance away, I spotted someone lying motionless. Rushing over to check, I found it was none other than Namgung Yeon.
“…Yeon.”
Looking at her lying there as though dead, I recalled how she had fought to protect me until the very end aboard that rocking vessel.
Marks of repeated impact covered her body in various places, and as though she had swallowed far too much water due to her inability to swim, she lay limp with a pallid complexion.
I hurried to her side.
Pressing my fingertips to her wrist, I felt a faint pulse.
She was alive.
Yet her pulse was thin and irregular, unlike her normal state.
Her brow furrowed slightly as though she were caught in a nightmare, and a thin whimper escaped her lips.
I quickly retrieved my needle case.
“Just hold on a little longer, Yeon.”
Speaking in hushed tones, I began placing needles at various points on her body, and I felt Namgung Yeon’s subtle trembling.
Faint warmth began to circulate through her cold skin.
As time passed, the pallor gradually faded from her face, color returning to her cheeks.
Her labored breathing slowly became steady and even.
Only then did I relax, wiping away the cold sweat beading on my forehead with a sigh. At that same moment, a different sound emerged from Namgung Yeon’s lips, which had remained motionless until now.
“Ugh….”
Her eyelids trembled as a soft moan escaped her.
Soon, my eyes slowly opened, fluttering weakly.
“Yeon! Are you awake?”
Chaeseoha leaned forward with relief.
At that, Namgung Yeon jolted upright in alarm.
“Doctor…?”
Her gaze remained hazy and unfocused.
Yet she soon reached out, her hands trembling as she touched Chaeseoha’s shoulders and face, verifying her presence.
As if she needed to prove with her own eyes and fingertips that she was truly alive.
“Are you hurt? Is there any injury?”
Her voice wavered, yet beneath it lay a remarkably composed strength.
The way she inquired after another’s welfare before her own.
True to her lineage as a descendant of the Namgung clan, she remained vigilant of the world around her.
Chaeseoha offered a bitter smile and shook her head.
“I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about. Do you have any heaviness in your head or tightness in your chest?”
“…There’s some dizziness, but nothing serious.”
After a brief silence, Namgung Yeon answered.
Her cautious voice carried a note of relief, as if affirming her own survival.
“Thank goodness. You’ve been unconscious for so long I was worried.”
“How long…was I lying here?”
“Not exactly, but around three or four hours? The dawn is already breaking, so that seems about right.”
Chaeseoha pointed toward the eastern sky with her finger.
The thick mist was gradually thinning.
A bluish twilight spread across the water’s surface, slowly revealing the island’s contours.
Namgung Yeon gazed at the sight for a moment, then turned her head elsewhere.
Like Chaeseoha when she had first opened her eyes, she scanned the surroundings as if searching for someone, then posed a question with uncertainty in her gaze.
“…Where are the others?”
“I haven’t searched, but they don’t seem to be here. If they were, they would have come to us first. But…I’m not worried. You aren’t either, are you? Because it’s those two—not just anyone.”
At her reassuring words, Namgung Yeon nodded.
Jin Cheon-u and Chu Hyeongi.
They were people she could trust to survive anything, so for now, rather than worry about them—
“I’m concerned about us.”
“You needn’t worry. I will protect you no matter what happens.”
Chaeseoha smiled faintly at her resolute words and nodded. Yet her expression didn’t seem bright, which was due to the landscape gradually revealed as the mist cleared.
Whoosh—whoosh—!
Beyond the horizon, countless small vessels appeared across the entire Yangtze River.
Simply from watching them scatter as if searching for something, one could instantly understand what they were after.
Chaeseoha bit her lip and furrowed her brow.
“Taking that ship back…would be impossible, wouldn’t it?”
“It’s possible, but not easy. If we can’t cut them down in one stroke and give them an opening, they’ll send a signal and all the pirates will converge here.”
Namgung Yeon had grasped the situation clearly.
Killing four or five wouldn’t be difficult, but if there were more, I couldn’t predict how many additional sword strikes would be necessary.
If that happened, sending a signal would be inevitable.
It would become quite a serious situation.
“What’s this? Two rather beautiful women?”
Then, a sudden voice rang out.
Startled, I turned around to see more than a dozen men emerging from the water, their menacing aura fixed upon the two women.
Witnessing this, Chaeseoha and Namgung Yeon held their breath.
Not simply because of their numbers.
The man before us.
Undoubtedly the one who had attempted to destroy the vessel.
He was certainly the leader of the Yangtze River Waterway Guild.
As Namgung Yeon hastily moved to place Chaeseoha behind him and drew his sword, Ro Gangpyo, the guild leader, wore an exceptionally sinister smile.
“Among the women I’ve seen recently, you have the finest beauty. I think it would be suitable to break your limbs and use you as a slave—what do you think?”
“Hahaha! If the guild leader desires it, we’d be delighted. But… may we also have a turn?”
“Don’t worry, you fools. Once I’m done with them, I’ll throw them your way.”
Vile and repugnant words spilled from Ro Gangpyo’s mouth.
Chaeseoha’s complexion turned ashen, but Namgung Yeon instead narrowed her eyes, releasing her killing intent.
Was it because of that?
Ro Gangpyo, who had been laughing and talking, turned his gaze toward her.
Zzzt—
Responding to the intense murderous aura he felt, his lips curled upward, and soon he lifted the enormous broadsword strapped to his back and struck the ground.
Boom—!
A violent tremor shook the earth.
“You’re quite skilled, woman. I am Ro Gangpyo, leader of the Yangtze River Waterway Guild.”
“I am Namgung Yeon.”
“Namgung? You mean that cursed clan that was annihilated like dogs?”
“….”
The moment he heard the name Namgung, Ro Gangpyo’s laughter faded. Soon, a powerful aura erupted from his body, pressing down upon the two women.
A sensation as if Mount Tai itself were crushing them.
An overwhelming presence that only the strongest could possess.
Because of this, Namgung Yeon’s gaze grew increasingly profound.
“Nowadays, every dog and swine draws a blade without knowing their place. Surely you don’t believe that name still carries weight?”
“The name may not carry weight, but my blade will.”
“Hahahaha—! Entertaining, absolutely delightful! But you’re not the one, are you?”
“…?”
“The one who destroyed my vessel and shattered my blade. You seem quite skilled, but I sense you’re not quite at that level.”
“If that person were here, your head would be rolling on the ground by now.”
“Phew—! Annihilated like dogs, yet your mouth is just as loose, woman.”
Crash—!
In an instant, the broadsword in his grip tore through the ground.
The overwhelming force crashing down seemed impossible to stop, but Namgung Yeon pushed Chaeseoha aside and swung his sword instead.
He didn’t block head-on.
Like Jin Cheon-u, he deflected it by redirecting the force.
In the moment he flowed the power away with an elegant movement—
A chill ran down my spine.
I felt Ro Gangpyo’s presence from behind without even turning to look, and my body launched away instinctively.
Crash-crash-boom!
At the same time, a massive blade pierced the ground where I had been standing, shattering the earth in succession. Yet with nimble movements, I evaded and seized the opening.
I poured all my energy into the tip of my sword and thrust forward.
“Ugh?!”
Whoooosh!
Screech—!
In that instant, Ro Gangpyo, who had blocked it, was pushed back.
Rather than a killing blow aimed at exploiting a gap, it was a strike unleashed with the technique of forcing him to retreat.
The reason was Chaeseoha.
She was closest to Ro Gangpyo.
“Haha! This is fun. What are you all doing? I’ll keep this one busy, so you grab the other one. She seems to be of noble status, so don’t leave any marks.”
“Yes!”
“Heh, don’t worry!”
The subordinates moved toward Chaeseoha with sinister smiles. I tried to launch myself to block them, but suddenly the momentum of the swung broadsword came down heavily.
“…!”
Whoooosh!
The sound of the blade cutting through the air was chilling.
With my attention stolen by Chaeseoha’s direction, I had no room to evade. The only method left for Namgung Yeon was singular.
Unable to redirect it, I would block it head-on.
Claaaaaang!
An impact as if the blade would shatter.
The shock traveled through my entire body along the blade, sending me flying. The overwhelming force launched me through the air, and pain from tumbling across the ground surged through my entire body once more.
“What good is a Namgung sword?!”
Then came a powerful shout.
As I trembled and barely got to my feet, grasping my sword again, Ro Gangpyo, who had closed the distance, thrust his blade heavily forward.
Whoooosh!
“Gahhh?!”
The terrible pain that sank deep into my abdomen exceeded all limits, and my consciousness teetered on the edge of fading.
Having only just regained consciousness, my situation was all the worse.
“Kha—! This one’s fun to pummel! Still, she’s a woman, so I won’t touch her face!”
Ro Gangpyo thrust his blade at me again as I lay sprawled on the ground.
As if intent on breaking my will, he pounded me relentlessly from side to side, battering my body. At some point, my form swayed like a puppet, rolling across the ground.
Long since unconscious, but as if venting his grudge for having a sword turned against him, Ro Gangpyo finally pummeled me to satisfaction, brushed back his hair with a pleased expression, and turned his gaze toward where Chaeseoha was.
“Is that one done—?”
In that instant, Ro Gangpyo’s eyes widened in disbelief at the sight before him. A dozen or more subordinates lay sprawled across the ground, all bleeding out.
Blood pooled only at their necks, hearts, and other fatal points—evidence that each had fallen to a single blade stroke.
The scene was so horrifying that words escaped him, and he was not alone in this shock.
Even Chaeseoha stood dazed, unable to fully comprehend what had transpired.
Then.
A chill ran down his spine.
Ro Gangpyo felt a terrible foreboding.
As if the shadow of death itself had crept to his side.
So faint that without concentration, one could scarcely perceive it—hidden with such subtlety.
Sensing this ominous presence, Ro Gangpyo’s great sword swept through the air in a wide arc.
The blade whistled through the darkness.
As it tore through the air in its circular path, the concealed presence became unmistakably exposed.
The moment he turned his gaze toward the source of that aura, a man emerged from the shadows.
“What is this?”
“….”
But the opponent offered no response.
He merely revealed the short blade in his hand and wore a faint smirk at the corner of his mouth—as if to signal that his role was complete.
In that strange moment, as Ro Gangpyo’s pupils deepened.
Chwiayeok’s presence began to fade into the darkness like water being drawn away, until eventually his existence vanished to the point where one could not sense him without opening their full awareness.
“Damn it… this bastard…!”
An assassin?
A concealment technique that far surpassed ordinary methods.
Ro Gangpyo’s brow twitched as he ground his teeth.
Though he prided himself on standing at a level above most, sensing auras and presences was not his specialty.
This was why his frown would not ease.
He opened his senses fully, attempting to trace the opponent’s location, but now the man held perfectly still, watching in silence—making it impossible to grasp his position.
Then.
A chill ran down his spine again.
Yet this was entirely different from the assassin before.
A dread and terror that far surpassed even goosebumps.
Startled, he turned his head.
And he saw it.
A black shadow rushing at him with insane speed, blade raised to strike.
Alarmed, Ro Gangpyo raised his great sword to block—
The clash erupted with a deafening ring.
An overwhelming force surged through him, and his body was driven backward without resistance, until finally he lost his footing and tumbled across the ground.
“Cough!”
A violent cough burst from his lips at the same moment.
And Chaeseoha’s cry pierced through the air loudly.
The loud cries of the vegetables echoed noisily.
“Young Master?!”

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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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