The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 355
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————
The Youngest Son of the Jin Family of Luoyang – Chapter 355
Resurrecting the dead.
Many had attempted this impossibility, yet none had ever succeeded.
Even Uiseon, hailed as the greatest physician under heaven, had failed at this.
Thus, the man’s words transcended mere delusion.
A tale no one would believe.
Perfect fodder for mockery.
It would have been far more plausible to claim he’d become a corpse demon.
Yet the man refused to back down.
He insisted he’d witnessed with his own eyes someone cut down by a blade and confirmed the cessation of heartbeat and breath.
For such a person to be walking about unharmed—one might as well have seen a ghost.
Chaeseoha and I walked the streets in contemplative silence.
On our way back to the festival grounds, the man’s words refused to leave my mind.
I was the one who broke the silence.
“What do you make of it?”
“Nonsense.”
“Why?”
“I treated him myself. I confirmed Yeon-un’s pulse was strong and his heart intact. And there were no blade scars.”
I narrowed my eyes for a moment.
Contrary to what the man had claimed about a deep chest wound,
Yeon-un’s body bore no such marks.
Only the wounds from the corpse demon remained.
“Resurrecting the dead? If that were possible, they’d be divine, not human!”
As a physician hearing such preposterous talk, Chaeseoha’s expression turned cold.
Yes, it was absurd by any measure.
But the man had nothing to gain from it.
A person with no profit or loss in spreading such a strange lie.
I furrowed my brow.
“I should investigate this further.”
“Good heavens—you believe him?”
“I don’t believe him. But it doesn’t sound like a lie either.”
People don’t speak without reason.
Slander, false accusations, desires—these drive speech.
But this tale of Yeon-un showed no such calculation.
That troubled me.
“I never expected you to be swayed by strange rumors.”
“I’m not being swayed. I’m simply remembering.”
I met Chaeseoha’s piercing gaze with calm composure.
I don’t believe in the resurrection of the dead either.
Yet hasn’t my own life been something equally unbelievable?
Just then—
“Young Master!”
As the saying goes, speak of the tiger and it appears—Yeon-un and Haryeon came rushing over from a distance.
Yeon-un, his face brimming with joy, stopped before me and caught his breath.
“Haha—! I’ve won again!”
Yeon-un clenched his fist as he spoke.
It hadn’t been easy to advance from the preliminaries to the main tournament, but the mere fact that he’d survived this far proved his skill had transcended that of ordinary bandits.
Moreover, he bore scarcely any significant wounds.
I gazed at Yeon-un’s disheveled collar.
The exposed skin between the gaps showed no trace of sword cuts, just as Chaeseoha had said.
A small smile crossed my lips at the sight.
“My congratulations.”
“It’s all thanks to you, Young Master. Thank you!”
Yeon-un bowed respectfully, lowering his head.
Since all I’d done was feed and shelter him, his words were technically inaccurate, but I simply nodded without objecting.
“Do your best in the afternoon matches as well.”
“Hahaha! Of course! I’ll definitely win the championship for you and Haryeon!”
Yeon-un clenched his fist, his fighting spirit ablaze.
Watching him bask in the confidence of successive victories and dream of championship glory, I couldn’t help but let out a wry chuckle.
The barrier to victory was far too high for his current skill level.
As laughter escaped my lips unbidden.
I heard the voice of Chaeseoha, who had been quietly observing from beside me.
“Ah—now that I think about it, I met someone earlier who knows Yeon the minor expert. His name is Na Jukeum. Do you know him?”
“We’ve worked together a few times. So he’s come here as well. Haha.”
“Yes, but he was saying something strange. That Yeon the minor expert had died but came back to life, and such things.”
Yeon-un tilted his head, apparently not understanding Chaeseoha’s words.
“I’m not sure what you mean by that.”
“Right? I thought the same thing. Perhaps… you two aren’t on good terms?”
At that question, Yeon-un swallowed a groan.
Soon, with a sigh, he scratched his head and wore an awkward expression.
“It is a bit uncomfortable. Ah! Not me, but the other Yeon the minor expert. He said that being around me causes him to have nightmares every day…”
Yeon-un recalled those events and wore an awkward expression.
It wasn’t an entirely unreasonable thing to say.
Even I found his occasional gaze unsettling, so if an ordinary person sensed such spectral aura, they would naturally feel more disturbed and afraid.
Perhaps that’s why he fabricated such a story.
Assuming Yeon-un’s words were entirely truthful.
I nodded and patted his back.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. More importantly, you should go. Don’t you have afternoon matches?”
“Yes! Then I shall see you again later!”
Yeon-un hastily bowed and led Haryeon away.
As I exhaled a sigh while watching his retreating figure disappear, Chaeseoha’s confident voice reached me from beside me.
“See? That person really is strange, isn’t he? Spouting such nonsensical things…”
“Well, we’ll know what doesn’t make sense once we verify it.”
“You still suspect him?”
I simply smiled and walked on in response to her question.
Considering the situation I faced, I had to remain constantly vigilant.
That was the only way to prevent unforeseen calamities from occurring.
-Uwaaaaaa!
At that moment, another thunderous roar erupted.
The closer we drew, the louder the sound swelled, and the instant the martial stage came into view, the brilliant flash of swords assaulted my eyes.
Clang-clang-clang-clang-bang!
Namgung Yeon’s sword gleamed fiercely, while the Dang Family member’s hidden blade wove patterns through the air.
Deflecting the cascade of attacks and pressing forward, I thrust my sword, only to have the hidden blade block it as my opponent’s body moved gracefully away.
The Namgung Family and the Dang Family.
The place once called the pinnacle of the Eight Great Families, and the Dang Family that sought to claim that position as Moyong crumbled.
This alone was enough to captivate the crowd’s interest.
Moreover, for Namgung Yeon, victory was essential to restore his family’s former prestige, while the Dang Family could not afford to lose for their own reasons.
The match had no choice but to be fierce.
Boom-boom-bang!
Roars erupted alongside the deafening clash of weapons.
As if proving the intensity, every exchange was merciless and sharp, as though they faced mortal enemies.
At that moment.
Namgung Yeon took a step, creating distance between them.
Where his sword reached became a sword’s boundary.
Anything that entered would be severed.
The startled Dang Family member attempted to widen the gap with nimble movements, but agility was not the Dang Family’s exclusive trait.
Namgung Yeon’s footwork was equally extraordinary.
Whoosh!
As the distance closed, the swung sword tore through the fabric of his opponent’s robe.
Simultaneously, he changed his blade and twisted his body, narrowing the gap further, and before the opponent’s hidden blades could rain down, Namgung Yeon’s sword pierced forward, stopping just before the throat.
-Waaaaaa!
Deafening cheers erupted throughout the arena.
The incredible exchange the two had displayed, combined with Namgung Yeon’s final brilliant move, seemed to have stirred the crowd’s fighting spirit.
Those shouting loud enough to shake the venue didn’t even seem to notice their voices growing hoarse.
I gazed upon it and smiled.
“He has grown once more.”
“The Namgung brother really is remarkable. It was just recently that he seemed so clumsy.”
I nodded in agreement with Chaeseoha’s words.
The Namgung Yeon I saw yesterday and the woman I saw today are different.
It’s not strange to say she grows with each passing day.
“That is precisely what a genius is.”
“Then does that make you a genius of a different sort—a calamity, Young Master?”
“You mean disaster?”
As I grasped her meaning and furrowed my brow, Chaeseoha met my gaze with an unbothered expression and nodded.
Then she smiled softly.
“The Young Master, who is now called the Sword Emperor without anyone finding it strange, is far more overwhelming than the Namgung sibling receiving cheers down there. Besides… the age difference between the two isn’t that great.”
A hollow laugh escaped me at Chaeseoha’s words.
Anyone who didn’t know better would certainly think the same.
But it’s only possible because I live in the present while carrying memories of the past. Had I not possessed such memories, I too would have been caught among them and defeated by someone.
However, that is not the case now, so to explain this…
I met her bright, intelligent gaze directly.
“Sometimes… there are those born with talents bestowed by the Divine.”
As I smiled faintly, Chaeseoha shook her head, looking at me with an exasperated expression.
* * *
The dark night sky over Jeongdo.
Thick clouds swallowed the moonlight.
That place without a single torch was engulfed in darkness.
“Gasp, gasp, gasp!”
A man was running frantically through such darkness.
His breathing was ragged, his entire body drenched in sweat.
As if being pursued by someone, desperation was written plainly across his face, and his eyes burned with a desperate will to survive.
“Save me! Save me! Save me—!”
He continued screaming toward someone.
Begging for his life, or calling for help from those around him.
But whether he had chosen the wrong direction to flee, or was being driven toward a place devoid of people, none of the countless martial artists gathered in Jeongdo were to be seen anywhere.
Crash—!
“Ugh!”
The man stumbled over a stone and tumbled across the ground.
Blood flowed from his hands and forehead, but as if the pain meant nothing, he scrambled to his feet in panic and limped forward again.
At that moment.
The wind trembled.
Whoosh—!
“Aaaahhh!”
Without even a trace of something flying through the air, his right leg was severed, and the man fell to the ground again, writhing in agony.
“P-please, save me, save me…”
Tears streamed down the face of the man, Na Jukeum.
Unable to still my violently trembling body, I turned my head with great difficulty, and from a distant place, I sensed someone’s presence.
Thud-thud-
What I heard were footsteps.
They echoed like thunder in my ears, reverberating, until finally they stopped before my fallen form.
Two people.
As Na Jukeum lifted his gaze to look at the figure standing before him, the thick clouds parted as if on cue, and moonlight poured down.
The face revealed in that light.
“Y-you… Yeon-un… p-please, spare me…”
“Ah- I hadn’t considered you at all. Haha, when I opened my eyes, I thought you had died… but to think you actually escaped. So that’s why you weren’t there.”
“Ugh!”
Yeon-un held a broad smile at the corners of his mouth, crouched down before the terrified Na Jukeum, and lifted the corners of his lips.
His appearance was like that of a reaper of the dead.
“This too is my oversight. I killed everyone spreading those useless rumors, but I never expected you to remain.”
“I-I don’t know anything… nothing at all. If you just spare me, I’ll keep my mouth shut and live quietly!”
The man facing death desperately begged for his life.
But Yeon-un’s sharp gaze did not change.
Rather, he mocked his opponent—
“Did you not see my face just now?”
Thwack-!
A sword he had drawn pierced through Na Jukeum’s brow.
Unable to even scream, his body trembled, then went limp as his pupils dilated and lost focus.
The moment Yeon-un withdrew the blade he had driven in.
Shhhhhhh-!
Something strange occurred.
Along with a foul stench, his body began to rot rapidly. His flesh decayed, his organs melted away, and even his bones were dissolving.
Yeon-un watched this, then rose from where he stood.
He wiped the blood from the blade, sheathed it, and then handled it with utmost reverence as if tending to his own life, carefully offering it to Haryeon.
“…”
Haryeon’s indifferent eyes gazed at him quietly, but Yeon-un merely smiled, saying nothing.
Soon, a small hand received the sword.
Thud-thud-
Thus Yeon-un walked ahead as if nothing had happened, and Haryeon followed behind.
For a moment, the child’s eyes took in the sight of the decomposing corpse.
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————