The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 375

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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 375

I ran.
Gathering every ounce of strength, I tore myself away from that place.
The blood loss had drained me, and I could feel my strength ebbing away. Even maintaining balance proved difficult as my body swayed with each step.
Yet I did not stop, did not look back, and pressed forward with all I had.
“Haa, haa. Young Master! I think we’ve gotten far enough now…”
Yeon-un, carrying Haryeon in his arms as he ran, spoke in an exhausted voice.
He had poured everything into his full-power lightness technique in such a short span of time—exhaustion was inevitable.
Only then did I slow my pace and turn my gaze backward.
The Great Demon King’s location was no longer visible.
What filled my vision was only the black plum blossoms.
It appeared we had escaped the hidden realm and returned to the original Black Plum Forest.
Yet strangely, I felt no relief. My body and mind remained taut with tension, my senses heightened to their utmost.
That was how threatening the Great Demon King had been.
“Young Master?”
“Haa—”
My mind had grown so depleted that even Yeon-un’s questioning voice barely registered.
The image of the Great Demon King I had witnessed before my eyes.
It felt as though his aura still clung to my lungs.
Each breath felt like bones scraping against bone, and though my blood had cooled, my heart continued to race as if something still pressed down upon it.
As if that colossal presence still walked toward me from behind—
It was not mere fear, but the primal terror a beast feels upon first recognizing its predator.
No technique I employed had proven effective, and that overwhelming power was truly something that made the word “awe” spring naturally to mind.
If he stood before me once more?
I did not wish to contemplate it just now.
“Damn it…”
Without thinking, I clenched my fists and furrowed my brow.
I had believed myself stronger, had displayed confidence in all things.
Yet, as always, I was thoroughly reminded that there exists a sky above the sky.
In the moment I clenched my fists, seized by inexplicable anger and shame, I suddenly felt small hands tugging insistently at my collar.
Looking down, I saw Haryeon’s weary expression.
Those small hands gripped my collar.
Though covered in dust and blood, there was something strangely warm about that touch.
As if something had gently smothered my burning rage and despair, something within my chest seemed to settle with a soft ‘thud’ in that moment.
Eyes as clear as moonlight.
Gazing into them, my anger inexplicably subsided and my fury began to fade.
Without thinking, I let out a sigh and gently stroked the child’s head.
“I am fine. More importantly, how is Young Master Yeon?”
“I-I’m fine, thanks to your help, Young Master.”
Yeon-un laughed as best he could, despite his haggard appearance.
As if he didn’t want to reveal the anxiety and fear he felt, or as if he didn’t want to recall that moment again.
As though he’d decided it was better to erase it from memory.
Watching him, I offered a bitter smile.
“But… will that person be alright? Looking at him… it seems like he’ll die… I’m wondering if we made the right choice leaving him behind.”
At that moment, Yeon-un recalled the masked existence.
Heo Baek.
It wasn’t simply the Great Demon King that was the problem.
Beside us were Gang Cheonho and Mo Ryeong-san.
And even Chen Linghua, who hadn’t been present but had vanished and not shown herself.
Since we couldn’t escape even if we wanted to, it seemed to weigh on him that we’d left Heo Baek, who had fought alongside us.
I let out a quiet laugh without thinking.
“He’ll be fine.”
I spoke calmly.
But beneath my words lay a bitterness no one could perceive.
This contradictory thought—that I’d used him in the fight, abandoned him for our escape, yet still believed he’d survive.
It wasn’t because Heo Baek was strong.
It was because there was a ‘monster’ to take him away.
“Is that… fear?”
“More than that, let’s hurry. My condition right now… isn’t very good.”
“Ah, understood!”
Yeon-un nodded and moved again, carrying Haryeon.
I confirmed it from a short distance behind and unfolded my lightness technique to follow.
At that moment.
Kwaaaang—!
A tremendous sound that shook the very earth.
Simultaneously, the ground trembled and a fierce wind swept through.
I felt a desolate energy emanating from somewhere, spreading to engulf the entire Black Hawk Forest.
“It’s begun.”
The crude, savage aura of a beast.
A wind that swept like a tempest.
And layered upon it, the deathly energy tinged with gloom.
What this meant was singular.
Gang Cheonho, Mo Ryeong-san, and Chen Linghua had moved to obtain Gok Ok.
Which meant Heo Baek had been crushed by the Great Demon King.
I let out a hollow laugh and shook my head.
“There! Isn’t that Jin Gongja!”
“Young Master!?”
At that moment, someone from far away recognized me and shouted.
The moment those who were shocked by the sight of blood were about to voice their questions.
Boom—!
Another surge of power swept across the entire Black Plum Forest.
A fierce gale whipped through the surroundings, sending the petals of the black plum blossoms scattering in all directions.
Every visible surface was covered with petals.
The moment I stopped to take in the sight, my body lost all strength and I staggered.
It was Chaeseoha who quickly caught me.
“Are you alright!? What on earth is….”
“It’s… merely an ordinary occurrence. More importantly… I must ask something of you.”
“…!”
The moment I heard Chaeseoha’s voice.
As if I had finally found the safest place, a wave of relief washed over me, and my consciousness grew hazy as all strength drained from my body.
“Young Master!?”
Her alarmed voice was the last thing my ears registered.

* * *

Whoooosh—!
“Ugh…!?”
Namgung Yeon stifled a groan as he felt the relentless wind bearing down upon him.
Like a massive typhoon drawing ever closer, the wind grew fiercer with each passing moment, and the trembling of the earth became increasingly violent.
Moreover, there was something that cast an ominous pall over this place.
The moon, burning a crimson red.
With its appearance seeming to hold the color of blood, everyone gathered there tensed without exception, unable to even speak.
“Shouldn’t we leave at once?”
It was Dangcheon’s voice, approaching Namgung Yeon with a hardened expression. Revealing the urgency of the situation, Namgung Yeon turned his head with a bitter smile at the anxiety written across his face.
“Physician….”
“Silence!”
Chaeseoha was tending to Jin Cheon-u, who lay unconscious.
Her expression was anxious in a different way than Dangcheon’s—far more grave than any she had shown before—and her touch was extraordinarily careful.
What this signified was singular.
Jin Cheon-u’s condition was critical.
Judging by how Dang Cheon-ro, along with Myeong Jeong and Cheong Do-sang, remained motionless and merely watched, Jin Cheon-u’s state seemed grave enough that his life hung in the balance.
Finally, Namgung Yeon steadied his breathing and looked at the three of them.
“We shall remain at the Young Master’s side, so you may depart. Don’t you have urgent matters to attend to?”
At those words, they all furrowed their brows.
They needed to inform the Martial Arts Alliance that Demon Sect Disciples had been operating in Sichuan. Not merely gathering information—they had revealed hostility and attacked despite knowing their identities.
This fact needed to reach the Alliance as quickly as possible so that proper countermeasures could be taken.
Yet Dang Cheon-ro shook his head.
“Do not worry. We shall not move from this place until the matter is resolved. Should enemies arrive, we will do our utmost to hold them back.”
“Amitabha Buddha—Ami shares the same sentiment.”
“Cheongseong feels likewise.”
At their words, Namgung Yeon smiled.
Even if they departed, she would harbor no resentment, and should enemies swarm in such circumstances, she would stake her life and exhaust every ounce of strength to protect Jin Cheon-u.
Yet hearing them pledge to remain steadfast by her side stirred something within her heart.
After settling her emotions with a brief sigh, she approached Yeon-un, who watched with anxious eyes.
“What exactly has transpired?”
“Well, that is….”
Yeon-un’s eyes darted about the surroundings.
Realizing that everyone’s gaze had fixed upon him to hear the account, he hesitated and fumbled for words.
But soon, with a sigh, he gathered his thoughts and began recounting what had occurred within, piece by piece.
With each word that spilled from his lips, the gathered people could not suppress their shock.
Three other existences with whom Jin Cheon-u, skilled enough to fell Mo Yong-cheon, could not decide the outcome.
And beyond that….
“A, a corpse, you say?”
“It undoubtedly burst forth from the coffin and moved. As if it were a living person.”
“Ha—what, is what I’m hearing truly reality?”
“Amitabha Buddha.”
At the sighs heard from every corner, Yeon-un scratched his head.
He knew that anyone hearing this would find it unbelievable.
Yet not a single word was false—it had vividly occurred in reality.
What was even more shocking was.
“The, the Great Demon King….”
“What, what did you say? What did you just say?”
“The Great Demon King?”
The moment Yeon-un spoke that name, those who had been laughing nervously and denying reality froze in their movements.
Once again, all eyes turned toward Yeon-un.
Though he felt the weight of their piercing gazes, Yeon-un nodded as if answering their unspoken question.
“The Young Master spoke thus.”
“…!”
“What, what…!”
“Amitabha Buddha—Amitabha Buddha!”
Was there anyone here unfamiliar with the name of the Great Demon King?
A thousand years past, that wondrous being who established the framework of demonic cultivation and founded the Heavenly Mountain Dark Sect.
In the righteous path, he stood shoulder to shoulder with legends such as Darma and Sambong, yet even they never ascended to the realm of the Cheonma—the supreme figure of all ages past and present.
Such a being had been resurrected?
If this were not a dream but reality—
Kwaaaang!
Calamity.
The earth trembled once more with a violent explosion.
Despite bracing my legs against the fierce wind, my body swayed with such violence that I could only wonder—was this not a natural calamity of heaven and earth?
“Then who exactly… are those confronting the Great Demon King?”
Everyone except Jin Cheon-u.
Those who faced a legend from a thousand years past, those who had orchestrated this very situation.
The moment I recalled those nameless beings, everyone in the hall began trembling as if seized by absolute terror.
Boom—!
Another tremendous resonance followed.
Simultaneously, the wind intensified its violent thrashing, and then—
“It… stopped?”
The trembling earth stilled, and the wind subsided.
The ominous aura dispersed as though sucked away into nothingness, leaving behind a silence so complete it seemed death itself had descended upon the hall.
As if everything had simply ceased to exist.
“Haah—.”
All that could be heard was Chaeseoha’s shallow breathing, a quiet exhalation.
Then, in that moment.
Zzzt—zzzt—!
“…!?”
“Gack!”
“Ugh!”
“Ahhhhh!”
What I felt was an entirely different force than before.
As though ten thousand needles were piercing through my entire body.
The air I drew in seemed to shred my lungs, the sound crushed my eardrums, and the very sight before me felt as though it were squeezing my eyes from their sockets.
Faced with this incomprehensible phenomenon, everyone in the hall collapsed, crying out in agony.
Not a single person could remain standing.
They collapsed, writhed, and thrashed in torment.
Those unable to endure the pain rolled their eyes back and foamed at the mouth, while others shrieked and repeatedly struck their heads against the ground.
Yet the most remarkable thing in all of this was.
“….”
Chaeseoha.
Her hands trembled.
Blood streamed from her mouth, nose, and ears, yet not a single one of those delicate fingers ceased their work.
As though stitching together a broken breath, with eyes burst from their vessels, she gazed upon Jin Cheon-u and fought with a desperation unmatched by any—to complete just one more knot, just one final suture.
The moment she tightened the final bandage with the last treatment complete, Chaeseoha collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
It was then.
Something extraordinary began to unfold.
The black plum tree was dying.
The sound of petals falling could be heard.
Though the wind had long since ceased and nothing stirred it, the black plum tree shed its petals of its own accord.
Like an ancient tree exhaling its final breath at the end of its life.
No—it was as though an invisible force was forcibly draining the very life essence from my body.
“Ugh….”
In that moment, Namgung Yeon, barely regaining consciousness, struggled to push himself upright.
His first instinct was to check on Jin Cheon-u and Chaeseoha—and even through his blurred vision, he forced his body up and turned his gaze in that direction.
Beneath the crimson-stained moonlight, someone stood waiting.
As though he had been standing there since time immemorial.
The wind itself seemed to freeze before him, as did all sound—even the groans of the fallen.
And—
Slowly, very quietly.
A smile, thin as a black thread, traced across his lips.

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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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