The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 377

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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 377

Despite the magnitude of what had transpired, Sichuan’s capital maintained its ordinary atmosphere as if nothing had occurred.
The people continued their usual clamor without a care in the world, creating a scene that could only be described as peaceful.
Yet Dang, Cheongseong, and Ami were different.
An inexplicable unease permeated their presence.
Some had departed for the Black Plum Forest with representatives from the Martial Arts Alliance branch, while others remained, huddled together in endless discussions that yielded no conclusions.
The actions of the Demon Sect disciples were nothing short of shocking, and everything witnessed and experienced in the Black Plum Forest transcended imagination—a horrifying ordeal.
Though they were managing the situation with minimal exposure, there was no way to predict how long the matter could remain concealed.
“This will certainly cause an uproar for some time.”
“Forget about such worries. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about the Young Master’s condition?”
Tighten—!
At that moment, Chaeseoha, seated beside the bed and fastening the bandages tightly, cast a displeased gaze.
As if to say this was no time for other concerns.
“Is it serious?”
“How can an injured person not know? Didn’t it hurt?”
“If it hurt, I must have lost consciousness.”
“Honestly, really—I…”
She shook her head with an exasperated expression, letting out a hollow laugh. It was likely due to his nonchalant demeanor despite sustaining wounds that had nearly cost him his life.
I chuckled softly.
“I truly came close to death this time.”
“Just looking at the wounds, I can tell. And… this situation is quite serious.”
“Serious, you say?”
Chaeseoha nodded at my question.
Her expression hardened as she recalled the wound with a sigh.
“Malevolent energy has seeped into the laceration. Like a lingering resentment.”
“What nonsense is this?”
“I’m serious. If it were poison, I could manage something, but this… it appears to be the sword’s master’s unique aura. The wound simply refuses to heal.”
I examined the wound that still lacked bandaging.
Indeed, as she said, a peculiar energy emanated from the blade wound. It spread gradually but steadily, gnawing away at my entire body.
Just from the reddish inflammation, I could sense it.
This was the demonic energy harbored by the Great Demon King.
“So that’s why I’ve been feeling so uneasy.”
“It spread so slowly that I didn’t notice either. Who exactly did you fight?”
“The Great Demon King.”
“What?”
Chaeseoha blinked rapidly, staring at me.
As a physician, she could not possibly be unfamiliar with that name. Her clear eyes, which had been fixed upon me for some time, soon blinked again before her expression twisted into suspicion.
“Are you joking?”
“Think about it yourself then. But there’s no other way?”
“We can try suppressing it with acupuncture first. If that doesn’t work….”
“If it doesn’t work?”
“Then we’ll have to leave it to fate.”
She offered a gentle smile.
It was such a perfect smile that laughter naturally spilled forth.
“You’re searching for a method, aren’t you?”
“Yes, diligently. But I don’t think it will be easy… so you’ll need to take good care of yourself in the meantime.”
Faced with her worried words, I could only nod in agreement.
Then Chaeseoha, satisfied with my response, moved her hands once more, applying medicinal salve to the remaining wounds and wrapping them with bandages.
I stopped her as she tried to rise from her seat.
“By the way, are the others alright?”
“Ah— you mean Young Master Yeon-un? Yes, of course. He’s fine, no different from usual. But….”
“There’s something.”
“Haryeon seems to have been quite shaken. Her face is in a terrible state.”
A child barely ten years old.
What happened inside the Black Hawk Forest would inevitably weigh heavily on a child whose mind had not yet matured.
The fact that Chaeseoha spoke of it that way meant the situation was quite serious.
“I see. But she’ll be fine soon. Yeon-un is with her, after all.”
“Yes, I believe so. The bond between those two is stronger than family itself.”
I nodded in understanding.
Just watching how both of them depended so strongly on each other made it clear they shared a connection beyond family.
For a moment, I was lost in that thought before my attention shifted.
A presence had suddenly been felt beyond the door.
“Young Master, it’s Namgung Yeon.”
“What is it?”
“Someone from the Martial Arts Alliance has come, wishing to meet you.”
And so it finally arrived.
Considering the distance, it was unlikely to be a high-ranking official from Jungzhou, but there was a high probability that the highest authority from a nearby branch—a branch director—had come.
They likely came to verify the unbelievable story that the Sichuan martial artists had reported.
“Tell them to leave.”
“Pardon?”
“I will return to Luoyang and report directly to the Alliance Leader myself. Tell them I have no wish to hear it now, and they’ll understand.”
Namgung Yeon offered a bitter smile and nodded.
I watched her turn and leave hurriedly, then let out a small sigh.
“Still, shouldn’t you at least meet them since they’ve come?”
“I’ll say the same thing regardless. If that’s the case, there’s no need to repeat myself twice.”
Once I return to Luoyang, Hye-myeong and Mu-jin will certainly come to find me.
Since I’ll have to explain everything about this incident in detail at that time anyway, I had no desire to waste energy now.
What was urgent right now was something else entirely.
“Let’s prepare to depart.”
“Already? You need to rest for a while longer.”
“I can rest in the carriage. If we stay here much longer, trouble will come knocking.”
For now, it would be the people from the Martial Arts Alliance branch, but once word spreads, many will flock here seeking to verify the truth.
Because it involves the Dark Sect.
Righteous wanderers seeking to earn merit by subjugating those demons would gather information, and others with different motives would also come to see him.
There is nothing harder to silence than the mouths of people.
We leave Sichuan before that happens.
I slowly rose from my seat.
Muscles and bones throughout my body cried out in protest.
“It hurts.”
“I told you it won’t heal that quickly….”
As I winced at the pain, Chaeseoha sighed with an exasperated expression.
I paused for a moment, watching her, then urged her on.
“Prepare yourself. We’ll be leaving soon.”
“Understood. You certainly are impatient.”
In the meantime, I began preparing as well.
I simply gathered the necessary items into my travel bundle.
Despite not having much, it took longer than expected, each movement causing my body to throb with pain.
Just as I sighed and settled back onto the bed with a frown.
Creak—!
Chaeseoha, who had left to gather her belongings, returned once more.
Her expression bore an unmistakable urgency.
“They’re gone!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Yeon-un and Haryeon have disappeared!”
At her sudden words, I rose from my seat.
I left the room, opened the door to where Yeon-un had been staying, and stepped inside, finding traces of their presence but no sign of those who should have been there.
Their travel bundles were nowhere to be seen, and even Haryeon’s toys, which should have been scattered about, were absent.
They had vanished in an instant.
I glanced around the room for a moment before discovering a letter placed upon the bed.

-I’m going to show Haryeon around Sichuan and will return! Please take care of yourself, Young Master!

I gazed quietly at the letter.
It wasn’t written in haste, nor did it bear the marks of someone being manipulated into writing it.
Simply ordinary.
True to his philosophy of drifting through the Central Plains like the wind itself.
Regardless of what our journey together had been, regardless of the affection that had grown during our time together, he had departed suddenly, as if possessed only by his own emotions and personal thoughts.
Just as on the day we first met.
And I was certain we would meet again.
“What should we do? Shouldn’t we go search for him?”
“No need. Instead, we must prepare to depart.”
“Are you really just going to abandon him?”
“I’m not idle enough to deliberately search for someone who isn’t even a member of the Jin Family. Besides, he possesses the ability to protect himself.”
Unlike the worried expression on Chaeseoha’s face, I spoke casually and smiled.
Yes, he would manage just fine on his own.
And I had a faint inkling of why he had disappeared.
Without doubt, he would be there.
I turned away, holding a deep smile.
Whoosh—!
Flames burst from my fingertips in an instant, and the letter vanished, leaving only a handful of fine ash.

* * *

The Black Plum Forest.
The landscape of this place, whose time of blooming and origin remained unknown, appeared vastly different from what many had known.
The black plum blossoms that had bloomed year-round were nowhere to be seen, and the black plum trees that had filled the view were all withered and dead, snapping at the slightest breeze.
Only the skeletal frames of the trees filled the sight, and where once the thick fragrance of plums had assailed the nose, now only the desolate chill of winter remained.
“I truly cannot believe it has come to this.”
“Indeed. When I heard the Family Head’s account, I thought it was merely a delusion.”
The members of the Martial Arts Alliance’s Sichuan branch who set foot in such a place could not hide their astonishment as they took in the desolate landscape.
It was not only the Black Plum Forest that had become this way.
The Guihua Valley, called the entrance to this place, had also lost the ominous aura once felt there, and the mournful sound created by the fierce wind was no longer heard.
Everything seemed to have been overturned in a single night.
Those who swallowed their dry saliva cautiously stepped inside.
It mattered not if the black plum trees blocked their path. There was no need to draw swords and swing them; the slightest exertion of strength with their hands caused them to snap.
As if they were never meant to exist.
After advancing for some time, they suddenly came to a halt.
In the distance, a massive cliff face became visible.
Upon it appeared an impossibly enormous “gate.”
The astonished group exchanged glances with widened eyes, then hastily deployed their lightness technique and rushed forward.
The way they all increased their speed seemed as though they harbored some hope of encountering an opportunity within.
The moment they passed through that enormous gate and stepped inside.
“This… what on earth is this…?”
“Did… did some kind of catastrophe occur?”
As the interior came into view, everyone gasped in shock.
The walls and floors, constructed from black steel harder than iron itself, lay completely shattered, and every corner bore the scars of hundreds of cannon strikes.
The ceiling had collapsed entirely, leaving no trace of its former state.
All that remained visible was…
“People?”
Yes, people.
Two figures stood motionless in one spot.
They gazed intently at a massive stone coffin, then moved slowly before examining some debris and breaking into a smile.
The man stared silently at the wreckage, his eyes gleaming with fascination.
Like a child absorbing the sights of this place, his curiosity fully engaged.
“Who are you!”
Finally, someone overcome by questions cried out.
All eyes narrowed with caution.
They remained tense, ready to draw their swords at any moment.
Since Demon Sect disciples had found this place, the man before them could hardly be anything other than one of their kind.
In that instant, the man’s gaze turned toward us.
The curious gleam in his eyes vanished, replaced by a frown as if annoyed at the interruption. He extended both hands respectfully toward the child beside him.
The child handed him a sword.
The man grasped it and slowly drew the blade.
“They are enemies!”
That action alone made it clear.
They were enemies.
Clang, clang, clang—!
Swords were drawn from all directions, their auras unleashed.
Though they knew not who their opponent was, the branch’s martial artists, confident they could not lose, charged forward without hesitation, swinging their blades.
But then.
Flash—!
A brilliant sword light blazed before their eyes.
Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
The man standing before them vanished the instant the light flashed.
And then—
Thud!
Over a dozen martial artists collapsed, spraying crimson blood.
Not a single one of the fallen stirred.
Their brows and hearts had been pierced in one stroke, death claiming them instantly.
Yeon-un wiped the blood from his blade and retrieved it.
Once more, he grasped the sword with reverence as if treasuring his own life, and handed it respectfully to Haryeon.
His gaze then turned toward the other floor.
Fragments scattered and dispersed across the ground.
I ran my fingers over what had once been—whether person or something else entirely, it was now so utterly destroyed that its original form was beyond recognition—and let out a long sigh.
“I went through all the trouble of keeping him alive, only to reduce him to powder. Ha…”
Yeon-un shook his head as if bewildered.
But his attention was not on the Great Demon King reduced to dust.
A faint presence lingering in the space where he had stood.
As if grasping at it, I pressed my finger into the empty air once, and a subtle sensation bloomed within me—drawing forth a smile.

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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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