The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 43

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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 Nakhyang Jin Family — Chapter 43

Patter, patter!
The rain began to pour.
Whoooosh—
What had started as scattered droplets swiftly intensified, drenching the earth with increasing ferocity. The downpour transformed into a torrential deluge within moments.
The rain fell so heavily that even the mist grew thick and obscured.
The weather was absolutely abysmal—I could barely discern the silhouette of a person standing directly before me.
Thanks to these conditions, Gyeom Sa-chan seemed unable to properly identify me.
Of course, I too stood before him, yet all I could perceive was his hazy shadow figure through the downpour.
Even the keen eyesight of a Powerful Expert becomes meaningless when nothing can be seen at all.
In such circumstances, I heightened my senses and maintained a lock on his presence.
“You’ve had quite the ordeal, haven’t you?”
At that moment, as if my words had irritated him, Gyeom Sa-chan released a heavy voice. Though his face remained invisible, his tone unmistakably betrayed his displeasure.
Ha—
Laughter escaped me unbidden.
“An ordeal indeed. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to retrieve that object from such a situation.”
“…!”
“I knew you were the type to fixate on one thing and see only that one thing, but I never expected you’d actually go through with it.”
Whoooosh—
Through the relentless rain and thick fog, I could see his brow twitch.
Whether he grasped the meaning of my words or remained uncertain of the truth and simply found me irritating, I could not determine.
Gyeom Sa-chan was undoubtedly exceptional.
Yet unlike other squad leaders, his ambitions were excessive—particularly his hunger for power, which surpassed that of anyone else.
In fact, though it wasn’t today, in the past Gyeom Sa-chan had questioned the Jade Orb and even attempted to seize it.
Therefore, I possessed near-absolute certainty that he would orchestrate such a situation.
Even if he didn’t believe the fact that I was Cheonma, he would surely harbor questions about the Jade Orb that the Sect was desperately searching for.
“What are you… doing?”
Splash—
Drenched by the torrential rain, Gyeom Sa-chan raised his iron mace. It was a small movement, yet I felt the murderous intent as if my skull would be split open.
However, the way he refrained from swinging recklessly revealed his wariness toward me.
Indeed, his instincts were quite sharp.
I drew my Sword as I regarded him.
“There’s no point in pretending otherwise. After all, we both desire the same thing.”
“….”
His eyes narrowed as if he grasped the meaning of my words.
The way he gazed at me silently, steadying his breath, was cautious—as if verifying the presence or absence of an object.
Yet through that very action, I instantly discerned where he had hidden the Jade Orb.
It was nothing short of foolish, utterly thoughtless behavior.
However, Gyeom Sa-chan seemed entirely unbothered by such concerns.
Instead, a triumphant smile played across his lips.
“There’s clearly something valuable in this object. So many people searching for it in every direction—that much is obvious.”
“That doesn’t mean a wretch like you deserves to possess it.”
“The more you say such things, the more I desire it.”
In that instant, Gyeom Sa-chan’s momentum turned cold and sharp.
Crack—
I felt the grip tighten around the iron mace in his hand. The moment he stepped forward, a violent whoosh accompanied its swing.
Crash!
“…!?”
Yet something extraordinary occurred.
The swung iron mace shattered something other than me as it descended.
I felt its force diminish considerably as a result.
Clang—!
I let it pass and extended my sword.
Slash!
The blade traced cleanly across his shoulder.
Though the wound was shallow.
Yet it was undoubtedly a move that would unsettle my opponent.
The shallow cut notwithstanding, Gyeom Sa-chan—who had suddenly closed the distance—wore an expression of genuine surprise, as though he hadn’t anticipated such a pathetically easy strike.
“You bastard!”
The iron mace in his grip swung with terrifying force.
It wasn’t merely strength behind it.
It was fast.
The speed was such that it resembled the swing of a sword, and the destructive power exceeded my initial assessment.
But once you know what’s coming, it becomes meaningless. I simply extended my sword and retreated half a step.
Crash!
The swung iron mace struck something else again, its force weakening, and I felt it meet my blade before flowing past as naturally as water.
I didn’t stop there.
I swung my sword.
Clang—! Clang-clang-clang! Slash!
“Ugh!”
My sword pressed forward relentlessly, as though dragging someone deeper and deeper into dark waters.
Gyeom Sa-chan struggled desperately to endure and escape, but the surrounding environment offered him no aid.
The downpour made his footing treacherous, and the cascade of blade strikes left him disoriented—soon he could no longer distinguish any direction.
Thud—
He stumbled backward until something touched his back.
A tree.
Gyeom Sa-chan gasped in alarm and hastily ducked his head.
Simultaneously, my sword aimed for his throat as it descended.
Crack!
Fortunately, I protected my neck as the bamboo stalk was severed cleanly.
But Gyeom Sa-chan had no time to catch his breath. I extended my knee directly, driving it into his face.
Thud!
“Ugh!?”
His head snapped back violently, colliding with the bamboo as his body toppled sideways. A small groan escaped Gyeom Sa-chan’s lips, yet I paid it no mind and extended my foot again, sweeping across his face.
Crack!
“Argh!”
“And here I thought you held some position of leadership. Your stupidity knows no bounds. Is the fog obscuring your vision, or do you simply lack the capacity to observe your surroundings?”
“Ugh….”
Swallowing his groans, Gyeom Sa-chan forced his eyes open with great effort. Then, slowly turning his head, he finally began to survey his surroundings.
Whoosh—
The revealed landscape left him unable to close his mouth for some time.
A bamboo forest.
Thick, densely packed bamboo stalks filled his field of vision on all sides.
Whoosh—
It did not take long to realize that the sound masked by the rain until now was the rustling of bamboo leaves.
Wielding a sword here was considerably difficult, but for one carrying a weapon as cumbersome as a mace, this was the worst possible terrain.
Only then did Gyeom Sa-chan, recognizing the situation, scramble to his feet. He then gripped his mace more tightly, shortening his stance, and glared at me with fierce intensity.
“Cowardly bastard…!”
“Ha, what was that?”
Wiping the blood from his lips, Gyeom Sa-chan sent me a gaze burning with fury, grinding his teeth.
His expression seemed to demand fair combat, and despite myself, a hollow laugh escaped me.
“Well, well. You’re quite the amusing one.”
I took a quick step forward, closing the distance.
I extended my sword, targeting his shoulder.
Gyeom Sa-chan attempted to evade and swing his mace, but just as before, the dense bamboo caught his weapon, delaying his movement.
Thrust!
“Argh!?”
“You dare speak such words from the mouth of one who slaughtered his own subordinates and fled?”
With his shoulder pierced through, Gyeom Sa-chan stumbled backward and let out a scream. I pressed forward relentlessly, extending my foot to sweep his shin.
With a heavy thud, the moment he fell forward, I kicked his abdomen as if I had been waiting for it.
“Ugh!?”
As he clutched his abdomen, bent like a shrimp, I kicked his face once more, and with several teeth, Gyeom Sa-chan’s body sprawled across the ground.
At the pitiful sight, I drew my sword, and sensing the killing intent, he rolled across the earth and sprang to his feet.
He then wiped the blood from his lips with a swift motion.
Despite the impact severe enough to knock out teeth, he seemed to be enduring the considerable pain through sheer will.
Soon after, he retrieved his mace from the ground.
But the body does not lie.
Gasp— Huff—
My breathing was ragged and uneven, my eyes bloodshot from exertion.
An indomitable will to survive radiated from every fiber of my being.
After a moment, I turned my gaze toward my opponent, and as if seeking a moment to catch my breath, I opened my mouth.
“…You’re no ordinary fighter.”
As I spoke, I steadied my breathing and surveyed my surroundings, searching for any means to escape this dire predicament.
Yet recognizing how difficult it would be to flee this disadvantageous location, I soon fixed my gaze upon my opponent and began scheming.
The moment I raised my sword, an urgent voice cut through the air.
“Wait—hold on. I don’t know who you are, but you’re clearly skilled. What do you say? Instead of crossing blades, why don’t we settle this peacefully?”
“Peacefully?”
“The Jade Orb is what we both seek, is it not? But there’s a secret hidden here—one that won’t be easy to uncover. Join forces with me. Together we can unlock this mystery and divide the spoils. What say you?”
“Ha.”
Faced with death itself, was this truly the best solution he could conjure? It was precisely the sort of desperate gambit one might expect from him, yet he still failed to grasp the gravity of his situation.
I smiled and swung my blade.
“Gah?!”
Gyeom Sa-chan rolled desperately across the ground, narrowly evading the strike.
In the same motion, he thrust the iron mace he clutched toward me.
If one cannot swing, then one must thrust.
A simple principle.
Yet even so, a mace loses its true power when thrust rather than swung—the force behind it diminishes inevitably.
I sidestepped with ease and swung my blade once more.
Shing—!
The bamboo, densely packed, fell before the sword’s edge, its sharpness undiminished.
Slash!
“Aaaahhhhh—!”
With a scream, an arm flew through the air.
Blood poured from the severed limb, swept away by the torrential rain in a crimson stream.
I watched this unfold as I fixed my gaze upon Gyeom Sa-chan.
“You are dead. Even if you were to wake, you would never uncover this secret.”
“…!?”
My cryptic words hung in the air as Gyeom Sa-chan, still screaming in agony, stared at me with vacant eyes.
Those trembling eyes posed a silent question.
Did I know this secret?
I met that gaze and smiled, answering without words.
Yes, I knew.
Trembling—!
Gyeom Sa-chan’s body shook as he raised his remaining hand.
His eyes and expression pleaded—teach me, grant me this power.
But I had no intention of indulging his desperate hopes. I simply wished to escape this rain and find shelter.
I gripped my sword.
And swung.
A sickening crunch.
Gyeom Sa-chan’s head soared high into the air.
The headless body gushed blood, drenching the surroundings, but the torrential downpour swept it away, carrying it toward the nearby stream.
Without the corpse, no one would ever suspect that a person had died here.
I watched it all unfold, then moved slowly forward.
I approached the fallen body and searched through its garments.
From the right chest where Gyeom Sa-chan had kept it, the object I sought emerged.
A blue Gok Ok.
The moment I grasped it in my hand, it shone with even greater brilliance.
It felt as though I had found lost parents—a joy beyond measure.
Without thinking, I gazed at it with half-lidded eyes.
I had found Gok Ok before in the past, but it had never glowed in such a manner.
Seized by bewilderment, I was about to tuck it into my garments when—
Thump!
Something was amiss.
My heart beat loudly.
It felt as though someone was calling out to me.
Simultaneously, a sharp crack!
The Gok Ok fractured.
“…!”
This object possessed a hardness that would not easily shatter even if bitten by teeth. Yet witnessing it suddenly crack before my eyes left me momentarily paralyzed with indecision.
Thump!
But the situation was unmistakable.
With another heartbeat, the Gok Ok fractured again. The small cracks spread gradually, then expanded across its entirety.
A sharp shattering sound.
In a brief moment, the Gok Ok—which had maintained its form despite the cracks—began to lose its shape in rhythm with each heartbeat, until it crumbled into powder, leaving only its outline in my palm.
“What in the world?!”
But something far more astonishing was occurring.
The powder of the Gok Ok, which had remained in my hand, began to fade away. Or more precisely, it was being absorbed into my body.
As though something within me was devouring it.
When not a single grain of powder remained, I found myself staring at my empty palm, unable to comprehend what had transpired.

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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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