The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 48

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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 48

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“…What did you just say?”
“Are you serious right now?”
On the path toward the annex within the Unryong Inn.
Moyong Hyeok, along with Paeng Dohan and Eon Garyeo, furrowed their brows in disbelief as they gazed upon the sturdy soldiers blocking their way.
“Are you saying the Young Master refused our request for an audience?”
“Yes. The Young Master is fatigued from his travels and wishes to see no one at this time.”
At the soldier’s reiteration, Paeng Dohan and Eon Garyeo fell silent, their expressions betraying their exasperation.
But the one most taken aback was none other than Moyong Hyeok himself.
The others could be dismissed easily enough.
But he was different.
The Young Master of the greatest martial family under heaven.
As a fellow Young Master, he had naturally assumed an audience would be granted without question, yet to be refused outright left him utterly speechless.
His pride had been wounded.
Moreover, look around.
The inn was filled with countless patrons, and they had all witnessed this exchange.
The news would spread like wildfire.
That Moyong Hyeok, the leader of Changryongdan, had been refused an audience by the Young Master of the Nakhyang Jin Family.
Could there be any greater humiliation?
My clenched fists trembled slightly.
Yet I forced myself to show no outward sign of distress, painting a gentle smile across my face as I addressed the soldier blocking our path.
“Please convey my request once more. Moyong Hyeok, leader of Changryongdan, wishes to pay his respects to the Young Master.”
“I have already relayed such a message, but given the distance traveled, the Young Master is exhausted and has repeatedly stated he will see no one.”
“…”
“He says he will meet with you when you join the suppression squad, should there be no urgent matter.”
At those words, Moyong Hyeok’s expression grew increasingly contorted.
I had never intended to include Jin Cheon-u in this suppression campaign in the first place. My plan was to extract all necessary information from today’s meeting, then ultimately have him disqualified and sent back home.
If the Young Master of the Nakhyang Jin Family were to participate, the attention naturally directed toward me would inevitably be divided—that much was obvious.
But things had taken an unexpected turn.
For reasons unknown, Jin Cheon-u had refused the meeting, and as a result, I had suffered a considerable loss of face in front of all these witnesses.
Casting a glance around, I could see the gathered onlookers whispering amongst themselves.
In situations like this, one must depart with utmost composure.
“Haha, I understand. Then please convey my wishes for his swift recovery, and tell him I shall visit again in due time.”
“Very well.”
The soldier guarding the annex responded calmly and bowed his head.
I regarded him briefly before turning to leave, and as I did, I could not help but smile at the absurdity of it all.
They had come seeking me out, and when they couldn’t meet me, Moryeong Hyeok—who prided himself as the Young Master of the Greatest Martial Family Under Heaven—had the audacity to demand that I come find them instead.
Moryeong Hyeok barely managed to suppress the reddening of his face as he hastily departed from the inn.

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Places bearing the name Wulong could be found in any major city—inns, trading posts, escort services, and more.
There were quite a few others besides.
This made visiting such large cities remarkably convenient. In any major metropolis, one need only seek out Wulong to find the most comfortable and luxurious accommodations available.
The Annex of the Unryong Inn.
A place where one paid over ten silver taels merely to sleep for a single night, and renting the entire annex would require a fortune in gold.
The meticulous maintenance was evident in the beautiful courtyard landscape.
The cuisine itself utilized only the finest ingredients, making even simple noodles worthy of being called a delicacy.
As I ate in such a place, I frowned at the persistent gaze and looked toward Chu Hyeongi.
“What is it?”
“Pardon?”
“Why do you keep staring at me?”
“Well, it’s just… a guest has arrived outside, and you’re truly going to turn them away just like that?”
Chu Hyeongi asked with a somewhat bewildered expression.
A short while ago, the soldier guarding the inn had informed us that a guest had arrived. Without needing to think deeply about it, they would certainly be key members of the Changryongdan.
I recalled several individuals.
The two who were always at Moryeong Hyeok’s side.
Paeng Dohan and Eon Garyeo.
Their reason for coming was obvious.
They sought to build connections with me, the Young Master of the Nakhyang Jin Family, and Moryeong Hyeok likely wanted to ascertain my true intentions regarding participation in the suppression and gather information about the Nakhyang Jin Family.
But I would not meet them.
The reason was simple.
Moryeong Hyeok, who loved standing out, would certainly not welcome my participation in the suppression squad.
After all, people’s attention would be divided.
Since he wouldn’t want the spotlight he alone should receive to be scattered, he would have chosen to gather information directly and then eliminate me from the roster to send me away.
His character was predictable enough for that.
That’s why I didn’t meet him.
Since he would want information about the Nakhyang Jin Family, the situation had now become one where I had no choice but to allow him to participate in the suppression.
And it was certain as fire that rumors would soon spread throughout Jeongju that the youngest son of the Nakhyang Jin Family had rejected a meeting request from members of the Eight Great Families.
The thought of tarnishing Moryeong Hyeok’s always-smug face brought me satisfaction.
By now, he was likely returning with a magnanimous smile, but inside, a thousand fires burned and he was surely seething with rage.
“There’s no need to meet them. We’ll naturally see each other once we participate in the suppression anyway.”
“Still, they’re young masters of the Eight Great Families… and if it’s Moyong, isn’t that the Greatest Martial Family Under Heaven?”
“True. And I am the Greatest Wealthy Family Under Heaven.”
“If we clash, I fear we’ll lose.”
“If they dare challenge me, I’m confident enough to hire demons themselves with money. Never underestimate wealth.”
I spoke with a faint smile, and Chu Hyeongi looked at me with an expression of exasperation. It seemed he hadn’t expected me to make such an extreme choice.
But it was entirely within the realm of possibility.
After all, the Nakhyang Jin Family was a merchant clan that stood apart from the Three Hegemonies.
Whoever we allied with was our own decision.
“Our Young Master certainly has backbone.”
“Besides, you’re not aligned with either faction of the Three Hegemonies either.”
“No, I… I genuinely love the Righteous Faction down to my bones. Most protagonists in heroic tales belong to the Righteous Faction, after all.”
“You, the direct disciple of the Demon King? Shouldn’t you be called an Outer Realm?”
“Ah, how cowardly of you to drag reality into this…”
Chu Hyeongi grumbled about something that displeased him, then roughly wielded his chopsticks to shovel food into his mouth. Perhaps because most protagonists in heroic tales belonged to the Righteous Faction, he felt he wasn’t a protagonist himself.
I smiled and gazed out the window.
At last, having given up, I could see the three travelers departing from the inn. As they passed by, I noticed several people in the street whispering among themselves.
Moryeong Hyeok, as the leader of the Changryongdan, was spreading his name far and wide, becoming an idol.
Yet if such a person had been humiliated by merely a merchant’s son—not even a renowned martial artist—then the idol of Moryeong Hyeok, which had been embedded in people’s hearts like a diamond, would inevitably begin to crack.
I observed this and looked at Chu Hyeongi.
“You’re of the same late-stage realm as him. What do you think? Do you believe you could win?”
“Well, I’ve only just begun learning martial arts…”
“Then set your immediate goal as defeating Paeng Dohan over there. He’s among the top three martial artists within the Changryongdan.”
“Understood.”
Chu Hyeongi nodded half-heartedly while continuing to wield his chopsticks. Since Moryeong Hyeok had already vanished from sight and he seemed to think there would be little entanglement with the martial world, he didn’t appear to care much.
I smiled bitterly and gazed out the window once more.
As Moryeong Hyeok disappeared, I noticed several men who had been standing casually around the inn watching also began to fade away.
Confirming this, I rose from my seat.
“Where are you going?”
“You don’t need to follow. I’ll just take a walk around and be back soon.”
“Is that alright?”
“Yes. I’ll be back within half an hour, so don’t worry.”
Chu Hyeongi, showing no sign of stopping his chopsticks, nodded. After confirming he had returned his focus to his meal, I left my seat and headed outside.
As I exited the inn, people’s eyes turned toward me.
I had claimed to be fatigued and unable to receive visitors, yet here I was, stepping outside looking perfectly fine—there was no way anyone could believe I hadn’t been toying with Moryeong Hyeok.
I ignored their gazes and stepped out into the street.
Observing the countless people passing through the marketplace, I narrowed my eyes.
The Black Crow Society was ultimately an organization assembled from criminals.
Because they were all abnormal individuals gathered together, incidents never ceased, and in the past, the Martial Arts Alliance had formed suppression squads in this very manner and eliminated them.
Both their main headquarters and their branches.
The reason I knew of the Black Crow Society’s branch was because I had picked up such information.
The problem was that I knew nothing about the one called Heuk-u, the organization’s leader. In the past, I had been too busy surviving to learn more than rumors, never grasping the details.
I needed information about him.
I glanced subtly around my surroundings.
They were people seeking intelligence like the Hao Gate, and moreover, the Martial Arts Alliance had publicly declared they would conduct a suppression campaign.
Naturally, the Black Crow Society would have infiltrated Jeongdo as well.
But among so many people, there was no way to identify who belonged to the Black Crow Society.
In that case, there was only one best option.
To set the Changryongdan—the primary force behind this suppression—into motion.
Once they moved outside, the Black Crow Society would naturally stir as well, seeking to understand the reason.
As expected, there were those who had been observing their surroundings while following Moyong Hyeok.
I remembered the face of one of them.
While wandering about searching for him, I discovered someone in the marketplace eating sweet pastries while listening to people’s conversations.
After listening for some time, the man seemed to have gathered sufficient information and began moving cautiously.
He left the marketplace and headed toward a secluded area.
A place where foot traffic grew sparse.
There, he suddenly turned and entered an alley—a labyrinthine structure that would leave anyone unfamiliar with the geography hopelessly lost.
“I lost him.”
I had completely lost sight of him because of it.
But I soon picked up his trail and gave chase.
The Black Crow Society, after all, consisted of nothing but lowborn rabble. They were unskilled at concealing their tracks, so they inevitably left traces behind.
I moved carefully, following those signs.
Eventually, I stopped at a shabby house.
Though I could not see anyone, I could distinctly sense that people were inside.
I climbed over the crumbling compound wall and entered.
It was then that I heard voices.
“Damn it! This is really bad, isn’t it? The Changryongdan is actually moving. And for some reason, the Young Master So of the Nakhyang Jin Family is participating too. Are things not good between the Guild Leader and the Jin Family? What did we do to those bastards? What in the world is happening?”
“…What about those we bribed? Is no one moving?”
“That’s the thing. I tried contacting them as the Guild Leader instructed, but it’s useless. We’re… abandoned!”
“This is all because of the Guild Leader, damn it! Why did he have to covet something so strange?”
I could hear three voices.
But there were likely those keeping silent, so it seemed at least five people had gathered here.
They ranted and raved frantically about the rapidly deteriorating situation, but it was far too late to undo what had already been done.
Creak—
I opened the door with a faint smile.
“…Who is it!?”
“Gasp!”
As I suddenly entered, those who had been talking gasped in shock and reached for their swords. The moment they recognized my face, their complexions turned ashen.
They could not possibly not know me.
The fact that I was here suggested to them that other soldiers would be present as well.
I paid no mind to their gazes and stepped further inside. I leisurely surveyed the shabby, foul-smelling space, then positioned myself where I could face the men directly.
“Using a place like this as a hideout suggests you were in quite a hurry.”
“…What are you talking about…?”
“Shh! Be quiet.”
The man who rebuked his panicked companion glanced cautiously around. Realizing that he sensed no presence other than mine, he smiled wickedly and drew his sword, pointing it at me in a threatening manner.
“As expected, there’s no reasoning with them otherwise.”
Killing intent swirled visibly in the opponent’s eyes.
The density of that murderous aura spoke of someone who had taken countless lives.
The blade sang as it left its sheath.
I drew my sword slowly, observing these men before me.
“You’re right—these are the sort who can never be redeemed. And yet… I still choose to believe their mouths might speak reason.”

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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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