The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 50

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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 111

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The relationship between the Orthodox and Unorthodox factions was so antagonistic that calling them eternal enemies was no exaggeration.
With fundamentally different ideologies, they had spent countless years clashing blades against one another, killing and being killed, scheming in the shadows, and striving relentlessly to gain the upper hand.
Throughout this vast realm of the Central Plains, they lived intermingled with one another, using their closest rivals as stepping stones for their own advancement.
Yet in this Central Plains, there existed precisely two places.
Places where the Orthodox and Unorthodox were never mixed.
One was Hannam, where the Martial Alliance existed, and the other was Shanxi, where the Demonic Heavenly Sect held sway.
Though the territories of the Orthodox Martial Alliance and the Demonic Heavenly Sect bordered one another, they never encroached upon each other’s domains.
To cross that boundary meant nothing less than an all-out war between Orthodox and Unorthodox.
However, between Hannam and Shanxi lay a border.
A neutral zone existed where Orthodox and Unorthodox could intermingle.
“That’s exactly where my sister was taken.”
“Wait, are they the Emperor? Why are they arguing over land like it’s theirs or mine?”
“I don’t know.”
Jang Chuchyeong, still far removed from the common sense of the martial world, snorted with an expression of incomprehension.
I too agreed that if one had no deep connection to the martial world, this situation would be virtually impossible to understand.
“Then where exactly is the young lady being held?”
“That would be the case. Though we haven’t pinpointed the exact location.”
Considering my sister’s character, she had surely already grasped the situation.
If so, it was highly likely she had sent away those with her and allowed herself to be taken as a hostage.
Yet no message had arrived from the Sega until now.
This was clearly a tactic by the Hyang-un Sega to torment us.
They were resorting to such ridiculous measures in an attempt to gain the upper hand in negotiations by any means necessary.
I let out a soft laugh and surveyed my surroundings.
The landscape visible through the window had changed without my notice.
We had entered a village at some point; the scenery of only trees and grass had disappeared, replaced by the sight of people and houses lining the streets.
Quite a number of martial artists bearing swords were also visible.
Chaeseoha, who had been continuously observing the surroundings through the window, seemed to sense something amiss, her delicate brows furrowing slightly.
“This town has a tense atmosphere to it.”
“We’re at the border between Hannam and Shanxi. From here on, both Orthodox and Unorthodox are mixed together.”
“Ah—so they can’t relax because they never know when an attack might come.”
I nodded at her words.
Since we were still only at the beginning, there were more Orthodox practitioners than Unorthodox ones, but that didn’t mean the latter were entirely absent.
Thus, everyone remained constantly vigilant.
Should we encounter those with grudges, blades would be drawn, and with bad luck, even a mere brush of shoulders could result in a severed neck.
“It’s an amusing place no matter when you visit.”
“Have you been here before?”
“In a past life?”
“Ah, what are you saying.”
At my words, Chaeseoha clicked her tongue with an exasperated expression.
Of course, it wasn’t a lie.
In the past, I had memories of spending several months in this place.
Since incidents and accidents never ceased here, it was the perfect location to gain practical experience.
While this place was relatively quiet, the deeper one ventured inward, the more brutal and vicious it became—incomparable to the outer regions.
I would see two or three corpses every single day.
“This is a place where the Nakhyang Jin Family’s influence holds no sway. Everyone must be especially careful.”
I heard Baek Ja-hyeon’s voice as he surveyed the surroundings.
From the way he was vigilant in all directions, it was abundantly clear that even he was considerably tense.
It was the Hyang-un Sega who had openly provoked us.
With no way to predict what they might do, and given that this neutral territory was beyond the Nakhyang Jin Family’s reach, we couldn’t afford complacency.
We weren’t foolish enough to expect influence in a place where not even inns or any other business ventures could operate.
The other three were also growing tense, glancing about and remaining vigilant.
“Act as you normally would. Anything else would be more suspicious.”
“But still… what if someone suddenly swings a sword at us?”
“The Family Head of the Hyang-un Sega isn’t foolish enough for that.”
If he were merely thoughtless and ignorant, he would have backed the Sadocheon and reduced the Nakhyang Jin Family to rubble rather than attempt negotiation.
Yet he had sought negotiation first, and only then escalated matters.
Attacking my sister was tantamount to driving a dagger into the Nakhyang Jin Family’s heart, but the absence of news of anyone’s death showed an effort not to turn us into complete enemies.
Of course, that was…
“Their calculation.”
I let out a soft chuckle, recalling the Family Head of the Hyang-un Sega. I had seen his face long ago, but I had no memory of forming any significant connection with him, then or now.
Still, I disliked him.
The fact that he had bared his fangs at the Nakhyang Jin Family, of all places.
There were surely other approaches available besides this aggressive tactic, yet the fact that they acted without hesitation revealed exactly how they viewed the Nakhyang Jin Family.
I couldn’t let such people go unpunished.
A faint smile played at my lips as I steadied my breathing, when I caught sight of some oddly familiar figures through the carriage window.
“Stop the carriage.”
“Yes!”
Whinnnnng—
As the carriage halted with a loud neigh, I hastily opened the door and stepped outside.
“Sa Gong-chun!”
“…Young Master So?!”
At my sudden call, Sa Gong-chun, who had been moving swiftly, stopped abruptly and looked at me.
He wasn’t alone.
Several other bodyguards bearing visible wounds were scattered about nearby.
“What are you doing here?”
“Young Master So… that is, I was trying to send word to the Sega with urgency, but there was nowhere to send a letter from…”
Sa Gong-chun, bearing the visible marks of hardship, rushed forward and bowed his head. It was clear he hadn’t eaten or drunk in days—his complexion had turned ashen, and his entire body trembled.
It seemed he had come all this way because he needed to inform the Sega of what had happened, but couldn’t find anyone to help him.
In this region, without possession of a letter-sending station, there was simply no proper way to dispatch correspondence.
“What happened to Ji-yak! What became of her!”
At that moment, Baek Ja-hyeon’s voice rang out, somewhat sharp with urgency.
The moment he descended from the carriage and surveyed their appearances, finding no sign of Jin Ji-yak anywhere, he seemed intent on first ascertaining their condition.
Then Sa Gong-chun and the bodyguards lowered their heads.
“We apologize. We did our utmost to protect her… but it was impossible with our inadequate skills.”
“You worthless fools! And you dare call yourselves guards of the Jin Family!”
His sharp words struck like daggers.
To say their skills were insufficient would have been a misjudgment—most of those present, including Sa Gong-chun, were counted among the Sega’s elite warriors.
Which made the shock all the more devastating.
“The opponent was the Sadocheon. Even for the Jin Family’s finest, it was unavoidable.”
“Still, that doesn’t excuse—”
“It… it was the Jinpung Sword Sect.”
“…!”
At Sa Gong-chun’s words, Baek Ja-hyeon’s eyes widened in shock.

The Jinpung Sword Sect.

There was no one in the Central Plains who didn’t know that name.
In fact, one should commend the fact that they had encountered them and remained relatively unscathed.
Like the Changyong Order, they could be called late-stage powerhouses, but in truth, they were regarded as a group superior even to the Changyong Order.
Even I couldn’t help but be astonished that they had mobilized.
The influence the Hyang-un Sega wielded over the Sadocheon appeared far greater than I had imagined.
Whether they had cultivated such extensive connections, or the sums the Sadocheon received from them exceeded imagination, either way it was clear the Sadocheon held them in considerable regard.
“Was the Hyang-un Sega Head present as well?”
“Yes, without doubt. We saw not only the Family Head but the Young Master as well.”
Crack—
Sa Gong-chun ground his teeth and clenched his fists.
Though his nails dug into his flesh and blood flowed, he seemed to feel no pain—only a restrained fury.
Being defeated by the likes of the Hyang-un Sega appeared deeply humiliating to him.
Naturally, had it not been the Jinpung Sword Sect, the situation would have been entirely manageable, so the sense of injustice was unavoidable.
“What of my sister?”
“She… surrendered herself willingly.”
A situation I had already anticipated.
Realizing their opponents harbored no killing intent, she would have judged that fewer people being captured was better than many—a reasonable calculation.
It was precisely the sort of decision Jin Ji-yak would make.
And that only deepened the anger and sense of debt the bodyguards felt.
As expected, not only Sa Gong-chun but the eyes of everyone else blazed with fervor.
With such a thick, suffocating killing intent emanating from them—even the wounded seemed ready to draw their blades immediately—both Namgung Yeon and Jang Chuchyeong beside me flinched.
Clap—!
The sound of hands clapping cut through the air, dispelling the heavy killing intent that had settled over us.
It was Chaeseoha.
A woman’s clap, devoid of inner energy.
Yet in that single moment, all eyes turned toward her.
The killing intent and tension that had filled the air vanished cleanly.
“Let’s get the injured onto the carriage first. We can’t possibly take all these people with us… and we still need to find an inn. How much longer are we going to stand out here?”
Chaeseoha glanced subtly around us.
From her expression, I could discern what she meant to convey.
The eyes of passersby were fixed upon us.
With talk of the Jin Family and the Sado Heaven, people’s attention was gathering.
I smiled bitterly and nodded.
“We’re fine. There’s no need for Young Master So’s affairs to be hindered because of us.”
“I came here precisely because of this matter. I cannot simply leave you all behind. Besides, I wish to hear the full details.”
At his resolute words, Sa Gong-chun swallowed a groan.
It seemed he believed himself to have abandoned and fled from his master, regardless of the circumstances.
Now that he had informed me of the situation, he appeared ready to do whatever was necessary.
I opened the carriage door without further discussion and forcibly loaded the wounded inside.
Useless protests arose—”Young Master So should ride,” “We can walk”—but I loaded them all into the carriage regardless and headed toward the inn.
As we ventured slightly inward from where we had been, several inns came into view.
We stopped before the largest of them.
Then.
A carrier pigeon descended from the high heavens, circling widely before slowly descending to land upon my shoulder.
Baek Ja-hyeon’s eyes brightened at the sight of the markings on the pigeon.
“It’s from the Sega.”
“So it appears.”
I nodded and untied the message bound to its leg.
The moment I unrolled it, the concise contents seized my attention.
“Did your brother send this? What does it say?”
“The Hyang-un Sega has requested renegotiation.”
“The audacity of these bastards! So where is the meeting?”
“Two days’ journey from here. At the Hyang-un Inn, operated by the Hyang-un Sega.”
Crumple—!
I crumpled the letter and turned my head, noticing the eyes and expressions of the bodyguards who had heard the news burning with terrifying intensity.
Observing this, I spoke.
“For now, let’s have a meal and think it over.”
There was no rush.

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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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