The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 6

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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 6

Decades ago, Hong Gu-hyeon entered service as a servant of the Nakhyang Jin Family in his youth.
His discerning eye and seasoned competence caught attention.
These qualities did not escape the notice of my grandfather, the previous Family Head, and as a result, he rose to his current position, overseeing all the servants and maids while managing most of the family’s mundane affairs.
But the truth was far different.

Hong Gu-hyeon—member of the Tenth Division of the Shadow Assassins.

A member of the organization that had annihilated my family and spent over a decade locked in a struggle to the death with me.
I still vividly remembered every detail of that night.
He moved alongside us when the assault began, and at the critical moment, he drew his blade and pierced my mother’s heart.
He wounded my father’s chest and used a signal flare to reveal our location to those assassins.
Because of him, no one escaped except Chu Hyeongi and myself.
That is why I have craved his death every single day.
The moment I opened my eyes and saw Hong Gu-hyeon’s face, my punch was no accident.
“Heh heh… So I’ve finally been caught by the Young Master. But how did you know?”
“It wouldn’t matter if I told you. A mere foot soldier like you wouldn’t understand anyway.”
“…!”
At my words, Hong Gu-hyeon’s eyebrows twitched.
My tone, as if I knew his true identity, was bound to irritate him.
He steadied his breathing as if composing himself, then a faint smile crossed his lips.
“Heh, one would think you know everything, the way you speak.”
“I know more than you do. By the way, have you seen the new captain’s face? The one who just became captain of the Tenth Division is quite young, isn’t he? I imagine it must be unpleasant for someone your age to take orders from a younger man.”
“…!”
At my continued words, Hong Gu-hyeon’s pupils began to tremble as if an earthquake had struck.
From my words alone, he could sense that I grasped the situation quite deeply.
Hong Gu-hyeon’s gaze grew increasingly sharp.
The gentle eyes that had seemed so docile began to fade, replaced by the piercing gaze of a true martial master.
The same look he had worn when he drove his blade through my mother’s heart.
“It seems… I cannot simply kill you.”
“Yes, that’s the look. Now this becomes worthwhile.”
I smiled coldly and drew my sword.
Shing—
As the blade emerged smoothly and gleamed in the moonlight, Hong Gu-hyeon’s eyes narrowed further. After a moment, he exhaled a sigh and withdrew a small dagger from his robes with practiced ease.
He drew it without hesitation.
“Young Master, do you know? Using poison was my own form of mercy. Because you were like a son to me, I hoped your body would at least remain intact.”
Hong Gu-hyeon sighed, realizing that choice had been a grave mistake, and gazed at the sky. Then, shifting his gaze back to me, he lowered his stance.
“But now there’s no helping it. Don’t expect a merciful death. You will confess everything—who told you, what you know, all of it.”
“Anyone can talk. The question is whether you can keep what you’ve said.”
“Hehehehe— it shall certainly come to pass.”
Whoosh—!
Hong Gu-hyeon’s body moved.
One would hardly believe this was someone who hadn’t wielded martial arts in so long, the way he rapidly closed the distance.
And the short sword gripped in his hand.
The blade swung without hesitation, flying toward me with terrifying force.
Clang— clang-clang-clang!
He pressed forward with such ferocity that I couldn’t catch my breath.
One would doubt this was truly an old man’s body, and his movements carried a rawness—as though he were venting decades of pent-up martial frustration all at once.
Yet there was an unmistakable difference.
“Ugh?!”
Hong Gu-hyeon realized his every attack was being read. Despite unleashing such a relentless barrage at such speed, his blade still hadn’t so much as grazed my collar.
I flowed around his strikes, blocked them, evaded them.
It sounded simple in words, but it was the most difficult thing to accomplish. Without perfectly reading your opponent’s techniques, you would inevitably be pushed back.
But not now.
I had faced the Shadow Assassins’ swords hundreds of times over.
Swords, sabers, spears—and every manner of martial technique imaginable, including the short sword style Hong Gu-hyeon now displayed.
I knew them all too well.
My body moved naturally along the counters, so familiar had they become to my eyes.
What made this situation even more disadvantageous for Hong Gu-hyeon was this: my real combat experience was from mere days ago in my memory, while his was from decades past.
Slash—!
“Argh!”
Hong Gu-hyeon staggered backward, his waist bleeding.
I thrust my blade lightly forward, watching him.
“Ack!”
Seeing the blade fly toward his throat, he jerked his head back desperately. In that same instant, I didn’t miss the opening—I extended my leg and swept at his knee.
Crash!
Losing his balance, he fell face-first to the ground.
As a small groan escaped him, my extended foot lashed across his face.
Thwack!
“Gaaaah!”
The man tumbled backward, rolling across the earth.
I could see him trembling violently, his hand pressed against the blood streaming from his mouth and nose. He clearly hadn’t anticipated such a turn of events.
“How… how is this possible…!”
“Get up.”
Yelp—!
Spurred by my words, Hong Gu-hyeon scrambled to his feet. He wiped the blood from his mouth and nose with his sleeve, then gripped his short sword again and took his stance.
“Your luck ends here.”
“Yes, if that had been luck, it would have.”
“Ugh!”
Hong Gu-hyeon gritted his teeth once more.
No matter how long it had been since he last wielded martial arts, he could not easily accept this situation. Before spending decades as a servant, he had been a swordmaster since childhood—one who had accumulated countless experiences and swung a blade through the years.
Of course, he possessed pride.
To lose so miserably to someone who had not even properly mastered martial arts—he would deem such a thing utterly impossible.
As expected, Hong Gu-hyeon surged his momentum higher.
As he drew upon his inner energy, the wind howled around us.
It was incomparable to the inner energy I currently possessed.
I found myself smirking without thinking.
Upon seeing my scornful smile, he unfolded his movement technique once more and launched himself forward.
Whoosh!
Far faster than before.
Yet I did not track him with my eyes.
I already knew what he was aiming for from the start.
The figure rushing toward me suddenly blurred and vanished.
The moment I confirmed it, I thrust my sword into the space beneath his armpit.
Squelch!
“Gahhh!”
Hong Gu-hyeon, his chest pierced through, coughed blood and staggered backward. As the sword was withdrawn, I saw him pressing an acupoint to stanch the bleeding.
I watched this and stepped forward.
Then I swung my blade lightly.
Slash! Slash-slash-slash!
Each time the sword light flashed and extended, Hong Gu-hyeon retreated with a pallid complexion.
My strikes were clearly slower than a short sword should be, yet strangely, he could not defend properly.
I was subtly exploiting his weaknesses.
Moreover.
Clang!
“Argh!”
Even when he blocked, there was impact.
The wound he had taken protecting me in childhood ran deep, and its aftereffects remained considerable.
He would say it ached every time it rained—so with each successive shock like this.
Clang-clang!
His grip would inevitably weaken.
“Hah… hah… hah… how… how is this possible…!”
Hong Gu-hyeon stared at the fallen short sword, gritting his teeth.
With trembling eyes, he looked at me and retreated once more, his expression now one of fear.
How long had I yearned to see that expression?
Part of me wished to savor it longer.
But I could not afford to.
My body’s limits were drawing near.
The cold sweat trickling down my back since moments ago suggested I couldn’t sustain this exchange much longer.
Did he sense it?
Hong Gu-hyeon’s eyes gleamed as he retreated.
“I see now. You haven’t truly resolved the poison.”
“Then what will you do?”
“Hehehehe! That means I still have a chance.”
Hong Gu-hyeon’s momentum surged as he stomped the ground.
Dirt erupted upward, spraying toward my face.
I furrowed my brow at such a crude tactic and retreated sideways.
In that instant, Hong Gu-hyeon launched himself forward and seized the short sword that had fallen to the ground. He closed the distance and unleashed another relentless barrage of attacks.
Clang clang clang clang-!
“Hehehehe! Will your body collapse first, or will this old man’s hands give out? Let’s gamble on it!”
Believing victory was within reach, Hong Gu-hyeon’s expression grew even brighter. I could feel not only the speed of his sword strikes increasing, but the internal force behind them growing progressively stronger.
I parried, evaded, and retreated.
Yet beneath the relentless assault, sweat poured from me like rain, and my breathing grew increasingly ragged.
Even my movements had changed.
His blade, which once couldn’t even graze my collar, now drew blood.
Slash slash-!
I was cut and torn, bit by bit.
Blood flowed, and pain seared through me.
Each time, Hong Gu-hyeon’s expression brightened further.
“Hehehehe! Indeed, a hunting dog finds joy in the hunt!”
Hong Gu-hyeon was savoring this moment.
He felt the thrill of knowing victory had shifted to his side.
The sensation of gripping a sword after so long.
The feeling of cutting flesh.
The desperate expression of prey being cornered ever tighter.
Such things seemed to stir Hong Gu-hyeon’s heart.
Clang-!
I parried the incoming short sword and gazed at Hong Gu-hyeon.
Then I smiled faintly.
“Have you had your fill of enjoyment?”
“Hehe. You still don’t grasp the situation…”
Watching him laugh with certainty of victory, I moved my sword.
Sever-!
In an instant, an arm flew through the air.
The arm holding the short sword was severed, blood erupting in its wake.
Hong Gu-hyeon’s eyes widened in disbelief, unable to comprehend what had transpired.
But I did not stop.
Sever! Sever!
The blade flashed brilliantly, cutting down the opponent with terrifying force.
His left arm was severed, and his chest was slashed open.
Yet Hong Gu-hyeon seemed utterly oblivious to what was happening, merely blinking his eyes repeatedly.
But the body does not lie.
Thud—!
Spewing blood, he collapsed backward.
“Cough!”
This time, it was not I who coughed up blood, but Hong Gu-hyeon.
Whether he still did not comprehend the situation or felt no pain at all, his eyes rolled as he stared at his own severed arm and the blood dripping steadily from the wound.
Whoosh—
I watched the wretch and flicked the blood from my blade.
“The enemy always strikes when their opponent lets their guard down. Have you forgotten even that?”
“Ugh… cough….”
“Now I finally understand why you’ve spent decades serving as a mere attendant instead of acting as a member of the Tenth Division.”
“Gasp….”
Hong Gu-hyeon tried to speak.
But his condition was too grave to form words. His eyes, turning a sickly crimson, seemed to weep tears of blood.
Soon, the light faded from them.
His pupils dilated, and his breathing grew shallow.
I gazed at him for a moment, then turned away.
I moved slowly toward the underground mansion where Hong Gu-hyeon had entered.
As I sensed the dying wretch’s final convulsions, I thrust my blade forward in an instant, piercing between his brows.
Squelch!
I did not bother to look at the corpse’s face.
Nor did I withdraw the blade that had pierced him.
Just as the small dagger that had pierced my mother’s heart remained embedded without being drawn, I harbored no further attachment—I simply moved toward the underground mansion.
“Let me see what lies within….”

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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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