The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 78

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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 78

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The Crown Prince gazed silently at the object before him.
A bronze token of peculiar form.
He could not fathom what it signified.
Yet the voice of that man, lingering in his mind, refused to fade.

“If you have any thoughts on the matter, verify it yourself. Who knows if such a rare opportunity will ever arise again?”

The man who had appeared without warning, delivered his message, and vanished just as suddenly.
His identity remained unknown, and he could not be apprehended.
Even Chungho, the captain of the Imperial Guards, had been so preoccupied with countering the man that he could attend to nothing else—a testament to his extraordinary strength.
That his own guard captain had been rendered helpless, unable to act despite his vigilance.
Had they attempted to seize him, considerable blood would have been spilled.
Or perhaps, even then, the probability of capturing him was slim.
His gaze turned toward Chungho.
The cold sweat beading on his forehead suggested that losing Chungho in such an encounter was far more likely.
“Was he truly that dangerous?”
“…Even if I had unleashed the martial techniques of my sect, I could not have guaranteed victory.”
“To that extent?”
A succession of astonishments.
Chungho had been the foremost disciple of the Taoist Priests.
Had his family not served the Imperial Court as a martial household, he would have remained with the Taoist Priests and earned renown—a Powerful Expert whose strength was proven by his current status as the strongest in the Imperial Palace.
That such a man, even wielding the martial techniques of the Taoist Priests which he rarely displayed, could not guarantee victory?
Closing his eyes, the man’s image surfaced in his mind. Yet he could not discern who he was.
“In any case, it is done. But what do you make of this object?”
“It seems we must visit the stable in the northwest to understand it.”
“Ha, you seem reluctant to admit ignorance.”
At the Crown Prince’s words, Chungho bowed lightly.
An incomprehensible token, yet one that might grant him what he desired.
From his tone, it seemed he already understood what the Crown Prince sought, suggesting this token was the very solution to that desire.
“Perhaps we may learn something of it.”
“What do you mean, my lord?”
“Are you aware that the Emperor often disappears?”
“Yes, I am aware.”
“It concerns that.”
Ga Inhoo was the one who attended the Emperor most closely.
Even when I questioned him about his whereabouts last night, he refused to answer, and no amount of discreet inquiry could uncover the truth.
The suspicious circumstances were not merely one or two.
Among those who had been lending their strength to the Crown Prince, there were frequent occasions when Ga Inhoo would suddenly summon them into the Imperial Palace.
They would vanish without a trace, only to reappear the next day—now standing with the Emperor rather than the Crown Prince.
I wondered if this bronze token might be the key to understanding what was happening.
There was no need to merely speculate.
If I was curious, I could simply go and verify it myself.
The Crown Prince sat in a cross-legged position and slowly closed his eyes.
“I will be cultivating my spiritual energy, so obtain a mask for me.”
“A mask… Your Highness?”
“Yes, anything will do. Since my face must be concealed, so it shall be.”
“Understood.”
Chungho, bowing his head, transmitted a silent message to someone.
Feeling it, I slowly drew up my spiritual energy.
To see anything using the bronze token, I could not afford to remain intoxicated.

* * *

Inside the dark carriage.
I left Giru behind and turned my steps once more toward Dowon Village, recalling the Crown Prince’s face.
Though intoxication had risen unpleasantly, his eyes remained resolute.
He would certainly investigate what the bronze token was.
In any case, it was only a matter of time before the Crown Prince learned of Dowon Village’s existence—after all, he would eventually succeed in using it to eliminate both the Emperor and his rivals.
I had merely accelerated that timeline.
For the Crown Prince, if he now possessed the military strength to stand against the Emperor’s Imperial Guards, a successful coup seemed entirely feasible.
“Dowon Village will be turned upside down.”
Dowon Village—a paradise created by the Emperor.
It existed as a place of extraterritorial privilege and lawlessness, all for his indulgence.
As such, to the Honored Guests, the residents were no different from pets.
Outside, murder would be judged by imperial law, but within Dowon Village, with enough money, one could achieve anything desired.
Just as humans cannot forget a forbidden fruit once tasted, the moment one steps into Dowon Village and experiences it, there is no escape.
It is a paradise where one’s true nature is laid bare without shame, and no one dares speak against it.
Moreover, those who cannot be touched in Dowon Village are limited.
Those who possess a jade token.
Without a jade token, any act was permissible.
One could trample people like dogs, and with enough money, one could purchase others to construct one’s own paradise.
Furthermore, even among masked Honored Guests, if one could learn the other’s identity, it was ideal for eliminating political rivals.
Most of the struggles that occur secretly among the Honored Guests are of this nature.
The Crown Prince would soon learn of Dowon Village.
And he would contemplate.
It wasn’t a bad place at all to dispose of the Emperor, I thought.
With that notion in mind, I let out a quiet chuckle.
Creak—
The carriage came to a halt, and the door swung open.
Descending the deep underground stairs, I arrived once more at Dowon Village.
The moment I turned my steps toward the gambling hall of Dowon Village.
Familiar figures approached from ahead.
“Young Master—we found you!”
“There you are! Where the hell have you been? We’ve been looking everywhere.”
Looking toward the voices, I saw Gu Gunbaek and Jang Chuchyeong rushing toward me in a flustered state.
But something about their appearance was peculiar.
They still wore their masks as before, but the silk robes they’d been dressed in had vanished without a trace, and all the wealth they’d been laden with was nowhere to be seen.
I narrowed my brow.
“What exactly have you been doing out here?”
“What do you mean? We were gambling!”
“You were gambling, but why do you look like that? Didn’t you win a lot?”
“We did win. But… we lost it all.”
“What?”
“He kept saying one more hand, one more hand… and eventually… well, we lost everything. My clothes got stripped in the process too.”
Jang Chuchyeong exhaled a long sigh, casting a sideways glance at Gu Gunbaek.
It was the expression of someone regarding a pitiful fool.
I too fixed my gaze upon Gu Gunbaek with an expression of disbelief.
“What were you thinking?”
“Well, I was winning for a while when this unlucky bastard showed up. But he looked like he had plenty of money.”
“And then?”
“I tried to strip him clean with sword cards.”
“So you got beaten instead.”
“That bastard’s skill with the cards is no joke. Since my eyes can’t be fooled, I know he wasn’t cheating… and that’s what infuriates me even more.”
Gu Gunbaek gnashed his teeth, fuming.
Given his temperament, I would have expected him to flip the table and throw punches the moment he lost, yet in this regard, he was strangely honorable.
The way he simply surrendered everything, acknowledging the gambling outcome, and the fact that he was angry but harbored no intention of beating the man—both were surprising.
“With your nature, I’d have thought you’d beat him regardless…”
“Hey, you fool. Do you stomp on ants when you’re angry? A strong man doesn’t strike the weak without reason. Unless they come at you with a blade, that is.”
I nodded in agreement at those words.
It’s a natural principle, but judging by his usual behavior, it’s hard to believe he’d uphold it so well.
“What are you talking about? He was using tricks, so I was about to beat him when I stopped myself.”
“Dream on while you sleep, disciple. When did I ever do that?”
“Just now.”
“Sigh… disciple.”
At those words, Gu Gunbaek let out a weary sigh.
*Crunch*
The moment Gu Gunbaek reached out and seized the back of Jang Chuchyeong’s neck with crushing force, it was no illusion that his face had turned a sickly pallor.
“So, let’s hear it again. Did I say that?”
“Gack… ugh… I-it was a misunderstanding.”
“That’s right?”
Watching Jang Chuchyeong tremble like a man staring death in the face, I exhaled a long sigh and shook my head slowly.
Then.
Gu Gunbaek’s expression suddenly twisted into something menacing as he glanced to one side.
“There he is, there. See that bastard in the snake mask?”
At those words, I turned my head as well.
A group emerged from the gambling hall, laughing boisterously. Among them was a man dragging women still draped in silk robes like dogs, putting on quite the display for the onlookers.
He wore a snake mask over his face—my uncle.
“Did he take you for a loss at the gambling hall?”
“Indeed. The way he handles cards is remarkable. A true swindler, that one.”
“As expected of him.”
“Huh? You know him?”
“I know of him, nothing more.”
My uncle had been fond of gambling since childhood.
Among all the hobbies his considerable wealth afforded him, gambling was the one he had fallen deepest into.
The allure of vast sums changing hands, coupled with the flattery of sycophants who swarmed around him whenever he won, intoxicated him with excitement.
He had even paid back-alley swindlers for lessons in their craft.
No matter how skilled Gu Gunbaek was, he could not hope to defeat a man who knew how cards were shuffled, which cards were dealt to his opponent, and could even predict the order of cards yet to come.
I smiled faintly and approached my uncle.
As I suddenly drew near, his gaze shifted toward me.
“What brings you here?”
“I hear you’ve been fleecing my people.”
I spoke with deliberate weight, keeping my voice carefully disguised.
It worked. Not a flicker of suspicion crossed Jin Baek-ryong’s eyes. He merely glanced between me, Gu Gunbaek, and Jang Chuchyeong before letting out a sneer through the gaps in his mask.
“So you’ve come to take out your frustrations on me? Hahahaha.”
“My lord, do not bother with them. These are surely just nobodies trying to curry favor with someone of your standing.”
“Indeed. There’s no need to engage. Shall I drive them off?”
Those clinging to his side spoke up with exaggerated fervor.
With Jin Baek-ryong’s permission alone, they seemed ready to order the guards to draw swords even against honored guests.
How pathetic they were.
Watching this display, Jin Baek-ryong raised a hand to restrain them, then studied me carefully, his eyes sweeping up and down my frame.
“You there—have you come to recover what they’ve lost?”
“It seems more profitable to take what you have than to recover their losses.”
“Hahahaha, so you wish to gamble with me?”
As Jin Baek-ryong laughed loudly, those around him joined in with matching laughter.
An egg striking a stone.
Everyone knew how skilled he was at gambling, so they seemed to think my challenge was like throwing an egg at a rock.
After laughing for a while, Jin Baek-ryong looked at me again.
“Do you have money?”
“I never thought anyone would ask me if I had money in my lifetime.”
“Haha— is that so? I made a mistake then. It feels good to meet someone like me after so long.”
“Will you do it?”
“Of course I will! How could I refuse a chance to make money? Come on, let’s go.”
Hearing his voice grow louder with excitement, I followed Jin Baek-ryong into the gambling hall.
Once we took our seats at a table with cards laid out, Jin Baek-ryong, sitting across from me, fidgeted with the cards in front of him and let out a soft chuckle.
“How much will you wager?”
“How much did we lose?”
“Thirty-two taels of gold.”
At those words, the spectators gasped. Thirty-two taels of gold was such a substantial sum that even in Dowon Village, people would react with shock.
They had won quite a lot with just a few silver coins.
No wonder Jin Baek-ryong, who loved gambling so much his eyes would roll back, would take interest.
I smiled and produced a gold certificate worth one tael.
At that sight, Jin Baek-ryong’s eyes widened with intrigue.
“What? You’re going to use a gold certificate?”
“If I win, it’s a clean victory, isn’t it?”
“Haha! This person is truly something!”
Clap—! Clap! Clap—!
Jin Baek-ryong burst into laughter and clapped his hands.
With a sly grin, Jin Baek-ryong produced his own gold certificate.
“Good, good, I like this. It makes me happy to meet an opponent worth enjoying after so long. Let’s see if your luck is better than mine.”
It was clear from Jin Baek-ryong’s voice that he was quite excited, as if it had been a long time since he’d gambled with such high stakes.
As I listened to him and let a slight smile cross my face.
Gu Gunbaek, who had been observing the situation from the side, approached and whispered.
“Are you really going to do this? That bastard is a card demon, you fool.”
“Shouldn’t demons be exorcised? Besides, it looks fun.”
“…What? It looks fun? What does? Cards? Don’t tell me you’re playing cards for the first time?”
“Yes, what’s strange about that?”
When I gave him a look as if asking what was so strange, Gu Gunbaek stared at me with eyes that had lost all words, letting out a hollow laugh.
Soon, harsh words came from his mouth.
“This crazy bastard….”
I couldn’t understand why I deserved the curse.

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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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