The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 83

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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 83

Clang— clang clang—
“What, what is this? What’s happening?”
The residents reacted to the sudden commotion, beginning to look around frantically. The sound of clashing blades echoing from every direction was far from ordinary.
I observed the expressions of bewildered people.
I smiled as I confirmed it.
“Someone is attempting to overthrow Dowon Village.”
“What?!”
“Gasp!”
The people’s eyes widened with expressions that transcended mere shock.
Gulp—
They hastily looked around and swallowed hard.
As if to prove my words, screams were erupting from every corner of Dowon Village.
The dazed expressions of the people seemed unable to distinguish whether this was a dream or reality.
I drove the final nail home as I observed their reactions.
“If you’re fortunate, you might be able to escape.”
“…!”
At my single statement, the frozen expressions of the people began to change.
Those here were people who had abandoned all hope of leaving.
Either they had been sold to Hao Gate, or they were death row inmates sent by the Imperial Court.
Otherwise, most were those who wished to hide their identities through Hao Gate.
But even they could not have known.
That once you entered, you could never leave.
Therefore, they had merely been enduring, waiting only for the day of their death. But those unexpected words—that escape was possible—were more than enough to ignite a fire in their hearts.
“I should loot the Auction House while I have the chance. There seemed to be quite a few rare items.”
“I’m going too! No wait, shouldn’t I kill those bastards first? They have more wealth than anyone!”
“Blades! Bring me blades!”
Those who had suffered much at the hands of the Honored Guests seized weapons.
Even if they could escape this place, ultimately it would be meaningless without money. That is why everyone rushed toward the Auction House, the Gambling Hall, and other locations.
But there was an even more convenient method.
Killing the Honored Guests.
They surely possessed considerable wealth.
The residents, their eyes gleaming with murderous intent, began rushing forward with weapons in hand.
Among the residents were those with considerable skill. Those who had survived the Arena would be among them as well, and they would transform this already chaotic Dowon Village into an absolute hellscape.
I watched silently as the people scattered in all directions.
“It will become even more chaotic.”
Jang Chuchyeong, the Crown Prince, and the residents of Dowon Village as well.
Since Dowon Village’s creation, an unprecedented catastrophe was unfolding, and even if Hao Gate deployed large numbers of personnel, they would struggle to contain it.
Moreover, the residents would begin looting and killing, doing everything in their power to escape.
Conflicts would inevitably erupt not only between the Crown Prince’s faction and the Emperor’s faction, giving me ample time to make my move.
Additionally, using Chaeseoha as a shield while extracting her would prove quite useful.
“Gaaaahhh!”
“…These bastards, cough!”
“Die—!”
I listened to the sounds while slipping away from my position.
Moving covertly while blades clashed in every direction, no one could easily detect my presence.
“Aaahhh!? What is this, cough!”
“…Treason!”
At that moment, I caught sight of the Crown Prince’s movements accompanied by a loud commotion.
Those moving under the Crown Prince and Chungho’s command began advancing with the force of a tempest.
Anything blocking their path was cut down.
No hesitation, no mercy.
Their advance seemed unstoppable, as if they were determined to conclude matters with swift decisiveness.
Clang clang clang—!
“Hold the line! We must hold it at all costs!”
Of course, they were not ones to simply endure.
The Imperial Guards serving the Emperor had always trained for such situations, and it was their duty to protect him with their lives.
They desperately held back the surging forces, buying the Emperor time.
Turning my head to look toward where the Emperor stood, I saw him hastily departing, having grasped the gravity of the situation.
If the Emperor returned to the Imperial Palace, he would win; if not, the Crown Prince would.
I smiled faintly and looked in another direction.
Chaeseoha, bewildered by the sudden chaos, was being dragged away by one of the guards and disappearing.
Even in such circumstances, there was a clear intent to secure her—the one holding the Emperor’s lifeline.
Then.
Something caught my heightened senses.
I felt that the approaching presence, carrying the momentum of a whirlwind, was targeting me despite my concealed aura.
Furrowing my brow and turning my head, I finally spotted a man.
“You!”
Approaching with the footwork of a Taoist Priest, he drew his sword sharply—the martial arts of the Taoist Priest, spoken of as one of the two pillars of the Gupa Yibang.
The moment it unfolded before me, I lightly twisted my body to evade and, seizing the opening, drove my fist into his abdomen.
Thud!
“Gack!”
Gasping as if his breath were being cut off, he clutched his stomach and, unable to utter a single coherent word, collapsed to the ground with a strangled cry.
“Impressive.”
I smiled, observing him.
In the midst of the chaos, he had detected me despite my concealed presence and rushed forward…
Indeed, not just anyone becomes a Disciple of Mudang.
Had he possessed proper skill, I would have faced some difficulty.
I moved with even greater stealth, suppressing my presence entirely.
This was not the moment to engage with others.
The Emperor had slipped away from the Arena.
His destination would naturally be the Imperial Palace—nowhere else offered such security.
But he would not have taken the common entrances and exits.
Those were for the Honored Guests, not for the Emperor himself.
I smiled faintly and moved with swift purpose.
During my time as a resident of Dowon Village, when I had meticulously searched for an escape route, I had discovered a particular location.
The deepest part of Dowon Village itself.
A special place where no light penetrated, and where falling water had carved a small stream, leaving it abandoned by all.
I made my way there and surveyed the surroundings.
The rough stone floor bore unmistakable signs of passage—not merely one or two, but the kind of wear that only countless journeys, dozens or hundreds of times over, could produce.
Observing this, I ran my hand along the wall.
Feeling the cold, solid texture of the stone, I moved slowly, probing carefully.
As I traced the length of the wall, moving for some time.
I sensed a hollow space within.
“Here it is.”
This was no ordinary place.
During my past stay here, I had felt something.
Despite the absolute silence around me, I had strangely heard voices emanating from within the wall.
That could only mean one thing—a passage existed within.
Considering that Dowon Village had once served the Iron-Blooded Emperor as a secret passage to infiltrate the Imperial Palace, the space behind this wall would surely lead there.
I did not hesitate.
I drew my sword and struck without delay.
The moment my blade, imbued with piercing force, cut through the wall and opened a hole, the passage within was laid bare.
“Precisely as expected.”
Upon seeing this, a smile graced my lips.
It was not mere coincidence—that was the first reason. The second was that everything was unfolding exactly as I had anticipated in this situation.
I stepped inside without hesitation, my smile deepening.
The Emperor would certainly be within.
The prospect of our meeting filled me with profound anticipation.

* * *

“What in the world is happening here?!”
“Y-Your Majesty! It is treason! Treason!”
“Treason?! How dare anyone commit such an act in my paradise!”
The Night Pearls studded everywhere cast the daylight bright as noon.
Hearing the words pass through that luminescence, the Emperor’s brow furrowed.
This place was none other than Dowon Village.
His paradise alone.
A place of indulgence he had created to satisfy whatever desires he wished.
Where he could seize those who displeased him and imprison them, where he could discard worn concubines and ruin them, where he could turn the hearts of those who defied his will and make them sufficiently obedient.
The fact that treason had erupted in such a place was utterly unbelievable to him.
Yet the voices reaching his ears dragged him back to reality.
“It must surely be him, Your Majesty. I have witnessed several wielding the martial techniques of the Taoist Priests—there is no doubt.”
At Ga Inhoo’s words, a deep crease formed between the Emperor’s brows.
He had already known that his son harbored resentment at not sitting upon the Imperial Throne. Yet he had believed it impossible for his son to amass the forces necessary to stage a rebellion.
But if it were Dowon Village, the matter became entirely different.
“Ha—I have been caught off guard.”
How he had come to know, he could not say.
Yet if Ga Inhoo’s deduction was entirely correct, then the Crown Prince now stood in a position where he must stake his life to kill him, and he himself must stake his life to survive.
A bewildered smile crossed the Emperor’s lips.
“Cough, cough!”
“…Are you well, Your Majesty?! Where is the Physician?! Attend to His Majesty’s condition at once!”
“I am fine. Let us proceed. Time is not on our side.”
The footsteps of the several Imperial Guards walking ahead quickened. Though the situation was urgent, pressed by the Emperor’s urging, they had no time to examine their surroundings carefully and could only move forward.
Then.
The Emperor’s body swayed as he coughed violently.
“Your Majesty!”
“Do not touch me. I am fine.”
Barely grasping the wall to steady himself, the Emperor waved away the hastily approaching Ga Inhoo and resumed walking.
Yet soon a bitter smile crossed his lips.
“Karma, it seems.”
“N-No, that is not so, Your Majesty.”
“No, it is karma indeed. In my childhood, I knew that my mother sold her body to seduce the ministers and make them support me. Yet I did not oppose it—I merely watched. For it was the only path by which I could ascend to the Imperial Throne.”
The Gisaeng celebrated as the most beautiful woman under heaven was none other than the Iron-Blooded Emperor’s mother.
No matter how untouchable she became by the Emperor’s favor, if such a woman were to seduce men first, they could not help but succumb.
The reason he had severed the necks of those who had supported him upon ascending to the Imperial Throne was precisely this.
Because they had coveted his mother.
“Y-Your Majesty…”
“And that golden Jade Orb my mother placed in my hand as she died—it is what brought me to this position.”
It was a Jade Orb that radiated a golden light as if it cradled a Yellow Dragon. It had made the Iron-Blooded Emperor who he was and had paved his path steadily.
But a year ago, I lost the Jade Orb.
I couldn’t even tell who had taken it or how.
Something I’d always carried with me had vanished without a trace overnight.
That’s when my condition began deteriorating rapidly.
Whether it was because the Jade Orb’s power had disappeared, or because my body weakened from the despair of losing something I cherished, I couldn’t say for certain—but there was no denying that this marked the beginning of my decline.
Furthermore, it was around that same time that the Crown Prince began openly revealing his ambitions.
“It must have been Mother who took it again. To punish me. Hahahaha.”
“Your Majesty, that is not the case!”
“Enough. Let us depart at once. We must return to the Palace and have that wretch kneel before me.”
“Make haste—!”
At Ga Inhoo’s cry, those walking ahead quickened their pace.
As a result, Chaeseoha, who followed at the very rear, accelerated her steps.
She rolled her eyes about, swallowing hard as she searched for her opportunity.
The Emperor’s coughing had begun.
This meant the innate vital energy activated through acupuncture was gradually losing its potency. Therefore, it would not be strange if he collapsed at any moment.
If that happened, she would not survive.
There was only one chance to escape.
If she failed that single chance, there would be no second one.
The moment she gripped the poison tightly in her hand, ready to scatter it at any instant.
A voice came from somewhere.
“That’s quite an interesting tale. A golden Jade Orb, you say? Tell me more about it in detail.”
Shing—!
In that instant, the neck of the Imperial Guard at the front flew through the air.

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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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