The Youngest Son of the Nanyang Jin Family - Chapter 92

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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 92

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Today, like every other day, I pressed forward with unwavering determination.
Rising before dawn, I washed my face and gathered a meager meal—nothing more than a single strip of dried meat, yet sustenance was sustenance, and without it, I would lack the strength to labor.
Though it was not as though rice had vanished entirely from our lives.
A single rice ball.
Crafted from a handful of grain I had earned through a full day’s toil.
The moment my eyes fell upon it, saliva pooled in my throat, but I could not bring myself to consume it—for if I did, my younger brother would go hungry through the entire day.
Stepping outside, I caught sight of my brother engaged in his training. Compared to weeks past, his frame had grown gaunt once more, and the sight of it pierced my heart with anguish.
Work had grown scarce of late, forcing me to venture even to distant villages in search of employment.
Yet even those efforts bore little fruit.
Our coffers dwindled with each passing day, and our household circumstances spiraled backward toward the poverty we had once endured.
“Sigh….”
As I exhaled a long breath, contemplating whether I ought to hunt or fish to secure today’s provisions, a figure approached.
Namgung Yeon, having finished his training, drew near.
“Older brother? Are you well?”
“Ah, I am fine. Haha, once you finish your training, there is a meal waiting for you in the kitchen—eat it. This evening, I shall return with something delicious.”
“Brother, perhaps if I were to work as well….”
“What are you saying! You need only focus on your training.”
Namgung Baek, who rarely raised his voice to his younger brother, spoke with unexpected firmness.
The sudden outburst startled Namgung Yeon, whose eyes widened in surprise.
Embarrassed by his own harshness, I hurried to soften my tone.
“You need not worry about anything. I shall manage.”
“Yes….”
Leaving my younger brother with his head bowed, I stepped outside.
Yet despite my confident words, I had nowhere to go.
Moyong Hyeok, whom I had always dragged along and exploited for a few coins, still lay bedridden; the Black Crow Society had been eradicated, leaving even the bandits quiet; and that was merely the beginning.
Where else could I turn?
With the bandits subdued, the Seventy-two Factions that should have been rampaging were instead tearing themselves apart, each sect vying to crown itself king, while the largest establishment in the Red Light District, which had occasionally provided escort work, had suddenly shuttered its doors, and its proprietor had vanished without a trace.
And beyond all that, the Government Office.
With the Former Emperor’s death and the ascension of the new Emperor, a storm of blood swept through the capital.
Even the magistrate had been taken away and never returned, leaving the Government Office sealed shut with no intention of reopening.
Thus, there was nowhere left to go.
I gazed up at the sky.
Today, the heavens felt more resentful than ever.
At last, I exhaled and set forth down the road.
I could endure hunger myself.
But I couldn’t let my younger brother suffer the same fate.
With how little he’d been eating lately, his frame had grown gaunt, so I had to do something to put food on the table immediately.
The first thing that came to mind was fish, perhaps?
It was something I could manage without venturing too deep into the mountains.
As I was lost in such thoughts, moving forward with purpose.
A grand and ornate carriage suddenly entered Namgung Baek’s line of sight.
It cut through the throngs of people in the marketplace and came to a halt before the Yunlong Inn, where the carriage door opened and a familiar figure descended.
“…Jin Gongja!”
Namgung Baek stared intently at Jin Cheon-u, murmuring the name under his breath.
What was he doing in a place like this?
Under normal circumstances, I would have fled the moment I laid eyes on him, but now was not the time to be dwelling on ominous dreams and such nonsense.
Namgung Baek steadied his breathing and rushed toward him with urgency.
His family’s hunger drove him forward.

* * *

“We’ve finally arrived.”
“I thought I’d die of boredom.”
The moment the carriage came to a stop before the Yunlong Inn, Chaeseoha, her eyes hollow with exhaustion, let out a long sigh and hurriedly pushed open the door to step down.
The urgency to escape was palpable in her every movement.
It wasn’t only Chaeseoha who felt this way.
Jang Chuchyeong also descended with haste.
Gu Gunbaek’s skill as a coachman was truly remarkable.
We had arrived ten days faster than anticipated.
But such speed came with its own consequences.
No matter how large and fine the carriage we had procured, the rapid pace meant it was constantly jolting and swaying.
After more than a month of enduring that, anyone would have been exhausted.
As I myself descended from the carriage, my weary body finally finding relief, a sigh of relief naturally escaped my lips.
“…You’ve arrived, Young Master!”
“Have you been well?”
“Haha, well, I’m always doing fine. More importantly, I’ve prepared your rooms, so please come inside.”
I nodded at the words of the inn’s manager.
Just as I was about to follow him inside.
A familiar presence made itself known from behind.
Turning slightly to glance back, I recognized the face of someone I knew.
Having rushed over with considerable urgency, he was breathing heavily as he bowed deeply before me.
“It’s been a long time, Young Master!”
“You are…?”
“Ah…! As expected, you don’t remember me. Haha, I suppose I lack presence. Yes. Nam… Namgung Baek. From back when… the Black Crow Society….”
“Ah-.”
When he let out a short exclamation as if suddenly remembering me, I saw Namgung Baek’s expression brighten noticeably.
He seemed to believe that I had finally remembered him.
I smiled faintly and regarded him with measured composure.
“But what brings you here? Is there something you need from me…?”
“Ah, well… that is….”
Namgung Baek’s face betrayed his uncertainty about what to say.
There was a time when we conversed amicably, when he even bought me meals and extended an invitation to join his ranks.
To any observer, we appeared to share considerable rapport.
Yet hearing the different tone and inflection in his voice now, the distance between us became unmistakably apparent.
My firm rejection of his proposal back then, and my decision to continue living as I had been, must have shifted his calculations considerably by now.
After all, there were no shortage of those who despised seeing the Namgung Family prosper.
Which is precisely why he stood before me now.
I smiled again, observing Namgung Baek with renewed interest.
His expression revealed the wheels turning behind his eyes.
The only path forward from this predicament was to accept the proposal he had made before.
“I….”
“The long journey has exhausted me considerably. If there is no pressing matter….”
“…Please buy me the meal I missed last time!”
His sudden words left me momentarily speechless, caught entirely off guard.

* * *

Within the ornate annex of the Yunlong Inn, an abundance of dishes had been laid out before us.
At the sight of such lavish fare—a rarity in recent times—everyone’s chopsticks moved with fervent purpose.
Gu Gunbaek savored fine wine and picked at appetizers with evident pleasure, while Jang Chuchyeong stuffed his mouth with meat, his face radiant with contentment.
Yet two among us were different.
Their chopsticks moved with relentless haste.
Chaeseoha’s eyes remained fixed solely on the food before her, never glancing elsewhere as she continued to shovel it into her mouth with singular focus.
The old habit from leaner days—when food was scarce and every morsel precious—still clung to her like a second skin.
They say habits formed at three persist until eighty; even death and resurrection wouldn’t break such patterns.
Conversely, there was another whose chopsticks moved with equal urgency, though for entirely different reasons.
None other than Namgung Baek.
He watched the dishes empty rapidly, then began methodically stacking food into a separate bowl.
It was less an act of eating and more one of preparation—as if gathering provisions for someone else.
As I stared at him with an expression of bewilderment, Namgung Baek finally noticed my gaze and offered me a sheepish smile.
“Ah, my apologies. My younger brother hasn’t been eating well lately, and he’s grown thin. Ha, haha.”
“If there are leftovers, I can have them wrapped for you. Why not simply enjoy your meal?”
“I suspect there won’t be any leftovers. Hahaha….”
Namgung Baek laughed awkwardly and glanced sideways.
Chaeseoha was devouring her rice with desperate urgency, emptying bowls at remarkable speed, while Jang Chuchyeong selected only the most delectable morsels for himself.
Witnessing this spectacle, I shook my head and turned away.
The door opened, and a maid entered the annex.
“Please prepare some delicious food to take with you. Give it to him when you leave.”
“Understood.”
“…Young Master, you needn’t go to such lengths….”
“Didn’t you ask me to purchase food you couldn’t afford before? So eat it. Wrap what’s for the person at home and take that with you.”
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Namgung Baek bowed hurriedly, repeating his gratitude several times over. Tears glistened at the corners of his eyes, speaking volumes of the hardship he’d endured.
The sincerity evident in his gaze and expression suggested I’d accumulated a rather substantial debt of gratitude.
I let out a quiet chuckle.
“It seems you’ve had a difficult time of it.”
“Ah, yes. Well… nothing’s been going right lately. Sigh— my life has never known smooth sailing, truly.”
Namgung Baek proceeded to recount all the misfortunes that had befallen him.
Without Moyong Hyeok, he’d lost his bribes; with the Black Crow Society gone, there were no bandits to hunt; the bandits themselves were fractured by internal strife, and the Giru in the Red Light District had collapsed overnight; even the government office had closed its doors, denying him work.
As these calamities compounded, his opportunities dwindled one by one. He vented his grievances at length, cursing heaven itself for his misfortune.
Yet something was amiss in the eyes around us.
With each word from his mouth, all eyes turned toward me.
When he mentioned Moyong Hyeok, Gu Gunbaek’s gaze sharpened; at the mention of the Black Crow Society, Jang Chuchyeong and Chaeseoha narrowed their eyes; and when he spoke of the Emperor, everyone’s expression grew stern.
As if I were the architect of all these calamities.
“What is it?”
“Nothing at all. Did I look at you strangely, Young Master?”
“That’s right. You simply look particularly impressive today.”
Jang Chuchyeong and Chaeseoha hastily interjected, turning their gazes away.
Gu Gunbaek, seemingly losing interest, let out a soft chuckle before raising the bottle to his lips again, popping some remaining snacks into his mouth.
I furrowed my brow and looked back at Namgung Baek.
“Speaking of which, what about the Chohyeon Family? It seems the relationship between them and the Namgung Family isn’t particularly good.”
“Ah— good or bad relations? What does that matter? In their eyes, we’re nothing but insignificant fools. Haha, they occasionally visit and even throw us some work.”
“They give you work? You mean the Chohyeon Family?”
“Yes, they sometimes come by to inspect things.”
Namgung Baek didn’t seem particularly concerned about such matters.
But he was a cunning man, after all.
There was no way he didn’t understand what that situation truly meant.
Just as Moyong Hyeok dragged Namgung Baek around, humiliating and crushing him, the Chohyeon Family was likewise keeping constant watch, anticipating any unforeseen developments.
They wouldn’t visit without purpose—they were throwing him work as a means of surveillance.
It seemed many still feared the Namgung Family in various quarters.
Though he spoke as if it were trivial, Namgung Baek understood it all and had chosen to conceal everything about himself, maintaining absolute humility.
That was his way of survival.
I let out a soft laugh and turned my gaze toward the window.
I sensed a familiar presence from somewhere.
It wasn’t only I who noticed—Gu Gunbaek, who had been drinking, also looked toward the window before glancing at me.
Soon, a figure came into view through the window.
“We have a visitor.”
The one entering the Yunlong Inn without hesitation was unmistakably—
Ma Hyeong-chu.

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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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