Chapter 29 : Go to Anhui
Chapter 29 : Go to Anhui
Why won't the people of the world just leave me alone?
At first, Namgung Muhyeok tried to boss me around, and now his daughter, Namgung Seolu, has called me out to an empty training ground.
"What did you talk about with the Family Head in private?"
Jin Sohyun's mouth was itching.
He wanted to share even a little of his unfairness.
'If it weren't for the deal...'
If he could just get through this, he would be able to regain his life of affluence and lazing around to his heart's content.
True, complete freedom.
For this, Jin Sohyun had to faithfully carry out his deal with Namgung Muhyeok.
And the first condition of the deal was to keep his mouth shut.
"We didn't talk about much."
"I don't think so. The Family Head doesn't do things without meaning."
What Namgung Seolu had realized while staying by Namgung Muhyeok's side for a long time was that he never wasted time with meaningless actions and words.
Therefore, the meeting with Jin Sohyun must have been a very important matter for Namgung Muhyeok.
'I had hoped it was about the commercial rights.'
Namgung Seolu had hoped that they had talked about the commercial rights of Shanxi and Anhui between the Namgung Family and the Jin Family.
But if they were to talk about such things, they should have chosen Jin Gahyeon, not Jin Sohyun.
'Why would father... with such a man...'
A lazy and slothful man.
The type of human that Namgung Seolu despised the most.
Suppressing her rising disgust, Namgung Seolu said.
"As I said before, I did not call Young Master Jin here to have a pleasant conversation."
Swoosh—!
As Namgung Seolu released her internal energy, the surrounding air became heavy.
While Jin Sohyun, whose shoulders felt heavy, lightly rolled his shoulders, Namgung Seolu came right up to him.
The next moment, the tip of Namgung Seolu's finger stopped in front of Jin Sohyun's Adam's apple.
It was a technique as fast as lightning.
'He couldn't even react...'
Namgung Seolu thought that Jin Sohyun had not been able to react because he had not perceived her movement.
"I heard you learned martial arts. But at this level, you will only be a hindrance to us. I don't know what the Family Head asked of you... but sit quietly without even making a sound. If you don't want to die a dog's death."
Namgung Seolu, who had finished speaking one-sidedly, turned her body and disappeared.
"Hoo—!"
Jin Sohyun, who had let out the breath he had been holding, scratched the back of his head.
"A strange woman."
Namgung Seolu's movement was fast, but it was not to the point where he couldn't react. No, on the contrary, there was even enough time to counterattack.
However, Namgung Seolu's technique did not contain enough killing intent.
Since there was no need to dodge or block an attack that had no intention of killing, Jin Sohyun did not move.
"Is it for the better?"
To be told not to do anything, there was no better proposal for Jin Sohyun.
"If I say I was threatened with my life, that mister won't be able to say anything either."
At some point, the Family Head of the Namgung Family and the Yellow Dragon Divine Sword, Namgung Muhyeok, had become a 'mister I know' to Jin Sohyun.
***
"Young Master! Are you alright?"
"Yes. Why?"
"There were all sorts of rumors after Young Lady Namgung took you away. This loyal Siu was on pins and needles, eagerly waiting for you to come back!"
Jin Sohyun brushed off the cookie crumbs on Siu's lips and said.
"Really? But it seems you couldn't resist the cookies."
"Ehe... maybe because it's a prestigious family, the cookies were delicious..."
The embarrassed Siu blushed and wiped the cookie crumbs on her lips.
"By the way, the Young Lady is very busy."
While Jin Sohyun had been called away by Namgung Seolu, Jin Gahyeon was already surrounded by the next-generation talents and was chatting about this and that.
It seemed that Zhuge Ming had acted as a bridge.
Jin Gahyeon, who was graceful, polite, and even beautiful, had instantly captured the hearts of the young next-generation talents of the prestigious families.
"Really?"
Jin Gahyeon spared her words and listened to the stories of the next-generation talents.
"So it wasn't for nothing that the Peng Family is called the Tiger of Hebei."
At the sight of Jin Gahyeon, who was smiling gently and her eyes sparkling, Peng Sopung puffed out his already large muscles even more.
"Haha! That's right. The wound I got at that time is right here!"
As Peng Sopung rolled up his sleeve, Murong Susu turned her head, saying he was starting again, and Namgung Seong laughed heartily.
"A group of thirty bandits attacked, but this Peng's saber was never broken."
"That's amazing!"
"Hahat!"
"Young Lady Jin! Stop listening to that muscle-brained fool. If this continues, I might go crazy."
Murong Susu, who had been listening to their conversation from the side, said she was sick of it and took Jin Gahyeon away.
In the meantime, Zhuge Ming came back and sat next to the returned Jin Sohyun.
"What did you talk about with Young Lady Namgung?"
"It wasn't much."
"I see."
Zhuge Ming did not press further.
As Jin Gahyeon had said, to obtain a person's heart, which was the hardest thing to obtain in the world, one sometimes had to endure curiosity.
Like now.
"Do you also drink, Young Master Jin?"
"No. Alcohol doesn't taste good..."
"You're the same as me. Alcohol clouds a person's judgment and has the adverse effect of amplifying emotions. Furthermore, I hear it has a bad effect on a person's memory."
Zhuge Ming was excited at the thought that he had found a common ground.
With this, he felt that he had become a little closer to Jin Sohyun.
But Jin Sohyun was different.
'The people of the Zhuge Family talk a lot. Let's not get close.'
To him, Zhuge Ming was just a person who was troublesome because he talked a lot.
***
"I will entrust the execution of this Bud Crushing to you."
At Mu Yu's words, Ma Seongun looked at him with an emotionless face.
'I have no idea what this brat is thinking.'
Mu Yu, who had watched Ma Seongun by his side since he was young, still could not read his thoughts.
An attitude as if he had transcended everything and a crazed obsession with martial arts.
He seemed like a human born and living for the sole purpose of becoming stronger than anyone else in the world.
No, he was such a human.
Mu Yu stared straight at Ma Seongun, who was standing with an indifferent face, and asked.
"Why? You don't want to?"
"No."
Ma Seongun had been silent for another reason.
'This is the first time he has entrusted Bud Crushing to me.'
In his previous life, the Heretic's Path Alliance had never entrusted the execution of Bud Crushing to Ma Seongun.
After all, the black-clad assassins that the Heretic's Path Alliance possessed were enough, and Ma Seongun was the most valuable asset in the Heretic's Path Alliance.
Unlike the Mu Yu of his previous life, who had told him to focus only on becoming stronger, the Mu Yu of his current life had entrusted Bud Crushing to him.
'Has the future changed?'
Sometimes, the flapping of a small butterfly's wings can cause a typhoon.
Since Ma Seongun had changed, it was natural for the Heretic's Path Alliance to change as well.
"When should I move?"
"Right now. Go to Anhui."
"Anhui... is the target of Bud Crushing the Namgung Family?"
"Currently, the promising next-generation talents of the Five Great Families have gathered at the Namgung Family. It is an excellent opportunity for us. And it will be a good opportunity for you as well."
As Ma Seongun looked at him with a gaze as if to ask what he meant, Mu Yu said in a low voice.
"The Bud Crushing executed against Gongsun Su's grandson, Gongsun Cheong, has failed. The reason for the failure was the intervention of a third party that we had not calculated."
Ma Seongun's gaze changed.
Mu Yu was not one to speak unnecessarily.
The fact that he was speaking for so long meant that there was a reason for it.
"Could it be..."
"Yes, the right arm of the assassin who was trying to kill Gongsun Cheong was blown away entirely. And that... was because of a single sword that flew like a thunderbolt. Like a flying sword."
At the appearance of a flying sword, Ma Seongun flinched.
At his first sign of wavering, Mu Yu felt an interest.
"And the two children of the Jin Family were there as well. I think the owner of that flying sword is Kang Cheon. He was secretly protecting the Jin Family's merchant trip."
'It's not Kang Cheon.'
Ma Seongun had a hunch that the owner of the flying sword that had blown away the assassin's arm was not Kang Cheon.
If it had really been Kang Cheon, the assassin would not have survived.
'Jin Sohyun...!'
Ma Seongun felt his heart pounding.
He felt as if Jin Sohyun, whom he had thought he would meet again after several years, had come right in front of him.
'Is he really interested in Kang Cheon?'
But Mu Yu, who did not know about Jin Sohyun's identity, mistakenly thought that he was interested in Kang Cheon.
"In any case, this Bud Crushing must not fail. The number of next-generation talents we have identified is a total of six. All of them are the targets of Bud Crushing."
Of course, Jin Sohyun's name was not on the list that Mu Yu had created.
But that was not important.
Jin Sohyun was there.
A fire ignited in Ma Seongun's pupils.
"I will execute it."
***
A week had passed since they arrived at the Namgung Family.
Jin Gahyeon's day, who had woken up early in the morning as usual, was very busy.
This was because she was having many conversations to open a new trade with the Namgung Family, which dominated the commercial rights of Anhui.
"Here you go."
"Thank you. If it weren't for Siu, I would have had a very hard time alone."
"Just trust this Siu!"
Siu was now serving Jin Gahyeon, not Jin Sohyun.
After all, since Jin Sohyun did not move a muscle from the quarters that the Namgung Family had prepared for him, Siu's presence was not very important.
"I might be a little busy today as I have many people to meet."
"Don't worry! Siu will be with you, Young Lady."
"Yes."
'With this, I will expand my influence over the Young Lady! Then I can escape from the Young Master!'
Siu was an ambitious person.
Now she had to stick to Jin Gahyeon, who would soon become the real power of the Jin Family, to be able to aim for the position of head maidservant, which was her final goal.
'If I become the head maidservant... my life will bloom!'
If she became the head maidservant in the Jin Family, where the welfare for servants was incomparably outstanding compared to other families, she could receive an enormous salary and vacation.
But there was something more important to Siu than that.
'Power! Power is the best!'
More important than money was power.
In the huge family of the Jin Family, there was an invisible power struggle, and that was the war of nerves between the servants over the position of head maidservant.
If she could somehow secure the position of head maidservant, she could wield immense power in the prestigious family of the Jin Family.
Therefore, Siu had to somehow catch Jin Gahyeon's eye on this merchant trip.
"Young Lady."
"Yes?"
"This Siu! For the sake of the Young Lady, I will devote my entire body."
"Alright. That's reassuring."
Jin Gahyeon lightly stroked the head of Siu, whose two eyes were full of ambition.
While the two were moving busily, Jin Sohyun, who was spending the day lying still in his quarters, was counting the passing clouds.
But then, his vision darkened.
"Young Master Jin! You were here."
"Young Hero Zhuge?"
Zhuge Ming had come to see him.
At the appearance of Zhuge Ming, who had appeared without any notice, Jin Sohyun fell into thought.
'Should I get up?'
It was polite to get up when a guest came, but for that, this posture was too comfortable.
While Jin Sohyun was contemplating, Zhuge Ming sat next to him and said.
"You don't have to get up. Haha."
"Thank you."
"The reason I came is none other than... for the boat trip tomorrow."
"A boat trip?"
As Jin Sohyun looked up with a blank face, Zhuge Ming smiled brightly.
"It's not an ordinary boat trip."
Only then did Jin Sohyun realize that it was the certain mission using the next-generation talents that Namgung Muhyeok had mentioned.
"Ah..."
Jin Sohyun struggled to get up.
"Is it tomorrow?"
"To be precise, it will start at the hour of the pig at Jiao Lake, located in the central part of Anhui. You will know the details then."
"Kkeung... alright."
"Then, I will see you then, Young Master Jin."
As Zhuge Ming, who had finished his business, tactfully made way for him to rest comfortably, Jin Sohyun let out a deep sigh and prostrated himself on the floor.
"I might be busy tomorrow... so I should laze around to my heart's content today."
Although he had already lazed around for a week, the Slothful Young Master of the Jin Family was still not satisfied.
***
"An item has arrived for Young Master Jin."
The next morning.
Jin Sohyun received the item that had arrived without delay and opened the box.
Inside it were a long robe, ten flying swords, and a Secret Pouch to store them.
"I probably won't use them... but it's better to have them, right?"
Jin Sohyun slung the Secret Pouch over his shoulder and put five flying swords in it, and put the remaining five swords back in the box.
It was because it was a hassle to carry ten of them.
"Did he say Jiao Lake at the hour of the pig?"
Jin Sohyun recalled Zhuge Ming's words and stepped out of his quarters.
"Oh? Young Master! Are you going to the privy?"
As Siu, who had woken up, came walking, rubbing her eyes, Jin Sohyun said.
"I'm going for a short walk. I might be a little late, so stay with Gahyeon."
"Th-The Young Master is going for a walk!?"
"Yes."
Jin Sohyun got on the carriage that had appeared as if it had been waiting and left the Namgung Family estate.
Siu, who was watching this, stroked her chin with a complicated face.
"The Young Master is going for a walk... and he said he'll be long... this smells fishy."
By the time Siu was sniffing and having doubts about Jin Sohyun's whereabouts, a single carriage that had left the Namgung Family was heading towards the central part of Anhui at high speed.
Jin Sohyun, who was blinking in the blowing wind, opened his mouth wide and yawned.
"Haaam... what a hassle."
(End of Chapter)
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