The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

"Cheong! Cheong!!"

Gongsun Su, who had defeated the assassins blocking his way and returned to the carriage, immediately looked for his precious grandson, Gongsun Cheong.

"Grandfather!"

"Oh...! You're safe!"

Gongsun Su, while embracing his grandson, looked around.

Fortunately, there seemed to be no dead, but he noticed that a fight had occurred from the bloodstains left around and the appearance of the injured escorts.

"Tell me in detail what happened."

Gongsun Cheong, who nodded, hurriedly explained the fight with the assassins.

Gongsun Su, who had a complicated expression throughout the explanation, grabbed Gongsun Cheong's shoulder and asked.

"Tell me again."

"At the last moment... a light flashed from somewhere, and the right arm of the man who seemed to be the leader of the assassins... literally disappeared. As if it had been pierced by a giant spear of light."

'That can't be...'

Judging from the skills of the assassins who had been holding Gongsun Su's ankle, it was normal for Gongsun Cheong, as well as the escorts, to have been annihilated.

But there was not a single dead person.

Gongsun Su lowered his posture and picked up an iron coin that had fallen on the floor.

'Coin Throwing... this is a hidden weapon technique of the Sichuan Tang Clan.'

The hidden weapon technique of throwing coins was one of the countless hidden weapon techniques of the Sichuan Tang Clan.

'Can one person protect all the escorts from the assassins' swords using Coin Throwing?'

At the very least, it would have to be a martial artist whose hidden weapon technique had reached its peak.

As far as he knew, the only people who possessed hidden weapon techniques of that level were the martial artists of the Sichuan Tang Clan.

'Did Family Head Jin attach someone?'

Did Jin Seomok, who was worried about this situation, secretly attach a master of the Tang Clan?

Gongsun Su recalled the single ray of light that was said to have blown away the black-clad man's right arm.

"Look carefully! Does it make sense for an escort to lose his sword?"

"I-I'm sorry! I definitely put it in the scabbard properly..."

At the sound of the conversation between Yi Haesang and the escort from behind, Gongsun Su's eyes flashed.

'A sword disappeared... and a single flash of light blew away the assassin's right arm? This is... a flying sword!'

There was only one person here who could use a flying sword.

Gongsun Su, who had hurriedly approached the carriage and thrown open the door, found Jin Sohyun snoring, leaning against the wall.

"What's wrong?"

At Jin Gahyeon's question, the flustered Gongsun Su shook his head.

"It's nothing. I came to check if you were safe."

"Is the fight over?"

"It seems so. But just in case, we should hurry down the mountain."

"I understand."

Fearing that a rear guard might come, Yi Haesang and the escorts hurriedly packed their luggage and went down with the carriages and carts.

Gongsun Su, who had mounted his horse, had Gongsun Cheong ride with him on his horse and followed the carriage.

'Well... there's no way that lazy brat would have that much martial arts. In that case, is it the Flying Sword Hero? Kang Cheon... did he follow us?'

What if Kang Cheon had secretly followed them and helped defeat the assassins?

And what if he had used his disciple, Jin Sohyun, to inform Gongsun Su of the assassins' existence?

'There's no way to find out for now.'

Gongsun Su had no way to find the hidden Kang Cheon.

'I'll have to question him firmly about this when I return to the Jin Family.'

Gongsun Su, who naturally thought that the owner of the flying sword could not be Jin Sohyun, gently stroked his grandson's shoulder and kept a lookout.

Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Siu, who had received her money pouch back, had a sad face.

"The money... where did all the money go?"

"Who knows? Maybe I dropped it somewhere."

"Hey! Give me back my money! My money!!"

Siu grabbed Jin Sohyun's collar and clung to it.

Although she was small, Siu, who had developed firm, small muscles from her long life as a maidservant, was so strong that even Jin Sohyun had a hard time shaking her off.

Moreover, Siu's obsession with money was second to none.

Jin Sohyun had no choice but to send a pleading gaze to Jin Gahyeon.

"G-Gahyeon!"

"No. It was you who dropped Siu's money, brother, so you have to take responsibility your. self."

"Kkeung..."

"Waaah—! My money!"

"I'll give you double when I get back to the family estate, so please let go now."

"Triple?"

"That's a bit..."

"Waaaaah! The money I earned through my blood and sweat all day... you, who have a lot of money, just spill it all! Waaaaah! You're saying my money is not money!?"

Because Siu was even grabbing his neck and clinging to him, Jin Sohyun had no choice but to promise a whopping four times the compensation.

"You're a witness, Young Lady! You have to give it back."

"Alright, alright."

Jin Sohyun, who had finally shaken off Siu and become a free man, let out a sigh and looked out the window.

Somehow, dealing with one Siu was harder than fighting with the assassins.

'By the way... this is so uncomfortable.'

Every time Jin Sohyun recalled the assassin whose right arm had been blown away by his flying sword, he was engulfed in an inexplicable sense of guilt.

'Did I use too much force against a weak person?'

Jin Sohyun thought that the assassin was too weak.

If the assassin had been strong, his right arm would not have been blown away by the sword he had thrown, so in a way, it was true.

'Aish! It's just deserts. Who told him to try to kill people?'

Jin Sohyun tried to erase the assassin from his mind and leaned his body against the backrest.

He had moved his body after a long time, so sleep came creeping in.

***

Jin Sohyun's first merchant trip flowed by faster than he had thought.

'It's no big deal.'

Wouldn't it have been better to go on a merchant trip than to suffer on the mountain for six years?

Jin Sohyun felt a sense of regret.

It was only natural, as Jin Sohyun ate when the carriage stopped and slept when the carriage moved.

To be able to sleep anytime by laying his head down and closing his eyes.

That was Jin Sohyun's specialty and pride.

—How can you sleep so often, Young Master?

Siu asked with pure admiration.

From what she had heard, Siu and Jin Gahyeon felt so restless just sitting in the carriage that they felt like their backs would break, let alone sleep.

'Why can't they do something so easy?'

On the other hand, Jin Sohyun did not understand them.

When he was living on the mountain, he had slept soundly even on top of a tree or on a small rock like a shrimp.

How much more so in a carriage with a soft chair, which was like a bed to him, so the swaying of the ground was something he could overlook as cute.

"Young Master! It's time to get up."

"Mmm... why? Is it mealtime already?"

Jin Sohyun patted his lower abdomen.

He wasn't hungry yet, so it wasn't mealtime.

"We've arrived."

"Already?"

"Yes!"

At Siu's words that they had finally arrived at their destination, Jin Sohyun stretched and came out, only to be startled.

"Where... is this?"

"Where do you think? It's the Namgung Family estate in Anhui."

"Namgung... Family?"

Even Jin Sohyun, who had no interest in the world outside the estate, had heard the name of the Namgung Family.

The five families that represented the orthodox martial world: the Namgung Family, the Murong Family, the Zhuge Family, the Hebei Peng Family, and the Sichuan Tang Clan.

These five sects were collectively called the Five Great Families of the Martial World.

Among them, the Namgung Family was the hegemon of Anhui and was said to have been a powerful martial family that was once called the number one martial family under heaven.

"Once? Not now?"

Siu, who was giving a supplementary explanation, covered Jin Sohyun's mouth with a pale face.

"You have to be careful with your words! The people of the Namgung Family can't accept that they've been pushed to number two under heaven."

"Then who's number one?"

Siu whispered quietly in Jin Sohyun's ear.

"The White Moon Palace. It was founded by the family of the White Moon Divine Lord, Cheon Yusin."

"Ah..."

He had heard his two masters say 'that Cheon Family brat' once.

According to his masters, the White Moon Divine Lord, Cheon Yusin, was...

—A guy with a broken personality. He may be strong in martial arts, but he's a selfish guy who only knows himself.

—A trashy guy who doesn't acknowledge anything other than being strong. He's a legendary thief who trespassed into the Sword Pavilion, which was a forbidden area for men, just for the reason of leaving behind a strong posterity, and kidnapped the Jade Spirit Divine Maiden!

The sight of the number one thief in the Central Plains cursing Cheon Yusin as a legendary thief was quite funny, but Jin Sohyun pretended not to know.

Anyway, according to his masters, Cheon Yusin was definitely a very bad guy.

He could somewhat understand why the Namgung Family's insides were twisted, having had the position of number one under heaven snatched away by a family whose leader was such a person.

"By the way, why did we come to the Namgung Family?"

At Jin Sohyun's question, Jin Gahyeon, who had finished getting ready at some point, said in a gentle voice.

"Our destination was the Namgung Family from the beginning."

"Was it?"

"I showed you the route, brother, but you said it was a hassle and didn't read it."

"Aha."

Since it was Jin Gahyeon who was in charge of the merchant trip anyway, Jin Sohyun had not bothered to look at the route.

"So you should also prepare well, brother. We have to go see the Family Head of the Namgung Family now."

***

The Namgung Family.

As the mainstay of the Five Great Families and a family that had once made a name for itself as the number one martial family under heaven, the size of the estate that housed the family was very large.

Compared to that, the walls were not that high, and according to Siu, 'Who would dare to climb the walls of the Namgung Family?'

True to Siu's words, a large number of martial artists were engrossed in martial arts training at the Namgung Family, reeking of sweat.

Even though it was broad daylight with the scorching sun beating down, the heat of the martial artists was even hotter than that.

And Jin Sohyun, who was watching this, recalled Kang Cheon's teachings and smiled warmly.

'I did well to learn the Flying Sword Technique from Master Kang.'

A martial art that could be performed while sitting or standing still.

Although he would never have to perform the Flying Sword Technique again, he felt grateful for Kang Cheon's teachings anew.

"You've worked hard coming a long way."

Crossing the huge main road, a middle-aged man and several young men appeared in front of Jin Gahyeon.

At their appearance, Jin Gahyeon greeted them with a graceful appearance.

"I am Gahyeon of the Jin Family. I ask for your understanding that I am visiting the Namgung Family on behalf of the Family Head."

"I am Namgung Ak. And I have already received a letter from Family Head Jin, so don't worry about it."

"Thank you for your understanding, which you have shown with your broad generosity."

Namgung Ak felt admiration and favor for Jin Gahyeon, who had the grace and etiquette befitting a daughter of a prestigious family, but on the other hand, he felt pathetic towards Jin Sohyun, who was standing blankly next to a girl who looked like a maidservant.

'This brat must be the famous Slothful Young Master of the Jin Family.'

A lazy bum so famous that rumors had even spread to Anhui.

That was Jin Sohyun.

"I am Sohyun of the Jin Family."

"I heard you've never left the estate, so you must have had a hard time coming a long way."

"It was bearable."

"..."

Namgung Ak had to endure so as not to reveal his pathetic feelings towards Jin Sohyun.

Following that, as Gongsun Su appeared, Namgung Ak greeted him first with a clasped fist.

"Namgung Ak greets a senior of the martial world."

"It's been a while. Is the Family Head well?"

"That's right. He is waiting for a meeting."

"Keke... we shouldn't keep the Family Head waiting too long. Isn't that right?"

"That's right."

As Jin Gahyeon responded with a smile, Namgung Ak crossed the wide main road of the Namgung Family with them.

After passing a row of similar buildings and conquering a high staircase, a huge pavilion overflowing with dignity appeared in front of the group.

It was the main hall of the Namgung Family.

"Please come inside."

Namgung Ak guided Jin Gahyeon and the group, who were mesmerized by the great majesty of the main hall, which seemed to be wrapped by a giant dragon, inside.

As they entered the main hall, huge golden pillars and incense burners that supported it greeted the group, and they entered, stepping lightly on a red cloth.

There, a middle-aged man wearing a huge silk robe and sitting on a chair carved with three dragons greeted the guests.

"Welcome."

He greeted the guests with a posture that seemed arrogant at first glance and smiled lightly.

"I am the Family Head of the Namgung Family, Namgung Muhyeok."

(End of Chapter)