Chapter 51 : You'll Know When You Get There
"Hoooooo..."
There were no exceptions.
He had hardened his heart and had fired a large number of servants, but only one person.
He had not been able to fire Siu.
It was because Jin Sohyun had defended Siu with a firm attitude that he had never shown before.
Thanks to that, Jin Seomok, who had not been able to separate Siu from Jin Sohyun's side, was in a situation where he could not even sleep properly due to anxiety.
"Yonghu."
"Yes, Family Head."
"What should we do about Siu? If we give her an amount of money that she can't refuse, won't Siu leave?"
"It might be possible if you give her a very large amount of money, but I don't think you need to go that far."
"I'm worried that Siu will become a Little Killing Ghost and put Sohyun in danger."
"That..."
Mu Yonghu recalled Jin Sohyun, who had subdued a large number of assassins single-handedly.
'They were all assassins above a certain level. They weren't just riffraff.'
Under the assumption that there was no accomplice, Jin Sohyun's level of martial arts was beyond what Mu Yonghu could predict.
"Even if Siu is a Little Killing Ghost, she won't be able to lay a hand on Young Master Jin's body."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Because if Young Master Jin decides to run away or hide, even I won't be able to touch a hair on the Young Master. So for now, please trust Young Master Jin and be at ease."
"Hoo... now that you say that, I feel a little relieved. For now, I'll have to trust Siu and Sohyun. However, keep a close eye on Siu's movements. If she takes even the slightest suspicious action..."
"At that time, I will personally... deal with Siu."
"I'm counting on you."
"Yes."
By the time Jin Seomok and Mu Yonghu were having a terrifying conversation about Siu, a commotion had broken out in Jin Sohyun's quarters.
"Young Master! This loyal maidservant, Siu, will assist the Young Master forever!"
"A good thought, Siu."
'As soon as this Bud Crushing thing is over, I'll have to request to be sent as the Young Lady's exclusive maidservant.'
'For my comfortable life, I need Siu. There's no one who knows me better than this brat.'
The two smiled at each other, hiding their true intentions.
Siu had to stay by Jin Sohyun's side to remain in the Jin Family, where she could acquire enormous wealth and power if she became the head servant, and Jin Sohyun had to keep Siu by his side for his lazy and comfortable daily life.
"By the way... what on earth is going on?"
"I wonder."
Although Jin Sohyun answered as if he didn't know, he knew well who was leading Bud Crushing.
'The Heretic's Path Alliance...'
Under the leadership of the Heretic's Path Alliance, which had pacified the unorthodox faction, young assassins called the Little Killing Ghosts were murdering the next-generation talents of the Orthodox Martial World.
No one could have predicted death by those they had trusted.
No matter how outstanding a next-generation talent was, they could not notice the blade flying from behind their back and the poison quietly hidden under their cup.
'Siu is...'
Jin Sohyun stared at Siu, who was peeling fruit with an innocent face.
"Why? Young Master?"
"It's nothing."
"Don't tell me you think I'm a Little Killing Ghost!?"
"I thought that might be the case, but now that I think about it, I don't think so."
"What do you take me for! I will never harm you, Young Master!"
"I know."
Siu smiled shyly as she looked at Jin Sohyun, who was patting her head playfully, nodding.
"Thank you, Young Master... for believing in me."
"I have never seen a child as greedy as you in my life. There's no way a brat who harbors such a large lump of desire in this small body could become an assassin."
"That's right! That's... wait, what do you mean by that?"
"I've been living busily, unlike my usual self, so I'll have to laze around as much as possible for the time being."
"What do you mean I'm a lump of desire! Where is there a maidservant as pure as me!"
"Siu."
"Yes."
As Siu pouted, Jin Sohyun said.
"I'm going to sleep, so please close the window."
"Hmph."
While Siu was walking with short steps and closing the window, Jin Sohyun closed his eyes.
But Jin Sohyun's humble dream of lazing around at home for a few weeks could not be fulfilled.
Thump, thump, thump—!
'Footsteps?'
Jin Sohyun, who had opened his closed eyes, looked at the door with an anxious heart.
Soon, the closed door was thrown open, and Mu Yonghu appeared.
"Young Master."
"Mister Mu? What's wrong?"
"A guest has come."
"My guest?"
At Jin Sohyun's puzzled question, Mu Yonghu nodded with a flustered face, unlike his usual self.
"There is no time to delay. Let's go right away."
***
Jin Sohyun, who had arrived at the reception room of the Jin Family, following Mu Yonghu, found out who the guest who had come to see him was.
"Mister Namgung?"
"You're here now."
"Why did you come here?"
Jin Seomok and Mu Yonghu, who were watching Jin Sohyun's attitude of sitting in an empty chair with these words, found it very hard to hide their surprised hearts.
It was none other than the family head of the Namgung Family, the backbone of the Five Great Families, Namgung Muhyeok, who had personally visited the Jin Family.
But Jin Sohyun was treating him like a mister he knew in the neighborhood, and Namgung Muhyeok did not pick on this separately.
"Sohyun! This person is the Family Head of the Namgung Family. Correct your attitude!"
As Jin Seomok hurriedly rebuked Jin Sohyun, Namgung Muhyeok waved his hand.
"It's alright, Family Head Jin."
"But..."
"Can a person who has come without notice be particular about etiquette? And more than that, I have something to talk to Sohyun about separately, so could you please give us a moment?"
"Of course. Then please talk comfortably."
As Jin Seomok and Mu Yonghu left the reception room with still confused faces, Namgung Muhyeok spread his qi in all directions.
It was a scene he had also seen at the Namgung Family.
"It's amazing no matter how many times I see it. That the sound doesn't leak out if you do this."
"Shall I teach you?"
"It's alright. I don't think I'll have any use for it anyway... so what brings you here?"
Namgung Muhyeok took out a letter from his bosom and placed it in front of Jin Sohyun.
"A letter had arrived while I was away from the family estate."
"Ah, I sent that."
The letter that Namgung Muhyeok had extended was the letter that Jin Sohyun had sent to Namgung Muhyeok as soon as he had returned to the family estate after finishing his business at Geumseong Manor.
"How did you know?"
"What?"
"You noticed that the young assassins belonging to the Heretic's Path Alliance were hiding all over the Central Plains. How did you know?"
"There was an unfortunate incident at Geumseong Manor."
Jin Sohyun briefly explained the series of events that had occurred at Geumseong Manor.
"You're saying that child named Yunhwa committed suicide in front of you?"
"She said that making the manor head's son disabled was the reason she had lived. I couldn't understand it at first... but the method and form were very similar to Bud Crushing. That's why I sent the letter. It seems the people that the Heretic's Path Alliance has planted are hiding all over the Central Plains, regardless of sects or martial families."
Jin Sohyun's warning was real.
Namgung Muhyeok, who had returned after his meeting with the Heretic's Path Alliance Leader, had burst into anger at the news of the deaths of the young next-generation talents coming from all over the Central Plains.
Nevertheless, there was nothing he could do.
The Hundred-Year Plan of the Orthodox Martial World had been destroyed by the 10-year sinister plot that the Heretic's Path Alliance had set up.
"According to Family Head Jin's words, the Jin Family has also sent out all the young servants who have been there for less than 10 years. Except for one person... a maidservant named Siu."
"Yes, that's right."
"You left the maidservant named Siu at the family estate... what's the reason? According to your words, the young maidservant named Siu would have been worth suspecting."
"Siu is..."
Jin Sohyun smiled lightly as he recalled Siu's face.
"She's a lump of desire who would be sad if she were second in the world for her obsession with money."
"So?"
"The child named Yunhwa that I met had no greed. It was as if she thought her life existed solely to kill someone."
"Greed... hahaha. Is that so?"
Namgung Muhyeok seemed to know what Jin Sohyun was talking about.
There was a high possibility that those called the Little Killing Ghosts had been planted all over the Central Plains with a strong suggestion from a young age.
Since their lives were solely for Bud Crushing, it was clear that they could not harbor any other desires.
Because personal desires would dull the blade of an assassin.
So Siu, who openly revealed her personal desires and lived for them, was a girl who did not suit the Little Killing Ghosts at all.
'Did he notice this at once?'
The more Namgung Muhyeok looked, the more he felt that this man named Jin Sohyun was amazing.
Although he was a lazy brat who liked to laze around, as his title, the Slothful Young Master, suggested, his talent for martial arts and his insight to read the situation surpassed that of an old master of the martial world.
"As expected, my thoughts were not wrong."
Namgung Muhyeok, who had said this, got up from his seat.
"Let's meet again."
"I refuse."
"I refuse too. We'll be seeing each other again in the near future anyway."
Namgung Muhyeok left the reception room without a word of farewell, as if they would be meeting again soon.
"This is a big problem."
Jin Sohyun's head started to hurt.
Whenever he got involved with Namgung Muhyeok, troublesome things would happen to him one after another.
Somehow, Namgung Muhyeok's reaction this time was also unusual.
"Ugh—! Something's strange. I'll have to talk to my father and go to the villa. This time, I'll have to stay at the villa for about a year... no, at least two years."
While Jin Sohyun was shuddering and leaving the reception room, Namgung Muhyeok, who had unilaterally ended the conversation, headed to the main gate of the Jin Family.
Since he had a mountain of work to do now, he had no time to waste.
Nevertheless, the reason he had bothered to visit the Jin Family was to deliver a certain proof.
Namgung Muhyeok, who was about to return to his family after finishing his business, stopped in his tracks.
"Family Head Namgung."
It was because a familiar face had appeared in front of him.
"Elder Gongsun."
"I'm glad I'm not late. What brings the Family Head all the way here?"
"I came to give the same gift that the Alliance gave you."
"Ah..."
Gongsun Su, who had recalled the entrance certificate that had been delivered from the Alliance recently, had a slightly surprised expression.
"That means... the son of Family Head Jin is also entering that place?"
"You could say that."
'The recommender must be the Namgung Family. Since the Namgung Family Head personally brought the entrance certificate.'
Gongsun Su could not help but be greatly shocked.
Even he, who had the title of the Thunder Roar Kick, had received the entrance certificate that a messenger of the Alliance had delivered.
But for the Slothful Young Master of the Jin Family, the family head of the Namgung Family had personally come and had handed him the entrance certificate.
"Family Head, please tell me. What on earth is Jin Sohyun's identity?"
"Who else? Isn't he the best lazy bum in Shanxi?"
"But...!"
"Elder Gongsun."
Namgung Muhyeok placed his hand on Gongsun Su's shoulder with an expressionless face and said.
"Whatever you know, just know it as it is for now."
It was a warning.
Gongsun Su, who had grasped Namgung Muhyeok's true intentions, bowed his head.
"I understand."
After the short conversation ended, the carriage carrying Namgung Muhyeok left the family estate.
Gongsun Su, who was watching the scene silently, stared at the grand estate of the Jin Family, which boasted a huge presence, and muttered quietly.
"What on earth is going on..."
***
Jin Sohyun, who had returned to his quarters, was startled.
All of his luggage was packed in a box, and next to it, Siu was sitting in a demure posture.
"You've come, Young Master."
"Siu, what is this?"
"Sohyun."
Jin Sohyun's head snapped around.
There, Jin Seomok, Yu Seoheung, and Jin Gahyeon were standing side by side.
"What is the meaning of this?"
The person who answered Jin Sohyun's question was Jin Seomok.
"Leave."
"L-Leave?"
Instead of words, Jin Seomok took out a long, flat-shaped ornament made of blue jade from his bosom.
The ornament was made to be worn on the waistband, and if you looked closely, three intertwined dragons were engraved on it.
And under the dragons, the words 'Blue Dragon' were also engraved.
"What is this?"
"It is the entrance certificate of the Blue Dragon Daoist Temple."
"What's the Blue Dragon Daoist Temple?"
Looking at Jin Sohyun's two eyes, which were filled with anxiety, Jin Seomok said softly.
"You'll know when you get there."
(End of Chapter)