The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

Cloud Sleep Peak.

The place where the clouds that had flown across numerous mountains, fields, and rivers came to sleep.

Below it, there was an abandoned five-cornered pavilion without a roof.

A man appeared in that place, which had been neglected for a long time and was covered with fallen leaves.

“It seems I’m the last one.”

The man smiled slightly as he took off the bamboo hat he was wearing.

Four people were standing in front of him.

Three of them were wearing bamboo hats just like the man, and the remaining one was standing with his hands behind his back in a purple light attire.

“I greet the Sect Master.”

“It’s been a long time, Fourth Guest. Did you enjoy your outing?”

“Of course. It’s a new feeling to see the travelers gathered in one place.”

The man called the Fourth Guest leaned his body against a broken stone pillar.

With this, all four travelers had gathered, and the man called the Sect Master looked at their faces carefully and then said.

“As you all know, the Hao Sect has faced an unprecedented crisis.”

“For the Sect Master to say so, it seems a rather complicated problem has occurred.”

“That’s right, Third Guest.”

The middle-aged man called the Third Guest placed his arm on one of the five swords stuck in his waist.

“Who should I kill?”

“Ok Myeon has been defeated. It is said that his branch office has sunk and there are no survivors.”

“Oh my… Ok Myeon is a cautious person. If he was defeated, he must have met an unusual opponent.”

Unlike his words, a sense of anticipation was felt on the Third Guest’s face.

“Also, the Heretic Path's Alliance has moved. They have released the hunters, and it seems the Ten-Man Squad has stepped forward.”

“The Ten-Man Squad… the young strong ones of the Heretic Path's Alliance that the Heretic Path's Alliance Leader was personally cultivating…”

“I plan to leave the dregs of the Martial Alliance to the Alliance. What I want is revenge for Ok Myeon.”

A thin momentum stretched out from the Sect Master’s body like a stem.

The four travelers who felt his power trembled slightly.

“Second Guest and Third Guest. I will entrust the revenge to you two. Please go to Honggang.”

“As you command.”

“And to the Fourth Guest, I will entrust the dregs of the alliance who are still stirring up the Hao Sect.”

“I will follow your command.”

Finally.

The Hao Sect Master looked at the First Guest who was standing in silence.

The eyes of the man with a gray beard grown down to his chin met the Hao Sect Master’s.

Gray eyes that had lost their light.

“First Guest, please take care of the shadows of the Martial Alliance.”

“As you command.”

The Hao Sect Master, who had given orders to all the travelers, released his hands from behind his back and clenched his fists.

“Stop your outing for a while… and let everyone know that the Hao Sect exists in the world.”

The moment the Hao Sect Master’s words ended.

The four travelers disappeared.

***

“Jeokmyeon!”

Jin Sohyun, who had returned to Honggang, first went to find Jeokmyeon.

Jeokmyeon, who had just fallen asleep, came out with a disheveled appearance.

“Y-yes?”

“The Cold Condensing Snow Ginseng you received from Baekmyeon, do you still have it?”

“I do, but… w-why that?”

Jeokmyeon was perplexed.

The Cold Condensing Snow Ginseng was carefully kept next to his bed.

He had even laid down a warm silk cloth in case the snow ginseng got hurt, and he had generously laid down precious ice from time to time in case it got hot.

The reason Jeokmyeon cherished the Cold Condensing Snow Ginseng, which he wouldn’t even consume, so much was for his own future.

‘The Cold Condensing Snow Ginseng… is my retirement fund…’

According to the news coming in, the current situation in the Central Plains was unusual.

So Jeokmyeon, who was planning to use the Cold Condensing Snow Ginseng as his retirement fund, took out the box containing the Cold Condensing Snow Ginseng with trembling hands.

“…For what reason do you need the snow ginseng?”

“I have a use for it.”

As Jin Sohyun grabbed the box, Jeokmyeon’s hand automatically tightened.

“C-can’t it be something else?”

“There’s no time.”

Jeokmyeon, for whom immediate survival was important, had to give up the box with tears in his eyes.

‘Farewell… my precious… ginseng…’

Leaving the tearfully swallowing Jeokmyeon behind.

Jin Sohyun approached Cha Seol, who was lying down under the care of Cheon Yerang.

Although Cheon Yerang was cooling the heat, the air was hot.

It meant that there was no time.

“You’ve returned.”

At that moment, Gwak Myeong, Song Wu, and Tang Hocheol, who had received the news, came to find them.

Since there was no time, Jin Sohyun briefly told them about meeting the Demon-Subduing Ghost and then offered the Cold Condensing Snow Ginseng.

“We have to feed this to this child.”

“Cold Condensing Snow Ginseng…”

A precious spirit herb that was worth whatever one called it.

Gwak Myeong nodded his head at the sight of Jin Sohyun offering it without any selfish motives.

“Great Master Tang. Is it possible?”

When it came to handling spirit herbs, there was no family as reliable as the Sichuan Tang Clan.

Tang Hocheol received the Cold Condensing Snow Ginseng and narrowed his brow.

“It’s most effective to swallow such a spirit herb raw. But that’s only possible when this child is in her right mind.”

“Is there no way?”

“If there is a way…”

Tang Hocheol’s gaze landed on Cheon Yerang.

“There’s no other way but to chew it and feed it to her.”

***

The group decided to leave for Cheon Yerang’s sake.

Jeokmyeon, who seemed to regret having to use the Cold Condensing Snow Ginseng for such a thing, kept looking back.

In the meantime, Gwak Myeong said with a serious face.

“The Hao Sect’s movements are faster than I thought.”

The remaining Blue Dragon Daoist Temple disciples had planned to strike the new temporary branches of the Hao Sect.

But the Hao Sect’s movements were more secretive and swift than they had thought.

“Even the person named Jeokmyeon couldn’t find out the location of the temporary branches.”

“The Hao Sect must have noticed…”

“It must be to avoid the location of the temporary branches being exposed. They must know that the reason the branches were hit was because of the information leak.”

That’s right.

The Hao Sect had blocked all flow of information and had turned to the direction of protecting their branches.

“More than that, to meet the Hao Sect Master, we have to find the people called the Four Guests…”

Gwak Myeong, who had found out about the existence of the travelers through the information obtained from Ok Myeon, called Jeokmyeon.

“The Four Guests are high-ranking executives of the Hao Sect who wander the Central Plains without a base, just like us. In terms of a sect… they could be seen as elders.”

“How much do you know about them?”

Jeokmyeon shrugged his shoulders.

“Almost nothing. Even the branch lords only know that the four guests exist. Information about them is a taboo among taboos.”

“Hmm…”

There was almost nothing to find out.

Although they had succeeded in breaking the hidden Hao Sect’s branches, the problem was from now on.

What constituted the Hao Sect was not the branches scattered in various places and the lords who supervised them.

The lower-class people who existed in the Central Plains.

Their lives were the foundation of the Hao Sect, and the existence of the Hao Sect Master itself was everything to the Hao Sect.

“It’s not easy.”

Although he knew it was a difficult task, it was more complicated than he had thought.

An opponent that was more difficult to deal with than the Beggars' Sect, which had a physical form.

As Gwak Myeong’s complicated gaze turned to the air, the sound of a cart was heard from outside.

Moo—!!

With the cry of a cow filled with fear, the door of the Cheonhwagak opened.

“You’ve come.”

Following that, Gu Jucheol and Gu Yong, who had arrived at the Cheonhwagak, appeared, bringing Ok Myeon, who was bound all over just as when they had first gone.

“How is the child named Cha Seol?”

“She must have taken the Cold Condensing Snow Ginseng by now, so she will show improvement soon.”

“That’s a relief.”

Gu Jucheol roughly threw Ok Myeon in front of everyone.

As if the Soul Seduction Art had been released, a deep regret was felt in Ok Myeon’s eyes.

“Ok Myeon.”

Ok Myeon’s eyes, who had heard the call, crawled up from the floor and landed on Gwak Myeong.

“How much do you know about the Four Guests?”

The gag in Ok Myeon’s mouth was removed by Gu Yong.

He didn't even touch his pressure points, fearing he would commit suicide.

‘So my usefulness is over.’

He had never expected that there would be a master of the Soul Seduction Art who could break through the Hao Sect’s suggestion.

Moreover, there was a bigger problem left.

‘The Hao Sect does not know of Jin Sohyun’s survival.’

What scared Ok Myeon the most was that the Hao Sect still did not know the news about Jin Sohyun.

Ok Myeon, who had tried to use the Blood-Sucking Sword Demon to kill Jin Sohyun, had not informed the Hao Sect of this plan.

The fear that if the plan were to be leaked, he might lose Jin Sohyun.

That fear had eventually come back as a dagger.

“Just kill me.”

Ok Myeon’s eyes, who had let go of everything, became rather calm.

At that, Gwak Myeong placed his hand on his sword hilt.

And at that moment, the sound of footsteps was heard from the top of the stairs.

The person who appeared was Cheon Yerang, Cha Seol, and Jin Sohyun, who was waiting for the two outside the door.

“Ah, you’ve come.”

Jin Sohyun, who had discovered Gu Jucheol, and Ok Myeon faced each other.

The moment Ok Myeon’s chin, who had realized something, twitched, Jin Sohyun moved.

Grab—!

‘My chin!?’

He couldn't bite his tongue because his chin was caught.

“Seol. Please.”

“…Yes!”

Cha Seol approached with quick steps and stood in front of Ok Myeon.

The moment he met the girl’s clear eyes, Ok Myeon felt an indescribable fear.

‘This wench is…’

She resembled her.

Just as the Demon-Subduing Ghost, Cha Yong, had.

Ok Myeon closed his eyes tightly.

But the moment Cha Seol’s voice, which followed, reached his ears, Ok Myeon opened his eyes without realizing it.

“Gyugeum. Is that your name.”

“…N-no… it… is.”

“Good. Gyugeum. We are friends. The one and only… inseparable friends in the world.”

***

“I’ve only heard about it… I can’t believe it now that I’ve seen it in person.”

Tang Hocheol swallowed dryly, and Song Wu clenched his mouth and trembled his fingertips.

From his position as a monk of Shaolin, the Soul Seduction Art, which controlled a person’s mind and body just by meeting their eyes and speaking, was literally a wicked art.

“This person is cautious and also smart. Since he was hit by the Soul Seduction Art, there’s no way he would have lied.”

Gwak Myeong’s words were right.

Ok Myeon branch lord, Gyugeum, who was sitting in front of them, was drooling with his mouth open.

In his inner self, the loyalty to the Hao Sect, the power of Cha Seol’s Soul Seduction Art, and finally, the Hao Sect’s suggestion were fighting fiercely.

As a result, there was no winner.

Gyugeum could not withstand the fierce battle that was taking place inside him and collapsed, and he lost his mind.

One fortunate thing was that they were able to move Cha Seol to another place before Gyugeum became like this.

Jeokmyeon, who was looking down at him with a bitter expression, said.

“As Ok Myeon said, the Four Guests will not be an easy opponent. Perhaps… they might be a master comparable to Great Master Gu.”

Before he lost his mind, Ok Myeon had said to be careful of the Four Guests as his last words and had lost his reason.

For him to have said such a thing even though he knew that Jin Sohyun, Gwak Myeong, and Gu Jucheol were in this place.

It meant that the power of the Four Guests that Ok Myeon knew was strong enough to deal with them or even overwhelm them.

“It’s already late at night.”

Gu Jucheol, after confirming that it was dark outside, waved his hand.

“Let’s rest for today and talk tomorrow, what do you think?”

“That’s a good idea.”

As everyone’s faces were clearly tired, Gwak Myeong opened his mouth to dismiss everyone as Gu Jucheol had said.

“Now, then…”

Clatter—!

The door of the Cheonhwagak opened with a clatter, and an old man appeared.

The person who recognized him first was Jin Sohyun.

“Master?”

The identity of the old man was Kang Cheon.

He approached Jin Sohyun with an unstable gait and said.

“Let’s go out and talk for a moment.”

“Yes.”

Jin Sohyun went out of the Cheonhwagak with Kang Cheon, who looked anxious for some reason.

They walked to an empty lot.

As Kang Cheon’s body staggered, Jin Sohyun quickly supported him.

“Master!”

Jin Sohyun, who was supporting Kang Cheon, felt that his hand was wet.

Jin Sohyun, who had instinctively noticed that it was blood, asked in surprise.

“Are you okay?”

“Listen to me carefully, Sohyun.”

Kang Cheon spread his arms, pushed Jin Sohyun away, and then met his gaze head-on.

“I met Ma Seongun.”

“…!”

Jin Sohyun’s eyes shook rapidly.

And Kang Cheon’s following words were enough to greatly shake Jin Sohyun’s heart.

“That bastard used Bieunggaek’s footwork.”

Kang Cheon, after catching his breath once, said.

“That was definitely the Shadowless Divine Step.”

(End of Chapter)