The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

Click—!

The door closed.

The abbot of Shaolin, Seungryun, poured tea into a teacup.

The green-tinged tea filled the cup, and Seungryun, who had lifted the teacup as if satisfied, turned his gaze outside.

“It’s spring.”

After the cold winter that had covered the Central Plains in white for a while, spring had come.

The small garden where new sprouts had sprouted had a bluish tint.

“Shaolin and I have protected the Central Plains for a very long time. Our main enemy has always been those who have learned demonic arts… the Ming Cult.”

Seungryun drank the tea and then opened his mouth, which had been heated up.

“And what the one called the Blood Demon, Ma Seongun, has learned is clearly a demonic art.”

“That may be so.”

A man walked out in front of Seungryun.

He naturally sat next to Seungryun and, instead of tea, took out a bottle of wine and drank.

Even though the man was drinking wine at Shaolin Temple, Seungryun did not reprimand him.

“You clearly promised me.”

Seungryun looked at the man with a cold gaze, not the pleased smile he had when he was drinking tea and looking at the newly sprouted sprouts.

“That you would clean up all the martial artists of the Central Plains, so that for the next hundred years, no martial artist would be able to run rampant in the Central Plains. And that…”

Seungryun’s and Ju Cheon’s gazes met.

“Is the will of heaven.”

“That’s a look that doesn’t suit a monk.”

Ju Cheon said this and drank the wine.

“Seungryun. Do you know how to extinguish the light from the sky?”

“Don’t beat around the bush and just say it.”

“To extinguish the light of the sky, you must get rid of the sun. Getting rid of a few sects and martial families is just like covering the sunlight with clouds. So we must get rid of the sun of the martial artists.”

“The sun?”

“Jin Sohyun and Ma Seongun.”

“Are you saying that those two martial artists are the sun of the Central Plains martial world… that is, the hope?”

“Yes. One represents the righteous path, and one represents the heretic path. Isn’t it funny? Two men born on the same day and at the same time have now become the lanterns of the martial world… I am creating a stage for those two.”

A more magnificent stage.

“And the moment the curtain of that stage falls, the will of heaven will be fulfilled.”

Only then could Seungryun get a glimpse of Ju Cheon’s true intentions.

‘Does he mean to break them completely so that they can’t recover?’

So that martial artists can never again step forward in the Central Plains.

Seungryun even felt a chill at Ju Cheon’s will to dry up the seeds.

‘What on earth makes this person so cold?’

Seungryun, who had lived for a long time, had acquired the skill of looking into a person’s inner self.

Just by looking into their eyes, he could tell what they were thinking.

What desires they were hiding.

But.

Seungryun could not feel any desire from the man named Ju Cheon.

He could not find the reason why he was trying to clean up the martial artists in the Central Plains anywhere.

Why?

Why on earth was he doing this?

“Just because.”

At that moment, as if he had read Seungryun’s thoughts, Ju Cheon stood up from his seat and said.

“Don’t look for a reason in me. What I want is only the destruction of the martial world.”

Seungryun threw his last question at the back of Ju Cheon, who was turning around after finishing his words.

“Sir.”

Ju Cheon stopped his steps.

“You told me not to look for a reason, but I must find one. Are you not a martial artist yourself? But… why are you trying to destroy the martial world?”

At Seungryun’s last question, Ju Cheon raised his head and looked up at the sky.

A blue sky full of white clouds.

Ju Cheon, who had been standing there blankly, looking at the sky, said with a smiling face.

“I told you. Just because.”

With these words, Ju Cheon’s figure disappeared.

Seungryun, who was left alone, sat down on the dry floor without a cushion and swept his bald head, which had no hair, with his hand, which was like a dead tree.

“My choice is soon… heaven’s.”

Seungryun put his hands together and chanted a Buddhist scripture.

But he couldn’t chant for long.

The scriptures that he had never forgotten for over decades did not come to mind.

Having no choice, Seungryun stood up from his seat and headed to the repentance cave.

His steps were heavy.

***

Three months.

It was a short period if you thought it was short, and a long period if you thought it was long.

During that time, the surviving righteous martial world and the members of the alliance moved busily without a single day of rest to recover the damage caused by the defeat in the war.

Of course, the first order of business was to collect the dead martial artists.

The great explosion that had plunged the righteous martial world into disaster.

It was by no means an easy task to find the bodies in the explosion that had killed ninety percent of the righteous path martial artists.

So much so that the beggars of the Beggars' Sect were all mobilized and dug the ground without a break for about a month.

Moreover, to prevent the bodies from being damaged, they had to dig the frozen ground with their bare hands instead of shovels, so it took even longer.

“Fortunately, Great Master Namgung survived.”

At the news delivered by the internal general manager of the Martial Alliance, Zhuge Goun, Jin Sohyun let out a sigh of relief.

Namgung Muhyeok had gone to the doctor in a state of being on the verge of death, and had luckily survived.

If it had been any other martial artist than Namgung Muhyeok, he would never have survived.

“And… the situation of the alliance is not good.”

Numerous masters who had gone to the battlefield had been incinerated in the explosion.

“Who would have expected that so many explosives were hidden in the first place! To get that many explosives…!”

Peng Ohyun, who had his torn left hand thickly wrapped in bandages, shouted in an excited voice.

As he had said, explosives that could cause a great explosion could never be obtained in the martial world.

For this to be possible.

Clatter—!

The door opened and Wiso and Kang Seopyeong appeared together.

The two sat down in the empty seats and nodded their heads.

“The power of the imperial palace is needed.”

At Kang Seopyeong’s unhesitating answer, Zhuge Goun’s expression became subtle.

“But the unwritten rule of not interfering with the government and martial arts has never been broken until now.”

At Zhuge Goun’s answer, this time Wiso answered.

“What if the imperial palace did not directly step forward and just provided the sulfur to make the explosives?”

Should that also be considered an inviolable area?

Zhuge Goun’s mind was in chaos.

In the first place, the sulfur that made the explosives was very precious, so even the imperial palace would not have been able to easily give it away.

And as far as Zhuge Goun knew, there was only one person who had such authority.

‘The emperor…’

But even if the emperor had moved directly, why would he suddenly try to break the righteous martial world now?

Above all, why did he make the Heretic Path's Alliance his sword?

There was too little information.

“Even when the common people were harmed and the Hebei Peng Clan, which had a close relationship with the government office, was openly attacked, the government forces did not step forward. They didn’t move even though they must have known that a great explosion had occurred.”

Kang Seopyeong said in a cold tone.

“Even though they must have known that a very large amount of sulfur was needed for such an explosion, the imperial palace did not even dispatch the common investigators. What does this mean?”

“It must mean that they will turn a blind eye.”

Gu Daepil answered in a frustrated voice.

“The reason for turning a blind eye is… either they have paid a price for it, or they are scheduled to pay.”

“From the beginning, the Heretic Path's Alliance has been thoroughly preparing to destroy the righteous martial world. Among them was your role.”

Zhuge Goun glared at Wiso with a sharp gaze.

The ones who had become the eyes and ears of the Heretic Path's Alliance and had caused the Acheon.

They were the Hao Sect.

Of course, Wiso had no intention of backing down either.

“Don’t forget. It was I and the Hao Sect who warned Young Master Jin of the crisis and prevented the righteous martial world from being annihilated.”

Since this was also not a wrong statement, Zhuge Goun’s and Wiso’s gazes clashed fiercely.

The one who mediated them was Gu Daepil.

He raised his hand to stop the conflict between the two and then summarized the situation.

“Currently, the Heretic Path's Alliance is silent, using the Martial Alliance as its base.”

“Damn bastards…!”

After the war ended, the Heretic Path's Alliance immediately invaded the Martial Alliance, occupied it, and forced the martial artists who were protecting the alliance to do hard labor.

All the flags symbolizing the alliance were taken down, and on top of them, flags with the thorn bush and imugi symbolizing the Heretic Path's Alliance were raised.

With just one battle, the positions of the Martial Alliance and the Heretic Path's Alliance had been reversed.

“What is the situation of the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families?”

“They were already damaged even before the war began in earnest, and due to the great explosion, the main masters were almost annihilated. At best, what’s left are the second-generation disciples or the third-generation disciples…”

The surprise attack that had begun with the human wave tactic of the men in black.

Due to this, the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families had suffered enormous damage, the Hebei Peng Clan had lost its family estate, and the Sichuan Tang Clan was on the verge of its family being exterminated.

Now, all that was left were the very few masters who had protected the sects and families and the young late-stage prospects.

Nevertheless, the Heretic Path's Alliance and the heretic martial world were still intact.

“In terms of power alone, the current righteous martial world cannot be a match for the heretic martial world.”

At Zhuge Goun’s cold evaluation, the martial artists who had gathered in one place could not even let out a sigh.

It was truly a desperate situation.

“Now is not the time to worry about such things. If we can fight, we must use even a sword that has not been fully sharpened.”

Zhuge Goun, who had come to perform the duties of the general manager alone after the external general manager of the martial world, Dokgo Jeokmyeong, had been incinerated in the explosion, had heavy shoulders.

“Even if it’s a flower that hasn’t fully ripened… now is not the time to be picky…”

“Supplies are also a problem.”

During the last winter, all the supplies that the Martial Alliance had stockpiled had fallen into the hands of the Heretic Path's Alliance.

The only reason they had been able to hold out until now was thanks to the supplies that each sect and family had stockpiled.

But these were supplies for survival, and they were far from enough for war.

“It would be good to get help from the merchant guilds…”

For some reason, the merchant guilds that had a connection with the Martial Alliance, including the escort agencies and the wealthy families, had locked their doors and were reluctant to have contact with the outside.

Of course, this was the same for the rest of the righteous martial world.

The merchant guilds and families that had a connection with or belonged to the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families.

Kang Seopyeong sneered and said.

“It seems to be becoming more certain that the influence of the higher-ups was at play in this war.”

“…”

A situation where they could not get help from the outside.

The only good thing was that winter had ended and spring had come.

“The Hao Sect has stockpiled supplies, so let’s use this for now.”

Zhuge Goun was reluctant to receive help from the Hao Sect, but there seemed to be no other choice.

“Thank you.”

Wiso, who had received the thanks, bowed his head lightly.

In the meantime, there was a slight commotion outside.

Thud— thud—!

With the sound of footsteps, someone’s voice was heard from outside the firmly shut door.

“I… am Gamak.”

The Iron Cutting Guard Leader, Gamak.

He had been caught in the great explosion but had barely survived, and he appeared with his whole body wrapped in bandages and bowed his head instead of a fist salute in front of everyone.

“Oh… how is your body?”

At Zhuge Goun’s question, Gamak smiled faintly.

“I’m fine.”

“It was a little noisy outside. Is something wrong?”

“A guest has come.” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“A guest?”

“So… I think you should go out together. Young Master Jin too.”

“Me too?”

“Yes.”

The leaders who were having a meeting and Jin Sohyun came out of the building of the estate that was being used as a meeting room, as Gamak had said.

The place they were in was a huge estate that had been used as the location of the Four Daoist Branch in the past.

And countless carts and supplies were being moved there.

“What on earth is this…”

A middle-aged man in a long robe walked in front of the flustered Zhuge Goun.

And Jin Sohyun, who had recognized him, opened his eyes wide.

“Father?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Jin Seomok, the family head of the Shanxi Jin Clan.”

The family head of the Jin Clan, Jin Seomok, had come with a full load of supplies needed for the war.

And next to him were Kang Cheon and Oh Yoran.

“What are you doing here? What about Gahyeon and mother?”

“They are in a safe place, so don’t worry. And my son is fighting a war, so how can a father just stand by?”

Jin Seomok approached Jin Sohyun and placed his hand on his head.

“The world calls you the Flying Sword Ghost, but you are Jin Sohyun. And you are my son.”

“Father…”

“I don’t like you fighting. What parent would like their child to get hurt? But… I won’t tell you not to fight. Because I know well that it is your will. So…”

Jin Seomok turned his gaze and looked at the leaders of the Martial Alliance and said.

“If there is anything you need, just say it.”

Jin Seomok said proudly.

“I have plenty of money.”

(End of Chapter)