The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

“How did it go?”

“We lost him. The thirty members of the pursuit team were found as corpses.”

“All of them?”

“Yes. According to the last words of the pursuit team leader before he died… a small monster attacked them.”

“…It’s Mangryang.”

Seolpyeong frowned and swept his hair back.

It was a mistake not to have killed Mu Yu with the first move.

Mu Yu had pretended to be stabbed and had thrown himself out the window.

Of course, with his old body that had not learned martial arts, he could not escape from Seolpyeong and his pursuit team.

But Mu Yu had an accomplice.

“He hasn’t been seen for a while… was he hiding him in his shadow?”

Mangryang, who had not been seen until now, appeared from the darkness.

Thanks to that, Seolpyeong, who had lost Mu Yu, headed somewhere with hurried steps.

Arriving at his destination, Seolpyeong immediately knelt on one knee and bowed his head deeply.

“As you said, Mu Yu has noticed. I tried to kill him right away, but… Mu Yu’s hidden escort intercepted him and fled. I’m sorry.”

Ju Cheon raised his head in front of Seolpyeong.

“It’s not for nothing that Mu Yu became the Great General Manager. He is meticulous, cunning, and always creates a way to escape. Like a cunning rabbit.”

“I will form more pursuit teams and chase him.”

“Leave him be.”

“But…!”

“There is nowhere for Mu Yu to go now. His teeth have been pulled and his claws have been broken, so what else can he do?”

“Still, if we leave him like this… who knows what nonsense he will say…”

“Leave him be.”

“…As you command.”

Seolpyeong was Ju Cheon’s eyes and ears, attached to monitor Mu Yu.

Through him, Ju Cheon, who had been stealing Mu Yu’s every move and even his thoughts, had now decided to let Mu Yu go without any lingering attachment.

“It won’t change anything anyway.”

Ju Cheon’s gaze turned to the front.

There sat Ma Seongun, flashing a blood-red light.

His two eyes, exhausted from hunger, were very similar to those of a beast craving prey.

“Are you hungry?”

“Yes.”

Ma Seongun strongly held his right hand with his left.

Ju Cheon, who was watching this with interest, began to laugh.

“Why is that? Do you want to eat me now?”

“When… when can I fight Jin Sohyun?”

“It won’t take that long. You’ve waited for over twenty years… can’t you even wait a few months?”

Ma Seongun’s gaze became extremely sharp.

“Did you know?”

“I knew that you showed an obsession close to madness for Jin Sohyun. And only recently have I been able to fully understand your obsession.”

Ju Cheon was curious.

“What I am truly curious about is… how did you know that Jin Sohyun would become stronger than anyone else?”

“…”

Ma Seongun, who was staring straight at Ju Cheon, let out a ‘kick’ sound and laughed.

And then he flashed a blood-red light that had become even darker.

“Because I saw, I faced, and I died.”

“You saw… you faced… and you died… it sounds as if you have already faced and fought Jin Sohyun once and died. Am I right?”

“Kekeke… yes. I once… died at the hands of Jin Sohyun. After that, I returned to the moment I was born.”

“Is such a thing possible?”

A slight sense of desperation could be felt in Ju Cheon’s voice, which had not shown any emotion until now.

If someone who knew Ju Cheon had heard it, they would have felt puzzled, but Ma Seongun could no longer understand or feel human emotions.

He just wanted to escape from the terrible hunger.

In the meantime, what appeared on Ju Cheon’s face was surprisingly similar to the emotion of longing.

Ju Cheon, who had immediately erased his expression, grabbed the neck of the wine bottle and drank.

“Well, I won’t ask about your strange power. Instead, I will promise you one thing. If you want, I can even give you my heart. So you fight Jin Sohyun.”

Ma Seongun curled one corner of his mouth.

“You don’t tell me to win.”

Ju Cheon, who had snorted lightly and stood up, drank the rest of the wine in the bottle.

Transparent wine overflowed from between the corners of his mouth.

“I saw fear in you, Ma Seongun.”

“I was afraid?”

“If it were the Ma Seongun I know, he would have rushed to Jin Sohyun right away without caring about the promise he made with me. But you… retreated, using the command as an excuse. That was not an action befitting the Blood Demon.”

Deureuk—!!

Ma Seongun, who had stood up, shattering the legs of the chair, stood face to face with Ju Cheon.

From his wide-open eyes, a thick killing intent that made the skin tingle overflowed and stimulated Ju Cheon.

Nevertheless, Ju Cheon did not even blink an eye.

“Are you saying I am afraid of Jin Sohyun?”

“It’s a good thing, yet you are angry.”

“Speak so I can understand. Before I pull out your neck right now.”

Ju Cheon brought his face close to Ma Seongun and whispered softly in his ear.

“There is only one.”

“…”

“If you kill Jin Sohyun, there is no one in the world you have to fear anymore.”

Ju Cheon, who had returned his face to its original position, smiled as if he were enjoying himself.

“There is… only one.”

Ma Seongun’s open mouth finally smiled.

And he said.

“There is only one.”

***

“Are you okay?”

Behind Cheon Yusin, who had his hands behind his back, So Wigyeon carefully approached.

He bowed his head and said as if he were sorry.

“I’m sorry. If we had gone to your side, Palace Lord, even a little sooner…”

“It’s not your fault. And it’s a good thing that you weren’t caught in the explosion because of it.”

Cheon Yusin stared at the empty air with half-open eyes.

The White Sword Unit, to which So Wigyeon belonged, was a group of masters who possessed the swiftest and fastest swords in the White Moon Palace.

Especially So Wigyeon was a master with the skill to defeat the renowned masters of the Central Plains without difficulty.

Nevertheless, the reason the White Sword Unit did not step forward on the front line was only one.

‘I made a wrong judgment.’

The righteous martial world needed a crisis of a moderate size.

And as long as the White Sword Unit existed on the front line, it seemed clear that the crisis that Cheon Yusin wanted would not come.

But Cheon Yusin did not know.

‘The power of the Blood Demon is stronger than I imagined.’

Cheon Yusin had never once doubted his own power.

In fact, the only opponents who could dare to face Cheon Yusin were the Five Great Masters of the Central Plains.

And Cheon Yusin did not take the Blood-Sucking Sword Demon, who was said to be hunting the Five Great Masters of the Central Plains, seriously either.

As long as one had a human body, a martial artist could die even from the blind sword of a third-rate martial artist.

However, the possibility of that was significantly lower for masters above the peak level.

There was no human who had not died from being struck by a sword.

‘But that bastard is not human. He’s a monster.’

Cheon Yusin sent So Wigyeon back and called for Cheon Gasung and Cheon Yerang.

The two bowed their heads with a fist salute in front of Cheon Yusin.

“Are you both okay?”

“We are fine.”

The two answered in unison.

Cheon Yusin, who was nodding his head, looked at Cheon Gasung.

Cheon Gasung, who had been stabbed in the back by a piece of a blade, had fortunately recovered quickly.

“The Martial Alliance is preparing a large-scale counterattack. And at its center… is Jin Sohyun.”

“That’s right.”

Even if he didn’t want to admit it, he couldn’t help but admit it.

Jin Sohyun was being evaluated as the strongest martial artist in the current righteous martial world, no matter what anyone said.

And why not? As soon as Jin Sohyun appeared, the balance that had been tilted towards the heretic martial world and the Heretic Path's Alliance was restored.

An overwhelming presence.

The twenty swords that floated in the sky, containing the will of the dead martial artists.

His sword caused thunder, fell like a thunderbolt, and presented a death that did not miss to the men of the heretic path.

That power, which was close to divine might, had saved the righteous martial world, which would not have been strange to be annihilated right away, from despair.

And the Heretic Path's Alliance and the heretic martial world had stopped the battle and retreated as soon as Jin Sohyun appeared.

“Jin Sohyun has already become a hero of the righteous martial world. Originally…”

Cheon Yusin’s finger pointed to Cheon Gasung.

“It was a place where you should have been.”

Cheon Gasung had nothing else to say and lowered his head.

He had inherited Cheon Yusin’s talent and was a prospect to become the number one late-stage prospect in the Central Plains.

But who would have known? That there was another sky above the sky.

Jin Sohyun and Ma Seongun.

Their appearance had instantly turned Cheon Gasung, who had been praised for his outstanding talent, into a mere mortal.

“I have to admit what I have to admit. Those two bastards have already left our hands. Probably, most of the battles that will happen from now on will not have a great impact on the victory or defeat of the war. What is important is that the winner between Jin Sohyun and Ma Seongun… will decide the victory or defeat of the war.”

Cheon Yusin’s left hand fell on the shoulder of the silent Cheon Gasung.

At that weight, Cheon Gasung raised his head and faced his father and the palace lord of the White Moon Palace, Cheon Yusin.

“From now on, you will only look at Jin Sohyun’s back and move forward.”

“What you mean is…”

“If my insight is not wrong, the power of Jin Sohyun and the Blood Demon is evenly matched. A very slight difference will decide the victory or defeat. And… the head of the Blood Demon must be cut by my son, Cheon Gasung.”

“Are you telling me to… kill the Blood Demon?”

“Yes. By any means necessary, strike the Blood Demon’s head with your sword. What is important is not who defeated the Blood Demon. What is important is who killed the Blood Demon.”

Cheon Gasung, who had clenched his fists, kept his mouth shut and remained silent.

At that sight, Cheon Yusin narrowed his eyes.

“Are you dissatisfied with my decision?”

“…It would be better if you, the Palace Lord, personally cut off the Blood Demon’s head…”

“I would like to do that too if I could.”

Cheon Yusin rolled up his right sleeve with his left hand.

On Cheon Yusin’s right hand that was revealed, black cuts were engraved like tattoos as scars.

At that hideous sight, Cheon Gasung’s and Cheon Yerang’s pupils shook rapidly.

“My right hand hasn’t moved since I was hit by that bastard’s technique.”

“Palace Lord…!”

“Do you understand? There is no more White Moon Divine Lord.”

The man closest to the number one under heaven, the White Moon Divine Lord, Cheon Yusin.

His right hand had been hit by the Blood Demon’s Bloodless Hand and had become unusable.

Since a martial artist had lost the hand that held a sword, his sword was no longer as sharp or as precise as before.

“In about ten years, I would be able to perform the sword technique with my remaining left hand, but you also know that there is no time for that. So now you have to do it. Just as I established the White Moon Palace by cutting off the head of Dan Yegang, who was the young sect master of the Ming Cult. Now it is your turn… as the young palace lord of the White Moon Palace, to strike the head of the Blood Demon.”

Cheon Gasung’s shoulders were heavy with the responsibility of making the White Moon Palace the number one palace under heaven.

Nevertheless, he had to nod his head.

“For the White Moon, you must do it.”

“I will follow your command, Palace Lord.”

“And… Cheon Yerang.”

“Yes, Palace Lord.” 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“You help your brother. If necessary, you must become a shield yourself and receive the Blood Demon’s sword. Do you understand?”

Cheon Yerang bowed her head, repeating Cheon Yusin’s words.

She had known from the moment she was born that her use would be like this anyway.

But hearing it directly felt strange.

“Do you understand?”

At Cheon Yusin’s high-handed question, which was heard again, Cheon Yerang gathered her mind and raised her head.

“I will do so.”

The two, who had finished their conversation with Cheon Yusin, bowed and came out.

Cheon Gasung said to Cheon Yerang, who was following him like a shadow.

“Don’t do it.”

“…Yes?”

“Whatever you heard today, whatever you felt. Don’t do it.”

Cheon Gasung said without looking back.

“I will take care of my own life. You… just worry about your own life.”

“But…”

“Cheon Yerang.”

“Yes, big brother.”

“…”

Cheon Gasung opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, he couldn’t bring it out and shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it.”

With these words, Cheon Gasung walked ahead.

Behind him, Cheon Yerang, who had been standing blankly, followed.

Thump—!

At the sound of an explosion coming from somewhere, the heads of the two turned at the same time in the direction where the loud noise was heard.

Looking at the rising sand dust, Cheon Yerang muttered softly.

“Jin… Sohyun.”

(End of Chapter)