The Lazy Young Master of the Jin Clan

"This is Palbong, the master of Palbong Fortress! I've come to see the Fortress Master."

At Palbong's shout, the large, firmly closed wooden gate opened.

From inside, several groups of bandits walked out and greeted Palbong.

Unlike the bandits of other mountain fortresses, they were exuding a sinister aura from their whole bodies, and they all had large and small scars on their faces and bodies.

"What brings the Palbong Fortress Master here?"

Among them, a middle-aged man with a large build and bulging muscles approached and asked, and sweat formed on Palbong's forehead.

'To think I'd meet him here of all places!'

Palbong tried not to show his flustered state and answered as naturally as possible.

"I've come to see the Fortress Master."

The middle-aged man, who was looking at Palbong with a dry gaze, then pointed to Jin Sohyun and Siu with his hand and said.

"Who are they?"

"Ah, these brats are new recruits of Palbong Fortress."

Palbong introduced Jin Sohyun and Siu.

"New recruits?"

The middle-aged man glared at Jin Sohyun with a sharp gaze, as if piercing him.

Innocent two eyes and a handsome face.

Looking at Jin Sohyun, who had an appearance that did not suit a bandit in any way, the middle-aged man slowly nodded his head.

"New recruits... new recruits..."

"That's right."

As Palbong laughed awkwardly, the middle-aged man smiled back and opened his mouth.

'Please believe me!'

Unlike Palbong's desperate wish, the middle-aged man's smile turned cold.

"Bullshit."

As soon as his words ended, a hand axe drawn from the middle-aged man's waistband flew at Jin Sohyun's face.

Thwack—!

Jin Sohyun, who had read his movement in advance, caught the flying axe without much difficulty.

"To catch it so nonchalantly. You don't seem like an ordinary brat... who are you?"

At the middle-aged man's question, Palbong bit his lip.

'I've been caught! To think I'd be caught by the Vice Fortress Master of all people!'

The middle-aged man standing in front of them now was the Vice General Fortress Master, Gil Simun, who assisted the General Fortress Master.

Gil Simun was a master of the axe technique and a first-rate martial artist.

Gil Simun was a strong man whose victory could not be guaranteed even if five or more of the seventy-two fortress masters attacked him.

And he had felt something suspicious from Jin Sohyun.

'I'm dead! What do I do now? Should I tell the truth now?'

While Palbong was contemplating how to overcome this situation, Gil Simun took out another hand axe from his waistband and held it.

"You'd better speak up. If you don't want that handsome face of yours to be split in two."

At Gil Simun's warning, Jin Sohyun threw the hand axe he was holding to the side and said.

"I've come to see the Fortress Master. I have something to say."

"The Fortress Master? Hahaha! Did you think you could meet the master of the Green Forest just because you wanted to?"

"Then how can I meet him?"

"Well... if you reveal your identity here and now or die and go to the afterlife, you might be able to meet him someday."

"I don't like the latter, so I'll go with the former."

"Good. What is your identity?"

"I am the eldest son of the Jin Family, Jin Sohyun."

At the appearance of Jin Sohyun, the eldest son of the Jin Family, not only the fortress masters who had gathered in one place, but even Gil Simun was flustered.

Of all people, the eldest son of the family they should not have encountered had entered the heart of the Green Forest.

"How did the eldest son of the Jin Family..."

As Gil Simun's gaze naturally turned to Palbong, he had to shake his head desperately.

'This is hell! That brat is the eldest son of the Jin Family!?'

Palbong's vision went dizzy.

Wasn't the eldest son of the Jin Family a lazy bum of the world, so much so that he had the title of Slothful Young Master?

That lazy bum, who was said not to go more than three steps outside the family estate, had come up to the mountain where the Green Forest resided.

'I'm dead.'

Palbong gave up on his life.

Having brought the eldest son of the number one merchant family in Shanxi and a family that should never be touched to the front of the Fortress Master, he was now as good as dead.

"This is a bigger fish than I thought. What brings the eldest son of the Jin Family here?"

Gil Simun's tone was polite, but his voice was full of hostility.

"I told you. I came to see the Fortress Master."

"The Fortress Master is..."

Before Gil Simun could finish his words, the closed door of the hut opened, and a man revealed himself.

He was in his mid-to-late forties.

He had a slender build and a tall height, and unlike the other bandits, he was wearing a silk robe woven from silk, not clothes woven from leather.

The man, who appeared, dragging a long silk robe on the floor, looked at Jin Sohyun with a dry gaze.

"Who are you?"

The man who had appeared with a yawn faced Jin Sohyun with a face that said it was a hassle.

"I greet the General Fortress Master."

At the man's appearance, all the bandits of the mountain fortress, including the fortress masters, lowered their posture and showed their respect.

They looked like martial artists of a prestigious family.

"He is the eldest son of the Jin Family, Jin Sohyun."

At Gil Simun's explanation, the man called the General Fortress Master scratched the back of his neck.

"So why did you come?"

At the General Fortress Master's question, Jin Sohyun said.

"Are you the ones who have been harassing the small merchants in Shanxi?"

"You? The rich young master's title is also filled with politeness. You all should watch and learn. Got it?"

At the General Fortress Master's words, the bandits answered without delay.

"Yes!"

The voices of the bandits echoed loudly in the mountain fortress.

In the meantime, the General Fortress Master's bored pupils were staring at Jin Sohyun.

Jin Sohyun's gaze, which was looking at him, was also bored.

As the son of a merchant family stood on the land of the Green Forest without a single trace of tension, with a face as if everything were a hassle, the General Fortress Master's interest was piqued.

"I am the General Fortress Master of the Green Forest, Kang Seopyeong. You asked if we were the ones harassing the merchants?"

"Yes."

"What if we're not?"

"You're not?"

"No. We are."

As Kang Seopyeong said with a giggle, a smile spread across Jin Sohyun's lips.

"That's a relief."

At the unexpected reaction, Kang Seopyeong had a puzzled expression.

"What's a relief?"

"Because I don't have to look for the mastermind anymore. I was about to die from the hassle anyway."

"Is that so? Congratulations. But what were you planning to do if you found us?"

"I came to tell you to stop harassing the merchants of Shanxi."

"Is that so? What if I don't want to?"

"Mmm..."

Jin Sohyun looked around the mountain fortress. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

While doing so, he muttered something with his mouth, and Kang Seopyeong, who found this strange, asked.

"What are you doing now?"

"I'm counting."

"Why are you counting?"

"Because I need to know how many there are."

"What are you going to do with that?"

Jin Sohyun, who had counted all the bandits, said with a bright face.

"Because I have to calculate if the prison of the authorities can accommodate all of you."

"Haha! So. Do you think it will?"

"It's a bit tight, so you might have to be scattered."

"No. That's not what I was asking."

Although Kang Seopyeong was smiling, the powerful energy that was unconsciously flowing from his body began to press down on Jin Sohyun.

The surrounding air became so heavy that it was difficult to breathe.

Nevertheless, Jin Sohyun's expression was calm.

No, he looked a little annoyed.

"Here we go again. You bandits are the ones who did wrong, so can't you just go to prison obediently?"

"Have you ever seen a bandit who obediently goes to prison in your life?"

"This is the first time I'm seeing a bandit."

"Haha... the eldest son of the Jin Family is a lazy bum of the world! As expected, you can't believe rumors."

As Kang Seopyeong gestured behind him, the burly bandits who had been waiting brought a giant axe from the General Fortress Master's hut.

The axe, which was so huge and heavy that it took three people to barely lift it, had a long chain attached to the end of its handle, which was unusual.

"Get some strength. How many of you are needed for one axe? You pathetic brats."

Kang Seopyeong lifted the axe that his subordinate bandits had brought with one hand and rested it on his shoulder.

Clank—

The iron chain stretched out long on the floor like a snake.

"Since you learned martial arts from the Flying Sword Hero, you can be called a martial artist too."

"How did you know I learned martial arts?"

Kang Seopyeong tapped his ear.

"If you're going to be a bandit, you always have to keep your ears open. Of course, I also know that the eldest son of the Jin Family is called the Slothful Young Master."

"Tsk."

Jin Sohyun scratched under his chin.

'It's a hassle to fight... and this mister looks strong...'

A level that seemed similar to the assailant who had turned the next-generation talents into rags.

Kang Seopyeong was a skilled person whom Jin Sohyun could only face if he used all his strength.

'Is it for the better?'

Jin Sohyun looked at the two bandits of Palbong Fortress who had followed Palbong.

They had followed him here, carrying a large box as per Jin Sohyun's request.

"Do you know that?"

Kang Seopyeong tapped his shoulder with the axe and grinned.

"The fist is closer than the law."

His words were certainly true.

As Kang Seopyeong slowly drew his internal energy as if to start a fight, Siu, who was standing behind Jin Sohyun, stepped forward.

Siu, who had stepped forward confidently, shouted with all her might.

"Stop! If you hurt the Young Master, the Jin Family will not stand still!"

"And who are you?"

"I am Siu, the loyal maidservant who serves Young Master Jin Sohyun! No matter how much the Green Forest is a bandit fortress that even the authorities can't easily touch, it won't be good for you to touch the eldest son of the Jin Family!"

Siu was confident.

Because this was Shanxi, and in Shanxi, there was the Jin Family.

A place where numerous martial artists had connections.

How bad must it have been for the rumor to spread that it was better to touch the Nine Factions and One Union or the Five Great Families than to touch the Jin Family of Shanxi?

That's how much the weight of the Jin Family's name was different in Shanxi.

But even so, Kang Seopyeong did not calm his internal energy.

"Is that so?"

"Yes!"

"And by now, the warriors of the Jin Family will be rushing here! So step back obediently!"

"Kekekek! Kekekekek! Hahahahaha!!"

Kang Seopyeong, who was roaring with laughter, even wiped the tears in his eyes and looked at Jin Sohyun.

"You have a smart and cheeky maidservant."

"Siu is cheeky."

"Well said. Did you say Siu?"

"Yes!"

"Thanks to you, I almost made a big mistake."

"As expected, right? So even now..."

"To think this Kang Seopyeong was looked down upon enough to be threatened by a mere merchant's maidservant!"

As Kang Seopyeong's momentum became even more ferocious, Siu's body flinched.

"Th-That's not it..."

The flustered Siu waved her arms.

Then, the Silver Dragon Plaque that she had put in her bosom fell.

The gazes of the three people who had discovered it simultaneously turned to the Silver Dragon Plaque that had fallen on the ground.

"This is... so..."

As Siu picked up the Silver Dragon Plaque and was about to make up some excuse, Kang Seopyeong, who had recognized the Silver Dragon Plaque, said.

"It's the Benefactor Plaque of the Namgung Family. Why do you have the Benefactor Plaque of the Namgung Family, which is only given to the benefactors of the family?"

"Th-That's because! I am the benefactor of the Namgung Family! Do you understand? Threatening me means threatening the benefactor of the Namgung Family! If you don't want to be on bad terms with the Namgung Family too, step back immediately!"

"I almost made another mistake. To think a mere maidservant would have the Benefactor Plaque of the Namgung Family."

"That's right! I'll let it slide just this once, so..."

"I was going to let the maidservant go alive, but if you are the benefactor of the Namgung Family, the story is different. I have no choice but to kill everyone here and destroy the evidence."

"..."

Siu immediately turned her back and handed the Silver Dragon Plaque to Jin Sohyun.

"Haha... how could a mere maidservant like me be the benefactor of the Namgung Family. I'll give you back the Young Master's Benefactor Plaque that I was keeping for you."

Siu, who had returned the Silver Dragon Plaque to Jin Sohyun, withdrew with small steps.

"Siu."

"Young Master, please save me."

"Sigh. Stay with Mister Palbong."

"Yes!"

As Siu hid behind Palbong, Jin Sohyun and Kang Seopyeong faced each other.

"The lazy bum of the world, who is called the Slothful Young Master, is the benefactor of the Namgung Family... you are receiving treatment that is too good for your disposition."

"I think so too."

"I won't kill you. If I have you, I think I can get a lot from the Jin Family."

"I don't like killing either."

"Hahahaha!!"

Kang Seopyeong liked this audacious man.

"Then show me."

As Jin Sohyun extended his hand, the lid of the box that the bandits were holding flew open, and an object wrapped in a robe flew out from inside.

Jin Sohyun, who had caught it, took out the Secret Pouch wrapped in the robe and slung it over his shoulder.

The gaze of Kang Seopyeong, who was watching this, became even fiercer.

"You surprise me many times."

"Since it has come to this, let's start quickly. I'm starting to want to lie down."

"Good!"

It was the moment the two were about to rush at each other.

"Young Master!!!"

From the entrance of the mountain fortress, a blood-soaked Mu Yonghu appeared like a demon.

Jin Sohyun, who had discovered this, blinked.

"Mister Mu?”

(End of Chapter)