Chapter 218: Jin So-eun-6
Chapter 218: Jin So-eun-6
Jin So-eun stared blankly at the ship splitting in two and sinking like a toy boat, and at the bandits tumbling from it, screaming, and murmured.
"So that's why that other boat earlier...."
Then she urgently asked Son Dae-su, who was beside her.
"I-is that something possible with human strength?! Who in the world is he?!"
At that, Son Dae-su, who despite having seen it several times already was still watching with his jaw hanging open, snapped to his senses and answered with a dry cough.
"Hmm, hmm, even if you ask this old man, I do not know well. Seeing how easily that Young Master Yin does it, it seems it is something a person can do. And as for his identity, ask him yourself. It does not seem appropriate for me to tell you about it."
"Ah, yes. Thank you, Elder."
In the meantime, Seonwoo Jin had split yet another boat and was flying toward the last vessel, the one holding Jin Ga-in captive.
He had apparently dealt with all the other boats and was heading to the final one to rescue Jin Ga-in.
Watching that inhuman martial prowess, Jin Gye-gun gulped dryly.
Judging by appearance alone, he was clearly younger than himself, but even seeing it with his own eyes, he could not believe he could possess such martial prowess.
Jin Gye-gun was able to wash away all the uncomfortable feelings he had harbored toward him in an instant.
Because emotions like jealousy or humiliation were feelings one could only have toward someone somewhat similar.
A being possessing such martial prowess—no matter how arrogant Jin Gye-gun was, as a martial artist, the only feelings he could harbor toward him were fear and awe.
At that moment, Seonwoo Jin was alighting lightly onto the ship where Jin Ga-in was held, bound tightly.
It was a feather-light movement that seemed to have no weight at all.
Swoosh!
At that, the bandits on the deck froze for a moment.
A god of death who split boats with a sword had come onto their vessel.
And when Seonwoo Jin slowly looked around, they began screaming with terror-stricken faces and jumping straight into the river.
"Aaaargh! Spare me!"
"Aaaaagh! Dragon King, forgive us!"
"We're sorry! We're sorry!"
Splash! Splash! Splash!
A moment later, only two people remained on the deck: Seonwoo Jin and Jin Ga-in, bound tightly.
Seonwoo Jin scanned with his mind's eye, but there seemed to be no one inside the cabin either.
Mukrang spoke with a laugh of disbelief.
- This is yet another first for me. You truly are an excellent successor. To think you would give me, who has lived over a hundred and twenty years, a new experience.
But even for Seonwoo Jin, living his second life, this was also a first.
He too smiled in disbelief as he simply rescued the tightly bound Jin Ga-in and returned to the Jin Family Estate's boat.
"Ga-in! Are you alright?!"
"Nothing happened?"
When he returned after rescuing Jin Ga-in, Jin So-eun, who had been unable to continue her energy cultivation out of worry for her, ran up to her.
Jin Gye-gun also came over, watching Seonwoo Jin's mood, and discreetly asked after her well-being.
At that, Jin Ga-in smiled brightly and answered.
"I'm fine. You don't need to worry since nothing happened, Orabeoni. Because this young master here rescued me."
Having said that, Jin Ga-in glanced at Seonwoo Jin with heated eyes.
It was a gaze filled with much meaning.
The moment she saw Seonwoo Jin, she realized it.
That this was, so to speak, her true destiny.
A handsome young master in white robes rescuing her in a moment of crisis was Jin Ga-in's long-held dream.
And such a thing had actually happened in reality.
Lofty martial prowess, a handsome face, pristine white robes....
It was almost astonishing how perfectly he matched her dream.
The name of Gyo Gwa-ryong, who had abandoned her and fled earlier, had already been cleanly erased from her mind.
She tried to strike up a conversation with Seonwoo Jin in a coquettish voice.
"My benefactor, my name is Jin Ga-in...."
But Seonwoo Jin paid absolutely no attention to her.
He immediately spoke to Jin So-eun.
"Now that your younger sister has been safely rescued, please do not worry and begin your energy cultivation, Miss Jin. We must head directly to the Jin Family Estate, so time will be tight if you are to finish before we arrive."
At those words, Jin So-eun snapped to her senses and nodded with a determined expression.
"Ah, yes! Understood, Young Master! I shall never forget this kindness!"
Receiving spirit medicine for no reason was certainly a debt, but in her mind, she couldn't afford to quibble over everything when the Jin Family Estate was in a dangerous situation.
Hadn't she just experienced firsthand what kind of power martial artists who had reached the peak level could unleash?
Therefore, she had to somehow increase her combat strength before the battle began.
Seonwoo Jin gave her a faint smile, then looked over at Son Dae-su the Drifting Cloud Guest, who was beside him.
At that, Son Dae-su, who had been sipping liquor from his gourd, flinched in surprise and said.
"Ah! You asked me to act as her dharma protector? Understood, Young Master Yin. Leave it to me."
Jin So-eun and Son Dae-su soon found a corner of the boat and went there.
Then, Jin Ga-in, who had become sulky at having her words ignored, approached Seonwoo Jin again once they were far away, smoothly swept her hair back, and spoke to him.
It was a confident posture, born from always receiving favorable reactions from men.
"So it turns out you are Young Master Yin? My apologies, Young Master. My limited experience means I have never heard of a young and handsome master bearing the surname In."
While her words said she was sorry for not knowing who he was, it was ultimately a request to tell her his name.
But Seonwoo Jin glanced at her and answered coldly.
"You will find out anyway, later."
Then he spoke toward Jin Gye-gun.
"As I said before, there is no time, Young Master Jin. Steer the boat toward the Jin Family Estate as quickly as possible."
At that, Jin Gye-gun, who had been frozen stiff all this while and watching Seonwoo Jin's mood, flinched in surprise and answered.
"Y-yes?! Ah, understood!"
Then he gathered the people scattered here and there and began moving the boat.
Seonwoo Jin watched them with cold eyes.
Behind him, Jin Ga-in glared at him, biting her lip.
For him to react like that when she had approached him this much—it was a cold disregard unlike any she, possessing a powerful background and outstanding beauty, had ever experienced.
Her pride was deeply wounded.
Jin Ga-in suddenly spotted the face of Gyo Gwa-ryong, who had abandoned her and fled, among the survivors.
And she thought.
'Should I go over to Gyo Gwa-ryong and show him I'm doing well? Incite some jealousy?'
But she soon abandoned the plan.
Not only did she no longer want to even speak to someone like Gyo Gwa-ryong, but he also didn't seem like the type of person who would feel jealous seeing that.
Rather, he might scorn her as a frivolous woman.
'I absolutely cannot allow that.'
In a short time, Jin Ga-in, biting her lip and mulling over various thoughts, suddenly recalled how he had gently spoken to Jin So-eun earlier and approached him again to talk.
"Don't be too nice to Eonni So-eun, Young Master."
At those words, Seonwoo Jin frowned as if wondering what she meant and looked at her.
Then Jin Ga-in began to speak, her expression as if she found her sister pitiable.
"Eonni is someone who spent nearly fifteen years living only in the mountains and then came down. So she doesn't know how to dress up like that and isn't good with words. She might not even realize that she's a woman. Well, I treat her kindly because I feel sorry for her, but...."
As she spoke, Jin Ga-in lowered her voice, as if sharing a secret.
"Actually, Eonni is my half-sister. Meaning she's not from the main line. So since she's not a particularly important person within the family, it seems like she gets the wrong idea if someone is kind to her. She thinks that person likes her. So, Young Master, you should be a little careful when dealing with her...."
At that, Seonwoo Jin let out a laugh of disbelief and said to her.
"Miss."
In an instant, Jin Ga-in's expression brightened.
He had finally spoken to her.
"Y-yes?"
But the words that followed from Seonwoo Jin did not make her happy in the slightest.
He asked with a cold expression.
"I heard you are also a daughter of the Jin Family Estate?"
"Yes! That's right! I am of the main line of the Jin Family Estate...!"
Seonwoo Jin cut her off and asked icily.
"Yet the Jin Family Estate might be under attack, and you don't seem worried?"
"...Pardon?"
It was a question she hadn't anticipated at all.
A flustered Jin Ga-in blurted out the first thought that came to her.
"Ah, well, our Jin Family Estate is the most powerful force in Gwangju. Even if we are attacked by people like those, nothing much would...."
"Nothing much would happen? Just as happened to you earlier, when you were captured by them."
"......."
Jin Ga-in's face turned pale with shock.
She had no words to reply.
It was the first time anyone had ever interrogated her like this.
Seonwoo Jin's cold expression as he pressed her was so bitter that tears even welled up in her eyes.
But Seonwoo Jin did not stop his harsh words.
"And if the Jin Family Estate is truly such a great power, why were you acting like that?"
"Pardon? What did I...."
"Earlier, even though your pressure points weren't sealed, you were meekly held captive by the bandits. Are you not ashamed as a martial artist? I briefly wondered whether you truly were a daughter of the Jin Family Estate."
"Ah, th-that was...."
To Jin Ga-in, now completely pale and seeming about to burst into tears, Seonwoo Jin drove in the final nail.
"If you truly wish to elevate yourself, rather than borrowing your family's prestige or slandering others, you would do better to refine yourself. Your current appearance is... rather unsightly."
Having said that, Seonwoo Jin turned coldly and walked toward the gunwale.
He sensed Jin Ga-in bursting into tears behind him, but paid it no mind.
Then, Son I-rang, the granddaughter of Son Dae-su the Drifting Cloud Guest, who had been watching from the side with eyes full of interest, approached and asked with sparkling eyes.
"Why are you only kind to Miss Jin, who went over there, Young Master Yin? Do you perhaps like women with short hair?"
At that, Seonwoo Jin chuckled and answered loud enough for Jin Ga-in to hear.
"Among the people on this boat, the only one who could be called a martial artist was Miss Jin. When the children of a martial family lack the spirit of a martial artist, is there any need for me to treat them with respect?"
As he said this, Seonwoo Jin coldly glanced back at Jin Ga-in, who was shedding tears behind him.
Then he walked away again.
At that, Mukrang spoke with an amused voice in his head.
- Oooh, a cold man. Charming. I should have said something like that when I was alive too; I feel a sudden regret.
Seonwoo Jin chuckled and retorted.
'It seems you were kind to all women, Elder.'
Mukrang seemed to flinch for a moment at those words.
Then he soon sighed and answered.
- Well, to be precise, I couldn't have a conversation with any woman. If I exchanged even a single word with another woman, my wife's fiery wrath would rain down for days. Honestly, that was far scarier to me than fighting the Demon God.
At those words, Seonwoo Jin burst into a soft laugh.
Because just imagining it was too funny—the All-Time Supreme, the Sword God, being henpecked by his wife.
But at the same time, he also felt that, knowing the Mukrang he knew, that certainly would have been the case.
Someone infinitely fearsome to his enemies, but infinitely gentle to his own people.
At that moment, Mukrang asked again.
- Anyway, you could have just ignored that young lady. Was there a reason you went so far?
To that question, Seonwoo Jin answered with a bitter smile.
'When I looked at that young lady, my younger sister Yeon-ha came to mind.'
- Ah, I see. There was certainly a bit of that side to it.
With those words, Seonwoo Jin turned his thoughts back toward the White Shark Sect.
Considering the combined intelligence from the Hapsan Sect's documents and the Hao Gate's information, there was a high probability that the White Shark Sect's fighting force was mostly composed of pirates from the Southern Sea.
Also, for that reason, Seonwoo Jin, whose identity was currently unknown, could also guess who the leader of the White Shark Sect was.
Excluding the Southern Sea Demon Sovereign Man Hak-sung and the Hainan Demon Sword Jin Tae-do, it was the man who had been the strongest and cruelest pirate in the Southern Sea, but who had suddenly vanished several years ago for unknown reasons—the Blood Sea Demon Blade Yun Sak, corresponding to the Demon Blade among the Southern Sea Three Demons.
Mukrang suddenly asked.
- Was it said that he is a half-breed of Han and Japanese blood? And that therefore he mastered the Han people's internal energy cultivation methods and the Japanese sword art?
'Yes, that is what I heard.'
- Hmm, be careful. My elder brother also once met a master wielding Japanese sword art when he was young and nearly died. If he has reached the transcendent peak level through Japanese sword art, then in terms of blade techniques alone, he will be far more threatening than other transcendent peak masters. He might even be a master of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World level.
'Yes, I will keep that firmly in mind.'
Although Mukrang had given him a warning, even without it, Seonwoo Jin had been thinking that the White Shark Sect would not be as easy as the Hapsan Sect.
First of all, the mere fact that the Blood Sea Demon Blade Yun Sak, one of the Southern Sea Three Demons, existed on the opposing side was threatening enough.
Moreover, if his martial prowess was at the level of the Thirty-Six Stars of the World as Mukrang said, this time Seonwoo Jin himself could indeed be in danger.
'They said they plan to kidnap the children of the Jin Family Estate and use them as hostages, so they probably haven't initiated action yet. I'll have to secretly contact the Jin Family Estate and then launch a pincer attack by surprise.'
Seonwoo Jin suddenly looked at Jin Gye-gun, who was still nervously watching his mood while steering the boat and leading the later-generation talents.
It seemed that he would have to play a role in contacting the Jin Family Estate.
But as he was thinking this, Seonwoo Jin suddenly frowned.
'But... I really can't bring myself to trust him.'
He suddenly felt a pang of longing for Seol Pung, who had separated from him earlier and was moving elsewhere.
And even for Jeung Chil, at that.