Chapter 218 Jin So-eun-6

Chapter 218 Jin So-eun-6

Staring at the ship splitting in two like a toy boat and sinking, and the sailors tumbling off it, screaming in panic, Jin So-eun muttered blankly.

“That boat earlier was like that too…”

Then she urgently asked Son Dae-su beside her.

“Is… is that even possible with human strength?! Who on earth is that person?!”

Son Dae-su, who had been watching with his mouth agape despite having seen it several times already, snapped back to his senses, cleared his throat, and replied.

“Hmm, hmm, even if you ask the old man, he wouldn’t know much. Seeing how easily that gentleman, Confucius, does it, it does seem like something a person could do. And as for his status, you should hear it directly. It wouldn’t be proper for me to tell you.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you, sir.”

Meanwhile, Seon Woo-jin had shattered another ship and was now flying toward the final vessel where Jin Ga-in was being held captive.

He was likely finishing off the other ships and heading there last to rescue Jin Gae-in.

Watching that inhuman display of power, Jin Gye-gun swallowed hard.

Judging by his appearance alone, he clearly seemed younger than himself, yet Jin Gye-gun couldn’t believe his eyes that someone so young could possess such power.

All the unease Jin Gye-gun had felt toward him washed away instantly.

After all, feelings like envy or humiliation require a certain level of similarity to be felt.

Facing an existence with such power, even the arrogant Jin Gye-gun, undeniably a martial artist, could feel only fear and awe.

At that moment, Seon Woo-jin was gliding lightly down onto the deck where Jin Ga-in lay bound and captured.

His movements were feather-light, as if weightless.

Swoosh!

The pirates on deck froze in place for a moment.

The grim reaper who split ships with his sword had come to their vessel.

And when Seon Woo-jin swept his gaze around, they began screaming in terror and immediately leaping into the river.

“Aaaah! Spare us!”

“Aaaah! Dragon King, forgive me!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Splash! Splash! Splash!

A short while later, only Seon Woo-jin and Jin Ga-in, tightly bound, remained on the deck.

Seonwoojin scanned the cabin with his mind’s eye, but it seemed empty inside as well.

Mukrang chuckled hollowly.

– This is a first for me too. You truly are an exceptional successor. To think you’ve given me my first experience after living over sixty cycles.

But even in his second life, this was a first for Seon Woo-jin as well.

He too let out an exasperated laugh, easily freed the tightly bound Jin Ga-in, and returned to the Jin family ship.

“Gae-in! Are you okay?!”

“Are you all right?”

Jin So-eun, who hadn’t been able to practice her qigong, rushed over to her, likely worried after saving Jin Ga-in and returning.

Jin Gye-gun also came over, glancing at Seonwoo Jin, and quietly asked how she was.

Jin Ga-in then answered with a bright smile.

“I’m fine. Nothing happened, so you don’t need to worry, brother. This gentleman saved me.”

Having said that, Jin Ga-in glanced at Seonwoo Jin with a warm gaze.

It was a gaze laden with meaning.

The moment she saw Seonwoo Jin, she realized.

He was truly her destiny.

It had long been Jin Gae-in’s dream to be saved from danger by the handsome Confucius in his white robe.

Yet such a thing had actually come to pass.

His indomitable spirit, handsome face, and pure white robes…

It was almost unbelievable that someone could fit her dream so perfectly.

The name of Jiao Kailong, who had abandoned her and fled earlier, had already vanished cleanly from her mind.

She tried to speak to Seon Woo-jin in a coy voice.

“My lord, my name is Jin Ga-in…”

But Seon Woo-jin paid her no mind whatsoever.

He addressed Jin So-eun directly.

“Now that your sister has been safely rescued, please stop worrying and enter your meditation, Miss Jin. We must head straight to the Jin family residence, and time will be tight if you wish to complete your meditation before we arrive.”

At his words, Jin So-eun snapped back to her senses and nodded with a determined expression.

“Ah, yes! Understood, Young Master! I will never forget this kindness!”

Receiving the elixir without cause was clearly a debt, but Jin Gajang believed she couldn’t afford to be picky in such a dangerous situation.

Hadn’t she just experienced firsthand what kind of power martial artists at the peak of their power could unleash?

Therefore, she had to boost her own power somehow before the fight began.

Seon Woo-jin gave her a faint smile and then looked at the wandering scholar Son Dae-su beside her.

Startled, Son Daesu, who had been sipping from a flask, exclaimed.

“Ah! You asked me to protect the law, didn’t you? Understood, Young Master In. Leave it to me.”

Jin So-eun and Son Dae-su soon found a secluded corner of the ship.

Jin Ga-in, whose words had been ignored, now wore a sulky expression. As they moved away, she quietly approached Seon Woo-jin again, gently brushing his hair aside as she spoke.

It was her usual confident manner, accustomed to receiving favorable reactions from men.

“So you’re actually a Mr. In? My apologies, sir. My knowledge is lacking—I’ve never heard of someone so young and handsome with the surname In among the masters.”

I meant to say I was sorry for not knowing who you were, but it ended up being a request for your name.

But Seon Woo-jin glanced at her and replied coldly.

“You’ll find out eventually.”

Then he addressed Jin Gye-gun.

“As I said before, we have no time, Jin Gongzi. Have the ship head toward Jin Jang’s place as quickly as possible.”

Startled, Jin Gye-gun, who had been frozen stiff and watching Sunwoo Jin’s every move, replied.

“Yes, yes?! Ah, understood!”

He then began gathering the scattered people and moving the ship.

Seon Woo-jin watched them with a cold stare.

Jin Ga-in glared at him from behind, her lips pressed tightly together.

She had reached out to them this much, yet they responded like this. For her, with her powerful background and stunning beauty, this was undoubtedly the first time she had experienced such cold neglect.

Her pride was deeply wounded.

Jin Ga-in suddenly spotted the face of Gyu Gye-ryong, who had abandoned her and fled among the survivors.

And she thought.

‘Should I go to Gyogaryong and show him how well I’m doing? To make him jealous?’

But she quickly abandoned that plan.

Now, I didn’t even want to talk to someone like Kyokuryu, and besides, he didn’t seem like the type to get jealous over seeing that.

If anything, he might have looked down on her as a flighty woman.

‘Absolutely not.’

Jin Ga-in, who had briefly bitten her lip and run through various thoughts, suddenly recalled how he had spoken softly to Jin So-eun earlier. She approached him again and spoke.

“Don’t be too nice to So-eun, Gong-ja.”

At her words, Seon Woo-jin frowned as if to say, What are you talking about? and looked at her.

Then Jin Ga-in began speaking with an expression that seemed to pity her.

“My sister spent nearly fifteen years living in the mountains before coming down. That’s why she doesn’t know how to dress herself or speak properly. She might not even realize she’s a woman. Well, I feel sorry for her, so I try to be kind…”

As she spoke, Jin Ga-in lowered her voice slightly, as if sharing a secret.

“Actually, she’s my half-sister. Meaning she’s not direct family. So since she’s not really important within the family, it seems like whenever someone treats her nicely, she gets the wrong idea. Like that person likes her. So Confucius, you should be careful how you treat her too…”

Seon Woo-jin gave her a disbelieving look and let out a hollow laugh before saying,

“Young lady.”

In that instant, Jin Ga-in’s expression brightened.

He had finally spoken to her.

“Yes? Yes?”

But the words that followed from Seon Woo-jin did nothing to make her happy.

He asked with a cold expression.

“I heard you are the daughter of the Jin family?”

“Yes! That’s correct! I am a direct descendant of the Jin family…!”

Seon Woo-jin cut her off, asking coldly.

“Yet you seem unconcerned that the Jin family might be attacked?”

“…Huh?”

It was an unexpected question.

Flustered, Jin Ga-in blurted out the first thought that came to mind.

“Ah, well, our Jin family is the most powerful force in Gwangju. Even if we were attacked by such people, nothing serious would happen…”

“Nothing serious would happen? Just like how you were captured by them earlier.”

“……”

Jin Gae-in turned pale with shock.

I had no words to answer.

It was the first time anyone had ever grilled him like this.

Seonwoo Jin’s cold expression as he grilled her felt so unfair it brought tears to her eyes.

But Seonwoo Jin didn’t stop his cold words.

“And if the Jin family is truly such a formidable force, why were you acting that way, young master?”

“Huh? What did I…?”

“You weren’t even struck by an acupoint earlier, yet you let the Shu soldiers capture you so easily. Aren’t you ashamed as a martial artist? I briefly wondered if you were truly the Jin family’s daughter.”

“Ah, well, that…”

Jin Ga-in, now completely pale and on the verge of tears, received the final blow from Seon Woo-jin.

“If you truly wish to elevate yourself, young lady, rather than relying on your family’s prestige or slandering others, it would be better to cultivate yourself. Your current state… is rather unsightly.”

With that, Seon Woo-jin turned coldly and walked toward the bow of the ship.

He sensed Jin Ga-in bursting into tears behind him, but paid it no mind.

Then, from the side, Son Yi-rang, the granddaughter of the wandering scholar Son Dae-su, who had been watching with keen interest, approached and asked with sparkling eyes.

“Why is Master In only kind to Jin-unni over there? Do you perhaps prefer women with short hair?”

Seon Woo-jin chuckled at the remark and answered loudly enough for Jin Ga-in to hear.

“Among those aboard this ship, the only one who could be called a warrior was Miss Jin. If the children of martial families lack the spirit of a warrior, why should I respect them?”

Saying this, Seon Woo-jin shot a cold, sidelong glance at Jin Ga-in, who was weeping behind him.

Then he resumed walking.

Then, a voice with a hint of laughter echoed in his mind.

– Ooh, what a cold guy. Charming. I wish I’d said something like that in my lifetime. Makes me regret it all over again.

Seon Woo-jin chuckled softly in reply.

‘It seems you were kind to all women, sir.’

Mukrang seemed to flinch slightly at those words.

Then, sighing, he answered.

– Well, to be precise, I couldn’t talk to any woman at all. If I exchanged even a single word with another woman, my wife would unleash her wrath for days on end. Honestly, that scared me far more than fighting demons.

At that, Seonwoo Jin burst out laughing.

The idea of the greatest swordsman in the land being controlled by his wife was simply too funny to imagine.

But at the same time, he thought that if it was the Mokrang he knew, that was probably exactly how he would be.

A man who was terrifying to his enemies, yet infinitely gentle to his own people.

Then Mokrang asked again.

– By the way, that young lady… couldn’t we have just ignored her? Was there a reason to go that far?

Seon Woo-jin answered with a bitter smile.

‘Seeing that young lady reminded me of my younger sister, Yeonha.’

– Ah, I see. She did have a certain resemblance.

With that, Seon Woo-jin turned his thoughts back to Baek Gyobang.

Considering the combined data from the Hapsan faction and the information from Hao Gate, it was highly likely that most of Baek Gyobang’s forces were pirates from the South Sea.

Moreover, for that very reason, Seon Woo-jin could guess who the current leader of Baekgyobang was, even though his identity remained unknown.

Excluding Namhae’s Demon King Man Hak-sung and Haenam’s Demon Sword Jin Tae-do, he was the strongest and most ruthless pirate in the South Sea. Yet, for reasons unknown, he had suddenly vanished several years ago. That very man was Yoon Sak, the Blood Sea Demon, one of the Three Demons of the South Sea.

Muk-rang suddenly asked.

– Wasn’t he said to be of mixed Korean and Japanese heritage? So he mastered the internal energy techniques of the Koreans and the Japanese sword arts?

‘Yes, that’s what I heard.’

– Hmm, be careful. Even our elder brother nearly died when he encountered a master of the Waido arts in his youth. If one has reached the pinnacle of the Waido arts, their single technique alone would be far more threatening than other supreme masters. They might even be among the thirty-six supreme masters under heaven.

‘Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.’

Even without Mukrang’s warning, Seon Woo-jin had already suspected Baekgyobang wouldn’t be as easy to deal with as the Hapsan Sect.

After all, the mere presence of Yun Sak, one of the Three Demons of the South Sea, was threat enough.

Moreover, if his martial prowess truly matched Mokrang’s claim of being among the thirty-six strongest in the realm, this time Sunwoo Jin himself could have been in danger.

‘They said they planned to kidnap the Jin family’s children and use them as hostages, so they probably haven’t initiated action yet? After secretly contacting the Jin family, we must launch a surprise attack by pincering them from both sides.’

Sunwoo Jin suddenly glanced at Jin Gye-gun, who was still steering the boat while leading the late-stage cultivators, clearly watching his every move.

To make contact with the Jin family, it seemed that author would have to play a role.

But as this thought crossed his mind, Seonwoo Jin suddenly frowned.

‘But… I just can’t quite trust him.’

Suddenly, I found myself missing Seolpung, who had parted ways earlier and was now moving somewhere else.

Even Zengchi, too.