Chapter 125. The Unwanted Companion

In that moment, the surroundings fell silent.

Then, footsteps came from the stairs.

“Young Lord, you must come up for a moment. The manager of Platinum Pavilion says he has something to tell you.”

The Young Lord cast a brief glance at Namgung Hyun before replying.

“Help Hyun up.”

“No need, I can walk.”

Though injured, Namgung Hyun refused help. Namgung Jin looked at him with an unreadable gaze, then went up the stairs first.

No sooner had Namgung Jin ascended than the manager  bent at the waist.

“Thank you, Young Lord! I will not forget this grace!”

Namgung Jin replied indifferently.

“It was my younger brother who tried to save you, so it seems more fitting to give your thanks to him.”

Then, in a voice full of suspicion, he asked,

“In truth, I came because I heard that Five Minerals Powder had entered Platinum Pavilion, so there are many questions I would ask the manager.”

At that moment, one of the Namgung martial artists who had come up the stairs shook his head at the Young Lord.

It meant there was no Five Minerals Powder left inside the underground storeroom.

Namgung Jin’s expression darkened.

“Five Minerals Powder?”

The Deputy Hall Lord tilted his head as though hearing the word for the first time.

“What is that?”

“Weren’t there minerals in the storeroom?”

“Yes, there were minerals. But there was no mineral called Five Minerals Powder.”

“The man who attacked this place earlier said it was true that he had stolen Five Minerals Powder, though?”

“What? He said that? Young Lord, if you check, you’ll see for yourself, but those thieves looted our storeroom. Whether there was some trinket called Five Minerals Powder inside, I don’t know, but it was not hidden by us. We don’t even know what that is.”

The Young Lord sighed at the manager’s feigned ignorance.

For now, there was no evidence. Arriving a step too late, Five Minerals Powder had already disappeared.

It seemed they would have to interrogate the unconscious Blood Sect member when he woke up.

The manager, before his eyes, did appear to be a victim, yet Namgung Jin did not fully believe him.

It was only that if he touched this battered merchant recklessly, he might be saddled with the accusation of raiding Platinum Pavilion. For the moment, he chose to step back.

‘It is suspicious that Hyun came here, and it is strange that Young Lady Tang, who summoned me to Hubei, has gone missing. Just what is happening in Hubei?’

Setting aside his curiosity for now, Namgung Jin spoke cautiously.

“By the way, I heard you wished to tell me something.”

“Ah…”

The Deputy Hall Lord scratched his head as if troubled.

“The thieves had our people move the items that were in the storeroom. As soon as they returned after carrying the items, they were tied up in the basement. The cart that the thieves told them to move might have had what the Young Lord mentioned just now.”

The Deputy Hall Lord limped closer.

He lowered his voice and whispered to Namgung Jin.

“We don’t know what it is, so we don’t know if it’s really the item the Young Lord is looking for. So I know I should keep my mouth shut in times like this… but if it’s an item the Blood Sect desires, I thought it might be safer for ordinary people like us to entrust it to the Murim Alliance…”

The Deputy Hall Lord rambled, trailing off at the end.

Namgung Jin narrowed his brow and asked again.

“Are you saying you’ll tell me where they moved the cart?”

When Namgung Jin summarized it, he nodded.

Namgung Hyun, who was watching this, gasped.

He had realized the Deputy Hall Lord’s true intentions.

The passage to Hubei.

The crazy Deputy Hall Lord seemed to be trying to send Namgung Jin to the passage. He seemed to have felt hope after seeing how easily the Namgung martial artists handled the Red Blood Sect elite.

The Deputy Hall Lord had no loyalty to the Blood Demon, but he was a person who could give his life for the Main Blood Hall Lord.

He had heard that the vessels raised in the Great Desert and the North Sea grew up like livestock kept on a farm. Raised in isolated areas, they were brothers, parents, and children to each other.

He understood the Deputy Hall Lord’s concern. Since the Blue Blood Hall Lord had already crossed over, if the Red Blood Hall Lord also pursued with his elites, it would be dangerous.

So the Deputy Hall Lord was trying to use the Namgung Clan as bait to attract their attention.

Since the Blood Demon would not let a Central Plains person who found out the way to Jin Yin Mountain live, he would order his followers to capture Namgung Jin. The Red Blood Hall Lord and the Blue Blood Hall Lord would not dare to disobey the Blood Demon’s order.

Namgung Hyun’s gaze slid to the Young Lord’s back.

Namgung Jin was not a fool.

Even with his calm face, he would still be suspicious of the Deputy Hall Lord. But there was no way he would just go along with a trick like that.

Furthermore, he had been severely harmed a few years ago by secretly following Namgung Hyun’s words, so he would not repeat the same mistake.

However, contrary to his expectations, Namgung Jin said something strange.

“When can you guide me?”

Namgung Hyun frowned.

The Deputy Hall Lord’s face, on the other hand, brightened. He said in a slightly raised voice.

“I need some urgent treatment, so about half an hour…”

Urgent treatment was an excuse. His true intention was probably to go ahead and open the formation. Namgung Hyun was so speechless that he stared openly at the Deputy Hall Lord.

“If you’re having trouble moving, I’ll carry you. In that case, can we leave now?”

Namgung Hyun’s gaze shifted to his brother.

A part of his heart grew cold at the foolish decision, unbefitting of a Young Lord.

Because he felt he knew the reason.

Namgung Jin seemed to be in a hurry and prepared to leave even before hearing the Deputy Hall Lord’s answer.

“Inil, go inform the Hubei branch of this matter and, if possible, bring reinforcements to follow us.”

Namgung Hyun spoke up without meaning to.

“Elder Brother, do you mean to depart immediately? There may still be Blood Sect members lingering nearby.”

The Deputy Hall Lord’s cold gaze turned toward him, but Namgung Hyun did not close his mouth.

His mind was filled with the thought that grated on him.

“How can you act so recklessly?”

“We must hurry before their trail vanishes—what else would you have me do?”

The Young Lord gave the proper answer, yet Namgung Hyun did not believe it. He asked directly what he had been suspecting.

“Are you perhaps being reckless because the one missing is Young Lady Tang?”

At that question, Namgung Jin turned his body.

Namgung Hyun met the cold gaze fixed on him. He hoped to hear a denial, but what came from the Young Lord was different.

“Hyun.”

Namgung Jin warned in a low voice.

“Let us speak of the rest after I return. You seem to have things to tell me as well.”

Though the Young Lord drew a line, Namgung Hyun did not shrink back. Instead, he replied in a sharp voice.

“If you are going, then take me with you.”

Namgung Jin’s brows rose. Namgung Hyun had made an equally foolish choice.

As he studied his half-brother’s face, wondering what scheme lay behind this, the latter spoke with a calm voice that seemed sincere.

“Since you do not trust me anyway, would it not put your mind more at ease to bring me along rather than leave me here?”

Namgung Jin was somewhat surprised. This was the first time Namgung Hyun had revealed his inner thoughts so bluntly, and for a moment, he could not answer.

Namgung Hyun swept his gaze over the ruined interior of Platinum Pavilion, then added,

“Knowing your cautious nature, you will surely return here to confirm various things.”

His eyes went back to his elder brother.

“I, too, am weary of being subjected to needless suspicion.”

The Young Lord stared at Namgung Hyun for a long time. It was true that he did not trust his younger brother.

Soon, Namgung Jin’s gaze fell to his brother’s arm. Blood was still dripping steadily.

“This is not a matter of trust or not. I do not take you along because I cannot let you die.”

Yet apart from distrust, Namgung Jin felt pity for his half-brother.

He knew well what a clan member treated as invisible by the Clan Head would have to endure. Though it was ultimately his own fault, all blame had flowed onto that child.

Even while enduring unbearable humiliation and pain, Namgung Hyun had never once shown a face of suffering.

Though his half-brother seemed fragile, he was a child with greater pride than any in the Namgung.

Namgung Jin faintly understood his brother’s stubbornness.

Perhaps fighting the Blood Sect with a broken body and becoming crippled would be preferable—rather than being rescued by him and then humiliated again.

In the uneasy atmosphere, the Namgung martial artists stayed silent.

But the tactless manager of Platinum Pavilion clapped his hands, breaking the silence, chiding them subtly as if saying they had no time to waste.

“The Young Lord is right! Please wait a moment. There is no need to carry him; I shall prepare a cart.”

Only then did Namgung Jin take his eyes off his brother.

“I will trouble you for that.”

“Elder Brother.”

“Hyun.”

When Namgung Hyun tried to speak, the Young Lord cut him off.

“This is solely my decision. Do not interfere. If I make a mistake, you will be the one to shoulder the blame again.”

Namgung Jin turned his body toward Namgung Hyun.

“There is no need for us both to repeat the same mistakes. Whether you think so or not, I was never pleased to see you bearing even my sins.”

Though his words were concerned, his eyes were without emotion.

“You are my brother, but before that, you are also a member of the Namgung Clan. I would rather be the one who takes responsibility than the one who shifts blame onto a member. Yet no matter what my feelings are, if things go wrong, the elders will find another scapegoat to brush the dirt off me.”

Namgung Jin paused briefly before speaking slowly.

“You know that better than anyone, do you not?”

From the ruined stone garden came the sound of a cart being pulled.

Moving toward the garden, Namgung Jin added,

“Pride is not yours alone. Wait here.”

As he walked toward the cart, the Namgung martial artists glanced at each other and followed.

Left alone, Namgung Hyun clenched his hand.

Staring blankly at the ground, he slowly lifted his gaze. In his light brown eyes flickered not the familiar helplessness but an unfamiliar emotion.

Step.

Namgung Hyun began walking into the garden.

At that small sound, Namgung Jin, standing beside the cart, turned his gaze.

As their eyes met, Namgung Hyun spoke.

“Whether you make the right choice or a mistake, all the punishment will fall to me anyway.”

A deep wrinkle formed in Namgung Jin’s smooth brow. Yet Namgung Hyun, meeting that gaze, added in a level voice,

“If I am to be punished regardless, then at least I wish to make the choices I want.”

Silence followed. Namgung Jin, seeing Namgung Hyun reject his words, could not reply.

It was because Namgung Hyun’s bearing had changed.

Without answering, Namgung Jin turned his body. Though it was by no means permission, Namgung Hyun followed behind the Young Lord.

The Namgung martial artists, uneasy, pulled the cart awkwardly.

Only the one seated upon it ignored the mood and did his part.

“Turn left and head for the north gate.”

As the cart turned northward, Namgung Jin began running first. There was no more time for argument.

The Namgung moved without sound, putting everything aside, in search of the Blood Sect.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep