Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 595 (Part 1)



595 (Part 1)

**Chapter 596: Je-gal.**

Shin-ui entered the room with me.

As soon as he stepped in he frowned at the state of the room.

“The condition of this room is unacceptable…”

Hearing that I awkwardly smiled.

As Shin-ui said the room was a complete mess.

The one lamp I had was inexplicably broken.

The only piece of furniture a table was split in half.

Last night.

I had lost my temper and smashed various things.

I could have called a servant to clean it up when I left but I didn’t.

It felt a bit awkward to ask for something like that to be cleaned.

I reached out my hand.

Woong—! Energy burst from my fingertips lifting the scattered debris into the air one by one.

Immediately I recalled what Mu Yong-hee had said yesterday.

“Didn’t she say something about using psychokinesis in a place like this?”

It was an action that would seem absurd to others.

But doing it myself there was nothing more convenient.

It did consume an unreasonable amount of qi which made it a bit inefficient though.

After tidying up the room Shin-ui plopped down in the empty space and said

“I don’t need tea.”

“I don’t have a table to serve it on anyway.”

“…”

There was no way I would have tea in my room.

I received many gifts here and there but I never bothered to carry such things around.

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I neither enjoyed them nor wanted the hassle.

“I have water though. Would you like that?”

“…Sure.”

“Oh I’m sorry. Now that I think about it I don’t have any water either.”

“…”

I awkwardly replied.

I hadn’t even brought any drinking water into the room.

“Forget it… I didn’t come here to drink anything anyway.”

“Yes.”

As I contemplated whether to look for something I sat down on the floor following Shin-ui’s words.

Since there was no need to do anything further I got straight to the point.

“So what were you saying earlier?”

“…”

As I posed the question Shin-ui’s expression turned serious.

Seeing that I thought.

‘He said something big would happen in Henan soon.’

That was not something to be taken lightly.

“Did you say something would happen in Henan?”

“Yes… I don’t know when but probably not too far off…”

Shin-ui paused for a moment before continuing.

“Some individuals will cause a major incident in Henan.”

Some individuals.

“How do you know that?”

“They told me directly.”

He said they spoke to him directly?

Hearing that I fell into thought for a moment.

‘He said he was just going out for a bit yesterday.’

Shin-ui’s outing yesterday.

And also.

‘He mentioned he would meet someone in Henan.’

Could that be related to this?

Shin-ui who could hardly be called upon easily coming all the way to Henan to meet someone.

What kind of being could that be…?

“How did you come to speak of such matters with Elder?”

As I asked with curiosity Shin-ui’s eyes turned cold.

Shin-ui is a physician.

Why would he bring up a topic about an attack?

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Who could it be and what purpose did they have?

Such questions kept swirling in my mind.

With a strange expression Shin-ui answered me.

“It’s probably because I share the same bloodline as them.”

“…”

I widened my eyes at the response.

The same bloodline?

That means…

‘Are they descendants of the Jae-gal Family?’

I thought of it without voicing it.

Shin-ui probably didn’t know that I was aware of his surname.

‘Are the descendants of the Jae-gal Family preparing to cause trouble in Henan?’

Hearing that made my head ache.

‘This is something that didn’t happen in my previous life.’

In my previous life the Jae-gal Family never appeared out of nowhere to cause trouble.

Even when the genius Je-gal Hyuk sat in the strategist position of the Demonic Cult and began to sweep through the Central Plains.

Or when another figure from the Jae-gal surname stood against Je-gal Hyuk claiming to clear the family’s name.

There was no information about any other descendants of the Jae-gal Clan appearing.

Since I had experienced my previous life I knew that both Shin-ui and Je-gal Hyuk not to mention that Ji-seon guy were of the Jae-gal Clan bloodline.

But they lived hiding their lineage and concealing their surname.

At this point it was even unclear whether such a surname existed.

Despite the situation being so clear.

“…Forgotten specters have drawn their swords to reclaim their place.”

How could such a thing happen?

I managed to keep my expression neutral and asked Shin-ui.

“What exactly… is the identity of the bloodline you mentioned?”

I asked hiding the fact that I already knew.

I wondered if he would actually provide an answer.

Then he said

“Once it was a place that bore the Jae-gal surname.”

“…!”

“I am a descendant of that place.”

Surprisingly Shin-ui answered about his surname without any hesitation.

I thought he would at least try to hide it a little but he let it slip so easily.

“If it’s Jae-gal then surely…”

I was surprised in a different way but it wasn’t hard to pretend to be shocked.

“Yes. It’s the place you know.”

“…”

The Jae-gal Family.

A family that held an absolute position in the formations and institutions when they were referred to as the Five Great Families in the past.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that most formations and other institutions in the Central Plains were managed by the Jae-gal Family.

Their standing was that solid and unique so the people of the Central Plains believed that even if other places fell the Jae-gal Family would remain intact.

Ironically the first to fall was the Jae-gal Family.

The reasons for that are well known.

‘They worshipped the Blood Demon.’

The Blood Demon who incited bloodshed and chaos.

The Jae-gal Family secretly worshipped the Blood Demon seeking to covet his power which the Murim Alliance uncovered leading to their rapid downfall.

The family was left in ruins of course.

A slaughter order was issued against those with the Jae-gal surname.

All direct descendants were killed leaving no survivors.

The few collateral branches that survived often lived concealing their surname.

That is the current state of the Jae-gal Family.

No it’s now difficult to even call it a family.

It has all disbanded and disappeared; how could it still be called a family?

Recalling these facts I looked at Shin-ui and asked.

“…Is it alright for you to tell me such things?”

“Why? Are you planning to report it to the Alliance?”

“No it’s not like I have to do that. I might consider it if I need money later though.”

“Haha. That reason sounds just like you.”

Shin-ui laughed as he said that.

It felt somewhat insulting.

“Fine. If you can gain something by selling this old man out then do so.”

“…I’m not saying I would do that.”

“However if that happens I hope you take care of Hyuk.”

“…”

You’re asking for the most difficult thing. How troublesome.

It would have been easier to just threaten me not to say anything.

Holding back a sigh I said to Shin-ui.

“So… the descendants of the Jae-gal Family are planning something and you’re asking me to join in this matter. Is that roughly what you meant?”

“Probably.”

“How did Elder respond?”

“What do you think I would have done?”

This old man keeps answering questions with questions.

“He probably said he wouldn’t.”

At least he answered me.

“Why?”

“Given Elder’s temperament… no I thought that would be the case.”

I almost called him hot-tempered without realizing it.

This old man must be quite irritable.

As I turned my words around Shin-ui chuckled slightly.

“Right… That’s correct. He refused. He definitely said he wouldn’t.”

“Yes.”

“He said he wouldn’t get involved. I’m sure he said that before leaving.”

As Shin-ui spoke his eyes grew darker.

“It’s not that simple.”

“Is that why you’re bringing this up with me?”

“Exactly.”

“Then I don’t quite understand why you came to me.”

Shin-ui clearly said he had a request for me.

And the topic he brought up was this.

I couldn’t make sense of it.

‘There must be plenty of people around.’

Right now even if they’re not entirely trustworthy there’s Elder and there should be other powerful figures in the same place.