A Wandering Warrior's Survival Guide - Chapter 25

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Asakusa

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◈ A Wandering Warrior's Survival Guide ◈

Chapter 25: More Than a Mere Escort's Level (3)

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The escort mission entered Liaodong without incident.

In the meantime, with Gwak Myeong-ho's help, Cheon Hwi was able to train his external arts.

Basic physical training, that sort of thing.

Walking and walking, climbing hills, and traversing mountain paths while continuously maintaining the Well-Returning Moving Art was considerable training in itself.

Instead of swords, the things that came from the chief escort's sleeves solved their problems. When a band of forest bandits appeared on a mountain pass, Gwak Myeong-ho raised the escort banner high and tossed them a bundle of money. When they passed through checkpoints, a document appeared from the chief escort's sleeve, and the guards made no attempt to peer inside the carts.

If a chief escort's skill was in never drawing a sword, then Gwak Myeong-ho was a skilled chief escort.

During the journey, Cheon Hwi and Gwak Myeong-ho spoke of various things. Of the paths they had walked.

"The Blood Serpent Gang, was it? Perhaps your unfinished revenge can be settled sooner than you think."

Gwak Myeong-ho lowered their voice and explained it to Cheon Hwi alone.

The situation was this.

"The Murong Clan of Liaodong is on the move. They are assembling a large-scale subjugation force to uproot the Black Path groups connected to those Dried Child Hearts that turned Changchun into a wasteland. It seems the trouble is growing severe throughout Liaoning."

"I see."

"Have you heard the name Guarding Martial Authority?"

"No. This is the first I've heard of it."

At Cheon Hwi's dry response, Gwak Myeong-ho leaned down from their horse and lowered their voice further.

"The imperial court never acknowledges them, but they are an armed group that secretly operates on vast private funds from the imperial household."

"The imperial court?"

"Yes. Officialdom and the Martial World are supposedly forbidden from interfering in each other's affairs, but that is only on the surface. Those above would hardly be pleased with such a boundary."

"......Hmm."

"Before money, the line between officialdom and the Martial World is as hazy as mist over a morning lake. The imperial court and high officials sow discord among the Martial World's forces, keep them in check, and sometimes raise their own hands and feet to move as they please."

Gwak Myeong-ho's eyes flashed sharply.

"This subjugation force will include not only the Murong Clan's elite, but swordsmen from the Guarding Martial Authority as well. Unless those Blood Serpent Gang bastards fled to the Mongolian steppe, where there is nowhere to go or flee, it is certain they have come to Liaoning. They will find it difficult to avoid the subjugation force's blades."

The scattered pieces in Cheon Hwi's mind fell into place at once.

"If I join that subjugation force, I will be joining the hunt for the Blood Serpent Gang and Gwak Do-mun's head."

Gwak Myeong-ho nodded.

"That's right. It would be a hundred times better than searching the entire Martial World for them alone."

Just as Gwak Myeong-ho finished speaking and turned their attention back toward the front of the formation, Cheon Hwi spoke.

"That cart in the center of the formation, the one with the strong smell of blood. Could it be cargo connected to that as well?"

"......An escort agency does not comment on a client's goods. An escort guard's iron rule is never to ask what is inside or look inside."

It was a firm response that drew a clear line.

Yet Gwak Myeong-ho did not expressly deny Cheon Hwi's sharp suspicion. Cheon Hwi, who had crossed the line between life and death hundreds of times, instinctively understood that heavy silence as affirmation.

There had to be children who had nearly become victims of Dried Child Hearts inside, or something related to them.

Cheon Hwi silently turned his gaze and looked up at the enormous city walls stretching far into the distance.

Shenyang City of Liaoning rose with overwhelming grandeur, as though an entire mountain range had been carved down and built into walls. Its overwhelming grandeur, fundamentally different from that of Changchun, a frontier town beyond the passes, filled Cheon Hwi's field of vision.

‘I'd heard that even Liaoning Province lies at the very edge of the Central Plains. I never knew it would differ so greatly from beyond the passes.’

Several flags planted atop the battlements fluttered in the fierce wind, and Cheon Hwi unconsciously swallowed.

This was the true Martial World Yi Mu-gwang had wanted to push him into, even at the cost of his life.

Even this place, no more than a frontier at the edge of the Central Plains, was this magnificent.

The Central Plains stood before Cheon Hwi with its enormous maw wide open.

"They won't accept just anyone into the subjugation force."

"That's right."

"Will you write me a recommendation?"

"Ha! Do you think a recommendation spear will be enough? It is not that sort of place."

Gwak Myeong-ho laughed.

"We are going to uproot Black Path factions, including the Blood Serpent Gang. This is not some easy affair where they will let a green youth join just because he has fire in his blood. At the very least, you must prove that you can protect yourself before they would even consider taking you on as a common member."

"If I prove it, will that be enough?"

Gwak Myeong-ho clicked their tongue inwardly at Cheon Hwi's calmness.

It was not the composure of a fifteen-year-old boy. It was the ease of someone who had already crossed the line between life and death dozens of times.

As though passing the test would be all there was to it.

* * *

Cheon Hwi finally realized that he had wandered the frontier with his father all his life.

Even when he searched his childhood memories, he could scarcely remember seeing a city this large.

Beneath his bamboo hat, Cheon Hwi took in the strange sight and felt, for the first time, the foreignness of the Central Plains to his bones.

The inspection at the gate was also easily resolved with papers from Gwak Myeong-ho's robes.

Yet in Shenyang, it seemed that the great shadows of martial clans, government offices, escort agencies, and the imperial court moved in secret and tangled complexity, each gripping the others by the throat.

Walking beside Cheon Hwi, Gwak Myeong-ho muttered quietly.

"The atmosphere is quite different from beyond the passes, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Here, writing gets things done as swiftly as the sword. Yet there is always a sword hidden behind that paper. That much is the same everywhere."

Cheon Hwi replied as though he understood.

"So they are the same barbarians. The only difference is whether they wear masks and pretend to be refined."

"Puhahaha! That is true as well."

Gwak Myeong-ho burst into hearty laughter without caring about the looks around them.

Cheon Hwi's insight had pierced the filthy essence of the Central Plains' Martial World, and it seemed to give Gwak Myeong-ho a certain satisfaction.

Once they passed through the gate and entered the city, a group of men emitting unfamiliar qi stepped from among the crowds in splendid clothing and blocked the formation as if they had been waiting.

They were dressed in matching black martial uniforms.

Cheon Hwi immediately sensed that they were martial artists of the Guarding Martial Authority Gwak Myeong-ho had mentioned.

The man at their head walked forward slowly.

Han So-gyeom, deputy leader of the Guarding Martial Authority's White Night Unit.

With a slender face as pale as white jade and eyes sharp as frost, he offered Gwak Myeong-ho a cupped-fist salute with cold politeness.

"You have had a difficult journey, Chief Escort Gwak."

"Enough greetings. We will hand over the goods, then return to our agency's main hall to rest."

At Gwak Myeong-ho's brusque reply, Han So-gyeom looked toward the cart in the center of the formation.

"Is the cargo safe?"

"With the stench of blood this strong despite the rain, it is difficult to call it safe."

Han So-gyeom's expression did not shift in the slightest.

Breathing in the disgusting scent of blood from the cart, he replied without feeling.

"They only need to remain inside. Let us proceed at once. You will need to accompany us."

Chief Escort Gwak scratched the back of their neck as though annoyed, then looked at Cheon Hwi and readily nodded.

Escorted by the Guarding Martial Authority, the Azure Cloud Escort Agency's formation entered an outer residence of the Murong Clan, located a short distance from the center of Shenyang City.

Most of the escort guards were sent away, but Cheon Hwi was allowed to remain under Chief Escort Gwak's protection.

People wearing splendid and dignified martial uniforms stood throughout the spacious training ground. They appeared to be several people from the Murong Clan who had come to verify the cargo, along with martial artists from the Guarding Martial Authority in black uniforms.

The grave atmosphere of a true, organized armed force, utterly unlike Changchun's ragtag wanderers, overwhelmed Cheon Hwi.

Once the formation stopped, Han So-gyeom's subordinates approached the cart, roughly pulled away its black oilcloth, and opened the closed latch.

At last, the dreadful truth of the escort cargo was revealed in broad daylight.

"Hmm......"

Brief sighs arose from the martial artists gathered in the training ground.

Inside were six or seven young children, crumpled together like baggage and trembling in extreme terror.

They were children who had been rescued just before their hearts were removed alive. Their sleep acupoints had been struck, and they appeared to be asleep.

"These are evidence that this matter has spread through Liaoning, Jilin, and even the Heilongjiang region. The children's testimony and the marks left on their bodies will provide grounds to strike at that Black Path alliance's headquarters. The chief steward will not say that more is needed."

"......Hmm."

In the direction Han So-gyeom was looking, a man called the Murong Clan's chief steward stroked his beard in apparent deliberation.

For the Murong Clan to act meant openly turning against Liaodong's Black Path. It was only natural that the chief steward could not easily nod.

"Very well. I will speak to the clan head."

By the time the children had been handed over to physicians and matters had been mostly settled, Cheon Hwi approached Han So-gyeom, deputy leader of the Guarding Martial Authority's White Night Unit.

"Please let me join the subjugation force."

"......?"

Han So-gyeom merely looked Cheon Hwi up and down without a word.

A worn bamboo hat. Tattered clothes soaked by the rain. An old longsword, worn even at the hilt. There was no sign that his muscles and external arts had been properly trained. He possessed qi, but he appeared to be an ordinary martial artist in the early stages of second-rate.

Han So-gyeom knew that those who had only just risen above third-rate were often the ones who did not know how high the sky was.

"Are you joining because you think the pay will be good?"

At Han So-gyeom's words, Cheon Hwi met his eyes silently.

Han So-gyeom's eyes widened slightly as he read Cheon Hwi's gaze, then returned to normal.

‘He is not a man who wants to join for money.’

"Forget it. This punitive expedition is not a place to charge into on youthful vigor alone. If we were merely exterminating bandits, we would not be waiting for the aid of a martial clan. We must face a Black Path alliance that has taken root throughout Liaoning, Jilin, and the Heilongjiang region. We still do not know for certain who stands behind them."

Cheon Hwi did not retreat and continued to meet his eyes.

Han So-gyeom's eyes narrowed as he read a thread of Cheon Hwi's qi through that gaze.

Having cultivated demonic arts himself, there was a presence he could discern.

‘Demonic art......?’

And it did not seem to be an ordinary demonic art.

Han So-gyeom's eyes widened sharply.

‘Could this be......the Death-Gate Soul-Refining Art?’

Han So-gyeom placed a hand on his sword hilt and asked. He looked ready to cut Cheon Hwi down at once.

"Who are you?"

Just as the hostile atmosphere began drawing attention, Chief Escort Gwak stepped forward, grabbed Cheon Hwi's shoulder, and pulled him away.

"Hero Han! Ahaha! This fellow is Cheon Hwi, a B-rank wanderer hired as an escort guard! Ahaha! Is something the matter?"

Han So-gyeom lowered his hostility by a layer and furrowed his brow.