WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
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◈ A Wandering Warrior's Survival Guide ◈
Chapter 29: Even If They Call Me Heretical (4)
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“That was an empty death. I thought he had some use...”
It was Han So-gyeom's voice, full of regret, that Cheon Hwi heard as his vision went dark.
Flash.
His vision brightened again. A chilling feeling came with a flash of pain like phantom agony.
The heart that had just been stabbed by a dagger beat steadily once more. Sweat gathered in his palms.
‘What was the betrayal for?’
His thoughts did not linger long. The reason did not matter. All that mattered was that they had tried to kill him, and that he now had to kill them to survive.
He silently tightened the cuffs of his rolled-up sleeves and adjusted his grip on the old iron sword at his waist.
Three Outer Hall warriors from the Murong Clan walked behind him at regular intervals.
They pretended to search the empty houses and spread their attention, but Cheon Hwi could sense them maintaining the distance and angles needed to draw their weapons and stab him. He thought he could even feel their faint killing intent, so slight that he would have missed it without close concentration. Perhaps it was only because he had sharpened all five senses, but now that he knew the truth, it felt different.
Cheon Hwi naturally turned his gaze ahead.
The guide in worn brown clothes, Han So-gyeom, led the way with a human skin mask over his face.
As Cheon Hwi walked, he spoke calmly.
“Is it possible that someone within the Murong Clan has been colluding with those Black Path bastards?”
Han So-gyeom kept walking without answering, as though Cheon Hwi had said something absurd.
One of the three Outer Hall warriors protested.
“Brat. Watch your mouth. Are you trying to insult the Clan's honor?”
‘Honor.’
Cheon Hwi had learned from dying only once exactly where they would seize their chance.
The well and alley where he had just died came into view.
It would happen after he and Han So-gyeom split off in different directions, when Cheon Hwi turned right and took roughly three steps.
Rustle.
The three warriors naturally placed their hands on their hidden weapons and sword guards, pretending to tense up in preparation for a possible ambush. Cheon Hwi also loosely rested a hand on his sword hilt, as though he were wary of enemies jumping out from ahead.
Before they could gather killing intent and tighten their grips around their dagger hilts, just as the warriors behind him subtly flexed their shoulder muscles.
Shhhk!
The instant the presence behind him shifted, Cheon Hwi twisted sideways and sprang up, drawing his sword from his waist like lightning.
The first move he had created the previous night.
Earth Severance.
Cheon Hwi's sword shot toward the first Outer Hall warrior's planted foot.
Cheon Hwi's foot slid like a snake and crushed the warrior's planted foot. As the warrior lost their balance and widened their eyes, the iron sword drew a cruel half-circle toward their throat.
“Urk!”
Though he had drawn the technique while throwing himself through the air in a twisted posture, Cheon Hwi's sword rose with perfect accuracy and tore across the warrior's neck.
Bright red blood sprayed violently over the moss-covered stones beside the well.
Before the others could even process their comrade's death, one warrior reflexively twisted around to chase Cheon Hwi, reaching for a hidden weapon.
But Cheon Hwi's swift sword technique, unleashed the moment he landed, was more than a beat faster.
By the time the warrior pushed at their scabbard and half a jang of blade emerged, Cheon Hwi's sword tip was already rushing toward them.
The third move.
Heaven Piercing.
The blade pierced their chest, followed by the sound of breaking bone.
Cheon Hwi mercilessly twisted his sword and charged forward.
Slice! Thunk!
“Guhk...”
With just two attacks, he struck with perfect precision. The two traitors, blood foaming from their mouths and their necks half-bent, collapsed onto the cold mud without even managing a scream.
Cheon Hwi did not need to deal with the last one.
Unaware that the guide was Han So-gyeom, the warrior had tried to assassinate him as well. Han So-gyeom caught their arm and subdued them.
With a motion as easy as twisting a child's wrist, Han So-gyeom sharply pivoted and struck the warrior's abdomen with a palm technique.
Boom!
The warrior shot into the air before crashing back down.
“Urk!”
A thin stream of blood dripped from their mouth.
Han So-gyeom turned toward Cheon Hwi out of concern for his safety. Then his eyes widened slightly in surprise.
‘He took out two?’
The two warriors were already no longer of this world.
“I was surprised too.”
Cheon Hwi spoke lightly.
His expression remained indifferent as he flicked the iron sword through the air.
Drip, drip.
Sticky blood fell from the blade.
Even Han So-gyeom, vice commander of the Guarding Martial Authority and a man who had crossed countless life-and-death battles, had failed to notice that the three Outer Hall warriors behind him were traitors. He had not even sensed their killing intent.
Yet this youth, who appeared to have barely reached the second-rate realm, had noticed it beforehand and cut them down in an instant?
‘...Is that even possible?’
But it had happened right before his eyes.
“They suddenly drew their blades and tried to stab me.”
Han So-gyeom inwardly shuddered as he realized he had truly seen what he thought he had.
“When did you know those warriors would betray us? Were your earlier words a hint?”
“Yes, well... it was only a feeling. There were little things about them that bothered me. And even when we rested earlier, there was something else in the way they watched us. It's fortunate that I stayed on guard.”
‘Were all those questions about the principles of lightness skills when we rested earlier a lie?’
Had Cheon Hwi deliberately acted weak to make the traitorous Outer Hall warriors take him lightly, only to turn this moment against them?
Han So-gyeom became convinced that this had to be the case. Otherwise, it made no sense.
Judging by the bodies, both had been taken down in a single strike.
Setting aside his surprise, Han So-gyeom walked toward the Outer Hall warrior still rolling on the ground.
He kicked the warrior's sword away, then stepped down hard on their solar plexus to pin them.
“Has rot set in within the Clan itself? On whose orders did you arrange this?”
“Urgh... Heh. Heheh! Do you think I'll talk when it's already over? Huh? Urk!”
Internal energy flowed into Han So-gyeom's foot, and the sound of a rib breaking followed.
“Since when have Liaodong's Black Path scum been feeding respectable clan lapdogs like you?”
“Heheh... Black Path? To hear that from bastards who swallow the authorities' dirty money. Huh? Aren't we the ones living more by the Martial World's code than trash like you? Urk!”
As the Outer Hall warrior let out a mad, mocking laugh and struggled, Han So-gyeom's brow twisted.
Han So-gyeom hurriedly pulled his foot away and tried to press the warrior's acupoints, but it was too late.
It seemed that their organs had already ruptured from the palm strike.
Han So-gyeom irritably gave the corpse a light kick. He had more of a temper than he appeared to.
Three traitors.
Black Path moles planted within the Murong Clan of Shenyang.
Whether the rot was only on the surface or had spread deep within, the situation had grown complicated.
Han So-gyeom rubbed his chin as he calculated the possibilities.
‘We can't even guarantee the Guarding Martial Authority members' safety.’
He decided that it would be better to return.
This was no time to venture deeper into Black Pheasant Valley, Black Path or not.
First, they needed to return alive to Shenyang with the traitors' heads, seize the Murong Clan by the throat, and uncover the collaborators.
Deploying a subjugation force before that would be reckless. As vice commander of the Guarding Martial Authority, it was only natural for him to preserve the strength of his combat force.
“The mission ends here.”
Han So-gyeom spoke firmly, his voice still disguised.
“We'll take parts of their corpses and return at once. Before the main force moves in, we need to pressure the Murong Clan's leadership and pull out the rotten roots. Otherwise, even our Guarding Martial Authority members could be slaughtered.”
He had not even finished speaking when Cheon Hwi responded.
“I'll continue.”
“Are you saying you'll disobey orders?”
Han So-gyeom turned to Cheon Hwi as though he could not believe what he was hearing.
“What nonsense is this? I am the guide, and I have ordered our return. Are you going in alone to die a dog's death?”
“Do you believe the entire Clan is rotten?”
Cheon Hwi continued.
“Just because those three accepted Black Path silver does not mean that the Murong Clan's head or its entire leadership is in league with the Black Path. If they were, everything would have been uncooperative from the first day the Guarding Martial Authority entered Shenyang. It is more likely that the Murong Clan itself does not know of this disgrace. And even if we return with their heads, we will be the ones met with suspicion.”
Cheon Hwi wiped his sword on the fallen traitor's clothes.
Scrape, scrape.
“We need to track something before they vanish and erase the evidence. It may already be too late. Look around. These villagers likely made their living through dealings with the Black Path, yet there isn't anyone here.”
Han So-gyeom was left speechless.
The judgment coming from this brat's mouth was accurate.
His own judgment had been the proper one, but that only applied when the other side was willing to listen. The Clan would dismiss it as nonsense to avoid acknowledging its shame. Even if he removed the human skin mask and revealed that the person at the scene had been Deputy Commander Han So-gyeom, they would likely do the same.
More importantly, as Cheon Hwi had said, if they withdrew now, the Black Path alliance would cut off its tail and hide.
Then the forces behind the place that manufactured and delivered Dried Child Hearts as tribute, throwing the region into chaos, would remain a mystery forever.
Han So-gyeom was not a stubborn man. Even if an opinion came from someone younger and weaker than himself, he knew how to yield when it was reasonable.
‘Is this brat really just a fifteen-year-old wanderer?’
As Han So-gyeom clicked his tongue inwardly, Cheon Hwi spoke again.
“More than anything... Deputy Commander, you came all this way yourself. Wouldn't it be rather embarrassing to return empty-handed with nothing but the corpses of three lackeys?”
For a moment, only the chirping of insects filled the silence.
Han So-gyeom blinked at Cheon Hwi in surprise.
“What... did you just call me?”
“Deputy Commander.”
Cheon Hwi's tone made it sound obvious.
A chill crept up Han So-gyeom's spine, and he clenched his fists.
He was wearing a human skin mask crafted by the finest artisan, and he had even pressed the acupoints in his neck to disguise his voice. Yet Cheon Hwi had recognized him?
Had he figured it out from his build? No, that could not be it. His build was not distinctive enough.
“...How did you know?”
Han So-gyeom finally undid the voice disguise and asked in his natural voice.
Cheon Hwi lightly shrugged.
“If you were merely a rank-and-file member of the Guarding Martial Authority assigned to guide us, then when the operation went wrong, you would have said we should report to the main force and withdraw. But you decided to pressure the Murong Clan because Guarding Martial Authority members could be endangered. That is the sort of decision a unit-level commander would make.”
That was true. It was certainly not a decision that an ordinary guide would make.
“You figured it out from that alone?”
Cheon Hwi could not tell him that he had seen his irritated expression when he removed the human skin mask as Cheon Hwi was dying in the first ambush.
“And the aura of Deputy Leader Han that I sensed at the training ground seemed strangely familiar, so I had my suspicions. Once those two things came together, I became certain.”
‘He read the presence I concealed?’
At Cheon Hwi's words, Han So-gyeom let out a hollow laugh instead.
“Ha! Hahaha...!”
Despite taking care to disguise himself, the vice commander of the Guarding Martial Authority had been seen through by Cheon Hwi, who seemed to have only barely entered the second-rate realm.
Han So-gyeom had followed him into this dangerous place to uncover Cheon Hwi's depths.
Yet Cheon Hwi had seen through his identity from the beginning.
Han So-gyeom's assessment of Cheon Hwi was completely overturned.
No, rather than being overturned, his original assessment had simply become firmer.
‘This one is extraordinary.’
He was brilliant and knew how to read the situation.
Martial strength could be built through time and effort, but intelligence like this could not.
Han So-gyeom found himself liking Cheon Hwi even more.
“Fine.”
Han So-gyeom reached up and rubbed his cheeks and jawline hard.
Then he carefully removed the human skin mask. The layer of skin that had clung naturally to his face peeled away, revealing his original white-jade features and eyes sharp as frost.
He seemed to remove it carefully because he would need it for the return journey.
“You're right. If we tuck our tails and return now, the White Night Unit's reputation will not stand.”
Han So-gyeom roughly stuffed away the bloodstained human skin mask and looked toward the mountain ridges beyond the abandoned village.
“You didn't chicken out, did you, Deputy Commander?”
At Cheon Hwi's casual provocation, Han So-gyeom's eyebrows twitched.
“...What did you say?”
His attitude seemed to say that the authority of a Guarding Martial Authority vice commander could go to the dogs. Yet this time, a strange pleasure came before any displeasure.
Cheon Hwi was the first person who had ever treated him this way.
Was it because he was a wanderer and did not know what the White Night Unit of the Guarding Martial Authority was?
Even if they were called unorthodox, they were not inferior to anyone in the Martial World, whether orthodox, unorthodox, or demonic.
‘It seems I need to show him properly.’
“We're going. Keep up. With the level of lightness skill you showed during the day, you will not be able to follow me. I will show you the true prowess of the Guarding Martial Authority.”
“Gladly.”
Han So-gyeom thought he could give Cheon Hwi, who might one day become a Guarding Martial Authority member, valuable experience in real combat.
And so, when they returned to the Murong Clan, Cheon Hwi, who had supposedly gone out on reconnaissance, had become someone who had earned the feat of destroying a Black Path mountain stronghold with only the two of them.
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