WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
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◈ A Wandering Warrior's Survival Guide ◈
Chapter 33: I Became a Rising Star Obsessed Over by Prestigious Clans (1)
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Three Outer Hall warriors lay sprawled across the training ground.
“Ugh...”
“S-spare us.”
The three red-corded Outer Hall warriors who had picked the fight were beaten black and blue in an instant, rolling through the dust.
“Are you all right, Seniors?”
“Do we look all right?!”
One clutched a dislocated shoulder and foamed at the mouth. Another trembled without even being able to stand, the tendons in their calf crushed.
“I saved your lives.”
“S-saved us, my ass!”
“In your current condition, you will not be able to join the upcoming subjugation force. Try to get yourselves excused on the grounds that you were injured while training.”
In any case, those wearing white cords would hardly be much fighting strength. Most would likely be assigned to cleanup or guard duty. Even so, they were heading somewhere close to death.
Thinking of it as payment for serving as substitutes for wooden training dummies, Cheon Hwi had injured them badly enough to keep them from joining the subjugation force, but not so badly that they could not make a clean recovery.
Without so much as disturbing his breath, Cheon Hwi dusted off his scabbard. A few drops of blood fell from it.
‘I've saved your lives.’
The other Outer Hall warriors watching from all around looked rather shocked.
They had come out of curiosity after hearing that a newcomer was sparring with someone on the training ground.
But the scene before them looked less like sparring and more like a one-sided beating.
What sort of sparring match involved hitting people with a sheathed sword instead of even a practice sword?
A lowly newcomer among the newly arrived white cords had thoroughly humbled one red cord and two white cords who had spent years in the Outer Hall, as though playing with them.
The result of that overwhelming display of martial skill was immediate.
Before noon had even passed, an Outer Hall identification token tied with a red knot newly hung from Cheon Hwi's waist.
In a single day, he had proven through strength how the Outer Hall operated, where skill reigned supreme.
Officially, it was granted as a reward for successfully completing his difficult recent mission.
However, the commotion did not remain within the Outer Hall's walls.
Deep within the Murong Clan's Inner Hall, and deeper still in the main family's Inner Compound, rumors about Cheon Hwi had begun to spread.
Only direct-line descendants, collateral branches, external-surname disciples, and a handful of trusted servants were permitted to enter that place.
“I heard that bastard who beat Murong Jun thrashed three Outer Hall warriors.”
“The three Outer Hall warriors went together, and only a Guarding Martial Authority martial artist and that bastard came back alive. What else could it mean? It means he's strong.”
“Those Outer Hall warrior bastards... I wonder if they just collect their wages and go around drinking. To think they got disciplined by a newcomer. Pathetic.”
People's reactions were split in two.
Some wanted to test Cheon Hwi for themselves, while others bitterly wondered whether the clan's Outer Hall warriors had become far too weak.
The rumors about Cheon Hwi spread quickly. They could not help it. The Murong Clan's most talked-about recent matter was the Outer Hall martial artists who had taken Black Path money.
“To think they pledged loyalty to the Murong Clan while taking bribes from the Black Path and selling information.”
The aftermath had brought a bloody purge. The Murong Clan had kept it quiet, but it was a considerable disgrace.
The Outer Hall Chief Steward had not escaped punishment over the affair.
And Cheon Hwi was mentioned alongside that disgraceful story.
“There was someone like that?”
“I hear he and two Guarding Martial Authority martial artists wiped out a mountain stronghold.”
“The Guarding Martial Authority members must have done everything.”
“Still, isn't it remarkable that he broke through that ravine, climbed the mountain, and destroyed the stronghold?”
“He certainly belongs to a different class from the other Outer Hall warriors who took Black Path money.”
Perhaps because of that, another subject began to spread little by little among the faction that included the clan elders.
“How about accepting that child, Cheon Hwi, as an external-surname disciple?”
“An external-surname disciple...”
A certain suggestion began to circulate, cautiously at first.
Outer Hall warriors and external-surname disciples occupied entirely different stations.
If Outer Hall warriors were merely hired hunting dogs paid in coin, external-surname disciples were treated as people of the clan.
If, while serving as an external-surname disciple, one rendered distinguished service to the clan, enhanced its reputation, or had their loyalty recognized, they could receive the bestowal of a surname and be entered into the Murong clan register.
In other words, their status would rise until they became part of a collateral branch of one of the Five Great Clans famed throughout the Martial World.
Even if they did not dare hope to be entered into the clan register, becoming an insider of a great clan was a sweet offer that many wanderers drifting aimlessly through the Martial World dreamed of and would never refuse.
Cheon Hwi's name eventually reached the ears of the direct line and core leadership, who took pride in the nobility of their blood.
“I hear the child is fifteen this year.”
“A suitable age.”
“Still, should we not verify him further?”
“Deputy Commander Han So-gyeom has practically done that indirectly already. More importantly, did he not also defeat Murong Jun?”
And so, after a meeting of elders that included the Inner Chief Steward and Outer Chief Steward, they reached their conclusion.
“Let us accept him as an external-surname disciple.”
The clan's leadership judged that such abnormal talent was too precious to rot away as a disposable Outer Hall warrior.
It was an extraordinary proposal.
The Murong Clan had not accepted an external-surname disciple in over a decade. The reason was simple. There had been no need.
There were already more than enough direct-line Murongs and collateral branches. Murongs even lived outside Shenyang City. There was no reason to bring outsiders into the Inner Compound.
“This will go down in the Murong Clan's history. Ahahaha.”
“Could that child someday receive the bestowal of a surname and take Murong as his own?”
“Ahahaha. Isn't it too early to speak of the bestowal of a surname?”
“It seems the Guarding Martial Authority deputy commander is already greatly coveting that child's talent.”
“If it's talent that he covets, then it may be said to suit the Murong Clan as well.”
“He received a red cord as soon as he became an Outer Hall warrior, and now he will immediately become an external-surname disciple. Well, there really are times when a dragon rises from a muddy stream.”
“Ahahaha!”
No one had even thought of offering them rice cakes, yet they were already drinking kimchi soup by the jarful.
“Summon him at once.”
Thus, Cheon Hwi was summoned to a reception hall standing at the boundary between the Inner Hall and Outer Hall.
Expensive tea leaves had a different fragrance from the start. Cheon Hwi was newly surprised that the scent rising from tea could fill an entire room.
Trickle...
As an elder of the Murong Clan poured him the costly tea, the old man watched Cheon Hwi with a kindly smile.
“I hear your martial talent is quite excellent.”
“The rumors are exaggerated. I am still sorely lacking.”
The elder assumed Cheon Hwi was being humble.
“The great Murong Clan has decided to show special flexibility.”
The elder slid a jade badge across the table. There was a certain force in his expression, and he seemed exceedingly pleased with himself.
“From today onward, I shall accept you as an external-surname disciple of the Murong Clan.”
He would accept him.
It was not a proposal. It was a notification that this was simply what they had decided to do.
Cheon Hwi sensed the arrogance in that wording but did not show it.
An external-surname disciple.
Though he would bear a different surname, the clan would recognize him as a disciple permitted to learn and master its martial arts. How could he not feel pleased at being acknowledged?
But if he accepted, they would put a collar around his neck and drive a stake into the ground besides. Thoroughly.
“Of course, once you become an external-surname disciple, you will be able to learn the Murong Clan's martial arts one by one, arts incomparable to the martial arts manuals gathering dust in the Outer Hall's annex.”
He would not be able to access the martial arts, including secret teachings, inherited only by the direct line, of course.
In other words, it was an offer no third-rate wanderer and former hired escort guard would refuse.
The elder had no doubt that Cheon Hwi would prostrate himself on the floor, overwhelmed with gratitude.
He thought Cheon Hwi's silent, blank stare merely meant that he was choosing his words.
“Ahem.”
Seemingly believing that his clan's offer displayed the dignity of a great family, the elder stroked his beard repeatedly in satisfaction.
Cheon Hwi quietly looked down at the jade badge. Unlike the iron token issued to Outer Hall warriors, which was stamped into shape, it clearly bore the marks of a craftsman's work.
Cheon Hwi immediately knew that it did not suit him.
“The offer is far too generous for someone as lowly as myself. I believe it would be proper to decline.”
“...?!”
The elder's teacup stopped in midair.
“If you will permit it, I shall take my leave.”
Cheon Hwi respectfully cupped one fist in his other hand, then left.
As though struck by a soul-bewitching art, the elder remained seated there in a daze.
The great Murong Clan had extended its hand, only for a third-rate wanderer who had scraped by on the streets to reject it flatly.
“Please forgive this lowly one's discourtesy.”
After offering a bow, Cheon Hwi departed.
.
.
.
It was an offer worth appreciating, but Cheon Hwi had no intention of accepting it.
‘An offer to become an external-surname disciple.’
It looked splendid on the surface, but in the end, it was a shackle that would bind him to the clan's rules and orders for the rest of his life.
A bird that had already decided to fly through the sky would never spare a glance for a cage.
The clan's Inner Compound, which he had glimpsed beyond the hall, was impressive. There were magnificent, towering buildings, vast and well-maintained training grounds, and even a palace-like structure that appeared to be the clan head's hall.
It was impressive, but Cheon Hwi knew it was not where he belonged.
News of Cheon Hwi's refusal was more than enough to throw the Inner Hall into an uproar.
That was how it was. Like the other Five Great Clans, the Murong Clan possessed immense pride.
The mindset of medieval Chinese people, who lived with swords closer at hand than brushes, was not something modern people could easily understand.
“That arrogant bastard rejected the favor of one of the Five Great Clans!”
“We must cut off his head at once and establish the clan's discipline!”
The younger members of the clan in particular could not contain their boiling blood.
Whether they were collateral branches or direct-line descendants, they all felt insulted by the matter.
“How dare a former third-rate wanderer reject that offer as though he were someone important!”
Among them were members of the faction surrounding Murong Rin, the Golden Jade Flower of the Five Flowers of the Martial World.
Murong Rin herself did not seem to have much of an opinion, but those around her were in an uproar.
“I heard that Cheon Hwi is being assigned to the Vanguard Unit of the subjugation force.”
“Is that so?”
“It serves him right! Wasn't his future decided the moment he dared to reject the clan's offer?”
“Isn't it certain that he has no sense of fear, Young Clan Head?”
“...Is that so?”
Murong Rin found this Cheon Hwi interesting.
He could not have rejected the offer because he was a fool who did not know what an external-surname disciple was. Then why?
Murong Rin's curiosity was piqued. It did not last long, but a certain phrase soon lingered in her mind.
“The Vanguard Unit.”
Murong Rin hummed and considered it before continuing.
A mere wanderer would stand at the vanguard, yet she, competing for the position of clan head, would remain in the rear?
“I do not care what happens to him, but I did not know the Vanguard Unit was being formed without my knowledge. I should ask to be put in it too.”
“...What? You cannot, Young Clan Head! It is dangerous!”
“If I am to seize the position of clan head as a woman, I must steadily build accomplishments. I cannot remain in the rear.”
“B-but...”
“My older brother will undoubtedly stay in the rear. This is my chance to earn martial merit.”
No one could stop Murong Rin once she had made up her mind.
In the end, with two experts from the clan assigned as her guards, Murong Rin was selected for the Vanguard Unit, or rather, its rear.
That night, as Cheon Hwi's name unintentionally spread throughout the prestigious martial clan, the Vanguard Unit roster was rewritten.
The day of the Black Path subjugation was drawing near.
Footnotes:
The image of drinking kimchi soup before receiving rice cakes is a Korean idiom for getting ahead of oneself.
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