WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 5: I Enter of My Own Free Will
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I cautiously raised my head.
Among those kneeling in respect, the squad leader stared at me with an expression of utter confusion.
Naturally. I had recognized someone whose presence even they had failed to notice.
The Four Venerable Ones and Seven Blood Stars.
They were the eleven executives who led the Blood Cult.
Fourth Blood Stars ranked fourth among the Seven Blood Stars.
Even a squad leader could not easily gain a direct audience with such a figure unless something extraordinary happened. It was only natural for the squad leader to react that way.
Still, I was just as flustered.
‘This is driving me mad.’
I had acted on a slim chance, and it really was Fourth Blood Stars.
What had I just done?
I had done it to survive, but I had just shown the formal respect due a Blood Cult executive to Fourth Blood Stars, whom I had met for the first time today.
‘Idiot.’
What would they think of that?
I had made myself look completely suspicious.
Still, this was my first time seeing Fourth Blood Stars from so close.
Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo.
He was a renowned Master, not only within the Blood Cult but throughout the force of evil.
“What brings Fourth Blood Stars to such a humble place?”
The squad leader raised their head and addressed Fourth Blood Stars.
“Squad Leader Oh.”
“Yes. Please speak...”
Squad Leader Oh could not finish speaking. Their face drained of color.
With a face twisted as though crushed by fear, they slowly lowered their head.
“I-I beg your pardon.”
“Focus on your duty.”
With those words, Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo walked toward me.
With every step he took, the pressure made it harder to breathe.
‘Stifling.’
To be honest, I was afraid.
Even in my previous life, standing before someone of squad leader rank had made me tense and set my heart racing. An executive at the very pinnacle of the Blood Cult stood before me now. This was on another level.
“Young brother.”
“Y-yes!”
I immediately bowed my head and answered.
Instinctively, I felt that how I answered here would decide whether I lived or died.
“How did you recognize me?”
Do JangHo was interested that I had seen through his identity.
Suppressing my trembling as best I could, I answered.
“Your sword.”
“My sword?”
“I saw the white leather cord tied to the hilt of Fourth Blood Stars' sword.”
“Oh. You have sharp eyes.”
Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo loved horses.
After his beloved Trusted Steed, White Stallion, died, he had worn an ornament made from White Stallion's hide on the hilt of his sword to honor it.
It was a fairly famous story among the Blood Cult.
“Interesting. I grow more curious about your secret.”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
My heart pounded like mad.
“Who are you?”
When he got to the point, I found myself speechless.
As I hesitated, one of the masked figures shouted.
“Answer at once, you...”
But they could not finish.
Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo raised a hand, signaling them not to interfere.
“The discipline of the Demoni Tiger Squad has grown lax. Since when did you gain the nerve to interrupt a Blood Star?”
The masked figure trembled at his imposing voice.
It showed just how much Blood Stars were feared and revered among the Blood Cult.
Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo asked me again.
“Young brother, speak freely. Do not feel pressured.”
‘Whew...’
There was no other way now.
If this went wrong, I would either die or be abducted by the Blood Cult.
If that was going to happen anyway, it would be better to steer things in a more favorable direction myself.
Slowly raising my head, I spoke with a resolute expression.
“I carry the blood of a Blood Cult member.”
“A Blood Cult member?”
At my words, Do JangHo's eyes narrowed.
His gaze was clearly full of suspicion.
“Ha!”
Squad Leader Oh of the Demoni Tiger Squad glared at me as if I were absurd.
If I got scared here, I was dead.
I had spent over seven years as a Spy.
I had told enough lies to be sick of them. I was confident that even my eyes would not waver.
“The Yiyang So Clan is a prestigious family of the force of justice.”
“It is. But my maternal grandfather was a low-rank warrior of the Blood Wolf Squad.”
“The Blood Wolf Squad?”
Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo showed interest.
That was understandable, since the Blood Wolf Squad was indeed one of the Blood Cult's armed units.
Squad Leader Oh looked unable to believe it.
“I heard that my maternal grandfather served under Squad Leader Noh JoMan of the Blood Wolf Squad.”
The masked figures reacted differently at the name Noh JoMan.
It was the name of the former Blood Wolf Squad leader.
‘Who knew this would help here?’
The unit that had trained me after the Blood Cult abducted me was the Blood Wolf Squad.
At the time, its squad leader constantly talked about his father, who had died in the War Between Justice and Evil, so I remembered.
Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo smiled faintly.
“Your father, who participated in the War Between Justice and Evil, could know that much.”
Of course.
I had not expected them to be fooled by something so simple.
My trump card was this.
“I heard that Squad Leader Noh JoMan was strict in raising his children, so his son, Noh Sung-Gu, joined the Blood Wolf Squad's training at a young age.”
At the name Noh Sung-Gu, the masked figures exchanged glances.
The Blood Cult had not yet revealed itself to the martial world.
So it was only natural that they would react when I named the current Blood Wolf Squad leader.
Do JangHo, however, was hard to read.
With an expressionless face, he asked me, “But how did you end up in the Yiyang So Clan?”
“My maternal grandfather barely survived the War Between Justice and Evil. Determined to live, he wandered without direction with my mother, his only blood relative, until they reached Luoyang city in Yiyang County.”
“Hmm.”
“My maternal grandfather had been greatly weakened by the internal injury he suffered in the War Between Justice and Evil. My mother entered the Yiyang So Clan as a servant to earn money for medicine.”
It was a story I had made up on the spot, but it sounded plausible.
It was common knowledge that I, So WoonHwi, the third son of the Yiyang So Clan, was born to a servant.
Do JangHo seemed curious.
“Is your maternal grandfather still well?”
I lowered my head and answered in the most sorrowful voice I could manage.
“How much could a servant earn? My maternal grandfather did not live long.”
“What a pity.”
He offered words of comfort, but his face did not look the least bit saddened.
It felt as though he were searching my story for flaws.
“Even at the moment of his death, my maternal grandfather could not forget the Blood Cult.”
One of the most effective ways to lie was to appeal to emotion.
A few of the masked figures seemed to believe me, looking at me with pity.
But Do JangHo, the one holding my life in his hands, continued to watch me expressionlessly.
That made me uneasy.
“So, the descendant of a loyal member of our main cult was hiding beneath the Yiyang So Clan's shelter.”
He sounded half-convinced.
I wondered whether I should demonstrate even the Blood Cult's basic fist-and-kick arts, which I had learned, to prove it conclusively.
Then Do JangHo, who had been studying me, burst out laughing.
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
‘Did he see through me?’
As I grew anxious, he said, “If your maternal grandfather was one of our people, then young brother, you are no different from one of us.”
“Ah...”
A sigh of relief escaped my lips as cold sweat ran down my face.
It had practically been a gamble.
“By revealing your roots like this, do you mean to return to us?”
“Y-yes.”
‘Ah...’
Rather than being abducted, I was about to walk into the Blood Cult on my own.
I had saved my life, but things were becoming more and more tangled.
Still, I had to stay alive if I wanted to change what would happen in the future.
“Untie him.”
At Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo's order, the masked figure who had been about to cut my throat ran over and untied my ropes.
The moment I was free, I bowed my head to the ground and shouted.
“Hail the Blood! Hail the Blood! Hail, hail the Blood!”
Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo spoke in a satisfied voice.
“Welcome back. The descendant of a wolf that left its home has once again formed a bond with the main cult. Since that is so, is there anything you want from me?”
The masked figures were surprised by Do JangHo's words.
It was only natural for them to envy such an unexpected offer from Fourth Blood Stars, one of the Blood Cult's high-ranking executives.
But this was absolutely nothing to envy.
‘...He is testing me.’
Though I had met him for the first time today, I had heard that Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo was an extremely fickle man.
Depending on his mood, his treatment of others could change completely.
If I accepted an offer from someone like that at face value, who knew what trouble it might bring?
“No. How could someone as lowly as me ask anything of a Blood Star?”
“Ha ha ha ha ha. I am in high spirits, so do not worry about it. Speak.”
A second offer.
If I refused here, his high spirits would surely cool.
“Then, may I have back the keepsake my mother left me?”
“A keepsake?”
I cautiously raised my head and pointed to the Short Sword Squad Leader Oh was holding.
Squad Leader Oh could not hide their displeasure at my request for the Short Sword that had killed two of their retainers.
Do JangHo held out his hand.
“Fourth Blood Stars. Even so, it is too soon to give him a weapon as well...”
“Do not make me repeat myself, Squad Leader Oh.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
With no other choice, Squad Leader Oh presented the Short Sword to Do JangHo.
Shing!
Do JangHo drew the Short Sword from its scabbard, examined its rusted blade, and smiled mysteriously.
Then he caught the sword tip between his index and middle fingers.
‘What?’
Snap!
The tip of the Short Sword broke off.
It was already rusted, and with the piercing end broken off like that, the Short Sword's usefulness could only diminish.
Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo smiled faintly.
“This is the price for staining the Short Sword with the blood of our cult members. Take good care of your precious keepsake.”
Thwack!
Do JangHo flicked his fingers lightly, and the Short Sword embedded itself in the ground before my head.
Its hilt shook with a ringing sound, the force of the throw still remaining in it.
His Force of ki was extraordinary.
Shiver!
Goosebumps rose all over my body.
Not because his Force of ki was so astounding, but because it felt as though he were warning me.
He was truly a frightening man.
* * *
After all the masked figures had withdrawn, Fourth Blood Stars Do JangHo left Squad Leader Oh of the Demoni Tiger Squad behind and gave a separate order.
“Send someone to Luoyang city in Yiyang County to investigate So WoonHwi's maternal relatives. Continue to watch him closely.”
“Yes, sir!”
Though Squad Leader Oh had been displeased with Do JangHo's decision, the corner of their mouth now curled wickedly.
* * *
It was as I had expected.
The Blood Cult was not so foolish a group that they would trust everything I said without question.
‘They suspect me.’
The masked figures' eyes were full of distrust.
Perhaps that was why they watched me so closely.
“That is the carriage.”
The carriage I was to ride was a freight wagon carrying the boys and girls abducted by the Blood Cult.
It looked like an ordinary freight wagon from the outside, but its interior was barred with iron so no one could escape.
Even though I had entered willingly, it was not much different in the end.
‘Should I at least be grateful that I survived?’
“Get in, quickly.”
A masked figure urged me to board the freight wagon.
“Do not try anything foolish. Stay quiet.”
I quietly nodded.
Compared to my previous life, I had practically moved up in the world(?).
Unlike those inside, I was not tied tightly with ropes and tossed about like baggage.
“Mmph!”
What a stubborn connection.
Inside the freight wagon were Song JwaBaek and Song WooHyun, the self-proclaimed Swift Hunan Double Daos, groaning while bound in ropes.
Their mouths were not gagged, but they could not speak because their Mute Points had been struck.
Once a Mute Point was struck, a person could not speak.
“Mmph!”
When the two brothers spotted me boarding the wagon, their eyes widened as they made muffled sounds.
They seemed puzzled that I was getting into the wagon without any restraints, unlike them.
“Ha. Even after their Mute Points were struck, these bastards are still making a racket.”
Annoyed, the masked figure entered the wagon and struck the twins' Fainting Points.
Once a Fainting Point was struck, a person lost consciousness.
Only after they fainted and fell quiet did the masked figure leave with satisfaction.
The door was locked from outside, and the wagon immediately set off.
Clatter! Clatter!
Sitting in a corner of the freight wagon, I let out a deep sigh.
Aside from the unconscious twin brothers, the abducted boys and girls trembled in fear.
It would have been stranger for them to remain calm in this situation.
Rustle.
I took the Short Sword wrapped in cloth from inside my clothes.
At least I had managed to keep my mother's keepsake despite everything.
After I removed the cloth and drew the Short Sword, a scream that nearly split my ears rang out.
Screeeech!
‘Urgh!’
That was why I had wrapped it in cloth.
The SoDam Sword screamed in fury.
“Give me back my head! Give me back my head!”
It was making such a fuss because its tip had broken off.
I understood, but it was far too loud.
‘Please be quiet. At least it did not break off completely.’
The SoDam Sword's expression turned serious as it replied.
“Would you make that sound if every hair on your head were shaved off?”
Footnotes:
The Blood Cult's “Hail the Blood” chant parodies the Korean celebratory cheer manse, meaning “long live.”
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