WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Episode 28: To the Yiyang So Clan (3)
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Win the rising talents' martial contest at the Martial Arts Tournament and obtain the Blood Demon Sword.
It sounded simple enough, but nothing about the plan would be easy.
The first condition, winning, was the greatest obstacle.
- They don't know, do they?
How could they?
They were a monster the martial artists' alliance had kept carefully hidden from the world.
- At that level, can they even be called a rising talent?
They were still a rising talent.
The problem was that his starting point was vastly different from everyone else's.
Moreover, the public notice had not been distributed for long, so they likely had not even learned who would participate.
“I believe my sister's side will target the Martial Arts Tournament as well.”
That meant Baek HyeHyang's side would send someone to the contest too.
‘Hmm.’
It was deeply worrying.
This mission had gaps, and it was extremely dangerous.
Several variables came to mind at once. Could this truly work?
Baek Ryeon Ha looked at me and asked curiously.
“It seems you have something to say.”
After hesitating for a moment, I spoke.
Since I would have to undertake this mission anyway, it was better to say it.
“...Have you made thorough preparations for this mission?”
Baek Ryeon Ha was not the one who answered.
Escort Brigade Leader Jang MunWoong did.
“There is too much at stake in this mission for us not to risk our lives. We did not devise this plan carelessly. You need not worry about that.”
Jang MunWoong spoke confidently.
I had heard that he had devised the plan to deceive even our own side during the escape from Blood-Nurturing Valley.
That was why Evil Heaven employed him.
Baek Ryeon Ha said to me,
“If something concerns you, please speak frankly. I would like to hear your thoughts, Young Master.”
Evil Heaven nodded as though he agreed.
Since she, the highest-ranking person present, had permitted it, I could speak.
“...Putting victory aside, will the martial artists' alliance truly offer the Blood Demon Sword as a prize?”
That was one of my concerns.
Whatever the case with other Weapons, the Blood Demon Sword was spoils from the War Between Justice and Evil.
I doubted the martial artists' alliance would surrender it so willingly.
- You'd be fortunate if they didn't suspect you.
As the SoDam Sword said, there was an extremely high chance they would suspect us of being connected to the Blood Cult.
At my words, Evil Heaven gave his usual chuckle.
“Ke ke ke. Do you think they will hand it over nicely?”
“Huh?”
Then they had anticipated this?
Jang MunWoong suddenly stood and brought over something.
It was a wooden box, long enough to hold a sword.
Click!
When he opened the box, several swords lay inside.
They all had the same shape, length, and patterns.
“What is this?”
As I wondered, Jang MunWoong took out one sword and showed us something strange.
Crack, crack!
The blade bent at several points and folded up.
Song JwaBaek and I were speechless at the sight.
Jang MunWoong grinned.
“Does that answer your question?”
‘Ha!’
So that was why the Escort Brigade Leader had kept going somewhere lately. He had been having these made.
I could roughly see what the leaders had planned.
I would understand the details once I heard them.
“No. What are we supposed to do with these?”
Naturally, Song JwaBaek had not understood simply because I had.
He was more of a martial type, so he could be rather simple-minded.
Only after Jang MunWoong briefly explained did he finally understand.
“For the past ten years, the main cult has made countless attempts to reclaim the divine artifact. As our failures accumulated, so did our information on the martial artists' alliance's armory. This Martial Arts Tournament is the only opportunity when the armory is opened.”
Accumulated information and an opportunity.
Perhaps there was a chance.
“Does anything else concern you?”
Then Song JwaBaek cautiously spoke.
“But, Brigade Leader... Isn't the Martial Arts Tournament's contest limited to rising talents of the force of justice?”
- Oh, JwaBaek can think too.
How simple had he seemed for the SoDam Sword to tease him like that?
Still, it was natural for him to have that concern.
Our current identities were Blood Cult members.
Escort Brigade Leader Jang MunWoong smiled at his question.
“Fortunately, no force of justice member knows that you young masters are loyal followers of the main cult. Not even your own clans.”
Just as I had expected.
That was why they had called the three of us.
The Song Clan twins and I came from prestigious martial clans of the force of justice.
Song JwaBaek's expression became strange.
- He looks unhappy.
The twins and I had not held good positions in our clans.
They had it better than me, who had been treated like trash and cast aside, but I knew they too had practically run away from their clan for certain reasons.
Yet I had never expected us to become involved with our clans again like this.
It was an odd situation.
Returning to our clans as Blood Cult members.
- Come to think of it, didn't you say you would personally destroy your clan?
The SoDam Sword reminded me of what I had said before.
Yes. I had.
But things had turned out strangely.
“...Do we have to become our clans' rising talent representatives to participate in the contest?”
“That is correct. It is the basic qualification.”
As expected.
The first thing we had to do was clear.
Obtain the status of a clan's rising talent representative to enter the Martial Arts Tournament's contest.
- Instead of destroying your clan, you have to become its representative.
My feelings were unsettled.
Did I have to see those people again?
Then Evil Heaven looked in turn at Song JwaBaek, Song WooHyun, and me.
“Hmph! You call yourselves my disciples. You will not struggle because you cannot even seize the representative position of some mere martial clan, will you?”
It was exactly the sort of thing he would say.
Still, the Yiyang So Clan was a prestigious martial clan, hardly some mere clan.
It was among the largest in Hunan Province, comparable even to the Five Great Clans.
Still, even in decline, the Blood Cult was formidable. From its perspective, the Yiyang So Clan was little more than a local gentry family.
‘...Take the rising talent representative position from them?’
Faces filled with contempt flashed through my mind.
Merely recalling them caused anger I had suppressed for so long to rise within me.
‘Is this an opportunity?’
Perhaps this was for the best.
Being bound to the Blood Cult, I had wanted to settle matters one day.
That day had merely come sooner than expected.
I was no longer the same person.
The me who had been discarded as worthless after his dantian was destroyed no longer existed.
“Take it.”
“Yes?”
Then Evil Heaven threw the teacup from the table.
Whoosh!
He had not merely thrown it. He had imbued it with internal energy.
Though it came suddenly, I drew up my internal energy and gently caught the flying teacup in my palm.
As expected, if I did not neutralize the force, the cup would shatter from the internal energy.
Whirl!
I spun the teacup in my hand, dispersing the force of the internal energy.
The cup spun rapidly like a top on my palm, then soon stopped.
The corners of Evil Heaven's lips rose.
“Your internal energy has grown.”
Chaotic Blade Demon Emperor Seo GalMa spoke as though he was impressed.
Han BaekHa, the Blood-Hand Witch beside him, gave a faint smile.
“You have absorbed nearly all of the Elixir.”
“Elixir? The Sixth Blood Star gave him an Elixir?”
“Yes.”
More precisely, it had been an Elixir given at Baek Ryeon Ha's command.
After arriving in Jiangkou County, Baek Ryeon Ha said she would fulfill the promise she had made before.
So I asked for an Elixir to replenish the internal energy lacking in my Lower Dantian. After diligently absorbing its energy for fifteen days, I gained internal energy worthy of an Expert master.
“Ke ke ke. At that level, most ordinary rising talent brats will not even be able to follow at your heels.”
Evil Heaven spoke in a satisfied voice.
Considering that rising talents my age were generally Advanced masters, I could be said to rank among the best.
Of course, that was only based on my Lower Dantian.
“How long did you say they needed?”
At Evil Heaven's question, Jang MunWoong looked at us.
“The Martial Arts Tournament will be held in about two months. Considering the time needed for the two young masters to travel to Hunan Province, we must settle this within fifteen days at the latest.”
“You heard him. Do not disappoint me.”
Fifteen days.
It was extremely tight.
Within that time, I had to overturn my position as someone called trash.
Step!
Then Song JwaBaek gave a fist-and-palm salute and spoke with determination.
“I will not disappoint you. I will become a rising talent representative, certainly win the contest, and present the Blood Demon Sword to the young lady.”
At his ambitious declaration, Jang MunWoong scratched his head.
Then he spoke awkwardly.
“Um... Young Master. Your role in this operation is not to win.”
“What?”
“Your mission is to eliminate as many likely winners as possible, then help Young Master So WoonHwi reclaim the Blood Demon Sword.”
Song JwaBaek's expression twisted at Jang MunWoong's words.
He had thought he had been entrusted with an important mission, only to find that he was little more than support. It seemed to have wounded his pride.
Sensing his frustration, Jang MunWoong added,
“It is not because your martial prowess is lacking. This mission requires us to obtain the sword, and Young Master So's role is important because he has learned the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster's sword style. Please do not misunderstand.”
Hearing Jang MunWoong's explanation, I understood why I was the lead.
I had learned the sword style of the Southern Heavenly Swordmaster, who had gained fame in the force of justice.
On the other hand, the twins had learned Evil Heaven's unique techniques. They could not display their true abilities against rising talents using only basic fist and kicking arts.
Then Song WooHyun, who had been silently staring ahead, spoke.
“...Please give my brother and me... a chance as well.”
His speech was awkward, but his intention was clear.
Had he spoken in place of his brother?
“You?”
Song JwaBaek looked at Song WooHyun in surprise as well.
“That is not...”
Jang MunWoong tried to firmly put an end to the matter, but Evil Heaven intervened.
“Are you confident?”
“Elder!”
Jang MunWoong tried to stop him.
However, Evil Heaven's words had already rekindled Song JwaBaek's fighting spirit and motivation.
He stepped back several paces, then performed a brief opening stance before launching into fist and kicking arts.
Papapapak!
It was not Black Steel, Evil Heaven's unique Martial Arts.
If Black Steel was a destructive fist art filled with the momentum of a tyrant's road, the fists Song JwaBaek displayed now also held softness.
‘Grudge-Resolving Myeongryun Fist.’
- Isn't that the fist style of the Myeongryun Immortal Art?
That was right.
It was the fist style of the Myeongryun Immortal Art.
I had also been learning it lately, having felt the need for fist and kicking arts.
But looking at his smooth, unbroken fist forms, he had attained a level that could not compare with mine.
- He had been hiding that.
Since he had never shown us himself training, he seemed to have honed it as a secret weapon.
He truly possessed martial talent.
When I looked at Jang MunWoong, his expression had changed.
With such attainment, no one would think Song JwaBaek was a fist practitioner of the force of evil.
Evil Heaven chuckled and looked to the side.
“What do you say?”
Baek Ryeon Ha watched Song JwaBaek's fist and kicking arts, then murmured with a smile on her cherry-like lips.
“The more cards we have, the better.”
* * *
Eight days later.
North of Luoyang city in Hunan Province.
A vast manor spanning several thousand pyeong displayed its grandeur.
Above the magnificent gate pavilion at the entrance to the manor was a signboard bearing the words:
Yiyang So Clan.
This was the Yiyang So Clan's manor, the pride of Luoyang city.
As befitted a prestigious martial clan representing Hunan Province, even the guards at its gate stood with imposing dignity.
Though they were merely guards, they were second-rate warriors.
They took great pride in being members of the Yiyang So Clan.
But even they could not remain composed beneath the sweltering heat.
“Ugh, it's hot.”
“I can't leave the pavilion's shade.”
The heat was so intense that they fanned themselves with their hands.
Yet it was not enough to cool their sweat.
The blazing summer noon had heated the earth until even heat haze danced before their eyes.
“How long until the shift change?”
“It is noon, so half a two-hour period remains... Huh?”
“What is it?”
“Someone is coming.”
The guards looked straight ahead.
Three figures in bamboo hats walked toward them through the shimmering heat.
The figure in front carried an iron sword wrapped in old cloth on their back. Of the two following behind, one wore clothing suited to a scholar and carried a sword horizontally across his lower back.
The only unarmed person had no weapon, but their sturdy build made it clear to the guards at a glance that they were martial artists.
“Martial artists.”
“Stand properly.”
Rustle!
The guards straightened their forms, which had loosened in the heat.
Since they had received no notice of visitors, they did not know who the three were.
Clack!
The guards placed their hands on the sword hilts at their waists.
When the unidentified martial artists reached the gate, the senior guard gave a fist-and-palm salute and politely asked,
“This is the Yiyang So Clan's manor. If you have business here, please identify yourselves.”
The bamboo-hatted figure in front spoke.
“Must I identify myself as well?”
The senior guard was dumbfounded.
Who did this person think they were, trying to enter the great Yiyang So Clan without declaring their identity?
“Hah! That should be obvious. If you cannot identify yourself, you cannot pass through the gate...”
“Yiyang So Clan.”
“Hm?”
The bamboo-hatted figure slightly lifted their hat.
“The third son, So WoonHwi. I wish to enter the clan.”
‘!!!’
The guards' eyes widened at the face of the man around twenty beneath the bamboo hat.
The unidentified martial artist requesting entry through the gate was So WoonHwi, the Yiyang So Clan's third son, who had gone missing more than a year ago.
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