WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Episode 29: Young So Jang-yun (1)
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Northeast of Luoyang city lay a small lake.
Beside Xiaojing Lake stood Fragrant Flower Pavilion, the largest wine house in Luoyang city.
It was an excellent place to drink while enjoying the lake's scenery.
Though few would be expected to drink when the sun stood high in the sky, a group of young people had rented out an entire pavilion and were raising their cups.
The young man seated in the place of honor, whose nose was particularly prominent, had abandoned his cup and was drinking straight from the bottle.
Thud!
“Keuh.”
The young man set down the bottle and snorted.
His flushed cheeks and the heavy stench of liquor made it clear just how much he had drunk.
A young man in blue silk robes seated beside him spoke.
“Brother So, keep your spirits up. This won't be your only chance.”
“Junior Jo Gang is right. What do you lack compared to your elder brother? It is only for appearances, to preserve the eldest son's standing. Don't take it so hard.”
They were trying to comfort the young man seated at the head of the table.
At their words, he silently took another drink.
This large-nosed young man was So JangYun.
He was the second son of the Yiyang So Clan, which held sway over Yiyang County in Hunan Province.
Thud!
So JangYun slammed the bottle onto the table and vented his frustration.
“Damn it. What's so great about being born a year earlier? Does it make any sense for him to become the Clan's representative rising talent without even competing with me once?”
That was why So JangYun had been drinking himself senseless in broad daylight.
He would not be attending the martial artists' alliance's grand event in Luoyang city, the Martial Arts Tournament.
The Clan's representative rising talents had been chosen as the eldest son, So YeongHyeon, and eldest daughter, So YeongYeong.
“They're even taking that lowborn bitch as a rising talent.”
Grit.
He ground his teeth in fury.
At his words, the two women sitting among the young people gave bitter smiles.
No matter how well they understood his feelings, hearing him demean women as wenches and bitches was unpleasant.
Even if they were half siblings, did they not share the same blood?
[Young Master So is particularly excessive today.]
[He's the only one who won't be going to the Martial Arts Tournament, so of course he is.]
The two women whispered through sound telepathy.
They both came from martial families of considerable renown in Hunan Province.
The same was true of the other three young men.
The six had grown close since childhood after forming ties through the Hunan Province martial world branch.
[I'm afraid Young Master So will cause trouble if he keeps drinking like this.]
[You think so too, Sister?]
[Hoo. If he weren't my fiancé, I'd like to leave him here and be done with it.]
The woman in purple martial robes was Song YangHwa, the eldest daughter of the Jo Hang Song Clan, famed for its saber arts.
It was not a Clan that represented an entire city, but it held sway over a county and possessed a long martial tradition. Thus, she had been betrothed to So JangYun long ago.
‘If not for the Yiyang So Clan, I would never want to marry a man like this. It would be enough if he were even half the man his elder brother is.’
Though she did not show it, she found So JangYun thoroughly disagreeable.
She had resigned herself solely because of the Clan's influence.
‘I'd rather become Young Master YeongHyeon's concubine.’
Compared to him, So YeongHyeon, the eldest son of the Yiyang So Clan, was like a noble crane.
Her Clan had done everything it could to unite her with So YeongHyeon, but those efforts had come to nothing when he became betrothed to the second daughter of the Jegal Clan.
‘Hoo. Let's think positively. Isn't this better than my older brothers, who ran away from home?’
It seemed best to let go of her feelings.
Just then, Jo Gang, seated to So JangYun's right, spoke.
“Brother So, by now the Clan Head should be arriving with the guests from the Hengshan Sect.”
“Oh? Then we will get to meet the famed Hengshan One Sword and the Hengshan Heroine. Indeed.”
“I envy you.”
The Hengshan Sect, based at Hengshan, the South Sacred Peak among the Five Sacred Sword Sects, was famed for its swordsmanship.
Along with the Yiyang So Clan, it had produced martial artists who represented Hunan Province, namely the Hengshan One Sword and the Hengshan Heroine.
They had come to Luoyang city to build ties with the swordsmen of the Hengshan Sect.
None of the young people in the pavilion would be participating in the Martial Arts Tournament, so they could not afford to miss this opportunity.
“Hmph. What's there to envy?”
So JangYun snapped irritably, as if displeased.
He disliked the Hengshan Sect.
Ever since So YeongYeong had taken away his chance to enter the Hengshan Sect as a lay disciple five years ago, he had considered them fools incapable of recognizing talent.
‘Hoo.’
Song YangHwa looked at Jo Gang and shook her head.
She could not understand why he would bring this up and offend So JangYun when he clearly knew that So YeongYeong had become the Hengshan Heroine's lay disciple.
‘No wonder none of them became the Clan's representative rising talent.’
The thought left her feeling gloomy, since she was no different from them.
Then someone leaped onto the pavilion.
“Hmm?”
Judging by the attire, the newcomer was a warrior of the Yiyang So Clan.
At the warrior's arrival, So JangYun paused as he reached for his bottle and asked, “What is it?”
Swish.
The warrior gave the young people a fist-and-palm salute, then approached So JangYun and reported.
“Young Master, Young Master So WoonHwi has arrived at the main estate.”
“What?”
The moment So WoonHwi's name was mentioned, the young people who had been laughing and chatting became interested.
Who among those present did not know So WoonHwi, the third son of the Yiyang So Clan?
“The Luoyang city Brat?”
“Isn't he Brother So's younger brother?”
“Didn't they say he was thrown out of the house?”
Every one of them spoke with mockery in their voices.
Then Song YangHwa abruptly rose from her seat.
“So WoonHwi has come?”
There was a reason she showed such interest.
A year and several months ago, So WoonHwi, the Luoyang city Brat, had been cast out by his Clan and vanished.
Coincidentally, her twin older brothers had also disappeared around that time.
‘Could that brat know something?’
It seemed she needed to meet him.
“Young Master So.”
Gulp! Gulp! Thud!
As she addressed him, So JangYun drained the remaining liquor from his bottle in one go. Then he curled his lips into a cold smile.
“Things have been foul enough lately, so this works out well.”
“Brother So, what do you mean by that?”
“I'll give you all something good to watch today. Let's go to my house.”
With that, So JangYun rose and strode down from the pavilion.
The young men watching him snickered and got to their feet.
They could roughly guess what was about to happen.
“Sister?”
“Hoo.”
Song YangHwa let out a deep sigh.
Her desire to break off the engagement grew stronger by the day.
* * *
The Yiyang So Clan of Luoyang city.
My hometown and my home.
It had been a very long time.
The word hometown evoked nostalgia in everyone, but to me, this was a place of both love and hatred.
Had my mother not been here, perhaps only hatred would have remained.
The SoDam Sword asked.
- Since you were kidnapped by the Blood Cult before your regression too, it has been quite a while since you last came here, hasn't it?
Not exactly.
Before my regression, I had also returned to the Yiyang So Clan before entering the martial artists' alliance as a Spy, since the status of the Yiyang So Clan's third son was useful.
It had probably been nearly ten years.
Yet I had left after only a day, practically driven out.
- Won't it be the same this time?
It might turn out that way.
But things were a little different now.
When I returned to the Clan before my regression, I still could not cultivate internal energy and was no more than a third-rate warrior.
That had been the greatest reason I was called trash.
- Even so, you're of the same blood. That is too much.
‘A child of a martial Clan who cannot cultivate internal energy would be considered a disgrace to the family.’
My mother's background had likely played a part as well.
After being treated as trash every day and living in sorrow, I began drinking at a young age after my mother died.
Before I knew it, people had begun calling me the Luoyang city Brat.
‘Maybe I should have lived as though possessed by malice.’
Returning here made me think that way.
But I had been too immature, and the destruction of my dantian had been too great a blow.
“Wow. Senior martial brother's Manor is enormous.”
Then SaMa Yeong, following behind me, spoke.
She was deliberately speaking in a deeper voice and was disguised as a man with a Skin Mask.
She was playing the role of my junior martial brother.
“It certainly is vast. My lo... no, Brother So.”
Jo SeongWon also could not hide their admiration at the size of the Manor.
They were playing the part of a young rising talent acquainted with me.
Since it could not yet be revealed that Jo SeongWon came from the Beggars' Sect, they too wore a Skin Mask.
[But Deputy Brigade Leader, why are they being so unfriendly?]
SaMa Yeong asked me through sound telepathy.
The people who had offended her were the warriors of the main estate, the Yiyang So Clan.
Outer-court warriors were guiding us, but their attitudes were far from pleasant.
Unlike Jo SeongWon, who knew much about me through the Beggars' Sect's information network, SaMa Yeong had only learned the basics, so the treatment must have put her in a foul mood.
[Don't pay them any mind, Young Lady.]
At my words, she stuck out her lips.
[You're my superior, Deputy Brigade Leader. How long are you going to keep calling me that?]
[It is more comfortable this way.]
[Tch.]
SaMa Yeong's current position was Squad leader.
Since I was her superior, I could have spoken casually to her, but I did not.
It was not that I wished to keep my distance. There was a reason I had to be especially polite to her.
- Looks like you're scared of her father.
You could say that again.
I did not know when Moon-Evil Sword SaMa Chak might come charging in, so I had to treat her well.
That way, no trouble would arise.
‘Hmm?’
As I followed them, my expression naturally darkened.
I had assumed they would guide me to the annex where my mother had lived.
Unlike the others, I had never been given separate quarters, so I had lived in my mother's annex.
“This seems to be the direction of the Guest House.”
At my question, the man leading the warriors ahead turned around.
He was Woong Bu, a senior warrior who had served as the So Clan's Quartermaster.
Woong Bu answered me.
“The annex was torn down and a new building was constructed.”
“What?”
For a moment, I was dumbfounded.
My mother's memorial tablet had been kept in that annex.
They had casually demolished it and built something else?
“Young Master, you were the one who left this house. The Clan Head is away, so we allowed you into the main estate, but you have no right to interfere in such matters.”
- Is it really this bad?
The SoDam Sword clicked its tongue.
Yes.
This was the treatment I received in this house.
They only showed the bare minimum of courtesy because I still carried the blood of the Yiyang So Clan.
- And you call that the bare minimum?
Just stay quiet for now.
My mood turning cold, I stopped walking.
When I failed to follow, Woong Bu, who had been speaking while turned toward me, looked slightly flustered.
The reason these people had readily admitted me, who had been cast out by the Clan, was partly because the Clan Head was away, but also because they suspected I might have learned Martial Arts.
If they had brought me into the Clan in case my standing had changed, they should at least try to appease me.
“Young Master?”
“Fine. Let us leave aside the demolition of the annex. I have two questions.”
Perhaps sensing something in my cold voice, he finally answered in a serious tone.
“...Please speak.”
“I was going to ask anyway. Has Ah-song not come here?”
Ah-song had been my servant.
A year and several months ago, before I entered the Blood Cult, I had thrown him, who had been fated to be murdered, into a latrine cesspit.
He was one of the only two people whose safety I worried about.
He had followed me to serve me, but he had originally maintained the annex and tended to my late mother.
“Are you referring to the servant from the annex?”
“Yes.”
I desperately hoped he was alive.
If he had died, what meaning had there been in my giving up even the cesspit for him?
“He came to the main estate over a year ago.”
“He came?”
My spirits rose in an instant.
He had returned alive from that situation.
I had worried myself sick over whether he had been killed, but it seemed he had barely escaped death.
“Then where is he?”
Knowing his temperament, he would have come to the Clan and begged them to save me after saying I had been kidnapped.
If he was alive, I wanted to take him with me.
But Woong Bu's expression was grim.
As someone from the Outer Court, he should have known at least the details of visitors.
“...He was driven away.”
“Driven away?”
I was dumbfounded.
Woong Bu spoke carefully.
“He burst into the main estate reeking of shit, making a commotion about needing to see the Clan Head...”
“What did you do?”
“...We beat him and drove him away.”
Ha.
This was truly fucking disgusting.
They beat and drove away someone begging for help?
“...Was that something to drive him away for?”
“At the time, he appeared covered in shit all over his body and caused a scene about needing to save you, Young Master. No one thought to listen to him.”
“Ah... So he said he needed to save me and wanted to see the Clan Head, but you beat him and drove him away because he reeked of shit?”
“Th-that is, Young Master...”
“How did it even occur to you to hit someone covered in shit?”
Woong Bu was so flustered that cold sweat trickled down his face.
The other warriors also looked at a loss over what to do.
“Ah... You did not use your hands. You beat him with clubs?”
At that, Woong Bu waved his hands and tried to justify himself.
“Young Master, at the time, the situation was...”
Grab!
Someone seized Woong Bu by the collar and lifted him.
It was SaMa Yeong.
The slight, small-framed woman lifted the sturdy man with ease. Startled, he tried to pry her hand from his collar.
“Stay still.”
Tap tap tap tap tap!
SaMa Yeong sealed Woong Bu's pressure points with lightning speed.
“Huh?”
“W-What do you think you are doing?”
The warriors shouted at her.
With a cold expression, SaMa Yeong asked them, “Where is the latrine?”
At the sudden question, the warriors instinctively looked toward the latrine.
The Manor was so large that latrines had been installed near various buildings.
“SaMa...”
Before I could even call her name, SaMa Yeong strode toward the latrine while holding Woong Bu by the collar. She threw the door open roughly and shouted,
“Eat shit!”
“Mmff! Mmff!”
She shoved Woong Bu into the latrine cesspit.
The warriors' eyes widened in utter shock at the completely unexpected turn of events.
SaMa Yeong huffed like an enraged bull. Then she picked up a piece of firewood lying beside the building and spoke to me.
“Should I do it, or do you want to, senior martial brother?”
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