WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ Damned Transmigration ◈
Chapter 138: Seongju 4
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‘So that’s the martial art.’
Estor, who had long since taken his hand off his sword hilt and stood with his arms crossed as he watched the fight, swallowed his admiration.
The battle had ended in an instant. Still, it had been enough to feel the power of that palm art. Tang Seo-jin’s response had been lacking, but he was not someone who could be called clumsy or weak.
And yet it had ended in an instant. In fact, if Yuri had simply driven that palm art into him from the very beginning instead of bothering to knock away the Folding Fan, the duel would have ended right away.
It seemed Yuri had deliberately drawn him into a contest of palm arts because he simply wanted to test its power.
“...”
Estor’s blood heated up. Haryeong had fought Tang Seo-woo, and Yuri had fought Tang Seo-jin. Estor, meanwhile, had not fought anyone yet.
Fortunately, there were still opponents worth fighting. Dozens of assassins still surrounded Star Jade Manor.
Among the elite assassins ranked alongside Tang Mu-seok, who had earned the new title One Good Deed a Day, there might be more sixth-tier masters.
“Who’s next?!”
Estor boldly shouted as he drew his sword. Fwoosh! Golden sword force coiled around the raised blade.
Yuri and Haryeong stared at him as if wondering what the hell he was doing, but Estor did not care.
Right now, all he wanted was to cool the heat boiling through his body after watching the fights.
“I, Estor Orsia, will face you! Anyone who wishes to, come forth!”
He roared, but no response came. Not a single assassin, whether openly visible or hidden away, stepped forward.
A brief flicker of bewilderment crossed Estor’s face as he held his golden Light Sword aloft.
“...If you lack confidence, you may come at me together!”
Again, there was no answer.
“You may ambush me!”
After a moment of thought, Estor shouted once more.
Assassins were not the sort to prefer direct confrontations, so he had thought permitting an ambush might provoke some action. Yet there was still no response.
“I won’t kill you!”
Thinking perhaps they valued their lives, he shouted again. Still, only silence answered. Estor looked around in confusion.
“I suppose they just don’t want to fight.”
The assassins’ response surprised Yuri as well. He had hurried here after Joo Don-gae told him Salmun assassins had surrounded Star Jade Manor, yet none of them had obstructed him on his way here.
The assassin stationed at the outermost perimeter had even stepped aside and cleared the way the moment they saw Yuri, as if telling him to go.
And now? Yuri had beaten Tang Seo-woo while stuffing dirt into her mouth, then sent Tang Seo-jin flying and rolling across the ground.
Even so, not one of the assassins stepped forward to protect the siblings.
“Why don’t they want to fight...?”
Despair filled Estor’s eyes. If no one was willing to come at him, how was he supposed to cool this burning heat inside him?
Then one assassin strode forward. It was the assassin who had held a parasol for Tang Seo-woo, wearing a large bamboo hat that nearly covered their shoulders and a mask over their lower face.
“Mm...!”
The despair vanished from Estor’s eyes as soon as the assassin stepped forward. His blue eyes gleamed as he levelled the Light Sword at them.
No killing intent could be felt from the assassin. An assassin who constantly leaked killing intent was simply crude and inexperienced.
Since no killing intent at all could be sensed from this one, they had to be an excellent assassin.
“May I take the young lady away?”
Their killing intent was not merely concealed too deeply to sense. They simply harboured none.
The assassin pointed at Tang Seo-woo. Blood-clotted mud still dribbled from her mouth as she remained unconscious.
“If she remains like that, she may be unable to breathe properly and could die.”
“And after you take her?”
Haryeong spoke. She blinked her eyes, no trace of tears remaining in them, as she looked at the assassin.
“Please do as you wish.”
The assassin respectfully lowered their body as they replied. Haryeong was of the Dang Family’s direct line and held seniority second only to the family head, so it was only natural for a Salmun assassin to treat her that way.
“Everything that happened today was by the will of Young Master Tang Seo-jin and Young Lady Tang Seo-woo.”
“So it was not the Dang Family’s will?”
“The sect leader truly does wish for the young lady to return home, but he did not order us to bring her back by force.”
The assassin’s voice was dry and utterly devoid of emotion, an ordinary enough voice for an assassin.
“My brother.”
Haryeong’s lips curved crookedly.
“It seems he is still trying to shift his own faults onto those fuckers. If forcing me back succeeds, good. If it fails, he can claim it was those fuckers’ unilateral decision. Is that it?”
“You misunderstand.”
Even in the face of that direct mockery, the assassin’s voice did not waver.
“If we had truly intended to take you by force, we would have joined in.”
“Are you telling me to be grateful that you did not?”
“The three of you are exceedingly skilled. We know that joining in would have made no difference.”
The assassin bowed again.
“All we wish for is to care for Young Lady Tang Seo-woo, who lies over there.”
“Will you stop us if we leave?”
“No. I have told you to do as you wish. If leaving is your will, we will never stop you.”
The voice was dry, but the answer was respectful. Haryeong watched the assassin for a moment, then slowly nodded and looked at Yuri.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Things having turned out this way, they could not remain at Star Jade Manor any longer. They had come to Seongju in the first place to collect the Blood Wheel Soul-Locking Palm that Chuk-sin-doo had sent, so there was no reason to stay.
“Goodbye, fuck-niece.”
They kept most of their belongings in the Subspace connected to Yuri’s necklace, so there was nothing to pack from Star Jade Manor. Haryeong left those words for the still-unconscious Tang Seo-woo and coolly walked away.
“How long are you going to stand there?”
Estor was still holding the Light Sword high, his face full of regret.
“Is there no one who wishes to see the sword of Estor Orsia...?!”
He cried out desperately, but once again received no answer. Yuri clicked his tongue and gave Estor’s shoulder a light slap. In the end, Estor dejectedly drooped his shoulders and sheathed his sword.
As they walked, they came upon Tang Seo-jin lying sprawled on the ground.
Salmun assassins stood around him, but when Yuri approached, none stopped him. They silently stepped back and opened a path. So their claim that they would let them leave was true.
“Are you alive?”
Yuri asked the fallen Tang Seo-jin. Naturally, no answer came from the unconscious man.
Yuri stepped closer and looked at Tang Seo-jin’s chest. A deeply sunken chest was visible through the shredded front of his clothes.
The distinct spiral mark was proof of the Blood Wheel Soul-Locking Palm, but it was messy overall.
‘It was crude.’
That was partly because he had withdrawn his force midway through, but it was also because he had not grasped the palm art’s ultimate principle. It might have improved somewhat if he had used it a few more times. Yuri looked away with a small sense of regret.
“Young Hero!”
Once they had fully escaped the Salmun assassins’ encirclement, Joo Don-gae flew over and landed before them. Despite his enormous, heavily padded body, he landed as lightly as a cat without a sound.
“Where will you go now?”
Joo Don-gae had accompanied them partway before withdrawing, claiming that he would prepare for any unforeseen event. Looking at the Beggars’ Sect members standing behind him, it seemed that was not simply an excuse to avoid getting entangled with Salmun.
“It’s a secret.”
The Beggars’ Sect had eyes everywhere, so the destination would eventually be discovered even if he kept it secret now. Still, Yuri did not particularly want to tell him.
“Come now, don’t say that...”
Joo Don-gae smiled, lifting his plump cheeks, but Yuri merely raised a hand in farewell rather than answer.
“Travel safely, Young Hero.”
Joo Don-gae did not press him any further and quickly stepped back.
* * *
“Did you see?”
After the Three Heroes had gone far enough to disappear from sight, a middle-aged beggar approached Joo Don-gae.
“That Dark Soul Poison Dragon could not withstand two moves.”
Joo Don-gae had worn a genial smile in front of Yuri, but now not a trace of it remained on his face.
His eyes, buried beneath layers of fat, had always been narrow, but they narrowed further now. His sesame-seed eyes glinted as he continued.
“He is said to lack experience for his tier, but a sixth-tier master is still a sixth-tier master. Yet he did not properly exchange a single move with Cloud Dragon. Two moves... no. Cloud Dragon’s fist destroyed Dark Soul Poison Dragon’s Bewildering Ghost-Sound Fan and right hand in the first exchange. The result was decided with the first clash.”
“Are you saying Dark Soul Poison Dragon was defeated by Cloud Dragon in a single move?”
“Yes. I saw it with my own eyes, yet I find it hard to believe. Calling him the finest among the rising stars would now be an insult to Cloud Dragon. His skill has already far surpassed the bounds of the younger generation.”
Joo Don-gae clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Among the masters beneath the Martial Apex Venerable, there seem to be only a handful who could face Cloud Dragon and confidently claim an easy victory. It is such a shame, no matter how I think of it.”
“If the Salmun assassins had entered the fight, we could have confirmed not only Cloud Dragon’s skill, but that of the Three Heroes as well.”
The middle-aged beggar, the Seongju Branch Chief, said so.
The Three Heroes’ strength had been somewhat revealed through their subjugation of Red Wolf Stronghold, but there was far too little information. All the bandits had died, while the rescued people had been locked inside the building to prevent them from fleeing.
“That too, but if the Three Heroes had killed the assassins, would there not have been fewer pieces of scum in the world who deserved to die? And if the Three Heroes had been endangered, we could have stepped in and placed them in our debt.”
Joo Don-gae spoke indifferently as he turned away.
It was regrettable that he could not bring Cloud Dragon into the alliance as the Chief Strategist wished, but this was not a matter where they could leverage the alliance’s authority to force the issue.
For now, they would have to observe that journey of unknown purpose from a distance and find out what it was about.
“Send word to every branch. Raise the Three Heroes to first-class attention.”
“Understood.”
The Seongju Branch Chief bowed without protest. Joo Don-gae was a messenger of the Righteous Heavenly Alliance and a beggar who had received the Jade Knot, the symbol of direct authority from the Beggars’ Sect Leader.
The Beggars’ Sect’s first-class attention was just below the attention given to the Martial Apex Venerable, Mage Tower Masters, and the Seven Evils.
Among those classified as rising stars, only Biyeon, the Demonic Cult’s Young Cult Leader and the Black Flame Divine Demon, had previously held first-class attention. Now the Three Heroes stood on equal footing with her.
“What a shame, what a shame...”
Joo Don-gae walked away with his hands clasped behind his back and a bouncy gait, sighing as he went.
“It would be nice if Cloud Dragon just became a beggar... Then we could seat him in the Beggars’ Sect immediately and make him the Successor Beggar...”
Though the Beggars’ Sect commanded the most members in both the righteous and demonic paths, the position of successor to its leader remained vacant.
* * *
The first thing Tang Seo-woo saw when she opened her eyes was not the sky, but a ceiling.
“...”
She could not make sense of what she saw.
Her memories before losing consciousness were vague. She had definitely been surrounding Star Jade Manor, where that thousand-year-old hag was staying... and then... she had wanted to teach that hag, who had arrogantly told them to come at her without knowing their place, a lesson...
The scattered memories quickly connected.
The pain in her forearms and palms. The revolting pressure that she could not escape no matter how she struggled.
The damp, foul-smelling dirt shoved into her mouth, mixed with saliva, pressed against her tongue, and slid down her throat... Ants wriggling between her gums, pebbles scratching and tearing the inside of her mouth...
The slaps that rattled her mind while smashing up her mouth.
Blergh!
The moment she remembered it, Tang Seo-woo had no choice but to sharply turn her head and vomit.
It felt as if ants were still crawling between her gums. The sensation and taste of mud turning sticky and clinging to her oesophagus remained unbearably vivid.
Hah, haah... hhk...
Tang Seo-woo retched several times and tried to cover her mouth, but a chilling pain shot through her arm and prevented her from doing so. Instead, she twisted her body where she lay and groaned.
“Ghk, ughhh...!”
It hurt? Why? Beyond any question of understanding, rage rose within her.
She saw a ceiling rather than the sky. This was a room. Surely, after matters at Star Jade Manor had concluded, her brother or the Salmun assassins had rescued her.
“Why was I not treated...?!”
Her mouth hurt. It was difficult to move her cheek muscles.
If they had used a potion while she was unconscious, a complete recovery might have been impossible, but the pain would have been far less. Yet she had not been treated at all. She could even still clearly taste dirt in her mouth...!
Tang Seo-woo spat out the mud remaining beneath her tongue and pushed herself up.
“Is someone there...”
She could not finish the call.
She saw the back of her brother Tang Seo-jin, kneeling before her. His sitting posture was unnatural.
His right arm was twisted from the wrist onward and hung limply against the floor. His breathing was harsh and uneven. Whenever he exhaled, Huff, huff, blood dripped down. Drip, drip.
“Ah... ah...”
Tang Seo-woo’s eyes trembled. Before the kneeling Tang Seo-jin sat a man in a broad chair.
“F-Father.”
The head of the Dang Family and sect leader of Salmun. Tang Yu-shin, the Dark King. His dull grey eyes turned toward Tang Seo-woo.
“Once again.”
Tang Yu-shin opened his lips.
“You have done something I did not order.”
Tang Seo-woo’s body shook just from hearing his voice. She hurriedly rose from where she had been lying and knelt in place.
“F-Father. That was...”
“I heard the circumstances from Seo-jin.”
His chest was caved in. Every breath was painful enough to make him scream, but Tang Seo-jin barely forced out his voice.
“S-Seo-woo did not wish for it. I was the one who carried it out...”
He said it to protect his younger sister, but before he could finish, Tang Yu-shin moved a finger. A soundless finger-flicking technique shot forward.
Thud!
It pierced Tang Seo-jin’s shoulder.
“Ghhhhh...!”
“I am your father.”
Tang Yu-shin said.
“Do you think I do not know you? Do you think the assassins did not report to me? Why tell a lie that will so obviously be exposed?”
“F-Father...”
“I ordered you not to approach Tang Yu-ryeon until I arrived. I told you only to keep your distance and watch. I even assigned assassins in case there were too few eyes watching. Seo-woo, why did you act as you pleased?”
“Father...!”
“It was fine in Gwangseo. Circumstances were different then. It was fine at Yonghwa Lake. I had not given an order then. But this is not fine. Circumstances are different, and I gave you a direct order. Yet you did not listen, and you ruined everything.”
Tang Yu-shin did not lower the finger he had extended. He pointed it at his daughter.
“Answer me, Seo-woo. My daughter.”
Black energy gathered at the tip of his long finger.
“What am I to do with you?”
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