WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 129: The Rear Waves of the Yangtze Push the Front Waves (3)
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The day Moyong Ha was found cold, notices immediately went up across the streets of Yuezhou.
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By order of Lord Yang Hoeam, provincial governor of Yuezhou.
Keep quiet.
I know that today’s unfortunate incident has left the common people unsettled.
But do not act rashly.
The Moyong Family is an old family of loyal subjects, cherished even by His Majesty. The imperial court will watch this incident with both eyes wide open, and I, too, will approach the investigation with grave apprehension and devote every effort to uncovering the truth.
Therefore,
restrain yourselves.
Especially martial artists carrying swords, restrain yourselves. Restrain yourselves again.
Some may be saddened and enraged, but in this situation, they can only cause disruption and confusion.
I cannot know whether they step forward out of concern for the Moyong Family’s daughter, or because their own guilt pricks them and they seek to stir up disorder.
Keep quiet.
Leave everything to the authorities and wait.
All people of Yuezhou, high and low, shall take the provincial governor’s stern words to heart.
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Suppressed whispers boiled up in every street.
The precious daughter of the Moyong Family had died in Yuezhou.
Even ordinary people with nothing to do with the Jianghu found it an enormous topic of conversation.
“Lady Moyong. She was beautiful even from a distance...”
Some could not forget her beauty.
“Isn’t this serious? The Moyong Family is going to come flooding into Yuezhou, isn’t it?”
Others remembered the Moyong Family’s fearsome reputation.
“Didn’t Lady Moyong have a lot of friends? Yeon Sowol was one of her closest friends, wasn’t he? Do you think those people will just sit still?”
Others spoke of the influence she had held here in Yuezhou.
Then Yuezhou’s provincial governor had issued a public warning.
‘Keep quiet.’
So what would happen now?
Even the most insignificant and ignorant people could not resist adding their own thoughts.
“Fuck. So what happens to the martial arts tournament now?”
“It’ll be suspended.”
“Suspended? Do you know how much is riding on that thing right now?”
“So you’re saying it’ll continue? Even after the provincial governor warned everyone like that?”
“Good grief. Is that thing you carry on your head a rice bowl? What does Lady Moyong’s death have to do with the martial arts tournament?”
“Then is your head an ass? Was that a mouth or a shit hole? Don’t you know that at times like this, you need to lie low and even watch your breathing?”
What would become of the martial arts tournament?
“Ah, but the tournament absolutely has to continue. If this ends like this, I’ll never sleep peacefully again.”
“That’s right. You’re absolutely right.”
“But isn’t Great Hero Yeon the problem? They say Lady Moyong was his close friend... Would he even be in the state of mind to continue the tournament?”
“No. No way. His friend died like that, and he’s supposed to hold a martial arts tournament? He’s not some bastard mad for fame. It’s over. The tournament is finished. Don’t get your hopes up, all of you.”
“No! Great Hero Yeon will return! Not for fame, but... out of responsibility to the martial artists who entered the tournament!”
“I don’t know. Just thinking the tournament might end here makes food stick in my throat... But if Great Hero Yeon just carries on as usual, I think I’d be disappointed too. No matter what, his friend died like that. How could he be completely fine...? That doesn’t seem right either. Ah, but I still want to see the tournament. This is driving me crazy.”
How would Yeon Sowol respond?
“Just give up already. There’s no time for that. He’ll seek revenge. What martial artists would see something like this and stay still?”
“Revenge, my ass... Didn’t you read what the provincial governor said?”
“I did. But since when did martial artists care about that?”
“No matter how much of a martial artist you are, you still know when to lie low. They won’t move in a situation like this.”
“Do you even know what martial artists are? Doesn’t sound like you do...”
“Well, look at this. So what if you’re a martial artist? Arrows won’t stick in you? Blades won’t cut you? If tiger-like generals step in, you’ll all scatter like autumn leaves.”
Would they truly keep quiet?
Everyone chattered according to their own thoughts.
The pointless arguments continued without end.
* * *
The basin beside Dongting Lake.
The place where the tournament platform had been erected had remained unsettled for the past two days.
“...So it’s really not happening.”
“Ah, damn it. This is driving me insane. I haven’t been able to eat or sleep because of this...”
Spectators who wanted to watch the martial arts tournament lingered around the area, smoking one cigarette after another.
“...”
“...”
“Hmm...”
Martial artists reluctant to see the tournament end like this also hovered nearby, just in case.
They understood how serious the situation was, so no one loudly demanded that the tournament resume.
Still, they all felt the same way.
The spectators had their own feelings.
The participating martial artists had theirs.
It was a shame for it to end here.
Even the peak-realm masters felt no differently.
“Stopping after coming this far would be a little...”
At first, many had entered on a sudden impulse, treating it like a bit of fun.
That was no longer the case.
The honor of being selected as one of Hunan’s Twelve Supremes after all the eliminations.
Having made it this far, it was only natural to want to settle the rankings.
That was not all.
They had started eagerly anticipating the next prizes as well. The reward they had received for becoming one of Hunan’s Twelve Supremes had been a high-grade secret manual, a treasure that could aid even peak-realm masters.
There would be more prizes for reaching the top three, and another for taking first place. How extraordinary would those be?
What would they receive? A high-grade martial arts manual? Or a top-grade spiritual elixir?
Either way, even peak-realm masters had begun coveting the rewards, making it difficult to simply walk away.
Yet Yeon Sowol, the organizer, had shut himself away. What could they do?
It would not be appropriate to go and press him, especially when Yuezhou’s provincial governor had issued a warning...
All they could do was linger nearby and watch for signs.
Two days passed, then a third.
As they had yesterday and the day before, people loitered around the tournament platform again today, killing time.
A strange air of pessimism had thickened.
“Maybe it really isn’t happening...?”
“It’s already the third day. There hasn’t been a single announcement.”
“Ah... It can’t end like this...”
Everyone felt it.
They had an ominous sense that the martial arts tournament would end here after all.
People lost their appetites and smoked heavily instead.
Even the martial officials assigned to maintain order began relaxing, sensing that their duty here would soon be over.
That was when it happened.
A stir!
A commotion suddenly began on the far side of the basin.
Murmur, murmur.
At first, the mingled voices sounded like waves rolling in.
Then,
“Waaah! Waaaaah! Aaaah!”
Roars like the cries of beasts burst out all at once.
Those sitting near the tournament platform at the bottom of the basin all raised their heads.
“What is it? What’s happening?”
Then someone’s shout rang through the sky.
“Great Hero Yeon is here!”
The people who had lifted their heads surged to their feet and rushed toward the upper side of the basin.
“Great Hero Yeon?”
“Yeon Sowol?”
“Did he come? Is he coming?”
It was true.
Yeon Sowol was approaching.
He was headed for the tournament platform.
Countless spectators and martial artists surrounded him, moving with him in a swelling tide. They packed tightly together and shoved shoulders, careful not to block his path even as they surged forward.
In an instant, an enormous crowd filled the entire basin.
Yeon Sowol, who had led them all there, quietly stepped onto the tournament platform.
He raised his head and swept his gaze over everyone.
For a long moment, he stood there with an unreadable expression.
Then, he brought his hands together in a fist salute.
“I apologize for delaying the martial arts tournament without sending word. During that time, we mourned the death of our beloved friend, Lady Moyong Ha.”
Everyone nodded.
Who could say otherwise?
Some even reddened around the eyes.
“I thought long and hard, but I have ultimately concluded that the martial arts tournament must continue. This is not the matter of one person, but of many. Since we have come this far, we must see it through.”
“That’s right!”
“That’s right!”
The spectators shouted themselves hoarse.
Some clapped fervently or slapped their own bodies in excitement.
Naturally, though, not everyone cheered without reservation.
“So he’s really doing it?”
“Even though his friend died...”
“Will the provincial governor stay quiet...?”
“As a spectator, I’m glad, but...”
Everyone was happy that the tournament would continue, but some still felt uneasy.
They could not fully rejoice, as though something kept catching in their hearts and making them look back.
Yeon Sowol’s friends standing below the platform, Namgung Ujin and Hwangbo Hwi among them, felt the same way.
‘...He’s really doing it?’
‘...Honestly, I don’t feel like it.’
Won Huiseung and Ha Jeop also looked up at Yeon Sowol with slightly anxious eyes.
‘What is he thinking?’
‘T-there must be some meaning to this.’
Before them,
Yeon Sowol...
Rattle!
Yeon Sowol unfastened the sword at his waist and threw it beneath the tournament platform.
The metal struck the stone floor with several clear, heavy clatters. The people who had been talking fell silent at once and looked at Yeon Sowol.
He seemed strangely relieved.
“Then I’ll begin at once.”
His gaze slowly turned.
At the end of it stood the martial officials, watching him with complicated expressions.
Yeon Sowol cupped his fist and called out.
“Prefectural Inspector General Shin Gilrip! I, Yeon of Shinheung County in Guangdong, wish to be tested by you!”
The County Inspectors were the direct armed unit that assisted a county magistrate.
The Prefectural Inspectors were the direct armed unit that assisted a provincial governor.
The Prefectural Inspector General was the leader of the Prefectural Inspectors serving a provincial governor who ruled a major city. A junior fifth-rank high-ranking martial official, addressed as a general.
Naturally, Shin Gilrip had reached the peak realm. Usually, such a person was considered the strongest among the martial officials of the region.
Shin Gilrip stared at Yeon Sowol for a moment before asking, “Then why did you throw away your sword?”
Yeon Sowol smiled.
“I felt stifled.”
It was a remarkably casual answer for a young man just twenty years of age to give a senior fifth-rank martial official.
It did not suit formal etiquette.
It was not like Yeon Sowol.
Yet everyone watching found it strangely natural.
The words of a young man whose chest was filled to bursting with something, forcing himself to smile.
Perhaps that was why Shin Gilrip nodded.
“I see.”
Then,
Rattle!
Thud!
Flump!
He unfastened his sword as well.
He removed his breastplate.
Unlike Jianghu martial artists, who needed only a single weapon, martial officials trained to use their armor as a weapon too.
Even so, Shin Gilrip did not hesitate.
He removed his military cap as well, revealing the topknot beneath, then kicked off the ground and leaped forward.
Thud!
Dust billowed up.
The stone slabs of the platform trembled faintly.
His heavy landing carried an oppressive presence that pressed down on everything around him.
Shin Gilrip stood with his hands behind his back and looked at Yeon Sowol.
He was as tall as Yeon Sowol, if not taller.
His muscles were even larger, enough to make Yeon Sowol look small.
“When you feel stifled, a good fight can help. Come. I’ll take as much as you can give.”
Yeon Sowol smiled.
No.
Could that really be called a smile?
The spectators thought it looked like a wolf baring its teeth and growling.
“Then I’m coming.”
Yeon Sowol kicked off the ground.
He did not test the waters.
He charged straight ahead.
At full speed, he ran at Shin Gilrip and drove out a straight punch.
Craaaash!
Yeon Sowol’s fist slammed into Shin Gilrip’s chest.
Shin Gilrip’s fist struck Yeon Sowol beneath the jaw.
Puff!
Blood sprayed from Yeon Sowol’s mouth and scattered through the air.
His lips had split open from a single blow.
Shin Gilrip, on the other hand, stood there like a massive tree.
Yeon Sowol’s straight punch had failed to pierce Shin Gilrip’s protective qi. His martial force wave dispersed dully, as though he had struck the sea.
The difference in their martial arts was obvious.
Just as not every late first-rate martial artist was equal, not every peak-realm master was equal either.
Shin Gilrip’s overwhelming force bore down on Yeon Sowol.
Still, Yeon Sowol bared bloodied teeth. He planted the foot that had taken one step back firmly into the ground.
Boom!
Then he threw another punch.
Craaaash!
This time, his fist struck Shin Gilrip across the cheek, while Shin Gilrip’s fist slammed into Yeon Sowol’s abdomen.
“Urk!”
Once again, Yeon Sowol suffered far more.
Shin Gilrip had even used his protective qi, twisting his head and bleeding away the martial force in Yeon Sowol’s punch. Yeon Sowol, meanwhile, took such a powerful blow to the abdomen that his legs lifted off the ground.
But for some reason,
Yeon Sowol did not break.
“Khah!”
Bang!
Boom!
Crack!
Craaaash!
He took one step back, then stepped forward again and threw a punch.
He took two steps back, then charged forward two steps and kicked.
He looked like a wounded beast.
Blood burst from his mouth, and his once-neat clothes became disheveled, but he never stopped. He charged in with even greater ferocity.
Sweat gradually gathered on Shin Gilrip’s face, though he had initially received every attack calmly.
Thud!
Crack!
Yeon Sowol’s hair, stylishly bound beneath a bamboo crown, came loose strand by strand.
Red wounds appeared on Yeon Sowol’s jade-pale face, but his eyes only burned brighter.
“...”
“...”
The spectators forgot even to breathe.
No one had explained it, but everyone understood.
Why Yeon Sowol had not taken up his sword.
Why he did not use his footwork and lightness art, his greatest strengths.
Why he kept charging in so stupidly despite being beaten.
Because it had all knotted inside him.
Because it would not come undone.
Because he could not feel pain even when struck.
It carved itself vividly into the hearts of the countless people watching.
Boom!
Crack!
No one could even swallow carelessly.
Even the most talkative people fell silent.
One man’s grievance and fury.
How could anyone dare chatter about it in front of something like this?
Craaaash!
With another violent impact, beads of sweat scattered through the air.
“Mm.”
Shin Gilrip let out a groan and took a step back for the first time.
Yeon Sowol still bared his teeth and smiled.
Footnotes:
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