WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 160: Wanting to Go, Yet Unable, My Feet Are Wounded
──────
Yuezhou was in turmoil.
As the fog that had settled over the entire city gradually thinned, the unrest only grew.
The government soldiers with broken collarbones sat propped against whatever they could, staring blankly at Dongting Lake.
Even the uninjured soldiers were too confused to act, doing nothing but guarding their encampments.
The civilians who had taken advantage of the confusion to come outside gathered around Dongting Lake.
More and more people set out across its waters in boats.
Then,
they saw a pair of enormous fireballs rising from the middle of Dongting Lake.
Whoooooosh!!!!
“...”
“...”
The water it burst through surged high into the sky like a colossal water bomb, then fell as rain.
Rain poured all the way over Yuezhou, thickening the fog again.
What was that?
What was that?
What in the world was that?
Through the mist, they could barely make it out. Only two fireball-like eyes gleamed brightly.
What kind of sorcery was this?
No one could speak.
They could only stare at the thing that had risen through the surface.
It was strange.
It was clearly far away.
The lake was clearly shrouded in watery fog.
Then why did it look so vivid?
As if it stood right before them.
As if the whole world had warped like curved glass to magnify it.
It burned.
It burned.
The fog ignited beneath the light of its eyes, and the landscape was soaked in a sunset-red glow.
As everyone watched,
Thud!
It dropped something.
It fell before the five hundred gathered orphans.
Even from far away, they could see it clearly.
It made no sense, but no one even felt like asking questions anymore.
It was a huge sphere made from human arms and legs packed together.
Red and translucent. Human limbs, gleaming like glass, screamed across its surface as though begging to be saved.
Dark red veins wriggled through the gaps between them.
An impossible wave of qi poured out from the sphere.
The ground trembled, and the clouds warped.
“Ah...”
“Ahh...”
Unable to withstand the qi wave, the orphans crumpled down, clutching their tingling bodies as they trembled all over.
Their minds, completely consumed by fear, went blank. The focus vanished from their eyes.
Thud!
Thud!
The sphere pulsed.
The ground shook.
The orphans who had fallen rose to their feet.
Staggering in time with the sphere’s pulses, their eyes turned white as they moved their little legs toward it.
Everyone watching understood.
The instant those children touched that sphere, they would be devoured.
They would cling to it, unable to break free, and become one with it.
“...”
They had to stop them.
Everyone thought it, but no one could move.
Distance did not matter.
Rumble!
Rumble!
Black clouds filled with lightning already covered the skies over all of Yuezhou.
Everyone was too terrified to move even a finger.
Everyone except one man.
Step.
Won Huiseung of the Zhongnan Sect stepped in front of the staggering children.
Thud!
He stomped down and released a wave of qi that swept over them.
“Argh!”
“Ugh!”
The children were knocked down by the qi wave, and focus returned to their eyes.
“Uh...”
“Waaah!”
Only then did they realize what was happening and burst into tears.
They crawled backward across the ground with their short arms and legs, trying to get even a little farther from that hideous, horrifying sphere.
Fwoooosh!
The two blazing eyes in the fog burned more fiercely.
It was displeased by interference from something so lowly.
The great sphere before Won Huiseung suddenly raised its writhing limbs toward the sky.
Crackle!
The transparent, glass-like surface cracked, then the fissures vanished.
!!!
The entire world bleached white.
A moment that felt eternal.
Kwarrrrrumble!
Rumble!
The sky tore apart with a roar.
Whoooooo-
The wounded wind screamed.
Crackle! Crackle!
Flames rose where the lightning struck...
“Hngh. Ngh.”
Yet Dragon-Seeking Wanderer Won Huiseung was still standing.
Even after taking the lightning head-on, he did not waver.
He spoke.
“Show yourself. Show yourself. Is that you? Is it really you?”
Instead, he stepped forward.
Drawing his sword, he faced the writhing sphere.
“Clear away the fog and show yourself. Fine. Will you show yourself if I break this sphere?”
Clang!
Clang, clang!
The sword qi Won Huiseung unleashed shattered against the sphere.
Its transparent, glass-like surface broke the sword qi apart and deflected it away.
Not even a scratch remained on the sphere.
But then,
Fwoooosh!
The burning eyes grew angry.
Boom!
Rumble!
Kwarrrrrumble!
The world screamed white.
Three times in succession.
Yellow flashes streaked between heaven and earth.
Even the ground melted, sending up choking smoke.
Yet Won Huiseung remained standing.
“Cough! Cough!”
He spat blood, but he was still standing.
“Heh. It works. It’s working.”
The spiritual elixir he had taken in Hengyang had altered his constitution so that it could commune with the energy of heaven.
Wind and lightning could not easily injure him.
Feeling the effects of the medicine properly for the first time, Won Huiseung laughed in delight.
“Cough! Cough!”
He coughed up blood from the lightning qi he had not fully dispersed, yet he still laughed.
At least he could endure it.
He raised his sword again.
With the determination to split it apart using a form of the Thirty-Six Swords Under Heaven, he brought his sword down.
Claaang!
The sphere remained intact. Still, its surface hummed and trembled.
It was not completely ineffective.
“I’ll keep at it until you show yourself!”
A bloody smile appeared on Won Huiseung’s lips.
Boom! Kwarrrrrumble!
The world shook white.
Once. Three times. Five times.
Lightning crashed down.
Crackle! Crackle!
The enormous sphere kept splitting apart and fusing back together.
The red, translucent limbs across its surface flailed madly.
“Guh...”
Won Huiseung dropped to his knees.
White smoke rose from his entire body.
No matter how well his body could contain the energy of lightning and wind, he could not endure beyond its limits.
Still, Won Huiseung braced himself on his knees and rose again.
“Come out... Come out. Are you going to hide in the fog until the end...?”
He raised his sword to cut the sphere.
But no more strength could flow into his blade.
He had already exceeded his limits long ago.
Then,
“Stay standing. I’ll do the cutting.”
A man drew his sword and stood beside him.
“...Sowol?”
His thighs trembled. So did his wrists. His teeth clacked together.
Yet Yeon Sowol had forced himself to walk here.
He stood beside Won Huiseung.
“I’ll... cut it.”
Fwoooosh!
The immense pair of blazing eyes turned toward Yeon Sowol.
Fwoooosh!
The fog suddenly grew redder, hotter.
Yeon Sowol felt it.
‘It’s wary of me.’
That thing beyond the fog was clearly wary of him.
Did it know what power Yeon Sowol possessed?
Rumble!
The sky cried out.
Dongting Lake churned.
That immense being was hesitating.
Its gaze locked on Yeon Sowol.
Rumble!
Should it retreat?
Or should it not?
Its flaming gaze shifted between Yeon Sowol and the hundreds of orphans.
‘Just leave.’
Yeon Sowol prayed honestly in his heart.
He had come all this way prepared to fight, but he did not really want to fight.
‘If I get hit by lightning, Heaven-Killing Star or not, I’m dead.’
The power of Heaven-Killing Star activated by first perceiving its target as flat, then severing its thread.
Recognition came first, then the severing.
An attack that fell at a speed Yeon Sowol could not even recognize, like lightning, was something he could not react to.
He would simply die.
‘Just leave.’
His knees shook.
Won Huiseung had stepped forward first and endured lightning again and again. Yeon Sowol had come this far because he could not bear to lose to him, but he was already close to his limit.
‘Now’s your chance. Go back. Before either of us gets hurt.’
Still.
That did not mean Yeon Sowol had no confidence at all.
“Leave. Either way, you too...”
If he could touch it.
If he could reach even one fingernail against that monster beyond the fog.
“...will die.”
Was it not a waste?
Did it not want to become a dragon and ascend?
Would it really risk its life here?
So,
“Leave.”
Now was the time to retreat.
But that immense thing made a different choice from the one Yeon Sowol wanted.
Fwoooosh!
Beyond the fog, its splashing body straightened, and it glared at Yeon Sowol.
Crackle!
At that moment, the limbs on the sphere’s surface convulsed.
The red-glowing surface tore open, then fused shut again.
!!!!
Boom! Kwarrrrrumble! Rumble!
Once.
Three times.
Ten times.
Twenty times.
Lightning poured down.
The world remained white for what felt like forever.
“Khahah...”
Won Huiseung, now charred black, took every single strike.
Like a lightning rod, even the lightning aimed at Yeon Sowol was drawn into Won Huiseung.
“Kh... I... I can... touch it too... A dragon... Heh. I won’t lose to the Twelve Earthly Branches... I’ll face it on equal terms... I...”
Watching the charred Won Huiseung stagger and collapse, Yeon Sowol understood what he had to do.
“Yeah... Let’s do this.”
Flash!
A bright sword qi suddenly rose from Clear Mirror, which gave a thin cry of fear.
The sword qi shot forward and struck the sphere.
Crack, crack, crack, crack!
A lightning-like fissure ran deep into the sphere.
Crack! Crack!
That was not all.
The surface broke into large fragments that scattered over the ground.
The qi within the sphere was being destroyed by the power of Heaven-Killing Star.
!!!!!!!
A terrible scream suddenly rang out.
It was unlike the cry of any beast.
It was not a sound made with a throat.
The water churned, and the heavens turned over as the scream split the world apart.
!!!!!!!!
The burning eyes fixed on the shattering sphere.
Crunch!
Something like a hand shot out in a panic and wrapped around the crumbling sphere.
!!!!!!!!
It was enraged.
How dare they.
How dare they! How dare they!
Beyond the fog,
an enormous body curved like a rainbow, casting a dark shadow.
It writhed.
It rose higher.
As though it intended to climb completely out of the water, crawl onto land, and crush everything to death.
Its furious eyes danced beyond the mist. Sunset light flashed.
But,
“Heh. You’re finally coming out! Finally!”
Won Huiseung lunged forward in his charred body.
He had even thrown away his sword. His cultivated power was exhausted, and his body staggered as he ran.
“Huiseung...!”
Yeon Sowol followed him.
Gritting his teeth, he stared directly at the Flood Dragon swaying beyond the fog.
He had to do it.
There was no avoiding this.
‘Kill it.’
His gaze grew cold.
His grip tightened around Clear Mirror.
Would the lightning come first?
Or would his sword?
The blazing eyes burned even hotter.
It was wary of Yeon Sowol, but not afraid of him.
As if asking how someone like him dared to disregard it, its massive body swelled as though it would rip through the fog.
Just then,
- Waaaaaah!
- Aaaaah!
Cheers suddenly erupted.
They came from the people of Yuezhou.
Not only those who had come by boat. Even the citizens far inside the city were shouting.
Clang! Clang!
Boom! Boom!
Clang!
Thud! Thud!
They struck metal.
They beat drums.
They stomped their feet.
All of them shouted.
“Get lost!”
“You damn snake!”
“Kill it!”
“Lord White-Robed League Leader!”
The cheers were not unified. They shouted whatever came to mind, without order or sense.
Yet,
Flinch!
The enormous body that had looked ready to crush Won Huiseung and Yeon Sowol shrank back.
- Waaaaaah!
Tens of thousands of people shouted at once.
Their voices did not lose to the thunderclaps from before.
Human voices shook heaven and earth.
Fwooo-
The eyes burning within the fog dimmed.
The sunset darkened.
It looked at Yeon Sowol.
It looked at the fragments of the sphere scattered across the ground.
Boom!
Then it smashed through the surface and plunged back beneath the water.
Whoooooosh-
Once again,
rain fell.
Dongting Lake swayed.
Huge waves slapped against one another.
But that overwhelming presence was gone.
Beyond the fog was empty.
Only Dongting Lake rippled there.
“Hah... Haa.”
Soaked by the rain,
Yeon Sowol collapsed onto his back.
When he looked over, Won Huiseung was already lying down.
“Haa... Haa... I could’ve seen it... I was so close...”
Charred black, he panted as he muttered those words.
Yeon Sowol turned his head.
Raindrops wet his eyes, but he continued staring blankly at the gray sky.
Without realizing it, he murmured,
“I want to become stronger...”
Much stronger than he was now.
“I want to become stronger...”
He turned his head to the side.
Red fragments scattered across the ground came into view.
* * *
Whoooooosh-
Rain poured down.
“It’s over.”
Jin Hyeogo finally straightened his back.
Muscles that had been locked in place for so long screamed in pain.
He gave one last glance toward where the Flood Dragon had disappeared.
He had not been able to move the entire time.
Until it returned beneath the water, he had stood frozen without even breathing.
Even now, his fingertips trembled.
Jin Hyeogo looked toward the two men who had stood tall before that Flood Dragon.
Two young martial artists who had not lived even half as long as he had.
One had endured the lightning.
The other had made even a dragon wary.
“...”
Jin Hyeogo looked once more at the man who had endured the lightning.
Won Huiseung of the Zhongnan Sect.
‘What did I tell him earlier...?’
Had he told him not to be impatient?
That he would grow strong in the end?
That he only needed time?
“He did not even need time...”
Yeon Sowol was one thing.
But even his friend...
Jin Hyeogo swallowed the strange emotion rising in his chest and lowered his gaze.
“Guhhh... No... It can’t... It can’t end like this...”
Yang Hoeam writhed there, submerged in a pool of blood.
He was still alive despite having been cut into pieces by Yeon Sowol’s sword.
It was doubtful whether something neither human nor beast could still be called alive, but it continued to move and speak.
Thin, branch-like hands had sprouted beneath his severed head. He rolled through the pool of blood, trying to escape.
Jin Hyeogo spoke once more.
“Let’s go. It’s over. Our Jianghu is...”
“No... I...”
Thud!
Jin Hyeogo’s spear pierced Yang Hoeam’s head.
“Keugh...”
Yang Hoeam left only a faint groan.
Drip-
His body melted into a soft puddle on the ground.
He could no longer twitch.
“...”
Jin Hyeogo could not smile.
The end of a great man he had once respected was too gruesome and ugly.
With a twisted expression, he rose, spun his spear, and drove it into the ground before him.
So deeply that half the iron spear shaft sank into the earth.
He left it there like a gravestone, lowering his head as if in prayer, as if sobbing.
Then he turned away.
He walked unsteadily.
Without looking back, he only murmured a line of poetry.
Wanting to go, yet unable to go, each drains their own cup.
The beast had returned beneath the water.
Two young men lay on the ground.
An old man had met an ugly end.
A middle-aged man walked away with slumped shoulders.
All who were to leave had left.
Each had drained their cup.
Whoooooosh-
Rain poured over Dongting Lake.
Footnotes:
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