WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 26: In the Jianghu, One Cannot Control One's Fate (15)

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From the day after Yeon Sowol killed Mad Dog, Yi Yubaek began teaching him footwork.

“From now on, we’ll focus on Willow Leaf Steps. I have a feeling you’ll need to run like hell before long.”

If a lightness skill was the art of making the body light, footwork was the art of stepping on the ground.

“When lightness skill is paired with footwork, a martial artist can finally fight and compete properly.”

After saying that, Yi Yubaek fell silent for a moment.

“...Of course, that only applies when the two sides are at similar levels. If there is a gap in lightness skill, you can overwhelm an opponent without footwork, as you did. That is why lightness skill is the root, while footwork is the branch.”

Lightness skill was the root.

Footwork was the branch.

“But no matter how important the root is, isn’t it the branch that bears fruit in the end? You’ll have to train Willow Leaf Steps as though your life depends on it.”

Yi Yubaek said that, but fortunately, training Willow Leaf Steps did not come with horrifying side effects like melting, rotting, or evaporating.

There was only the minor issue that if he used his strength wrong while stepping on the ground and moving his body with true qi beyond human limits, his feet and knees could bend backward. If he made a truly serious mistake, his waist might fold in half...

‘Well. Motorcycles are similar. No, this might actually be better. I’m controlling my own body, so it should be easier to handle.’

A human moving at nearly motorcycle-level speed and force with nothing but their body, with an injury risk about as high as getting into a motorcycle accident?

‘That’s basically no risk at all.’

Yeon Sowol was deeply satisfied with this safe and reasonable form of training.

‘I just need to keep my body's tempering under control while mixing in lightness skill and footwork. Simple.’

It was the sort of reasoning that would have made the Yeon Sowol who had only recently fallen into the martial world faint in horror.

Now, though, he found nothing strange about it.

“As expected. With such keen understanding and such good qi sense, you’re learning Willow Leaf Steps quickly too.”

After three days, Yeon Sowol had learned every movement and trick of Willow Leaf Steps.

Yi Yubaek said, “But the important thing in footwork is not memorizing the movements and tricks. It is using them in the right place during an actual fight. Dodging, charging in, chasing, being chased. You need training that is as close to real combat as possible.”

Yeon Sowol tensed.

‘Again... Is he going to hit me?’

“Regrettably, I cannot help you. Muhyeok, Jehun, and Mo Cheong will be busy as well, thanks to the good news you brought us.”

‘News? Ah. The news that Seo Muryang, the leader of the Golden Powder Gang, may be colluding with Heavenly Road Mountain?’

It was information Choran from Cheongun Pavilion had given him as a gift.

There was also word that the Governor-General of Liangguang would visit Jipseong River on the Eighth Day of the Fourth Month for a boat outing...

‘But Father wouldn’t be busy over something like that.’

Either way, Yeon Sowol was a little relieved.

‘So I won’t get hit?’

His martial arts had improved by leaps and bounds every time he was beaten, but that did not mean he enjoyed it.

Then Yi Yubaek said, “So go pick a fight with Resentful Dog.”

“...”

“Answer me.”

“...Do you mean Jeon Taegwang, the youngest disciple of the Leader of the Severing Sword Sect?”

“That’s right.”

“...You mean I should polish Willow Leaf Steps in real combat.”

“Correct. You have properly awakened your qi sense now, and you know how to guard your heart. If you use Willow Leaf Steps properly, you should be able to fight him. Battle him every day until I say you’re done.”

“Will I win?”

“What are you talking about?”

Yi Yubaek stared at him in disbelief.

“You’ll lose. You’ll get beaten senseless.”

“...”

“But do not lose. If you lose, you’d better prepare yourself. My disciple cannot go around getting beaten, much less my son.”

“...Yes. Of course.”

Yeon Sowol knew by now.

There was no point in pointing out that those statements contradicted each other.

As Yeon Sowol lowered his head and pretended to tremble, Yi Yubaek abruptly held out a book.

“This is...?”

“It is one of those books made by idle busybodies. You can learn about the Jianghu figures who made names for themselves in Guangdong. Read it and study.”

“What should I study?”

“How to pick fights.”

“...”

“As I said, the closer the training is to real combat, the better the results. You need to provoke him properly, so he comes at you as though you were his parents’ mortal enemy. That book is full of all kinds of stories, so it should give you plenty of ideas. I’ll check everything later, so do it right.”

Yi Yubaek gave Yeon Sowol’s shoulder a couple of pats and walked away.

“Phew...”

Yeon Sowol let out a deep sigh.

“This isn’t easy.”

Jianghu people. The world of thugs...

Yeon Sowol thought of Resentful Dog.

Only a few days ago, he had killed Mad Dog, Resentful Dog’s friend.

“But now I have to provoke him first. Make him see me as his parents’ mortal enemy.”

As a former model student from Earth, Yeon Sowol felt heavyhearted.

‘Mad Dog was a serial killer who tried to kill me first, so that was one thing.’

Resentful Dog had not seemed that bad...

Was it really all right to do this to someone?

“Phew...”

With another sigh, he opened the book he had been given. The Jianghu Personage Register, a textbook for learning how to pick fights.

「There are people in this world who stick out like awls. People who break through fences, run from their homes, tear their clothes, and force their way out. The place they go. The place where they gather and live. That is what we call the Jianghu.」

He skimmed past the introduction.

Then he opened to the first page.

* * *

<First. Woman-Dressing Official Chu Jinhyeok>

He was given the sobriquet Woman-Dressing Official because he dressed like a woman.

He had originally been a promising military official who had placed first in the military examination, but he could not suppress his habit of dressing like a woman.

One day, he appeared at the barracks wearing makeup, a skirt, and a wig. His superiors and subordinates alike were embarrassed.

Even after receiving a severe reprimand, he did not change. He was eventually dismissed from office, and Chu Jinhyeok bore a deep grudge over it.

Afterward, whenever he encountered another official while wandering the Jianghu, he would ask,

“Is it proper to dismiss a military official merely for dressing as a woman?”

If he disliked the answer, he bound the person, forced them into women’s clothing, threw them into a government office, and shouted,

“This one dressed as a woman too, so dismiss him!”

* * *

???

Yeon Sowol thought,

‘Why is this... funny?’

* * *

“Did you see it last time? Those Three Dogs bastards turned into dogs chasing chickens.”

“I saw it. I saw it.”

“Damn. He really showed them they were in a completely different league.”

“Mad Dog died that day too. Don’t you think Young Master Yeon was the one who did it?”

“Come on. No matter what, how could he beat thirteen Black Path men alone? Mad Dog must have messed with some hidden master without recognizing them.”

“Probably...?”

Yeon Sowol had become a major topic of conversation in the streets of Shinheung County.

Everyone felt a sharp thrill at Yeon Sowol’s refined manner as he trampled and mocked the nuisances known as the Shinheung Three Dogs.

Of course, there was always someone who said no when everyone else said yes.

“They’re dressing up the fact that he ran away because he was scared to fight.”

“His lightness skill was decent, sure, but since when did martial artists praise someone for being good at running away? A martial artist should be good at fighting.”

“That’s true.”

“And anyway, Weak Severing Sword lost a friend. Didn’t you see him guarding the funeral for three days straight? Is it really human to say things like that after seeing him?”

“Right, right. I hate Resentful Dog too, but that was sad. Made me think their friendship had been real.”

“...What’s with you people? Are you the Three Dogs’ fathers or something?”

“What? Then what are you? A spy from Annam?”

“What?!”

Arguments broke out. People grabbed each other by the collars.

Yeon Sowol’s name grew hotter by the day.

That was why, when Yeon Sowol suddenly appeared and sat across from Resentful Dog, who was drinking tea alone, everyone nearby held their breath.

“...What is this?”

Resentful Dog’s eyes were bloodshot.

Yeon Sowol politely lifted the teapot and filled Resentful Dog’s cup.

“Senior, you must be grieving deeply.”

“What?”

“I mean Mad Dog. I heard he had no family to speak of, so you handled the funeral yourself and stayed there for three days. My deepest condolences.”

“...”

Resentful Dog silently looked down at the cup of tea before him.

Tap.

Yeon Sowol set down another cup beside it.

“I’ll offer a cup for Mad Dog as well.”

Yeon Sowol poured tea.

Resentful Dog watched with complicated feelings.

Pourrrrr.

The tea overflowed from the cup.

“...You?”

Filling a wine cup to the brim was a sign of affection and respect.

Filling a teacup to the brim meant, Drink quickly and get lost.

This was a teacup.

“Mad Dog. Mad Dog. It saddens me to think of Senior’s feelings, but I can only think you died well. Lots of people can smile now that you’re dead. Our immature Senior Resentful Dog might finally come to his senses too. You died well. You died very well. Thank you for dying. Now get lost.”

“You crazy bastard!”

Bang!

The table collapsed.

The teapot and cups tumbled down and shattered. Tea splashed everywhere as Resentful Dog lunged.

Yeon Sowol did not run away. He used Windborne Drift and Willow Leaf Steps together, slipping past the attack.

“Waaaaah!”

The people around them fled in alarm while cheering at the same time.

Resentful Dog was a master on an entirely different level from Mad Dog.

They had both reached Breathing Smoke into Clouds, but their basic foundations and completeness as martial artists could not be compared.

Resentful Dog was a martial artist who knew how to handle qi sense.

He had not properly learned the method as Yeon Sowol had, but when a talented martial artist trained for a long time, they gradually awakened to it, even if only unconsciously.

‘If I dodge this way...’

Resentful Dog read the place Yeon Sowol’s attention was focused on with uncanny precision.

Tap!

He followed with swift footwork and threw a punch.

Thump!

Yeon Sowol took the punch to the face.

Crack!

Then a palm struck him in the chest.

Yeon Sowol spread out his qi sense as well, but his responses were always a step slow.

Sometimes it was the swift footwork.

Other times, it was an unpredictable and irregular movement.

He was hit before he could block or dodge.

Even when he could have blocked or dodged, he was tricked into taking the blow.

A palm strike. A punch. A kick.

Attack after attack landed.

‘So this is why he said I’d get beaten senseless.’

Yeon Sowol clicked his tongue.

When he fought Mad Dog and the thirteen Black Path men, he had not felt this kind of hopelessness.

Of course, if he had used the power of Heaven-Killing Star as he had then, it would have been over already.

This time, though, it was a kind of training where he had to compete through martial arts alone.

‘Don’t fall. Just don’t fall.’

Yeon Sowol gritted his teeth and endured.

His eyes shone as he committed Resentful Dog’s movements to memory.

‘Right. This is how footwork is used. This is how a fight works. It doesn’t end with reading someone through qi sense. Me. My opponent. We both know the other is reading us with qi sense. We deceive each other, overwhelm each other, and fight through schemes within schemes.’

He was beginning to understand, little by little, what a martial artist’s fight truly was.

Pow! Thump! Crack!

At first, Yeon Sowol was beaten one-sidedly.

As time passed, though, he slowly began to dodge and block.

Pooow!

At last, Yeon Sowol’s fist slammed into Resentful Dog’s jaw.

“Urk!”

Resentful Dog staggered at the punch filled with enough true qi to split a thick wooden board.

Yeon Sowol tilted his head as he watched.

“Oh? You’re staggering from just one hit? Ah, I see. Senior’s stage of maturity was a little... lacking, wasn’t it? Your muscles and bones must not have been fully tempered, so the impact must hurt more.”

Yeon Sowol, who was still standing perfectly fine despite taking far more hits, flashed a grin.

Resentful Dog saw red.

“You little bastard!”

Kwoooong!

Raising his power, he stomped on the ground and charged.

The fight that began that way did not end until nearly two hours had passed.

“Huff... Huff. Huff...”

“What’s wrong? Out of breath already? Huh? Why don’t you bark like you did earlier? Huh?”

Resentful Dog was full of vigor, while Yeon Sowol’s vision had gone dark.

Even UFC fighters on Earth fought for five minutes and rested.

No matter how much internal energy he had, after fighting nonstop for two hours, he could barely think.

The flames that had burned fiercely within him had weakened. His stage of maturity had become dull and hazy.

Yet Resentful Dog was still full of energy, proving that all his years of martial arts training had not been for nothing.

“You’re dead now.”

Resentful Dog stepped forward to finish off the exhausted Yeon Sowol.

Kwooooom!

Shaking their qi sense,

yet moving too swiftly for them to react,

a heavy iron spear flew in and planted itself in the ground.

It stood directly between Yeon Sowol and Resentful Dog.

Then,

Flutterrr!

A man in red descended from the air, his robes billowing as he landed lightly atop the spear.

“...!”

“...!”

Yeon Sowol and Resentful Dog stared in shock.

‘What kind of stage of maturity is that?!’

He had leaped high into the air, hurled a spear down at lightning speed, glided forward again, and landed lightly on top of it?

‘He had to control the recoil from throwing the spear, pull his body forward again, and glide with enough precision to land on its tip...’

Yeon Sowol could not even guess how delicate that stage of maturity had to be.

The man standing with quiet dignity on the spear wore a breastplate fitted with iron plates over his red official uniform. On his head was a white military cap with a broad brim and an upturned front. Long red tassels fluttered from its peak in the wind.

“You Jianghu rabble.”

The man spoke.

“Enough already. Enough. What kind of idiots fight for two whole hours? Do I have to come out personally because of you? You martial artists may have all the free time in the world, but do you have any idea how much work I have?”

Yeon Sowol realized.

‘A military official!’

The term official covered both guan and li, but the designation guan was not given to just anyone.

Clerks were people who inherited local positions for generations, or those a county magistrate freely selected for use. They had no rank.

Officials, on the other hand, were appointed by the central government.

There were a few exceptions, but usually, one had to pass the regional examination held in each province, then the provincial examination in the capital, and finally the palace examination before the emperor to become an official.

Their posts came directly from the emperor. Even if their rank was low, their status and pride reached the heavens.

The man before them was a military official.

An official who had passed the civil service examinations through martial ability.

‘When Jianghu people and military officials fight in an open field, thirteen Jianghu people die for every three military officials who do.’

Yeon Sowol suddenly remembered what Mo Cheong had told him.

The military official, who looked barely past his early twenties, spoke in an endlessly irritated tone.

“I am the junior ninth-rank Shinheung County Inspector, the esteemed Jang Wisan. You are Yeon Sowol. And you must be Jeon Taegwang.”

Without waiting for an answer, he tossed a rolled sheet of paper at each of them, as if stuffing it into their clothes.

“The Eighth Day of the Fourth Month. A travel ban. Each of you will deliver it to Yi Yubaek and Shin Jae-eon. I have clearly given it to you, so do not later claim you did not know.”

Yeon Sowol bristled.

‘That bastard just throws around someone else’s father’s name...’

Resentful Dog also bristled and looked up at Jang Wisan.

Jang Wisan, however, had no interest in either of them and only continued saying what he came to say.

“This travel ban is no ordinary matter, so listen carefully. I may be smiling now, but then...”

He suddenly hopped down from the spear. Grasping the iron spear in one hand, he casually swung it and carved bold, powerful characters into the ground.

The easy movement and majestic flow of true qi left Yeon Sowol slightly intimidated.

After carving the words, Jang Wisan snorted and rested the spear on his shoulder.

“Deliver it properly. Now disperse.”

“...Tch.”

Resentful Dog was the first to turn away in irritation.

Yeon Sowol watched his retreating back with relief.

‘I didn’t lose...’

Before leaving, he looked one last time at the words carved into the ground.

Ilpaedoji. Ground into the dirt in utter defeat.

The word for smear, followed by the word for ground.

‘So he’ll crush us in one blow and smear us across the dirt...?’

After giving it a brief look, Yeon Sowol turned toward Windflow Martial Academy.

He had always thought low-ranking officials were unimpressive when he saw them in historical dramas and history books on Earth.

‘A junior ninth-rank official is scary. Really scary.’

Still, being afraid was one thing.

What mattered more to Yeon Sowol was Yi Yubaek’s strict order.

The order to temper Willow Leaf Steps by fighting Resentful Dog to his heart’s content.

Who cared what some junior ninth-rank official said? Yeon Sowol was more afraid of Yi Yubaek.

‘Today was a draw... So how should I pick a fight next time?’

He needed to hurry home and open the Jianghu Personage Register: Guangdong Edition.

‘Though... this picking fights thing is kind of...’

The steps of Yeon Sowol, the former model student from Earth, somehow felt light.

Footnotes:

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