WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 48: In April, All the Flowers of the World Have Faded (19)

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Yi Yubaek's sword left behind nothing but a flash.

A man's head had separated from his body, yet not a sound could be heard.

"······?"

The severed head flew silently into the air, its mouth opening and closing.

The bandit whose neck had just been cut was an expert. He had been skilled enough to block Yi Yubaek's sword.

But for that brief moment, his attention had been drawn to an arrow flying in from somewhere. That had been his fatal mistake.

The Windflow School's sword was always one step faster.

By the time his attention returned, the blade had already swept across his neck.

Slash!

Amid the spray of blood, Yi Yubaek fixed his gaze on his next target.

Hang Inwoo.

'If I can take him down too, we might still have a chance······!'

Hang Inwoo stared straight at Yi Yubaek with shocked eyes.

To shake off that gaze, Yi Yubaek pushed Willow Leaf Steps to its limit.

Fwoooosh!

His True Flame blazed fiercely, warming the Eight Extraordinary Vessels and racing through the meridians across his body.

True qi rose in harmony with the turbulence of the Eight Extraordinary Vessels. It bent the laws of nature and created impossible effects to aid his movement.

Waver.

Yi Yubaek's figure, wrapped in blazing heat haze, stood out as though bathed in a soft glow.

Yet his position could not be grasped.

One moment he was in front of them, and when they came to their senses again, he was beside them with his sword raised······.

His movements broke the rhythm of perception and breath as he swayed in and attacked.

"Stop him!"

Three first-rate saber wielders stepped in Yi Yubaek's path.

One was Hang Inwoo. The other two were bandits from Heavenly Road Mountain.

No matter how deceptively ingenious Willow Leaf Steps and the Windflow Sword were, numbers could not be ignored. When three sabers flashed at once, he was bound to get caught by one of them.

And once a deception was caught, it became prey ready to be torn apart.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Yi Yubaek's sword collided with the three sabers in rapid succession.

Martial force waves burst out, sand flew up, and their clothes snapped tight against their bodies.

Urk!

Yi Yubaek spat blood.

The martial force waves transmitted through the sabers shook his meridians.

He had taken half a Wound-Mending Pellet and could still draw out strength as usual, but that did not mean he was fully recovered.

The Eight Extraordinary Vessels, already slightly distorted by his internal injury, could not withstand the sudden pressure and twisted further.

His stage of maturity faltered.

Yi Yubaek staggered back five full steps.

The Eight Extraordinary Vessels were not the only things shaken by the incoming martial force waves.

The Twelve Regular Meridians, the divergent meridians, and the collateral vessels outside the Eight Extraordinary Vessels were thrown into even greater disorder. Some of the finer channels, such as the fine collaterals and superficial collaterals, even burst.

It was not just the Eight Extraordinary Vessels that fueled his heat. The pathways through which the flames traveled had also been damaged. His stage of maturity did not simply falter. It stopped completely for an instant.

Parts of his body went cold while others burned.

As his internal injury threatened to spiral into Cultivation Deviation, Yi Yubaek hurriedly reconnected his broken stage of maturity.

He soothed his trembling Eight Extraordinary Vessels until they settled, diverted around twisted or severed meridians, and at times poured in essence qi to patch the damage as best he could.

He warmed his essence to increase recovery and stop the bleeding in the burst vessels, while drawing the spilled blood up through his mouth to prevent blood stasis from building.

"Cough. Ptooey."

Yi Yubaek spat out a thick red clot of blood.

All of that had happened in the brief instant he retreated.

An emergency treatment completed in a flash, like the work of a skilled mechanic.

But his enemies did not stand by and watch.

"So your internal injury wasn't healed after all!"

Hang Inwoo rushed in, his eyes blazing.

He gave Yi Yubaek no time to catch his breath.

Yi Yubaek's expression darkened.

He had intended to force himself through it and deal with Hang Inwoo as well. Instead, he had failed to catch him and suffered no small loss.

Three saber wielders bore down on him.

Yi Yubaek had barely suppressed his internal injury with a temporary measure. He had no strength to spare.

'If only I had a moment to catch my breath······.'

Yi Yubaek sensed the end approaching.

'Can I endure more than five exchanges······?'

If only it were not for his internal injury.

But it was nothing more than a pointless regret now.

Yi Yubaek gripped his sword hilt with trembling fingers and formed a sword seal.

Even if he died here.

'I have to take at least one more with me, for my disciples' sake······.'

Whoosh!

At that moment, an arrow tore through the wind toward Hang Inwoo.

"Hmph!"

Hang Inwoo sneered and tried to knock it aside.

Whoosh!

The arrow that had been aimed at his upper chest suddenly dipped, lowering its trajectory as it shot toward his lower abdomen, as though it were alive.

"You······!"

Hang Inwoo's eyes widened. He desperately kicked off the ground and twisted his body, barely avoiding it.

But his pursuit came to an abrupt halt.

For Yi Yubaek, it was an opportunity.

Clang! Clang!

Hang Inwoo had reached the realm of Fierce Flame Pierces the Heavens. He was no easy opponent for Yi Yubaek to face while carrying an internal injury.

But the other two bandits, though first-rate, had only barely reached the entry level of Brave Flame Soars.

With Hang Inwoo out of the way, Yi Yubaek could respond far more smoothly.

Clang! Clang!

He lightly redirected the two bandits' sabers, then kicked off the ground again to widen the distance.

"Master!"

Kang Muhyeok, who had killed one of the White Dragon Gang's division leaders, took up position beside Yi Yubaek and guarded against further attacks.

That brief interval allowed Yi Yubaek to regulate his breathing and regain his stance.

As he watched Hang Inwoo grind his teeth, Yi Yubaek thought of the arrow from moments ago.

It had seemed to come from a man in a dented official's cap and patched clothes······.

'There was true qi in that arrow. A first-rate expert. Who was he? He looked young.'

Then a thought suddenly came to him.

'I think I've seen him somewhere before······? Wasn't he with Sowol at the banquet?'

The moment Yeon Sowol came to mind, Yi Yubaek became anxious.

"Sowol mustn't come here······."

Even if they had bought themselves a moment to breathe, this place was still a death trap.

There was almost no way out alive.

Yi Yubaek wanted Yeon Sowol to survive, at least.

* * *

Jin Geol, a scholar wearing a dented official's cap and a ragged robe patched in several places, was utterly bewildered.

"You said there'd be something good to watch······."

Jin Geol felt miserable.

'Come to think of it, this had been cursed from the beginning.'

His original plan had been to linger nearby until Yeon Sowol noticed him.

Then perhaps Sowol would call him over and share some fine food and drink.

But Yeon Sowol was nowhere to be seen······.

Still, he had thought there was no harm in watching the spectacle, so he followed along.

Then people suddenly started hacking at each other with swords?

People screamed and fled, and Jin Geol's head throbbed.

'I heard Hang Inwoo owed Yi Yubaek a huge debt. And now he's betraying him like this?'

He felt bitter and miserable, and his head burned.

It made him even angrier because the betrayed man was his friend's foster father.

"That dog bastard······. That Hang bastard has lost his mind. Whatever his reasons are, he shouldn't betray Great Hero Yi Yubaek. Not him. That Hang bastard of all people shouldn't do this!"

Jin Geol startled.

'That sounded like something I said.'

A voice that expressed his feelings perfectly had come from behind him.

When he turned around, he saw a filthy-looking man.

Jin Geol's own clothes were shabby, but he was not dirty. His clothes had been mended many times, yet he washed them whenever needed and bathed every day.

But this man was different.

Just turning his head toward him brought a sour stench rushing into Jin Geol's face.

Grimy water seemed ready to drip from his clothes, and his face was blotchy with dirt. Even by the standards of this era, he was dirtier and smelled worse than most.

The calluses on his hands suggested he was not a beggar. He seemed to be a laborer who did physical work, only a particularly filthy one.

He had probably taken the day off to come see a good show.

Maybe he had wanted to watch a tale of friendship, loyalty, and the bond of sworn brothers unfold.

That was why he was so furious. Even as everyone else screamed and ran, he trembled with rage and glared at Hang Inwoo.

'Hmm······.'

Jin Geol thought, This is the man!

"Excuse me."

"······What is it?"

The man turned toward him with a scowl.

Jin Geol immediately took a one-nyang gold yuanbao from his robe.

It was the one he had quietly picked up in front of the Governor-General of Liangguang.

His entire fortune.

"I'll give you this if you do me a favor."

"······!"

"Run to Shinheung County as fast as you can, find Yeon Sowol, and deliver a message for me."

"You're giving me one nyang of gold for just that······?"

"That's why I need you to give it everything you've got. As fast as possible. And get it right."

Jin Geol told the man what he needed to convey, then patted his shoulder.

"I'm counting on you."

"······How can you trust me?"

"I'm just trusting you. I don't have another option."

"Huh."

The foul-smelling man clutched the gold tightly and looked at Jin Geol.

Jin Geol met his gaze without looking away.

At last, the man nodded.

"Fine. I'll deliver it. As quickly as I can."

As he watched the man run off, Jin Geol reached behind his back and drew his bow.

"I never wanted to spend my life as some scholar, but learning archery was one thing I did right."

The Rites of Zhou said that a gentleman had to master six arts. Archery was one of them.

Jin Geol had shouted that he had no intention of becoming a gentleman or taking the civil service examinations before leaving home, but the two skills he had learned for that purpose, horsemanship and archery, had continued to serve him well.

Especially archery.

Jin Geol had mastered an advanced inner cultivation method, but his martial arts for using it were comparatively lacking.

In the end, archery had become his signature technique.

Tap! Tap tap!

Jin Geol climbed a tree, nocked an arrow, and looked into the distance.

"Let's see. I've only got ten arrows at most. How should I use ten shots?"

He judged the situation, drew the bowstring, and raised his true qi.

Fwoooosh!

A thin haze rose along with his blazing True Flame.

The harmony imbued in the arrow could make it fly faster or move in unexpected ways.

Whoosh!

His first arrow cut through the air.

Then the second and third followed.

Thanks to the confusion he created, Windflow Martial Academy recovered its momentum and pressed the fight.

'Even this won't let them win. They need to retreat, but······.'

Then his gaze returned to Yi Yubaek.

He saw him behead one of the stronger bandits.

Then he saw him get counterattacked, cough up blood, and retreat.

Jin Geol kept firing arrows to save Yi Yubaek.

The fourth.

The fifth.

The sixth.

And because of that.

"He's over there!"

"There's an archer over there!"

The bandits discovered his location.

Bandits using lightness art came flying toward him. They were swift as leopards.

In his haste, Jin Geol fired all four of his remaining arrows and took down four bandits, but that was the end of it.

'Ah. I can't even use a lightness art properly······?'

Jin Geol's inner cultivation method was first-rate, but his actual martial arts were only at a third-rate level.

There was no way for him to run.

He was even less confident in close combat, but······.

Jin Geol jumped down from the tree and raised his voice instead.

"You bastard! Hang bastard! In all my life, I've never seen a son of a bitch like you! No, that's wrong! Even a dog knows better than to forget a favor! You worm-like Hang bastard, and you maggots of bandits who follow him! Come on! Do you think I'm afraid of you!"

Jin Geol drew the broad saber at his waist, only a span and a half long.

Heat haze rose from his body.

"True Flame?"

"He's first-rate?"

The bandits flinched for a moment.

"Now that's some satisfying talk."

Thud.

A middle-aged man with graying hair landed beside Jin Geol.

Shin Jae-eon, the Leader of the Severing Sword Sect.

Flutter!

The moment his clothes seemed to billow,

Slash!

The waists of the three foremost bandits were severed.

Three upper bodies tipped over and spun through the air.

The blade had not even touched them, yet the force released from it had cut down three men.

"Sword qi beyond the blade?"

"It's the Leader of the Severing Sword Sect!"

At the cry that sounded almost like a scream, the fierce battle came to a halt.

"What?"

"Why is the Severing Sword Sect here?"

The White Dragon Gang and Heavenly Road Mountain bandits, who had surrounded and pressured Windflow Martial Academy, began cautiously watching their backs.

The encirclement was no longer one-sided. Now they had to worry about being attacked from behind as well.

In the chaotic silence, Hang Inwoo shouted.

"Sect Leader Shin! What is the meaning of this!"

Shin Jae-eon answered calmly.

"What is?"

"What grudge do you have against me that you're interfering in my business? There's nothing in this for you, only losses!"

"Then what if I don't interfere? Is there anything in it for me?"

"There is! I'm leaving Shinheung County. Without Yi Yubaek or me around, Shinheung County will belong entirely to the Severing Sword Sect!"

"Oh?"

"Is that all? You can establish ties with Heavenly Road Mountain and take over the White Dragon Gang's business as well! The Severing Sword Sect will not simply grow three times stronger. It could grow five or even seven times stronger!"

"That sounds great!"

"And you're still going to interfere?"

Shin Jae-eon snickered.

"Your offer. If Seo Muryang had made it, I would've accepted. I did agree to attack Heavenly Road Mountain with Yi Yubaek, but I only joined because it looked profitable. It's not like Yi Yubaek and I are that close. If it were Seo Muryang, I'd accept. Putting my life on the line to fight is scary, after all."

"······If it were Seo Muryang?"

"Yeah. But you're Hang Inwoo. I just can't accept that. Of all people, how could Hang Inwoo stab Yi Yubaek in the back?"

"What kind of bullshit is that? Betrayal is betrayal, no matter who does it! Sect Leader Shin, calculate the benefits for yourself! It's not too late yet."

"So if I step aside, you'll make the Severing Sword Sect the gatekeeper of Shinheung County and open trade with Heavenly Road Mountain?"

"That's right. It's an offer so good that even I envy you."

Whoooosh.

Oleander petals scattered on a wind from somewhere.

A rain of red flowers.

The Leader of the Severing Sword Sect, Shin Jae-eon, looked up at the sky as though considering it for a moment, then snickered.

"What good is that? I can't trust a word you say."

"What?"

"Hang Inwoo stabbed Yi Yubaek in the back. Why wouldn't he stab me too? Hang Inwoo, who stabbed Yi Yubaek, wouldn't stab Shin Jae-eon?"

"Ha······?"

"So, Inwoo. You should never have stabbed Yi Yubaek in the back. Even if everyone else in the world did it, you shouldn't have."

Hang Inwoo's beard trembled.

"Fuck. So what? Was I supposed to live under Yi Yubaek's shadow for the rest of my life?"

"You son of a bitch. If you hated it that much, you should've cut ties long ago and fucked off to Bulsan or Danzhou. Hell, you could've fucked off to Heavenly Road Mountain. You stayed beside him and sucked him dry, then only now decided to stab him in the back?"

Shin Jae-eon spat.

"You piece of shit."

Hang Inwoo's face turned so red that it began to darken.

Footnotes:

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