WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 106: The Secret of the Jade Token (2)
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Bang!
Mumu landed on the ground, steam rising from muscles that had turned a grayish color across his entire body.
‘Hah...’
Mo Il-hwa clicked her tongue, apparently still unable to get used to this sight.
Those Ki-Restraining Bracelets around Mumu's wrists and ankles were supposed to weigh him down with incredible force and seal his muscles.
‘Then what happens if he takes all of them off?’
Even now, he was far from anything resembling an ordinary person. He looked like one of the Four Heavenly Kings who protected the Buddhist path, or perhaps a war god.
Mo Il-hwa shook her head. That was not the important thing right now.
“Did you find them?”
Mumu shook his head at her question.
“No. I can't see them.”
“If you really jump all the way up there, can you even see the surroundings?”
“Yeah. I can.”
“...”
Mo Il-hwa eyed him skeptically.
They were trying to find Ha Ryun and Ja Muk-hyun, and Mumu had suggested that it would be faster if he looked over the entire academy from somewhere high up.
When she had asked how that was possible, this was what he had done.
‘So this was what he meant by jumping high. He really is...’
He always went beyond common sense.
Still, from that height, people would look like dots even a short distance away. How could he possibly distinguish their faces?
Jin-hyeok seemed to feel the same way. He let out a sigh.
“Finding someone in that brief moment from over thirty jang in the air is even stranger, Miss Mo. It would be better to search on foot...”
“I found Senior Kang Mu-i this way too.”
“What?”
“Unless they're farther away, I can see most things. I think they're inside a building, so I can't see them.”
Jin-hyeok frowned at Mumu's words.
Could he really see that much?
Mumu had shown so many unbelievable abilities that Jin-hyeok could not simply dismiss it as impossible.
“...You think they're inside a building?”
“Yeah.”
Jin-hyeok turned to Mo Il-hwa.
“There are hundreds of buildings in the academy alone. If they are determined to hide, the three of us cannot search them all.”
Mo Il-hwa nodded in agreement.
Ha Ryun and Ja Muk-hyun had tried to kill Hae Ryang for overhearing their conversation. They did not know whether Hae Ryang was alive, but if they could not confirm that Hae Ryang was dead, they would keep themselves hidden.
“This is troublesome. We can't exactly ask the academy for help.”
“Should we ask Vice-Master Dan Pil-hu for help?”
“Vice-Master?”
Mo Il-hwa repeated Mumu's words, then clicked her tongue.
“We're trying to learn the secret of your Jade Medallion from those two. What if Vice-Master finds out the truth while helping us? Can you trust that person?”
“Um. Vice-Master is a good person.”
“That only applies while they don't know the secret of your birth.”
Mumu smacked his lips awkwardly at her scolding.
Mo Il-hwa was right. Vice-Master Dan Pil-hu had looked after Mumu and helped him in every way he could, but there was no telling how he would react if Mumu's birth was connected to the force of evil.
“Right. We need to be as careful as Miss Mo says. Stop assuming everyone will treat you kindly regardless of your birth, like we do.”
“...Yeah. Okay.”
Jin-hyeok sighed at Mumu's response.
It seemed Mumu trusted Vice-Master quite a bit. Yet Vice-Master was the one they could trust least.
‘He has fought the force of evil for a long time. If Mumu's birth is truly connected to that side, there is a high chance he will treat Mumu as an enemy.’
That was why asking Vice-Master for help carried too much risk.
Frustrated, Mo Il-hwa muttered irritably, “Ugh, this is annoying. The academy is so huge that if they hide on purpose, they're hard to find.”
“What about waiting for roll call?”
“That would take too long.”
“That is true, but...”
“That Ha Ryun bastard knows Mumu has a Jade Medallion, right? Then he ambushed us and tried to kill Hae Ryang. He might not even return to his dormitory.”
“Then there is truly no way to find them.”
Now they even had to consider that the two might have left the academy. If that happened, catching Ha Ryun and Ja Muk-hyun could become impossible.
“Then we should work on the assumption that they may have fled the academy...”
“They won't have.”
“What? You just said they might not return to their dormitory...”
“Kang Mu-i had a Jade Medallion too.”
“Ah!”
Mo Il-hwa looked at Mumu.
“Ha Ryun was ridiculously respectful when he called you the future Master, remember? If he mistook you for Kang Mu-i, then Kang Mu-i must be the real Master. Would they just run away after their leader was caught?”
“I see!”
Jin-hyeok nodded at her words.
Mo Il-hwa's mind worked frighteningly fast when it came to things like this.
“They must be hiding somewhere within the academy.”
“Probably. Still, if they called you Master just because they saw the Jade Medallion, aren't your parents either notorious or major figures in the force of evil?”
“Major figures?”
“Ha Ryun would not have treated you so respectfully unless they were no ordinary figures.”
Jin-hyeok sighed at her speculation.
He had considered the possibility too, but he desperately hoped it was not true. He had sworn to stay with Mumu regardless of his birth, but the best outcome would be for this matter to end peacefully.
“We do not know that, so let's leave it at that...”
“Come on. We should at least make some predictions so we aren't as shocked later.”
“...Please be considerate of Mumu too.”
“Jin-hyeok, you're too rigid. This isn't something we can just keep quiet about out of consideration.”
“If they were force of evil figures notorious enough to be feared, would they have abandoned Mumu so easily? They would have tried to find him long ago.”
Mo Il-hwa hummed, then nodded.
“True. That makes sense too.”
If they truly held that much status, it made no sense for them to leave Mumu behind as if abandoning him, when he had lived in one place of exile for so many years.
‘Hmm. Still, something is strange.’
She still did not understand why they kept calling Mumu the future Master.
“Ah!”
Mumu suddenly clapped his hands together as if he had thought of something.
Mo Il-hwa asked, “What is it?”
“There is one method I want to try. My wrists might hurt, and I might not be able to tell things apart clearly.”
“What are you talking about?”
Mumu reached for the adjustment screw on his Ki-Restraining Bracelet.
* * *
Ha Ryun clicked his tongue as he watched someone sit quietly and turn the pages of a book.
It was difficult to tell what the man was thinking.
They had already spent more than a two-hour period sitting in this empty lecture hall, yet Ha Ryun could not understand why.
In the end, he spoke.
“How long are you planning to keep this up?”
“Until it is enough.”
“But...”
“Shut up and stay quiet.”
‘Damn it... Stay quiet about what? He probably still doesn't have a proper plan.’
Ha Ryun clicked his tongue inwardly.
There were two reasons they had holed up here as though hiding.
After dealing with Hae Ryang of the Hao clan, they had constantly moved through the academy grounds as if carrying out a diversionary operation.
Then they had stopped because of one person.
‘The future Master.’
Mumu, whom Ha Ryun considered the future Master.
While moving about, they had seen Mumu kicking off the empty air. That person, always cold and full of arrogance, had been unable to hide surprise at the sight.
‘Could that have been Walking on Air?’
It reminded Ha Ryun of Walking on Air, known as the highest realm of movement skill.
Ha Ryun had been greatly shocked as well. He had never expected the future Master to be at such a level.
‘...But that alone would not be reason enough to waste time in an empty lecture hall like this.’
The fundamental reason that person had made this decision was the news that Kang Mu-i had been detained.
Rumors had spread quickly through the academy. Kang Mu-i was said to be connected to the arsonists, and perhaps even to be the real culprit who had framed Hong Hye-ryeong.
After hearing this, that person had brought Ha Ryun to this building, which was not closed like the Old Teaching Hall but had no lectures scheduled.
‘Kang Mu-i.’
Ha Ryun stared at that person with suspicion in his eyes.
That person had clearly told him this.
[The fundamental reason your question was wrong is that the one who personally dealt with Young Chun, the third disciple of the Eastern River Sword Sage, was the future Master.]
Then he had said this as well.
[Don't tell me... Have you met another owner of a Jade Medallion?]
Which meant...
‘Was Kang Mu-i the person he mentioned who possesses a Jade Medallion?’
Putting that person's words together with the rumors, Kang Mu-i stood at the center of the Grand Plan.
That made it more likely that Kang Mu-i was the future Master they had sworn loyalty to and pledged to follow in the Valley of White Death.
Which raised another question.
Then what was Mumu?
‘He spoke as if there were more than one owner of a Jade Medallion, and as if there were a complicated story behind it. What could that mean?’
Even though Ha Ryun wanted to know, that person would not tell him.
Instead, that person was focusing on something else. He had sent another descendant of the House of the Eight Villains and academy guards who appeared to be on his side to gather information, while urgently plotting something.
Ha Ryun could understand that much.
‘If Kang Mu-i is truly the future Master, then Master Heo and that person have both been caught and detained. This is the worst possible situation.’
The Grand Plan was in danger of falling apart. They needed some sort of countermeasure.
Still, Ha Ryun could not help feeling frustrated.
‘Damn it.’
[If that man called Mumu is another owner of a Jade Medallion, as you say, do you think he will believe you bear no responsibility for the death of the person you sent to follow him?]
If not for those words, Ha Ryun would not have been dragged around by that person.
He had acted first because Hae Ryang overheard him, and that had entangled him in this mess.
Someone entered the lecture hall again.
A man dressed as an academy guard leaned close and reported something to that person.
Then that person's expression changed. The slight upward curl of his lips was completely unlike before.
‘What is it?’
As Ha Ryun wondered, that person gave the man disguised as a guard an order and sent him outside.
Then he returned to reading.
Ha Ryun rose from his seat and approached him.
Without taking his eyes from the book, that person spoke.
“Sit down.”
“Tell me now.”
“Tell you what?”
“You began as though you were going to tell me something about the Jade Medallion, but after hearing that Kang Mu-i was detained, you have remained silent the entire time.”
“So what do you want me to do about it?”
“I need to know. What is this other owner of a Jade Medallion?”
That person let out a faint sigh at Ha Ryun's question. He finally looked away from the book, turned his head, and spoke.
“You want to know?”
“I am a member of the House of the Eight Villains too. I am qualified.”
“Qualified? ...Not everyone in the House of the Eight Villains is the same.”
Ha Ryun's gaze sharpened at those words.
“It sounds like you are looking down on the Valley of White Death.”
He could tolerate many things, but not anyone dishonoring the Valley of White Death, his martial lineage.
At that very moment...
Swish! Thud!
That person's figure blurred, and the book he had been holding fell to the floor.
At the same time, a chill ran down Ha Ryun's spine.
He swallowed dryly at the presence he suddenly felt behind him.
Shk!
A cold sword blade touched his neck. If it pulled back, he would be cut open.
They were both descendants of the House of the Eight Villains, so why was the gap between their martial skill this immense?
Then that person spoke into his ear.
“The one who defeated and detained that person is the other owner of a Jade Medallion you mentioned.”
“What?”
Ha Ryun's eyes shook.
He had wondered about it. Not long after Mumu displayed a divine feat like Walking on Air, Kang Mu-i had been detained.
But Mumu had truly subdued him.
“Then do I have any reason to trust you and tell you anything?”
“...”
Ha Ryun's thoughts became tangled.
The reason that person had kept his mouth shut until now was clear.
He had never trusted Ha Ryun. No, this dense killing intent proved he considered Ha Ryun an enemy.
“Ugh... You suspect me?”
“It is already an established fact. You released the Ja Hyun Powder beforehand, and the other owner of a Jade Medallion you trust so much is shaking the Grand Plan.”
“That is...”
Shk!
That person put a little force into his hand.
The blade pressed slightly into Ha Ryun's neck, and blood flowed down.
Ha Ryun's face went pale. He hurriedly said, “I-I do not know why that person did it either.”
It was the truth.
Ha Ryun felt like he was going mad. Since he believed Mumu was the future Master, he had thought Mumu was doing all that to thoroughly conceal his identity.
But if Mumu had captured another owner of a Jade Medallion, the situation was entirely different.
He could not understand it either.
“You don't know?”
That person snorted.
“If you don't know, why have you made yourself that bastard's hands and feet?”
“I-I did not make myself anything. The order to follow the owner of a Jade Medallion is not something only I know. Every member of the House of the Eight Villains has learned it to the bone...”
Pak!
The sword blade dug deeper.
“Ghk!”
That person whispered coldly to the panicking Ha Ryun.
“Do not act. Why do you think I kept you here and watched you?”
“I truly do not know. I...”
“No. Stop trying to be clever. The Valley of White Death has wanted to become the center of the House of the Eight Villains for a long time. But your method was wrong.”
“What do you mean, our method?”
That person answered in a voice filled with killing intent.
“You and the owner of the Jade Medallion you have chosen as Master crossed a line that must not be crossed.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Are you still pretending not to know? You may compete for the position of Master, but there are lines that must be upheld for the Grand Plan. Your Master has gone beyond them. Yet you still expect to live?”
Ha Ryun's eyes shook.
Compete for the position of Master?
What did that mean?
Then the bloodline of that person truly was not just one...
Flinch!
That person turned his gaze toward the entrance of the lecture hall.
Ha Ryun sensed a presence as well.
‘Three?’
At that moment...
Bang!
The door burst open, and figures appeared.
More precisely, several figures.
Mumu, Mo Il-hwa, and Jin-hyeok entered the lecture hall.
The moment she stepped inside, Mo Il-hwa saw the figure holding a sword blade to Ha Ryun's neck, no, Ja Muk-hyun, and was stunned.
‘Unbelievable!’
She had never expected Mumu to find them with that method.
Jin-hyeok clicked his tongue too.
‘Hah.’
Was something like this truly possible?
Ja Muk-hyun narrowed his eyes and spoke sharply.
“...How did you find us?”
They had done nothing that could lead anyone to them. They had hidden here while avoiding attention as much as possible.
They had even erased most of their traces.
Mumu answered his question casually.
“I could hear you.”
Ja Muk-hyun frowned.
Hear them? What did that mean?
Mumu scratched his head and said, “Didn't you say, ‘How long are you planning to keep this up?’ ‘Until it is enough.’ ‘But...’ ‘Shut up and stay quiet’?”
“!?”
Ja Muk-hyun and Ha Ryun's eyes widened at the same time.
Those were the words they had exchanged earlier.
Footnotes:
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