WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 44: King Jin (3)
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[The four thirty-man groups led by Gu Squad Leader of the Bell Suppression Unit will split up here. You are to take Princess Seo into custody.]
[Four groups of thirty?]
[Yes.]
[But, Deputy Chief Brigade Leader, I heard there are only ten guards from the Censorate, including the Inspector Censor.]
There seemed to be no need to deploy as many as one hundred and twenty members.
At Gu Squad Leader's words, the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader shook his head.
[We received word that Changcheon Martial Academy had assigned a formidable master to protect Princess Seo.]
[Changcheon Martial Academy?]
[Yes. If necessary, we may have to use the 108 Flying Horse Formation.]
The 108 Flying Horse Formation.
It was an unmatched formation developed by the Flying Horse Brigade over more than ten years, after studying formations of the Nine Sects and One Clan, including Shaolin's 108 Arhat Formation, Wudang's sword formations, and the Quanzhen Sect's Big Dipper Formation.
It had been created so that around one hundred and eight members at or near the Advanced level could contend with an Immortal Master-level master. It had even succeeded in subduing one of the Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice.
[Understood.]
They had set out boldly.
Gu Squad Leader had never thought they would need to deploy the 108 Flying Horse Formation.
Yet Gu Squad Leader had not expected such a complication.
'D-damn it...'
Gu Squad Leader could not hide their bewilderment, no, their horror.
The moment the middle-aged man beside Princess Seo suddenly threw a punch, something unbelievable happened.
In an instant, most of the Bell Suppression Unit members Gu Squad Leader had brought were wiped out.
Only bloodstains on the ground remained, proof that Bell Suppression Unit members and horses had once stood there.
'A monster... How can a monster like that exist?'
Every Flying Horse Brigade member had endured hellish training.
Among them were those called monsters and geniuses, masters who had reached the power level of Squad leaders and Brigade leaders.
But the middle-aged man before them was beyond all common sense.
Unless it was the Chief Brigade Leader or the 108 Flying Horse Formation made up of Experts and stronger masters, that monster seemed impossible to face.
"S-Squad Leader, what do we do...?"
The masked member beside them seemed to have recovered their senses and asked in panic.
Gu Squad Leader shouted back.
"Scatter and retreat!"
The instant those words left their mouth, the six surviving riders scattered in different directions.
Like their leader, they had instinctively realized the truth.
Against a monster of that level, there was no chance they could all survive.
Scattering was the only way to raise their odds of survival, even a little.
Whoosh!
Gu Squad Leader abandoned their horse and used a movement skill, gritting their teeth.
'I have to inform the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader somehow.'
The mission to secure Princess Seo had failed.
No, it was impossible.
More importantly, the monster at Princess Seo's side was far too dangerous.
They had to tell the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader to seize King Jin as a hostage before dealing with him.
Otherwise...
Crunch!
Startled by the sound of something bursting, Gu Squad Leader glanced to the side.
One of the members who had scattered was there.
Only the body remained, blood spraying from the neck. The mounted member's head had burst apart.
'W-what is this...?'
Crunch!
The same sound came from another direction.
When Gu Squad Leader looked over, another member's head had burst just like the first one's.
Without slowing down, Gu Squad Leader looked behind them.
That monstrous middle-aged man was flicking his fingers at the fleeing members.
Crunch!
The head of a member running west was sent flying off.
Gu Squad Leader's face turned pale.
What in the world was that monster?
The man sat still and flicked his fingers, yet the fleeing members were dying one by one.
Like prey being hunted.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Gu Squad Leader's heart hammered wildly.
Three were already dead.
Only two remained, including them.
'I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm going to die.'
They had trained so hard.
They had sworn to serve the imperial family and give their life for it whenever necessary.
Gu Squad Leader had believed they would do exactly that, but when the moment came, that resolve vanished, leaving their mind blank. The desire to live overwhelmed everything else.
Stopping in place, Gu Squad Leader shouted with all their strength.
"I surrender!!!!!!!!"
Mumu, wearing the Skin Mask of a vicious-looking middle-aged man, had been about to flick his finger and finish off the remaining survivors. At Gu Squad Leader's shout, he relaxed the finger he had drawn back.
"What should we do?"
"Huh?"
Princess Seo Hong Na-yeon had been staring blankly at Mumu's technique of sniping targets with wind pressure from a flick of his finger. Still stunned by what she had seen, she looked at Gu Squad Leader, who stood with both hands raised.
They had surrendered, but Mumu had already killed all the other masked figures.
'...In that case.'
Leaving that person alive would only cause trouble later.
Then Mumu said something unexpected.
"I think someone else sent them."
"Someone else? What do you mean?"
"They're different from the people who attacked us at the cliffside valley and the riverside earlier."
She looked puzzled.
"How do you know that?"
"I killed the old man Yang Jeong-myeong, the Minister of Revenue who was behind the earlier attacks."
"What?"
Hong Na-yeon's eyes widened.
More than two hours had passed since Mumu had flown off somewhere, and the enemy attacks had ceased.
She had assumed he must have done something.
But had he gone straight for the person behind it all?
'Yang Jeong-myeong, the Minister of Revenue, is one of the Emperor's three powerful ministers.'
Hong Na-yeon was too stunned by Mumu's boldness to speak.
He had killed such a powerful figure, one deeply rooted on the outskirts of the imperial capital, just like that.
There truly was no hesitation in him.
As she stood there in disbelief, Mumu said,
"The old man Yang Jeong-myeong is dead, but more moths keep flying into the fire. I think we need to find out who sent them this time."
Hong Na-yeon felt reassured by his words, but also afraid.
Others might hesitate, but Mumu never did.
Once he considered someone an enemy, he wiped them out completely.
That was why she felt she must never, under any circumstances, make an enemy of Mumu.
* * *
Around the same time.
In a hilly area roughly twenty li away, roughly three hundred masked figures had encircled a gentle hill thick with brush and were closing in.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Don't let them push us back!"
"Protect His Highness!"
Around fifty private soldiers in leather armor had formed a circular formation on the hill, fighting desperately to protect the man farther up the slope.
The person they protected was a tall, middle-aged man with a mustache. Though he wore ordinary martial clothes, he carried a natural dignity and refinement that made it clear he was no ordinary man.
His name was Hong Myeong-in.
He was King Jin, ruler of the Sichuan fiefdom.
King Jin's face was tense as he glared at the masked figures targeting him.
'So it has come to this.'
He had traveled by a route with as few people as possible, but trouble had found him in the end.
This had all been a trap.
No, King Jin had already suspected it was a trap.
But he had no choice.
'Na-yeon...'
King Jin had received an urgent message that his daughter, Hong Na-yeon, had left Changcheon Martial Academy and was heading toward the imperial capital.
King Jin had to leave his safe refuge when his daughter faced the danger of being taken hostage.
No parent could pretend not to know when their child was in danger.
King Jin was a father, too.
The rough-looking middle-aged man beside him, who had a deep scar near one eye, spoke up.
"Your Highness. I clearly warned you not to leave Old Master Do's side."
"I'm sorry, Brother Agong. I've put even you in danger."
At King Jin's words, the middle-aged man clicked his tongue and gripped the great sabers in both hands.
His name was Agong.
In the martial world, he was known as the Double-Saber Wanderer King, one of the Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice.
Called the king of wanderers, the Double-Saber Wanderer King did not serve beneath anyone. He accepted payment and worked according to the wanderers' code.
"If we survive, I'll have to charge double."
"I will see to it."
'As expected, breaking my own principles only brings trouble. Tsk.'
Agong clicked his tongue inwardly.
By his own rule, he never accepted requests from officials.
But because he had known King Jin for a long time, and because unlike other officials and members of the royal family, the king was so easygoing, Agong had made a special exception.
'Most of the masked attackers are either close to the Advanced level or Advanced martial artists.'
Half the private soldiers King Jin had brought were skilled wanderers who followed Agong.
Some were even Expert masters.
But they were vastly outnumbered.
If these were the only enemies, it would not have been much of a problem for Agong, one of the Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice.
The real problem was...
'Those bastards.'
A figure wearing a fierce demon mask appeared to be the masked figures' leader.
Beside him stood another masked figure with a white band tied around their forehead, someone who seemed to be a Master.
That Master was manageable.
Given enough time, Agong was confident he could subdue them somehow. The real issue was the leader in the fierce demon mask.
His Ki sense clearly told him that person was a supreme master who was certainly not inferior to him.
'I can't take my eyes off him.'
Because of that, Agong could not leave King Jin's side.
The instant he did, those people watching like hawks would surely target King Jin.
Soon, this precarious balance would be broken.
Agong was not the only one who sensed it.
Gi Nan-hang, the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader of the Flying Horse Brigade and wearer of the fierce demon mask, also knew the time was drawing near.
He possessed great martial prowess, but he was more cautious than anyone.
That was why he had waited for the perfect opportunity.
'The Double-Saber Wanderer King.'
Though Agong was one of the Ten Great Masters of the Force of Justice, Gi Nan-hang was confident he would not be pushed back in a one-on-one fight.
Still, to ensure victory, he intended to pressure his opponent mentally.
Those protecting someone could only grow more impatient as time passed.
Gi Nan-hang was exploiting that weakness.
'Soon... Soon.'
The instant the circular formation weakened even a little, everything would unfold with unstoppable force.
"Deputy Chief Brigade Leader."
Mok Squad Leader of the Gale Force Unit pointed somewhere.
It was near the right side of the circular formation.
'The time has come.'
That side was gradually beginning to collapse.
The wanderers struggled desperately to keep the circular formation intact, but they were hopelessly outnumbered.
Thrust!
"Urgh!"
A sword pierced through one wanderer's chest, and a crack opened in the formation.
Agong, the Double-Saber Wanderer King, noticed it just as they did and spoke quietly to King Jin.
"Remain behind me under all circumstances."
"Understood."
The instant he finished speaking, a blade flashed.
Slash!
Another wanderer lost their life, and the circular formation finally lost its balance.
The masked figures surged through the gap.
Gi Nan-hang, the Deputy Chief Brigade Leader in the fierce demon mask, and Mok Squad Leader of the Gale Force Unit moved at the same time.
Whoosh!
Their plan was simple.
While Gi Nan-hang faced the Double-Saber Wanderer King, Mok Squad Leader would seize King Jin, or take his life if necessary.
Leaping over the circular formation, they rushed straight at King Jin and the Double-Saber Wanderer King.
They were just one step away from colliding.
Then, at that very moment:
Whoooooosh! Craaash!
Something fell from the sky between them just as they were about to clash.
Neither side could help but be startled by the sudden appearance of something they had never anticipated.
"Hoo."
Someone straightened up from the crater made upon landing, rising from one bent knee.
Whoooooosh!
He stood there, his blackened muscles glowing with heat as white steam poured from his entire body.
King Jin's eyes widened when he saw the beautiful girl in Mumu's arms.
"N-Na-yeon."
"Father!"
The girl was none other than King Jin's only daughter, Princess Seo Hong Na-yeon.
Gi Nan-hang's eyes shook when he heard that.
'How is Princess Seo here?'
Footnotes:
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