WeTried Translations
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: Abstract
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 51: Reunion (1)
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-Kwaaaaaaang!
Mumu had merely flicked a finger.
Yet with a tremendous shock that shook the entire valley, Southern Blade Imperial Uncle Hong Hwa-yun was sent flying more than a hundred jang away.
Hong Hwa-yun tore through buildings and snapped dozens of trees before finally stopping with his body embedded in a massive zelkova tree.
“Haa... Haa...”
Hong Hwa-yun breathed heavily.
He was breathing so heavily because dispersing the brain-rattling impact through his forehead had affected him even more than the force that sent him flying.
That single blow made Hong Hwa-yun realize something.
‘...Strong.’
This strength surpassed even the Overlord of Blood and Slaughter of the past.
Hong Hwa-yun had spent seventeen years blind, but still remembered the strength of the man once called the Martial God.
Mumu's strength far exceeded it.
‘Stronger than his father.’
And Mumu was only seventeen years old.
For the martial world, it was more than shocking. It was a misfortune.
If he was already this strong at seventeen, there was no telling how powerful he would become.
‘I'm afraid.’
If someone like this truly set out to exact vengeance, it would be no different from bringing the worst disaster upon the martial world.
-Trickle.
Cold sweat that had gathered on Hong Hwa-yun's forehead streamed down.
What was he supposed to do?
Until moments ago, Hong Hwa-yun had wondered whether Mumu, the living result of his sins, might forgive him.
That seemed to have been nothing more than a foolish hope.
Mumu had lost his entire family because of Hong Hwa-yun, then been thrown off a sheer cliff not long after he was born.
Of course he would be furious.
‘What should I do?’
Hong Hwa-yun was confused.
He had tried to atone for his guilt because he believed he had dealt with every future consequence.
Yet the worst possible consequence had now appeared.
If Hong Hwa-yun offered up his life in atonement, there was no telling what the Overlord of Blood and Slaughter's bloodline might do to the martial world, no, to the entire world.
A bloodbath far worse than the last one might begin.
-Creak!
Hong Hwa-yun clenched his teeth.
For the sake of the world's safety, was it right to kill that child?
A sharp ki weapon began to condense in Hong Hwa-yun's hand.
It was a sign that Formless Blade was taking shape.
Though blind, Hong Hwa-yun's senses and enlightenment had reached their peak. Naturally, he had attained the realm of Formless Blade as well.
The ki weapon of this Formless Blade surpassed even those of the other Four Immortal Masters.
‘Must I fight?’
His inner conflict reached its limit.
[How... How could you do that to such a tiny baby...]
Hae Ha-rang's tearful face surfaced in Hong Hwa-yun's mind while her screams echoed in his ears.
The divide between the peace of the martial world and his guilt.
If Hong Hwa-yun killed Mumu here, it would be no different from taking her child from her again.
‘I...’
What was the right choice?
The greater cause, or atonement?
Perhaps that conflict had even affected Formless Sword, for the sharp ki weapon flickered like a candle flame.
At that moment, Mumu approached.
“Why are you still lying there?”
“...”
“I didn't hit you so hard that you couldn't stand.”
“...If a finger flick did this much, that clearly wasn't your full strength.”
“Right. So get up.”
Whether they fought or not, there seemed to be no way to avoid it.
Hong Hwa-yun slowly gripped the flickering Formless Blade and spoke.
“Will you carry on your revenge for your father, beginning with me?”
“Revenge?”
“Yes. Isn't that why you're doing this?”
He wanted to know the child's true intentions one last time.
If Mumu meant to pursue blood revenge, Hong Hwa-yun intended to stop him even at the cost of his life.
Whatever the outcome, he would have taken her child from her once again. Hong Hwa-yun intended to die here as well.
“Revenge... I'm just venting frustration.”
“Venting frustration?”
Hong Hwa-yun frowned.
What did that mean?
“I think my mother must have lived in pain and sorrow because of you.”
“...”
Hong Hwa-yun could not deny it.
Even continuing to live had been agony for Hae Ha-rang.
But consumed by terrible guilt, Hong Hwa-yun had prevented her from even taking her own life, all in the name of atonement.
“I... I...”
“And after you've already done it, wanting to be forgiven for your mistakes while talking about atonement and all that is just self-satisfaction, isn't it?”
“...”
“If you wanted to be remembered as a good person, you shouldn't have made excuses and done it in the first place. You really are a hypocrite.”
Not a single word was wrong.
Hong Hwa-yun's expression darkened further.
The child was right.
If he was going to suffer like this, he should never have done it in the first place.
Or if he truly believed he had acted for the greater cause, then he should have remained faithful to that resolve to the end.
Caught in guilt, Hong Hwa-yun's so-called atonement had only tormented Hae Ha-rang further.
As Mumu said, it had been nothing but self-satisfaction.
‘Hypocrisy...’
Yes. Everything had been close to hypocrisy.
Nothing could change what he had already done, yet his desire to escape guilt had only caused Hae Ha-rang more pain.
“Ah...”
A sigh escaped Hong Hwa-yun's lips.
“Then it's fine if I keep going, right? Venting frustration.”
Mumu stepped closer.
Hong Hwa-yun struggled to his feet and said, “You're right. In the end, all I've done is keep committing acts of hypocrisy to make myself feel better.”
A glint appeared in Mumu's eyes.
“You admit it easily.”
“Yes. I admit it. I should have taken my life in front of her from the start. All I did was struggle because I wanted to be forgiven for my guilt.”
-Grip!
Hong Hwa-yun tightened his hold on Formless Blade.
As if he had made a resolution, the trembling stopped.
“I won't make excuses for anything that happened. But I promise you this. If I can stop your revenge, I will go to the next world with you.”
Hong Hwa-yun steeled his resolve.
He erased every confused emotion from his mind.
All that remained was the determination to stop Mumu, who carried the Overlord of Blood and Slaughter's blood, from taking revenge, then accept responsibility and die with him.
Mumu stared at Hong Hwa-yun for a moment, then sighed.
“I told you it isn't revenge, but you keep calling it revenge. If that had been what I wanted, I wouldn't have stopped at crippling the other Four Immortal Masters' arms and legs.”
“What?”
Wrinkles formed between Hong Hwa-yun's brows.
Had Mumu already met the other Four Immortal Masters?
Seeing his confusion, Mumu said, “Ah... You didn't know. I've already met Eastern River Sword Sage uncle and Western Wind Lone Angle grandfather. You're the third.”
“...You clashed with them first?”
“Something like that.”
Mumu spoke as though it were nothing, leaving Hong Hwa-yun puzzled for a different reason.
From the way Mumu spoke, it sounded as though he had fought them but not killed them.
Hong Hwa-yun asked, “...Why did you spare them?”
“Why?”
“Isn't your goal to avenge your father, the Overlord of Blood and Slaughter, and the Mighty Conqueror Council?”
Mumu scratched his head at that question.
“I just told you. I'm simply venting frustration, in my own way, over what you people did.”
“Venting frustration?”
“If revenge had been my goal, I would've already killed them too, along with all my friends and upperclassmen at the academy.”
“The academy?”
“Yes. I started attending Changcheon Martial Academy this year.”
Hong Hwa-yun was shaken by those words.
Hong Hye-ryeong, his own daughter, had entered Changcheon Martial Academy this year.
‘Just what is this child...?’
What was Mumu's purpose?
With that kind of strength, while staying at Changcheon Martial Academy, he could have taken the successors of the Four Immortal Masters hostage whenever he wished.
As he had said, he could have made them suffer the same pain by killing those precious to them.
“...If it isn't revenge, then what on earth is it for?”
“I told you. Venting frustration.”
“You keep calling it venting frustration, but...”
-Bang!
Before Hong Hwa-yun could finish, Mumu appeared directly in front of him.
Hong Hwa-yun's senses were extraordinarily sharp. The instant Mumu came close, he instinctively slashed at Mumu's chest with Formless Blade.
-Paaaaang!
‘!?’
Yet Formless Sword could not cut Mumu's muscles.
Instead, the life energy forming the Formless Blade scattered.
Hong Hwa-yun could not hide his shock.
There should have been nothing Formless Blade, formed by concentrating all his power into one point, could not cut.
Yet it could not even cut through muscle.
Mumu spoke.
“You asked why I was venting frustration, right?”
“Your body, what in the world...?”
“I thought it would be better to show you that I can deal with the Four Immortal Masters and the martial world whenever I want.”
“What?”
“That way, no one will bother me or the people precious to me.”
-Thud!
“Urk!”
The moment Mumu finished speaking, he lightly kicked Hong Hwa-yun in the abdomen.
There was no time to dodge.
Hong Hwa-yun was struck in the stomach and sent flying backward once more.
The impact was even greater than when Mumu had flicked his forehead.
-Kwaaaaaaang!
After flying for a long while, Hong Hwa-yun broke the ground apart as he tumbled across it.
He could not even tell how far he had been thrown.
-Kwaaang!
“Guek.”
Hong Hwa-yun lay buried in the ground, repeatedly retching up vomit streaked with blood.
Before Mumu's foot had even touched him, he had gathered all his internal energy and deployed Ki Armor. Even so, it felt as though his organs had been turned inside out.
Hong Hwa-yun was dumbfounded.
Because he could not see, all his other senses were sharper than those of the other Four Immortal Masters.
That was why he knew.
‘...Is this child truly human?’
Neither Mumu's muscles nor any of his movements showed full exertion.
Mumu had suppressed his power as much as possible and used only the bare minimum to kick his abdomen.
It meant Mumu could kill Hong Hwa-yun in a single blow if he wished.
[I thought it would be better to show you that I can deal with the Four Immortal Masters and the martial world whenever I want.]
Only now did Hong Hwa-yun understand those words.
This child possessed a strength like a calamity.
Even the Overlord of Blood and Slaughter, who had been called the Martial God and brought calamity upon the martial world, could not compare to that invincible strength.
‘The chance of survival is nonexistent... but if you do survive, that will be your heavenly fortune, and my misfortune.’
Hong Hwa-yun recalled that thought.
Had he created this monstrous calamity when he threw that child off the cliff?
“Ha...”
Everything felt like karmic retribution.
If Hong Hwa-yun had not thrown the child that day, would none of this have happened?
Countless thoughts swirled through his mind.
Then...
“What... happened here?”
‘!?’
His senses had weakened from the severe internal injury, so Hong Hwa-yun had failed to notice someone approaching.
The owner of that voice was none other than Hae Ha-rang.
Hong Hwa-yun had not known how far he had flown, but by chance, he had landed at her residence.
‘Who in the world...?’
Hae Ha-rang stared at Hong Hwa-yun with wide eyes.
The tremendous crash had startled her into running out of the kitchen, but she could only stare when she saw the person considered the pinnacle of the martial world in such a state.
Then...
-Thump!
Someone dropped from the sky before the fallen Hong Hwa-yun.
It was Mumu.
At that moment, Hae Ha-rang and Mumu, mother and son, met each other's gaze.
‘!!!!!!!!!’
It could not have been stranger.
Neither had seen the other for over seventeen years.
Yet the instant they suddenly faced each other like this, both Hae Ha-rang's and Mumu's eyes reddened, and their noses stung.
Footnotes:
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