WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
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◈ Memoir of a Regressor ◈
Chapter 39: Surrender
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Jusin County.
This place was far more famous in the martial world than one might expect.
More precisely, it was Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng Mountain, located in Jusin County, that was famous. The mountain had once borne an unremarkable name, but after a ten-thousand-year wild ginseng was discovered there four hundred years ago, people began calling it Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng Mountain.
The spiritual energy within that ten-thousand-year wild ginseng did not quite rival that of Perennial Snow Mountain or the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, but it was still extraordinary.
More than several thousand hundred-year ginseng roots had been found here, along with hundreds of roots ranging from three hundred to five hundred years old.
It was a place where herb gatherers could turn their lives around. Many martial artists and merchants also came on pilgrimage to receive the mountain's spiritual energy.
Jusin Prefecture had naturally been elevated to Jusin County. It had grown into such a large city that it was likely to be elevated to Jusin Commandery before long.
Many martial sects had moved here as well.
Yi Do had not eaten that Five-Hundred-Year Ginseng here for no reason.
Having reached Heaven’s Flowers Scattering in Chaos, Yi Do descended into the town of Jusin County to sate his hunger.
Sitting by a window at an inn, Yi Do ate thin noodles and looked around.
There were six people who appeared to be merchants, four who appeared to be martial artists, and roughly three attendants moving between the kitchen and dining area.
Some of them kept glancing at Yi Do, though it was clearly out of curiosity.
How could someone possibly be that ugly? That sort of curiosity.
Yi Do did not care and silently continued eating his noodles.
He needed to make plans for the future.
He was undoubtedly being pursued, but hiding away and doing nothing was what fools did.
No matter who was chasing him, what Yi Do needed to do now was consume as much spiritual medicine as possible.
It could almost be called an obsession, but it had to be.
Yi Do did not use ordinary energy.
He refined a portion of the energy martial artists used into Properly Aligned Qi. Hwandap Art amplified its power enough for him to overwhelm them, but that could not be done at every moment.
He had to consume spiritual medicine, use its energy to broaden and strengthen his meridians, then extract as much Properly Aligned Qi as possible from it and store it in his dantian.
[Primal Unity Qi Technique] was undoubtedly superior to every internal cultivation method in this world, but it possessed one fatal flaw. It accumulated inner energy far too slowly.
To overcome that, he needed an enormous amount of spiritual medicine.
That was right. Spiritual medicine.
He needed an abundant supply of spiritual medicine to recover the realm he had reached in his previous life even a day sooner, and he needed an abundant supply to slaughter the pursuers to come. The imperial court had yet to decide whom to send next, but it was certain that someone stronger than Shin Gong-baek would come.
The threat of the Assassin Fortress still lurked nearby as well.
Slowly, one at a time, he would erase them.
Debts and grudges were debts and grudges. Yi Do acted on both. It would take time, but he would kill every last one of them.
There was much to do.
Yi Do had now settled into a realm between Three Flowers Gather at the Crown and Five Qis Return to Origin, and had increased the rings in his dantian to three.
For the time being, he was satisfied with his current realm. Everything had its proper time, and rushing would bring great disaster.
He was already advancing incredibly quickly. This was enough.
People came and went. Yi Do ordered another bowl of noodles and some Bamboo Leaf Green wine.
Time passed.
Then three men who appeared to be merchants entered with grim expressions.
Yi Do's senses, which he had spread throughout the area, sent him a signal.
His brow creased horribly.
It lasted only a moment. In an instant, his expression returned to normal, and Yi Do resumed eating his noodles.
The three merchants who had entered earlier began their meal. After some time, their voices reached Yi Do's ears.
“What are we supposed to do? The hired escorts ran off.”
“Tell me about it.”
“No, how in the world did Munseong Escort Agency manage things so badly... Ah...”
“Haha... There is a Beggar’s Gate branch here as well, so let's go there and find proper hired escorts.”
Even if he had not wanted to listen, he could not help it.
They were seated directly behind him, and their voices were not quiet.
Yi Do could not help smiling.
That was when it happened.
The voices behind him died down. Just as Yi Do was about to take another bite of noodles, someone spoke.
“Um... Are you a martial artist?”
It was clearly one of the merchants who had been speaking behind him.
The man's build was slender overall.
Almost like an assassin's.
His eyes were gentle. Yi Do could not tell for certain whether the man had learned martial arts. The man forced a smile.
“What do you want?”
“Well, it’s nothing much. I am Sang Cheol-jin of Jeongseong Escort Agency in Sawol County. I am one of its General Stewards. If you don't mind, could we perhaps entrust a job to you?”
How often did coincidence truly happen in this world?
By chance, Yi Do was eating thin noodles at an inn in Jusin County. By chance, he overheard merchants lamenting that they lacked hired escorts. Then one of those merchants approached him and asked whether he would take on a job.
Could this strange situation really be a coincidence?
When coincidence piled upon coincidence, it was not the unknowable current of some unseen world at work. It had to be an artificial inevitability created by people.
The smile on Yi Do's lips remained.
“What sort of job are you thinking of entrusting to me?”
“We are currently seeking hired escorts.”
“The destination?”
“The Yan Kingdom.”
“That is far.”
“It is, but to martial artists who command the world, isn't even a distant place close at hand?”
“That is not entirely wrong... Fine. But the compensation must be generous.”
The man who had introduced himself as Sang Cheol-jin smiled brightly.
“Of course. We are going to a neighboring kingdom, so we cannot possibly offer little. We will compensate you very generously.”
* * *
I waited in silence.
The three men who had approached me were General Stewards of Jeongseong Escort Agency in Sawol County.
The head of Jeongseong Escort Agency and the head of Munseong Escort Agency here in Jusin County were cousins. Since they were related by blood, they had often handled matters together. This was one such occasion.
The plan was simple.
The three General Stewards representing Jeongseong Escort Agency would take a substantial quantity of valuables that Munseong Escort Agency had been entrusted with and head to the Yan Kingdom.
It was a very simple plan.
Jeongseong Escort Agency had originally had several martial artists and hired escorts protecting its valuables, but once Munseong Escort Agency's valuables were added, they would be severely understaffed.
Munseong Escort Agency naturally had to provide additional escort captains, but absurdly enough, something had gone wrong with its arrangements.
They were supposed to add fifteen martial artists to accompany the valuables: ten at the Circulation Realm, four at Twin Sun Manifestation, and one at Five Dragons Honoring the Sage.
Yet five Circulation Realm martial artists, one at Five Dragons Honoring the Sage, and two at Twin Sun Manifestation had dropped out.
Something had apparently happened along the way, but I did not ask for the details.
The important thing was that they had dropped out.
There were sixty-two wagons of valuables.
They were taking all those valuables to a neighboring kingdom, yet there were far too few people to protect them.
That was the situation.
I waited silently with my arms folded.
About fifteen minutes passed.
The three General Stewards returned with more than twenty martial artists in tow.
Their expressions were bright.
Including those who had originally been protecting the caravan, the martial artists now escorting it consisted of forty at the Circulation Realm, fifteen at Twin Sun Manifestation, and three at Five Dragons Honoring the Sage.
General Steward Sang Cheol-jin smiled brightly.
“Now then, let's depart.”
That was how I became a hired escort and traveled with them for a time.
As the Hour of the Pig was nearly over, the caravan came to a stop.
We were in a small village near Yeonsu Town.
“We will rest here tonight and leave tomorrow morning.”
Sang Cheol-jin had apparently reserved an inn in advance. He led us there.
It was a large enough inn to accommodate all fifty-nine martial artists, including me. We settled in and took our seats.
Food and alcohol were laid out before each of us, and the warriors, excluding me, began chatting and laughing amiably.
I remained silent.
Food?
I did not touch it.
Alcohol?
Was I out of my mind? Who the hell would drink this?
The martial artist seated beside me asked with a smile, “My quiet friend, where are you from?”
I smiled back.
“Jangnyeong County.”
“Jangnyeong County...? Oh, the place that’s been causing such a stir lately?”
“There was some trouble.”
“I see. But you're not drinking? It tastes rather good.”
“I don't make a habit of drinking.”
“Ah, perhaps you learned martial arts from a Daoist school.”
The man drained his cup, then held out his hand.
“I am Cheol Baek, the Calculating Saber. It will be a long journey, so let's work well together.”
I clasped his hand.
The highest-level martial artists in this caravan were at Five Dragons Honoring the Sage. There were three of them, and it was difficult to rank them against one another.
The man before me was one of the three.
He pointed at two men in turn.
“That man there is Yu Su-gyeom, the Azure Sea Palm, who made quite a name for himself in Wi County. And that man is Jo Yu-chang, the Shadowless Sword of Yeonseong. You know the Jo Clan of Yeonseong, right? They are rather famous.”
“I have heard of them.”
Yeonseong was one of the largest regions in Jeok Nation.
It was home to numerous sects, foremost among them the Yin-Yang Sect, one of the Eight Great Sects. As an aside, the Yin-Yang Divine Gate had been founded by a man who had once been an elder of the Yin-Yang Sect.
That was the Yin-Yang Divine Gate that had captured Cheon Yeo-bi, the Central Plains One Sword, and investigated my master's past.
In any case, the Jo Clan was a family of swordsmen. Their Shadowless Sword Art was more formidable than expected, and it was recognized as a fairly impressive martial art even in the martial world.
Jo Yu-chang, the Shadowless Sword.
I had heard the name before.
About ten years later, during the Great Righteous-Demonic War, he would perform admirably and join the Azure Dragon Corps of the Martial Alliance.
That was Jo Yu-chang.
I slowly looked around.
They were all noisily talking among themselves, but every one of their senses was focused on me.
The man guzzling alcohol over there had been staring at me from the beginning. The man in the corner kept glancing at me despite talking with the woman beside him.
Could they simply be watching me because I was not drinking?
Impossible.
Such a mood would not form over such a trivial reason.
I gestured to one side.
Sang Cheol-jin, who had been pouring drinks for several martial artists, noticed my gesture and approached.
“Sit beside me.”
Rather unexpectedly, he obediently sat beside me. I casually put an arm around Sang Cheol-jin's shoulders.
“Yi Sin-nim, why are you suddenly...?”
I was using an alias.
Yi Sin.
And honestly, I liked this face that Blood-Blood Asura Kang So-eo had called disgustingly ugly.
It was a face that looked as though it should not exist in this world.
But today was the last day I would wear it.
That was regrettable.
I silently poured alcohol into the empty cup before me and pushed it toward Sang Cheol-jin.
He tilted his head.
“Drink.”
“...Pardon?”
“I said drink.”
The room fell silent at my sudden behavior.
That was proof that every one of them had been closely watching my actions. I spoke impassively.
“Why? Can't you drink?”
“...Yi Sin-nim, I don't understand what you mean... The truth is, I cannot drink very well...”
“Is that so? What a shame. I thought you might have smeared poison on it, seeing as only my cup was gleaming so nicely.”
“...”
“If General Steward Sang Cheol-jin refuses to drink, there is nothing to be done. I do not usually drink, but consider this an honor.”
I lifted the cup to my lips and emptied it.
Gulp.
It tasted surprisingly good.
“At this concentration... Is it Formless Qi-Scattering Poison from the Southern Barbarians?”
The smile Sang Cheol-jin had maintained the entire time cracked.
Slowly, I slid the arm draped over Sang Cheol-jin's shoulders around his neck.
Slowly, I applied force.
Only then did Sang Cheol-jin speak.
“...Your internal energy will scatter.”
“So?”
“You cannot possibly have enough strength to break my neck. Let me go, if you want your corpse to be recovered intact.”
I only smiled at his cold expression.
I silently tightened my arm.
Sang Cheol-jin’s face began to redden.
Finally realizing that something was wrong, Sang Cheol-jin swung his right arm. A dagger was already in his hand, clearly hidden inside his sleeve.
Thud.
I casually seized his right wrist with my other hand.
“W-What...?”
Ignoring him, I continued.
“Formless Qi-Scattering Poison only works once it passes through the esophagus.”
As though spitting out phlegm, I drew up the foreign substance I had kept compressed at the end of my esophagus with my energy.
Hack, ptui.
The transparent substance struck Sang Cheol-jin in the face.
“I only played along for a while because your effort was so touching.”
“S-Stop... Stop...”
The bastard could not finish.
Crack!
I snapped Sang Cheol-jin's neck and tossed him aside. At the same time, I tilted my head back.
A saber wreathed in energy skimmed past my face. I kicked the table upward, snatched up the dagger Sang Cheol-jin had dropped, and thrust it forward.
Cheol Baek, the Calculating Saber, who had swung the saber, drew his weapon back with a horrified expression and assumed a defensive stance.
Clang!
The dagger struck the exact center of the saber, sending him staggering far backward. I rose from my seat.
Every martial artist around me had drawn their weapons and aimed them at me.
I could not help laughing.
“I did not know the Assassin Fortress would move this quickly. I almost feel sorry for you.”
“...”
“I had underestimated you as a motley rabble, so I will apologize for that.”
The remaining two General Stewards, who had been quietly observing from the corner, stepped forward.
“Listen. Just surrender.”
“Must I?”
“This isn’t a matter of whether you must. Surely you do not intend to face everyone here. As Sang Cheol-jin said, if you even want your corpse to remain intact, surrendering would be better. Do you think the Assassin Fortress prepared only this much? Even if you miraculously escape this inn, you will die one way or another in Yeonsu Town. So just surrender.”
I shook my head.
“To those who do not belong to the Assassin Fortress, I give this first and final warning. I’ll overlook the fact that you pointed your swords at me this once. Sheathe them and be on your way.”
“...”
“Opportunities like this do not come often in a lifetime. If you refuse this offer, you will all die. I promise you that.”
Snorts of derision came from all around. I ignored them and continued.
“I will count to five. Decide before then. One, two.”
It seemed they did not need to hear any more.
The two General Stewards shouted.
“Kill him!”
The martial artists rushed at me.
Footnotes:
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