WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
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◈ Memoir of a Regressor ◈
Chapter 54: Blood Maiden of Mount Wu, Ak Nan-hyang
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It took quite some time for news of what had happened in Three Phoenix County to reach the main mountain.
The distance between the Asura Sword Sect’s main mountain and Three Phoenix County was roughly 190 li.
Several mountains and regions lay between them. An ordinary person riding hard would need at least seven days. A martial artist of sufficient attainment, capable of crossing mountain terrain at leisure and running faster than a horse, could arrive within two or three days.
A carrier pigeon would take three days at the fastest and four at the longest. That was for an ordinary carrier pigeon.
A top-grade pigeon could arrive within a few hours, while a high-grade one would certainly arrive within a day at the latest. But there was no way Yi Do could have one of those.
As soon as things in Three Phoenix County had been settled, Yi Do had sent an ordinary carrier pigeon to the main mountain.
The news had now arrived.
Yi Do, newly appointed as Branch Leader, had killed two of his own branch members.
Wang Mu-tan and Jin Geon.
The reason was astonishing.
They had destroyed discipline, dragged the Asura Sword Sect’s honor through the mud, and displayed none of the conduct expected from martial artists belonging to the sect. Instead, they had exploited the people of their territory like corrupt officials. They had shown no remorse, and evidence indicated that they were directly involved in the earlier tragedy at the Three Phoenix County branch. Thus, they had been executed on the spot.
Below that was testimony concerning the illicit dealings they had conducted behind the scenes and their conduct while carrying out missions assigned by the Asura Pavilion.
The report threw the Asura Sword Sect into great shock.
Everyone reacted differently.
First, Sect Leader Dokgo Dan-ya rebuked the elders, asking why they had failed to report such a matter properly. The elders became mute.
Elder Chodong knelt before the Sect Leader and begged forgiveness. The other elders followed suit.
They even offered a reasonable excuse.
They claimed they had only buried the matter temporarily because they feared it would lead to an all-out war with the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect. They had never intended to leave the matter unavenged, and they asked for one more chance.
Dokgo Dan-ya answered firmly.
This matter would be entrusted to Yi Do.
He said he was very curious to see what the brat would do next, and since Yi Do had begun this matter, it was right to leave everything to him.
Asura Pavilion Master Sang-gwan Yeon-hwi agreed. The elders frowned, but they had no choice but to accept it.
After the meeting ended, Elder Neung-don, a bald man with an enormous build, headed for the Elders’ Hall residence and slammed his fist onto the table.
Bang!
His lips trembled.
“That bastard killed Wang Mu-tan and Jin Geon? How dare he?”
The region called Namman was certainly vast.
But this did not refer to Namman (枏灣), the region within Jeok Nation. It referred, literally, to Southern Bay (南灣), the southern region reached by traveling farther and farther south from the edge of Jeok Nation.
It was a place so harsh that humans could not live there. It was also called the Great Desert.
Martial artists from there were exceedingly rare.
It was even rarer for one to join the Asura Sword Sect.
Any martial artist with skill would usually go to the Southern Bay Moon Sect, which had established itself in Southern Bay. Neung-don was an unusual case.
He cherished Wang Mu-tan and Jin Geon, who came from the same homeland as him.
He had looked after them and even taught them himself.
And Yi Do had killed them so horribly.
“That bastard... Give him an inch and he takes a mile.”
Anger surged through him.
If Yi Do’s report had gone to the Asura Pavilion, the elders could have handled it among themselves.
But it had not.
Yi Do’s letter had gone directly to Dokgo Dan-ya.
That meant Dokgo Dan-ya had been the first to see it.
Neung-don found it unbearable that the arrogant bastard Yi Do had bypassed both the Asura Pavilion and the elders to report directly to the Sect Leader.
His fury rose.
“Yi Maeng-rip!”
A man waiting outside opened the door and entered Neung-don’s quarters.
“Yes, Elder.”
“You will go to Three Phoenix County immediately.”
The man called Yi Maeng-rip did not question him. He promptly knelt.
Dokgo Dan-ya had clearly said that all matters would be entrusted to Yi Do. Sending a Protector there openly would certainly cause problems.
But there was a way around that.
“Listen carefully. Today, you were on your way to Southern Bay to inform Wang Mu-tan and Jin Geon’s families of their deaths. You merely stopped by Three Phoenix County along the way. Understood?”
“Yes.”
Neung-don continued.
“Your mission is simple. Go there, watch that bastard Yi Do, and report to me immediately if he does anything problematic.”
Yi Maeng-rip was no fool.
“Are you telling me to create a pretext?”
“That’s right. Things would be different if he showed signs of submitting, but he shows no such sign. I intend to remove him as soon as possible. Your role is very important. Can you do it?”
Yi Maeng-rip was Elder Neung-don’s direct Protector. He performed a cupped-fist salute.
“Yes. I will carry out your order and return.”
“Good. Go.”
Yi Maeng-rip immediately turned away.
Neung-don’s anger settled again.
That damned bastard.
He wanted to get rid of that insect who had been running amok without any sense of his own limits, but he could not.
The Sect Leader of the Asura Sword Sect had taken an interest in him.
Then he would need to create a reason that would force even the Sect Leader to cast him aside.
That was right.
A justification.
He only needed to create one.
More than anything...
“He doesn’t know about that matter... does he?”
The Three Phoenix County tragedy.
The sects of Jangam County had certainly committed it, but Wang Mu-tan and Jin Geon had instigated it.
Neung-don knew that.
He had buried the matter because he wanted to protect the two of them.
Yi Do’s letter had only stated that Wang Mu-tan and Jin Geon were directly involved.
Something felt wrong.
...No matter how he thought about it, getting rid of Yi Do before things grew any larger was the right choice.
At least one thing was fortunate.
Great Elder Myo Man-ri was currently in secluded cultivation.
He likely would not emerge anytime soon.
In the end, Neung-don always reached the same conclusion.
A justification.
He needed one.
He needed a justification strong enough to silence not only the Sect Leader, but everyone else as well.
All he could do was hope that Yi Maeng-rip, whom he had just sent out, would handle the matter properly.
Neung-don opened the window.
A tremendous downpour was falling outside.
It was the first torrential rain in a long while.
And at that very moment, Yi Do was still in Jangam County.
* * *
The Jong Clan, Wol Clan Manor, the Hwang Clan, and the Jin Clan.
The branch members of the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect’s Jangam County branch and those four clans were behind this incident. There was still no information about the woman who used a sectional whip. I intended to ask again once I returned.
I walked forward slowly.
I had just taken the heads of the Jong Clan Head, the Wol Clan Manor Head, and the Hwang Clan Head.
“W-Wait...”
The man backing away before me was Jin Mu-pyeong, the Clan Head of the Jin Clan.
I aimed the tip of the Cloud Dragon Sword at his throat.
His movements came to an abrupt halt.
I asked the trembling man, “Do you think this is unfair?”
“Y-Yes. It is unfair...”
“Why?”
“...What?”
“Haven’t you targeted Three Phoenix County countless times?”
“...That...”
I stared silently at Jin Mu-pyeong as his words trailed off.
I could predict what he would say next.
“Each time you did, Three Phoenix County did not retaliate properly. Instead, they became frightened and shrank back. You must have thought they were laughable.”
Jin Mu-pyeong swallowed.
That was exactly right.
Jangam County had repeatedly attacked the merchant groups of Three Phoenix County.
And what had Three Phoenix County done every time?
The Three Phoenix County branch of the Asura Sword Sect and Three Phoenix County’s martial artists had banded together to provide “escorts.”
That was right. Escorts.
They had not retaliated. They had only defended themselves.
But I was different.
I had come to Three Phoenix County.
Three Phoenix County had become my territory.
If anyone touched Three Phoenix County, I would retaliate twice over, then twice that, and beyond even that.
“Do not feel wronged. Isn’t this all the result of your own actions?”
I neither wanted nor intended to hear his answer.
Shnk.
The Cloud Dragon Sword pierced Jin Mu-pyeong’s throat.
I twisted the sword sideways.
Crunch.
His neck was severed.
After pulling out the Cloud Dragon Sword, I wiped its blood on Jin Mu-pyeong’s clothes.
I sheathed it and turned around.
I had killed all four clan heads.
Then I walked outside.
It was time to return.
About half a gak after crossing the border and entering Bibong Mountain, I stopped.
I slowly drew the Cloud Dragon Sword from its sheath.
Gripping it tightly, I looked toward a tree off to one side.
A thin laugh came from there.
“You have very sharp instincts.”
It was a woman.
She had long hair and wore a deeply alluring smile.
She held a sectional whip in her hand.
“I heard an outstanding martial artist had become the Branch Leader of Three Phoenix County. You’re incredible. This is beyond merely outstanding.”
She unfurled the sectional whip as she continued.
“Even in this torrential rain, the smell of blood is still this strong. How interesting. Truly.”
After listening quietly, I spoke.
“Among the Hong Clan’s martial artists, there was a corpse killed by a sectional whip.”
She smiled faintly.
“So?”
“It was an unusual weapon, so I had taken notice of it... It seems it was you, bitch.”
“Hey, when have we even met for you to call me this bitch or that bitch?”
“You and I aren’t in any position to stand on ceremony.”
She approached with a smile.
Despite the pouring rain, not a single drop of water touched her clothes.
She had formed a qi barrier around herself.
She came to stand before me.
“First, I think there’s a misunderstanding. Let’s clear it up.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“I didn’t want to get involved in that tragedy. I only happened to see it while passing by. I thought I had stepped in shit, so I only watched. Then one of the Hong Clan martial artists rushed at me. I suppose he thought I looked easy to deal with.”
“And?”
“So I killed him. You seem good at examining corpses. Someone at your level should know that I’m not lying.”
I had several doubts.
This was one of them.
The corpse I had seen, the one killed by a sectional whip, had died at a markedly different time from the others.
My guess was that one martial artist had been the sole survivor. At the end, he had tried to flee, happened upon the woman with the sectional whip, and was killed by her.
That was the conclusion I could draw.
In other words, it might have been an accident.
Of course, that was only if everything she said was true.
“It was an accident. I really had no interest in it. I told him to leave, but perhaps because of his pride, he suddenly swung his weapon at me. What else was I supposed to do? I had to kill him.”
I remained silent.
It was not because I needed time to think.
So I asked, “Why did you show yourself to me?”
“Two reasons. First, you put in a request with the Heavenly Intelligence Gate. You’ve been looking for me, haven’t you?”
“That’s right.”
“It seemed like it would never end, so I thought I should clear up the misunderstanding somehow. That’s the first reason. The second is the truly important one. It’s why I came.”
She smiled faintly.
“You’re too good for the Asura Sword Sect.”
Her eyes fixed on mine.
“Would you come to ‘us’? Not some position like Branch Leader. We’ll give you a proper position.”
Us. A proper position.
Before hearing that, there was something else I needed to hear first.
“You have not said who you are, where you came from, or anything else, yet you want me to come with you?”
She laughed helplessly, as though she had forgotten something.
“Ah, sorry. I forgot the most important part. This is my first time coming to recruit someone, so... Let me introduce myself first. My name is Ak Nan-hyang. Have you heard of me?”
My brow furrowed deeply.
“So you have.”
Of course I had.
Ten years later, during the Righteous-Demonic War in Jeok Nation, many martial artists would make names for themselves by displaying their martial prowess.
For good or ill.
Among those who became infamous was a woman of extraordinary renown.
The Blood Maiden of Mount Wu, Ak Nan-hyang.
Ak Nan-hyang was a Divine Entrance Realm martial artist who had stood with the Demonic side during the Righteous-Demonic War. She was the great demonic fiend who had destroyed four Martial Alliance units alone, taken the heads of four elders from the Emperor Sword Sect, and wiped out eight branches of the Emperor Sword Sect.
As far as I knew, Ak Nan-hyang used a sword.
Yet now, she was suddenly using a sectional whip.
Perhaps she was more versatile than I had expected.
“I told you my name, so I’ll tell you where I came from too.”
The Blood Maiden of Mount Wu, Ak Nan-hyang, brushed her hair back as she continued.
“I came from the Radiant Cult. Join us.”
Footnotes:
The Korean text uses Namman for two different place names with the same Hangul spelling and pronunciation: 枏灣, a region within Jeok Nation, and 南灣, literally ‘Southern Bay,’ the deadly desert beyond the nation’s southern frontier.
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