WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Memoir of a Regressor ◈
Chapter 64: Young Sect Master
──────
The atmosphere at the main headquarters was grim.
Naturally, it was because of the report sent from Three Phoenix County.
“Sect Leader! I have been wronged! Surely you do not believe that report.”
The bald man shouting was Neung-don, the Blazing Fire Tyrant Sword and an elder of the Asura Sword Sect.
The Sect Leader of the Asura Sword Sect, Dokgo Dan-ya, the Black Wind Sword Venerable, the Asura Pavilion Master Sang-gwan Yeon-hwi, and the six remaining elders watched Neung-don. Only the Great Elder was absent, having entered secluded cultivation and still showing no sign of emerging.
The Sect Leader set the letter in his hand aside.
“Neung-don.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“I have examined the report closely. As you say, there may be parts in which you have been wronged, but several claims are so credible that they leave no room for rebuttal.”
“Sect Leader... what do you mean...?”
“The tragedy that occurred in Three Phoenix County. I find the part stating that you were involved in it highly credible.”
“...Sect Leader, that is...”
“Both the Asura Pavilion Master and several others have already told me that you consistently protected those two branch members, Wang Mu-tan and Jin Geon. But if you concealed the fact that those two sold information on other branch members and even helped kill them, then you went far beyond the line.”
“...Ah... No. How can you say that...?”
“Neung-don.”
“...Yes, Sect Leader...”
“Did you think I was unaware that factions existed within the Asura Sword Sect?”
“...No...”
“Then why do you think I left them alone?”
Neung-don, along with all the elders, kept their mouths shut.
“It was because I believed that, even if you pursued personal gain, you were still part of the Asura Sword Sect, and your destination was the same.”
“...”
“I thought that even if you fought among yourselves, you shared the spirit of the Path of Hegemony. Rather than trying to cover up a crime, you should be thinking of punishing it. Does it make any sense to trample on the sect's pride and elevate your own just because they are your people?”
His voice was calm, but the elders could feel the anger within it.
“This is my fault. As Sect Leader, I concerned myself only with enemies outside the sect. I believed that the one sitting in this position needed strength to hold outside forces at bay. To prevent the disaster that would come, a disaster that had already been all but foretold, I trained and trained again. Yet without my knowing, the rot had begun from below.”
At the Sect Leader's words, everyone lowered their heads. There was nothing they could say.
“Neung-don.”
“...Yes...”
“Why did you become like this?”
Neung-don raised his head.
“...Sect Leader...”
“Where has the young man gone who once walked the Path of Hegemony and swung his sword beside me? Why is only a coward left?”
“...”
“You must have much to say, but I will hear it later.”
Dokgo Dan-ya turned his gaze toward the entrance of the Sect Leader's Hall.
“First, let us hear the full story from the current Three Phoenix Branch Leader, who wrote this report.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than the doors opened.
Yi Do, dressed in a Branch Leader's robes, slowly entered.
He respectfully saluted Dokgo Dan-ya.
“I greet the Sect Leader.”
“That will do. I summoned you here in such haste because of this report.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Let us skip the preliminaries and get straight to the point. Is the content of this report true?”
Yi Do looked at Neung-don.
A bald head, a massive build, and a red sword slung across his back.
That man was Neung-don.
Yi Do met his eyes directly.
“Yes. It is true.”
“Then is it true that those two branch members sold information on the Three Phoenix Branch to Jangam County?”
“Yes.”
“Where is the evidence?”
“There was evidence, but there is none now. I killed Wang Mu-tan and Jin Geon, who were the witnesses.”
“...Then you are saying there is no evidence.”
“Elder Neung-don knows full well himself. And it is not as though there is no evidence at all.”
“There is not?”
“Yes. I have the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief with me.”
Several people were greatly startled by those words.
To be precise, everyone was startled.
The Thousand-Mile Divine Thief.
He had the thief who had suddenly vanished from the Martial World?
“Where is he now?”
“I sent him to Jangam County.”
“...Jangam County?”
“Yes. As the report says, the name of the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief cannot be left out of the Three Phoenix County tragedy. However, the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief told me that he had been framed and that he would do anything if I cleared his name. So...”
“You sent him to Jangam County?”
“Yes. According to the report, thirty Asura Pills were stolen during that tragedy. Shouldn't we repay them in kind?”
“...”
“Of course, the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief during that tragedy was an impersonator, the Young Clan Head of the Pung Clan in Jangam County. The difference is that the retaliation I have arranged this time is being carried out by the real Thousand-Mile Divine Thief.”
“So the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief is robbing Jangam County right now?”
“He should already be finished. I told him to steal the most precious item from each of the thirteen sects in Jangam County.”
“What is the chance that he will escape?”
“There is none.”
“You have something on him?”
“Something like that.”
Neung-don, who had remained silent, cut in.
“Sect Leader, even if the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief back then was an impersonator, what does that have to do with me? I truly had nothing to do with it.”
Yi Do answered that question.
“How could it have nothing to do with you?”
“What?”
“You knew perfectly well that those two were scheming behind the scenes, yet you protected them.”
“...”
“You alone, if no one else, knew everything. You knew they were directly responsible for the tragedy and had colluded with the Jangam Branch of the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect. Is that not true?”
“...You bastard... How dare you speak to an elder like that...”
“An elder is supposed to set an example for the sect's disciples. What meaning does that title have when you make excuses and evade responsibility for your own mistakes? Do you not realize that you are being given a chance right now?”
Yi Do's gaze was icy.
“If we brought in just one branch member from the Jangam Branch and tortured them, what do you think would come out of their mouth? There is a limit even to how pathetic one can be. Enough.”
Veins bulged on Neung-don's forehead.
“You... son of a bitch!”
Just as he was about to lunge forward.
“Neung-don.”
Everyone flinched.
Their gazes turned toward one place.
Dokgo Dan-ya sat with his chin resting on his hand.
The overwhelming aura pouring from his body enveloped the entire sect grounds.
“Do not raise your voice.”
“...My... My apologies.”
“And Three Phoenix Branch Leader.”
“Yes.”
“Protector Yi Maeng-rip treated the Asura Sword Sect's property as his own, and Neung-don was the one who instructed him from behind the scenes. Yi Maeng-rip fell victim to Assassin Fortress, and you avenged him?”
“Yes.”
“And Neung-don also concealed the tragedy of the Three Phoenix Branch. Though I clearly told you that I would entrust all matters to you, he personally sent the Protector Yi Maeng-rip. If all of this is true...”
Yi Do silently looked at Dokgo Dan-ya.
He did not avoid his gaze. He did not lower his eyes or bow his body.
He stood proud.
A faint smile appeared on Dokgo Dan-ya's lips as he continued.
“What punishment would be appropriate?”
Yi Do answered in a firm voice.
“Before that, may I speak first?”
“Go on.”
“You once told me that the Asura Sword Sect was a free place, a place that walked the Path of Hegemony.”
“I did.”
“But the Asura Sword Sect I have seen is far from the Path of Hegemony.”
“...Hm.”
“It feels like looking at a sandcastle on the verge of collapse.”
All the elders bristled at those words. However, Dokgo Dan-ya raised a hand and stopped them.
“Continue.”
“Strictly speaking, the former branch members of the Three Phoenix Branch have nothing to do with me. I do not know who they were, and I never met them. But for an organization to remain whole, it must clear the grievances of those beneath it and take revenge for them.”
“...”
“What do you think they thought as they were dying? When not only they but everyone belonging to the Asura Sword Sect died fighting, what do you think they thought of first?”
Silence fell over the hall.
“They carried out their missions at the cost of their lives because they believed the Asura Sword Sect would surely avenge them. Yet this was concealed. No proper investigation was conducted. You tucked your tails between your legs because you feared mere conflict. One of you even tried to cover up the incident under the pretext of protecting his own people. He brutally killed more than ten talented people merely to protect two worms. If this is not a sandcastle, then what is it?”
“...Three Phoenix Branch Leader.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“You are right a hundred times over.”
Dokgo Dan-ya's gaze was warm.
Of course, Dokgo Dan-ya had things he could say.
That he had entered secluded cultivation. That he had focused solely on guarding against outside enemies. There were many such excuses.
But in the end, this was all the Sect Leader's fault for allowing the elders' factions to remain unchecked.
Dokgo Dan-ya asked.
“What punishment would you like to see?”
Yi Do turned his head.
His eyes met Neung-don's.
Yi Do's gaze was cold.
To be honest, the man called Neung-don irritated him.
If Neung-don had admitted to all his crimes and rushed out to destroy the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect, taking down one or two elders and several branches with him before dying together with them, then Yi Do could at least have shown some leniency to preserve his honor.
But judging by the state of him, he clearly lacked even that much courage.
Yi Do did not particularly like this method to begin with.
Still, the true master of the Asura Sword Sect was Dokgo Dan-ya.
And Dokgo Dan-ya had surely spent the most time with Neung-don.
Therefore, it was right for Dokgo Dan-ya to deal with this.
Yi Do might act recklessly, but he possessed enough sense to know that much.
He answered without hesitation.
“Cut off all four limbs, tear out his dantian, and hang him by the neck at the main headquarters of the Asura Sword Sect. Then capture and kill everyone who profited behind the scenes because of Neung-don.”
Several elders gasped.
Neung-don's face turned red as though it were about to burst. He glared at Yi Do with eyes full of killing intent.
“He has proven that he cannot even properly manage those beneath him. He has also worsened the chaos within an already disorderly sect. Is there any reason to keep something like that alive?”
Something like that.
At those words, Neung-don's arm trembled.
Humiliation swept over him.
Yet Dokgo Dan-ya did not look at Neung-don. He merely watched Yi Do.
“This is difficult... Very difficult.”
Dokgo Dan-ya stretched out his hand.
The sword hanging in the corner of the Sect Leader's Hall flew from its sheath.
Not toward Yi Do, but toward Neung-don.
Slash!
Neung-don's right arm was severed from the shoulder.
The sword spun once through the air, then thunk, stabbed Neung-don's left eye.
Only then did black smoke scatter through the air.
That was Dokgo Dan-ya's unique martial art, the Dark Asura Heavenly Sword.
The sword naturally drifted through the air again before returning to its sheath.
It was a flawless display of Qi-Controlled Sword.
It all happened in an instant.
Neung-don screamed in pain.
“Quiet.”
The scream immediately stopped.
Dokgo Dan-ya continued speaking calmly.
“You had two eyes, yet you failed to see people for what they were, so I took one eye. You had two sound arms, yet wasted your time handling useless matters, so I cut off one arm. Three Phoenix Branch Leader.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”
“What do you think? Are you satisfied with this much?”
Although Yi Do had just witnessed Qi-Controlled Sword, a technique said to be used only by masters who had reached the Divine Entrance Realm, he showed no particular reaction.
As though it were nothing, he said,
“You are very merciful.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
“Still, what can I do? He is a man who devoted thirty years of his life to the Asura Sword Sect. Should I not give him one chance?”
“If it is the Sect Leader's will, I must accept it.”
Dokgo Dan-ya merely smiled at Yi Do's words.
Wasn't he truly a fine man?
“Neung-don.”
“Yes... Yes, Sect Leader...”
“Reflect on your actions for the time being. You know well that this is your last chance. Do you understand?”
“Yes... I understand.”
“Everyone leave, except for the Three Phoenix Branch Leader.”
“Yes, sir!”
Everyone left at once.
Only Yi Do and Dokgo Dan-ya remained.
Dokgo Dan-ya stepped down from the platform and stood before Yi Do.
Their builds were similar. Both stood around six feet tall.
“Three Phoenix Branch Leader.”
“Yes.”
“As I told you before, the Asura Sword Sect is in great turmoil.”
“...”
“Do you think I should have killed Neung-don?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think I am soft?”
“Yes.”
Dokgo Dan-ya smiled.
“What can I do? The image of the man he used to be, devoted through all those long years, still lingers in my mind. Unlike you, it seems I have yet to gain an iron-blooded heart.”
He spoke as though he were joking.
Yi Do noticed.
Dokgo Dan-ya had no intention of letting Neung-don live.
He intended to kill him.
Yet the reason he had not killed him immediately was...
“Because of the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect?”
“...Oh?”
“I heard that the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect has approached several of this sect's elders. Some have likely already defected, while others stand on the verge of doing so. There is a high chance that Neung-don is one of them. Are you planning to use Neung-don to lay a trap?”
“Something like that.”
“There must be spies within the sect as well. Are you trying to clean them all out at once?”
“That is right.”
“Being Sect Leader must be exhausting.”
Perhaps it was not what he expected to hear, because Dokgo Dan-ya laughed loudly.
Truly.
This went beyond being impressive.
He had liked Yi Do from the beginning, but this was too much.
Yi Do had practically worked his way into his heart.
Dokgo Dan-ya casually asked,
“Are you interested in the position of Junior Sect Leader?”
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