WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Alyo
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Memoir of a Regressor ◈
Chapter 67: You Should Have Run Away
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In less than four hours, the rumor that Three Phoenix County had been stained with blood swept through neighboring Jangam County.
The territorial struggle between the Asura Sword Sect and the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect had been fierce from the start.
Three Phoenix County and Jangam County, in particular, had drawn the attention of the Martial World.
Beatings, assaults, assassinations, and the repeated massacres of merchant caravans passing through Bibong Mountain.
The sects of Jangam County had done all of it, nearly monopolizing Bibong Mountain in the process.
Three Phoenix County had mounted counterattacks several times, but they had all been so passive that it was difficult to call them counterattacks at all.
This time was different.
Yi Do, the newly appointed Cruel Demonic Way, had retaliated beyond anyone’s imagination.
When a merchant caravan from Three Phoenix County passing through Bibong Mountain was massacred, he massacred a Jangam County caravan on the same route that very day, then took the heads of the Clan Heads from the four families behind it.
The heavy rain had hidden it from everyone, but what madman would stop at massacring a caravan, then immediately infiltrate Jangam County to take the Clan Heads’ heads?
It was shocking.
His actions defied imagination.
This time was no different.
Pung Bi-chang, the Branch Leader of the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect, had responded in an entirely reasonable manner.
He had threatened the families in an effort to destroy Three Phoenix County from within.
He gave them money and made promises behind the scenes.
Yet that scheme had collapsed completely because of Yi Do’s actions.
No.
Who could have expected him to wipe out the very families of Three Phoenix County, his own territory?
The Jangam Branch of the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect now had only one course of action.
Pung Bi-chang spoke.
“Make all the preparations.”
What they were to prepare for was obvious.
“At dawn tomorrow, we will destroy Three Phoenix County.”
Pung Bi-chang distributed cultivation resources, along with a small amount of spiritual medicine, to everyone.
He had made up his mind.
Even within Jangam County, complaints had begun to surface that the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect’s handling of affairs was unsatisfactory.
Arrogant bastards.
Who had been looking after them all this time?
He wanted to gather them together and give them a piece of his mind, but there was something he had to do first.
Three Phoenix County.
In the end, it was Yi Do of Three Phoenix County.
He had to kill that bastard.
Kill him, then kill every family in Three Phoenix County.
Kill them all.
* * *
After briefly stopping by the Heavenly Intelligence Gate and returning to the branch, I found the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief waiting on the first floor.
“I don’t know if you heard, but it’s all over.”
“You worked hard.”
“So what happens now? Are you just going to let me go?”
I nodded.
The Thousand-Mile Divine Thief rose from his seat.
“...I don’t know what you’re planning, but I hope we never meet again.”
As he turned to leave, I tossed out a question.
“Are you just leaving?”
He turned his head.
“I have a gift for you.”
“...A gift?”
I silently walked over and sat in an empty chair.
“Sit.”
“...What now? Don’t tell me you’re going back on your word. If there’s still something you want me to do, I absolutely will not...”
“You will be hunted from now on.”
The Thousand-Mile Divine Thief pressed his lips together. That was why he had been so cold toward me from the beginning.
The Thousand-Mile Divine Thief, who had disappeared for some time, had resurfaced. He had first been framed for stealing thirty Asura Pills, and this time it was real.
I did not know what people would think, but one thing was certain.
The name Thousand-Mile Divine Thief would spread through the world once more.
And that meant he would be hunted. After all, he had robbed Jangam County, which lay under the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect’s control.
“I will keep my promise. Today, you died.”
“...What?”
“It means you are dead.”
The Thousand-Mile Divine Thief began gathering his energy. I laughed. He appeared to have misunderstood me.
“...You truly are a demonic fiend. What kind of nonsense is this, saying you will kill the man who kept his promise? Can you still call yourself a man after saying such things? Do you think you'll get away unscathed after committing such a heinous act? I may not have lived long, but I have never seen a demonic fiend like you in my life...”
“There were many corpses in Three Phoenix County today.”
“...”
“One of those corpses will become you. You died today. I will handle the matter of who killed you and how, so return to your hometown.”
“...Are you telling the truth?”
“Did I not say I would keep my promise? I said I would free you, and I said I would clear you of the false accusation. If the name Thousand-Mile Divine Thief disappears, will that not make you free?”
“...But is that really so easy?”
“It is not easy, but adding your death to the board I have already laid out will not be a problem. I have already decided who the killer will be, so you need not worry. And.”
I tossed him a pouch filled with gold coins.
The Thousand-Mile Divine Thief staggered from its weight as he caught it.
When he checked its contents, his eyes widened.
“...What is this...?”
“Payment for your work.”
“...Aren’t there far too many Gold Taels? And this... I believe it is a fifty-year-old Cheonhwa Pill. If you have something like this, why not take it yourself instead of giving it to me...?”
“Thousand-Mile Divine Thief.”
“...Speak.”
“Unless you build up further debts and grudges, your life as Na Mu-gi, the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief, ends today. Consider it a true retirement, washing your hands in a golden basin.”
“...”
“As you said, we will never meet again. Live well with your daughter in the Yan Kingdom. Go now.”
The Thousand-Mile Divine Thief blinked blankly. After thinking deeply, as though he could not understand, he spoke with a complicated expression.
“...I am sorry for misunderstanding you.”
“Forget it.”
“...No matter what the world says, I will remember you as a great hero.”
“I do not care how you remember me.”
“How I remember you is my freedom, is it not?”
He was not wrong, so I did not bother answering.
He performed a cupped-fist salute.
“Thank you. May you enjoy a long life.”
The Thousand-Mile Divine Thief turned and began to run. In an instant, his body vanished.
Myeong-hyeon and Un Do-hyeon entered shortly afterward. Myeong-hyeon looked as though he had many questions.
“If you have something to say, say it.”
“...Is it really all right to let him go like that?”
“Is there a reason not to?”
“...He has vaguely realized that I learned Demonic arts. If the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief changes his mind, this could become very troublesome.”
“I promised him.”
“...Isn’t creating a meaningful outcome more important than a promise?”
Myeong-hyeon was unexpectedly serious. Normally, Un Do-hyeon would have interrupted, but he remained silent as well. He seemed a little puzzled too.
Myeong-hyeon had completely closed his Meridians. His personality was normal as well.
So I answered him.
“To me, a promise is more important.”
“...”
“Even if keeping a promise were to destroy everything I have done, I would keep it. If I do not keep my own promises, how could I shamelessly demand that others keep theirs?”
“...Isn’t that what most people do?”
“That is them. I am not them. I keep a promise once I have made it.”
There were times when I phrased my promises a little vaguely.
Wang Mu-tan and Jin Geon, whom I killed in the branch basement not long ago, had been one such case.
I told them I would spare them. But cutting off their limbs, rupturing their dantians, and sending them to the Asura Sword Sect with only their necks left intact still counted as sparing them.
That was why I gave them two choices. The first was my earlier proposal, while the second was death by my hand.
I had never broken a promise.
Goodwill for goodwill, kindness for kindness, grudge for grudge.
It was a simple principle.
“Was that what you were curious about? Whether I would keep my promise to you or not?”
“...I was, but not that much. I trusted that you would understand.”
“I understand.”
Myeong-hyeon sighed, then bowed his head to me.
“I am sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“...For doubting you. It is just that you are so different from everyone I have seen in my life that I kept questioning it. If that displeased you, I apologize for that as well.”
“Forget it. I am neither displeased nor upset. Raise your head.”
Myeong-hyeon lifted his head. He smiled awkwardly.
“That expression suits you much better.”
“...Is that a compliment?”
“Think whatever you like. And Un Do-hyeon.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“I looked over the inventory of the items taken from Heavenly Forest. There were Bone-Melting Needle Crossbows. Did you sell those too?”
“No. There were hundreds of needles coated in Bone-Melting Powder, so I set them aside separately. I thought we might use them at any time.”
“How many did you set aside?”
“Five Bone-Melting Needle Crossbows.”
Five. Not bad.
Bone-Melting Needle Crossbows were concealed weapons made with Bone-Melting Powder, which could melt even bone. They were similar to crossbows, except they fired needles rather than bolts, and those needles were heavily coated in Bone-Melting Powder.
“Carry two each.”
“Me too?”
Myeong-hyeon had asked that.
“Yes, you too. You cannot reveal your Demonic arts, so should you not use concealed weapons instead?”
What I meant was obvious.
“Tomorrow, the branch members from the Jangam Branch will come.”
“...”
“Prepare yourselves.”
As though he had grown accustomed to it, Myeong-hyeon smiled, while Un Do-hyeon nodded.
“Was there no separate letter from No Dae-won?”
As if he had been waiting for that question, Un Do-hyeon handed me a letter.
A smile formed at the corner of my mouth.
* * *
The following day, around seven to nine in the morning, twenty men and women entered through the western gate of Three Phoenix County.
Their presence was murderous.
They had been taking losses continuously. They had worked schemes behind the scenes, but every one of them had been seen through.
They had tried to shatter Three Phoenix County from the bottom up and make its people reject the Asura Sword Sect on their own.
They had failed.
Now they had to act.
Pung Bi-chang, the Giant Spirit Divine Fist, shouted.
“Yi Do, the Cruel Demonic Way of the Asura Sword Sect, come out here at once...”
His words trailed off.
They could not help but trail off.
Slowly.
Three people walked toward Pung Bi-chang.
The man at the very front.
The moment Pung Bi-chang saw his face, his brow furrowed deeply.
That bastard he had wanted so badly to find was the Cruel Demonic Way, Yi Do.
He had studied the wanted portrait countless times, enough to know every wrinkle on that face.
As a master of the Five Qis Return to Origin realm, Pung Bi-chang had confidence in his own skill. Perhaps that was why these words came naturally from his mouth.
“...Your confidence is impressive.”
Who stood around them now?
There were passersby, but they were not members of the Asura Sword Sect.
There were only three of them.
Only three, standing before twenty members of the Jangam Branch.
It was absurd.
Yi Do stopped about thirty meters away, and Pung Bi-chang asked him.
“What gives you such confidence?”
Yi Do’s expression did not change. He merely looked silently at Pung Bi-chang.
“Answer me.”
He remained silent.
After watching Pung Bi-chang for a while, Yi Do gave a faint, humorless laugh.
“You came to Three Phoenix County when I was away before.”
“...So?”
“You pulled an interesting trick at the time. Surely you were prepared to die when you did it.”
Ha.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
Wild laughter burst out.
It stopped abruptly.
“You mad bastard. I wondered what you were talking about, and it was being prepared to die? Should that not be my line instead? It was not enough for you to turn Jangam County upside down. You even used the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief. Hand over everything he stole from Jangam County. Do that, and I may spare the two behind you.”
“The Thousand-Mile Divine Thief? I do not know what you mean.”
“...What?”
“Did you not kill the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief yourselves?”
For a moment, Pung Bi-chang was stunned. What nonsense was this bastard saying...?
“On your way here, you tore the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief’s limbs apart. Un Do-hyeon.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Repeat what you told me earlier.”
Un Do-hyeon, who had been standing behind Yi Do, stepped forward and answered.
“Our informants concealed in Bibong Mountain report that precisely seven and a half minutes ago, these people crossed Bibong Mountain, found the Thousand-Mile Divine Thief hiding there, and killed him. They tore his limbs apart and mutilated his face until it was almost unrecognizable. The informants are recovering the body now and bringing it here.”
“He was a thief who had retired... How tragic. He only wished to clear his false accusation... As expected of the Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect. They commit crimes themselves, then even destroy the evidence. Would it not be fair to say they are walking the Demonic Way?”
“My lord is entirely correct. The Heaven-Breaking Fist Sect is clearly walking the Demonic Way.”
Myeong-hyeon, who had been standing to the side, gave a faint laugh and joined in.
“There were rumors that Pung Bi-chang over there had dealings with demonic practitioners before... Now that I see it, those rumors must have been true. And honestly, look at his face. Does he not look like a complete bastard? That is clearly the face of a demonic practitioner.”
Pung Bi-chang and the martial artists of the Jangam Branch clenched their fists.
These sons of bitches.
“...What are you trying to do?”
The dense killing intent of a Five Qis Return to Origin master spread in every direction.
A gentle smile appeared on Yi Do’s lips.
The killing intent rising from that smile pushed back Pung Bi-chang’s own, enough to startle him.
The Thousand-Mile Divine Thief’s role had been to plunge Jangam County into confusion.
He had to create and intensify an atmosphere of distrust toward the Jangam Branch.
He had to isolate the Jangam Branch from the massive entity that was Jangam County.
Had the Sect Leader’s letter not arrived, the Jangam Branch would have been annihilated that day.
“You should have run away instead of coming to Three Phoenix County.”
Yi Do drew the Cloud Dragon Sword.
It happened in an instant.
Tap.
Yi Do’s body vanished from its spot.
He reappeared beside a Jangam Branch member standing at the far end. The startled man tried to throw a punch.
But before he could, the Cloud Dragon Sword swept through where his neck had been.
Rumble!
His head fell to the ground.
Yi Do’s killing eyes stared directly at Pung Bi-chang.
“Since you did not, the Jangam Branch will be annihilated today.”
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