WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 16: Corpse-Blood Valley (1)
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A dark forest.
A woman of alluring beauty wearing a bamboo hat clung to the top of a tree, staring in one direction.
A faint light flickered in the distance.
About a hundred jang away lay the Heaven and Earth Society's camp.
‘Damn it. What am I even doing?’
The woman's true identity was Go Chan, a bodyguard warrior possessing the body of Ha Chae-rin, a candidate for Gate Leader of the Flying Kill Gate.
He had been tracking Mok GyeongUn ever since the Saber King had sealed Mok GyeongUn's acupoints and practically abducted him.
Normally, he would have closed the distance far more while tracking someone, but the Saber King was a monstrous master. He maintained this distance so he would not be discovered by approaching carelessly.
‘At least I can follow him because I roughly know where he is.’
The problem lay elsewhere.
Because he was a spirit familiar bound to Mok GyeongUn, he could instinctively sense where Mok GyeongUn was.
But he had no way to get close.
If not for being a spirit familiar, this would have been the perfect chance to get away from Mok GyeongUn. Yet the farther apart they grew, the more inexplicably anxious he became, leaving him unable to flee.
No, fleeing had been impossible from the start.
If Mok GyeongUn died, he would cease to exist as well.
‘Whew. How did things end up like this?’
Even he found his circumstances absurd.
He lacked talent, and his goal had been to retire and live quietly. Yet it was not enough that he had died pointlessly. Now he was trapped in a woman's body, serving as a slave.
‘What a miserable fate.’
It was difficult to have such terrible fortune.
In any case, if he wanted to remain in this world even a little longer, he had no choice but to serve Mok GyeongUn well.
‘I need to find some way to infiltrate them.’
For now, he was acting this way because he was wary of the Saber King, but he could not keep his distance and trail after Mok GyeongUn forever.
He needed a way to naturally infiltrate the Heaven and Earth Society.
‘Right. Instead of continuing this, I should find a way in first.’
He was a former assassin, after all.
Infiltrating somewhere was second nature to him.
And if he searched through Ha Chae-rin's memories, there were methods of infiltration he had never tried before.
‘Seduction?... Like hell.’
The thought alone made him shudder.
No matter what, he wanted to preserve his last shred of pride.
* * *
Rattle, rattle!
Fifteen days passed like that.
Their method of travel was repetitive.
Once every two days, they stopped somewhere, and each time masked warriors brought back boys between fifteen and eighteen years old.
As this continued, their numbers had already grown to over a hundred.
Mok GyeongUn had asked Taoist occultist Jo Ui-gong a couple of times why they were doing this, but each time, the answer had been that it was none of his concern.
“Why do you think they are doing this?”
At Mok GyeongUn's question, a voice came from the wooden doll on his shoulder.
-I do not know.
“You said you were part of the Heaven and Earth Society.”
-It has been a full hundred years since the Society left my hands. How would this Venerable One know how it operates now?
Even she found it difficult to understand why.
She had one suspicion, but the method was rather strange.
Was there really any need to recruit people this way?
“Every so often, the things you say make it sound as if the Heaven and Earth Society once belonged to you, Blue Spirit.”
-......
“You are not denying it?”
-Do not speak nonsense.
Blue Spirit seemed strangely unwilling to speak of the past.
Was it because even recalling those memories angered her?
Or was there something she wished to hide?
Mok GyeongUn found it odd, but only for a moment. He soon erased the question from his mind.
What mattered was what came next.
“We will arrive soon.”
-Are you nervous?
“I do not know.”
-It would be best if you were. Even if you learned the Moon Vein's sword path from this Venerable One, a mortal like you can barely be called Advanced.
Advanced, beginning stage.
That was Mok GyeongUn's current level of Martial Arts.
Only fifteen days earlier, he had barely been on the verge of advancing from Third-rate to Second-rate.
However, after absorbing and assimilating all the deathly aura he had gained from the battle at Yeonmok Sword Manor, he had formed a dantian equivalent to half of sixty years' worth of internal energy.
In terms of internal energy alone, he had reached Advanced.
Anyone who learned of it would have been astonished.
Though she spoke as if it were nothing, Blue Spirit herself had been quite surprised.
‘It cannot be attributed to luck alone.’
He had learned Eight Forms of Force Breaking, a supreme secret manual, and encountered a string of circumstances no different from fortuitous encounters. Even so, it was hard to deny how remarkable he was.
Reaching the beginning stage of Advanced less than a month after first learning Martial Arts was truly astonishing.
Perhaps martial fortune had followed him because he had begun late.
‘But he still has far to go.’
No matter how astonishing his growth was, the situation remained dire.
When she had been alive, the Heaven and Earth Society had already possessed many masters at Advanced or above. There might be even more now.
At Mok GyeongUn's current level, he could not even continue the Moon Vein's legacy, much less avenge his grandfather.
‘He must grow stronger, faster.’
To do that, he needed to push himself further.
From Advanced onward, Martial Arts entered the realm of enlightenment.
Without enlightenment, progress that should take one year could take ten instead. Without fortune, one could remain stagnant for the rest of one's life.
* * *
Countless mountain peaks stood in view, with a river like a single vein of blood running between them.
The sight below, painted by the setting sun, was magnificent.
Using the river as its center, the mountain peaks formed natural walls around a vast city.
This was the base of the Heaven and Earth Society, one of the three powers dividing the martial world of the Central Plains.
At the center of the city stood its inner city.
Creeeak!
As the gates opened, warriors lined up in two ranks within the inner city and cheered at the sight of a large man riding in like a victorious general.
“Waaaaah!”
The man at the front was Son Yun, the Saber King, one of the Heaven and Earth Society's Five Kings.
A procession of more than three hundred followed behind him.
The men in black were warriors of the Heaven and Earth Society, while around a hundred were boys they had brought with them.
Startled by the cheers, the boys flinched and moved forward one step at a time.
The procession passed through the inner city's main road and entered a broad plaza.
‘Oh?’
The Saber King's eyes brightened as he arrived first at the head of the procession.
An unexpected person was waiting for him.
Tap!
Son Yun lightly dismounted.
Then he gave a fist-and-palm salute to the person waiting for him.
“This Saber King, Son Yun, greets Vice Head Mong.”
A man who appeared to be in his early forties, with white hair, no beard, and serpent-like eyes, returned the fist-and-palm salute.
“You have worked hard, Saber King.”
The man was none other than Mong SeoCheon, Vice Head of the Heaven and Earth Society.
It was quite rare for the Vice Head to personally come greet someone, even one of the Five Kings like Son Yun.
Son Yun laughed heartily.
“Hahahaha! What hardship was there? I merely went out to get some fresh air for the first time in a while.”
“You had to cross the Justice Alliance's territory. It was a mission that could have been dangerous, yet only the Saber King would call it a trip for fresh air.”
“Someone might think I had fought a war and returned in triumph. Let us leave the formalities there. Where is the Council Head?”
He had been given a special mission, so he had to report back.
At that question, Vice Head Mong let out a soft breath before speaking.
“Saber King, I came out personally to urgently relay the Council Head's order.”
“What do you mean, urgently relay an order?”
The Saber King asked in confusion.
They had even sent a carrier pigeon with a rough report of the situation, so he did not understand what was happening.
Vice Head Mong spoke in a low voice.
“The Council Head has ordered that every person you brought be sent to Corpse-Blood Valley at once.”
“They are quick to act as soon as we arrive. Well, that is why we brought them...”
“Not only them.”
“What?”
“The child from Yeonmok Sword Manor who supposedly learned what was mentioned in the carrier pigeon, as well as the child brought as a hostage, are to be sent to Corpse-Blood Valley as well.”
‘!?’
Son Yun frowned.
“...What do you mean? Did the Council Head truly give that order?”
“Yes.”
At the firm reply, Son Yun was momentarily speechless.
They had failed to retrieve the secret manual itself, but after a full hundred years, someone had appeared who could read the cursed manual and learn the Moon Vein's sword formula, whose lineage had been lost.
Yet they were to send him to Corpse-Blood Valley without even confirming it?
“That cannot be. I will go meet the Council Head immediately.”
“You cannot meet the Council Head at present.”
“What are you talking about? This is an order directly given by the Council Head. If that was the intent, we should at least extract the verse formula from the boy's mind before sending him there. This is...”
“Saber King. The Council Head said it was an order issued under the Council Head's authority.”
“...Ha!”
Son Yun truly found it absurd.
However, the Council Head's orders were absolute.
* * *
Bang!
Someone roughly opened the baggage wagon's door and entered.
It was none other than Taoist occultist Jo Ui-gong.
Mok GyeongUn spoke.
“Have we arrived...”
“Things have gone wrong.”
“What?”
Mok GyeongUn asked in confusion at Jo Ui-gong's sudden words.
“What do you mean things have gone wrong?”
Jo Ui-gong answered with an incredulous tone.
“The Council Head has ordered you sent to Corpse-Blood Valley.”
“Corpse-Blood Valley?”
“Ha... To think something this absurd would happen.”
“...I do not understand what you mean at all.”
“There is no time. Take this first.”
What Jo Ui-gong took from their robes and handed over was a ring inscribed with tiny characters.
Mok GyeongUn's eyes shone as he looked at the characters engraved on it.
They were incantations used for certain talismans.
“With several of the incantations inscribed here, you should be able to perform sorcery with hand seals, even without talismans.”
“How could you give me this...”
“Listen carefully. Your chances of surviving Corpse-Blood Valley unharmed are less than one in ten.”
“What do you mean?”
“Survive somehow. I will report to the Pavilion Lord and find a way to get you out of there, so endure no matter what.”
“Endure...”
That was when it happened.
“This is as far as you go.”
Rumble!
Before Mok GyeongUn could finish speaking, warriors wearing red belts and red headbands rushed into the baggage wagon.
* * *
“You!”
Mok YuCheon, now awake, glared at Mok GyeongUn.
For fifteen days, apart from two mealtimes a day and one chance to relieve himself, his Fainting Point had been sealed, leaving him unconscious the entire time.
Naturally, he could not help being angry at Mok GyeongUn, who had done this to him.
“What did you do to me...”
Thwack!
“Urk!”
However, a warrior struck him from behind with a staff before he could say anything else.
Though his Fainting Point, Mute Point, and paralysis point had been released, needles called Golden Gate Locks had been driven into his six ki gateways, restricting his internal energy and leaving him unable to resist.
“Hey. Shut your mouth and walk.”
“...”
Mok YuCheon pursed his lips in displeasure before falling silent and obeying.
For now, he had no choice but to follow their orders.
‘Damn it.’
What kind of misfortune was this to wake up to?
Was this how the Heaven and Earth Society treated hostages?
He followed the person ahead in a single line along a dark, narrow slope. It felt as though he had been taken prisoner and sent to forced labor.
‘What are they trying to do?’
Unlike the confused Mok YuCheon, Mok GyeongUn remained perfectly calm.
Jo Ui-gong's warning had already told him something had gone wrong.
‘What is Corpse-Blood Valley?’
That was his only immediate question.
What could they possibly do there that required them to drive Golden Gate Locks into their bodies before sending them in?
Even Blue Spirit did not know what Corpse-Blood Valley was.
With that question in mind, they walked without rest for roughly three two-hour periods. At last, a broad, shallow valley lit by torches on all sides came into view.
‘There are this many?’
Numerous boys waited there in five rows.
Once the hundred or so people including Mok GyeongUn and Mok YuCheon joined them, there appeared to be around eight hundred in total.
As they arrived, a booming voice rang out.
“Welcome to Corpse-Blood Valley.”
Everyone turned toward the voice.
There was a huge censer and a massive boulder.
Atop the boulder stood someone in a gray Evil Spirit Mask, hands clasped behind their back with an arrogant air.
Once everyone was looking, the Evil Spirit Mask spoke.
“From this moment, you have something to do.”
With those words, the figure took something from their robes.
It was an iron bead about the size of a finger joint.
‘What is that?’
‘What are they planning?’
As everyone wondered what it was, the Evil Spirit Mask spoke.
“You have half an hour. There are iron beads resembling this one in the valley's water. Find one and come before this great censer. Those who fail to find one will die.”
‘!!!!!!’
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