WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 152: Contact (3)
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‘What a disgrace.’
It was oddly fitting language, the sort used by back-alley thugs.
Jeong Yeon-shin calmly raised a cupped-fist salute to Ak Su-rim in response to her encouragement.
“I have something to ask.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“The Great Revitalization Pill offered as a reward for the grand founding ceremony. May I use it for personal reasons?”
The moment the boy asked in an even tone,
“Ahahaha!”
Ak Su-rim burst into loud laughter. Her short black hair shook wildly as she swayed, repeatedly smacking Jeong Yeon-shin’s shoulder with one hand.
The boy stood silently, watching her lips. She exhaled once. Her breathing had broken several times amid her laughter, yet she had not drawn another breath.
It was a sight that revealed an unnervingly deep attainment in Static Training.
“Your arrogant way of speaking suits you surprisingly well.”
Ak Su-rim spoke through her laughter, then asked,
“Are you going to take it?”
“I heard it’s good for restoring one’s health. I intend to give it to my maternal grandfather...”
“Ha.”
A small sigh escaped her. Her gaze grew gentler.
“Old Man Ma probably already has all manner of medicinal ingredients and divine physicians clinging to him, but there really is no spiritual medicine like the Great Revitalization Pill. You grew up properly, didn’t you? You forgave that wreck of a maternal family of yours... I doubt you’ll ever cause trouble wherever you go, kid.”
“...”
Jeong Yeon-shin fell silent beside Ma Jin’s dry cough.
Ak Su-rim placed the hand not holding her spear shaft on her hip.
“Of course you may. The Great Revitalization Pill isn’t the mission objective. It’s enough to attend the grand founding ceremony as an envoy, observe the Martial Alliance, and crush their morale as a young supreme master. Honestly, what kind of blessings did Old Man Ma receive in his later years? He didn’t even accumulate virtue in his youth. Do you know how much I suffered under the previous Divine Sword Squad Leader?”
She grumbled, even drawing her brows together.
“His good fortune in old age is absurd. I was wondering how to get revenge, so what should I do?”
“Thank you for the answer. Then this junior will be going now...”
“Ah.”
Just as Jeong Yeon-shin was about to turn away, she let out a low exclamation and narrowed her eyes.
Her gaze swept over the boy from head to toe once more. There was something startling in it.
“If his maternal grandson became the husband of the Divine Sword Squad Deputy Leader...”
The corners of her lips rose.
“Wouldn’t he rise right out of his grave? That old man hated me terribly. He called me an unruly subordinate.”
“...”
Jeong Yeon-shin stared at his great senior.
Lately, strange sensations had occasionally come with the ache in his knees. Seeing someone with the appearance of a girl his age speak of a husband brought something to mind.
‘The opposite sex is catching my eye. I’m growing older.’
He recognized another kind of growth. It was not just his limbs that were growing.
Peculiar emotions churned within him. He had never before found himself conscious of women for no reason. It was truly strange, and frightening.
Along with that natural change, death seemed to draw closer and brush his spine. A shiver rose through his Baihui acupoint.
‘Just go away.’
As he stood there blankly for a moment, Ak Su-rim’s smile deepened. Soon, she gave a soft laugh, tapped the boy’s shoulder, and turned away.
The sound of her robes brushing together drifted softly through the air, along with a larklike voice.
“Look at that expression. I can’t even tease you.”
“That wasn’t a joke. It was harassment. Let’s go, Yeon-shin.”
Ma Jin said, shaking his head.
That was the end of it. The Great Revitalization Pill was a supreme treasure, so even as Jeong Yeon-shin asked, he had not been fully certain.
He needed to confirm it before leaving. If he could not bring it into the main fortress and use it personally, he would have had to find another way.
‘Now it’s settled.’
Knowing his concern had been needless, he felt lighter.
The mission personnel had been decided, and he had set down his mental burden. His preparations to head out once more were complete.
“I wish you good fortune in the martial world.”
“I hope all of you remain in good health.”
He exchanged farewells in turn with the Law Enforcement Squad Leader, the Annihilation Squad Leader, and the Azure Sky Squad Leader. The Swift Heaven Wing Squad Leader also returned his cupped-fist salute with a reluctant expression.
His first gathering, turbulent in its own small way, had ended. Jeong Yeon-shin immediately set off.
He still had one final task to complete after taking office as Squad Leader. He moved on while avoiding the Little Sword Empress’s hand as it reached out to lightly grab the back of his neck.
“Let’s have breakfast together tomorrow!”
She called after him.
It sounded different to the boy. Rather than an invitation to breakfast, it sounded like a sword being drawn.
‘We should spar on the way to the Assembly. I’m curious about the Jeomchang Sect’s sword arts.’
* * *
A scholarly young man approached a small river.
He was exceptionally handsome. His narrow jawline gave him a delicate impression.
His eyes did not match his appearance. Colorless radiance flickered within them, proof of extremely deep inner-energy cultivation.
Immortal Dragon, Jegal Hyeon.
The Young Family Head of the Jegal Family, serving as the Head Chief Steward of the Martial Alliance Assembly, slowly clasped his hands behind his back.
At a glance, his posture seemed leisurely. Only his larger movements were.
As he moved the white grasping fan in his right hand behind his back, the tip of its ribs trembled slightly.
Such trembling did not suit an elegant work of craftsmanship, like the white-feather fan said to have been held by Marquis Wu Zhuge Liang. It was because of its owner’s feelings.
Step.
He moved carefully, taking in the scent of autumn.
The newborn season settled beneath clear sunlight.
This was beside a river in Hanzhong, Shaanxi Province. Early autumn leaves, rare in the Hanzhong Basin, fell above him.
The Martial Alliance’s main headquarters.
It was one of the riverbanks in Hanzhong, which had become a center of the martial world alongside the Jegal Family.
It had an atmosphere that scholars and artists who devoted themselves to qin, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and befriended nature, would envy.
The fact that the Huangbo Family and Namgung Family had been swept aside by Desolate Fortress’s sword was only a pretext for forming the Martial Alliance Assembly.
Since Desolate Fortress had been established with the founding of the Ming, the orthodox sects across the realm had constantly sought a chance to unite.
The vastness of the headquarters, built beside even a tributary of the Yangtze River, proved as much. Dozens of hall complexes lined both sides of the small river in magnificent rows.
The Martial Alliance had been under constant construction since ancient times.
Yet none of it entered Jegal Hyeon’s eyes.
It was because he felt spring in autumn.
The gift of autumn resting on the dirt looked especially lovely. It was a vividly colored maple leaf.
The beautiful young man slowly bent down. When he picked it up with his lightly extended fingertips, sunlight layered over the leaf and brought out a brilliant red glow.
As he straightened and looked at it again, the slightly damp leaf shone with bright color.
‘Like her.’
For a while, the young man quietly looked down at the maple leaf.
“I heard you called for me.”
A smooth, beautiful voice drowned out the sound of water by the river. Gentle ripples spread across the mirrorlike surface.
Jegal Hyeon spread his grasping fan wide behind his back and turned.
The place beneath his feet had changed from a landscape painting into a painting of a beauty. That was how it seemed to the young man.
Jegal Hyeon looked ahead.
A woman with both eyes wrapped in white cloth entered his view. She was a beauty enough to shame fish and bring down geese, like a descended fairy.
Sunlight rippled over the hair that fell long below her shoulders.
Her red hair contrasted with the pure white palace robe she wore. It shone red as silk, more beautiful than the maple leaves.
Jegal Hyeon hid the leaf between his fingers behind his back. It was a subtle gesture.
“Miss Ye.”
He opened his mouth.
“I’ve decided to participate in the grand founding ceremony. If we obtain the Great Revitalization Pill, we can make a deal that serves two purposes. You can cure your qi deviation, and I can receive the Ye Clan’s protection in private... Your desire to regain your natural eyes and hair moved me. This Jegal will support you.”
He spoke as if he had made a great decision. The corners of Miss Ye’s lips rose slightly.
“A rumor I heard recently.”
She slowly parted her lips.
“They say that once one cultivates the Blood Flame Sect’s martial arts to the realm of an Apostle, one’s hair turns black. It also grants regenerative abilities.”
“That’s a cruel joke. To say such things in the heart of the Martial Alliance Assembly...”
A bitter smile formed on the young man’s lips.
“Your hair is beautiful in its own right, Miss Ye. It is vastly different from the lowly, murky red hair of blood demons. You must realize that from the fact that no one would dare mention the Blood Flame Sect before you. If anything, aren’t there simply many people who follow you?”
Their quiet conversation continued.
Jegal Hyeon did most of the talking. The woman listened in silence, occasionally tossing out a single remark. Even that was enough to brighten the young man’s face, enough for even him to notice.
‘Of course.’
He did not think much of it. Miss Ye was unusually captivating. No, to Jegal Hyeon, she was the only one.
She had slapped him when they first met. It had happened while he was with the sect leader of the Ye Clan Sword School, who had been invited as an honored retainer of the Martial Alliance Assembly.
While discussing envoys for the grand founding ceremony and the young expert from Desolate Fortress, she had sharply pointed out that his careless words were making the Assembly’s masters lower their guard.
To Miss Ye, who stood before him now.
Her resolve.
Her martial arts, formidable beyond her years.
They said her qi deviation had discolored her hair and taken her sight. Even so, she could distinguish objects in all directions.
It meant her aura sense had reached a high realm. Jegal Hyeon thought that if she had not lost her eye technique, she could have become a match for him.
“I hope you’ll watch in comfort.”
Jegal Hyeon said with a faint smile, recalling the news brought by the Beggars’ Sect’s Successor Beggar.
Demon Wings Seom-ye. His martial prowess was said to be enough to stand alongside the elders of the great sects.
He was a troublesome figure whom they should hope would not attend the grand founding ceremony.
‘Even so, he’s a rising master. There must be some weakness. It would be best if he didn’t come, but... we should prepare. There is also the order the Family Head gave.’
Setting aside his thoughts, he invited Miss Ye to return with him.
The Jegal Family residence and the Ye Clan’s lodgings were close together.
She shook her head and refused. She did not wish to concern herself with the eyes of others.
Jegal Hyeon turned away in disappointment.
His feet did not wish to leave, but he forced himself not to look back.
After he had walked for some time and was far away,
“What an insignificant thing.”
The Seventh Apostle muttered.
* * *
The hall of Desolate Fortress’s Demon Wings was more chaotic than ever. Laborers and unfamiliar martial artists bustled about everywhere. No one stopped them.
The Demon Wings martial artists simply stood blankly to one side, watching valuable treasures move back and forth.
The fifteen or so masters and twelve unranked disciples did the same.
“What is all that?”
Shin So-bin had just arrived from the Training Hall, looking fascinated. Hyeon Won-chang shook his head and replied,
“I heard it’s all for Young Hero Jeong. They say there’s nowhere to stack the goods, so they’re even borrowing the courtyard.”
“Let me see. There are servants from the Chief Steward’s Office and martial artists belonging to the Grand Chief Steward too. It looks like Senior Seom-ye’s achievements were settled first. Since merit rewards come from the Chief Steward’s Office, that’s all the reward from the Sichuan expedition? Hmm...”
As if deep in thought, Shin So-bin placed a finger beneath the chin and hummed.
The expression on Shin So-bin’s face as Shin So-bin watched the servants and masters from different affiliations was unusual.
Having grown up in a prestigious martial family, Shin So-bin was worldly and knew how to appraise the value of the goods passing before them.
“That doesn’t look like silk, but cloth woven from heavenly silkworm silk. The porcelain that person is carrying is white porcelain imported from the east... Wow, it’s incredibly rare. How did they... Is silver not enough? Is gold so scarce that they’re sending goods like that? Huh? Those are masters of the Ma family. There are bundles of Spirit-Treasured Jade, and are all those treasured swords they’re carrying in armfuls being handed over for training?”
“That’s right.”
Ma Jin, standing nearby, wore a strange expression.
“The main family has finally come to its senses. Unconditional support has arrived. It’s complete support.”
“Ah...”
Shin So-bin nodded.
“Come to think of it, Senior Seom-ye, no, the Squad Leader, is blood kin of a prestigious family. They say the previous Squad Leader will soon become the Family Head, so perhaps Aunt Ju is reading the situation?”
“Perhaps.”
Ma Jin, who had been designated as the next Ma Family Head, replied.
Shin So-bin’s gaze shifted elsewhere. Only the area around Jeong Yeon-shin’s room was quiet.
Four martial artists blocked the door.
“The Law Enforcement Squad...? They came with the Chief Steward’s Office, right? What did they bring that Law Enforcement Squad masters are guarding it themselves?”
They were those who upheld the main fortress’s laws.
All were elite masters in Blue Uniform long robes, and their stern expressions as they stood before the room were far from ordinary.
Ma Jin answered briefly.
“A Lesser Revitalization Pill.”
Footnotes:
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