WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 241: Opening One's Eyes (5)
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“...”
A wind blew over the cliff, sweeping through the broad brush.
The sound of it brushing past the scattered rocks was unusually loud. It meant everyone had fallen silent.
There was no helping it.
The deaths of the Demonic Sect Masters.
The order of a vast, carefully constructed city had been shattered to its foundations. Anyone from Xi’an would have felt something strange at the sight.
Countless people had gathered atop the peaks surrounding the gorge.
Some sat as they pleased beneath the brush. Others had climbed trees. Men and women in silk robes sat solemnly atop palanquins...
Similar yet varied groups stretched out in a long line.
Before long, the whispers of those who broke the silence grew just as numerous.
“What sort of hidden master entered the world to possess such skill...?”
“A hidden master? Look at that face. He’s absurdly young.”
“Just who is he...?”
“You, find out who those light-sword fighters are. If they intend to settle in Xi’an, we cannot overlook them. Treat them as though elites equal to those of the Nine Sects or the Thirteen Heavens have arrived. Investigate them thoroughly.”
“Will that be enough? The order of Xi’an is about to change.”
“I know. Hmm, the Northern Light Inn used by the Sungyeo Branch Master will be vacant. We’ll use that place. Go inform that person... No, I shall go myself.”
All kinds of people began to move. Carrier pigeons burst through the brush, flapping into the sky in every direction.
Their response was remarkably swift. Many also departed with lightness skill, kicking up clouds of dust.
Amid the commotion, beneath brown pine needles, Cloud Sword Dragon Weiji Myo-hwa was looking down at Jeong Yeon-shin as well.
Her bearing differed from that of the other martial heroes.
She gripped her sword tightly as if ready to leap out at any moment, with a translucent blue veil lowered before her face. Even so, she could not conceal the poise of an elegant disciple from a prestigious sect.
The presence of an extraordinary swordsman naturally drew people’s eyes.
Her graceful jawline, figure, and very air all stood apart. Many nearby stole glances at her.
She paid them no mind.
‘Young Hero Seom-ye...’
No, he was no longer in a position where she could call him a young hero. Who would address one of the Divine Sword Squad’s Seventeen Squad Leaders so lightly? Even relying on their acquaintance, Young Master would be the limit.
A gentle wistfulness filled Weiji Myo-hwa’s eyes.
She had roamed the martial world alongside the boy in blue who had attacked the Huangbo branch family. They were good memories. The feelings those memories brought were sweet as well.
Back then, chivalry had been everything to her, and Zhongnan’s martial brothers supported her purpose. Her master and grandmartial uncle were alive and well, too.
At first.
Together with Jeong Yeon-shin, she had deciphered the sword sect’s Nine Yang Unified Art. The Sword Immortal of Zhongnan, her grandmartial uncle, had been with them as well.
‘I fell into a heart demon.’
She had been troubled after seeing the boy easily draw out the Radiant Sword Flow. It was right after she realized that the talent she had arrogantly believed was the finest under heaven was insignificant.
Yet it had been all right. She escaped the heart demon after hearing her grandmartial uncle’s words, after he had seen through Jeong Yeon-shin’s lifespan. It was not some base relief. It had grown into compassion.
All those memories were with the Zhongnan Sect.
Green hills, the cliff across from her marked with sword scars, the boy performing a sword dance in the light, Weiji Myo-hwa blankly watching him, the Sword Immortal of Zhongnan laughing heartily... Mount Zhongnan, and the scent of grass from those memories.
The Leader of Demon Wings from Desolate Fortress had made Zhongnan’s senior disciple remember her sect.
It was strange. It was because of fate.
Gratitude welled up within her, accompanied by feelings that grew just as strong.
Without realizing it, she bit her lower lip.
‘I’m sorry... I’m truly sorry...’
She had failed to protect Jeong Hye. She had lost her to the Heavenly Net of two of the Thirteen Heavens. No matter what she did, she could not find her.
Even after searching frantically with Sword Venerable Baek Seo-gun, they had only wandered aimlessly. Jeong Hye’s trail had been completely concealed.
It was devastating.
Then they heard rumors that the Masters of the Seven Great Sects of Xian were fighting someone and came to see.
She had not expected it to be Jeong Yeon-shin. Not even in her dreams. Not when she still had not recovered Jeong Hye.
“You seem to have much to say. I’ve raised an aura barrier, so speak freely.”
The swordsman beside her, who wore a bamboo hat and stared intently below, spoke.
Short gray hair hung carelessly beneath the loose chin strap. It was Spirit Sky Sword Ghost Baek Seo-gun.
She had drawn attention alongside Weiji Myo-hwa.
The strange tips of her half-white hair were visible, but no one spoke of the Heart Martial Union’s Sword Venerable.
That was because she lived in a world far removed from theirs. A monster from another realm. That was how people viewed the second-in-command of a major faction among the Thirteen Heavens.
They simply noticed her for her extraordinary aura, no less striking than Weiji Myo-hwa’s.
Her glossy satin sleeves hung long and loose, while her upright posture carried an air of nobility.
Her downward-curved lips, as if she found all things tiresome, were directed at the young supreme expert beneath the gorge.
“That sense is a true treasure. It could leave its mark on the history of the martial world.”
Baek Seo-gun’s lips moved.
“They say he inherited Tyrant Hero’s blood, but he must be the result of that bastard Jeong Ban-ak’s face. Because that petty man’s looks were beyond this world... a child like that was born. He is pleasing to the eye, especially after seeing nothing but this Union’s First Young Master.”
“I cannot go down.”
Baek Seo-gun let out a faint laugh at Weiji Myo-hwa’s murmur.
“Because of your paltry guilt? You are terribly weak, and arrogant as well. Do you think someone like you could have broken the Heavenly Net of two of the Thirteen Heavens? Your self-reproach is absurd. With that kind child’s nature, he would likely comfort you instead.”
“...Are you not hesitating as well, Senior Sword Venerable? You said you had a connection with Young Master Jeong...”
“...”
Baek Seo-gun closed her lips.
- You have received all the love I could not give you. Your complexion is so healthy.
It was her own voice. A careless voice sharp enough to pierce the mind she had once filled with nothing but the sword.
The things she had prattled to Jeong Ban-ak’s son, satisfied with herself, stirred through her mind.
She had not cared about the conflicts of a Zhongnan Sect child.
Now she carried regret and shame she had never known before. The misunderstanding she had clung to for so long had been ridiculous.
‘His face has grown a little slimmer. His body has become sturdier in the meantime. He changes every day.’
Seom-ye Jeong Yeon-shin.
Though she looked down at the face she had wished to see again, she could not readily take a step forward. Even though she was the Heart Martial Union’s second-strongest sword demon.
With the Body Movement Scripture she possessed, she could reach him in a single step. Yet her heart wavered between the attendant who might have become the boy’s nanny and the Sword Venerable whose name had shaken Henan.
She had never worried about the Masters of the Seven Great Clans of Xian. No matter how strong they were, they were beneath the Thirteen Heavens.
They lacked the standing to break Desolate Fortress Demon Wings’ treasured sword. That was the Sword Venerable’s view.
“This child...”
Baek Seo-gun slowly parted her lips.
“May make matters much larger. A Desolate Fortress Squad Leader is a rank that concerns itself with all under heaven. Every one of the Seventeen Squads was like that. Seom-ye will be no different. I may be able to aid him before long. I can meet him then.”
The attendant bearing the treasured sword spoke in an archaic tone.
She was the embodiment of contradiction. She had dressed up her inner turmoil in convincing words.
Her slightly raised chin looked particularly proud, though her thoughts were surely otherwise.
Weiji Myo-hwa did not point it out. She was in no position to concern herself with that.
- He does not have much time left to live.
Those were the words of the Sword Immortal of Zhongnan after seeing Jeong Yeon-shin.
Weiji Myo-hwa knew the lifespan of the boy she had grown fond of. Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings. While fiercely burning through his short life, one of his few remaining blood relatives had been kidnapped.
It only fueled her guilt.
Zhongnan Sect’s Sword Dragon moved her lips in small, silent motions.
‘I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry...’
Soon, Weiji Myo-hwa’s straight-set eyes sharpened with a certain resolve.
At the same time, the fingers that slowly traced along the sword hilt at her waist drew a strange line. It was a motion of recalling something.
* * *
“Ah, our leader cleaned them all up. They were some fierce fellows, for all that they were unorthodox sect masters.”
Languid Flame Dragon approached with the corners of his lips raised. The seniors from Demon Wings were with him as well.
The flat ground beneath the gorge.
Bodies lay strewn about, and blood had soaked black into the ground as far as the eye could see. Yet Languid Flame Dragon’s banter seemed to make the smell of blood a little less thick.
Only the Demon Wings experts were full of life amid the bleak scene. Hyeon Won-chang, Shin So-bin, and Jegal Cheong-a all looked somewhat tired, yet their complexions remained clear.
As descendants of prestigious families, their faces even seemed to glow.
Jeong Yeon-shin glanced at Languid Flame Dragon and shook his head.
‘When did that opium addict learn the Radiant Art Formation?’
The Sun God Meridian genius, fated to die young, had mastered the Radiant Art Formation extremely quickly. He had not even asked questions, as though nothing could hinder him.
He had simply flicked his hands a few times with interest, as though sampling a delicacy, then nodded lightly and said it had been worth coming.
“That is somewhat tempting. It looked fun.”
Languid Flame Dragon gestured toward the Squad Leader’s hand.
“Clean up the aftermath.”
Jeong Yeon-shin turned slightly, as if it was out of the question.
He was in the middle of retrieving the strands of the thread sword into his black sleeve.
His wrist cuff fluttered continuously with the absorption mnemonic formula of Myriad Flowers Rain. The extremely thin strands of thread sword glimmered faintly as they were drawn inside.
Languid Flame Dragon smacked his lips.
“When I look at you, you seem greedier than this young master.”
“You are slow-witted, yet you speak nonsense. One should not covet a treasure they cannot handle.”
Jeong Yeon-shin answered offhandedly as he discreetly examined his subordinates.
He swept his indifferent gaze over the Demon Wings experts to either side. He had hoped none of his companions were injured, and fortunately, the Radiant Art Formation seemed to have shown its usefulness.
Only a few martial artists were breathing heavily, with signs of exhausted inner energy evident on their faces.
Just as he felt relieved, his eyes met those of Cheong Myeong, Baek Mir-yeo, Hyeon Won-chang, and Shin So-bin.
They were looking at the Squad Leader’s hand, which had gripped the thread swords by their edges. Blood was drying on it.
‘Making such a fuss...’
Jeong Yeon-shin turned with steps that he pretended were calm.
‘There will be many more martial arts I can use alongside it. It is interesting, too.’
He deliberately rolled his neck from side to side. It was a decent gain, he thought. He had restrained his attacks so that the sect masters could display their full strength.
In reality, it had lasted only a few breaths, but limiting his attacks had been harder than expected.
It was all right.
He had filled several pages of the Comprehensive Guide to Annihilating Evil Demons. Those were martial arts wielded by the masters who had ruled the vast lands of Xi’an.
There had been value in volunteering for a life-and-death duel between leaders. The same was true of the crowd in the gorge, which had fallen silent as death before beginning to chatter among themselves.
A capital of a thousand years.
The great city of Xi’an had fallen into the hands of the Radiant Art Stronghold. At this moment, everyone would acknowledge it.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly opened his mouth.
“Kang Hyo-su, go with Shin-myo and inspect the local government office. No reports were sent upward even as Xi’an came to this state. Find out thoroughly whether unavoidable circumstances prevented it, or whether they were in league with them. If it is the latter, deal with them by immediate execution.”
As he finished speaking, he straightened his long black sleeve.
Though its material differed from the long robes of Desolate Fortress, it clung to his skin quite well. It made him think that if he had never entered the main fortress, he might have worn clothing like this.
“Yes, Leader.”
The large swordsman clasped their hands.
Kang Chang-mu was a Blue Uniform expert who had joined from the Heaven-Treading Forest Squad. Since Kang Chang-mu’s epithet was Dawn Tree Sword, they casually called Kang Chang-mu Kang Hyo-su. It was much the same as calling White Cat Shin So-bin Shin-myo.
Shin So-bin did not seem to like the casually made name.
She cast Jeong Yeon-shin a slight glare with her round eyes, but when their eyes met, she gave a soft laugh. Even after carrying out slaughter, she was bold. She truly was a child of a prestigious family from the main fortress.
“One remains.”
Hyeon Won-chang spoke with an indifferent expression unlike usual.
Blood stained the hand that brushed across Hyeon Won-chang’s sword blade as though washing away the killing intent that had accumulated on it. It was a familiar sight to the companions.
The eyes of roughly thirty Demon Wings experts turned toward the man standing alone. It was Jang Gi-il, the Sobaek Sect Master.
His yellow robes hung over a rather sturdy frame. He blankly looked at the Sungyeo Branch Master’s corpse by the side of a tree trunk, then turned his head toward the Leader of Demon Wings.
- Desolate Fortress Demon Wings shall punish the rabble.
He was the only sect master to survive after hearing that command.
Jeong Yeon-shin had deliberately excluded him from the range of his forms, and Jang Gi-il had not joined the combined attack either.
“You said you were a lay disciple of Zhongnan who betrayed the main sect. Show this Leader your value.”
The Leader of Demon Wings said.
“...Jeong Joong-san of Xinye County.”
Jang Gi-il, who had been staring at the young supreme expert, parted his lips. Xi’an was where Zhongnan’s main sect stood.
It meant everyone knew of the connection between Desolate Fortress’s powerful rising star and the Zhongnan disciples.
“I know where that friend is.”
* * *
Xi’an’s outskirts were complicated.
The city’s history ran deep. Over an immense span of time, it had served as the capital of countless kingdoms.
Many martial sects had sprung up in the city center as well. Naturally, roads of every kind had formed. It was messy enough to be called filthy.
An alley cast in cold shadows on both sides.
A winter wind from outside brushed along old walls.
A bleak air swept over long cracks spreading across the alley walls, while the distant clamor of the city center drifted faintly closer, only to be broken apart beneath the heavy sound of kicking.
Thud!
“I’ve finally got this bastard...!”
“Look at him trying to block! Where did you leave your opening stance, you lofty swordsman from Mount Zhongnan?”
“Did this bastard really learn from the Nine Sects? He did, right?”
There were two men and one woman.
All wore identical gray martial robes. Surrounding one person, the three moved their feet as they mocked him with young faces without a single wrinkle.
Thud! Thump!
The man curled on the ground was being beaten badly. Violent impacts rang dully against his yellow robe.
It was a terrible day for Jeong Joong-san.
After parting from the frightening Baek Seo-gun, he had gone around stirring up trouble by himself in hopes of finding Jeong Hye’s whereabouts.
Jeong Joong-san was a martial artist who had learned lightness skill. He could not dare touch the main factions of the Thirteen Heavens, but he tried to learn anything he could by striking at and retreating from the unorthodox sects beneath them.
He had held some confidence in the Great Primordial Invisible Sword he had learned.
It had all been futile.
Every time, the result was like this. Because he had learned several life-saving trump cards, he had never been caught and killed.
He simply dragged his battered body through back alleys, struggling to fulfill his duty. As Jeong Hye’s uncle, and as a disciple of the Zhongnan Sect.
“Has the mouth that used to lecture me frozen shut? You used to brag when Zhongnan was still standing!”
“You are the older brother of Desolate Fortress Demon Wings’ Leader? Then bring your little brother here, you bastard without a sect!”
“Not that you could handle the Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword anyway. You are nothing, yet you rely on your backing.”
The Sungyeo Branch disciples remaining in the sect were enjoying themselves completely. Why would they not? The Zhongnan Sect had been destroyed, and their time had arrived.
‘It is karma.’
Jeong Joong-san laughed bitterly. Call his little brother Jeong Yeon-shin?
This situation was a portrait of Jeong Joong-san himself.
When he had been immature, he led children his age in Xinye County and acted like the king of the alleyways. It was when he took out his resentment on his ominous little brother.
After rejecting the Jeong Family Youth Technique offered to him by those small hands, he had once asked if his body was really so tough, then had the other children torment him.
Even looking back on it himself, it had been cruel.
‘What right do I have!’
Thud!
“Cough!”
Jeong Joong-san gasped as he was struck in the solar plexus.
Just as he thought it was time to bring out one of his life-saving trump cards.
Suddenly.
Above the heads of those who had been beating him.
Whoooosh!
Like lightning falling in the dead of night, a black shadow descended. It was worthy of being called a divine arrival. Dust shot up in every direction as if welcoming the unfamiliar presence.
It looked almost like a whirlwind. In an instant, an unbelievable pressure spread in every direction, suffocating them.
As if all the winds under heaven had been drawn together.
Boom!
The intruder burst in with overwhelming presence and kicked Jeong Joong-san in the abdomen. A fierce shockwave erupted at that moment.
His breath completely stopped, and Jeong Joong-san flew forward like a leaf struck by a gale. It was tremendous leg force.
Jeong Yeon-shin had landed the kick squarely. As the suddenly manifested Leader of Demon Wings’ eyes flashed, the hem of his black clothes streamed out behind him.
“How frustrating.”
Crunch.
Standing amid the dust, he muttered shortly.
Footnotes:
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