WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 242: Opening One's Eyes (6)
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Sunlight shimmered through the slowly settling dust.
It was a shocking entrance.
The remnants of the Sungyeo Branch hesitated and stepped back.
“What is this...?”
One of them muttered, almost like a groan.
They belonged to an unorthodox sect that ruled over the great city of Xi’an. They were not blind underworld thugs. They immediately recognized the arrival of an expert they could not handle.
A man in gray martial robes with sharp eyes stepped forward.
“May I ask which sect this senior belongs to...?”
Perhaps it was because Jeong Yeon-shin had struck Jeong Joong-san the moment he appeared.
Faint unease and hope flickered across the man's face. This was an alley beyond the reach of the authorities and sects.
It was a realm ruled entirely by the strong. Just as they had dealt with Jeong Joong-san however they pleased.
Even after seeing Jeong Yeon-shin's face, he did not hesitate to call him a senior.
In the martial world, a senior was an elder with profound martial arts. He must have assumed Jeong Yeon-shin wore a human-skin mask.
It was a grave misunderstanding.
There was a technique called Palace-Pushing, Acupoint-Opening.
It was a method for clearing blocked acupoints and channels caused by internal injuries or impure qi. An expert with deep inner energy would personally manipulate another's acupoints and purge poison from their body.
It was said to require great delicacy. One had to consider in advance how the technique would affect the body's meridians, lest the patient suffer qi deviation.
That did not apply to Jeong Yeon-shin, the Leader of Demon Wings.
He had reached the Grandmaster level in the Jeong Family Youth Technique.
He possessed insight that pierced through every acupoint and channel in the human body. He was a master of the art.
“Cough!”
His second brother, sprawled some distance away, coughed up stale blood.
His complexion improved slightly. The strike imbued with Palace-Pushing, Acupoint-Opening had worked properly.
There was no telling where or how much he had suffered all this time, but one kick was enough to clear his blocked channels.
The force wave from that kick had been woven from every kind of inner-energy structure. His entire body must have felt refreshed, though the Leg Arts had carried a touch of emotion.
“I am from the Sungyeo Branch...”
The man who had stepped forward pulled his gray collar together and was about to introduce himself.
“Come here, you idiot!”
“Damn it... Don’t tell me...”
The man and woman behind him called out. The scars across their faces twisted strangely.
They gripped the sword hilts at their waists tightly, but their heels were pointed backward.
The way they slowly shifted their feet showed they were on the verge of using a retreating movement technique. At any moment, it could turn into lightness skill.
They had survived among the Demonic Sect. That meant their instincts were sharp as ghosts. They could at least guess the identity of the intruder.
His appearance did not match his martial ability, his unusually proud bearing, and above all, the brief words he had spoken to Jeong Joong-san.
“The Leader of Demon Wings. It’s the Leader of Demon Wings...”
“What?”
“You fool... Seom-ye! A Squad Leader of the Divine Sword Squad!”
The Divine Sword Squad of Desolate Fortress was made up of Seventeen Squads.
Below the Divine Sword Squad Leader were Squad Leaders who raced across the martial world, each wielding their own authority.
They spoke of all under heaven while still in human bodies. It was the highest echelon of the martial world.
There was a joke among some members of the Demonic Sect. Those who faced a Black Uniform Squad Leader of Desolate Fortress felt two things.
So the world was this high up. Damn it all.
It was the martial world of madmen. They felt pride and desperation at the same time.
Even then, that only applied to those targeted by an official mission. To someone who encountered them by chance, it was closer to a disaster.
“What?”
The man who had stepped forward twitched. He had casually spoken of Desolate Fortress's Leader of Demon Wings while kicking Jeong Joong-san. His fellow disciples' words did not feel real.
He could not even retreat properly, his toes only twitching.
“I’ll take only your right arms. I do not know the full extent of your crimes.”
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke calmly.
They had not taken part in the battle at Daewol Gorge, nor had they come intending to kill him. Beating Jeong Joong-san as though they would kill him was not such a great matter compared to old memories.
Still, the Leader of Demon Wings' words were clearly a sentence.
“...”
The imposing disciples of the Sungyeo Branch could not resist. Only despair fell over their faces like shadows.
Untimely screams rang out.
* * *
On the way back, they left the alley and entered the main road. All kinds of people passed along the wide, well-maintained street.
Some recognized Jeong Yeon-shin and whispered words like “Boss.” They were extremely cautious.
The road opened around him.
Even as they moved aside, people stole glances at the unfamiliar rising expert, as though they wanted to take in his every movement.
The great city was no longer indifferent to everything. Jeong Yeon-shin alone had drawn every topic of street conversation toward himself.
“That person took down six sect masters at once...”
“What? Is that true?”
“Once the Elder Council Head of the Tyrant Sword Sect appears, won’t everything be sorted out again? Who can stop Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword Yeo So-hyang? That devil who rides a blade through the air...”
“Lower your voices...! You might offend him.”
“Then who do we pay protection money to now...?”
“Don’t hesitate, take it to the Radiant Art Stronghold first! Have you only been in business for a day or two? Didn’t they call him Boss?”
The whispers passed by, laying bare the reality of Xi’an.
“...”
Until then, the brothers did not exchange a single word.
Jeong Yeon-shin walked silently, slightly ahead.
Jeong Joong-san watched his younger brother carefully. His clothes were badly worn, and a roughly torn strip of gray cloth covered the lower half of his face.
It had been Jeong Yeon-shin's instruction. No one recognized him as Jeong Joong-san, a Zhongnan disciple.
They soon arrived at the inn where Jeong Yeon-shin was staying.
It still had no guests. Jeong Yeon-shin thought of the compensation he would give the innkeeper once the mission ended.
“Go inside and rest. Find a room without anyone nearby.”
“Yeon-shin, Hye-ah...”
“The Sword Dragon's aura is in the annex. She will have much to say to you. Sobaek Sect Master Jang Gi-il said you had spent all this time wandering from place to place, gathering information... I understand you had little to show for it.”
Among the Seven Great Sects of Xian, Jang Gi-il's Sobaek Sect differed from the existing unorthodox sects. It had secretly taken in and protected several survivors of the Zhongnan Sect.
As a Zhongnan lay branch, it had secured its interests while bearing the stigma of betraying the main sect. Jeong Joong-san had also received its support.
When he hesitated and did not leave, Jeong Yeon-shin spoke quietly.
“Does Jeong Joong-san, a Zhongnan disciple, have information worth reporting to the Leader of Demon Wings?”
At Jeong Family Manor, under the protection of Pan Yue Jeong Dae-myung, there had been a clear difference in standing between the brothers despite all of them being direct descendants.
Jeong Yeon-shin could not casually look up at his older brothers.
Their positions had been different. His eldest brother, Jeong Nam-san, and even Jeong Joong-san had treated the youngest as someone beneath them.
It had been closer to contempt.
Now, the opposite was true. There was a difference too vast to compare.
“...”
Just as Jeong Joong-san fell silent, a voice rang out.
“Ha! The Boss's older brother has arrived!”
Thud!
A tall young man dropped from the stairs above, his hero's headband fluttering behind his head.
It was Hyeon Won-chang, who played True Brother in the Radiant Art Stronghold. He strode toward the entrance with both arms spread wide in an exaggerated manner.
Jeong Joong-san and Hyeon Won-chang had met before. They had encountered each other when Jeong Yeon-shin, still a White Uniform, had climbed Mount Zhongnan with Hyeon Won-chang.
That had been when he created the Radiant Sword Flow and fought the Tyrant Sword Sect. At the time, Jeong Joong-san and the Desolate Fortress Divine Hero had been distant with one another.
The relationship between the Jeong brothers had been lukewarm, while Hyeon Won-chang had yet to learn the secret history of Jeong Family Manor.
Cheong Myeong, Baek Mir-yeo, and the rest of Ma Gwang-il’s Squad only heard Jeong Yeon-shin's story much later.
The Desolate Fortress Divine Hero approached with a bright smile.
“It is very good to see you! I have wanted to see you terribly!”
“Me...?”
“I did not know the man I met was actually a beggar, you see? I cannot bear it unless I punch that face! I have waited a long time!”
The other Demon Wings experts had scattered to inspect Xi’an's security.
The inn was occupied by Ma Gwang-il’s Squad, the Languid Flame Dragon, and Jegal Cheong-a. At some point, they had each come downstairs and now approached from around them.
The Languid Flame Dragon looked puzzled.
“Why is he acting like that? What’s going on?”
Everyone but Hyeon Won-chang was seeing the Squad Leader's relative for the first time.
To them, it was quite an event.
“They do not look alike. What a great relief.”
Baek Mir-yeo brushed back her jet-black side hair. Her beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.
Usually, it was her role to maintain order among the often quarrelsome Demon Wings, yet now she softly flexed her pale fingers as if she intended to lend a hand.
Those were hands that had cultivated the Heavenly Demon Divine Formula and the Bare-Hand Demon Art. They were beautiful enough to be called delicate jade-like hands.
“So it was him?”
Cheong Myeong only watched with a faint smile.
A strange chill radiated from him as he blankly watched Jeong Joong-san get struck by Hyeon Won-chang's rough fists. Jegal Cheong-a, standing nearby, even took a small step back.
She looked up at Jeong Yeon-shin, who had come to stand beside her.
“Shouldn’t we stop them?”
“The Sword Dragon is waiting.”
“Yes, I was surprised when she arrived just before.”
“Let’s go.”
They would not kill him. Jeong Yeon-shin slowly headed toward the annex. Something warm was melting the knot in his chest.
* * *
He faced Weiji Myo-hwa in a cozy room of the annex.
She was still beautiful. Her delicate features and clear eyes remained the same.
The feather ornament above her ebony hair had become somewhat worn, but the aura enveloping her entire body seemed stronger than before.
Renowned as a genius who contended for the best in Shaanxi, she was a swordswoman who never stopped growing.
Jeong Yeon-shin had to receive her bow first.
Rustle.
The hem of her sky-blue robes brushed the floor. It was a formal gesture of respect.
“I lost Young Master Jeong's niece, my young martial aunt. It was entirely due to my own inadequacy.”
A martial aunt was an adult woman of the same generation as one's master. Literally, she was like an aunt within the sect.
The Sword Immortal of Zhongnan had taken Jeong Hye as a disciple in their later years. To Weiji Myo-hwa, Jeong Yeon-shin's niece was therefore her young martial aunt.
“...She should still be alive.”
Jeong Yeon-shin lightly took her shoulders and raised her.
Dharma power and Daoist inner energy differed, yet perhaps because she had cultivated pure, orthodox qi, the touch beneath his hand was soft and warm.
“Hye-ah inherited the Sword Immortal's martial lineage. She is also my blood relative. There is much to learn from her, and her identity can be used. The Thirteen Heavens of the Demonic Sect are extremely meticulous. They will not discard a card that can shake Desolate Fortress's Black Uniform. They will keep hold of her, no matter what I do.”
“I believe the same.”
A clear voice joined in. Jegal Hyeon, seated to one side of the tea table, smiled faintly. He nodded to his younger sister, Jegal Cheong-a.
Immortal Dragon Jegal Hyeon had filled the position of Chief Internal Strategist for the Martial Alliance Assembly left vacant by Miss Ye. That showed the extent of his authority.
He had expressed his wish to temporarily join forces with Demon Wings in Xi’an, and Jeong Yeon-shin had accepted.
“It would be best to sit first.”
The Leader of Demon Wings seated both Jegal siblings as strategists. Weiji Myo-hwa joined them as well. Desolate Fortress had joined hands with an orthodox sect, yet nothing about the gathering felt awkward.
“The Go Ten Precepts say, ‘Do Not Be Hasty.’ Let us carefully assess our enemies.”
Jegal Hyeon spoke.
“The kidnapping is deeply regrettable, but it is fortunate that the culprits have been narrowed down to the Tyrant Sword Sect or Yeoryeong. The Tyrant Sword Sect vies for the top place among the Thirteen Heavens in boldness, but outside of battle, they do not enjoy killing. Yeoryeong is patient enough to contend even with Wudang and Shaolin. Their hearts are simply exceedingly sinister...”
He spread open his fan. A white crane pattern appeared across its ribs.
“There is no need to worry about Jeong Hye, not while Boss Jeong lives. That has been the pattern of the Tyrant Sword Sect and Yeoryeong's actions until now. As unorthodox sects with deep histories, they thoroughly exploit what can be used. Countless documents recording their conduct are stored in my family.”
Jeong Yeon-shin briefly glanced at Jegal Hyeon's grasping fan. He had just brought his older brother here.
Faced with the matter of his blood relatives, the fan strangely reminded him of the swing at Jeong Family Manor.
The Elder Council Head of the Tyrant Sword Sect was the mission’s final target and one of the people largely responsible for the destruction of Jeong Family Manor.
Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword Yeo So-hyang. She still flew through the distant sky like an immortal, and everything Jeong Yeon-shin thought of here led back to Jeong Family Manor.
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly parted his lips.
“...Then I should focus on making the next move. Someone at the level of an Elder Council Head of the Thirteen Heavens should have no information they do not know. Once I kill her, the martial situation in Shaanxi will calm considerably as well.”
He spoke in the manner of Immortal Dragon.
Jegal Hyeon's smile deepened slightly.
“First, the Radiant Art Stronghold must be dispersed across all of Xi’an. The two major factions are too slow to move, so nothing has happened yet... But once this grows into a sect war, retreat will be the only answer. We must guard against that first, then thoroughly draw this into a personal fight. There are two key points: whether Boss can handle Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword, and whether an individual duel can be arranged.”
The Elder Council Head of the Tyrant Sword Sect was said to be the Tyrant Sword Sect Master's wet nurse.
Unless directed by the Tyrant Sword Sect Master, she was an exceptional expert indifferent to all else. She was renowned for being supremely aloof.
A member of the elven race from Dali Kingdom, which had been destroyed by the Lord of Desolate Fortress's sword, she was rumored to possess swordsmanship of the Immortal Realm.
The sight of her riding a sword through the air was mystery itself. Some people in Shaanxi built shrines and worshipped her regardless of their martial-world affiliation.
They did not regard her as human at all. It was said that even mentioning her carelessly could be seen as disrespectful.
Weiji Myo-hwa, seated beside Jeong Yeon-shin, parted her lips.
“I would advise retreat. Young Master has done enough. Subduing the Seven Great Sects of Xian alone is an immense achievement.”
The concern in her eyes was plain to see.
“Ghost-Spirit Divine Sword Yeo So-hyang has three absolute secret arts. Each could contend for the finest under heaven. There was even a time when she nearly exchanged blows with the Divine Sword Squad Leader of Desolate Fortress.”
“There are other concerns as well. A one-on-one battle in the martial world is not as easily arranged as one might expect, especially when one has a major faction behind them. Elder Council Head Yeo So-hyang is also exceptionally indifferent to matters below her... Unless Boss reveals his identity, she will likely not even deign to acknowledge him. Drawing her out is the first problem.”
Jegal Hyeon added softly.
The Leader of Demon Wings did not answer.
He only glanced toward the inn's main building, where the Desolate Fortress Divine Hero was.
* * *
The next day.
Identical notices were posted on every street in Xi’an.
[If one has properly learned the Four Books and Five Classics, one cannot help but care for the people's livelihood through filial piety.
Tragic things occur throughout the land during this famine, yet chivalrous people still pity those in need and bring their lofty ideals to bloom.
It is because they carry the teachings of their sects and parents in their hearts. That is why the distant leader of the Tyrant Sword Sect is pitiable.
What learning could reside in the heart of one who rushes only to boast of lofty martial skill?
Surely, it is because they have no parents.
How truly lamentable. Is there anything more empty than displaying martial power without purpose? Had the one who raised them taught them properly, that mighty strength would have contributed to the people's livelihood.
All of this is an undeniable and widely known fact. Yet should anyone wish to instruct me with a different view, I will gladly accept a discussion of the sword. I will enjoy the scenery of Daewol Gorge and wait for nine days.
-Radiant Art Stronghold Boss’s representative, True Brother]
Two sunsets later.
As dawn cast a faint curtain of light,
Whooooo!
A sound like a ghost's cry tore through the air. It gradually descended. The reverberation spreading from high above grew immensely louder.
Footnotes:
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