WeTried Translations

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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 319: Xuanyuan (14)

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* * *

Long-established sects were usually heavily influenced by their Elder Councils, and the Assassins' Sect was no exception.

Unless a matter concerned the sect's interests, even the Sect Master's authority carried little weight.

"You and I both lead difficult lives. Shouldn't our conduct at least be spirited?"

That was the Slayer Hero's teaching.

The words deeply resonated with young Geum Seon-hwi. They helped him endure the harsh training imposed by his collateral-line elder brother, Geum Jon-hwi, and his father, the Assassins' Sect Master.

They also pleased the mother he could see only on rare occasions.

Geum Seon-hwi's mother had been lowborn from birth. The Elders of the Assassins' Sect had never acknowledged someone of such humble origins.

She had neither an influential background nor noteworthy martial skill. She simply made a living as a small merchant in the marketplace.

"We cannot let the Assassins' Sect Master's bloodline rot away in the streets."

The Elders of the Assassins' Sect took her son from her.

Once Geum Seon-hwi learned to walk, she was reduced to seeing him about once a month. At times, she would clap and laugh as she listened to the verses from the Book of Odes that her son had memorized. That became her joy in life.

'I should memorize all the Four Books and Five Classics.'

That was what Geum Seon-hwi thought at the time. Mother likes the cheerful antics of an educated son.

The boy protected his mother with cheerfulness.

Even when he found her collapsed amid the crowd and rushed to gather her into his arms, he smiled through his tears.

His honed senses saw through her condition perfectly. Perhaps because he had been born an assassin, he accepted death exactly as it was and hoped her final journey would be as peaceful as possible.

He did not want the last face she saw of her son to be an ugly, tear-streaked one.

It was a warm, sunny day.

"Live a worthy life. You were born precious."

His mother had held on to consciousness until Geum Seon-hwi arrived.

He could not tell whether she meant that her son's status was noble or that she had held him dear.

Nor could he ask. She died as soon as she finished speaking.

After looking into it, he learned that it had supposedly been an accident.

Some martial underworld thug had kicked over his mother's stall while demanding stall rent. One of the ornaments that flew loose pierced her eye.

It was a hairpin young Geum Seon-hwi had personally ground and polished using the Assassins' Sect's methods.

"That was this one."

A palm-length hairpin spun along Hyeon Won-chang's knuckles. Its copper-colored tip bore no ornamentation.

At a glance, it resembled the large acupuncture needles physicians occasionally used.

Whoooosh...

A wind like a ghost's wail suddenly swept through the room.

The room was nearly a sealed chamber, furnished entirely with old stone. The bed, the chairs, all of it.

"An accident?"

Languid Flame Dragon, reclining with his feet propped on a table, asked blankly. Shin So-bin's slender body lay facedown on one of the beds as though she were dead.

The air around her stirred in time with the girl's long breaths.

"A common thug's kick carried a force wave? Does that make sense?"

"It was the work of an elder named Geum Yeon-sang. She arranged for it to happen on the day I went to see my mother. She wanted to test whether the illegitimate son of the Assassins' Sect Master possessed an assassin's virtue according to her precious teachings. If I had promise, I would show cold-hearted conduct."

"What did you do?"

"First, I found that martial underworld bastard and gouged out his eyes with my fingers until he died. The sensation of them bursting was far from pleasant. Once I learned the truth, I wondered whether that unpleasant feeling was because I had not punished the true culprit. So..."

Hyeon Won-chang lightly closed one hand around the hairpin and continued slowly.

The two spoke calmly without even looking at each other.

"...I put my middle finger into Geum Yeon-sang's eye as well."

"Your middle finger?"

"It is an insulting gesture made by forming the hand into the three-pronged shape of the character for mountain. In the far southeast, they call it the squid gesture. I hear the Western Regions use a similar insult as well. A highborn martial noble like you would not know the ways of the marketplace."

"I heard your big tongue was raised in luxury too. In any case, an Elder of the Assassins' Sect fell to a brat's finger strike?"

"I had taken a few drops of diluted azure stone oil beforehand. There were no restrictions on me then, so a surprise attack with a single move was enough. I was still widely recognized for my talent in the very first exchange. That old woman could not have expected an obedient brat to suddenly lash out, either. I chose my opening well."

"So the brat Geum Seon-hwi was stronger than Hyeon Won-chang, the Great Tongue Sword."

"In a single exchange, perhaps. My body was ruined because it could not withstand the eruption of inner energy, but I certainly took one of that mad old woman's eyes. The price was three months of recovery."

"Hm? One of you old-timers has one eye."

"That was the old woman."

As Hyeon Won-chang answered, Languid Flame Dragon tilted his head.

"Why is she alive? Didn't she kill your mother?"

"This family began as a sect of gatekeepers for Heavenly Demon's Tomb. Common standards do not apply to them. I was punished severely instead, for harming an honored person within the sect. Along with Brother Jon-hwi."

"Geum Jon-hwi? Why was your collateral-line brother involved?"

"He was already furious before I struck Geum Yeon-sang. He even returned her counterattack against me at full strength. In any case, the two of us were sentenced to half a year of closed-door confinement."

"What a bizarre mess. What did your honored father do?"

"You need not call him that. My father was thoroughly the Assassins' Sect Master. He had long since cast aside my mother, who had never been accepted as part of this family. Geum Seon-hwi and Geum Yeon-sang were precious to him, but a woman with whom he had shared affection only once was merely an outsider to the sect."

"There really are complete morons like that."

"I agree."

"Why did you ever grow attached to such a sect?"

"...I never liked it. Brother Jon-hwi simply treated me very well. And that man called my father did care for his son."

"No wonder you looked so grim from the moment you heard the mission was in Shanxi."

Languid Flame Dragon flexed his feet a few times and slowly shook his head.

"Great Tongue Sword, Great Tongue Sword. Now I understand why all joy left your words and behavior after you set foot in Shanxi. That quality was what let you offer even a little help to the young Squad Leader. What role do you have left in Demon Wings now?"

The old-fashioned speech carried a provocation. His languid voice continued.

"I watched that pretty-boy Slayer Hero. He looked like he wanted to keep you here. At first, you seemed to think it was absurd too, but your attitude became strange after you went through the Moyong Family's Heavenly Net. And that Slayer Hero has been unfailingly gentle with you."

"Ridiculous. My existence would only disrupt the succession of the Assassins' Sect."

Hyeon Won-chang's eyes widened, but Languid Flame Dragon paid no heed.

"This young master had two men I could call friends. If one blended you with the fellow who played at being emperor with a sword, the result would be that pretty boy Geum Jon-hwi. He has an unnecessarily broad heart. Someone who cares for his younger brother would not be bound by succession rights."

"......"

"I don't know how many memories you have in this filthy land."

A deeper shadow fell beneath Languid Flame Dragon's eyes as he narrowed them.

"You know that the young Squad Leader relies on you quite a bit. You are no help in martial arts, so what use would you be if you lost your gift of gab and your loyalty as well? Think carefully."

"Needless concern."

"Who knows. That Slayer Hero seems more threatening to me than a pack of idiotic Elders. Imperial Hero Hyeon Won-chang is too soft, after all. In this young master's experience watching the martial world, those called great heroes by the world tend to get swept around until they die alone somewhere..."

"You should hope that seventy percent of my restrictions stays sealed for a while longer. Otherwise, it will become difficult for you to run your mouth so carelessly."

Languid Flame Dragon did not answer. He merely snorted softly and supported his neck with interlaced fingers.

Hyeon Won-chang watched him for a moment before speaking slowly.

"How much of your full strength do you have now?"

"Call it around thirty percent. The Moyong rabble's Heavenly Net was no ordinary thing."

Languid Flame Dragon answered as if it did not matter.

They had run into serious trouble as soon as they entered Taiyuan.

First, they saw more than a hundred martial artists walking openly through the city. Their identities were concealed behind human-skin masks and other disguises.

The Prefect and the military were nowhere to be seen, while mysterious masters concealing their identities attacked Languid Flame Dragon's group.

Languid Flame Dragon immediately deduced who they were.

Since childhood, he had treated the orthodox sects' Dragon-Phoenix Gathering as entertainment, so his knowledge was broad.

He saw through the Moyong Family's uniquely unpredictable Illusory Sword at once. Though they tried to conceal their martial arts, they could not escape the Sun God Meridian's keen perception.

The attackers did not care.

They pressed their assault as though nothing mattered as long as they were not publicly exposed.

They were all elite swordsmen rarely seen under heaven. Demon Wings and the Assassins' Sect party had no choice but to split apart.

The three members of Demon Wings were separated from the others. It seemed to be the enemy's plan.

Yet Languid Flame Dragon killed nearly twenty of them alone and reunited the group.

In the midst of it, he also clashed with Moyong Gi-hwang, the Great Ritual Sword, said to be the strongest figure in the Moyong Family after the Family Head.

He nearly died.

When he withstood the sword form called Falling Meteors Fill the Sky, he had truly come close to being killed.

The Great Ritual Sword was counted among the enforcer-level masters of the Eight Great Families, and the Moyong Family's swordsmanship, brought from the northern frontier, was renowned for being both beautiful and murderous.

Had he not luckily countered it with Flame River of the Radiant Art Formation, his entire body would have been torn to pieces.

"It was fortunate that arrogant old man suddenly turned his attention to a carrier pigeon. I nearly died."

The young nobleman, fated to die soon, joked and turned his gaze toward Shin So-bin, who was sleeping deeply after driving her inner energy to its limit.

"When do you think she will wake?"

"How could the eye of an inferior be better than a master's? Even Huangbo Senior Opium Poppy does not know, so don't ask me."

"Release your restrictions and challenge me, then. We don't know when the Moyong bastards will find this place. No matter how well the depths of the Assassins' Sect are hidden, they were already thoroughly exposed and wrecked during the Heavenly Demon's Tomb Uprising."

"I need to leave soon anyway. This is my final test. Once I gain the Elders' recognition, the mnemonic formulas I have gathered will be completed into a single key."

"May you return victorious."

Languid Flame Dragon spoke casually and closed his eyes.

Hyeon Won-chang did not answer. He rose slowly.

After looking from Shin So-bin to Languid Flame Dragon, he quietly turned and left the room.

* * *

The great city was steeped in silence.

The government offices were quiet, while sword-bearing superhumans roamed the streets.

Few commoners could calmly continue making a living in such a strange atmosphere. They could only hope for the military and Desolate Fortress swordsmen to take action.

The city gate dividing the inside and outside of Taiyuan Prefecture was equally desolate.

Few people came and went.

Only horses and carriages, merchants and caravan guards, passed through with any frequency.

From the roof of a hall overlooking them all, the street seemed even lonelier.

"You look positively radiant. It seems the imperial dogs have treated you well."

The voice was exceedingly gentle, soft enough to be called tender.

"I am still curious. With every channel in the secret intelligence network cut, you must have forced open the scroll. Did you summon a sorcerer of a realm rarely seen under heaven?"

A one-eyed old woman wrapped from head to toe in a black cloak spoke.

Bamboo Sword Geum Yeon-sang. She was an Elder of the main sect and the one overseeing Hyeon Won-chang's final test.

"Conduct the test."

Hyeon Won-chang spoke while sensing the presences of Assassins' Sect Elders stationed all around them.

Assassins' Sect masters who had surpassed a certain realm had secretly scattered themselves throughout the area, avoiding the Moyong Family's notice.

There had been talk of postponing the test because circumstances were unfavorable, but the Slayer Hero, Geum Jon-hwi, had strongly insisted that it proceed.

"Very well. I shall."

The wrinkles around Geum Yeon-sang's eyes curved downward in a gentle line.

Bamboo Sword Geum Yeon-sang, an Elder of the Assassins' Sect, was someone who rarely revealed what lay in her heart.

She had remained calm when young Geum Seon-hwi questioned her about his mother's death, and when the boy took one of her eyes, she responded calmly and made her move as well.

She was no different now.

"If you can carry out your assassination exactly as I do mine, that will be enough. Not even a single inch of your movements may be off."

She spoke in a tone that almost sounded warm.

"You mean to demonstrate it?"

"Yes, wait. This is the sole ceremony of our main sect, so even our Young Sect Leader will not be able to speak of chivalry or reason."

She meant for him to watch how she killed a victim and then do the same.

Hyeon Won-chang's hand twitched near the Desolate Sword at his waist.

'This old woman truly...'

As if she had guessed his conflict, Geum Yeon-sang raised the corner of her lips but did not move for a long while.

Was she trying to uphold the dignity of an Assassins' Sect Elder?

She seemed to be looking for a suitable specimen. Standing motionless as if she had employed the Tortoise Breath Method, she spent an entire day there.

Even as the moon sank and the sun rose faintly, she only gazed down at the Taiyuan city gate.

A long time passed.

Hyeon Won-chang remained by her side, determined to see what she chose. The moment she selected anyone other than a widely known member of the Demonic Sect, he intended to ruin the test and everything around it.

Then, as the scops owl that had arrived with the sunset two days earlier was about to depart along the halo of the dawn sun, Geum Yeon-sang finally spoke.

"That one has a fine bearing. I shall choose him."

The old woman's wrinkled finger pointed into the distance.

It was one of the people who had just passed through the city gate. Among the party of three, one person drew the gazes of the few people on the street.

A boy whose every stride was exactly the same length.

Sunlight beaded on every strand of his jet-black hair, which hung to his shoulder blades. Though he wore an unpatterned black robe, an oddly overwhelming presence clung to him.

Yet he carried no notable aura, making him seem only highborn by birth.

Swoosh!

Geum Yeon-sang's figure vanished.

"Stand there and watch quietly."

Her voice lingered around them like invisible smoke.

Hyeon Won-chang truly stood there without a word.

Footnotes:

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