WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Chapter 37: An Old Monk’s Favor and Grudge
──────
Jeong Yeon-shin slowly drank the Thunder Immortal Treasure Wine. As he drank it and operated the Jeong Family Youth Technique, something strange happened.
New qi gradually filled his middle dantian. He examined his body. There was no change in the Baihui acupoint atop his head.
‘That is why.’
He had to keep futile hopes at a distance.
That was why Jeong Yeon-shin did not let his heart rely on the Lord of Desolate Fortress’s kindness.
He had not expected much, yet it felt as though some strength had left his body.
At times like this, even the abilities of his middle dantian were of little use. Something good had happened, but his spirits still sank.
The Lord of Desolate Fortress, wearing a mysterious smile, came into view. It was the first time Jeong Yeon-shin had found her irritating.
Jeong Yeon-shin looked around and clasped his hands.
“I thank the many heroes who have witnessed this coming-of-age ceremony.”
There was something picturesque about the humble manners of the spirited youth.
One by one, pleased expressions appeared on their faces. People began to offer remarks.
“Is he of the Desolate Ma family’s bloodline?”
“Indeed, the spirit of a prestigious family does not abandon its descendants.”
“He means to stand on his own without relying on his family? Does he not have the bearing of a Grandmaster?”
“One day, he will establish a family of his own.”
Jeong Yeon-shin bowed once more and stepped down from the platform.
He passed before his maternal grandfather, Ma Yeon-jeok, whose eye twitched, and stopped at Ma Se-in’s feet.
Since Ma Se-in was kneeling on one knee, Jeong Yeon-shin had to look down at him.
Ma Se-in’s face was colored by emptiness. His thick eyebrows had fallen low, leaving him with a vacant expression.
Jeong Yeon-shin thought he could understand some of how Ma Se-in felt. Having cast aside his pride first, Ma Se-in must have completely submitted to him.
‘Otherwise, he could not have spoken of succession.’
It was a decision that would determine Ma Se-in’s entire life, yet Jeong Yeon-shin had brushed it aside with a single cup of wine.
He drank the Thunder Immortal Treasure Wine he had earned himself and spoke of walking the martial world alone.
It meant he was content to roam the world alone as a martial artist of Desolate Fortress. Anyone would have felt hollow.
Jeong Yeon-shin opened his mouth.
“You seem like you will become a good Family Head.”
“What...?”
He passed Ma Se-in, who flinched and lifted his head. It had become certain today.
His maternal grandfather, Ma Yeon-jeok, was inferior to the Sword Immortal of Zhongnan. He had turned away from the adopted grandson he had designated as successor and instead kept Jeong Yeon-shin in mind.
Had he been able to see the state of Jeong Yeon-shin’s upper dantian, his conduct would have been different.
‘The Sword Immortal seemed to have noticed my constitution.’
Seeing his bustling maternal family made him think of the Sword Immortal of Zhongnan and Weiji Myo-hwa. Those peaceful days of training.
He thought it might not be bad to spend the rest of his life on a famous mountain like Zhongnan, overflowing with immortal energy.
‘I hope that remaining life lasts at least thirty years.’
Praying to Buddha and the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, he left the banquet hall. Ma Jin was waiting outside, having apparently left first.
After confirming no one was nearby, Jeong Yeon-shin asked directly.
“Squad Leader, have you not married?”
“What?”
“Are you not the eldest direct son of the Ma family? You are still in your prime, yet they are making such a commotion over succession. I cannot understand why.”
“...”
The scar across Ma Jin’s face twisted slightly. He seemed somehow weighed down.
At that moment, Cheong Myeong leaned in beside Jeong Yeon-shin with a faint smile.
Cheong Myeong had also watched Jeong Yeon-shin’s coming-of-age ceremony.
“Shouldn’t Seom-ye know? I will tell him.”
“...Do so.”
Cheong Myeong waited until Ma Jin, who had turned his back, was some distance away.
Jeong Yeon-shin looked at them both with puzzlement, then immediately put aside both his questions and his eyelids.
Even a moment was precious. He was examining his middle dantian when Cheong Myeong spoke.
“When Squad Leader Ma was still a White Uniform, he returned from a mission holding Baek Mir-yeo’s hand.”
“You mean Senior Baek Mir-yeo?”
Jeong Yeon-shin opened his eyes. Cheong Myeong smiled as though it were nothing.
“Yes. She was a little girl then. About this tall, perhaps?”
Cheong Myeong tapped his waist and continued.
“They said she had been brought from a sect that secretly passed down its teachings. They said she would become a major force of Desolate Fortress. But that was not the problem. The mission site was Xinjiang, a fierce battlefield where remnants of the destroyed Demon Cult ran rampant.”
“The Demon Cult?”
Jeong Yeon-shin asked without thinking. He knew it as the Demon Cult that had perished alongside the Kunlun Sect, once counted among the Nine Sects.
They had aided in founding the Ming Dynasty, only to become a religion that deceived the people.
He had heard many stories of that old cult. The supreme master of the Demonic Sect, known as the Heavenly Demon, had often appeared and run rampant.
“Yes. It was dangerous in every way for a White Uniform. Squad Leader Ma, coveting advancement to Blue Uniform, volunteered. They completed the mission, but while fighting an inner-energy master in Xinjiang...”
Cheong Myeong trailed off. Even the smile that usually lingered on his lips faded.
Jeong Yeon-shin urged him on with his expression. Cheong Myeong sighed before speaking again.
“He was struck by an internal heavy hand technique. It hit a vital point. Squad Leader Ma kicked at the man’s face with Leg Arts, but the man evaded it and slipped inside.”
“What?”
“They said he was vicious. Several seniors who had gone on the mission with him later became Squad Leaders, but even the Azure Sky Squad Leader, who is on poor terms with Squad Leader Ma, does not mention that incident.”
“...”
“Captain Ma has not been able to perform a man’s duties since then. That is why the fierce Baek Mir-yeo regards him as a benefactor. How could she not?”
“I understand.”
In battles between masters, launching oneself into the air with movement arts was commonplace.
If one had learned Demon's Light, they could not avoid using Leg Arts. Raising a leg to kick meant exposing the central vital point.
The martial world was perilous. Injuries that led to disability were not uncommon.
An inexperienced Ma Jin in a White Uniform came to mind. Jeong Yeon-shin slowly opened his mouth.
“Kunlun Sect’s Cloud Dragon Eight Steps, and Shaolin’s Buddha’s Light Flow.”
“Hmm?”
“I understand they are movement arts that allow one to move through the air. I would like to see them.”
Cheong Myeong smiled.
“As it happens, our next mission may be in Henan. We will be cooperating with Shaolin, so if fortune favors you, you may get to see it. Buddha’s Light Flow, I mean.”
* * *
A month of rest was granted after the coming-of-age ceremony. It was meaningless.
Jeong Yeon-shin wanted to leave on missions without pause.
“It would be good to establish ourselves in Henan beforehand.”
Ma Jin said this from the seat of honor in his office.
He received Jeong Yeon-shin’s usual gaze with a strangely disgruntled expression. Jeong Yeon-shin paid it no mind and asked,
“What exactly is the mission?”
“Annihilation. This mission will cut off one arm of the Blood Flame Sect. If we are fortunate, we may learn where the Blood Flame Sect’s main headquarters is.”
After taking a sip of tea, Ma Jin continued.
“There was an Apostle I fought while you captured Fighting Demon. His hair had turned completely black. Not a single strand of red remained. He is a monster who surpasses even the Blood Master. We have tracked his movements.”
“Did he go from Shaanxi to Henan?”
“They say that, whatever scheme he had, his trail went cold at Mount Pingzhong in Henan. It is within Shaolin’s sphere of influence.”
“Is Shaolin not on Mount Song in Zhengzhou? That is quite a distance.”
“It is the foremost orthodox sect. They say all martial arts under heaven originate from Shaolin. There are few sects in the Central Plains untouched by Shaolin martial arts. The number of secular sects is beyond counting. You may consider all of Henan Province within Shaolin’s sphere of influence. As someone from Henan, you must understand that well.”
Ma Jin turned his gaze as he mentioned Jeong Yeon-shin’s origins. He seemed troubled as Jeong Yeon-shin’s maternal uncle.
Jeong Yeon-shin nodded, though another part of Ma Jin’s words surprised him.
It was the first time he had seen a supreme master of Desolate Fortress show such respect for a martial sect.
It was an era when allegiance to one’s group became one’s very identity.
They said few Desolate Fortress experts failed to view the martial world from the perspective of the common people.
To them, martial artists were potential rebels who possessed power and rogues who disrupted public order.
‘Mount Song’s Shaolin. Its reach truly extends throughout the realm.’
Its power and reputation surpassed those of any other place in the martial world. Jeong Yeon-shin felt his heart race for the first time in a while.
Mount Song was the birthplace of Central Plains martial arts. He wondered what inspiration Shaolin’s martial arts would give him.
“But if it is the Blood Flame Sect, is it not something Shaolin can handle?”
“Though warrior monks cry out, ‘Destroy Evil, Reveal Righteousness,’ and ‘slay demons and eradicate heresy,’ this is Desolate Fortress. We cannot simply stand by. We will personally cut off their heads. There are not merely one or two Apostles, nor one or two Blood Masters.”
“What is the team composition?”
“Ma Gwang-il’s Squad and Second Squad will go with me.”
Ma Gwang-il’s Squad had been formed by Ma Jin after completing the Purple Cloud Pellet mission in Shaanxi.
Jeong Yeon-shin, Hyeon Won-chang, Cheong Myeong, and Baek Mir-yeo had been grouped together. Demon Wings had been reorganized into squads.
Ma Jin had said it was to make coordinating with one another easier.
“Does our squad not need to rest?”
“They are all like you. They either enjoy earning merits or walking the martial world.”
The former seemed to refer to Jeong Yeon-shin and Baek Mir-yeo, while the latter referred to Hyeon Won-chang and Cheong Myeong.
“I understand. Then I will take my leave.”
“Rest.”
Leaving Ma Jin behind as he finished the arrangements, Jeong Yeon-shin left the office.
When he stepped outside, a vermilion shadow covered the sky. Rather than going to the Training Hall, he headed for his room.
Jeong Yeon-shin immediately sank onto his bed.
A lively din rang out. It seemed the seniors in the other rooms were having a drinking party.
Farther away, he could sense clashes from the Training Hall. Singing sword resonance, vigorous shouts, laughter that washed away weariness, and the clinking of cups...
Diffused sunlight through the paper door brushed the side of his face. It was the touch of the sunset hanging at the end of the day.
The crown of his head grew hot. It was always like this around this time. Since when had it begun?
His upper dantian invited the energy of nature within him and made it dance.
The more it played, the larger its home grew, regardless of its owner’s will.
It was when the boundary between day and night blurred.
The laughter of seniors drinking and singing grew louder. They seemed to be having fun.
For a moment, he imagined shouting at them to stop.
Jeong Yeon-shin closed his eyes. Blue clothing came into view against the darkness.
It was as though he had been doused with cold water. In an instant, every sense in his body returned to reality.
No one was watching him now. He curled up on the bed.
‘Once I do it just one more time...’
The final mission before advancement to Blue Uniform lay ahead of him.
* * *
The wind sweeping up and down his cheeks was fierce. He was galloping on horseback.
Jeong Yeon-shin glanced around from atop his fine steed.
‘This proves how large this matter is.’
Eight others rode beside him. It was a number he had never encountered on a mission before.
It was a formidable group. There were nine Demon Wings experts from Desolate Fortress.
“Whether it is an inn or a tavern, we will rest there.”
As they entered the marketplace, Ma Jin’s voice rang out as though a stream of qi had been woven into it.
The pedestrians, who had been hurrying about with anxious faces, brightened when they saw the martial uniforms of Desolate Fortress.
Desolate Fortress was by no means a sect confined only to Huguang.
They said it won the people’s support more readily than most imperial censors. It broke the swords of martial artists who threatened them.
The group stopped before a tavern.
It was quite large, though its framework appeared poorly built. Even so, it was the best building nearby.
Hyeon Won-chang dismounted and looked around.
“Is this Xinye County? It is different from what I heard.”
To cross Henan from Desolate Fortress, they had no choice but to pass through Xinye County. They had already passed the site where Jeong Family Manor had once stood.
It had been reduced to complete ruin. It seemed Fighting Demon’s words had been true. There was not a single tree visible on the mountain behind it.
‘He said they burned it all.’
Baek Mir-yeo glanced at Jeong Yeon-shin’s expressionless face.
She soon toyed with her own long, pale fingers and spoke.
“With the local power gone, Black Path scum were bound to run rampant. The back-alley thugs are probably managing everything.”
It was then.
“...With Jeong Family Manor gone, this place is practically heaven. The leader was quite surprised. The income from the forests those bastards monopolized is just...”
“The Blood Flame Sect did us a favor. If I get thrown out of the organization, I might as well throw in my lot with them.”
“A coward like you learning Blood Arts? What a joke!”
Their rowdy voices carried outside. This was the largest tavern in Xinye County.
The identities of those gathered inside were obvious.
The way they casually spoke of joining the Blood Flame Sect showed that they lived recklessly, as though they had nothing to lose.
Jeong Yeon-shin frowned.
‘Income from the forests.’
He remembered the day he had left to join Desolate Fortress.
The Chief Steward had said they would manage it. It was not money that should have fallen into the hands of Black Path scum.
“Let us go in.”
While Cheong Myeong handed the horses over to an inn attendant, Jeong Yeon-shin took the lead.
Even the experts of Demon Wings’ Second Squad watched Jeong Yeon-shin’s mood as they followed their youngest member’s lead. They were good people.
As they pushed aside the softly hanging curtains and entered, the noise briefly stopped.
Contrary to its appearance, the interior was very spacious.
A bald man holding an axe, a man performing tricks with a dagger, and another with his upper garment open were the first to catch his eye.
Men in all manner of dress sat with a courtesan at their sides, grinning slyly.
They appeared to be Black Path martial artists, but Jeong Yeon-shin recognized none of them. They all seemed to have come from elsewhere.
Jeong Yeon-shin stepped forward and spoke calmly.
“You. Explain what happened to Jeong Family Manor’s land.”
“What?”
One man let out a snort. Just as he opened his mouth, apparently about to call Jeong Yeon-shin a brat, Hyeon Won-chang stepped forward.
Hyeon Won-chang pulled forward the fabric of Jeong Yeon-shin’s robe below his shoulder.
Jeong Yeon-shin could feel skill that surpassed most joint locks. By now, he understood.
It was how seniors who had entered the martial world skipped past needless trouble.
The man’s lips froze when he saw the character for Desolate. Murmurs spread through the room.
“Go on. Say what you wanted to say.”
Jeong Yeon-shin spoke without concern.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
