WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈

Episode 398: Carpet (7)

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* * *

It was a deep forest.

Bare old trees stood in rows, while the occasional shrubs still holding green leaves rustled bleakly in the wind.

Long trails of smoke rose in the distant sky. It was impossible to tell whether they came from cooking hearths or from the final breath of villages plundered during the famine.

Even if it was the former, things were hardly well. These villages would be part of the Heavenly Net personally overseen by the Lord of Yeoryeong, one of the Thirteen Heavens.

Villages built in remote mountain valleys far from the main roads formed the axes of some enormous formation, with swordsmen serving as villagers in place of common folk.

At its center lay a small, secluded clearing.

The eyes of Yong Hui-myeong, Divine Sword Squad Leader of Desolate Fortress, slowly opened.

Swish.

As he rose from a boulder cut smooth and flat like a bed, the purple overrobe that had covered him as a blanket moved on its own and settled around his shoulders.

Clear early-morning sunlight flowed gently along its hem.

He had not washed properly for days, yet he remained refined.

That was the duty of Desolate Fortress's Divine Sword Squad Leader. Across the vast martial world, one had to stand foremost in both refinement and martial arts, at all times and under any circumstances.

"You're untouched by heat or cold, aren't you, Squad Leader? If you're going to use such a precious dharma treasure that way, lend it to me."

A youthful man sat high in a tree, swinging his legs as he spoke. He was Yeon So-ha, the youngest and most promising Blue Uniform martial artist of the Divine Sword Squad under the Divine Sword Corps, known as the Divine Sword Sharp Broom.

A perfectly curved smile formed on Yong Hui-myeong's lips.

"Not a chance. You're fifty years too early."

"Fifty years? Will we even be alive by then...?"

"Who knows."

A drop of blood suddenly fell and sank into the dirt.

It was Yeon So-ha's blood, dripping as he tightly wrapped a bandage around his forearm.

His Blue Uniform martial robe hung from him like a rag, shredded by countless puncture wounds and sword cuts.

"I knew the Martial Dragon Society was mad, but those big-eared bastards from Dark Night Hall are vicious too. Who puts variations into their arrows?"

Yeon So-ha bit through the bandage and added, his words muffled, "I nearly ended up like that former Leader of Demon Wings."

Yong Hui-myeong snickered.

"You lost more than you gained. You could have won the Eastern Depot's favor in exchange for one injured arm."

"What would I gain from looking good to those creepy people? I heard before the mission that the Ma Family Head has lately taken up conducting Black Uniform promotion examinations as a pastime. There's no reason to seek a eunuch's favor."

"I mean the Chief Eunuch of Ceremonies. He has the Western Depot and the Inner Service Depot beneath him. His influence is considerable. It was the same when I was recognized as Purple Uniform in Beijing. He comes from a long-eared bloodline, so it will likely be the same in your time."

"Wouldn't the Chief Eunuch change three times in fifty years? Whether elven or Han Chinese, few high officials there avoid being demoted. Only recently has a eunuch named Myeong Yeo unusually risen through the ranks again..."

"Don't worry. This Chief Eunuch will last quite a while. He knows how to conduct himself despite holding such power."

"Ah... I suppose he would."

Yeon So-ha recalled the previous Chief Eunuch of Ceremonies, the man who had advocated large-scale cuts to the military funding sent to Desolate Fortress.

On the night he submitted that memorial, he received Ma Yeon-jeok, then the Divine Sword Squad Leader, as a guest and was crippled. The emperor asked the Lord of Desolate Fortress to confine the Tyrant Hero, and that was the end of it.

"That was a heartening story. My inner power's flowing like blood again. I think I can move."

"It seems your tension has finally eased. Keep a firm grip on your sword."

Yong Hui-myeong suddenly snapped off a leaf by the roadside.

He rolled it into a leaf whistle between his index and middle fingers, then slowly brought it to his lips. He looked as though he had come to enjoy the scenery of a famous mountain. At least, he did until he blew it.

Peeeek.

A sudden echo rang out along the mountain path ahead. The undergrowth swayed violently as though struck by gale-force winds.

Several armed men and women appeared through the gaps, their eyes shut as they collapsed. Dull thuds struck the earth at irregular intervals.

"We've been discovered."

"I never thought he would be skilled in Sound Arts too...!"

"Pull yourselves together! That's the Divine Sword Squad Leader!"

Martial artists emerged behind those who had fainted. Though they should have fled, they instead drew their weapons. The brief scrape of metal rang out again and again.

"He was clearly trying to sleep. The qi-dispersing poison must be taking effect."

"So he is human after all."

"Do you think qi-dispersing poison is all he suffered? The Dark Night Hall Master said an arrow coated in Seven-Step Soul-Severing Powder struck him. Look at his shoulder. There really is a wound there."

"How many formations of major factions have been destroyed so far? He must be exhausted by now."

They were all masters.

The forest began to fill with people. Their numbers steadily grew.

Ten, twenty... thirty...

Each person took a different opening stance as they appeared, yet none looked unskilled.

Among them were traces of the distinctive, fierce presence of major factions from the Thirteen Heavens.

Yong Hui-myeong smiled.

"Seven-Step Soul-Severing Powder? The Tang Sect would never make something so precious for that grey-eared bastard. You've been fooled by nonsense. Unless the Taemo Mountain Fortress Master passed along what he stole from the Tang Family Head years ago?"

"What...?"

"Either way, these truly are the final days. People without any refinement, such as yourselves, plotting against the Divine Sword Squad Leader's life."

His eyes slowly swept over the surroundings. His posture seemed leisurely, but his aura sense had dulled, forcing him to inspect the ambush with his own eyes.

Yeon So-ha had already drawn his sword and bought him time.

"Perhaps you are no longer the Squad Leader?"

"Hm?"

"The Elder Council at the main fortress seems capable of something like that."

"...At my age, I could still be called one of the younger waves of the Yangtze River..."

At that moment, a curved streak of light flashed white at Yong Hui-myeong's waist.

It was a sudden sword draw that exploded without warning.

An invisible force wave born from that single trajectory shot out like a cannonball, bursting apart the bodies of five masters who had rushed in from three zhang away.

Fwoosh!

Chunks of bone and flesh soared into the air, scattering alongside the glow of the Protective Qi Technique that erupted from those killed instantly.

Before the sky could even be stained with dreadful streaks of blood, a tree two zhang wide behind them crashed down. Its base looked as though some enormous teeth had bitten it clean away.

It all happened in an instant.

Only afterward did leaves scatter in every direction. Mountain birds flew high into the sky with frantic flapping.

The ambushing martial artists froze, their faces alone speaking.

They said he was nearly dead...?

"We break through."

"Yes."

Just as Yong Hui-myeong and Yeon So-ha exchanged words, a heavy voice sounded from the flank.

"There's no need."

Yong Hui-myeong's brow twitched.

When he turned, figures appeared like ghosts along the forest path. There had to be at least fifty of them.

Every one wore yellow martial robes and carried a treasured sword. The waves of inner power they gave off suited the barren forest path remarkably well.

Their presence was far from ordinary.

It was not the kind that could simply be called intense or domineering. It was madness beyond anything known, something that made one instinctively realize they were fanatics from the moment it was felt.

There was only one possibility.

The Martial Dragon Society of the Thirteen Heavens.

They were people so obsessed with martial arts that they shared the martial arts of their own schools with others. The realm of Martial Extreme they pursued was said to differ fundamentally from that of any sect.

At the front stood Namgung First Sword, a peerless swordsman said to have become sworn brothers with the Martial Dragon Society Leader.

He was also the owner of the dozen or so villages created across the vast land for the sole purpose of capturing the Divine Sword Squad Leader.

"Things don't look good for you. Can you still bring out the Dragon Ring Sword?"

Namgung First Sword asked, his blue sleeve hanging long.

He had not even drawn his sword, yet the presence pouring from its scabbard seemed capable of filling the sky itself. It bore the traces of an Imperial Sword Art cultivated to its utmost limit.

The Divine Sword Squad Leader only snickered and did not respond.

"The order I sent to Sichuan. Aren't you curious how it turned out?"

He spoke to Yeon So-ha without taking his eyes off Namgung First Sword. A reply came from directly above.

"With so many precious Black Uniforms, I'm sure they managed somehow. Even if only half gathered, Sichuan should be a wasteland by now."

"Half may not have been enough. The Golden-Wing Sect Master is no ordinary monster. Seom-ye and the Squad Leaders with him may have been able to handle the Pure Demon Alliance Leader."

"It was the Squad Leader's assembly order, so more must have come than that. Still, I really am curious about all those Squad Leaders gathered in one place."

"Is there no way to find out now?"

"No. Do you know how far it is from here to there?"

Namgung First Sword, who had quietly watched their exchange, slowly spoke.

"Stop your qi circulation and breath regulation. Divine Sword Squad Leader Yong doesn't have much time left."

"I've been discovered."

Yong Hui-myeong smiled sheepishly. He should have mastered a useful eye technique or two.

The Divine Sword in his hand was already humming. Unlike its master's conduct, its chilling radiance illuminated the grass around it.

Namgung First Sword's eyes then reflected the fragments of corpses. A peerless swordsman's field of vision was exceptionally broad.

"Your sword qi has grown dull."

He continued quietly.

"Our Society Leader has emerged from seclusion. He will come here directly."

He meant the Martial Dragon Society Leader. Yeon So-ha drew a sharp breath, while Yong Hui-myeong casually spun his sword once.

"Only now? That one strike from before must have hurt terribly."

"This will be bad news for you. Yet out of respect between martial artists, I'll give you good news as well."

"If the bad news is insignificant, how great can the good news be?"

"The Black Uniforms of Desolate Fortress who gathered in Sichuan have accomplished something. I heard that fellow Seom-ye, the Leader of Demon Wings, defeated three Lords of the Thirteen Heavens in succession. The Ten Perfect Sect Master, the Pure Demon Alliance Leader, and the Golden-Wing Sect Master... The Lord of Yeoryeong is confirming whether it is true."

A gust of wind quietly swept through the forest path.

Leaves drifting from the sky made more noise than the people did.

Namgung First Sword did not care what it did to his allies' morale. Silence deepened between the opposing sides.

* * *

Jeong Yeon-shin headed north with his seniors.

This was after he had told the sect leaders of two of the Nine Sects that he would invoke the Pact of Mount Hua. The ruined Dark Night Hall had been left exposed to the world in Guizhou.

All sorts of people gathered there, but the Black Uniforms left without a care.

The Young Hall Master, said to be connected through spirituality to the dread raptor that could track the Dark Night Hall Master, traveled with Jeong Yeon-shin.

Much time passed.

As night and day changed several times, their formation shifted. The Black Uniforms spread out within the range of their aura sense, with Jeong Yeon-shin, who had captured the Young Hall Master, at the center.

Throughout that time, Jeong Yeon-shin barely spoke to the Young Hall Master.

When it was time to eat, he shared jerky. After a rest of less than half a quarter-hour by the campfire, he made the Young Hall Master resume traveling with their lightness skill.

The dread raptor flew through the air ahead as though leading the way. They had no time to spare, let alone fall behind.

"Leader of Demon Wings, let us rest a little. One cannot treat a clan's royal descendant this way."

"Don't stop. I'm learning from your conduct."

Jeong Yeon-shin spoke.

Someone the world did not consider a gentleman could not become the Divine Sword Squad Leader, and a gentleman learned from all things beneath heaven.

A grub might seem slow at first glance, but it moved without rest. Just like the Young Hall Master of Dark Night Hall.

'If I want the Jeong Family Youth Technique not to waver even in battles at the peerless level, I must carve such things into my mind.'

Jeong Yeon-shin gained martial insight without pause, like the peerless masters whose martial attainment never ceased advancing.

"......"

From then on, the Young Hall Master kept silent.

A noble young peerless master had said they were learning from the Young Hall Master. The Young Hall Master was a martial artist. A feeling like a shudder ran down their spine. It was something close to admiration.

'For a life-and-death enemy to say such a thing...'

The Young Hall Master forcibly calmed themself. Their neat brows twitched faintly.

Around then, Jeong Yeon-shin looked to the sky.

The dread raptor cried sharply, unable to advance as though something blocked its way. Fairly strong auras could be felt beyond it.

Shing.

Just as he drew the divine sword Lingering Thunder, the bushes ahead, where nothing had been visible, shook.

A shaggy-haired youth poked out their head.

"Again? This time, you're no ordinary person..."

After tapping the tip of their nose, the youth looked Jeong Yeon-shin over from head to toe. Their manner was strange. They seemed slightly intimidated, yet oddly at ease.

"You've come to add your blade to the fight, young master. It just so happens there's trouble in the distance. What school are you from? The Martial Dragon Society? Dark Night Hall?"

The words made no sense to Jeong Yeon-shin.

Still, Jeong Yeon-shin appeared to have come to the right place.

Footnotes:

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