WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Surviving as a Genius on Borrowed Time ◈
Episode 58: Imperial Hero
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His opponent had lost both her sword and an arm. Jeong Yeon-shin was just about to strike Deepwater Sword’s neck.
“You lawless bastard!”
The county magistrate, who had been standing far behind them, rushed forward in a gale.
The pale-green hems of the county magistrate’s official robes fluttered like butterflies.
Using the elven race’s distinctive movement technique, the county magistrate passed Deepwater Sword and spread both arms wide to shield her.
“You dare harm this magistrate’s principal wife? Desolate Fortress is the imperial family’s sword! How can a sword cut down its own master?”
“You think the Huangbo bloodline stands equal to the imperial family?”
Jeong Yeon-shin asked with eyes more devoid of feeling than if they had been looking at roadside trash.
They had never expected to feel this way toward the elven race. At least, they could never have imagined it while living at Jeong Family Manor.
The county magistrate bit their lip.
“...You can do nothing without cutting down this magistrate. Give up. How could you harm the county magistrate of Pingyin County? You are not even a Black Uniform warrior!”
Whoosh!
The wind blew again. Yeon-shin glanced to the side.
Cheong Myeong was already standing beside them.
The smile that usually never left Cheong Myeong’s face had vanished completely.
“Just follow the clan’s laws.”
Cheong Myeong spoke, and their expression changed at the same time. Their eyes remained unchanged, but their lips curved into a smile.
“The Grand Empress Dowager decreed that the elven race of Desolate Fortress may execute officials of sixth rank and below, regardless of hierarchy. A county magistrate is seventh rank, right? I thought it was an absurd privilege, but after running missions, I suppose it does come in handy.”
“You truly...!”
“They say our clan becomes an ugly sight when we mix with Han people and grow steeped in worldly ways. I doubt anyone would object if we sent your head flying. At most, there might be a summons to Beijing for a little while.”
The county magistrate, who was said to have listened to music while enjoying the deaths of martial heroes, lost all interest.
Their handsome face turned completely pale.
Even Yeon-shin was surprised.
It was already well known that the elven race held great power in Ming, but this was the first time they had learned that it possessed authority befitting a squad leader-rank Black Uniform warrior.
Was it because imperial blood itself carried such a strong elven lineage?
“Hoo.”
The county magistrate suddenly sighed. Calm soon returned to their face, and they gave a faint smile.
“I almost showed something unsightly on my way out. How could one speak of the refinement of drinking, song, and dance without style?”
“What’s the point of saying more? Do not disgrace the elven race. Leave.”
“Ah, naturally.”
The moment Cheong Myeong drew their sword, the county magistrate’s smile deepened.
“It is time for me to go. There is no one under heaven who would not welcome me.”
Yeon-shin turned their gaze behind them. An aura was rising from the shattered main gate.
There had been a presence pricking at their nerves since the fight with Deepwater Sword. As expected, it was not an ally.
“Desolate Fortress!”
The newcomer was enormous, a middle-aged man with a long scar across one cheek.
In one hand, he held a girl by the nape. She looked around Yeon-shin’s age, and it seemed that her mute and paralysis acupoints had been sealed.
Unable even to speak, she hung rigidly from his hand.
The man roared.
“You vile scum who speak of strange chivalry and throw the martial world into chaos!”
The county magistrate’s face brightened at the shout.
“I should call you Huangbo Ma-jun rather than Ma now! So a crisis like this really has come! A warrior of the main family has graced us with his presence, and this humble Geum has been freed of a great worry!”
The county magistrate shouted.
Their face was not entirely carefree, seemingly concerned about the severed right arm of Huangbo Mi-mi, Deepwater Sword, their principal wife. Still, relief spread across their face.
Huangbo Ma-jun did not answer.
He ignored the county magistrate completely, as if he had always found them disagreeable.
Raising the girl high, Huangbo Ma-jun stared directly at Yeon-shin and spoke.
“Young martial artist! A Blue Uniform of Desolate Fortress at your age, you must act as though there is no one in the world worth fearing! Your shoulder insignia makes that even clearer! You are the direct disciple of the Lord of Desolate Fortress? It is plain to see that you are drunk on honor and status!”
“...Aren’t you the one acting as though there is no one to fear? You are holding an innocent civilian in your hand.”
Yeon-shin tilted their head slightly as they spoke.
They had already judged the distance.
It was too far. That man had attained considerable cultivation.
Even if Cheong Myeong, whose movements were faster than Yeon-shin’s, rushed in, they could not save the girl in time.
Huangbo Ma-jun snickered.
“There is always a greater cause behind the actions of the Huangbo bloodline. What would half-baked martial artists who feed on the state’s grain know? Desolate Fortress, obsessed with cutting down the heads of jianghu people, has crawled all the way to Jinan.”
“Did you just call that a greater cause?”
Yeon-shin looked between the girl, whose eyes slanted slightly upward, and Huangbo Ma-jun.
Their gaze conveyed what they did not say aloud.
Do you feel no shame at all?
Huangbo Ma-jun puffed out his chest even more.
“The greater cause of the martial world is lofty. You are nothing but ruffians who splash muddy water across the jianghu. Do not interfere any further in the world of those who cultivate the Way through martial arts.”
“...”
They had heard there were people like that.
This was not a world where culture and ideas were exchanged freely.
The martial world was especially so. It had no shortage of eccentrics who followed one narrow path.
Martial arts practice was a solitary road of cultivation.
They said that whenever reclusive masters of the jianghu, who rarely showed themselves, emerged into the world, they caused turmoil out of nowhere.
Huangbo Ma-jun was holding a hostage while speaking of chivalry. The teachings of Confucius and Mencius could not reach someone like that.
Of course, Desolate Fortress did not speak to martial artists through the principles of the Four Books and Five Classics either. It simply held a sword to them.
‘The Huangbo Family must be worse. They were called the royal family of Jinan, or something of the sort. Their blood relatives gathered together and solidified their power.’
Yeon-shin’s thoughts did not last long. Huangbo Ma-jun shook the hand holding the girl by the nape and spoke.
“Your chivalry is deeply unnatural. You swarm in to cut off heads just because someone has violated imperial law. Were there no martial heroes among people of every station? Let me tell you this girl’s story.”
“Go ahead.”
As they responded, Yeon-shin circulated the qi within their body. They calmly prepared the Layered Linked Formula. They hoped the Force Projection force wave of the Sihwa Boundless Fist would break Huangbo Ma-jun’s balance.
“This child’s grandfather was a man named Dan Muhyu. Before that county magistrate took office, he served as the county magistrate of Pingyin County.”
The girl, who could only glare, seemed to clench her jaw. Huangbo Ma-jun continued without concern.
“He was a man as straight as bamboo. When an unorthodox sect martial artist threatened commoners in the marketplace, he confronted them without hesitation. I heard he questioned him under the Great Ming Code and shouted that he would imprison him in the government jail.”
He grinned.
“One palm strike burst his stomach, sending him flying. That unorthodox bastard was quite ignorant of the world as well. He must have thought it would end if he escaped with lightness skill, but he had to face the wrath of the main family, which wished to maintain Jinan’s order alongside the county magistrate. That is how we took revenge for this child.”
“You are acting like her benefactor while holding her by the neck?”
“She has outstanding talent. She has achieved considerable qi storage with nothing more than the Three Talents Heart Method. It would be a shame for her to die like this, but I have always wanted to see the true face of you people from Desolate Fortress. She is the granddaughter of the former county magistrate, who governed this county through lofty virtue. How will you treat her?”
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
The girl groaned and squirmed slightly. It seemed she had managed to undo part of the pressure-point seal herself.
Huangbo Ma-jun had said she was talented at qi storage. Perhaps she truly possessed an innate gift for handling qi.
“Look at that.”
Huangbo Ma-jun glanced at her with interest and raised his hand high. Her body dangled in the air.
“If you withdraw now, this child lives. It will also prove the chivalry of Desolate Fortress, which claims to protect all people from the martial world. But if you do not...”
His eyes swept over those before him. Was he saying that he would not tolerate Desolate Fortress swaggering about as though it alone mattered?
Disgust seemed to show on his face as he continued.
“Never speak of the people’s welfare again. The Huangbo Family governs Jinan’s order. You pathetic, half-baked heroes.”
“Every word is correct!”
The county magistrate, now smiling again, chimed in.
“How much longer do we have to listen?”
Yeon-shin suddenly spoke.
At the same time, pitch-black smoke rose behind Huangbo Ma-jun’s head.
“What...!”
Baek Mir-yeo stood behind Huangbo Ma-jun, her face cold.
Dark currents surrounded her entire body, as if flames kindled in an abyss had risen around her.
Black light, as dark as the night sky, filled both her eyes.
Swish.
In contrast, Baek Mir-yeo’s hand had turned white as snow as she gripped Huangbo Ma-jun’s nape from above. Huangbo Ma-jun could not even resist.
The Blue Uniform sleeve of Desolate Fortress fluttered alongside ink-dark qi that had taken physical form.
They wore the same uniform, but the martial attire draped around her looked different.
Like the black hem of a celestial maiden, as though the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens from legend had returned, she drew near.
Baek Mir-yeo moved her lips.
“Aren’t you from one of the Eight Great Families? How pathetic.”
Her voice was low.
She had subdued Huangbo Ma-jun completely. With a mysterious aura, she slowed his reaction before sealing his paralysis acupoint in one stroke.
From the start, Huangbo Ma-jun apparently had not been an elite warrior of the main family, but someone assigned to watch over a branch family.
Cheong Myeong grinned.
“Demon Wings, the Azure Sky Squad, and the Annihilation Squad are headed for your main family. By now, it should be facing destruction. The squad leaders will have smashed it to pieces.”
“W-what?”
The moment the county magistrate froze, Yeon-shin’s body spun.
Like a leaf carried on a gentle spring breeze, they passed the county magistrate in a natural turn.
At the end of that sudden movement was the Desolate Sword. The blade beneath their hand flashed with a chilling light.
Slash!
Yeon-shin felt it clearly through their grip. The sensation of cutting flesh and severing bone told them the mission was over.
“...!”
Had she been about to call them lowborn wretch again? Deepwater Sword Huangbo Mi-mi’s mouth seemed to form those words.
It was pointless. Her lips twisted in shock as her head fell with a thud.
“Desolate Fortress does not negotiate with rebels.”
Yeon-shin looked down at Deepwater Sword’s head as they spoke.
The county magistrate turned too late, rage on their face as they reached out. There was no sound.
A sharp blade burst from their abdomen. Cheong Myeong’s Desolate Sword had pierced through their back.
“I, I have come to this...”
“We’ve only been here a short while, and I’m already sick of you.”
Cheong Myeong’s voice remained clear even as they killed someone. Those were likely the last words the county magistrate heard.
The force wave Cheong Myeong released through their sword was brutal.
Bloody tears filled the eyes of the corpse whose abdomen had been pierced. It seemed their insides had been completely destroyed.
‘Senior Cheong Myeong’s methods were ruthless, but not usually to this degree.’
Was Cheong Myeong even harsher because they were of the same elven race?
It was not over yet. Yeon-shin turned and opened their eyes wide.
“Ghk.”
A sinister chill swept from Baek Mir-yeo’s snow-white hand, still gripping Huangbo Ma-jun’s nape.
At the same time, Huangbo Ma-jun’s neck snapped limply like shattered ice.
“Eek!”
The captive girl somehow landed without falling on her backside. After her small cry, silence descended over the manor.
The sun had already begun to set.
Sunlight cast a pale glow, as if it were slowly wrapping itself in darkness and going to bed.
The bleak wind that had swept into the jianghu flicked through the leaves of the ash tree beside the pond.
The incident had come to an end. The county magistrate and Deepwater Sword were dead. The Huangbo branch family’s martial artists had also been wiped out.
The cleanup was not a Blue Uniform’s responsibility. Desolate Fortress would send people.
With the Desolate Sword sheathed, Yeon-shin passed beside the Dan girl.
They wanted to say something to a girl their age who had gone through such an ordeal. Without stopping, they spoke slowly.
“You have talent in martial arts.”
“Huh?”
The girl quickly turned her head, but Yeon-shin did not look back.
Baek Mir-yeo had already erased the manifested black qi, and she smiled faintly.
Her eyes, once entirely ink-colored, had regained their whites and black pupils.
Only her snow-white hand remained unchanged as she reached out and stroked Yeon-shin’s head.
A cold touch and a soft sleeve brushed past their ear.
“Desolate Fortress is not a sect that speaks of chivalry. If you want to become a hero, someday you will be hurt.”
“...Thank you for the advice.”
Yeon-shin replied with their eyes slightly closed. In any case, this mission had succeeded.
They had earned another great merit. The group sent to the Huangbo main family, where the squad leaders had gone in person, would have had no room for their group to intervene.
Then, as if it had been waiting for the incident to end, a bird flew in.
Its sky-blue feathers gleamed strand by strand as it landed on Cheong Myeong’s finger. It seemed to be a spiritual beast.
It was different from the bird used by the Huangbo Family’s Second Young Master. A mysterious fragrance rose from the small body of the bird.
Cheong Myeong untied the small letter fastened to its leg.
“Did Shin So-bin write this? It’s packed with words.”
Cheong Myeong immediately unfolded the letter and scanned it, then tilted their head slightly.
“Has something happened?”
Yeon-shin asked calmly.
“No. This did not come from the group that went to attack the main family.”
“Then...?”
“You know how the White Uniforms had captured the rising talents from the Dragon-Phoenix Gathering. It looks like their families gave everything they had. They finally found them.”
“Their location?”
“That’s right. The White Uniforms also clashed with the Blood Flame Sect. There were three battles: the martial families, the Blood Flame Sect, then the martial families again. The White Uniforms suffered a crushing defeat while reforming their battle lines. Hyeon Won-chang was captured as well.”
Footnotes:
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