WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Former Supreme ◈
Chapter 114: Double Arrangement (2)
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Yeom Hwasin stood before Baek Socheon.
His face was twisted with pain and anger, a terrifying expression Baek Socheon had never seen since meeting him.
Baek Socheon knew at once.
'Hidden weapon!'
Something powerful had flown in and struck Yeom Hwasin's back. The impact had produced such a thunderous sound that Baek Socheon could not help wondering whether a blow against a human body was supposed to sound like that.
Yeom Hwasin slowly turned around. As expected, a large hole had been torn through his clothes, and his skin had turned red. He was not bleeding, but he had clearly been injured. A hidden weapon powerful enough to leave a wound on the Indestructible Vajra Body had struck him.
Baek Socheon understood.
Yeom Hwasin had sensed the hidden weapon flying toward him and leaped to his feet. Had he remained seated, it would have struck the back of his head, and the impact would have been far worse.
Yet since he had noticed it beforehand, he could have thrown himself aside to avoid it.
Baek Socheon's heart churned because he knew why Yeom Hwasin had not done so.
'He blocked it with his own body because he was afraid I'd get hit!'
This moved Baek Socheon for reasons separate from why Yeom Hwasin had spared him until now. He was the worst kind of man, one who had even killed his own child for his ambition, yet he had taken a hit meant for himself that he could have avoided, all for Baek Socheon's sake.
The one who had fired the hidden weapon was a man who had been eating alone at a table behind them. From the moment he entered the inn until now, Baek Socheon had not sensed the slightest threat or anything unnatural about him.
He was clearly someone who had received extensive training.
Surprisingly, one of the man's arms had been torn off, blood dripping from the severed end.
A short distance away lay the hidden weapon, a lump of metal. The man's arm was still attached to it. The shock of firing the weapon had torn his arm away.
Perhaps the man had known this would happen beforehand, because he remained utterly calm. More astonishingly, he did not let out a single scream.
Either he had a constitution that could not feel pain, or he had taken medicine beforehand to numb it.
Jong Mujin, who had been outside, heard the noise and rushed in. He had briefly stepped away to tend to the horses.
"Are you all right?"
Yeom Hwasin raised a hand to show that he was fine.
Jong Mujin lowered his head, his expression strained.
"I apologize."
His role was to notice something like this before it happened. Yet he had grown careless as their journey continued, and the opponent had concealed their killing intent perfectly.
After glaring at the man, Jong Mujin stepped back and sent everyone in the inn into the kitchen.
Yeom Hwasin asked his opponent, "That hurts quite a bit. What is that?"
The man readily told him.
"Merciless Thunderbolt Bullet."
"Something impressive has appeared."
The Merciless Thunderbolt Bullet ranked first among the Ten Great Prohibited Hidden Weapons of the Martial World.
As could be seen, its recoil was severe enough to tear off the user's arm unless their internal energy was exceptionally strong. In return, its power was absolute. No one had ever survived a direct hit from the Merciless Thunderbolt Bullet.
It was said to have disappeared after being designated a Prohibited Hidden Weapon, since no one used it anymore. Yet it had now revealed itself once more.
The man asked Yeom Hwasin, "How are you not dead?"
He was utterly shocked. He had never imagined that someone struck squarely by the Merciless Thunderbolt Bullet could survive.
"Must be defective."
Yeom Hwasin held out his hand, and the Merciless Thunderbolt Bullet flew up from the floor into his palm.
Crunch.
When Yeom Hwasin tightened his grip, the lump of metal shattered like a cracker. The hidden weapon with the greatest killing power in the world vanished from existence.
"See? It's defective."
"That precious thing!"
Its method of manufacture had been lost, so it was a hidden weapon that could never be made again.
"What you should cherish isn't this junk. It's the time you have left."
"Who are you?"
"You came to kill me without even knowing who I was."
The same was true for Yeom Hwasin and Baek Socheon. Neither knew their opponent, and Baek Socheon had never seen the man before.
Still, the important thing was not the man's identity, but who stood behind him.
"Who sent you?"
A bitter, hollow smile formed on the man's lips.
"That's the question I've wondered about my entire life."
The next moment, the man vomited blood and collapsed with a dying cry.
Having failed the assassination, he had severed his own meridians and killed himself.
Judging from his final words, he seemed to have been raised by some organization from childhood, and for a very long time.
At the very least, he could not have been an assassin. As long as Cheon Geuk was the Alliance Leader, no order to assassinate Yeom Hwasin would have been approved.
Jong Mujin rushed over and searched the man's body and clothes. But there was nothing that could serve as a clue.
"This doesn't look good," Jong Mujin said worriedly. "I think we should return to the Alliance now."
The Merciless Thunderbolt Bullet was the greatest hidden weapon of the age. Since its method of manufacture had already been lost, it would be worth several million nyang.
The people behind this were willing to use a weapon that expensive.
"Who am I? I'm the Black Heaven Alliance Leader. It would be stranger if I never encountered something like this. The journey will continue."
"Alliance Leader."
"Prepare to depart."
"Yes."
Yeom Hwasin's resolve was firm. Unable to dissuade him any further, Jong Mujin went outside.
Baek Socheon asked Yeom Hwasin, "Is your body all right?"
"It isn't."
Only then did Yeom Hwasin frown. The pain seemed to be setting in.
"May I take a look?"
Yeom Hwasin nodded.
Baek Socheon examined his back. A mark like a burn had been left behind.
"It'll scar."
Baek Socheon placed a hand over the wound. It was the first time he had properly touched Yeom Hwasin's body.
His back, which Baek Socheon had expected to be endlessly cold, was surprisingly hot. Perhaps his internal energy was moving busily through his battered body, trying to heal it from within.
Apart from the wound, the moment Baek Socheon touched him, he felt Yeom Hwasin's strength. Even if he had not known Yeom Hwasin had achieved the Indestructible Vajra Body, he would have sensed that same toughness.
It would be impossible to cut this body.
"As long as it didn't pierce through, it's fine."
"Do you have any idea who did this?"
Yeom Hwasin nodded.
"The Seven Unorthodox Families."
Earlier, the two of them had destroyed a place where the Flood Dragon Gate, one of the Seven Unorthodox Families, had secretly trained elite martial artists.
"Your prediction was wrong."
"It was."
He had expected them to lead the war against the orthodox faction to make up for their mistake, but that prediction had failed.
A thought suddenly occurred to Baek Socheon.
The Seven Unorthodox Families did not know this man, Yeom Hwasin, very well.
He was not someone who would seek revenge at once. They knew only Yeom Hwasin's darkest and most terrifying side.
That was not all they did not know.
"They didn't know you had achieved the Indestructible Vajra Body."
"Of course not. On our side, Mujin is the only one who knows."
"And you told me that?"
"Are you moved?"
"Not at all. You'll use that hard body to beat me to death someday. What's there to be moved about?"
"Haha. True enough."
At that moment, Jong Mujin returned.
"Preparations are complete."
"Let's go."
The two left the inn together.
They climbed into the carriage.
"Are you really planning to continue this journey?"
"I am. Why? Are you scared?"
"Do you think I'd ask because I'm scared? I'm worried about you."
"If the Black Heaven Alliance falls, wouldn't that be good for you?"
"That is true, but..."
Yeom Hwasin asked casually, "Why? Do you dislike the thought of me falling?"
"I'll postpone my answer until that scar heals."
Yeom Hwasin understood the meaning behind those words and smiled with satisfaction. Baek Socheon then added cheerfully, "Fine. Let's keep going."
Yeom Hwasin shouted to Jong Mujin, "Let's go."
Jong Mujin, who normally would have answered loudly, "Yes!" gave no reply.
"I said let's go."
When there was still no response, Yeom Hwasin and Baek Socheon stepped out of the carriage.
Jong Mujin sat on the driver's bench, unconscious.
"Mujin!"
Yeom Hwasin quickly examined him.
"He's been poisoned."
Fortunately, his internal energy was profound enough that he had avoided immediate death.
Yeom Hwasin poured internal energy into his body, but Jong Mujin did not move.
"This doesn't seem to be an ordinary poison. When and where was he poisoned?"
They had no idea when or how the poison had been administered, but it had been done with truly ghostly skill.
"Could it be?"
Baek Socheon entered the inn. The people who had taken refuge in the kitchen were all corpses as well.
In other words, poison had been released inside the inn.
Baek Socheon asked Yeom Hwasin, who had followed him inside, "Are you immune to all poisons, by any chance?"
"I am. What about you?"
"So am I. Jong Mujin was probably poisoned here."
When the man had attacked earlier, these people had all been alive. That meant they had been poisoned afterward.
Baek Socheon looked around and noticed that the blood from the hidden weapon user's corpse had a purple tint unlike ordinary blood.
"The poison came from this man's blood."
The arm had been certain to fall off, and from that moment on, the plan had been to poison everyone nearby.
It was the colorless, odorless, tasteless Formless Poison, which even Baek Socheon and Yeom Hwasin had failed to detect. It had been transmitted through blood, so the person behind this plot was undoubtedly skilled in poison arts.
"If the Merciless Thunderbolt Bullet didn't kill you, they intended to kill you with poison."
In other words, they had prepared a second arrangement.
Thinking back on the dead man's final moments, Baek Socheon doubted the man had even known poison had been mixed into his own blood.
The people behind this truly were ruthless.
"We need to save Mujin first."
"Do you know someone who can treat him?"
"Not nearby."
"I know someone. But it'll take half a day from here."
"He can hold on that long. Let's go."
Even if Jong Mujin could not endure it, they had no other choice.
They placed Jong Mujin in the carriage.
Saving Jong Mujin came first. Punishing those people could wait.
Baek Socheon drove the carriage while Yeom Hwasin kept pouring internal energy into Jong Mujin's body, trying to preserve his life.
After traveling for half a day, they arrived at the Heavenly Yang Medical Family.
The Heavenly Yang Medical Family was a renowned orthodox medical family, and its head, Yang Deoksin, was a fairly well-known figure in the martial world. He had the ambition to use his medical skill to make the Heavenly Yang Medical Family the foremost medical family in the martial world.
As a result, he spent more time meeting people than practicing medicine.
Fortunately, Yang Deoksin was home rather than away when the carriage arrived at the Heavenly Yang Medical Family. After receiving word from his subordinates, Yang Deoksin came out to greet Baek Socheon.
"Hero Baek, it has been a long time."
"It has."
Yang Deoksin welcomed Baek Socheon, but he was also wary. They were not close enough for Baek Socheon to visit his home like this.
"What brings you here?"
"A companion has been poisoned. I came urgently because I need the Family Head's help."
"Is that so? Let me see."
Yeom Hwasin did not enter the medical family with them. He had judged that if anyone recognized him, it could interfere with the treatment.
The people of the medical family carried Jong Mujin into the treatment room.
Yang Deoksin felt his pulse, and his expression grew grave.
"He has been poisoned by Blood Poison."
As Baek Socheon had suspected, the poison had been mixed into his blood.
Blood Poison Art was a method of mixing poison into one's blood. Baek Socheon had only heard of it before. This was his first time encountering it directly.
"What is your relationship with this man?"
"He is someone I know."
"Do you know this man is from the unorthodox faction?"
While taking Jong Mujin's pulse, Yang Deoksin had sensed demonic qi mixed into his internal energy.
"I do."
"I don't know what your relationship is, but I absolutely cannot treat someone from the unorthodox faction."
"Family Head!"
Just as Baek Socheon was about to persuade him, the door slowly slid open.
Yeom Hwasin stood in front of it with his back turned. Yang Deoksin was startled by his large silhouette.
Without looking back, Yeom Hwasin spoke in a quiet, cold voice.
"If you don't treat him at once, you won't be able to treat even people of the orthodox faction from now on."
Footnotes:
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