WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME NOVELS

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Former Supreme ◈

Chapter 35: To Hire You (3)

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The Mythic Gang's headquarters was located in Dongyang, Zhejiang Province.

The closest branch was the Pojiang Branch, but Jeong Pung had not requested its assistance.

If he did, the Mythic Gang might learn in advance that they were coming. Since the Pojiang Branch was closest to their headquarters, they could have planted spies there.

It would be a disaster if the Mythic Gang Leader escaped. What if the leader claimed to be traveling somewhere far away and did not return for months? This matter would end in a muddle, but the other side's desire for revenge would not simply fade away.

With the headquarters before them, Jeong Pung gathered everyone and gave his orders.

"Today, we must arrest the Mythic Gang Leader and take the leader to the division."

"Yes!"

Even as his subordinates answered boldly, Jeong Pung was worried.

"We cannot rule out the possibility that they will refuse to obey our orders."

If the Mythic Gang Leader refused and tried to silence them all, everyone here could be massacred. Of course, that was unlikely. Attacking the Zhejiang Division Chief and Murim Alliance martial artists meant being prepared to become an Enemy of the Martial World. It was on an entirely different level from Wang Gon trying to kill Im Chung.

"Everyone, be careful."

"Yes, sir."

Baek Socheon, Im Chung, and Beon Saeng quietly followed Jeong Pung's command.

Two martial artists approached the Mythic Gang's main gate and knocked.

"We are from the Murim Alliance. Open the gate."

Creeeak.

The gate was not locked.

The martial artists who had knocked tensed up. In their experience, the gate of a sect this large was usually either wide open or locked shut.

Jeong Pung, standing behind them, gave the order.

"Enter carefully."

"Yes."

Following the two martial artists at the front, everyone cautiously entered.

The group was startled the moment they stepped inside. The place was empty. Every building door stood open as if the occupants had only recently moved out, while odds and ends lay scattered across the ground.

And someone sat in the center of the courtyard.

A man in splendid red martial robes, as though he could set the entire world ablaze, was drinking alone.

He sat with his back turned, and it was incredibly broad. Broad enough to make one wonder whether they had ever seen anyone with shoulders so wide.

Baek Socheon's expression stiffened the instant he saw him. He recognized who it was.

Turning to Jeong Pung, Baek Socheon said, "Wait outside."

Jeong Pung did not ask a single question at the deadly serious look on his face. He simply obeyed.

Baek Socheon also signaled for Im Chung and Beon Saeng to leave.

They were worried about him, but they knew that quietly leaving was the best way to help him now.

Everyone followed Jeong Pung outside.

Left alone, Baek Socheon stared at that broad back.

"What the hell? Why are you here?"

The man's back shook. He was laughing.

"Hahahaha. It's been a long time."

Laughing thunderously, the man turned around.

He looked to be in his fifties, with sharp eyes, a high nose, and a square jaw. His features were like a sculpture carved from stone.

There were many ways to describe a martial artist, but the words that suited him were these.

Steel-like, hard as diamond, tougher than ten-thousand-year cold iron... Hard.

He truly gave the impression that nothing in the world could break him. His skin was no ordinary skin either. It carried a deep blue sheen, as though neither blade, sword energy, nor sword aura could cut through it.

He was Yeom Hwasin, the Black Heaven Alliance Leader who had fought Baek Socheon in their final battle and given him the unforgettable day that changed his life.

"Why are you here?"

"I heard you were coming."

"Were you watching me?"

"Watching you? Don't use such hurtful words between us. Call it interest, not surveillance."

"Stop joking. How did you know?"

"When you were at headquarters, you interfered with our affairs there. Then you came out to this backwater and began interfering with our affairs here."

"Your affairs?"

The next moment, Baek Socheon let out a cry of realization.

"The Mythic Gang! This was your work."

"That's right."

"I thought it was strange that an ordinary sect had grown so quickly in only a few years."

"I intended to place some of our people behind your lines."

When Baek Socheon had gone to the site where the ironworks was to be built, the terrain had been ideal for a fortress. As expected, that was where the Black Heaven Alliance had intended to build its fortress.

They had planned to build up the Black Heaven Alliance's core, disguised as an orthodox faction, around the Mythic Gang. That was why, aside from the person they had put forward as the Mythic Gang Leader and a few close aides, most of them had been hired martial artists.

"The Mythic Gang disappeared from the world today. This has cost us dearly. If it weren't for you, Wencheng Fortress would have been complete before this winter. Because of you, we spent money for nothing. Still, in consideration of old ties, I'll be generous with you. Come, have a cup of punishment wine."

Baek Socheon walked over and sat in front of him.

"You must have known I had come down here. Why didn't you show yourself sooner?"

"I watched because I was curious what you would do. You and I aren't the sort to start swinging swords just because we've suffered a little loss. Here, have some."

Yeom Hwasin poured him a drink.

Yeom Hwasin's forearm, as he filled the cup, was as thick as a man's waist. It radiated heat. His aura was like blazing lava.

'He's the same as before.'

Baek Socheon could tell that Yeom Hwasin had fully recovered from his injuries.

'He recovered from his injuries!'

Yeom Hwasin had also suffered a life-threatening injury in their bloody battle, yet he had recovered.

Just as being with the Murim Alliance Leader calmed his heart, facing this man made his heart burn. Yeom Hwasin was the kind of man who made him want to fight. Even without internal energy, Baek Socheon wanted to throw a punch at his face.

Suppressing that urge, Baek Socheon drank.

Then Yeom Hwasin looked behind him and asked, "Would the friends hiding over there like a drink as well?"

Cheon Geuk appeared some distance away. The Guardian Assassin Stars revealed themselves behind her and flattened themselves against the ground.

"We pay our respects to the Supreme of the Unorthodox Path."

She recognized who he was. No matter that she was the Alliance Leader of the Assassin Alliance, she could not act carelessly before the Black Heaven Alliance Leader.

He had already demonstrated his ability by finding them. Cheon Geuk and the Four Heavenly Assassins had been concealed with a concealment technique of the highest level, enough that no one could detect them, yet it had not worked on Yeom Hwasin.

"Come have a drink."

"I don't believe I dare join you."

"If you look at it another way, aren't you on our side too?"

To Cheon Geuk's surprise, Yeom Hwasin knew exactly who she was as well.

"We are lowly people who only chase after gold."

"Are we any different? In that sense, you and I are both straightforward people, faithful to our desires."

Yeom Hwasin turned his gaze to Baek Socheon.

"What about you?"

"I'm one of those old-fashioned, narrow-minded orthodox fools."

Yeom Hwasin snorted.

"If that were true, you couldn't be sitting in front of me."

As if seeking Cheon Geuk's agreement, Yeom Hwasin looked at her and said, "In truth, this fellow is inclined toward our side too. He just chose the other side from the start. Tsk, tsk. If he had joined the Black Heaven Alliance from the beginning, we would have already accomplished the great task of unification of the unorthodox path..."

He seemed genuinely regretful.

But Baek Socheon knew better. Yeom Hwasin was not as simple as he appeared. Behind that hard exterior, like a martial artist born and bred, was a man capable of every scheme and trick needed to fulfill his ambitions. He was someone who did not fear the loss of thousands or tens of thousands of lives if it would achieve them.

"What do you say? Will you join me, at least?"

Cheon Geuk looked between Baek Socheon and Yeom Hwasin, then respectfully lowered her head.

"I will remain neutral."

"A refusal. Aren't you afraid of me?"

"I am. I'm truly afraid. Look at how much my hand is shaking right now."

Still bowing her head, she raised her hand. It was trembling violently. It was not an act. She truly was afraid.

"Yet you still refuse me? Why?"

"Because I'm equally afraid of the person sitting across from you, Alliance Leader."

Yeom Hwasin nodded and laughed.

"I have no choice but to acknowledge that. Hahaha."

"Then, since this lowly person has made such an esteemed man laugh, I will take my leave without worry."

Perhaps fearing he would stop her, Cheon Geuk and the Guardian Assassin Stars vanished without a sound.

Pouring more wine into Baek Socheon's empty cup, Yeom Hwasin asked, "You put her in that position, didn't you?"

"You know quite a lot."

"What could there be about you that I don't know?"

"You don't need to know anymore, do you?"

After a brief pause, Baek Socheon asked, "Why didn't you kill me?"

Since losing his internal energy, if the Black Heaven Alliance had wanted to kill him, he could have died dozens of times already. He was the one who had obstructed Yeom Hwasin's dream.

"There are many reasons. There is no need to unite the orthodox fools by killing someone who is no longer a threat. And if I wanted to kill you, I could do it whenever I wished."

To that honest answer, he added one important reason.

"The three years I spoke of are nearly up, aren't they?"

At that moment, words from three years ago echoed in Baek Socheon's heart.

-Three years will be enough. By then, you too will know that my words were true.

Those words had always lingered in Baek Socheon's heart. They had come from Yeom Hwasin, the Black Heaven Alliance Leader.

"There is still time left."

"Yes. After this summer passes and winter comes, it will have been three years. What do you think? Have you found the truth?"

"I still... don't know."

"Doesn't the fact that you're here speaking with me already give you the answer?"

"Even what appears to be the right answer always has another side."

"You are under one great misconception. You think you're doing this because some loyalty to the Murim Alliance remains in you, don't you? No. You're only turning away because your entire life is being denied."

"..."

"You will know soon enough."

After draining his final cup, he rose from his seat.

Baek Socheon could feel that war was not far off. The past three years had not been a truce in the true sense. They had only been the time the Black Heaven Alliance Leader needed to heal his wounds.

Still seated, Baek Socheon asked, "Can't you choose not to start that war?"

Yeom Hwasin, whose massive body stood like a mountain, looked down at him.

"Why should I?"

Baek Socheon knew he could not persuade him. It was no different from trying to convince a shark that wanted to eat a fish not to eat it.

Unifying the martial world was the Black Heaven Alliance Leader's dream.

Just as Baek Socheon had dreamed of becoming a Murim Alliance martial artist since he was six, this man's dream had also grown within him since childhood.

He too would not want to deny his own life... He would never stop.

Could the orthodox faction truly endure this war? In the last one, they had only managed a draw after he fought until he was ruined.

"I should have killed you then."

In response to Baek Socheon's regret, Yeom Hwasin made an unexpected offer.

"Have you considered coming under me? I will accept every condition you want. I'll give you a blank sheet, so write whatever you desire. I will grant you anything except my life."

"I'm an empty shell now, aren't I?"

"Even the shell is impressive."

"I'm still bound to the Alliance for now. If they throw me out completely, I'll consider it."

"You don't trust me?"

"I believe you would keep your promise."

"But?"

"I know very well why you want to hire me. You would use the fact that I joined the Black Heaven Alliance to raise the morale of the unorthodox martial artists. I would probably become the finest sacrifice in this war. On the day you march out, you would cut off my head before everyone."

"Hahaha. This is why I like you. You're good at fighting, and you're smart."

He slowly left.

Baek Socheon watched that enormous back recede in silence.

A short while later, the martial artists entered again.

"What in the world happened? Who was that man?"

"You don't need to know."

"Fine. Let's say we let that man go. Why is this place empty?"

"The Mythic Gang has disappeared from the world."

"What does that even mean?"

"There is no revenge to fear, nor any need to worry about what comes after. It seems the vengeance for Liang Qiu's family will have to be put off for a long time. Let's return."

With only those words, Baek Socheon strode away.

The others exchanged astonished, bewildered looks, then followed after him.

Once everyone had left, Cheon Geuk and the Four Heavenly Assassins appeared on the roof of the building.

"An opportunity has come again."

When war broke out, the martial world would fall into chaos, and assassins would become busy. They could earn sums of money beyond anything they could make in ordinary times. For the Assassin Alliance, it was an opportunity that might come only once in a lifetime.

Of course, it would also become that much more dangerous. Many assassins would die after getting caught up in the war. Perhaps the entire Assassin Alliance would be wiped out. That had happened in the previous war.

Cheon Geuk looked up at the blazing sun.

Whether she had been deceived by Baek Socheon's sweet words or had chosen to play along, her eyes were completely different from before. They held a depth that seemed to pierce through life and death.

"Enjoy this summer to your heart's content. It may be your last."

Footnotes:

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