WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Haruto

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◈ The Martial Alliance Rulebook Archives ◈

Chapter 28: Hyperosmia Treatment (3)

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The soft inner flesh of the beam smelled distinctly different from the scents I had caught from previous Anomalies.

I disliked putting it this way, but it did not stir my appetite.

‘Like boiled pork that was not properly drained of blood...’

“The acupuncturist told me you had unusual tastes. Does this beam look appetizing to you?”

“It smells too fishy, so I would rather not eat it.”

“Oho...”

Daoist Heosong nodded, then suddenly asked an unexpected question.

“What do you think is the difference between ordinary food and the House Anomaly here?”

“Pardon?”

“Think carefully. Considering your constitution, it should be a fairly easy question.”

“My experience is too limited to understand what you mean.”

I meant it. After eating Soul-Severing Mountain Villa, I had undergone a rather unusual change in constitution that made me somewhat familiar with Anomalies, but I had not encountered many kinds of Anomalies.

Daoist Heosong shook his head as he looked at me. He told me to put Anomalies out of my mind for the moment and think about why the food before my eyes would taste bad.

‘If I consider this pillar, crisp outside and soggy within, as food...’

“It has been left outside for too long. If it were ordinary food, it would have spoiled long ago.”

“Exactly.”

“Pardon?”

“Few people would smack their lips at food that had gone stale, would they?”

Daoist Heosong began by saying that my sense of smell at least did not seem to make inedible things smell appetizing.

“You are correct. This House Anomaly has been left exposed to rain and wind for years. Whenever it tries to beguile those around it and gather Demonic Qi, we hold a Purification Rite. It is like sprinkling ashes over a meal that is already cooked.”

I imagined a bowl of ritual food left at a gravesite. A bowl of rice someone had forgotten to clear away after the rites, left alone until the next ceremony.

Rain and wind would have battered it, insects would have taken bites from it, and ash from the incense would have added unwanted seasoning.

“That really would taste awful.”

“Yes. This is what I believe. The more a food contains great energy capable of nourishing your body, the more fragrant it will seem to you.”

“Uh...”

Put another way, the more delicious an Anomaly seemed to me...

“Doesn't that mean it's more dangerous?”

“Generally, yes. Some Anomalies remain in one place even with an immense amount of Demonic Qi, but usually, the denser and deeper the Demonic Qi, the more dangerous it is.”

The more delicious an Anomaly seemed to me, the more likely it was to possess the ability to devour me as well.

It was not exactly the saying that when one gazes into the abyss, the abyss gazes back.

‘Let's organize what I've learned so far.’

Things that smelled obviously inedible were the kind that contained something dangerous, like poison.

The ones that had some fragrance but did not particularly whet my appetite were the kind that would not do much to nourish my body even if I ate them.

The things that smelled delicious were fresh and full of nutrients, meaning Anomalies filled with Demonic Qi. They were probably the kind that tasted even better because they were dangerous.

“Of course, this is only my hypothesis. Still, it appears that the acupuncturist has been thinking along similar lines.”

With that, Daoist Heosong explained the sects I would visit in the future under the pretext of supervising Purification Rites.

More precisely, he explained the Anomalies they had continued to purify after exterminating them.

“It has already been ten years since the House Anomaly handled by the Wudang Sect underwent its Purification Rite. The Maoshan Sect's Anomaly, on the other hand, is about to undergo its first Purification Rite since its extermination. Daoist Cheonghong's Purification Rite falls between those two, at five years.”

So this had not merely been a case of being sent out to smell all kinds of Anomalies and write a report on my own?

For the next week, I intended to call the Eccentric Physician a Miracle Physician. I had no idea there was such deep meaning behind it.

As expected, the perspective of those in high places was on another level!

“Then you should be on your way.”

“Pardon?”

“You should look at the booklet again. See how many days remain until the Maoshan Sect's Purification Rite.”

I looked through the book the special physician had given me, saying I could use it as a reference whenever I got bored along the way.

This year's Purification Rites for the Wudang Sect and the Maoshan Sect were scheduled ten days apart.

The Wudang Sect was in Hubei Province, while the Maoshan Sect was in Jiangsu Province.

People with little interest in geography might not have known the distance between them. Unfortunately, I liked the martial arts genre enough to seek out and play martial arts games.

I was not an exceptional martial arts fanatic, but I had memorized the rough locations of mountains where famous sects were based.

That was why the terror invaded my mind not as a vague fantasy, but as a concrete figure.

On the real Earth, the distance between Mount Wudang and Mount Mao was over nine hundred kilometers.

Even with a simple calculation, I would have to run ninety kilometers a day.

‘That damned Eccentric Physician...!’

The sight of the Eccentric Physician's madness made my body tremble. Daoist Heosong caught me as my legs nearly gave out beneath me.

“Th-thank you.”

“Even on a thousand-li horse, it would take two days. Hurry along.”

* * *

The days that followed were an endless cycle of using my lightness technique.

Nothing else forced me to cover a distance as overwhelming as the one between Wudang and Maoshan in such a short time, but I still had to observe Purification Rites taking place throughout the Central Plains within a little over two months.

It was fortunate that I could show my writ of command and identity plaque at Martial Alliance branches along the way to receive a room and meals. Without that, I would have died by the roadside.

As I thought that, I heard something very strange at the Martial Alliance branch I visited on my way to the final Purification Rite at the Taishan Sect.

“Hoho, Young Hero Yeok is truly remarkable.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can tell just by looking at your writ of command. It is a schedule difficult to endure even for the trained body of a martial artist. Yet you have endured those long distances with nothing but your own body. I can sense your firm resolve to cultivate your external arts.”

The Martial Alliance member had probably spoken without much thought, offering a customary greeting because I was an event inspector sent from the Martial Alliance's main headquarters.

If they had put any wish into those pleasantries, it was probably that no inspector's watchful eye would fall on their branch.

Yet that casual remark struck me with a bolt of realization.

Come to think of it...

‘I could have borrowed horses from the branches!’

There were horses stationed for Martial Alliance couriers to use. They were not on the level of military mounts ridden by commanders, but they were well-bred animals that had been properly cared for.

I spent the entire night tossing and turning with regret and aching muscles.

* * *

The Taishan Sect was a major sect.

It was not among the Nine Sects One Gang, but most of the martial world knew its name. The imperial family itself held rites at Mount Tai, after all.

Its reputation as a Daoist stronghold was great enough that armed martial artists were permitted to live on Mount Tai. It possessed enough influence that smaller regional clans and sects could not even hope to touch its shadow.

A great sect, famous throughout the martial world and loyal to the imperial family.

Naturally, a fairly large city centered around the Taishan Sect stood at the foot of Mount Tai.

The Martial Alliance branch where I had stayed the previous night was on the outskirts of that city, Taian.

If I climbed Mount Tai today, this grueling assignment from the Anomaly Records Office would finally be over.

But...

‘My legs are killing me.’

Maybe it was because I had not slept properly, but I could not bring myself to climb another mountain today.

In truth, last night's insomnia was not the source of my exhaustion. Strangely, every time I crossed the gates of another sect, an odd pressure seemed to weigh down on my body.

The pressure vanished once I left a sect's territory, but it did not restore the strength I had already spent.

‘Nothing was as punishing as Sword-Relinquishing Pond, but climbing mountains over and over while feeling as if I had sandbags strapped to me is making my whole body scream.’

Because I had abused my legs so badly, there were still several days left before the Taishan Sect's Purification Rite began. No one would blame me if I rested for a day and recovered from the journey.

I decided to stroll through the evening streets of Shandong Province to loosen my legs a little. Since even the imperial family visited this place from time to time, it had to draw quite a crowd.

The market food would probably be excellent too.

* * *

Perhaps because evening had not yet arrived, I could not see any establishments serving alcohol and full meals in earnest. I ate something simple, like noodles, while looking around the market.

Then I began to hear something odd from the center of the market.

“Listen up! Two spiritually gifted Daoists are going up to the heavens to pick peaches!”

“Hmm?”

It was not even peach season, so obtaining peaches would have been remarkable enough. Yet they claimed the peaches were heavenly peaches.

They seemed to be street performers pretending to be Daoists. Since it did not appear they planned to charge people just to watch, it would not be a bad way to pass the time after eating.

Two people dressed in immaculate white robes, looking fairly convincing as Daoists, pulled out a rope.

One end of the rope was hidden in an equally white sack. No matter how much the two Daoists pulled, more rope rose out of it without end, making it seem long enough to reach the sky.

“Ah, son. The rope may be long, but it is too limp to reach the heavens!”

“No, Father. I will make this drooping thing stand straight.”

The subtle obscenity typical of plaza entertainers. The one called the son snapped the rope in his hand as though whipping someone's rear.

The rope stiffened as if enraged, then began to rise toward the sky on its own.

Its speed was painfully slow, though. Nearly a minute seemed to have passed, yet it had not even reached the top of the son's head.

“What use is something this slow? Move aside!”

The one called the father shoved his son away and grabbed the rope. I smirked and turned my head. They were entertaining performers.

They would probably continue their act like that, then climb to the rope's end and finish by saying, “Father, it seems it is not peach season in Heaven yet!”

That alone would make the audience willingly pay for the performance. I would too. It was a rather remarkable sight, even in a martial arts world.

I turned my head this way and that, looking for the mat entertainers usually spread out to collect money.

Then an incredibly pleasant scent began to drift over from somewhere.

The sweet fragrance unique to fruit juice. It resembled the scent of the peaches those fraudulent Daoists had boasted of stealing.

I was about to close my eyes and savor the fragrance when I realized that this strangely wonderful scent had not been there moments ago.

“Shit...”

An Anomaly.

An Anomaly had opened a Chaotic World Domain.

I carefully looked around so as not to appear strange.

The people noisily milling about the marketplace were certainly ordinary commoners who had been there just moments ago. The problem was the street itself.

At a glance, it looked like an ordinary market, but it seemed to stretch on without end. Shops and restaurants extended beyond the horizon, and people continued to stream in from somewhere.

I was certain the people arriving now were not Anomalies. Their scent was not delicious.

‘The passers-by are real people. Then...’

Was the place where these performers staged their feat connected to markets in all sorts of cities? Concealing my unease, I looked around like any ordinary person wandering through the market.

There.

In a corner of the marketplace, I saw a book glowing blue. It dangled beneath a brazier that would be lit once the city grew dark.

I picked up the rulebook.

When I opened the cover, the first page bore that familiar sentence in a very familiar hand.

『You are in Peach-Stealing Grounds.』

Footnotes:

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