WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
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◈ The Martial Alliance Rulebook Archives ◈
Chapter 66: Tales of Astronomy and Geography (1)
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When I asked about the Bone-Shrinking Art and Face-Changing Art, the special physician shrugged.
“There are related books in the Medical Hall, so I could teach you. But I wouldn't recommend it.”
“Why not?”
“If you want to alter your build as a whole, it naturally puts a certain strain on the blood vessels and meridians throughout your body. Ordinary people don't need to maintain the Bone-Shrinking Art for all twelve double-hours, and under normal circumstances, the burden isn't that great. A good night's sleep should take care of it.”
Though I could already guess the answer, I asked anyway.
“What about me?”
“Rather than getting better, you might end up getting bonier.”
The Eccentric Physician cackled after making that joke. Damn, the terrible puns of the high and mighty.
“The Face-Changing Art, which is used briefly and only on the face, might be useful. Still, I wouldn't recommend using it right now.”
“And why's that?”
I asked, ruffling my hair. The Eccentric Physician grinned.
“The more skilled someone is at the Face-Changing Art, the easier it is to see through. And where do you think the finest practitioner of the Face-Changing Art among the unorthodox sects is?”
Human-Skin Chef came to mind.
If they wanted to disguise themself as a dead chef and sell food, simply wearing someone else's face wouldn't be enough.
A person's memory of someone was made up not only of their face, but also their build, gait, voice, and overall impression.
“Could it be that person who's so good at cooking...?”
“Sharp as always. That chef is probably the best in the martial world at seeing through the Face-Changing Art. Even the Anomaly Destruction Hall lot who eat meals served by Human-Skin Chef have quite an eye for exposing disguises. You'll need a fair amount of mastery to fool them.”
With a sigh, I decided to just read the Discourse on Heaven and Earth preparation booklet.
This booklet wasn't as stiff as an Anomaly Records Office rulebook. It was more like a handover guide, with a senior sharing personal experience with a junior.
‘It feels a lot like something from the Calamity-Averting and Disaster-Escaping Office...’
It did use more roundabout wording than their material.
『Even if the kudzu is too bitter, endure it.』
The sudden mention of kudzu was a little baffling, but once I considered the clan's name, its meaning was easy enough to understand.
The ge in Zhuge meant kudzu.
Which meant it probably said:
‘Even if the Zhuge Clan is being shitty, put up with it.’
“Did Brother Peng write this?”
“Hmm? Do you think Peng Juhyeok could use such refined metaphors?”
“I thought it was quite direct...”
The Eccentric Physician clicked his tongue and shook his head. Peng Juhyeok was the sort who might thrust a challenge letter in the Zhuge Clan's face, declare that the match would begin since they had read it, and beat them flat, but he would never endure things that way.
“This isn't one of our rulebooks. In fact, it isn't even an official rulebook listed in the Ceremonial Affairs Department archive catalogue. It's simply something secretly passed around among the lower-ranking people in the Ceremonial Affairs Department that was somehow acquired.”
“I heard the roster is usually filled with Zhuge Clan members.”
That was why I'd initially assumed Peng Juhyeok had written it. Weren't the only Martial Alliance attendees either members of the Zhuge Clan or people from the Records Office?
“The people who attend directly are. But do you think some high-ranking Zhuge would arrange the venue and recruit chefs for such trivial work?”
“Ah.”
I looked down at the Discourse on Heaven and Earth preparation booklet again. I could almost see the tear stains of Ceremonial Affairs Department staff struggling to please the scions of illustrious bloodlines, the future holders of key posts in the Martial Alliance's Strategists Department.
* * *
As I turned through the preparation booklet, the Eccentric Physician began preparing to leave.
It seemed he intended to return to the Medical Hall.
“Special Physician.”
I stopped him. The preparation booklet had been interesting enough that I'd forgotten to ask, but there was something I needed to know.
“Hmm? I've participated in the Discourse on Heaven and Earth before, but I can't pass down my methods for dealing with the Zhuge Clan. I simply pulled rank on them.”
“There's a method like that? No, I mean, the Discourse on Heaven and Earth is one thing, but there's something I'm curious about.”
“What is it?”
“It's about our records room. Can its stairs lead somewhere other than the Martial Alliance?”
The Eccentric Physician wore an inscrutable expression.
“What makes you think that?”
After a moment's hesitation, I told him that I'd heard various things from the Hao Clan. Confusion filled his face once he heard my answer.
“You. When you hear something like that, isn't it only natural to suspect the Records Office first? For example, that the Records Office itself was meant to raise martial artists like Soul-Severing Mountain Villa, then use them as sacrifices later.”
“There are two reasons I didn't suspect that.”
The first was cost-effectiveness. Any newcomer who survived the work of investigating Anomalies and distributing rulebooks would naturally advance in cultivation at a rapid pace.
If this system continued, it would surely yield high-quality sacrifices in a short time.
“But who can guarantee that they'll survive? Instead of acquiring sacrifices through such a troublesome method, it would be cheaper and faster to hold a Martial Alliance martial arts tournament and kill people while making it look like an accident.”
“And the second reason?”
“The Anomaly Destruction Hall.”
I remembered Life-and-Death Gambler's words, especially her assessment of the Alliance Leader.
She had said that it was a miracle someone with such a scholar-like temperament remained in the Martial Alliance. Those words implied corruption within the Alliance, but they also showed the Alliance Leader's firm will to reform it.
“The lunatics of the Black Lotus Society might criticize the Alliance, but they aren't the sort to gild it for no reason. Life-and-Death Gambler vouched for the Alliance Leader's character, and isn't our Anomaly Records Office an organization that operates with the Alliance Leader's support?”
“You really are sharp!”
The impressed Eccentric Physician added one more thing.
“It would be nice if your cultivation were just a little higher.”
“Oh, come on.”
The Eccentric Physician cackled, then slowly nodded.
“I've pulled out and saved the Alliance's night visitors a few times. But doesn't your question already contain the answer? Sometimes the formation arrays inside the Martial Alliance interfere with one another and connect to the underground levels of the Anomaly Records Office. That's why the night visitors drift in.”
“I don't mean cases where formation arrays connect to each other. Not interference or resonance between arrays... I mean cases where they lead to an entirely different world.”
I told him about Jade Scale's warning. “When you are left alone, enter the bookbinding room at the far northern end and wait until morning.”
Then I mentioned the Calamity-Averting and Disaster-Escaping Office rulebook's description of a quiet records room where not even the brushes moved.
“This suggests that the records room itself can transform into a strange place. But if the danger came from something like an Anomaly escaping from the sealed deep levels, the Records Office would normally instruct us to escape to the surface.”
The Records Office gave Records Officers dangerous missions. At the same time, it encouraged them to do everything they could to survive.
It was even official policy to quietly hand over a rulebook upon encountering the Anomaly Destruction Hall.
If an Anomaly escaped its seal, then an instruction such as, ‘If you lack sufficient ability, flee and avoid disaster,’ would be entirely natural.
Yet neither the Calamity-Averting and Disaster-Escaping Office rulebook nor Jade Scale's warning even offered escape to the surface as an option.
“Because if the records room changes, the ‘surface’ you'll reach by taking the stairs is even more dangerous.”
“Huh.”
The special physician let out a sound that was neither a sigh nor an exclamation of admiration.
“So instead of escaping to the Martial Alliance, we're meant to hold out in the bookbinding room?”
“If only your cultivation were just a little higher, there'd be nothing more I could ask for.”
“No. Are you really going to mock my cultivation twice in one day?”
Was he seriously belittling the weak now?
“With instincts this sharp, you would adapt well even if you were thrown straight into the deep levels.”
“I'm starting to think I should neglect my martial arts training!”
The Eccentric Physician snorted.
He said that it was a given that I would use the Demon-Breaking Vajra Art to maintain my body, and that steadily circulating it would also increase my internal energy. Reaching a higher realm was only a matter of time.
“I can't explain it in detail right now, but I'll tell you the moment you qualify to enter the deep levels. The only thing I can tell you for now is this.”
The Eccentric Physician smiled, and I swallowed.
“Your reasoning wasn't headed in the wrong direction.”
* * *
There was still quite a while until the Discourse on Heaven and Earth's scheduled date.
Even after rereading the preparation booklet several times by the time my leave ended, I still had around ten days left.
But I couldn't spend that extra time lounging around.
Since I'd been selected as an attendee, I had to take part in events such as inspecting the proposed venue beforehand. I headed to the departure point where the inspection group was gathering.
I'd expected to find nothing but low-ranking Martial Alliance staff like myself, stuck with the Zhuge Clan's busywork. Instead, there was a young lady in silk robes who looked unmistakably like she came from a wealthy household.
Even her movements carried the air of formal etiquette. She had to be a member of a great clan. I found myself treading more carefully.
Everyone gathered there was focused on that noble-looking young lady, so no one paid attention to my footsteps. I slipped into a suitable spot and blended in among them.
“Radiant Phoenix.”
Radiant Phoenix?
I'd heard that epithet before. Those with titles such as dragon or phoenix were usually among the most promising young talents in the current martial world.
It made sense for such a young talent to take part in the Discourse on Heaven and Earth venue inspection. She had to be a member of the Zhuge Clan.
Radiant Phoenix Zhuge Yeong. Wasn't she said to be a leading figure in the Strategists Department?
“Why did you choose a place like that as the venue for such an elegant gathering as the Discourse on Heaven and Earth? Based on the rumors and its feng shui, it is practically inauspicious terrain...”
A place like that? Things didn't sound good from the very first line.
The guidance papers had clearly said we would inspect several locations before choosing one. Had a venue already been decided?
Feeling uneasy, I waited for Radiant Phoenix's reply.
“Is that so...”
After looking around and letting out a sigh, Zhuge Yeong spoke in a calm voice.
“You don't even know that?”
“Pardon?”
“Then you have no need to know.”
“No, but...!”
Zhuge Yeong added one final remark as though putting the finishing touch on a painting.
“Let's end this discussion. The time is not yet right.”
Someone from the Ceremonial Affairs Department tried to protest at that oddly infuriating tone, but the person beside them stopped them.
“Shh! Shh! Even if we question her, we'll only learn how inadequate we are!”
As I listened to that frustrating exchange, a line from the Discourse on Heaven and Earth preparation records flashed through my mind.
『Even if the kudzu is too bitter, endure it.』
...Now I understood why that was written there.
Author's Note (Afterword)
Around 22:40 on 2026/08/22: Part of the line, “Can tangled formation arrays sometimes lead somewhere other than the Martial Alliance?” has been revised.
Footnotes:
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