WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Haruto
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Alliance Rulebook Archives ◈
Chapter 73: Madmen (3)
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“Wait a moment, Brother Yeok.”
Peng Juhyeok took several deep breaths, then spoke in a remarkably calm voice.
‘Why does the flow of his internal energy seem different somehow?’
“You expect that the Sima Clan scattered the Zhuge Clan people across different locations, correct?”
“Yes.”
“We cannot know why the Sima Clan led the Zhuge Clan into these abandoned houses, but dark path sorcery must be guarded against on its own merits. You intend to leave at once and find them.”
‘What is this?’
For some reason, Peng Juhyeok seems intelligent!
“Then let us do this. I believe the Radiant Phoenix has such a nasty temperament that she would have refused anyone who tried to follow her, saying they would only be a hindrance. But when the precious child of a great clan moves, how could the servants fail to keep an eye on her?”
Peng Juhyeok’s explanation was as follows. The direct-line siblings’ every action would be of concern to the servants.
Therefore, they could obtain information from the servants and identify their locations more accurately. He asked me to wait only a moment.
I was impressed by the utterly logical analysis.
“Damn! As expected of you, Brother Peng! You did not receive the Five Great Clans’ elite education for nothing!”
Peng Juhyeok’s plan was orthodox, even if it was not some extraordinary stratagem. Why else would the orthodox approach be orthodox? It was orthodox because following that path offered the greatest benefit.
When I had been overwhelmed by the name Life-and-Death Gambler and nearly made an unnecessary choice, Peng Juhyeok had unexpectedly proposed an orthodox plan befitting a great clan’s descendant.
I was about to see the Peng Clan in a new light...
“Hm? No. I’m from a collateral branch, so they basically treated me like I had been discarded.”
“Ah.”
When I could not continue, Peng Juhyeok burst into hearty laughter. The longer that bold laughter continued, the more it felt as though the intelligence that had risen so high was plummeting back down. The flow of his internal energy also returned to normal.
“You go first and find Zhuge Byeok. He is not the sort to get angry when others follow him, so it should not be difficult to find signs of a group moving together.”
I nodded and circulated my internal energy through my lower body.
“By the way.”
“Yes?”
“Would it be difficult for you to find people with that exceptional sense of smell of yours?”
I considered it for a moment. When I had visited the Drifting Leaf Trading Company to send Murong Sung a letter, I had immediately noticed those following me.
I had also seen tracking incense being used from over someone’s shoulder while pursuing the Lamp-Extinguishing Executioner at Iron-Steel Stronghold.
In an ordinary place, I would probably have said it was possible without hesitation.
But this land was the problem.
A foul, musty stench like rotting marshland tormented everyone’s nose.
And the scent of blood engraved deep beneath the ground. Those two odors blanketed the Cheongyeong Town area with a presence strong enough to smother every other scent.
“In a place like this, I believe it would be difficult to distinguish anything unless it were a scent I knew very well, or something immediately recognizable like tracking incense. If I were close enough, I could at least confirm that someone was nearby.”
“Tsk. What a shame. Then get going first!”
* * *
I had no difficulty finding Zhuge Byeok’s trail.
In fact, it was difficult to say I had found it at all. Zhuge Byeok had not even left the old village chief’s residence.
“Oh. Young Hero Yeok. You have come!”
Startled by his relaxed manner, I exchanged looks with Peng Juhyeok. But Peng Juhyeok was no more certain of the situation than I was.
Thanks to the bandages, Zhuge Byeok appeared not to have recognized Peng Juhyeok.
“I was waiting for you to arrive. Should we not all move together to solve such a difficult problem?”
Ah.
Peng Juhyeok had assessed Zhuge Byeok as someone who would not resent being followed, but his temperament seemed even gentler than that.
If it was this difficult, then naturally everyone should go and solve it together. Such a mindset was rare among martial artists.
He was truly cooperative.
“...Where is the Radiant Phoenix?”
“Well. Yeong dislikes cumbersome procedures, you see. The moment she saw the map, she said there was no point in having a bunch of nobodies come along, then left first.”
Just as Peng Juhyeok had predicted. The direct line of a great clan had such abysmal social skills that the back of my neck began to ache.
“In any case, Yeong likes efficiency. They say the order from A to F corresponds to the order of the forms, so she is likely examining the A section first. We should follow behind so we can supplement the forms she has examined.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I spoke.
“No. I will go after the Radiant Phoenix.”
“Hm? Why?”
“The Black Lotus Society...”
Zhuge Byeok’s eyes widened briefly before he let out a hearty laugh and dismissed my deduction.
“Ha ha! Surely not! The Discourse on Heaven and Earth is a contest of strategy. To openly resort to underhanded tricks in a place like this would damage their honor! Besides, my sister has already lost. Why would they bother trying to eliminate her? If they were trying to lure you out, perhaps, but!”
At Zhuge Byeok’s use of the word “loser,” the nearby Zhuge Clan servants were shocked and tried to stop him.
“If the Radiant Phoenix hears you, she will make you pay dearly!”
“It is fine. She already dislikes her elder brother. Would teasing her make her any more vicious than she already is?”
Zhuge Byeok spoke so naturally that even I found myself thinking, ‘Hm, is that so?’
But the Life-and-Death Gambler’s words came to mind.
The Life-and-Death Gambler had handed over the map not on her own initiative, but on the orders of the person responsible for the Discourse on Heaven and Earth. If it was a scheme that made use of an Anomaly Destruction Hall martial artist, there would surely be a plan connected to an Anomaly.
“No. I will go see for myself.”
* * *
Radiant Phoenix Zhuge Yeong had already passed through all five sections and entered the final sixth section, F.
Her expression had always been blank, but it was particularly distorted now.
From the beginning of the Discourse on Heaven and Earth until now, nothing had gone as she wished.
Yeok Cheonmyeong, an unidentified man planted by the Formation Array Research Department, had openly quoted Laozi and criticized her ability to employ people.
That much was, well, tolerable. A dignified criticism from someone of equal caliber was worth revisiting after some time.
But what came next was not. When her strategy for certain victory had been ruined by an absurd betrayal, the Radiant Phoenix felt a humiliation unlike any she had ever experienced.
Zhuge Byeok must have leaked the answer. To commit such an act and still pretend to know nothing, his shamelessness was beyond words.
After having her victory taken from her, things became even more miserable. Zhuge Byeok easily secured victory, as though confessing to collusion with those people.
How much further did he intend to disgrace the family name?
Her elder brother had once been a perfect masterpiece worthy of the family’s will. Then he had strayed from the path and fallen this far.
The Zhuge Clan ought to calculate the martial world’s balance of power and control every variable in clear order.
Personal feelings were a luxury to strategists who had to manage the martial world. Yet Zhuge Byeok had mocked the family’s values and confessed his love to Sima Gwa, the Changing Sparrow.
Zhuge Byeok had not stopped at this ridiculous game of love and had ultimately made the wrong choice.
He had now gone so far as to collude with the Sima Clan to lower her reputation for walking the proper path and elevate his own standing. Zhuge Yeong could not help but rage.
Zhuge Yeong wished to lead the Discourse on Heaven and Earth to victory through her own strength by perfectly analyzing the Sima Clan’s six forms and establishing counter-techniques.
Yeok Cheonmyeong would also be deeply impressed by the model answer she presented, and the family’s honor, tarnished last time, would be restored.
More than anything, she was delighted at the prospect of crushing the Sima Clan’s trap head-on.
Zhuge Yeong examined the wall of the F section.
As in the previous five sections, several traces stood out there. They seemed to have been left when the Sima Clan personally wielded weapons several times to test their forms.
They had deliberately left them unconcealed as a provocation toward her. Thinking of Sima Gwa, the Changing Sparrow, Zhuge Yeong nurtured cold fury.
To reveal traces of the forms so openly. To be so confident in their victory.
She could not endure it. Her brilliant mind immediately devised counter-techniques. The six Sima Clan forms that had been drawn in her mind.
The six forms she had established to destroy them. Facing the wall, Zhuge Yeong drew her sword and began testing the counter-techniques.
* * *
Sima Gwa let out a light laugh. The Discourse on Heaven and Earth would most likely end in the Black Lotus Society’s defeat.
From the moment that madman had threatened Sima Ye, saying, “I will kill you here and now,” the Martial Alliance had taken control of the situation.
But she could not return to the Infiltration Warfare Office bearing only such humiliation. Especially the humiliation of being utterly defeated by a newcomer who had only just become a Records Officer.
So she added a touch of spite, using the demonic arts excavated from Cheongyeong Town.
The Mad Blade Fiend, who had accompanied that Yeok bastard, would draw his blade and trample the gathering’s lofty purpose if he found proof that the Sima Clan was researching demonic arts.
Therefore, she used a method entirely opposite to demonic arts. The previous night, Sima Gwa had given special instructions. She ordered them to emphasize certain traces in each section.
The demonic arts extracted from Cheongyeong Town thus far had naturally been established based on the scars left by murderers.
But the traces designated this time were different. The parts made to appear as though the Black Lotus Society had intensively researched them were, in truth, resistance marks.
Marks left by those who had resisted a murderer’s attacks. A technique to break them would naturally become the murderer’s martial art, which in turn would be demonic arts.
That Yeok bastard would be greatly troubled. To complete the counter-techniques, he would have to learn the forms of demonic arts.
Of course, with that man’s sophistry, he would easily overcome this trap. But at the very least, he would suffer for the first few double-hours.
‘It is quite regrettable that defeat in the contest of strategy is certain, but...’
Thanks to Sima Ye’s scheme, an environment had been created where they could thoroughly investigate the traces remaining in Cheongyeong Town.
They had even succeeded in taking rubbings of the demonic arts traces left in every abandoned house and preserving them. Sima Gwa could withdraw satisfied with gains like these.
* * *
But the Life-and-Death Gambler could not.
She had tried to endure it. She had truly tried to endure it.
After witnessing such a splendid gamble where life and death hung in the balance, how could it be allowed to fizzle out as though it were nothing?
She obeyed the Black Lotus Society Leader’s orders. As instructed, she obeyed the directions of the Changing Sparrow, who was in overall charge of this gathering.
She had been told, “Go and distribute the maps,” but no one had told her in what order they should be distributed.
From her perspective, this was also a gamble. If Sima Ye had made the instructions a little more specific, or if Zhuge Yeong’s temperament had been a little gentler.
Or if Peng Juhyeok had not performed physical exorcism on Zhuge Byeok and driven out the malignant spirit, the outcome might have been somewhat different.
But Zhuge Yeong had been unable to overcome her own obsession and run off alone, while Zhuge Byeok had waited for Yeok Cheonmyeong, laughing and chatting with the household retainers in a manner far more easygoing than his original disposition.
And so, everything aligned.
Heavenly Timing. No one except the Records Officer had paid attention to the Life-and-Death Gambler, so the timing was truly perfect.
Earthly Configuration. There could be no place more murky and unpleasant, so the location was truly perfect.
Human harmony. Zhuge Yeong had not sought friendship with anyone, so the harmony was truly perfect.
* * *
Something was wrong. The scent of blood was growing stronger. It differed from the delicious scent unique to Anomalies, but it was an exceedingly ominous smell.
My expression hardened as I ran forward.
Peng Juhyeok moved after me, and Zhuge Byeok and the household retainers, who followed us without understanding why, also quickened their pace.
Within the F section, a human figure was dancing with a sword as though possessed by a spirit.
The lines were graceful, but the force contained within them was vicious. It was clearly different from the movements that bore the restrained beauty unique to the Zhuge Clan. These were ghostly movements that overwhelmed anyone who saw them.
The unaware clan members exclaimed in admiration.
“Good heavens! It seems she has already grasped every principle and is demonstrating the counter-techniques!”
No.
Once I had come this close, I could smell Zhuge Yeong.
There were two scents. A person’s natural body odor, and a fishy smell difficult to describe.
The closest thing was the scent of blood I had smelled at Soul-Severing Mountain Villa.
‘Qi deviation?’
“Brother Peng.”
The moment I spoke, Peng Juhyeok immediately tried to raise his great saber. But his movement soon stopped.
We had sensed a presence behind us.
It was a group from the Black Lotus Society. As though they had followed the Zhuge Clan procession, the Sima Clan’s household retainers came pouring out.
Naturally, Sima Gwa stood at their forefront.
“My, you are quite passionate from this very night.”
The Life-and-Death Gambler stood beside her.
[Did they induce the Radiant Phoenix’s current state?]
Peng Juhyeok, who had assumed a ready stance, hurriedly sent a voice transmission. I was about to reply that the circumstances suggested as much.
The Life-and-Death Gambler was smiling at me.
‘What?’
A chill ran down my spine. It was like the moment one realizes they are dreaming while inside a dream. I examined Sima Gwa again.
The Changing Sparrow carried no particular weapon. She was dressed lightly, just as she had been at the Discourse on Heaven and Earth.
It was far too little armament to face the Radiant Phoenix, whose aura was becoming increasingly dangerous.
‘Did someone call her out without her knowing what was happening?’
Sima Gwa turned her head toward the Radiant Phoenix.
“You are working hard. Trying so earnestly to wear clothes that do not fit you.”
The Radiant Phoenix did not even listen to the Changing Sparrow’s mockery, only adding more force to her sword. Sima Gwa also seemed to sense something unnatural in that unnatural concentration.
“Hmm...?”
“Ah, it seems they are almost here now.”
Suddenly, the Life-and-Death Gambler spoke. I reflexively asked:
“Who?”
She gently extended a hand toward the Radiant Phoenix.
“The Ghost Valley Master!”
The Life-and-Death Gambler cried out brightly.
Beside her, Sima Gwa’s face turned pale.
“The Ghost Valley Master is coming!”
The moment I heard the Life-and-Death Gambler’s delighted voice, an idea flashed through my mind.
I recalled the “malignant spirit” Peng Juhyeok had beaten up and driven away.
Clues began combining wildly in my mind.
The first Anomaly of my life, Soul-Severing Mountain Villa. The nightmare that had come during the Records Office examination, and even the rulebook of the Crossroads of Life and Death.
All of it came together in a single intuition.
Was that it?
Was the Ghost Valley Master an entity that clung to the bodies of those gifted with Divine Schemes and Wondrous Calculations, living a twisted eternal life?
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