WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 107: The Grand Journey Through Hellish Chaos (6)
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“They headed for Taishi Peak.”
“Not Shaoshi Peak?”
Taishi Peak on Mount Song was famous for its treacherous terrain. Unless someone was visiting Shaolin Temple, no one deliberately entered Taishi Peak.
“They don't always make the obvious choice, do they?”
Whether by coincidence or not, they kept avoiding the course of action Cheol Sunjik had anticipated.
“He's not someone I'm compatible with. Worse, he's foolish.”
An unexpected choice could be refreshing, but relying on it too often was no good.
Those who constantly relied on improvisation eventually fell victim to their own tricks.
“We'll split the unit in two. Join the Ghost Bow Sect and Bifung Sect on the road to Shaoshi Peak, then seal off Taishi Peak's exit.”
The route through Shaoshi Peak was quicker than the one through Taishi Peak. If they urged their horses onward, they could block those who had entered Taishi Peak from both ahead and behind before they crossed it.
“The rest will leave their horses behind and follow me.”
“Brother Cheol, I'll lead the way.”
Nam Hwaseong rubbed his fists together as he spoke, and Cheol Sunjik nodded.
“They say Taishi Peak has always been so dangerous that people often fall to their deaths.”
“Exactly. It won't be easy to recover bodies from all twenty-four peaks.”
As planned, five hundred people took the main road toward Shaoshi Peak, while Cheol Sunjik's unit began moving toward Taishi Peak.
“They must have been in quite a hurry.”
After traveling for some time, they came across the strange iron carriage the others had been pulling.
Had they really thought a wagon patched together from iron plates like rags could make it along such a steep path, where horses could not enter at all?
Nam Hwaseong, thrilled at the thought of soon turning Jin Sowoon's face to pulp, picked up the pace.
The trail was dangerous, but Cheol Sunjik did not stop him.
In an encirclement operation like this, the more anxious the opponent became, the more effective it was.
But then...
“Why haven't they appeared yet?”
They were moving so quickly that it was hard to believe they were traversing Taishi Peak.
Even so, a considerable time had passed since they had gone past the iron carriage, yet there was no sign of Jin Sowoon's group.
“Could they be hiding?”
“There's nowhere to hide, and if they were, someone among us would have noticed.”
Their numbers had fallen greatly, but there were still nearly eighty of them. They were not professional assassins, so there was no way they could erase every trace in such a short time.
Bang.
A red signal flare shot up in the west.
“B-Brother Cheol!”
“What?”
The flare had risen in the direction of Shaoshi Peak. A red signal flare meant they were under attack.
“They went toward Shaoshi Peak?”
More startling than the opponent's unconventional tactics was the question of whether that was even possible.
A sheer, dizzying cliff lay between Taishi Peak in the east and Shaoshi Peak in the west.
Unless one was an absolute master, the only way to cross from Taishi Peak to Shaoshi Peak was to circle around all twenty-four peaks of Taishi Peak.
“How in the world did they do it?”
Cheol Sunjik did not even think of giving another order. He was too busy trying to figure out how they had done it.
#
Our group should originally have numbered two hundred and thirty, but we were now down to seventy-eight.
Even though we were the elite of the Namgung Clan, Moyong Clan, and Iron Sword Sect, our numbers had fallen this far. That showed just how grueling the journey had been.
On the other hand, the remaining seventy-eight were the elite among the elite. They were the ones who had endured that harsh journey without injury or falling behind.
That was why I could carry out operations I could never have imagined during my days in the Sojeong Unit.
“But we nearly died!”
Seong Moran, climbing the cliff of Shaoshi Peak, let out a sharp cry.
“Didn't I save you?”
Of course, I had pushed things a little too far.
When I suggested descending a sheer cliff a hundred jang high, Gang Seopyo had said, “...Is this what you do as soon as you're given command?”
Still, after I threw myself down first and used the Flying Dragon Claw to make footholds at intervals along the cliff face, everyone somehow began climbing down.
Whenever someone misplaced a foot and fell, I saved them too.
Fortunately, everyone crossed the cliff alive.
“That isn't the issue. Don't you think it matters that we faced death several times?”
“...Martial artists often gain enlightenment when facing death. If you look at it that way, didn't I give you all a chance at a fortuitous encounter?”
“...”
It was supposed to be a joke, but flames flickered in Seong Moran's eyes.
“Why do you think we ended up like this? Would we be suffering like this if the Twelve Peak Alliance hadn't stationed the Ghost Bow Sect and Bifung Sect to lure us into a trap?”
“Grrrk.”
Crack.
The stone Seong Moran gripped shattered, and her body swayed. She quickly regained her balance and resumed climbing.
“The Twelve Peak Alliance approached us and targeted us because they think we're easy prey.”
They had never been treated like this before, so their fury only grew stronger. I deliberately raised my voice.
“We have to show them the true strength of the Namgung Clan, Moyong Clan, and Iron Sword Sect. Then they'll never dare look down on us again.”
Everyone climbed the cliff twice as fast.
Those who had reached the top of the Shaoshi Peak cliff threw vines down to pull up their companions, and before long, all eighty people had climbed up.
They should have been exhausted from climbing down and back up the cliffs, yet they swiftly began descending the mountain.
Gang Seopyo, Choe Mubin, and Baek Wongak shouted at the same time.
“Let's go!!”
“Let's go!!!”
“Let's go!!!”
One by one, they drew their swords.
They had spotted Ghost Bow Sect members on the main road on the other side, their bowstrings drawn.
“Attack!”
This was where the Five Great Clans showed their strength.
Without a single sign of difficulty, they climbed the trees and began cutting down the Ghost Bow Sect archers.
“Argh!”
“They came from behind!”
“Bifung Sect! Where is the Bifung Sect?!”
Like fruit falling from trees, the ambushed Ghost Bow Sect archers tumbled down one after another.
They had not brought separate guards to fill their ranks to one hundred. Once they gave up the advantage of the terrain, they were no match for the martial artists of the Moyong Clan, Namgung Clan, and Iron Sword Sect.
Whoosh.
I instinctively turned my head, avoiding an arrow that passed by my cheek.
Before I could even wipe away the blood streaming down my face, I scanned the area.
The Ghost Bow Sect had regained their senses and begun to counterattack.
Twang.
The sound of bowstrings rang out from all directions at once, and the arrows that flooded the sky were too numerous to believe they had been fired by just one hundred people.
“Illusory Arrow!”
The martial artists who had launched the ambush quickly hid behind trees.
Only a few dozen arrows lay on the ground. Everyone knew that most of the sky-filling arrows falling like a shower of flowers were fake, but no one could easily step out.
Unlike the illusion sword, it was difficult to tell whether an Illusory Arrow was real as it flew toward you. The Ghost Bow Sect had filled all one hundred positions with archers because they trusted the other Twelve Peak Alliance factions. Their strategy of firing simultaneously was a fatal weakness for swordsmen.
Twang.
The bowstrings rang out together once more. This time, arrows came not from one direction, but three.
The archers had changed positions and attacked in the meantime.
“Urgh.”
“Don't just watch the front! They've changed positions!”
“Damn it.”
Eight people had arrows lodged in their bodies after a single barrage of Illusory Arrow.
Screams rang out again among our people, who had been avoiding the arrow rain and looking for a chance to strike back.
“Argh!”
“It's the Bifung Sect!”
“Fall back first!”
Once the barrage of Illusory Arrow ended, the Bifung Sect charged in.
They were closer than the archers, but they maintained their distance from our people as they wildly hurled flying swords.
The moment someone rushed toward a person throwing flying swords, arrows flew in from somewhere and pierced their arms and legs.
The Twelve Peak Alliance truly lived up to its name.
“Jaehwa.”
I called Moyong Jaehwa, who was too busy dodging flying swords to think straight.
“Yes, Brother Sowoon.”
“Where do you think the Ghost Bow Sect examinee is hiding?”
“What?”
He looked dumbfounded, as if wondering what I was talking about in the middle of such a desperate situation.
“If it were you, where would you hide to shoot arrows?”
“I-I would...”
Jaehwa cautiously poked his head out and looked over the trees around us. Then he pointed to the second-tallest tree.
“That tree over there has denser foliage.”
“Got it.”
“What? What are you going to do?”
“I'll trust you with my life.”
“What?”
I drew up all my internal energy.
Pouring every last bit of the internal energy I had accumulated over two gapja into it, I unleashed the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art.
Bang.
At the same time, the Bifung Sect martial artists, startled by my movement, hurled flying swords from every direction.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
I avoided the flying swords by a hair's breadth, kicked off a tree, and shot toward the place Moyong Jaehwa had indicated.
Sure enough.
As I drew closer, the tree began shaking violently.
‘Just as I thought!’
The enemy had concealed themself so well that I could sense their presence but could not see them.
I unleashed the Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist toward the tree.
Papapapapapapapapapapap!
Broken branches and leaves scattered in every direction, and the large tree shook violently.
Then someone in blue-green martial robes, holding a bow, leaped down from the tree.
“Got you!”
The archer's face turned pale as they looked back at me.
#
Bang.
Jin Sowoon kicked off the ground and shot forward like a cannonball. He had pushed off with such force that the earth's surface sprayed in every direction like splashing water.
“Ha...”
This was the moment he had wanted so badly, yet Moyong Jaehwa felt only hollow.
‘I'm still no help.’
He had come to help Brother Sowoon, but he was not helping at all.
Perhaps Sowoon knew how he felt, because he had asked a question he did not need to ask just to encourage him.
‘You don't have to do that.’
He thought he had grown used to this chronic helplessness, but realizing he was useless beside someone he admired made the despair hit even harder.
-He's beyond saving.
-The eldest son of the Moyong Clan is like that?
-If he and Miss Seol had been born with their genders reversed.
The concerned words spoken by the clan members weighed heavily on his shoulders.
His father's warm heart, risking his life to bring him an elixir pellet from the Fire Monkey because he lacked talent and needed something to make up for it, also became a burden.
The words of the martial arts instructors, who told him he surely possessed as much talent as Moyong Seol and that he would inherit the clan no matter what anyone said, were a burden as well.
That was why he had tried to run away. He planned to learn only the miscellaneous skills the clan members looked down on, skip his training, and not even take the Martial Arts Academy regular examination.
His grandfather was frightening, but he could endure a beating. After a few years, perhaps people's expectations would fade away. It had been a childish thought.
Yet he could not bring himself to tell his father, who offered him the Fire Monkey's inner core after risking his life to obtain it, that he would not take the regular examination.
His internal energy had increased by half a gapja, but the burden on his shoulders had never felt any lighter.
Perhaps that was why he liked Brother Sowoon.
Sowoon bore a burden far heavier than his own, faced circumstances far worse than his, and possessed a will far greater than his to break through them. That was why he had come to admire him so much.
“Young Master!”
Papapap!
Baek Wongak took an arrow in the arm while trying to protect him.
“Unit Leader Baek!”
“I'm fine. We only need to hold out a little longer. The young ladies and the Changgung Unit are taking down members of the Ghost Bow Unit one by one.”
“...”
A short distance away, the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers were fighting desperately.
Geumpyo and Eunho joined their hands, and Dongryong ran over and stepped on them. At that instant, Geumpyo and Eunho used all their strength to launch Dongryong into the air.
Papapapap!
Since he had not climbed under his own power, he crashed through branches as he rose. Yet the instant he reached an archer, Dongryong cut apart the bow and knocked the archer to the ground.
Baek Wongak, who had been watching the scene with him, said, “Everyone has their own battle. If you step forward now, you'll only get in the way.”
“Get in the way...”
Baek Wongak realized the slip of the tongue, but the words had already left their mouth and could not be taken back.
At that moment, Jin Sowoon's voice thundered through the forest.
“Ghost Bow Sect! Bifung Sect! Your young masters are in my hands. If you want to protect them, stop fighting.”
The battle did not stop just because Jin Sowoon said so.
“Aaaagh!”
“Guaaagh!”
Then two different screams rang out, and the battle came to a halt.
“Huang Sword Sect's Jong Seogang refused to retreat and became a wandering ghost. Will you only withdraw after the same happens to you?”
At that, an archer descended from a tree.
The martial artists nearby had not even realized the archer was in that tree, and they flinched in surprise at the sudden appearance.
“How can we trust that you'll spare them?”
“This is an examination. Do you think I'm some blood-crazed killer?”
“You did that on Puyang Plains.”
“That wasn't me!”
“...Fine. We'll withdraw. Release the young masters.”
“No!”
One of the young men in Jin Sowoon's grasp shouted, but the archer shook their head.
“Young Master, the examination matters, but you matter most.”
The archer then looked at Jin Sowoon.
“Besides, even if we let them go, the other Twelve Peak Alliance members will capture them again.”
“Right, but that's my problem. So I'd appreciate it if you moved quickly.”
“Argh.”
“What do we need to do?”
“Disarm yourselves and withdraw.”
At Jin Sowoon's words, the Ghost Bow Sect archers and Bifung Sect martial artists began laying down their weapons.
Since they all used bows or flying swords, so many weapons piled up in an instant that it looked like a small grave mound.
The Taeul Sect group stared at them with slightly sickened expressions.
“I'll take this.”
“How do you know what that is?!”
The young man shouted as he looked at the bow in Jin Sowoon's hand, but Jin Sowoon barely reacted.
“If you had an Academy Admission Token, I would have taken that instead. But you don't have a damn thing, so I'm taking this as payment. Robber.”
“...”
The archer accepted the hostages, but did not forget to add a word while descending Shaoshi Peak.
“We're withdrawing, but the Twelve Peak Alliance will not give up.”
Looking around, many on our side were injured as well. Several could not even move and needed treatment immediately.
Baek Wongak's face was especially pale, with an arrow lodged in their abdomen.
“Unit Leader Baek!”
Gang Seopyo examined the wound and sighed.
“Fortunately, it missed the organs. Still, it will be serious if we don't administer first aid.”
Baek Wongak shook their head.
“You should leave first.”
“What are you talking about? You'll die!”
“I came to help the great Moyong Clan. How can I hold you back here? I'll tend to the injured and make my own way back, so please go on ahead.”
“Unit Leader Baek!”
Gang Seopyo, Choe Mubin, Namgung Seonhwa, and Seong Moran all looked at Jin Sowoon.
Moyong Jaehwa also looked at Jin Sowoon with a desperate expression.
“Fortunately, they aren't coming along the route we took.”
Seong Moran quietly muttered, “What lunatic would come that way...?”
“But the people who split into two groups are coming toward Shaoshi Peak.”
There was no time either way.
“Start administering first aid.”
“I... I'm fine. This little wound... is nothing. Please, leave quickly.”
Jin Sowoon did not answer Baek Wongak. Instead, he looked at Moyong Jaehwa, who had knelt before Baek Wongak.
“Moyong Jaehwa.”
“...”
“Get up. It's time to protect your people.”
“...Me?”
“Yes. If you don't move now, you'll harm not only Unit Leader Baek, but the Namgung Clan, Iron Sword Sect, and me as well.”
“...But how can I?”
Jin Sowoon held out the bow in his hand.
“It's time to reclaim your true self.”
Footnotes:
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