WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 143: Those Who Wear Black Masks (2)
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“When you see a senior, you should greet them first. What do you think you're doing?”
Demanding a greeting he did not even want was a clear sign that he intended to openly look down on me.
“......”
Still, I had thought Elder Moyong Gang would have taught him a lesson. Perhaps the beating had not hurt much.
Or maybe he was tougher than I had expected.
“Are we close enough to exchange greetings? Wouldn't it be more fitting to exchange swords instead?”
I tried provoking him, but unlike before, he did not immediately rise to the bait.
“This is why those without proper upbringing are always... Tsk.”
Flying Cloud New Wind, Jong Byeokgi.
Though he should have been carrying out his duties in the Dragon-Phoenix Association, he was here alone in Hunan Province.
“Miss Namgung, people have something called social standing. If you continue associating with people like these, how do you think others will look at you?”
“Social standing...?”
Namgung Seonhwa looked at him with contempt, then tied her hair back with her hairpin.
It was a gesture that said he was not even worth the bare minimum of a response.
She turned and sat back down, but Jong Byeokgi did not seem willing to end the conversation there.
No, the people with him had begun taking an interest in Namgung Seonhwa instead.
“Namgung Seonhwa? Wouldn't that make you the Divine Sword's granddaughter?”
“It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“I run a merchant group here in Hunan Province...”
The men, decked out in extravagant jewelry, rushed to introduce themselves one after another. Namgung Seonhwa ignored every one of them and continued seeing to the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers' meal.
Unable to stand it any longer, Jong Byeokgi stepped in.
“Miss Namgung, I was late in introducing these gentlemen. They are...”
They were the children of high-ranking officials and wealthy merchant families. Among them were even the children of shipowners with hundreds of vessels on Dongting Lake.
They were all men who carried considerable influence in Yueyang.
Each of them puffed out his chest when his name was called, but Namgung Seonhwa's expression remained indifferent.
“I see.”
“Exactly. Since our meeting is a fine connection, how about we move somewhere else and talk together?”
At Jong Byeokgi's suggestion, Namgung Seonhwa slowly looked over the men.
“To spend time together... they are not people worthy of the Namgung Clan.”
“......”
“......!”
At Namgung Seonhwa's words, Jong Byeokgi and the others wore expressions as though they had bitten into dung.
Seong Moran bit her lip hard to suppress her laughter, while the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers stared at Namgung Seonhwa with strangely shining eyes.
Though they had been openly insulted, not one of the men lost his temper or stormed away.
As Namgung Seonhwa had said, she was not someone they could easily approach.
Jong Byeokgi read the room and hurriedly spoke up.
“Ah, Miss! I apologize for my harsh words earlier.”
“Why are you apologizing to me? Weren't the Taeul Sect disciples the ones you insulted?”
“Ah...”
“Please leave. You're disturbing our meal.”
Just as Jong Byeokgi was about to withdraw at Namgung Seonhwa's dismissal, I spoke.
“I'll accept your apology. In that case, how about Senior Jong pays for this meal?”
Namgung Seonhwa glared at me.
But was I wrong? I could not just let Jong Byeokgi go after meeting him again for the first time in so long.
A dog that bites people indiscriminately must be disciplined with a whip.
This was a good chance to give him the lesson Elder Moyong Gang seemed not to have taught him enough of.
“......”
Jong Byeokgi looked back and forth between me and the men behind him.
“And to celebrate our reconciliation, why don't you join us?”
“Th-that sounds good.”
The most ridiculous moments of this life were when I saw this idiotic side of those bastards.
Why had I been so afraid of them in my previous life? The thought made me disgusted with myself and full of regret.
Jong Byeokgi and his group happily took the empty seats, but Namgung Seonhwa did not spare them even a glance.
Some of them showed interest in Seong Moran, but she had already become thoroughly put off by them as well.
An awkward silence settled over the table, broken only by the clatter of the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers' chopsticks. Then I spoke.
“But what duties do you have with the Dragon-Phoenix Association? Why have you come all the way here?”
“...That's because you...”
Jong Byeokgi had clearly been about to spit out something vulgar. After glancing at Namgung Seonhwa, he continued.
“I came to find craftsmen to employ at the main sect.”
“Doesn't Mount Cang Sect already have excellent craftsmen?”
“Did you think one or two craftsmen could handle all of Mount Cang Sect's needs? Isn't the Namgung Clan the same?”
“......”
Namgung Seonhwa ignored him.
As things continued this way, Jong Byeokgi's anger began turning directly toward me.
“I heard you got into the Academy by sheer luck. But if you want to maintain that pitiful status, shouldn't you be spending your time studying instead of idling around in a place like this?”
“Didn't you hear? I received perfect scores in both the written and practical portions of this examination.”
“...You?”
The men who had paid me no attention until now began looking at me one by one, their eyes full of disbelief.
“Besides, I didn't come here to fool around either. I came to invite a craftsman to work with my sect.”
“What? ...Keh, hahahaha!”
Jong Byeokgi suddenly burst out laughing, and his companions awkwardly joined in without knowing why.
“Do you truly think there is a craftsman here who would work with the Taeul Sect?”
“What is wrong with the Taeul Sect? It was founded by the legendary Taeul Sword Emperor.”
“You are still saying such nonsense...”
Just as Jong Byeokgi was about to raise his voice, I lowered mine.
“It seems Elder Moyong Gang's beating didn't hurt much, Senior Jong.”
“......”
His face twisted as though he had bitten into dung.
The moment I finished speaking, the men in his group reacted in surprise.
“Oh, so it was true that you traveled with Elder Wind-Splitting Sword?”
“I heard the Moyong Clan does not associate much with other sects. That is impressive.”
“When can we meet Elder Wind-Splitting Sword with you?”
It seemed Jong Byeokgi had dressed up the time he was forcibly dragged away by Moyong Gang as though they were close acquaintances. His gaze wavered wildly.
“Did you tell them you were close to Elder Moyong Gang?”
“......”
Jong Byeokgi's companions turned toward me. They did not want to speak with me, but they clearly wanted to hear what I had to say.
“Elder Moyong Gang didn't even treat Senior Jong like a person. He said that a dog had to be beaten before it could be taught, then dragged him to the clan and tried to beat him senseless.”
Jong Byeokgi's face turned red and purple with humiliation, while his companions had no idea how to react.
“Ahem. W-wouldn't it be best if we left now?”
When Jong Byeokgi's companions finally managed to speak, he silently rose from his seat as well.
“Oh, right. You said you would pay for the meal as a sign of reconciliation, so please settle the bill on your way out.”
“......”
Jong Byeokgi stared at me with eyes burning with the fierce rage of someone facing their parents' murderer.
In the end, though, he quietly stood up and left.
“...What on earth were you thinking?”
Seong Moran scolded me as though demanding an answer.
I watched the door Jong Byeokgi had gone through and said, “I thought he wouldn't be able to endure it. He held back well. Has his patience improved?”
#
Before heading to our destination, we stopped by a fabric shop first.
With the money we had saved on an expensive meal, I wanted to have new clothes made for the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers.
The luxurious interior was lined with beautiful silks in every color.
“Please give me clothes made from the same material as Eldest Senior Brother's.”
“Me too.”
“Me too.”
The Geum-Eun-Dong brothers all ordered black martial uniforms.
Who had they taken after to develop such modest tastes?
“You can have black martial uniforms made at the Academy whenever you want. Since we're here, find something you can wear to banquets.”
“Um...”
After thinking for a moment, Dongryong looked at the shop owner.
“Please use white silk, and embroider ‘Taeul’ across the chest in gold thread.”
“Hold it!”
Modest, my ass...!
I grabbed Dongryong in horror.
What could he possibly have been thinking, wanting to walk around in clothes like that?
He wanted to stamp Taeul across his chest?
Even the late Taeul Sword Emperor would clutch the back of his neck and collapse at such fashion sense.
“Eldest Senior Brother wears white clothes at formal events, doesn't he? Shouldn't we, his junior brothers, match him?”
At Dongryong's words, Geumpyo and Eunho both went pale.
It seemed my formal attire had left quite an impression on Dongryong.
As I wondered how to persuade him, Namgung Seonhwa spoke.
“Dongryong, wouldn't that make Young Master Jin's splendor less noticeable? Why not choose blue instead? I think it would go well with white clothes.”
Dongryong considered it briefly, then quickly nodded.
“Please do that. But make the word ‘Taeul’ on the chest very large.”
“Dongryong, no.”
Eunho desperately tried to stop Dongryong.
The three of them had originally agreed to have matching clothes made.
“Are you ashamed of the Taeul Sect, Eunho?”
Dongryong's innocent expression turned Eunho into a shameless man embarrassed by his own sect.
“No...! How did you interpret it that way? I'm only embarrassed by putting the name across our chests!”
After a sharp dispute between Eunho and Dongryong, they eventually agreed to have Taeul embroidered extravagantly on the sleeves instead.
I led the Geum-Eun-Dong brothers, already exhausted from the argument, and the women with us, who were perking up as if things were only just beginning, toward our original destination.
The red-light district.
The Geum-Eun-Dong brothers blushed as they stared distractedly at the women in sheer clothes that revealed their skin, while the expressions of the women traveling with us steadily worsened.
At the far end of the red-light district, we finally arrived.
There stood the jewelry shop run by Jang Dowon.
“......”
“...Is this the place?”
Yet the jewelry shop, which should have been bustling with customers, already had its lights out.
Following the outer wall of the shop, I knocked on Jang Dowon's door at the back.
“Is anyone there?”
After a long while without any response, the door creaked open and Jang Dowon appeared.
“It has been a long time, Elder.”
“......”
Leaving the door open, Jang Dowon went back inside.
I carefully entered and saw an unkempt yard and a cold furnace.
Jang Dowon sat on the wooden porch with a blank expression.
“Elder?”
“......”
“Elder?”
Only after I called several times did Jang Dowon raise his head.
“...What is it?”
“I should be asking that. What happened?”
The house had not been cared for at all, as though ghosts lived there.
Jang Dowon, who had been vigorous even in old age, was living like a ruined man.
“...It is none of your concern. Why have you come?”
I had originally intended to ask him to make a bow for Moyong Jaehwa and invite him to work with the Taeul Sect. Yet this did not seem like a situation where I could bring that up.
“I don't think that is important right now. What happened to you?”
“What happened... What happened... What happened, you say? What happened to me?”
Jang Dowon's words tangled like those of a person who had lost his mind. Then his eyes suddenly widened as though he had been struck on the back of the head.
“...Seolyeon.”
“What?”
“Seolyeon...”
Jang Dowon's blank face twisted in an instant, and tears began streaming down his dry cheeks.
“Seolyeon was kidnapped. Seolyeon...! My granddaughter Seolyeon was kidnapped by the Demonic Cult... What am I supposed to do...?”
The Demonic Cult.
The Demonic Cult had appeared again.
Footnotes:
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