WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 149: Those Who Wear Black Masks (8)
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The Myriad Mechanisms Master, Dang Hyeokjae.
A collateral member of the Tang Clan, he had developed ordinary hidden weapons such as the Heavenly Thunder Orb and Torrential Rain Flower Needles. He was also the inventor of the Tang Clan's Golden Dragon Hidden Weapons, including the Hell Tribulation Flame King Bomb.
Yet those were only a small part of his accomplishments. He was a strange man famous for narrowly escaping death time and again while testing devices that could fly through the sky or walk across water.
He had never been active in the martial world, as he was known to despise going outside.
Still, considering that the Demonic Cult had stalled in Sichuan for so long during the Orthodox-Demonic War because of the Tang Clan's devices and poisons, his current reputation was simply too low. There was no denying that he would become one of the pillars supporting the Tang Clan in the future.
“...”
“Why aren't you saying anything? Don't tell me you're going to claim you didn't know, after the Divine Sword personally confirmed it in a letter?”
So he was the person who had made the Hundred-Feather Fire Tube I had received from Yang Gunbaek in the past.
His appearance made me feel as though a debt I had considered settled had suddenly returned.
Still, I couldn't help feeling wronged. The Azure Emperor Divine Sword had personally sent a letter, and Dang Seohui had even said she would let the matter go.
“That only meant we wouldn't make an issue of it. Surely you still have to pay for using the Hundred-Feather Fire Tube itself?”
“...Isn't the person who let something as valuable as a Hundred-Feather Fire Tube circulate through the black market outlet at fault in the first place?”
“Oh? You got the Hundred-Feather Fire Tube from the black market outlet?”
“...”
“Do you know how much it costs to make one? Five nyang of gold. Five nyang. You know perfectly well that this isn't something that can be overlooked just because we said we wouldn't raise an issue.”
“...”
If someone said a single hidden weapon cost five nyang of gold, I would have pointed at them and called it an absurd lie. But if the Hundred-Feather Fire Tube really cost that much, I wanted to ask whether it could be mass-produced.
It was expensive, but its effectiveness was incredible.
Honestly, if I could build up a stockpile to prepare for the Demonic Cult, I would have wanted as many as possible.
“Besides, the Hundred-Feather Fire Tube was something I made after selling off my personal assets. Shouldn't I receive proper compensation for it?”
I could only tilt my head as I listened.
“You made it personally?”
“That's right. Whenever I say I want to make something, the clan starts by opposing me.”
“...Then it remained your personal property even after you made it.”
“Of course.”
“Then why was it circulating through the black market outlet?”
“...!”
Dang Hyeokjae blinked several times, then scratched his head.
“Isn't it strange? The Tang Clan designated it as a Golden Dragon Hidden Weapon, yet it was being passed around the black market outlet like junk.”
“...To be honest, after the clan conducted its first test, they stopped me from using it in actual combat.”
So he had secretly released it onto the market?
To see what it could do?
The sheer absurdity left me speechless.
This man was no less insane than the rest of them.
“...”
“Ahem. I've strayed from the point. In any case, you owed me a debt, so I'll consider it repaid through your contribution this time. Isn't that fair?”
It wasn't fair at all.
Still, I thought it would be cruel to press someone who seemed to be missing a few screws, so I nodded.
“Fine, let's call it that. By the way, I heard you dislike traveling. How did you end up taking the position of Martial Alliance branch head?”
“Recently, a lot of interesting things have been happening in the martial world. There was someone I wanted to meet.”
“Interesting things?”
“I heard there was a fellow who broke a five-hundred-year-old formation, stole the Golden Dragon from the Jegal Clan, and could effortlessly use Golden Dragon Hidden Weapons whose method of use was unknown.”
“...Me?”
“Yes.”
Since he mentioned the Jegal Clan's Golden Dragon, he seemed to already know about Jegal Cheongi as well.
“Do you know Cheongi?”
“The brightest genius the Jegal Clan has ever produced. His light is simply so bright that others fail to see it.”
“If you wanted to see me, you could have sought me out. Why are you serving as a branch head?”
“Ah, I don't particularly enjoy traveling. I don't especially enjoy meeting people either. If I had to seek you out alone, wouldn't that be difficult? I tried to meet you through the Martial Alliance, and somehow ended up here.”
“...”
What did he mean by somehow?
I couldn't understand why someone who wanted to meet me was in Yueyang.
If I hadn't come to Yueyang, we might never have met.
“Why did you want to meet me?”
“I wanted to ask how you knew how to use the Hundred-Feather Fire Tube.”
“...”
“How did you use it?”
I explained how to use the Hundred-Feather Fire Tube, adding a few lies.
Dang Hyeokjae repeatedly nodded and carefully wrote something on a small sheet of paper.
“I wanted to make weapons enemies couldn't use but allies could. Yet someone as observant as you was bound to figure out how to use it.”
“I still think it's an extremely useful item. It would be especially effective in large-scale battles.”
“Is that true?”
Dang Hyeokjae suddenly grabbed my hands and shook them up and down.
“Exactly. With poison, isn't it difficult to predict where it will drift depending on the wind and terrain? Naturally, friendly casualties are unavoidable as well. Mechanical hidden weapons, on the other hand, are clean. That's what I'm saying.”
“...”
“The fools in the clan don't understand that. All they know is poison, poison, poison. Poisons are difficult to handle in the first place, so aren't they hard to carry during long journeys?”
Dang Hyeokjae spent quite some time spewing every curse he knew.
Now I understood why, despite inventing so many devices for the clan, he had not been treated well.
Like Jegal Cheongi and Moyong Jaehwa, he too was an oddity within his clan.
“...Hah. If those blockheads in the clan thought more like you, the Tang Clan would be twice as prosperous as it is now.”
“Why not prove it? The Tang Clan isn't a sect that rejects hidden weapons.”
“Do you know how much proving it costs? What about a location? The time? Do you think I can make all the devices by myself? Where am I supposed to find skilled blacksmiths?”
I could smell it.
Something delicious.
It felt as if rare ingredients no one else recognized were being treated like common weeds.
“What if there were a place where all of that was provided?”
“Hmm?”
“What's more, the person funding it has considerable knowledge of such devices. You can make all sorts of devices for that person, then use them to earn the Tang Clan's recognition. Of course, provided the Tang Clan permits it.”
“Of course they would permit it. Do you know how many craftsmen our Tang Clan dispatches every year? But who is this patron?”
When I raised my hand, his curious gaze slowly followed my finger.
At its end was a truly remarkable patron.
Tap, tap.
“...You?”
Dang Hyeokjae looked me over suspiciously.
“Hm. You don't look like you have much money, and you don't seem particularly knowledgeable about devices either.”
I fired the Flying Dragon Claw attached to my left hand, extinguishing the oil lamp before retrieving it.
“What do you think?”
Dang Hyeokjae stood there with his mouth hanging open.
Good. Jin Sowoon's jewel box had gained another person.
#
At the same time Jin Sowoon picked up the eccentric Dang Hyeokjae, three people were holding a serious discussion inside a sect in Hefei, Anhui Province, one that had closed its gates.
“The merchant group has settled in well enough. As we discussed earlier, we named it the Great Heaven Merchant Group.”
Jin Taesan looked as though he had lost quite a bit of weight. Hong Mungi, whose cheeks had also grown hollow, nodded at his words.
“You've worked hard. Now you can finally get some rest.”
“I feel like doing nothing but eating and sleeping for seven days.”
Hong Mungi nodded.
Jin Taesan had worked without rest to stabilize the Taeul Sect, even more than Hong Mungi had struggled to master the Taeul True Scripture.
The elders of the Elder Council had said that his nosebleeds had not stopped for a single night.
In any case, the Taeul Sect's assets had visibly improved. There was no need to ask how great Jin Taesan's efforts had been.
“You've worked hard. Thanks to you, the Taeul Sect has a solid future.”
“It wasn't only because of me. Sect Leader, you also worked hard.”
Hong Mungi's hardships had not been any less than Jin Taesan's.
His martial talent had never been exceptional, so learning martial arts alone had been difficult.
There had not even been anyone to teach him. All he could do was persist stubbornly with his martial art.
Thanks to that persistence, he had at least reached a level where he did not need to feel ashamed before his disciples.
“Does it sound like only the two of you worked hard?”
Gang Chaeseok grumbled, and the other two glared at him.
“To be honest, what exactly have you suffered through?”
Jin Taesan's sharp words made Gang Chaeseok snort in disbelief.
“Do you have any idea how hard I worked giving special training to the children who went to the Moyong Clan? Look at this. My once-smooth skin has wrinkles now. Wrinkles.”
Yet the wrinkles around Gang Chaeseok's eyes were hardly noticeable. No, they had probably formed because he had laughed often and had little to worry about.
“Yes, yes. You've worked hard too. In any case, everyone in the sect is working so diligently. As the Sect Leader, I can't help feeling proud.”
Jin Taesan pointed at Gang Chaeseok as he spoke.
“Sect Leader, please leave him out of the praise. What am I supposed to feel like when I am the one who truly suffered?”
“I told you, I worked hard too!”
“Hmph! Then why does your monthly tab for liquor keep rising?”
“...”
“Why did you go from drinking once every seven days to once every three days?”
“Ahem, well, that's... Hm! That's right! I have many children to teach, so I drank to relieve my fatigue!”
“Hmph! Which disciple still needs your help? They are all doing well on their own.”
In truth, the Taeul Sect's disciples were filled with children whose comprehension far surpassed that of their masters.
Most of the children Jin Sowoon had brought back possessed martial talent that did not fall short even compared to the younger generation of the Nine Sects One Gang or the Five Great Clans.
“Do you think I don't know you go out drinking because you have nothing to do?”
“...”
Jin Taesan's rebuke left Gang Chaeseok's lips twitching, but he could offer no real reply.
In the end, Hong Mungi, the Sect Leader, stepped in.
“Taesan, you know Chaeseok has been working hard as well. Let it go.”
Hong Mungi hurried to change the subject.
“Come to think of it, a letter arrived from Sowoon. He says he will be sending a disciple candidate.”
“Another one?”
Jin Taesan frowned, but Gang Chaeseok broke into a broad smile.
“See? Your son keeps sending disciple candidates without a word. Do you know how exhausting that is for me?”
“...”
Ignoring Gang Chaeseok, Jin Taesan looked at Hong Mungi.
“Well, the choice is mine, but since it is a child Sowoon sent, I suppose it would be right to accept them.”
“Ahem, of course. They surely will not have even a proper foundation, so I will have to work myself to the bone for a while.”
“...”
For reasons he did not know, the children Jin Sowoon sent from time to time all possessed remarkable comprehension.
Just as a tree with strong roots grows well anywhere, children with exceptional talent quickly reveal their abilities once they are given a solid foundation.
No one could match Gang Chaeseok when it came to laying a strong foundation, so Jin Taesan could no longer pressure him.
Just then, one of the fourth-generation disciples entered.
“Sect Leader... Someone has come with a letter from the Head Disciple.”
The three exchanged glances.
Wasn't this the disciple they had just been discussing?
“Good. Since we're already here, bring them in.”
“...Bring them here?”
“Yes. They will probably become a fourth-generation disciple. They came with your Head Disciple's recommendation.”
“...What? A fourth-generation disciple?”
The fourth-generation disciple's expression twisted strangely.
They looked like a puppy that needed to relieve itself but could not decide what to do, and Gang Chaeseok suddenly shouted.
“What are you doing? Bring them in at once!”
“...Ah, yes! I understand!”
The fourth-generation disciple snapped to attention and rushed out like an arrow.
It was a sight that showed the Taeul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps had reached a considerable level.
The three watched the departing fourth-generation disciple with satisfaction as they waited for the new disciple.
Step, step, step.
Along with heavy footsteps, a huge man entered the room.
The three people drinking tea naturally turned to look at the enormous figure.
“Hmm?”
“Who?”
The man clasped his hands in a respectful martial salute and addressed the three puzzled men.
“Greetings. My name is Buk Wonpyeong. I received Young Hero Jin's introduction and came because I wish to become a disciple.”
Pfft!
Drip...
Gang Chaeseok sprayed all the tea in his mouth, while tea streamed from Jin Taesan's lips.
The child they had been waiting for was a little bigger than expected.
The Three Pure Water Divine Dragon, Buk Wonpyeong.
He was the disciple candidate Sowoon had mentioned.
#
“Why are you only coming back now?”
When I returned to Jang Dowon's shop, he had gone back to being the same brusque old man as before.
This was better.
Jang Dowon smoked his pipe for a moment, then went into the back and brought out a large bundle and a long iron rod.
“What are these?”
“What do you mean what are they? You ordered them.”
“I did?”
I had definitely asked him to make an iron bow for Moyong Jaehwa, as well as jewelry from the Fragrant White Jade I had received when I became the Academy Representative.
But there was no jewelry in sight. What was I supposed to do with an iron rod?
“Ah! Did you really make them?”
At that moment, Geumpyo opened the bundle and broke into a bright smile.
“You really made them!”
I turned my head in confusion, only to see something familiar emerge.
“Flying Dragon Claws?”
They were Flying Dragon Claws, identical to the one attached to my left hand.
Geumpyo hurriedly took the Flying Dragon Claws from the bundle one by one and gave them to Eunho and Dongryong.
“...What exactly is this?”
“Ah, we asked for them separately.”
“You did? Forget the money, where did you get the Heavenly Silkworm Thread?”
“Jaehwa happened to have plenty of Heavenly Silkworm Thread in his clan, so while Jang Dowon was making Jaehwa's, we asked him to make ours as well.”
“...”
Jang Dowon frowned deeply.
“I haven't slept properly while making so many things in such a short time. Make sure you pay me properly.”
“Do you even have money?”
“Oh? Senior Brother, I just remembered something urgent.”
“Me too!”
“Brothers, wait for me!”
The damned Geum-Eun-Dong brothers ran off in an instant.
“You have good junior disciples.”
“They are the ones who have a good senior brother.”
“You are still too young to know how good your junior disciples are.”
“Those bastards eat nine servings of rice per meal.”
“Enough. Check the other item.”
“Come to think of it, where is the iron bow?”
“Isn't it right there?”
“What?”
Jang Dowon held out the crude iron rod.
“There are grooves at both ends. Hook this onto them. I no longer have the strength to string it myself.”
“...”
No matter how strong the iron was, wouldn't it bend out of shape or break if I forced it?
Yet, to my surprise, the iron rod bent as I wished, then sprang back to its original shape with a twang.
“If it is an iron bow to be used by a strong archer, its draw weight should be that great.”
It was not an ordinary iron bow.
It was not quite a divine weapon, but it deserved to be called a treasure.
I could not hide my amazement that he had made such a treasure in only fifteen days.
“What are you talking about? How could I make it in that short time? I gave you one I had already made.”
“Ah... Is that so?”
“I used all that time making the Flying Dragon Claws and that necklace. In any case, that item is not bad either.”
It was not simply not bad.
It was at least as impressive as the iron bow Moyong Jaehwa had used in the past, if not better.
“Thank you, Elder.”
“What thanks? Just make sure you pay properly.”
I handed Jang Dowon an IOU for five hundred nyang of gold that I had prepared beforehand.
Jang Dowon was startled for a moment after checking the amount, then repeatedly cleared his throat as if nothing had happened.
“And...”
“Yes?”
“Ahem... Cough...”
For some reason, Jang Dowon hesitated for a long time, unable to speak.
“Please speak freely, Elder.”
At my words, Jang Dowon lingered for a while longer before finally opening his mouth as though he had made up his mind.
“Well, I heard from your junior sister that you were looking for craftsmen to work at your sect. I was wondering whether the treatment is... decent.”
“What?”
“I realized something through this job. So I thought I would ask what your sect is like. What do you say?”
Considering that Jang Dowon had eventually entered the Martial Alliance alone in my previous life, this probably proved that something else had happened in the meantime.
Dangerous incidents were commonplace in an age of chaos.
Either way, it was not a bad thing for him or for me.
“Someone of your skill would naturally receive the best treatment.”
Sorry, but all fifteen divine weapons are mine now. Hehehe.
Footnotes:
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