WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 183: Rewriting the Sichuan Bloodbath (3)
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The Martial Arts Academy students Gu Jeongryong had taken in grumbled throughout the journey.
From their perspective, it was only natural. What had been an official chance to skip their studies and enjoy a trip had suddenly turned into a forced march.
Children and adults were all the same. No matter how grave Gu made the situation sound, Elder Suheo and Elder Sangwon complained about seven times a day.
‘Elders of the Martial Alliance, my ass.’
‘The information is probably wrong.’ ‘What heretical martial artists could exist in this day and age?’ ‘Jin Sowoon must be up to something.’
Watching them desperately deny reality, Gu Jeongryong couldn't stop cursing inwardly.
“H-how can this be...?”
Their complaints vanished the moment they met the Academy students from Qingcheng and Mount Emei.
The Orthodox Society members, escorted by the Twelve Peak Alliance, looked like a defeated army.
Few could even walk straight, and some were being carried on stretchers.
After assigning several people to protect them, Gu Jeongryong increased the pace.
Normally, Suheo and Sangwon would have complained about moving in such a hurry, but they kept their mouths shut and matched the pace of Gu Jeongryong and Tiger Hall.
Before long, they met the groups from Mount Hua and Kongtong, and all of them gasped.
“W-what happened here?”
“Where is Elder So? You bastards! Where did Elder So go...?”
The Academy students had fled so frantically that countless people had lost their swords, weapons that were practically a martial artist's life.
Their losses were twice those suffered by the Qingcheng and Mount Emei Academy students of the Third Group.
“According to the message we received... this wasn't supposed to be this bad.”
The damage far exceeded expectations.
Most of the Academy students from Kongtong's lay martial sects had either been crippled or killed. Only a few Kongtong Sect disciples had barely survived.
“...A-after we e-evacuated, we w-were attacked again...”
The Academy student couldn't meet their eyes and continued stammering. Gu Jeongryong, Suheo, and Sangwon could not shake their grim expressions as they heard the report.
“If the Second Group is in this state... the First Group's losses must be even greater.”
“...”
Gu Jeongryong clicked his tongue at the elders, who had no answer.
“We'll move at once.”
“Now?”
“We need to move as quickly as possible. Who knows what will happen if we delay?”
At Gu Jeongryong's words, Suheo's eyes rolled nervously.
“If things are this bad here, then ahead...”
Suheo couldn't finish the thought.
Gu Jeongryong's face twisted.
“What are you trying to say?”
“...Ahem!”
“Can you tell me clearly?”
“...No.”
Gu Jeongryong selected several members of Tiger Hall and Academy students, then ordered them to accompany the Mount Hua and Kongtong Academy students to where Qingcheng Sect's people were gathered.
He then turned around and raced toward the First Group again.
Then...
Bzzzz──
As Gu Jeongryong ran with his energy sense pushed to its limit, a strange voice pierced his mind.
“Stop!”
Gu Jeongryong halted the march in a hurry and stepped back. Gam Cheonak approached him.
“Are those... dark arts?”
“You can feel it?”
“My heart's beating a little faster.”
“Can you break through it?”
Gam Cheonak gave Gu Jeongryong an irritated look.
“What kind of bullshit question is that?”
“Did you just say bullshit?”
“When did I?”
“...So, can you do it or not?”
Gam Cheonak let out a long sigh.
“I'll be honest. Even if we break through this place, do you think there'll be anyone alive beyond it?”
If the Second and Third Groups were in this condition, the First Group must have suffered even greater losses.
Even Shaolin Sect and Mount Cang Sect could not have endured that chaos with nothing but Academy students who had yet to receive proper training.
Gu Jeongryong nodded, but he did not change his mind.
“I know. But Jin Sowoon went ahead, didn't he?”
“...”
“If he passed through that path, we should at least make the effort to follow.”
Gam Cheonak muttered to himself.
“Hah... That bastard. He only has to give orders, so he comes up with all kinds of crazy things.”
“What did you say?”
Gam Cheonak shrugged shamelessly.
“I didn't say anything.”
“...”
Looking at the red energy rippling before them, Gam Cheonak said, “Doesn't the formation seem a little unstable?”
“It looks like they didn't properly seal the upper route.”
“At least that's fortunate.”
“Can you do it?”
Gam Cheonak's dry gaze settled on Gu Jeongryong's face.
“You told me to do it, so I'll do it.”
Gam Cheonak turned around.
“Hey! Four of you, step forward!”
Before Gam Cheonak even finished speaking, four Tiger Hall members stepped forward.
“We need to pass through here. You guys okay with that?”
“...You're telling us to pass through something this ominous?”
The Tiger Hall members wore expressions no different from Gam Cheonak's.
As if he had expected this, Gam Cheonak nodded and pointed at Gu Jeongryong.
“Yeah. That damned... I mean, the Hall Master wants us to pass through here.”
“He's completely insane...”
“Isn't he a lunatic?”
Gu Jeongryong, who had been listening beside them, lowered his voice.
“I'm right here, you bastards.”
“Seriously, why's he eavesdropping on his subordinates?”
Gam Cheonak clapped his hands, drawing the murmuring Tiger Hall members' attention.
“Anyway, we're passing through here. Understand?”
“What do we get if we do?”
Gam Cheonak glanced at Gu Jeongryong, scratched his cheek, and replied, “If we pass through here and save Jin Sowoon, he'll buy us a Sichuan specialty called Banishing Evil and Suppressing Spirits.”
“Ooh!!”
The mood changed in an instant.
“Banishing Evil and Suppressing Spirits! It already sounds delicious!”
“I've never heard of a dish called Banishing Evil and Suppressing Spirits! I knew we had to befriend rich people!”
Gam Cheonak smiled at the delighted Tiger Hall members.
“What idiots...”
Even Gu Jeongryong looked at the excited Tiger Hall members with disbelief, agreeing with Gam Cheonak's assessment.
Gam Cheonak pressed the four members' acupoints.
“I'm going to numb your sight and touch. You'll probably hear things that aren't there, but ignore them as much as possible and move only according to sound transmission.”
“Understood!”
Gam Cheonak looked at Gu Jeongryong.
“Let's begin.”
“...Be careful.”
“If you're that worried, Hall Master, you should...”
“I trust you!”
Gu Jeongryong quickly numbed Gam Cheonak's sight and touch as well.
Tap, tap-tap, tap-tap-tap.
With his acupoints sealed, Gam Cheonak waved a hand in front of his own face.
Then he gave Gu Jeongryong the finger.
“Hall Master, what am I doing right now?”
“Blatant insubordination.”
“Oh, is that so? I couldn't see it, so I didn't know.”
After flipping off Gu Jeongryong, Gam Cheonak drew his sword.
Gu Jeongryong quickly climbed a tree, studied the formation, and gave orders.
-Keep going! You've turned right. Turn left again and move forward!
At Gu Jeongryong's command, the Tiger Hall members began moving as one.
The familiar blood-robed men appeared inside the formation.
Gu Jeongryong shouted urgently.
-Enemies!
Sound transmission immediately came from Gam Cheonak.
-Don't just say, “Enemies!” Tell us where they are! How are we supposed to fight together like this? It's frustrating as hell!
Gu Jeongryong realized his mistake, though he cursed inwardly.
‘That bastard...’
Following Gu Jeongryong's directions, the Tiger Hall members struck with their swords precisely.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Academy students, and even the Elder Council, stared blankly at their strange yet coordinated movements.
“Urgh!”
“Aaagh!”
“Ghk!”
Fortunately, the blood-robed men were not numerous, and none of them were in good condition.
They could not evade Tiger Hall's lightning-fast blades.
The final blood-robed attacker to launch a surprise attack died by Gam Cheonak's hand, and no further attacks came.
Once the Tiger Hall members had crossed the formation under Gu Jeongryong's guidance, they restored their senses, starting with Gam Cheonak.
Then they rushed at full speed toward the sorcerers.
After cutting down the blood-robed men guarding the sorcerers, they eliminated every sorcerer. When they smashed the tools the sorcerers had set up, the unsettling barrier formation blocking the road vanished as though it had never existed.
When Gam Cheonak returned to the group, he tilted his head.
“Something's strange about their condition.”
“What is?”
“They look like they've been beaten senseless and haven't slept for days. Forget their internal energy, their killing intent is dull for people who have been carrying out assassinations this whole time.”
Gu Jeongryong's brow furrowed without him realizing it.
“Come to think of it, their numbers are also very different from what the survivors told us.”
“Could something have happened before we arrived?”
“...We'll find out when we get there.”
Tiger Hall and the Academy students picked up speed again.
What they encountered afterward was a brutal battlefield.
“My god...”
“What is this...?”
“Did a real war break out?”
There were enough corpses to make even Tiger Hall gasp.
Blood flowed across the ground like a stream after monsoon rain, and corpses lay everywhere like scattered stones.
“Stay alert, everyone!”
At Gam Cheonak's command, the Tiger Hall members spread out in every direction with disciplined precision.
Gu Jeongryong also approached the site of the savage battle.
‘What?’
The condition of the corpses was strange.
The blood-robed men had attacked the Academy students, so their presence made sense. Yet the clothing of those lying dead alongside them did not look like that of the Orthodox Society's Martial Arts Academy elite, no matter how generously he judged it.
‘Bandits...?’
Their clothes varied wildly, and some covered themselves in animal hides.
A few were not even wearing shirts.
“They appear to be from nearby Green Forest strongholds,” Gam Cheonak said.
Gu Jeongryong looked stunned.
“Why would bandits be here?”
“...How would I know?”
“What the hell is going on?”
If the enemy was not limited to the mysterious blood-robed men, the situation was even more serious.
“Are we continuing?”
If enemies who used dark arts and an overwhelming number of Green Forest bandits attacked together, there was no telling what could happen.
No matter how brave Tiger Hall was, there were things they could and could not do.
Gam Cheonak's cool voice rang out.
“If we keep going, we'll be in danger too.”
“...”
Looking at the silent Gu Jeongryong, Gam Cheonak spoke again.
“It's regrettable, but Jin Sowoon may have...”
Then a Tiger Hall member standing guard bellowed.
“Unidentified people are approaching!”
Gu Jeongryong, who had been deep in thought, snapped his head up.
What if the blood-robed men who had dealt with the First Group were coming this way?
Or what if the Green Forest bandits, for reasons unknown, were approaching?
“Everyone, prepare for battle!”
At Gu Jeongryong's shout, the Tiger Hall members gathered at once and drew their swords.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Without anyone saying a word, every Tiger Hall member formed the Azure Dragon Half-Moon Formation. The Academy students, overwhelmed by the momentum, swallowed hard and cautiously drew their own swords.
“Hoo...”
Silence filled the air so completely that someone's sigh sounded loud in their ears.
Then the unidentified people began appearing before them, one by one.
‘What kind of group is this?’
The combination of people at the front was unusual.
One carried a bow, another had an enormous build, and one was a woman.
The man standing in the center held a bundle as large as a watermelon.
Gu Jeongryong sharpened his vision to identify them, then let out a disbelieving cry.
“Jin Sowoon?”
Gam Cheonak poked his head out and looked ahead.
“Huh? It really is. The people behind him seem to be from Shaolin Sect and Mount Cang Sect.”
“...”
Jin Sowoon must have noticed them as well, because he casually waved.
Even Gam Cheonak, famous for never changing his expression, let out a hollow laugh.
“He's incredible. In the middle of all this chaos...”
His gaze remained fixed on Jin Sowoon.
“He actually saved them.”
As Gam Cheonak exclaimed in admiration and sheathed his sword, Gu Jeongryong quietly said, “Hey, you know that bastard who said they were unidentified people?”
“Yes.”
“Beat that bastard up.”
“...Understood.”
Gu Jeongryong released the tension that had been wound tight within him and let out a long breath.
He looked at Jin Sowoon with newfound wonder.
The Second and Third Groups had suffered terrible losses, yet the First Group's losses did not appear to be nearly as severe.
Judging from the battlefield, they seemed to have fought their way through both the blood-robed men and the Green Forest bandits.
Just as he had said he would, Jin Sowoon had returned after saving his people.
Gu Jeongryong could hardly believe it.
‘Did an ordinary Academy student really do all this?’
The Black Flame Dragon was counted among the martial world's divine prodigies, but even so, this was not an achievement any divine prodigy could accomplish.
‘What in the world is he?’
Gu Jeongryong had agreed to help Jin Sowoon at Maeng Juwon's request, but his curiosity about Jin Sowoon only grew deeper.
Footnotes:
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