WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 191: The Messenger from the Past
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Step. Step.
Two of the Martial Alliance's highest-ranking figures had left the Academy and were heading back to the Alliance.
Their unseen guards discreetly released hidden force, causing passersby to instinctively avoid the path where the two walked.
Thanks to that, they could walk comfortably without interruption.
“What did you think?”
Jegal Somyeong asked.
Wasn't Hyeok Mugang the one who never stopped asking questions whenever Jin Sowoon came up?
“Hmm...”
Hyeok Mugang walked several more steps without answering before slowly opening his mouth.
“He was an interesting child.”
“Interesting?”
Hyeok Mugang, who had been deep in thought, looked at Jegal Somyeong and smiled.
“I had only heard of him through the Grand Strategist, so I couldn't be sure... But after seeing him in person, I learned one thing for certain.”
“What is it?”
“That the Grand Strategist went to great lengths to keep Jin Sowoon from being taken by me.”
Jegal Somyeong's face crumpled like a sheet of paper.
“Isn't that all in the past already?”
Hyeok Mugang chuckled as he stroked his beard.
“It was a joke. A joke.”
“...”
“Putting that aside, he certainly has many remarkable qualities. What impressed me most, in particular...”
Hyeok Mugang looked at Jegal Somyeong with a meaningful smile.
“...was how shamelessly he put on an act before the Martial Alliance Leader and the Grand Strategist.”
“...”
As expected, the Alliance Leader had known.
When it came to the schemes and stratagems of murky politics, Hyeok Mugang was a step above Jegal Somyeong.
Hyeok Mugang raised his brows as though genuinely amazed.
“Still, if not for this situation, I might truly have been fooled.”
“He's an utterly brazen bastard.”
At the Grand Strategist's agreement, Hyeok Mugang closed his eyes as if picturing something.
“That is why I am truly, truly... looking forward to it.”
Then his eyes opened wide, the corners curving like crescent moons.
“To seeing the Martial Alliance that the current divine prodigies, and that child, will lead.”
“...”
At Hyeok Mugang's words, a deep crease formed between Jegal Somyeong's brows.
Why had he spoken of the divine prodigies and Jin Sowoon separately?
The current generation of divine prodigies included Yong Soa and the other members of the Dragon-Phoenix Association, as well as the Seven Stars of the generation above them.
Yet compared with any of them, Jin Sowoon's talent could hardly be called extraordinary.
“Aren't you becoming too invested in Jin Sowoon?”
Hyeok Mugang nodded at the reasonable question.
“Perhaps it may appear that way.”
“That wouldn't be especially good for Jin Sowoon either.”
Hyeok Mugang considered it briefly, then asked, “Hmm... How far do you think Jin Sowoon will go?”
The strange question caught Jegal Somyeong off guard.
It wasn't because they didn't understand it.
They had simply never seriously pictured it before.
“Well. I was thinking of entrusting the Profound Mystery Pavilion to him.”
“Not the Mantong Office?”
“As you saw, he has a sharp eye for reading people's minds. There would be no better playground than the Profound Mystery Pavilion for someone like him to run wild in.”
Hyeok Mugang nodded, then continued.
“Do you think that child will stop there?”
“...”
Jegal Somyeong could not answer.
When they had first seen him at the Iron Sword Sect, they had considered him no more than a useful employee for the Mantong Office. After watching him pass the regular examination, they thought either the Profound Mystery Pavilion or the Mantong Office could be entrusted to him.
They had also believed that, for himself and his sect, Jin Sowoon would be satisfied with that much.
After all, the symbolic status of the Mantong Office and the Profound Mystery Pavilion was little different from the highest position sought by countless martial artists in the martial world.
But if asked whether Jin Sowoon would truly be satisfied with that now...
“As expected, you cannot answer.”
“...”
Hyeok Mugang was right.
Jegal Somyeong could not fathom it at all.
“Then how far do you believe he'll go, Alliance Leader?”
Hyeok Mugang lifted the bundle in his hand to eye level.
“Well, I'm not entirely sure either, but...”
Screee!
At the cry of a hawk ringing through the sky, Hyeok Mugang raised his head.
Could it have been a coincidence that a hawk appeared at such a timely moment?
“He did not look like a bird meant to live in a cage.”
At Hyeok Mugang's words, Jegal Somyeong found themself nodding without realizing it.
“And above all, that child regards power as a joke. As though it were nothing more than a tool.”
“What do you mean...?”
Hyeok Mugang suddenly snickered.
“Daoist Myeonghyeon...”
“Why bring him up all of a sudden?”
“I heard Jin Sowoon beat him severely.”
Jegal Somyeong's brow instantly twisted.
“What? What do you...?”
“Unlike the other elders, Daoist Myeonghyeon remains in seclusion, does he not? It is because the bruises on his face have not faded yet.”
“...That lunatic...”
No matter how unpleasant the man was, and no matter how satisfying it had been to hear the news, Jin Sowoon had beaten up an Elder Council elder.
While Jegal Somyeong stood there with a stunned expression, Hyeok Mugang continued.
“The act he put on before me just now as well... It means power is not something he yearns for or wishes to seize.”
Jegal Somyeong tilted their head.
“Isn't he just insane?”
Hyeok Mugang shook his head with a faint smile.
“Isn't it fascinating? He treats power lightly, yet he never lets go of the power he possesses.”
For an instant, his gaze shone with clarity.
“In the end, it means power is only a tool for fulfilling whatever that child wishes to do.”
Jegal Somyeong had never tried to read a person's inner thoughts in that way, so they carefully considered Hyeok Mugang's words.
Hyeok Mugang gazed at the Grand Strategist, now lost in thought, and murmured, “And what he does with the power he protects so fiercely is, in the end, to save someone...”
Hyeok Mugang paused. An inexplicable anticipation colored his face.
“Isn't he a truly remarkable child?”
“...Alliance Leader, I think you are leaping to conclusions.”
Jegal Somyeong could see some sense in his words, but they did not easily resonate in their heart.
Perhaps it was because they had seen too many of Jin Sowoon's mad exploits.
Hyeok Mugang spoke firmly.
“That is why I believe Jin Sowoon should be viewed separately from the other divine prodigies. Personally, I am also a little curious.”
“About what?”
“What sort of leader he will become once he has been given sufficient strength and power.”
“...”
Jegal Somyeong pressed their lips together, unable to answer.
If the people of the Alliance learned that such words had come from the Alliance Leader's mouth, they would never let it pass quietly.
“...”
Hyeok Mugang nodded as though he understood.
Then he changed the subject.
“More importantly, he has rendered such an enormous service that I do not know how to reward him. The Blood Cult's Young Cult Leader, no less...”
“What choice do we have? For someone so clever, why did he wait until the end to mention his greatest achievement?”
“As expected, the Grand Strategist cannot be honest.”
“Wh-what are you talking about?”
“Your lips are twitching.”
Jegal Somyeong shook their head and let out a long sigh.
“Once the matter in Sichuan is settled, we will commend his accomplishments together.”
“Is that all?”
It seemed the Alliance Leader had become quite taken with Jin Sowoon.
Jegal Somyeong finally explained what they had been considering in greater detail.
“...I intend to direct the purchasing contracts of the Anhui Province branches to the Taeul Sect's Great Heaven Merchant Group. That should greatly help the merchant group establish itself.”
Only then did Hyeok Mugang nod with satisfaction.
“That is excellent. If any complaints arise, send them to me.”
“Forget it. Do you think I cannot handle even that much?”
Hyeok Mugang grinned as Jegal Somyeong grumbled.
Like an elderly couple worrying over their grandson's future, the two walked side by side.
#
After leaving the Academy Director's office, I started back to the dormitory, then changed direction.
I didn't have a particular destination.
I just didn't want to return to the dormitory right away.
As I slowly walked along the path that circled the outside of the Academy, the scent of dense greenery filled my lungs.
I gathered the energy sense I usually kept spread wide and relaxed my body.
After walking for a while, I gradually felt that I had truly returned to everyday life.
The calls of unknown mountain birds echoed here and there, while small wild animals that suddenly emerged from unexpected places darted between the trees.
It was so peaceful here that I could hardly believe I had been locked in desperate pursuits and battles only a few days ago.
Some Academy students exchanged affectionate words as they walked along the path, while others discussed sword theory in an open space.
They were enjoying ordinary lives.
The fact that the events in Sichuan had not affected them proved that what happened there had not developed into a “bloodbath” as it had in my previous life.
For some reason, my heart tingled.
‘I really changed it...’
Of course, I had changed many things before.
Most concerned myself, or at most, the people around me and my sect.
This was the first time I had stopped something that would truly have developed into a devastating war.
Until now, I had changed and prepared many things in my own way for the Orthodox-Demonic War, but I had feared those efforts might not bear fruit.
As with so many events throughout history, one person's actions could not stop the flow of a vast river.
Even while carrying that doubt, I kept trying to change things.
I believed it was the only way to erase the guilt-ridden nightmares I had suffered in my previous life.
And my reckless journey to Sichuan had changed history for the first time.
The history known as the Sichuan Bloodbath would now be erased from the world.
As always, it would probably be recorded as one of the Martial Alliance's many enemies appearing, then disappearing.
No one would ever know of the Sichuan Bloodbath.
There would be no record of how many people had been saved or how many sacrifices had been prevented.
No one would praise what I had done.
Even so...
‘It doesn't feel bad.’
The corners of my lips rose without my noticing.
Because of this, innocent civilians would be able to continue their peaceful lives, and a little less martial artists’ blood would be spilled in Sichuan.
Furthermore, the futile deaths of people who faced enemies through sheer numbers, like the Sojeong Unit, would decrease at least a little.
‘That alone is enough for me.’
During the Orthodox-Demonic War in my previous life, after losing two Sojeong Unit members to the storm-like barrage of attacks from the Blood Demon Unit, I could not shake my emptiness. So I asked the members why we were fighting.
[Peace in the martial world? What kind of bullshit is that! I just want to fool around like before and collect my monthly pay!]
[Because I want to see Jeonghyang from the Crimson Moon Pavilion. She likes that I'm a Martial Alliance member.]
[I have a debt to collect from this bastard. But he says he'll pay me back once he returns to the Martial Alliance.]
True to the bunch of scoundrels they were, every answer was as vulgar as it could be.
But when I thought about it, my own answer was not much different from theirs.
Because I wanted to live.
Because I wanted to enjoy the peace from before that would never return.
That was all.
None of us had been promised wealth or glory after the war.
If we were lucky, we would survive until the Orthodox-Demonic War ended. If not, we could die as soon as tomorrow.
Just a damned life.
The fact that I had prevented it was meaningful enough for me.
‘From now on... From now on... I will have to keep erasing the history that is yet to unfold.’
I did not know how many times I could do it.
Stopping the current of a great river by myself would be impossible.
Still, if I thought of it as repaying the debts I owed my sect and those damned bastards dearly, then even if it was impossible, every thought of retreat vanished.
“Whew...”
As I recalled the past, the faces of the Sojeong Unit members rose in my mind one after another.
They had all come from different backgrounds and held different statuses, but they had one thing in common.
They utterly despised anyone better off than us.
They especially hated the elite graduates of the Martial Arts Academy.
For people born at the very bottom, with nowhere to turn, how could promising young talents from respectable sects ever look good?
What made it worse was that Academy graduates started as Unit Leaders by default. From the Sojeong Unit members' perspective, no matter how many years they had served, having to bow their heads to some fresh-faced brat was infuriating.
“If they saw me now that I've become the Academy Representative, they'd all be dumbfounded. Heh heh.”
For some reason, imagining the Sojeong Unit bastards' sour expressions lifted my mood even more.
With my thoughts mostly sorted out, I turned toward the dormitory.
I had already replenished the internal energy in my dantian while I was in Chengdu, but the fatigue that had built up in my body during my journey through Sichuan could only be relieved through rest.
I was slowly making my way toward the dormitory while looking around the Academy grounds when...
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
A series of heavy impacts reached my ears.
‘What is that?’
When I spread the energy sense I had drawn in, I sensed martial artists between the buildings.
I turned to look into the alley and saw four or five people who appeared to belong to the Five Great Clans standing in a circle as though keeping watch.
At the center, two people were tangled together on the ground.
Looking more closely...
‘...They're not tangled together.’
One was taking a one-sided beating.
The small-framed Academy student, whose affiliation I could not identify, tried desperately to fight back, but his larger opponent was playing with him as though toying with prey.
‘Tsk.’
Even if they claimed to uphold the White Path, this was a place where hot-blooded martial artists gathered. Fights being commonplace was only natural.
When I first joined the Sojeong Unit, I had also clashed with and fought its members several times.
Even so, on the day I returned from Sichuan after working myself to the bone saving people, I had to see this...
It wasn't a pleasant sight.
‘These bastards dare catch my eye?’
It was time to uphold justice if I wanted to restore my ruined mood.
And they were acting like cowardly thugs, ganging up on someone in front of a man who could not tolerate injustice?
Crack. Crack.
“Hey, you bastards...”
Just as I loosened my fingers and was about to step in...
Grab.
The small-framed Academy student seized his larger opponent’s hand.
Whoosh. Swish. Thud!
He threw the larger student onto the hard ground.
“...!”
My mouth fell open in shock.
It was not the small-framed student's prowess that stunned me, but the martial art he had used.
‘What is this?’
The Flowing Cloud Divine Art I had learned from Yayul Jae of the Sojeong Unit in my previous life, and had put to good use in this life.
He had just used its Lotus form.
‘Why is that appearing here?’
Footnotes:
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