WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 195: The Messenger from the Past (5)

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Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.

Yayul Geuk felt strange.

He was clearly being beaten, yet he no longer felt any pain.

Had his wounds festered so badly that the nerves capable of feeling anything had vanished?

Or had even feeling pain become a luxury now?

His body, on the other hand, gave out in less than half the time it usually endured, and he collapsed backward.

He wanted to hold on longer, but his legs no longer had any strength left.

"Then I'll see you again tomorrow...."

Through his slowly closing eyes, he saw Ak Jupyeong's vile face.

Strangely, he did not even feel the desperate urge that had consumed him for so long, the desire to hit him just once.

'I... need to get up.'

The sound of retreating footsteps.

The area grew so quiet that he could no longer hear anything.

Even the wind brushing past his ears gradually faded away.

In that perfect silence, he slowly grew numb to the cold air around him.

'I need to go home... If I go home, Eldest Brother will be disappointed, won't he?'

Why had he survived?

Wouldn't it have been better if he had died and Second Brother had entered the Academy instead?

If Third Brother had not been injured, would he not have been able to complete his martial arts?

Those futile thoughts tangled endlessly in his mind.

It felt as though he were sinking into an ocean whose depths could not be measured.

'I want to rest...'

If he got up and returned to the dormitory, he could wash the filth from his body and recover, even if only for a short while.

Then he might be able to fight back against Ak Jupyeong's group, at least a little.

But what would be the point?

He would just be beaten again the next day.

He had no strength left in his body.

No, his heart no longer had the will to move.

He did not want to do anything anymore.

'Maybe... it's fine like this.'

Yayul Geuk's spirit had broken, and he lost even the will to move.

Quiet darkness engulfed him.

#

"Huff, huff, huff, huff."

Yi Jagon, who had received an emergency call and chased after Jin Sowoon, gasped for breath.

'What kind of movement art is that...?'

On top of that, Jin Sowoon had stopped by the dormitory and bent both of Ak Jupyeong's feet in directions they were never meant to bend.

The instructors and teachers joined forces to form a cordon, but Jin Sowoon passed through it as though it were nothing and headed elsewhere.

'Was that really Jin Sowoon?'

When he took the Gyeonseong Envoy examination, Jin Sowoon's prowess had clearly been at the level of an outstanding rising expert.

Yet he had improved this much in such a short time.

It was hard to believe.

Still, no one felt alarmed by the level Jin Sowoon had attained.

The ignorant merely competed to vent their shallow anger.

"They say he went to Mount Yangsan."

"We cannot simply stand by and watch this happen."

"How dare he commit violence within the Academy!"

Yi Jagon gave a bitter smile.

Since when had violence within the Academy been such a serious matter?

Was it not the Academy's usual attitude to blame the victim for neglecting their training instead?

'Adult circumstances?'

Looking over the teachers shouting at the top of their lungs, each had some connection to the White Path Society.

Ak Jupyeong had suffered this under their watch, so they would have trouble facing the White Path Society from now on.

'And his opponent is no one to take lightly.'

Jin Sowoon had been fighting alone all this time.

Yi Jagon thought he had been holding out rather well, but trouble had erupted in a place like this of all places.

'Didn't they say Ak Jupyeong's uncle worked for the Inspectorate?'

The Martial Arts Academy already bent over backward for influential families. If a Martial Alliance position was added to the mix, the situation would spiral out of control.

For Jin Sowoon's sake as well, calming the situation quickly had to come first.

Then a signal arrived that the target had been found.

The teachers who reached a clearing on Mount Yangsan found Jin Sowoon kneeling there.

"Jin Sowoon! You brat! How dare you commit violence within the Academy! Come here at once!"

One of the instructors spoke sternly, but Jin Sowoon did not move.

As the teachers approached to drag him away by force, Yi Jagon noticed something strange and stopped them.

"Please wait a moment."

"What? Instructor Yi, that bastard must be disciplined immediately..."

"No, that's not it."

There was a boy lying in front of Jin Sowoon.

As Yi Jagon slowly approached, the boy's face came into view.

An Academy student Yi Jagon had occasionally seen during lessons.

Yuhwan Sect, was it? Yi Jagon remembered the boy as a disciple from such an obscure sect that its name was difficult to recall.

'Yayul... Geuk! But was he acquainted with Jin Sowoon?'

Jin Sowoon was one of the Academy's primary subjects of observation.

The instructors had already identified who he was close to and who he might come into conflict with.

'He definitely wasn't someone close to Jin Sowoon...'

Just as Yi Jagon was thinking that, an instructor who could no longer endure it stepped forward.

"I'll take you into custody first. You may flee. Get up, Jin Sowoon."

The instructor grabbed Jin Sowoon's shoulder and forcibly pulled him up.

Crack.

"Aagh!"

Instead, Jin Sowoon seized the instructor's hand, twisted it, and threw the instructor away.

It was such a bizarre technique that no one could tell what he had done.

At Jin Sowoon's move, the instructors and teachers took combat stances.

Some even drew their swords.

"Jin Sowoon! What is this madness? You dare attack an instructor? Are you challenging the Academy?"

Jin Sowoon remained seated with his back turned as he spoke.

"...Why did you people come here?"

His voice was low.

"Did I cause such a scene that you need to use the word 'custody' just because I ran around the Academy a little?"

"Jin Sowoon! You harmed another Academy student within the grounds!"

"Did that bastard die?"

Was it only Yi Jagon who found Jin Sowoon's low voice sinister?

The voice was cold, as if it held a blade, and Yi Jagon's throat went dry.

"...This kid was beaten to death by those bastards over the course of months."

Jin Sowoon turned his head and looked one by one at the people surrounding him.

"Some of the instructors and teachers here probably recognize this kid's face too, don't they?"

"..."

The sound of people swallowing came from all around.

"If you want to punish me for something, punish Ak Jupyeong and his group first. Until then, you people have no right to discipline anyone."

Crack, crack.

The instructor who had been thrown aside with their arm twisted rose to their feet and reset the dislocated arm.

"Urgh! What are you all doing? This is a challenge to the Academy's authority!"

The hesitant teachers regained their composure at the instructor's words.

Jin Sowoon slowly rose and looked at the instructor who had given the order.

"After seeing something like this, I can't possibly think well of you people."

"What nonsense are you spouting..."

Swoosh.

Jin Sowoon's upright figure gradually faded away like smoke.

Thud.

A heavy impact rang out some distance away.

'When did he...?'

Jin Sowoon had left behind only an afterimage and had already struck the instructor square in the mouth.

He hit so hard that three white pieces flew from the instructor's mouth.

That was enough. The other instructors and teachers moved to rush Jin Sowoon.

Then Yi Jagon noticed something and shouted.

"S-Stop!!"

Mount Yangsan rang with Yi Jagon's booming voice, and everyone turned to look.

Yi Jagon slowly approached Yayul Geuk and checked his condition.

There were bruises on his face and blood pooled beneath the skin all over his body.

At this point, it was only natural that he looked dead.

'But!'

Yi Jagon had clearly seen it.

Yayul Geuk's chest had moved, if only slightly.

'He's breathing!'

It was so faint it was difficult to detect, but he was breathing.

His pulse was irregular and weak, but it still beat faintly.

"H-He's alive!"

"Alive?"

Jin Sowoon appeared beside Yi Jagon before anyone noticed.

"Q-Quickly, take him to the Academy Medical Hall."

As Yi Jagon reached out, Jin Sowoon picked Yayul Geuk up first.

Without saying another word, he vanished like the wind.

Whoosh.

Watching Jin Sowoon leave, Yi Jagon could not shake a feeling of unease.

For some reason, Yi Jagon did not think this would end easily.

The expression on Jin Sowoon's face as he disappeared was not easily forgotten.

#

When Jin Sowoon arrived at the Academy Medical Hall, he ignored the medical attendants telling him to register for treatment. He walked inside and laid Yayul Geuk on a bed.

Then he immediately took his pulse.

'He's alive!'

Before he could even rejoice, unwelcome intruders interrupted him.

"You can't just barge in here like this!"

The medical attendants spoke sharply.

Jin Sowoon looked around the room.

"Where are the medicinal ingredients?"

"What...? You can't just go in there..."

"Where are the medicinal ingredients!"

Faced with Jin Sowoon's forceful manner, one hesitant medical attendant eventually pointed in a direction.

Without delay, Jin Sowoon entered the medicinal storeroom and began placing ingredients into containers one by one, as though he already knew exactly what he needed.

Then a man entered.

"What is going on here?"

"P-Physician! Some man suddenly barged in..."

Sama Jeong, the head of the Academy Medical Hall, looked back and forth between the new patient on the bed and Jin Sowoon in the medicinal storeroom before speaking to the medical attendants.

"I'll handle things here, so get back to your work."

"What? But..."

"From what I can see, that young man seems to know something about treatment. In cases like this, it is better to simply watch."

"..."

One medical attendant thought that, perhaps because he had come from the Martial Alliance Physicians Hall, Sama Jeong thought differently from the previous hall masters. She eventually left.

"Hmm...?"

Sama Jeong approached Yayul Geuk and took his pulse.

'His vital energy is damaged, and there is blood stasis throughout his body... What happened to put him in this condition?'

His condition was so critical that his breathing could cease at any moment.

Rather than seeking a physician, Jin Sowoon was preparing medicine himself. Sama Jeong could not help but feel curious.

When he stood and looked into the medicinal storeroom, Jin Sowoon was already preparing the ingredients one by one.

He ground some into powder and cut others into large pieces.

After processing them, he wrapped the ingredients in cotton cloth and enclosed them between both hands.

'Hm?'

A moment later, white smoke rose from his hands, and black liquid began dripping down.

'He's preparing medicine like that?'

Sama Jeong had never seen such a method before.

He worried that the medicine's potency would be lost that way, but Jin Sowoon's expression was far too confident for that to be the case.

After filling a bowl, Jin Sowoon unwrapped the cotton cloth and selected several ingredients, which he ground into powder again.

He mixed the powder with honey and made three medicinal pellets.

"..."

After preparing the medicine, Jin Sowoon looked at Sama Jeong, who was blocking the doorway.

Sama Jeong snapped out of it and stepped aside.

"Ah, excuse me. I was watching because it was fascinating. Go ahead."

Jin Sowoon gave no reply and passed him, heading to Yayul Geuk.

He opened Yayul Geuk's mouth and slowly fed him the medicine.

"Do you know how to use needles?"

"...Please."

"It's fortunate I have something to do."

While Sama Jeong inserted needles, Jin Sowoon crushed one medicinal pellet, mixed it with the decoction, and fed it to Yayul Geuk.

As he inserted the needles, Sama Jeong checked Yayul Geuk's pulse from time to time.

Amazingly, Yayul Geuk's pulse was regaining strength in real time.

'What in the world...?'

Decoctions did not normally take effect so quickly.

Yet the medicine Jin Sowoon had prepared in that unusual manner was producing a response so fast that it seemed immediate.

Jin Sowoon seemed to know it too, for he crushed the second pellet and fed it to Yayul Geuk.

His pulse became even stronger.

"May I... ask you something?"

"..."

Sama Jeong knew how dangerous it was to disturb a martial artist when the atmosphere was tense, but as a physician, he could not bear to leave his curiosity unsatisfied.

Then he realized they had not even introduced themselves, so he hurriedly added,

"Ah! My name is Sama Jeong."

"Sama Jeong? Cheonmyo..."

Jin Sowoon stopped speaking midway through.

"Cheonmyo? What is that?"

"It's nothing. Are you part of the Academy Medical Hall?"

"I am not. I was originally with the Martial Alliance Physicians Hall."

For some reason, Sama Jeong felt as though Jin Sowoon's eyes had flashed for an instant, but he continued with his question.

"May I ask? It seems there's time before you give him the next pellet."

Jin Sowoon looked at Yayul Geuk for a moment, then nodded.

"Please, go ahead."

"As I understand it, it is difficult to produce such rapid results with a decoction and medicinal pellets. How did you do it?"

"...Don't you already know?"

As Sama Jeong searched for the meaning behind those words, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning.

"Don't tell me you used poison?"

"Yes. Nine-Yin Snake venom has the side effect of spreading rapidly through the bloodstream and paralyzing the body."

"Hah! You really used poison?"

Jin Sowoon shrugged as though it were nothing.

"I also added Yangyang Herb, which slowly follows the Nine-Yin Snake venom and neutralizes it."

"I see. You used the Nine-Yin Snake's venom to spread the medicine's effects, then used Yangyang Herb to gradually detoxify it."

Jin Sowoon nodded, and Sama Jeong marveled inwardly.

It was a method that he, a physician, had only considered as a hypothesis.

Yet this young man, who looked barely past twenty, used poison with such skill.

Sama Jeong grew intensely curious about Jin Sowoon's identity.

Then, as though it was time, Jin Sowoon fed Yayul Geuk the third pellet.

The vigorously beating pulse gradually settled.

"Hah... You truly saved him."

Color slowly returned to Yayul Geuk's pale face.

The eyelids that had been closed as though he were dead trembled before gradually opening.

Yayul Geuk opened his eyes halfway, looked around, then spotted Jin Sowoon and immediately twisted his face.

"Jin Sowoon, you... I clearly warned you that I would never forgive you if you showed your face in front of me again..."

Sama Jeong, who heard this from beside them, was bewildered.

Without this young man, Yayul Geuk would have died.

Yet the first thing he said upon waking to the person who saved his life was an insult.

Sama Jeong had no idea what was going on, so he looked at Jin Sowoon with a tense expression.

Contrary to his expectations, though, a faint smile rested on Jin Sowoon's lips. Until now, his face had been rigid.

"Hah, you disrespectful bastard..."

There was a strange sense of relief on Jin Sowoon's exasperated face.

Footnotes:

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