WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 215: An Unwanted Invitation (4)
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“You dare cut off the Moyong Clan's line?!!!!!!!”
His clenched fists.
His flushed face.
His bloodshot eyes.
Even the steam pouring from his nose as he cast aside all dignity.
It was obvious at a glance that he hadn't managed to vent his anger on Moyong Jaehwa.
But why was that anger being aimed at me?
“What are you talking about? Cut off the line?”
“Hah, you're going to play dumb?”
Moyong Gang had been about to enter the office when he grabbed the shattered door tangled in his clothes with one hand.
Creeeak, crack... Crash.
...He tore it apart.
Wow. So absolute masters could do things like that.
Regardless of my amazement, Moyong Gang still looked far from calm.
“Then I'll help you remember.”
Crack, crack.
The sound of his knuckles popping and his neck cracking echoed through the office.
What part of that looked like the bearing of an absolute master? He looked more like a neighborhood thug.
What I'd expected was something beautiful, like urgently stopping Moyong Gang while he beat Moyong Jaehwa half to death, then clearing up the misunderstanding between grandfather and grandson by explaining Jaehwa's side.
For some reason, an absolute master with anger-management issues, someone feared even by Black Path martial artists, regarded me as his sworn enemy.
Would he understand if I talked my way through it like I had in front of Jegal Somyeong?
Maybe.
The problem was that I had to let him vent that anger somewhere before I could persuade him.
“Wait!”
“...”
“Please wait a moment.”
When I confidently rose from my seat, Moyong Gang kept his gaze fixed on me as though daring me to try something.
“Do you have something to say?”
“Whew... The dust... Cough, cough... I can't speak. Why'd you have to break an innocent door?”
“What?”
Clicking my tongue, I slowly walked toward the window.
Moyong Gang watched me with eyes trembling in disbelief.
“Fine. Say whatever you want. Then I won't break all four of your limbs.”
Killing intent had begun to gleam in his eyes.
“...Aren't I still the benefactor who saved the Young Clan Head's life?”
No, if I was his son's benefactor, he shouldn't be threatening to break my limbs in the first place.
The man lacked common sense and reason.
There was only one best way to deal with someone like him.
Creeeak.
I opened the window and set a foot on the sill.
“What are you doing...?”
The finest stratagem described in The Art of War.
The Thirty-Six Stratagems: Run away.
Boom.
The Peerless Wanderer Divine Art, unleashed at full force, changed the scenery around me in an instant.
“JIN SOWOON!!!!!!!”
Moyong Gang's voice grew more distant.
The autumn air had never felt so refreshing.
#
-You'd better stop while I'm still asking nicely.
A resounding voice, whether sound transmission or a sound-based martial art, nearly ruptured my eardrums.
What the hell? That's scary.
Terrified, I moved my feet even faster.
When I was young, my father told me there were three kinds of people I should never meet.
Those with overwhelming martial arts.
Those who couldn't control their anger.
Those whose thoughts couldn't be read.
Even my father probably hadn't known all three types could exist in one person.
Either way, the best way to deal with Moyong Gang right now was to run.
From my experience, the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art was one of the five finest movement arts in the entire martial world.
The Moyong Clan's movement art might be excellent, but it couldn't possibly catch an art created jointly by the Heavenly Demon and the Taeul Sword Emperor.
On top of that, I had a full four gapja of internal energy.
If I kept up qi circulation, which had become as natural as breathing...
‘I can run all day!’
Why did I feel as though I'd be more comfortable with a shield too?
-Ohho! So you're confident in your movement art!
His sound transmission once again hammered into my ears.
I offered Moyong Gang a silent, heartfelt apology.
No matter how powerful an absolute master he was, what methods could he possibly have to pursue me...
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Huh?
The back of my head prickled at the sound of bursting air, and I turned around.
Moyong Gang, who had been no bigger than a grain of millet, was striding closer amid explosive blasts.
What the fuck!
I sped up in shock, but Moyong Gang's sound transmission pierced my ears.
-Do you think none of my enemies ever had feet as fast as yours?
I'm not even your enemy in the first place!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Moyong Gang created explosions of qi beneath his feet, stepping on them to compress space.
Wow... So Moyong Jaehwa from my previous life had learned the principle of sending arrows far away from his own grandfather...
While I savored the joy of gaining another insight, Moyong Gang had already closed the distance to within ten jang.
Just a few more times, and he would catch me.
I pushed my thighs and calves until they felt ready to burst.
“Idiot! You could've just taken the hit, but you had to provoke me!”
He'd planned to hit me no matter what I said! That bastard!
Moyong Gang had gotten close enough that he no longer needed sound transmission.
Perhaps he was frustrated that I remained just beyond his grasp, because he created another explosion beneath his feet to get ahead of me.
Boom!
He shot past me in an instant, intending to block my path.
But I had no intention of making it easy for him.
The instant Moyong Gang moved to stand in front of me.
‘Now!’
Creak.
In an instant, I violently changed direction, enough to make every joint in my lower body, including my ankles, scream.
“Y-you! Damn brat!”
Moyong Gang, who had been waiting in front of me, began chasing me again with an even angrier expression.
He wasn't someone who could manipulate his internal energy delicately enough to finely control the power of those explosions.
His epithet was Wind-Splitting Sword, after all.
‘If I keep running like this...’
Then.
As I played a deadly game of tag with Moyong Gang, I felt the space before me distort.
“W-what is this...?”
The ordinary scenery of the Academy twisted together and became murky.
Then that distorted space took the clear shape of a hand.
Fist force? Grasping Things Through the Air? No, it was far too clear and far too large for either.
“Urk!”
The moment I sensed the unknown thing, I desperately changed direction, but the enormous invisible hand had already struck my side.
Bang!
My feet tangled, and I rolled across the ground dozens of times before hurriedly getting back up.
“You brat!!”
Moyong Gang was already approaching through the hazy dust, a massive fist force gathered around him.
Clang!
I desperately drew the Black Dragon Sword and blocked Moyong Gang's fist.
Bang!
Moyong Gang's fist struck Vajra Indestructible Iron, the strongest metal there was.
Yet the fist force didn't dissipate. It passed straight through my sword and struck my solar plexus.
Boom!
The pain felt as though my ribs had shattered, and my mind nearly went blank, but I couldn't afford to dwell on it.
Moyong Gang had already launched his second move.
Heaven-and-Earth Invincible Palm.
A monstrous palm art with destructive power equal to the Heaven-and-Earth Shattering Flash Sword.
Hah, this old man was serious?
I used Lotus with the Black Dragon Sword to redirect the Heaven-and-Earth Invincible Palm, then unleashed the Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist with my left hand.
Moyong Gang's eyes sharpened further at the fist images filling his view.
“You brat! You dare fight back against your elder?!”
He was the one going all out against a junior far younger than him...!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The bell-like sounds of Moyong Gang's Wall-Breaking Fist colliding with my fist images spread across the open area.
At the same time, I used the Twin Heavens Sword Art to press in on him.
Shhhhk!
Black Dragon Swords filled the air without a single gap.
Every sword qi carried enough force to make anyone feel death was close, but Moyong Gang looked bored.
“Did you take me for one of those fools playing with snakes and chickens?”
Intense heat gathered around his right foot. Like a fire dragon breathing flames, it erupted in every direction and burned away the sword qi.
He really was a fiery man.
“Are you done now?”
Moyong Gang swept away the heat and sword qi with a gesture, then approached with his anger still undiminished.
Was I done?
“Not even close.”
I might not look it, but I was the man who had taken the Sect-Protecting Dharma King's head through nothing but sheer persistence.
I grinned at him.
“It's only beginning.”
Three White Moon Heaven-Subduing Forms.
First Form.
‘Extreme Swiftness.’
The Black Dragon Sword shot forward like a ray of light with a fierce whistle.
#
“...Ugh.”
“Keep your hands up properly!!!”
At Moyong Gang's roar, Jin Sowoon, whose eyes were blackened with bruises, quickly raised both hands high.
“S-sir, it's already been a full shichen. If I keep my hands up any longer...”
His hands trembling, Jin Sowoon acted as though he were about to die. Moyong Gang looked at him in disbelief.
‘Someone with martial arts that deep claims he's tired after only one shichen?’
The first surprise had been when Jin Sowoon evaded Void-Destroying Fist, the culmination of Moyong Gang's lifetime of insight.
It had been surprising enough when he coated the Twin Heavens Sword Art with sword qi, but what was that swift sword he unleashed afterward?
Its sharpness was secondary. Its speed had far exceeded his expectations.
Had he reacted just a little later, he might have suffered the humiliation of having the front of his robe cut by someone who had only recently taken up the sword.
‘It was clearly that Sword Demon's martial art...’
How had this brat learned the martial art of the man who had vanished as though evaporating five years ago?
Then, at the end, Jin Sowoon had even displayed that insane act Moyong Gang had witnessed before, coating Ten Thousand Swords with sword force and wielding the Twin Heavens Sword Art.
Setting aside the amount of his internal energy, it was destructive power that could not be shown unless his body had been trained through external martial arts.
And someone at that level was having trouble simply holding up his hands?
Even a passing dog would laugh.
“Tch. I thought he might be roughly evenly matched with Seol, but when did he catch up this much?”
Moyong Seol had recently made enough of a name for herself in the martial world to be called the next-generation Sword Empress.
Moyong Gang had thought it might be time to bring up the matter, but this brat had already opened the door to another realm.
Jin Sowoon had no idea what Moyong Gang meant and only looked blankly at him.
“Pardon?”
“Keep your hands up!”
Moyong Gang snapped at him for no reason.
Jin Sowoon didn't give in. As he subtly lowered his hands little by little, he asked Moyong Gang, “Sir, I'm really curious. Why are you doing this to me?”
“Why am I doing this?”
Jin Sowoon nodded without the slightest hesitation.
“I really don't know.”
“Then why did you run?”
“Isn't it natural to run when something terrifying is chasing you?”
At that composed response, Moyong Gang let out a disbelieving laugh.
“Not that. You ran because you'd done something wrong.”
“No! What could I possibly have done wrong to you?!”
Jin Sowoon even slapped the ground repeatedly with both hands as if he had been wronged.
“Raise your hands again...”
“Yes!”
Trying to cut corners even now.
Was this brat really not afraid of him, the Wind-Splitting Sword?
“Anyway, I truly haven't done anything wrong.”
“You haven't? If seducing and threatening a direct descendant of the Moyong Clan into taking up the bow isn't a crime, what is?”
Moyong Gang asked bluntly, and Jin Sowoon went pale.
“W-what are you talking about? Seducing and threatening him...!”
Moyong Gang knew he would try to deny it.
That was why he'd done his best not to tear the letter apart in his anger.
“Tch.”
Moyong Gang took a letter from his robes and threw it to Jin Sowoon.
The letter should have fluttered down, yet it flew stiffly toward Jin Sowoon as if it were an iron plate.
Jin Sowoon cautiously lowered his hands again, caught it, and began to read.
[This unfilial grandson, Moyong Jaehwa, should come and see Grandfather in person. Yet I am too ashamed of myself, so please forgive me for greeting you through this letter...
I had never once thought to take up the bow, but the Black Flame Dragon, the great hero whom I followed out of a sense of righteousness, took advantage of those feelings...
Furthermore, he threatened that everyone around me might die if I did not take up the bow, leaving me with no choice...]
After reading the entire letter, Jin Sowoon let out a soft exclamation.
“Wow, this Black Flame Dragon bastard in the letter is a real piece of shit.”
The moment he read the letter, he knew it was about him, but anger still rose within him.
The stories woven around incidents from the martial world, mentioned here and there, made it feel even more real.
Hah. If he'd known this would happen, he should have made Moyong Jaehwa take up a brush instead of a bow.
But...
‘Wait... I know this handwriting.’
When he focused on the handwriting, another face surfaced in his mind.
This was definitely, absolutely...
‘...Eunho! You bastard! You dare sell out your Eldest Senior Brother because of a friend?’
Jin Sowoon glared at the letter with eyes burning as though he were about to set it ablaze.
Seeing him tremble in rage, Moyong Gang asked, “Do you admit your wrongdoing?”
Jin Sowoon sprang to his feet.
“No, sir! I've been wrongly accused. This letter is full of fabrication and manipulation...”
“Shut up! Even if there are lies in that letter, you won't claim that making Moyong Jaehwa take up the bow was a lie as well, will you?”
Jin Sowoon, who had risen with fierce momentum, hesitated.
“Th-that...”
“I heard it all from the Academy Head on my way here. You even made an archery course especially for Jaehwa?”
Fuck, it was a dead end.
“The facts are this clear, yet you still refuse to admit your crime!”
Jin Sowoon held out a hand to stop Moyong Gang from advancing.
“W-wait! The Moyong Clan's line hasn't actually been cut off, has it?”
“What do you mean? You'd better explain yourself well, unless you want your memorial meal served on this date next year.”
Gulp.
Jin Sowoon swallowed hard and racked his brain.
“W-well, Miss Moyong Seol is the better swordswoman, isn't she?”
“Hm?”
“And I've heard that the Moyong Clan isn't such a narrow-minded family.”
A chilling smile appeared at the corner of Moyong Gang's mouth.
“Oh? Are you telling me to bring in a son-in-law?”
“Well, it doesn't have to be that, but it could be one option, and also...”
“Fine. Then you can become the Moyong Clan's son-in-law.”
“...What?”
Jin Sowoon tilted his head at Moyong Gang's sudden words.
‘Fuck, what is this supposed to mean? I'm seriously going insane.’
Jin Sowoon could not follow Moyong Gang's train of thought at all, and a headache began to form.
Footnotes:
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