WeTried Translations

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 241: Catching the Hidden Murderer (6)

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Jin Sowoon's next destination after exposing the hidden assassin within the Four Dragon Sect was the Yellow Sand Sect.

Absurdly enough, the hidden assassin within the Yellow Sand Sect was none other than Gal Cheongi.

"No! It wasn't me! Don't be ridiculous!"

Gal Cheongi had grieved Gu Gyeak's death more than anyone, so none of the Yellow Sand Sect disciples had imagined he could be the culprit.

Yet Jin Sowoon broke through the Yellow Sand Sect martial artists who tried to stop him and severed Gal Cheongi's head in a single stroke. He then peeled the human-skin mask from Gal Cheongi's face, revealing the truth before their eyes.

The Yellow Sand Sect disciples could not hide their stunned expressions.

With that, people began to think all the culprits had been caught, and the tension within the Black Alliance gradually eased.

Jin Sowoon's mind-reading art(?) did not stop there.

"I'm going to catch and kill every last one of them."

Alarmed by Jin Sowoon's storm-like rampage, the leaders admitted their past mistakes and tried to stop him, but he had no intention of stopping.

He uncovered another hidden assassin within the Demonic Path Sect, the last major faction of the war faction.

He also found hidden assassins within the peace faction Blood Tiger Sect and Black Lion Society.

The Demonic Path Sect incident had been particularly spectacular...

"What? They ran away? Don't worry. I've already prepared for that."

The hidden assassin, who had not yet carried out any killings, had disguised themselves as an ordinary martial artist and fled beneath the cover of night.

"So you want me to bring the fugitive back?"

Jin Sowoon had Dang Seohui, the daughter of the notoriously ruthless Tang Clan, cut off the fleeing martial artist's head. He then returned to the Demonic Path Sect with the severed head and removed its human-skin mask in full view of everyone.

They had said they would believe him without proof, yet seeing him peel away the human-skin mask right before their eyes filled even those hardened Black Path martial artists with inward dismay.

'That bastard is completely insane.'

'What kind of White Path martial artist is that? He's a madman obsessed with slaughter.'

'At this point, shouldn't peeling off human-skin masks be considered his martial art?'

Still, no one dared voice a complaint at Jin Sowoon's conduct as he caught culprit after culprit with his mind-reading art(?).

If Jin Sowoon labeled them a demon(?), their heads would come off before they could so much as twitch.

And once their heads were gone, what good would it do to protest that they were not a demon(?)?

"Why are you all staring at me like that?"

"Ahem... It's nothing..."

"N-no, sir..."

Everyone hurriedly avoided Jin Sowoon's gaze whenever they saw him.

That was how Jin Sowoon's work came to an end.

The people of the Black Alliance let out long sighs of relief, not because they had found the hidden assassins among them, but because Jin Sowoon had finally stopped swinging his sword.

The Black Flame Dragon's reputation had become even more firmly established, as a rising star of the White Path and a divine prodigy of the Black Path.

#

"Hmm..."

Gun Yuhyeon let out a long sigh as he reviewed everything that had happened.

"I can't figure out how he did it."

His intellect had been so exceptional that he had never truly had a rival, yet he could not understand the present situation.

"There should've been no way for him to notice."

Gun Yuhyeon had been thinking since Jin Sowoon first asked him for help, but he could not come up with any method of identifying the culprits.

Jin Sowoon, on the other hand, found them one after another.

Using the absurd method called mind-reading art(?), no less.

Gun Yuhyeon knew such a thing did not exist in the first place.

Jin Sowoon only mentioned mind-reading art to conceal his true method and make his opponents fear the unknown until they lost their reason. It was a smokescreen.

In fact, one culprit had been unable to bear the fear, tried to flee, and been caught.

Every circumstance pointed to the delegation as the criminals.

The war faction, which argued for war with the Martial Alliance, and the alliance members who supported them.

Under normal circumstances, there should have been close to a ninety percent chance that the true culprits would not be caught.

Yet just as he had done with sword tokens, Jin Sowoon had overcome those impossible odds and caught them.

"Did he use some other trick this time?"

Gun Yuhyeon could not even begin to guess what trick Jin Sowoon had used.

"Was there a reason Little Demon took notice of him...?"

After pondering for a while, Gun Yuhyeon picked up his sword tokens and began to divine his fortune.

Tap, tap-tap, tap.

A satisfied smile spread across his face as he looked at the tokens.

"As expected."

The completed hand on the floor was Chain Sword.

Just like during the previous match, he had drawn a hand that was practically among the strongest possible.

"Even if I lose the battle before me, I'll be the ultimate victor as long as I win the war."

Gun Yuhyeon carefully gathered up the sword tokens.

#

After experiencing what happened in Sichuan, Ilgak had said to Ilmyeong at the Martial Arts Academy.

[Jin Sowoon appears to be an Enlightened One.]

Ilmyeong had neither denied nor affirmed Ilgak's words.

It was a common enough misunderstanding.

Monks who had attained the unmoving mind sometimes avoided the sense of defeat rising within themselves by turning their opponent into someone extraordinary.

Otherwise, they could not explain their own emotions.

Once time passed and they realized their opponent was nothing more than an ordinary person, they would finally admit that what they had felt was defeat and that they had been denying it all along.

That was only natural.

Still, Ilmyeong had begun to think that the one who had been avoiding his feelings all this time was not Ilgak, but himself.

The person he had believed to be an Enlightened One was Yong Soa.

Everyone under heaven acknowledged Yong Soa, so Ilmyeong had also accepted him as an Enlightened One...

Only after coming to the Black Alliance and encountering Jin Sowoon did Ilmyeong wonder whether he had been turning Yong Soa, an ordinary person, into someone extraordinary to avoid confronting his own shortcomings.

[I will only choose to sacrifice someone and move forward when an even greater problem arises.]

Jin Sowoon's answer to Ak Byeongbi, who had told him to leave him behind and go on, remained vivid in Ilmyeong's mind.

At the same time, another man came to mind.

Yong Soa.

What answer would Yong Soa have given?

It somehow felt as though it would be an unpleasant answer, so Ilmyeong erased the thought from his mind.

Jin Sowoon's actions had clearly been foolish, bordering on reckless bravado.

Everyone could have died.

Yet Jin Sowoon had shattered their despair and turned the situation around.

No more stones or spear-like weapons flew into their lodgings.

The people they passed no longer radiated killing intent as though they might challenge the delegation to a duel at any moment. Those who had displayed competitive spirit or hostility on the first day had vanished as well.

Instead, they hurried to avoid the delegation whenever their eyes met, as if they had committed some great crime. Countless people even went out of their way to avoid them on the road.

What divine prodigy in all the world... No, what White Path martial artist could create a situation like this?

Strength in martial arts and intelligence alone could not accomplish it.

Was this not a realm only attainable by reaching a higher level through enlightenment?

'Though his methods are rather bizarre...'

Mind-reading art(?)...

It made Ilmyeong inwardly marvel that a disciple of a Taoist sect used a term not even used within Shaolin Temple, but was it not enough that the result was good?

Just then, someone approached carefully, as if waking Ilmyeong from his thoughts.

"Venerable, here it is."

A boy who looked like an ordinary server handed him a thick bundle of papers.

Ilmyeong did not know what was inside either.

He had delivered the paper Jin Sowoon gave him, along with the Black Token, exactly as instructed. It seemed that a reply had arrived.

"Is this all?"

"Yes. I was told that if I delivered this, Young Master Jin would handle the rest himself."

"...Who told you that?"

"The Hao Sect Lord said so."

"...Amitabha."

The Hao Sect Lord.

The head of the greatest intelligence organization competing with the Beggar Sect had personally passed along a message.

Ilmyeong had not thought Jin Sowoon was lying about being a guest retainer, but facing the proof now still shocked him.

The position of guest retainer in the Hao Sect was not granted to just anyone.

Yet a young man barely past twenty was a guest retainer of the Hao Sect...

He was so curious about how Jin Sowoon had become one that his unmoving mind was on the verge of breaking.

Suppressing his emotions, Ilmyeong pressed his palms together.

"Understood. Then I'll be going."

Curiosity was curiosity, and he still had work to do.

Ilmyeong gathered ingredients and medicinal herbs, then hurried back toward the Black Alliance.

Though the hostility toward the delegation had disappeared after the hidden assassins were exposed, Jin Sowoon had strangely insisted on procuring food and medicinal ingredients from outside.

'Does he think there are still culprits remaining?'

Ilmyeong hurried back to the lodgings within the Black Alliance, but Jin Sowoon, Blood Brawl, and Flame Ghost Consort were nowhere to be seen.

"Has Benefactor Jin gone out?"

There were no more culprits to catch, so where could he have gone?

Dang Seohui, whose hands were busily at work, turned to Ilmyeong.

"He went to the banquet. We need to go too, so put those things down and get ready."

"A banquet?"

"Yes. The Alliance Lord is holding one for us."

"..."

Holding a banquet for them was no different from declaring an intention to redefine their hostile relationship as a friendly one.

Going further, they might even be able to raise the subject of a peace treaty, something that had been impossible to mention before.

At that point, Ilmyeong had no choice but to admit it.

[Jin Sowoon appears to be an Enlightened One.]

Ilgak had been right, and he had been wrong.

"Amitabha."

#

When Ilmyeong and Dang Seohui entered the great hall, laughter filled the room.

"Khahahaha!"

"Kehehehe!!"

Only two people were laughing.

"Just as I expected, you drink with remarkable gusto!"

"The Black Alliance may not have much history yet, but its liquor is excellent!"

"Khahahaha! This alliance was founded by men who'd die for a drink, so of course the liquor has to be exceptional!"

"You know that's all thanks to me, right? Without me, the Black Alliance would've gone croak, just like that."

Jin Sowoon dragged his thumb across his throat, and Cha Seokdu nodded.

"That's right, that's right! As expected of the Black Flame Dragon! The more I think about it, the more I realize what a fine epithet I chose."

Bang!

"Are you seriously saying that right now? Do you know how much I hate that epithet?"

Jin Sowoon abruptly slammed his cup onto the table and glared at Cha Seokdu.

Cha Seokdu had already held a high position within the Black Path martial world, but now he stood at its very peak.

Yet he behaved like this...

"Do you have any idea how poorly an epithet like Black Flame suits an elite of the White Path?"

Cha Seokdu filled Jin Sowoon's cup.

"To begin with, it's difficult to call you an elite of the White Path."

Jin Sowoon drained the cup in one gulp and smiled.

"Fuck, are you calling that an answer?"

Stop it, you madman!

Ilmyeong instinctively glanced at Cha Seokdu. Yet...

"Khahahaha! You really are no ordinary man, no ordinary man at all!"

Cha Seokdu was not normal either.

The exchange, like drunken banter, was more than enough to make Ilmyeong's heart sink.

Wondering whether this was the Black Alliance's usual culture, he looked over the leaders seated opposite the delegation.

As expected, no one laughed along with the joke.

Some even had veins bulging on their foreheads.

Only Cha Seokdu seemed delighted as he repeatedly filled Jin Sowoon's cup.

"Rather than this, why don't you change sides and join the Black Alliance? Wouldn't becoming the Black Alliance's Vice Alliance Lord be better than serving as a lackey of the Martial Alliance?"

"Oh? Is there such a position as Vice Alliance Lord?"

"If you come, I can create it."

"You really are generous, khahahaha!"

Cha Seokdu added with a rather serious expression.

"Why would that be impossible? You have neither influence nor money, so no matter how well you do, you'll only rise as far as a hall master in the Martial Alliance. A man must know how to take risks for wealth and glory."

"Hmm... Should I? I've been complaining nonstop that I can't stand working there anymore because it's so filthy and petty. Khahahaha!"

You madman, restrain yourself. The Third Department Master of the Inspectorate is sitting right there...!

Ilmyeong swallowed hard and looked at Ak Byeongbi beside him.

"..."

Ak Byeongbi, a large bandage wrapped around his wound, quietly drank as though he could not hear the conversation at all.

Beside him, Dang Seohui watched with strangely gleaming eyes, as though she wanted to join in.

'Amitabha, Amitabha.'

The vulgar jokes that crossed every line made it impossible for those listening to tell who the true Black Path martial artists were.

What was more, Cha Seokdu's attitude, as though he wanted to treat the Black Alliance as his personal property, was more than enough to offend the alliance's leaders.

"Ahem."

"Alliance Lord. Your joke has gone too far."

"That's right. Even if this is a drinking party..."

The leaders revealed their displeasure, and Cha Seokdu and Jin Sowoon, who had been laughing moments earlier, suddenly stopped as if they had removed human-skin masks.

Then they stared directly at the leaders.

As the leaders began sweating under those uncomfortable stares...

Cha Seokdu scoffed.

"Honestly... Since when did Black Path martial artists care about the limits of a joke? It was only a joke, a joke!"

"Please wait, Alliance Lord. Since they can't take a joke as a joke, perhaps they were never truly Black Path martial artists. I'll use my mind-reading art(?) to smash open the heads of anyone possessed by a demon(?)."

"Ahem..."

"Amitabha..."

The coordinated formation of the two men worked so perfectly that not only the Black Alliance leaders but also the delegation members shook their heads.

"Anyway, you were nearly framed at first, yet you also resolved the issue of the hidden assassins within the Black Alliance. I should reward you. What would you like?"

Jin Sowoon smiled broadly and waved his hand.

"Come now, you're saying something unreasonable again. If I, an elite of a White Path sect, accept a reward from a leading figure of the Black Path martial world like you, won't that stir up controversy?"

This was an official gathering with the Black Alliance's allied factions present.

Calling the Alliance Lord a leading figure of the Black Path martial world...

Ilmyeong felt his heart drop with every word Jin Sowoon spoke.

Cha Seokdu fiddled with his cup as if deep in thought.

"Hmm... That would suit me better, but..."

Sliiide.

"Come on, I said but. Who said I would let this pass? Take your hand off that Black Dragon Sword."

Sliiide.

"...Anyway, we in the Black Alliance aren't the sort who can live with a debt hanging over us."

Jin Sowoon, who had been stroking the Black Dragon Sword, took a drink and spoke.

"Then how about forming an alliance between the Black Alliance and the Martial Alliance instead of offering me a reward?"

"An alliance?"

Jin Sowoon nodded.

"We have already identified the people trying to drive a wedge between the Black Alliance and the Martial Alliance. There's no need for us to play into their scheme."

"Hmm..."

As Cha Seokdu considered it, the Black Alliance leaders wore mixed expressions.

Some looked relieved, while others frowned.

"True. We cannot let ourselves be toyed with by those bastards."

"Then?"

"An alliance would be difficult. We still cannot properly judge the Martial Alliance's intentions."

Having made up his mind, Cha Seokdu held out his hand.

"I would not call it a reward, but let us settle for a peace treaty."

Jin Sowoon looked down at the offered hand, then glanced at Ak Byeongbi.

The two exchanged looks for a moment.

Ak Byeongbi silently raised his cup again, and Jin Sowoon spoke.

"They say even a journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. We can draw closer little by little."

Cha Seokdu and Jin Sowoon clasped hands.

Footnotes:

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