The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything - Chapter 392

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 392: Personal Revenge (2)

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The operation to obtain one of Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng's secret arts, which I had not received when I regressed, moved quickly.

Even without Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng's secret art, we still had to move quickly.

If I got Dam Ak out after war broke out, my only remaining option would be to throw myself into the Black Alliance alongside the Taeul Sect.

Even the father who gave birth to me and raised me probably would not forgive that.

My adorable junior disciples becoming Black Path martial artists who threatened others with blades held to their tongues.

No. That could never happen.

The Orthodox Society already knew I had met Dam Ak, but it was still best to keep the matter confidential.

There were more than enough professional malcontents in the Martial Alliance who would feel uncomfortable about Dam Ak getting out in this delicate situation.

Some of them even suffered from the delusion that Dam Ak might have secretly hidden in his residence after attacking the Chief Strategist.

Personally, I wanted to check whether they had fallen into qi deviation and lost their minds, but I held back because I was busy. Really busy.

Even if I left all the preparations for the journey to the Wang Family Estate, I had to get Dam Ak out of the Martial Alliance myself.

I had spent my whole life racking my brain to enter the Martial Alliance, yet now that I was trying to escape from it, there was more than one or two things to consider.

First, I called Dang Seohui and Jegal Cheongi, who had already become accomplices, to my lodging.

I had roughly figured out the structure of the Black Mist Solitary Soul Formation Dam Ak had set up, but in the worst case, we might have to break through the mystic formation installed in the Martial Alliance.

Honestly, I hoped it would not come to that.

Even when acting for justice, there had to be a line.

Openly preventing Dam Ak from leaving the Martial Alliance...

‘Only complete lunatics would do something like that.’

The Orthodox Society had already proven they were out of their minds by raiding Dam Ak's residence.

We needed to be thoroughly prepared to deal with people like that.

The next person I recruited was Dang Gihan, the former seventh Unit Leader of the Life-and-Death Unit and the future deputy leader of the White Wolf Pavilion.

“What is it?”

When I visited him personally, he greeted me with a sour expression.

“Are you happy leaving only us stuck here?”

I wanted to explain that my being unable to go to the White Wolf Pavilion had not been my choice, but bringing that up would mean revealing that I was the Alliance Leader's favored talent. It was an extremely awkward situation for someone as humble as me.

Dang Seohui stepped in.

“Now is not the time to put personal feelings first.”

See? Even straw fed with sweets could be useful.

“...Is something going on?”

Dang Gihan composed himself at Dang Seohui's words.

Dang Seohui clenched her fist as though deciding whether to eat Pak Family Snow Cakes or Hong Family sweets.

“This is an opportunity to become a true hero.”

“...”

Dang Gihan glared at me with the horrified expression of someone looking at a cult leader.

It seemed to mean, ‘What the hell did you do to her?’

Hah, I should have left her behind.

I had brought her because she held some influence within the Tang Clan.

Thinking about it, though, Dang Seohui's reputation only worked on people who did not know her well.

Anyone who knew her even a little would always take her strange nature into account.

Just as I was deciding whether to threaten him or bribe him, Dang Gihan let out a quiet sigh.

“All right.”

“Hm?”

“I said all right. What do you need me to do?”

“You'll really help?”

Why? It was suspicious. It was weird.

Did I not look exactly like a con man telling him to sell his family property and invest?

Perhaps embarrassed, Dang Gihan scratched his head, his face reddening slightly.

“A Unit Leader should listen to the Unit Leader. Once part of the Life-and-Death Unit, always part of the Life-and-Death Unit.”

“...”

Tears nearly welled up in my eyes from the rush of emotion...

“Fuck, but if you don't come to the White Wolf Pavilion, be prepared to get poisoned to death by me! I'm serious. After applying to the White Wolf Pavilion, I even got a letter saying my parents had cut me out of the family register! If you really don't come, I'll poison you to death even if I have to spend the rest of my life locked in the Golden Prison!”

The Life-and-Death Unit really must have been a hastily assembled mess of a unit.

How could someone threaten to poison their former superior? What kind of discipline was this?

To finish the preparations in a short time, I ran around without resting for even a moment.

I checked the Alliance's security, confirmed the shift changes again, and mapped out an escape route from Wuhan.

Several days flew by in a flash, and during that time, the tension over the war originating from the Black Alliance only grew worse.

I prayed again and again to the Eight Immortals for one trait Black Path bastards lacked most of all to finally appear: patience.

There were eight of them. Would not at least one get bored and grant my wish?

“Please! Please! Skyrocket!”

Meanwhile, because of that horse-nosed Taoist bastard, Pure Water Adept, I moved as quietly and secretly as possible.

Still, I eventually realized that word of my preparations would inevitably reach that horse-nosed bastard's ears.

It was not because anyone was watching me.

If anyone had been tailing me, I would have noticed them with my energy sense and handed each of them a punch to the face.

I was pretty pissed off at the idiotic stunt those qi-deviation-ridden members of the Orthodox Society had pulled.

Still, perhaps they had some sense after all, because they had not assigned anyone obvious to watch me.

Then how did I know they knew?

“Senior Brother, what are you planning now?”

“Don't you know how tense things have been lately? Do you want to go to the Enforcement Hall?”

“Head Disciple, be honest. What kind of trouble are you planning to cause?”

“Head Disciple, why won't you buy me sweets too?”

There was a strange complaint mixed in there, but the Taeul Sect disciples were pouring every kind of grievance onto their lofty Head Disciple.

How had they figured it out?

I had moved very secretly and carefully.

I had involved the Taeul Sect and Wang Family Estate in this matter, but I had never intended to involve my fellow disciples, who now belonged to the Alliance.

I was walking a dangerous tightrope over a pit filled with rusty blades, where one misstep would send me falling in.

I pretended not to know anything.

“No? I'm not doing anything. But you all seem rather willing to speak in ways that make your trust in your Head Disciple sink lower by the day?”

My junior disciples seemed to be getting rougher in temperament with every passing day.

“What do you mean, no? Father has been acting suspicious, the Outer Hall Master has been acting suspicious, everyone has!”

Saryeon put her hands on her hips and fumed.

Considering how Saryeon's anger always showed itself through the position of her hands, this was still only the beginning stage.

Maybe I could push back a little longer?

“No. It just looks like they are getting ready to leave. They have been here for far too long...”

“Head. Disciple?”

The hands resting on her hips shifted into folded arms and rose to her chest.

“Then explain this. Why did the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers' parents return early by using a different escort agency?”

Gulp.

“See? It's suspicious!”

Damn it, why had I suddenly swallowed?

Even so, I had lived more than a gapja[1] longer than these brats. I would not be taken down that easily.

With as much dignity as I could muster, I rebuked them.

“You all! Have you already forgotten what happened in Mukrim? Thinking of the desperation we felt that day, you should be saving every instant for training, and even that would not be enough!”

A chill spread through the air, and the mood sank.

They all lowered their heads as memories of that day returned to them.

Even so, Eunho, who had shed tears of joy after receiving an additional acceptance notice from the Mantong Office, stroked their chin and spoke.

“Hm, seeing you release killing intent and get angry instead... I think that confirms it.”

Y-you rebellious bastard!

“Besides, judging from how you are trying to exclude us from this matter, it must be extremely dangerous. And in the current situation, there is only one extremely dangerous matter it could be...”

After finishing their deduction, the rebellious bastard pointed directly at me.

“It involves Strategist Dam Ak!”

“...”

Why were they so smart?

I forced my emotions down and carefully controlled my expression, but we had shared hardship and joy for nearly twenty years.

When it came to each other, we could read one another's thoughts as well as government constables.

“Oh my god!”

“What are you thinking?!”

As my fellow disciples swarmed me like bees, I waved my hands as if driving them away.

“That is why I said I would not tell you!”

I even shouted at them.

“Confess while we're asking nicely!!!”

These bastards showed no sign of backing down.

I had been happy that their courage had grown through training beyond their limits, but I never expected them to use that courage against me.

“Are you planning to help Strategist Dam Ak escape?”

At Eunho's persistent question, I finally nodded.

They would find out eventually anyway.

“Yes.”

“Strategist Dam Ak is still alive?!”

Hah, had that been a trap question too?

As I gaped like a fish, realizing I had been caught, Eunho thought for a moment before nodding.

“Then we should join you.”

“As you heard, it's an extremely dangerous operation. No.”

At my firm answer, Eunho instead took a step closer.

“Think of it the other way around.”

“Think of what?”

“If Head Disciple helps Dam Ak escape and war eventually breaks out, wouldn't the Taeul Sect and all of us become traitors?”

Eunho continued as though asking how there could be someone this absurd.

Damn, that bastard had already turned completely black. They were like this just after getting accepted to the Mantong Office. What would they become once they started working there?

When I did not answer, Eunho nodded as if they understood everything.

“Then won't we all end up in the Enforcement Hall? If so, would it not be better to join from the start, then go to the Black Alliance together if things go wrong?”

Fuck, why did they have to mention the possibility of failure?

Still, Eunho was not entirely wrong.

To avoid responsibility, I asked again.

“Do all of you want that? You want to join me?”

The brats answered without the slightest hesitation.

“Of course.”

“Obviously.”

“Father agreed to this for sure, right?”

“I don't care.”

I tried to stop them several times, but in the end, they decided to join us of their own will.

Then it was time to begin preparing again...

“But if we go to the Black Alliance, will they at least give us positions as Hall Masters?”

Eunho said something irritating, but I easily ignored them.

On the day of the decisive battle, I headed to the Bongan Hall with Dang Seohui and Jegal Cheongi again.

More people than before stood guard around the Bongan Hall.

Honestly, at this point, it was painfully obvious that they were openly trying to stop Dam Ak from leaving.

“What should we do?”

Exactly. What should we do?

Facing so many people, I was not sure whether the word secret could even apply anymore.

But after coming this far, there was no turning back.

I smiled brightly.

“Let's just put them to sleep for a long time.”

If we could not be secretive, would it not be better to put them into a deep sleep instead?

Even if they woke up along the way, it would be difficult for them to respond.

I gave Dang Seohui's head a few gentle pats.

“Can you use that Paralysis Powder without killing them?”

Dang Seohui growled, snorting through her nose.

“What do you take me for?”

Dang Seohui immediately took out four mother-of-pearl bottles and began spreading poison throughout the Bongan Hall grounds.

Soon after...

Thud. Thud.

People began to collapse.

The guards saw their comrades suddenly falling and tried to ring the alarm bell, but...

“Uh! An emer...”

“Mmmh...”

The powerful sleeping poison instantly overwhelmed their feeble awareness and knocked them unconscious.

I nodded to Dang Seohui and Jegal Cheongi.

Once we broke through the Black Mist Solitary Soul Formation, Dam Ak, thinner than before, was waiting for us.

“You've come?”

“But where did you get those black clothes?”

How had he gotten clothing in a place sealed off on all sides?

“Wouldn't I need covert-action clothing? There was plenty of ink, so I dyed it myself.”

A faint smile rested on Dam Ak's lips.

I stared at him in disbelief, and he calmly added,

“Although I have lived in the martial world, this is my first time taking part in an operation like this. I am very excited.”

Sir, your life depends on whether this operation succeeds.

This was not the time to be excited and happy.

Still, I thought it was better than being needlessly tense, so I stopped myself from saying anything.

Instead, I brought up something more important.

“Before we begin, there is one promise I need from you.”

“What is it?”

“From this moment on, I make every decision. Strategist Dam Ak and everyone in the delegation must follow whatever I decide.”

As expected, complaints erupted from Dam Ak's subordinates.

“That is unacceptable.”

“Don't be ridiculous!”

“How can we know what scheme you have in mind?”

Come on. I was the one taking this much risk. Could they not at least think about it for a moment?

If every Black Path martial artist lacked this much patience, this operation would be all for nothing.

Still, I understood to some degree.

What I had just said was not much different from asking for the power of life and death over them.

As the delegation and guards protested, Dam Ak raised a hand to silence them.

Then he nodded slightly at me.

“From the moment I asked Young Master Jin for help, I had prepared myself to some extent.”

“Strategist Dam Ak!”

“That is unacceptable!”

Dam Ak looked around and continued calmly.

“He is the person who broke through the enemy encirclement in Mukrim and reached the Myriad Poison Sect. Is there anyone more suited for this matter? And if the operation is ruined because of other people's misguided opinions, not just me, but all of us may die.”

“...”

“I will leave everything to Young Master Jin.”

No one protested any further.

They might have been able to object, yet they readily accepted Dam Ak's words. It showed just how deeply the Black Path martial world trusted him.

As I quietly admired that, Dam Ak tilted his head slightly and spoke.

“Still, there is one concern I have.”

He had handed over even the authority to decide, so what could he be worried about?

Dam Ak also looked quite serious.

What important matter was he about to bring up...?

“Since we will continue being together, then...”

“Then?”

“Will you and I have to share meals?”