WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 393: Personal Revenge (3)

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The one thing certain about the current situation was that nothing was certain.

It wasn't certain who had attacked Dam Ak.

It wasn't certain whether the Martial Alliance was hostile or friendly toward him.

And all that uncertainty...

Was what had made Dam Ak use the word “escape.”

In the worst case, they could frame Dam Ak as the mastermind behind Jegal Somyeong's attack while he was returning to the Black Alliance headquarters after being attacked himself.

That would start a war without fail, but from the White Path martial world's perspective, they would be starting it by taking the Black Alliance's Chief Strategist's head. What a tremendous gain.

For those obsessed with efficiency, this was enough to make them shout, “Even if we get nothing, we go for it.”

‘That bastard Qingxiu Zhenren has been far too quiet, too.’

He knew perfectly well that I had met Dam Ak, yet he wasn't thoroughly grilling me?

It wouldn't be enough for him to immediately inform the Enforcement Hall and spread the word everywhere that I was “a spy who had a secret conversation with the Black Path's Chief Strategist.”

I couldn't even begin to guess what scheme that monumental bastard was hiding.

“But why are we deliberately leaving at this hour before dawn?”

Before even the dawn dew had begun to glisten, I set out with Dam Ak and the Black Alliance delegation.

Hmm. That didn't seem like the question to ask just as a dangerous operation that could cost him his life was beginning.

Still, I answered him. Maintaining friendly relations with Dam Ak was important too.

“If we leave during the day, we'll run into people.”

“What does it matter if we run into them? They'll know anyway. Returning without formally notifying them is also a form of protest.”

He intended to make it painfully clear that he was displeased, then leave without even greeting someone he met face-to-face?

It was the kind of thinking one would expect from a Black Path leader, unimaginable in our White Path martial world, where benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and wisdom were so highly valued.

“Since ancient times, it's been White Path tradition for the Enforcement Hall to torture discourteous guests.”

“Hmm, it is a more frightening place than I expected.”

I'd deliberately exaggerated, but Dam Ak answered with a smile as though it meant nothing.

Since when had this man become so bold? I didn't remember him being like this in my previous life.

Or was I such a small fry back then that I never noticed?

It seemed I was discovering sides of Dam Ak I had never known through this opportunity.

Once the pointless joking was over, we began moving.

Dam Ak deployed the Black Mist Lone Soul Formation, but Jegal Cheongi took the lead as we headed for the formation's exit.

Dang Seohui was supposed to take the lead once we reached it, but you never knew what might happen.

Before long, we reached the exit, and Dang Seohui extended her hand beyond the formation and scattered poison mist.

Everyone standing guard around Bongan Hall had already been put to sleep when we entered the formation, but this was just in case.

Well, if someone was still awake after this, they could blame my rotten luck.

Dang Seohui withdrew her hand, and we stepped outside the formation.

Then we saw the spectacular sight before us.

Walking around the fallen bodies, Dam Ak smiled faintly.

“So many people were waiting for me. What should I do about failing to meet their expectations?”

Ignoring Dam Ak's nonsense, I began to run.

No matter who our opponent was, they would surely learn that something had happened at Bongan Hall.

From here on, it was a contest of who could move faster.

#

We emerged into the outer compound and began running across the Alliance again.

“Wouldn't it be better to climb over the wall?”

Honestly, crossing the Alliance grounds was the riskier choice.

Even if we hid behind buildings and in shadows, a group this large couldn't conceal its presence completely.

Still, I wasn't insane enough to try breaking through the mystic formations hidden throughout the Martial Alliance's walls.

Oh, what about the Demonic Cult? Those people were insane by default.

For all I knew, some of them were still wandering inside the mystic formations after their infiltration this time.

The formations around the Alliance had no Living Gate to begin with, so no one could escape unless they were capable of creating one themselves.

They might get rescued after six months or so, but could that still be called a rescue after that much time had passed?

That didn't mean I planned to keep crossing the Alliance grounds, either.

“I prepared another way instead of going over the wall.”

“Another way?”

“You'll see.”

I led the puzzled Dam Ak onward, and after running a little farther...

We soon entered the main streets of the outer compound, where guards began to appear here and there.

Dam Ak's eyes widened once he saw them.

“Did you... knock them all unconscious?”

At every alleyway we passed, the people who should have been standing guard were drifting through sweet dreams.

I shook my head as I looked at them.

“No.”

“...No?”

“We didn't do this. This miserable incident only happened because of someone's stupid mistake.”

“A mistake?”

Rustle.

At that moment, bushes on one side shook, and a hooded figure in a blue-green robe jumped out.

No, if they were going to wear that robe, what was the point of the hood?

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Our Black Path warriors, whose hearts were as tender as maidens', drew their swords like lightning. I raised a hand to show that I knew the person, and the hooded figure calmly joined our group.

I placed a hand on the figure's shoulder.

“This friend is the one who made the mistake.”

At my brief introduction, Dang Gi-han spoke with calm resignation.

“Fuck, I can't believe I actually went this far.”

As expected, his talk was as rough as his actions were forthright.

I lightly patted his shoulder.

“Why are you drowning in self-loathing? It's common for the poison the Tang Clan carries as a weapon to leak from a mother-of-pearl bottle.”

Of course, the poison was enough to fill a large jar, and it had been scattered everywhere, putting most of the outer compound's personnel to sleep. That was the problem.

“Fuck! Are you joking? Do you think there has ever been a mistake that stupid in the long history of our Sichuan Tang Clan?!”

In any case, the poison Dang Seohui prepared and Dang Gi-han “accidentally” released had put precisely the people we needed to sleep.

The one who had supposedly made the mistake was trembling.

“I'm fucked. I'm really fucked...!!”

His face had gone pale, and he was shaking so badly that I comforted him warmly.

“You bastard, you should've said you couldn't do it from the start. Why are you throwing a fit now?”

Being a leader was seriously not worth it. Hah.

After I finished comforting him, I looked at his face.

“...”

He was looking at me with the eyes of a puppy abandoned by its owner.

Looking at me like that did make him seem a little pitiful...

Like hell it did.

“Just say it was an accident! It was an accident anyway, so what are they going to do? You're from the Tang Clan. The Tang Clan can make mistakes sometimes, right? Your hand can slip! Why don't you have any of that shameless sense of superiority?”

“...Fuck, it's not your problem...”

But how far was this bastard planning to follow us? He had finished the job and received enough comfort. It was time for him to leave.

Dang Gi-han was still walking beside me.

Like he was chanting a prayer, he kept muttering, “I'm fucked, I'm fucked.”

“If I really end up fucked because of this...”

This wouldn't do. I sensed that he needed proper comfort.

“You bastard. Where do people get sent when they make a major mistake in the Alliance and get demoted?”

“The White Wolf Pavilion.”

“Where are you assigned right now?”

“The White Wolf Pavilion...”

“How can this be? There's nowhere lower for you to fall to!”

When I shrugged and pointed out the truth, Dang Gi-han looked somehow aggrieved.

Hmm. It looked like the comfort had worked this time.

I waved him away.

“Now that you know, get going. If you stay here, you'll be punished as an accomplice too. Though you're already in the White Wolf Pavilion, so it's not like they can punish you much.”

“Fuck... Fine. Make sure you succeed.”

A snort of laughter escaped me at his sincere words.

“Yeah.”

Dang Gi-han stared at me for a moment, then turned to run off. Yet, as if he had suddenly remembered something, he looked at Dam Ak and added one more thing.

“It may not be any comfort, but let me apologize on the Martial Alliance's behalf. Not everyone in the Martial Alliance invites guests in and stabs them in the back.”

“...”

Without waiting for an answer, Dang Gi-han gave a slight bow and left.

He would probably drink a whole stash of hidden liquor, rub it all over himself, then collapse somewhere in the outer compound and sleep.

He would be dragged to the Enforcement Hall first, though. May he rest in peace.

Dam Ak watched the direction in which Dang Gi-han's shadow disappeared, then quietly asked:

“...Did that friend help even knowing how dangerous this was?”

What a needless question.

How else could I have made him scatter Tang Clan poison over the outer compound's martial artists?

“Well... yes?”

“For Young Master Jin...?”

“It wasn't particularly for my sake, was it?”

“Then why did he take such a risk and betray the Martial Alliance?”

Well, wasn't “betrayal” going a little too far? Honestly, what we were doing was helping the Martial Alliance.

If war broke out, the Martial Alliance would suffer losses too.

When I explained that, Dam Ak looked at me as though I were some strange creature.

“Young Master Jin. Why are you in the Martial Alliance?”

“What are you talking about?”

“No, couldn't you build a force of your own? Or go further and establish a new alliance yourself?”

“...”

What was this man talking about at dawn?

It wasn't as though that was something one person could accomplish in the first place.

As I stared at him incredulously, Dam Ak quietly stroked his chin.

“Hmm... Perhaps it would be better if the Martial Alliance learned of Young Master Jin's betrayal.”

He muttered something whose meaning I couldn't understand, but I ignored it.

What he had said was far too chilling.

#

People commonly believed the martial world to be a realm of extraordinary people who split mountains and flew through the sky.

An ideal world unlike reality, where people cultivated the Dao, sought enlightenment, risked their lives for strength, and sometimes strayed from the righteous path.

Yet from Dam Ak's experience in the martial world, it was not very different from the political arena of the real world.

All kinds of schemes and stratagems ran rampant, and fierce struggles for profit unfolded everywhere.

The way martial artists pretended to have attained enlightenment and claimed to act for the world was little different from the way officials pretended to act for all the people under heaven.

In that respect, Dam Ak actually preferred it.

Having spent even a short time beside the emperor, fighting fierce political battles against eunuchs, it was not difficult for him to toy with martial artists whose pride ruled their entire bodies and filled even their Baihui acupoints.

Even when martial artists threatened others with martial arts or pressured them with killing intent, their nature was to hold back the moment they thought they might suffer even a small injury.

But...

‘He truly is unusual.’

Dam Ak looked at Jin Sowoon's back as he ran ahead.

It was different from what he had seen in other martial artists.

That man was unusual, and special.

When it came to doing what he believed was right, he did not hold back, even if it became a terribly dangerous poison to himself.

No, he injured himself first, then threw down the gauntlet and demanded that his opponent be equally prepared.

Yet it was not because he was simply reckless and foolish.

As Dam Ak remained lost in thoughts about Jin Sowoon for some time...

“This way!”

A voice guiding them rang out.

A guide led them off the main road and onto a hidden path between buildings. Once they passed through it, another maze of dizzyingly chaotic paths appeared, but Jin Sowoon continued forward without hesitation, as though he knew every route by heart.

Even Dam Ak, who had never lost to anyone when it came to memorizing and learning, found the paths impossibly complicated.

Even in an urgent moment with someone pursuing them, he wondered whether their pursuers could truly follow such confusing routes.

Jin Sowoon was doing everything in his power, pouring in all his mental and physical strength to help them escape.

‘...Perhaps this is what draws people to him.’

Dam Ak had been quite surprised when Dang Seohui and Jegal Cheongi entered the Black Mist Lone Soul Formation with them, but inwardly he had been utterly stunned when Dang Gi-han put every martial artist in the Martial Alliance's outer compound to sleep.

No matter how much he claimed it was an accident, the punishment he would have to bear for this would be quite severe.

As a Martial Arts Academy graduate, Dang Gi-han could not possibly be unaware of that.

Yet despite knowing it perfectly well, he had done his utmost to truly help Jin Sowoon, even while cursing.

As though he could do nothing about being disciplined.

Dam Ak grew even more curious about the man before him.

Jin Sowoon might not realize it, but he seemed to possess a genuine power that drew people to him.

A power unlike that of those who could only move others through deception and force.

‘Things are getting interesting.’

The Martial Alliance and Black Alliance were currently at war.

Not a war in which they immediately pointed blades at one another.

It was a war quietly revealed through the conflict within each faction, between those who wanted war and those trying to stop it.

As a pragmatist, Dam Ak wanted to unite the Black Alliance further in preparation for the Demonic Cult forces that would eventually sweep over the martial world.

To do that, he had been willing to throw away even his insignificant life.

But things had gone wrong, and an uninvolved person had died in his place.

That weighed on him more than anything.

‘Honestly, it doesn't look promising.’

The Orthodox Society was the core of the Martial Alliance. It could be said to be the Martial Alliance itself.

Dam Ak knew better than anyone that their obsession would not end this easily.

So by stepping forward to help him, Jin Sowoon had effectively declared that he would stop the Orthodox Society himself.

In a way, the current situation was not a fight between Dam Ak and the Orthodox Society, but one between Jin Sowoon and the Orthodox Society.

A force that had held its place among the established powers for a long time, against a novice martial artist who had only just graduated from the Academy.

On the surface, it was only natural that the scales looked heavily tipped to one side.

Even so.

Even so, Dam Ak was looking forward to it.

What the Martial Alliance under Jin Sowoon's control would look like in the future.

How he would fight against the entrenched ruling class.

For the first time, Dam Ak began to look forward to a distant future he had never dreamed of.

Just as a smile was about to form on his lips at that long-forgotten excitement...

“Let's eat here first before we go.”

Jin Sowoon, the man who had given him something to look forward to, spoke.

Dam Ak looked at the sky, which was gradually brightening, and asked:

“Do we have time?”

“We have time. But...”

“...?”

“We'll have to share a table. Is that all right with you?”

...It would have been better without that smug smile.

Dam Ak smiled back at Jin Sowoon.

“As long as you don't grin so discourteously, I have no objection.”

Footnotes:

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