WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 404: The Reason for the Struggle (4)
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“Didn’t you already know me before we met in the Black Alliance?”
“...”
His words left my mind blank.
Most of the people I had met in this life were people I had known in my previous life.
But... how did he know I knew him?
‘Could he...?’
For a moment, hope rose in me, but I quickly shook my head.
That was impossible. There was no way such a thing had happened. Besides, Dam Ak’s behavior in the Black Alliance had not been that of someone who knew about my previous life.
I gave a bitter laugh at myself for harboring such an irrational hope.
Even so.
‘What if... that irrational thing really had happened?’
That foolish hope kept rearing its head inside me.
Honestly, I had always felt overwhelmed by the thought of facing that vast, predetermined despair alone.
If someone like Dam Ak had gone through the same thing I had...
Wouldn’t that make it more likely that we could change the despair already set in stone?
“Actually...”
“You probably first learned my name from my metropolitan examination answers. After all, I wrote the finest answers in history.”
“...?”
“I know that Young Master Jin possesses not only an exceptional memory but extensive learning as well. That is probably why you value me more highly than a martial artist.”
My hope went cold.
“A martial artist’s sword can only save or kill one person, but a scholar’s brush can save or kill thousands, even tens of thousands. I will not deny that truth.”
“Ah... yes.”
Right. There was no way someone like me existed.
Fuck, if there were, I wouldn’t be suffering through all this alone.
If that bastard Cheongsu Jinin had seen the future I had, he would have shaved his head, torn the Orthodox Society to pieces with his own hands, and prepared to face the Demonic Cult.
Dam Ak was the same. If he knew the future I knew, he would never spout nonsense about being willing to die or how the Black Alliance could only survive if he died.
“But that does not mean I can accept treating people’s sacrifices as natural simply because they chose them.”
“I see.”
After my hopes had been crushed, everything he said somehow felt less compelling.
Unlike me, Dam Ak looked down at his hands, his shoulders trembling faintly.
“Am I truly worth sacrificing the guards for?”
“...”
“Am I truly worth you risking your life for?”
Judging by the look on his face, he was about to say something like, “I cannot stand by and watch any more sacrifices,” or, “I will simply die here.”
He also seemed quite angry about the current situation.
Hmm. What should I say? What would convince this man to cling to life a little harder?
Then I found the answer.
A very simple answer.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
“W-what are you...?”
When I struck his sleep acupoint and mute acupoint, his wide eyes slowly drooped shut.
His body went limp under my clear and convincing “persuasion.”
“Young... Master... Jin...”
“Let’s stay alive first, then decide whether you’re worth it.”
That old saying about a capable body making things easier for the mind had it exactly right.
I lightly “persuaded” him, slung him over my back, and began to run.
#
“They took out two.”
Myeongjin nodded at the report from a Fierce Tiger Unit member who had checked the message.
“Fools. Did they think they could escape the encirclement just because they shook us off? What about Dam Ak? Was he killed as well?”
“Dam Ak has not been found yet.”
Not found...
Myeongjin stroked his chin, deep in thought.
“Strange. They said Dam Ak did not know martial arts. Shouldn’t he have been the first one caught?”
Going to Anhui Province through Jukho Mountain would take three times as long.
If they also had to bring along someone who knew no martial arts, it would only be a matter of time before they were caught in the Beggar Sect and Orthodox Society’s encirclement.
“Where is Hyeonyeong?”
At Myeongjin’s question, the Fierce Tiger Unit members looked toward Sky Bridge.
Hyeonyeong was still standing atop Sky Bridge, looking down into Despair Valley.
Myeongjin walked over and stood beside him.
“We’re moving now. What are you looking at?”
Hyeonyeong continued staring down into the distant abyss.
Even for someone trained in martial arts, such a terrifying height inspired fear.
Just as Myeongjin began to feel dizzy and raised his head to shake it off, Hyeonyeong spoke.
“Do you think you could survive if you fell from here, Unit Leader?”
“Hm?”
Hyeonyeong was still looking into Despair Valley.
“If you were carrying someone who knew no martial arts and fell from here, would you be certain of survival?”
“Hmm...”
Myeongjin looked down from Sky Bridge again.
The distance between the cliffs was wide, and it was impossible to judge their depth.
At the very least, it had to be over two hundred jang.
Considering the sheer cliff faces and the sharp outcroppings of rock scattered between them...
It would be difficult to survive alone unless circumstances were exceptionally favorable.
So why could Hyeonyeong not leave this place?
“Do you think they escaped down there?”
Only then did Hyeonyeong look up.
“One of the reports on Jin Sowoon mentioned that he might be highly proficient in stealth art. During the Martial Arts Academy regular examination several years ago, he also broke through a Heavenly Net and Earthly Web laid by three sects alongside his fellow disciples.”
“...”
“The situation was too chaotic at the end, but even so, I did not feel all six presences move.”
Myeongjin nodded as well.
Jin Sowoon’s internal energy had been unimaginably vast.
As sword qi surged toward them like waves, they had struggled to fend it off. Then smoke bombs had exploded, tangling their movements even further.
They had sensed the fugitives running past them, but they could not be certain all six had gone by.
“You felt the same?”
“Yes.”
Myeongjin’s gaze turned once more toward the distant valley.
“...So you think they escaped down there.”
“If they can properly make their way down this valley, they can head for Jagwi again. From Jagwi, they can pass through Eunhyeon and reach Anhui Province directly.”
At that moment, cold sweat ran down Myeongjin’s back.
He suddenly realized what he had overlooked.
“While we were wasting time at Jukho Mountain, they were trying to carve a road to life through a road of death!”
“I cannot be certain, but I see no other way for them to leave Hubei Province.”
Goosebumps rose across Myeongjin’s skin.
Why had he not thought of it from the beginning?
Dam Ak had shaken off pursuit from Wuhan onward through all kinds of tricks.
Of course he would keep moving forward, even at the cost of his own companions.
Fear came over him.
The Orthodox Society had been manipulated this thoroughly by someone who knew no martial arts. If Dam Ak returned to the Black Alliance, could the Martial Alliance truly remain intact?
Myeongjin immediately went to the Fierce Tiger Unit.
“From now on, we head to Jagwi.”
“Are we not waiting here?”
“If they are at Jukho Mountain, they will die within the Orthodox Society and Beggar Sect’s encirclement anyway. We are going to Jagwi in case they are not.”
“Yes!”
The Fierce Tiger Unit quickly prepared to depart, but Myeongjin stopped them again.
“You saw it as well, didn’t you? Jin Sowoon’s power?”
“...”
The brave Fierce Tiger Unit members swallowed hard at the mere mention of his name.
What he had displayed in that brief instant had surpassed their imagination.
They had seen such power from members of the Wudang Sect before, but it was a tremendous shock to see someone outside Wudang, a disciple of a third-rate sect they had not even known existed, display such overwhelming strength.
Myeongjin’s voice was firmer than ever.
“He must die here. He will become a great obstacle to Wudang... no, to the Martial Alliance itself.”
Dam Ak was not the only problem. Jin Sowoon could not be allowed to remain free either.
“This is all for peace in the martial world.”
“Yes!”
The Fierce Tiger Unit members began to run with greater spirit than ever.
Hyeonyeong, meanwhile, remained atop Sky Bridge, looking down at Despair Valley.
‘Could he survive?’
No, before that.
Would Hyeonyeong have been able to jump from here?
And not for his own safety, but for a leading figure of the Black Alliance, someone who was practically an enemy?
Jin Sowoon had also begun earning the recognition of those around him by proving that he possessed vast internal energy and profound martial arts.
After graduating from the Martial Arts Academy, he was regarded as a promising talent even within the Martial Alliance. His future was as good as guaranteed.
Unless he intended to join the Black Path and seek success there, why had he jumped from this place?
“...Strange.”
No matter how much Hyeonyeong thought about it, he could not find an answer. Jin Sowoon’s judgment and choices... were not rational.
“Hyeonyeong, let’s go!”
“Yes.”
Hyeonyeong finally left, but the unanswered question continued to linger in his mind.
#
After waking from my “persuasion,” Dam Ak no longer spouted that ink-stained nonsense about the weight of life.
He probably did not want to be “persuaded” again.
I knew it was the best method of persuasion. Very clever, Jin Sowoon.
The place where we landed after following the valley waters down was thankfully Jagwi.
If it had been the Yellow River, I would’ve lost my mind.
Just imagining the result of that life-risking gamble being trapped inside the encirclement was terrifying.
There were no longer any guards to carry Dam Ak, so I had no choice but to carry him myself.
My clothes were soaked, and I was running around with a damned grown man on my back.
“Fuck...”
My irritation kept rising.
To make matters worse, this grown man complained without stopping.
“Can’t you use Grass-Skimming Flight?”
“What?”
“Hm. The Eastern Depot men use Grass-Skimming Flight when they carry palanquins.”
This man was getting out of line.
They did not have to fight anyone.
All they had to do was say, “I am from the Eastern Depot,” or, “Do you know who is riding in here?” and everyone cleared the way.
On the other hand, hundreds of people would rush to cut off our heads the moment our identities were exposed.
How could he compare a man with power instead of balls to someone who had nothing but a pair of balls?
“Your clothes are dirty anyway, so go ahead and throw up.”
“There is nothing left to throw up.”
“Well, that’s fortunate.”
I pulled him back up as he kept sagging down.
The weight on my back was far lighter than I had expected.
Considering he looked little different from his previous-life self, he must have weighed the same back then too.
‘...He carried all that burden alone.’
I could hardly believe that someone this light had supported the Martial Alliance by himself.
How cruelly must the Martial Alliance and I have treated him in my previous life...
“Can’t you dry our clothes? Aren’t martial artists supposed to summon wind and split mountains?”
The guilt weighing on my chest vanished in an instant.
...Should I throw him away? What an irritating man.
“I didn’t dry them because I was thinking of you.”
“For my sake?”
“Could you endure it?”
“What do you mean?”
If he said that, I had to show him.
Boom!
As I drew up my qi, scorching heat spread throughout my body, as if my martial robes would burst apart.
The moisture in my soaked clothes evaporated in an instant, and my body became noticeably lighter.
“Urk!”
Of course, the side effect struck from behind me.
“What is that awful... smell?”
Dam Ak’s face turned pale at the smell that naturally rose as my clothes dried.
His own clothes were still soaking wet.
He kept retching.
“What did I tell you?”
“If it was going to be like this, you should’ve told me!”
Wow... should I really throw him away?
Endure it.
He was not even my direct superior.
I only had to endure a little longer.
“If you don’t want to be ‘persuaded’ again, be quiet.”
“...”
As we traveled from Jagwi to Eunhyeon, I avoided contact with villages and main roads as much as possible.
Once we reached Eunhyeon, Anhui Province would be close.
By the time the Orthodox Society and Beggar Sect discovered Dam Ak was not at Jukho Mountain, we would already be in Anhui Province.
As we ran toward Eunhyeon, I detected a presence racing toward us at terrifying speed from very far away.
‘No way...’
The faint presence had seemed like that of a small wild animal, but it steadily grew stronger until it became unmistakably the presence of a single person.
“Damn it...”
“Is something wrong?”
What was wrong? I didn’t know. I was fucking curious myself.
The distance between Jukho Mountain and Jagwi was considerable. To get here, they would have had to circle back along the road through Majang.
Even without using the valley waters of Despair Valley as I had, they would need to cross steep cliffs and cut through mountains to arrive this quickly.
‘No, even setting that aside... how did they know?’
At the final moment, I had completely concealed my presence and fallen into Despair Valley with Dam Ak.
With the Ten Thousand Seas Heaven and Earth Sword Art unleashed and smoke bombs exploding amid the chaos, who could be certain their opponents had leaped into Despair Valley?
Yet the presence I detected in the distance was clearly racing toward where I was expected to be.
The distance between us kept shrinking.
If I used the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art at full speed, Dam Ak would not be able to endure it and would fall away. But I could not maintain this speed either.
The distance closed further, and it was time to make a firm decision.
Ziiing-
I began drawing out the Heavenly Silkworm Thread from the Flying Dragon Claw without end.
Then I tightly bound Dam Ak and myself together with the long thread.
Though I was acting strangely without explaining anything, Dam Ak asked as if he already knew.
“Is it a pursuer?”
I wrapped the Heavenly Silkworm Thread tightly around us and nodded.
Dam Ak gripped my shoulder.
“Do not worry about me.”
I had expected him to blame me, asking if this was the result of sacrificing the guards.
Instead, Dam Ak wrapped his legs around my waist and tightly locked both arms around my neck.
Then, pressing his body firmly against mine, he whispered in my ear.
“I will hold on, no matter what happens.”
Fuck, that startled me.
That was seriously creepy.
Still, maybe he had developed a stronger desire to live.
I quickly increased the speed of the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art. The presence that had been closing in gradually began to fall behind.
Boom!
A signal flare exploded behind us.
What was firing it now supposed to accomplish? By the time they gathered again, I would already be in Anhui Province.
When the presence falling behind gradually faded from my energy sense, I began to run in earnest.
Once I entered Eunhyeon, the pursuers would no longer be able to close the distance.
The moment I saw a stream cutting through the forest, I kicked off the ground and leaped over it in one bound.
But then.
Swoosh!
A sharp wave of qi force came straight at us.
‘When?’
I did not even have time to think.
If I failed to respond, both Dam Ak and I might die.
I did not have enough time to create qi force, so I scattered sword qi instead.
Boom!
A huge shockwave struck my entire body and violently threw me off course.
I twisted my body in midair to avoid crashing into a large tree beyond the stream. Just as I kicked off the tree and tried to launch myself forward again...
Thud!
A powerful kick struck my chest.
My ribs felt as though they had shattered. I was thrown backward as fast as I had flown in, skidding a long distance across the ground.
Tough weeds were ripped from the earth, leaving a clear trail where my legs had scraped the ground.
The moment I raised my head to see who this damned attacker was...
“I had my suspicions... but you really made it all the way here.”
The Wudang Martial Guardian, Hyeonyeong, stood there with a cold expression, looking down at me.
Footnotes:
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