WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 427: Five Hundred Years of Waiting (2)
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After returning to the Taeul Sect and sharing our thoughts with everyone, the Taeul Sect immediately convened a council meeting.
“Am I attending too?”
“It’s not just you. Bring the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Brothers, as well as Saryeon.”
At Gang Chaeseok’s words, the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Brothers tilted their heads in puzzlement but cautiously entered the inner chamber.
Though we were attending the meeting, we had no right to speak, so we quietly watched the discussion from the far end of the table.
“About seventy percent of those invited to the reopening ceremony have replied that they will come. If eighty percent of them attend, we estimate that around one hundred people will be present.”
“Hmm...”
A low murmur passed through the room.
Even if they added up everyone coming to congratulate the Taeul Sect, it could not compare to the number gathered outside its gates to destroy it.
After a moment of thought, the Sect Leader raised his head.
“Make sure there are enough lodgings and meals.”
My father, the Outer Hall Lord and now the head of the Great Heaven Merchant Group, answered.
“We’ll prepare twice as much, accounting for those accompanying the guests.”
“Lodgings are one thing, but prepare meals for five hundred people.”
“Sect Leader!”
“That’s unreasonable.”
He was telling them to prepare food even for people they had not invited.
There was only one possible meaning.
“They are hostile to the Taeul Sect. They are trying to force the still-growing Taeul Sect awake!”
Objections immediately burst out from every direction, but Sect Leader Hong did not react.
Once the brief uproar subsided, my father calmly continued.
“I agree. I believe this is needless waste. I heard many merchants have come to Soeum County, so there should be no problem with food or lodging.”
“Is that what the Outer Hall Lord thinks?”
“...It is only my opinion.”
With a sharp gleam in his eyes, Hong Mungi slowly looked around the room.
“Do you all consider those outside our gates enemies?”
“If they aren’t enemies, then what are they?”
“Let me ask you. Are they Black Path martial artists?”
“...”
“Or have they crossed the Taeul Sect’s walls?”
A chill swept through the room, as though someone had thrown cold water over everyone.
“They staged an insolent protest and intimidated the children, but they sent challenge letters and observed the bare minimum of courtesy.”
“Isn’t that all because they need justification?”
“Yes, justification. That is exactly why. Then should we not treat them with the same minimum courtesy?”
“...”
There was not a single flaw in the Sect Leader’s words, but those attending the meeting still found them difficult to accept.
Speaking for them, my father cautiously opened his mouth.
“May I ask why you came to that conclusion?”
“Didn’t Sowoon say as much? If they act as guests, we will treat them as guests.”
My father’s sharp eyes settled on me.
“Do not blame Sowoon. This was an idea I held from the beginning. The child merely said what I wished to say.”
The Sect Leader’s pleased gaze was unlike my father’s.
At least that eased some of the worry in my heart.
After looking around the room for a moment, the Sect Leader clasped his hands together on the table.
“This reopening ceremony must not end as a mere event declaring that the Taeul Sect has reopened after closing its gates.”
Then his gaze slowly moved to the far end of the table, where I sat.
Unlike in my previous life, there was strength in his eyes.
I met his gaze directly.
“This reopening ceremony carries the meaning that the Taeul Sect is spreading its wings once more.”
Wings.
The Taeul Sect taking flight.
Following the Sect Leader’s gaze, everyone in the room gradually turned their attention toward me.
‘Has he held on to something I said years ago so deeply?’
The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Brothers and Saryeon only looked confused.
“I see those camped before the Taeul Sect as quails. Is it so difficult to share the food left in our nest with them?”
At the Sect Leader’s question, my father finally let out a long sigh.
“They seem like quails that eat quite a lot, though.”
“I always feel bad for burdening you.”
Still, a faint smile rested on my father’s lips.
“Please don’t say that. It’s my duty.”
Once the first agenda item had passed, Gang Chaeseok brought up the next matter.
“The next agenda item is the martial arts tournament.”
“A martial arts tournament.”
Compared to the relatively light first agenda item, deep sighs filled the room as soon as the second topic came up.
“Realistically, we cannot face everyone who sent challenge letters. Nor do we need to. Therefore, after the reopening ceremony, we will hold a martial arts tournament. We will select people of decent reputation and character from those who sent challenge letters, then have them compete.”
“Would that not reduce the number of people participating in the matches?”
Hong Mungi’s eyes gleamed fiercely, as though he himself had become a fighter.
“We must consider our own people as well. Given the level of those who sent challenge letters, how many Taeul Sect members can face them?”
“What if I take on five or more opponents?”
“Hoo...”
Gang Chaeseok let out a long sigh.
“If possible, I would rather that did not happen.”
One Hall Master raised a question.
“Even if we choose representatives and hold matches, will everyone outside accept it? They come from different regions and social backgrounds.”
“Most of them are connected to Wudang Sect and Mount Cang Sect. If we let them choose representatives among themselves, they’ll accept it to some extent.”
Gang Chaeseok finished speaking, but the silence in the room remained.
Everyone knew martial artists well enough to understand that they would not readily accept such a one-sided proposal.
Especially those with great sects like Wudang Sect or Mount Cang Sect behind them.
“If this goes wrong, even the reopening ceremony itself may be ruined.”
That was the greatest concern.
If those who had waited outside for days finally reached the limits of their patience, rejected the Taeul Sect’s approach, and used that as justification to start a riot...
The reopening ceremony would inevitably be swallowed up.
The Busaeng Hall Master, who had raised the topic, spoke with an increasingly trembling voice.
“They may even be waiting for us to take a one-sided stance.”
“...”
“From the Great Heaven Merchant Group’s source of funds to the countless challenge letters, there has not been a single situation from beginning to end with us taking the lead.”
The pressure bearing down on the Taeul Sect from every direction tightened around our throats until it was hard to breathe.
“I do not believe all this happened by chance. I expect the same will be true of what comes next.”
The opponent’s enormous power had not been noticeable from a distance.
By the time we began to see it clearly, it was already too late.
“I am terribly afraid of how this will end.”
Unease stirred the imagination and painted a bleak future.
The Busaeng Hall Master honestly revealed what was in their heart.
“...”
“...”
“...”
And that anxiety was not theirs alone.
Everyone in the room had sensed it without realizing it, yet had done their best to avoid it.
Now that they faced that harsh despair directly, its crushing weight left them speechless.
Hong Mungi examined the worried faces of the Hall Masters one by one.
Their faces had hardened beneath the weight of their responsibilities.
At last, his gaze turned toward me.
“Sowoon, what do you think?”
I had not been given the right to speak.
Yet the Sect Leader and Hall Masters were all looking at me with strangely expectant eyes.
I carefully opened my mouth.
“I agree with the Busaeng Hall Master. I do not believe there is any way to defeat those hostile to the Taeul Sect.”
When I clearly expressed my thoughts, no one could hide their disappointment.
“So you’re saying we should let everything become a mess? Then why did you suggest reopening the sect in the first place?”
Gang Chaeseok pressed me, seemingly worked up.
After looking at his flushed face, I calmly spoke of the Taeul Sect’s future.
“I do not know how we can win, but I know how to show that the Taeul Sect is taking flight again.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
“Gwaehwa Hall Master. Wait a moment and hear Sowoon out.”
When Hong Mungi restrained him, Gang Chaeseok took several hurried gulps of tea.
Silence settled over the room for a moment.
“I believe we should accept every challenge that comes in.”
“What!”
Not only the Sect Leader, but every Hall Master cried out in shock.
“They will certainly question the method we establish. Whether they win or lose, they’ll object that those who step forward as representatives do not truly represent each individual among them. They’ll keep looking for ways to seize on the Taeul Sect’s flaws.”
“And?”
Gwaehwa Hall Master Gang Chaeseok, who had kept quiet for a moment, could no longer hold back.
“If we’re going to be dragged along anyway, we should let them drag us along to their hearts’ content.”
“...Hah. There are over six hundred people gathered now. Nearly four hundred challenge letters have arrived at the Taeul Sect. Even if every disciple of the Taeul Sect won twice, it would not be enough.”
“Why do you think we must win?”
“W-What?”
“The Taeul Sect was a sect without any presence for five hundred years. We have only just taken our first step after inheriting our patriarch’s true legacy.”
“...”
“Do you think we must become a great sect like Wudang Sect or Shaolin Sect within a few years?”
At my objective assessment of the Taeul Sect, everyone gathered in the room fell silent as though caught off guard.
“I was taught that the Taeul Sect’s guiding principle is Change. To continue changing and improving through time, through rises and falls, while carrying on its will. The Taeul Sect does not need to defeat all of them. We only need to show them.”
I met every gaze directed at me.
“That through any pressure, any attack, and any scheme, the Taeul Sect will continue changing and stubbornly carry on its will.”
I wanted them to understand what our essence, foundation, and strength truly were.
“That is what I learned growing up in the Taeul Sect, and what I have put into practice all this time.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
A cold feeling filled the room, as though a sudden downpour had fallen.
Hong Mungi took a long breath before letting out a drawn-out exclamation.
“Ha... How could such a disciple arise in the Taeul Sect? We should thank the Primordial Heavenly Venerable.”
When he looked again at the Hall Masters, determination filled his eyes.
“Have I anything more to say?”
The silence remained.
But it was clearly different from before.
“I asked whether I have anything more to say.”
At his voice ringing out again, everyone answered at once.
“No.”
With that, the council meeting ended.
#
After everyone left the inner chamber, only Jin Taesan and Gang Chaeseok remained.
The two sat without moving, maintaining a long silence.
A little later, Hong Mungi entered holding a jar of liquor in one hand.
“My apologies. It took me some time to bring this.”
“Is that succession wine?”
Gang Chaeseok was shocked by the sight of liquor meant to be opened only when leadership passed to a new generation in the Taeul Sect.
“Surely... you are not planning to give up the position of Sect Leader?”
Hong Mungi’s shoulders shook as he chuckled.
“You two... Do you know this liquor’s original name?”
“...Is it not simply succession wine? For the next Sect Leader’s inauguration ceremony.”
“I heard this liquor was originally called Ten Thousand Changes, Thousand Blossoms Wine.”
Hong Mungi said this as he ran a hand over the old jar.
“They gave it that name with the meaning, ‘Change ten thousand times and bloom a thousand flowers.’ Now it is only used for succession ceremonies.”
“...”
“I believe now is the time to open it.”
No one could fail to understand whom Hong Mungi’s words praised.
Jin Sowoon’s father grumbled softly.
“That brat has always been good with words. Why are you joining in too, Sect Leader?”
“You’re as incapable of honesty as ever. Did you think I wouldn’t notice the tears gathering in your eyes while Sowoon spoke?”
“...I-I was yawning. Yawning! I was tired, so I yawned!”
Gang Chaeseok and Hong Mungi burst into laughter at the embarrassed Jin Taesan.
Their bodies and faces had long grown old, marking them as part of a generation nearing its twilight, but whenever they teased each other like this, it was as if they had returned to childhood.
“So... will you not drink?”
“Once it has been opened, there is no use sealing it again.”
Ten Thousand Changes, Thousand Blossoms Wine was poured into the three men’s teacups in place of tea.
They quietly savored its heavy first taste, bitter middle note, and the deep fragrance that lingered at the end.
“When I first drank this liquor, I could not understand why such bitter liquor had become a tradition. I even resented my master, wondering if it was because the Taeul Sect’s finances were so poor.”
A bitter smile briefly appeared on Hong Mungi’s lips.
“My master did not answer my complaint. He only said that I would understand one day.”
As he recalled his master’s answer, that smile blossomed into one as bright as a flower in full bloom.
Ten Thousand Changes, Thousand Blossoms.
Only flowers that bloomed through painful endurance and bitter effort gave off a splendid fragrance.
His master had wanted him to find that simple answer himself, over a long period of time.
“He was not much of a talker to begin with.”
Hong Mungi shook his head.
“No. The words were too simple and obvious to tell someone directly. Only by feeling and experiencing it for oneself can one understand its true meaning.”
After savoring the fragrance of the Ten Thousand Changes, Thousand Blossoms Wine once more, Hong Mungi spoke bluntly.
“I am no longer afraid of death.”
“Sect Leader!”
“Ah, I am not saying I intend to throw my life away easily, so calm down. I only mean that I no longer worry about the Taeul Sect of the next generation, or the generation after that.”
His words were free and light, as though he had cast off heavy shackles.
“The Taeul Sect our children create will be different from the Taeul Sect we created. There will be rises and falls, and there will be suffering, but it will continue to change and eventually bloom into a flower with a splendid fragrance.”
His eyes were more resolute than ever.
“I hope I can see that sight with my own eyes.”
They burned with a flame that would not easily die out.
#
As I was about to return to my quarters, my junior disciples grabbed me and dragged me toward the training ground.
“Why? I’m tired.”
“Is being tired the issue right now? Are you planning to turn the Taeul Sect into one giant clinic?”
Geumpyo pulled on my arm with a face full of worry.
“What? You’re already scared at the thought of fighting nonstop?”
“That’s not the issue! We may be fine, but what about the young disciples and the elderly? What if they are seriously injured during the matches?”
“Why would they get injured?”
“Huh?”
“They won’t get hurt, so stop worrying.”
Words were only words, after all.
What I said at the council meeting had only been a declaration of our resolve and attitude.
“Do you think I’ve gone mad enough to send young junior disciples and elders into the arena?”
“Then what will you do about nearly four hundred... no, perhaps even more challenge letters?”
“I have a plan, so don’t worry.”
They pressured us with challenge letters, and now they were talking about ruining the reopening ceremony?
What a joke.
When had the world ever gone the way they wanted?
“Go wash your feet and sleep. I have everything planned.”
It was time to show them that life was the real battlefield.
Footnotes:
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