WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 439: The Bird That Calls the Typhoon (4)
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The reopening ceremony had ended.
One by one, those who had enjoyed the lavish feast departed, but Taeul Sect was still crowded with visitors.
Most had either heard about the feast too late or rushed over after hearing about the martial contest, only to miss the spectacle.
Taeul Sect served them a modest spread of food and drink.
“It’s already over?!”
“You came late, so have a drink before you go.”
“Tsk. If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve dropped my farmwork and come sooner.”
That was thanks to the Sect Leader’s instruction not to turn away people who had come from afar.
Three days passed like that, but then...
“Hm? Who are they? What do they want?”
Visitors continued arriving at Taeul Sect.
“They’re asking whether they can become lay disciples.”
“Lay disciples?”
What great sect was Taeul Sect supposed to be, that it would accept lay disciples?
Buk Wonpyeong had only been accepted because of special circumstances. To begin with, Taeul Sect was not a martial sect large enough to take in lay disciples.
They did not even have enough people to teach the disciples they already had.
“Go politely refuse them. We aren’t in a position to accept anyone right now.”
“Um... Hall Lord, what should we do about the people who say they want to learn even if they have to pay?”
“...They’re offering money?”
Gang Chaeseok, the Gwaehwa Hall Lord, looked stunned.
He knew better than anyone what people in Hefei thought.
It was common knowledge that it was better to join a martial sect connected to the Nine Sects One Gang or the Five Great Clans than Taeul Sect.
Yet people wanted to pay to learn Taeul Sect’s martial arts.
“Some are offering as much as ten gold taels.”
“Good heavens...”
Even hiring a martial arts master for private instruction would not cost that much.
Besides, the visitors were not just greenhorns.
Every one of them looked like they had some experience in the martial world.
And they were willing to pay such a sum?
There could only be one reason.
‘They saw Jin Sowoon’s martial arts.’
His orthodox assault against Jong Byeokgi of Mount Cang Sect had been astounding.
Anyone who had studied martial arts even a little would have been unable to look away from the boundless, profound principles behind those changes.
Even Chaeseok himself had begun wondering whether the Taeul True Scripture he had studied all this time was genuine.
“Hall Lord?”
“Ahem!”
A laugh nearly slipped out at the thought that Taeul Sect had finally earned recognition. Chaeseok forced himself to keep a stern expression and lowered his voice.
“Taeul Sect is not a place that sells martial arts for money. Go refuse them politely.”
“...They’re offering ten gold taels.”
Chaeseok’s eyebrows twitched at Kwak Samnam’s question.
“Would it be right to sell martial arts for money, even if they offered a hundred gold taels instead of ten?”
Samnam fidgeted with his fingers and muttered hesitantly.
“No, that isn’t it... It just sounds like the kind of thing Head Disciple would faint over if he heard it...”
Chaeseok flinched, then quickly composed himself as though nothing had happened.
“What exactly do you take Taeul Sect’s Head Disciple for? Sowoon is absolutely not that kind of person!”
“...???”
Samnam looked at the emphatic Chaeseok askance.
No, Head Disciple definitely would react that way...
“Anyway, go speak to them politely and send them away.”
“...Yes.”
Thinking of Head Disciple’s yaksha-like, ferocious(?) face, Samnam finally forced himself to move.
Once Chaeseok’s message was delivered, the gathered wandering martial artists voiced their disappointment and turned away.
The next day, different visitors arrived.
Unlike the martial artists, they wore ordinary clothes.
Some looked like merchants, while others appeared to be farmers.
Yet they all had one thing in common.
Each one entered Taeul Sect while tightly holding a child’s hand.
“Who are they?”
“They’ve come because they want their children to become formal disciples of Taeul Sect.”
“Formal disciples?”
“Yes. Questions are pouring in about when the entrance examination will be held and whether we can assess the children’s aptitude.”
What was this supposed to mean?
Chaeseok tilted his head.
“Did you take an entrance examination when you joined?”
“No. I came along with Jamun to play, then became a disciple because I ate dinner here.”
“...We never forced discipleship on people that badly.”
“I still remember it. Hall Lord, you said...”
“D-Don’t! Don’t say it...!”
“‘If you eat this, you’ll become our disciple, right?’”
Chaeseok’s face turned as red as a persimmon, then stiffened.
“...What did we have for dinner that day?”
“Chicken broth and noodles. I could’ve endured it if it had only been noodles, but I wanted a little of that chicken meat... Haa.”
“...”
Taeul Sect was not a martial sect favored by the people of Hefei.
Its reputation had been so low that whenever meat came in, they had to persuade the disciples’ friends to come along.
Most children who became Taeul Sect disciples came from desperately poor households, or families that had nowhere else to leave their children because they were too busy making a living.
Yet now people were asking for entrance examinations...
A problem they had never once faced, and never thought they would need to, had suddenly appeared before them.
“W-Wait here.”
“Where are you going?”
“To ask the person in charge!”
“?”
Wasn’t the Gwaehwa Hall Lord in charge of all education at Taeul Sect?
The disciple watched their master’s glorious retreating back as the man fled from responsibility.
#
Gang Chaeseok rushed to Taeul Hall, only to come to his senses at the strange phenomenon surrounding the area.
‘A qi barrier?’
A qi barrier.
An advanced internal-energy technique that spread internal energy to prevent others from overhearing a conversation.
It was a supreme realm Chaeseok could not even imagine reaching yet.
“But what kind of qi barrier is this...?”
Normally, even maintaining a small qi barrier around two people was difficult.
Yet right now...
The qi barrier surrounding Taeul Hall covered the entire large building.
“Good grief...”
Before he could even remember why he had come, Hong Mungi emerged through the door with a stiff expression.
“S-Sect Leader! How did you know I was here?”
“...Someone inside told me to go out.”
“What in the world is happening in there? A qi barrier this large...”
“...”
Hong Mungi hesitated, then shook his head.
“That... I don’t know either.”
“...!”
His expression, attitude, and even his tone were all unusual.
Chaeseok was afraid to ask more.
In the martial world, knowing too many secrets was little different from putting one’s life in greater danger.
“I see. I won’t ask any further.”
“...No, it’s not that I can’t tell you. I really don’t know.”
“Understood. I’ll finish my business quickly and leave.”
“No... I really don’t know...”
“People are lining up to become formal disciples.”
“Hm?”
Hong Mungi had looked as though he wanted to say more, but he tilted his head at the words formal disciples.
“Formal disciples?”
“More precisely, they would be third-generation disciples. There are as many applicants as there were protesters outside Taeul Sect. We may need to hold an entrance examination.”
While Chaeseok was brimming with excitement, Hong Mungi’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Third-generation disciples...”
There had been too few first-generation disciples to begin with, and since more of them had started going out to earn money, they had accepted second-generation disciples a little early.
As a result, there was barely any generation gap between the first- and second-generation disciples.
“If we want to grow, shouldn’t we accept more disciples?”
“Hmm...”
“People are competing to become disciples. Isn’t this the situation you always wanted, Sect Leader?”
Hong Mungi had said he wanted to see Taeul Sect filled with disciples, even if only in his dreams.
Yet he kept glancing anxiously between Taeul Hall and Chaeseok.
“Disciples... Disciples. I don’t think the timing is right.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what it is, but something major may happen in the martial world...”
At that moment, the doors of Taeul Hall flew open and Moyong Gang stepped out.
“Sect Leader Hong! What’s going on? Are you busy?”
“Yes? Yes. Within Taeul Sect right now...”
“You fool. Isn’t it a leader’s duty to leave internal matters to subordinates and handle external affairs? Come inside at once! Nothing can proceed without you!”
Chaeseok was so shocked that his mind went blank.
The Wind-Splitting Sword, Moyong Gang.
A man whose influence and status were second to none in the martial world was saying that nothing could proceed without his beloved senior brother, Taeul Sect’s Sect Leader.
“Senior Brother Hong... What in the world are they discussing inside...?”
Chaeseok finally broke the taboo and asked.
“I don’t know either.”
All he received in response was Hong Mungi’s stiff expression.
“Anyway, I should go back inside. As for disciples... we have no intention of accepting any right now, so tell them to return another time.”
At the sight of Moyong Gang throwing an arm around Senior Brother Hong’s shoulders and personally leading him inside...
“Good heavens...”
Hong Mungi felt like crying.
“A figure like that treats my senior brother...”
Like an equal!
And nothing could proceed without Senior Brother Hong!
For the first time in his life, a deep respect for Hong Mungi began to grow in Gang Chaeseok’s heart.
#
“So you sent them away?”
“Yes.”
“Samnam was the one who sent them away, so why are you reporting it?”
I asked Eunho.
“He said he was too scared to report it himself.”
“...???”
What was this? In my previous life, Samnam had not been afraid of me at all.
Rather than fearing me, he even teased me from time to time.
“Am I someone the kids are afraid of?”
“Honestly, you’re closer to someone they find ridiculous.”
The answer came immediately.
Hmm. That didn’t feel good either.
As I glared at Eunho, Eunho quickly changed the subject.
“Anyway, what do you think about accepting disciples?”
“It isn’t a good time.”
When the Orthodox-Demonic War broke out, adults and children alike would be dragged onto the battlefield.
We might accept innocent children, fail to protect them properly, and get them killed.
“I think so too.”
“Right? But I’m really curious. Why didn’t Samnam deliver the message himself? I thought Samnam and I were fairly close.”
I worried that perhaps I had failed to take proper care of the children in this life.
We had been close when we were younger, but years had already passed since we had all gone our separate ways.
“...I don’t think it’s what you’re imagining, Head Disciple.”
“Then what is it?”
After hesitating, Eunho spoke.
“There’s a rumor going around among the junior disciples.”
“A rumor?”
“That... Head Disciple likes money... A lot. That’s probably why.”
I tilted my head.
“I don’t understand.”
Was there anyone who disliked money?
“They say you like it fanatically...”
“...No, I understand even less.”
Even if I had a slight(?) tendency toward that, what did it have to do with the junior disciples avoiding me?
Wow, this was starting to hurt my feelings.
“Samnam was probably afraid you would get angry because of the second matter.”
“The second matter? Is there something else to report? No, wait. Do I look like the kind of person who gets angry at Samnam over every little thing?”
“Some people also came asking to become lay disciples.”
“...And?”
Eunho’s voice sounded unusually resolute, and for some reason, my heart started pounding.
Eunho took a breath.
Why was Eunho acting so serious...?
“They said they wanted to learn even if they had to pay ten gold taels.”
“Good heavens! Really? Th-”
“But the Gwaehwa Hall Lord sent them away. He said Taeul Sect does not sell martial arts for money.”
“Urgh!!!”
My mouth fell so far open that my jaw hurt.
“Are you angry?”
“...No.”
“You’re really not angry?”
Eunho kept asking, and anger began to rise inside me.
Yes, I was angry because of Eunho’s persistence, not because of what I had just heard.
“...Want to die?”
“So you are angry.”
Eunho’s certainty filled me with fellow-disciple affection.
“No? I’m angry because you’re being disrespectful to your exalted Head Disciple...!”
“This is why Samnam ran away!”
“...”
As I considered how to deal with Eunho, who only ever said things that earned a beating...
“Head Disciple...”
Dongryong brought news of an unwelcome visitor.
“Someone from Mount Cang Sect is here.”
“The martial contest ended ages ago. Tell them to get lost.”
“No, they’re really from Mount Cang Sect.”
Dongryong added with a stiff expression.
“They’re from the main sect.”
Oh? The feast was over, so what could they want?
I rolled my wrist and curled one corner of my mouth upward.
“Are they so desperate to die?”
“...This is why Samnam didn’t come.”
“...You be quiet.”
I headed toward the front gate with Dongryong and Eunho.
For some reason, junior disciples began trailing behind us one by one along the way.
“What? Why are you following us?”
Eunho answered on their behalf.
“Shouldn’t we prepare for anything that might happen?”
“What might happen?”
“Like Head Disciple starting a fight, provoking them, or mocking them...”
What did these bastards even think I was?
I was someone who valued conversation and communication above all else.
I wanted to say something, but I reached the front gate and faced the Mount Cang Sect party before I could.
A sect with a proper foundation did not behave discourteously before guests.
I respectfully cupped my fist and said, “Welcome. I’m Jin Sowoon of Taeul Sect. You must have had a difficult journey.”
“How amusing. A mere disciple welcomes Mount Cang Sect instead of the Sect Leader?”
Blood rushed to my head.
Right. I was probably still angry at Eunho.
“I have nothing to discuss with the likes of you. Go bring Jong Byeokgi.”
“...”
“Are your ears blocked? I said bring Jong Byeokgi!”
No. Let me correct that.
Eunho had done nothing wrong.
“Hey, Mount Cang-”
These sons of bitches standing before me...
“I think I heard something wrong just now...”
They had clearly made me angry.
“What kind of no-name sect dares wag its tongue and order us around? What, did you leave Jong Byeokgi in our care?”
“Y-You bastard!!”
“Get lost while I’m still speaking nicely! The feast is over, and we have no leftovers to give you!”
Shing! Shing! Shing! Shing! Shing!
The Mount Cang Sect members drew their swords in unison.
While I swallowed down my anger, Eunho approached and whispered in my ear.
“Head Disciple. This is why we wanted to come with you.”
No, fucking hell, is this my fault?
Anyone could see this was completely unfair!
Footnotes:
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