WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 440: The Bird That Calls the Typhoon (5)
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Gulp.
Kwak Samnam swallowed hard.
Mount Cang Sect.
The people before him made him nervous.
One of the Nine Sects One Gang.
A central pillar of the Orthodox Society.
One of the Martial Alliance’s core powers.
Before learning martial arts, he had simply thought they were impressive people.
After learning martial arts, he had come to understand just how terrifyingly impressive they were.
A sect one could enter only after meeting countless requirements and passing strict examinations.
Even then, becoming a formal disciple required enduring a grueling process of training and patience.
They were a group of real martial artists, unlike Taeul Sect, where someone like him could muddle through and become a disciple over a bowl of chicken soup.
He had always wondered whether he would ever see them in person during his lifetime.
‘This is insane...’
Yet he was seeing them in person.
‘What the hell is going on...?’
The problem was that they had drawn their swords and were radiating killing intent.
What were the odds that terrifyingly impressive martial artists he had never met before would draw their swords the moment they saw him?
He was so tense that his knees trembled, and he felt like he might wet himself.
The bigger problem was...
“You drew your swords? Your swords? Since the oh-so-impressive members of Mount Cang Sect have drawn their swords, I suppose we should just stand here trembling in fear, huh?”
His Head Disciple was provoking those terrifyingly impressive martial artists.
“Oh, how frightening! Martial artists from Mount Cang Sect, the greatest sword sect under heaven, have drawn their swords. The mountains will split and the earth will collapse... Ah, right. Mount Hua Sect is the greatest sword sect under heaven.”
“...”
“Mount Cang Sect only got into the Orthodox Society as an extra because of Mount Hua Sect and Wudang Sect, didn’t it?”
Even to Samnam, who was on the same side, the insults were becoming increasingly vicious.
“Still, this is an order from a sect far more impressive than Taeul Sect, so we should obey with all sincerity. Yes, yes. We’ll bring Jong Byeokgi. Is there anything else we should do? Ah! Should we join Mount Cang Sect from now on?”
In the end, he even began mocking them.
“...”
Samnam felt his whole body freeze.
The cold fury of the Mount Cang Sect members seemed to pierce his skin.
Their fluttering martial uniforms and the sword qi visibly gathering around their blades looked ready to strike at any moment.
His heart pounded madly.
Then a question suddenly came to him.
‘Where are the adults?’
None of Taeul Sect’s elders were in sight.
These were members of Mount Cang Sect.
This was the kind of matter that should have brought out not only the Hall Lord, but even the Sect Leader. Yet no one had come.
It could not be because they had not seen or heard what was happening.
The Lord of Busaeng Hall had glanced in this direction just moments ago before continuing on.
‘...What is going on?’
When he turned his head with that question in mind, he saw an even stranger sight.
‘Their swords...’
Not a single member of Taeul Sect had drawn a sword.
The only reason he had not drawn his own sword was because his senior brothers had not drawn theirs.
Then why had his senior brothers not drawn theirs?
“Those vaguely impressive bastards always act like idiots... Ah, right! I was told I shouldn’t go around saying only correct things!”
It was because the Head Disciple had not drawn his sword.
Only then did Samnam realize.
The Head Disciple, his senior brothers, and his senior sisters.
None of them were nervous.
The Head Disciple continued hurling unspeakable curses and mockery at the Mount Cang Sect martial artists.
Eunho stood nearby, pressing his temples repeatedly as he watched.
Geumpyo and Dongryong calmly inspected their weapons.
What in the world was this...
“Stop it.”
At that moment, Senior Sister Saryeon stepped forward.
“Anyone would think Mount Cang Sect ruled the entire worl...”
“I said stop, Head Disciple!!!”
“Yes!”
After calming the scoundrel, no, the Head Disciple, Senior Sister Saryeon confidently straightened her shoulders before martial artists at least fifteen years older than her.
“Do you really intend to use those swords?”
“...”
“If not, put them away. If a fight breaks out, Taeul Sect will use its full strength. Considering the guests currently here, we probably won’t be able to let this pass as we normally would.”
Mount Cang Sect gave no answer.
They did not sheathe their swords either.
Still, everyone settled their fluttering martial uniforms and withdrew the sword qi gathered around their blades.
As though they had finally found someone they could speak to, they calmly restated what they wanted.
“We want Jong Byeokgi.”
“Ha, did you leave the bastard with us or something?!”
“Head Disciple!!!”
“Yes!”
The Head Disciple nodded and stepped back.
“...”
Saryeon explained to the dumbfounded Mount Cang Sect members.
“What my Head Disciple means is that there is a minimum standard of courtesy. Senior Jong belongs to Mount Cang Sect, and he has his own free will, so naturally he may return to Mount Cang Sect. But.”
Saryeon’s gaze turned firm as she swept it over the Mount Cang Sect members.
“Did you think Taeul Sect would simply accept this kind of insolent behavior during that process?”
The Mount Cang Sect members’ faces twisted at her words.
Then the Head Disciple confidently cut in.
“No. I just told them to get lost because I don’t like the look of them...”
“Head. Disciple.”
At Senior Sister Saryeon’s teeth-grinding warning, the Head Disciple cheerfully gave a thumbs-up and stepped back again.
“Please wait a moment. I’ll confirm it. Head Disciple?”
“That Jong Byeokgi bastard is recuperating right now. He only woke up today.”
The Head Disciple waved his hand at the Mount Cang Sect members as though shooing away an annoyance.
“I’ll go ask whether he can move. Don’t block the way. Move aside.”
“...”
With that, he left.
Senior Sister Saryeon and the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Brothers remained in place, so no one moved from where they stood.
Samnam cautiously asked Dongryong, “Dongryong... Is this really okay?”
Dongryong, who had been lovingly stroking the sword once used by the Head Disciple, flashed a bright smile.
“The Head Disciple said you should act even more insolently toward people with no manners.”
Samnam’s eyes widened at words that would have made Confucius clutch the back of his neck.
“Who said that? What kind of unreasonable person...”
“The Head Disciple.”
“Pardon?”
“He said that’s the only way they’ll listen.”
What did that even mean?
What kind of Head Disciple said something like...
“Look.”
Dongryong pointed at the Mount Cang Sect members.
“Ha...”
Amazingly, the Mount Cang Sect members had sheathed their swords and moved aside.
“See? The Head Disciple has never said anything wrong.”
“...”
Dongryong’s utterly innocent voice only made Samnam’s thoughts more complicated.
#
The building was filled with the somehow familiar scent of dried medicinal herbs.
As I entered, two people who appeared to be assistants and three female physicians were trimming herbs and arranging needles.
Sama Jeong stood among them, giving orders.
“How is that bastard’s condition?”
“It would be best to consider his life as a martial artist over.”
“What about daily life?”
“The same applies to daily life. What can a cripple with not even a shred of martial arts do out in the world?”
“That’s true.”
His physical condition would make even an ordinary life difficult.
The hardships awaiting a man who had lived at the top of the martial world all his life seemed as clear as a painted picture.
“May I see him?”
“He’s probably awake.”
When I opened the door and entered, cold air filled the room.
Jong Byeokgi sat on the bed with the window open, blankly staring at the scenery outside.
“What are you trying to do, catch a cold when your body is already in that state?”
“...”
Jong Byeokgi gave me a brief glance before turning back to the window.
“Did Mount Cang Sect come?”
There was no strength in his blunt voice.
“Did you arrange it with them beforehand or something?”
“No.”
He felt like a wick that had burned through all its oil.
Like the flame might go out at any moment.
“You can ignore someone who has faded from glory, but you can’t forgive someone who has been quietly tarnished.”
“So you’re going to be punished?”
“Mount Cang Sect gave me an opportunity. No one but me threw it away.”
I had a question.
He had not been a match for me.
He knew it himself, and so did I.
“I heard you lived quite happily. Why did you go and do that?”
In the end, it had been a choice that ruined his own life.
What had driven him this far?
Jong Byeokgi could not take his eyes off the sunlight streaming into the room through the window in shattered rays as he spoke quietly.
“I... am Mount Cang Sect.”
He raised his head and faced the sunlight directly.
The intense light must have hurt enough to feel as though his eyes were burning, yet he did not look away.
“No matter how comfortable it was, that kind of life... was not a real life.”
A real life.
The life I had known in my previous life unfolded in my mind like pages torn from a book.
In my memories, he had been domineering, hypocritical, arrogant, and petty.
Jong Byeokgi had tormented me with Hwa Jeongsan on countless occasions, and he could never hide his inferiority complex before Yong Soa and Ilmyeong.
It was only natural that I bore him resentment.
Still, there must have been another side to him that I had never seen.
And...
In this life, it made me uncomfortable to keep learning things I had never known before.
“...”
Even so.
Knowing those things did not make me want to understand that man.
“Don’t start spouting off as though you’re a martial artist now. What you and Mount Cang Sect did in Yueyang is unforgivable for a White Path martial artist.”
Jong Byeokgi turned to look at me.
“That’s right. It was not something people who claim to follow the righteous path should do. The fact that I carried it out without hesitation means I can no longer call myself a White Path martial artist either.”
He did not take his eyes off mine.
“I only regret one thing. If I had learned about you sooner, if I had not seen Ilmyeong, Yong Soa, Hwa Jeongsan, and Dang Seohui, and...”
A bitter smile appeared on his face.
“I only wondered what it would have been like if I had a senior brother like you.”
“I have no idea what nonsense you’re talking about, but it sounds horrifying even to imagine. Jong Byeokgi as my junior brother.”
Jong Byeokgi gave a dry laugh.
“Our generation is cursed. I suffer all the more because I am Yong Soa’s peer. The more we reduce martial arts to competition and treat them as power and authority above all else, the further we drift from their original purpose. The center within us gradually disappears, and when we come to our senses...”
Despair and resignation gradually filled his eyes.
“The monsters have taken over that empty place. That is how... we slowly become demonic beings.”
Jong Byeokgi let out a faint laugh.
“You don’t compare yourself to Yong Soa, do you?”
I gave no answer.
Whatever I said would not have been the truth.
“Watching you launch an orthodox assault, I realized it. Right, there was another way. Why had I never thought of it?”
The sight of him steeped in regret only made him more unpleasant to look at.
“So, are you going to follow them or not?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You are Taeul Sect’s guest. Taeul Sect is not such a reckless sect that it would let a guest walk into certain death.”
“It is also a sect that cracks the heads of insulting guests.”
Jong Byeokgi giggled as though he found that amusing.
Then he slowly rose from the bed.
Only a few days had passed, yet he somehow looked thinner.
“There is no need for that. I should return.”
“...”
“I am Mount Cang Sect.”
His attitude left me profoundly daunted.
Jong Byeokgi could not be the only one who identified himself completely with his sect.
Could the Nine Sects One Gang, the Five Great Clans, and even the Martial Alliance, all filled with people like this, truly be reformed?
Could the martial world be changed?
Then...
“I have one question.”
The man who had cast himself aside raised his head.
“I’m not in the mood to answer questions, so get your ass back to Mount Cang Sect.”
“In return, I’ll tell you one thing.”
“...”
“You want to change the Martial Alliance, don’t you?”
When I remained silent, he continued.
“I know without you saying it. You have an immense rebellious streak against the current Martial Alliance.”
“...”
“But you’re beginning to feel that it may be impossible, aren’t you?”
“Not at all.”
This was not a matter of whether I would do it or not.
If I did not, the only possible outcome was everyone dying.
So I had no intention of giving up.
“Jin Sowoon.”
Jong Byeokgi, who had just asked whether changing the Martial Alliance was impossible, now looked at me with resolve in his eyes.
“If you want to turn the impossible into possible, stay close to Yong Soa.”
“...Have you suffered qi deviation?”
He continued to speak incomprehensible words.
“Because he is the only one in the martial world who can turn the impossible into possible.”
Jong Byeokgi gripped my shoulder and earnestly added, “Put another way, as long as Yong Soa is your enemy, you will not be able to achieve anything you desire.”
Something about his words felt strange.
“Why Yong Soa?”
“Hm?”
“You mentioned Ilmyeong, Dang Seohui, and Hwa Jeongsan earlier. So why is Yong Soa the only one you speak of now?”
“...”
Jong Byeokgi hesitated, then gave another dry laugh.
“I told you one thing. I have one question as well.”
“I said I wasn’t in the mood to answer your questions.”
“I see.”
He suddenly slumped like a flame about to die out.
I let out a small sigh and asked, “What is it?”
“Will you answer me?”
I removed his hand from my shoulder.
“We are not that close, and we never will be. So keep your question short.”
“From your perspective...”
Jong Byeokgi swallowed once.
“Can Mount Cang Sect stand at the top of the Nine Sects One Gang?”
His voice trembled as he asked, his bloodshot eyes fixed on me without blinking as though he desperately craved something.
“Why ask me that?”
“You move as though you know what the future holds.”
“...”
I had no idea whether this bastard knew something and was asking, or whether he was asking without knowing anything.
“What do you think? Is it a sect that can become the greatest?”
I answered the man whose flame seemed to be fading.
“I don’t know whether it will become the greatest, but I think it will be one of the sects left standing until the end.”
At least, in my previous life, that had been true.
Mount Cang Sect, along with Jong Byeokgi, had gone as far as the Northern Sea.
Hm. Would the future change now that the present had changed?
Whatever happened, it was not my sect’s business.
“One that remains until the end...”
Yet he repeated my words several times, then left the room looking satisfied.
Standing before the Mount Cang Sect members, Jong Byeokgi was surrounded by them and led away like a prisoner.
After walking for some time, he looked back and nodded at me.
Eunho, who spotted it, asked, “Why is that person greeting the Head Disciple?”
“When one’s virtue is high, even enemies show respect.”
Eunho stared blankly as though wondering what kind of snake oil I was peddling, then shouted.
“...Don’t lie! You threatened him, didn’t you? Or did you promise him some kind of treasure?”
“...”
It seemed Eunho needed a fated encounter.
#
The next day, I heard something surprising.
“Yong Soa?”
Yong Soa had come to visit.
He had even brought all the members of the Dragon-Phoenix Association, including Ilmyeong.
I had questions.
Mount Cang Sect had not been the only sect involved in this demonstration.
No, there had actually been more people from Wudang Sect than Mount Cang Sect.
Jong Byeokgi’s presence had simply made it look as though the Mount Cang Sect members represented the group.
As I headed toward Taeul Hall, where the Dragon-Phoenix Association members were gathered, the sect’s younger disciples were already lingering nearby to catch a glimpse of Yong Soa’s group.
When I arrived at Taeul Hall, Yong Soa and his group opened the doors and came out.
Hwa Jeongsan raised a hand, about to greet me.
Before he could, Yong Soa stepped forward first with his usual blank expression.
“Jin Sowoon.”
The moment he approached me, I felt something I could not possibly ignore.
‘The scent of blood?’
I had not actually smelled anything.
It was an instinct based on my experiences from my previous life.
When someone had seen much blood, it took a long time for that scent to fade.
What was strange was that I sensed nothing from Yong Soa’s companions, while only Yong Soa gave me that unpleasant feeling.
I replied as though nothing was wrong.
“I doubt you came to congratulate Taeul Sect on its reopening ceremony... What, did you come to greet the Alliance Leader?”
“No.”
With an expressionless face, he took another step toward me.
“Jin Sowoon, I came to see you.”
“Me?”
He stared at me with those lifeless eyes, as though he could bore straight through me.
Then...
“Do not interfere with me, Jin Sowoon.”
“What?”
Those incomprehensible words filled Taeul Hall.
“For your sake, and for the sake of your sect.”
As though making a request...
“Never.”
He muttered as though making a vow to himself.
“Otherwise... I will eliminate you.”
Footnotes:
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