WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 444: The Aftermath of the Typhoon (4)
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After Jin Sowoon left, Hyeok Mugang quietly watched Jegal Somyeong write letters in the room where only the two of them remained.
Scratch, scratch.
Jegal Somyeong’s hand moved across the page in bold, flowing strokes without pausing for even a moment.
It was as if every instruction already existed in their mind. There was not the slightest hesitation.
“What is it you wish to say?”
Hyeok Mugang snapped out of his thoughts at Jegal Somyeong’s question.
“...Meteor Hall.”
“Yes.”
“So it will begin before it is complete after all.”
The Mantong Office and Alliance Leader’s Hall could not possess command units.
The Orthodox Society, White Path Society, and Twelve Peak Alliance had imposed those restrictions because they feared Hyeok Mugang and Jegal Somyeong would monopolize power.
Yet the martial world’s situation was growing increasingly urgent.
Meteor Hall was a measure intended to prepare for the chaos within the Martial Alliance.
“Wasn’t this expected from the beginning?”
Their influence had already reached Cheonmok Pavilion. If they remained idle, their hands and feet, as well as their eyes and ears, would all be bound.
Even now, people dissatisfied with Meteor Hall’s existence continued raising objections, but Jegal Somyeong deliberately ignored them.
“We should have at least filled its ranks.”
The key reason the incomplete Meteor Hall was already operating without an inaugural ceremony was that there were no suitable recruits.
“There need to be people worth bringing in first.”
Countless people were salivating over the prospect of joining an independent institution under the Mantong Office.
If they carelessly accepted recruits, Meteor Hall would eventually become just like the Inspectorate.
“It must be filled entirely with new people.”
It was impossible to select new people from among those already deeply tied to the Orthodox Society, White Path Society, and Twelve Peak Alliance.
“And Jin Sowoon will be the priming water?”
“Because he alone can go against the raging tide.”
“...”
Hyeok Mugang frowned.
Too great a burden had been placed upon a junior still so young.
Jegal Somyeong added, as though comforting themself.
“To become a great horse, he must establish himself in the deepest part of enemy territory.”
“I’m worried he’ll become an arrow-catcher for no reason.”
“...Do you truly think he is the sort to quietly let arrows strike him?”
At Jegal Somyeong’s question, Hyeok Mugang’s eyes slowly moved as he imagined it.
Quietly let arrows strike him...
It was difficult to imagine.
Instead, Hyeok Mugang could vividly picture Jin Sowoon glaring with venomous eyes, catching the arrow in his hand, and going after the person who had fired it.
“Who knows? Perhaps this will make that prideful Mount Mao Sect stand on Jin Sowoon’s side.”
#
Jin Sowoon headed for Hefei with the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Brothers and Saryeon, who had been preparing to leave for the Martial Alliance.
He stopped by the Great Heaven Merchant Group on the way to request material support for the Mount Mao Sect, then met Yu Jiryang in Hefei.
When Jin Sowoon entered the annex, Yu Jiryang, who had been anxiously pacing through the garden, flinched in surprise before letting out a sigh of relief.
“O-Oh, you’ve come.”
“I just met with Strategist Jegal.”
“What? The Chief Strategist?”
“Ah, you didn’t know?”
Yu Jiryang’s eyes shook violently when he heard that Hyeok Mugang, Jegal Somyeong, Namgung Taeha, and Moyong Gang had attended the Taeul Sect’s reopening ceremony.
“Coming here was the right choice after all.”
“It isn’t over yet.”
“I know. Still...”
Yu Jiryang looked up at Jin Sowoon with a complicated expression.
“I’ve only confirmed that my judgment of people was not wrong.”
Since it was clear that Yu Jiryang was praising him, Jin Sowoon quickly changed the subject.
“Ahem. I confirmed it. Strategist Jegal said that the Mantong Office has never issued any operational order concerning the Mount Mao Sect. They were furious about this incident instead.”
“That’s a relief...”
“It isn’t a relief at all.”
“What?”
Jin Sowoon’s voice grew heavy because he knew how those bastards handled things.
“They’re likely trying to deal with it before the Mantong Office learns of it.”
“...!”
Yu Jiryang’s eyes widened.
“The Martial Alliance prohibits private sanctions justified by accusations of ties to the Demonic Cult or Blood Cult, but factions within the Martial Alliance are exceptions.”
“...”
“They’ll certainly try to handle this before an official discussion can take place.”
“Ah...”
Yu Jiryang staggered, and Jin Sowoon quickly grabbed his arm.
“W-Why? Why have we... become enemies overnight...?”
“That’s what we must find out from now on.”
“...”
“There isn’t enough time to rent a carriage. If that’ll be too difficult for you, would you prefer to come slowly?”
Yu Jiryang tensed his entire body and rose to his feet.
“No. I’ll go with you! The survival of my sect is at stake. I can’t delay this for my own safety.”
“Understood. Then it’ll be arduous, but we’ll go together.”
Once Jin Sowoon’s conversation with Yu Jiryang ended, he gave the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Brothers their immediate orders.
“We’ll be traveling on horseback, so get ready.”
“Senior Brother...”
“Hm?”
Eunho, who had been observing the gaunt Yu Jiryang, wore a puzzled expression.
“What exactly are you talking about right now?”
They had originally been meant to go to the Martial Alliance, yet they had suddenly been brought to Hefei.
Now they were supposedly going to Jiangsu Province.
“There is a force trying to eradicate the Mount Mao Sect.”
Eunho cried out in shock.
“What do you mean...? The Mount Mao Sect has influence even within the Martial Alliance...”
“Yes. That force is inside the Martial Alliance.”
“What?”
“The Black Officials are moving.”
“...”
They said that when someone was completely screwed, their mind short-circuited a little.
Eunho barely managed to gather their scattered thoughts before carefully asking, “Then... the reason we’re going to the Mount Mao Sect is...?”
“Yes, to stop the Black Officials and the other forces trying to eradicate the Mount Mao Sect.”
“...”
Eunho felt as though their mind had short-circuited again.
#
We passed through Hexian from Hefei and arrived in Nanjing.
As the saying went, “Beijing north of the river, Nanjing in Jiangnan.” Nanjing possessed a grandeur and splendor unlike any city we had seen so far.
Still, we could not waste even a moment. We only got a brief bit of sleep in Nanjing before heading straight for Mount Mao.
During that time, I sent a request to the Hao Sect to investigate why the Fourfold Gate Sect had been eradicated and why the Mount Mao Sect was being attacked.
“Hmm...”
The reason for the Fourfold Gate Sect’s eradication was relatively clear.
1. Following traces of the Black Path protests in Jiangsu Province, the Inspectorate investigated the Fourfold Gate Sect.
2. They discovered that the sect was practicing a forbidden art.
3. A report was sent to the Mantong Office, which confirmed the Fourfold Gate Sect’s eradication.
There was no problem with that procedure.
So what was the problem?
The Mount Mao Sect had been placed on the list for eradication through the exact same process.
Yet this time, approval had not come from the Mantong Office.
“Couldn’t it simply be an investigation?” Eunho carefully whispered so Yu Jiryang would not hear.
“Of course, it could be.”
Perhaps I was overreacting.
“If we’ve come all this way for nothing...”
It could simply be a coincidence.
“That would be the best possible outcome.”
The Mount Mao Sect was indispensable to the Orthodox-Demonic War.
Over the past five hundred years, the influence of esoteric arts and spellcraft in the martial world had weakened beyond measure.
These arts, once regarded as part of the Way, began to be suppressed solely because of the influence of dark arts.
Even the Hyeongsan Sect, renowned for its mastery of such arts, had erased its lineage of mystical practices and instead developed martial arts.
By the present day, only weak arts such as the Demon-Subduing Talisman and demon-subduing arts remained.
The Mount Mao Sect was not much different.
A sect whose focus had once been mystical arts sealed away every art that could be deemed dark arts, concentrating instead on arcane formations and curse-breaking.
If the Mount Mao Sect disappeared...
‘The Orthodox-Demonic War will become even more horrific than the one I experienced in my past life.’
Defensive measures and curse-breaking alone could not withstand the enemy’s demonic sorcery.
Only spirit practitioners could deal with spirit practitioners.
When war broke out, the Mount Mao Sect would need to unseal its arts and train spirit practitioners. The sect had to remain within the Martial Alliance.
“The more I learn about the Martial Alliance... the more despair I feel.”
Eunho’s voice was devoid of strength.
I considered trying to raise Eunho’s spirits, then decided against it.
Helping Eunho avoid this despair would only be a temporary reprieve.
Whether Eunho wanted to or not, Eunho would see far uglier sides of the Martial Alliance in the future.
That was what work for the Mantong Office entailed.
Faced with that despair, the one who had to confront reality and push through it was Eunho.
Before long, we reached Changsha County.
It was the final village before Mount Mao, so we decided to eat, wash up, and change clothes.
After buying suitable martial uniforms at a cloth shop, Yu Jiryang led us to an inn and we ordered a light meal.
While we waited for the food, I hurriedly washed, changed clothes, and came back out.
“...”
Yu Jiryang’s face had gone stiff.
“Brother Yu. Is something wrong?”
“...”
Yu Jiryang looked at me, his eyes trembling violently from side to side.
His dry voice rang uneasily through the air.
“...The people.”
“What?”
“These aren’t the inn’s usual people.”
“...!”
I quickly looked at the people working in the kitchen and the server who had taken our order.
Just as expected, they hastily shifted their gazes away.
Swish.
The moment I placed my hand on the Scarlet Radiance Sword...
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
Small noises sounded throughout the inn.
“...”
A heavy silence settled over the room.
The instant cold sweat rolled down Yu Jiryang’s face and fell onto the table...
“Ah! That feels great!”
“I finally feel alive again.”
“I’m hungry!”
The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Brothers and Saryeon entered the inn after us.
“Why is it so quiet...? Huh?”
Saryeon grabbed Geumpyo just as he was about to take another step.
“...”
She cautiously lowered her hand toward her waist.
Only then did the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Brothers grasp the situation. They froze as stiffly as if their paralysis acupoints had been struck.
“...”
No one made the first move, but everyone seemed to know they were opponents.
Not one of them loosened their guard for even a moment.
I spread my energy sense and assessed the people inside the inn.
‘Thirty...’
There were seventeen people in sight, while thirteen more were hiding throughout the inn.
I began mapping out how to deal with them without letting Yu Jiryang die.
If they were only targeting us, that would be one thing...
But what if Yu Jiryang was their target?
It was clear this would not end easily.
Then...
“Your food is ready!”
The server who had entered the kitchen crossed the inn as though nothing was wrong, precariously carrying noodles and a dish toward our table.
“...”
“Didn’t you come to eat? Noodles taste best before they get soggy.”
The boy, who looked about Dongryong’s age, spoke as casually as if nothing were happening.
“With this atmosphere, I doubt the food will go down easily.”
“Come now, should Great Hero Black Flame Dragon be saying something like that?”
Everyone in the room remained tense.
Yet the boy was the only one joking around with a grin.
For some reason, that bizarre attitude gave me chills.
Black Flame Dragon, Black Flame Dragon...
“So you know who I am.”
“I’ve heard your reputation so often my ears are worn out, Great Hero Black Flame Dragon.”
“Can I meet the person in charge?”
“Why do you want to meet the person in charge?”
“Because I want to know why this is happening.”
“Hmm... The proprietor is busy right now.”
As he spoke, the server rubbed his thumb, index finger, and middle finger together.
He wanted money at a time like this?
I took out one tael of silver and placed it on the table.
The server let out a scornful laugh as if he found it absurd.
“They said Great Hero Black Flame Dragon was an unbelievable miser. I see it was true.”
“...An ordinary server would rub both hands together as if they’d sold their soul for that much money.”
The server, no, the boy pretending to be a server, brushed back his hair and shrugged.
“Now that my identity has been exposed, what’s the point of hiding it?”
“So, can I meet them?”
“Let’s go. I’ll show you the way.”
I rose from my seat and looked around the inn.
“What about my companions?”
“Nothing will happen while we’re talking. Besides, isn’t your sect beyond worrying about such things now?”
I looked at Geumpyo.
“Don’t leave Great Hero Yu’s side by more than three paces.”
“Yes.”
When I looked back, the server jokingly stretched out both hands and bowed at the waist.
At the end of the second-floor corridor of the inn, the server entered what appeared to be the room once used by the proprietor.
“Is the person in charge outside?”
The room was empty.
None of the people caught by my energy sense were heading toward this room.
The server stared at me for a moment.
Then, instead of answering, he walked to the desk, pulled back the large chair, and sat down.
Thud.
He placed both feet on the desk and clasped his head in his hands.
“The person in charge is right here.”
“...”
“I’m responsible for this. The name I’m using now is Heo Gwanjung.”
What an asshole.
“You look angry. Are you upset because I fooled you?”
He could have just revealed his identity and told me to follow him.
“Why did you take the money?”
“...”
Was this bastard completely insane?
“I’d like you to return the money.”
“...”
It wasn’t as if he was crazy about money either.
Footnotes:
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