WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 503: The Beginning of Night (8)
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In my previous life, I had been unbearably ashamed to reveal where I came from.
“Then you’re from the Iron Sword Sect in Hefei?”
“Taeul Sect? There was a sect like that in Hefei?”
Again and again, I had to explain at length where I came from and which sect I belonged to.
After those long explanations, the question that followed was always similar.
“How did the Taeul Sect make it into the One Hundred Eight Peaks?”
Even when their contempt was obvious, I could not show my anger.
If my emotions upset them, force would have to be used to settle things between us.
And as a disciple of the Taeul Sect, I could not prove myself through martial strength.
I thought that once I became strong enough, such shallow contempt would no longer shake me.
‘Apparently not.’
I possessed far more strength than I had in my previous life, yet it was still difficult to simply ignore their disdain.
“I have yet to witness the Tang Clan’s true strength.”
What made it worse was that we were guests of the Tang Clan.
We had not been invited, but I had come as Dang Seohui’s companion. Their contemptuous attitude was still deeply unpleasant.
The difference from my previous life was that I no longer needed to hide my emotions.
“Will you come at me one at a time, or all at once?”
I now possessed enough strength to take responsibility for my feelings.
“……”
“……Hah. Arrogant.”
“He’s more insolent than I heard.”
Somehow, the heat that had stirred within me seemed to cool.
Perhaps my words had offended them. The Tang Clan members’ faces stiffened.
Their hostile presence pressed down on my entire body and made me want to flee.
Still, I neither wavered nor showed it.
To introduce oneself in a single phrase and make others understand one’s sect in a single phrase was a privilege granted only to those who had overcome this arduous process.
If I proved myself here, then whenever the Tang Clan members present heard the name Taeul Sect in the future, they would simply nod without another word.
“What will it be? I don’t mind either way.”
The oldest man among the five stepped forward.
“Did you take a Hundred Poisons Pellet?”
“I never have. They’re too expensive.”
“……What?”
His face twisted oddly.
“Then how could you ignore the Paralysis Powder?”
“It felt weaker than the venom of the Three-Fanged Serpent that bit me in Mukrim.”
“You were bitten by a Three-Fanged Serpent?”
The man looked at me as though he could not believe such a person existed. Then he took out a mother-of-pearl vial and an iron chain whip.
“Then I should get serious too.”
Clatter.
The loosened iron chain whip fell to the ground and uncoiled like a snake.
“Don’t worry too much. I’ll only use poisons that have antidotes.”
The instant he was about to move, I used the Void-Destroying Fist to unleash the Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand.
Boom!
The mother-of-pearl vial in his hand was engulfed in flames and exploded.
The man was stunned.
As his balance faltered, I used the Taeul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps to close the distance. Just as I was about to unleash the Myriad Blossoms Invincible Fist at point-blank range, a voice rang out.
“What do you all think you are doing?”
A gentle yet clear voice rang through the entire Guest Pavilion.
Gulp.
I heard the man whose face had been directly before my fist swallow hard.
I lowered my hand and looked toward the source of the voice.
A tall, well-built man glared in our direction with large, fierce eyes.
“You dare treat guests this way? What kind of disrespect is this?”
At last, I had met a sensible person.
The onlookers beyond the wall vanished as though they had never been there.
Only the five people who had entered the courtyard remained, standing stiffly at attention.
“W-We’re sorry! We were just so curious about what kind of person he was……”
“Tsk!”
“S-Sorry.”
Authority naturally flowed from his manner and bearing, matching his fierce appearance.
More than anything, his rough face looked like something out of a bandit stronghold.
Yet there was something strangely familiar about him……
“You are Jin Sowoon?”
I quickly clasped my hands in greeting.
“I am Jin Sowoon, Hall Master of Yuseong Hall.”
I deliberately mentioned the Martial Alliance’s Yuseong Hall instead of the Taeul Sect.
“I see. It is good to meet you. I am Dang Mუგap.”
Something about him was familiar……
“……?”
Really? He was really the father of that candied-fruit ghost, I mean, the Deputy Hall Master?
Stunned by the unexpected identity of Dang Mუგap, the son of the Poison King Dang Hyeokje and Dang Seohui’s father, I stared at him blankly.
“Is something wrong?”
“Ah, no.”
People should not be judged by their looks, but I could not help thinking it was a great relief that Senior Dang had not inherited her father’s features.
While I was briefly lost in thought, Dang Mუგap’s gaze fell on the shattered mother-of-pearl vial.
Then he looked back at me and said something I could not understand.
“Interesting. You pass.”
“Pardon?”
“You wanted to meet my father, did you not? Come. He has just finished meeting with the Tang Clan physicians and has been waiting for you.”
“……”
Once again, there was no explanation.
……What was going on with everyone today?
#
Only Dang Seohui and I were permitted to meet the Poison King.
Ilgak tried to come with us, but Dang Mუგap rejected him at once.
“You can remain here.”
“……”
It was a strange feeling to be allowed into a place that even a disciple of Shaolin Temple could not enter.
Unlike the other Tang Clan buildings, the place we were led to was a very small pavilion.
Following Dang Mუგap inside, I saw carefully maintained furniture that exuded old-fashioned elegance. At the head of a broad table in the center sat an old man, his sharp eyes fixed on us.
‘The Poison King!’
He looked much the same as he had in my previous life.
He was slightly smaller than average, but he gave off the impression of solid stone.
His gleaming green eyes even made him seem more than human.
I immediately clasped my hands and bowed.
“It is an honor to meet you for the first time. I am Jin Sowoon, Hall Master of Yuseong Hall.”
Dang Hyeokje set down his teacup.
“Did you come as an envoy of the Martial Alliance?”
“Not exactly.”
“Why is your answer so unclear?”
I had never spoken with him in my previous life, so I had not known.
Now I was certain.
‘So this is where Senior Dang gets her strange way of speaking.’
I focused and continued.
“I introduced myself that way because I am currently carrying out a mission as an envoy of the Martial Alliance.”
“Hm……”
Dang Hyeokje let out a soft hum and raised one eyebrow.
“You want the Heart-Calming Spirit Pellet?”
“Yes.”
“Were you not told that I do not prepare tonics or conduct examinations?”
“I was.”
“Then.”
Dang Hyeokje’s gaze shifted from me to Dang Seohui.
“Did you come despite knowing that because you thought little of the Tang Clan? Or did you think I was someone who would overturn a decision as easily as turning over my hand just because my granddaughter asked?”
Something was going wrong.
I realized my mistake.
The blame had already shifted to Dang Seohui.
“Seohui, did you say that?”
I had been thinking only of myself.
This was so important that I thought it would be fine to bend the rules a little. That was only because I knew the future.
To the Tang Clan, especially to the Poison King, this could easily seem like an act of disrespect.
In the past, the Poison King had broken the family’s rules to allow Dang Seohui to inherit his legacy.
I had not considered that this request itself could further offend him.
I hurriedly stepped in.
I could not let Dang Seohui get into trouble because of me.
“That isn’t……”
“Did I ask you?”
He had not released killing intent, yet the instant I looked into his green eyes, it felt as though my heart dropped into my stomach.
Was this what it meant to be utterly screwed?
“Seohui, why are you not answering?”
“……”
My chest tightened.
I had never expected this situation.
Because of my needless choice, had I ruined the once-close relationship between grandfather and granddaughter?
Then.
“That is right.”
“Hm?”
“What did you say?”
Dang Seohui’s words shocked not only me but Dang Mუგap as well. Even Dang Hyeokje’s unshakable eyes trembled for a moment.
“I was the one who said we should go and speak with him.”
No.
Dang Seohui had said it was impossible. I was the one who had tried to use her relationship with her grandfather to resolve this.
“Do you see me as someone who will recklessly overturn an important family decision just because my granddaughter says so?”
She was being scolded by her grandfather for something she had not even done.
Because of me.
“N-No, the truth is……”
As I tried to correct the facts, Dang Seohui tugged on my sleeve.
“That is not it.”
“If that is not it, then what is it?”
The hand gripping my sleeve tightened.
“I thought what Jin Sowoon is doing is more important.”
“What?”
“That is why I judged it that way and brought him home.”
“You thought it was more important than the decision I made?”
Dang Hyeokje’s face twisted as though he had bitten into something foul.
“That is so.”
Dang Seohui answered without the slightest hesitation.
Like a man betrayed by someone he trusted, the Poison King’s lips trembled for a moment before he regained control of his voice.
“……Why do you think it is more important?”
“I do not know either.”
“……”
“But.”
Dang Seohui’s clear, unwavering eyes turned toward me.
“Nothing Jin Sowoon does is unimportant.”
“Hah……”
“Urgh……”
Dang Mუგap let out a quiet exclamation, while Dang Hyeokje gave a deep groan of bewilderment.
“Father, Seohui has said that much. Why not hear him out?”
At Dang Mუგap’s careful words, Dang Hyeokje, who had been lost in thought, looked at me.
“Why do you need the Heart-Calming Spirit Pellet?”
Dang Seohui looked into my eyes and gave a small nod.
I was so used to seeing her act like a ghost possessed by candied fruit and yakgwa that I could barely think straight after seeing this side of her.
Still, I could not casually throw away the opportunity she had created by risking her grandfather’s anger.
“It is for the martial world.”
“Be more precise.”
“To be more precise, it is medicine to save those who have entered the Sword Tomb.”
In my previous life, the terrible casualties inside the Sword Tomb had been caused by the Demonic Cult, but the greater cause had been the natural poison known as Mindless Illusion Powder.
The spores released from the moss the Demonic Cult had planted throughout the Sword Tomb made people see hallucinations while stripping away their emotions.
It erased the feelings that made humans human, such as grief, compassion, sympathy, friendship, and love.
Then it made martial artists obsess over murder, violence, lust, and hunger, turning them into beasts wearing human skin.
Since it did not physically harm the body, even martial artists who had attained poison immunity could not avoid it.
Unexpectedly, though, taking a Heart-Calming Spirit Pellet allowed them to quickly regain their senses.
Of course, I could not reveal that fact directly, so I had no choice but to make up a vague story.
“The aura emitted by the beings I encountered in Mukrim contained something like poison. Those who took the Heart-Calming Spirit Pellet remained unharmed until they left Mukrim.”
“……You believe they will be inside the Sword Tomb?”
“Without that possibility, I cannot understand the current situation.”
“……”
I did not think my words were persuasive.
They were fabricated, after all.
I had originally intended to bargain with the Tang Clan using the Myriad Herbs Compendium, but the situation had become completely strange halfway through.
After sinking into thought for a moment, Dang Hyeokje tapped the table.
“Do you know that nothing you have said so far is logical or convincing?”
As expected, my explanation was far too weak to persuade Dang Hyeokje.
“More importantly, it makes no sense to take a risk in such a critical situation based only on your speculation.”
“Yes, I understand. That is why……”
Then.
“But that does not mean there is no way.”
For the first time, a smile appeared on Dang Hyeokje’s lips.
“Strongest-Decides-the-Wish.”
A groan came from another direction.
“Father…… That is……”
“You should be quiet.”
“……”
Dang Hyeokje spoke to me again.
“Strongest-Decides-the-Wish is a Tang Clan tradition that can overturn a family decision. Do you wish to challenge it?”
I was delighted to hear that it was a system that could change the family’s decision, but the name bothered me.
“Could it be that Strongest-Decides-the-Wish means……”
“It means that the strong decide as they please.”
“……”
How was that any different from the law of the jungle followed by Black Path sects?
“If you do not like it, get out of here.”
Right. It was better to settle this with my body than tell him how I had acquired the legacy of the Divine Physician of Life and Death, who had vanished two hundred years ago.
“Fine. I will do it.”
The moment I finished speaking, Dang Mუგap left the inner room.
Feeling someone tug at my sleeve, I turned my head.
“Hall Master Jin.”
Dang Seohui looked at me with the same expression she wore when deciding whether to eat candied fruit or yakgwa first.
“You must be careful. I nearly died too.”
“Hm?”
What was that supposed to mean?
Footnotes:
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