WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 51: The First-Rate Martial Artist Peering into the Darkness (4)
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“How fast is your movement art?”
Moyong Sangwon suddenly spoke to me through sound transmission.
Knowing his intention, I told him how fast I had been before learning the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art.
“It takes me about half a gak to travel ten li.”
“...At full speed?”
The Taeul Sect's movement art was so poor, it was almost embarrassing to call it a movement art.
“I'll buy us about two gak. Use that time to flee as fast as you can.”
Moyong Sangwon spoke with a resolute expression. In one hand, he held the Fire Monkey's inner core he had carefully treasured, along with his identity plaque.
“...If you're fortunate enough to escape, visit my home. Tell my wife and child about me.”
I pushed the Fire Monkey's inner core and identity plaque back toward him.
“This isn't the time to be reckless.”
The plan I had prepared just in case had proven correct after all.
The red-headbanded men had not changed their habits, neither in my past life nor now.
“Will you trust me one more time?”
When I absorbed the demonic qi within Moyong Sangwon's body, a familiar kind of demonic qi came to mind.
Thousands of demonic arts stemmed from the Heavenly Demon Scripture, and each had its own distinct traits.
The demonic qi of those who had attacked Moyong Sangwon had a poisonous quality that secretly gnawed away at its target. I had grown sick of encountering it during my days in the Sojeong Unit.
“This may be our last chance.”
Twenty red-headbanded men approached.
I nodded.
“Let's go together. Don't I still have to receive the Clear Mind Pellet from you, Young Clan Head?”
Moyong Sangwon snorted at my calm words, then nodded.
“From now on, follow exactly where I step. It's Taeul Sect movement art, but it shouldn't be too difficult for someone of your skill.”
At first, Moyong Sangwon seemed confused when we began running, but he soon grasped the pattern of the movement art and began stepping exactly where I had.
He did not understand the subtleties of circulating internal energy, but his comprehension of martial arts was already profound. He ran almost as well as I did.
The problem was that the red-headbanded men were simply too fast. Moyong Sangwon's face grew paler by the moment.
“Wouldn't it be better if I carried you while I ran?”
I answered firmly.
“Do not stray even an inch from my footsteps.”
A chilling killing intent seemed ready to bore through the back of my head. When I looked back, the red-headbanded men were already close behind us.
‘They still have that nasty habit of pouring killing intent onto the prey they're pursuing.’
Damn it, despite being assassins, these bastards released horrific killing intent right before killing their targets, plunging them into even greater terror.
Shing. Shing. Shing.
There was even the skin-crawling sound of swords being drawn.
The tension finally made Moyong Sangwon cry out.
“Sowoon! Soon...!”
At that moment.
Clank!
A heavy iron object snapped shut, followed by a muffled groan, as if someone had bitten their tongue.
“Stop!”
The man at the front, who had been about to swing his sword, looked toward the far right.
A bear trap had severed the man's ankle cleanly.
“I set some traps while I was out looking for food the other day.”
“What does that...?”
“I thought that if they had enough strength to attack the Moyong Clan's Young Clan Head, it couldn't have been a coincidence.”
“...”
Moyong Sangwon looked utterly unable to believe it.
“Do not stray from my footsteps. They're bear traps, so they'll take your ankle off.”
“Ah, understood.”
As the two of us kept moving, the red-headbanded men scattered Bone-Dissolving Powder over their injured companion and resumed the pursuit.
“Argh!”
The man, dissolved alive by the Bone-Dissolving Powder, let out his first loud scream when he could no longer endure the agony of his flesh melting away.
Moyong Sangwon glanced at him and turned even whiter than before.
“T-They're vicious.”
“They certainly are.”
The red-headbanded men began closing in on us again.
Now wary of traps, they began using Grass-Skimming Flight.
Moyong Sangwon was once again stunned.
There was no sect in the martial world where every assassin could use Grass-Skimming Flight.
I handed him three throwing knives.
“Throw them at them. Don't let them focus on Grass-Skimming Flight.”
Moyong Sangwon swiftly took the knives and threw two at once.
Whoosh.
Clang! Clang!
I threw three more throwing knives toward the opposite side, pouring internal energy into them.
They tried to knock mine aside with their swords, just as those who had deflected Moyong Sangwon's knives had. Yet some were hurled backward by the force behind them, while others had their swords shattered before knives lodged in their necks.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Clank! Clank!
One man was struck by a throwing knife. Two others had their hands and ankles severed by bear traps.
The comrades behind them immediately scattered Bone-Dissolving Powder over the injured men, who died screaming as they melted away.
We had overcome each crisis, but Moyong Sangwon already seemed mentally exhausted by the enemy's gruesome methods.
It was not surprising.
Even when they had yet to gain the upper hand, the Demonic Cult fought in a way that continuously wore down their opponents' minds.
I crossed a hill and turned into the forest.
The red-headbanded men kicked off trees, trying not to touch the ground at all. As though I had been waiting for it, I cut two vines I had set in place.
Whoosh! Crash!
The instant we passed, eight boulders the size of human heads fell into the spot we had occupied. Two struck the red-headbanded men.
Naturally, traps had been set where they landed.
Clank! Clank!
“Urgh!”
“N-No!”
For the first time, one of them recoiled from their impending death, but the outcome was once again the inevitable Bone-Dissolving Powder.
“Senior, don't look back.”
“...Understood.”
Despite suffering losses without pause, they did not shrink back. Their killing intent only grew thicker.
Then I activated every trap I had prepared for the finale.
When I cut the taut cords, wooden spears shot out from every direction.
Boulders followed, flying everywhere. Those struck by either wooden spears or rocks fell into the bear traps below.
Two more died in an instant, and at last, the red-headbanded men's steps began to slow.
We widened the distance between us, left the forest, and arrived at a fork in the road.
“Senior, go right.”
“And you?”
“I'll go left.”
“Why aren't we going together?”
“My traps end here. While they hesitate out of fear of the traps, we must confuse them and escape as quickly as possible.”
“Understood. Come to the Cheongmyeong Escort Agency in Wugang.”
“I will. I'll see you there.”
Moyong Sangwon and I ran down separate paths at the same time.
#
The masked men who emerged from the forest arrived at the fork in the road.
Having lost comrades to unexpected traps, they radiated killing intent so thick it was hard to breathe.
Once they discovered that the two people's trails led down separate paths, they prepared to split into groups of eight and four to pursue us.
Until I returned.
“!”
When I stepped out, the man at the front, who had been making hand signals, froze.
“It has been a long time... Ah, not for you yet.”
The red-headbanded masked man once again signaled for them to pursue Moyong Sangwon.
“Is there any point in chasing that man now?”
“!”
The red-headbanded man was noticeably shaken that I had understood his hand signal.
During my time in the Sojeong Unit, I had chased and been chased by them so endlessly that I had memorized all their signals.
In the end, four men ran down the road.
“Will you not even reminisce after meeting an old foe? Flame Demon Ghost-Eye Unit?”
“!”
“!”
“!”
The men who had begun running stopped in their tracks.
“How should I put it? It feels strange. Back then, I could only flee desperately from you.”
“Who are you?”
A voice like scraping iron rang out.
“Does that matter? The important thing is that I know your habits inside and out.”
At the red-headbanded man's nod, the four men standing at the rear vanished.
I tossed three throwing knives into the air.
“Ghk!”
“Urgh!”
“Gah!”
With three cries, I turned and swung the Black Dragon Sword.
Slash!
Blood sprayed through the air as a red-headbanded man appeared, his upper and lower body split apart.
“Have you no ability to adapt?”
“...!”
The red-headbanded man's eyes shook violently.
“You're still so quiet. It makes a person feel awkward. You weren't this silent before. Was it because you could toy with us as you pleased? You rats of the demon horde.”
Demon horde was a term used within the Demonic Cult only when they disparaged themselves.
It was a word the people of the Central Plains would use only after the Demonic Cult entered the martial world.
“...Who are you?”
“We asked you that question constantly at first too. You never answered even once.”
“...”
“Anyway, it's so good to see you again.”
I gathered the force of the Mad Heaven Divine Palm in both hands.
Then I fired it at them.
Kwararararang!
The Mad Heaven Divine Palm possessed such insane destructive power that even the destruction-crazed members of the Demonic Cult would click their tongues at it.
Nor were they skilled enough to divert the Mad Heaven Divine Palm with Four Ounces Move a Thousand Pounds like Yong Soa.
“Huh...”
Two men struck directly by the Mad Heaven Divine Palm vanished without a trace. Another caught in the palm force lost an arm without a trace.
I immediately stepped into the Taeul Eighty Thousand Divine Steps.
This movement art, where movement technique and footwork harmonized as one, created afterimages wherever one stepped and threw opponents into confusion.
I seized the throat of the one who had lost an arm, then activated the Azure Dragon Bangle to refill my empty dantian.
“Gaaaaah!”
He shriveled into a mummy in moments, while three-tenths of my internal energy returned to my previously empty dantian.
“If I'd known it would be like this, I should've made you take a Bloodburst Pellet.”
“...”
I had often seen the emotion in their eyes in my comrades from the Sojeong Unit.
The way we had looked when facing the Flame Demon Ghost-Eye Unit in the past was now reflected in them.
“They weren't even such strong opponents. Why were we so afraid of them back then?”
“...”
Their eyes began darting around.
Knowing their intention, I smiled and said,
“Are you planning to run even after your identities have been exposed?”
“!”
I had no memory of the Demonic Cult appearing in the Central Plains during this period.
That meant they had been laying the groundwork for years before the Orthodox-Demonic War.
Which meant neither the White Path nor the Black Path could learn that they were active.
Having made up their minds, the five moved at once and formed a sword formation.
The Flame Demon Ghost-Eye Sword Formation.
Their demonic qi overlapped, turning the area into a living hell.
“This formation brings back memories too.”
I also circulated the Taeul True Scripture to its limit.
The demonic qi trying to burrow into my acupoints was repelled by the purity of the Taeul True Scripture and could no longer enter.
I unleashed the Ascendant Form of the Lesser Heaven Sword Art.
Swoosh.
At a speed unlike before, it tore through not only demonic qi but space itself, severing the neck of the man occupying that space.
Twin Heavens Sword Art.
Swords of illusion and reality burst forth from every direction.
The sword thought to be illusory was real, and the sword thought to be real was illusory.
The illusory could also become real.
Thud. Thud. Slash!
Three men met their deaths at once.
The one who appeared to be the squad leader kicked off the ground and began to flee.
“If you can't silence every witness, it makes sense to report this to the Demonic Cult instead.”
Having used a supreme movement art, he was already no more than a tiny speck in the distance.
I activated the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art.
Then I folded space, overtook him, and appeared in front of him.
“!”
As though he could not believe what he saw, his reaction came too late.
“T-That's impossible!”
His voice, like scraping iron, sounded as if he could already foresee his end.
The outcome was exactly as he expected.
Slash!
His head separated from his body. Before dying, he watched blood fountain from his own body.
“Go and tell your god. Your followers will soon be coming to meet you one after another.”
Footnotes:
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