WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 517: The Monster That Feeds on Despair (2)
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Gwak Gung looked toward the Great Snow Mountain with regret.
“I wanted to see it for myself.”
If he had not been bound by his schedule, he would have liked to watch until the very end. Unfortunately, he had far too much to do.
“Still, it’s strange.”
It was understandable that he could not meet Jin Sowoon because their schedules had not aligned, but he should have been able to meet Yong Soa.
Yet no matter how many times he tried, he ultimately failed to encounter Yong Soa.
“It really is strange. It’s almost as if he knew I was coming and moved accordingly.”
This little amusement had come to an end, but he hummed to himself and shook off his mild disappointment.
He had heard something else entertaining was happening in Shandong.
As he made his way toward Shandong Province, his shadow twitched in a direction opposite the sun.
-There are people seeking to obstruct the Little Demon’s path. Shall I clear the way?
A speaking shadow was astonishing, but the Little Demon simply shook his head as if it were perfectly natural.
“Leave them be. If their lives end here, they’ll walk willingly to their deaths. If not, they’ll reach the Sword Tomb.”
The writhing shadow soon settled and returned to its position in the direction of the sun.
A group approached the Great Snow Mountain with a flag raised high.
Gwak Gung stepped aside by the roadside. The man at the front carrying the flag nodded to him in thanks.
Gwak Gung’s gaze fell upon the banner in the standard-bearer’s hand.
[The Tang Clan, Greatest Under Heaven]
The moment he saw those wildly arrogant words, a smile appeared on Gwak Gung’s lips.
It was the look an adult might give while watching children play at being peerless masters.
Then an elderly man riding the most lavish white horse at the center of the group stopped before Gwak Gung.
“What are you looking at that makes you smile so?”
Gwak Gung answered Dang Suje’s question.
“Looking at the flag brought a smile to my face.”
“...”
Dang Suje looked toward the flag.
“Do you find it amusing?”
There was a faint edge to his question.
“Amusing... Hmm. I don’t think that’s it.”
“If you think you can talk your way out of this mistake with that three-inch tongue of yours, you are sorely mistaken.”
“Hehe. Is that so?”
Dang Suje felt something strange.
The man before him had a scar on his cheek.
This young man did not seem to have surpassed the Peak Realm, even by Dang Suje’s most generous estimate.
Yet there was not the slightest hint of cowardice or worry in his manner.
“Then explain it. Why did you smile?”
“I smiled because I could feel the noble spirit of a true man from it.”
“...”
“Most people I’ve seen in the Central Plains think they are the greatest, yet their words and actions pretend otherwise. What should one call such a contradiction... Hypocrisy? Empty posturing? Bluffing?”
The Tang Clan martial artists all frowned.
Gwak Gung continued without hesitation.
“I have seen so many people speak of humility while acting arrogantly. Is it not natural that seeing a bold, manly flag filled with such noble spirit would make me smile?”
Dang Suje stared down at him.
The man was saying something that should have offended him, yet Dang Suje did not feel particularly displeased.
What a strange fellow.
“Are you coming out of the Sword Tomb?”
“Yes.”
“How was it inside?”
“It was entertaining.”
“Then why did you come out? Did you not enter to find treasure?”
“The Sword Tomb had no treasure I needed, so I left.”
Dang Suje nodded.
“I see. Very well. Still, be careful from now on. You were fortunate to keep your life today, but people from other sects may not extend the same grace.”
With that, Dang Suje pulled on the reins and moved on.
Gwak Gung remained where he was for a long while, staring at the Tang Clan procession as it passed.
A mocking voice flowed into his ear as he watched them go.
-They are quite fortunate.
Gwak Gung nodded, amused.
“That’s right. They’re fortunate.”
#
“Elder, why did you let him go?”
Dang Yangseo, whose green glow was twice as vivid as that of the other Tang Clan members, drew closer to Dang Suje.
“Did you hear him?”
“Yes.”
“Wasn’t it amusing? He said he smiled because he could sense a noble spirit.”
“Hmm...”
“What is it?”
Dang Yangseo frowned slightly.
“It is nothing. That brat simply seems fortunate.”
“What?”
“If it had been me, I would have taught him a lesson so harsh he would have cried his eyes out.”
“Hahaha! Don’t do that. That young fellow must already be brimming with hope for the future.”
Dang Suje burst into laughter.
The Tang Clan procession had already reached the entrance to the Sword Tomb.
Merchants and crowds packed the area around it.
“I heard the crowds had thinned out for a while, but they’ve grown again already.”
“It seems the people dispatched after the discovery of the martial legacy have only just arrived.”
Far too many treasure maps had been released, and there had been so many strange incidents.
It was understandable that people had begun flocking here even now.
“Let us start here.”
“Yes. How should we distribute them?”
“Give Clear-Mind Spirit-Protecting Pills to those who trust the Tang Clan. There is no need to give them to those who do not.”
“Understood. Shall we distribute them to those of the Black Path as well?”
“Only to those who want them.”
“Yes.”
Tang Clan members began spreading out, while Dang Suje approached the merchant closest to the cave entrance, whose stall was also the largest.
“Welcome.”
Ju Changseo, who had been sitting, straightened up at once.
“Is business good?”
“Yes! Thanks to the Tang Clan’s grace, business has been good every day.”
“What grace? It is because you have worked hard.”
“Thank you.”
As Dang Suje casually examined the goods, he asked, “How many people are going in compared to those coming out?”
“Yes! It seems to be roughly six to four!”
“...Is that so?”
Dang Suje’s expression twitched oddly, but he quickly composed himself.
“I heard the Sword Tomb is complete hell inside. Is that not true?”
“Oh, how could that be? If it were, we would know better than anyone.”
“Hmm. I see.”
“Yes, yes. Of course.”
Dang Suje turned away.
His face had gone stiff.
“Elder, is something wrong?”
“Have they all been distributed?”
“We have first given them only to those who wanted them.”
“Good. Then we enter at once.”
“Right away?”
A low groan slipped through Dang Suje’s teeth.
“The merchant said the ratio of people going in and out is six to four.”
“That cannot be...”
According to the reports they had received, fewer than one in ten people who entered the Sword Tomb had made it back out.
“...Something unusual appears to be happening. Let us go in quickly.”
He glanced once at Ju Changseo, who was busy selling goods, then headed toward the Sword Tomb.
#
Moyong Seol was bewildered.
Setting aside the fact that an unexpected jiangshi had appeared and nearly killed her, she could not believe she had encountered Jin Sowoon here after he drove it back with golden radiance.
Dang Seohui was here as well, along with Ilgak.
It was far too absurd to call it a coincidence.
“It wasn’t a coincidence.”
Dang Seohui spoke as she treated Moyong Seol’s wounds.
“He came looking for you.”
“The Moyong Clan?”
“No, you, Moyong Seol.”
“Why?”
As far as she had heard, had Dang Seohui not come here to investigate on behalf of the Martial Alliance?
“He wanted to find you.”
Jin Sowoon, the Group Leader of Yuseong Hall, had wandered through the Sword Tomb for so long just to find her.
“But... why?”
“That... I don’t know either.”
Dang Seohui paused her hands and looked toward a man.
Jin Sowoon had just captured the Moyong Clan martial artists who had fled and subdued them.
“Open your mouths.”
“W-Wait! I, I am of the Moyong Clan...”
“A Moyong Clan martial artist abandons Moyong Seol and runs away?”
He was forcing the captured men’s mouths open and trying to make them swallow something resembling pills.
“Wait, what are you doing?”
Moyong Seol quickly rose to stop him, but Dang Seohui pressed down hard on her wound.
“Ah!”
“A patient should not move.”
“No, but those are people of my Moyong Clan...”
“It isn’t poison.”
“Huh?”
Dang Seohui held out a pill.
“You need to take one too.”
“What is it?”
“An antidote.”
“An antidote?”
Looking annoyed, Dang Seohui placed a Clear-Mind Spirit-Protecting Pill into Moyong Seol’s mouth and covered it.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
She tried to spit it out, but the pill instantly melted away in her mouth.
“Just wait a moment.”
Dang Seohui would never feed her poison, so Moyong Seol waited quietly.
Then the change began.
“!!!”
The fog clouding her mind began to clear little by little.
That was not all. The negative emotions that had been boiling within her all this time gradually faded away, and she began returning to her usual calm state.
“What is this...?”
“A poison that disrupts the mind had spread throughout the cave.”
“Did the Tang Clan identify the poison?”
Dang Seohui shook her head and pointed to one side.
“Jin Sowoon figured it out.”
#
“““W-We are sorry!!!”””
The first thing the Moyong Clan martial artists did after taking the Clear-Mind Spirit-Protecting Pills was drop to their knees.
“We have committed an unforgivable sin. This crime... This crime...”
From what I heard, they had been intoxicated by Mushim Illusion Powder and had insulted Moyong Seol, treating her shamefully.
They had even abandoned her and fled while she fought the jiangshi.
‘I can’t forgive this...’
Putting everything else aside, they had fled and left behind a direct descendant who had bought them time to form a sword formation.
It was obvious who was in the wrong. No one dared step in.
This was an internal matter of the Moyong Clan.
Moyong Seol alone had to judge them and decide their punishment.
Clang.
Moyong Seol drew her sword.
“Do you know why I am angry?”
“...”
“It is not because you abandoned me.”
Her complexion was pale, as her body had not fully recovered.
“It is because members of the Moyong Clan, who should protect one another until the very end, abandoned their comrades and fled so they alone could survive.”
Her voice turned cold.
“And you know this is a sin that can never be forgiven.”
The survivors, including the investigation team’s deputy leader, squeezed their eyes shut as if they sensed their end.
Fwoom!
Moyong Seol’s martial robes swelled as sword qi gathered around her blade.
Then...
Swish!
Her sword swung without an inch of hesitation.
Slice!
Yet instead of blood spreading with the metallic scent of fresh blood, hair scattered in every direction.
The Moyong Clan martial artists whose hair had been cut opened their eyes wide.
“I will postpone your punishment until we leave the Sword Tomb...”
“Miss!”
“I am not saying I forgive you. I am only giving you a chance. Until we leave the Sword Tomb, make up for your mistakes through your actions.”
A strange feeling rose within me as I watched her.
‘The Sword Empress... Moyong Seol.’
As I immersed myself in that moving moment, my heart started racing when Moyong Seol began walking toward me.
‘What is this?’
Her expression was stiff, and her complexion remained pale.
Her clear eyes unmistakably held anger.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
While I was having such a stupid thought, Moyong Seol had already reached me.
“Young Master Jin.”
“Ah, y-yes.”
“May I ask you to take charge of the Moyong Clan?”
I had come here intending to do exactly that, so why was she asking this now?
Moyong Seol glanced toward her clan members.
“I would like to remain with you until we leave the Sword Tomb.”
“...”
“...”
Several Moyong Clan members looked surprised, but Moyong Seol did not waver.
I understood her intention and nodded.
“Of course. But I will hold all decision-making authority.”
“Yes. Please.”
Just as we were about to set out again...
“And this.”
“What is it?”
“The Black King’s martial legacy... that we obtained.”
“The Black King’s martial legacy...?”
The manuals she handed me were two books.
[Twelve Tyrant King Hands] and [Tyrant King Divine Fist].
“If you only wish to keep them safe, Miss Moyong can retain them.”
“No. I have wanted to get rid of this for some time.”
“Why?”
“I believe someone has been continuously tracking these manuals.”
I began storing each page of the Twelve Tyrant King Hands in my mind.
There was no time to read or understand them.
I only had to place them in my memory as they were.
After imprinting both manuals in my mind in a short time, I held up the stack of paper and asked Moyong Seol, “Are you sure you do not mind whatever I do with them?”
She nodded without the slightest hesitation.
“Of course.”
“Understood.”
I immediately used the Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand and began burning the manuals.
“!!!”
When about two-thirds had burned, I extinguished the flames and brushed away the ashes.
Once I finished and turned around, not only Moyong Seol but even the Moyong Clan martial artists kneeling in reflection were staring with their mouths wide open.
“Um... Didn’t you say I could do whatever I wanted?”
“No, that is true, but...”
Dang Seohui casually added, “Why are you so surprised? This isn’t the first time.”
Still, for some reason...
“Jin Sowoon is simply being Jin Sowoon.”
Was it only my imagination that she sounded as if she were blaming me?
#
We immediately checked our equipment, completed brief qi-regulating breathing, and began moving.
I did not force Yuseong Hall and the Moyong Clan together.
There was no point mixing people who had never worked together. It would only make them get in each other’s way.
Do Gwangsu led the way.
“Group Leader Jin, what do you intend to do?”
“First, we need to get out.”
Ilgak’s expression darkened.
“Are you worried about the others?”
“The Moyong Clan members could not remain in their right minds and behaved like entirely different people. It will be worse for others.”
“That is true.”
I wanted to stay here and kill more of those Demonic Cult bastards too, but now that I knew there were Soul-Returning Iron Zombies, remaining in the Sword Tomb longer could put the others in danger.
Besides, our supply of Clear-Mind Spirit-Protecting Pills was beginning to run low.
“Let’s get out first. We need Clear-Mind Spirit-Protecting Pills before we can wake the people affected by the poison.”
That had been the plan from the beginning.
“Understood.”
I patted Do Gwangsu on the shoulder.
“You’ve done well so far. Just keep it up. Understand?”
“Eek! Y-Yes, I understand.”
Why was this guy suddenly so stiff?
We began running without rest.
We encountered several crazed groups and wary groups, but avoided fights and ran as fast as possible.
Thankfully, no one followed us in pursuit of the Black King’s martial legacy.
We were able to keep running without slowing down.
“Huff!”
Do Gwangsu stopped again before a blocked wall.
“What? Did you take another wrong turn?”
At Nam Hwaseong’s words, Do Gwangsu frantically waved his hands.
“No. This is definitely, definitely the path we came through.”
“...”
Do Gwangsu was right.
This was the path we had taken after going around the dead end to find the Moyong Clan.
‘Have the mechanisms begun moving in earnest?’
Considering it had taken us less than half a day to return here, the change had been unbelievably rapid.
That was not the only problem.
Bzzzt.
A vibration rang out.
“...?!”
The Red Phoenix Bangle around my wrist.
It...
Bzzzt.
It continued giving off a powerful, intense vibration unlike anything it had ever shown before.
I looked around.
“...”
Not even an ant moved along the path behind us.
‘Where the hell is it?’
But...
Bzzzt.
As if warning me...
Bzzzt.
The Red Phoenix Bangle did not stop vibrating.
Footnotes:
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