WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 532: King of the Sword Tomb (2)
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Watching Jin Sowoon’s absurd proposal to ally with the Black Path somehow gain acceptance, the people began to grow restless.
Now that such a major decision had been made, refusing to choose would only be shirking responsibility.
Whether they liked it or not, they had to choose.
They could follow Jin Sowoon, ally with the Black Path, and leave this place.
Or they could remain here and wait for rescuers who might never come.
Calling it a choice between two options was not quite right.
Hunger had already tipped the scales to one side.
Until moments ago, people had been wondering who still had the most food in their pockets. Now, they quickly began searching for the strongest people nearby.
Finding enough food to endure here was no longer what mattered.
Finding someone strong.
That had become the most important thing.
“Master Old Sea One Dragon, right? I don’t know if you remember, but I heard you shared drinks with my father in Anyang twenty years ago. Would you consider that connection and join us?”
“I am the Investigation Unit Leader of Ilju Sect. Our entire unit consists of first-rate martial artists, including three Peak Realm masters.”
“I’m the eldest son of the Xinmil Sect of Henan Province! Whoever lets me join their group will receive a reward worthy of my family once we get out!”
As their voices rose, the surroundings quickly became like a bustling marketplace.
Dang Suje chuckled at the sight.
“He changed the atmosphere in an instant.”
Just moments ago, they had been fighting as though they wanted to devour one another. Now, they were looking for people to join.
Some readily offered food they had hidden away so no one could take it. Others tended wounds and treated the injured.
They had resigned themselves to death, wondering who would endure the longest before dying.
Now, they openly longed to survive.
‘The one who changed the atmosphere was...’
His gaze turned to Jin Sowoon, who was returning after winning over the Black Path camp.
Even after witnessing the entire process, he could hardly believe it.
Jin Sowoon had calmed the people’s anger and given them hope instead of despair.
He had even settled the alliance with the Black Path at once, something that might have dragged on endlessly.
Nothing about the process had been conventional, and there was no guarantee that the Black Path would not betray them.
Nothing had been certain.
‘At least...’
One thing was certain.
In a situation as desperate as this, no better change could have been brought about.
Even if Dang Suje himself had stepped forward.
No, even if Cheonsim Seonsa, admired by everyone as he stood there blankly watching Jin Sowoon, had stepped forward.
“Come on, we need to get moving.”
Neither of them could have done better than that man.
“...Can we really consider him a Dragon?”
Cheonsim Seonsa nodded at Dang Suje’s quiet murmur.
“He is certainly different from the other Dragons and Phoenixes. Now I understand why Ilgak follows Benefactor Jin.”
Dang Suje flinched but did not show it.
A monk who had mastered the Muscle-Tendon Change Classic following someone meant that person possessed the qualities of a prophet.
Dang Suje was about to ask more, but he closed his mouth.
Come to think of it, this was nothing unusual for someone from the Tang Clan.
Having people follow them was only natural for a person of the Tang Clan.
A satisfied smile unconsciously formed on Dang Suje’s face.
“People are starting to gather.”
Jin Sowoon had clearly changed the atmosphere and made the decision, but people’s gazes turned toward them.
There was only one thing Jin Sowoon did not yet possess.
Authority born from age, experience, and background.
Still, Dang Suje was not worried.
With that level of talent and ability, the boy would have no choice but to earn recognition before long.
“Let us go as well. We are not yet old enough to be treated as irrelevant old men, are we?”
#
“Hall Master Jin, how are you going to set up the formation?”
Questions poured in from all sides.
“Young Hero Jin, do you really intend to ally with the Black Path?”
There were countless requests for handshakes as well.
I answered them quickly as I kept moving.
Ziiing.
The Red Phoenix Bangle continued to vibrate.
People hurried about.
“Brother Jang! Let’s go together!”
Those with acquaintances gathered together.
“Master Cheong Unja, may I join you?”
“Of course.”
Others approached the strong first and fell in behind them.
Strangely enough, though plenty of people asked me questions, not one suggested joining me.
‘What is this?’
Quite a few people kept their distance from me and whispered among themselves.
When I sharpened my hearing and listened in on their conversations...
“They say Gongsun Pung will definitely betray him.”
“I heard he said he’d cut off his head before they even got out of here.”
“Forget everyone else, but don’t follow Jin Sowoon. The most vicious Black Path martial artists will gather around him.”
That Black Path-style show of camaraderie with Gongsun Pung was spawning all sorts of false rumors.
‘Damn it.’
I considered grabbing them and telling them the truth, but gave up.
It would be far more beneficial to spend that time recruiting even one more person.
If the Tang Clan led by Dang Suje, Shaolin Sect centered around Cheonsim Seonsa, and Ilju Sect’s investigation team, which currently possessed the most masters among the White Path, became one group, there would be no place for me.
Some might say it did not matter who led them.
“Who are we going with?”
“Jin Sowoon, if we’re going anyway, let’s go with Cheonsim Seonsa. Wouldn’t it be best to join the side with the power of demon subjugation?”
I had no intention of being dragged around and taking risks.
If I had to take risks, I wanted them to be risks I had chosen myself.
To do that, I needed command.
At least enough to absorb a group like Ilju Sect, even if I could not overcome Cheonsim Seonsa or Dang Suje.
‘Who should I bring in first?’
As I looked over the crowd...
“Senior Brother, over there...”
I spotted someone where Geumpyo pointed.
A man stood there blankly alongside the abandoned members of the Martial Group.
Among people who could neither join the White Path nor the Black Path, he looked even more miserable.
I walked straight up to him.
“Deputy Group Leader.”
The man flinched when he saw me.
“Join us.”
The abandoned Martial Group members looked between me and the Moyong Clan’s Deputy Group Leader with hopeful eyes.
“...”
“Or do you intend to die here?”
“You... have no business interfering.”
“Do you resent me?”
The deaths of the Moyong Clan warriors weighed on me.
I thought I was no different from the people I had despised in my previous life.
Even so, it did not matter.
I was certain that, even if I returned to that moment, I would make the same choice.
“Then get out alive and take your revenge. Whether I die here or you die here, Deputy Group Leader, neither death benefits anyone.”
I had expected Shaolin Sect and the Moyong Clan to suffer heavy losses, but I had also done everything I could to save them.
If struggling to protect my people by sacrificing others meant being cursed and earning resentment, then I would accept every curse and grudge.
It did not matter if I went to hell.
Without that resolve, I had never intended to chew up the Martial Group bastards and the rotten scum of the White Path.
“...”
The Deputy Group Leader’s eyes shook violently.
Was it anger?
“I... do not resent you.”
For some reason, he addressed me formally.
“Because I would likely have thought the same way.”
He could not have been more honest.
“Even so, I could not accept it. I caused a scene and stormed off on my own, only to be deceived like this... That is what shames me.”
“...”
“You are the superior I have wanted to follow most.”
I held out my hand.
“Then join me.”
“My injuries are worse than they were before.”
“No one here is in better condition than they were before entering this place.”
He looked at my hand, then finally took it.
At the same time, the abandoned Martial Group members, who had not been able to join anyone, began following us in a line.
“May we come too?”
“Of course.”
The Martial Group bastards had taught me something.
They and I were different.
At the very least, I put my own life on the line before those I might have to sacrifice.
I had brought in the abandoned Martial Group members, but they were still nowhere near Ilju Sect’s numbers.
I was about to move quickly to gather more people.
“Wait, Black Flame Dragon.”
A famous external martial arts master known as the Iron Pagoda Divine Fist stopped me.
“You said you were going to lead people, didn’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Then I’ll join you too.”
What?
“Why?”
“I can’t stand seeing some White Path whelp get ahead of me.”
“You’re going to let pride rule you in a situation like this?”
Even the Black Path martial artists clicked their tongues as though they could not understand him.
“What remains for a martial artist after throwing away their pride?”
That was true enough.
“Fine. But I won’t care if you die.”
He gave a short laugh at my words.
“Don’t worry. I won’t die before you do.”
That gave me an external martial arts master who could take blows alongside us.
At this rate, gathering people would also...
“It looks like Jin Sowoon intends to gather every Black Path martial artist.”
“So the rumors that he is Black Path at heart were true.”
“He even took in those traitors. As long as we avoid him, we’ll be fine.”
Why did this keep happening?
I looked around, trying to gather more people, but they avoided me as though I were some poisonous mushroom.
“Tch!”
The people around me ebbed away and gathered in two places.
The Tang Clan and Shaolin Sect.
Now that the Martial Group had left, those two were practically the pillars of the White Path. It was only natural.
I had hoped to gather more people than Ilju Sect, at the very least.
“Elder Cheong Unja, how about joining us?”
“I have worked with Ilju Sect many times. Very well.”
With Cheong Unja’s agreement, those who had been moving with them joined Ilju Sect, and their numbers swelled in an instant.
They had already filled half their ranks.
‘This won’t do.’
I had not even gathered a hundred people yet, and I was growing increasingly anxious.
“Elder Poison Saint, please lead us!”
“I have always admired the Tang Clan!”
Nearly three hundred people had gathered around the Tang Clan.
Their gazes were fixed on Dang Suje, but they kept glancing at the middle-aged man standing beside him as well.
With the poison practitioner called the Tang Clan’s strongest living weapon joining them, they believed even the Demonic Cult would not be frightening.
Even more people had gathered around Shaolin Sect.
“Seonsa! Please do not abandon us!”
“Seonsa! I do not want to die here!”
The people clung to Cheonsim Seonsa more desperately than anyone.
‘...What should I do?’
I could not see any way to surpass Ilju Sect.
As I considered whether to choose Shaolin Sect or the Tang Clan, my eyes met Cheonsim Seonsa’s.
Then unexpected words came from his mouth.
“I am sorry, but... I have no intention of leading anyone.”
“Seonsa, what do you mean? Is it because we are not disciples of the Buddhist faith?”
“That is not it.”
Cheonsim Seonsa’s eyes returned to me.
‘What?’
“After entering this place, this humble monk suffered qi deviation once. Due to the effects of a great art, I lost half my internal energy.”
‘Fuck.’
My heart sank.
“You lost internal energy...? What kind of art in this world takes away someone’s internal energy?”
“This humble monk does not know.”
“Then...”
“This humble monk has also found someone to rely on, so all of you should quickly find someone else.”
Cheonsim Seonsa’s words shocked everyone even further.
Even if his internal energy had been cut in half, Cheonsim Seonsa was still Cheonsim Seonsa.
They could not leave, wondering who he intended to take orders from.
Then Cheonsim Seonsa walked straight toward me.
Step. Step.
“Benefactor Jin.”
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
At the sound of his calm voice calling to me, my heart pounded more violently than ever.
“May this humble monk and Shaolin Sect rely on Benefactor Jin?”
His face was full of kindness.
But...
How much did he know?
I had no way of knowing what thoughts lay behind that gentle face.
Perhaps he only intended to join me for now for the sake of Evil-Extinguishing.
The best method would be to use the confusion to eliminate me.
If so, I had to avoid joining him at all costs.
‘Did I have any other choice?’
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart still thundered, but I nodded as though nothing was wrong.
“I’ll do my best.”
There were no choices left for me to make.
#
After Shaolin Sect joined us, things began to go smoothly.
Before I could even take a step, people came to me first and asked to join.
Before long, our numbers had far surpassed Ilju Sect’s.
It was not my strength alone, of course, but it was still encouraging.
Some people decided they could not join us because the proportion of Black Path masters was absurdly high, and went to Ilju Sect or the Tang Clan instead. Even so, the three groups ended up divided fairly evenly.
Ziiing.
The Red Phoenix Bangle’s vibrations grew slightly faster.
“White Path bastards, are you all ready?”
The Black Path side had also divided its people into three groups.
As expected, Gongsun Pung joined my group. The other two groups each joined the Tang Clan and Ilju Sect.
They had divided into three groups, but black and white still did not mix easily.
They divided the injured equally among themselves.
That was why they had formed the alliance in the first place.
The Investigation Unit Leader of Ilju Sect brought out three cords.
One, two, and three had been written in blood on their ends.
“It should not matter anyway, but there is still the matter of how one feels, is there not?”
Dang Suje burst out laughing at the Investigation Unit Leader’s words.
“It is amusing that this Poison Saint’s life rests on nothing more than drawing lots.”
Dang Suje joked as he gave one cord a sharp pull.
It bore the number one.
‘Damn it.’
The Investigation Unit Leader had said it did not matter, but I thought otherwise.
The worst number was two.
One and three were similar.
It was a matter of probability.
If we took the main road marked one or three, we only had to avoid the Black King’s Wraith following us directly.
Though each main road connected to the others, traveling between them took a long time.
In other words, if the Black King’s Wraith first appeared on the road marked one, it would have to pass through two to reach three.
If I used every ounce of luck for the rest of my life, I might not encounter the Black King’s Wraith at all before leaving the Sword Tomb.
But the road marked two.
In other words, the central road.
No matter whether it appeared on one or three, we would definitely be attacked second.
Of course, if it appeared on road two from the start, probability would not matter at all. Still, was it not human instinct to choose the path with a higher chance of survival?
“Would you like to draw first?”
I was always unlucky with things like this, so I nearly called Do Gwangsu over.
Then I stopped.
If I delayed over something like this after finally becoming the representative, I would only embarrass myself.
“Go on. Draw.”
I grabbed a cord and pulled without hesitation.
“...!”
“Hmm, I got three.”
The Investigation Unit Leader tucked the cord into their robes.
“I hope we meet safely outside.”
The Investigation Unit Leader left first.
“Are you all right? You do not look well.”
“Of course I am. I am perfectly fine.”
“Good. Do not push yourself too hard.”
“...Thank you.”
Dang Suje left.
Dang Seohui waved to her great-granduncle, then saw the number written on my cord and furrowed her brow.
“You really have no luck.”
“...What are you talking about? I think this turned out well. They say a gentleman walks the great road. A true man does not take detours.”
“Are you stupid? This is a matter of probability. If you draw one or three, there is a greater chance that you will not meet the Black King’s Wraith.”
Tch.
“...Deputy Hall Master. Candied fruit is forbidden until the next battle.”
“Eek! Why? That is unfair!”
This was why I disliked smart little brats.
Footnotes:
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