WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 55: The First-Rate Martial Artist Who Amazed the Divine Sword (3)
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The aftermath of the battle was dealt with swiftly.
Despite grieving for their fallen comrades, they showed no sign of wavering. Watching them, I found myself quietly impressed.
‘This must be what distinguishes a prestigious clan from the rest.’
The procession resumed its journey toward the Namgung Clan, but the atmosphere among the three of us at the front had changed greatly from when we entered Goueom Mountain.
Namgung San and Namgung Seonhwa were weighed down by a heavy burden. Since I knew exactly where it came from, I kept quiet and went along with the mood.
“Hm? What brings Father out here?”
As we reached the Namgung Clan, Namgung Jinmyeong was waiting outside with the clan's martial artists.
The people lined up to visit the Namgung Clan all looked curious about whom the Young Clan Head had come out to meet.
“What? The Clan Head personally came out to receive someone?”
“I think it's Young Master San and Lady Seonhwa.”
“Look closely. The Young Clan Head is heading toward someone else.”
At that moment, Namgung Jinmyeong spotted me and raised a hand high.
“You're finally here! Come in, quickly!”
He had obviously heard what happened at Goueom Mountain, yet he gave no sign of it. Laughing heartily, he slapped my back.
“Do you know how anxiously I've been waiting since I heard you had set out?”
“I'm sorry for arriving late.”
“No, no! I should blame those useless brats for failing to provide you with a comfortable journey.”
Namgung Jinmyeong glared at Namgung San.
“I heard what happened. If it hadn't been for Young Master Jin, you would have faced grave danger, is that right?”
“I'm sorry.”
“Tsk!”
I had to hide my surprise at Namgung Jinmyeong's attitude.
There were dozens of people nearby, all waiting to enter the Namgung Clan.
Yet he was openly scolding his son in front of them.
“Come, let's go inside. And I'm truly sorry, but we need to hold a meeting within the clan. Could you wait in the guest residence for a while?”
I knew they had much to discuss after the incident at Goueom Mountain, so I nodded.
“Take your time. I need to unpack as well.”
#
After parting with Namgung San's group, I followed an attendant toward the guest residence.
Along the way, I saw five training grounds, each three times the size of the ones at the Taeul Sect. Countless martial artists stood packed together across them, training in martial arts.
“Hah!”
When they all thrust out their fists and shouted at once, the air burst apart. The entire training ground seemed to tremble.
It was only a single move, but it was enough to show the Namgung Clan's strength.
They truly were a great clan capable of influencing the entire martial world.
And in a clan like this, the struggle against internal enemies was often fiercer than the struggle against outside ones.
‘If someone could possess a clan like this, anyone would be tempted by it.’
Every martial sect faced problems similar to the Namgung Clan's. The Namgung Clan was simply embroiled in particularly fierce internal strife sooner than the others.
“This is the place.”
The residence the attendant showed me was a small pavilion with a quiet atmosphere and a modest pond beside it.
Though it was small, it did not feel shabby. Its age and elegance gave it an unusual air.
Its scale might not have been grand, but a private pavilion was still a private pavilion.
Countless martial artists wandering the martial world claimed they would have no greater wish than being assigned a private pavilion when visiting the Namgung Clan.
Receiving one meant the Namgung Clan regarded you as an honored guest.
‘At this rate, I'm being treated well enough to make anyone jealous.’
The moment I entered the pavilion, attendants suddenly rushed in.
Without warning, they grabbed my hands and feet, trying to drag me somewhere.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“You must bathe before meeting the Clan Head this evening.”
I lightly used Lotus and gently freed my limbs from their grasp.
The attendants looked startled as their hands slipped away as though they had been coated in oil.
“I can bathe by myself!”
I had already endured every humiliation available at the Cheongmyeong Escort Agency. There was no way I could repeat the same humiliation twice.
“...”
The attendants exchanged glances and began creeping closer again.
“Ahem! Stop! If you come any closer, I won't bathe at all.”
“...Understood. We will show you the way.”
Crossing the pond and entering through a door on one side of the pavilion, I found a bathing tub giving off clouds of hot steam.
When I looked at the attendants who still had not left, they simply stood there, staring at one another.
“We will assist you with your bath.”
“I'm not a child. I can manage it alone.”
“But...”
“I made myself clear. If you want me to stand before the Clan Head filthy and reeking, then stay.”
“Understood. Please call whenever you need anything.”
The attendants lined up the bathing supplies to one side before leaving. As I undressed, I shook my head.
“Do I look like I have no hands and feet, or do they have no sense of shame?”
I soaked in the large tub and washed away all the dust and blood that had covered me during the battle.
Once I finished bathing, an outfit of black silk embroidered with silver thread had been prepared.
“Because of that damned Black Flame Dragon epithet, it looks like I'll be wearing black every time.”
Still, it was not bad.
Black martial attire did not show stains easily, and even being drenched in blood did not feel too unpleasant.
The subtle silver patterns also made me look like someone rather extraordinary.
The moment I looked over my outfit in the mirror, the door swung open and the attendants rushed inside.
“I... I clearly said...”
“We will help you with the next step.”
Then they grabbed my hair, combed it, and even applied face powder.
This time, resisting was useless.
“Do not lie down, or your powder and hair oil will be ruined.”
“...I'll sit.”
“If you sit, your clothes will wrinkle.”
“...You're not telling me to stand, are you?”
“...”
“...You're not telling me to stand, are you?”
The attendant did not answer, even after I repeated myself.
“...”
Who was the bastard who said they would have no greater wish than receiving an invitation from one of the Five Great Clans?
#
With no choice but to remain standing, I was looking at the pond outside the guest pavilion.
As I watched the koi swimming freely and wondered how much they might be worth, an attendant hurried over and offered me tea.
Thinking it had simply been prepared for me, I took a sip. The flavor was extraordinary.
“This tea... is excellent.”
“It is Junshan Silver Needle, the tea most favored by the Clan Head.”
“Pfft!”
Startled, I spat out the tea in my mouth.
My first thought was that it was a waste to spill such expensive Junshan Silver Needle. Even with banknotes worth tens of thousands of nyang in my possession, the habits of poverty ingrained in me did not seem likely to disappear easily.
“J-Junshan... Silver Needle?”
It was a precious tea renowned since the Tang Dynasty, and during the Qing Dynasty, the imperial family had held exclusive rights to it. That monopoly had since ended, but it was still not a tea just anyone could drink.
Junshan Silver Needle was a tea so precious that even its weight in gold could not buy it, the very height of luxury.
“...Does the Namgung Clan serve tea like this to guests?”
“No. It is served only to guests staying in the Emperor's Pavilion.”
“...This is the Emperor's Pavilion?”
The Namgung Clan's Emperor's Pavilion was where their founding ancestor had first established the clan and lived.
The clan had expanded greatly since then, and the Clan Head now used a separate pavilion. Still, the Namgung Clan had named the former Clan Head's residence the Emperor's Pavilion and reserved it for only their most honored guests.
Among the renowned elders of the martial world, receiving the Emperor's Pavilion during a stay with the Namgung Clan had become a way to measure one's worth.
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly without realizing it.
“It had remained empty until Young Master arrived. Ah, the Martial Alliance's Grand Strategist visited recently as well.”
“...”
The place I had found small and pleasantly quiet suddenly felt stifling.
‘...Still, perhaps this is fortunate.’
There were far too many troubling matters involving the Namgung Clan.
There was Namgung San's Great Lotus Divine Pellet, the Seven-Colored Jewel, and the matter of cleaning up the Hundred-Feather Fire Tube used at Goueom Mountain.
If they were showing me this much consideration, enough to give me the Emperor's Pavilion, perhaps I could relax a little.
“Isn't that the scent of Junshan Silver Needle? Why would they serve something like that to someone who cannot even appreciate its taste?”
At that moment, someone entered the Emperor's Pavilion while grumbling.
“Who are you?”
The young man was of average height, with narrow, weasel-like eyes, a face covered in pockmarks, and darkened skin, perhaps from too much sun. Without answering me, he glared at the attendant.
“Are you trying to bankrupt the Namgung Clan? Is it fine to spend recklessly just because it is not your money?”
“...That isn't it. The Clan Head instructed us not to neglect our hospitality...”
“Even so, how could you bring out Junshan Silver Needle? Someone like him would have been overwhelmed with gratitude even if you served Biluochun.”
I was irritated, but I somewhat agreed with what he said.
‘Still, he was just as arrogant in his youth.’
It was not a face I was happy to see, so I watched his behavior with a blank expression.
“...I-I apologize.”
When the attendant finally lowered their head with tears in their eyes, the weasel-faced man nodded in satisfaction.
“Always think before you act. It is collateral relatives like us who earn this money through blood and sweat.”
“...Yes.”
Having said that, the weasel-faced man perched himself on the table and held out his teacup to the attendant.
The attendant filled his cup with Junshan Silver Needle.
“Jin Sowoon, is it?”
“That is correct.”
“...Hmph. ‘That is correct’? You have no manners.”
His intention was obvious.
He wanted to provoke me and create an incident.
Otherwise, even a collateral relative could not act like this before a guest assigned to the Emperor's Pavilion.
‘It must be because of Goueom Mountain.’
The Namgung Clan would soon investigate the matter deeply.
The collateral line could not allow the direct line to move before the collateral line erased its own traces.
A guest like me, someone the direct line valued, had conveniently arrived. His purpose in drawing attention elsewhere was painfully obvious.
‘They think a sect like the Taeul Sect can easily be silenced by someone from their collateral line.’
This was not the first time I had been treated as something disposable. Still, the fact that it felt newly unpleasant every time made me think I would never grow used to such treatment until the day I died.
“I was never taught what courtesy I should show someone who has not even introduced himself.”
“You do not know who I am?”
I knew him from the future.
At present, he was not as famous as Namgung San.
Of course, he himself believed he was every bit as renowned.
“Must I know you?”
“Hah! Unbelievable.”
He was two years older than Namgung Seonhwa. He believed he had been born with talent equal to Namgung San's, but that the direct line had stolen countless things from him simply because he belonged to the collateral line.
“Well, it may be too far beyond the grasp of a disciple from a sect at the bottom of the One Hundred Eight Peaks.”
His desire for recognition was equally enormous. Considering the money he spent at the Martial Alliance in my previous life, it rivaled the annual operating expenses of a decent martial sect.
“I suppose our sect may be humble, but even my youngest martial brother knows the name of Senior Namgung San, the Azure Dragon Sword.”
And what he hated most was being compared to Namgung San.
“What did you just say?”
“You're speaking as though I am the one provoking you. Is it so difficult to state your name? Or is it a name you are ashamed of?”
His lips trembled as he ground out his words.
“Have you never heard the epithet Carefree Sword?”
“Ah...”
When I let out a quiet exclamation, he immediately looked pleased with himself.
He was a remarkably easy man to read.
If I provoked him one more time, the trouble he wanted would likely break out.
‘Should I endure it? Or not?’
I did not care whether the direct and collateral lines of the Namgung Clan fought each other. But I had nearly been placed in danger because of the consequences.
They owed me a debt.
“I have never heard of it. Was there really such a childish epithet?”
“You little bastard!”
The weasel-faced man put down his teacup and brought his palms together, gathering his internal energy.
Then he unleashed the Heavenly Wind Palm Force that Namgung San had displayed at Goueom Mountain.
“Kyaaah!”
The attendant caught in the palm force fell, spilling Junshan Silver Needle across the floor.
What a waste.
Wanting to avoid damaging the Emperor's Pavilion, I used Lotus and redirected his palm force into the air.
Bang! Bang!
With bursts of air, the palm force scattered apart.
As I stared blankly at the sight, I said, “Since your epithet has ‘sword’ in it, I suppose there is nothing remarkable about you besides swordsmanship.”
“You little bastard!”
Unable to endure it any longer, the weasel-faced man drew his sword.
He immediately unleashed the Changgung Unhindered Sword Art.
His talent might not have been comparable to Namgung San's, but the level of his sword art was considerable.
But the Shattering Form that countered the Changgung Unhindered Sword Art had already been perfected in the future.
Unlike when I had faced Namgung San, I drew the Black Dragon Sword and unleashed the countering Shattering Form in a single move.
Now that I possessed one hundred and twenty years of internal energy rather than a weak amount, its pulling force was incomparably greater. The weasel-faced man struggled to resist, but his sword eventually flew into my hand.
“H-How?!”
I hooked his foot, spun him around, and sent him crashing to the ground.
Thud.
“Ghk.”
Then I stepped on his neck and restrained him.
“What is going on here?”
Hearing the commotion, Namgung Jinmyeong, Namgung San, and Namgung Seonhwa rushed over. They were shocked by the scene before them.
“What in the world...”
I shamelessly replied, “Someone whose identity was unknown entered and caused a disturbance, so I subdued him.”
“What?”
“I asked him repeatedly to identify himself, but he would not answer. Suspecting he might be connected to Goueom Mountain, I captured him.”
“...”
The weasel-faced man flushed red, apparently humiliated by being restrained.
Then a middle-aged man with a long beard appeared behind Namgung Jinmyeong.
“That child is my son.”
Namgung Jinmyeong, San, and Seonhwa turned around.
The man looked slightly older than Namgung Jinmyeong. He had a large build, and his face was filled with stubbornness.
“How dare you oppress a child of the Namgung Clan in this place?”
Flustered, Namgung Jinmyeong said, “Brother, I believe there has been a misunderstanding.”
“A misunderstanding? If someone entered the Namgung Clan, you should have naturally assumed they belonged to the Namgung Clan and acted with caution. What is the meaning of this sight?”
“...”
Only then did I slowly remove my foot and speak.
“So he was a young master of the Namgung Clan. Had he said so from the beginning, I would have been more careful.”
The weasel-faced man shouted furiously, “Did I not tell you? I said I was the Carefree Sword!”
“Why go around announcing an epithet nobody recognizes? This would not have happened if you had simply mentioned the Namgung surname. Besides, his martial arts were too insignificant for someone from the Namgung Clan.”
“...”
Unable to refute me, the weasel-faced man trembled.
I quickly turned and cupped my hands toward Namgung Songju, the weasel-faced man's father.
“I apologize. Had I known he was a child of the Namgung Clan, I would never have dared act this way. Please forgive me. Still, it is not my fault that your son attacked first and was subdued, is it?”
“He was not ambushed... He attacked first?”
At the words that his son had attacked first, Namgung Songju trembled as he glared at his child.
Soon, that blazing gaze turned toward me.
I cupped my hands with a friendly smile.
‘It seems you had not planned for your son to be an idiot.’
Footnotes:
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