WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 580: In the Line of Fire (2)
──────
Yong Soa opened his eyes.
Why had memories of the past suddenly surfaced?
His Dragon Eye was always fixed on the future.
That was why he never looked back on the past.
The past was already gone. It could not serve as a clue to changing the future.
Yet lately, memories of the past had often come to him.
And whenever he recalled them, he realized one thing.
The Dragon Eye was not on his side.
It showed Yong Soa the future, but that future never unfolded solely as he wished.
Even when he wanted something, it did not change the future in that direction.
‘Does it matter?’
The thoughts that had nearly sunk into sentimentality turned cold and clear again through clear mirror and still water.
Since when had he ever assigned emotions to an object?
The only thing that mattered was moving toward the future he had seen.
“Yong Soa, ride this.”
“A horse?”
“The Chungho Stronghold Leader said they borrowed them. I wonder if Chungho Stronghold has just lost a year’s budget. Hahaha.”
Yong Soa’s group passed through Hebi and headed toward Anyang.
It was exceedingly unnatural for them to suddenly move in this direction near the end of the war.
Still, everyone was so pleased to have escaped the terrible conditions at the Northern Forest Alliance lodgings that no one voiced any doubts.
“They must be planning a surprise attack. They said the war would end as long as they caught Bang Duchil, the Southern Forest Alliance Leader.”
“Hwa Jeongsan, Moyong Seol, and Dang Seohui are over there.”
“Look how many of us there are. And Yong Soa is here too.”
The Orthodox Society members, who complained even when staying at luxurious inns, were greatly satisfied with the cheap inn’s facilities.
On top of that, the Chungho Stronghold Leader and the Green Forest bandits paid every expense and even attended to their minor needs. It was no different from living more luxuriously than anyone else in this operation.
The group traveling from Anyang toward Guangping soon turned toward Shandong Province, left the main road, and entered a mountain path.
After following the path for some time, a few Orthodox Society members began to sense something strange.
“...This road is strange.”
“You’re right. If we go this way, it only leads to Despair Valley.”
“Chungho Stronghold Leader, why are we taking this road?”
The Chungho Stronghold Leader, who had been at the front, hurried over and explained.
“If we cross through Despair Valley, we will reach Damseong. Then, after passing through Geoya, we can arrive directly at the Southern Forest Alliance’s main headquarters.”
“I’ve never heard of such a route.”
“It is a path known only among bandits. There is nothing to worry about.”
The Chungho Stronghold Leader smiled in the least trustworthy way possible, and the Orthodox Society members trusted him even less.
Everyone turned to look at the person with the final say.
“...”
Yong Soa, who had already seen this future the night before, silently nodded.
This was also one of the routes by which the Martial Alliance could reach the Northern Sea.
And they did not hear the Chungho Stronghold Leader’s sigh of relief.
#
Moyong Jaehwa was in an extremely, extremely bad mood.
The Southern Forest Alliance had ultimately defeated the Northern Forest Alliance, no Demonic Cult members had appeared, and there had been no confrontation with the Orthodox Society.
Even so, he was in an extremely bad mood.
“Brother Jaehwa, try this. It’s good.”
Dongryong had even brought him the infused liquor the Northern Forest Alliance had secretly hidden away.
Before him was pork the Green Forest bandits had grilled with great care.
Yet despite all that, he could not have felt more uncomfortable.
‘What on earth is wrong with her?’
There was only one reason.
His older sister, Moyong Seol.
It was not because countless men had begun eyeing his sister after the fierce war ended and tensions eased.
She was his sister, but ever since she was young, her beauty had been the object of every man’s admiration.
Even handsome young masters from good families became foolish idiots after seeing Moyong Seol just once.
For Green Forest bandits who had spent their whole lives seeing only rough men in the mountains, her appearance must have been even more shocking.
They had likely never felt their hearts struck so hard in their lives.
“Um... Lady Moyong, if you don’t mind, may I ask whether you would like to try this liquor?”
“P-p-p-perhaps th-th-th-that f-f-f-fox fur scarf, d-d-d-do you l-l-l-like it?”
“Lady Moyong, could you step on me(?) just once...?”
Most brothers would have found it deeply unpleasant and worrying to see Green Forest bandits and thugs flirting with their sister, but Moyong Jaehwa had no such concerns.
Her martial skill had surpassed his long ago.
Moyong Seol had also been exposed to an immeasurable amount of flirting throughout her life, so their behavior did not faze her in the slightest.
“No. Don’t ask. I want to drink in peace.”
“The fox is... pitiful.”
“I cannot step on you, but I can cut off your head.”
Her words were so cold and sharp that people called her the Cold Jade Iron Sword. Sometimes, Jaehwa wondered whether she would ever be able to marry.
That was why he felt so uncomfortable with the current situation.
“...”
“Young Master Jin!”
Before the children of countless high-ranking officials, handsome men from influential families, and even the most gifted disciples of enormous sects...
She showed a smile he had never seen before.
“Over here!”
His sister had always been strict with him and never shown an opening, to the point that he had wondered whether she was truly a young lady at all.
“Come this way, this way!”
It was still hard to get used to seeing her smile as brightly as a blooming flower, so unlike the wooden doll she had been in the past.
For some reason, the faint powder on her face, even though the war had only just ended, made him feel even more uncomfortable.
“Is everyone here?”
“Yes. Please join us too, Young Master.”
Jin Sowoon accepted the drink Moyong Seol poured for him.
He seemed not to notice the hundreds of Green Forest bandits glaring at him murderously from behind.
“Hmm... Not bad.”
“Would you like another cup?”
“No. I have something to discuss with Brother Bang, so I’ll go first.”
“Ah... Yes...”
“Then please rest comfortably.”
Moyong Seol watched Jin Sowoon’s retreating back with a wistful expression.
‘What... is this, really?’
The Green Forest bandits, who had clearly seen the entire scene, suddenly began pounding their chests and tearing at their hair.
“...”
Seeing this side of his sister again and again made Moyong Jaehwa cringe all over.
“Elder Sister, did something happen?”
“What?”
She did not even soften her cold expression toward her own younger brother, which made him feel wronged.
“What is with that face...?”
“What?”
“...”
That was not the only strange thing.
When the Orthodox Society had appeared, she should have first found out what had happened. Instead, she blindly followed Jin Sowoon’s words.
Without asking or questioning anything.
She took care of the hall members in Jin Sowoon’s place, and while Dang Seohui, the Deputy Hall Master, was busy with the stronghold leader’s work(?), Moyong Seol even relayed the Hall Master’s words to the hall members.
“...Why are you working so hard?”
He could roughly guess why she was acting this way, but he did not have the confidence to face that emotion.
At this rate, he felt like he might suffer qi deviation.
“Isn’t it... natural for a hall member?”
“...You’re only a temporary hall mem-”
Moyong Seol’s gaze turned sharp.
“Have you forgotten that whether you are temporary or official, you must do your best at what you are assigned?”
“...”
“You’ve let yourself go a lot... just because you left home for a while, haven’t you?”
Her cold words stopped him from asking more directly about her feelings.
If his fingers curled any further...
‘...I might not be able to shoot a bow anymore.’
Just then.
“And.”
The woman wearing his sister’s face blushed.
“When I think about the future, it would be better to become close beforehand.”
Her voice nearly faded away, and her face reddened.
Moyong Jaehwa, who had thought he would never be able to hold a bow again, suddenly felt something was wrong.
“The future?”
“Yes.”
“...”
She spoke as though something had already been decided.
Then he realized it.
‘Good heavens...’
He had thought her standards were simply high because she so mercilessly rejected every man who approached her.
‘My sister... is an idiot when it comes to romance...’
Once he thought of it that way, his discomfort vanished in an instant and was replaced by pity.
There were already countless rivals around Jin Sowoon, and none of them were easy opponents.
‘Maybe this will be entertaining... No, no.’
Before he was Jin Sowoon’s sworn brother, he was Moyong Seol’s younger brother.
Just as he was about to offer her advice out of the deep bond of blood thicker than water...
“Hey.”
“...Yes?”
“What’s with that expression?”
Her sharp words instantly cooled his pity.
“And you. If you’re going to hold a bow, do it properly. What use is an arrow you can’t fire just because people are tangled together?”
“...”
Then memories of the countless times he had suffered under his sister’s nagging came flooding back.
The pain of the past... no, the memories, came crashing in like a tide.
But now.
The time had come to repay it.
‘Right. You can only grow after shedding tears over love at least once.’
No matter how flawless and perfect someone might be.
No matter how steadfastly they overcame every hardship.
Did they not collapse the hardest when their feelings of love were crushed?
“What did I do...? And I know I’m lacking. So, Sister, don’t pick a fight with me for no reason.”
Moyong Jaehwa eagerly awaited that day.
And he rooted even harder for Jin Sowoon, his sworn elder brother, to remain utterly oblivious.
#
“What could they possibly be thinking?”
I couldn’t take my eyes off the map.
I couldn’t understand why the Demonic Cult had taken the Green Forest bandits in that direction.
They had led their forces out of Jungak Stronghold, passed through Shangchi, and crossed into Hebei Province.
Considering that the Southern Forest Alliance had headed to Jungak Stronghold through Shanxi Province, this was clearly an attempt to avoid them.
“Could they be trying to attack the main headquarters?”
“Even if they attack the main headquarters, it’ll be over once Jungak Stronghold falls. And the Southern Forest Alliance headquarters is too far away. They must have expected the war to end before they arrived.”
“Hmm... Could they be trying to establish a new Green Forest force?”
“If the Northern Forest Alliance and Southern Forest Alliance merge into one, would another alliance have any meaning?”
Bang Duchil scratched his head.
“Hmm, perhaps they went sightseeing in Beijing while they were at it?”
This man, seriously.
“Is this the time to joke?”
“...Tsk, you’re as prickly as a chestnut burr. I understand that you’re anxious because you may be their target, but calm down.”
“A target?”
“Didn’t they say they were hunting dragons? It’s natural for you to be uneasy.”
Damn it, he was right.
I was spending my time in a deeply uneasy mood.
Because those damned bastards had left behind the words, “Dragon Hunt.”
“Brother, perhaps you don’t know, but you’re also called the Green ‘Dragon.’”
“To be precise, I am called the Green. Dragon. King. From now on, I will be called the Green Forest King. Heh heh.”
Bang Duchil grinned.
“And anyone can see that you’re the target, not me. Go ask anyone in the martial world or on the streets who the most famous dragon is these days.”
“...”
“They’ll all point a finger and say the Black Flame Dragon.”
Seriously, my sworn brother was apparently the Demonic Cult’s prey, and he was enjoying himself.
What made me even more uneasy was that they had said they had moved because I killed the Cold Jade Bangle.
Still, no matter how much I thought about it, it was strange.
If they planned to kill me, why reveal that fact?
And if they were going to kill me during the war, there was no need to go through the trouble of moving the Northern Forest Alliance’s Green Forest bandits.
Baek Soryeong, who had been shaking her head at us, filled her teacup and spoke.
“By the way, where did the Orthodox Society members who joined the Northern Forest Alliance go?”
Come to think of it, after the Orthodox Society members’ heads were delivered to the Southern Forest Alliance, we had not been able to track their movements.
There had been no news that they had returned either.
“...”
“...”
A heavy silence fell between Bang Duchil and me.
“Surely...”
Bang Duchil let out a strangled cry, and I immediately shot to my feet.
I crossed Jungak Stronghold and headed for the place where the Northern Forest Alliance’s Green Forest bandits were being held.
There were so many of them, and they would be incorporated into the Green Forest Alliance again after some time anyway, so we had simply gathered them in one place.
“Pay attention here!”
At my words, the Northern Forest Alliance’s Green Forest bandits, who had been murmuring among themselves, all looked my way.
“Gasp! B-Black Flame Dragon!”
“It’s the Black Dragon Stronghold Leader!”
“Shh, be quiet! They say he’s notorious for being more brutal than most Black Path martial artists.”
The commotion immediately died down, and I spoke to them.
“Does anyone among you know where the Martial Alliance volunteers went?”
I projected my voice across the entire enclosure with Lion’s Roar, but no one answered.
“I’m not trying to punish you. No, that’s not right. I’ll reward anyone who gives me information.”
Even so, the Northern Forest Alliance’s Green Forest bandits lowered their heads as though they were afraid and would not meet my eyes.
Fuck, I was busy enough as it was.
“You bastards! If you don’t give me information about the Martial Alliance right now, I’ll beat one of you to death every fifteen minutes!”
“““P-please spare us!”””
“““My old mother and young children...”””
“That’s why I said to give me information, information!”
Then, one Green Forest bandit cautiously raised a hand among those with their heads lowered.
“W-would it be all right if the information isn’t certain?”
I used my movement art, grabbed the person from the crowd, and pulled them out.
“What information?”
“I-I only heard it outside the barracks, so I’m not certain...”
“It doesn’t matter. Speak.”
“I-I heard they were heading for Anyang through Hebi.”
“Anyang?”
They were heading in the exact opposite direction while the war in Puyang was still raging.
It was exceedingly strange.
I immediately returned to Bang Duchil and examined the map.
Then I drew the route taken by the Orthodox Society members and the route along which the Demonic Cult had led the Green Forest bandits.
“Brother... this...”
The Orthodox Society and the Demonic Cult, the two pieces on the board, were meeting at exactly one place.
Despair Valley.
#
Once they truly entered Despair Valley, they abandoned their horses and began walking.
Everyone possessed excellent footwork and movement arts, but their travel speed was not fast.
No one could move freely in a place where a single misstep would send them plunging down a thousand-zhang cliff.
In the mountains, the bandits moved better than the Orthodox Society.
The Orthodox Society had to travel along unfamiliar paths, expending more stamina, and their progress gradually slowed.
“I can’t do this anymore. How long are we supposed to keep going like this?”
“At this rate, the war will be over before we get there...”
“Wouldn’t it be better to travel along a proper main road at night rather than go through Despair Valley?”
The group’s anger accumulated until it finally burst out, and in the end, they declared the operation over.
“I can’t stand this anymore. What kind of grand operation requires us to do this?”
“Right! Even if it’s the Society Leader’s order, why should we be pushed around by bandits to this extent?”
“Let’s go back. I can’t remain here like this.”
The Orthodox Society members rose together and went to find the Chungho Stronghold Leader and the bandits.
But the Chungho Stronghold Leader and bandits, who should have been staying in a distant cave...
“Where did those bastards go?”
They were gone.
They had vanished without a trace.
“Did they run away?”
“No, why would they?”
They could not understand it.
They were the war’s most important assets, the people who had provided aid.
It was hard to accept that they had been abandoned when they were supposed to play a decisive role in the war.
Then.
Swish!
“Huh? An arrow?”
“Over there!”
Three Orthodox Society members rushed out, killed the people who had fired the arrows, and dragged them back.
Then they gasped.
“These people are definitely...”
The people who had attacked them were none other than members of the Northern Forest Alliance.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
