WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 69: Hell's Entrance Exam: Gate 'I' (3)
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“What do you mean by that?”
For the first time, Yeo Mimi’s expression turned cold.
“I said I wanted the status of a guest retainer. Not a simple relationship where we exchange information.”
“Are you saying you don’t trust me?”
“The word ‘guest retainer’ has never once passed the lips of the person claiming to be the Sect Leader.”
“...I thought I’d made it clear enough.”
I rose from my seat.
“I understand what you mean. It’s regrettable, but it can’t be helped.”
“I’m not done speaking yet!”
The martial artists spread out, looking ready to draw their swords at any moment.
Then.
The old woman I had been watching slowly raised her head.
“Enough. Stop.”
“...”
Yeo Mimi stepped back to one side with her lips pressed shut.
“You did enough. This boy simply wasn’t ordinary.”
A few strands of white hair fell over her face, which was lined with gentle wrinkles.
As she studied me from head to toe in her slightly hunched posture, she resembled a kind grandmother inspecting the prospective husband her granddaughter had brought home.
Yet this old woman, who possessed not even a shred of internal energy, was Yeo Mimi, the current leader of the Hao Sect.
“My apologies, Sect Leader.”
The woman who had played Yeo Mimi flushed and lowered her head.
“I am curious, though. How did you know?”
I had never met her in my previous life.
Still, I knew of her.
“When I entered the room, each of the elders looked at me once. Yet the Sect Leader did not look at me.”
“!”
The attendants who had not moved until then all flinched.
I waved the document I had received.
“And if I’d truly become a guest retainer, I would never have been given useless information like this.”
“Useless? How can you say something so rude?”
The woman who had played Yeo Mimi bit her lip.
I looked between her and Yeo Mimi, then asked what I should call her. Yeo Mimi quickly understood and told me her name.
“She is my first disciple, Haeryeong.”
“Yes. The information Senior Haeryeong gave me only listed important figures. If it were truly useful to me, it would not concern people, but the strongholds I should target and who else was targeting them.”
“...”
Haeryeong’s face reddened. She had probably prepared the information herself.
Yeo Mimi had not become the leader of the Hao Sect despite never learning martial arts simply because she was widely respected.
She had done so because she possessed speed and accuracy that no other information organization could match, along with an exceptional ability to make predictions through her own analysis.
“And if this were truly the Hao Sect’s strength, I would not have undergone a test to qualify as a guest retainer in the first place.”
“...”
“...”
Hostility radiated from everyone in the room at my words.
To the Hao Sect’s members, the Hao Sect was not simply the organization they belonged to. It was their friends, their family, as close to them as blood relatives.
That close bond was the strength that had made them the only information organization in the world able to rival the Beggar Sect.
“If you know us so well, then you must also know why we hold such strict tests for guest retainers.”
Throughout history, the Hao Sect’s guest retainers had only been absolute masters of the martial world. Even across the Hao Sect’s long history, their number had not exceeded ten.
Most of them had not built forces of their own, instead living leisurely in remote mountains and deep valleys.
It was tied to the Hao Sect’s identity.
The Hao Sect’s interests could never conflict with those of its guest retainers.
The Hao Sect’s foremost goal had always been protecting its members.
“You belong to the Taeul Sect, and the Taeul Sect is now waiting for its chance to soar. Is that not enough reason why you cannot become our guest retainer?”
“One cannot live in the martial world while cutting all ties to it. If that were the case, you should never have sold information about the martial world in the first place.”
“...”
“As I said earlier, what happened at Demon Spirit Plateau was a tragedy caused by the Hao Sect’s insularity. If someone had to take responsibility for that incident, which would suffer the greater loss, the Beggar Sect or the Hao Sect?”
In my previous life, the Hao Sect had suffered damage close to annihilation.
Without Yang Gunbaek’s ability, it would never have risen again.
“I like the Hao Sect’s ideals. An organization that protects the powerless. If I were an inn attendant, I would find it incredibly reassuring. But the Hao Sect has already grown to encompass the entire martial world. If you maintain your old ways, there will one day be a second Demon Spirit Plateau incident, then a third. It is time to leave the well.”
Yeo Mimi gazed steadily at me.
“Are you saying you have a solution?”
The Beggar Sect had ultimately failed to predict the return of the Demonic Cult.
An information organization without competitors would eventually fall into self-contradiction, prioritizing information driven by subjective interests over objective analysis.
Perhaps if the Hao Sect had survived to the end, information concerning the Demonic Cult’s return might have unfolded differently.
“As you said, the Taeul Sect will soar in the future. Join us then.”
“...You use every sweet word you can for your own benefit. For a moment, I almost agreed.”
Yeo Mimi’s suspicion did not offend me. Her near-obsessive integrity was what had built the Hao Sect into what it was today.
“As expected, you will not be swayed.”
Yeo Mimi smiled at my shamelessness.
“Hehe... You are quite brazen. Still, I have been persuaded by your words, so I cannot refuse to give you an opportunity.”
“Sect Leader!”
Haeryeong’s face turned pale for the first time.
“Was the problem that child pointed out not something we had also considered? Do you wish to disregard someone who may offer a solution merely because of your pride?”
“...”
“If you know the first and second qualifications, then you must also know the third.”
“To be someone who benefits the Hao Sect.”
“Hehe... Do you know this? It has never once been announced outside the Hao Sect. Those who became guest retainers did not even know when they had completed their evaluation.”
“Is that so?”
I had obtained that information from among the Profound Mystery Pavilion’s secrets, so it made sense.
“But unless you become a guest retainer right away, working with us would be meaningless to you.”
Yeo Mimi seemed to have already predicted how I intended to use the Hao Sect’s information.
“I will give you an opportunity. It will not be easy for you, either.”
“What is it?”
“I heard that you are acquainted with the head of the Wang Family Estate.”
“...You could say that.”
“We need one of Wang Geumsan’s most precious possessions. Can you give it to us?”
Haeryeong suddenly stepped in front of Yeo Mimi.
“Sect Leader... It is fine.”
“Stand aside.”
Haeryeong lowered her head and stepped back.
I could not tell what the two of them were saying.
“Can you give it to us?”
“I need to know what it is before I can ask the Estate Lord for it.”
Yeo Mimi glanced at Haeryeong before speaking to me.
“I will tell him myself.”
I tilted my head at Yeo Mimi’s words. Yeo Mimi, the leader of the Hao Sect, had never once revealed herself to the world.
How important was this matter for the Hao Sect Leader to show her face in person?
#
The points Jin Sowoon had raised were matters Yeo Mimi and Haeryeong had always worried over.
Haeryeong, in particular, had considered opening the Hao Sect to the outside world more progressively than Yeo Mimi herself.
Yet after Taegong, Haeryeong’s husband and Yeo Mimi’s second disciple, was killed when his identity was exposed, Haeryeong had become even more conservative than Yeo Mimi.
Still, as Jin Sowoon had said, they had reached their limit.
Problems were arising at branches everywhere, and the people working inside them were crying out.
Haeryeong knew that reality, but perhaps because of her memories of Taegong, she refused to change her mind.
That was why Yeo Mimi had placed some hope in Jin Sowoon.
She hoped he could change Haeryeong’s mind.
She hoped her pitiful daughter could cast off the shadow hanging over her.
With those thoughts, Yeo Mimi had intended to arrange another time to meet the Wang Estate Lord, but Jin Sowoon suggested they go see him immediately.
“I don’t have time.”
Although Jin Sowoon said that, Yeo Mimi did not think it would be possible.
Wang Geumsan was not someone one could meet as easily as an old man at a neighborhood apothecary.
Yet...
“Hahaha. I thought you would leave because you were busy, but you came to see me after all.”
Yeo Mimi and Haeryeong, who was still playing Yeo Mimi’s role, could not help but be startled by Wang Geumsan’s words.
Even high officials and famous figures of the martial world had to make appointments weeks in advance, sometimes months ahead.
Even then, if Wang Geumsan found himself busy on the day, it was common for the meeting to be canceled.
Yet Wang Geumsan now looked like someone who had waited weeks to meet Jin Sowoon.
“I hope I have not suddenly intruded and taken up your time, Estate Lord.”
Wang Geumsan had a pile of work before him, but he pushed it aside and closely examined Jin Sowoon’s face.
“What does it matter if work like that is delayed a day or two? So, you are taking the Martial Arts Academy examination after all?”
“Yes. That is how it turned out. I came with these people because I wanted your help with it. They are from the Hao Sect.”
Jin Sowoon naturally introduced the Hao Sect.
Haeryeong stepped forward.
“It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Yeo Mimi, leader of the Hao Sect.”
Yeo Mimi had wanted to meet Wang Geumsan in her true appearance, but Haeryeong still would not yield.
Unable to be harsh toward the child she pitied, Yeo Mimi had ultimately allowed Haeryeong to have her way.
Wang Geumsan only gave a slight nod at Haeryeong’s fist-and-palm salute.
“Pleased to meet you. My surname is Wang.”
It was quite rude behavior toward the leader of an organization.
He looked distinctly different from the Wang Geumsan Yeo Mimi knew.
“Do you need the Hao Sect for this examination?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm... I see. May I ask what information you need?”
Wang Geumsan was behaving differently from how the Hao Sect’s intelligence had described him.
He was rude to the Hao Sect Leader, yet he spoke to Jin Sowoon not with the language of a merchant, but that of a parent.
“I need all information about the examination as it changes from moment to moment.”
“If it is information like that, then you have no choice but to borrow the strength of the Beggar Sect and the Hao Sect.”
As Wang Geumsan nodded, Haeryeong stepped in.
“Our Hao Sect...”
Yet Wang Geumsan interrupted Haeryeong again.
“Or how about the Wang Family Estate helps you?”
“...”
Haeryeong’s face crumpled.
Before they had even stated what they wanted, the meeting was in danger of ending.
“How would that work?”
“I will mobilize all those affiliated with the Wang Family Estate throughout the country and provide whatever information you need. It will be information centered around you anyway. You do not need information on the scale of the entire martial world, do you?”
“Hmm...”
His words were not entirely wrong.
If Wang Geumsan, who had hired people throughout the martial world, wished to do so, he could establish an information network that might not equal the Hao Sect’s but would not fall far short of it.
Its analysis and speed would be another matter.
As Yeo Mimi watched with mounting anxiety, Jin Sowoon thankfully shook his head.
“I cannot allow that. You should not suffer losses while helping me, Estate Lord.”
“Kahaha! Why worry about something like that? If you want it, I could hand over the entire Wang Family Estate to you.”
As Jin Sowoon and Wang Geumsan spoke warmly, Haeryeong’s face turned bright red.
She was a member of the Hao Sect, but when she gave her title as Sect Leader, no one in the martial world usually dared disregard her.
This was the first time she had been humiliated.
“You are truly rude.”
“Hmm?”
“Do you find the Hao Sect so laughable?”
Wang Geumsan’s expression changed.
His face became solemn and hard.
Like Yeo Mimi, he possessed no internal energy, yet he carried an authority that seemed to look down on the entire world.
His lips parted coldly.
“I should be the one asking that. How lightly must you think of me to impersonate the leader of the Hao Sect?”
“?!”
The corners of Yeo Mimi’s eyes trembled at Wang Geumsan’s words.
As expected, they should not have put on such a performance carelessly.
There had been a reason he alone had treated the Hao Sect so coldly from the start.
“The Hao Sect Leader’s identity may be shrouded in mist, but I have heard that they have thirteen disciples. Their first disciple was accepted fifteen years ago. If you were the Hao Sect Leader, then the Hao Sect would not be an information organization, but a group playing children’s games.”
“...”
Haeryeong’s face turned ashen.
She had already come to make a difficult request, and now she had received such sharp criticism. Her situation had become even more difficult.
“Give up on this undertaking as well. Trust is the most important thing when it comes to information. Can you accomplish something great alongside such untrustworthy people?”
Yeo Mimi had no choice but to step forward herself.
She moved the dejected Haeryeong behind her and respectfully clasped her hands.
“I apologize. My disciple acted this way because she worried for this powerless master. Please forgive her.”
The emotional shock Haeryeong had suffered from losing Taegong was too great.
On top of that, their only remaining son had contracted a fatal illness. Haeryeong was in a state where she could lose her mind at any moment.
Yeo Mimi had gone along with whatever Haeryeong wanted, hoping that she would suffer no further tragedy. Yet now, that decision had instead become a bad move.
“...”
Wang Geumsan silently watched her for a long time.
Then, he suddenly spoke in a calm voice.
“Enough. Please rise. It is not a pleasant sight to see the leader of an organization bowing so deeply.”
Wang Geumsan had recognized at once that she was the true Sect Leader.
How had he distinguished her? There had been no attendants here, unlike when Jin Sowoon had seen through them.
They said Wang Geumsan was the shrewdest and wisest of the Four Great Merchants. It seemed that was no mere rumor.
“I have already been disappointed in you, but for my Sowoon’s sake, I will let it pass once.”
Yeo Mimi blankly looked at Jin Sowoon and Wang Geumsan.
What had happened between Jin Sowoon and Wang Geumsan for him to trust the boy so deeply? Could saving his daughter alone earn that kind of trust?
“What is it that you need from me?”
With no time to dwell on other thoughts, Yeo Mimi gathered herself.
She had come this far to find a clue that could prevent Haeryeong’s tragedy.
Yeo Mimi glanced once at Haeryeong before speaking.
“I heard that your daughter was afflicted by the Solar Yang Physique.”
“Oh? The Hao Sect is impressive after all.”
The Wang Family Estate had kept Wang Soso’s situation so secret that few people within the estate itself knew of her constitution.
The Hao Sect had only recently learned of it after tracing the origins of the valuables the Wang Family Estate had put up for sale.
“I need the treatment method.”
Jin Sowoon and Wang Geumsan met each other’s eyes at Yeo Mimi’s words.
Wang Geumsan’s lips twitched as he struggled to suppress the laughter threatening to burst out.
What was this?
Although she sensed something strange, Yeo Mimi continued.
“I mobilized the entire Hao Sect, but we could find no way to learn it. Please tell us who treated that constitution and what treatment they used.”
Haeryeong’s son suffered from an illness similar to Wang Soso’s.
The Nine Yin Severed Veins, an illness no one in the world could cure.
If Haeryeong lost that child as well, Yeo Mimi could not predict what would become of her.
That was why she had placed her last hope in the treatment that had cured Wang Soso.
If it could free someone from the Solar Yang Physique and make them healthy enough to study martial arts at the Taeul Sect, then it might also work on the Nine Yin Severed Veins.
“...Hehe.”
“I beg you to tell us.”
“We beg you.”
Yeo Mimi and Haeryeong lowered their heads.
Wang Geumsan shook his head at the sight, then looked at Jin Sowoon.
Jin Sowoon gave a slight nod without saying anything, and Wang Geumsan nodded in return.
“...I will tell you who that person is.”
“...Can you truly tell us?”
“I can.”
Yeo Mimi and Haeryeong looked as though they could not believe it.
A treatment method that precious could not normally be exchanged even for a fortune. Could he truly give it away simply because Jin Sowoon had asked?
“It is not exactly something I demand in return, but... I will offer you one piece of advice.”
Yeo Mimi and Haeryeong had expected him to demand a great reward, but they gladly nodded when Wang Geumsan said he would offer advice.
“Suspicion and verification are certainly very important when running an organization. But if you wish to build an organization capable of accomplishing truly great things, trust is more important than anything else.”
Yeo Mimi and Haeryeong looked as though they did not understand what Wang Geumsan meant.
“If you would explain what you mean, I will listen even more closely.”
“I mean that if you had shown Sowoon trust from the beginning, you would not have needed to come here.”
“...?”
“The one who possesses that treatment method is Sowoon.”
Yeo Mimi and Haeryeong abruptly turned toward Jin Sowoon.
The possibility that Jin Sowoon possessed such a treatment method had never even occurred to them.
“Trust is very difficult to build. If the beginning goes wrong, it becomes even harder. That is why showing trust first is more important than anything. If the other party betrays you, can you not repay them all the more severely? I know that the Hao Sect is already an organization large enough for that. So show trust first. If you cannot overcome this, you will see how quickly an organization can collapse.”
One of the Four Great Merchants had just shared his own principles of management.
Deeply moved, Yeo Mimi lowered her head.
“I will engrave today’s words deeply in my heart.”
“Enough. I only did this because Sowoon said that he needed your strength. Let us set this aside and talk comfortably.”
Wang Geumsan relaxed his stern expression and told an attendant to prepare dinner.
“You did not intend to put me through all this and simply leave, did you?”
Wang Geumsan asked Jin Sowoon with a playful expression, his earlier solemn face gone.
“What are you saying? I came to have dinner with you, Estate Lord. I simply took the opportunity to introduce these people.”
The rumors that Wang Geumsan had chosen Jin Sowoon as his future son-in-law seemed to be true.
“Kahaha. If you plan to become a merchant later, you should learn how to lie.”
“What are you saying? Have you not heard that I found the Taeul Sword Emperor’s inheritance? Before long, I will become a master of the martial world.”
“I also heard that you nearly lost your internal energy while using innate qi.”
“Urgh...”
“Come now. I must hear about your exploits at Demon Spirit Plateau first. I heard that you received the Changgung Merchant Group at the end of that story?”
Wang Geumsan led Jin Sowoon away as happily as if his dead son had returned alive, then looked back.
As Yeo Mimi and Haeryeong hesitated over what to do, Wang Geumsan spoke.
“Are you not coming with us? The Wang Family Estate has an exceptionally skilled top-class chef.”
Footnotes:
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