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Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈

Chapter 73: The Black Flame Dragon Surpassing the Gate

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Once we crossed Anhui Province and Mount Cheonmok came into view, Eunho's face turned pale.

"Senior Brother, are you seriously planning to take the first gate examination at the Twin-Curtain Strongholds?"

"Yeah."

"Could it be that the Taeul True Scripture has some side effect that makes you lose your mind..."

Eunho ended up getting smacked on the back of the head.

"This brat gets more and more shameless with his Head Senior Brother."

"No, honestly, isn't it true? Why are you risking your life to enter a place even the Martial Alliance tells people not to go?"

The strongholds designated by the Martial Alliance for this regular examination appeared and vanished sporadically, whereas the Green Forest Seventy-Two Strongholds were entrenched in major regions of the martial world and acted much like local tyrants. That was why no one set out to subjugate one of the Green Forest Seventy-Two Strongholds for the first gate examination.

True to their name, the Twin-Curtain Strongholds consisted of two separate mountain strongholds based around Mount Cheonmok.

In other words, we would have to face two mountain strongholds at once.

"Exactly. Why poke a beehive?"

Even so, I had chosen the Twin-Curtain Strongholds because they were easier to deal with than the other four thousand mountain strongholds.

'More accurately, the bear performs the tricks while I collect the money.'

Eunho looked at me as though he couldn't understand me at all.

"Sometimes, something that looks difficult isn't actually that hard."

How could a mere sparrow understand the great peng's deeper intentions? Ignoring Eunho's grumbling, I continued onward until we reached our destination, Mokgihyeon.

"Senior Brother, it looks like a war broke out here..."

Mokgihyeon was in a far worse state than the reports I had seen in my previous life.

"This is more serious than I thought."

Dilapidated houses stood everywhere, and most places that had once been shops had their doors shut.

Only gaunt elderly people basking in the sun and children wandering about in filthy clothes remained along the streets.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The three brothers, who had chattered all the way to the village entrance, clamped their mouths shut beneath the village's strange atmosphere.

After barely finding an inn where we could eat, we entered. There wasn't even a server inside. Only a sharp-looking old man emerged from the kitchen, wiping his hands.

"What'll you have?"

"We've been sleeping outdoors for several days. Is there anything you can make right away?"

"If you want food, go to West Lake or Hangzhou. We only have noodles."

"...Then we'll have that."

The old man returned to the kitchen without a word. As I looked around to see whether the person I sought had arrived, I found that everyone seated inside the inn was elderly as well.

'He should have arrived in Mokgihyeon today.'

The three brothers had remained silent, overwhelmed by the atmosphere. After a long while, Eunho spoke as though he had realized something.

"Senior Brother, there aren't any young people in this village. Did they all leave for the cities to earn money?"

The old man, carrying noodles and water, slammed the food down roughly.

"Don't speak carelessly about such things in this village. People with nothing left to lose don't care about a martial artist's sword."

"..."

Eunho fell silent at the old man's sharp reaction.

I could understand his response to some extent.

According to the Mantong Office's records, Mokgihyeon had always prospered because people and goods passed through it on their way to Hangzhou and West Lake.

Then the Twin-Curtain Strongholds underwent a change in leadership, and new stronghold leaders took over. Their exploitation of the nearby villages became unbearable.

As a result, all the village's young men and women died, leaving behind only the elderly and children. On top of that, the toll for crossing Mount Cheonmok had tripled, so merchants no longer traveled this road.

When the villagers had lost even their will to live and hope, waiting only for death...

'There was someone who stopped it and took over the Twin-Curtain Strongholds.'

Crash!

The old door flew open so violently it seemed ready to break.

Feeling a powerful wave of qi behind me, I slowly turned around.

"Innkeeper!"

A man entered with a group in tow. His hearty voice rang through the desolate inn.

Just as the records said, they had arrived on the exact date, at the exact time.

"Bring us five-spice braised pork and Hundred Flowers Wine!"

He had a massive build, forearms as thick as an ordinary woman's waist, and a fierce face like a bandit's.

"Dear, do you think they can serve five-spice braised pork in a place like this?"

A beautiful woman was nestled in his arms.

They were Bang Duchil, the future Mountain King and leader of the Green Forest Alliance, and Baek Soryeong, the Green Forest Alliance's future strategist.

The old man emerged from the kitchen with a deep frown.

"Five-spice braised pork? If you want that, go to West Lake or Hangzhou."

I clicked my tongue at the old man's relentless bluntness.

He truly feared nothing.

We at least looked to be barely twenty, but Bang Duchil's appearance alone was incredibly intimidating. Yet the old man treated everyone with the same stubborn rudeness, as though death meant nothing to him.

Who was Bang Duchil?

He possessed strength enough to uproot mountains and spirit enough to overwhelm the age.

Called the reincarnation of Xiang Yu[1], he had been born with the Heavenly Vajra Limitless Physique. He was a being of the realm beyond the heavens who had reached the absolute peak without any real training.

He was taking the Martial Arts Academy's regular examination with only his lover and companions, without even a sect behind him. In the middle of it all, he accepted a child's request worth one tael of silver and subjugated the Twin-Curtain Strongholds.

His dantian was damaged during that battle, preventing him from taking the regular examination in the end. Yet even with that damaged dantian, he would later unite all the Green Forest Seventy-Two Strongholds, create the Green Forest Alliance, and rise to the position of Mountain King.

The old man truly had no fear.

"Kuahahahaha! What a nasty old man. Fine, then. What can we eat?"

"Noodles."

"Is that so? Then bring us every bowl of noodles you have."

"...Wait."

In my previous life, I had fought the Demonic Cult alongside him several times. He was the true king of the Green Forest, the first to rule it, but as the tale of the one-tael request showed, he was a man full of loyalty and warmth.

Jegal Cheongi, the strategist of the Sojeong Unit, believed that if Bang Duchil's wounds from the battle with the Twin-Curtain Strongholds had not worsened and cut his life short, and if the Martial Alliance had properly cooperated with the Green Forest Alliance, they could have kept the Demonic Cult confined to Jiangnan.

Of course, there had been a question.

How had someone with the Heavenly Vajra Limitless Physique suffered irreparable damage to his dantian?

I had asked him several times over drinks, but he only said that he had been inexperienced.

"Innkeeper, is this all?"

The old man filled the table with noodles, but Bang Duchil and his men did not look particularly pleased.

"That's all. More importantly, do you have money?"

When the old man looked at Bang Duchil suspiciously, Baek Soryeong smiled and handed over a silver coin.

"If you have alcohol, could you bring us some as well?"

"...Fine."

Apparently, even the old man couldn't resist Baek Soryeong's smile. He cleared his throat and was about to head back inside when I held out the payment for our noodles.

"Thank you for the meal."

The old man blankly stared at the single silver coin I had handed him, then frowned.

"...Who pays a silver coin for four bowls of noodles?"

"You can keep the change."

"..."

The old man looked strangely guilty.

"It seems your circumstances are very difficult. Are you all right?"

I casually opened the conversation to connect Bang Duchil and the old man.

"...The drought has continued this year. There should at least be snow in winter so we can survive the spring hunger."

Unfortunately, Zhejiang Province would receive no snow that winter. According to reports from the Martial Alliance branches in West Lake and Hangzhou, the drought that had begun two years earlier continued through winter, causing famine throughout Zhejiang Province. There were so many deaths from starvation around Mount Cheonmok that even the corrupt county magistrate opened his granaries.

"Is it because of the Twin-Curtain Strongholds?!"

At Eunho's sudden question, the old man's eyebrows shot up.

"What?"

"I'm asking whether the village is suffering like this because of the Twin-Curtain Strongholds' exploitation."

The old man's gaze darkened.

"I told you before. Don't speak carelessly about such things in this village."

"As I understand it, Mokgihyeon is a village everyone must pass through on the way to West Lake and Hangzhou. I heard it was always full of goods and people."

"...That was all long ago."

"If the exploitation is that severe, haven't you tried asking the Martial Alliance for help?"

Eunho shouted, furious as though he had suffered it himself. The old man's face gradually reddened as well.

"We did! We did! But when has the Martial Alliance ever stepped forward for powerless people without money like us?"

"...How could that be..."

The three brothers gaped at the harsh reality.

Bang Duchil's group, who had been noisily eating noodles, also fell quiet as they focused on our side of the inn.

"Ha... You shouldn't stay in this village. Be on your way."

The old man placed the silver coin he had received on the table and took away all the half-eaten bowls of noodles.

"Sir... Please, just let us speak a little longer..."

At the old man's order to leave, I rose from my seat first. I left the silver coin where it was.

"Thank you for the meal."

"But, Senior Brother!"

"The old man is right. Get up."

"But Senior Brother clearly..."

As Eunho tried to say something, I quickly sent him a sound transmission.

-This isn't the time to talk. I have a way to settle everything, so get up for now.

Just as the three brothers began rising with their shoulders slumped, a booming voice rang out from one corner of the inn.

"Innkeeper! I'm interested in hearing more of that story. Tell me."

Bang Duchil and his group had become curious about the old man's circumstances.

'I've done everything I needed to do for now.'

The old man spun around and snapped at Bang Duchil with fury in his eyes.

"Didn't you hear what I just said? Even the Martial Alliance gave up on this! And it isn't any of your concern! Either get out right now or quietly eat your damn noodles. Pick one!"

"No! I want to hear it!"

Bang Duchil rose from his seat, his enormous body looming inside the inn.

"Let's go."

I led the three brothers outside in the meantime.

"Senior Brother! This isn't what you said earlier."

Unlike that morning, when he had gone pale at the thought of subjugating the Twin-Curtain Strongholds, Eunho could no longer contain his outrage after seeing the state of the village.

"I have a plan, so wait a little."

Could the four of us really face the Twin-Curtain Strongholds alone? Of course not. Still, when Bang Duchil, Baek Soryeong, and their men moved to subjugate the Twin-Curtain Strongholds, we could certainly lend them a hand.

I didn't know if it was a trait common to people born with the Heavenly Vajra Limitless Physique, but Bang Duchil valued loyalty and righteousness above all else.

Whether he became the Green Forest King as he had in my previous life or joined the Martial Alliance instead, he was destined to oppose the Demonic Cult.

Satisfied with my actions, I stepped out of the inn.

Then I heard a young voice.

"Mister... are you the Black Flame Dragon, Great Hero?"

The filthy child looked as though they had never received any care from their parents.

My brow furrowed, but Dongryong couldn't hide his smile and answered instead.

"How did you know?"

The child pointed at my sword.

"I heard you wear all-black clothes, carry an all-black sword, and have a nasty-looking face."

"...?"

What was that? Hadn't a strange word slipped in at the end?

"Mister, are you the Black Flame Dragon, Great Hero?"

"It seems a strange rumor has spread. I'm called the Black... that, anyway."

The child suddenly held out what they had been clutching tightly in both hands.

"Then please save my mom and dad. Grandpa said my mom and dad went to Mount Kunlun to earn money, but that's all a lie. Mom and Dad were taken by the Twin-Curtain Strongholds."

The child held out one dirty tael of silver.

"Huh?"

Why was the child giving this to me? And what did it mean that their parents were alive?

"I heard you saved a lot of people too. Please save my mom and dad."

"..."

Something had become badly tangled.

"Kid, are you sure your parents are alive?"

"...Wow."

"How could you ask that...?"

"...Seriously."

The three brothers looked at me with disappointment.

It couldn't be helped.

The report from the Martial Alliance's Hangzhou Branch clearly said that when a child asked Bang Duchil to avenge their parents in exchange for one tael of silver, Bang Duchil had used it as an excuse to act because he had been overconfident in his own strength.

'Don't tell me... these bastards...'

Until the Orthodox-Demonic War began, the hostility between the Black Path and the White Path had run deep.

The White Path had not welcomed the Green Forest Seventy-Two Strongholds uniting under the name of the Green Forest Alliance. If they had written the report to disparage their opponents...

"Those damn bastards..."

There were limits to what people should do, no matter how badly they wanted to demean someone else.

"Pardon?"

While I was lost in thought, the child was trembling as they looked at my face.

"Ah, sorry. But are you sure your parents were kidnapped?"

"Wow... Senior Brother, really..."

"Be quiet. We have to hear the whole story first."

The child, tears gathering at the thought of their parents, spoke.

"I saw them on Mount Cheonmok. Dad was digging the ground, and Mom was washing dishes. Ilseong's parents and Jeongjeong's dad were all there too."

"Hmm..."

The entire plan needed to change.

Even if the Mountain King possessed an inhuman constitution, he could not move freely with hostages at stake.

'And considering the sort of man he was in my previous life, if hostages had been taken...'

At last, a missing piece of the past began to fall into place.

The reason an existence in the realm beyond the heavens, someone who should not have been able to suffer an injury at all, had suffered irreparable damage.

"It was because of the hostages."

I looked at the child for a moment.

If there were hostages, things could not proceed as they had in my previous life.

"Do you live alone?"

"With Grandpa here."

The foul-tempered old man from earlier was the child's grandfather.

I took the child's hand and went back into the inn.

"Please take this."

The child stubbornly tried to give me the silver coin.

"No. I'm not the one who should receive this money."

"Then who is?"

"Among the people in here..."

I opened the door, went inside, and pointed at Bang Duchil.

"The person you should give the money to is that scary-looking..."

I could not finish my sentence.

Bang Duchil was in the middle of throwing the old man over his shoulder.

[1] Xiang Yu: A famed ancient Chinese warlord celebrated for exceptional martial prowess and strength.

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