WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 83: Those Who Chase the Dragon (4)
──────
I drew in a deep breath, then let out a battle cry.
“Haah!”
With a sharp burst of air, the killing intent pressing down on our group was swept away in an instant.
Jong Seogang, who had been smirking confidently as he pressured us, furrowed his brow.
“You want all of them? I refuse. What kind of thief demands my possessions as though they were his? Are you trying to die?”
Jong Seogang suddenly burst out laughing.
“Ha!”
Then he covered his mouth as though the laughter had surprised even him.
“My apologies. What you said was simply too absurd.”
Jong Seogang smiled slyly.
“I don't mind if you wish to act rashly, but what will you do if that puts your junior brothers in danger?”
“They aren't weak enough for you to worry about them.”
Jong Seogang tilted his head.
“They said a dragon had risen from a tiny stream in Anhui Province, but it seems it was only a fearless serpent-dragon.”
“People call someone a dragon because they can see what ordinary people cannot.”
“...”
For the first time, Jong Seogang's smug expression stiffened. The men surrounding him like guards looked much the same.
“Hoo... There really is no easy way, is there?”
Jong Seogang shook his head, then fixed me with a sharp stare.
“This is your final warning. Hand over the Gate Tokens, or choose death. Pick one.”
“...”
While listening to Jong Seogang's bullshit, my energy sense had been busy examining our surroundings.
‘One hundred and fifty? Two hundred?’
There were currently between one hundred and fifty and two hundred people encircling the forest at a distance, at least from what I could sense.
Considering the records from my previous life, there were probably five hundred people surrounding us.
‘And the Cheongdo Fellowship's Young Hall Master hasn't even shown his face yet.’
More importantly, throughout our conversation, I couldn't take my eyes off the scar that ran across the eye of the man standing to Jong Seogang's right.
‘Gam Cheoljin, the Ruthless Sword.’
A master who would later gain fame as a fixer wandering the martial world alone after the Huang Sword Sect was destroyed.
‘They even brought out a secret martial artist?’
Those who understood the martial world's saying that one should conceal thirty percent of one's skill raised secret forces unknown to the Martial Alliance.
The Namgung Clan's Dark Palace Unit was one example, as was the Iron Sword Sect's Black Sword Unit.
Those secret martial artists, raised in concealment and kept from the martial world, were used like trump cards in events like this damned regular examination from hell.
In a way, I understood. If someone failed to enter the Martial Arts Academy, they could never hold a position as a Deputy Pavilion Lord or higher within the Martial Alliance.
A martial artist's life was decided at the Martial Arts Academy.
‘If I had secret martial artists, I'd want to use them too.’
Still, there was nothing more unpleasant than being unable to use them while my opponent could.
“What will you do?”
That didn't mean I planned to give up.
“I don't enjoy repeating myself. I refuse.”
Jong Seogang let out a small laugh, as though he had never doubted his own victory.
“You chose your punishment.”
Shing.
At Jong Seogang's words, Gam Cheoljin and the other guards drew their swords.
I took an opening stance as well, making it clear that I intended to take Jong Seogang's throat in a single stroke.
Then Gam Cheoljin made it clear that he intended to target Dongryong.
‘Does he trust Jong Seogang's martial arts? Or are there other secret martial artists mixed in among the guards?’
If we clashed now, both sides would suffer losses, but ours would certainly hurt more.
The three brothers had already prepared their sword formation for battle, but they weren't strong enough to handle a master like Gam Cheoljin.
At that moment, Jong Seogang restrained his side.
“Easy, easy. Didn't I say I wanted to talk?”
Perhaps because he knew I would attack him, Jong Seogang showed no intention of fighting immediately.
“Put away your swords.”
At Jong Seogang's command, Gam Cheoljin and the other guards sheathed their swords.
“A wounded beast is always more vicious.”
With those words, spoken as though he were certain of something, Jong Seogang turned away.
“Haa.”
Geumpyo exhaled sharply as the tension left him. Eunho asked anxiously.
“Senior Brother, will they retreat now?”
“No. The people hiding in the forest haven't left their positions yet.”
“Don't worry. We've fought nearly a thousand people before.”
Eunho couldn't hide the look of disbelief on his face at Geumpyo's words.
“...”
“What?”
The Twin-Curtain Strongholds had been far more numerous, but it was difficult to compare bandits who had never mastered a unified martial art to a distinguished sect counted among the One Hundred Eight Peaks.
Besides, if we confronted them without knowing where the secret martial artists were hidden, there was a strong chance my junior brothers would be put in danger.
“Let's move for now...”
Just as I was about to leave, I met Dongryong's eyes and stopped.
“Is it hard?”
“...Pardon?”
Dongryong's eyes had turned bloodshot. He seemed not to have realized it himself, because he looked at his brothers in surprise.
After taking Gam Cheoljin's killing intent head-on, his murderous nature had instinctively begun boiling up again.
“Of all times...”
“N-no! I'm fine!”
I took out the Demon-Subduing Prayer Beads from my bundle and placed them around his neck.
“Senior Brother... I'm fine... Huh?”
Strangely, his reddened eyes returned to their original color.
“Senior Brother, this is...”
“Don't neglect your cultivation of the Taeul True Scripture. Relying on a sacred relic always carries risks.”
“Yes.”
“Let's move.”
The moment we left, the forest began shaking violently.
Though there was no wind, the branches thrashed against one another.
“...Senior Brother, how many people are there?”
“Wouldn't it be better not to know?”
“...Urgh. I suppose that's true. But why didn't they attack us right away?”
“Either they wanted to minimize their losses, or they're watching to see who makes the first move.”
“What?”
“There are seven sects in their group.”
“...Senior Brother.”
Eunho suddenly called to me in a serious voice.
“What is it?”
“If there comes a time when you can only survive by abandoning me, please leave me behind.”
“...”
Before I could answer such incomprehensible words, Eunho continued.
“Promise me. Promise you won't give up entering the Martial Arts Academy because of me.”
It seemed Jong Seogang's earlier bullshit had gotten to him.
Just as I was about to tell him not to worry, Geumpyo spoke.
“Senior Brother, I feel the same way. If there comes a time when you must abandon me, don't hesitate to do so.”
Dongryong, whose eyes had returned to normal, added as well.
“Senior Brother, me too!”
“What are you saying, Dongryong? You're the youngest, so you have to make it back alive!”
“You're the eldest son of your family! You have to make it back alive if you're going to inherit the mill!”
The three brothers refused to back down, each insisting that they should be the one to die.
“What are you three doing?”
“...Well.”
“Where did you get the idea that you should throw away your lives first? Do you think I could attend the Martial Arts Academy with any peace of mind after sacrificing you?”
One of my greatest regrets in my previous life was surviving alone while leaving behind my fellow disciples and martial uncles.
I was risking my life now so that I would not repeat that mistake.
“B-but... It's only natural to risk our lives for our fellow disciples. The eldest senior brother said...”
Why did they keep claiming I'd said things I didn't even remember saying?
“Let me warn you. Never die. Don't even think about dying. If any of you think of sacrificing yourselves for me or giving up your lives for me, I'll send you straight back to the sect and ask the Sect Leader to expel you!”
“...!”
“Why aren't you answering?”
“B-by your command!”
“By your command!”
“By your command!”
“...”
What was this sudden “by your command” about? I was left speechless by how much stranger these kids became with every passing day.
#
Since we were being pursued anyway, there was no point in taking mountain paths.
We immediately turned around, descended to the main road, and began running.
“Senior Brother, shouldn't we run faster?”
Qi circulation naturally slowed a movement art.
The pressure of an unseen enemy must have weighed heavily on them, because Geumpyo and Eunho looked eager to shake our pursuers off at once.
“No matter how fast we run, we won't be able to lose them.”
Once we clashed to break through their encirclement, their allies scattered nearby would come rushing in.
Considering it was a common method humans used to hunt tigers, the Huang Sword Sect and the Cheongdo Fellowship's method of hunting us would clearly produce the greatest effect with the fewest losses.
“Then what do we do?”
“If we can't shake them off, we'll use them.”
“What?”
After passing Deqing, we reached a fork leading toward Mount Makgan and Huzhou.
“Senior Brother.”
Eunho turned his head to look behind us.
At the far end of the main road, Jong Seogang and his guards had appeared and were following us. Beside them, martial artists in the same yellow uniforms maintained their distance as they formed an encirclement.
“Senior Brother! The forest!”
On the mountain slope we had just descended from, people in dark blue martial uniforms were slowly closing in as well. They were from the Namhyang Sect, which was based in Zhejiang Province.
The strange thing was that the Cheongdo Fellowship's members were still nowhere to be seen.
“Senior Brother, ahead.”
The reason became clear the moment we reached the fork toward Mount Makgan and Huzhou.
Jang Sunwon, the Cheongdo Fellowship's Young Hall Master, stood with what appeared to be his guards, blocking the road to Huzhou.
“Doesn't it seem like they're herding us into the mountains?”
“It'll be easier to hunt us in the mountains than in a city.”
“They work together well.”
“...Let's go into the mountains.”
“What? Are you serious? Don't run into the mountains when you're being chased. Even a seven-year-old knows that.”
“I know.”
I immediately turned in the direction opposite the road Jang Sunwon was blocking.
Mount Makgan was an unremarkable mountain not yet well known in Zhejiang Province.
No medicinal herbs or edible wild greens grew there in abundance, nor did it produce fine timber, so the people nearby paid it little attention.
‘That's why they chose this place as their hunting ground.’
Still, several years later, one incident would draw everyone's attention to Mount Makgan.
I had intended from the beginning to make use of that event a little early.
When I looked back, the Huang Sword Sect's martial artists began slowly encircling Mount Makgan in a broad semicircle.
“Move faster.”
When we reached the mountainside, a path appeared that crossed the mountain and led in the opposite direction.
“Senior Brother, there are people who look like Cheongdo Fellowship martial artists on the other side.”
The Cheongdo Fellowship had already blocked the far side of Mount Makgan.
“There's no way out.”
Geumpyo's voice was filled with despair.
Then Eunho snapped irritably.
“Shut up! The eldest senior brother must have a plan, or he wouldn't have come here!”
“...Did you just tell me to shut up? You little bastard, to your elder brother!”
“Fuck! So what?!”
The instant profanity came out of Eunho's mouth, Geumpyo gripped his sword hilt as though he were about to kill him.
Dongryong alone looked as though he had no idea what had suddenly happened.
“Brothers, what's wrong?”
“You shut up! This is all because of you!”
At Geumpyo's harsh rebuke, tears welled in Dongryong's eyes.
Just moments ago, the three brothers had been close enough to tell one another to live. Now, they growled at each other as though they wanted to kill one another.
I quickly stopped my qi circulation and extended my energy sense.
‘As expected.’
Killing intent prickled over my entire body.
It wasn't the direct killing intent exuded by people. It had spread naturally through the air and was assaulting our bodies from every direction.
When exposed to this kind of killing intent, people instinctively felt fear, then lashed out in anger in order to overcome that fear.
“Silence!”
When I unleashed a lion's roar, the three brothers, who looked ready to fight at any moment, froze.
“Focus on your qi circulation.”
We had increased our speed after entering the mountain, and as our qi circulation gradually faltered, killing intent had seeped into our minds.
Dongryong had moved at the same speed, yet he had not been consumed by anger because he wore the Demon-Subduing Prayer Beads.
Though Geumpyo and Eunho had been full of discontent while I spoke, the savage expressions on their faces slowly faded as though nothing had happened.
“Huh?”
“W-what in the world...?”
“Senior Brother, have we fallen into a formation?”
Could this truly be called a formation? If it could, then it was the cruelest formation people could use against other people.
“Similar, but different. You've heard of it before...”
It was a tactic the Demonic Cult's demonic martial artists often used against supreme experts of the White Path and Black Path.
“The Heavenly Net and Earthly Web.”
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
