WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 91: The Time of the Hunt (5)
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“It’s confirmed. It’s the ship the Changgung Merchant Group chartered in full.”
At the words of the man in his mid-thirties, a young man who looked barely past twenty nodded.
“Then deploy martial artists throughout the area. They said it was a day’s journey, so they should be arriving soon.”
The man nodded, then led the martial artists to one of the docks around Zhenjiang and began taking up positions.
“Phew...”
“Are you frustrated, Senior Brother Gipung?”
At Jang Unje’s question, Yi Gipung nodded.
“My eyes and ears have been completely cut off. Of course I am.”
“Exactly. Why did the main sect have to fall on hard times at a moment like this?”
Yi Gipung was not as naive as Jang Unje. Did it make any sense for the funds flowing into the main sect to suddenly dry up while its businesses across the country ran into trouble? And this was Mount Cang Sect.
“I heard Mount Hua is dealing with the same thing. They’re receiving less support than their seniors did as well.”
“Hmph! They must have chosen the wrong side too.”
Mount Hua and Mount Cang.
Who in the world would dare put the squeeze on either of them?
This was simply the price they were paying for losing a power struggle within the sect.
It was bad enough that they had to take the regular examination with martial artists from lay martial sects instead of the main sect’s senior disciples. Now they were not even receiving proper financial support. It felt as though their own sect had abandoned them.
He had never expected their allied factions within the Nine Sects One Gang to turn so cold over money either.
“Those damned Beggar Sect bastards.”
The Beggar Sect’s courier pigeons, which had supplied them with information for some time, had stopped arriving long ago.
Because of that, they had performed poorly during Gate I and Gate II. At this rate, they might not even enter the Martial Arts Academy.
“...”
The thought of failing to enter the Martial Arts Academy made his head spin. If that happened, the gap between him and the disciples at the main sect would become enormous.
“At least Daoist Myeonghyeon is helping us. Isn’t that fortunate?”
“You’re right!”
Fortunately, Daoist Myeonghyeon of the Martial Alliance had personally sent them information. That was how they had barely managed to overcome the crisis.
“Daoist Myeonghyeon has always favored you, Senior Brother. They must be deeply worried about you.”
Yi Gipung nodded at Jang Unje’s words.
It had been so long ago that his memories were hazy, but he recalled Daoist Myeonghyeon saying a few words to him before being elevated to elder of the Martial Alliance.
“But, Senior Brother...”
Yi Gipung tilted his head at Jang Unje’s hesitant voice.
“I know this might sound disrespectful, but can Daoist Myeonghyeon’s information really be trusted?”
“...”
Yi Gipung hesitated briefly, then shook his head.
“Are you saying Daoist Myeonghyeon would speak nonsense?”
“That’s not what I mean, but isn’t it a little much to believe it without question?”
“...”
According to Daoist Myeonghyeon, a Taeul Sect disciple was taking the examination with only three junior brothers. Yet they had secured nine Gate Tokens at Gate I and six at Gate II. His instructions were to cooperate with Mount Hua and Wudang Sect to deal with them.
The report was hard to believe, but its source was Daoist Myeonghyeon, so he could not simply dismiss it either.
They had even been connected to Song Baek of the Radiant Flower Escort Agency, the wealthiest among the lay disciples, to fill in the gaps in their information. In the end, they had no choice but to trust and follow it.
Of course, they had ignored the part about cooperating with Mount Hua and Wudang Sect.
If Mount Hua and Wudang Sect joined them to capture the Taeul Sect disciples, what would the people of the martial world think of Mount Cang Sect?
There was also the matter of dividing the spoils after catching the Taeul Sect disciples. Yi Gipung was currently traveling with two junior brothers.
If Mount Hua and Wudang Sect joined forces, there was a high chance his junior brothers would be excluded when the spoils were divided.
“Is the ship ready?”
“Yes, it is, but... do we really need to go that far?”
According to Song Baek, those pursuing them had spent the last ten days without sleeping or eating, continuously staging ambushes.
They should already have been thoroughly exhausted.
Against Taeul Sect, this much preparation could be called more than sufficient.
“Didn’t you hear what Junior Brother Song Baek said? Martial artists from the Namgung Clan and Iron Sword Sect are traveling with them. At worst, they may try to put only the examinees aboard the ship.”
“Then they’ll fail after Gate III... no, before they even reach Gate III.”
“That’s why we must prepare for every possibility. We can’t cook the porridge only to hand it to a dog.”
He had flatly ignored Mount Hua Sect’s written message, sent by the group traveling toward Henan Province, asking why they were heading to Jiangsu Province.
If they were waiting in Henan Province, then the moment their targets boarded a ship and departed, they would only be delivering them into the jaws of Mount Hua and Wudang Sect.
“We can’t let that happen.”
Besides Mount Cang Sect, people who appeared to be taking the regular examination were scattered throughout Zhenjiang.
None of them, however, looked capable of standing against Mount Cang Sect.
“They should be here soon...”
Jang Unje looked up at the sun.
At that same moment, a shrill whistle sounded, followed by a bang.
“...What was that?”
It was clearly a signal firework.
“What is it signaling?”
Yi Gipung looked around, but no one appeared to be making any particular move in response to the signal.
“Senior Brother! The ship! The ship is leaving!”
“What?!”
The Changgung Merchant Group’s ship raised its anchor and unfurled its sails as the sailors began rowing.
“We had clearly stopped anyone from getting through...”
Then he saw two women, drenched from head to toe, gripping ropes beside the moving ship and climbing aboard.
The people on deck treated them with great respect. They were clearly not ordinary individuals.
“Damn it! They abandoned their martial artists and moved ahead!”
“What do you mean?”
“This is no time for that! Divide the martial artists into two groups! Capture their ship, then get our own ship moving!”
“Yes!”
What a foolish choice.
They had left their martial artists behind.
They might escape this place for now, but how did they expect to overcome the long journey after Gate III that way?
“That is, if they can escape this place at all.”
Then the Changgung Merchant Group’s ship began doing something strange.
Led by the two women, the sailors started throwing planks and large wooden tubs into the river.
“Are they trying to lighten the ship?”
That was as far as Yi Gipung’s thoughts went.
Thudthudthudthudthudthudthud.
A group of mounted riders came charging toward them like madmen, kicking up clouds of pale dust.
“S-Senior Brother!”
Jang Unje, who had been preparing to board the ship, called out to Yi Gipung in terror.
“What is this...?”
“It’s the Namgung Clan!”
“What? They didn’t abandon their martial artists?”
#
When the Demonic Cult began its conquest of the martial world, there was one group that had given everyone the greatest headache.
The Iron Cavalry Black Wind Unit.
They fought in a manner unfamiliar not only to the martial artists of the world, but even to the government army.
The closest comparison would have been the mounted combat used by tribes far to the north.
The Martial Alliance had struggled to deal with them because it had no idea how to stop them.
The swords and sabers most martial artists used could not pierce armored horses, while the long spears wielded by demonic martial artists from horseback sank deeply into their opponents’ chests.
Above all, there was the horse’s overwhelming power to break through a formation.
No human could match the sheer weight and force of that charge. Martial artists, thrown into confusion by a tactic they had never imagined, could not stand against it.
“This strategy came ten years too early.”
The martial artists following behind me were riding as I had ordered, but every one of them wore a confused expression.
“Young Master! Are we really going to keep riding like this?”
“Keep going! Don’t even think about stopping. Just think of it as running across the river!”
“...”
At times like this, it was better to show them the sweetness of the outcome than explain whether the process made sense.
“If you do, you’ll be able to travel with the young ladies all the way to the Martial Arts Academy.”
“““Yes!”””
The martial artists of the Namgung Clan and Iron Sword Sect shouted loudly.
#
“S-Senior Brother, they aren’t slowing down!”
“What?”
Were they planning to cross the river on horseback?
Shing, shing, shing, shing, shing!
Led by a young man about Yi Gipung’s age in black martial robes at the front, more than a hundred mounted martial artists drew their swords at once.
“Everyone, charge!”
“““Waaaaah!”””
The martial artists from lay martial sects had already lost their formation. Unable to gather or scatter, they panicked at the mounted force and fled in all directions.
“D-Don’t scatter! S-Stop them!”
Yi Gipung instinctively shouted that they had to stop the riders, but no one listened.
In the end, Yi Gipung kicked off the ground.
One move was all it would take to break their formation.
The Sun-Shooting Sword Art that had once earned praise from Daoist Myeonghyeon spread outward.
It targeted the vital points of the man in black at the front, who wielded a black sword.
“Your attainment is lower than Jong Byeokgi’s.”
“What?”
The name of that incredible senior, one Yi Gipung had never expected to hear, came from his opponent’s mouth. His sword form faltered for an instant.
The martial artist in black thrust his sword precisely into that opening.
Thud!
“Urgh!”
“Senior Brother!”
Yi Giphung flew backward even faster than he had launched himself forward.
Shing, shing, shing!
The mounted group swept aside the martial artists lingering around them with a single stroke each, then charged directly toward the river.
What were they trying to do?
The answer came quickly.
Starting with the young man in black at the front, every rider leaped off their horses.
Splash! Splash! Splash!
They stepped on the planks and wooden tubs scattered across the water from the ship, then began boarding it.
Everyone in Zhenjiang who had been targeting the Namgung Clan, Iron Sword Sect, and Taeul Sect could only stare blankly at the scene.
#
Namgung Seonhwa thought it was an impossible plan.
“You want us to abandon the horses?”
“Yes.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to go around Hongze Lake?”
When Namgung Seonhwa heard that many people, including Mount Cang Sect, were waiting for them in Zhenjiang, the first thing she considered was taking a detour.
But Jin Sowoon shook his head.
“If we do that, we won’t reach Gate III in time.”
“...Even so, what’s the point of abandoning the horses?”
“That’s why we’ll use a diversion.”
Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran would arrive in Zhenjiang first and approach the ship through the water.
The ship would depart as soon as they arrived, scattering Mount Cang Sect’s formation.
Then the later group would board the departing ship.
It sounded plausible at first, but there was a vast difference between a plan that sounded plausible and actually carrying it out.
But...
“It worked.”
Watching that plausible plan unfold made all the common sense she knew seem to fly away.
“...It really did.”
Seong Moran also stared blankly at Jin Sowoon as he stepped onto the planks on the river and leaped aboard as though he were flying.
Once he landed safely on the ship, Jin Sowoon immediately grabbed the prepared planks and began throwing them.
Each one landed perfectly beneath the feet of martial artists who had nearly missed a plank and fallen into the river.
“I can’t believe this even while watching it.”
The martial artists of the Namgung Clan and Iron Sword Sect were elites among elites. In terms of attainment, they had surpassed first-rate and stood at the threshold of the peak realm.
With only Jin Sowoon’s simple assistance, most of them made it safely aboard.
“Young Master Jin! The junior brothers!”
The problem was Geumpyo, Eunho, and Dongryong.
For some reason, Jin Sowoon had placed the three brothers at the very back.
Geumpyo and Eunho desperately used their movement arts as they stepped on the planks, but every time they did, they splashed into the water up to their ankles.
Dongryong had already fallen in and was swimming.
“I’ll go get them!”
Namgung Seonhwa stepped forward at once.
“No.”
As he spoke, Jin Sowoon threw ropes to Geumpyo and Eunho while extending his left hand toward Dongryong.
A small silver object, like a bird’s talon, shot from his hand and seized Dongryong.
“Hup!”
Then he pulled.
Geumpyo, Eunho, and Dongryong climbed aboard, soaked through.
“Didn’t I tell you to practice your movement arts beforehand?”
“Senior Brother! Isn’t it robbery to expect Grass-Skimming Flight from someone with only fifteen years of internal energy?”
“Tsk.”
Jin Sowoon frowned, but smiles rested on the faces of Geumpyo, Eunho, and Dongryong.
They were not the only ones. The martial artists of the Namgung Clan and Iron Sword Sect also let out foolish laughs, as if they could not believe that everyone had boarded without a single injury.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Then arrows rained down toward the Changgung Merchant Group’s ship.
“They’ve launched their ships too.”
Mount Cang Sect, Song Baek, and the others who had kept them from sleeping throughout the journey all launched ships from the docks and gave chase.
Some climbed into small ferries and rowed after them.
Every ship moored along the docks seemed to race into the river.
“At this rate, they’ll catch us.”
Just as she wondered whether taking the long way around would have been the right choice...
“...Huh?”
The air around them began to tremble.
Boom!
Jin Sowoon’s martial robes swelled as if they were about to burst.
An overwhelming wave of energy, unlike anything she had ever felt, spread out from him.
“Y-Young Master Jin...”
Rumble.
It felt as if the sky itself were falling. Power capable of collapsing Mount Tai and covering the earth stirred in his hand.
Her breath caught beneath that overwhelming pressure.
Then a massive barrage of palm force poured from Jin Sowoon’s hand.
Kwararararang!
The small ferries used the fierce storm as propulsion, their light hulls shooting far ahead.
The larger ships that had yet to leave the docks were struck head-on and shattered to pieces.
Kwararararang!
Among the boats packed like ants around the docks, ships and people tangled together and soared in every direction, as though a waterspout had risen.
Boom, boom, boom!
When the overwhelming storm passed, it left behind nothing but the wreckage of a disastrous accident.
“Young Master Jin...”
“They won’t be able to chase us now, will they?”
“That’s true, but... if you had this kind of power, why didn’t you use it earlier?”
It suddenly felt as if all their hardship until now had been pointless.
“That’s the drawback of this martial art. I collapse after using it.”
“What?”
“Could someone...”
With those words, Jin Sowoon slowly collapsed as if his sleep acupoint had been struck.
Without thinking, Namgung Seonhwa caught him in her arms.
“S-Someone, help...”
It was the first time she had ever held a man. She had no idea what she was supposed to do.
Footnotes:
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