WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 93: The Time of the Hunt (7)
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“They've vanished.”
Jegal Somyeong frowned.
Again.
The Gate Tokens had disappeared once more.
The Martial Arts Academy's examiners followed the Gate Tokens. Tracking those tokens ultimately determined who passed and who failed.
Still, they couldn't possibly track all four thousand Gate Tokens from Gate I alone.
Instead, they predicted each candidate's route and relayed the tokens' locations to the examiners stationed in the next area.
When asked whether it could simply be human error, Jegal Somyeong firmly shook their head.
“There are twofold and threefold safeguards in place to prevent that.”
Besides, the information in the dispatches was too peculiar to call it a mistake.
“Two hundred, and only from the major sects.”
Two hundred Gate Tokens across Gate I and Gate II.
Considering there had been four thousand Gate Tokens in Gate I, it might have seemed within the margin of error. Yet that was not the case when one considered the tokens and the people who had vanished with them.
The Nine Sects One Gang.
The Five Great Clans.
The One Hundred Eight Peaks.
Every target had been someone highly likely to enter the Martial Arts Academy, someone destined to become a pillar of the Martial Alliance.
“Do you believe this is the Black Path's work?”
“...”
Jegal Somyeong looked toward Maeng Juwon, who had suddenly joined the conversation.
The dark circles beneath their eyes reached all the way down their cheeks. Yet their eyes still shone brightly.
“What makes you think that?”
“The pattern is too clear to consider this a simple error.”
“Explain further.”
“A large number of the second-rank disciples from the Nine Sects One Gang and the One Hundred Eight Peaks have failed. It may be a small number overall, but they would form the backbone of the Academy and later the Martial Alliance. It would be enough to disrupt the balance.”
“Hah.”
The situation was clearly grave, yet Jegal Somyeong couldn't stop a laugh from escaping.
The thought that they might finally be able to retire from the Mantong Office if they found just one more capable person had begun to creep into their mind.
“Who do you think is behind this?”
“The obvious answer would be the Black Path.”
Jegal Somyeong's brow furrowed.
“But... this isn't the Black Path's work.”
Their eyes widened again.
“Don't keep me waiting. Go on.”
“If war broke out with the Black Path, it would become an all-out war. The greatest profit they could hope for would be control over more than half the martial world. From that perspective, the regular examination is nothing more than a test where they can lie beneath a persimmon tree and wait for the fruit to fall. They have no reason to intervene themselves.”
Jegal Somyeong nodded.
It made sense.
Every time the regular examination was held, the blood of White Path sects flowed across the martial world.
The Martial Alliance's forces would become more elite, but their overall strength would clearly decline.
“Then who do you believe is doing this?”
After considering it for a while, Maeng Juwon shook their head.
“There is no one I can identify.”
“...”
“But I know what they are after.”
“What is it?”
“The destruction of the Martial Alliance.”
“Haa.”
Jegal Somyeong let out a long sigh. Maeng Juwon had bluntly spoken the thought that had lingered in their mind, the thought they had not dared pursue. It was something only someone young, hot-blooded, and still innocent could say so freely.
“But are you just going to stay here?”
“...?”
The Martial Alliance never stopped the regular examination, no matter what happened.
Any problem that arose became part of the examination. That was its tradition.
“Isn't this too serious to ignore?”
“It only appears serious. Nothing has been confirmed yet. If the Alliance intervenes now, people will question the fairness of the examination.”
Jegal Somyeong wondered why someone who clearly knew that would suddenly say such a thing.
“At this rate, something truly terrible will happen.”
“...”
Had Maeng Juwon seen something beyond even what they had considered?
“Our Sowoon entered the area where the Gate Tokens vanished. We need to save him before he's in danger.”
“...”
Maeng Juwon had never even seen Jin Sowoon's face, yet was already calling him “our” Sowoon.
“At this rate, I'll never get married, never have a sly little child, never get a sweet little wife... Aaaagh!”
For someone who wouldn't come to their senses, a beating was the best medicine.
The judge's brush in Jegal Somyeong's hand flashed toward Maeng Juwon with the Leaf-Plucking, Flower-Flying art, renowned as the finest in the martial world.
“Die!”
#
“We are from the Namgung Clan. Who are you people?”
During the brief interval while the Namgung Clan warriors tended to the wounded, Namgung Seonhwa addressed the black silhouettes. No answer came.
“Prepare for battle!”
Clangclangclangclangclangclang!
The warriors of the Namgung Clan and Iron Sword Sect drew their silver swords at once and formed a sword formation.
“If you refuse to identify yourselves, we'll attack!”
“...”
The twenty black silhouettes gave no answer. They showed no sign of discussing anything among themselves.
They simply stood there like trees and rocks that had always occupied that spot, making the sight all the more chilling.
For some unknown reason, everyone's hearts were pounding even harder now.
Unable to bear the pressure any longer, Choe Mubin finally shouted.
“Attack!”
At that moment, white blades extended from between the cloaks of the figures that had looked like black boulders.
The swords were uneven and jagged rather than smooth.
Most horrifying of all, blood streamed down the entire length of each blade.
The warriors charged more fiercely to overcome their fear.
Then they felt the air tremble and instinctively stopped.
It was the same sensation they had felt at Jinkang Port.
A crushing pressure, as if it were drawing in all the air around them.
After that tremor in the air...
The shockwave arrived faster than expected.
Kwangggggg!
The palm strike that had smashed dozens of ships preparing to depart from Jinkang Port flew toward the black silhouettes.
“Huff... huff... We have to run!”
“What?”
No one knew why.
Yet the sight of Jin Sowoon, who had remained calm in every situation until now, made the warriors even more anxious.
Gang Seopyo and Choe Mubin instinctively looked at one another.
They had joined the examination to ensure the candidates passed, but their foremost duty was ultimately to protect Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran.
Gang Seopyo and Choe Mubin decided to trust Jin Sowoon.
“Let's go!”
“Move!”
The warriors gathered the wounded in an instant and kicked off the ground.
Jin Sowoon moved in the opposite direction, throwing himself into the space where the Mad Heaven Divine Palm's aftereffects had yet to fade. He quickly returned.
In his hands were one of those horrifying swords and a severed arm.
“Young Master Jin...”
“Later... We have to enter Feng County, no matter what.”
They had originally planned to bypass Feng County to avoid attention. But after seeing Jin Sowoon's expression, no one thought this was the time to argue.
* * *
‘Why are they here? And what is their objective?’
Jegal Somyeong was a remarkable genius.
After committing every record in the Mantong Office to memory, I had realized something.
It was not simply that they were intelligent.
They knew how to build systems.
Without a system, no sect could endure for long.
There were systems built to last ten years.
Systems built to last fifty years.
And systems built to last a hundred years.
Jegal Somyeong had built a system for the Martial Alliance that would last a hundred years. It had been created through their unique method of handling information.
They organized the Mantong Office and established the Profound Mystery Pavilion, classifying information by weight and importance.
They used the limited manpower of Cheonmok Pavilion and the Martial Alliance efficiently, placing eyes and ears throughout the martial world.
Then they arranged the gathered information by time, filling gaps in information that people could not convey.
Sitting in the Mantong Office, they could look upon the world as if it rested in their palm.
Yet even after setting up such twofold and threefold safeguards, there were times when empty spaces appeared in the information.
Jegal Somyeong had classified those as “missing pieces.”
Even after building a system worthy of confidence, they had always considered the possibility that something might remain unknown to them.
They had also left behind the words that, to find a missing piece, one must find the pieces around it.
‘The theory of missing pieces.’
Now, following Jegal Somyeong's theory of missing pieces, fragments began gathering in my mind one by one, seeking the missing piece.
◎ The ambush against Moyong Sangwon.
◎ The Demonic Cult's intention to conquer the martial world in the future.
◎ The disappearance of Hyeonjeong of the Wudang Sect and Yeon Umun of the Mount Hua Sect.
◎ Traces of Fluid Bone Sword found in the bones of Hyeonjeong's and Yeon Umun's corpses.
◎ The Dark Soul-Severing Unit, which should not exist here.
As the surrounding pieces came together, the missing piece emerged just as Jegal Somyeong had said.
- The assassination of key Martial Alliance figures in preparation for the Orthodox-Demonic War.
“Damn it.”
The problem was that, to conceal that missing piece and their intentions, they would silence us all.
The Dark Soul-Severing Unit.
A special unit formed with only twenty members.
They were monsters of the Demonic Cult, created by teaching the Dark Soul Sword, a bizarre martial art combining concealment techniques and swordsmanship, to masters who had reached the peak, then subjecting them to the unnatural procedure known as the Fluid Bone Sword.
A single squad contained only four people, but given the right environment, one squad could easily face ten of the Hundred Greatest Masters Under Heaven.
Those things were targeting us.
“Light... We need light.”
The most important factor in fighting them was the environment.
The darkness of night was their stage.
My internal energy had bottomed out after firing the Mad Heaven Divine Palm. I had held it back as much as possible, but it was such a violent martial art that I now had to scrape the very bottom of my dantian just to barely manage the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art.
Still, there had been a result.
One member of the Dark Soul-Severing Unit had died after being caught off guard by the Mad Heaven Divine Palm, leaving behind only an arm.
If the Sojeong Unit from my previous life had seen it, they would have given me all of that month's wages. It was that tremendous an achievement.
“What on earth...?”
“Never stop!”
Whether we had a way to fight them was a question for later. If we faced them now, not only the Namgung Clan and Iron Sword Sect, but even the lives of the Geum, Eun, and Dong brothers could not be guaranteed.
“Cough!”
Despite my warning, screams sounded behind us. Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran turned their heads.
One warrior lay sprawled on the ground, reaching out a hand.
Gang Seopyo nodded to another warrior. That warrior led Namgung Seonhwa onward while Gang Seopyo immediately ran to the rear.
A black silhouette raised a white blade, preparing to stab the warrior.
Gang Seopyo unleashed the Changgung Unhindered Sword Art with a sword covered in sword qi.
Sharararara!
Gang Seopyo's sword cut the black silhouette into three pieces in an instant.
Yet Gang Seopyo's eyes showed shock rather than relief.
Squelch.
Even after being struck by Gang Seopyo's sword, the black silhouette only scattered like smoke for a moment before piercing the warrior's throat again.
“What is this...?”
After confirming that the warrior had stopped breathing, the black silhouette swung its white sword at Gang Seopyo once more.
Swish.
A sword strike faster and cleaner than Gang Seopyo's own forms would have cut Gang Seopyo into four pieces.
I barely managed to execute the Peerless Wanderer Divine Art, reached Gang Seopyo in an instant, grabbed the back of Gang Seopyo's neck, and fled again.
Slash, slash.
Gang Seopyo barely avoided being torn into four pieces, but a long stream of blood spurted from Gang Seopyo's chest like a fountain.
“Khk.”
At the same time, I fired every spare signal flare I had received.
Of the four flares that shot into the sky, three were blocked by something the enemy threw, falling while releasing only white smoke. One flare barely exploded, revealing the forms of the Dark Soul-Severing Unit members for a brief moment.
“Eek!”
Dragged along behind me, Gang Seopyo screamed as though seeing something that should never be seen, forgetting the injury entirely.
“The village!”
Beyond the darkness surrounding us, Feng County glowed like a firefly.
#
“Would you like some courtesans?”
“...”
The brothel owner looked over the group, then fell silent after seeing Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa's faces.
“Ahem... Or shall I call some entertainers instead?”
“Bring us something to eat.”
Choe Mubin tossed over a pouch. The owner grumbled and turned away, apparently dissatisfied.
That was understandable. We had taken over the largest area on the first floor of the brothel.
Only thin cotton curtains separated the seats. If we turned our heads in any direction, we could see men and women tangled together. Moans carried through the silence among us.
“...”
“...”
I had chosen the brothel over the Changgung Merchant Group's branch in Feng County.
Even faced with that absurd choice, the group had followed without complaint.
No one could bring themselves to speak first.
There was no time to mourn the dead.
The people who remained here might join them at any moment.
In that sense, I thought being in the Sojeong Unit had been easier on the heart.
Surrounded by death every day, we had been able to choose how we felt in those moments.
“What were those things?”
A large bandage was wrapped around Gang Seopyo's chest.
Fortunately, the wound was not deep, but it was wide. Red blood still seeped through the bandages.
“I... I've never seen anything so horrific.”
Gang Seopyo was the oldest and most experienced of the Namgung Clan warriors. Hearing that, the other warriors grew even more frightened.
“...Are we safe here?”
Namgung Seonhwa looked at me anxiously, waiting for an explanation.
Since I couldn't tell them everything I knew, I constructed another lie. I had no hesitation. That lie might be the only thing keeping us alive right now.
“There was a time when I left the Taeul Sect and traveled the martial world alone. Back then, I saw them attack an escort caravan.”
I pulled a vanished caravan from my memories and used it as a rough story.
“The escort warriors were skilled, and the escort agency was well known, so I naturally assumed those people would lose.”
“...But they didn't.”
I mixed information into the lie.
“The escort warriors' swords couldn't touch them. They seemed to practice some unusual martial art. Even when they were cut, it had no effect, as if they were water.”
The body of someone who had mastered the Dark Soul Sword and undergone the Fluid Bone Sword procedure could become like air, like water.
In the darkness, their true forms could not be identified, and they could move freely from one shadow to another.
They became beings that could not be cut, even when struck.
“Then the palm strike you used...”
“I had only imagined fighting them as well. I never thought it would work.”
I took out the Dark Soul-Severing Unit member's arm.
“I brought it deliberately, so we could learn what they are.”
When I tore away the cloth, black skin was revealed.
“Th-this is...”
A rough, white sword protruded from the palm.
“Isn't that bone?”
The sharpness of the bone sword that had pierced through the palm made their skin crawl.
Namgung Seonhwa, Seong Moran, and the warriors all looked unable to believe it.
“We need to stop the examination immediately.”
The missing piece pointed to a single conclusion: the Dark Soul-Severing Unit, no, the Demonic Cult, wanted to use the examination to cut down those who could become pillars of the Martial Alliance.
“You know that isn't possible.”
Once the regular examination began, it never stopped.
The victims of the Dark Soul-Severing Unit would be treated as people who died during the examination, and no proper investigation would take place.
Even if the examination ended here, no traces of the Dark Soul-Severing Unit would remain.
“Th-then...”
They erased every trace of themselves while only damaging their enemy. It was a very clever operation.
With preparations this thorough, it made sense that the Martial Alliance had collapsed so quickly.
“For now, the important thing is reporting their identity to the Martial Alliance.”
“That's right.”
“After we get out alive.”
“What? What do you mean? We've already...”
“They won't simply give up.”
What they feared most was for even the smallest trace of their identity to become known to the martial world.
If that happened, the Martial Alliance would become wary of the Demonic Cult's future invasion.
“...”
“They hid their identities completely while carrying out their attacks. The reason we hadn't been attacked until now was probably because they were dealing with the other examinees.”
Gulp.
If they attacked this place right now, they might be able to kill us all.
“They will never give up on us.”
But if they did, someone would notice them.
And if they were noticed, they would become suspects. That was what they wanted least.
“Then... we came to the brothel because...?”
“It's the only place where lights stay on all night and people gather.”
I knew the strange scent wafting throughout the brothel eased people's tension, but neither the warriors nor the women could relax.
Especially now that we even possessed the remains of one of their members.
For all I knew, they would have reason to pursue us even if it meant abandoning every other operation.
“What should we do? Should we contact my family?”
“Then you'll fail the examination.”
Namgung Seonhwa looked at me as if wondering what kind of person I was.
“We'll continue the examination.”
And I intended to escape their grasp in the way they would hate most.
Footnotes:
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