WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 98: Hell's Entrance Exam: Gate ‘III’
──────
“We want the truth about what happened on the Puyang Plains.”
The Nine Sects One Gang and the Five Great Clans maintained branch facilities in every province. Shaolin Temple built temples, while Wudang Sect and Mount Hua Sect established Daoist compounds.
They claimed these compounds existed for those too far from the main mountain to visit directly, but in truth, they managed affiliated lay sects and commercial establishments throughout the country. In that respect, they were little different from Martial Alliance branches.
The difference was that Martial Alliance branches often lacked unity because of complicated internal politics, while the branches of the Nine Sects obeyed their main sects' orders absolutely.
“What truth are you referring to?”
The two introduced themselves as the heads of Wudang Sect's and Mount Hua Sect's Zhengzhou Daoist compounds.
“A thousand people clashed on the Puyang Plains, and nearly five hundred died. Isn't it only natural to uncover the truth behind it?”
At the Mount Hua Sect compound head's words, the middle-aged people behind the compound head all nodded.
Judging by their different robes, they appeared to be senior members not only of Mount Hua Sect and Wudang Sect, but also of the sects whose members had died on the Puyang Plains.
“To be exact, it wasn't a thousand people clashing. A thousand people fought eighty.”
The head of Wudang Sect's Zhengzhou Daoist compound stepped forward beside the Mount Hua Sect compound head.
“That is precisely my point. A thousand fought eighty, so how did only twenty of you die?”
Namgung Seonhwa's and Seong Moran's expressions gradually changed.
“Are you saying all of us should have died?”
“By the natural order of things, would that not have been right?”
“!”
“!”
Their faces flushed red.
Had it been anyone else, the two would have drawn their swords at once. Yet these were the heads of Wudang Sect's and Mount Hua Sect's Daoist compounds, so they could not act on their anger.
“Sir, the young ladies of the Namgung Clan and Iron Sword Sect are here. Watch your words.”
They might have treated the Iron Sword Sect lightly, but even with the Namgung Clan present, their manner was unbearably rude.
The Wudang Sect compound head glanced at Namgung Seonhwa before speaking again.
“...If there is a problem, it can be resolved later. Addressing this more important matter comes first.”
Realizing there was no reasoning with them, I tried to enter the Martial Alliance's Nanyue Branch.
If this dragged on any longer, there would have been no point in getting up so early.
But then...
“You will not enter until the full circumstances of this matter have been revealed.”
They used their martial artists to block the entrance.
I let out a quiet sigh.
I needed to begin leaking clues about the Demonic Cult's movements through official channels.
If an individual heard it, they would neither understand nor accept it. It would only deepen their suspicions.
“Miss Namgung has already prepared a report for the Martial Alliance. Hear the full details directly from the Alliance later.”
“I have made myself clear. You will not enter until the circumstances have been revealed!”
“...”
My blood ran cold.
The deaths of disciples who had been like siblings were tragic, but that was something one had to accept when taking the Martial Arts Academy's regular examination.
Even so, these people were trying to force through an absurd demand because they trusted in their own power.
It was the narrow-minded thinking of people convinced that their rights differed from everyone else's.
“...Are you interfering with the Martial Arts Academy examination right now?”
“We are trying to correct what is wrong.”
“The rules state that no conflict may arise in the area where Gate III is being held. Violating that rule affects not only those involved, but their sects as well. You know this, don't you?”
“Hmph! That is why we came looking for you. If not for that rule, you would never have walked here on your own two feet.”
“There really is no reasoning with you.”
Shaking my head, I drew my sword.
“What do you think you are doing?”
“I don't care if you suspect me, but I cannot allow the Namgung Clan and Iron Sword Sect to suffer because of me. My fellow disciples and I will withdraw from the examination and escort the two young ladies inside.”
“Young Master Jin!”
Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran's eyes widened.
“You dare think you can face us?”
Not only the heads of Wudang Sect's and Mount Hua Sect's Daoist compounds, but every representative who had stepped forward for their sect wore expressions of disbelief.
The martial robes of the two compound heads began to billow.
As they slowly raised their internal energy, I could feel the pressure prickling against my skin.
I, too, drew up every bit of strength I had.
“This is strange. We are the people who killed five hundred with only eighty. Aren't you afraid to stand before us?”
“...”
“...”
The Geum-Eun-Dong brothers formed a sword formation and drew their blades.
The people who had come with the compound heads seemed unable to hide their panic. They had not expected matters to reach this point.
Clang! Clang!
Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran, who had come beautifully made up, drew their swords as well.
“You two shouldn't step in. If you get involved here, you may not be able to take the examination.”
“Do you honestly think that's something you should be saying right now?”
“It wasn't only the Taeul Sect that was insulted. They have insulted the name of the Namgung Clan. If I retreat because of the examination, Grandfather will never forgive me.”
When the two young ladies stepped forward, all the martial artists behind them drew their swords as well.
“Y-you insolent...”
The Mount Hua Sect compound head's face turned crimson.
The opponents were too formidable for Mount Hua Sect and Wudang Sect to suppress with their names alone.
With the Azure Emperor Divine Sword already invoked, a true clash would create a serious conflict between Mount Hua Sect, Wudang Sect, and the Namgung Clan.
Once right and wrong were sorted out, the compound heads present here would clearly be held responsible.
I wrapped sword qi around the Black Dragon Sword.
From this point on, it was a test of nerve.
The one with nothing to lose wins.
When I took a firm step forward, the heads of Mount Hua Sect's and Wudang Sect's Daoist compounds flinched.
“Wait!”
At that moment, a middle-aged man emerged from the Martial Alliance's Nanyue Branch with several guards.
“That is the Branch Head of the Martial Alliance's Nanyue Branch. Everyone, sheath your swords.”
#
“What is the meaning of this disturbance?”
“...”
“...”
The middle-aged man introduced as the Branch Head approached us and exchanged looks with the compound heads.
It seemed they had spoken beforehand, and the compound heads slightly lowered their heads.
“Everyone, return home. The Gate III examination of the Martial Arts Academy regular examination must be held now.”
“We cannot do that!”
“There are hundreds of victims on the Puyang Plains.”
“We must learn the full circumstances of this incident!”
As the gathered people spoke in unison, the Branch Head let out a small sigh.
“I have also heard of what happened on the Puyang Plains. A report has already been sent to the Martial Alliance, and the Alliance will form and dispatch an investigative team.”
“But that takes time! Time! What use is an investigation after no evidence remains?”
“The people involved in this matter are right here. Why must we wait for the Martial Alliance's investigation team?”
Voices accusing the Branch Head rang out from every direction.
“Enough.”
The Branch Head infused his voice with internal energy and sent it across the area. The uproar died down in an instant.
“The Martial Arts Academy regular examination is meant to provide everyone with a fair opportunity. If you interfere with it for private reasons like this, your sects will certainly suffer for it as well. Are you all prepared for that?”
“...”
“...”
“So stop this. If there are suspicions, the Alliance will certainly resolve them.”
Just as it seemed matters would be settled, the Mount Hua Sect compound head stepped forward.
“This matter is too serious for that.”
There was faint contempt in the Branch Head's eyes.
The Branch Head had tried to end things while allowing them to save face, but the compound head had started again.
Then, at the compound head's next words, the area erupted once more.
“There is suspicion that dark arts were used on the Puyang Plains.”
“...”
The Branch Head's eyes trembled slightly.
“Pfft!”
Seong Moran burst out laughing.
Everyone's gaze turned toward her, but she did not stop.
“What is so amusing, Miss Seong Moran?”
Surprisingly, the Branch Head knew Seong Moran.
“They dug their own graves. How could I not laugh?”
“What are you...?”
“The next thing you were going to say was, ‘Could the Taeul Sect be connected to dark arts?’ Wasn't it?”
“...”
“...”
Seong Moran pointed at the heads of Mount Hua Sect's and Wudang Sect's Daoist compounds. Their faces had turned so red that they looked ready to burst.
“Someone from our Iron Sword Sect said something just as stupid. Thanks to that, our ancestral grandmaster's Ninefold Sword, handed down through generations, was even taken from us. Is there anyone here who doesn't know that?”
“Hmph! You have no shame, associating with someone like that.”
“The Iron Sword Sect and Namgung Clan were also on the Puyang Plains. Can you say with certainty that they used dark arts as well?”
“...”
Unlike the Mount Hua Sect compound head, who remained quiet, the Wudang Sect compound head stepped forward this time.
“I have never thought the Iron Sword Sect or Namgung Clan was connected to dark arts. But we must resolve our doubts over how the Taeul Sect's martial arts are so heaven-shaking and earth-shattering that they hardly seem like the Taeul Sect's martial arts at all.”
I stared at the Wudang Sect compound head.
“Can you take responsibility for those words?”
I no longer held anything back and released my killing intent.
“Gasp.”
“Urgh.”
“W-what kind of killing intent is this?”
Not only the heads of Wudang Sect's and Mount Hua Sect's Daoist compounds, but the middle-aged people behind them all frowned at once.
“I'll ask again. Can you take responsibility for those words?”
“You brat! Do you know who I am to behave like this?”
“I have never let anyone go after they insulted my sect and my martial brothers.”
It had been that way before, it was that way now, and it would remain that way in the future.
If Jegal Cheongi from my previous life had seen me now, he would have cursed at me for failing to cast off the burden in my heart and doing something pointless.
I did not care.
No matter how much I suffered for it or how badly I was hurt, I was no longer as weak as I had been in my previous life.
Without hesitation, I approached the Wudang Sect compound head. The Wudang Sect Daoists standing behind the compound head moved in front to block me.
“T-that bastard!”
The Wudang Sect compound head, face red, pointed at me.
The Geum-Eun-Dong brothers followed at my side, ready to swing their swords at any time.
I filled my voice with internal energy.
“Say it again!! Does Wudang Sect believe that the Taeul Sect used dark arts!!!”
“Y-you brat!”
My voice thundered through the entire Martial Alliance Nanyue Branch.
Even people passing along the street stopped to look our way.
The Wudang Sect compound head’s face twisted like a sheet of paper.
Just as I was about to unleash the Twin Heavens Sword Art in response to the Wudang Sect compound head’s silence...
“Great Hero Jin Sowoon of the Taeul Sect did not use dark arts.”
A new voice cut in.
Everyone turned toward it at once.
Dozens of people who appeared to be receiving treatment for deep wounds were approaching from the direction of the voice.
The Branch Head, looking relieved, asked, “W-who are you people?”
The man at the very front spoke.
“I am Muk Jeongho of the Gonoh Sect. I am a participant in this regular examination, and one of those who fought the Taeul Sect on the Puyang Plains.”
“I see. Then, since you were there, you must know the details of the incident clearly.”
“I do not know who spread the story, but it is true that someone used dark arts there.”
“...See? The Taeul Sect...”
“But! Great Hero Jin Sowoon of the Taeul Sect was the person who saved us from those who used those dark arts.”
“What?!”
Now that he was close enough for me to see his face, I recognized him as the examinee who had stubbornly shouted at me despite being embarrassed that I had saved him.
“The moment we fought the Taeul Sect, those who ambushed us under cover of darkness did not look human. That part certainly requires investigation by the Martial Alliance. Yet there is no room for doubt that Great Hero Jin Sowoon was not the culprit.”
“How would you know...?”
“Have you no shame!”
“What?”
“Great Hero Jin saved us, who had come to attack him, from assailants whose identities we did not know. Simply because we belonged to the same White Path.”
Muk Jeongho pointed at those standing behind the compound heads and continued.
“On top of that, when the martial artists mobilized for the children of the people gathered here were dying, he personally stepped forward and gave them emergency treatment. Yet the people who hired them have come here to persecute a hero? Can you still call yourselves pillars of the White Path sects?!”
“That’s right!”
“You bastards should be ashamed of yourselves!”
The people who had come with Muk Jeongho were the martial artists I had treated on the Puyang Plains. Not one of them held back from cursing at the people who had hired them.
“Have you no shame!”
The Gonoh Sect was ranked tenth among the One Hundred Eight Peaks. Considering the influence of Mount Hua Sect, Wudang Sect, and everyone gathered here, it was unthinkable for him to act this way, but Muk Jeongho did not fear rebuking them.
“I, Muk Jeongho of the Gonoh Sect, guarantee that Great Hero Jin Sowoon of the Taeul Sect has never used dark arts.”
“I agree!”
“I agree as well!”
As the martial artists' voices grew louder, the faces of the heads of Mount Hua Sect's and Wudang Sect's Daoist compounds began to darken.
At that moment, one martial artist whispered to the Branch Head. The Branch Head looked at Namgung Seonhwa.
“Miss Namgung Seonhwa, I heard you prepared a report to deliver to the Martial Alliance.”
Namgung Seonhwa took a scroll from inside her robes and handed it over.
“...”
After reading her report, the Branch Head looked at me.
“It says here that you obtained part of a culprit's corpse. Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“May I see it?”
At my signal, Geumpyo took out the arm of a Dark Soul-Severing Unit member, wrapped layer upon layer in cloth.
“Eek!”
“What is that?!”
“Is that a sword protruding from its palm?”
“Isn't that bone?”
Only after seeing the remains did the Branch Head's expression stiffen.
“Why did you not show this earlier? It would have settled the matter more easily.”
I shook my head at the Branch Head's reproachful voice.
“Even the Branch Head did not properly take our side. Would a single corpse really have cleared away their suspicions?”
“...Ahem. That cuts rather deeply.”
The Branch Head looked toward the compound heads.
“No one can now claim that the Taeul Sect practiced dark arts based on this.”
“...”
“...”
I approached the Wudang Sect compound head. Wudang Sect disciples blocked me with drawn swords, but I sheathed my own blade instead.
“Do you still think the Taeul Sect used dark arts?”
“...”
“Answer me.”
“...”
“Answer me!!”
“No...”
“Then apologize.”
“What?!”
“I said apologize.”
“...Do you know who I...?”
“If you do not apologize, I will file a formal protest through the Martial Alliance over this matter.”
After deliberating for some time, the Wudang Sect compound head let out a long sigh. Then, with their head lowered deeply, the Wudang Sect compound head clasped their hands in a martial salute.
“...This Song of Wudang Sect formally apologizes to the Taeul Sect.”
Quiet gasps broke out all around.
No one could believe what they had just witnessed.
“You should be grateful that you belong to Wudang Sect. If I, a member of the Taeul Sect, had accused Wudang Sect of using dark arts, it would not have ended with an apology.”
“...”
The Branch Head spoke again.
“Can you hand over that corpse for the Martial Alliance's report?”
To determine the culprits' identities accurately, they needed that evidence as well.
The Branch Head's hand naturally reached toward the remains.
“No.”
As soon as I spoke, Geumpyo moved the bundle away from the Branch Head's hand.
“...Y-you said no?”
“Yes.”
“To resolve your suspicions, the evidence...”
“Those suspicions have already been resolved, have they not?”
“...This is a serious incident. Especially if beings are hiding in the darkness, this is certainly a matter that must be resolved through the Martial Alliance.”
“It is a matter the Martial Alliance should resolve, but that does not mean it absolutely needs the evidence.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everything acquired while taking the examination is considered the examinee's property. That is the rule, isn't it?”
“...”
“I intend to send this to my sect and have them investigate it directly.”
“...But the Taeul Sect...”
The Branch Head started to speak, then swallowed his words. He had just seen exactly what happened when Wudang Sect paid the price for a careless remark.
I continued, “Still, if the Branch Head truly needs it, buy the remains from me.”
“What?”
“Ha!”
“Just as expected from a sect with no proper roots.”
I heard the Mount Hua Sect compound head click their tongue, but I ignored them.
“How much do you want?”
“Ten taels of gold.”
“Ha!”
Not only the Branch Head, but Namgung Seonhwa and Seong Moran looked surprised.
“Use that money for the funerals of those who died on the Puyang Plains and the treatment of the injured. Then I will hand over the remains.”
“!”
“!!”
Their surprise only deepened.
The heads of Wudang Sect's and Mount Hua Sect's Daoist compounds looked as though they had tasted dung.
“Will you do that?”
“Ha...”
The Branch Head let out a long sigh before speaking.
“If that is your condition, I will accept it.”
“Geumpyo, give it to them.”
“Yes, First Senior Brother.”
Unlike usual, Geumpyo addressed me as First Senior Brother as he handed the remains to the martial artist standing beside the Branch Head.
Then thunderous cheers rang out.
“Waaaaaah!”
I clasped my hands in a martial salute toward Muk Jeongho.
“Thank you for your help. Take care.”
“...Great Hero Jin, let us meet again.”
As we passed through the crowd and entered the branch, the martial artists behind us began shouting in unison.
“Jin Sowoon!”
“Jin Sowoon!”
“Jin Sowoon!”
“Black Flame Dragon! Jin Sowoon!”
“Black Flame Dragon! Jin Sowoon!”
“Black Flame Dragon! Jin Sowoon!”
For some reason, Seong Moran and Namgung Seonhwa walked with their shoulders thrown back as though they were the ones receiving the cheers. The Geum-Eun-Dong brothers walked even closer to me than usual.
“Why are you sticking so close? And put that flag down already.”
“What are you talking about, First Senior Brother? I was already thinking the flagpole is too short. I should prepare a longer one.”
Footnotes:
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