WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Episode 14: Rapid Changes in the Continental Situation (6)

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After crushing the Message Talisman into powder, Ise asked the external affiliate,

“So, what do you think will happen if we kill him and offer him as a sacrifice?”

“...”

The outpost manager remained silent for a long time.

Ise did not press them.

He knew it was a difficult question to answer.

External affiliates. To the Great Exorcist Order, they were little more than expendable personnel, people who could be replaced at any time.

Naturally, the outpost manager would want to avoid being drawn into the power struggle at headquarters.

Still, Ise waited patiently. As if to say that if they too had entered the Daoist path, they should at least uphold its principles.

At last, the outpost manager spoke with a sigh.

“When Kang Gyuyoung was expelled, the nobles' backlash was tremendous.”

“Backlash?”

“They protested that the Great Exorcist Order had used the Root-Severing, Meridian-Cutting Art on a promising pureblood disciple over a single criminal from the outer branch.”

‘One little goby is muddying the whole pond.’

Ise kept the thought to himself.

“As a result, dissatisfaction with the Great Exorcist Order's policies spread rapidly, centered around Cultivator Kang Ihyeon. At the time, the order nearly split in two.”

“Over something that trivial?”

“That was only the arrow that was loosed.”

The outpost manager drew a breath.

“Even before then, the Great Exorcist Order had long been divided over spiritual-material preservationism.”

“...”

Do not hunt spirit beasts.

Do not harm spiritual materials.

Those beliefs ran through the heart of the Great Exorcist Order, but the policies built around them cast more shadows than one might expect.

They undeniably hindered the disciples' growth.

Ise himself had felt that keenly.

The dissatisfaction over policies that had already been festering must have spread through Kang Gyuyoung's expulsion.

“Since then, the Great Exorcist Order's Inner Halls have divided into two sides. One side wishes to protect the existing beliefs. The other argues that beliefs can only be protected by strength. They claim that, given the continent's unstable state, the Zheng Empire's cultivation world must be conquered first, then the system can be rebuilt afterward.”

Both sides were understandable.

The claim that beliefs needed strength to protect them was especially hard to deny.

“So how are they divided?”

The external affiliate explained that Hall Master Haeil, along with Hall Masters Kang I-tae, Haewol, Hong Mi-hee, and Ahsan, supported protecting spiritual materials.

Hall Masters Seolbaek, So Hong-ji, and Gong Wol-a supported loosening the restrictions.

Hall Master Banho, as a cultivator who had once been a spirit beast, believed spirit beasts should be protected while spiritual materials could be used.

Chief Master Sugyeom was neutral.

Hall Master Woo Yu-hui had no interest in the matter at all.

Five against three.

With Hall Master Haeil, the strongest cultivator in the order, firmly holding the center, the current policies had likely endured.

“But in times as uncertain as these, that goby of a man caused all this trouble for the Great Exorcist Order and still hasn't come to his senses...”

“What a complete mess.”

The order was even more chaotic than Ise had thought.

For the first time, he clearly understood that the balance between headquarters' free atmosphere and its exemplary discipline was barely being maintained over a rotten conflict.

“I understand that we can't handle him carelessly. But what are we supposed to do?”

It was only natural to ask.

What kind of mission was this?

What did they expect them to do?

This was not a matter that could be solved through discipline, like when they had set the pureblood cultivators at headquarters straight. A person had to be offered as a sacrifice.

The faction led by Deputy Hall Master Kang Ihyeon would surely make an issue of this, and Ise had no ability to handle that backlash.

It was far too difficult a problem for a mere Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator.

The external affiliate could not answer, and Seolryeong and Ise thought in silence for a long while.

It would have been ideal if Seolryeong could successfully complete the demon hunting without harming Kang Gyuyoung, but they had already failed once.

“What if we meet Kang Gyuyoung and have him apologize directly to the victim's lingering soul?”

Seolryeong shook her head.

“If the grievance is weak, a sincere apology can sometimes disperse the resentment... but I don't have much hope.”

“We should at least try. He needs to understand how serious what he did was.”

“Yeah. There isn't another way.”

Letting him die without ever once considering the weight of his deeds would be too merciful.

Even if the Fallen Courtesan Wraith's grievance could not be resolved, Kang Gyuyoung needed to face what he had done.

That was what they considered right, and what the natural order demanded.

After receiving the victim's information from the external affiliate, Ise headed for the Pearl River Gang Clan.

* * *

The Pearl River Gang Clan was a massive noble house that occupied an entire district on the eastern side of Jinju Castle.

They had produced the city lord for generations and held every governing power in their grasp. In this region, they must have ruled like kings.

Even so, their influence did not extend far enough to be wielded against a Mountain-Guarding Disciple from headquarters. The clan head personally came to the main gate to receive them.

“A Mountain-Guarding Disciple from headquarters has come to such a humble place... What brings you here?”

“Kang Gyuyoung.”

Only three syllables left Ise's lips, yet the clan head's face went pale.

It seemed Kang Gyuyoung had caused no shortage of trouble within his own family as well.

“Young Master Kang Gyuyoung is in the rear garden's annex. I will guide you.”

The clan head let out a short sigh and gestured.

Before they even reached the annex, the smell of alcohol drifted toward them.

He seemed to be heavily drunk in broad daylight.

Five or so empty bottles lay scattered across the annex courtyard's daybed. In the middle of them sprawled a man with his Daoist robe hanging open.

His hair was jet-black and his skin pale. He had the looks of someone raised in comfort, but his drunken eyes and disheveled clothes had ruined that refined impression entirely.

“What?”

Kang Gyuyoung raised one eye and looked at them.

“I didn't ask for any women.”

“...”

“Oh. She's quite pretty.”

Kang Gyuyoung's expression had initially been indifferent, but he slowly looked Seolryeong over from head to toe as if judging livestock, then curled his lips into a smile.

“Come over here and pour me a drink.”

Seolryeong took a step back in disgust. It was an instinctive retreat, like someone avoiding a pile of filthy dog shit.

Ise glanced at her, then moved a finger.

Kang Gyuyoung's body shot forward. He caught himself on the ground and dropped into a kneeling position.

“A cultivator?! What is the meaning of this?”

Even after realizing they were cultivators, Kang Gyuyoung did not change his arrogant attitude.

Rather than call him out on it, Ise asked a short question.

“Did you murder a courtesan at Hwaru Ward?”

“So what if I did? What does it matter if one lowly courtesan died? Are you here to harass me again? She wasn't even affiliated with the Great Exorcist Order! Release me at once!”

“A mere criminal ordering cultivators around. The world's truly gone to hell.”

Kang Gyuyoung shut his mouth for a moment at Ise's brief remark. Then he twisted his lips up again.

“If I still had my spiritual root, brats like you couldn't even meet my gaze...”

“A mere Qi Condensation Realm cultivator?”

“...”

Kang Gyuyoung flinched.

That one sentence told him that Ise had reached the Foundation Establishment Realm.

A Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator was a genius even at headquarters, someone who received special treatment.

He was on a completely different level from the cultivators Kang Gyuyoung had looked down on until now.

Still, Kang Gyuyoung could not bow his head.

His bloodline was the only pride left to him after he had lost everything, even his reason for living.

“...Do you know who my father is?”

“Cultivator Kang Ihyeon. Deputy Hall Master of Black Tortoise Hall. So what? If I kill you here, what can someone at headquarters do about it?”

Ise spoke without the slightest hesitation.

“...”

“Right now, you're only a criminal. Your funeral should be quite grand, though.”

Kang Gyuyoung's body shook with shame and fury.

Seolryeong added mockingly from beside Ise.

“He broke through to Foundation Establishment in just seven years after entering the cultivation world. He's the greatest genius in the Great Exorcist Order's history. Do you think anyone can lay even a finger on him?”

It was an embarrassingly grand claim, but it seemed effective. Kang Gyuyoung's face filled with alarm.

“...What do you want me to do?”

“Because of what you did, Hwaru Ward is now full of an evil spirit's resentment. Go there right now, bow your head, and apologize. If that still doesn't resolve it, I'll tear your body to pieces as you did the Fallen Courtesan Wraith.”

Kang Gyuyoung gave a hollow laugh, then noticed Seolryeong's Spell Bell Staff and turned to her.

He had realized that she was the one assigned to exterminate the evil spirit.

“Ha! You're telling me to apologize to a demon? I've never heard anything so ridiculous. Just perform a spirit-sending rite on that evil spirit and be done with it. What are you, some half-baked Shaman?”

“Who are you calling half-baked?”

Seolryeong shouted angrily.

“She dared refuse me while carrying on about some beloved man, so I gave that arrogant courtesan the punishment she deserved. If she became a demon, that was her fate.”

Both of them frowned.

It was because of the words beloved man.

The courtesan who had become the Fallen Courtesan Wraith had a lover. That was not in the outer branch outpost's information.

Then the sorrow, affection, longing, and guilt Seolryeong had experienced must have all been for her lover.

She had suffered that while she had someone she loved. No wonder her resentment reached the heavens.

Ise sighed inwardly and asked Kang Gyuyoung. He could already guess the answer, but he still needed to confirm it.

“What happened to the man she loved?”

“Ha ha ha! What do you think happened? How dare a verminous criminal insult a great bloodline? I let him be with her forever, just as he wished.”

Seolryeong could not hold back any longer. She slammed her fist down on Kang Gyuyoung's head.

Foam appeared at Kang Gyuyoung's lips as he fainted. Startled by the unexpected action, Ise looked at Seolryeong.

“Look at this bastard, deserving to be hacked to pieces and fed to dogs...”

“...”

Ise was briefly taken aback by that unfamiliar, rougher side of Seolryeong.

Then he calmed himself, bound the unconscious Kang Gyuyoung, and lifted him into the air.

While he did so, replies arrived to the Message Talismans he had sent Chief Master Sugyeom and Hall Master Woo Yu-hui.

He had explained the situation and asked what they should do.

- Do your utmost to exterminate the evil spirit.

- Kill him.

Seolryeong looked through the jade slip at those two words and gave a dry laugh.

Chief Master Sugyeom had given indirect permission, while Hall Master Woo Yu-hui had issued a direct order.

The replies suited both of them.

“What are you going to do now?”

At Seolryeong's question, Ise organized his thoughts and made his decision.

He had received permission from two superiors. Now he only needed to fulfill his duty.

“...First, we'll try to resolve this peacefully. If that doesn't work...”

“If that doesn't work?”

“He'll pay for his crimes. The cultivator's way.”

Ise's gaze slowly darkened.

Footnotes:

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