WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Satori

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◈ Wanderer of the Martial World ◈

Chapter 13

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“Benefactor.”

Her handwriting was neat.

That meant she was accustomed to writing.

Most ordinary people were illiterate, and even those who could read rarely wrote properly.

They did not practice often enough.

Yet the fact that she had such orderly handwriting seemed to say that her original status had not been ordinary.

You had to write often to develop handwriting like that.

“My learning is shallow and my writing poor, so I ask that you kindly overlook it.”

After that humble introduction came the next passage.

“Several days ago, I happened to hear news of my family at the market.”

Her family...

“It was not good news, so I am leaving this letter out of concern.”

I had found a clue that might let me trace where Seoryeong had been taken.

A rumor recent enough to spread all the way to the market.

I only needed to follow it.

“The kindness I received from you, my benefactor, is too deep for me to measure. However, should something happen, I would have no way to repay you. Therefore, I am sending these two booklets as well.”

I glanced at the booklets for a moment before returning to the letter.

“These martial arts manuals were something my birth family came upon by chance. They have no owner now, so I hope they will be of use to you if you learn them.”

Martial arts manuals without an owner...

There were many martial arts in the world, even if they were not passed down to common folk.

Not only those created by figures called Grandmasters, but also arts created by altering the martial arts passed down through each martial sect.

I knew that the Azure Balance Gate's martial arts had also been created by altering those of the Mount Heng Sect.

After being altered several times, even more martial arts would emerge.

That was why there were so many martial arts whose origins were unknown.

Of course, ordinary people found even those difficult to access.

“Benefactor. If you are reading this letter, then something has likely happened to me. Do not look for us, and please take care of yourself. Thank you so much for everything you have done for us.”

That was where the letter ended.

The request not to look for them made me feel her concern for me.

After reading the letter several more times, I carefully folded it and set it aside. I placed the books neatly beside it and stared into empty space.

I felt lonely.

It was three days later when I had recovered enough to leave the house.

During that time, I ate only the jerky and rations left in the house and focused on recovering.

Of course, I had not merely recovered my body.

I had tested the Qi Accumulation Method that absorbed Yodans, and studied the martial arts Seoryeong had left behind.

Fortunately, the Qi Accumulation Method, which had been my biggest concern, showed no problems.

I had tested it by absorbing both Yodans I possessed, and there had been no abnormalities in my internal energy.

I could not sense it directly, but the air inside the house had grown remarkably stale after my Qi Accumulation. That was probably due to yokai aura.

As a result, I had to throw open the door and air the place out after every session.

There were supposedly two Peak Realm masters in Yeongheung County, but they had no reason to come all the way into these slums. I also knew that the range in which Peak Realm masters could sense yokai aura was not very great, so I could practice without worry.

The internal energy absorbed from the Yodans was no different from the internal energy I had cultivated before.

There might have been problems I had yet to notice, but one's own body was sensitive enough to feel discomfort from even a splinter beneath a fingernail.

If something were wrong, I thought I would have felt at least some irregularity.

That was why I felt a little excited.

In theory, as long as I had Yodans, I could build up internal energy without limit.

What I possessed were even the cores of Yo beasts.

They were normally used as ingredients for wound medicine or medicine for internal injuries.

The fact that I could turn even those into internal energy made me feel as though I had already become a master.

The greatest problem, of course, was how to obtain Yodans in the first place.

Next were the Flowing Current Heaven-Severing Saber and the Flowing Current Heaven-Severing Formula that Seoryeong had left behind.

“Follow the flow to ward off attacks, then sever the heavens in a single stroke.”

This martial art was remarkably similar to the practical martial arts I had trained in before.

Deflecting an opponent's attack and launching the fastest possible strike.

This martial art, founded on the principles of flow and speed, had come to me. I could not help feeling that it was fate.

The reason the Flowing Current Heaven-Severing Saber leaned in a direction similar to my own martial arts was simple.

It was highly efficient at killing an opponent with little strength.

And the reason lay in the Qi Accumulation Method contained within the Flowing Current Heaven-Severing Formula.

Was the basic inner-energy method taught at the Azure Wind Martial Arts Academy like this as well?

When I tried its Qi Accumulation Method, the internal energy it accumulated was so minuscule that I could barely feel it.

It was undoubtedly far inferior to the Qi Accumulation Method I possessed.

That was why the Flowing Current Heaven-Severing Saber was such an efficient martial art.

It had to kill opponents with insufficient internal energy.

At the same time, it gave me some hope.

If I used an efficient martial art with abundant internal energy, its destructive power would likely be extraordinary.

The internal energy I had cultivated with my original Qi Accumulation Method posed no problem when I circulated the Flowing Current Heaven-Severing Formula.

I had heard that internal energy could have attributes.

There was Daoist internal energy, Buddhist internal energy, and internal energy with unusual properties.

Since I did not know the origin of my own Qi Accumulation Method, I had worried that I might not be able to circulate the formula. Fortunately, I could do so without obstruction.

There were many blocked points because it was my first time circulating it, and I had to be careful not to damage the blood acupoints themselves, but no other problems arose.

I did not know whether it suited this martial art well, or whether my unknown Qi Accumulation Method was simply unusual.

However, the energy circulation fit together so perfectly that it swept even those thoughts aside.

Was it luck, or fate?

It was foolish to brood over things I could not resolve, so I simply sat still and alternated between energy circulation and Qi Accumulation.

Three days passed that way.

Feeling that my body had nearly recovered, I stepped outside.

The corpse of the old man who had attacked me had long since disappeared.

I did not know whether someone from deeper in the slums had taken it away or whether someone had simply disposed of it.

It did not matter.

This was the sort of place where no one cared about the death of an old beggar.

Spring warmth brushed against my body as I stood outside my home and looked at the house across from it.

The house Seoryeong had lived in only a few days ago.

A piercing longing rose and fell, stirring my whole body.

I knew it too.

It could not be helped, and time would heal the pain of separation.

It was something I had learned from meeting several women in my previous life.

Some had been casual relationships, while there had also been someone I promised to marry.

Each parting had hurt differently, but this one brought me an unfamiliar pain.

It was not a separation caused by one of us having a change of heart. We had been forcibly torn apart.

Of course, Seoryeong and I had not been a conventional couple.

But the feelings I had felt, and had hoped she felt as well, were undoubtedly the same feelings one had for a lover.

Hoo...

Letting out a deep sigh, I headed toward the market for now.

My destination was Jin Pal's inn.

Perhaps because it was an awkward hour, there were not many customers inside.

“Welcome~ Oh! Hyung!”

Gu Deok, who had been welcoming me, greeted me with a beaming smile.

“Yeah.”

I patted his shoulder before taking an empty seat.

“Bring me red-braised pork, thin noodles, and a bottle of baijiu.”

“Uh... yes!”

Gu Deok looked slightly startled by the bruises still lingering on my face, then headed for the kitchen after hearing my order.

It was rare these days, but I used to get hurt every other day.

Bruises were nothing compared to what I had suffered before.

That was probably why Gu Deok did not ask.

“Here you go.”

The food and liquor were placed on the table, and my mouth watered after days of eating only jerky and rations.

They said that when things got too hard, you stopped feeling hunger. That was not true for me right now.

I did not know whether I was less saddened by my separation from Seoryeong, or whether it was because I had hope that I could grow stronger and see her again.

“Where did you get hurt?”

Rather than leaving for another table, Gu Deok sat across from me.

Come to think of it, I had promised to teach Gu Deok martial arts. Even so, he had not pressed me about it. I found that commendable.

“Just... Gu Deok.”

“Yes?”

“You know the rumors going around, right?”

“Of course! That's pretty much all I hear every day.”

Since Gu Deok worked as an inn server, he naturally heard more rumors than most people.

Once alcohol entered the picture, people's tongues loosened far too easily.

If Seoryeong had heard it, there was a good chance Gu Deok knew about it too.

“Have you heard any recent rumors about the Five Great Families or the Eight Evil Families?”

Rumors about great factions and families famous across the land were spoken of by most people, whether they belonged to the authorities, the martial world, or common society.

“The Five Great Families and the Eight Evil Families?”

“Yeah.”

It could have been another prestigious family, of course.

There were many prominent families outside the Five Great Families and the Eight Evil Families.

I had heard there were no small number of houses that nearly possessed the standing of a great family.

Even so, it was only natural to look into the Five Great Families and the Eight Evil Families first.

“There are always plenty of rumors about them. I heard a ton of Japanese pirates came in this time, and the Dokgo Family suffered heavy losses.”

The Iron-Blooded Dokgo Family was an unorthodox family located in Fujian Province.

There were orthodox factions that championed chivalry and unorthodox factions that pursued private gain.

Yet among the unorthodox factions, the Dokgo Family was the most righteous.

After all, it defended Fujian from Japanese pirate invasions.

Of course, it did not defend the province for free. I had heard it imposed plenty of exactions, but it was still better than the other unorthodox families.

If I had to classify it, it was a family somewhere between orthodox and unorthodox.

“What else?”

Gu Deok seemed oddly excited by my question.

“I heard the Namgung Clan's young clan head died, and that the Snow Phoenix of the Zhuge Clan joined the Martial Alliance this time! They just turned twenty and entered as a strategist!”

One of the things Gu Deok said caught my attention.

“The Namgung Clan's young clan head died?”

“Ah, yes! It caused a huge uproar. You hadn't heard?”

“How did they die?”

“Uh... I don't know exactly, but...”

Even so, Gu Deok leaned close and lowered his voice as much as he could.

“I heard they died during sex.”

“...What?”

“It's just a rumor, a rumor.”

Dying during sex was not as easy as people thought.

Was it not usually when someone with a heart condition, or an older person whose blood vessels had weakened, became so excited during intercourse that their heart stopped?

“Wasn't the young clan head young?”

“Come on, not that young. They were already past twenty.”

Then they would be around my age now.

It was hard to believe that such a young martial artist, especially one who had surely learned formidable martial arts from the Namgung Clan, could have died that way.

“The Namgung Clan tried to keep it secret, but how could they stop a rumor? It spread everywhere. Heh heh.”

Gu Deok grinned lecherously.

Namgung...

Thinking of Seoryeong, I repeated that name in my mind.

The Namgung Clan was the likeliest possibility.

“What about anything else?”

“Huh? There aren't any particularly notable rumors from the other places.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Then it seemed Namgung was the right answer.

I turned my gaze toward Anhui Province.

Someday, I vowed, I would go there.

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