WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Satori

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◈ Wanderer of the Martial World ◈

Chapter 40

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We made our way through the darkness toward the dock.

The plan was to travel from Huangzhou to Wuhan, take the Han River farther upstream, then continue on foot.

It would inevitably be faster than traveling by land.

Any pursuers would also have a hard time following us onto a boat, so it would offer us some protection.

But our plan ran into trouble from the very start.

"An imugi has appeared to the west and blocked the Yangtze River. There are no boats heading that way."

A Hyung beast imugi.

A monster that could only be faced by a Transcendent Realm master.

They said that if an imugi gained wisdom and abandoned its desire to kill humans, it would become a dragon and ascend to heaven.

"Then when will the waterway be open?"

"It will open once the Martial Alliance or the martial sects deal with it. There is no telling when that will be. It might even ascend to heaven."

In the end, we had no choice but to turn back.

"Let's go to Yang Family Manor."

At Na Hye-rin's words, we headed straight to Yang Family Manor.

It was still dark before dawn, and finding a carriage at this hour would be difficult. We had no choice but to borrow one there and travel overland.

Na Hye-rin's subordinate, Cho Dan-a, carried Na Hye-rin on her back as she walked.

As expected of a first-rate martial artist, she did not look particularly tired.

Na Hye-rin had taken an antidote, but the poison already in her body was not letting go easily.

Her life did not seem to be in danger, but recovery would likely take quite some time.

"Who are you?"

One of the two martial artists standing guard at Yang Family Manor's gate asked who we were.

Judging by the lack of any discernible presence, they seemed to be a martial artist who had yet to awaken internal energy.

"Inform the Master of Yang Family Manor that the Splendid Phoenix requests an audience."

"Pardon?"

The guards tilted their heads at Cho Dan-a's words.

Then their eyes widened, and one of them hurried inside.

"Please, come in first."

The other guard led us in.

The fact that they were letting us inside without even properly confirming our identities made it clear that their discipline was a complete mess.

Of course, that was none of my concern.

Once inside, I saw the place where I had waited before setting out on the previous job.

The inner gate ahead was already wide open.

Several martial artists rushed over and gave a fist-and-palm salute to Na Hye-rin, still on Cho Dan-a's back.

"Greetings, Splendid Phoenix."

They bowed and saluted her as if she were their superior.

As we followed them through the inner gate, Yang Ha-yul, the Master of Yang Family Manor, hurried toward us in comfortable clothing with only an outer robe thrown over it.

Her plain face and sharp eyes openly showed her bewilderment.

"Martial Heroine, what is this... Please, come inside first."

We entered her office.

The office was lavishly decorated, as though trying to hide Yang Family Manor's lack of influence.

Yang Ha-yul personally brewed tea and set cups before us.

"Please drink."

It was against etiquette for guests to refuse tea prepared by their host.

Even so, I had no intention of drinking it, while Na Hye-rin hesitated as she took her cup because of what had happened before.

So Cho Dan-a lifted her cup first and took a sip out of courtesy.

"Has something happened?"

Yang Ha-yul, who had watched this, spoke to Na Hye-rin.

"We were attacked. We would appreciate it if Yang Family Manor could lend us a carriage."

"Pardon? Ah, of course we will lend you one... Does the tea not suit your taste? It is precious Longjing tea..."

"My condition is poor at the moment. I am afraid it may cause me trouble."

"Ah... Hahaha."

An awkward laugh.

"Martial Heroine, did you know? Small martial sects like Yang Family Manor can never rise any higher."

Then came Yang Ha-yul's sudden remark.

The atmosphere instantly turned cold.

"Cough."

Cho Dan-a vomited blood and slammed her head onto the table.

I quickly drew my straight saber and aimed it at Yang Ha-yul, seated beside me.

Whoosh!

But Yang Ha-yul slid her chair back and dodged, as though she had been prepared.

"Die!"

She drew her sword and thrust it toward Na Hye-rin.

Na Hye-rin could not properly move even as she watched the sword approach.

Shing!

I caught the blade midway and guided it upward, then followed its momentum to strike at Yang Ha-yul's wrist.

Slice!

"Ahhh!"

Yang Ha-yul's wrist was cut off with absurd ease.

As Na Hye-rin had said before, her martial ability was weak.

Bang!

"What is going on?!"

At that moment, a group of martial artists burst into the office.

Three in total.

They were all second-rate.

The martial artist I had seen at the tavern on the day we went to see Red Cliffs was among them, and they too looked shocked when they saw us.

"What? What is this?!"

"I'll hold them off!"

So-ok drew her sword and kept them at bay.

I hurriedly grabbed Yang Ha-yul by the hair as she clutched her severed wrist.

"Ahhh!"

Then I moved behind her and placed my blade against her neck.

"Stop!"

The Yang Family Manor martial artists, who had just drawn their swords to threaten So-ok, froze at my shout.

A strange standoff followed.

"Tch... Damn it! How can a mere wandering martial artist...!"

"Why are you doing this?"

Na Hye-rin ignored Yang Ha-yul's anguished voice and asked.

"...Why? Hahaha. Because they promised I could rise higher if I followed them."

"That is all?"

"You come from a prestigious family, with countless people supporting you. You can be treated well by everyone and build a great name for yourself, but do you know how someone like me lives? Master of Yang Family Manor? It only sounds good. I have to put out for anyone and everyone just to survive. Do you understand?"

The woman who had dismissed me as a mere wandering martial artist shouted as she lamented her own circumstances.

"If you want to live, give us the antidote."

Na Hye-rin glared at Yang Ha-yul with a pale face.

She was doing it for Cho Dan-a, who lay over the table, trembling and foaming blood at the mouth.

Judging by her condition, we would have to give Cho Dan-a the antidote before interrogating Yang Ha-yul if we wanted to save her.

"The antidote!"

Na Hye-rin pressed Yang Ha-yul when she did not answer.

"There is no antidote."

Yang Ha-yul spoke as though mocking her.

"I'll search her clothes."

So-ok came over and began searching Yang Ha-yul's robes while I held her.

I alternated between watching the Yang Family Manor martial artists, who did not know what to do, and So-ok.

Her clothes looked comfortable enough, but there was no way they had many pockets.

As a result, the only thing So-ok found was a small gourd bottle the size of a finger.

And given the situation, there was a high chance that bottle contained poison.

That was when it happened.

Yang Ha-yul's left hand moved suspiciously.

It was reaching toward So-ok's head.

Slice.

Without hesitation, I slit Yang Ha-yul's throat.

Sssshk!

"Gurk..."

Blood burst from Yang Ha-yul's neck, and I vaulted over the table through the spraying streams.

Then.

Slice! Slash! Thud!

I cut down the three martial artists.

The lives of those second-rate martial artists ended pointlessly, unable to keep up with my full speed.

I quickly moved their corpses farther into the office, then looked at Na Hye-rin.

Then I raised the straight saber I had not yet sheathed and pointed it at her.

"Now speak."

"...Speak about what?"

"Who is the enemy pursuing you?"

The constable and the Master of Yang Family Manor.

People with different identities and entirely different lives.

Yet all of them had attacked us.

More precisely, Na Hye-rin.

Grit.

Na Hye-rin, her face haggard, clenched her teeth and looked at me.

But I had no intention of returning my straight saber to its sheath.

"Brother. This is the time to hide ourselves."

"So-ok. Do not interfere carelessly."

When I looked at So-ok with cold eyes, she flinched and stepped back.

She was my precious companion and lover, but it seemed that what she wanted and what I considered important were gradually diverging, leaving a slight crack between us.

Na Hye-rin, who had watched this, slowly opened her mouth.

"...A few months ago, I happened to see a married couple grieving after losing their child."

Losing a child was not uncommon in this world.

"They said the child had been kidnapped. While searching for the child, I found something strange."

"What was strange?"

"The number of orphans and abandoned children had decreased considerably."

Orphans who received no protection from the world.

That was why they lived as beggars and mostly died, while only fortunate people like me grew up and survived.

The fact that I had only learned of their reduced numbers in this way showed how little attention I had paid them before.

"So I pursued the kidnappers and found several clues. I followed those clues all the way to Huangzhou."

"Where?"

"...Haomun."

Haomun.

An information organization that rivaled the Beggars' Sect for the lead, and a group close to the unorthodox factions.

It was made up of people from the lower professions of society, and for that very reason, its information network was considered deeper than that of the Beggars' Sect.

It was also a vast force that did not belong to the Nine Sects and One Gang, the Five Great Clans, or the Eight Great Families, yet was in no way inferior to them.

And they...

"Are not part of the Martial Alliance."

"Yes. That is why I hid it. I wanted to report it in person... And I had another thought."

"What thought?"

"That it may be connected to the upright yokai that have appeared recently."

"...What?"

So-ok let out a startled sound.

Upright yokai were creatures that had only recently been given a name.

They were the yokai we had seen.

The yokai that gersu, Sanhwi, and Bong-hui had become.

The bluntness of the name, unlike those recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, showed just how flustered the Martial Alliance scribes and the authorities had been when naming them.

"Why would you think that?"

"There are all sorts of strange arts in this world. And such arts naturally cannot be performed without a price. Especially not the creation of upright yokai, which raises their grade by one level. So I thought that price might be someone's life."

"Are you certain?"

"...I only thought it was possible."

It was merely a guess.

It could be nothing more than her own delusion.

But if her guess was right, then the persistent threats against her made sense.

Haomun might be the organization that had created the upright yokai.

If yokai one grade above their original level could be created and controlled by humans, I could not even imagine the consequences.

And what if children had been used as the means of creating them?

Not only would it make them enemies of the martial world, but even the authorities would have to act.

Na Hye-rin stared directly at me and spoke.

"I have told you, so tell me who you are as well."

Who I was?

"Why is a first-rate martial artist close to the Peak Realm hiding their identity and working as a wandering martial artist?"

What nonsense was that?

"I only became first-rate not long ago."

She looked at me silently, ignored my answer, and continued.

"I investigated you before hiring you. One day, you suddenly arrived in Huangzhou, registered as a second-rate wandering martial artist, and killed a martial artist known to be first-rate on your first job. Then, a few days later, I heard that you requested a promotion to first-rate. And not long after that, did you not stop Great Strength Demon's attack and even wound him?"

That was true.

"The main reason we hired you was precisely that. We had sensed a threat. We thought that if you were a martial artist capable of blocking a single move from someone at the Peak Realm, you could buy us at least a little time if trouble arose. We did have doubts about your identity, but since you killed someone who commanded upright yokai, we decided you were at least not on their side... Though it ended up like this."

Had she intended to use me as a shield to buy time?

"What sect are you from?"

"I am only a wandering martial artist."

I had no sect.

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