WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Satori
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Wanderer of the Martial World ◈
Chapter 43
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An ominous air hung over the manor.
Countless martial artists had taken up positions, but the silence they gave off only deepened the sense of foreboding.
Tap tap tap!
“Seect Leadeer!”
Then someone came running in and collapsed among the crowd.
His martial uniform was covered in scratches and soaked in blood.
Deep despair churned across the pale man’s face.
Sob... sob...
“What happened?”
The Song-eum Sect Leader pressed the man, who could only weep without answering.
“Our squad... our squad was wiped out. I was ordered to escape and report to you, Sect Leader. I barely got out... sob...”
“Who were the enemy?”
They still did not know the enemy’s identity.
Soon, it spilled from the sobbing martial artist’s mouth.
“Upright yokai! They were upright yokai!”
“What?!”
The manor erupted into noise.
Upright yokai.
I had faced them myself, so I knew them well.
“How many?”
The Sect Leader’s voice cut through the commotion.
“Countless... I saw countless upright Yo beasts and more than ten upright Goe beasts... sob...”
“...More than ten upright Goe beasts?”
“Yes!”
An upright Goe beast was a Goe beast that had become upright.
In terms of threat level, they were equivalent to demonic beasts.
Yokai that Peak Realm martial artists had to face.
Or ones that required First Rate martial artists to be thrown at them in numbers.
Silence fell over the manor again.
I did not know which direction that martial artist had come from, but he could not have checked every side before returning.
That meant there were more than ten demonic-beast-class yokai in just one direction.
Not to mention countless Goe-grade yokai.
They could not handle this.
If the other directions held that many yokai as well, even a major martial sect would struggle to stop them.
And Song-eum Sect only had three Peak Realm martial artists.
“...Is that true?”
“...Sob... yes! It’s true!”
The Sect Leader’s face twisted slightly.
“Sect Leader!”
Another martial artist came running in and fell to the ground.
“Upright yokai! Upright yokai! There are too many to count! And more than ten of them were transformed Goe beasts. Sob...”
This martial artist seemed to have come from another direction.
His appearance was not much different from the first man’s.
The Sect Leader’s twisted expression gradually turned pale.
“Sect Leader! What is going on?”
As despair spread through the crowd, a group rushed inside.
Judging from the official robes worn by the stout man at their head, he appeared to be the County Magistrate.
“Song-eum Sect has been surrounded by yokai.”
“What? How could they...?”
“How could people possibly understand the thoughts of yokai?”
“What do you intend to do?”
The County Magistrate, his belly jutting out, raised his voice harshly.
The government guards in the county were not soldiers to begin with.
They only maintained order within the county, so they were not suited to fighting yokai properly.
Ignoring the County Magistrate, who spoke in panic, the elderly Song-eum Sect Leader turned his gaze toward the martial artists.
“Where are we?”
An abrupt question.
“...Song-eum Sect!”
And someone answered.
“That’s right! This is Song-eum Sect! And why are we Song-eum Sect?”
Silence returned.
“To protect Na-jeon County!”
“That’s right! We are a sect founded to protect Na-jeon County! The enemy may be powerful, but can we abandon Na-jeon County?”
No one spoke at the Sect Leader’s words. They only stared at him with burning eyes.
“Who is in Na-jeon County beneath that hill? Your families! Your friends! And your lovers! We must protect them! That is why we are Song-eum Sect!”
For a group of thugs, it was quite an impressive speech.
“That’s right!”
“My daughter is in the county!”
Where else would Song-eum Sect recruit its disciples from?
Naturally, they were recruited from Na-jeon County.
That was why Na-jeon County was their foundation and their entire world.
“But dying meaninglessly is something only fools do! Listen carefully! We will protect the county residents, break through the enemy encirclement, and escape Na-jeon County!”
The powerful bearing of a Peak Realm martial artist, combined with a voice that seemed to breathe fire.
“Yes!”
The Song-eum Sect disciples shouted in united voices.
It was a stirring sight, but would it work?
Even from what I had overheard, the yokai’s numbers were no joke.
And there were more than ten thousand common people to protect.
They would probably focus on their own families, but even then, the chances of success were extremely low.
I needed to find another way...
“Pine-Song Sword! Lead the disciples down to Na-jeon County first. I will follow shortly.”
“Ho ho ho. Understood, Senior Brother.”
Another Peak Realm master of Song-eum Sect, and the commander of its elite martial force.
The martial artist, as old as the Sect Leader himself, swiftly gave orders to the disciples.
“Sect Leader! Wh-what about me?”
“Go gather the government guards and assemble the county residents!”
“Ah... understood!”
The County Magistrate replied in a stammer and hurried back down toward the county.
Even then, I kept watching the Sect Leader.
He had turned around and was saying something to his son and grandson.
The middle-aged man, the Sect Leader’s son, seemed to protest, but soon lowered his head at the Sect Leader’s firm words.
I could not hear what they were saying.
The Sect Leader was speaking quietly without using internal energy, and the martial artists around them were frantically discussing their assigned tasks.
What was the Sect Leader saying now?
They did not know the enemy’s strength for certain, but from what the martial artist had said earlier, they would have to prepare for annihilation.
But could he ask even his own son and grandson to make such a sacrifice?
He had a good excuse, did he not?
Even if Song-eum Sect fell this time, they could return and rebuild it.
Their not joining this battle was an unavoidable choice for the future, or so they could justify it.
I looked at So-ok and spoke.
“Shouldn’t we go to Miss Na Hye-rin?”
“Huh? Ah! Right!”
So-ok hurried toward the front.
I slowly followed behind her.
The way to survive lay over there.
“My junior sister is in the medical hall.”
Those were the first words I heard after we identified ourselves as Na Hye-rin’s companions to the martial artists blocking our path and climbed onto the platform.
“The secret passage can only be traveled on foot.”
“But...”
“Splendid Phoenix. Do not ask for any further consideration. Our Song-eum Sect will suffer tremendous losses because of you. If it were not for the greater good, I would cut off your head this instant.”
It was a calm voice.
The middle-aged Junior Sect Leader spoke to Na Hye-rin with a hard expression.
His voice was not rough, but that did not mean I could not feel the anger within it.
The young man beside him, who appeared to be the Junior Sect Leader’s son, glared at Na Hye-rin as if he wanted to kill her at any moment.
“Go behind the main hall immediately. If you are late, we will leave without you.”
With those words, the Junior Sect Leader turned and descended from the platform.
Na Hye-rin, who had blankly watched him go, soon spotted us.
“Ah!”
She looked as though she had found an answer.
“Bring my junior sister.”
Then she gave me an order.
“No.”
“What did you say?”
“I said no.”
Anger rose on Na Hye-rin’s face.
“You... you agreed to escort us.”
“It was a job I was forced into. And one I got dragged into because of you. Just like that man, if it were not for Haomun, I would have cut off your head right now.”
Something slowly welled up inside me.
“How dare you!”
“Listen carefully. You clearly said those bastards would not pursue us once we left Huangzhou. So what is this?”
Revulsion rose within me, and I found myself addressing her in rough, informal speech.
Na Hye-rin was at the Peak Realm.
Once she recovered, she might kill me, but at this moment, I could see nothing else.
“But... you said we should come here!”
Na Hye-rin voiced her grievance, keeping her voice as low as possible.
“If we hadn’t, we would have faced those things by ourselves, you stupid bitch.”
“...”
Na Hye-rin’s shocked face entered my view at my verbal abuse.
This was the first time I had spoken like this since coming here.
Anger itself could become a weakness, so I had lived by holding it in. In that instant, that restraint shattered.
Of course, when someone was weaker than me, my blade had usually spoken before my words. That was part of it as well.
Though I had lashed out on impulse, I felt strangely refreshed.
“Miss. Does this situation look easy to you? Without a carriage, one injured person is the most our group can manage. If So-ok and I both carry someone, we won’t be able to respond if anything happens.”
The boiling emotions subsided, and I spoke calmly again.
Na Hye-rin looked at me for a moment, then turned to So-ok with a face full of guilt.
“...So-ok. Go straight to the medical hall, explain the situation to the physician, and make sure my junior sister is well hidden. When this is over... I will definitely come back for her.”
“...All right.”
So-ok immediately ran off.
Like an obedient dog.
“Is that enough now?”
The woman who had come to Song-eum Sect with the excuse of saving her junior sister ultimately abandoned that junior sister to save herself.
“Let’s go. Get on my back.”
I carried her on my back and headed toward the main hall.
The martial artists nearby glanced at us, then quickly turned away again with tense expressions.
Behind the main hall.
So-ok, who had run to the medical hall, returned. Soon after, the Junior Sect Leader arrived with his son and a girl who appeared to be in her mid-teens, likely his daughter.
The Junior Sect Leader’s children carried large packs on their backs, probably filled with valuables.
“Move.”
The Junior Sect Leader’s attitude was cold.
Once So-ok moved aside with Na Hye-rin, the Junior Sect Leader manipulated a stone lantern.
A faint scent of blood came from his body.
What had he been doing?
I had a rough idea.
A rumor I had heard while working as a wandering martial artist.
Every sect supposedly had people who made spirit pills.
And to prevent their secrets from leaking, they locked those people up like slaves and forced them to make spirit pills.
That was why almost no one escaped with the methods of ritual refinement. Even if they did, they were quickly caught and killed.
Of course, I did not know whether that was true.
But it seemed plausible enough to me.
And now that the sect was in danger, there was the smell of blood coming from the Junior Sect Leader.
Had he gone and killed them?
That would prevent the spirit-pill-making method from leaking out.
Rumble.
The stone lantern slid backward, revealing a staircase.
“Go.”
The Junior Sect Leader spoke to his children.
“What? But Father...”
“I will join the disciples.”
“...Sob...”
“No! Father, come with us!”
The young man silently shed tears, while the girl clung to the Junior Sect Leader’s arm.
“No. There is no time, so go quickly. Go to the Martial Alliance and wait. I will come find you soon.”
Sob... “Understood. Please stay safe.”
The young man gave his father a fist-and-palm salute through his tears, then descended first.
The girl embraced her father before following after him.
We silently followed behind them.
Rumble.
The stone lantern closed behind us.
A dark path.
An uneven passage that seemed to have been carved from a natural cave.
The Night-Illuminating Pearl the young master took out was the only light ahead.
Even so, no one stumbled.
The Junior Sect Leader’s children appeared to be first-rate, and then there were us.
We all possessed internal energy, so even that faint light was enough for us to see ahead.
How long had we walked like that?
Screams echoed from far behind us.
The two people ahead flinched.
But they soon quickened their pace.
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