WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Satori

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◈ Wanderer of the Martial World ◈

Chapter 45

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When we arrived at the old house on the outskirts of the village, there was no sign of anyone stirring. They all seemed to be sleeping soundly.

I let out a small sigh at the party's naivety.

No matter how tired they were, how could they rest without posting any watch at all?

At least one person should have stayed awake, or they should have set something up around the place.

Dragging my weary body along, I laid a few traps around the house.

I dug holes in the grass that someone might stumble into, and scattered broken pottery from the house so that anyone approaching would make a noise.

Then I went into the kitchen, which was riddled with holes, and lay down somewhere concealed from outside view.

I arranged broken pottery at the entrance as well, so I would know if someone came in.

The reason I had not bothered entering one of the rooms was simple.

I did not particularly want to share a room with them.

It was summer.

I closed my eyes somewhere cooler than the rooms, keeping every nerve taut.

I woke when the sun was high in the sky.

I had not rested for very long, but some of my fatigue had eased.

After checking outside the kitchen and confirming no one was there, I stepped out.

Creak.

"You're awake?"

Perhaps she had heard me. The room door opened, and So-ok peeked her head out.

"I am. Where is Miss Na Hye-rin?"

"She just woke up."

Creak.

As So-ok and I spoke, the door to the next room opened, revealing the Song-eum Sect siblings.

They looked haggard.

I probably did not look much better.

"Let's gather, have something to eat, and talk."

So we all gathered in one place.

"First, as for what we should do from here..."

Munch, munch.

"I think we should continue north, stop somewhere else, and send another message hawk..."

Munch, munch.

I turned toward the noisy eating sounds and saw the young girl eating with bright eyes.

She held a skewer in one hand and a dumpling in the other.

The younger of the Song-eum Sect siblings.

...Had she been that hungry?

"...Let's eat first."

The others had been pretending to focus on what I was saying, but quickly turned their eyes toward the food and reached for it.

I had eaten something while buying supplies, so I was fine, but they must have been starving.

We had run through the night.

They had probably even missed dinner, so their hunger would be worse.

Come to think of it, they were still young.

Aside from the girl, who looked to be in her teens, they were all in their early to mid-twenties.

By modern standards, an age when they would still be inexperienced newcomers to society.

Watching them, I picked up a piece of meat myself.

"Could it be the Demonic Cult?"

The girl suddenly spoke as she looked at her brother.

It felt as though she were trying her best to hide her sadness and despair.

That was probably why she had deliberately brought it up.

If she stayed quiet, she would think of her family and the Song-eum Sect.

"Hm?"

"The man he killed yesterday. I heard what he said, and it sounded like someone was behind him."

Had she heard what that man said yesterday?

I had found it strange as well.

He had sounded as if he did not belong to Haomun.

"We can't be certain."

Na Hye-rin answered.

But the girl acted as though she had not heard her. She only stared at her brother and would not look away.

A grievance that would never be resolved.

She believed Na Hye-rin had brought those yokai there.

In the end, that belief was correct. But it was not Na Hye-rin's fault, so she could not bring herself to say anything and merely ignored her.

"...I don't know either."

Her brother finally answered.

I did not think the Demonic Cult was backing them.

If it had been, those Demonic Cult bastards would not have openly boarded a merchant ship and gone up the Dabie Mountains before.

They were the ones who had surrounded Na-jeon County with countless yokai.

Even when we escaped, we had sensed that no one nearby knew what had happened.

That meant they possessed that much secrecy.

If the Demonic Cult had been behind them, they would not have acted so openly.

...Then why had those bastards brought so many yokai?

A thought suddenly crossed my mind.

Before we entered the Song-eum Sect, one demonic-beast-class yokai would have been enough to deal with our party.

Only So-ok and I could properly fight.

Even if they had not known about Na Hye-rin's injury, they could have subdued us quickly with only three demonic-beast-class yokai.

But they had prepared enough forces to confront a major martial sect.

A chill ran down my spine as a possibility took shape.

Had those bastards used us as an excuse for an experiment?

To see whether they could bring down a county or even a city?

If so, their goal was obvious.

To rule the martial worl...

"What are we going to do?"

Na Hye-rin's question broke off my thoughts.

"I think we should continue north, find somewhere with a message hawk, and send word to the Martial Alliance. Or we could hide ourselves and wait."

I glanced at the Song-eum Sect siblings before continuing.

"Word of what happened in Na-jeon County will spread soon enough."

Even if there were no survivors, there was no way news of Na-jeon County would not spread.

Counties saw countless merchants coming and going.

The same would be true even if those controlling the yokai had occupied Na-jeon County.

No secret lasted forever.

Of course, no one might be sure who had attacked Na-jeon County.

But when an investigation party arrived, the story would change if we joined them and revealed the truth.

"Are you with the Dragon-Phoenix Unit too?"

The girl suddenly asked me.

"No."

"Then what are you?"

"Just an escort."

"Where are you from?"

"I'm a wandering martial artist."

"Hm. I see."

The girl nodded.

There was no harm in telling her, so I answered readily.

"I think it would be all right to tell the Beggars' Sect too."

After hearing my answer, the girl looked straight at me and spoke.

Her words reminded me of something I had overlooked.

One of the two great information networks.

And when it came to sheer size, that gang of beggar bastards was far larger than Haomun.

Had I unconsciously failed to think of them because they had beaten me up a few times?

No, then why had those beggar bastards missed their movements?

Well, considering the things those beggar bastards did, maybe it was possible.

All they did was beat up other beggars and threaten them into gathering information.

Then they probably lounged about somewhere sunny, living it up.

They probably even called courtesans over.

"We can't trust the Beggars' Sect."

Na Hye-rin spoke.

"What do you mean?"

No matter what, the Beggars' Sect was a prestigious sect.

Its name stood proudly among the great martial sects of the realm.

"More precisely, we can't trust its branch chapters. Most people affiliated with the Martial Alliance already know that the central headquarters has grown weaker and can no longer properly control the branch chapters."

"Why is that?"

At So-ok's question, Na Hye-rin lightly shook her head as if it gave her a headache, then spoke.

"Since the Beggar King passed away, there has not been a Sect Chief. They have only been struggling against one another for the position. It has already been more than ten years."

The Beggar King.

The leader of the beggars, who I had heard had reached the Transcendent Realm.

It seemed the Beggars' Sect had been unable to properly unite after that person's death.

Ordinary people rarely spoke of the Beggars' Sect.

They wanted to talk about people they considered more impressive, not beggars.

And that remained true no matter how large the Beggars' Sect was.

That was why I did not know much about the Beggars' Sect's internal affairs.

Come to think of it, that might be why the Beggars' Sect bastards in Yeongheung County had been such a mess.

I understood what Na Hye-rin meant.

The Beggars' Sect had beggars spread across the realm.

Naturally, most regions would have at least one branch chapter.

And the central headquarters was supposed to control them.

But when I thought about it, that could not have been easy.

Even Earth's old history showed how difficult it was for administrative power to reach every corner of a country.

And now, no one could know how beggars free from control and oversight thought or acted.

As she said, they might even have joined hands with Haomun.

With the situation growing more complicated, we reluctantly gave up on informing the Beggars' Sect.

In the end, we decided to head north.

Dressed as peddlers, we entered a city.

The place we arrived at was Xinyang.

A city in Henan, near the border with Hubei.

Since dawn was breaking, people preparing for the early morning moved through the streets.

We had covered the distance in only a day, and everyone was exhausted. Even so, no one thought of resting.

Our destination was Pure Heart Gate, Shaolin's secular branch.

I heard it was a lay martial sect with a long history.

For generations, its children had entered Shaolin to train before returning, so its ties with Shaolin ran deep.

Na Hye-rin said that it also held the greatest influence in the Xinyang region.

She could now move around little by little without support.

Even so, proper movement was still too much for her, so So-ok continued to carry her on her back.

"We've come to see the Young Gate Master."

Once we arrived at Pure Heart Gate, Na Hye-rin climbed down from So-ok's back and spoke politely.

Had she said she knew the Young Gate Master through the Martial Alliance?

One of the gatekeepers, who had been quietly studying our appearance, spoke calmly.

"Whom should I say is calling?"

"Please tell them Hye-rin is here."

"Please wait."

They were quite courteous.

We were dressed as peddlers and looked shabby after walking all night, yet they did not seem to care.

Soon, someone appeared with the gatekeeper.

"Hm? Splendid Phoenix?"

"It's been a long time."

About an hour later, a message hawk took flight.

This time, there was no interference at all.

The journey afterward went quite smoothly.

Pure Heart Gate had assigned more than twenty martial artists to escort us.

They rode horses while our party traveled in a carriage.

Even when we stopped at villages and cities along the way, there were no attacks.

It finally felt as though we had escaped Haomun's grasp.

Come to think of it, after causing what happened in Na-jeon County, there was no reason for them to keep pursuing us.

And the message hawk had probably already arrived as well.

In this world, where news traveled slowly, I still did not know how the Haomun bastards had responded. But we would find out soon enough.

"Please escort us."

The girl among the Song-eum Sect siblings suddenly spoke to me.

"We're going to the Martial Alliance now."

"I know. But even if we enter the Martial Alliance, we might not be safe."

"You will receive greater protection."

The Song-eum Sect had vanished because of the upright yokai.

Of course, we still did not know how things had ended.

But no matter how I thought about it, it did not seem likely to have ended well.

That was why the Martial Alliance would protect the Song-eum Sect siblings even more closely.

They themselves were both evidence and grounds for action.

"...That's why I'm asking. Someone might target us."

"I refuse."

I refused firmly.

Even aside from the fact that the Martial Alliance had masters greater than me, I could not remain there for long.

I needed to absorb Yodans.

At my refusal, the girl nodded, then turned back to look at the scenery outside the window.

And we arrived at the Martial Alliance.

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