WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Satori

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◈ Wanderer of the Martial World ◈

Chapter 47

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Ordinarily, I would never have shown myself to them.

I would have picked them off one by one in the dark forest.

Yet there was a reason I had deliberately revealed myself and waited for them.

It was not because they seemed inexperienced and poor fighters.

Of course, I had expected that from the moment I saw them, and it had played some part in my showing myself, but that was not the main reason.

I thought even one of them might get away.

A useless bunch, but with powerful backing, and in any case, they belonged to the Martial Alliance.

If even one escaped and returned to the Martial Alliance, I did not think the repercussions would be pleasant.

Of course, the Martial Alliance was probably in disarray right now.

The Haomun matter, the disaster in Na-jeon County because of it.

And even an envoy from the Demonic Cult.

Still, there would be martial artists capable of pursuing me.

And I had had enough of running.

Five enemies rushed at me from all sides.

They were First Rate, like me.

Even with the capabilities of the Flowing Current Heaven-Severing Saber, that did not make them any less dangerous.

That was why I had prepared something as well.

“Urk!”

“Ghk!”

“Argh!”

The enemies fell in all sorts of ways.

The first thing I had done after arriving here was set a few small traps.

They were nothing grand. I had simply dug holes here and there and placed nails I bought at Xu Chang’s market inside them.

But small traps were not something to dismiss.

Even such crude traps could be deadly, depending on the circumstances.

The light from the small fire I had deliberately built did not illuminate the entire clearing.

And I, closer to the fire, would have been more clearly visible to them.

Clearly enough for them to miss the traps beneath their feet.

Besides, weren't madmen like them always arrogant?

They would never imagine there were traps.

Then there was the speed at which they charged me.

They had rushed forward quickly while using their respective footwork techniques. Even a small hole could prove fatal to them.

That was why some screamed as they fell, while others broke their legs.

Some clutched feet pierced by nails and howled.

I swiftly looked over their condition and moved.

The first targets were those who had merely fallen.

“Damn it!”

Swish. Slice.

A perfectly executed deflection and swing.

As the Flowing Water Line, which seemed to embody the essence of the Flowing Current Heaven-Severing Saber, unfolded, satisfaction rose in me without my realizing it.

“You bastard!”

I sensed another man, relatively uninjured, rushing at me from behind.

I felt a sword stabbing toward my neck.

I lowered my waist and thrust backward with my straight saber held in reverse.

“Argh!”

The man clutching his pierced stomach staggered backward.

His eyes reflected disbelief, denial of the reality before him.

I passed him, slit his throat once, and ran toward the others.

Three remained.

The next one was the man with a nail through his leg.

As I approached him, something flew at me.

I quickly stepped back and relied on instinct to knock aside the objects flying toward me.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Throwing knives.

Had he trained in throwing techniques?

His face was twisted, his eyes full of tears, yet he kept swinging his arm.

The solution was simple.

Create distance.

As I gradually moved backward and knocked aside the throwing knives, they became much easier to block.

“Gasp. Gasp.”

The man stopped raising his arm and breathed heavily.

I slowly approached him.

“Damn it!”

Then, in an instant, he violently flung his arm as though having a fit.

Whoosh!

A round object flew at me. I deflected it, but the object shifted slightly and struck the exact center of my blade.

Crack!

One half of the split object shot swiftly toward my face.

It was far too fast to dodge.

Even so, I turned my head as much as I could.

Thud!

A rock...?

My vision flashed, and I felt a dull pain.

My vision became slightly blurry, but I could still see. It seemed to be only temporary from the sudden impact.

That was fortunate.

If my reaction had been even slightly slower and it had struck me directly, it would have had enough force to burst my eyeball.

And I reflected on my carelessness.

I had let my satisfaction at how well the plan had gone lower my guard.

“Sorry... I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

The man rubbed his hands together and apologized, apparently having no weapons left.

But I would not let my guard down again.

I gathered the throwing knives embedded in the nearby ground.

Then I threw them one by one at the man with the nail through his foot.

Thud! Clang! Thud!

He desperately tried to block them with the dagger he held, but the throwing knives broke through his defense and embedded themselves in his body one after another.

“Ugh... spare...”

With those final words, he fell backward limply.

I turned to look at the remaining two.

One was crawling across the ground, trying to escape. The other was Gwak Ha-jun, staring at me with resentful eyes.

Gwak Ha-jun did not seem likely to run, so I approached the other man.

I already held several throwing knives in my hand.

Whoosh! Thud!

“Guaaargh!”

Come to think of it, he seemed to be the one who had mocked me the most at the market during the day.

Whoosh! Thud!

“Argh!”

I had never properly learned throwing techniques, so the throwing knives had landed awkwardly.

Still, one was properly embedded in his torso and another in his arm.

“Spare me. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

His reaction resembled the other man’s.

The tear-filled eyes and the way he rubbed his hands together as he apologized.

“I have one question.”

“I’ll tell you everything. I can really tell you everything.”

“Do you know where the Black Market is being held now?”

“The Black Market?”

Whoosh. Thud.

“Argh! I know. I really know. I heard! It’s Sim-gu County! Sim-gu County!”

Sim-gu County...

My next destination was decided.

I backed away from him, bent down, and picked up a weapon.

A great saber with a heavy feel to it.

It had belonged to the first man I killed.

Perhaps holding that weapon made him uneasy.

With a face that looked ready to cry, he pushed himself backward with his arms.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Thud!

The great saber flew swiftly and embedded itself directly in his face.

Leaving that sight behind, I looked at Gwak Ha-jun.

He was still glaring at me, his eyes full of resentment.

What did he have to feel so wronged about?

A man born into a good family who had lived in luxury.

Even so, he had become First Rate by consuming countless spirit pills.

His hobby had been beating women during sex.

Then, after killing someone, he must have discovered a new pleasure.

Once someone found pleasure in murder and crossed that line, they could not abandon it. It would have only grown worse, never lessened.

That was the very sort of thing I guarded most against in myself.

“You... were First Rate?”

“Yes.”

I gave a casual answer to Gwak Ha-jun, who asked in a voice that sounded like a growl, and gathered the weapons around me.

I would have to slash up the corpses of the men I had killed with my straight saber using other weapons anyway, to erase my traces. It would be better to use another weapon to kill Gwak Ha-jun as well.

“You deceived me, you bastard!”

“Mm.”

I did not even feel it was worth explaining.

I had been second-rate back then and became First Rate afterward. There was no need to tell him that.

“Is Yi Pyeong safe?”

After roughly gathering the weapons and placing them some distance away from him, I stood before him and asked.

The truth was, I did not genuinely want to know whether Yi Pyeong was alive.

Of course, I was a little curious, but that was not why I was asking him.

I wanted him to get more agitated, to struggle desperately, to reveal every means at his disposal.

“Heh heh heh... I killed him, cut off his limbs, and threw him to dogs for food.”

Gwak Ha-jun’s eyes gleamed.

A lie.

When I had asked earlier, he had not answered properly. He probably did not know either.

Well, it did not matter.

I planted my straight saber in the ground beside me and held several throwing knives and a sword.

“It’s... it’s because of you! If you had just come with me willingly... Urk!”

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Three throwing knives embedded themselves in his body.

It seemed that after throwing them several times in every fight, I had improved somewhat.

Still, something was clearly lacking. I would have to look into martial arts related to throwing weapons at the Black Market.

If I learned one, it could become a useful trump card.

“You bastard...”

Gwak Ha-jun spat blood and cursed.

With an indifferent expression, I threw the sword at Gwak Ha-jun.

Thud.

The sword embedded itself in his neck. I looked over the battlefield, then raised my eyes to the sky.

Countless stars and a small crescent moon lit the world.

The following morning.

I emerged from a small cave and stretched my stiff body.

I was quite far from yesterday’s battlefield.

I had slashed the bodies of those I killed with my straight saber using other weapons, collected all the belongings they carried, and walked here.

Then, as soon as I found the cave, I entered it and went to sleep.

I gathered my things and started walking.

I thought there had been a stream nearby, and that I should wash up.

Before long, I arrived at the stream.

I set down my things and stepped straight in.

When I lay down and submerged even my head, blood seeped out and flowed downstream.

The blood that had dried and clumped in my hair slowly came loose, and my clothes gradually began to reveal their original color as well.

Since I had fought in a black martial uniform, I could probably wear it again after washing it a few times.

No. Should I just throw it away?

The money I had taken from the corpses yesterday amounted to more than two hundred gold taels.

That was excluding the spiritual medicine, wound medicine, medicine for internal injuries, and other things they had carried.

Converted to silver, it was the enormous sum of two thousand silver taels.

Perhaps because they were children of wealthy families, they had carried an awful lot of money.

It made me feel secure.

Adding the five hundred silver taels Na Hye-rin had given me, I now had two thousand five hundred silver taels, or two hundred and fifty gold taels.

Since a Yo-grade Yodan cost one gold tael at the Black Market, that was enough to buy two hundred and fifty of them.

I held back a laugh that nearly slipped out.

I slowly stood, removed my clothes, and washed my body with honey locust pods.

Blood that had not yet washed away mixed with the foam and dyed the water red, and I felt refreshed.

I lowered my eyes for a moment and looked at myself.

The rippling water made it difficult to see clearly, but I could make out my long hair and the beard that had grown in.

Should I shave it all off?

The sudden urge made me pause in thought.

It was not a bad choice.

A little disguise would not hurt in case Haomun or the Martial Alliance pursued me.

Besides, it was midsummer, so it would be cooler.

I took out a dagger and raised my hand to my hair.

Slice. Slice.

I began cutting it.

My First Rate senses could precisely detect the minute movements of the dagger and the boundaries of my head, so I did not injure myself elsewhere.

After roughly cutting my hair, I rubbed honey locust pods to make foam and shaved it off as though shaving my face.

Voluntary baldness.

I could barely remember the last time I had cut my hair short.

Even in my previous life, I had always kept it at a certain length, except during my military service.

And this time, I had shaved it all off.

I shaved my beard as well, rinsed with water, and completed the final touch.

The cool sensation brushing directly against my scalp.

A smile formed on my face without my realizing it.

I did not care if losing my hair made my already ugly face uglier.

There was no one to see it anyway.

I came out of the water, dried myself, and changed clothes.

The bamboo hat lay to one side. I could wear it once the sun grew hot.

After tidying up roughly and gathering my belongings, I set out.

The early morning sunlight met my head and gleamed.

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