WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
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◈ The Martial Genius who Remembers Everything ◈
Chapter 491: Shadows of the Sunset (4)
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The middle stage of the Orthodox-Demonic War marked a new turning point for the Martial Alliance.
It was when the complacent belief that the Demonic Cult was no different from the other forces opposing the Martial Alliance was shattered.
It was also when those who had tried to use the war for political gain began to be held accountable.
The Martial Alliance’s martial strength, once in its golden age, was declining. At the same time, Black Path martial artists, sick of the Alliance’s incompetence, began to gather.
Alliance members who had devoted themselves to expanding their branches and recruiting lay disciples brought people into the Martial Alliance. Alarmed by the Demonic Cult’s advance north of the river, they struggled to reclaim Jiangnan.
Once the war began in earnest and every resource of the White Path martial world was concentrated on it, the front line stopped retreating.
But it could not advance either.
The Demonic Cult, which had pushed forward with unstoppable momentum, had stopped only to eradicate every trace of the White Path from occupied Jiangnan.
During that time, countless people from White Path sects abandoned their homes and headed north of the river.
As the White Path martial world gathered its strength, it came to understand the Demonic Cult’s power more clearly.
And with each revelation of the enemy’s strength, more Martial Alliance leaders secretly deserted.
Those who could not accept the absurd reality of a single force overwhelming an alliance personally led their disciples and comrades to the front. They returned as corpses, proving the Demonic Cult’s might.
With every passing day, the Martial Alliance’s defeat became clearer.
People who could not imagine the Martial Alliance, ruler of the martial world and the martial world itself, losing to the Demonic Cult desperately sought a solution.
Yet the Demonic Cult’s martial arts differed strangely from those of the Central Plains.
Their many dark arts and sorceries, whose origins could not be understood, were an endless succession of things the Martial Alliance could not comprehend.
Studying them only convinced people that the Central Plains and the Demonic Cult could never coexist.
Then, word arrived.
“The Heavenly Demon Tomb still lies somewhere north of the river.”
It was news that tempted the Martial Alliance.
Five hundred years ago, the Demonic Cult, which had operated throughout the region north of the river, had its stronghold at Tian Shan.
When the martial world alliance attacked them, the Demonic Cult had faced near extermination. They went into hiding without recovering the grave of the Heavenly Demon, their god and founder.
And now, there was said to be a place believed to be the Heavenly Demon’s tomb.
At too perfect a moment, an equally convenient supposed tomb had appeared.
Still, no one doubted it.
The Martial Alliance was that desperate.
While maintaining the front line, the Martial Alliance searched for the Heavenly Demon Tomb as quickly as possible.
In the end, its forces found a massive tomb hidden deep within a cave in the Gansu mountain range.
“If we learn about the Heavenly Demon, the source of the Demonic Cult, we may find a way to deal with them.”
The Martial Alliance’s finest entered the Heavenly Demon Tomb.
Those who had seen the Demonic Cult’s martial arts and become captivated by their overwhelming power entered as well.
So did those seeking the treasures and rare relics said to lie within.
As though it had been waiting for that moment, peace held along the front.
Unwilling to let the opportunity pass, the Martial Alliance sent even more people into the Heavenly Demon Tomb.
And then…
It suffered damage that could never be repaired.
From that point on, the Martial Alliance began its rapid descent.
The cursed object that sealed the Martial Alliance’s downfall and handed the martial world to the Demonic Cult was the Heavenly Demon Tomb’s treasure map.
The very thing in my hand now.
“What is this?”
“Yes?”
Do Gwangsu kept watching my reaction, unable to take his eyes off the treasure map.
“I asked what this is.”
“Didn’t I tell you? It came from an antique shop in Jinha…”
“No. I mean, did you know what this was when you risked your neck and endured Dark Fragrance Heavenly Elder’s threats?”
“…I don’t know that much either.”
In my previous life, Do Gwangsu had always stood at the very rear of the unit.
For a worthless thief, he valued his life even more dearly than Green Jade.
“Is that so?”
Whoosh.
The Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand in my left hand erupted with fierce flames.
Do Gwangsu instinctively reached for the Heavenly Demon Tomb’s treasure map, then stopped.
“Your life was endangered over a piece of hide like this. Better to burn it, right?”
“…Yes, whaaat?”
Do Gwangsu stared at me as if I had said something completely insane.
The moment I moved to burn the hide with the Sacred Flame Demon-Extinguishing Hand, he desperately grabbed my left hand.
“I’ll tell you! I will, so please don’t burn it!”
“Then tell me what it is.”
“…”
When Do Gwangsu hesitated, I moved to burn it again.
He sent me a sound transmission.
-I’m not certain, but I believe it is a treasure map to the Sword Tomb.
“…”
The treasure map to the Heavenly Demon Tomb, which was not supposed to appear until the middle of the Orthodox-Demonic War, had appeared before the war even began, disguised as a treasure map to the Sword Tomb.
“Great Hero Jin… Could you please give it back?”
I caught the strong scent of a conspiracy.
#
Everyone in the Dragon-Phoenix Association except me knew the rumors about the Sword Tomb, where the Sword Venerable and the Black King were buried.
They said it was a rumor that had recently thrown the martial world into an uproar.
After returning to my room, I examined the treasure map once more.
The hide map, covered in complex formulas, ciphers, and indecipherable drawings, was identical to the Heavenly Demon Tomb treasure map I knew from my previous life.
‘That means…’
For some reason, the Heavenly Demon Tomb had been renamed the Sword Tomb.
And this could not be the only treasure map.
Treasure maps drawn inside porcelain vessels.
Treasure maps that could only be assembled by joining embroidered pieces of cloth.
All kinds of treasure maps would be circulating throughout the martial world.
It had been the same in my previous life.
“Ha… Those bastards are already using a scheme like this.”
I considered spreading word through the Hao Sect that the Sword Tomb was fake.
Was it not absurd enough that two legendary figures, the Sword Venerable and the Black King, were supposedly buried in the same place?
In truth, few people would believe the rumor right now.
There were too many details that defied common sense.
But…
“Things will soon become chaotic.”
The true inheritances of the Sword Venerable and the Black King would likely be found.
No, all their inheritances would surely be placed inside.
Only then would people fight even more fiercely over it.
Just as the Demonic Cult had lured its prey, the martial world and the Martial Alliance, into the enormous trap called the Heavenly Demon Tomb.
The Demonic Cult knew far too well how to exploit humanity’s uncontrollable instincts.
To them, life and death were nothing more than tools to use.
Just as they had done to Song Yesul.
Crunch.
No matter how desperately their victims struggled, they would calmly trample them.
And all we could do was be dragged into that meaningless struggle and keep fighting to preserve our insignificant lives.
Knock, knock.
At the sound of someone knocking, I called out.
“Do Gwangsu, I told you to stop bothering me unless you want to die.”
Even after seeing me cut off Dark Fragrance Heavenly Elder’s finger, Do Gwangsu had clung to me relentlessly.
“Benefactor Jin, it’s me.”
The one who entered was not the thief, but Ilgak.
“What? Did Do Gwangsu ask you to get the treasure map back?”
Ilgak shook his head.
“No. I came to give you an answer.”
“An answer?”
“To the question you asked before.”
It seemed he had spent the past several days thinking about my question concerning the meaning of Song Yesul’s life.
“I was slow to answer because I am foolish.”
I said nothing.
I had not asked the question because I wanted an answer in the first place.
“All things in the world are said to be emptiness.[1] Yet from the moment humans crave them, emptiness is perceived and becomes real.”
Despite my indifferent response, Ilgak continued.
“Even so, all things are ultimately emptiness. Human emotions and thoughts begin from emptiness, so even great enlightenment ultimately returns to emptiness. It is no more than meaninglessness.”
Ilgak’s words did not comfort me.
They only made me angrier.
“That is why life is full of absurdity. Those who walk the Buddhist path abandon worldly attachments and enter seclusion to cultivate the Way so they may escape that absurdity.”
That was why I listened in silence.
I wanted to see what kind of nonsense this bald man would use to persuade someone living a second life.
“Of course, not everyone who enters seclusion achieves emptiness.”
Ilgak smiled faintly and continued.
“Life has no meaning.”
He continued provoking my anger.
“Death has no meaning either. We only remain here for a short while before returning to emptiness.”
My robes swelled as killing intent leaked from me without my realizing it.
“Yet ending one’s life is nothing more than an expression that one failed to understand life and was defeated by it.”
Though he faced my killing intent directly, Ilgak did not raise even a thread of internal energy.
His calm voice gradually began to tremble, and sweat gathered on his smooth scalp.
“To live begins with knowing that the end is emptiness and accepting it.”
“…”
“No life has meaning or value to begin with.”
My intent instinctively drew up my internal energy, gathering energy in my palm.
It was the Silent Sound Azure Water Hand.
“True life begins only when one accepts and acknowledges that life is meaningless.”
“…”
I restrained the Silent Sound Azure Water Hand, which was about to shoot forth on its own.
“The moment you see what you once believed gave life value, and all things that affect life, as too trivial to obstruct it any longer, life can gain infinite freedom.”
I dispersed the energy of the Silent Sound Azure Water Hand and calmed my killing intent.
“You asked what meaning Miss Song’s life had, did you not?”
“…”
“The meaning of that life lies in the life itself.”
I asked, “Say it plainly. Don’t chant scriptures at me.”
“For example, the people of Hwapung Manor cared for and followed Miss Song deeply. What future would unfold if they believed she was a traitor, hated her, and lived the rest of their lives that way?”
“…”
“On the other hand, what future would they create if they mourned Miss Song’s tragedy and vowed that the same thing would never happen again?”
Song Yesul was dead, and only the people of Hwapung Manor remained.
Still, depending on how they regarded the dead Song Yesul, the people of Hwapung Manor would become completely different.
“You asked what meaning Miss Song’s death had.”
“…”
“I would like to answer this way.”
Ilgak, soaked in sweat from my killing intent, looked at me with bright eyes.
“What did Miss Song’s life mean to you, Benefactor Jin? Was it simply emptiness? Or did it hold a special meaning?”
With those words, Ilgak left the room.
I remained frozen in place, watching the moon wax and wane.
After so much time had passed that I could no longer tell how long it had been, the door opened without a sound, and a black puppet quietly entered my room.
“…Gah!”
It was Do Gwangsu.
As Do Gwangsu entered, he saw that I was awake and looked as though he were about to faint from shock.
I gestured with my chin.
“It’s on the table. Take it.”
“R-really?”
Before even confirming my words, Do Gwangsu hurriedly gathered up the treasure map spread across the table and tried to leave.
It was hard to believe that this thief, always reading the room, had been my superior in my previous life, the man who saved my life three times and even shared his movement art with me.
“Do Gwangsu.”
“…Y-yes?”
“Don’t enter the Sword Tomb.”
“…”
Do Gwangsu did not answer. As he moved to leave, he looked back at me with a startled expression.
“H-how do you know my name?”
“Go. Before I change my mind.”
“…”
Do Gwangsu left, and I was alone in the room again.
I sank into thought once more.
No, I could not escape the demon Ilgak had planted in my mind.
[What did Miss Song’s life mean to you, Benefactor Jin?]
In my previous life, I wanted to live.
So I ran away, then regretted it until the day I died.
In this life, I wanted us to live together.
So I tried, only to despair when that effort proved meaningless.
It was unlikely, but if I were given another life, how should I live it?
Even if I lived again, could I achieve a better result than I had now?
“Ha…”
Even if there were another life, I would not be able to save Song Yesul.
Even if there were a life after that, and another after that, I could not prevent every despair and pain brought by the Demonic Cult’s invasion.
Did that mean Song Yesul’s life was destined to disappear without ever carrying any meaning at all?
“Damn it…”
It could not be.
No, it must not be.
The previous life where I ran away.
Song Yesul, who had been used and discarded.
Every death I had witnessed.
They would all become meaningless.
“Damn Demonic Cult.”
I picked up a brush and began to draw.
When I copied what was in my mind onto the paper, I completed a map identical to the treasure map Do Gwangsu had just carried away.
“So this is what you want.”
For the sake of my wretched previous life.
For the countless people of my previous life who had died in my place.
And for Song Yesul.
Their deaths and my life could not become emptiness.
They had to hold meaning.
“With your blood and flesh.”
A very certain meaning.
[1] Emptiness: The Buddhist concept of the lack of any fixed, inherent essence in all things.
Footnotes:
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