The Genius Warrior Who Remembers Everything Chapter 42

Chapter 42. A First-Rate Warrior Who Gathers People

Kang Yu-seong, a waiter at the Moon Lake Inn, had been spending busy days for the past several weeks.

At first, he had been busy because some Spiritual Medicine had appeared on the Demon Spirit Plateau and martial artists had flocked there. After that, he had been busy because of the people who came to rescue those who had entered the Demon Spirit Plateau.

Martial artists were more generous than ordinary travelers.

Sometimes they did not take their change, and when they were in a good mood, he would receive several times the cost of the meal as a service fee.

Of course, if he encountered a warrior with a foul temper, he could also end up in a situation dangerous enough that he had to risk his life.

Even so, the reason he could not quit this work was that he had to look after his younger sisters with the money he earned, and no other job was given to someone as young as Kang Yu-seong.

These past few days had been exciting ones for Kang Yu-seong.

It was because the person who had saved four thousand warriors from the Demon Spirit Plateau was staying in the detached annex of the Moon Lake Inn.

On the streets of Yueyang, wherever drinking parties broke out, everyone was noisy with that story.

They said that if not for that warrior, all four thousand warriors would have died.

Even while carrying food through the first-floor dining hall of the inn, whenever stories of that warrior’s exploits came up, Kang Yu-seong slowed his steps or needlessly hovered around the table, pretending to tidy up while listening to every word without missing a single one.

When he heard that such a warrior was staying at the Moon Lake Inn, he had been so happy he nearly jumped.

“You are truly as unusual as you are great, sir.”

While changing the water in the bath, he spoke to the warrior, who had become a little familiar to him now that he had seen his face for several days in a row.

“Me?”

“Yes.”

The warrior tilted his head as if he did not understand.

“How so?”

“Do all the important people in Yueyang not wish to see you, sir? Yet you remain in the detached annex every day.”

“Ah…….”

When he emptied the bathwater, pitch-black grime floated in it, and strange things like shed skin flowed out along with it.

The strange thing was that this was already the third time he had changed the water.

“It’s troublesome.”

“You have received many messages from Yueyang’s famous pleasure houses too, have you not?”

Right now, it was not only warriors or high officials and nobles in Yueyang who were looking for this warrior.

The waiter recalled the countless letters he had delivered.

“Puhaha. A little brat like you knows all sorts of things, huh?”

“Is making a name for oneself and forming ties with beauties not what all warriors who train in martial arts desire?”

After he filled the bath with hot water again, the warrior entered the bath and gently scraped his skin with a scrubbing stone.

Truly, as if by magic, the clear water quickly began to turn murky.

“Do you envy me?”

“Of course.”

“How old did you say you were?”

“I am fourteen this year.”

“Do you want to make your name known and form ties with beauties?”

Kang Yu-seong shook his head.

“No, sir.”

“Hm? Then why do you envy me?”

“You have the strength to save other people, sir. That is what I envy.”

“…….”

The warrior silently continued scraping with the scrubbing stone.

Without even knowing why, Kang Yu-seong poured out his story.

“I wish I had the strength to protect my young younger sisters. Right now, I am too young and too weak, and it torments me.”

“……How many younger sisters do you have?”

“Three.”

“Yu-seong, you are looking after all three of them by yourself?”

“……Yes.”

Even as he spoke, Kang Yu-seong was surprised at himself.

He had not told even the innkeeper this sort of story.

Whenever he told such stories, what came back was usually pity, sympathy, and people blaming him for being foolish.

In particular, he hated it most when they told him to sell his young siblings and find a way to live.

But then.

“Boy, you are admirable.”

“……!”

The warrior snorted with laughter while scrubbing away his grime.

For some reason, tears began streaming down Kang Yu-seong’s face.

“What made you make such an admirable decision?”

“……Ahem, sob. I, I promised my mother.”

“Yes, yes. If a man is a man, even if his own body breaks apart, he must look after the people precious to him if he wants to live without regrets. ……The water is already dirty again. Change the water for me.”

“…….”

Kang Yu-seong had been soaked in emotion and was about to burst into loud sobs, but at the warrior’s words, his feelings were abruptly cut off.

Once again, pitch-black grime and things like shed skin poured out. It truly was a wondrous body. Just how many times did he have to wash for such grime to keep coming out?

“Do you want to learn martial arts?”

“……Pardon?”

“You said you wanted to become strong. Earning money and studying are both ways to become strong, but you told me that story because you want to learn martial arts from me, did you not?”

“…….”

Kang Yu-seong’s face flushed red with embarrassment.

Even so, just this once, he decided to be shameless.

“Yes! It is my dream to become a warrior just like you, sir.”

“A warrior like me…….”

After briefly sinking into thought, the warrior tilted his head and said,

“Do you know that I am from the Taeul Sect?”

“Of course. That story is going around all of Yueyang.”

“You know very well that the Taeul Sect’s martial arts are nothing special, do you not?”

He knew it very well.

That was what people had been so surprised about these days.

“If you had the opportunity to enter the Taeul Sect, would you want to?”

“Yes!”

“……I did not borrow the strength of martial arts to become like this. I became like this through my effort and luck. In other words, even if you actually learn the Taeul Sect’s martial arts, the path to becoming an expert may be very far for you.”

“……Then can I become like you, sir?”

“What?”

“I do not want to become an expert. I want to become like you, sir.”

SPLASH.

The warrior dropped the scrubbing stone and groped around in the water.

“You brat, you are good at saying embarrassing things.”

The warrior said nothing more.

Kang Yu-seong also noticed that the warrior no longer wanted to continue the conversation, so he diligently changed only the hot water.

Then, strangely enough, the amount of grime and shed skin gradually began to decrease.

And when the warrior finished bathing and came out of the bath, Kang Yu-seong went blank upon seeing his body.

He had a large frame, a great height, and a large, masculine build, but there was not an ounce of unnecessary flesh on him.

In particular, his skin was as flawless as a woman’s.

“Where are my clothes?”

“……Ah, h-here they are.”

Kang Yu-seong handed him the newly prepared black martial arts uniform.

The warrior put on some sort of silver-colored garment beneath the martial arts uniform, then fully dressed himself in the black martial arts uniform.

On his left arm, he wore a wrist guard with a hawk-claw ornament, and he carried a black sword at his waist.

If his appearance when he had first entered the Moon Lake Inn had been like that of a wanderer with a rough air, now he looked like a flawless Noble Young Master without a single opening.

“Take this.”

What he held out as he said that was one gold tael.

As a service fee, it was an unimaginably large sum, but for some reason, Kang Yu-seong was not greatly happy.

“……Is it not enough?”

“That is not it. I just feel regretful, thinking I will no longer be able to see you.”

“What is there to regret? You can see me at the Taeul Sect.”

“Pardon?”

“Did you not say you wanted to enter the Taeul Sect? Once you have steeled your resolve, use that to hire an Escort and come to the Taeul Sect with your younger sisters. If not, then use that money to take good care of your younger sisters.”

“……W-Warrior sir.”

“Ah, of course, the Sect Leader must permit it, but…… he probably will.”

His last words were somewhat less than reliable, but there was no time to pay attention to that.

Kang Yu-seong broke the vow he had made after his mother died that he would never cry again, and sobbed loudly for a long while.

I never dreamed I would meet Kang Yu-seong at the Moon Lake Inn.

Sword Fool Kang Yu-seong, who had come from a waiter’s background, entered a deep mountain valley with a single sword, created his own sword art, and took the lowest seat among the Ten Greatest Swords under Heaven.

His appearance was similar and his name was exactly the same, so I had wondered, but the moment I heard that he had three younger sisters, I could be certain.

‘You’re mine.’

I wondered if I had changed the future of too extraordinary a talent, but still, if he had a foundation, he would do even better.

“……If you move your residence to the Taeul Sect, you won’t lose your younger sisters. And now you’ll inherit the true legacy called the Taeul True Scripture too, so it’s not a bad choice for you either.”

I hypnotized myself that way.

After undergoing Rebirth through the Mita Sacred Water, my entire body felt as light as if it might fly away.

All the impurities that had built up inside my body over my entire life were expelled, and my insides became as clean as those of a newborn child.

On top of that, the Taeul True Scripture carved new paths again, changing my body into one suited to itself as though drawing a picture on paper.

At first, the change in my height and body felt awkward, but only for a moment.

Soon, I realized that my current bodily condition was the most ideal state for executing the Taeul Sect’s martial arts, including the Taeul True Scripture.

“I envy you.”

Namgung Seon-hwa, who had stopped by to bid me farewell, was clearly sensing the changes in my body even though I had not told her I had consumed the Mita Sacred Water.

Unfortunately, there had only been enough Mita Sacred Water for one person, and there had not been enough to give to Namgung Seon-hwa, let alone the Junior Brothers of the Taeul Sect.

“So this is the rumored Martial Bone Body.”

“You know about the Martial Bone Body?”

“Of course. I came looking for the Mita Sacred Water to achieve that.”

The Martial Bone Body was one of the constitutions with special traits, like Wang So-so’s Solar Body. Unlike other constitutions that one was born with, however, the Martial Bone Body was a constitution that could only be obtained through Rebirth and Bone Remolding by ceaseless training and enlightenment, or through the Mita Sacred Water.

“You must be disappointed.”

Though I spoke words of comfort, Namgung Seon-hwa did not seem particularly disappointed.

“……Well, since you were the one who drank it. It is fine.”

“Pardon?”

“It is nothing. I heard from my brother. You decided to stop by the Namgung Clan?”

“That is how it turned out.”

“Would you perhaps join me when taking the Regular Exam?”

The Murim Academy’s Regular Exam was an individual test, but they did not mind if one brought one’s family or a helper, nor did they care if examinees cooperated with each other.

Instead, those who held important posts in the Murim Alliance, possessed martial prowess at the first-rate level or higher, or were graduates of the Murim Academy were not permitted to participate.

“I will probably attend while leading one or two Firmament Units.”

“……?”

Considering the power of the Namgung Clan, even leading at least five units would have been insufficient.

“There are circumstances in the family.”

“……Ah.”

It seemed the internal split within the Namgung Clan that had occurred in my previous life had already begun.

“Still, I will be bringing only the most elite personnel, so I believe they will definitely be of help.”

After thinking for a moment, I shook my head.

“I apologize, Young Lady. I also have something planned for this exam. That would be difficult.”

“……I suppose so.”

Namgung Seon-hwa nodded as though she understood.

Our farewells were roughly over, and we had both said what we needed to say, yet Namgung Seon-hwa did not leave. Instead, she needlessly tapped at the empty floor with her foot.

“……May I ask one thing?”

“Please speak.”

“By any chance…… with Sister Mo-ran…….”

Namgung Seon-hwa trailed off with a complex, subtle expression.

“Has something happened to Young Lady Seong?”

“…….”

Namgung Seon-hwa opened and closed her mouth, then suddenly shook her head and made a clasped hands greeting.

“No. Young Master Jin. Thank you very much for this incident. I will be sure to repay this grace someday.”

After leaving the Moon Lake Inn, I headed first not for Hubei Province, where the Jegal Clan was located, but for Nine Dragons Mountain near Nanyue.

If I wanted to take Jegal Cheon-gi to the Taeul Sect, I needed money first.

Moreover, through this incident, I had unintentionally obtained a good item, so there was no need to go far in search of treasure.

When I reached the entrance of Nine Dragons Mountain, I took out a map from the library in my head.

It was the place where Wolhyang, the concubine of the richest man in Yue State, was buried, which Du Cheon-gang of the Sojeong Squad had regretted not being able to rob until the day he died.

In truth, we had always wondered why Du Cheon-gang, who had been a thief, had gone out of his way to enter the Murim Alliance, and the story behind it was quite a masterpiece.

Du Cheon-gang, who mainly robbed high officials and nobles of the luxury goods they had received as bribes, once robbed a secret storehouse that he thought one of those high officials and nobles had used to hide slush funds. But it turned out that the place was actually the tomb of the Minister of Personnel’s household.

Because he had robbed the tomb of such a household, officials from all over the country dropped everything they were doing and rushed at him like hopping corpses to take that bastard Du Cheon-gang’s head.

As a last resort, Du Cheon-gang hid from the government troops by falsifying his identity and entering the Murim Alliance as a low-ranking warrior.

After entering the Murim Alliance, Du Cheon-gang tried to entice people with excellent demon-resisting power into robbing Wolhyang’s tomb.

But there was no way the Mount Heng Sect, Maoshan Sect, Shaolin, or Wudang Sect would deal with a low-ranking warrior like Du Cheon-gang.

In the end, that bastard was unable to rob Wolhyang’s tomb, remained in the Sojeong Squad, and was dragged into the Great Righteous-Demonic War. Every night, he shed tears and cursed his own lot in life.

“If what Du said was true, it should be around here.”

When I examined the rear side of the waterfall halfway up Nine Dragons Mountain, I saw a narrow entrance between the violently falling streams of water.

It was a naturally rugged, perilous place without a single spot to set one’s foot, as though refusing human footsteps.

I shot the Flying Dragon Claw at a slightly higher point, grabbed its cord, and leaped in.

WHIRRRRR.

After passing through the waterfall and squeezing my body through the small opening, a large space appeared within.

When I lit the torch I had prepared, the inside of the cave slowly began to appear.

The cave, which had seemed untouched by human hands, began to show traces of artifice the farther in I went, and at the end of the cave, one side had been carved like a vast palace hall.

“I found it.”

The inside of the palace hall was decorated as a tomb.

The problem, however, was that both the place where the coffin had been and the places where the items the deceased had used while alive should have been were all empty, with only spiderwebs filling them.

“The mechanism should be around here.”

Because whenever Du Cheon-gang drank, he would talk endlessly about robbing Wolhyang’s tomb, I could find even this mechanism I had never seen before at once.

GRRRRRRRIND. THUD. BANG.

As expected, the wall was pushed to one side and the door opened halfway.

Inside the door lay a narrow passage barely large enough for two people to enter, and the passage was full of broken arrows and thick spikes jutting out from the floor.

“Everyone could make it this far, apparently.”

On the way to the secret chamber, traces of someone having come and gone had already been left behind.

I raised the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art I had obtained on the Demon Spirit Plateau.

My achievement was still only at the First Star, but that alone was enough.

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

SWISHHHHH.

After I passed through the secret chamber, the mechanisms activated, spikes shot up from the floor, and arrows fired from all directions.

“They say there is none under heaven who can match it, and it lives up to its name.”

After briefly marveling at the divine power of the Unrivaled under Heaven Movement Art, I turned and stepped into the space, and my eyes flew wide open.

“Huh.”

The ceiling was studded with Night-Luminous Pearls like stars, and the room was piled high with gold, silver, and treasures that sparkled under the light of those Night-Luminous Pearls.

I understood why Du Cheon-gang had lamented whenever he drank.

“It was true.”

As I was examining several pieces of gold, silver, and treasure, the skeletons piled up on one side of the room chilled my mood.

“So most of them were buried here.”

They were skeletons that clearly seemed human.

And not merely from one or two people, but a mound of skeletons made from quite a large number of them.

“It seems quite a few people came here and could not leave.”

Then.

An ominous sound came.

CLANK. CLANK.

My head turned toward one room on one side of the space.

CLANK. CLANK.

The reason Du Cheon-gang had to come out empty-handed even with treasures worth a fortune before his eyes.

CLANK. CLANK.

-Eeeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee.

The reason he had tried to entice Daoist priests and monks into robbing the tomb even while suffering all sorts of humiliation in the Murim Alliance.

“Show yourself!”

It was because of the powerful ghost guarding this tomb.

-Is a thief pretending to be the master?!

I had heard the Demonic Cult’s Radiant Heaven Laugh before, but this was the first time I had heard a voice so dense with Demonic Qi.

My spirit was shaken, my heart pounded, and my body began to stiffen.

CLANK. CLANK.

-You are fearless to have entered this place.

Along with the sound of metal striking metal, a woman of beauty impossible to believe belonged to the mortal world was slowly walking out, naked save for the splendid gold, silver, and treasures adorning her body.