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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Vine
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“Take this.”
The next day, the leader threw a book at me. Because it had been passed around by many, the old, worn book had ‘Mount Tai Ax’ written on its cover. The leader stirred his wine glass and said,
“That’s a very basic martial art. A guy who has even just dipped their toes in martial arts has come, so we have to use him properly. For the time being, focus on learning that. When you get a little better at handling the ax, I’ll let you fight outside.”
Then, the leader took another sip of alcohol. It seemed as if he spent most of his days with alcohol. Even as he drank, his eyes were fixed on the air, and it seemed as if he was trying to figure out how to use the new talent who had come into his hands.
He poured another drink and said,
“A true man of valor knows how to seize an opportunity when heaven moves. Sanyeo is in my hands, and a smart young man who knows martial arts came to me on his own; this means that the time for me to rise up in the Green Forest is upon us.”
Do you know the story of the flea? A flea can originally jump as high as a person’s height, but if you raise a flea in a glass, they can only jump that high even if there was no longer a glass. It seemed like whatever amazing opportunities he was getting, his thoughts were only focused on climbing the ranks in the Green Forest.
He pretended to be an opportunist, but he didn’t even know how to seize an opportunity properly. He pretended to be magnanimous, but he was just an inadequate man.
Staying under him for a long time would be poison to me as well. It was better to get rid of him quickly, since he was nothing more than a robber, and get out of here with Sanyeo.
But there were still many things to ask him. I took advantage of the leader’s good mood and asked,
“But what is Sanyeo? She doesn’t seem like a normal woman from what you’re saying.”
Sanyeo, who I met last night, was a woman shrouded in mystery. I had to know at least something about her identity.
The leader swept his red face up and looked at me, and said,
“You don’t know Sanyeo? It looks like you don’t follow the news that’s floating around in the martial world.”
“I was tricked by a con artist and only did my training.”
The leader made an embarrassed expression. I didn’t care about his expression and continued speaking.
“Is she like a monster from folk tales?”
The leader shook his head and said,
“The name is taken from there, but Sanyeo here is called Sanyeo because she came from Sanyeo Valley. That’s all she wants people to call her. No one knows her real name. The important thing is not that she is taking the name of a monster, but that she is a survivor who came out of that Sanyeo Valley.”
“Something must have happened in Sanyeo Valley.”
The leader nodded and said,
“The Martial Alliance always says that it’s not true, but everyone knows it. They say that the people who lived in Sanyeo Valley were massacred by the Martial Alliance. But here. Here is a survivor from Sanyeo Valley.”
If she was a survivor from a village massacred by the Martial Alliance, wouldn’t she be a ticking time bomb? Why did the leader think that was an opportunity?
“Then, isn’t that a crisis? Why is a survivor of Sanyeo Valley an opportunity?”
The leader shrugged and then said,
“She has outstanding looks. The people of Sanyeo Valley were originally known for their exceptional appearances. Especially those red eyes are very captivating, so there are many who want to keep her as a concubine. There was even a rumor about a surviving child of Sanyeo Valley being sold off as a concubine for a high price. I am planning on giving Sanyeo to the head leader of the Green Forest and raising my ranks.”
“That is a truly wise idea.”
He was a lost cause for thinking about giving a woman who was skilled in martial arts and intelligent to another man. But I had no intention of saying it out loud, so I just praised the leader.
The leader looked really proud and said,
“Okay. Quickly do your training and get the basics down. If you don’t know anything, I’ll look over your training.”
He didn’t seem to be that smart.
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“How skilled is the leader here?”
While testing out each move of the Mount Tai Ax, I asked Sanyeo. She had said that she wouldn’t do anything until I left, but since it could be a problem if I was wrong from the start, she was looking over my posture.
Sanyeo was carefully watching my posture and said,
“He could win against a decent third-rate martial artist, but he’s not even reached the second-rate level yet. The vice leader is about the same level. The leader is stronger, but the difference is not significant.”
“Then, he’s really weak, isn’t he? How does he manage to be a leader?”
Sanyeo shook her head at my question and said,
“The reason why robbers run amok is because no one is willing to catch them. In areas where the influence of the government doesn’t reach, and if all the sects around are corrupt, then even ordinary people who haven’t learned martial arts can become bandits and run rampant. Simply put, they’re making deals. The sects scare the bandit gangs by putting their sect insignia on the merchants’ goods. In exchange, they could make a small amount of money and the bandits would only rob the weakest. That’s how they live.”
“That’s a good way. Even if it’s not that fun.”
You could live for a long time with such a method, but you wouldn’t be able to climb to a higher position. Sanyeo nodded as if she had understood the true meaning of my words, then she looked through the Mount Tai Ax that I had placed down and said,
“Try doing the pose you did just now again?”
“Like this?”
“Because you’re just watching and doing it, your posture isn’t balanced. Bend your right knee a little more, and extend your left leg. And straighten your back. It says you have to keep your back straight here, but your back is bent.”
“Like this?”
“Yes. Like that.”
Sanyeo carefully flipped through the pages with her shackled hands. I tried to get used to the posture by repeating it a few more times. Since it was the first time I was doing this kind of training, I wasn’t familiar with each and every pose.
The Mount Tai Ax seemed like a simple and blunt martial art just by the name, but it was based on using a hand ax, so it was actually based on quickly attacking and retreating.
Instead of hitting hard with each blow, you had to reduce the impact the ax received through your posture and inner energy, and recover more quickly. If your recovery is fast and the impact you receive is reduced, it would be easier to regain your stance, and if it’s easy to regain your stance, your follow-up attack would be faster.
Therefore, unlike its sturdy name, the Mount Tai Ax was a martial art that greatly emphasized rapid transitions in stance.
I repeated the posture and said,
“The leader is planning on giving you to the head leader of the Green Forest.”
Sanyeo shrugged at the news I had given her.
“I know. But there’s no need to worry about it. The head leader of the Green Forest is busy. If the leader here wants to directly tell something to the head leader, it would have to be sometime this winter. I don’t think you’re weak enough to not be able to get me out of here before then.”
She said that and glanced at me. She hadn’t directly asked, but it was clear that she was asking if I had a plan to escape. I swung the ax in the air and said,
“Just wait. We have time, right? I’ll learn this Mount Tai Ax, and you can make a plan on what to do after we leave. I need to grasp the situation here. Everything in the world needs a process.”
“I agree.”
She said that and gave me a smile with her eyes. Looking at her eyes, which were shining wickedly, it was easy to see why her clan was sold off for high prices. Of course, such stories were not topics to be brought up in front of her, so I averted my eyes and changed the subject.
“By the way. Why is this martial art called Mount Tai Ax? It seems to emphasize very fast combos.”
“Who knows?”
Sanyeo’s tone made me irritated, as if she knew something, but I didn’t ask any further. The answer she would give me was obvious.
“If you can’t grasp the secrets yourself, what’s the point of practicing martial arts? How can we expect to destroy the martial world with someone who can’t even understand the principles of such a simple martial art?”
There it was.
Sanyeo recited the words I had predicted as if she was singing, with an unexpected melodious tone.
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“The leader has no ambition.”
A few days later.
The vice leader, who had been wanting to see the new guy in person, finally called me with a wine glass. Beside him was his wife with a seductive smile, who kept sending me signals. The vice leader focused his gaze only on me as if he didn’t know that his wife was a slut.
His conversation was also about a more long term vision rather than just complaining about his own situation.
“Think about it. The leader is always just drinking and scheming about raising his ranks in this Green Forest camp. Born as a man of valor, how could one just live as that kind of man? The guy ranked 60 something jumping around like a girl just because his ranking went up a bit! Does he have a future?”
I didn’t answer his words. The vice leader said while holding his wife close,
“Of course, I’m not saying we should take down the leader right now… But if you have to follow someone, it’s obvious who you should follow.”
“I see.”
“Look closely. That leader guy is obsessed with women yet lives alone, but I’m living well and comfortably with a beautiful wife like this, right? Huh? The difference in ability! The difference in boldness is what distinguishes people!”
There was a large iron club placed in his tent. It was a weapon that suited his style of winning with brute force very well.
And in the middle of him shaking his wine glass and showing off his strength,
the vice leader’s wife was still winking at me.
The rift between the leader and the vice leader.
The vice leader loved his wife, but his wife was busy luring men.
And I had a technique that was perfect for this situation.
I smiled happily. The vice leader snorted at my smile and filled my glass with alcohol.
“Alright! Take the glass! Hahahaha!”
I received the glass and began scheming.
Now that I had created the foundation for my plan, I needed to examine the inner atmosphere a little more.
