I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Unexpectedly Entering the Wulin Alliance — Episode 10
Defying everyone’s expectations, Ma Cheonseong executed the Thirty-Six Strategies of Retreat and arrived safely at the Sichuan Province branch of the Demonic Cult, where the young master he served directly and his guard were waiting.
Yet Ma Cheonseong could not rest as easily as Seo Woo-chan and Sa Woo-rin.
Though he had lost considerable blood and grown exhausted from running without pause while covering his tracks, he now knelt before the young master he served.
The young master Ma Cheonseong attended was the second son of Cheonma, the apex of the Demonic Cult, and was considered highly likely to be appointed as Deputy Cult Leader.
Hyeok Woo-hyeok, that second son of Cheonma, gazed down at Ma Cheonseong with displeasure etched across his face.
“Must you really kill that boy?”
“Yes, my lord. That one will one day become a threat to the Demonic Cult…….”
Hyeok Woo-hyeok’s brow furrowed deeply.
Beyond the fact that the operation had gone awry, he was displeased with his subordinate’s endless excuses.
“Ma Cheonseong.”
The agent’s name was Ma Cheonseong.
“Speak freely.”
“This boy — you said he was eighteen?”
“Yes, my lord.”
“You failed to eliminate a mere youth not yet of age, came fleeing back, and now offer me nothing but excuses? Is that it?”
“I am deeply sorry. However, I believed this matter was something you must know.”
Had Ma Cheonseong been able to kill the boy on the spot, he would never have resorted to retreat. When a Wulin Alliance warrior suddenly appeared, he concluded the chances were slim to none.
That was why he had run here, casting aside all shame.
“No, that’s absurd. But even if your words were true, you should have died there with him.
Before anything else, as someone under me, you should have done exactly that.
If Ma Cheonseong had stumbled, my own safety — my position as the coming Deputy Cult Leader — would be in jeopardy.”
“I intended to do so, but when those Wulin Alliance dogs appeared…….”
“And think carefully about this: at his age, could I have fought you evenly? Answer me.”
Hyeok Woo-hyeok was deeply displeased that Ma Cheonseong beneath him dared compare himself to some unknown boy.
It would be more fitting for him to commit suicide right here and now.
“That is…….”
Hyeok Woo-hyeok had built his Internal Energy since childhood with powerful Spirit Medicine, making any comparison impossible.
And though the boy’s Internal Energy was meager, it was strangely strong and dense — like striking steel with ordinary iron and feeling it rebound against you.
Despite possessing far greater Internal Energy, Ma Cheonseong could not overcome the boy’s.
Moreover, even as blood sprayed and flesh tore, the boy was growing in that very moment, and more than that — he did not fear death.
“What do you mean, ‘that is’?”
“I mean to say, my lord, that this boy is not lacking even when compared to you, and his sprout must be nipped before he grows any further.”
“Not lacking compared to me, you say……. I find it difficult to believe, yet I shall accept it.”
Ma Cheonseong pressed his forehead to the ground.
“Thank you, my lord.”
“You know nothing else?”
“I heard the boy’s name is Sa Woo-rin.”
At that moment, the branch master and his son, who had been observing the situation with proper decorum from the opposite side of the room, suddenly wore expressions of great shock.
Hyeok Woo-hyeok then asked.
“Why do you both react so? Do you know this Sa Woo-rin?”
The branch master spoke respectfully.
“Indeed we do, my lord.”
“How so?”
“He is one we must absolutely eliminate.”
The branch where Cheonma’s second son now stayed was none other than Yunwolmun, which had once suffered greatly at the hands of Sa Woo-rin and his father.
“Is that so? Then why have you not killed him until now? Surely you haven’t also been intimidated by this boy? If so, I am sorely disappointed.”
“Haha. Not at all — intimidated, you say? We simply have not yet found where he was hiding. I ask that you not misunderstand, my lord.”
“Haha. I see. I nearly misjudged you. Very well, I shall entrust this boy to you. Please handle it.”
“Handle it, you say? Rather, I should thank you, my lord, for giving me this chance to repay an old debt. Truly, I am grateful. My lord, I promise you that when you return as Deputy Cult Leader, I shall repay this favor greatly.”
“Haha. No need to be so formal. Your words alone are reward enough. I shall take my leave now — this one boy has disrupted everything.”
Hyeok Woo-hyeok knew well that if the Wulin Alliance warrior had learned of this, the beggars would soon move, and if they moved, so would the Dang Clan, rulers of Sichuan Province.
“Then please take your leave safely.”
“Ah, one more thing. Please dispose of this man as well. There is some affection accumulated between us over the years, and I would rather not handle it myself.”
“Do not worry. Please return carefully.”
“Then, my thanks.”
Ma Cheonseong, who had been unable to lift his head until now out of remorse, finally raised it.
‘……What? Me……!’
Ma Cheonseong had believed the young master would cover for his mistake. But it seemed he was wrong.
Only as he died would he understand how deeply an axe you trust can wound your own heel.
‘No. This can’t be happening.’
If things continued like this, he’d truly lose his life.
“Young Master! Grant me one more chance, I beg you!”
Hyeok Woo-hyeok’s departing footsteps halted, as though the plea were nothing but an annoyance.
“A chance, you say?”
“Yes! If you give me one more opportunity, I swear I will repay your kindness a hundredfold!”
“Listen well. Chances are given to those who make mistakes—not to wretches like you who’ve failed so completely you’ve destroyed everything. How could you not understand that?”
Hyeok Woo-hyeok turned away coldly, leaving a final word for Woon Won-jang, the leader of Yunwolmun, before departing.
“I entrust him to you.”
“Rest assured, I will see to it.”
Thus Hyeok Woo-hyeok, the second son of Cheonma, fled toward Shiwan Daesan to escape the eyes of both the Demonic Cult and the Dang Clan.
Ma Cheonseong watched his departure with nothing but resentment.
“……Damn it all.”
“Such is life for everyone, is it not? Well then, it’s time for you to go as well.”
“Listen, Sect Leader! I could yet be of service to you——”
A whisper of steel.
There was no mercy.
“Urk——”
Woon Won-jang, the leader of Yunwolmun, granted Hyeok Woo-hyeok’s request without the slightest hesitation.
Crimson blood sprayed across Ma Cheonseong’s chest and burst outward.
“……Curse it all.”
Ma Cheonseong, who had been willing to offer his life gladly for the Demonic Cult, found instead that the Cult itself had become his executioner.
A dull thud as his body fell.
“Father.”
It was Woon Joo-wol, the son of the Yunwolmun leader, who had earned a harsh beating from Sa Woo-rin for his loose tongue.
“What is it?”
“Father, do you truly believe that man was as strong as he claimed to be? I find it difficult to believe.”
Woon Won-jang’s lips curved upward sharply.
“A man will always exaggerate other things to hide his own failures. This one surely did the same.”
“Ah, then——?”
“Yes. At most, Joo-wol here is the same age as that dead man. And considering the corpse’s mediocre skill, the Young Master had no reason to spare him. That’s why he discarded him without hesitation.”
“But even a rusted blade has some use, does it not?”
“A rusted blade may have some merit, certainly. Yet a rusted blade, if not handled with care, can wound the wielder instead. Think on that.”
“I understand.”
“Good. Such is the way of the world. It is rare for something of value to fulfill its purpose and then be discarded unchanged. Men are no different. Remember this well. And you——summon the Vice Sect Leader at once and have him gather thirty men. Go now.”
“You’re leaving right now?”
“Yes. Only then will I sleep without unease.”
Since that day when he faced Sa Cheol-gang, Sa Woo-rin’s father, Woon Won-jang had been forced to swallow his resentment each and every day.
Had he not been humiliated before all his subordinates?
He had been overwhelmed, utterly and completely. By a cripple with only one arm!
No matter how he tried to forget, the memory would not fade—the taste of dust as he was beaten before his men.
He had underestimated far too badly.
Indeed, he could not fathom why a martial master of such strength had remained quietly hidden in such a place.
And that was not all!
His only son, the one destined to inherit Yunwolmun, had been left crippled. To mend that crippled body, he had been forced to incur enormous debts to procure Spirit Medicine.
Only by joining hands with the Demonic Cult had he been able to repay those debts.
How could he possibly forget such a grievance?
And afterward, upon hearing of Sa Cheol-gang’s death, he had spent vast sums of money and energy searching for Sa Woo-rin.
Those two father and son had consumed his wealth and efforts. He would extract repayment with interest, come what may.
“Understood, Father.”
Woon Joo-wol, too, had not forgotten the shame he suffered at Sa Woo-rin’s hands that day.
His lips curved upward without restraint, toward the heavens.
* * *
Jang Chun cleared his throat with a grave expression.
“The matter at hand is this: my younger brothers and I have deliberated carefully and reached a decision we wish to lay before you.”
“Let’s hear it.”
Sa Woo-rin’s lukewarm response left Jang Chun and his brothers somewhat taken aback.
“Why do you show no sign of surprise?”
“I haven’t heard anything yet, so what’s there to be surprised about? And as you’ve said, what would someone like me—someone without feeling—have to be shocked by?”
Rather, it was Jang Chun and his brothers who were startled. By Sa Woo-rin’s sharp and cutting retort.
“No…….”
“What are you doing? Not saying anything?”
“Damn it, fine. We’ve decided to shut down the gambling house.”
“Why?”
He sounded indifferent.
“This is the kind of thing you’re supposed to be shocked about.”
“I am shocked.”
He wasn’t visibly startled, but truly shocked nonetheless—just didn’t show it outwardly.
Besides, it was what he’d wanted anyway.
“That’s what shock looks like to you?”
“But why, then?”
“It seems to me you’ve grown enough now that it’s time for you to leave us, and besides…….”
“I’m leaving? Why?”
“This matter has shown me that you’ve developed sufficiently, just as your father would have wished.”
You held your own against masters in combat.
“I have nowhere to go, though? Surely you’re not trying to cast me out?”
Sa Woo-rin had devoted himself entirely to martial cultivation, never sparing a moment’s thought to where he might go or what he might do.
“You fool. Would we ever throw you out?”
“Then why are you saying this all of a sudden?”
“To be honest, it’s not sudden.”
Sa Woo-rin’s eyes widened sharply.
“But it is sudden!”
“No—why are your eyes so wide? Are you saying now that you’re a master, I’ll hit you too? What?”
“Because you suddenly started talking about me leaving and all that.”
“Well, that’s the truth of it. Didn’t you agree to stay with us only until your coming of age? Didn’t your father ask me to watch over you only until then?”
It was undeniably true.
“Ah, I see. You and the others took me in. I thought I was the one taking care of you and the others.”
That much was accurate.
Not every time, but whenever danger arose, Sa Woo-rin stepped forward and solved the problem.
Or rather.
More than solving problems, he’d essentially been holding their life lines and dragging them forward all this time.
“As for that—well, yes. But still, you fool. The fact that you could eat, sleep, and live comfortably was entirely because of us, wasn’t it?!”
“That’s true. So are you trying to throw your kindness in my face now?”
If Sa Woo-rin started dredging up the past to flaunt his generosity, Jang Chun would have to spend the whole day talking his ear off.
“No……, it’s just a manner of speaking.”
“In any case, I don’t plan to leave yet.”
“Understood. That’s what we wanted too.”
With Sa Woo-rin around, situations where they’d die by the sword were far fewer. Besides, they’d grown quite fond of him.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you just say that from the start? Now you’ve put me in a foul mood. Anyway, if you’re giving up the gambling house, what are you planning to do?”
“I’ve been thinking about running an inn.”
“Wow.”
Taking over an inn would require quite a bit—no, a tremendous amount of money. Still, he’d never seen Jang Chun spend the profits from running the gambling house.
For someone who earned money, he ate and lived quite frugally—in fact, so economically that you might say he was hardly better than a beggar on the streets.
And the others had followed him without complaint.
Looking at it that way, it seemed like they were truly meant to find each other.
“What do you think?”
“It’s a tremendous step forward. I think it’s good. What about the location?”
“Since we sent your father away, we haven’t been able to visit him once. So we’re thinking of going to where he is. What do you say?”
“Where my father is buried?”
“Yes. Where the Wulin Alliance is.”
The Wulin Alliance was situated in Hunan Province, where Dongting Lake was located. And Dongting Lake was counted among the most beautiful lakes in the martial world.
To put it plainly, it was the heart of the Orthodox Martial World. So it made sense that the flow of people was great.
That was when a strange voice came from outside.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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