I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 21

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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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Needlessly joining the Murim Alliance — Chapter 21
After removing the Yin-Yang Core from his second son, Dang Yi-su, Dang Won-hu immediately rushed to confront his eldest son—the true architect of this calamity—accompanied by his personal Guard Sword Unit.
But it was a wasted journey.
Dang Yi-hyeok had long since abandoned his quarters. It seemed he’d caught wind that his third brother’s Yin-Yang Core had been destroyed and fled like a coward.
The boy lacked even the mettle to answer for his own crimes.
Dang Won-hu’s disappointment ran deeper than words could measure.
As his firstborn son, as a martial artist of the Dang household, the boy possessed not a shred of dignity. This was proof enough.
He’d never imagined it would come to this. And yet the boy carried the blood of the Dang line, his blood.
Ruthlessness, malice—these he might have tolerated. But such stupidity? Such incompetence?
Dang Won-hu carried his disappointment with him to the quarters of his first wife, clinging to a faint hope.
As expected.
Most of Dang Yi-hyeok’s warped thinking and poor judgment seemed to stem from her.
She was a woman of vast ambition. So too was her family.
His first wife’s house was among the three greatest merchant guilds in Sichuan Province.
Whose plan was it, truly?
Would the worthless eldest have conceived such a grand scheme—targeting the Yin-Yang Core, ruining his two younger brothers, seizing control of the Sacheon Dang Family—all of his own accord?
If he’d possessed such audacity, he wouldn’t be running with his tail between his legs.
Then…
The hand of his first wife and her blood family, the Yeocheon Merchant Guild, seemed very likely indeed.
They would certainly deny it all.
And the first wife and son would not be hiding within the Yeocheon Merchant Guild itself.
Even the darkest corners have their limits.
Dang Won-hu issued a command mobilizing every resource of the Sacheon Dang Family to search all of Sichuan Province—to find his first wife and son, no matter the cost.
And so Dang Yi-ryeong and Sa U-rin made their way back to the inn where the members of the 11th Squad were staying.
* * *
The inn where the 11th Squad was lodged looked as though a whirlwind had torn through it. The people of the Sacheon Dang Family had torn the place apart before departing.
“Squad leader…”
“Don’t open your mouth.”
“But still—”
“I said don’t open your mouth!”
His head was already on the verge of splitting.
It wasn’t just Jang Hye-in. Every member of the 11th Squad was dizzy, unnerved beyond measure.
A brief silence fell—but it was Jang Hye-in himself, the one who’d demanded silence, who broke it.
“Aaaagh!”
He clawed at his own innocent head like a madman.
His neatly tied hair came undone, falling in wild disarray—he looked utterly unhinged.
The already anxious members of the 11th Squad found themselves sitting on pins and needles, transfixed by Jang Hye-in’s deranged display.
“What are you staring at, you bastards!”
Well…
How could they not stare when he was shrieking like a madwoman? He should’ve kept his mouth shut.
“Ah! I’m losing my mind!”
They’d thought they’d caught a windfall blessing!
Didn’t everyone rejoice at receiving rewards they’d never dreamed of, all thanks to Sa U-rin?
But pouring ash into a finished meal—there are limits!
No, no…
This was like laying out a feast fit for the gods, then coating it in the deadliest poison.
A feast that kills the moment you taste it!
What feast is that? It’s a straight road to the underworld—nothing but death and poison!
The rewards would vanish without a trace, and worse, they might face censure, salary cuts, or even expulsion from the Alliance.
“What are we supposed to do about this bastard? Huh? You lot, say something! You do have thoughts in those heads of yours, don’t you?!”
First telling them to keep silent, now demanding answers.
Tch.
Hyeong-jun, the oldest among them, was the first to speak up.
“Should we ask that warrior who was here earlier?”
“He knows nothing. He’s in the same boat as us.”
The escort warrior who’d remained at the inn with the 11th Squad knew only that the family is currently searching for the patriarch’s first wife and son.
Of course, even the Dang Family’s warriors combing the province had no idea why this pair had fled or why they were being hunted down.
“This is infuriating. Really infuriating.”
Jang Hye-in’s sharp voice rang out again.
“It’s only been a day—just one day! How on earth does a minor incident turn the entire great Sacheon Dang Family upside down?! Wow. Our youngest really is something special, isn’t he? Really special!”
“……That’s what I’m saying. But who on earth suggested bringing someone like that in?”
Jang Hye-in’s eyes, torn to shreds moments before, had transformed into something sharp as a blade’s edge.
“……What?”
“No, I’m just frustrated…….”
“Watch your tongue. Age isn’t something to boast about.”
“……Right.”
Jung-geol-i stepped forward to smooth over Hyeong-jun’s embarrassment.
“Squad Leader. But do we really have to keep waiting like this? I don’t know what’s happening, but this atmosphere feels like everything’s already fallen through.”
It was a suggestion to return to the branch office.
“You think I’m not frustrated too? Why else would I be sitting here sighing?”
“Unbelievable. Seriously.”
That’s when Woo-chan cried out.
“Squad Leader, look there!”
Dang Yi-ryeong and Sa U-rin were entering from the direction Woo-chan was pointing at.
But…….
“……What is this?”
Dang Yi-ryeong’s mouth was full of smiles, wasn’t it?
Right now, the Sacheon Dang Family seemed on the verge of a blood storm, according to Dang Yi-ryeong’s own words, yet there he was, appearing with such a bright face—it was absurd.
“You’re all going to die, grinning like that…….”
“Not quite that far…….”
“But the youngest’s expression doesn’t seem right either…….”
“Doesn’t he always look like that?”
“Well, that’s true…….”
There was simply no way to tell.
Jang Hye-in, squad leader of the 11th Squad, and all the squad members felt a chill run down their spines.
At last Dang Yi-ryeong and Sa U-rin stood before them.
Dang Yi-ryeong opened his mouth with that bright expression.
“Why do you all look like that?”
When you don’t know whether you’ll live or die, what else can your face do?
Jang Hye-in asked.
“What in the world has happened?”
“Ah, so that’s it.”
The reason they’d all been wearing such constipated expressions.
“I can’t go into detail here. To put it simply, this friend has saved the Sacheon Dang Family.”
“……What do you…….”
The atmosphere wasn’t one of salvation—it looked like a funeral was about to be held, didn’t it?
Dang Yi-ryeong had spoken of a coming blood storm before departing, after all.
“……So, that’s good news, isn’t it?”
“Of course it’s good news. That’s why my father has instructed me to treat you all as honored guests.”
“……Honored guests?”
“Because of the youngest?”
“Yes. Without U-rin, I and the Sacheon Dang Family would have faced a terrible crisis. But thanks to U-rin, we’ve been able to escape all that danger.”
Right—why would they be treated as honored guests if those men had been about to have their limbs torn apart and be put to death?
And hadn’t Dang Yi-ryeong just said that Sa U-rin had saved the Sacheon Dang Family?
Now, with relief finally settling in, the worried expressions faded from the faces of the 11th Squad members, and smiles bloomed in their place.
“Ha ha ha!”
“Our youngest!”
“He’s done something great.”
Fortunately, it had turned out for the best.
“Hoo ha ha ha!”
“You’re all going to receive substantial rewards. You can look forward to it.”
“Substantial rewards…….”
“Yes. Substantial rewards. There’s a carriage waiting outside—let’s head to our family compound first.”
“Ha ha ha. Let’s do that.”
Everyone descended from the pavilion, all the while gazing at Sa U-rin with warmth in their eyes.
“I knew it would be like this.”
“What a remarkable fellow.”
“Bringing the youngest in was truly the right decision.”
“He’s so lovable it’s killing me.”
They didn’t know what the reward would be, but since Sa U-rin had saved the Sacheon Dang Family, it certainly wouldn’t be anything trivial.
The Sacheon Dang Family never forgets a debt—they repay kindness twofold and grudges tenfold.
Yet even so, Squad Leader Jang Hye-in’s smile could not lighten the weight in his chest.
“You’ve worked hard.”
Fortune beyond measure had simply rolled into their laps.
But he felt ashamed to let show the doubt and unease that had filled his heart, groundless though it was.
Honestly, the squad members—and he himself—had worried that their own position, not the youngest’s, might come undone.
And for that, he was sorry.
Sorry, yes, but that very sorrow was also the truest heart of those who walked this Jianghu.
* * *
Three elegant carriages of the Dang family arrived late at night. So late that they did not meet with the Sichuan Dang Family Patriarch, and no grand banquet was held.
The Sacheon Dang Family household was in no mood for such spectacle. The 11th Squad members understood this and harbored no expectation of celebration.
No fool would hope for a banquet in such an atmosphere.
It was decided that they would share a modest meal with the family patriarch the following evening. Their rewards would be distributed then.
The 11th Squad members, guests in the luxurious pavilion, had surrendered to sleep early. But one—Sa U-rin—had not.
Sa U-rin trained alone in the Training Grounds of the Guest Pavilion, bathed in moonlight and starlight, as he always did.
One day, he would sever even that moonlight and starlight with the strength of his will.
No—he would truly cut them. That day would come; Sa U-rin was certain of it.
Had he not seen it?
He had removed the Yin-Yang Core from Dang Yi-ryeong, and the Yin-Yang Core from Dang Yi-su as well. And had he not even turned the poison that Dang Yi-ryeong had scattered against him with the Honyuan Art?
Through this, he had come to understand.
The meditation method of the Honyuan Core—the True Heart Method—was ultimately nothing more than a means to master the Honyuan itself.
And when he perfected the True Heart Method, Sa U-rin would become capable of wielding the vital essence of every living thing in existence.
He had glimpsed the true power of the Honyuan Core. It made him wonder if such a martial art could truly exist anywhere in this Jianghu.
“Did Father know?”
Had he known and passed it down to me because of that knowledge?
Sa U-rin had only recently come to understand this himself, yet his father seemed to have passed down the Honyuan Core without grasping its true depths.
It was only after Sa U-rin learned the Honyuan Core and brought the True Heart Method to the fourth stage that he discovered this truth.
So there was no way that Sa Chol-gang, who had never even trained in it, could have known the true power of the Honyuan Core.
That is why he strived harder.
He added sincerity, stacked passion, and raised dreams—not ambition, not desire.
Now was the beginning.
He had only just taken his first step. He was learning to walk. He would learn and come to know. He would fill and empty himself.
And he would never forget.
That the Jianghu where Sa U-rin had set his foot was a place where one could not see even a step ahead.
Had he not witnessed it?
A place where men could abandon even their own blood—their brothers and sisters—for the sake of power.
He had not shown it, but inwardly, he was bewildered. No matter how precious power might be, he could not fathom how anyone would treat those who shared their blood that way.
Then again.
If so many parasites swarmed even to a small Gambling Den, what must the Sacheon Dang Family endure?
But surely…….
Father’s words about virtue could not have meant this, could they?
Then how had Father intended to become the Murim Alliance Leader?
In a place so rotten and steeped in corruption, as he himself had described.
‘Then what should I……?’
Unnecessary thoughts made his head throb.
It was then.
“……?”
The Honyuan alerted him.
Someone was watching him.
He did not scan his surroundings. There was no need; with the Honyuan, he could sense it regardless.
Was there any reason to hide and observe within the family compound?
And something stranger still.
‘……A newborn’s presence…….’
It was not truly a newborn.
It had been caught by the Honyuan. Any other person would never have detected that someone was hiding and watching them.
That was it.
They had perfectly concealed their aura. So perfectly that only a newborn’s nascent vital force had been caught by Sa U-rin’s senses.
‘Caught……!’
Sa U-rin had pinpointed the direction of the hidden presence.
Sa U-rin unleashed the Ground Wind Blue Flame toward that concealed watcher.

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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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