I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 33

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

Pointlessly Entering the Murim Alliance — Episode 33
The witch Jang Ryeo, without so much as lifting a finger, set the elderly Dok Wang upright after he’d tumbled backward in an undignified heap.
“I don’t understand. So you haven’t been in contact with Cheo Ganggang all this time?”
Dok Wang’s mind was still reeling.
“Hey. Listen. Hey!”
“…Wait. This is too confusing. Let me think for a moment.”
“Suit yourself.”
While the witch waited, she took a swig of alcohol.
After collecting his thoughts, Dok Wang spoke again.
“So… the child between Cheo Ganggang and you — that’s Woo Rin?”
“Yes.”
Who would have ever imagined it?
That the Demonic Faction’s supreme witch, Jang Ryeo, had a son. Dok Wang himself still couldn’t believe it.
“Now that I think about it…”
They resembled each other. No — they were practically identical.
Now that he thought about it… the boy’s face was striking. Ordinary men couldn’t hold a candle to those features.
Especially those eyes.
Those cold, penetrating eyes that drew one in, and Woo Rin’s own deep gaze — they were unmistakably alike.
“Heh.”
How had he not noticed? Standing right before the boy and all.
In truth, Woo Rin bore little resemblance to Cheo Ganggang. Not in face, not in temperament.
Cheo Ganggang was rigid, everything sharp-edged and proper, while Woo Rin was… something else entirely, hard to pin down.
Absurdly enough, the boy had asked for instruction upon their very first meeting.
He seemed without greed, much like Cheo Ganggang in that regard, yet even that felt different — something alien lurking beneath.
Something unknowable about him.
But now, thinking of him as Jang Ryeo’s son, it all somehow fit. As though Cheo Ganggang and Jang Ryeo had been thoroughly mixed together.
He appeared to honor certain boundaries, yet crossed them naturally; he seemed docile and gentle, yet unpredictable; he seemed obedient, yet was utterly willful.
Woo Rin was an enigma, and Dok Wang hadn’t even spent that much time with him.
If mere hours in his presence had left such an impression, how exhausting must it be for those who traveled with him constantly?
Just watching the witch Jang Ryeo made that clear.
So of course he’d failed to see it.
“How did this even happen?”
“I should be the one asking. When did you find out Woo Rin was Cheo Ganggang’s son?”
“About a month ago, I’d say?”
“Ah. When you struck my son?”
‘Damn it…’
Did she know everything?
He’d have to tighten discipline among his subordinates.
“…Yes. That day. Though I wasn’t striking him — I was imparting instruction.”
Everyone knew as much.
Dok Wang had never intended to teach Sa Woo Rin. The boy had simply grasped instruction on his own.
And afterwards — hadn’t he considered killing the boy?
‘That is… something else entirely.’
She wouldn’t know about that. No one had been around to see it.
A heavy sigh.
If the witch found out…
He didn’t even want to imagine it.
“Instruction, my foot. You were just playing rough with the child.”
“…Playing rough? Even so, I am Dok Wang.”
“Do that one more time, and you’ll understand what I mean.”
“…I understand.”
More than understand — he was burning the threat into his very bones.
“Now then, let’s hear your story. How did things come to this?”
It made no sense to him.
“Let me see. That would have been about twenty years ago, when I went to the Demonic Sect. Do you remember?”
“I remember.”
Yes, that made sense. Woo Rin was eighteen now, so the timeline fit.
“In all my years, I’ve never heard such a mad tale. So I made sure to tell Woo Rin about it as well.”
“Good. He should know of his mother’s accomplishments.”
“Accomplishment, my ass.”
“Of course it’s an achievement. In all the Martial World, who’s ever raided the Demonic Sect alone? No one.”
“……You’re something else. Really.”
“Why the sudden praise?”
“…….”
That maddening way of hers hadn’t changed—the ability to leave you with nothing to say.
“So what happened next?”
“I was exhausted from running, nearly dead on my feet. But then Cheo Ganggang showed up to save me, just like that. Can you imagine? It was so magnificent I couldn’t believe it.”
“……That would’ve been when he’d already lost an arm…….”
“Which made it even more magnificent. Isn’t that romantic? He’d lost an arm, yet for the woman he loved, he came running without a second thought for his own life. Could you do that? Could you?”
Was that really magnificent?
I genuinely wonder what’s in that head of hers.
And.
I’d probably have done the same, if I were Dok Wang. If a woman as beautiful as this witch loved me like that. And especially if she’d risked her life storming the Demonic Sect for my sake. More than anything then.
Any man would’ve done the same, I imagine.
It wasn’t something special about Cheo Ganggang. By the way, this absolutely isn’t jealousy. It’s just how things are.
“So your relationship developed after that?”
“It did. Those were good times. I didn’t understand why women went on about rolling around in bed with a man, but it was so good. When the servant girls laughed about it, I finally understood why. Ha ha ha.”
“……Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“About what? You rolled around with a woman too and had a child.”
……Cheo Ganggang probably had his hands full with her.
“……Let’s move on.”
“Then Woo Rin came along. So I had him. He was so adorable, you know. The way he’d grab my breast and suckle—so precious.”
“……Can we…….”
Don’t put that image in my head, woman!
“Hey. Why are you looking at my breast? You want to die? What? Didn’t I tell you not to look?”
“……Just keep telling the story.”
“Don’t look, you hear me?”
“I heard you already. But with a husband you loved so much, and a son as precious as that—why did you leave?”
The witch Jang Ryeo’s brow furrowed for a moment, then smoothed out again.
“That’s just how I am. I’m too free-spirited, can’t stay in one place for long. It was wearing on me. And I didn’t think I could live like ordinary women do, sacrificing myself to a husband and child for life. So I told Cheo Ganggang, and he said it was fine, told me to go.”
“So you’re only showing up now?”
“No, that’s not it. Even I’m human—I wanted to see Woo Rin, that’s why I came. I’m his mother, after all, aren’t I?”
True enough. Even if she’s mad, she’s still human.
“But?”
“Cheo Ganggang said if I was going to leave, I should never show my face to him or the boy again. Because I’m of the Demonic Faction. He had no intention of letting Woo Rin follow that path.”
“……I see.”
I understood that rigid man’s choice.
“Honestly, I was planning to take Woo Rin to the Jang Clan Estate. Cheo Ganggang only had one arm anyway, so it would’ve been comfortable for the boy there. But that’s not how it went. Damn it. After letting him go like that, the fool drank himself half to death. If he was going to be like that, why did he do it?”
“So you were watching over them even after you left?”
“About a year after I left, that’s when I started.”
“Then you could’ve appeared when Cheo Ganggang died.”
“The one watching missed that moment. Just a few days—and then Woo Rin suddenly disappeared. Like a ghost. Even now, it drives me crazy.”
“So that person who got away…….”
“I killed him, of course. How could I let someone like that live? Had to kill him. I broke his neck with these hands. Like this, like this. But even that didn’t satisfy me. So I cut off his fingers, his toes, every joint in his body.”
The witch Jang Ryeo traced the motions with her own hands.
“There’s no need to…….”
“Anyway. Recently I found him. Been locked in a gambling den for years, can you believe it? I never saw it coming. That Cheo Ganggang really is thorough. How did he manage to prepare something like that?”
“He does have that about him.”
“But the moment you showed up, you hit him, didn’t you?”
“……I called it instruction.”
“Fair enough. We can ask Woo Rin about that.”
Cold sweat began to trickle down my spine.
“……You’re going to see him?”
“Of course I am. He’s my son. And Cheo Ganggang won’t be around anymore. Oh right. But Woo Rin’s joined the Murim Alliance?”
“So it seems.”
“Joining the Murim Alliance like that. Tsk.”
“You could try talking him out of it?”
Leaving the Murim Alliance and joining the Demonic Faction.
“Ah well. He probably takes after his father.”
When he was first born, that’s what it looked like. And he grew up with the man they called father.
“No, that’s not it. You look just like him.”
At least her face was unmistakable.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Well, we can try. But since he came from between me and Cheo Ganggang, I won’t change a decision I’ve already made. That stubborn fool.”
So Jang Ryeo had been a mother too. Without even seeing it, Dok Wang could grasp the general shape of what she felt toward her son.
And since both Ser Cheo Ganggang and Jang Ryeo carried such formidable stubbornness, he figured the outcome would be the same regardless of whom the boy took after.
That was simply fact.
“……Come to think of it. That Woo Rin, his…….”
The moment Dok Wang began to speak, he startled inwardly.
The memory nearly tumbled from his lips—how the boy had been calm even knowing death awaited him that day, how he never wavered.
A sharp breath.
‘Gave me quite a fright.’
“What?”
“Nothing. If he’s not just some stray we picked up, then things will happen as you say.”
“What nonsense is that?”
“Forget it. So that’s why Woo Rin came looking for him. Then why are we dawdling here? Let’s go meet him already.”
“That’s what I was planning.”
“Then?”
* * *
The Sunyeong Branch was lost in the throes of cultivation once more.
Even beneath a sky where the moon hung high and stars glittered bright.
It was then that Sa Woo Rin’s sword, which had been drawing the Water Moon Technique across the heavens, suddenly froze. He approached Jang Hye In, who had been wielding her blade while sweat poured down her face.
“……Jang Hye In.”
At Sa Woo Rin’s voice, Jang Hye In stopped her sword mid-sweep and wiped the sweat from her brow.
“What is it?”
“They’re coming.”
“What? ……Could it be?”
“Yes. Assassins are approaching.”
That assassins—who had not dared show their faces near the branch for some time—would suddenly descend upon them this night meant…….
Death was approaching the Sunyeong Branch.
Jang Hye In, momentarily at a loss for words, glanced up at the sky, then called out sharply to the disciples.
“Everyone, light the fires!”
The intense cultivation ceased, and with it, the sound of labored breathing stilled.
They had anticipated that the assassins would strike under cover of darkness, and in preparation, they had readied themselves to flood the branch with light.
That day had finally come.
The disciples silently lit the lamps. In an instant, the branch blazed bright as midday.
The disciples gathered around Jang Hye In.
“You’re all prepared for this, yes?”
All nodded without a word. These disciples, who ordinarily had so much to say.
Not frozen by fear.
But overwhelmed in thought.
For countless moments from the past swept through their minds like a lantern show.
Without speaking, they looked at one another’s faces, their mouths curving into bittersweet smiles.
What was there to say?
They already knew.
Words of thanks. Words of apology.
All of them silently steeled their resolve once more.
Jang Hye In opened her mouth to her disciples.
“If even one of you can survive this, then live. Don’t hang your head for having lived, and don’t apologize for not dying. Simply don’t forget the comrades who stood beside you in this place. That alone will be enough for us to be grateful. Do you understand?”
All nodded.
If such a possibility existed, if there was even the slimmest chance, they would do as she asked.
She spoke this to kindle even a handful of hope. And she meant it—truly, she wanted at least one of them to survive.
That was why Sa Woo Rin spoke.
“Jang Hye In.”
“Speak.”
“If I slip out alone right now, I could survive. What do you think?”
“…….”
It was the moment everyone’s composure shattered.
If that were possible, even the moon and stars would have wanted the same.

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