I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 40

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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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Without good reason, Dang Iyeong had entered the Murim League — Episode 40
“You should have said so from the start.”
After all, hadn’t Dang Iyeong himself just spoken the words aloud—that he liked Saurin?
“That’s true, I did.”
But wasn’t there more than one kind of liking?
There was the sort of affection that ended in curiosity, like what Jang Hyein felt. There was the deeper emotion that went beyond curiosity—the desire to be together. And then there was something far darker: the feeling of being trapped in a marsh, unable to escape, where the absence of him made you ache to see him, where the denial of his touch made you crave it, where a kiss made you want to lie down with him, and lying down made you want to—well. That degree of feeling, inescapable as quicksand.
There were worse cases still, but those bordered on obsession, so he wouldn’t count them.
“But I asked for a reason. Why you’re doing all this.”
“A reason? Do you need a reason to like someone?”
“Not necessarily. But one exists, doesn’t it?”
That was true.
There was definitely a reason for doing all this.
When Saurin had returned to the branch, Dang Iyeong had felt an ache of absence.
That was when he knew.
That he liked Saurin. But at the time, he’d brushed past it lightly—or so he’d thought.
Except he hadn’t brushed past it at all. Saurin’s face kept returning to his mind. That memory of being held. The warmth of that touch. They wouldn’t fade.
And the more these thoughts persisted, the more Dang Iyeong threw himself into training. The deeper he trained, the clearer his mind became.
Partly it was the removal of the Yin-Yang Poison, but as he devoted himself to cultivation, Dang Iyeong grew stronger with each passing day.
And the more he grew, the more his thoughts converged on a single point.
Saurin.
It felt as though he trained for Saurin’s sake. As though his focus sharpened for Saurin. As though he grew stronger for Saurin.
Indeed, it felt as though he breathed, as though he lived, for Saurin’s sake.
For someone experiencing such feelings for the first time, confusion would have been natural. Yet Dang Iyeong felt none of it.
Instead, these emotions grew only sharper, like stars glittering against the night sky. And so he’d decided.
He would make Saurin the life goal of his own existence.
Yet to confess such feelings to someone other than Saurin?
To a woman who might even become his rival?
It was unthinkable.
“I’m grateful that you allowed me to travel alongside you, but this feels like overstepping your bounds.”
It was a warning not to cross the line. A reminder not to mistake herself as his equal simply because they traveled together.
“If that’s how you took it, I apologize. But I spoke out of genuine concern for you, Miss.”
‘Concern for me?’
Why?
There was no reason for it whatsoever.
After all, she herself had admitted that she harbored some feelings for Saurin.
“Are you being sincere?”
“Of course.”
“Is it possible you’re trying to use my feelings…?”
“No. Absolutely not.”
Jang Hyein couldn’t bring herself to say it aloud, but she had already done everything within her power. She harbored no regrets, no lingering attachment.
Well, to be honest, there was a tiny bit of lingering feeling—but call it wistfulness rather than attachment.
‘She seems to mean it…’
Dang Iyeong’s guarded heart began to soften toward belief. It was the desperation of a drowning man grasping at straw.
“All right then. I’ll trust you and speak openly. I won’t tell you everything, but this much is certain: Saurin has become the goal of my life.”
“Your life goal, you say?”
Dang Iyeong nodded with conviction.
“Yes.”
“I see.”
Not love. Not affection. But a goal.
A goal.
A martial artist strives ceaselessly to become the Greatest Under Heaven. There are moments of exhaustion, moments when he falters, moments when he wishes to surrender.
But because it is a martial artist’s goal, he presses forward without rest.
Until the moment of death itself.
Wasn’t that the nature of a true goal?
Something that would never change, no matter the circumstance. In other words—not emotion.
Or perhaps, Jang Hyein thought, the goal stood above emotion itself.
Which meant Dang Iyeong…
“Why the sigh?”
“It seems it will be harder than I thought.”
No—it seemed Dang Iyeong would suffer greatly.
Spending a whole lifetime looking at only one person…….
The very thought of it is suffocating, isn’t it?
Dang Iyeong seems both fresh and foolish to me. Though he’s neither of those things at all.
“……Is it perhaps that you wish to experience some sort of pure, untainted love?”
The kind of thing that only appears in novels.
“Me?”
“That’s what it sounds like from what you’re saying.”
“……Is it?”
I’ve never considered such a thing, so there’s no way for me to know.
“You said it was a goal, didn’t you?”
“……Yes, I did.”
“How is that different from declaring you’ll look in only one direction and walk forward? That’s how human feelings work. You can adore someone one moment and despise them the next, hate them with burning passion and then suddenly love them just as fiercely. That’s why most lovers meet and part, meeting and parting again and again. But you—you’re only swearing to keep your eyes on Saurin. Only Saurin. Isn’t that exactly the same thing? Isn’t it?”
“……I suppose it is. But that’s not a bad thing, is it?”
“……No, that’s true. But even so, this isn’t the way.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean clinging to Saurin’s side all the time. Saying ‘I like you’ like that.”
“……That’s why I came here. That’s what I need to do.”
Jang Hyein let out a sigh so deep it seemed the earth itself might cave in.
“My goodness. You’ve never been in love before, have you?”
“……No, I haven’t.”
“Well then. Listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you. Of course, what I say isn’t all gospel truth, but even so, it seems like it might help you at least a little.”
“……All right.”
Knowing something is better than knowing nothing, after all.
And so for some time, Jang Hyein spoke without pause, her words flowing endlessly.
* * *
Squad 11 and Dang Iyeong had traveled to the vicinity of Mount Aglok in Honam Province.
Soon the Murim League would be within sight. Just a day’s travel remained before they reached it.
“Captain, we’re staying the night somewhere, aren’t we?”
“We should.”
It was standard practice among Murim League martial artists to wash away the dust of long travel and dress themselves properly before entering the League’s gates.
“There’s a small market district not far ahead. We can rest there for the night.”
“Sounds good.”
“We’ll have a drink or two, won’t we?”
“Naturally.”
“Excellent!”
The thought alone seemed to wash away the fatigue of weeks, and they quickened their pace with renewed energy.
Before long, a small market district came into view.
“Hey, look! There’s an inn there.”
“What is it?”
“It looks like the owner changed while we were gone.”
The inn had been completely transformed during their absence—neat, orderly, pristine.
“What makes you so certain the owner had to change for all this to happen?”
“Well, wouldn’t that be the most likely explanation?”
Jang Hyein nodded in agreement.
“Right, that’s true. The same owner wouldn’t have spent that kind of money to renovate like this.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because an inn’s appearance reflects the innkeeper’s thoughts and heart. Therefore, we can logically conclude the owner has changed. What do you think, Saurin?”
But there was no answer from Saurin, the youngest of them.
“Saurin, what’s wrong? Why aren’t you answering?”
“……The inn’s name…….”
“The inn’s name—what about it?”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward the inn’s nameplate.
“Cheolgang Inn?”
“What kind of name is that for an inn?”
“Seriously. Is the food made of steel?”
“……Come on. That’s not even a dad joke, that’s just terrible.”
“Who said that? Who made that awful joke?”
“Hyung Jun did.”
“Hyung Jun, if you start acting like that, you won’t last long. Got it?”
“……I’ll be careful.”
“Greed is the seed of ruin. Be careful. But why does that inn have that name?”
“Well…….”
Wasn’t it an inn named after his father?
Could it be?
The older brothers and that man?
It could be, or it might not be.
“No, it’s not.”
“Hmm, that’s strange.”
“It really is.”
“Saurin’s never been this bland before.”
“Saurin’s been oversalting everything. We’re just balancing it out now.”
It was Hyung Jun again.
“Ah……, seriously.”
“Why are you like that, seriously?”
“Hyung Jun, are you hurt somewhere?”
“……Seems like it.”
He didn’t understand why he was acting this way either.
“Everyone’s exhausted. Let’s go wash up and warm ourselves with some drink.”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
“My stomach’s growling something fierce.”
And so Squad 11 and Dang Iyeong headed toward the Cheolgang Inn.
As Jang Hyein stepped inside the Cheolgang Inn, she called for the innkeeper.
“Over here!”
The innkeeper hurried over with quick steps.
“Welcome! Should we get you a room first?”
They all looked worn to the bone.
“Yes, if you could——”
Suddenly, Jang Hyein’s words were cut short as Saurin pushed past the other squad members and burst forward.
“……Jong Cheol.”
Saurin’s suspicion had been right. The Cheolgang Inn was opened by the man and older brothers he’d known from the gambling house, who had come near the Murim League and established it as promised.
Jong Cheol’s eyes grew wide as lanterns.
He’d been talking with his older brothers nearly every day recently about when Saurin would return to the Murim League around this time.
In other words, they had been expecting it. And yet, the joy Jong Cheol felt seeing Saurin in front of him was beyond words.
“……Saurin……. Saurin!”
Jong Cheol’s eyes reddened as he embraced Saurin tightly. Saurin held him in return.
“You really did open an inn?”
“Of course. Ah, wait. I shouldn’t be like this.”
Jong Cheol turned and shouted loudly. There were customers inside the inn, but Jong Cheol didn’t care.
“Brothers! Saurin’s here! Saurin’s come back!”
At Jong Cheol’s voice that shook the whole inn, brothers came pouring out from everywhere.
“……Saurin!”
“……It really is Saurin!”
“Brother! You came! You really came!”
Nearly twenty brothers embraced Saurin. It had been a full year, hadn’t it?
A short time if you counted it one way, and a very long time if you counted it another. A year apart from the one who was like a youngest brother, like a brother, and sometimes like an older brother.
Finally, Jang Chun, who was like a father to the brothers, stood before Saurin. It looked as though his eyes might overflow and turn the floor into an ocean.
“You’ve come.”
“Yes, sir. Have you been well?”
“I’ve been well. And you seem to have been well too.”
In between, he’d spent money to hear news of Saurin. Or rather, he’d heard reports from the Sunyeong County Branch.
“But you all look like you’ve been through the wars.”
Jang Chun shouted toward his younger brothers.
“What are you all doing? Get warm water ready so our esteemed guests can wash up!”
He said “esteemed guests,” but his meaning was for them to hurry for Saurin, who was like family to them.
“Yes, brother!”
“I’ll prepare it right away!”
Everyone moved with joy. Saurin had come. Saurin needed to wash.
So the brothers had to move. For their youngest, who was like family. For Saurin, whom they’d been waiting for all this time.
Squad 11 was bewildered, but none of them spoke. It wouldn’t do to dampen the joy of these bustling figures. They simply gave themselves over to the movement, doing what they were asked.
And so Squad 11, Dang Iyeong, and Saurin finally soaked their bodies in warm water after a long time. They were able to wash away the grime and transform themselves completely.
A grand gathering was arranged in honor of Saurin’s return. The brothers of Cheolgang Inn closed their doors to business and joined the celebration.
The members of Squad 11.
The brothers of Cheolgang Inn.
And Dang Iyeong and Saurin.
For the first time in a year, their faces bloomed with genuine laughter as they shared all that had passed in their separation.
By midnight, exhaustion claimed the Squad 11 members and Dang Iyeong, each withdrawing to their quarters.
Saurin and the Cheolgang Inn brothers lingered for another hour or so, letting conversation flow freely before sleep finally took them as well.
The sun, which had sunk behind the mountains, was beginning to peek over the ridge.
At that hour, Jang Chun and Saurin departed from Cheolgang Inn, making their way toward the place where his father lay buried.
From the summit of Mount Aglok, one could look down upon Dongting Lake, and from there the Murim League was also visible.
At the peak stood a great Memorial Stone, towering nearly two zhang high. Jang Chun had commissioned a craftsman to carve Sa Cheol Gang’s name upon it, and below, he had also inscribed the words his father cherished.
Turn From Darkness Into Light.
It meant to turn one’s back on shadow and step into radiance.
Yet across Sa Cheol Gang’s name and those sacred words, someone had struck diagonal slashes with a blade, scarring the stone.
And beside that desecration, new characters had been carved.
Self-Ruin Brings Ruin to Others.
It spoke of clinging to false principles, harming oneself and leading others astray.
The characters were unmistakably carved by a sword.
Saurin’s fists clenched of their own accord.
For the first time in his life, rage kindled in his chest.

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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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