I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 52

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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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Reluctantly joining the Murim Alliance 052
“Sa U-rin… look, that wasn’t what I truly meant, and I spoke too hastily…”
“The situation we face is hardly so simple, Deputy Chief.”
A child’s sister had been abducted, and Jong-cheol—family to Sa U-rin in all but blood—had lost the woman he cherished to the same fate.
“…Yes, yes, you’re right. But that’s…”
He couldn’t tell where to begin picking up the pieces, or how.
‘Damn it!’
Why had he stumbled over his words?
“If the Deputy Chief can offer a sound alternative suited to our present circumstances, I’ll pretend I never heard what you said just now.”
‘…What was that?’
That sounded suspiciously like a threat.
Well, no matter. He’d been given an opening—and a man seizes opportunity when it comes. Always.
So Jang Hye-in spoke up with newfound confidence.
“First, we find where they were taken and begin tracking them.”
At that, Jang Chun across from him offered a rueful expression.
“Tracking will prove difficult, I fear.”
The subordinates standing behind Jang Hye-in—his aides—shook their heads in sympathy.
‘Tsk, tsk.’
‘How will we manage this?’
‘At this rate he’ll be cast aside.’
‘Is that even possible?’
‘Promotion to Sect Leader would come with complications, certainly.’
‘But being sidelined… that’s what that is.’
‘The youngest becomes Sect Leader.’
‘And the Deputy Chief becomes an aide like us…’
‘A demotion.’
‘Tsk, tsk.’
Thus alarmed, Jang Hye-in’s eyes widened as he turned to Jang Chun.
“What do you mean, why not? There could still be traces left behind, couldn’t there?”
“These are not people careless enough to leave such things.”
“How would an innkeeper know so much about this?”
He’d been a gambling house proprietor at best, and was now merely the owner of a lodge.
…True, he made far more coin than Jang Hye-in did. But in this world, wasn’t Jang Hye-in still the superior?
By far.
And yet.
“I know a little.”
“…Pardon? That doesn’t… how could you?”
“I cannot tell you how, but what I can tell you now is this: I know someone who can tell us where the boy’s sister was taken. Whether they’ll help us, I cannot say.”
This was no trivial matter. A misstep could easily prove fatal.
“How could you possibly—”
“Wait here a moment.”
“Are you running away? That’s what this is, isn’t it?”
“No. There is something I need before I can meet with that person.”
“Then don’t leave—tell me now. Who is this person? This makes no sense. They weren’t warned in advance before being taken, so how could someone know where the kidnappers are? They’re not part of the same gang, are they?”
A fair point.
But.
Jang Chun had once been an informant for Sa Cheol-gang of Melmaedae. To relay accurate and timely intelligence to Sa Cheol-gang, one needed vast knowledge and equally vast means of obtaining information.
He was, after all, an informant for a Melmaedae operative.
Jang Hye-in, who could not possibly know Jang Chun’s history, remained ignorant of this. Sa U-rin, of course, knew nothing either. Nor did Jang Chun’s younger brothers.
“Since the Deputy Chief seems rather agitated, I will explain.”
“…Who said anything about agitation? Hmm? Hey, you all. Do I look agitated to you right now? Huh?”
His men exchanged rueful glances and reluctantly nodded.
“…These damned fools…”
Betraying him to save their own hides…
No—that wasn’t quite fair. They were choosing survival, yes, but it wasn’t betrayal. They were simply changing ships.
To the younger one, Sa U-rin.
Though calling it “changing ships” was perhaps unfair itself. After all, it was the same ship, wasn’t it?
Still.
‘…Just wait. You bastards.’
Jang Hye-in gritted his teeth and turned back to Jang Chun with another question.
“Tell me, then.”
“If I’m not mistaken, I believe the Chongdaju of Gaebang here in Honam would know.”
“……Pardon? You’re saying you know the Chongdaju of Gaebang in Honam Province?”
In truth, Jang Hye-in did know the Chongdaju of Gaebang in Honam Province. The problem was that he knew only their name, nothing more.
Besides, the position of Chongdaju was remarkably high. The holder wore five knots at their waist.
In terms of the Murim Alliance, it was equivalent to a Sect Leader’s rank.
A single word from the Chongdaju could gather hundreds of beggars—or thousands, with a bit of embellishment. It was no difficult task.
The Chongdaju’s martial prowess would surely be considerable as well. Certainly not reaching the level of a Murim Alliance Sect Leader, but their intelligence network would undoubtedly be formidable.
So there was nothing inherently lacking in credibility to Jang Chun’s claim.
Yet.
The real question was whether someone holding the title of Chongdaju would actually know such perilously dangerous information, and more importantly, whether they possessed a friendship deep enough to share secrets lethal enough to kill.
“Indeed. I do know them.”
“……How? How is it that you know the Chongdaju of Gaebang, sir?”
Jang Hye-in found it utterly bewildering. His subordinates felt the same way, and so did Sa U-rin.
“Surely you’re joking, sir?”
It wasn’t as though someone holding the title of Chongdaju would be wandering the streets begging door to door in person.
“Yes. And how I know them is of no importance. Now, since time is short, please wait here a moment.”
Once Jang Chun finished speaking, he headed toward the kitchen, bringing several of his younger brothers with him. The moment he vanished, Jang Hye-in and his subordinates bombarded Sa U-rin with questions.
“U-rin, do you know anything about this?”
“How does he know the Chongdaju of Gaebang?”
“Did he have some standing in the old days?”
But.
“……I don’t know anything either.”
“Well……”
“You call yourselves family, and yet you know nothing?”
“The brothers here would be just as ignorant.”
The staff of Cheolganggeogan nodded in agreement.
“Listen here.”
“……There’s nothing to be done about it.”
Moments later, Jang Chun and his brothers emerged from the kitchen laden with liquor and meat.
“That……”
He’d wanted to ask why they were bringing such things, but then it struck him. Of course—they were going to meet a beggar. There was nothing more precious to a beggar than liquor and meat.
Far more than gold and silver ornaments they’d never use.
True, beggars loved coin. A few silver taels would satisfy them well enough. But neither silver nor gold could warm a beggar’s heart the way meat and liquor could.
“Come then, let us depart.”
And so Jang Chun led the way, with Jang Hye-in, Sa U-rin, and the other subordinates following behind. The staff of Cheolganggeogan had to remain at the inn to maintain business.
* * *
In the current Gangho, there were still only three organizations that proclaimed justice and righteousness: Gaebang, Huashan, and Wudang.
Yet Huashan Sect and Wudang Sect received their share of criticism for being too tainted by the secular world. They often defended themselves by saying such compromises were inevitable in a changing Gangho.
And it was true.
In a place where Daoists were forbidden to marry and forced to sever all ties with the secular world, no one nowadays would join. They had no choice but to make many changes to survive.
Otherwise, they risked the extinction of Huashan and Wudang’s traditions altogether.
Look at Shaolin, which had refused to change.
Wasn’t it completely ruined? No one sought out a place where one’s head must be shaved bare. Not anymore. In fact, it had been that way for quite some time.
Now they merely clung to the thread of their legacy.
But Gaebang remained steadfast.
What could change about beggars, really?
A beggar is a beggar. What difference could there possibly be?
That was it.
Because they were beggars, because that was their nature, no matter how much changed, a beggar remained a beggar.
Cursed as it was.
Begging was the very essence of what a beggar did.
Jang Chun, Sa U-rin, and Jang Hye-in’s party arrived at the Honam Province Gaebang Headquarters.
There was nothing grand about a headquarters that merely oversaw Honam Province. What could you expect from a place where beggars gathered?
At the entrance stood a shabby tent, and several beggars sat tending a fire and guarding the way in.
At the sudden appearance of the group, one beggar’s expression grew peculiar as he rose to his feet, brushing off his backside.
“Wait……, that smell……”
The beggars’ faces grew rapturous. Jang Chun approached the entranced beggars and spoke.
“How have you all been?”
“Oh my, isn’t this Jang Chun! No wonder—that rich smell of meat came wafting through. Ha ha ha. You’ve come to see the Chongdaju, haven’t you? Though I see you’ve brought quite a few guests with you?”
Not just anyone could lay eyes on the Chongdaju.
“Here, take this.”
In other words: eat and be on your way.
“My, my. The portions are quite generous today, aren’t they?”
This much meat and liquor would more than suffice.
“I made an effort. Enjoy it.”
The beggar accepted the meat and drink as though it were perfectly natural.
“Ha ha ha. You needn’t trouble yourself every time you visit. In any case, much obliged. The Chongdaju is inside—just step through and you’ll find him.”
“Thank you.”
Jang Chun headed toward the large tent pitched deeper within the compound, his companions trailing behind.
As they went, Jang Hye-in’s attendants whispered among themselves.
“Did you see?”
“Yeah, I saw.”
“Wow. That beggar called the Three Knots wearer ‘brother.'”
In the Gaebang, a beggar wearing the Three Knots at his waist ranked at least as a Vice Chief.
“What do you suppose he is?”
“Seems genuine, doesn’t it?”
“He wouldn’t have come this far if it were fake.”
“That’s true.”
“Still, what in the world is he?”
Even as a beggar, he was no ordinary Chongdaju—possibly even destined for the rank of Elder.
To grant such an exalted figure access so freely was extraordinary.
It was something you simply did not see.
The moment Jang Chun stepped into the Chongdaju’s tent, the Chongdaju welcomed him warmly.
“Ha ha, back again? Oh my, more meat—”
His greeting was effusive, but when he noticed the large entourage following Jang Chun, he paused.
“……What’s this?”
The provisions were far more generous than usual—meat, liquor, and the fragrance of fine spirits unmistakably superior to what he typically received.
And the rabble trailing behind Jang Chun.
Decades of living as a beggar had honed his instinct; he grasped it at once.
“I fear I’ll suffer indigestion from such abundance.”
“No suffering—get drunk instead. Just as you always do.”
“The atmosphere feels different from usual, is all. Ahem.”
“Will you not sit?”
“Since when is there proper seating here? Sit anywhere. Though now that I think of it……”
The faces of those standing behind Jang Chun looked familiar.
“Some rather celebrated folk have come to call.”
The Chongdaju, Jang Gae, was studying Sa U-rin.
“The celebrated Okmianhwalyong has honored us. Then that one must be the newly promoted Vice Chief Jang, and the rest are just hangers-on.”
‘……What?’
‘……Hangers-on?’
‘……Wait, you’re the beggars!’
‘Why are we hangers-on?!’
Jang Chun, hearing this for the first time, asked what he meant.
“Okmianhwalyong, you say?”
The name Okmianhwalyong had spread among the women warriors of the Murim Alliance.
For a face as pure and beautiful as jade, a fighting spirit that burned like raging fire, and a martial prowess said to rival a dragon yet to emerge in Gangho—thus had she come to be called the Okmianhwalyong.
When Jang Hye-in summoned ninety subordinates and made a show of force, a fair number of them were women warriors. The rumor had spread with remarkable speed.
Before that day, she was merely the Jade-faced Warrior, but when Sa U-rin drove the leader of the seventeenth squad to the brink of unconsciousness, the female warriors, enchanted by her display, had added “Fire Dragon” to her name.
The Chongdaju Jang Gae pointed at Sa U-rin with a finger.
“That handsome one there. Did you not know?”
“Oh, I see. I didn’t know. Now that you mention it, I do recall the inn guests speaking of such things. So that Okmianhwalyong was our Sa U-rin.”
“And yet you claim to think of him like a son, and still didn’t know?”
Once a month without fail, he would ask after Sa U-rin, who dwelt in Sichuan, and in doing so would naturally speak of him.
It was then that Sa U-rin asked, bewildered.
“Okmianhwalyong? Me?”
Jang Hye-in and his subordinates all nodded in unison. They all knew, it seemed.
They simply had not told Sa U-rin.
“So I was the only one who didn’t know?”
“You were the only one.”
“Jade-faced Fire Dragon. I must say, I rather like the sound of it. So from now on, I’d appreciate it if you all would address me as the Jade-faced Fire Dragon. Understood?”
……What in the hell is this bastard doing right now.
How could he possibly say something like that out of his own mouth with such innocent eyes, his expression never wavering for a moment?
I’d really been trying to avoid cursing…….
Truly, what an insufferable man.

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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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