I Shouldn't Have Joined the Martial Arts Alliance - Chapter 92

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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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092. Joining the Murim Alliance Out of Desperation
A sigh escaped unbidden from Jang Yu-un’s lips.
“Ugh.”
No, he could only sigh.
“Sigh.”
He needed to think, but his thoughts kept breaking apart.
“…I’m going to lose my mind.”
So that was it. This was… no, that was…
His mad niece wanted to tear down an Invisible Hand that existed yet didn’t exist?
And a general of the Murim Alliance—no less a former Alliance Lord—was foolish enough to go along with such insanity?
“…How could…”
This couldn’t be.
No.
How wasn’t the question.
That wasn’t what mattered.
Bang!
Jang Yu-un struck the table hard and surged to his feet.
He had to show his younger sister firmness.
“Absolutely not! That’s madness! How did our ancestors build the Jang Family into what it is, only for you to reduce it to ash? Never. If you insist, kill me first! Kill me, kill all the elders, destroy the Jang Family entirely—and only then pursue this cursed lunacy!”
He was truly resolute.
Not mere posturing, but genuine conviction. He had no choice.
He might otherwise witness the annihilation of the Jang Family with his own eyes.
Jang Yu-un’s eyes burned.
The Jang Family was on the brink of vanishing from Gangho.
Then.
Shiiing.
The witch Jang Ryeo drew her blade slowly from its sheath and spoke.
“Do you mean it?”
Jang Yu-un’s pupils trembled as though the earth itself had shifted.
“…You’re resolved.”
So it seemed.
His younger sister Jang Ryeo did not draw her sword carelessly from its scabbard. Jang Yu-un knew she unsheathed it only when she was utterly certain she wanted to kill.
Moreover.
Even during his youth, when he had tried countless times to kill his younger sister Jang Ryeo, she had never once drawn it against him.
To draw that blade now…
“You know me well, don’t you?”
Know? He did more than know.
Wasn’t that why he’d been following his younger sister Jang Ryeo’s lead all this time?
Thump.
Jang Yu-un sat back down without strength.
If death came either way, better to die later.
“Sigh.”
Another sigh slipped out.
“Damn it.”
He wouldn’t curse too heavily in front of his niece. Or rather, in front of the supreme witch of Sa Pa, Jang Ryeo.
“…What in the world is the reason?”
The reason for this senseless, mad scheme.
“Those men cut off the arm of my son’s father, Cheol-gang.”
Of course, Sa Cheol-gang had cut off his own arm. But wasn’t it the Invisible Hand that made it happen?
“Of all things…”
His sister Jang Ryeo, swearing to kill the Demonic Cult members who severed Sa Cheol-gang’s arm—and doing it alone, no less.
It was complete madness, yet this was Jang Ryeo, more than capable of such monstrous excess.
But if those who cut off Sa Cheol-gang’s arm weren’t Demonic Cult members, but the Invisible Hand instead…
Yes, his sister would be more than equal to such mad violence.
Yet there was something odd—hadn’t his nephew said this was what he wanted?
“Is it vengeance for your husband’s sake?”
Yes, it was no exaggeration to say that Gangho revolved around blood feuds.
So he understood the desire for vengeance.
“Those men tried to kill my son, Sa U-rin, as well.”
“…Ah. So they did.”
Unmistakable. There’s no way around it.
What woman would stand idle while someone severed her husband’s arm and sought to kill her own son?
Moreover, my younger sister is the strongest martial master in Sa Pa. Her pride is equally formidable—no, the strongest of all.
So Jang Ryeo will certainly not let them off lightly.
Yes, now I understand. Why she’s doing this madness.
“But tell me—how exactly do you tear down something you can’t even see?”
First, you make it visible.
Give it form.
And then, well—you do what must be done.
“My son Sa U-rin saw them. With his own eyes.”
“Is that truly so?”
“Yes. Sa U-rin, tell your uncle yourself what you’ve witnessed.”
And so Sa U-rin laid out to the Head of Dang Family everything he had experienced and seen.
That in Gangho there exists a Primordial Qi—a foundational force—and that some are born sensing it naturally, while others learn martial arts by drawing upon it.
And that these people are likely the invisible ones they seek.
That he himself encountered such beings during the Blood Friendship Gang incident.
“Ah, is that so? Then you’ve already mastered such arts yourself?”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Hah! So the Blood Friendship Gang vanished overnight because of my nephew’s hand. Well, well.”
It left him speechless.
Bewildered, even.
So the witch Jang Ryeo spoke.
“Collect yourself and send word to Jegal by day’s end—do as I’ve instructed. She’ll know how to proceed from there.”
“Understood.”
He understood, but—
“Does this mean… now… the Jang Family becomes the center of Gangho?”
Wasn’t that what the current turn of events suggested?
This was no good omen. Decidedly ominous.
A sign that the Jang Family’s time was running short.
“The center of Gangho? We’re simply catching a thief who’s eluded us for far too long.”
“But how is that—”
“Enough. Stop the complaints and do as you’re told.”
“Very well.”
At that moment, Sa U-rin interjected, turning to his mother Jang Ryeo.
“Mother, I’ve been thinking—now that I’m a member of the Jang Family, shouldn’t I learn our family’s sword technique?”
“Is it necessary?”
He possessed already such formidable arts.
“It’s not merely about becoming a Jang Family member. I simply feel I need another sword style. And it seemed fitting to learn my mother’s family tradition.”
“Your reasoning is sound. But why do you feel you need another technique?”
“I have a feeling I’ll cross paths with them often. If they don’t realize I’ve learned the same arts, it would serve me better.”
The witch Jang Ryeo nodded.
“A wise thought. Since training is necessary anyway, I’ll teach you directly once the banquet concludes.”
“As you wish.”
Then the Head of Dang Family stepped forward.
“Training? How long do you intend to stay here?”
“Until the Azure Dragon Martial Arts Conference begins.”
“In that case, while we’re on the subject—why not help my sons with their training as well?”
Jang Ryeo shook her head.
“That wouldn’t be wise.”
The Head of Dang Family’s expression twisted.
“They are my nephews—members of the Jang Family. You’re tutoring my own son, yet won’t teach them? What’s the reason?”
“I’m thinking of your nephews’ wellbeing.”
Hollow words. As if mere speech were argument enough.
“How does that serve my sons’ interests? If it served them, you could teach them directly yourself, couldn’t you? Am I wrong? Well?”
A small matter, but it rankled him all the same.
“Fine. Very well.”
The Head of Dang Family’s eyes flared wide.
“You mean it?”
“I do. But watch how I train Sa U-rin first. If you still wish to receive instruction after seeing my methods, I’ll teach you without hesitation.”
They were family, after all. There was nothing she couldn’t do for them.
Sa U-rin tilts his head as he listens to his mother’s words.
“Mother, surely you’re not saying that the training method you mentioned is the only one you teach, are you?”
Killing.
So he’d wondered if that’s why she spent all her time asking, “Want to die?”
“……Yes.”
“Ah. I never thought my guess would be right. But why is that?”
“Well, it’s…….”
“You don’t understand?”
She doesn’t understand why it isn’t working, why they can’t do it the way she’s shown them. And if she doesn’t understand, how can she know how to teach it?
Something so simple.
“……Is it the same for you?”
“Yes, Mother.”
The witch Jang Ryeo smiles, proud of her son Sa U-rin.
“Like mother, like son, they say. Indeed.”
“It’s not quite like mother, like son…….”
“Want to die?”
“……I suppose it is. Like mother, like son.”
“You said it yourself, so there you have it.”
The Head of Dang Family, watching from the side, is dumbfounded. Now she’s even saying it to the boy.
In any case.
“But what does that mean?”
He is curious, though.
“You’ll understand when you see how I train U-rin.”
“Right now…….”
“Never mind that. You go ahead and do what I told you to.”
“……Understood.”
* * *
The noisy banquet had ended.
As the witch Jang Ryeo had told her son Sa U-rin, she had transmitted the Jang Family Sword Technique to Sa U-rin and afterward entered the Training Grounds to begin her own unique training regimen.
The Head of Dang Family’s sons Jang Yu-jin and Jang Yu-seok were also present. He had told them to watch with their own eyes before making a decision.
And that was not all.
Every warrior within the Jang Family had gathered in the Training Grounds. There had been an order from the Head of Dang Family, but all the warriors would have come of their own accord even without one.
This was an opportunity that came once in a lifetime, if that.
There had never been a chance before to witness with one’s own eyes the sword technique demonstrated by the Jang Family’s greatest master and the supreme leader of Sa Pa, and there would never be one again.
And everyone was curious.
Just how powerful was the son of the Supreme Leader of Sa Pa whom they so respected—the Young Master, that is?
‘Could he be stronger than the Second Master?’
‘No way. He’s older, after all.’
‘But he’s the Supreme Leader’s son.’
‘Does martial prowess care about such things?’
‘Plant beans, reap beans; plant millet, reap millet.’
‘That’s true.’
‘The boy’s sharp.’
And so on, it went.
The entire Training Grounds held its breath, watching the witch Jang Ryeo and Sa U-rin standing face to face.
“Son. Have you memorized the incantations?”
She had handed him a martial arts manual that morning. So he would at least understand the theory beforehand.
“Yes.”
“Good. Then listen carefully and watch well.”
“Yes.”
“The beginning of the Jang Family Sword Technique is wind.”
“Wind…….”
Sa U-rin conjures the image of wind in his mind.
“Mother, wind has many varieties…….”
“Just listen.”
“……No, but I should know exactly which kind so I can practice in the right direction…….”
“You always do that. Do you have to interrupt your mother’s words to feel satisfied? Hm?”
“Mother?”
“What?”
“I didn’t interrupt you just now, did I?”
“That’s where you cut me off.”
“Didn’t I speak only after you finished, sir?”
“Do you think I’m done talking? I haven’t even started yet.”
“No, that’s not what I meant…….”
“Look, look. Do you think I enjoy you contradicting me like this?”
“……Mother?”
“Don’t you see all these people here?”
With eyes that work perfectly well, there’s no way he couldn’t see them.
“Even so, this is…….”
“This is what?”
“……No, it’s nothing. Please, go on. I’ll ask after I’ve heard everything.”
“Good. That’s the right attitude.”
Watching from the side, Jang Yu-un, the Head of the Jang Family, shook his head slowly back and forth.
‘Tsk, tsk.’
They’re identical.
Exactly the same.
Two peas in a pod butting heads like this—no wonder they say the son takes after the mother.
Carved from the same stone, both of them.
And suddenly a nightmare of a vision flashed through Jang Yu-un’s mind.
His sister Jang Ryeo becomes Master of the Murim Alliance.
And if that son of hers were to somehow bring down the Invisible Hand.
Of course, it’s impossible—but since he’s imagining it anyway, let’s say he does.
Then what? What would happen?
Gangho would become absolutely…….
Nightmare or not, he genuinely feared that Gangho might transform into a living hell.

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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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