That’s Not How You Use Martial Arts

Chapter 20
Dream (2)

『 Translator – Divinity 』

When I entered my eldest sister’s room, she was hiding under her blanket, covering herself completely.

I carefully placed the bowl of beef noodle soup on the table and sat down gently on the bed, cautiously pulling at the blanket.

“Sister, I brought you beef noodle soup. Are you going to stay like that?”

“…Damn it!”

After fidgeting under the blanket for a moment, she kicked it off and glared at me with anger in her eyes.

I discreetly got up from the bed and sat on the chair opposite the table where the beef noodle soup was placed.

My sister, who had been glaring at me, soon got up from the bed and sat across from me, starting to devour the beef noodle soup with a vengeance.

Slurp! Slurp! Slurp!

“Eat slowly. You’ll choke.”

Perhaps my words were prophetic.

My eldest sister, who was slurping down the noodles without properly chewing, soon started hitting her chest as if she had choked.

“I told you to eat slowly.”

I poured her some of the still-warm tea I had brought, and she immediately gulped it down.

“Phew—!”

She emptied the cup in one go and then shoved more noodles into her mouth.

Thanks to her vigorous eating, the rather large portion of beef noodle soup was quickly emptied.

After finishing even the remaining broth, my eldest sister let out a satisfied sigh.

“Haa…”

And then she immediately glared at me with sharp eyes.

Ah, was it starting already?

It was after a meal, and it wouldn’t be bad to wait a bit…

But contrary to my wishes, my eldest sister seemed to have no intention of waiting.

“Seong-ah, what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to do?”

“Are you really going to leave?!”

“……”

I closed my mouth at my eldest sister’s direct question.

Even though I didn’t answer, she seemed to realize what my answer was, as her face began to crumple.

“Why? What do you lack? Why would you leave a wealthy landlord family, a comfortable and warm home, to go to a dangerous place like the Jianghu…?”

“……”

Looking at my eldest sister, her eyes welling up with tears, I thought about why I wanted to venture into the Jianghu.

My eldest sister, who loved eating and playing more than anything in the world, had actually gone on a hunger strike, even if it was just for a short while.

Seeing her so desperate to stop me, I felt I should at least reconsider.

I looked inward.

The reason I wanted to venture into the Jianghu. What was its root cause?

I delved deeper into my heart.

And at its depths, there was a white hospital room.

—Your Majesty~ Please have mercy~

—Please have mercy~

A two-person hospital room with two beds.

An old man sitting with his mouth tightly shut, silently watching a historical drama on TV.

And on the opposite bed, there was me.

Next to me was a mountain of books, all of them martial arts novels.

My hair had all fallen out due to the aftereffects of prolonged treatment, and my body was so thin and frail that it felt like I could die from a single touch.

A young boy with a terminal illness, abandoned even by the doctors, diligently turned the pages of the books with his bony fingers.

The words printed on each page showed a fantasy.

A world created from the author’s imagination, set in the past of a vast country unlike the neighboring one.

I was deeply fascinated by that world.

When I was awake, I constantly devoured those novels, and when I was asleep, I dreamed of myself living in that world.

In a life filled with only pain, that was my sole joy.

And after that painful life ended, as if receiving compensation for the long suffering, I was reincarnated into this murim world.

This place had everything I had ever wanted.

Martial arts.

A healthy body.

…And even a family that treated me warmly.

Normally, I would be satisfied here.

But I couldn’t be satisfied.

“Can’t we just continue living happily together like this?”

“Big Sister.”

I looked at my pleading sister and smiled faintly.

“Sister, you see, I’m greedy.”

“…Huh?”

At her puzzled expression, as if asking what I was talking about out of the blue, I smiled even wider.

“There are many things I want to see and many things I want to experience myself.”

“But what are you…”

“I want to climb all Five Sacred Mountains, sail down the Yangtze River, and visit Dongting Lake.”

Those places were always described in countless martial arts novels.

Was Dongting Lake truly as vast as the sea, as they said?

I wonder if there really is a Changjiang River Robber Gang on the Changjiang River?

Do plum blossoms really bloom all year round on Mount Hua?

Does the Plum Blossom Sword Technique really emit a plum blossom fragrance?

And so on, countless other curiosities had been dormant within me all these years.

“……”

“These are all things I can’t find answers to here.”

At my words, my eldest sister fell silent for a long time.

***

Su-ae stared blankly at Ja-seong, who was talking about the world outside Gun-gang County.

Since he was young, Ja-seong had been a kind and adorable younger brother.

Sometimes, like many children, he would do silly things, and at other times, he would be incredibly mature for his age.

He had never once thrown a tantrum about wanting something until he wanted to learn martial arts, and he had never shown such a strong desire for anything before.

Now, that same Ja-seong was speaking with an intense longing she had never seen before.

Asking her to let him out into the world, to let him see the world with his own eyes.

Su-ae realized that no matter how stubborn she was, she could never stop Ja-seong.

And that she shouldn’t stop him.

Gun-gang County was too small for Ja-seong.

The child who had been crouching for so long had grown into an adult and was about to take flight.

If she stopped him, would she even be qualified to call herself his older sister?

“…Sigh.”

Su-ae lowered her head and let out a deep sigh.

Then, she pulled herself together and raised her head again.

“Seong-ah.”

“Yes, Big Sister.”

“Make one promise with your sister.”

Realizing that Su-ae had given in, Ja-seong’s eyes widened.

And he quickly asked about the promise.

“What is it?”

“Promise me you’ll never get hurt.”

Ja-seong gave an awkward smile at her unreasonable request.

“Uh, well, Sister? I’m not going on a picnic…”

She knew.

That her youngest brother was heading to a place filled with vicious people who had mercilessly killed the servants of the Gun family.

And how absurd it was to ask him not to get hurt in such a place.

“Promise me.”

But even so, Su-ae insisted.

It was a plea to reassure her, even if it was just with words.

Ja-seong looked into Su-ae’s eyes for a moment and then slowly nodded.

“I promise. I won’t get hurt.”

“…You promised? You know you’ll be dead if you get hurt?”

“Ahaha….”

Ja-seong let out an awkward, hearty laugh.

Seeing that, she thought of one more promise to ask for.

“And one more thing.”

“Sister? You said one…”

“Hmph!”

“…As you command.”

Su-ae, seeing Ja-seong obediently listening, spoke.

“Don’t forget. Your home, the home that will always welcome you, is here in Gun-gang County. If you ever want to come back, come back anytime. Father, Mother, and I will be waiting for you.”

“…Of course. I don’t want any other home besides this one.”

Ja-seong and Su-ae looked at each other and smiled brightly.

It was a matching smile, clearly showing they were siblings.

“Sister.”

“Yes?”

“But it seems like Brother is missing? Won’t Brother Dan-sang be waiting for me?”

“How can he have time to wait for you? He needs to work hard and earn money.”

“……”

As much as she cherished Ja-seong, her youngest brother, Su-ae was quite harsh towards her other brother, Dan-sang.

Four days passed.

With my eldest sister’s permission finally granted, the Gun family began busily preparing for my journey.

“It’s not a trip where you’ll be back in a day or two, so we need to prepare thoroughly. You’ll need a carriage, won’t you?”

“Of course, I’ll be sleeping outdoors often.”

“Huh? Well, you don’t have to go that far…”

An extravagant carriage, built with an unsparing investment of the family’s long-accumulated wealth, was completed in three days.

“You can’t be starving on the streets, so we need to prepare plenty of provisions, right?”

“You’ll get tired of eating only dried meat, so we also need dried fruits.”

“Huh? We can just buy those along the way…”

A hundred geun (60kg) of provisions occupied one corner of the carriage.

“Emergency funds are always necessary. Hey, Mr. Gu. Did you make the secret compartment under the carriage floor properly?”

“Of course, I made it very sturdy.”

“How much should we put in? Should we fill it with gold and silver…”

“It’s hard to even use that…”

I barely managed to stop them from filling a solid iron safe under the carriage floor with gold and silver.

Thus, the eventful preparation for my journey came to an end. After a tearful farewell, I left the Gun family estate and arrived in front of Cheonpung Martial Arts School with the carriage.

And there, I met the three of them, each carrying a bag on their back.

“……”

“……”

“……”

“……”

We stood there for a moment, exchanging indescribable looks and remaining silent.

What should I even say in this situation?

“…Hey, get in?”

Was that right?

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Ah, it seemed to have worked on Hwa-ryeon.

Hwa-ryeon chuckled and got into the carriage, followed by Seol-i and Master.

After confirming that everyone was seated, I gently pulled the reins.

“Giddy up.”

The two horses slowly started moving.

The carriage, ordinary on the outside but lavishly funded on the inside, crossed the town of Gun-gang County.

“Oh, Young Master! I heard you’re going on a journey through the Jianghu?”

“Yes, I’m leaving now.”

“Here, take this with you.”

The mother of the girl from the confectionery store packed a whole bag of sweets for me.

“Oh my, you didn’t have to do this.”

“And this too…”

“And this too…”

Thanks to the many people of Gun-gang County who gave me various things, the carriage was soon filled with food.

Wow, this alone would last me four days.

“Thank you! I’ll be back!”

I waved goodbye enthusiastically and passed through the town, completely leaving Gun-gang County.

As the road leading out of the county, devoid of people, appeared, my heart pounded with excitement.

Now, finally, my adventure was beginning…

“Um, do you even know where we’re going?”

Tug!

Neigh!

The horses let out a long neigh and stopped as I suddenly pulled the reins.

I turned my gaze towards the inside of the carriage.

“…Come to think of it, where are we going?”

Three pairs of eyes stared at me with exasperation.

And then, representing the three, Hwa-ryeon spoke with a sigh.

“Our first destination is Hefei in Anhui Province, the Namgung family.”