Murim Login - Chapter 109

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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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Chapter 109
Messenger Hawk.
The Taewon Jin Family possessed only two of these communication birds.
I’d heard they were difficult to train, so they were used exclusively for transmitting critical intelligence.
‘Who sent this?’
It was Wol-hwa’s voice that stopped me as I moved toward the Messenger Hawk.
“You’d do well to step back. That one’s quite wary—if Young Master Jin tries to catch it, it’ll flee.”
“Ah, could it be—?”
“It’s a Messenger Hawk sent from headquarters. It’s been trained to follow a specific scent marker.”
Wol-hwa withdrew a small pouch from her garment and shook it, whereupon the Messenger Hawk crept closer and rubbed its beak against it.
In that moment, a Ha-o Gate Member who had slipped outside unfastened the cylinder bound to the bird’s leg.
“When did it arrive?”
“A message sent to the branch director from the Sak-ju Branch a day ago.”
“Give it here.”
Wol-hwa’s expression grew enigmatic as she read the message.
Her tightly sealed lips parted only moments later.
“The Red Wind Master… this is more serious than I anticipated.”
“Is this also related to the Red Wind Gang?”
Wol-hwa nodded slightly and extended the message toward me.
She wanted me to read it, and there was no reason to refuse—even Jin Moo-kyung and Hyuk Moo-jin, who had been hesitant, subtly leaned their heads forward.
Red Wind Gang moving south beyond the highland. Estimated force: approximately two hundred.
The meaning of that terse single line was unmistakable.
“They’re planning to strike the Hangsan Inspection Bureau again.”
“Without doubt. Since this intelligence is a day old, the distance has closed considerably—perhaps even more than that.”
The remaining distance to the Hangsan Inspection Bureau was a day and a half.
Being horse bandits, they would advance toward their objective with superior mobility.
“Unfortunately, our branch lacks a proper intelligence network in the northern regions. What is fortunate, however…”
Wol-hwa’s gaze turned toward the Red Wind Gang’s bandits. Already long stripped of their will to resist, they flinched and lowered their heads.
“…is that we have valuable informants right here. Whether they possess useful intelligence remains to be seen.”
As she surveyed the bandits, she suddenly singled out one man.
“You. Stand up.”
“…Me, sir?”
The one who rose with a terrified expression was far younger than I expected. The youngest and weakest among the bandits, he couldn’t even meet Wol-hwa’s gaze directly.
“Your age?”
“I’ve just passed twenty this year.”
“Twenty? You’re young. Though I suppose youth doesn’t prevent one from becoming a bandit.”
“I’m not a bandit! I only recently became a rogue, and someone promised me a substantial sum, so I just…”
“Ah, so you’re one of the rogues the Red Wind Master recruited during the last attack?”
“Yes, yes! I’ll tell you everything I know!”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Pardon?”
“You don’t seem to know much of anything. Isn’t that right, Chun Sam?”
The Ha-o Gate Member, who had been silently playing the role of coachman until now.
Instead of answering, he drew a small blade from his robes and drove it into the young man’s chest.
Thud—
A first-rate martial artist’s swift and precise strike cleaved through the heart. The young man collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, unable even to scream, his mouth gaping soundlessly.
Thump.
A chilling silence pressed down upon the hall. Amid the horse bandits’ gazes stained with shock and terror, Wol-hwa’s slender fingers moved once more.
“You.”
“P-please, I’ll tell you everything! I’ve been with the Red Wind Gang for a year now….”
“Chun Sam.”
Screech! Crunch!
“Gack, gurgle…”
The bandit staggered backward, blood bubbling from his throat. Though he pressed his hands against his gaping neck, he could not stem the fountain of blood spurting between his fingers.
“Remember just two things.”
From head to toe.
Wol-hwa, drenched in crimson blood, continued in a matter-of-fact tone.
“Answer only what is asked, and speak only the truth.”
“…!”
In mere moments, we obtained every scrap of information about the Red Wind Gang.
* * *
Realizing that time was of the essence, we abandoned the carriage and each selected a horse. Myself, Jin Moo-kyung, Hyuk Moo-jin, and Wol-hwa.
The Ha-o Gate Member would take Five Color Ghosts and the surviving bandits to the nearest Haowen Sect branch to report the situation.
“Was that too cruel?”
As Wol-hwa fastened her saddle, I scratched my chin at her question.
“Honestly, I was a bit startled.”
I had momentarily forgotten, having only ever seen her relaxed and playful demeanor. That she was a martial artist of the Murim.
‘And an experienced one at that.’
How old was Wol-hwa, exactly?
I’d never asked, but she couldn’t be over thirty.
To have become a branch director overseeing all of Shanxi Province at such a young age meant she possessed the decisiveness to match that position.
‘Cruel, perhaps, but effective.’
She killed two men without hesitation. As easily as swatting flies.
The display Jin Moo-kyung had shown against their leader must have terrified the bandits, but fear of death surpassed even that.
Driven to the brink, they had no choice but to pour out their information desperately.
“I think I would have spilled everything too.”
“I’ll clarify so Young Master Jin doesn’t misunderstand—I take no pleasure in killing. Besides, they weren’t innocent commoners…. Ah, this blood never ends, no matter how much I wipe.”
The blood trickling down was from the second bandit she’d killed.
Someone offered her a cloth fragment as she wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“H-here, use this.”
“Oh my.”
“Huh?”
“Hmm.”
At the reactions from Wol-hwa, myself, and Hyuk Moo-jin, Jin Moo-kyung let out a series of awkward coughs.
“I, well, it seemed necessary.”
“Thank you, Young Master Jin. This is exactly what I needed.”
“It’s nothing much.”
Yet his expression looked quite satisfied, didn’t it?
Could it be that fellow…?
‘He’s the type who treats women especially well.’
Wherever you go, there’s always one like that. Even the legendary Heavenly Sword Jin showed no exception. Just then, Wol-hwa, who had wiped away the blood, pulled out a rolled leather map from her bosom and unfurled it.
“It’s a map marking Shanxi Province in rough outline. Our current location is here. The Red Wind Gang, if they traveled without rest, may have already broken through Datong.”
“They’re faster than us.”
“For now, by half a day. However, the roads we’re taking are well-maintained official routes, so if we ride day and night without stopping, we can certainly close the gap.”
In other words, don’t think about resting. I followed the others and leaped onto the saddle in one fluid motion.
‘Why does trouble erupt the moment I arrive?’
I sighed inwardly, but what could I do? This wasn’t my first or second hardship—I’d have to accept it as it comes now.
‘This seemed like such a simple Quest.’
Ding.
– Quest difficulty has been changed to
[Peak]
.
“…”
Right, not anymore.
* * *
The man resembled a fox. His pointed chin and ears, his sharply slitted eyes, simultaneously surveyed and observed everything around him.
“Krraaaagh!”
“Kill them all, slaughter every last one!”
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Smoke billowed from the great manor, accompanied by screams.
The man mounted on horseback, gazing down from the hillside—Red Wind Master Pung Yang—only opened his mouth after the manor fell silent.
“Is it done?”
A horse bandit who had just climbed the hillside to report answered.
“All the men are dead, and we’ve gathered the children and women together.”
“Why?”
“Pardon? Well, naturally, according to highland tradition…”
Men larger than cart wheels would kill even children without mercy, and women would be either taken for pleasure or sold into slavery. It was a tradition—or rather, an unspoken custom—passed down from the nomadic peoples.
At the bandit’s words, Pung Yang quietly flicked his finger.
“Come closer.”
The horse bandit approached hesitantly and asked carefully.
“Master, I hope I haven’t made some terrible mistake….”
“Which organization were you originally affiliated with?”
“Until recently, I served as Vice-Master of the Local Tyrant Gang.”
“The Local Tyrant Gang? Ah, I remember now. So you were their vice-master.”
“Yes! I swore an oath to become a loyal subordinate, captivated by the Master’s formidable martial prowess and exemplary character!”
Pung Yang scratched his nose with an ambiguous expression.
Was that how it happened? All I remembered was killing some trash who called himself master while strutting about with thirty or so subordinates in a single strike.
“My recollection differs somewhat, but in any case, I’m grateful.”
“Not at all, it’s an honor!”
“But here’s the thing. I don’t know how the Local Tyrant Gang operated, but the Red Wind Gang here is different. We have our own traditions and customs of the highlands, trivial as they may seem.”
“Ah, I was unaware.”
“My orders as Master take absolute priority. Do you understand?”
“I shall remember and keep it in mind from this moment forward!”
“Those men probably didn’t know either, which is why they upheld the highland traditions. They’re all newcomers like yourself. So can you go convey my intentions to them?”
“Understood. I won’t leave a single one alive.”
Pung Yang waved his hand dismissively at the man, who even managed an awkward military salute despite his bandit origins.
“Yes, go on then.”
“Yes!”
Pung Yang watched the man’s retreating figure as he rode away, then suddenly flicked his sleeve.
With a sharp whistle of wind, a beam of light shot forth and pierced its target thirty meters away.
Thud! Thump.
The horse continued galloping onward.
Unaware that its master had already ceased breathing, his body now tattered as it dragged from the stirrups with each passing moment.
“Go and tell them. No prisoners. Kill them all and burn everything.”
“Yes, Master.”
Not long after Pung Yang’s subordinate departed, the entire estate was engulfed in flames. As he watched the signboard burn away, a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth.
Datong Branch of Hengshan Sword Sect.
The Red Wind Gang had crossed the highlands once more.
* * *
In the vast Great Hall.
Those engaged in heated debate suddenly gasped as the messenger delivered his report.
“They’ve broken through Datong!”
“A-already?”
“What of the Datong Branch? What happened to the personnel stationed there for defense?”
“Complete annihilation. The Datong Branch is now nothing but ash, and there are no survivors.”
“What?!”
“Could the information be mistaken? They suffered heavy losses last time, so how could they move so quickly…!”
“It appears they’ve absorbed other bandit gangs. At minimum two hundred men, possibly more.”
“Is this information certain?”
“Yes, without doubt.”
“W-when exactly will they arrive here…?”
“At the earliest, within a day. At the latest, their assault should commence within two days.”
“It’s the end then.”
The murmur of someone present reflected the sentiments of nearly everyone gathered in this hall.
The dozen or so of them were all senior officials holding key positions within Hangsan Inspection Bureau. Yet not a single one among them refrained from mentally toying with the word “defeat.”
“Iron Sword Master, are you confident in this fight?”
“Why are you asking me, a man of such rank? Is there no other martial artist here besides myself?”
The Master of Hangsan Inspection Bureau. The sect leader, or rather, the chief.
There was once a time when I desperately yearned to ascend to that position. Once upon a time, that is.
‘Hangsan Inspection Bureau can rot in hell. What good is a promotion now when the sect is in this state?’
‘The faction was already doomed to collapse on its own, and now these horse bandits come to wreak havoc. Let’s see—if I scrape together every remaining warrior, we might muster around a hundred?’
The war with Taewon Jin Family had cost us nearly eighty percent of our fighting strength.
The loss of carefully cultivated elite martial artists, seasoned veterans who had weathered the turbulent jianghu, and most painfully, the supreme masters who embodied the sect’s power and its financial resources.
“Damn it all—if only the sect leader were still alive.”
Lee Cheon-baek, who rose from a mere rogue to build Hangsan Inspection Bureau into what it is today. With his martial prowess and resourcefulness, he could overturn this crisis.
But Blood Wolf Sword Lee Cheon-baek is long dead. Only one of his bloodline survives.
“To think we must revere a girl not yet of age as sect leader in times like these.”
The moment someone vented their frustration aloud.
Boom!
The doors of the Great Hall, sealed shut, exploded outward.

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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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