Murim Login - Chapter 122

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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 122
Two things matter when conveying information: speed and accuracy.
To achieve this, the Haowen Sect, an organization that dealt in intelligence, had established dense information networks across each of its branches.
Wol-hwa possessed the authority to mobilize roughly thirty branches stationed throughout Shanxi Province.
“Is the work finished?”
To her question, the Jeong-yang Branch Master—a middle-aged man with sharp features—replied.
“All corpses have been separated and relocated. There were no surviving members from the Hengshan Sword Sect, though we did find some of the horse bandits still breathing.”
“How many?”
“Exactly forty-seven.”
“Quite a few survived. How many of them can we save?”
“With our current medicinal supplies, thirty is the limit.”
“We don’t need to save all of them anyway.”
At Wol-hwa’s words, the Jeong-yang Branch Master bowed his head.
“I’ll take care of it.”
With that, the fate of the surviving bandits was sealed.
Those with severe wounds would rejoin their comrades in the mountains of corpses, while those with minor injuries might extend their lives a little longer.
Of course, once treatment ended, they’d be sold into slavery at mines or fighting pits.
“Next. Honjoo Branch Master?”
“No issues on our end.”
The Honjoo Branch Master was a giant whose face bore numerous scars. He scratched at his stiff, wire-like beard as he continued.
“Truth be told, we didn’t even need to lift a finger. Once word spread that Pung Yang was dead and the Red Wind Gang was crushed, the nearby bandits haven’t dared show their faces.”
“That’s enough for now. Spread rumors through the quickest, loosest-tongued people you have. They’ll scatter on their own.”
Though Pung Yang and his subordinates had been eliminated, considerable numbers of bandits still prowled the surrounding areas like wolves, circling their prey.
They watched for opportunities to sink their fangs into the easy meal that was the Hengshan Sword Sect.
“The Shanxi Sleeping Dragon and Jin Cheon Sword struck Pung Yang down in a single blow. That should send those dogs running with their tails between their legs.”
“The truth is a bit different, but… season it appropriately. We can’t have our own blood spilled in someone else’s fight, can we?”
The veracity of rumors mattered little. All that needed to spread was that the two brothers of the Taewon Jin Family had saved the Hengshan Sword Sect from Pung Yang and the Red Wind Gang.
“The Taewon Jin Family will move within days anyway. Unless they’re complete fools, they’ll retreat to the highlands if they want to live.”
The fact that the great tiger—the Taewon Jin Family—stood behind the Hengshan Sword Sect would soon spread far and wide. A single roar from the mountain lord would send them fleeing.
“At most five days. Let’s endure until then.”
Both branch masters nodded.
“There’s nothing difficult about it. It’s the Chief’s command, so of course we’ll follow it.”
“I’m fine with it too. Perhaps because the highlands are nearby, but there’s something exhilarating about riding horses across open terrain.”
“Then I’m relieved.”
Wol-hwa chuckled softly and drew on her long pipe.
“Um, but there’s something…”
“Yes?”
The Honjoo Branch Master, regarded as the most aggressive and martial-minded among her subordinates, eyes gleamed with interest.
“According to the wounded here, that bastard Pung Yang single-handedly defeated both Hangshan Lake and Jin Cheon Sword. Is that true?”
“It is. Though I didn’t witness it myself.”
“Impressive, indeed.”
“Impressive, yes. But the speed of his growth in such a short time reeks of something foul.”
The pinnacle of martial mastery is a realm of enlightenment. From that point onward, one must pierce through the principles of martial arts themselves—transcending mere physical cultivation—to ascend to even greater heights.
Yet this was Pung Yang, who had suffered defeat against Hang San-ho of the Hangshan Lake mere weeks ago. No matter how much enlightenment supported him, his strength had grown far too rapidly in such a brief span.
Wol-hwa, still unaware of the Latent Power Pill’s existence, seized upon that very point.
“He’s clearly used some method… I’ll need to investigate this more carefully.”
The perceptive Jeong-yang Branch Master fell silent in acknowledgment, while the Hongjoo Branch Master scratched the back of his head.
“Of course, Pung Yang—that bandit is remarkable as well. But I was referring to someone else.”
“Who? Ah.”
“The Shanxi Sleeping Dragon. Isn’t he remarkable? According to our sect’s intelligence, his martial prowess remains merely first-rate… yet he consistently defies our expectations.”
Information must be grounded in objective fact. As members of the Haowen Sect, they coldly assessed intelligence from a third-party perspective, applying it to people and circumstances with clinical precision.
In that sense, Jin Tae-kyung was a headache. Predictions about him invariably fell short.
“What’s curious, though, is that I find myself growing more and more… anticipatory.”
“Anticipatory?”
“Of how he’ll defy our expectations next. That sort of anticipation.”
The Hongjoo Branch Master, who had been smirking, fell silent at Wol-hwa’s cold expression.
“My apologies. I spoke out of turn.”
“You understand well. Go attend to your duties.”
After dismissing the two branch masters, Wol-hwa brought the long pipe back to her lips.
From her slightly moving lips, smoke drifted forth alongside a whisper so faint it was barely audible.
“Jin Tae-kyung… Jin Tae-kyung.”
Suddenly, a conversation I’d once had with my master came to mind.
‘There are such people. Those who always defy prediction, those who cannot be judged by information alone.’
‘Then what should one do?’
‘Do not judge. Simply observe until you can form your own conviction about them.’
‘But what if, even after all that, you cannot form a conviction?’
‘Unpredictable. If such a person exists, might they not be the very material to move the heavens themselves one day?’
‘Material to move the heavens…’
Wol-hwa tapped the ash from her pipe and departed the pavilion.
In the deep darkness of night, guided by the beacon of blazing torches, she came to a halt before the pavilion where Jin Tae-kyung lodged.
“What are you doing there?”
Hyuk Moo-jin, who had been sitting forlornly before the pavilion entrance, brightened at the sight of Wol-hwa.
“Ah, you’ve arrived?”
“Things are winding down, so I stopped by briefly. Young Master Jin is inside, yes?”
In truth, there was no need to ask. Bright light was already spilling out from within.
Yet Hyuk Moo-jin shook his head with a troubled expression.
“He’s not inside?”
“No, he is… it’s just that…”
Hyuk Moo-jin exhaled a heavy sigh before continuing.
“His condition isn’t good. He’s been muttering incomprehensible things since earlier. It’s unsettling to watch, they say.”
“Words without meaning?”
“Yes. Do you happen to know what school lunch means?”
“Is it lunch/meal time?”
Wol-hwa tilted her head. Despite having read quite a few books, this was the first time she’d heard such a word.
“I’m not sure. It sounds unfamiliar to me.”
“Right? I thought maybe I was just ignorant and didn’t know it.”
“So what happened?”
“You know how our team leader is. I got kicked out after asking what he meant since he kept going on and on about the meal service.”
Judging by the pitiful expression on his face as he gently rubbed his forehead, it seemed he hadn’t been ejected gracefully.
‘What’s going on?’
Just as Wol-hwa, unable to contain her curiosity, was about to knock on the door—
A sinister voice seeped through the gap in the door.
“School lunch, high school, clang, clang…”
Goosebumps suddenly erupted across Wol-hwa’s skin, and she unconsciously took a step backward.
“D-did you just hear that?”
“He’s been like that since earlier.”
As the incomprehensible muttering continued to drift out, she retreated further with hesitant steps.
“I-I’ll come back next time.”
She understood once more.
That Jin Tae-kyung was still utterly unpredictable.
* * *
Two days flew by like arrows. Eun So-wol hadn’t returned since that night, and I hadn’t ventured out of the Pavilion either.
Even as I spent most of my time mastering the newly acquired Yeol-yang technique, her parting words kept surfacing unbidden in my mind.
‘Marriage is a great matter of human relations, so please consider it carefully.’
At the time, I was so flustered that I could only gape. To receive a proposal from a woman—and one who looked considerably younger than me, no less.
Though it was a calculated marriage proposal couched in the word “transaction,” a proposal was still a proposal.
But there was an even greater shock waiting.
‘Seventeen years old? Is this real?’
A high school freshman—the age when one was still eating school meals.
She was two years younger than my youngest sibling Ha-yeon, and a full ten years younger than me.
‘This is the Murim, after all….’
It was a world where marrying in middle school and becoming a parent in high school wouldn’t be strange. If anything, the three Jin Family siblings from Taewon not being married by this age seemed like the anomaly.
Wait, hold on.
“Why are you staring like that?”
Jin Moo-kyung, noticing my gaze, asked bluntly. He had recovered significantly from the severe injuries he’d sustained from Pung Yang and could now move about on his own.
‘Now that I think about it….’
I’d never once heard anything about Jin Moo-kyung’s marital status.
I opened my mouth, wondering if perhaps—
“Just asking on a whim.”
“What.”
“You got married?”
Pfft!
Jin Moo-kyung spat tea across my face and cried out in alarm.
“What—what nonsense are you spouting!”
“Then why are you so flustered?”
I wiped my face with my sleeve, caught off guard by the unexpected shower, and pressed on with my question.
“Why haven’t you?”
Jin Moo-kyung, who’d seemed momentarily bewildered, answered readily enough.
“I’m too busy mastering martial arts. Women are a luxury I cannot afford.”
“The way you say that makes you sound remarkably frugal.”
“Don’t lump me in with a dissolute wastrel like you. That’s an insult to my character.”
“….”
Dissolute? I’d lived twenty-seven years as a virgin, never once in a relationship.
If romance was a luxury, then I was the very embodiment of frugality. The only difference was that a miser might gaze longingly at dried fish while eating rice, whereas I had USB drives.
“What’s with that expression? You look terribly sad.”
“Regret over a life now past, I suppose.”
“You’re finally becoming human.”
His interpretation of my past life differed from mine, but sure—interpret it however you wish.
“But why suddenly ask about marriage? You already know the answer.”
“Oh, the Hangsan Inspection Bureau Master asked me to marry him.”
Pfft!
“…Stop spitting tea, will you?”
As I wiped away the second spray, Jin Moo-kyung regained his composure and spoke.
“The Hangsan Inspection Bureau Master?”
“Yes. He said so two days ago.”
“Why on earth would he want to marry someone like you—ah, it must be a political marriage, obviously.”
“….”
He’s not wrong, but that stung. Surely by now I’m a first-rate marriage prospect in both the Murim and the real world?
“So, are you considering it?”
“Of course not. How could I marry someone so young?”
“Bold words from someone barely twenty years old.”
My body may be twenty, but my mind is twenty-seven, you fool.
Besides, my answer to Eun So-wol’s proposal had been decided long ago.
When one’s heart belongs to another, one cannot build a household with two families. There is only one person for me now.
‘I wonder what Song-i is doing right now.’
The mere thought fills me with happiness. I smiled contentedly as I raised my teacup, and Jin Moo-kyung regarded me with a look of disgust.
“That’s a revolting expression.”
“In any case, I’m declining the marriage for various reasons.”
“You’ve made the right choice. If it’s a political marriage, there should be something to gain from it. But if you marry someone you don’t care for and gain nothing in return, there’s no point in a political marriage at all.”
I’d thought him a fool who knew nothing but martial arts, yet sometimes he revealed himself to be a rather sharp pragmatist.
“And no matter what proposal they make, as long as Elder Brother exists, it’s impossible. He’s not the type to bind you through a political marriage.”
“They did make quite a substantial offer, though.”
“Hmm. What are they offering?”
Jin Moo-kyung tilted his teacup with an indifferent expression.
“The Blood Wolf Sword technique, the Blood Wolf Protection technique. And the Asura Annihilation Fist.”
*Spurt!*
“…Damn it.”
This time there’s no time to wipe it away. Jin Moo-kyung grabbed my collar and shook me vigorously.
“Marry them immediately!”

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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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