Murim Login - Chapter 167

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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 167
“I won’t do it!”
The man’s voice was commanding.
Despite his eighty years, Chung Poong swallowed hard at the thunderous roar that seemed to shake the very air around us.
“Master, it seems you truly have no intention of helping us?”
I heard it too, damn it.
I’d heard he had a stubborn temperament, but I hadn’t expected it to be this severe.
However, if I were the type to back down after a few shouts, I wouldn’t have come this far. I opened my mouth with deliberate composure.
“Elder. Please calm yourself first, and allow me to explain——”
“Explain what? In the end, you’re just asking me to forge a weapon for you, aren’t you?”
“Well, yes, that’s correct.”
“You come to an old man who retired ten years ago, in the middle of the night no less, and demand he craft something that kills people?”
Jang Tae-bo’s eyes widened as he shouted.
“Get out of my sight this instant!”
“Waaah! Waaahhh!”
As the loud voice continued to erupt, the Little Girl nestled in Jang Tae-bo’s arms burst into tears.
Hyuk Moo-jin, holding a fan, muttered in a voice only I could hear.
“This old man’s temperament is something else…”
I agreed, though my own impatience was undeniable.
At this rate, even if I died and came back to life, he wouldn’t accept my request.
‘This is problematic.’
I had to return by tomorrow for the banquet on the First Day of the Year.
As I hesitated for a moment, the villagers, hearing the commotion, began poking their heads out through their doorways one by one.
“What’s all this noise?”
“That sounded like Elder Jang’s voice? And I heard a child crying too.”
“Elder, is something wrong?”
If my identity were exposed here, it would benefit neither of us. No, actually, it would be worse for him.
Jang Tae-bo’s brow furrowed.
“It’s nothing. Just some young men who got drunk and found the wrong house.”
“Tsk, tsk. That’s how young people are these days. If you need any help——”
“I appreciate the thought.”
At his firm reply, the open doors closed one by one, and the murmuring voices ceased abruptly.
Once silence fell over the area, Jang Tae-bo fixed us with a stern gaze.
“Leave. Don’t come back again.”
His tone was somewhat gentler than before and his voice quieter, but it still carried the chill of ice.
There was nothing to be done. With those words, I turned to leave, bowing deeply toward Jang Tae-bo’s back as he soothed the whimpering Little Girl.
“I will visit again tomorrow.”
“Your ears don’t work well. Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
“…Very well then.”
As I turned my body to leave, I suddenly opened my mouth.
Perhaps it was because a remark had occurred to me—one that might move his heart, even if only slightly.
“I truly need the assistance of a master craftsman. That is why I have sought you out.”
Yet Jang Tae-bo did not even turn around as he answered.
“Travel west for just one double-hour and you’ll find a large village with a blacksmith shop. The proprietor there has considerable skill.”
“Is he capable of refining Eternal Coldsteel?”
Eternal Coldsteel—the most durable and razor-sharp mineral under heaven, imbued with a mysterious power that could even withstand sword energy.
It was said to be so precious and rare that even the most accomplished blacksmiths rarely laid eyes upon it once in their lifetime.
‘If it were truly Eternal Coldsteel, his heart might stir.’
But Jang Tae-bo’s reaction fell far short of my expectations.
“Eternal Coldsteel, you say? Then you should go to the Iron Technique House. If you entrust it to that fellow Bang-ju, he’ll manage it well enough. He learned something watching over my shoulder, after all.”
The moment I heard his indifferent tone, I understood. To him now, even such a legendary metal as Eternal Coldsteel was no different from copper.
“The night grows late.”
A clear dismissal. I had no choice but to turn away. Hyuk Moo-jin and Chung Poong followed, opening their mouths.
“What shall we do?”
“What can we do? We’ll have to keep trying until tomorrow.”
“Smack, smack smack.”
“He seems like more than just an ordinary stubborn old man… But setting that aside, where did you obtain the Eternal Coldsteel?”
“That’s a long story.”
“Smack smack, smack smack smack.”
“…”
“…”
Chung Poong, reading the atmosphere from the glances exchanged between Hyuk Moo-jin and myself, extended his bundle.
“Would you like one? I still have plenty left.”
We cried out in unison.
“No thanks!”
* * *
We spent the night at an Inn that was crumbling to pieces. True to its nature as the sole Inn in a small village, every corner was worn and shabby, but it possessed one advantage.
The Innkeeper was a lifelong resident who had lived in Jang-ssi Village for forty years.
He had been wary of us, dressed as we were in the garb of Murim warriors, but the moment I pressed a silver coin into his hand, his mouth stretched ear to ear.
“Are you asking about Old Master Jang?”
“Yes. He lives beyond that hillside.”
The Innkeeper nodded at once.
“Ah, of course I know him. He visits our Inn from time to time.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. He sometimes plays the zither by himself, and occasionally joins gambling games.”
“He seems to enjoy gambling?”
“Rather, it appears to be merely a pastime. Ordinarily, he hardly leaves his house more than once every seven or eight days.”
“A homebody, then.”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, merely thinking aloud. Is he skilled at gambling?”
The Innkeeper, who had been thinking for a moment, answered.
“It’s just so-so. If I had to say, he always loses a bit, but seeing how he comes every time without even working, it seems he must have accumulated quite a fortune when he was young.”
That would make sense. After all, enthusiasts never spare money when it comes to their passions.
All martial artists are weapon enthusiasts, and Jang Tae-bo is one of the finest custom craftsmen.
He must have earned plenty of money without lacking for anything.
‘Is bribing him with money really impossible?’
I had roughly guessed as much from last night’s events, but he was truly a difficult man.
Transactions only succeed when you fulfill what the other party desires, yet he seemed quite satisfied with his current life.
“And another thing—is there anything else he does? For instance, does he occasionally craft something?”
“Craft something?”
“You know, like kitchen knives or pickaxes.”
Repetitive living hardens into habit. For Jang Tae-bo, who had spent his entire life working with fire and steel, this was especially true.
If it were me, I would have gone mad from the restlessness of sitting idle.
Yet the Innkeeper made a bewildered expression.
“The Old Master? He dislikes moving around so much that he even pays extra to have the Gu-bang Pyo-guk transport his firewood in winter. I’ve never heard of him making anything.”
“….”
Gu-bang Pyo-guk express delivery—what was this?
With homebody tendencies compounded by laziness, there was simply no opening to exploit.
Hyuk Moo-jin and Chung Poong, who had been listening to the conversation while eating breakfast, suddenly interjected.
“He’s completely impenetrable, isn’t he?”
“Tsk tsk. Wow, I’ve never seen someone like that before.”
“…I’ve never seen someone like you either.”
One of the drawbacks of this inn was that the food was terribly prepared.
Just looking at the owner’s hands raised serious hygiene concerns, yet Chung Poong swept up the remaining food as if such things didn’t matter.
“Does it taste good?”
“Yes! When I lived with Grandfather, we ate only wall-climbing pills and grain-avoidance pellets every day.”
“Ah, grain-avoidance pellets.”
Well, I’ll grant you that. I’d rather make pajeon with Jin Ho’s vomit than eat those.
“….”
“Commander, why do you have that expression?”
“Mmm, benefactor. Is something wrong?”
“…No, it’s just my stomach feels a bit queasy.”
Now that I thought about it, that wasn’t quite right.
I watched Chung Poong clean his last plate and rose from my seat.
“Come on, let’s go now.”
“Already? It’s barely the Hour of the Dragon.”
“Can I eat just one more dumpling?”
The Innkeeper quickly interjected.
“The Old Master is quite elderly, so he doesn’t sleep much in the morning. And I’ll wrap up the dumplings for you right away.”
“There, satisfied?”
I handed the Innkeeper another silver coin. He waved at us until we disappeared from view.
* * *
“Good evening, sir. I hope you’ve had a pleasant night.”
Jang Tae-bo, who had been standing in the courtyard, noticed our arrival and furrowed his brow. More precisely, he furrowed it upon seeing me.
“Didn’t I tell you not to come back?”
“How could I just leave without doing anything?”
I flashed him a carefree smile.
Back when I was a low-rank Hunter, there were those who cursed me to my face. This was nothing.
“I felt awkward coming empty-handed, so I brought a small gift.”
“Hmm?”
“The Innkeeper was quite talkative. He mentioned that an acquaintance of his recently harvested a thirty-year-old Fo-ti root. Can you imagine?”
Fo-ti root was still used in herbal medicine even in modern times.
In martial arts novels, hundred-year-old or thousand-year-old Fo-ti roots appeared constantly, but here, harvesting a thirty-year-old specimen was said to be as difficult as plucking a star from the sky.
In other words, it was something difficult to find even with money in this region.
“A thirty-year-old Fo-ti root… So?”
“I was worried your health might be declining. I thought of you and brought it along.”
Elder Brother Jin Ho habitually said that people’s bodies begin to deteriorate once they pass thirty.
Eyes become dry, the stomach grows sour, and the day after borrowing a USB drive, your legs lose their strength entirely, he would say.
If even Elder Brother Jin Ho, in his prime, experienced this, what of those advanced in years? A thirty-year-old Fo-ti root was perfect for maintaining health.
“Hmm. Why don’t you eat it yourself?”
“Me? No, no. I brought this specifically for you, sir.”
The bait had caught his interest.
I felt the fishing line twitch as I held out the Fo-ti root.
If consumed properly, it could accumulate about a year’s worth of cultivation, but I didn’t begrudge it in the slightest.
“Please, eat it. They say you must chew it raw, roots and all, for maximum benefit.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Yes, eat it quickly and spit out that eternal iron spear.
At my bright smile, Jang Tae-bo popped the Fo-ti root into his mouth and began chewing vigorously. The atmosphere was entirely different from last night.
‘Oh, the mood is perfect.’
If I coaxed him gently like this and then made my request…!
But in the next moment, the sound of my hopeful future shattering echoed out.
“Ptooey!”
“…?”
“…?”
“…?”
Hyuk Moo-jin, Chung Poong, and I stared at the half-chewed Fo-ti root lying on the ground. He spat it out? A thirty-year-old Fo-ti root? Why?
As we looked at him with bewildered expressions, Jang Tae-bo asked as if nothing had happened.
“What’s wrong with you all? Is something the matter?”
“…No, but why did you spit it out, sir?”
“It’s bitter.”
“Pardon?”
“I said I used it.”
His confident answer left me momentarily speechless.
Was that even possible, or was he just talking nonsense?
“Well, it’s good for the body, so of course I used it.”
“Tsk tsk. You’ve never eaten ho shou wu before, have you?”
“…No.”
I had eaten Hundred-Year Snow Ginseng once, but that was in someone else’s body, so I couldn’t be sure.
As I reluctantly agreed, Jang Tae-bo rummaged through his robes and tossed something at me.
“What is this?”
When I caught it, I found a wooden box the size of a pencil case. Jang Tae-bo flashed a knowing smile and spoke.
“Open it.”
He occasionally gambled, so his tone had the swagger of a professional gambler.
I opened the wooden box with an inexplicable sense of tension.
“A sakura! …No, it’s ho shou wu?”
Ho shou wu?
And not just any ho shou wu.
The trunk and roots were thicker than the ho shou wu I had given to Jang Tae-bo earlier.
A fragrant aroma pricked my nostrils.
‘Check item.’
Ding.
Item Window
[Fifty-Year-Old Ho Shou Wu]
Type
: Spiritual Herb
Grade
: First Class
Restriction
: None
Description
: Ho shou wu that has grown naturally for fifty years and has only recently begun to contain spiritual energy. If a martial artist trained in inner cultivation techniques absorbs it, they can gain up to two years’ worth of cultivation.
“….”
Even thirty-year-old specimens were difficult to obtain, so where on earth did he get a fifty-year-old one?
Speechless with astonishment, Jang Tae-bo flashed me a victor’s smile.
“It arrives through Gu-bang Pyo-guk once every four months. The ruler there owes me a favor. He’s also tight-lipped about it.”
“…I see.”
So it was a regular shipment from Gu-bang Pyo-guk. No wonder the old man seemed more vigorous than most young men.
“Don’t bother with transparent schemes. I’m someone who no longer needs anything.”
“That much is obvious.”
He had accumulated wealth, achieved success through his position, and had everything he could want.
My hair is even luxuriously full.
The only thing I lack is family… but if I introduced him to a beautiful grandmother, he’d probably try to kill me.
“What must I do for you to accept this commission?”
Jang Tae-bo scratched his ear with his pinky finger.
“Bring me the Herb of Immortality, and I’ll think about it.”
“Pardon?”
“Didn’t you hear? The Herb of Immortality. The legendary herb said to grant eternal life.”
Ding.
– Quest,
[Find the Herb of Immortality]
has been created.
Do you accept this quest?
Y / N
This time, I was the one who shouted.
“No way!”

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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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