Murim Login - Chapter 185

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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 185
“I am Baek Moo-sung, a disciple of the Huashan Sect, paying respects to my master.”
“Who are you?”
For a moment, I thought the world had frozen in place.
Jin Wi-kyung and Wol-hwa, who had been walking behind Baek Moo-sung, even stopped in their tracks, as did the pretty young woman following them.
Of course, the most priceless reaction belonged to Chul-woo.
“Elder Brother, what do you mean? Why is our master here?”
“You see him and still don’t understand?”
“Who is our master?”
“Chung Poong, our master. He’s standing right beside you on your right.”
Chul-woo glanced sideways at Chung Poong and burst into laughter as if he’d heard the most hilarious joke.
“Ha ha ha! Elder Brother, you must be mistaken.”
“Second brother.”
“Stop it, please. Wait, is this some kind of prank you planned to trick me?”
“It’s the truth.”
“Elder Brother, I’m not that gullible. Now I see the Taewon Jin Family members are quite the pranksters too. Conspiring together just to fool me like this. Ha ha ha ha!”
“….”
What kind of Sino-Korean drama production was this?
There was no way the Huashan Sect and the Taewon Jin Family would join forces to orchestrate an elaborate hidden camera prank just to fool one person.
“Ha ha ha ha.”
As I and the others offered no response, his laughter gradually faded and came to an abrupt stop.
“…Is it really true?”
Baek Moo-sung rubbed his temples and answered.
“Yes.”
“Not a shred of deception?”
“I’m telling you it’s true.”
Chul-woo’s head snapped toward Chung Poong.
“Hey, little one. What’s your name?”
“Chung Poong.”
An earthquake erupted in Chul-woo’s pupils. He clearly remembered what he’d said to Chung Poong just moments ago.
“D-dumplings.”
“Dumplings?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. So this person really is Master Chung Poong?”
“Without question.”
I wished I had popcorn for this.
As Chul-woo slapped his own cheeks repeatedly as if questioning whether this was a dream, Baek Moo-sung opened his mouth.
“I apologize, Master Chung Poong.”
Chung Poong replied with an innocent expression.
“No, it’s fine.”
“I failed to recognize an elder of the sect and committed a grave discourtesy. Surely a hundred apologies would be warranted, would they not?”
“Please forgive me, Master.”
Chul-woo bowed his head dejectedly. It seemed he would need time to fully accept this dumpling-obsessed fool as his master.
Of course, Chung Poong couldn’t have cared less.
Instead, he showed curiosity about his relationship with these new faces.
“But who are all of you?”
“We are disciples of the Huashan Sect, just like Master Chung Poong.”
“Oh, I’m just my grandfather’s student.”
The Sword Saint had raised Chung Poong not merely as a disciple to inherit his martial arts, but as his grandson. This was why the boy possessed only a hazy understanding of sects and the martial world.
Yet despite Chung Poong’s casual response, Baek Moo-sung maintained his gentle smile.
“My master goes by the title Cheon Geom Jin-in. By generational ranking, he would be your great-uncle.”
“My great-uncle?”
“Yes. Your master’s teacher—or rather, your grandfather, the Sword Saint—once had three senior disciples. Have you perhaps heard of this before?”
Chung Poong muttered uncertainly.
“I’m not sure. I think I heard Grandfather mention it once, but…”
“Ten years ago, he even visited along with the others.”
Chung Poong, who had been thinking hard, suddenly exclaimed.
“Ah! That scary-looking grandfather!”
Calling the Huashan Sect Master a scary-looking grandfather—regardless of the others’ shock, Chung Poong laughed brightly, satisfied that his question was answered.
“That person is my great-uncle?”
“Precisely.”
“Ah, I see. I thought he was a bad person. It seemed like he wanted to drive my grandfather and me away.”
“Your master may be unfamiliar with the circumstances of the main sect. Such matters can be understood gradually.”
Admirable patience. Even if Baek Moo-sung had flicked him on the ear during this conversation, he would have been acquitted in the first trial, yet he never lost his smile.
‘There’s a reason his title contains the character for crane.’
While I was thinking such thoughts, Chung Poong turned to me with a bright smile.
“Benefactor, these people are my martial siblings!”
“Ah, yes. Congratulations.”
“Would you like to be my martial sibling too, Benefactor?”
“…Me?”
“Why? If you don’t like being a martial sibling, I can make you my master instead.”
This madman was spouting absolute nonsense.
Not only could Chung Poong decide such things on his own whim, but if I became his master, I would be a disciple of Geom-seong Maejong-hak himself.
I had no doubt I could even send the Huashan Sect Master on tobacco errands.
“…”
That actually sounded fine.
Just as I was about to nod, entranced by the idea.
“Ha ha, Young Master Chung, you certainly, do tell, good jokes.”
His mouth was smiling, but his eyes told a different story.
Snapped back to reality by Wi Paeng’s murderous glare, I quickly came to my senses.
“No, it’s fine.”
“Is that so? What a shame.”
Unlike the two members of the Three Plum Blossoms who stood with dumbfounded expressions, Baek Moo-sung smiled faintly.
“While formal discipleship may not be possible, I can certainly extend an invitation as an honored guest.”
I blinked in surprise.
“Was that just now a formal invitation?”
“Of course. A talented rising star like Jin Tae-kyung would be welcomed at any time. And….”
His voice continued smoothly.
“You could also become a pleasant traveling companion for Chung Poong Shasuk on his return to the Main Sect Headquarters.”
Chung Poong, who had been bouncing excitedly, suddenly froze mid-motion.
“Pardon? Return?”
“Yes, Chung Poong Shasuk.”
Baek Moo-sung performed a deep fist salute. His voice took on a grave tone entirely different from before.
“It is the Sect Leader’s command. Return to the Huashan Sect.”
* * *
As Chung Poong disappeared into the Great Hall of the Taewon Jin Family, Chul-woo clicked his tongue.
“What kind of person—or rather, what kind of Shasuk—does something like that?”
Even Eun-hyang, who usually bickered with Chul-woo over everything, nodded in agreement this time.
“Truly. I never thought anyone could refuse the Master’s command.”
“Well, there is one person. The Grand Master.”
“Chul-woo, he should be excluded from this discussion.”
Chul-woo scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
“I suppose that’s true.”
The Sect Leader’s authority is absolute. Even those of higher rank cannot openly refuse a direct command.
To challenge the Sect Leader’s authority is to tarnish the sect’s name itself.
This is especially true for major sects, where such hierarchies are strictly maintained.
“But to refuse so decisively… Phew, I knew he was an unusual person, but this exceeds my expectations.”
“What you’ve seen is just the tip of the iceberg. Even earlier with the dumplings—no, never mind.”
Chul-woo shook his head and asked carefully.
“What do you intend to do now, Senior Brother?”
“I’m not sure.”
Baek Moo-sung, who had been lost in thought, finally spoke.
“I never expected Chung Poong Shasuk to refuse so stubbornly.”
“Shouldn’t the Discipline Hall step in at this point?”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because he has defied the Master’s command.”
Any violation of the Huashan Sect’s rules, no matter how minor, results in a summons from the Discipline Hall. If they judge it, Chung Poong would be no different from a serious criminal.
Baek Moo-sung chuckled at his disciple’s earnest expression.
“Chung Poong Shasuk has not violated the sect rules.”
“Pardon?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“The sect rules apply only to disciples of the Main Sect Headquarters. Does a disciple of the Qingcheng Sect face punishment for violating Shaolin’s discipline?”
“Does that make sense?”
“Of course it does. But Chung Poong is a guest instructor… a guest instructor, you see. He’s the disciple of the Grand Master.”
“How fortunate that would be.”
Baek Moo-sung added with a sigh.
“Strictly speaking, Chung Poong is no different from an outsider. This situation arose precisely because he never underwent the formal initiation ceremony.”
Whether a disciple of the Main Sect Headquarters or a lay disciple, everyone undergoes the initiation ceremony. Only then do they become true disciples of the Huashan Sect and have their names inscribed in the sect register.
But Chung Poong was different.
“Who could have foreseen the Grand Master would do such a thing?”
Baek Moo-sung remembered the events of ten years ago with perfect clarity.
After the Sword Saint had been in seclusion for a long time, his own master, Cheon Geom Jin-in, led a group and personally began searching Huashan Mountain. Finally, in the dwelling they discovered, a ten-year-old child was wielding a sword.
“It was absolutely astounding.”
The child—whose origins, arrival time, and upbringing remained a mystery—had already mastered the Huashan Sect’s supreme martial techniques.
And that child, Chung Poong’s astonishing achievements, were buried beneath the words of the Sword Saint that followed.
‘Initiate him into the sect?’
‘Yes, Master. I intend to conduct the initiation ceremony and accept him as a disciple of the Main Sect Headquarters. Though the order is reversed, I cannot simply overlook such a once-in-a-thousand-years prodigy….’
‘Overlook it.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Continue to overlook it. When the time comes, I shall send him away as I see fit.’
‘M, Master!’
‘And do not come looking for me again. Before I burn this place to the ground.’
‘Burn Huashan! Are you saying we should all perish together!’
‘Ah, now that I think about it, you’re right. In any case, remember it that way. Chung Poong—I shall take charge of this child.’
Chul-woo and Eun-hyang, who had been listening, dropped their jaws in shock.
“D, did he really say such a thing?”
“Isn’t that an exaggeration?”
“I wish it had been exaggeration… but you both know what happened afterward, don’t you?”
Chung Poong, who was supposed to be sent away when the time came, vanished into the world without a trace, and the Sword Saint disappeared without warning.
“In truth, what my master worries about is not the Grand Master, but Chung Poong himself.”
Chung Poong had already demonstrated incredible achievements ten years ago. Yet the world—especially the Martial World—was a place overflowing with treachery and schemes.
For one who was not even a disciple of the Huashan Sect to wander about possessing the sect’s supreme techniques was far too dangerous.
“We must bring Chung Poong back with us. For his sake, and for the Main Sect Headquarters. Do you understand?”
The two nodded at the weight of duty in his voice, then suddenly spoke.
“But Senior Brother…”
“How do we bring him back? By force?”
“That’s….”
Baek Moo-sung hesitated, then exhaled a deep sigh.
“First, we must bring the Shanxi Sleeping Dragon to our side.”
All three simultaneously recalled Chung Poong’s final words.
‘I want to stay with my benefactor!’
The Shanxi Sleeping Dragon, Jin Tae-kyung. An unexpected obstacle made Baek Moo-sung’s head throb.
‘But what kind of help did he receive that he calls me his benefactor? Could it be that his life was saved?’
The connection that began with a few encounters at Bing Tang Hu Lo proved far more persistent than expected.
* * *
The moment we entered the Great Hall, Wi Paeng asked abruptly.
“What exactly have you done?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about Chung Poong.”
Everyone’s eyes naturally turned toward Chung Poong.
The boy was stuffing his cheeks with pastries from the table as if they might burst.
“I didn’t do anything in particular.”
“You defied the Huashan Sect Master’s orders. You said you’d stay with Sam-gong-ja.”
“And?”
“And? Don’t you realize that if something goes wrong, it could strain relations between the Main Residence and Huashan Sect?”
Is this the situation where a father hates his son’s friend because the son’s grades dropped? I shrugged my shoulders.
“I’ll persuade him well enough, don’t worry.”
“You must. Absolutely must persuade him.”
His voice was firm despite his youth. Wi Paeng suddenly turned his head toward Jin Wi-kyung, who sat in the place of honor.
“My lord, please say something as well.”
“I understand.”
Jin Wi-kyung opened his lips with a grave expression.
“Youngest. Your face has been badly hurt these past few days. The journey wasn’t too difficult, was it? You don’t know how much I worried….”
“Stop it, my lord. I was a fool to trust you.”
“Don’t be like that. The youngest will handle it well on his own.”
“This is driving me mad. I’m leaving the Taewon Jin Family as of today.”
“Hehehehe. This fellow tells good jokes.”
“Did that sound like a joke?”
“Yes. It was very amusing.”
“It’s not amusing to me. Ever since Sam-gong-ja didn’t arrive by yesterday’s noon as promised, nothing has been amusing.”
Jin Wi-kyung’s eyes widened.
“Ah, now that you mention it, youngest.”
“As you promised last time, please give him a severe scolding this time.”
“What’s that sword tied to your back? It looks like something you made on this trip. Let me see it.”
Wi Paeng could no longer contain his anger and shot to his feet.
“I’m really leaving. Being with you was filthy, and I won’t see you again.”
“Hehehehe. What’s gotten into this fellow today? Why does he keep making me laugh?”
“Damn it all. Draw your sword.”
“Tae-kyung. This fellow Wi Paeng seems eager to see your new sword. Would you draw it?”
“Aaaaaaah!”
Wi Paeng’s eyes rolled back as he let out a primal scream, his hand moving toward the sword at his waist.
However, the moment my next words left my lips, his body went rigid.
“Since it’s something the Fire King gave me, it would be best not to touch it if possible.”
“…?”
“…?”
Jin Wi-kyung and Wi Paeng, who had been blinking silently, finally managed to open their mouths.
“Fire, what did you say?”
“Sam-gong-ja, what nonsense are you spouting?”
“The Fire King. The Fire King. He entrusted me with a sword. Ah, and secret martial techniques as well.”
Thud, clang.
In the suffocating silence, the sound of Wi Paeng’s sword clattering to the ground thundered through the air.

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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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