Murim Login - Chapter 194

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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 194
“Ah, that’s refreshing.”
It was about a quarter of an hour later when Jeok Cheon-gang returned from checking on Sophie. Something felt off, so I opened my eyes with a suspicious squint.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You really did just go see Sophie?”
“Would you believe me if I let you smell me?”
“But it took a quarter of an hour. Could it be…”
“This old man’s vitality is quite something.”
“….”
Just how much vitality does someone need to spend fifteen minutes urinating?
At that rate, it wasn’t urine but a fire hose. As I stared at him with an incredulous expression, Jeok Cheon-gang raised his eyes sharply.
“What, do you have a complaint?”
“Of course not.”
A complaint, indeed.
Considering the help he’d given me today, a hundred bows wouldn’t be enough.
‘And also….’
I scattered the thought that suddenly surfaced.
The prodigy of the Yeolhwa Sect, a disciple of the Fire King. I deliberately ignored the endless whispers that had been circulating since earlier.
‘A disciple? That’s absurd.’
It was a problem I’d never once considered until now.
Why would someone who’d only met me a day ago—and who killed a disciple he cherished like a son—accept me as a new disciple?
‘Even if that disciple was a complete scoundrel.’
While I was thinking such things, Jin Wi-kyung approached and clasped his fist respectfully toward Jeok Cheon-gang.
“Jin Wi-kyung, a humble member of the Martial World, respectfully greets the legendary Fire King Jeok Cheon-gang.”
“The Jin Family?”
Jeok Cheon-gang scanned Jin Wi-kyung from head to toe and nodded as if he’d figured something out.
“Then you must be this boy’s father?”
“Pardon?”
“Teach your son some proper manners. The young brat’s already hot-headed and causing trouble everywhere. His tone is completely disrespectful too.”
Jin Wi-kyung’s face darkened more than I’d ever seen it.
“…He is my younger brother.”
“Huh?”
“I am Tae-kyung’s elder brother.”
Jeok Cheon-gang’s expression grew serious.
“Don’t joke with me. I understand wanting to look young, but if your greed goes too far, you’ll face divine punishment.”
“It is the truth. I am Jin Wi-kyung, the young master of the Taewon Jin Family.”
“…How old are you, exactly?”
“The year has changed, so I am thirty-six this year.”
Jeok Cheon-gang muttered with disbelieving eyes.
“You look like you’re forty-six.”
For his age, his face was quite—considerably—heavily weathered. I even mistook him for my father at first.
His hair was still full, but a face that had been struck by time’s 160 km fastball offered no solution.
Seeing Jin Wi-kyung’s melancholic expression, Jeok Cheon-gang attempted to console him.
“It’s fine. A man’s worth lies in his abilities. With a beautiful wife and adorable children, what more could you want? Hehe.”
“I’m still unmarried.”
“…At thirty-six?”
In the modern world, thirty-six might be when one starts thinking about marriage, but in the Murim where early marriages were common, thirty-six was an age where one could already see grandchildren.
The single Jin Wi-kyung answered briefly.
“Yes.”
“….”
This silence stretched on. The Fire King’s brow furrowed, then relaxed. His nostrils flared before he let out a deep sigh.
“Damn it, I could use a drink.”
I chuckled. On a festive day like this, what good was a celebration without alcohol? The stuff was everywhere.
“Would you like a cup?”
At my words, Jeok Cheon-gang’s eyes widened.
“What an impudent brat. Are you joking with an old man?”
“Pardon?”
“Bring a whole jar.”
* * *
Atmosphere is like an ember—once it dies, it’s hard to reignite. But even after the uninvited guests from the Zhongnan Sect doused it with cold water, the ember didn’t extinguish.
Rather, it blazed even fiercer with the presence of the Fire King.
“Woooow!”
“Drink! Let’s drink!”
“I never thought I’d see the Fire King in person in my lifetime.”
“If the Fire King is flustered, then we have the Right Fire King and Left Fire King!”
“….”
I don’t know who that was, but that bastard nearly killed the mood.
At my glance, Hyuk Moo-jin, who had been standing by, quietly left his seat to identify the atmosphere assassin.
Meanwhile, Jeok Cheon-gang was receiving greetings from countless people.
“Great Hero Jeok! It’s the honor of my lifetime to meet you like this!”
“If you would visit our sect in the future….”
“Please bestow your teachings upon us!”
Literally a sea of humanity.
The name Fire King Jeok Cheon-gang was nothing short of a living legend.
Moreover, due to his mysterious disappearance for decades, most people had accepted his death as common knowledge.
Yet the Fire King, presumed dead, had appeared—not in the Central Plains or Jiuhua Mountain, but right here in Shanxi Province at the Taewon Jin Family.
‘There’s no way this wouldn’t cause a stir.’
If a legendary pop emperor were to return from the dead, it might be something like this.
But despite the enthusiasm of the local Shanxi fans, Jeok Cheon-gang’s expression remained thoroughly unenthusiastic.
Jin Wi-kyung seemed to sense this as well, sending a telepathic message.
– Youngest.
Jeok Cheon-gang had such a difficult temperament that only Chung Poong and I could manage prolonged conversations with him, and since Chung Poong was unpredictable, I inevitably became the messenger.
“Is there anything making you uncomfortable?”
“Look at the old man’s state. Wouldn’t you be uncomfortable too in my position?”
Jeok Cheon-gang glared at the wine jug sitting beside him. Despite considerable time passing, it remained nearly full.
It wasn’t that he disliked alcohol—he simply hadn’t had the chance to drink.
“Damn it. When did drinking a single cup become this difficult?”
People requesting to become his disciples, sect leaders and merchants wanting to host him as an honored guest.
One heavily pregnant woman even asked if she could touch his nose—something about receiving the Fire King’s essence to bear a great child.
‘Like a stone grandfather statue.’
Even observers couldn’t suppress their laughter. How must the man himself feel?
In truth, for someone of Jeok Cheon-gang’s temperament, enduring this much was remarkable.
“Then shall we move to a place I prepared in advance? It’s quiet there.”
“Hmm. Never mind.”
“But you said it was uncomfortable.”
“I said never mind, so that’s final. Why must you talk so much?”
Despite his grumbling, Jeok Cheon-gang made no move to leave, and I tilted my head in confusion.
‘What’s this?’
Though our time together had been brief, I understood his nature well enough.
His distaste for noise and irritation at people’s attention were plainly evident. That very temperament was why he’d spent his entire life on Jiuhua Mountain.
‘Then why?’
I observed Jeok Cheon-gang carefully.
Before him stood the proprietor of a trading company from Shanxi Province known for considerable influence, bowing obsequiously.
“My goodness! Great Master Jeok Cheon-gang! Your legendary reputation that shakes the heavens is well known to me. When I was young, how much I admired you, Great Master….”
“Speak only to the point.”
“Having long revered you in my heart, I prepared a humble token of my sincerity.”
“A humble token?”
“Yes. I acquired this item recently, and it seems it was waiting for its true master.”
The merchant withdrew a small wooden box from his robes and opened the lid, revealing a ring set with translucent jade.
“A Poison-Avoidance Ring.”
“A rather precious item. It must have been difficult to obtain?”
The merchant gestured expansively.
“Now that I’ve had the honor of meeting Great Master Jeok Cheon-gang, what is price? It costs only a thousand silver taels. Hehe.”
A thousand silver taels for a single ring—among all the gifts presented to the Taewon Jin Family, this ranked among the most valuable.
Yet Jeok Cheon-gang nodded with an unmoved expression.
“Well, since you’re offering it, I’ll accept gratefully. Who are you and where do you hail from?”
“I manage the Yangcheon Trading Company….”
“Yangcheon Trading Company? Yangcheon borders Hebei, doesn’t it?”
His words cut off before the merchant could finish introducing himself, yet the merchant bowed respectfully as if honored.
“Yes. We are attempting to establish trade with the Hebei Paeng Family, but it has proven difficult.”
This was the merchant’s true purpose—the reason he had sought out Jeok Cheon-gang despite displaying such meager sincerity.
In essence, he was asking for help facilitating a transaction with the Hebei Paeng Family.
“The Paeng Family, you say? Who is their patriarch now?”
“It is Paeng Chul-young, the Iron-Blooded Blade Master.”
“I’ve never heard that name before. Is he the son of Byuk Ryuk Do-wang?”
“Yes, yes. When Byuk Ryuk Do-wang stepped back from the front lines, he passed the position of patriarch to him.”
“I shared a drink with Byuk Ryuk Do-wang back in my younger days. Well then, I understand.”
The conversation ended there. The merchant grinned widely, set down the wooden box, and disappeared.
Beneath the box lay a stack of documents that hadn’t been visible moments before.
I seized the opportunity to whisper as the merchant withdrew.
“You know Byuk Ryuk Do-wang as well?”
As his epithet suggested, he too was one of the Ten Kings—a supreme master on par with Jeok Cheon-gang.
Jeok Cheon-gang answered while sipping his wine.
“I already told you. We shared a drink.”
“Wow.”
He spoke of Byuk Ryuk Do-wang as casually as one might mention meeting a neighborhood acquaintance. Each time he did this, I was reminded anew of Jeok Cheon-gang’s extraordinary stature.
As I gaped in admiration, Jeok Cheon-gang puffed up with pride.
“I broke that bastard’s nose thirty years ago.”
“…Pardon?”
“I was having a drink with the Sword Saint when he suddenly butted in without a word and started a quarrel. We fought, and I gave him a thorough beating.”
Wait, what was he saying?
“So… you weren’t friends?”
“Me? With that brute?”
Jeok Cheon-gang’s brow furrowed.
“Why would I associate with such an uncouth fool? We haven’t had reason to see each other since.”
“…”
“Later, some absurd rumor circulated—that I and that Hebei Paeng Family dog fought for over a hundred exchanges before mutually acknowledging each other and withdrawing. It must have been some fabrication by those Hebei Paeng Family bastards.”
At those words, I and everyone nearby were left speechless.
The story with Byuk Ryuk Do-wang was already ridiculous enough, but if that were true, the merchant’s earlier request would come to nothing.
“Then… the Yangcheon Trading Company can’t conduct business with the Hebei Paeng Family, can they? Mentioning your name would only backfire.”
Jeok Cheon-gang blinked.
“Yangcheon Trading Company? What is that?”
“…?”
“Ah, that fellow from just now? Why should I concern myself with that?”
“But you said you’d help them conduct business with the Hebei Paeng Family.”
“I simply met with him because he asked. The part about drinking with Byuk Ryuk Do-wang is true. Is there a shred of falsehood in what I said?”
“…”
I couldn’t say, but he certainly seemed devoid of any conscience whatsoever. I found myself admiring his shamelessness.
‘Fire King, you’re something else.’
The victims were not few. Those who had shown such meager sincerity in good faith, believing in Jeok Cheon-gang’s empty promises, would soon realize everything was a lie and gnash their teeth in frustration.
‘This is practically organized fraud.’
But there would be no victims. No brave soul would come seeking to reclaim what they’d given to Fire King Jeok Cheon-gang.
“Please do visit the Main Sect sometime soon….”
“Mm. I’ll stop by one of these days.”
That was his way of saying he’d visit after he died and wandered the nine heavens.
“This is just a small token of my sincerity….”
“I’ll accept it graciously.”
No, he was genuinely just accepting it.
I gazed at the treasures, spirit pills, and promissory notes piling up like mountains and came to a realization.
‘Was I staying around for this?’
It was clear he had a grand scheme to make one massive haul in his twilight years.
After processing dozens of these fools, Jeok Cheon-gang finally spoke.
“Mm, quite the collection. Is there more?”
Jin Wi-kyung answered with an exhausted expression.
“Yes. It seems everyone who could be found has already come.”
“What a shame. I could have squeezed out more.”
Look at the old man’s greed.
Jeok Cheon-gang stretched languidly, gazing at the spoils he’d accumulated while drinking instead of sweating.
“Ah, how exhausting.”
“….”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
At Jeok Cheon-gang’s piercing gaze, I quickly averted my eyes.
“It’s nothing. I was just admiring you.”
“From what I see, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all.”
“I’m sincere. There’s nothing wrong with having plenty of wealth, is there?”
“Is that so?”
Jeok Cheon-gang chuckled softly and casually tossed out a remark.
“Then you take it all.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m giving it all to you.”
“All of…this?”
“These things are utterly useless to me, but they’re different for you. Whether you scatter them in the streets or not, I don’t care. Just take them.”
What is this situation?
I stared at Jeok Cheon-gang with a bewildered expression.
‘Why suddenly?’
I had already received tremendous help. I couldn’t help but wonder about his intentions for showing such excessive kindness to me and the Taewon Jin Family.
Could it be that he truly meant what I was thinking?
I swallowed hard and opened my mouth.
“Fire King, could it be….”
At that moment, Jeok Cheon-gang rose from his seat and spoke with an intoxicated expression.
“Ah, I’m getting drunk. I’ll head inside and rest. See you tomorrow.”
“….”
I watched Jeok Cheon-gang’s retreating figure sway unsteadily into the distance, then turned my gaze toward the wine jug.
Moonlight reflected off the wine jug, which was still more than half full.

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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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