Murim Login - Chapter 310

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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 310
Swish.
The bandits who emerged behind the Cheonryeok Bandits numbered five hundred.
Yet Ju Hwa-ran’s face had frozen cold not merely because their numbers were overwhelming.
‘The momentum is different.’
Those who sought to cross the mountain and those who blocked them—the escort houses and the Green Forest Alliance were inseparable. It was impossible to draw blades every time, so by long convention, the escort houses paid a certain toll, and the Green Forest Alliance would retreat to a reasonable degree, preserving face for both sides.
Yet from Cheon Ryeok-bu and the bandits of Heukseok Fortress under his command, there was no sign of retreat.
“You intend to see blood spilled after all.”
At Ju Hwa-ran’s words, Cheon Ryeok-bu’s lips curled upward.
“The girl has keen perception. Indeed. Today I shall dye Heukseok Mountain crimson with blood.”
“Girl?”
“What, if it displeases you, shall I call you old woman instead?”
“I am the Chief of the Yongbong Pyo-guk. Treat me with the courtesy I show you.”
Ju Hwa-ran’s exquisitely drawn eyebrows rose sharply.
Though she was the only child of the Yongbong Pyo-guk, she had not been raised as a pampered treasure.
Since childhood, she had wielded her blade until her palms bore calluses, eating and sleeping on the roads alongside the escorts, learning through experience.
People revered her as one of the Three Beauties North of the River, yet she was no hothouse flower.
“Reckless girl. What will you do if I refuse?”
“Then…”
The Hidden Dagger Flower, Ju Hwa-ran, continued with a chilling expression.
“You must die, old bandit.”
“What? Hehehehe!”
Cheon Ryeok-bu’s wild laughter ceased only moments later.
“You possess more resolve than I expected. I like you.”
“Your approval means nothing to me.”
“Your tongue is quite sharp. Are you not concerned about what comes next?”
“Why are you doing this in the first place?”
“Why, you ask? A bandit kills and steals—do we need any other reason?”
At Cheon Ryeok-bu’s glib response, Ju Hwa-ran clenched her lips.
“If word of this spreads, the Green Forest Alliance will face difficulty.”
“Difficulty?”
“We of the Yongbong Pyo-guk are also part of the Orthodox Martial Arts World. The Orthodox sects will not stand idle.”
“Part of the Orthodox sects, you say. Then it would be troublesome indeed.”
Cheon Ryeok-bu stroked his unkempt beard and continued.
“Which is why I intend to ensure it remains unknown. All secrets are secrets only if they do not leak, are they not?”
“…!”
Murder to silence witnesses.
Understanding the implication of Cheon Ryeok-bu’s words, Ju Hwa-ran gripped her sword hilt with all her strength. In her stead, the Chief Escort Heo Jun stepped forward and cried out.
“One hundred silver taels! If you open the road, we shall give one hundred taels of silver. Let us end this matter here and speak of it no further!”
“A hundred silver coins! If you clear the way, I’ll give you a hundred silver coins. I’ll overlook what happened today, so stop right here!”
“Heh. A hundred silver taels? In silver currency?”
“Of course. Have I ever spoken falsely to you?”
“That’s true enough. We’re not strangers meeting for the first time. If it’s Heo Pyo-du, I can trust your word.”
Chief Escort Heo Jun had devoted nearly thirty years to the Yongbong Pyo-guk.
The Yongbong Pyo-guk was a large escort house based in Shaanxi Province. Having successfully completed hundreds of escort missions both great and small, he frequently crossed Heukseok Mountain and had become acquainted with the fortress lords of the Green Forest Alliance, just as he had with the Cheonryeok Bandits, whose new lord had taken power five years prior.
“Five times the usual toll. Enough of your crude jesting—open the road for us.”
“Crude jesting, you say? Did it appear that way?”
Cheon Ryeok-bu’s face, which had been split by a boisterous laugh, suddenly turned cold.
“There are limits to how foolishly you can treat a man. Listen here, Heo Pyo-du. You need to pay the proper price.”
“P-proper price, you say?”
“Even the mongrels we keep at our fortress know that the shipment you’re transporting contains Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng. We could sell it as stolen goods right now and easily pocket several thousand silver taels. Isn’t that so?”
“…!”
In that instant, the eyelids of Ju Hwa-ran and several others, including Heo Jun, trembled slightly.
Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng was a miraculous elixir that, if fully absorbed, could grant one a full decade of martial cultivation.
The existence of the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng, secretly commissioned by the Zhongnan Sect, was a top-secret matter known only to a select few within the Yongbong Pyo-guk.
Yet somehow, word had reached the ears of the Cheonryeok Bandits.
‘It was no coincidence.’
The past four months of escort missions flashed through Ju Hwa-ran’s mind.
Bandits and unnamed rogues who attacked as though they had encountered mortal enemies.
The reason she had endured dozens of battles both large and small, suffering great losses, was because information about the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng had leaked.
‘Who could it be?’
She had harbored suspicions. Yet she had deliberately suppressed them.
Over these past two years, through mounting misfortunes, what had sustained her was the people around her.
The greatest inheritance her grandfather had passed to her father, and her father to her.
Even as the Yongbong Pyo-guk lost its former prestige and declined, they had not abandoned her. They continued to show unwavering trust and support despite her repeated failures.
For that very reason, she could not bear to suspect them. She did not wish to.
‘But now….’
Ju Hwa-ran swept her hollow gaze across those around her.
Chief Escort Heo Jun, frozen with a sense of betrayal as profound as her own. And the three people who knew of the Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng came into view.
The three outstanding escorts who represented the Yongbong Pyo-guk. They were the ones known as the Yongbong Three Escorts.
‘Seok Chil. No Pil-jung.’
Ju Hwa-ran’s gaze passed over the two middle-aged escorts who had entered their forties and turned toward the last person.
‘Song Il-seom.’
Song Il-seom, unlike the other two members of the Yongbong Three Escorts, possessed a handsome and refined appearance.
Having just passed the age of twenty, he had entered the Yongbong Pyo-guk as an escort ten years ago and had risen swiftly through the ranks.
Though he occasionally displayed a rough temperament, his superior martial prowess had led him to successfully complete escort missions, allowing him to be called one of the Yongbong Three Escorts despite his youth.
Yet Song Il-seom was followed by persistent rumors.
‘They say he was born a rogue. A fixer, no less.’
‘He would do anything for the right price, or so I’ve heard.’
‘Is that all? There are whispers that he harbors deep affection for the young lady. Si-bi Mi-hyang told me last time that he slips into the Inner Court whenever he finds the chance, lingering in the Garden.’
‘He joined the escort service because of Miss Ju, or so they say… It’s common knowledge, but didn’t the Escort Chief oppose taking a son-in-law into the Yongbong Pyo-guk?’
Ju Hwa-ran was aware of it too—the open rumors circulating about Song Il-seom, and the fact that most of what they said was true.
There had been moments when his overt stares made her uncomfortable, and it was indeed true that she had deliberated whether to employ him on this escort mission for that very reason.
‘But surely Song Pyo-du wouldn’t….’
The instant Ju Hwa-ran’s gaze settled on Song Il-seom’s face, his fierce, thick eyebrows shot upward.
A flash—a sharp whistle!
“Hwa-ran!”
Three things happened simultaneously.
A hidden blade shot forth from Song Il-seom’s sleeve. At the same moment, Heo Jun, the Escort Chief, urgently stepped in front of Ju Hwa-ran to shield her.
And finally….
A dull thud!
“Cough, grrk.”
Twenty paces away, a bandit from the Heukseok Clan with a blade lodged in his throat crumpled to the ground.
The bandit, spewing blood foam, trembled violently before drawing his last breath.
“…!”
An icy silence descended upon the gathering. It was Song Il-seom’s words that shattered the seemingly endless quiet.
“No discussion! Fight with the resolve to die!”
As his savage cry carried on the night wind, spreading far and wide, Ju Hwa-ran, Heo Jun, and all of the Yongbong Pyo-guk understood.
Negotiations were finished. They would now face a desperate battle against hundreds of enemies who had launched an unexpected first strike.
“Song Il-seom! What are you doing!”
At Heo Jun’s furious cry, Song Il-seom hefted his Willow Leaf Blade and slung it across his shoulder.
“What am I doing? Isn’t it too late to question that now?”
“You bastard…!”
“He’s right.”
Ju Hwa-ran drew her sword with a calm voice.
Regrettably, Song Il-seom’s words were true.
The Cheonryeok Bandits were bearing down upon them with terrifying momentum.
Flames of rage blazed from the eyes of the one who had lost a subordinate without even a chance to act.
“I will slaughter every last one of you.”
A sharp metallic hum!
Crimson energy rippled across the massive axe he wielded.
The Green Forest Alliance encompassed countless members. Among them, Cheonryeok-bu ranked twentieth—a master of the highest caliber.
Bolstered by their leader’s aura, the five hundred bandits of the Green Forest Alliance roared like wild beasts.
“Kill them all!”
“This place will be your grave!”
As she heard their furious cries, Ju Hwa-ran gazed up at the night sky studded with stars.
‘Perhaps… this will be my final escort mission.’
Of the seventy-odd remaining members, excluding the martial artists, the Yongbong Pyo-guk had only some forty escorts.
All were exhausted from the long journey. The conditions were far too harsh to withstand Cheonryeok-bu and five hundred bandits.
‘Can I do this?’
Thud, thud, thud.
The earth trembled beneath the footsteps of hundreds. A battle that I had hoped to avoid was now inevitable.
‘All that remains is to fight until the very end.’
I had to save at least one person.
Just as Ju Hwa-ran straightened her head, a star she had never seen before caught her eye.
Among the countless stars embroidered across the pitch-black night sky, that one shone with peculiar brilliance, casting its radiance for but a fleeting moment before vanishing.
And in the next instant, something no one had anticipated occurred.
“Everyone, please stop fighting! No matter how badly you clash, this will end in disaster!”
At the sudden cry, the figures of hundreds froze in place. Immediately, hundreds of heads turned toward the direction from which the voice had come.
A world shrouded entirely in darkness.
Four figures stood upon the hillside, their silhouettes gleaming faintly in the moonlight.
Then came the murmur of voices.
“Who are they?”
“They look like bandits. One group seems to be from an escort house.”
“Well, they’re clearly bandits, but why in the middle of the night would they be fighting here? I’m already swamped with work.”
“Those people look even busier than we are, don’t they?”
“Has it been long since Moo-jin was hit?”
“No. He was struck about an hour ago.”
Smack!
“Gi-bang. Do you know who they are?”
“Of course.”
“Help us, Speed Beggar Clan.”
“Judging by the flags, they’re from Yongbong Pyo-guk. The other side is Heukseok Fortress, where the Cheonryeok Bandits are stationed.”
“Never heard of either. Though Cheonryeok Bandits does sound familiar somehow.”
“Yongbong Pyo-guk once held a place among the ten greatest escort houses in the martial world, and they’re among the top twenty in the Green Forest Alliance. They wield a single axe with ghostly skill….”
“Wait, hold on. You don’t mean that Cheon Ryeok-bu?”
“You know of Cheon Ryeok-bu?”
“I’m certain I killed him… Did he catch the reincarnation bus? Wait, let me go get a closer look at his face.”
“Master! What’s a reincarnation bus?”
“If you’re bored, try crossing the crosswalk.”
The incomprehensible conversation ended there. Then a large shadow descended the hillside with heavy, deliberate steps.
Only as it drew closer, step by step, could the people discern the shadow’s true form.
‘What is that?’
‘A young man, barely past his youth? And why is he carrying a carrying frame on his back?’
It was truly a bizarre sight.
A dark night, hundreds of people locked in standoff with weapons drawn. And a young man carrying a frame on his back, strolling forward as if taking an evening walk beneath the moonlight.
Step, step. Halt.
“Pardon me for the interruption, though I see you’re all quite busy.”
At last, the young man came to a stop and slowly turned his head.
He frowned at the filthy bandits, then his body twisted awkwardly upon seeing Ju Hwa-ran, and finally, he gave Cheon Ryeok-bu a quick once-over before uttering a single remark.
“This punk isn’t even—?”
“…!”
“…!”
Hundreds of pairs of eyes snapped wide open at that bombshell of a statement.
Calling Cheon Ryeok-bu—one of the Green Forest Alliance’s most elite masters—a mere punk….
Just as everyone questioned their own ears, a second bomb fell.
“Ah, so you’re the one. The real Cheon Ryeok-bu. I was wondering what felt off about you. But honestly, you don’t seem nearly as impressive as the rumors suggest?”
Finally regaining his senses, Cheon Ryeok-bu’s eyes blazed like wildfire.
“You, you absolute madman!”
In the next instant, the axe in his grip plummeted toward the young man’s crown.
Screeeech! Boom!
A collision of compressed qi. The crimson-tinged axe blade was intercepted by a slender, elegant sword.
Ju Hwa-ran’s wrist trembled as she desperately blocked the assault.
She too was a master swordsman at the peak of her art. Yet she lacked the innate strength and experience to match Cheon Ryeok-bu.
“Hah! So-hyup, run now——!”
“How dare this little wench!”
Clang clang clang!
The two blades locked, sparks erupting between them. The massive axe bore down with relentless pressure.
Just as Heo Jun and Song Il-seom rushed forward to aid Ju Hwa-ran, the young man’s lips parted, his expression rigid.
“Just say one thing for me.”
“…What?”
“Help me. That’s all I need.”
Was he in his right mind?
The thought flashed through Ju Hwa-ran’s mind in an instant.
This young man hadn’t even reacted to Cheon Ryeok-bu’s assault. Had she not blocked with her sword, he would have been cleaved in two without hesitation.
Yet contrary to her thoughts, her lips were already moving, uttering the words.
“Help you!”
And then she saw it.
A faint smile blooming at the corners of the young man’s mouth.
Then, in a voice so soft only she could hear, he whispered:
“Quest accepted.”
Whoooosh!
A sudden gust of hot wind swept across them, and Ju Hwa-ran felt an overwhelmingly warm embrace envelop her.

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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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