Murim Login - Chapter 332

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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 332
“How dare anyone cause trouble on the Yangtze River!”
It didn’t seem like they would answer from over there.
Letting Moo-song’s shout pass through one ear, I channeled my inner energy to heighten my vision.
A distance of roughly two hundred paces. Yet my enhanced sight, worthy of being called an eagle’s eye, captured every detail with crystalline clarity.
‘That is….’
Water bandits. Two massive vessels far larger than the swift clipper we rode were surrounding a single small boat, while arrows and what appeared to be harpoons—dark specks—rained down ceaselessly.
My gaze naturally shifted toward Moo-song as I confirmed the flag fluttering from their ship.
“Whoever these worthless dogs are, they’ve walked right into our hands. Listen here! Immediately eliminate those rootless bastards—why are you making that face?”
“Ah, Senior. This is rather difficult to explain.”
“Explain what?”
“Those rootless bastards. They appear to belong to the Yangtze River Water Bandit Alliance?”
“…?”
“…?”
After a moment of silence, Moo-song suddenly bellowed.
“That can’t be right!”
“No, it’s definitely right. The flag has ‘Yangtze River Water Bandit Alliance’ written on it in very bold characters.”
“Didn’t you say earlier you couldn’t read?”
A razor blade rather than a water bandit. He had an unexpectedly sharp side.
Instead of panicking, I hardened my expression and spoke.
“I learn rather quickly. And is that really the issue now? We must eliminate those lawless scoundrels disrupting the Yangtze’s order without delay!”
Moo-song looked as though he wanted to eliminate me first, but he fully agreed with my sentiment.
“Right. What kind of era is this when they dare commit murder on the Yangtze—I’ll cut down every last one of those bastards!”
It’s lamentable that such words came from a water bandit captain’s mouth, but according to what I’d casually heard from Gung Ki-bang, Moo-song was among the moderates within the Yangtze River Water Bandit Alliance.
His philosophy was that taking money was enough—why take lives?
“….”
Well, ultimately he’s still taking things.
Come to think of it, they’re all the same type, but in the Martial World where swords fly at the slightest boredom, even a first-tier water bandit who was the Water Dragon Stronghold master’s disciple could be considered conscientious by comparison.
“Raise the crimson flag!”
At the captain Moo-song’s thunderous command, five swift clippers bearing the crimson flag signifying battle surged forward at tremendous speed.
Whoooosh!
The sails billowed taut in the timely wind. The swift clippers, modified for maximum velocity, cut through the water without hesitation, closing the distance.
When the two-hundred-pace gap had shrunk to half in an instant, urgent cries erupted among the water bandits attempting close combat.
“Swift clippers!”
“Moo-song of the Water Dragon Stronghold has appeared! Everyone retreat!”
But Moo-song was not one to let such an opportunity pass.
The distance to the enemy had narrowed to merely fifty paces. A brilliant gleam flashed in his eyes as he fixed his gaze on the group hastily retreating toward their vessel.
“Let me see your faces!”
With a sharp creaking sound, Moo-song seized an enormous harpoon and launched himself from the stern.
Boom!
As the solid wooden floor shattered, Moo-song’s body was launched in a parabolic arc and swallowed roughly by the Yangtze River.
‘Isn’t that dangerous?’
One couldn’t treat the Yangtze River like some Gangwon Province gorge.
Though this was merely a tributary branching off from the main channel, it stretched as vast as the sea with depths that plunged unfathomably deep, and the currents raged with unmatched ferocity.
So much so that even Hyuk Moo-jin, who had been retching moments before, asked with a pale face.
“Shouldn’t we rescue him? Ugh, bleurgh!”
“Ki-bang, pat his back for him.”
“I’m no nursemaid…”
Of course he wasn’t. Who would hire a beggar as a nursemaid?
Gung Ki-bang grumbled while patting Hyuk Moo-jin’s back and said.
“And there’s a limit to ignorance. Would the leader of water bandits leap into the Yangtze without mastering water techniques? Especially when he’s the disciple of the Sea King, who has no equal in the water?”
“Ah, that’s true.”
“Whoever they are, they’ve picked the wrong fight. Someone’s getting a funeral today. Tsk tsk.”
Gung Ki-bang’s prediction proved accurate.
Seconds later, Moo-song surfaced at a point more than a dozen zhang ahead of the quick-sailing vessel.
Whoooosh!
Watching his massive frame curve fluidly like waves, skimming forward like water skis, my jaw dropped involuntarily.
“This can’t be!”
He was even faster than the quick-sailing vessel.
Seeing Moo-song charge toward the ship like some fish-man, my own blood began to boil.
“Since we’re already here, I’m going too!”
Gung Ki-bang cried out as if screaming.
“Going where again!”
“Ugh, bleurgh!”
“Benefactor, me too!”
“Get out of my way! The great waterway calls—the Yangtze summons me!”
Shaking off the Bermuda Triangle, I crossed the deck and launched myself with all my strength from the bow.
Crash! Crunch!
The bow, unable to withstand the force, shattered. My body swept up in weightlessness, the wind lashing fiercely against my face.
Kyaaaah!
“Freedom! Liberty!”
I became a bird, then lost momentum and plummeted.
“Senior!”
“Gasp!”
Tap!
I landed softly on the back of a passing fish-man.
The angle, the speed, the distance calculation, the landing point—all of it was precise, making this outcome inevitable.
“Phew. Per-fect.”
“What’s perfect about this!”
Moo-song shouted at the unexpected free ride, but what could he do now that I was already aboard?
I shouted, glaring at the water bandits who were frantically turning the bow of their vessel.
“Let’s go!”
“Damn it all! Since we’ve come this far, we might as well ram the ship!”
“Yes, that’s what a senior should do!”
“You just wait and see!”
Whoooosh!
Moo-song, gritting his teeth, pushed his speed even higher.
The water bandits who had barely taken their positions tried to scramble away in panic, but it was already too late.
We had become a living spear, hurtling toward the side of their vessel.
“Go, senior! Eight-fold Water Current Arm Strike!”
“Hyaaaaa!”
Moo-song and I screamed with all our might, extending our arms simultaneously.
He wielded a harpoon while I gripped a spear, but we shared one crucial element.
The formidable energy coalesced at their tips.
Shrieeeeek!
Two torrents of spear energy, slicing through the very air itself, plunged into the damp, solid hull in the next instant.
Boom! Crackle, crackle, crackle!
A tremendous shockwave erupted, accompanied by a deafening roar.
* * *
“Moo-jin.”
At my grave tone, Hyuk Moo-jin, who had finally stopped retching, answered with a pallid face.
“Yes?”
“I think I might have a water bandit’s constitution.”
“What nonsense is that?”
“Want to hear the details?”
“I apologize for my slip of the tongue due to my poor condition. Now that I think about it, it seems to suit you perfectly.”
“Doesn’t it?”
“Yes. The way you so boldly pierced straight through that ship—I can still see it vividly before my eyes.”
“It was exhilarating.”
I nodded with satisfaction, gazing slowly at the sinking vessel.
On one side, Moo-song’s subordinates, distributed among the small rafts loaded on the swift vessel, were pulling water bandits floundering in the water to safety, while on another ship, the water bandits with their heads bowed were being transferred to the swift vessel one by one, bound by ropes.
‘One ship sunk. The other captured.’
For a first naval engagement, it was an exceptional victory.
Originally, I had intended to sink both vessels, but the moment the water bandits saw their comrades’ ship going down, they lost their will to fight and surrendered—there was nothing I could do about that.
Of course, even with their surrender, the outcome was not particularly merciful.
“How dare you filthy wretches sully the name of the Yangtze River Water Bandit Alliance?”
No matter how moderate Moo-song claimed to be, he was ultimately a martial artist without qualms about killing and a water bandit hardened by the treacherous Yangtze River.
Once his temper flared, there was no stopping him.
“Throw them to the fish.”
The tightly bound water bandits’ eyes widened in horror.
“This… this can’t be happening!”
“Leader! Please, anything but that!”
But what returned to them was Moo-song’s frigid gaze.
“Leader? You belong to a different water bandit gang, so why would I be your leader? And don’t worry. Your gang leader will be joining you soon, so you won’t be lonely.”
“We were wrong! Please, just this once…!”
“If you dared to encroach upon Water Dragon Stronghold’s territory and commit such acts, you should have been prepared for this. Do you know why I bothered to fish you out? So I could punish you with my own hands.”
As Moo-song gestured, his subordinates approached and dragged the water bandits away.
Though the water bandits screamed as death loomed before their eyes, their limbs already bound, they sank beneath the surface with a splash.
As more than fifty water bandits were drowned alive one after another, Chung Poong’s face turned ashen and he bit his lip.
‘I can’t blame him.’
There was no way someone who feared blood could endure such a sight.
I felt somewhat concerned and ventured to speak.
“Close your eyes. I’ll let you know when it’s over.”
“No, my benefactor. I’m fine.”
“They may deserve death, but they’re still people dying. It can be hard to watch.”
“No.”
“Hmm?”
Chung Poong’s eyes trembled slightly as he opened his mouth.
“I’m just… trying to become accustomed to it.”
Accustomed to it. I never thought I’d hear such words from Chung Poong.
Chung Poong possessed an inherently virtuous nature and, unlike youths his age, remained untainted by worldly corruption.
Perhaps that’s why he had feared blood and avoided killing, but now I sensed a firm resolve within him.
‘The battle with the Blood Lord at Songshan. Did it begin then?’
It was clear that the fear and terror of death, experienced for the first time, had awakened something within Chung Poong.
On one hand, I felt proud of him; on the other, a bittersweet sadness.
‘There’s no helping it. This is the Murim.’
That’s right. This is the Murim. And a Murim shrouded in the aura of war at that.
In such a place, one cannot remain an innocent mountain youth forever.
‘If he’s grown even like this… perhaps it’s for the best.’
Chung Poong, who had been straining to keep his eyes open despite their heaviness, released a sigh of relief. At last, the disposal of the water bandits was complete.
But everything was not yet finished.
“Hwang Tae-gu. Now it’s your turn.”
Moo-song’s low voice echoed across the deck.
Unlike the other water bandits, a man in his fifties was bound tightly in chains and forced to kneel before Moo-song. Hwang Tae-gu was the ringleader who had orchestrated this entire affair.
Seeing this, Gung Ki-bang muttered.
“I wondered why Moo-song was here, but now it makes sense.”
“What do you mean?”
“Even the Nine Major Sects and the Five Great Families have their factions. What more could you expect from a water bandit collective like the Yangtze River Water Bandit Alliance?”
“Did this Hwang Tae-gu lose in a factional struggle?”
“He was known for his greed and brutality. Just a few years ago, he dominated the Yangtze in Sichuan… but he must have been pushed out by Moo-song.”
Was this a loser who lost in an internal power struggle, only to be caught by the scruff of the neck just as he was making his escape?
While I was thinking such thoughts, Hwang Tae-gu’s mouth opened.
“I have nothing to say to a naive child ignorant of how the world works. Kill him.”
“Even without your words, your wish will be granted. But why on earth did you orchestrate such a thing?”
“Kekeke, what a foolish question. I am a water bandit. What problem is there with a water bandit killing and plundering?”
“There’s no reasoning with you. I should have killed you long ago.”
It was the moment when Moo-song, his face hardening, lifted the harpoon.
“Might the esteemed Moo-song, the Flame-Fire Blade Master, spare a moment?”
A voice suddenly rang out, piercing through everyone’s ears.

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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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