Murim Login - Chapter 333

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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 333
“Might the esteemed Moo-song, the Boatman of Flame, spare us a moment?”
I wanted to give a standing ovation to whoever had spoken those words.
Think about it—who could possibly say something like that in an atmosphere like this?
Especially when the person being addressed was a water bandit leader who had fed over fifty of his own men to the fishes in the span of five minutes.
But who was it?
‘Judging by the way he used “esteemed,” he’s clearly not from our circle.’
Moo-song’s subordinates called him by titles like “captain” or “leader,” so they were out. None of us in our party, myself included, had spoken, so we were ruled out as well.
That left only….
‘The passengers who had been attacked by the water bandits.’
Everyone present had clearly arrived at the same conclusion.
My companions and I. The water bandits of Water Dragon Stronghold. All eyes turned in one direction—toward the twenty passengers who had transferred to the swift vessel when Hwang Tae-gu’s assault had tilted the original boat.
“Who speaks? Step forward.”
Moo-song’s fierce eyes, harpoon extended, sent his subordinates scrambling to clear a path. At the end of that corridor stood a single figure.
“It is I, sir.”
From the moment I heard his voice, I had suspected as much, but he was remarkably young. Almost boyish, even.
‘At most, twenty years old?’
Better described as a boy than a young man, he seemed flustered by the attention and awkwardly clasped his hands together.
“I, I am called Moon-kyung.”
“Moon-kyung?”
Moo-song furrowed his brow as he asked.
“An unfamiliar name. And you don’t appear to be a martial artist either.”
Moo-song’s eye for talent was precise.
The aura emanating from the boy, Moon-kyung, was nothing more than that of an ordinary commoner—neither more nor less.
Moon-kyung swallowed hard under our scrutinizing gaze and answered.
“Y-yes, that’s correct. I am merely a physician still in training, with no connection to the Martial World whatsoever.”
“A physician? Yet you know of me?”
“How could anyone not know of the righteous boatman of Sichuan’s Yangtze River, who strictly upholds the principle of not taking innocent lives?”
Pure lip service, if I’ve ever seen it.
Moo-song’s mouth twitched—the water bandit leader who extorted the Sichuan river routes had just been recast as a righteous boatman.
“Hmm. Is that so?”
“Wealth may come and go, but one has only a single life. Those who know how many lives vanished from the Yangtze years ago call Moo-song the Benevolent and Righteous Hero.”
“Ahem. Benevolent and Righteous Hero? I’m content enough being the Hero of the Yangtze.”
What nonsense is he spouting….
For all his principles, Moo-song is still a water bandit. Committing petty extortion doesn’t make one a model citizen.
But this young physician seemed to think differently.
“My parents met untimely deaths on the Yangtze over a decade ago. Had Moo-song not saved me, I would have suffered the same fate.”
“Ah, what a tragedy. But a decade ago, you say….”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Moon-kyung continued, his voice trembling.
“The man kneeling before the Alliance Leader right now is my parents’ murderer.”
“Hmm.”
The boatmen and passengers who had been listening intently to Moon-kyung’s account let out a soft murmur. Moo-song, nodding as if he understood, opened his mouth.
“Now I understand why you asked me to stop. Though it goes against the Alliance’s rules, I can certainly appreciate your sentiment, so I’ll give you this opportunity.”
“Are you saying you’ll grant me authority over his life and death?”
“Of course.”
But Moon-kyung’s next words defied everyone’s expectations, including mine.
“Then… please spare his life.”
“…!”
“…!”
Moo-song, who had been about to hand over the harpoon he was holding, and Hwang Tae-gu, who had resigned himself to his fate with closed eyes, both snapped their eyes open and stared at Moon-kyung.
“What, what did you say?”
Moo-song, bewildered, asked again, and Moon-kyung bowed respectfully.
“Though my desire to avenge my parents burns as fiercely as a chimney, I am a physician. How can one who deals in life bring about death? I only ask that you strip him of his martial arts and punish him according to strict law, so that he may never commit such atrocities again.”
“If that’s the case, he’ll be transported to the Alliance’s main headquarters. He deserves to die, but… with all the connections he’s cultivated, he might save his own neck. Wouldn’t it be better to settle this grudge here and now?”
“Though I have no ties to the Martial World, I have heard well that for those who dwell within it, losing one’s martial arts is akin to death. I have not killed him, yet is it not the same as if I had? And…”
Moon-kyung gazed at Hwang Tae-gu with clear eyes.
“This is not personal vengeance, but justice on behalf of the greater good. If the Yangtze River Water Bandit Alliance takes direct action to punish him, will it not serve as a warning to others who commit such slaughter?”
The boy’s voice was now steady and unwavering, carrying a power that made all who heard it nod in agreement.
Among those watching, exclamations of admiration rippled through the crowd.
“Well, truly. This young one is remarkable.”
“If it were me, I would have driven a harpoon through his chest on the spot.”
“He’s quite the exceptional one. He’ll make a fine physician.”
Moo-song too seemed deeply moved by the clear and compelling words. Nodding with an expression of admiration, he stepped before Hwang Tae-gu.
“If your ears still work, you heard him. What do you think?”
“I… I will surely survive and tear every one of you to shreds.”
The murderous gleam in Hwang Tae-gu’s eyes did not last long.
Thud!
“Gasp!”
Moo-song’s foot was driven into the spot below Hwang Tae-gu’s navel—the Dantian, as it is called.
Moo-song looked down coldly at Hwang Tae-gu, who had been knocked backward and was coughing up blood.
“Try surviving and doing as you wish. Your Dantian is shattered, so even if you live, it will be a living death.”
With a sharp whistling sound, a foot came flying once more, striking the Dantian again.
Whoosh. Crack!
“Gasp, ah, no!”
By the time Hwang Tae-gu’s screams echoed hollowly through the air, everything had already transpired.
Whoosh.
I could feel it. The energy flowing from his Seven Apertures was scattering into the void.
Just as water spills out when a cup holding it shatters, so too did the martial power stored in the Dantian vanish the moment the Qi Sea was destroyed.
“You… you will surely-!”
The peak master who once commanded countless vessels and dominated the Yangtze River in Sichuan no longer exists.
Hwang Tae-gu, now merely a powerless man in his fifties, had been spewing endless cries until Moo-song’s pressure point strike rendered him rigid as stone.
“Shut that noisy fool up. Throw him somewhere appropriate, and we’ll transport him to headquarters later.”
“Yes, sir.”
As a water bandit with bronze-colored hair resembling Dugtrio hoisted Hwang Tae-gu onto his back and vanished, the entire situation came to a close.
Moo-song scratched the back of his head and surveyed the crowd.
“Well now. I’m afraid we’ve shown you quite an unsightly spectacle. I offer my sincerest apologies to all those who suffered through this ordeal.”
Was this a case of good bandits vanquishing bad bandits?
In any case, the common folk whose lives had been saved by the emergence of Water Dragon Stronghold bowed their heads gratefully.
“Oh my, no. Without you heroes of the Yangtze River, we would have surely perished.”
“How could we ever repay such a debt….”
“It seems the Primordial Celestial Worthy watched over us—not a single soul was lost, so please don’t trouble yourselves.”
What? Not a single death?
At someone’s words, I suddenly scanned the passengers.
‘It’s true.’
Though there were injured scattered about, I saw no corpses.
Even though Moo-song and I arrived before the melee truly began, they had certainly been firing arrows and harpoons from a distance….
‘How did merely twenty civilians manage that?’
The question that flashed through my mind was soon answered.
“If that young physician over there hadn’t been present, we’d all be dead for certain.”
“Right. How he remained so composed in such a situation… truly remarkable.”
The murmured conversation went like this.
When people spotted the approaching bandits and fell into chaos, Moon-kyung had stepped forward, instructing them to tear up the deck to use as shields and to break the mast.
‘The deck, fine, but break the mast?’
An ordinary person would have thought only of rowing desperately to escape, but Moon-kyung was different.
He had destroyed the sail, surrendering the vessel’s fate to the violent currents of the turbulent Yangtze River as if caught in a whirlwind.
‘And it worked.’
I understood roughly how water combat operated.
The basic tactic was to rake with arrows from distance, then ram the vessel close alongside or use ropes to board and attempt hand-to-hand combat.
But if the target had completely lost its directional control and was spinning and pitching wildly, it became far more difficult to seize an opportunity. Moon-kyung had bought time precisely this way.
‘Heh, look at this one.’
The way he’d handled Hwang Tae-gu’s disposition—he was no ordinary clever fellow.
Perhaps sensing my gaze upon him, Moon-kyung, who had been smiling awkwardly at the praise directed his way, flinched.
“S-So-hyup. Is there something you need from me?”
“Need? Nothing really. Just looking at you and thinking—you’re young enough to be my younger brother, yet you’ve accomplished something truly remarkable.”
“Y-You’re too kind.”
“From what I hear, you were quite bold. How did such a thought occur to you?”
“Though I walk the path of a physician now, before my parents passed, I read many miscellaneous texts.”
“Miscellaneous texts?”
“Yes. Despite appearances, my family hails from a humble military lineage. My grandfather was a military official who received stipends from the court.”
A faint wariness toward a stranger, coupled with an attempt to conceal subtle satisfaction.
Looking at it this way, there’s hardly any difference between him and a boy his age, yet something feels off about it.
As I scrutinized Moon-kyung carefully, I muttered inwardly.
‘Skill, Sense Activation.’
Ding.
Along with the familiar chime, information about the boy suddenly materialized in the air before me.
[Lv.6 Moon-kyung]
“I was off the mark.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing. Just grow up healthy and well-fed.”
“Y-yes, of course….”
Inwardly clicking my tongue, I turned away from the bewildered Moon-kyung.
Then Moo-song, who had been watching, casually spoke up.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing serious. Just took a personal interest, that’s all.”
“Junior, don’t tell me you have a taste for men?”
This damnable bastard….
Seeing my expression, he coughed awkwardly and changed the subject.
“Ahem, in any case, let us continue on our way. The currents are rough, but the wind is favorable—we should reach Xi’an in no time.”
“What about the other passengers? The ship they were on was listing.”
“The others? Ah, my subordinates will see them safely to solid ground.”
Moo-song chuckled and added a remark.
“Though naturally, we’ll accept a modest fee for our troubles.”
“….”
Saving lives and then extorting payment. Should I call this clever or foolish?
It was at that moment, faced with this novel form of creative economics, that I found myself speechless.
“Wait, just a moment, please.”
“Hmm?”
It was Moon-kyung. The boy who had been nervously fidgeting with his fingers finally spoke.
“Um, did you just say you’re heading to Xi’an?”
“That’s right. Why?”
Moon-kyung, startled, quickly poured out his words.
“It’s just that I happen to be heading to Xi’an as well, and if you would only grant me passage, I shall repay this kindness with eternal gratitude, inscribed upon my very bones, and even if this body dies and is reborn a thousand times and crumbles to dust, I shall never forget….”
What is this now.
I let out a long sigh toward this theatrical villain.
“Fine, get on.”
“Thank you so much!”
Watching the boy hurriedly gather his belongings, Moo-song muttered softly.
“Wait, this is my ship….”
Yeah. No, it isn’t.

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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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