Murim Login - Chapter 353

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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 353
Boom. Boom. Boom!
An old man muttered to himself as the resonant drum beats echoed through the air.
“It’s been quite a while since I heard this.”
With a squat frame and coarse, irregular features, he appeared to ordinary eyes as nothing more than an ugly and ill-tempered elder.
Yet those who had ever crossed paths with him called him by a different name.
‘Evil Demon.’
The old man curled his lips upward. Gazing at the pups waiting for him atop the city walls that encircled the Sichuan Tang Sect like an iron fortress—a hundred paces ahead—his mood brightened considerably.
“The stench of blood already seems to permeate the air. This is how I felt when I first descended from Qilian Mountains.”
Born of a difficult labor, I was cursed with a hideous visage from birth.
What difference was there between me and my two brothers born on the same day, from the same womb? When our father vanished, the three of us—with nowhere else to turn—fled into Qilian Mountains to escape the scorn of mankind.
“We were so young then. We killed without discrimination—men, women—again and again….”
Born into an age of chaos, I became the Evil Demon.
When I looked around, those who had once despised me as hideous and pelted the three brothers with stones now lay submerged in pools of blood.
And when we joined the Demon Cult as it invaded the Central Plains, painting the world crimson with blood, people came to fear us as the Qilian Three Demons.
“Remembering those glory days brings such joy. Don’t you agree?”
Il-gwe, the First Demon, turned his head with a smile, then clicked his tongue as the delusion shattered.
“How strange. Perhaps age has made me forgetful.”
The two younger brothers who had clung to my shadow throughout our lives were not here now. Yi-gwe, the Second Demon, had departed for Qingcheng, and Sam-gwe, the Third Demon, for Emei.
Soon, those two renowned mountains would be drenched in rivers of blood and seas of corpses.
And….
Kwaaaang-!
At last, the signal flare announcing the beginning of it all pierced the sky.
Il-gwe laughed raucously at the thunderous sound that erupted beyond the city walls of the Sichuan Tang Sect. The Western Heavenly Demon Lord—the promised hour had arrived.
“The Demon Lord summons us. Is that not so!”
Cha-cha-cha-chang!
Hundreds of weapons were drawn, cleaving through the dawn air.
Three hundred Black Robed Organization members stretched in a long line behind Il-gwe. They had already shed their government uniforms and now stood fully armed in black leather armor.
“The time has come. Raise the banner!”
The moment Il-gwe’s cry echoed forth, those martial artists of the Tang Sect standing upon the city walls could see it.
Flutter.
Beyond the pale morning mist, a banner rose majestically skyward.
Two characters fluttering in the fierce wind.
“Dark Heaven…?”
Someone’s murmur atop the city wall was swallowed by the resonant drum beats.
Boom. Boom. Boom!
The Black Robed Organization members began their advance, keeping time with the drums that grew ever more forceful.
Breath flowed between their lips, hot and fierce, while their eyes burned cold. A razor-sharp killing intent radiated from their entire bodies.
And at the head of their formation stood one Evil Demon.
“The Heavenly Master commands.”
Eyes stained blood-red glistened with joy.
What a glorious day this was. The Orthodox Martial Arts World would remember this. All would tremble at the sight of Dark Heaven’s banner unfurled across the heavens.
Il-gwe trembled with exultation and cried out.
“Annihilate the Sichuan Tang Sect!”
“Your will!”
Boom. Boom-boom. Boom-boom-boom-boom!
The sharp thunder of war drums and fierce battle cries. Three hundred Black Robed Organization members surged toward the City Wall from below, while dark clouds gathered overhead, obscuring the sunlight that had just begun to pour down.
It was at that very moment that a powerful shout erupted from atop the City Wall.
“Vile demons daring to breach the Main Residence! Leave not a single one alive!”
“All units, release arrows!”
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh-whoosh! Thud!
Arrowheads shot with tremendous force pierced through bodies and embedded themselves in the earth. Blood mist hung in the air, and screams tore through it.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
Yet the casualties were minimal. Most of the Black Robed Organization members either blocked the arrows with their weapons or remained unharmed thanks to the armor they wore.
“Impossible… impossible!”
“Even the crossbows cannot pierce it. What in the world…!”
The crossbows, capable of penetrating even thick steel plates, proved useless against that armor.
As the Tang Sect warriors faltered, a small figure shot forward with dazzling speed, faster than anyone else.
Whoooosh!
“Kahahaha! Excellent, excellent!”
None atop the City Wall knew Il-gwe’s identity. Yet all who heard his laughter, mad with ecstasy, felt their hair stand on end with terror.
“Activate the Ten Thousand Poisons Formation!”
An urgent command. But Il-gwe, who had vanished like a phantom, had already reached the gate.
With a twisted, demonic grin, his single punch drew the armor’s power into a vortex around him.
“Let me taste the blood of the Tang Family.”
Whoooosh! Kaaaaaboom!
Thus began the battle.
* * *
“Hm?”
“What?”
Chung Poong and I exchanged glances simultaneously. And in that same moment, we both realized we were thinking the same thing.
“Did you hear that just now?”
“Benefactor, did you hear that?”
The Divine Physician, who had been taking Jeok Cheon-gang’s pulse as he remained unconscious, looked at us with bewilderment.
“What do you mean?”
“Just a moment.”
I raised my hand to silence the Divine Physician’s words and quietly focused my senses.
Though my body remained in the Underground Prison, my perception was different. My hearing, amplified many times over by the power of my cultivation, pierced beyond the labyrinthine corridors of the Underground Prison, ascending higher and higher still.
And then…
Boom.
This time, I could clearly hear it.
Chung Poong set down the food he’d been holding and opened his mouth.
“Benefactor, could this be….”
“That’s right.”
I gazed up at the ceiling of the Underground Prison and continued.
“A drum.”
Boom, boom, boom.
As if in agreement with my words, the drum sounded at precisely that moment.
Ding.
– An emergency Quest has been generated.
– You cannot refuse. The Quest has been automatically accepted!
– Would you like to check the Quest information?
“….”
I stared silently at the holographic window filling my vision.
An unexpected drum sound and an emergency Quest. This was no good omen.
Damn it, I can already feel goosebumps on my forearms.
“This is driving me insane, seriously.”
But there was no turning back now. The only thing I could do was confirm what path lay before me.
‘Check Quest information.’
Ding.
A new holographic window materialized with that distinctive cheerful notification sound.
Of course, despite the upbeat notification, the contents displayed on the Quest window were anything but cheerful.
Quest
[An Uninvited Guest]
The dark clouds of Dark Heaven have finally descended upon Sichuan.
Battle has already commenced, and the Sichuan Tang Sect is surrounded.
May fortune favor you.
Rank
: ???
Restrictions
: ???
Objective
: ???
Reward
: ???
Failure
: Death
I read through it exactly three times from beginning to end. And I thought.
‘What kind of ridiculous mess is this.’
I was so dumbfounded I couldn’t even speak.
The content was absurdly straightforward. Enemies had invaded. We were surrounded with no escape. First, I would pray for fortune in martial combat. That was all.
‘Damn it, pathetically simple.’
Rank, restrictions, objectives, rewards—everything was marked with question marks.
Well, at least they made one thing crystal clear.
Fail this Quest, and I die.
Unbelievable. If I couldn’t repel the invading forces, death awaited me. I hadn’t anticipated such news. I nearly burst out laughing at how generously they’d informed me of this wonderful detail.
‘Is this a Quest information window or a Quest notification window?’
Boom. Boom. Boom.
My vision swam. As the drum sounds grew increasingly distinct and thunderous, cold sweat began to bead across my lower back.
Yet my mind, by contrast, had turned to ice.
I closed the Quest window and took a deep breath before speaking.
“Old Master, we have a problem.”
The Divine Physician had learned martial arts, but his cultivation fell far short of mine and Chung Poong’s.
Unlike us, he hadn’t heard the drum sounds, so he asked with a puzzled expression.
“A problem? What do you mean?”
“Enemies have invaded.”
“Enemies? Here at the Sichuan Tang Sect?”
“Yes, without question. We’re already surrounded.”
The Divine Physician’s face showed disbelief—a perfectly natural reaction. What madman would dare assault the Sichuan Tang Sect?
But if those madmen were Dark Heaven, everything changed. They were the very architects who had drenched Shaolin Temple in blood.
Yet with every second precious, I had no time for lengthy explanations.
“Prepare yourself for whatever comes. Steel your resolve.”
“…Understood.”
The Divine Physician nodded grimly.
Perhaps from wandering the realm and witnessing countless trials, he seemed to accept reality far more swiftly than I’d expected.
I gazed at Jeok Cheon-gang, who still lay with his eyes closed, and asked.
“How is my master’s condition?”
“As I mentioned before, his vital energy remains unstable. Should he suffer external trauma in this state…”
The Divine Physician’s words trailed off, but that was enough for me to understand.
Jeok Cheon-gang’s condition was precarious. According to the Quest window, the Sichuan Tang Sect was already surrounded by Dark Heaven.
‘If we break through their encirclement and escape?’
The thought flashed through my mind, but I immediately dismissed it.
Beyond Jeok Cheon-gang’s safety, the odds of success were slim. Recalling Dark Heaven’s full strength when they struck Shaolin Temple, we’d likely be walking straight into a death trap.
‘Especially the Blood Lord. With a monster like him present, we must avoid confrontation at all costs.’
After deliberation, only one answer emerged.
I slowly opened my mouth.
“So-hyup.”
Chung Poong answered in a subdued voice.
“Yes, my benefactor.”
“May I ask you for one favor?”
“Anything at all.”
Chung Poong was endlessly naive and lighthearted, yet every so often he revealed a gravitas that caught me off guard.
And each time he did, I found him more trustworthy than anyone else.
That was why I could make such a request of him now.
“Protect Old Master Noya here—protect my master. That’s my request.”
“…!”
“You heard from outside, but right now we can’t escape. Someone has to get out and help the Sichuan Tang Sect.”
“Benefactor.”
“So….”
“Benefactor.”
I swallowed the words that were about to follow. Chung Poong was looking at me with transparent eyes.
“If you tell me to stay, I’ll stay. If you tell me to go, I’ll go. But benefactor.”
His soft voice reached my ears.
“You have someone you need to protect, don’t you?”
“…!”
“I… when I needed to protect someone, I was too afraid to fight, and I couldn’t protect the people I cared about. So I’m a fool.”
I hadn’t known. That Chung Poong harbored such thoughts.
Because afterward, he lived as brightly, as talkatively, as joyfully as anyone in the world.
He was always like that. It suited him, and it seemed natural.
‘But it wasn’t.’
As if recalling memories from Hanan, Chung Poong turned his gaze from somewhere distant and dark in the Underground Prison and looked toward me.
A smile—familiar yet different from usual—played at the corners of his mouth.
Only then could I truly understand. It was time to decide.
‘One stays. One departs.’
I shifted my gaze slowly. Chung Poong, still wearing that smile. Divine Physician, with worry etched across her face. The screams and shouts of someone drawing ever closer.
And… the face of Jeok Cheon-gang, cast in the flickering shadows of torchlight.
In the next moment, my lips were moving before I could think.
“So-hyup. I have one favor to ask.”
My gaze and Chung Poong’s collided.
I pointed toward the ceiling and grinned.
“Go give those bastards a taste of hell.”
“Yes, benefactor!”
His answer was brighter than ever.

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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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