Murim Login - Chapter 436

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 436
The Yangtze River.
Just hearing the name was enough to understand—the scale of the Yangtze, particularly its length, was second to none across the Continent.
Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Anhui, and finally Jiangsu. It cut through five provinces in total, making it a vital hub for maritime transport, which meant it would occupy a significant portion of our journey.
“First, we’ll travel along the tributaries of the Yangtze to Hubei, then disembark and proceed overland to Hanan.”
After finishing his broad explanation, Jin Wi-kyung slowly swept his gaze across our group, including myself.
“Does anyone have questions?”
Whoosh!
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, a hand shot up.
Judging by the speed of the raise alone, one might mistake him for an honor student brimming with academic enthusiasm, but the actual owner of that hand was a supreme master known throughout the Martial World as a thoroughgoing ruffian.
“I’ve had something on my mind since earlier.”
“I’m all ears, Sea King.”
“So what you’re saying is….”
Jeok Cheon-gang continued, his expression darkening.
“It sounds like you’re telling us to grow old and die on this damned Yangtze River. Am I mistaken?”
Of course it’s the Fire King. He’s always so direct.
Jin Wi-kyung swallowed hard at Jeok Cheon-gang’s blunt manner of speaking—like an eight-ton truck with broken steering.
“That couldn’t be further from the truth, Sea King. This is simply the itinerary that emerged from our meeting.”
“A meeting? What kind of lunatics drew up a schedule like this? Even at the fastest pace, it’ll take at least seven weeks just to reach Hubei!”
“At the top is Sword Saint Geom-seong Maejong-hak, and below him are representatives from the Nine Major Sects and One Alliance and the Five Great Families….”
“That’s enough. I don’t need to hear any more.”
“Pardon?”
“Those Nine Major Sects and One Alliance bastards and Five Great Families fools have nothing but shit for brains, so don’t bother with them. I’ll explain things properly to Maejong-hak myself, so change the schedule right now. If I have to stare at water all day, I’ll go mad.”
In short, he was saying to scrap the whole plan.
Because it was Jeok Cheon-gang—only Jeok Cheon-gang could pull off such tyranny. There wasn’t a soul in this place who dared to contradict him.
‘Well, there is one person.’
Jeok Cheon-gang must have arrived at the same thought as me in that instant.
When he turned his head slightly, his gaze collided with Moon-kyung’s in the empty air.
Looking at Moon-kyung, whose eyes conveyed contempt, Jeok Cheon-gang spat out a single remark.
“Hey, why are you looking at me like that?”
“…!”
“You wet-behind-the-ears brat. I should just poke out those eyes of yours and drain them dry.”
Now he was openly taunting him.
Moon-kyung’s fists trembled slightly. For someone like me who knew his true nature, it was a chilling sight, but others perceived it differently.
Hyuk Moo-jin and Gung Ki-bang, who had been suffering from the aftereffects of their earlier encounter with the Yangtze, spoke in hushed voices.
“Why are you picking on the boy? Look how he’s shaking. He has such a gentle heart…”
“I may have eaten stray dogs and such, but Moon-kyung couldn’t even kill an ant.”
“….”
He’d have killed a person in the time it took to kill an ant.
I’d heard that over a thousand people had “officially” lost their lives at the hands of Sal-sung alone.
Even if I applied medicine to my sword and traveled with it, I wasn’t the type to be called soft-hearted.
“You bastards… No, never mind. Just live however you want.”
Jeok Cheon-gang, who was about to say something out of exasperation, let out a deep sigh instead. Then he suddenly turned his direction toward me.
“Why do you have nothing to say?”
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean. Whether you want to keep drifting on this tedious water.”
“Oh, that.”
I scratched my chin briefly in thought before answering.
“I don’t think it’s so bad.”
“What!”
“Youngest!”
Jeok Cheon-gang and Jin Wi-kyung’s expressions diverged. But this wasn’t something I said to help Jin Wi-kyung—it was my genuine feeling.
“The leadership must have had their reasons for deciding this way. And well, since I’m looking at it anyway, the scenery is quite beautiful.”
This was a world without environmental pollution. When dawn broke, watching the misty haze that blanketed the river and the endless expanse of clear water made my chest feel open and free.
When Jeok Cheon-gang was unconscious, I hadn’t felt any of this emotion….
In any case, right now I needed to set aside my impatience for a moment and reflect on myself, to gather my composure.
‘And there are things I need to investigate.’
The mysterious patterns and symbols discovered in both worlds.
I needed to verify whether my suspicions about them were true. To do that, I had much to handle while moving between the Murim and the modern world. If I traveled by land, that time would be significantly reduced.
I gently coaxed Jeok Cheon-gang to change his mind.
“It’s only a difference of a few days anyway. Old Master Noya—I mean, Master, you should think about your health too. It hasn’t been that long since you pushed yourself so hard.”
“Push myself? Who are you treating like a dying old man?”
“…Well then. Are you in the prime of youth? Eighteen years old in your full glory?”
“You brat!”
The moment Jeok Cheon-gang’s eyes blazed with fury, I hastily opened my mouth.
“Martial arts! I need instruction in martial arts!”
The hand that had risen as if to strike me froze in mid-air. Not missing that opening, I continued.
“I’ve recently gained some enlightenment, but if I travel by land, I won’t have enough time to receive proper instruction.”
“Instruction, you say….”
“There are aspects that I simply cannot understand, no matter how hard I rack my brain or think about it, even if I died and came back to life.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. There is only one person under heaven. Only Master can teach me this precious knowledge.”
Jeok Cheon-gang’s eyes narrowed.
“If you traveled by land and maximized the Gyeongsin Method, couldn’t you reach Hanan a few days faster?”
“What does that have to do with receiving instruction?”
“It has everything to do with it. Didn’t you say the other day that Sword Saint Maejong-hak seemed stronger than me? By your own words, wouldn’t it be better to arrive in Hanan a day sooner and ask the Sword Saint instead?”
He remembered something I’d casually thrown out as a joke.
I put on a blank face and answered.
“I think you misheard me. Was I perhaps drunk at that time?”
“Now you’re being cheeky.”
“To me, my master will always be the greatest.”
“Is that so?”
Jeok Cheon-gang glanced sideways at Moon-kyung and asked.
“Then how would you compare to Sal-sung?”
“Pardon?”
“Sal-sung, I mean. Among the Three Stars, there’s Sal-sung, who surpasses all others when it comes to taking lives. How would you say I compare to him?”
I could feel it—the gleam of curiosity in their eyes as they awaited my answer.
And the subtle killing intent that someone had released into the air.
‘Damn it. I have no idea.’
I swallowed hard and opened my mouth.
“You’re incomparable, sir.”
“Hmm. So you do know something?”
“I’m hardly an expert. If I try to speak carelessly, it shows.”
“Ahem. Did you oil your tongue? You’re flattering me in ways you never have before. Do you think I’m so shallow as to fall for such tricks?”
“…But why are you smiling?”
Is he the Murim’s joker?
Jeok Cheon-gang’s mouth corners stretched to his ears before he hardened his expression. He couldn’t hide the corners of his mouth twitching as he suppressed his laughter.
“When did I ever?”
“No, sir. In any case, let’s just continue as we are.”
Jeok Cheon-gang also knew that I had opened my middle dantian. He pondered briefly, then smacked his lips.
“Damn it. No matter what, I despise water. Looks like I’ll have a rough time in my old age.”
“…”
What, was I a fire-type Pokémon in my past life? At this point, shouldn’t I change my epithet from Fire King to Charizard?
“What’s with that disrespectful look?”
“Me? When?”
“Never mind. It’s not the first or second time anyway. It’s my fault for expecting propriety from a reckless thunderbolt like you.”
Jeok Cheon-gang clicked his tongue and turned his head toward Jin Wi-kyung.
“You heard everything?”
“Yes. I will serve without any inconvenience.”
“So, you’re going to take this tedious Yangtze River to Hubei and do what exactly? There must be a reason worth enduring such trouble?”
“I have urgent business to attend to.”
“Business?”
“May I explain later?”
Jeok Cheon-gang narrowed his eyes, but only to that extent. When Jin Wi-kyung spoke like that, it meant the secret was best kept from prying eyes.
And Jeok Cheon-gang, while he might not show it, was far from lacking in perceptiveness.
“I see. Is there anything else to discuss?”
Jin Wi-kyung respectfully clasped his fist in salute.
“Thank you for your time.”
Yet there was one person unsatisfied with the outcome of this brief meeting.
“Wait a moment. So you’re saying you’ll take our Water Dragon Stronghold’s Fast Ship to Hubei?”
Just as the ship’s owner, Moo-song, was about to respond to Jin Wi-kyung, Jeok Cheon-gang stepped between them.
“Is there some problem?”
“Well, Jeok Dae-hyup. Hubei is far too distant. Even with favorable winds, it would take more than seven days….”
“You cannot leave the Water Dragon Stronghold unattended for that long?”
“Yes, yes. That is precisely it!”
“A body with limbs attached but no head is useless. That would be troublesome.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Go only as far as Sichuan.”
Moo-song’s face brightened considerably.
“Thank you!”
“Leave the ship.”
“Pardon?”
“Does this old man travel by small boat? The crew can be found along the way, so leave the Fast Ship and return.”
Moo-song, who had been silent for a moment, opened his mouth with difficulty.
“That is….”
“What?”
“Upon further reflection, it seems my subordinates and I should attend to you with both material and personal support.”
“Ah, there is no need for such things. I already feel sorry for having consumed one of your ships, and I am uncertain whether I should accept such kindness.”
“…Please do not set fires to express your displeasure.”
“That depends on what you do.”
Is this what they call the tyranny of a major enterprise?
In all my years, I have never seen a subordinate look so pitiful.
Chung Poong, who had quietly approached the departing Moo-song with his sorrowful expression, extended the dumpling he held in his hand.
Somehow he had already consumed so much that both his cheeks were on the verge of bursting.
“Mmph.”
“…Are you telling me to eat? You are giving this to me now?”
“Yes!”
For the first time in a long while, Moo-song felt the warmth of human kindness, and his eyes grew moist.
“Thank you, So-hyup.”
And as he shoved the cold dumpling into his mouth, Chung Poong swallowed what was in his own mouth and broke into a radiant smile.
“It is delicious, is it not?”
“Indeed it is. It is the most delicious dumpling I have tasted in recent times. I must beg for more next time.”
“That was my last one.”
“You gave me your last remaining dumpling? So-hyup, what manner of person are you…!”
“My grandfather told me. When you have something good, you must share it with others.”
Considering that this boy had consumed everything by himself until now, it sounds like nonsense, but Moo-song, unaware of this fact, was deeply moved.
“Thank you, So-hyup. We have barely spoken, yet you show me such consideration. I did not even realize…. *sniffles*.”
But the emotion Moo-song felt did not last long.
“My grandfather also said this: whoever eats the last dumpling must buy the next batch!”
“…?”
“…?”
“If we travel just one more day, we’ll reach a place called Guang’an, and they sell the most delicious dumplings at the market there. When I spent a year touring the Continent, I stayed for two months just because of those dumplings—wait, no. My Grandfather said we absolutely must stop by that place! He said whoever eats those dumplings last has to buy a huge batch to take with us!”
“….”
“….”
What a terrifying brat.
Now he’s even selling out his Grandfather just to stuff his face with dumplings.
Gung Ki-bang, watching this spectacle unfold, muttered that he would make an excellent Beggar Clan disciple, while Moo-song, now resigned to stopping at a Guang’an dumpling restaurant, replied with the expression of someone who had lost all faith in humanity.
“Understood.”
“Yes! My Grandfather will be so pleased!”
Is this even human?
It was precisely when I was reeling from the boundless depths of his shamelessness.
“You don’t look well. Would it be alright if I gave you a quick examination?”
Damn it. Moon-kyung was looking at me with a worried expression.
A large acupuncture needle hidden in one hand pressed firmly against my waist.
“Ah. No. No. I’m perfectly fine….”
“You don’t look well. Would it be alright if I gave you a quick examination?”
“Really, I’m okay….”
“You don’t look well. Would it be alright if I gave you a quick examination?”
“….”
Embarrassing as it is, I think I just wet myself a little.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————