Murim Login - Chapter 451

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

Chapter 451
“Benefactor, where are you going?”
“Huh? What?”
I flinched as I quietly stepped toward the door. Chung Poong, who had been gathering his belongings, tilted his head and looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“Aren’t you going somewhere?”
“Oh, well… something urgent came up.”
“But you said we needed to depart quickly, didn’t you?”
“Listen, Chung Poong. I didn’t want to have to spell this out for you…”
I hardened my expression and opened my mouth.
“I’m going to the outhouse. Satisfied?”
“But the outhouse isn’t in that direction.”
“…”
Unnecessarily sharp, this one.
Since martial arts was his minor and eating and defecating his major, he undoubtedly knew the location of every outhouse on the island.
After hesitating for a moment, I answered.
“…I’m just taking a walk to relieve myself.”
Even I thought it was a pathetic excuse.
Only then did Gung Ki-bang and Hyuk Moo-jin, sensing something amiss, pause their packing and turn their heads toward me.
“Gung Poong, doesn’t our captain seem a bit loose-tongued today?”
“Right. Why does he seem so restless?”
“I’m just deciding which one of you two to hit first.”
Under normal circumstances, I should have backed down by this point, but these two had already grown accustomed to my violence.
“Hmm. If you were your usual self, Captain, your hands would have moved before your words. But now you’re fumbling with excuses? There’s definitely something going on.”
“Is that so?”
“Absolutely. Do you think I’ve only been beaten once or twice? There’s causality and flow to all of this.”
Just as Hyuk Moo-jin was watching me with half-lidded eyes, Gung Ki-bang’s eyes suddenly widened as he scanned the surroundings.
“Wait, where did Moon-kyung go?”
“Huh? That’s strange. He was with us just a moment ago. Where on earth did this guy go?”
Where did he go? He’s already outside waiting for me.
‘We need to talk.’
I sighed, recalling the telepathic message Moon-kyung had left behind.
If I denied it any further, I’d only invite more suspicion.
“He’s outside. There’s something we need to discuss privately.”
“At the outhouse? Just the two of you?”
“…What kind of nonsense is that, you lunatic? The way you say it makes it sound suggestive.”
Hyuk Moo-jin looked at me with an ambiguous expression and spoke.
“Captain. I’m already accustomed to curses and violence, so I’m fine. But please don’t lead Moon-kyung astray with anything strange.”
“…”
What is this madman saying? I’m about to be the one drenched in blood.
I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even speak properly, when Gung Ki-bang added a word.
“Hyuk Moo-jin is right. The kid seems thoughtful and kind the more I see him—don’t needlessly pick on him and cause trouble.”
“Wow, you bastards really… No, forget it. What would you know anyway.”
Chung Poong, who had only now grasped the situation, clamped his mouth shut like someone who’d eaten honey… wait, looking now, he’s actually eating candy.
‘Where in the world does that candy keep coming from?’
Any more of this and I’ll lose my mind.
I shook my head and left the house, ignoring the voices coming from behind.
As I stepped outside, Moon-kyung in pristine white robes was waiting for me in the courtyard.
“You’re late.”
“Still, it didn’t take that long….”
“You’re late.”
“I’m sorry….”
“You’re late.”
….
Please, save me.
The pressure of that repetitive loop was no joke. I swallowed hard at the momentum being fired so discreetly that no one else could notice.
“S-sorry for being late. But what’s this about?”
“Pardon?”
“Huh?”
“What do you mean? You called me out earlier saying you had something to tell me.”
Is this the actor of the year selected by the Cannes Film Festival?
The way he blinked his eyes as if he knew absolutely nothing was so convincing that even I was momentarily deceived.
The monster wearing the mask of a young physician smiled brightly and continued.
“Ah, you want to move to a different place? Understood.”
“No. I think it would be better if we just talked here if possible….”
“Ah, you want to move to a different place? Understood.”
“…Yes, let’s do that.”
I miss my mother.
With tears welling up, I began to follow Moon-kyung.
Once we turned into a deserted area, avoiding the scattered members of the Je-gal Family Estate, Wudang School, and Water Dragon Stronghold, Moon-kyung finally opened his mouth.
“Dark Heaven. Are they behind this?”
“Well, it seems likely.”
“There’s no one here.”
I corrected myself at the speed of light.
“It seems likely, sir.”
“So you’re still not certain.”
“There’s always a margin of possibility. However, since no formation was discovered, I’m confident it’s Dark Heaven’s doing.”
“Dark Heaven, Dark Heaven….”
Moon-kyung, who had been muttering softly, suddenly lifted his head.
He stared silently at the dark night sky where even the full moon had hidden its face, then abruptly spoke.
“Did you notice anything strange when examining the corpses?”
“Strange, you say…?”
“The wounds left on the bodies.”
Every death leaves traces. Especially when that death results from combat between martial artists.
I’ve heard that a master with broad knowledge and deep understanding of various martial techniques can determine from the wounds alone what weapon was used and which technique brought the victim to death.
And this young physician before me was one of the Murim’s finest coroners, possessing both the insight and martial skill for such work.
“They were wounds I’d never seen before. They resembled the basic Three Talents Sword Technique, yet they undulated like waves. Most peculiar and mysterious wounds indeed.”
Moon-kyung slowly raised his hand and traced patterns through the empty air. The inner force flowing from his fingertips emitted a faint glow in the darkness.
“From what I can deduce, what Hyung Soo used was no ordinary weapon. It was a strange blade closer to a serpent sword with its undulating edge.”
“I thought it was cut by Qi force.”
“Your assumption is correct. It was definitely Qi force, or something as sharp as Qi force.”
The only thing as sharp as Qi force would be eternal cold iron.
And no matter how thoroughly Dark Heaven prepared, it was impossible for so many soldiers to wield weapons forged from eternal cold iron.
‘No matter how much gold one possesses, eternal cold iron remains difficult to obtain.’
This was a matter of resource scarcity, not capital. As I fell into thought, Moon-kyung asked me.
“Have you examined all the corpses?”
“Not all of them, but I’ve seen the notable ones. Since my knowledge isn’t particularly broad, I couldn’t identify which martial techniques were used even when viewing them directly.”
“Among the corpses you saw were those of Jang and Huang Chong. What did you observe?”
“Their waists were severed in a single stroke by Qi force. However, the decay was so severe that I could discern nothing beyond that….”
“And what of Guangshuoguigui and Paralangho?”
“That was….”
I suddenly furrowed my brow. A common point among three corpses had just occurred to me.
‘…Only their upper bodies remained.’
All three corpses—their severed lower halves were nowhere to be found.
Because I had seen several corpses in such condition before, I hadn’t found it strange at the time, but now it certainly raised questions.
“Wasn’t it fish that devoured them?”
“That’s not entirely wrong either. Based on my examination, the massacre at Dongjeong Pavilion occurred ten days ago. Since the cold has long since passed, severe decay is natural, and corpses submerged in water need not be mentioned.”
Warm sunlight and humid moisture had erased many traces left by death.
But separate from that, they could not erase another trace.
“In contrast, the corpses of common people retained relatively intact limbs. Were you aware of this fact?”
“Yes. Those without martial training were usually crushed rather than severed.”
Children, women, and the elderly—unlike the corpses of other sailors—had not been dismembered. They were simply crushed and pulped.
And there was one thing more.
“The houses and surrounding ground were completely devastated. This would be impossible without the application of tremendous force, and it’s not a method a master of strong inner force would employ.”
“So, a master of external cultivation?”
“There’s no one here, I said.”
“…It was merely thinking aloud.”
Geez, he’s quite sensitive.
I hastily made my excuse and fell into thought.
Martial techniques in the Murim are broadly divided into two categories: inner cultivation, which emphasizes the efficiency and application of force, and external cultivation, which uses force but trains the body to its absolute limits.
When people first enter the martial arts, they face two choices—and most choose the former.
External cultivation is grueling and painful, but more importantly, achieving results demands years of arduous perseverance.
‘Which means that only a handful of supreme external cultivation masters in the world can produce this level of destructive power.’
Even if you turned the entire realm upside down and shook it, there are precious few masters of such caliber.
I glanced at Moon-kyung with questioning eyes, and the young physician’s smooth forehead creased slightly.
“That won’t help. I don’t know his identity either. Or rather, I should say ‘their’ identities.”
“Two of them?”
“At least two. Perhaps three at most.”
“Three supreme masters….”
“My suspicion is that they surpass even the Qilian Three Demons we faced in Sichuan. At least one of them employs an unusual qi technique.”
Damn it. It’s not like there are five stars in the sky—why are there three supreme masters appearing now?
I’m grateful that Moon-kyung and Jeok Cheon-gang are standing firm; otherwise, I wouldn’t have dared leave my post for fear of what might happen.
“With this much information, Sam-gwe might know something. After all, he must have heard who his companions in arms are.”
Sam-gwe, the Third Demon we captured alive in Sichuan, is one reason I’m heading to the Je-gal Family Estate.
I heard he’s become like a manic-depressive patient since his testicles were crushed. With proper interrogation, he won’t last long.
‘Perhaps I can even use him to locate the formation.’
I was lost in such hopeful thoughts when it happened.
“Perhaps it’s someone we already know.”
“What?”
“The one who uses that qi technique.”
It took me a long moment to grasp the meaning of those words. The shock of being struck on the back of the head with a hammer.
I stared blankly at Moon-kyung and asked.
“Are you serious?”
“A seasoned supreme master. Unusual techniques and scars that are difficult to read. At such a level, one who employs this particular qi technique is not common.”
“Then you’re saying….”
Moon-kyung’s voice emerged hoarse between his lips.
“The Dongjeong Fisherman Elder. For now, he’s the most likely candidate.”
“…!”
An eccentric who never left the vicinity of Dongting Lake his entire life.
Peculiarly, he wielded a fishing rod made of blackwood as a secret weapon, and enraged by the death of his friend Hae Sa Bangju, he crossed Tianling Waterfall and vanished without a trace—a supreme master.
‘Everything fits perfectly.’
I had forgotten. His existence.
This is no baseless suspicion.
Unlike the others, the Dongjeong Fisherman Elder’s corpse has never been found, and the broken blackwood rod is the only trace he left behind.
Though it’s mere conjecture, what if the Dongjeong Fisherman Elder truly is a member of Dark Heaven?
“But the Dongjeong Fisherman Elder that Je-gal Poong told me about had no reason to do such a thing….”
“Everything has a reason. The Dongjeong Fisherman Elder is human too. There must be shadows unseen by anyone. Je-gal Poong is likely suspecting him by now as well.”
Moon-kyung turned with a cold voice.
“Always suspect. Always be cautious. May fortune favor your martial path.”

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