Murim Login - Chapter 482

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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 482
I found a trace of Hong Ran.
It wasn’t just I who was shaken by Gung Ki-bang’s words. Immediately after the battle with the Water Dragon ended, both Jeok Cheon-gang and Moon-kyung, who knew the truth about Hong Ran’s identity, reacted instantly.
“You found that bitch?”
“What is the meaning of this?”
Following Jeok Cheon-gang’s blunt remark and Moon-kyung’s nauseating question—still concealing his true identity—I opened my mouth with a hardened expression.
“A trace?”
What mattered was the result.
It wasn’t that we had found Hong Ran. Gung Ki-bang had clearly said he found a ‘trace of Hong Ran,’ and what that meant was unmistakable.
“We haven’t found her.”
Gung Ki-bang, who had finally steadied his breathing, nodded.
“Not yet. But my disciples, as well as the Wudang Sect, the Jeongal Family, and the military officials have all been sent messenger birds, so soon….”
“No. We won’t find her.”
I continued, answering with certainty.
“If she were so easy to catch, her trail would have been picked up long ago.”
The military officials were nothing but numbers without brains, and while the Beggar Clan, Wudang Sect, and Jeongal Family were somewhat trustworthy, the odds of them finding Hong Ran were slim no matter how I thought about it.
Even setting aside the psychological aspect that she couldn’t possibly be captured so easily, if she had even one escape route hidden nearby, they’d all be chasing the wind.
“But what exactly was the trace, and where was it found? Tell me in detail.”
“A military ship was discovered at Red Cliff.”
“Could the ship you’re referring to be….”
“Yes. The very same military ship where Hong Ran was last seen. The officials have already confirmed it.”
Two days ago, right after we departed to find the Dongjeong Fisherman Elder, the military officials had attempted to transport Hong Ran to Hubei Provincial Capital.
As the only survivor who lived alongside the imperial prince Ju Won-gong, and nominally the first-class contributor who rescued Ju Won-gong together with me, it was a natural choice for the officials.
‘That was the last we saw of her.’
After that, the military ship that carried Hong Ran vanished like a ghost. Along with the hundred or so military officials and sailors aboard.
And now, Gung Ki-bang had brought news that he had found that very ship.
“…So. What happened to it?”
In truth, the answer was already apparent before I even asked the question.
‘They’re probably all dead.’
I already knew from what I’d heard—that those aboard the military ship with Hong Ran were ordinary people with no connection whatsoever to Dark Heaven.
There was no chance Hong Ran had parted with them peacefully, tossing them a few coins as compensation.
Gung Ki-bang’s contorted expression was evidence supporting that assumption.
However.
“Ninety-four in total. All of them slit their own throats and took their own lives.”
“What?”
I hadn’t anticipated this.
Blinking silently, I barely managed to draw out my voice.
“All those people… committed mass suicide?”
“Without question. They used the short swords that military officials typically carry and slit their own throats. When the bodies were examined, they were found with smiles on their faces, life already gone. Of course, there was no sign of Hong Ran anywhere.”
“This is insane.”
If I had died by Hong Ran’s hand, I wouldn’t have been this shocked.
But this was a death that far exceeded my expectations.
A mass suicide, and they were smiling while doing it.
Just as I struggled for words, Moon-kyung and Jeok Cheon-gang spoke almost simultaneously.
“This is…”
“Yes, it’s definitely Soul Enslavement Technique. And a very powerful one at that.”
Soul Enslavement Technique—a demonic forbidden art that literally enthralls and controls the souls of others.
I knew of it from the martial arts novels I’d read in the past, but this was the first time I’d encountered it since entering the Murim.
“Wait, that actually exists?”
At my question, Jeok Cheon-gang responded as if bewildered.
“Is that something you should be asking, the one who captured a five-hundred-year-old water demon?”
“…Yeah. You’ve got a point there.”
“The Demon Cult is the main headquarters of the Thousand-Year Demonic Way that has been passed down through eons. Dark Heaven is merely the successor to that Demon Cult. It’s hardly surprising that those bastards who use Soul Enslavement Technique are running rampant.”
“But when you mentioned it before, you said Soul Enslavement Technique wasn’t a big deal.”
“That’s only true for me. As for Hong Ran, that cursed seductress likely had similar reasons for not using Soul Enslavement Technique on you earlier.”
“Because I’m an absolute master?”
To transcend the wall means one’s mind and body have reached an exalted state. How much more so for you, who have awakened the Middle Dantian?”
After saying that much, Jeok Cheon-gang suddenly furrowed his brow and added a remark.
“Or perhaps what that woman truly wanted was to have a confrontation with the water demon.”
“Regardless, what matters is that Hyung Soo is a master of Soul Enslavement Technique and has vanished like a ghost.”
At Moon-kyung’s quiet interjection, Gung Ki-bang shook his head.
“There’s one more thing.”
“…What?”
“According to our investigation, there were ninety-six people aboard the military ship. Even excluding Hong Ran, one person remains.”
“Wait. You mean…?”
“There is one survivor. The ship’s commander and a military official belonging to the Hubei Provincial Capital.”
“…!”
A survivor.
The moment all of us, myself included, widened our eyes, Gung Ki-bang swallowed hard and continued.
“He’s on his way here now.”
After a brief silence, Jeok Cheon-gang opened his mouth with a rigid expression.
“By the way, has it become fashionable among you youngsters these days to speak casually to your elders?”
“…I-I wasn’t speaking to you, Elder Jeok…”
“You need a beating like a dog on the hottest day to come to your senses. Bow down.”
* * *
“My name is Song Ho. I’m the son of a renowned merchant family in Hubei, and thanks to my father’s influence, I received a summons from the Hubei Provincial Governor. I was dispatched two days ago with orders from the Governor to bring Hyung Soo.”
The middle-aged man, who in his youth must have broken many hearts with his appearance, continued in an anxious voice.
“He had a reputation for indulgence and various scandals, but it’s true he showed talent in both the literary and martial arts from childhood. The Hubei Provincial Governor kept him close not only because of my father’s influence, but because he was reliable in his work and showed promise.”
Well. I don’t know what he was like before, but he doesn’t seem that way now.
I listened absently to the words of the middle-aged man, the branch commander of the Haowen Sect in Hubei, while staring at the young man sitting bound in rope.
Ashen, desiccated skin. His eyes hung vacant as though possessed by some phantom, while transparent saliva dripped from his gaping mouth.
Drip. Plink.
Jeok Cheon-gang narrowed his brow, watching the young military official stand there in a daze, drooling mindlessly.
“He’s fallen completely under the Soul Devouring Technique. His mind is already gone.”
I found myself in complete agreement with Jeok Cheon-gang’s assessment.
Not a trace of reason remained in the youth before me. In place of the promising military official stood nothing more than a hollow shell, an empty vessel drained of its soul.
“What’s his condition? How is he?”
Moon-kyung shook his head slowly at my hastily corrected question.
“It’s hopeless. If we observe him over an extended period, perhaps something might change, but as matters stand now, there appears to be not the slightest chance of recovery.”
“No chance at all? To what extent?”
“When one’s spirit has been torn away, it is no different from death itself. In this state, he cannot speak or act of his own volition.”
The situation was far more grave than I had anticipated.
Jin Wi-kyung, who had rushed here upon hearing that a sole survivor had been brought in, finally spoke.
“Might another physician’s assessment differ from yours?”
“Any competent healer would reach the same conclusion. If someone disagreed with me, they would surely be a charlatan.”
“Even if the Divine Physician herself were to examine him?”
“…Yes.”
Elder Brother. That’s her.
I swallowed the words rising in my throat, and the Haowen Sect’s Hubei branch commander—who had mistaken Hong Ran’s identity and been treated as a lackey of Dark Heaven for a brief moment—withdrew with obsequious bows.
And it was in that very instant, as silence settled over the gathering, that it happened.
“Ah, uh, er.”
“…!”
A chilling coldness surged up my spine.
All of us present, myself included, fixed our eyes upon the young military official in shock.
His eyes remained unfocused and glassy, yet his gaping mouth twitched slightly as sounds began to escape his lips.
“Uh, ah.”
“…This cannot be.”
Moon-kyung murmured in disbelief.
He was a man who had tended to and healed countless patients throughout his life. Possessed of medical skills worthy of the title Divine Physician and martial prowess of transcendent mastery, Moon-kyung’s diagnosis carried the weight of absolute law.
Or at least, it had mere seconds ago.
“What in the world!”
Moon-kyung, rarely raising his voice, swiftly pressed his fingers to the military official’s pulse.
His expression grew as complex and inscrutable as when he had gazed upon the Water Dragon.
“It remains unchanged, yet how is this possible?”
And in the next moment, all of us present could hear it.
The voice flowing from between the military official’s lips.
“Nothing is absolute. Nothing is unchanging. By now, you should understand this. Should you not?”
“…!”
A man’s voice, unmistakably issuing from the military official’s mouth.
Yet Gung Ki-bang and I, recognizing the presence of another within that voice, locked eyes simultaneously and cried out the same name in unison.
“Hong Ran!”
A bolt of lightning pierced through the crown of my head.
Had Hyuk Moo-jin and Chung Poong been present, they would have shared the same reaction.
I fixed my gaze upon the young military official—or rather, Hong Ran, who gazed back at me through a borrowed body from some distant place—my eyes darkened and hollow as I parted my lips.
“Where are you, you damned bitch?”
“Oh my, our young master’s tongue is sharper than expected. Men who curse at women aren’t very popular, you know.”
“Fuck off. I was never popular anyway.”
“That’s an answer I didn’t anticipate. Truly a masterpiece.”
“Stop spouting nonsense and tell me where you are. I’ll turn you into a rag.”
“Your personality is cuter than I heard. And quite entertaining too.”
A familiar, crystalline laugh slipped through the military official’s lips.
The sight of laughter flowing from lips that remained unmoved sent chills crawling across my skin.
Yet even amid this grotesque spectacle, I did not miss a single crucial word.
“…Than you heard?”
“You already know, don’t you? That we have many eyes and ears. Among them, the Blood Lord spoke most frequently.”
“Dark Heaven. Yes, I suspected as much.”
Even a 99.9% certainty remains mere conjecture without that final 0.1%.
Hong Ran, who revealed her identity without the slightest hesitation, continued in a cheerful voice.
“I was surprised to find you’ve grown far stronger than what the Blood Lord described. Though if you’d remained at that level, you would have died by the Western Heavenly Demon Lord’s hand long before the water serpent ever got to you.”
Why was it so? My rage showed no signs of subsiding, yet my mind and voice grew eerily calm.
Unlike before, I asked in a tone remarkably composed.
“Who are you?”
A purely genuine question.
Even as I asked, I harbored no expectation of an honest answer.
Yet Hong Ran shattered my assumption with a single phrase.
“Southern Heavenly Demon Empress.”
“Southern Heavenly… Demon Empress?”
These bastards were truly causing chaos across all four directions.

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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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