Murim Login - Chapter 503

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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 503
A curse descended by the passage of time.
No-hwan.
Moon-kyung rolled the word silently across the tip of his tongue.
No sound escaped his lips, yet the sensation was rough and bitter. The voice of Jeok Cheon-gang that followed carried the same weight.
“I intend to depart. To Jiuhua Mountain, where I might restore my body and spirit.”
“…!”
“Surely you understand his reasons. I ask that you do not attempt to dissuade him.”
Just as Jeok Cheon-gang had said, Moon-kyung understood perfectly why he wished to leave.
‘He fears becoming a burden.’
No-hwan would continue to visit him at unpredictable intervals.
And should his mind cloud at a critical moment, those who stood beside Jeok Cheon-gang would face grave peril.
What enemies feared was the Fire King Red Sky River, not some forgotten old man whose dwelling and name they could not recall.
‘More precisely, he worries for the safety of his disciple.’
Everyone possesses something precious they cannot afford to lose.
For a beggar soliciting alms on Market Street, a half-crushed dumpling becomes his very lifeblood; for an emperor commanding all civil and military officials, the jade seal symbolizing authority and power holds greater worth than ten thousand, a hundred thousand of his subjects.
Jin Tae-kyung, that young man, was such a being to Jeok Cheon-gang.
One for whom he would exchange his own life. A precious existence he could never afford to lose, no matter what transpired.
“You do cherish your disciple greatly.”
“Disciple, yes—disciple.”
“If you intend to spout the same nonsense as last time, spare me the trouble.”
At Moon-kyung’s curt words, Jeok Cheon-gang smiled bitterly.
“No, you speak truly. My one and only disciple.”
“Then do you believe yourself a burden to him? Is that fear sufficient to drive you to abandon him?”
“It is the only choice available. All for that boy’s sake.”
“There exists another option. The inner core of the water dragon we obtained, for instance.”
“You know as well as I do that the acquired qi of heaven and earth obtained through elixirs cannot cure this. And besides….”
Jeok Cheon-gang gazed down at his own wrinkled hands, his voice growing hoarse.
“I have already aged far too much. Even should the water dragon’s inner core possess such efficacy, I cannot squander such a slim possibility on an old man like myself.”
“…!”
“Patching the hull of a rotting ship merely delays the inevitable—water will seep through some other weakened section. But that boy, my disciple, is different.”
Light began to seep into eyes that had sunk deep with sorrow. That light bore the names of joy and hope.
Moon-kyung could perceive in Jeok Cheon-gang’s gaze the full measure of his affection for his disciple.
“This is an unavoidable choice. I ask only that you honor my request, so that I may depart with peace of mind.”
“…An unavoidable choice, then.”
“Might I ask one more thing of you—to look after that boy?”
Moon-kyung, who had been regarding Jeok Cheon-gang intently, suddenly opened his mouth.
“If one travels eastward by ship from Zhejiang, there lies a small island kingdom.”
“An island kingdom?”
“You must have heard of it—the land called the Wa Kingdom.”
“…?”
“You haven’t heard of them?”
At the sudden question, Jeok Cheon-gang blinked.
“Of course I’ve heard of them. The Wa Kingdom pirates have been raiding for ages now.”
“Have you seen them directly?”
“Never seen them myself, but I’ve heard they’re grotesquely ugly creatures. They carry swords as tall as themselves and wear their hair pulled back halfway up their foreheads, draped in rough straw cloaks.”
“Whoever told you knew what they were talking about.”
“But why bring this up all of a sudden….”
Jeok Cheon-gang’s words were cut short by Moon-kyung’s next statement.
“Long ago, I faced the greatest ninja from that very Wa Kingdom.”
Jeok Cheon-gang had heard of ninjas before.
They were similar to the assassins of the Central Plains—not particularly skilled in martial arts, but exceptional in concealment techniques and proficient with throwing weapons like shuriken.
“I don’t need to ask the outcome. So, are you bragging about eliminating the Wa Kingdom’s greatest ninja?”
“I didn’t kill him. The objective was always to capture him alive.”
A captured target faces one of two fates.
Either they speak after enduring some pain, or they speak after enduring unbearable agony.
Regardless of which path is chosen, death awaits at the end—the only difference is how much suffering precedes it.
“He chose the latter.”
True to his reputation as the Wa Kingdom’s finest ninja, he endured for quite some time, but unfortunately, the Salsaeng Gate to which Moon-kyung belonged was unquestionably the premier assassin sect of the Central Plains.
They deployed every torture method in their arsenal.
Thus the ninja was forced to divulge every scrap of information he possessed amid torment worse than death itself.
Not merely information, but every memory buried deep within his mind.
“That’s when I learned of a certain custom in the Wa Kingdom.”
“A custom?”
“Did you know there are people in the Wa Kingdom who abandon their elderly parents in the mountains?”
“…It’s hardly shocking, but those are truly despicable creatures.”
“I heard it was meant to reduce mouths to feed. They abandon them regardless—whether they starve or are devoured by wild beasts. Once someone becomes too old to work, they’re cast aside.”
To abandon the parents who raised you simply because they’ve grown old—if true, these people were as vile as they come.
Even among common folk, extreme hardship sometimes drove people to violate the bonds of kinship, but having such a practice as custom was an entirely different matter.
Moon-kyung continued in a measured tone.
“The ninja I captured said he’d abandoned his own mother in the same manner. But what do you think his mother said to her son as he left her deep in those mountains?”
“You ungrateful bastard.”
“….”
“You worthless wretch.”
Seeing Moon-kyung’s face, harder than steel, Jeok Cheon-gang continued with a slight smile.
“If it were Tae-kyung, he would certainly have answered that way. But this woman was different. Even abandoned by her own child, a mother’s heart doesn’t fade so easily. So what did she actually say?”
“She told him to go slowly. The night was dark and he might stumble, so he shouldn’t rush and should be careful on the mountain path.”
Jeok Cheon-gang could understand that mother’s heart. His own decision to leave stemmed from a similar sentiment.
Though unlike the woman in Moon-kyung’s tale, he wouldn’t be abandoned, yet the desire to leave out of fear of becoming a burden to someone precious was the same.
‘And the fact that Sal-sung told Father such a story means….’
Red Sky River gazed at Moon-kyung with eyes that mingled relief and bitterness.
“Am I to understand that you’re willing to grant this old man’s request?”
Moon-kyung, who always referred to himself as the Divine Physician, was a man of principle.
Red Sky River had believed that by dredging up the painful past that Moon-kyung preferred to forget, he was subtly consenting to the proposal by drawing a parallel between the ungrateful son’s mother and himself.
At least, that was what he thought—until the very next moment, when he saw Moon-kyung shake his head.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Shaking one’s head carries the same meaning across all times and places, as far as I know. Is the Yeolhwa Sect different?”
“Then why are you telling me this story…?”
“Ah, I forgot to tell you the ending. After that, the ungrateful son’s mother lived out her full span of years and was buried in a sunny place. The son, who came to his senses too late after hearing her final words, went back and carried his mother away with him.”
“…!”
In that instant, Red Sky River’s body went rigid.
At last, I understood. What Moon-kyung had been trying to say. How foolishly I had been thinking.
‘The ungrateful son’s mother worried for her child even as she was abandoned, yet the old master was trying to leave of his own accord.’
I did not wish to become a burden to Jin Tae-kyung, my sole disciple. That was all.
But that was no pure sentiment of care for my student—it was merely the stubborn pride and delusion of a self-centered old man.
When was it? A memory surfaced of an ordinary day at Jiuhua Mountain, lying side by side with Jin Tae-kyung on a broad boulder, our conversation drifting between us.
‘You’re holding up better than I expected. Are you made of iron, boy?’
‘I’m Iron Man.’
‘For spouting nonsense, add two hundred pounds to your weights.’
‘…Understood.’
‘Hahaha! I jest. Your nonsense has become so familiar that it’s strangely not unpleasant.’
‘That’s enough. Add the weights later, please.’
‘Making me repeat myself, are you? I said I was joking.’
‘I’m being serious.’
‘Hmm?’
‘When I leave, there will be countless stronger opponents. I don’t want to be treated as dead weight later on. They say the weights I wear first are lighter, so just add them now.’
‘Listen here. If I add two hundred pounds, are you confident you won’t become dead weight later?’
‘Not confident, but I should at least try with all my might. That way, when I collapse later, Old Master will pick me up, won’t he?’
‘Now you’re brazenly calling yourself dead weight. Fine, if this old master does so, what will you do in return?’
‘If Old Master ever collapses, then I will carry you on my back.’
‘Heh, do you think this old master will collapse?’
‘If you grow weary, I can at least support you. So please tell me if it becomes difficult.’
‘…It seems you’re quite the arrogant one. Add five hundred pounds.’
‘Have you lost your mind, human?’
It was merely an ordinary conversation from an unremarkable day.
Yet afterward, I often recalled the memory of that day.
The moments when I would scold him and then turn away to smile quietly, when I would add more weights while secretly hiding to watch, afraid he might be injured.
Even now, in this very moment, his voice from that day echoed in my ears like a phantom sound.
‘If Old Master ever collapses, then I will carry you on my back.’
I had always believed: I stand before you, and you stand behind me.
That was precisely why I could not afford to fall.
‘If I grow weary, I can at least lean upon you for support, can I not?’
I could not bear to show even a stumble. Like every father in this world, I wished to be invincible in your eyes alone.
It was the same on that day when I charged forward with death resolved in my heart.
‘Flaming Divine Technique… what a magnificent name.’
‘Yes, you wretched creature.’
‘I should have crushed your skull. Thoroughly.’
‘Cough!’
‘Old Master Noya!’
Yet I was no invincible being.
I only came to understand this after awakening from that long slumber.
What trials that disciple endured, bearing his fallen and worthless master upon his back. How many times he wagered that precious life in desperate struggle.
And so I made a firm resolve. Never again would I fall.
Never would I become a burden that endangered my disciple.
But it was not so.
‘We walked side by side. Following one direction from the beginning until now. Always together.’
A single thought that flooded my mind.
And in that moment, dark and humid memories of the past surged forth from the depths of my heart, obscuring Jeok Cheon-gang’s vision.
A roaring inferno!
It was a torrent of countless memories and emotions stretching back from that boy who once struggled to pick up a single dumpling.
Rage and despair. Sorrow and guilt crashed over me like waves, constricting Jeok Cheon-gang’s entire body.
Yet why was it? Unlike before, I felt no pain whatsoever.
The suffocating chest that always accompanied memories of the past, the splitting headaches—none of it came.
‘This is…’
In a tranquility I had not felt in ages, Jeok Cheon-gang suddenly sensed a cool breeze drifting from somewhere.
Along with a voice that emerged through it.
‘Ah, how refreshing.’
‘Hmm. This is the finest geomantic spot on Jiuhua Mountain, personally selected by this old one.’
‘This boulder is practically like a longevity bed for the elderly? Five stars, I give it.’
‘Khrm!’
Warmth. Brilliant light seeped through.
The darkness that had crouched deep within Jeok Cheon-gang’s heart for decades was slowly beginning to scatter.
Heart Demon.
It was the name of the darkness one harbored, the chains that bound oneself.
And what dispelled all of it was a cool breeze that blew across Jiuhua Mountain on a clear day, and someone’s voice.
A roaring inferno!
‘Old Master Noya.’
Light consumed darkness, consumed the Heart Demon. Though my eyes remained closed, all around blazed with dazzling brilliance.
A faint smile graced the corners of Jeok Cheon-gang’s weathered lips.
‘Yes.’
A wind from somewhere stirred his snow-white hair. And it was neither illusion nor delusion.
Kwaaaaaaa!
At last, the giant broke free from his chains and rose to his feet—Fire King Red Sky River. The tempest that erupted from him swept across all 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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