Murim Login - Chapter 630

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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 630
My mistake was feeling at ease the moment I put on the mask to hide my face.
Should I have stomped my feet and clapped along with everyone else like a fool?
The thought only occurred to me now, but it was too late—spilled milk. Even at this very moment, Yo-hee’s gaze remained fixed precisely on me.
Still, it shouldn’t be a problem. The only thing that stood out was my awkward stillness while everyone else cheered.
The likelihood of the Yao Tribe’s great chieftain—the true protagonist of this magnificent triumphal procession—taking further interest in me was virtually zero.
“You there.”
“….”
I said virtually zero, not absolutely zero.
Damn it. And she’s calling me out.
I turned slightly to look behind me, wondering if perhaps she meant someone else, as Yo-hee’s gaze bore directly into me.
“Yes, you who just turned around.”
Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one who had just turned my head.
Yo-hee’s sudden outburst caused the crowd gathered in the marketplace to murmur and swivel their heads in all directions like meerkats.
“The one wearing the tiger mask.”
I quickly scanned the surroundings. Including myself, there were roughly a dozen people wearing striking tiger masks. Those were decent odds.
I was glad I’d chosen the tiger mask. Though I hadn’t paid for it myself.
“The tall man in the tiger mask whose eyes just met mine. Come forward now, would you?”
The addition of gender and height specifications caused my odds to plummet dramatically. As the probability of being singled out skyrocketed, sweat began to bead on my forehead.
I quickly lowered my head to avoid Yo-hee’s gaze and swiftly, discreetly crossed my legs.
The moment I perfectly concealed my manhood between my thighs and lifted my head, my eyes met Yo-hee’s cold, piercing stare.
“….”
“….”
The procession that had been moving amid cheers had long since stopped.
In the suffocating silence that fell over the marketplace and beneath the countless gazes of Yo-hee and others, I uncrossed my legs and opened my mouth with a grave voice.
“Did you call for me?”
“….”
“….”
No one answered, only alternating their gaze between my masked face and my lower body.
…Hell. I should have stepped forward the first time she called.
* * *
A leader of an organization must possess many virtues. Among them, keen discernment cannot be overlooked.
“The moment I saw you, I felt something strange.”
After the procession celebrating the subjugation of the beasts concluded, Yo-hee, who had sent an attendant to summon me privately, continued in a languid voice.
“How should I put it? You stood out as incongruous among all those people.”
The Yi Tribe’s great chieftain standing beside her, who had been ceaselessly popping fruit into his mouth, chuckled in agreement with her words.
“Your words ring true. Standing alone like a wooden post was certainly eye-catching.”
The middle-aged man, whose stocky frame was hardly befitting a warrior, gestured in greeting with hands glistening from fruit juice.
“Still wearing your mask, how rude. I don’t yet know who you are, but you must already know me. I am Hyuk-ung, who leads the Yi Tribe.”
Hyuk-ung. The name meant black bear.
Now I understood why there was a bear in the procession earlier—it seemed that in this region, it was standard practice to keep a tamed beast named after oneself.
‘Well, how should I respond to this?’
Truth be told, since things had come to this point, I had planned to remove my mask and reveal my identity. The fact that I hadn’t avoided this encounter beforehand was for that very reason.
But Yo-hee was a woman far more perceptive than I had anticipated.
“You can keep the mask on if you wish. Jin Tae-kyung of the Taewon Jin Family.”
“Hmm?”
“What?”
I was somewhat taken aback—first by the fact that Yo-hee, who had only just arrived, knew my identity precisely, and second by Hyuk-ung’s expression of shock being even greater than my own.
At the sight of Hyuk-ung and me momentarily frozen, Yo-hee let out a soft laugh.
“Why are you so surprised? I’ve already heard that the Palace Master admitted the Han delegation sent by the Martial Alliance into the Inner Palace.”
Hyuk-ung tilted his head with a bewildered expression.
“Han people from the Martial Alliance? Really? I hadn’t heard anything about it.”
“That’s because you’re as simple-minded as your bear. Though I must admit, that simplicity has its charm.”
Even the Skeleton King would have recognized that the addendum was mere flattery, yet Hyuk-ung laughed heartily and seemed delighted.
“Do you truly mean that?”
“Of course. Don’t forget that I’ve always harbored affection for you.”
Her seductive voice and gaze, combined with fingers so fair and unblemished—impossibly so for someone from the Southern Wilderness—tracing across his pockmarked cheeks, caused rapture to bloom across Hyuk-ung’s face.
“Ah, my lady.”
If someone were to ask me to describe this scene in three words, I would unhesitatingly answer:
‘Ugh. Gag….’
A portly middle-aged man in his fifties melting like butter under the touch of a beautiful woman in her twenties.
No matter how often people say love knows no age or borders, at this point one might need to create new ones.
‘Though I doubt this is genuine affection at all.’
Now I understood why the Yi Tribe’s influence was declining like a delisted stock, and conversely, how the Yao Tribe had managed to flourish.
But still….
‘Certainly different, yet there are similarities.’
As I was muttering this to myself while thinking of someone, Yo-hee glanced at me and patted Hyuk-ung’s shoulder.
“By the way, older brother.”
“O-older brother?”
It was a line I’d heard a few times in those daily dramas my Mother used to watch.
Instead of that stiff “sir,” call me “oppa.”
Yo-hee had struck precisely at the fantasy that would drive any problematic middle-aged man wild. Her soft voice continued toward Hyuk-ung, who was practically swooning with delight.
“Would you mind stepping away for a moment? There’s something urgent I need to ask this Han visitor.”
“Eh? Of course. Yes, of course. If you wish it, I’ll do anything!”
“Thank you, older brother. See you later then.”
“Oh! Oh yes!”
As Hyuk-ung exited the tent with flushed cheeks and heavy breathing, Yo-hee let out a soft laugh and leaned back against the silk cushions, muttering to herself.
“Fool.”
I had anticipated this to some degree, but this exceeded my expectations. As I scratched my chin, Yo-hee’s lips curved upward.
“What, too blatant for you?”
When my opponent came at me like this, it actually made things easier. After a moment of deliberation, I answered honestly.
“Well. I wouldn’t say I’m entirely without such tendencies.”
“You don’t seem particularly surprised, so you must have figured it out already? I thought you were just strong in martial arts, but you’re sharper than I expected.”
“It’s rare, but I’m not completely devoid of such traits. In the Murim, there’s no shortage of people whose outward appearance differs from their true nature.”
“Is that so? It seems the Central Plains really is vast. In the Southern Wilderness, women like me aren’t so common. Ah, by the way, is that girl who came with you cut from the same cloth? I think I heard her name was Ju Hwa-ran.”
Instead of answering, I fixed my gaze on Yo-hee. The smile at the corners of her lips deepened.
“Fine. Scratch that. Judging by your expression, I seem to have misspoken.”
At that moment, I didn’t even know what expression I was making. But it probably wasn’t a particularly kind one.
It was just a feeling.
Sensing something strange, I opened my mouth, trying to keep my tone measured.
“Watch your words from now on. She’s a Fire Dragon Pavilion member who trusted me and followed me all the way to the Southern Wilderness.”
“Ah. So she’s merely a subordinate you care for?”
“There’s no particular distinction between superior and subordinate, but… think of it however you like.”
“I appreciate you saying that. I happen to have quite a vivid imagination.”
Yo-hee continued with a mysterious smile, clearly entertaining some thought.
“Earlier, you stared at me so intently that I misunderstood. I wondered if you’d fallen for me at first sight.”
“That’s not it. I’m not the type to just take a liking to anyone.”
“Then why did you look at me that way? Was Hyuk-ung, that fool, just pathetic?”
“No. You reminded me of someone I’d seen before.”
Interest flickered in Yo-hee’s eyes.
“Who? A woman?”
“A woman, yes. But you wouldn’t know who even if I told you right now.”
Truth be told, she was closer to a monster than a woman. The one I’d recalled while looking at Yo-hee was the Nantian Demon Empress.
Those belonging to Dark Heaven were monsters for whom the distinction between male and female was meaningless, and they were fanatics who worshipped the Heavenly Master.
“Hmm. A woman… Do I really resemble her that much?”
“Somewhat. But fundamentally, you’re different.”
“How can you be so certain? I could be that woman, couldn’t I?”
Though Yo-hee wore a mischievous expression, I had already confirmed it with my energy perception and had no room for doubt.
‘As I said before, we’re fundamentally different.’
If Yo-hee’s aura and appearance were alluring, the Nantian Demon Empress possessed a demonic charm that captivated people in her very essence.
And this wasn’t merely about her appearance.
‘It’s her aura.’
The Nantian Demon Empress possessed a unique aura—beautiful yet natural, and therefore impossible to suspect until it was too late.
Even I hadn’t recognized how dangerously beautiful and captivating that aura was until after I’d been completely deceived in Hubei Province.
“In any case, you’re different.”
“Hmm, how disappointing. Whoever she is, she must be someone important?”
“Important. And far more dangerous than that.”
“Dark Heaven. It’s Dark Heaven, isn’t it?”
Yo-hee was indeed sharp. And she was already someone who knew why I had come tens of thousands of leagues from the Central Plains to the Southern Wilderness, and what I had come here to do.
“I apologize for saying this to you, but among the great clan leaders of the Four Tribes, there’s no one who desires to join the Martial Alliance. Save for one person—the Palace Master.”
“And you are?”
“Me? I don’t really care. Whether the Southern Beast Palace suffers any damage or not, I’d prefer the Yao Tribe to dominate the four major clans.”
“That’s just your opinion. The other clan leaders….”
“Of course, not all of them think that way. But one thing is certain—most clan leaders share the same desire to see their own tribes grow stronger. And if innocent blood is spilled in the Central Plains, naturally the power we hold in the Southern Wilderness will diminish.”
Suddenly, I recalled the answer I’d heard from Beast King Miao Wang earlier in the Inner Palace.
That he was the lord of the Southern Beast Palace and one of the Ten Kings recognized even in the Central Plains, but ultimately he was the grand patriarch of the Miao Clan.
If the clan leaders controlling the large and small territories of the Southern Wilderness shared the same thoughts as Yo-hee, then according to Ya-ryul Mok’s words, the Southern Beast Palace joining the Martial Alliance would be practically impossible.
‘No, this negotiation difficulty is really shit.’
Although I hadn’t come to the Southern Wilderness as a diplomat, this situation was essentially a failure before it even began.
Yo-hee wore an amused expression at my bewildered face.
“I’m sorry for you, but that’s the reality. Ah, of course, there’s one person who isn’t completely impossible to persuade. He leads a tribe large enough to be counted among the four major clans, and the fact that he’s so incredibly stupid is almost unbelievable.”
From just this much, I could tell who she was talking about. I opened my mouth with a sigh.
“Hyuk-ung?”
Yo-hee answered with a cackle.
“Yeah, that idiot. Anyway, he’s completely under the thumb of me and Baek Sang, that old man, so he can’t do anything.”
“….”
Still, he was the grand patriarch of a massive tribe that raised bears in the Southern Wilderness, yet this was how he was being treated. Just thinking of Hyuk-ung made my chest feel hollow.
‘And if there really was any possibility of me persuading Hyuk-ung, she wouldn’t be telling me this so kindly.’
Hyuk-ung was nothing but a puppet. Controlled by the hands of Baek Sang and Yo-hee, laughing foolishly without even knowing it.
‘Not even teasing at this point.’
As I was frowning and staring at Yo-hee, activity stirred outside the tent and a voice called out.
“Yo-hee. Are you in there?”
A cold, parched voice. It was Baek Sang.

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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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