Murim Login - Chapter 643

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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 643
Boom!
Behind me, the stone door descends with a heavy thud.
Within the vast Great Hall bathed in soft firelight, thirty-one pairs of eyes shoot toward me like arrows in the silence, piercing my face.
Why are you coming out of there?
That’s exactly the look in their eyes. Yet the emotion seeping through them was closer to pure astonishment than hostility toward a Han tribesman, and some of the tribal leaders’ gazes even carried a hint of favor.
Of course, one person was an absolute exception.
“It must be one of two things. Either my eyes deceive me, or the rules of the Tribal Council have changed without anyone—myself included—knowing about it.”
Baek Sang, the middle-aged man who broke the silence and the grand patriarch of the White Tribe, continued in a cold voice.
“Explain yourself. Why have you brought a mere Han tribesman here—neither a tribal leader nor even a Southern Barbarian?”
The target of Baek Sang’s demand for explanation was neither the Beast King Miao Wang, who was currently absent from this place, nor me.
Ya-ryul Mok, standing to my right, answered in a composed tone.
“He possesses the qualifications to be here.”
“Qualifications, you say.”
Baek Sang, who let out a small scoff, continued.
“That sounds like the hasty judgment of a mere boy not yet thirty.”
“It is also the judgment of another person who has not yet arrived.”
…!
“Father. No—the Palace Master has spoken. He said that this man possesses the qualifications to attend the Tribal Council.”
Baek Sang’s eyes grow dark and deep. After a moment of silence, he suddenly spoke.
“Why has the Palace Master not arrived?”
“He will arrive soon. And by then, there will be only one seat remaining.”
“Impossible.”
Baek Sang tapped the table with a decisive finger.
“The Tribal Council is a grave gathering where tribal leaders representing all of the Southern Wilderness come together to exchange views. If one is not a tribal leader, then no one—save the Young Palace Master—may take a seat. That this man has qualifications is merely the will of one person, the Palace Master. We do not consent.”
As I observed the situation, I suddenly muttered to myself.
“Now that I think about it, that’s strange. Isn’t that ultimately just your own will alone?”
It was clearly a mutter, yet among the dozens of tribal leaders gathered here, there was no one whose martial prowess was so shallow that they couldn’t hear my voice.
Baek Sang, whose martial skill was particularly exceptional among them, was needless to say.
He turned his gaze toward me and opened his mouth with a chilling voice.
“What did you just say?”
“Oh, did you happen to hear that?”
“You thought I wouldn’t hear it?”
“No. Actually, I did intend for you to hear it. You heard well.”
…!
I gazed at Baek Sang’s frozen expression and shrugged my shoulders.
“Since we’re on the subject, let me ask—in truth, it’s just a matter of words, but isn’t this ultimately just your own thinking? You haven’t even asked the other tribal leaders for their opinions, yet you say you don’t consent. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?”
As my words flow naturally onward, I sense an invisible stirring spreading among the seated tribal leaders.
Baek Sang is the grand patriarch of the White Tribe, the second strongest after the Miao Clan, and simultaneously an supreme master representing the Southern Wilderness alongside the Beast King Miao Wang.
Surely, until now, no one has dared speak to him so openly and directly.
Only one person, excluding myself.
“Ya-ryul Cheok said this when he sent me ahead first. The Great Clan Leader of the Miao Clan, Ya-ryul Cheok, acknowledges your qualifications, but the Southern Beast Palace Lord Ya-ryul Cheok cannot make decisions unilaterally. So obtain the consent of the other tribal leaders,” he said.
The Southern Wilderness is a place where even outsiders breathing is suffocating, and the Tribal Council held only once a year is a ceremony so tightly packed that there’s no room for a needle to slip through.
‘If the Beast King Miao Wang hadn’t shown favor, I would have been stopped before even entering this place.’
Thanks to that, I managed to wedge my way through this suffocating protocol, and I was determined to secure a seat. Of course, with the support of the other tribal leaders.
“Well, so I’m asking.”
I met the gaze of each person, one by one, and continued speaking.
“What do the rest of you think?”
Whoooosh.
A gentle breeze from somewhere caused the torches illuminating the Great Hall to flicker.
The faces lit by the reddish firelight were contorted with discomfort, flustered, and some wore expressions far more positive than expected.
Like a certain middle-aged tribal leader who had just parted his lips.
“Everyone here, including the Zang Tribe, knows of the incident that occurred at Ai-nao Mountain last night.”
According to what I had seen and heard in the Southern Wilderness, the Zang Tribe, while not quite at the level of the four great tribes of the Southern Wilderness, was a force with enough power to stand rightfully behind them.
The middle-aged tribal leader, presumed to be the head of such a tribe, continued speaking slowly.
“We shed much blood from an unforeseen calamity, but through swift action, we were able to prevent greater sacrifice. All of that was thanks to the wise Palace Lord, the Great Clan Leader Ya-ryul Cheok, and a certain young Han who aided him.”
His powerful voice resonated throughout the Great Hall. Watching the tribal leaders’ expressions shift moment by moment, he looked at me and smiled faintly.
“Though late, I offer my gratitude here. Thanks to your aid, our Zang Tribe was able to save twenty-two brave and excellent warriors. Among them were members of my own bloodline.”
“Ah.”
The number of warriors dragged to the Poison Blood Land had reached over two hundred, and I had not heard each of their names and statuses individually.
It was something I hadn’t known and couldn’t have known, but the events of last night were now returning as goodwill and gratitude in this very moment.
“On behalf of the Zang Tribe, I welcome Yeolhwa Shinryong Jin Tae-kyung’s attendance at the Tribal Council.”
Having finished speaking, he bowed respectfully to me. Not in the customs of this land where I was born and raised, but in the fist salute of the Central Plains.
And that was the beginning.
Creak. Creak.
Unfamiliar tribal leaders rose from their seats one by one. With different appearances and attire, they opened their mouths with expressions of goodwill.
“We cannot pretend ignorance after receiving such kindness. The Hui Tribe also approves.”
“The Man Tribe has no objections. I simply wish to express my gratitude for saving my incompetent son.”
Tribal leaders governing tribes both large and small.
Yet they were simultaneously tribal leaders and heads of households, fathers and mothers with beloved children.
They offered their thanks to me in turn, accompanied by the awkward fist salutes of the Central Plains.
Because all the warriors I had rescued from the Poison Blood Land last night were their people, their families.
However, not all the tribal leaders who approved my attendance at the council were doing so solely because of last night’s events.
“The Buyi Tribe will also approve. He has sufficient qualifications.”
At the words of the middle-aged female tribal leader, one of the tribal leaders who still hadn’t risen from his seat furrowed his brow.
“Wait. What exactly is the Buyi Tribe’s reason? The Buyi Tribe wasn’t among the warriors stationed at Ai-nao Mountain, was it?”
“My homeland is the Southern Wilderness.”
“What does that have to do with—”
“Even beasts that cannot speak repay kindness when they receive it. Last night, Yeolhwa Shinryong Jin Tae-kyung risked his life fighting for my homeland. Isn’t that alone sufficient qualification to attend this council?”
“…Hmm.”
The tribal leader who had posed the question fell silent with an awkward cough, while favorable smiles bloomed across the faces of the others.
And within this atmosphere, so starkly different from days before, my chest tingled with an unfamiliar warmth.
‘Repaying the aid of others. When I think about it, it’s only natural.’
In this world, there are times when that very naturalness becomes anything but.
I had not journeyed toward Poison Blood Land and Hyang seeking their gratitude, yet now, in this moment, a considerable number of tribal leaders were repaying me with thanks and trust.
Because of the aid they had received last night. Or perhaps because of events lost in the distant past.
“My late father, the previous tribal leader, often spoke thus after returning from the Great Hall. He would say that had it not been for the Fire King, he would have gone to Nine Springs rather than the Southern Wilderness. Words I had long forgotten in my grief now return to me.”
“My ancestor once exterminated the Five Poison Sect alongside the Yeolhwa Sect Master of that era. Without him, our tribe would not have endured to this day. I too give my consent.”
Still water begins to flow.
The tribal leaders who had remained seated in silence rose one by one like the current of flowing water, opening their mouths, and soon those standing outnumbered those sitting.
And within this unexpected turn of events, the final person to seal the matter at last revealed themselves.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
A towering giant, eight feet tall, lifting a stone gate weighing a thousand pounds with a single hand.
The Beast King Miao Wang, casting a long and massive shadow across the Great Hall, opened his mouth with a low voice.
“It seems a conclusion has been reached.”
At the end of the direction toward which Beast King Miao Wang’s gaze turned, Baek Sang rose slowly from his seat and bowed with a cold expression.
“I greet the Palace Master.”
“If my eyes and ears do not deceive me, he appears to possess sufficient qualifications. Do you not think so, brother?”
“It is a grave error. You are dismantling the regulations of the Tribal Council, which bears such venerable tradition.”
“More than half of the tribal leaders have already acknowledged his participation. And the scholars of the Central Plains call such things consensus.”
Baek Sang closed his eyes instead of answering, and Beast King Miao Wang waited no longer for his response.
“I, Ya-ryul Cheok, Grand Patriarch of the Miao Clan and Palace Master of the Southern Beast Palace, hereby permit Jin Tae-kyung, Master of the Hwaryong Pavilion of the Martial Alliance and successor of the Yeolhwa Sect, to attend the Tribal Council.”
And at that very moment, a clear bell’s chime pierced my ears.
Ding.
– Quest,
[Tribal Council]
has been created!
* * *
A damp and sweltering space.
Pitch black and abyssal. From somewhere within that darkness, a voiceless voice flowed forth.
– The council has begun in the Inner Palace.
– And him?
– He too has attended the council. However….
– Continue. Do not hesitate.
– That, that is….
A moment of hesitation.
That he did not know his own words would sever his lifeline—perhaps even the man transmitting his voice had not foreseen it.
Shwip, crackle.
With a faint sound, the figure buried in darkness collapsed lifelessly.
As white fingers wiped away the blood smeared upon the cheek, the corpse drained of vitality flew beyond the darkness and vanished.
– So. What happened?
A life vanished in an instant, yet the void was swiftly filled by another. A tense transmission echoed in its wake.
– Jin Tae-kyung. Jin Tae-kyung attended the Tribal Council.
– Who? Jin Tae-kyung?
– Yes! He obtained permission with the support of Beast King Miao Wang and the other tribal leaders, it seems.
After a moment of silence, someone in the darkness clicked their tongue softly.
– These barbaric wretches… And you? You simply watched and did nothing?
– Y-yes?
– Well. How could a worthless insect like you be at fault? The fault lies with me for keeping such a useless insect as a subordinate.
– …!
The one reporting to the Dark Figure immediately sensed the danger, but neither could they escape death.
Whoosh, splurt!
Death brushed past once more. The figure gazing down at the corpse buried in darkness spoke in a low murmur.
“Jin Tae-kyung. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

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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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