Murim Login - Chapter 656

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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 656
Silence blanketed everything.
Warriors collecting corpses.
Tribal chiefs who had clearly just arrived.
Without exception, every member of the Western Yao Tribe had frozen in place, their eyes fixed upon this spot.
No—their gaze converged on a single point. Me.
And in the next moment.
“The criminal walks out on his own two feet.”
A chilling voice pierced through the silence.
The instant my eyes met Baek Sang’s deeply sunken gaze, an involuntary laugh escaped me.
“Ha.”
Understanding struck like lightning. There was no need to ponder how this situation would unfold any longer.
Everything lay compressed within that single phrase Baek Sang had offered instead of a greeting.
‘A criminal.’
I had momentarily forgotten. That I myself fit every condition of Hyuk-ung’s profile.
I should have examined the ground beneath my feet, not held up a lamp to illuminate distant horizons.
“Uncle Baek, what do you mean by——”
Ya-ryul Mok, who had been regarding Baek Sang with bewildered eyes, fell silent as understanding dawned, while Nam Ho, who perhaps grasped the situation even faster than I did, released a quiet sigh.
“Hah, I’ve grown old indeed. To fall for such a shallow trick.”
Nam Ho’s words were only half correct.
This was certainly a shallow trap, but the pit dug beneath it would run deep.
Once a foot had stepped into it, escape would not come easily.
‘Damn it.’
I felt as though I were sinking into a swamp. My chest grew tight, my mouth dry as sand.
I closed my eyes, then opened them, and the surrounding scene—now transformed into a courtroom—became crystal clear.
“Did everyone hear what Great Chief Baek Sang just said?”
“A criminal? Then surely that Han tribesman——?”
Warriors whispered in low voices throughout the space. Their position here was that of observers.
“I knew this would happen from the start. Didn’t I repeatedly say we should have driven out the Han tribesmen from the beginning!”
“Hmm. Still, it’s premature to jump to conclusions.”
“Jump to conclusions? How can you still speak such words in a situation like this? The only wretch capable of committing such an act is Jin Tae-kyung, that bastard!”
Unlike the whispering warriors, the tribal chiefs who raised their voices to condemn my crimes were the jury. And——
“How confident. As though you’ve done nothing wrong.”
Baek Sang. He who opened his mouth before all was the judge of this damned trial.
I parted my lips, meeting Baek Sang’s utterly composed expression.
“I have no choice but to be confident. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
There was no longer any point in discussing propriety.
At my brief response, one of the tribal chiefs bristled and bellowed.
“You wretch! How dare you——!”
“Dare? What?”
Shhhhhhh!
As the energy wave I released in tandem with my words shot toward the tribal chief, his face drained of all color, turning white as a blank sheet of paper.
A sharp breath.
I was already at the precipice.
One misstep, and I would plummet into the abyss.
If I surrendered the initiative to the flow of events, it would all be over.
I spoke quietly, yet released an overwhelming surge of energy as I opened my mouth.
“This is no place for every dog and swine to meddle. Shrink back.”
“…!”
A heavy gulp.
In that very moment, someone’s throat bobbed visibly.
“How noisy.”
A deep, resonant voice carried on the wind, reverberating through the air.
Those who reflexively turned their heads found a figure everyone recognized walking through the grand gates of the Yao Seo Tribe.
‘Beast King Miao Wang.’
Eyes wide and fierce, a frame as imposing as a mountain ridge.
At the appearance of Beast King Miao Wang, who radiated a pressure as weighty as Tae-san itself, the assembled figures hurriedly dropped to one knee.
“We pay our respects to the Palace Lord!”
Their cries unified into a single voice, echoing outward.
Amid this universal reverence, Beast King Miao Wang, leading several other tribal chiefs, slowly advanced before suddenly speaking.
“Am I perhaps included among those dogs and swine you mentioned?”
The target of the question was unmistakable. I shook my head.
“No, sir.”
“Then I have one question.”
Beast King Miao Wang’s voice, deep and measured, pierced my ears.
“Jin Tae-kyung of the Taewon Jin Family. What connection do you have to this catastrophe that has unfolded here today?”
Beast King Miao Wang asked this question not out of suspicion or interrogation, but rather to help me.
Knowing this better than anyone, I answered without hesitation.
“I have no connection whatsoever.”
At my immediate response, murmurs rippled through the crowd.
And in the next moment, one figure who had been silently bowing to Beast King Miao Wang rose to his feet.
“Last year, a fire broke out in the western forest. It was caused by the carelessness of drunken White Tribe warriors, and as a result, over two hundred livestock and some thirty dwellings burned to ash.”
Baek Sang continued in a dry voice.
“When sin is committed, punishment must follow. Thus, with my own hands, I had to execute seven of my own tribesmen. But before their executions, I allowed them to leave final words, and without exception, they all said this.”
His emotionless eyes gazed upon me, yet Baek Sang’s voice was directed toward Beast King Miao Wang.
“I am innocent. I did not drink, nor did I set the fire.”
“…!”
“Moreover, two great tribal chiefs have vanished from the Inner Palace, and over a hundred warriors have been slaughtered. This is not a situation that can be glossed over with a few hollow words.”
Beast King Miao Wang closed his eyes slowly, and I opened my mouth while staring at Baek Sang.
“Hearing this, I feel rather strange. It seems I’ve already become a villain without even knowing it.”
“If you’re truly innocent, prove it.”
“Prove it?”
“Yes. The simplest and easiest way. If you provide evidence that you’re not Hyuk-ung, the matter would be resolved.”
I didn’t even have time to respond.
The moment Baek Sang finished speaking, he turned and shouted toward the assembly that had been murmuring throughout our exchange.
“I, Baek Sang, Great Chieftain of the White Tribe, wish to establish my own innocence before pursuing the criminal. This shall be testified to by the heavens and earth, as well as the fifteen tribal chieftains who were with me and one hundred warriors!”
“…!”
Damn it. Had he been aiming for this from the start?
I’d anticipated that Baek Sang would have constructed a sufficient alibi, but the timing and flow of revealing it were far too exquisite.
And as if they’d been waiting for this very moment, the chieftains who followed Baek Sang stepped forward with their voices raised louder than anyone else’s.
“We humbly report to the Palace Lord. Great Chieftain Baek Sang’s words contain not a shred of falsehood, and he has been staying with us in the Nam Baek Tribe immediately after the banquet ended.”
“Chieftain Gyeongpa speaks the truth! We of the Napo Tribe also swear to the heavens!”
“The Wa Tribe will also vouch for Great Chieftain Baek Sang! At the time the tragedy occurred, we were holding a meeting in preparation for tomorrow’s great assembly!”
As the chieftains’ voices erupted from all corners, Nam Ho standing behind me let out a quiet sigh, and the Beast King Miao Wang’s expression grew heavy.
Nearly half of the chieftains were openly revealing their allegiance to a specific faction, yet at this very moment, no one—not even the Beast King Miao Wang—could point out that fact.
The Southern Beast Palace. And specifically, the Inner Palace, where two great chieftains had vanished and nearly a hundred lives had been slaughtered in a massacre.
This was an enormous crisis. Factional disputes that had become open secrets could be treated as mere ripples compared to this.
And then… the moment finally arrived.
“Jin Tae-kyung of the Taewon Jin Family. Now I ask you. Where were you at that time?”
An unavoidable question. An answer that could not be refused.
I could feel it. Baek Sang’s question, the gazes of the people—they became invisible snares tightening around my entire body.
And at that same moment, a hand touched my waist.
Tap.
I didn’t bother turning my head to confirm the foolish way.
I already knew the owner of this hand had been standing behind me all along—Nam Ho.
‘But why?’
There had to be a clear reason for Nam Ho’s action.
I kept my senses at their peak, continuing to feel the movement of his fingers.
Though the moment was brief and the movement merely a subtle brush against my collar, I soon grasped what he was trying to convey.
‘This is….’
It was a character. Two characters.
Short but carrying a clear meaning.
‘Silence.’
Nam Ho was telling me to say nothing.
Or perhaps, to reconsider what I was about to say.
The situation was unfolding in an ominous direction.
‘If I tell the truth about my meeting with Hyuk-ung?’
I doubted they would believe me.
No, there was a greater chance I’d face a counterattack from Baek Sang and the chieftains who followed him.
Hyuk-ung had said he’d left his quarters without anyone noticing, and he’d even changed his appearance using the Bone Shrinking Technique.
‘In short, there’s no way to prove it.’
At the very least, if Hyuk-ung were present here, it might be different, but without his wrist testifying on my behalf, my alibi is as good as lost.
However, claiming I left without any reason whatsoever would be digging my own grave.
So in the end, the answer I could give was predetermined from the start.
“My Quarters.”
Countless thoughts raced through my mind, yet the time that passed was brief. I answered without undue delay and drew a deep breath before continuing.
“I remained in my Quarters immediately after the banquet ended. And then I was attacked.”
“Attacked?”
There were far more who hadn’t heard of this than those who had.
As the assembly stirred with this new information, Beast King Miao Wang opened his mouth with a stern expression.
“Jin Tae-kyung’s words are certainly true. I too received reports that assassins whose tribal affiliation could not be determined targeted them.”
Ya-ryul Mok, who had been shaken by this sudden turn of events, managed to speak in a composed voice.
“That is correct. Some of us from the Inner Palace guard arrived at the scene approximately one hour ago, and we also confirmed that warriors on patrol in the vicinity had been killed.”
With Beast King Miao Wang followed by Ya-ryul Mok stepping forward, the murmuring around the hall grew even louder.
But I, who had been watching one person—Baek Sang—intently from the beginning, realized once again that things had gone wrong.
“I too have heard news of another calamity occurring in the Inner Palace.”
A cold voice. An expressionless gaze.
Baek Sang, speaking in a low tone, continued toward Ya-ryul Mok.
“Yet to breach the Inner Palace so easily, eliminate patrolling warriors, and launch an attack—these assassins of unknown identity must have been quite formidable. Would you not agree?”
Before I could even intervene, Ya-ryul Mok’s lips parted.
“Indeed. There were approximately thirty assassins, and each of them was the equal of an elite warrior….”
Ya-ryul Mok’s words could not continue to their end. Rather, they could not.
In the next moment, it was because of Baek Sang’s voice piercing through everyone’s ears.
“Strong enough to kill a supreme master who inherited the Fire King’s legacy?”
“…!”
“…!”
“If this clumsily executed assassination attempt was meant to bind Jin Tae-kyung’s feet, then that too is incomprehensible. He would have remained in his Quarters regardless—why deliberately provoke him and draw attention? The more one thinks about it, the stranger it becomes, does it not?”
The air in the assembly churned, and the gazes from dozens of wide-open eyes stung my face.
Yet contrary to that, my heart had grown remarkably calm.
Was it because I had confidence in escaping this crisis?
No. I had already half-accepted the situation.
This trap was vast and deep. Far beyond what I had imagined.
‘When exactly did it begin? How far did the plan extend?’
I stared at Baek Sang, harboring unresolved questions, when I suddenly opened my mouth.
“It doesn’t seem like this is the end.”
Baek Sang, immediately grasping my meaning, nodded.
“You have good instincts.”
“Is there more to say?”
“No. But I do have something to show you.”
Click.
With a terse reply, Baek Sang snapped his fingers, and faint signs of life drew closer from the half-ruined gates of the Yao Seo Tribe.
Thud-thud.
The strides were short and irregular, the pace slow.
Like someone afflicted by illness. Or perhaps….
‘Like an elderly man of advanced years.’
Recognizing the owner of that strangely familiar presence, I closed my eyes tightly. And when I opened them again at the sound of someone’s aged voice.
“I am Woo Turi of the White Tribe. I have come at the summons of the Great Chieftain.”
Standing before the gates of the Yao Seo Tribe was the elderly proprietor of the Thin Noodle Shop.

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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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