Murim Login - Chapter 670

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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 670
It was a brief time, yet an eternity.
A mere moment stretched like seven days and nights.
Long enough to retrace decades of memories step by step, to witness a mewling infant cradled in his mother’s arms—she who had breathed her last unable to bear the pain of childbirth—grow into a stalwart young man.
Thus Baek Sang’s deliberation was short yet long, long yet short.
And when his tightly sealed lips finally broke their silence, the answer to his inner struggle had already crystallized.
“You will regret this.”
Beast King Miao Wang asked calmly.
“What do you speak of? Coming to find you? Or rescuing Jin Tae-kyung and the other Han Clan members?”
“Everything up until now.”
“As you do, Baek Sang?”
“It is different.”
Baek Sang continued with a hardened expression.
“Unlike me, Palace Master still possesses a chance. A final opportunity to undo your mistakes.”
“A final opportunity, you say….”
“If you depart quietly now, I will forget all that I have witnessed and heard in this place. As though nothing ever transpired.”
“How can one hide the sky with a palm? From the moment I commanded you to spare your subordinates guarding the Underground Prison, I have already resolved myself.”
“If you order them to hold their silence, they will obey. The White Tribe’s loyalty toward me is no less than that of the Seven Miao Tigers who serve you.”
“Is that… the final affection you can show as a sworn brother?”
Baek Sang nodded silently, and Beast King Miao Wang offered a melancholic smile.
“Then I entreat you once more, relying upon that final affection. Half a double-hour. Grant them passage for merely half a double-hour.”
“Palace Master!”
“Even if I could turn back, I will not. That is the sole difference between us who have walked together all these years.”
“…!”
The corners of Baek Sang’s eyes trembled.
In this moment, he desperately wished to deny it—that your words were wrong, that unlike you, I had but a single path before me, and I could only walk it.
Yet his lips, already firmly sealed, would not open, and his hand had already found the hilt of his blade.
Click. Shing.
A crisp, chilling sound of friction cutting through the brief silence. Beast King Miao Wang’s gaze deepened as he beheld Baek Sang drawing his sword.
“So. Is that your choice?”
“I have no choice, Palace Master. For me now… this is the only path forward.”
“It is far better not to hear such awkward formality. It feels as though we have returned to long ago.”
“You know as well as I do. We can never return to those days.”
“Is that what you believe?”
“Of course.”
At that resolute answer, Beast King Miao Wang smiled faintly, and Baek Sang, having made his decision, did not hesitate.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
A brilliant radiance illuminating all directions. A convergence of vast qi known as Sword Essence descended upon its target.
Crack!
* * *
Leading the charge was Baek Ho, white as snow, and the three tigers rushed forth like the wind itself.
Won-hu, the eldest of the Seven Miao Tigers, watched their figures disappear beyond the darkness and murmured to himself.
“Damn, they’re fast.”
That was the extent of his thoughts.
Those who were meant to leave had departed, and those who remained had stayed. I, along with the others, had simply chosen to be among the latter.
“Heh heh.”
Won-hu let out a satisfied chuckle and produced a gourd flask from his robes.
Pop.
The moment the stopper came free, the aroma of spirits spread through the air. The Miao Clan warriors around him all lit up at once.
“Oho.”
“Now that’s some fine liquor. Did you brew this yourself, Commander?”
“Hah, so I’ve only gathered dogs here. Why do you all have such keen noses?”
Their mouths complained, but their eyes laughed. Won-hu, resigned to the inevitable, passed the flask to those who had gathered around him.
“There’s no helping it. There isn’t much, so take turns and drink sparingly.”
“I swear by my honor, not a single drop will pass your lips, Commander.”
“Ah, I can’t resist that.”
The Miao Clan warriors laughed heartily and took turns tilting the flask to their lips.
The people of the Southern Wilderness were already famous for their love of drink. With twenty strong men among them, the boast that not a drop would remain held considerable credibility.
But…
“Ahhh, excellent. Now it’s your turn, Commander. I was considerate enough to leave a few drops for you.”
Finally receiving the flask, Won-hu couldn’t help but smile wryly.
Slosh.
A gentle shake was all it took to tell—the flask was still more than half full.
Watching these shameless fellows boast about the taste of the liquor, I couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.
“So it turns out they weren’t dogs at all, but pure braggarts.”
“Hm? What are you saying?”
“That’s right. Are you already senile at fifty?”
“Stop your nonsense and listen.”
Pressed by those around him, Won-hu tilted the flask—not toward his own mouth, but toward the ground where weeds grew thick.
Glug, glug.
“Don’t begrudge a single drop. If we survive, we’ll all sit together and drink through the night, and if we fall here, we can be drunk even in death.”
“…!”
“…!”
Those who had been watching with stern faces quietly lifted the corners of their mouths.
“Yes, that’s good.”
“The Commander knows what he’s talking about.”
“True enough. He’s always been more obsessed with drink than martial arts, hasn’t he?”
Won-hu laughed, the Seven Miao Tigers who had spent a lifetime with him laughed, and the Miao Clan warriors who had volunteered for this perilous mission laughed.
Regret? Not a trace.
Even if they all fell here, their sole hope was that they would survive and escape the danger.
And so Won-hu could smile without hesitation.
Recalling that one person who had always led the charge in every endeavor, who had sent forth his one and only successor to this place as an example of selfless devotion.
‘The sin of disobeying your command… I shall gladly accept in the afterlife, my lord.’
Beast King Miao Wang and Ya-ryul Mok alike harbored no fear of death.
They did not cower behind their subordinates as shields, nor did they retreat in terror.
Beast King Miao Wang loved his one and only child, obtained in his twilight years, more than anything in this world—yet if he knew what Won-hu had done, he would surely rebuke him, insisting that life knows no hierarchy of worth.
‘Yes, that is reason enough. A purpose worthy of laying down one’s life.’
Muttering to himself, Won-hu shook the empty gourd bottle.
Gazing at the meager drops that fell like tears of an ant, he smacked his lips in disappointment before suddenly calling out into the darkness that settled all around.
“Say, do you have any liquor?”
A quiet voice answered.
“I thought you were on duty.”
“What’s the use of pretending? Go ahead and drink some tiger’s blood yourself.”
Won-hu laughed with a snort.
The scheduled shift change had long since passed, and the qi emanating from beyond the darkness was formidable enough to raise one’s hackles.
“So, you won’t give me any?”
“I’ve heard there’s a monkey in the Miao Clan who loves his drink. Here.”
Whoosh.
Won-hu caught the object that cut through the darkness and flew toward him. In that same instant, he recognized the crude yet familiar gourd bottle, and an involuntary gasp escaped his lips.
“This is…”
Unmistakably. None other than the very gourd bottle his lord, Beast King Miao Wang, had crafted with his own hands and always carried with him.
“Does it look familiar?”
In that moment, a voice pierced his ear. Won-hu slowly lifted his head, and a figure entered his field of vision.
White robes stained with blood and filth of unknown origin. Skin so pale that the word itself seemed inadequate to describe it.
“…Baek Sang.”
Baek Sang answered in a dry voice.
“How dare a mere warrior speak the name of the Great Chieftain so carelessly.”
“My lord… what has become of him?”
“You shall know soon enough.”
Swish. Pop, pop, pop!
It happened in an instant.
As Baek Sang swung his blood-soaked sleeve, over a hundred White Tribe warriors emerged from the thick darkness and surrounded them.
‘Damn it.’
Won-hu muttered a curse under his breath and drew the broadsword tucked at his waist.
Glancing up at the sky, he saw the moon was obscured by clouds this evening. A poor day to die, perhaps, yet in another sense, a blessing.
In a pursuit under moonless skies, the fugitive holds the advantage.
‘Please, you must both survive.’
Now only one thing remained.
Won-hu, along with all of them, unhesitatingly raised their weapons and charged toward the enemy.
A roar so immense that fear itself could not approach it.
* * *
A piercing screech tore through the air!
The wind that swept across my entire body was bitterly cold.
Even now, as the landscape blurred past in rapid succession, there were no human shadows, no dwellings of any distinctive form—only grassland stretching endlessly in all directions. I had already escaped the Outer Palace.
‘But I’m still within the territory of the Southern Beast Palace. I cannot afford to slow my pace.’
Or perhaps I would need to ride without rest until I rescued the Fire Dragon Pavilion members who were part of the Scouting Party.
The power of the Southern Beast Palace encompassed this entire mysterious land filled with forests, plains, jungles, and swamps.
“I apologize, but I must ask for just a little more.”
A low rumble echoed from the beast.
Just as Ya-ryul Mok had said, a spiritual creature was indeed a spiritual creature. Even amid the howling wind, Baek Ho seemed to understand my words, releasing a soft growl as he accelerated further.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Surely, the reason Baek Ho obeyed my commands so readily was also because of the master bound to his back.
I exhaled softly as I watched Ya-ryul Mok’s body sway gently with each of Baek Ho’s strides.
‘Ya-ryul Mok.’
We had escaped the Outer Palace in our frantic flight, but I had not awakened him.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say I had not attempted to.
‘If he regained consciousness, he would surely try to turn back by any means necessary.’
But if we returned now, everything would be for nothing.
If we abandoned the single path to survival that they had risked their lives to open for us, all that remained would be a dog’s death.
Of course, given his station, they would not execute me immediately as they would others. But if he wished to return, I would stop him.
For Ya-ryul Mok’s sake. For the Miao Clan members fighting to protect him. And for the Fire Dragon Pavilion members.
Call me selfish if you wish. Curse me for clinging to my own life if it pleases you.
But damn it all, this was the best course of action available to me now.
‘Curse it.’
I clenched my teeth tightly.
Within a day at most, or perhaps half a day, a net would be cast across the entire Southern Wilderness.
Before that happened, I had to distance myself as far as possible and locate the Scouting Party.
‘The two tribal leaders commanding the Scouting Party are essentially servants of the Beast King Miao Wang. Perhaps I could rescue the three without significant combat.’
Of course, this was the best outcome I could envision.
Now that the involvement of Dark Heaven and Baek Sang’s betrayal were confirmed, and I had become the protagonist of a massacre I never sought, no one could predict what variables might emerge.
‘The rescue of all Fire Dragon Pavilion members comes first. And after that….’
But my thoughts could not extend beyond that.
Rustle.
An abrupt halt.
Baek Ho, who had been charging forward without hesitation at the front, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“What is it? Why have you stopped?”
A low growl rumbled from the beast.
“If we continue northwestward as your master instructed….”
Growl. Sniff, sniff.
What is this?
I glanced in both directions in succession, then pressed my nose into my palm and inhaled deeply.
Just as I had done before departure.
‘Wait. Could it be…?’
And in that very moment.
Ding.
– Sudden Quest,
[Yo-hee’s Lingering Scent]
has been generated!
As the Quest notification pierced my ears, I recalled it.
The fragrance sachet of Yo-hee that I had discovered in the Yao Seo Tribe.

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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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