Murim School Record - Chapter 53

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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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Episode 53: Tan Hwang (2)

The fear was of inhaling the deadly poison drifting on the wind.
“Hehehehe! What do you think?”
Tan Hwang asked with evident pride.
Jo Gul’s eyes, visible through the Dok Hwa Bok, went wide as saucers.
The explosive charge alone was terrifying enough, but the poison that followed had left nothing untouched—a complete annihilation.
“I’ve never seen such a dreadful poison projectile. What weapon in all the realm could possibly display such destructive force?”
“I say without hesitation that no weapon surpasses the Dok Ha Pok Pok Noe Hwa Tan. The Murim Alliance, or anywhere else—we’ll sweep them all away.”
There had been a time in the past when the Murim Alliance had officially marked him as a wanted man.
Even now, the memory made his teeth grind.
He had survived by heaven’s grace alone.
From that day until now, not a single moment had he forgotten the Murim Alliance.
He had sworn and vowed to burn the Murim Alliance to ashes with his own hands.
“I must report today’s power demonstration to the higher-ups immediately. This extraordinary poison bomb…”
“Dok Ha Pok Pok Noe Hwa Tan.”
“The Dok Ha Pok Pok Noe Hwa Tan, yes.”
“Higher-ups, you say?”
“Hehehehe! When a Ma Gyo elder speaks of higher authority, who else could it be?”
“You don’t mean… the Cheon Ma?”
“Hehehehe! Until next time. I must hurry to deliver this joyful news.”
Whoosh!
He vanished in haste, still clad in the Dok Hwa Bok.
“Tsk, the oaf could’ve at least removed that bear suit before leaving.”
Tan Hwang smiled as Jo Gul disappeared.
Then his expression hardened, and he murmured to himself.
“He definitely said Cheon Ma just now…”
The Cheon Ma was not merely the Master of Ma Gyo, but the supreme patriarch who encompassed and ruled all darkness under heaven.
Because of such an exalted and unparalleled station, the Cheon Ma was not made but born.
The Cheon Ma—a figure chosen by Cheon Sal Seong, born embracing all the power of darkness.
Ma Gyo had never emerged into the light because the Cheon Ma had not appeared.
Only when the Cheon Ma they worshipped and revered finally showed himself could they ever step into daylight.
“Has the Cheon Ma truly appeared?”
He was still murmuring when it happened.
Swish!
Sensing something amiss, Tan Hwang spun around.
Too late.
Yi Mo Baek drove a fist into his ribs.
A vital meridian point lay there.
Thud!
The fist connected with the Dok Hwa Bok, and instantly his entire body went numb.
His vital points had been sealed.
No matter how skilled a master might be, once the vital points were sealed, there was no recourse.
“What… what are you doing?”
Hehehehe.
Yi Mo Baek laughed.
Ssshhhhh!
Then Yi Mo Baek’s face twisted and warped like clay being kneaded.

Byeon Che Hwan Yong.

In an instant, it reformed into a single face.
“Ugh!”
His own face.
Not just the face, but the height, the build, even the gleaming bald head—a perfect Tan Hwang.
“B-b-but… b-b-but…”
The transformation was so flawless that Tan Hwang could not find his words.
“I won’t deny it feels hasty. I could have become his replacement after learning habits and techniques under Tan Hwang’s guidance, but an opportunity like this won’t come twice. I was afraid to let it slip away.”
Yi Mo Baek spoke with measured calm.
“What? You can’t be serious?”
Tan Hwang’s mouth hung open while only his eyes moved.
His throat wasn’t sealed, so he could have spoken, but his lips merely trembled—no words came.
He couldn’t believe it.
Whether this was reality or a dream, he didn’t know. But the grand aspirations and glittering ambitions he’d carried in his chest—ambitions that stretched toward dominion of the realm—had crumbled away so absurdly, so utterly.
“Ah… ah…”
“If there’s something you wish to say, speak. You’ll be leaving this world soon enough.”
Heave!
Tan Hwang vomited blood.
The shock struck him like lightning, and the extreme agitation brought forth blood from his throat.
Gasp—hah, hah, gasp!
After a long bout of gasping, Tan Hwang spoke.
“Who… who are you?”
Yi Mo Baek, having released the Byeon Che Hwan Yong technique, gazed down at Tan Hwang and answered.
“I am Yi Mo Baek. Perhaps you’d recognize the name Mo Yong Mo Baek?”
“Mo Yong Mo Baek… Could you be the next heir of the Mo Yong Family? I’d heard you were dead.”
“Rumors in the martial world are often unreliable.”
“Now I understand. I received an invitation from Wi Ji Gwang, and perhaps…?”
“Your suspicion is correct. A letter of gratitude for the invitation was lost in the fight at Tae Ha Guest House. You, acting without due caution, simply rewrote it and sent another. That letter found its way into my hands.”
“Ahhh!”
Tan Hwang let out a sound that was almost a scream.
He had never expected this.
A few subordinates had died in that skirmish, and the letter had vanished.
He could never have imagined that a letter carried on a dead man’s body would end up in Yi Mo Baek’s hands.

‘Fortune.’

The thought flickered across his mind.
He had no luck, and the man before him possessed it in abundance.
No genius could overcome fortune.
He wondered if his present situation had been planned long ago.
Without fortune’s favor, nothing could succeed.
“Kekeke! Kekekekekekekeke.”
He laughed.
It was mockery, hatred, and rage.
The utter helplessness that comes when one falls to an enemy you never saw coming, when you couldn’t even mount a single proper resistance.
Heave!
He coughed up blood again, his eyes gleaming crimson.
Fury.
Stream.
Blood began to flow from his eyes like tears.
“To a wretch like you… filthy… cursed—wahhhhh!”
Blood fountained from his mouth before his body collapsed forward.
Burst!
His meridians had ruptured.
Uncontrollable rage had shattered the Ki Gyeong Pal Maek throughout his entire body.
Yi Mo Baek looked down at the fallen Tan Hwang.
“I understand that feeling.”
It would drive anyone mad.
It would shatter the mind.
If one couldn’t accept a reality that was absolutely unacceptable, that made no sense, then Sim Ma would descend, and the body would tear itself apart.
Burst!
He released a blast of force that carved out a pit.
A hole about two feet deep was opened in the earth, and he shoved Tan Hwang’s corpse—still dressed in the Dok Hwa Bok—into it.
Then he scraped the surrounding soil back over it.
The work was finished in moments.
Yi Mo Baek glanced up at the sky.
The sun was beginning to set.
Today the sunset burns an especially vivid crimson.

‘Blood.’

There’s an old saying: when the sun turns red, blood flows.
“So you were here.”
At that moment, a figure appeared—Dam Hak, the courier from the Yong Bi Dan whom he’d parted ways with in Duong.
Dam Hak’s eyes swept across the raw earth of the clearing.
“Already?”
“The opportunity was too perfect to let slip.”
Tan Hwang trembled with excitement at the power of his newly crafted Dok Ha Pok Pok Noe Hwa Tan, lost in exultation.
A warrior dies the moment they drop their guard.
It had been only a brief instant, but he’d lowered all his defenses.
The original plan was to enter as a disciple, learn the techniques, and wait for the right moment. But an opportunity this perfect couldn’t be wasted.
So he’d skipped every intermediate step and moved straight into action.
“I’ve brought it.”
Dam Hak handed over a Bong Seo.
Yi Mo Baek took the envelope and unfolded its contents.
Whoosh!
The envelope contained a list of many names.
Tan Hwang’s inner circle.
Dan Hu Jam, the director of the Jeok San Pyo Guk, had mobilized all his resources to investigate Tan Hwang and his associates, and sent along their complete dossier.
At the end was a note saying the information might not be entirely accurate, and should be taken only as reference.
Yi Mo Baek read through it several more times, then burned the document.
He’d committed it all to memory.

Upon entering Tan Hwang’s private chambers, Yi Mo Baek found two women waiting.
They were the ones who massaged Tan Hwang’s body.
Knowing the names of his inner circle was one thing; learning the names of these two attendants who ministered to him was the immediate challenge.
On the way here, he’d pondered how to extract this information, but nothing concrete had come to mind.
It was unlikely the Jeok San Pyo Guk had even thought to investigate such minor servants.
“Bring me the Mun Bang Sa Woo.”
His voice was pitch-perfect Tan Hwang.
“Y-yes?”
Both women’s eyes widened in unison.
Despite having shared Tan Hwang’s bed and attended to him for a long time, they’d never once heard him ask for Mun Bang Sa Woo.
From their past experience, Tan Hwang had always kept his distance from scholarly pursuits.
When he had free time, he was either shedding clothes and indulging with them, or else absorbed in his incendiary research.
“What are you waiting for? Fetch it.”
“Yes, at once.”
One servant hurried away.
The other lingered awkwardly, clearly sensing something amiss.
“What are you standing there for? Get to work.”
By now, Yi Mo Baek had stretched out on his side atop the bedding.
The attendant quickly settled behind him and began kneading his lower back and hips.
Knead, knead.
But within moments of surrendering his body to her touch, Yi Mo Baek stiffened.
Suddenly heat began to bloom across his skin.

‘No.’

The woman’s soft hands.
As her Eum Qi caressed his hips, his youthful Yang Qi stirred—naturally, inevitably.
He barely suppressed the moan threatening to escape.
He wanted nothing more than to stop her, but he couldn’t.
If he suddenly refused something he’d always accepted, it would raise suspicion.
It’s hardening.
This can’t happen.
“I’ve brought it, sir.”
The moment the attendant returned, the situation finally settled.
Yi Mo Baek let the heat drain from his body, then rose and walked toward the table.
“Grind ink at once and write your names.”
The two attendants’ eyes widened at his request.
“Forgive us, but why do you suddenly ask us servants to write our names?”
“It’s about Jo Gul, the elder from before.”
“The one who came from Ma Gyo?”
“After seeing the power of the Dok Ha Pok Pok Noe Hwa Tan, he was so pleased he wanted to share Cheon Ha Pa Ju with me tonight to celebrate. But he said he had urgent business and needed to leave—can you imagine?”
“You must have been disappointed.”
“As you both know, I’ve sleepless nights perfecting the Dok Ha Pok Pok Noe Hwa Tan. So I asked him what the matter was. While it doesn’t reach the level of a Do Won Gyeol Ui, I’m on intimate terms with Ma Gyo and him, so to be refused a simple cup of wine—honestly, it stings.”
“What was so urgent?”
“I was at a loss for words. One of Jo Gul’s attendants is participating in a calligraphy competition tomorrow.”
“A calligraphy competition?”
“So he hurried off to attend and encourage her, to bolster her courage. Isn’t that admirable?”
The two attendants’ eyes grew wide.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and write your names. If I see promise, I myself will actively support your participation in the calligraphy competition.”
“Truly? Oh, how wonderful!”
The two women smiled, then quickly poured water into their inkstones and began grinding ink.
Scrape.
Grind, grind, grind.
They worked diligently.
With utmost seriousness.
Once the ink was ground sufficiently, the two women unrolled their paper and began writing their names.

‘Chu Wol’
‘Sa Bun’

It was impossible to tell whether they had written or drawn, but knowing their names, he had to offer lavish praise.
“Do you think we could compete in the competition too?”
“Where in the world is there a woman who writes well from the start? With effort, all things are possible. I’ve never seen effort fail.”
“We… we are most grateful. We shall practice diligently whenever time permits.”
The two women’s voices trembled with emotion.

The Precarious Stacking of Eggs.
In a manner of speaking—
eggs piled layer upon layer, each day a tenuous balancing act, never knowing when it will collapse.
The safest way to avoid discovery is caution.
To exercise caution, one must restrain both word and deed.
Yet the eyes of Tan Hwang’s subordinates, who have endured and observed him at length, miss nothing untoward.
And reckless boldness without true understanding would only breed deeper suspicion.
Thin ice.
But in the midst of this suffocating charade, a reprieve came.
Some twenty days later, Tan Hwang’s men who had visited the Mo Yong Family returned.
“Wi Ji Gwang says he wishes to see you as soon as possible?”
“Indeed.”

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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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