Myth of Martial Arts - Chapter 24

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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 24
“Sorry for the delay—I had so many things to pack. I’ve kept you waiting far too long.”

So he’d spent most of this half hour wrapping up packages?

Mu Jin’s eye twitched more violently than before.

“What’s wrong? Your eye’s twitching.”

Jang Wook asked in alarm.

“No, no. It’s nothing.”

Mu Jin let out a dry laugh and tried to suppress his emotions.

Shaking his head, Jang Wook dismissed the matter and turned his attention to the teachers from Unsan Academy, speaking matter-of-factly.

“You may set down the goods and return.”

At Jang Wook’s words, the Unsan Academy teachers exhaled in unison, then fled as though they’d been greased at the soles.

They were seized by the dread that even one step’s delay would trap them here forever.

Once the Unsan Academy teachers had all departed, Jang Wook surveyed the burlap sacks and wooden crates stacked densely around him with a satisfied smile.

“At last I have suitable items for the Library Pavilion.”

Mu Jin turned to him with a question.

“Director, moving so many goods alone will be difficult. Shall I send people now to help transport them?”
“There’s no hurry.”

Jang Wook waved his hand with a smile.

“I’ve visited both Sinwang Academy and Unsan Academy, so I should also call on the Deung Family, Yeo Family, and Gwak Family, shouldn’t I?”

Deung Buk So, patriarch of the Deung Family; Yeo Yang, patriarch of the Yeo Family; and Gwak Gon, patriarch of the Gwak Family—all had been prime movers back then. Jang Wook had no reason to overlook them.

Thanks to the resources plundered from Changung Academy, the Deung Family, Yeo Family, and Gwak Family had grown remarkably fast, becoming nearly unrivaled among second-tier houses.

In time, they might even threaten the Mu Clan’s current standing.

Hearing this, Mu Jin hesitated, appearing to speak before stopping himself.

Then Jang Wook furrowed his brow and asked.

“What did you want to say?”
“Director, I’ve heard some account of what happened back then. It’s possible the Deung Family, Yeo Family, and Gwak Family had their own circumstances.”

Mu Jin drew a deep breath and spoke in a low voice.

“Do you know something?”

Jang Wook glanced at Mu Jin and fell into thought.

“Director, please don’t misunderstand. I had no involvement in that matter.”

Mu Jin hurried to clarify, alarmed. He feared Jang Wook might get the wrong idea.

Jang Wook nodded lightly.

“Don’t be anxious. I trust you. Tell me what you know.”

Mu Jin exhaled in relief, then spoke slowly.

“As far as I know, there were only three true instigators: Im Hae Ae, Na Ak San, and Du Yak Un. The upheaval was planned secretly by these three. Mak Cheon Gu, Jeon Pung, and Na Gun joined later—Mak Cheon Gu followed Du Yak Un’s orders, Jeon Pung followed Im Hae Ae’s, and Na Gun followed Na Ak San’s.”

He swallowed hard and continued.

“But the Deung, Yeo, and Gwak families were all coerced into joining by those three. Their original target was me, but since I refused, they shifted their target to the Deung, Yeo, and Gwak families.”

Mu Jin watched Jang Wook carefully.

“Keep going.”

Jang Wook spoke calmly, his face expressionless.

“Deung Buk So told me directly. He said they never wanted to participate in it at all. Perhaps they feared that your esteemed father might one day return and exact revenge upon them. But under the threats and inducements of the three, they had no other choice and were forced to comply.”

Mu Jin chose his words with utmost care, careful not to offend Jang Wook.

“I believe what Deung Buk So says for one reason: the day the upheaval occurred, when those three attempted to kill you, Deung Buk So realized their intent, rushed to find me, and begged me to step in and stop them.”

Hearing this, Jang Wook looked startled and asked.

“You were the one who stood against them back then?”

Mu Jin answered with evident embarrassment.

“I apologize, Director. At the time, I only prevented them from attacking you. I failed to stop them from destroying Changung Academy.”

In truth, there was one thing Mu Jin left unsaid.

The real reason he had stepped in was that he wanted to make a wager. A wager that Jang Ho Yeon would return.

If Jang Ho Yeon returned and learned that Mu Jin had saved Jang Wook’s life, it would mean that both Jang Ho Yeon and Jang Wook would owe him an enormous debt.

But such a motive seemed far too calculating, so Mu Jin could not bring himself to speak of it.

Of course, even without Mu Jin saying anything, Jang Wook could guess as much.

Mu Jin had had no connection to Jang Wook back then. Why would he risk such peril to save Jang Wook’s life without any benefit to himself?

“Then it was thanks to the Deung, Yeo, and Gwak families that I survived?”

Jang Wook spoke with a peculiar expression.

“Should I be grateful to them?”

It struck him as strange: the people he had despised for seven years had actually shown him kindness.

“Kindness and transgression are separate matters. What they asked of me could be called a favor, but they also participated in the upheaval at that time. Moreover, the number of people from Changung Academy who died because of them is far from insignificant.”

After a moment of silence, Mu Jin met Jang Wook’s eyes and offered his counsel.

Right and wrong must be judged

by you alone, Director.”

Many had lost their lives in that upheaval.

Though Jang Wook had been young at the time, his memory of that chaos remained crystalline.

He recalled that day vividly.

When the uprising erupted, several Elders of Changung Academy, teachers and students loyal to the academy fought with desperate determination.

But the enemy poured in like a tidal wave, seemingly without end.

Moreover, with Du Yak Un—a traitor—launching a surprise attack, the people of Changung Academy had no choice but to die or flee.

And after a single night, he alone remained at Changung Academy.

That memory had long since become a deep shadow in Jang Wook’s heart.

Though Jang Wook now dwelt in a different spirit, he had inherited everything of the original—his past, and his resentment as well.

Jang Wook stood quietly, chin resting on his hand, lost in profound thought.

Mu Jin and Mu Muk held their breath, careful not to make the slightest sound. They feared interrupting his contemplation.

Mu Heon Heon too stood quietly to one side, watching Jang Wook with curious eyes as if trying to divine what occupied his mind.

The night had grown deep. Though many people stood outside the Mu Clan residence, there was no noise—only a desolate stillness.

After about half an incense stick’s worth of time

had passed, Jang Wook finally collected himself and, regarding the tense-faced Mu Jin, heaved a sigh.

“Very well. I will not pursue the matter against them this time. Instead, deliver this message: they must voluntarily return every last item taken from Changung Academy four days from now. Not a single thing missing.”

And he spoke with tremendous force, as if making a vow.

“Furthermore, since the blood of Changung Academy stains their hands, the academy will accept no member of their families forevermore!”

Mu Jin answered respectfully, his mind wound tight with tension.

“Understood!”

Returning cultivation methods, martial techniques, medicinal ingredients and the like was not particularly difficult for the Deung, Yeo, and Gwak families.

After all, the truly valuable items had been taken by Im Hae Ae, Na Ak San, and Du Yak Un—the three of them—and what fell to the Deung, Yeo, and Gwak families was comparatively little, and of limited value at that.

What they truly feared was Changung Academy’s ban on enrollment.

The current Changung Academy not only harbored masters of the Waseon Realm, but possessed the mysterious secret art called Extreme Flawlessness.

Even more precious was that the academy distributed Gyeseodan Pills regularly.

More remarkable things might yet emerge from the academy in years to come.

These were once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for anyone. Seize them properly, and one could transcend natural talent and become a true martial master.

And now, with a single word from Jang Wook, the Deung, Yeo, and Gwak families stood forever outside the academy’s gates.

In Mu Jin’s eyes, this was the cruelest punishment of all.

Mu Muk and Mu Heon Heon understood in their hearts just how terrible an opportunity the Deung, Yeo, and Gwak families had forfeited, and lamented it inwardly.

“Headmaster, are you not worried that I might have just lied?”

Mu Jin asked out of curiosity.

From beginning to end, Jang Wook seemed to harbor no doubt about his words, and this confounded him. All the explanations he’d prepared in advance went unused.

Thus Mu Jin felt moved by Jang Wook’s trust, yet simultaneously frustrated. It was as though a thorn lodged in his throat, and he couldn’t bear not to speak.

“I trust your character.”

Jang Wook regarded Mu Jin quietly and spoke slowly, a spring-like warmth blooming across his face in a gentle smile.

“I’m grateful for your trust!”

Mu Jin was immediately flooded with emotion, his feelings surging, and his respect for Jang Wook deepened still further in his heart.

But had he known that Jang Wook’s trust stemmed from the fact that he had signed the Changung Contract, who could say what reaction he would have shown.

“But there’s one thing I’m curious about. What exactly is the relationship between the Deung Family, the Yeo Family, the Gwak Family, and your Mu Clan, that you were willing to risk danger and defend them?”

Jang Wook waved his hand and regarded Mu Jin with curious eyes, finally voicing the question he’d harbored in his heart for so long.

As Jang Wook understood it, the Deung Family, the Yeo Family, and the Gwak Family had grown rapidly over recent years and continuously expanded their business sphere.

Yet the Imperial City was limited in size, and its market was constrained.

As the Deung, Yeo, and Gwak families’ businesses flourished, they affected other families and factions, and the Mu Clan’s business suffered as well.

In many respects, the Deung, Yeo, and Gwak families had frictions with the Mu Clan—they could hardly be called anything but rivals.

Thus Jang Wook could not understand why Mu Jin would defend the Deung, Yeo, and Gwak families.

“I expected you would ask, sir.”

Mu Jin was not surprised at all. He sighed and spoke with a complicated expression.

“You may find it amusing, but the truth is, I was once a servant of the Deung Family. The Deung Family gave me the opportunity to learn martial arts. However, I later left the Deung Family due to an accidental incident, departed the Imperial City for the outside world, and after my cultivation had progressed to a certain degree, I returned to the Imperial City and founded the Mu Clan as it stands today.”
“What?”

Mu Muk’s vision blurred before his eyes, and his mouth hung open, his eyes wide as saucers.

“Father, you were a servant before?”

Mu Heon Heon also stared blankly at Mu Jin. In her heart, the father who had towered like a mountain had once been a servant.

In that moment, the image of Mu Jin in the hearts of Mu Muk and Mu Heon Heon completely crumbled.

Who could have imagined it—that the strongest man in the Imperial City, that legendary figure, had once been a servant of the Deung Family.

A servant of the Deung Family, the patriarch of the Mu Clan. How could these two things possibly connect.

Jang Wook’s eyes had already gone wide, but he concealed his surprise well. Inwardly he was laughing so hard he nearly split, yet outwardly he spoke with seriousness.

“I see. Your experience is truly remarkable when you put it that way!”

If one compared it to Earth in a past life, Mu Jin’s such experience could be called a typical rags-to-riches story of an ordinary person.

Mu Jin’s life—from a single servant to the strongest man in the Imperial City—was truly legend worthy.

“I’ve kept this secret for nearly three decades. I’ve never told a soul.”

After revealing the secret, Mu Jin felt as though he’d set down a heavy burden. It was as if he’d shed shackles and finally drawn an easy breath.

“Even Mu Muk and Mu Heon Heon have only learned of this now.”

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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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