185 - Murim Login

Chapter 185 "Baek Mu-seong, a first-generation disciple of the Mount Hua Sect, greets his mentor." "Who are you?" For a moment, it felt as though the world had come to a halt. Even Jin Wi-gyeong, Wol-hwa, and the pretty girl trailing behind Baek Mu-seong paused in their steps. Of course, the top reaction belonged to Cheol-woo. "Brother, what are you saying? Why would our mentor be here?" "Can't you tell even when you see him?" "Who is this mentor?" "It's Cheongpung, the one right next to you." Cheol-woo turned his head slightly to look at Cheongpung and laughed heartily, as if he had heard an outrageous joke. "Hahaha! It seems you've made a mistake, senior." "Second one." "Please stop. Is this a plan to tease me?" "It's true." "Senior, I'm not that gullible. I now see the Taewon Jin family has quite some humor. You all joined forces just to trick me. Hahaha!" Is this some sort of Korean-Chinese collaboration drama? There's no way the Mount Hua Sect and the Taewon Jin family conspired together just to prank a single person. "Hahaha." As I and others remained expressionless, his laughter gradually faded until it abruptly stopped. "...Is it true?" Baek Mu-seong sighed and answered as he rubbed his temples. "Yes." "Not an ounce of falsehood?" "I'm telling you." Cheol-woo swiftly turned to face Cheongpung. "Excuse me, young master. What's your name?" "Cheongpung." Cheol-woo's pupils quivered as if an earthquake had struck them. He clearly remembered the words he had exchanged with Cheongpung just moments before. "Er, dumpling." "Dumpling?" "Ah, nothing. So, is it true that he’s really mentor Cheongpung?" "Without a doubt." It's a shame there aren't any popcorns for this scene. As Cheol-woo slapped his own cheek, trying to confirm if he was dreaming, Baek Mu-seong spoke up. "I'm sorry, Mentor Cheongpung." Cheongpung replied with an innocent face. "No, it's alright." "I should apologize a hundred times for not recognizing a senior of our sect. Isn't that right?" "Please forgive us, mentor." Cheol-woo bowed his head solemnly, as if it would take a while for him to accept that the dumpling ghost was his mentor. Meanwhile, Cheongpung wasn't bothered in the slightest. He seemed more curious about his connection with these newcomers. "By the way, who are all of you?" "We're fellow disciples of the Mount Hua Sect, just like Mentor Cheongpung." "Ah, I'm just my grandfather's heir." The Sword Saint had raised Cheongpung not merely as a disciple to pass down martial arts but as a grandchild. That's why he has such a faint understanding of sect matters and martial arts alliances. Nonetheless, Baek Mu-seong maintained his warm smile in the face of Cheongpung’s nonchalant response. "My master's alias is the 'Heavenly Sword Hermit.' In terms of lineage, he would be your senior brother." "Senior brother?" "Yes. The Sword Saint, who is both your master and grandfather, had three disciples before you. Have you heard anything about this?" Cheongpung murmured with an unsure voice. "I'm not sure. I think I might have heard of it from my grandfather..." "Ten years ago, he visited with them as well." Cheongpung suddenly erupted in realization. "Ah! The fierce-looking grandpa!" Referring to the Mount Hua Sect leader as a fierce-looking grandpa left everyone in shock, but Cheongpung beamed with a clear face. "Is he my senior brother?" "That's correct." "Oh, I see. I thought he was a bad person, trying to kick us out, my grandfather and me." "You may not be aware of the sect's internal affairs, mentor. You'll learn about them gradually." An admirable patience indeed. Even if a fist had landed during the conversation, it would have been deemed innocent by the first trial. Yet, Baek Mu-seong never lost his smile. 'There’s a reason why his nickname has the character for "crane" (鶴) in it.' As I pondered this internally, Cheongpung happily turned to me and said. "Savior, they say these people are my relations!" "Oh, um, congratulations." "Do you want to be part of my relations too?" "...Me?" "Why? If you don’t want to be a relation, I can make you a mentor." This crazy guy is saying crazy things. Moreover, it's not Cheongpung's decision to make—being Cheongpung's mentor means being a disciple of Geomseong Ma Jonghak. For all I know, you could even make a cigarette run for the Mount Hua Sect leader. That doesn’t sound bad at all. I was about to nod involuntarily. "Haha, Young Master Cheongpung, what a jokester you are." The mouth smiled, but the eyes didn't match. In the piercing gaze from Wi-paeng that seemed like he wanted to tear me apart, I snapped back to reality. "No, no. I'm alright." "Really? That's a pity." While the two members of the Mae Hwa Three Jade Flower looked flabbergasted, Baek Mu-seong chuckled softly. "While it may not be possible to officially enter our sect, we can certainly welcome you as an honored guest." I blinked my eyes. "Was that a formal invitation just now?" "Of course. We would always welcome someone as promising as Young Master Jin. And also…" Baek Mu-seong continued in a gentle voice. "You could provide good company for Mentor Cheongpung on his journey back to our sect." Cheongpung, who had been happily bouncing around, suddenly froze in place. "Huh? Returning?" "Yes, Mentor Cheongpung." Baek Mu-seong formalized his greeting deeply with a sincere voice that was markedly different from before. "It's the command of our sect leader. Please return to the Mount Hua Sect." As Cheongpung disappeared into the grand hall of the Taewon Jin family, Cheol-woo clicked his tongue. "What kind of mentor, or old warrior, is he exactly?" Even Eun-hyang, who constantly bickered with Cheol-woo, nodded this time. "Indeed. I never imagined there would be someone who could refuse the master's command." "Well, there is someone. Our grandmaster." "Brother Cheol, that person is out of the question." Cheol-woo scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Well, that's true, but." The authority of the sect leader is absolute. Even if your rank is higher than the sect leader, you cannot directly refuse an order. Challenging the authority of a sect leader is synonymous with tarnishing the sect's name. The larger the sect, the stricter this structure is. "But to refuse so blatantly... sigh, I thought he was unique, but this is beyond my expectations.” "What you’ve seen is just the tip of the iceberg. Earlier, there was... dumpling, never mind." Cheol-woo shook his head in disbelief and cautiously asked, "What are you going to do now, senior brother?" "Hmm." Baek Mu-seong, who had been silently contemplating, spoke up. "I didn't expect Mentor Cheongpung to be this adamant in his refusal." "At this point, shouldn’t the law enforcement council intervene instead of us?" "Why do you think that?" "He disobeyed the master's order." Breaking the sect’s regulations, even slightly, leads to a summons by the law enforcement council. If they were to judge, Cheongpung might as well be a major offender. Seeing his disciple’s angry expression, Baek Mu-seong chuckled softly. "Mentor didn't violate any rules." "What do you mean?" "The rules only apply to the sect’s disciples. Does a disciple of the Cheongseong Sect get punished for breaking Shaolin's regulations?" "That doesn’t make sense, does it?” "Of course not. But Mentor Cheongpung is… well, he's technically an outsider. He's not a formal disciple, since he hasn't had an initiation ceremony." Every disciple has a formal initiation ceremony, marking them as part of the Mount Hua Sect and officially entering their name into the sect's registry. But Cheongpung was different. "Who'd have thought the grandmaster would do such a thing?" Baek Mu-seong clearly remembered the events from ten years ago. As time passed without word from the reclusive Sword Saint, his master, the Heavenly Sword Hermit, gathered a few others and began searching Mount Hua. They finally discovered a young boy, wielding a sword, at the age of ten. "It was a ridiculous spectacle." The child came out of nowhere, proficient in the sect's most esoteric techniques, with no one knowing when he arrived or how he had been raised. And that child, Cheongpung, had his astonishing achievements overshadowed by the Sword Saint’s pronouncement. 'You want me to enlist him?' Yes, Master. I intend to conduct his initiation and accept him as an official disciple. Though the order is unconventional, ignoring such a rare talent is... 'Ignore him.' Excuse me?' 'And continue to ignore him. When the time is right, I'll send him along.' M-Master!' 'And don't come here again. Before I set this place on fire.' 'Y-You're saying you'll burn Mount Hua! Are you saying you want us all to die?' 'Oh, now that you mention it... well, anyway, understand this. I will take care of Cheongpung.' Listening to this, both Cheol-woo and Eun-hyang's jaws dropped. "Did he truly say that?" "Are you exaggerating?" "It’d be nice if it were an exaggeration... but you’re aware of everything that happened afterward, aren’t you?" Cheongpung, who was supposed to be sent off at the right time, slipped out into the world unnoticed, and the Sword Saint vanished without a trace. "In truth, what the master worries about isn’t the grandmaster but rather Mentor Cheongpung." Even ten years ago, Cheongpung had shown incredible talent. Yet the world, especially the martial arts world, was rife with nefarious schemes. Venturing around with the sect’s profound techniques without being an official disciple was perilous. "We must bring Mentor Cheongpung back. For himself and for the sect. Do you understand?" The sense of mission was evident in his voice, and the two nodded as a sudden question arose. "But senior brother, how do we bring him back? By force?" “Well...” Baek Mu-seong hesitated before letting out a deep sigh. "First, we need to win over Shanxi's Hidden Dragon." The trio vividly recalled Cheongpung's last words. 'I want to be with my savior!' Jin Tae-gyeong from Shanxi, who became an unexpected obstacle, was giving Baek Mu-seong a headache. 'What sort of help did he provide to be called a savior? Saved a life, perhaps?' What started as a connection a few rice cakes ago had grown far more tenacious than expected. Upon entering the main hall, Wi-paeng abruptly asked, "What on earth did you do?" "What do you mean?" "I mean Young Master Cheongpung." Naturally, all eyes turned to Cheongpung. He was busily stuffing his cheeks with the snacks from the table. "I didn't really do anything." "You defied the Mount Hua Sect leader's order by insisting on staying with the third young master." "So what?" "What do you mean, 'so what'? Don’t you realize that doing so could strain the relationship between our family and the Mount Hua Sect?" This was reminiscent of a parent blaming their child’s friend for poor grades. I shrugged my shoulders. "I’ll give it a shot and try to persuade him." "You absolutely, absolutely must persuade him." The voice was firm with determination. Wi-paeng swiftly turned to Jin Wi-gyeong seated at the head. "Master, could you please have a word as well?" "Understood." Jin Wi-gyeong sighed heavily and spoke. "Youngest, your face has really changed in just a few days. Was the journey uncomfortable? You can’t imagine how worried I’ve been..." "Enough. Trusting you was my mistake." "Don't be too harsh. He’ll figure it out." "I've had enough. I’m leaving the Taewon Jin family today." "Ha ha ha. This lad has a great sense of humor today." "Did that sound like a joke to you?" "Yes, it was quite amusing." "It’s not funny to me. Ever since the third young master was late yesterday at noon, it hasn’t been amusing at all." Jin Wi-gyeong widened his eyes. "Oh, that reminds me, my youngest." "Please give him a thorough scolding as you promised last time." "What’s that sword strapped to your back? It looks newly made; let’s have a look." Unable to contain his anger, Wi-paeng jumped up. "I'm serious this time. It’s been unpleasant being here, and I hope we don’t meet again." "Ha ha ha. Is today some special day? Why is he being so entertaining?" "What the heck? Draw your sword." "Tae-gyeong, Wi-paeng seems eager to see that new sword. Would you show it to him?" "Arghhh!" Wi-paeng, whose emotions had flipped, let out a shout and reached for his sword. However, his body froze at my next words. "You might want to refrain from touching that—it was given to me by the Fire King." "...?" "...?" Jin Wi-gyeong and Wi-paeng blinked in silence, barely able to speak. "The Fire King, what did you say?" "Third Young Master, what nonsense are you spouting now?" "The Fire King, yes. That fellow entrusted me with a sword. Oh, and a martial arts manual too." Thud, clatter. In the suffocating silence, the sound of Wi-paeng dropping his sword echoed like thunder.