Murim Login - Chapter 437

As the name suggests, the “Quicksilver Ship” was designed with speed as its priority.

If regular warships were heavyweight, then the Quicksilver Ship would be a weight class below, something like welterweight?

Because of this, the hull wasn’t particularly large, meaning there weren’t many places to hide from others’ eyes.

“Oh dear…”

“Great Hero Jin, what brings you here?”

Two sailors who had been slacking off under the guise of guard duty at the stern recognized me and bowed respectfully.

I nodded sternly and spoke.

“Save…”

Just then, something sharp jabbed into the “Myeongmun” acupoint on my lower back.

“Save it… Move along.”

“Excuse me?”

“Move along, I said. I just need a quick word with this friend.”

“Oh, is that so.”

No, don’t just accept that. Please, doubt it.

I glanced sideways at Moon Kyung, who was pressed close to my side, as I continued.

“Be sure to… move along! If anyone asks about me, let them know I’m here with Moon Kyung!”

“Oh, understood.”

“No, don’t just say you understand. Right! If my master comes looking for me…”

“I doubt that will happen,” Moon Kyung said, cutting me off with a serene smile.

“It seems Great Hero Jin has some urgent matters to discuss. Anyway, we’re just here for a quick check-up, so please, go on. Rest in the cabin, and we’ll inform you later.”

“Well, that works for us.”

Nothing sweetens a tedious guard shift like a legitimate excuse to slack off.

The sailors, happy to have some relief in the cool shade, left with a smile, and my last hope of signaling was blocked by Moon Kyung’s words.

“So, do you have multiple lives or something?”

“You have two choices. Answer everything I ask honestly, or, if you’d prefer, keep your mouth shut.”

I tried asking, just in case.

“What happens if I choose the second option?”

“You’ll be heading to Hubei.”

“Well, that’s…”

Just as I was about to answer, Moon Kyung spoke calmly.

“You’ll be swept to Hubei—at the bottom of the Yangtze River. Quietly.”

“Didn’t you say you’d renounced killing?”

“That depends on my will. It’s none of your concern.”

This is ridiculous. It’s not like quitting smoking…

Exasperated, I pressed further.

“Is it appropriate for someone with your integrity to make death threats?”

“I’m a former integrity. I passed that title down to my disciple long ago. Now, will you answer?”

I glared at Moon Kyung.

“Do you think I’ll give in to threats like this?”

“Of course.”

“Exactly right. I’ll answer all your questions with utmost sincerity.”

After a moment of speechlessness, Moon Kyung broke the silence.

“What a strange one you are.”

“People probably think the same about you. Run a survey in the martial world and see who’s weirder.”

“Who?”

“My tongue slipped. I apologize.”

The intensity in Moon Kyung’s gaze made the skin across my entire body prickle.

Watching me swallow nervously, Moon Kyung suddenly said,

“Middle Dantian.”

“…Excuse me?”

“A few days ago—no, even half a day ago, your Middle Dantian was closed. So what trick did you pull to achieve such a breakthrough overnight?”

So that’s why he called me aside.

‘I figured he noticed.’

The levels of martial prowess are like a vertical structure.

It’s like sitting on a high seat and overlooking all the scenery below.

The likes of the Fire King and Killing Star are unrivaled masters who have climbed the highest peaks in the martial world.

Long before I was even born, they had already opened their Middle Dantians. It was only natural that they noticed my sudden change.

The problem is…

‘What do I say about it?’

It’s not like I just casually opened my Middle Dantian, something people usually only achieve through intense bloodshed or life-or-death struggles.

Hesitating briefly, I glanced at the large acupuncture needle in Moon Kyung’s hand and quickly answered.

“It just… happened.”

“What?”

“It just happened.”

“…Are you seriously expecting me to believe that?”

Of course not.

So, I pulled out a cliché often used in martial arts novels.

“Actually, I did have a strange dream.”

Seeing me lower my voice and look around nervously, Moon Kyung’s brow furrowed.

“A dream?”

“Yes, a very old-looking, white-haired elder suddenly started swinging a sword at me. At the time, I didn’t even realize it was a dream, so I just tried to dodge.”

Sword, spear, or a backscratcher—it doesn’t matter. This world is filled with superstitions anyway.

The moment I mentioned a white-haired elder with a sage-like aura appearing in my dream, Moon Kyung’s expression lit up, like a reader engrossed in a web novel.

“And then?”

“I fought back with everything I had, but he was way out of my league. No matter what attacks I used, he avoided them easily. And no matter how hard I tried to dodge, he would just glide over, striking me with his sword like… shick, shick, shick. Can you feel it?”

“You didn’t realize it was a dream?”

“There wasn’t even time to notice. Besides, the pain was so vivid. After being slashed hundreds of times in an instant, I thought, ‘Ah, so this is how I die.’ But then I noticed I wasn’t bleeding, and that’s when I figured out it was a dream.”

“Go on.”

“But it was enough to drive me crazy. I kept getting cut by his sword; it hurt like hell, and even after realizing it was a dream, I couldn’t wake up.”

“Yes, indeed.”

Moon Kyung winced slightly as if he’d been cut himself.

Well, well, it seems this ‘Killing Star’ has the reaction skills of a web novel fan.

I continued the story without hesitation, now fully assured of the hidden reader within him.

“I don’t even know how much time passed. Days? Months? After being cut and dodging so much, eventually, a strange sense came over me.”

“Describe it. How was it?”

This part, at least, I can describe truthfully. It was just like what I’d experienced in battle with the Arch Lich.

Moon Kyung muttered softly after hearing my strange descriptions, which might’ve sounded like nonsense to an ordinary person.

“Enlightenment. A fateful opportunity.”

“Wow, you’re right on. That’s exactly what he said.”

“He left you with some words?”

“Yes. He looked at me, smiled for the first time, and told me, ‘This opportunity is a blessing for you, so press forward.’”

“That’s it?”

“…Yes?”

“Did he say anything else?”

“Well…”

Wait a moment. I hadn’t planned for this.

I’d already exhausted the brief story I’d concocted in that short time.

But Moon Kyung seemed to be expecting more, and I had nothing left in reserve.

And Moon Kyung isn’t an ordinary reader; he’s the Killing Star.

‘If I end it here, what will happen?’

If anything, I’d end up at the bottom of the Yangtze, floating toward Hubei.

Noticing Moon Kyung’s narrowing eyes, I hastily continued.

“He did say one more thing.”

“What was it?”

“Well, it was…”

Damn it, whatever, let’s just go with it.

I swallowed nervously and said cautiously,

“‘Pain is what makes a warrior.’”

“What?”

“He really said that to me, just that one line. Then he leapt onto his sword and whoosh, he flew off…”

“Such noble energy.”

“…Excuse me?”

Keeping a wary eye on the large needle in Moon Kyung’s hand, I muttered absently.

‘What’s he talking about now?’

As I looked up, I saw Moon Kyung nodding slowly with a strange, almost reverent expression.

Murmuring something inaudible under his breath, he suddenly spoke up.

“Yeong Am.”

“I know stomach cancer and lung cancer, but is there an issue with your health?”

“…You don’t know Yeong Am?”

Looking at me as if I were some lunatic, Moon Kyung explained,

“Yeong Am. Given name Dongbin. Daoist title, Chunyangzi. He achieved enlightenment and ascended to the realm of the immortals, known as the Sword Immortal.”

“Wait, that Yeong Dongbin?”

“Finally, you understand.”

I might not know the name Yeong Am, but I know Sword Immortal Yeong Dongbin.

Along with Zhang Sanfeng of the Wudang Sect and Bodhidharma of Shaolin Temple, he’s one of the three go-to figures in martial arts novels.

With a serious expression, Moon Kyung looked me straight in the eye and continued.

“The elder you saw in your dream was undoubtedly Yeong Dongbin. At the end, he disappeared with a sword technique. It has to be the Sword Immortal.”

“Uh… I guess so.”

I had just made up a story that sounded cooler, but it’s turning into something else.

I knew from novels that an immortal named Yeong Dongbin existed, but I didn’t know he was a master of sword techniques.

‘One thing leads to another, I suppose.’

This is the perfect example.

Now that Moon Kyung had classified the old man in my dream as Yeong Dongbin, he was piecing everything together with utmost seriousness.

“Did his beard reach his chest?”

“Yes.”

“His height?”

“He was short, I think.”

“You fool! How short?”

“Uh, just short. I was too busy getting slashed to notice those kinds of details.”

For the most part, Moon Kyung nodded at my words, though there were a few dangerously close moments.

“What else did he carry aside from his sword?”

“Oh, what was it… a scabbard?”

“Do you wish to die? That goes without saying. Did he carry anything else?”

“…I don’t think so.”

Moon Kyung’s eyes grew darker.

“Yeong Dongbin doesn’t carry just a sword. He always has a Daoist whisk in his right hand.”

“…”

“Did you lie about everything?”

A crisis.

I have no idea why the Sword Immortal would carry a whisk, but right now, convincing Moon Kyung is my top priority. I replied without batting an eye.

“It’s all true.”

“Then why do your words contradict Yeong Dongbin’s usual appearance?”

“I think he left the whisk behind today.”

“What nonsense…”

“Have you ever seen Yeong Dongbin?”

“…”

“Well, I did.”

Yes, I saw him. So what are you going to do about it?

I seized the moment, pressing hard as Moon Kyung struggled for words.

“And did I ever say he was Yeong Dongbin? I just thought he was some old man, but you were the one who said he was Yeong Dongbin.”

“You…?”

“Look, that’s not the point. I’m just saying that’s how it happened. Honestly, it doesn’t matter to me if he was Yeong Dongbin or Kim Dongbin. I met some mysterious elder in my dream and gained an opportunity from it. But now I’m being treated like some kind of criminal…”

“Do you see these tears? As a man, I don’t want to do this, but right now I’m so frustrated that I can’t help but cry.”

Honestly, it’s because I’m terrified.

The unfairness of being forced to lie under threat, with no wrongdoing on my part, was so overwhelming that a single tear rolled down my cheek.

‘Is this what life is?’

Earlier, I wet myself below, and now I’m on the verge of wetting myself above. This started as an act, but somehow, it’s become all too real.

For the first time, a hint of unease flickered on Moon Kyung’s typically stoic face.

“You… what are you up to?”

“Hah, you’re doing it again. Forget it. I answered everything, so I’m leaving.”

“Leaving?”

“Do whatever you want. Kill me, spare me, or bring me back to life—whatever.”

Just as I was about to take a step, a powerful presence made itself known.

“What the hell is going on here?”

The Fire King and the Killing Star’s gazes clashed in the air.