Murim Troubleshooter Dan Mujin

Chapter 111: Arrives

An incredible stroke of luck beyond what I deserved.

When one encounters such fortune in the Central Plains, they usually call it a miraculous encounter.

And here stood a person who had just been handed a rare spiritual elixir, simply by standing still.

“Why are you just staring at that precious thing instead of taking it?”

It was Hwang Geolgae, speaking in a gentle tone unlike when he dealt with Dan Mujin.

“I just... have a lot on my mind.”

Ilhong replied with a face clearly filled with hesitation.

“What’s there to think about? A miraculous encounter like this is rare—hurry up and swallow it.”

As if someone might snatch it away, Hwang Geolgae gestured for her to stop holding it and take it immediately.

“……”

A miraculous encounter… Ilhong silently rolled the potent elixir in her palm, its mysterious energy radiating faintly.

Perhaps the greatest miraculous encounter in her life had been meeting the captain in that alleyway.

The handsome boy who rescued her from being beaten by beggars and even gave her the bizarre alias “Runaway Ninja.”

She had followed him, only seeing his back, and somehow escaped a life of vagrancy, taken the Dragon Head Sect Leader as her master, and now even ended up with such a treasure in her hand.

“What’s stopping you from taking it?”

“Well, if I accept even this… then the debt I owe will grow too heavy to bear.”

She had a priceless elixir in hand—something martial artists would kill for—yet she hesitated for what seemed like a trivial reason. Hwang Geolgae looked incredulous.

“Tsk, tsk. You think he gives a damn about debts and repayments? You’re the only one fretting.”

“……”

Having watched him closely for quite some time, Ilhong found it hard to refute that—it really did seem true.

Grinning, Hwang Geolgae continued.

“He’s just that kind of guy. Just a bit touched in the head… crazy, even. Just gulp it down, raise your cultivation, and keep helping him the way you are. That’s how you pay him back.”

He had willingly handed over such a rare elixir to a pitiful child. That act alone had surely built up some virtue.

Surely the boy would gain something in return too. Knowing this, Hwang Geolgae urged her not to hesitate.

“……He’s not crazy. He just doesn’t hold back when he wants to say something.”

Moved by Hwang Geolgae’s words to grow stronger and help, Ilhong made up her mind.

She quietly defended her captain, then popped the round elixir into her mouth.

The Golden Imperial Elixir of the Imperial Household melted instantly on her tongue.

A refined energy spread from her throat to her entire body. A vast amount of natural qi surged through her like a flood.

“Circulate your Jade-Mystic Return-to-Truth Heart Method.”

As she sat in full lotus position, Hwang Geolgae placed a hand on her back, guiding the stormy energy of the elixir.

Ilhong, the legitimate successor of the Hao Sect, began to operate the Beggars’ Union’s heart cultivation method—directly passed down by the Dragon Head Sect Leader—with utmost focus.

Zzzt zzzt zzzt—

She continued to tame the overflowing energy within her for half a day.

And then, in the stillness, the storm that had raged inside her body finally began to settle.

Seeing the elixir’s energy had harmonized well, Hwang Geolgae removed his hand with a satisfied smile.

“Heh, you might be the first to ever stack the Beggars’ Union’s martial arts atop the cornerstone laid by the Hao Sect.”

On a night filled with the sorrowful cries of insects, Ilhong opened her eyes wide, her gaze piercing the darkness.

She exhaled a long, exhilarated breath.

Someone once said: If the heavens are too high, then just pull them down closer.

“Thank you, Master… and Captain.”

And that night, a woman forged by the Hao Sect and shaped by the Beggars’ Union rose to the ranks of first-rate martial artists.

✱✱✱

The Blood Cult’s couriers were running desperately through the darkness.

As if being chased by something, they panted heavily.

Then, from the thick shadows, a man in black surged forth, swinging a hefty Nangabong.

“Guh-!”

Staff Qi surged violently, sweeping in all directions with a bluish gleam. The spike at the tip of the staff—like a wolf’s fang—ripped through a Blood Cultist.

Even though the group had a Peak Martial Artist among them, the sudden ambush by the man in black led to a swift massacre.

One Blood Cultist screamed in horror.

“It’s you, isn’t it… the Nangabong that’s been ambushing Blood Cult hideouts lately…!”

Thwack!

A strike with no need for answers. The ranting head exploded in an instant.

“The Namgung Clan does not forget grudges.”

The black hood slid down. Under the starlight, the mysterious jade eyes of Namgung Jin, wielder of the Cheongun Sword, glowed.

“How disappointing. You dared target the Celestial Sword with this level of strength and preparation?”

His voice carried a tinge of mockery.

He began to examine the important documents the couriers had been frantically trying to relocate.

After wiping off the smeared blood and applying a deciphering technique from Bone-Setting Through Tactile Analysis, disturbing contents began to emerge.

“Need to secure corpse of high-level martial artist… What the hell are you planning, Blood Cult bastards?”

Not just any corpse—they were specifically collecting bodies of martial artists, which was deeply unsettling.

It seemed they were scheming something beyond just the Dragon-Phoenix Tournament.

Just what had they been preparing in secret for decades?

Namgung Jin, recalling how his father had tried to dissuade him, felt assured that donning the hood and hunting like this had been the right choice.

“And here—‘Urgent as the Imperial Decree: Seek the sacred vessel for the Descent of the Heavenly Blood God’… Hmph.”

The Heavenly Blood God—an accursed being the cult believed would one day descend.

Absurd, yes—but not something that could be dismissed lightly.

Frowning, Namgung Jin continued decoding the documents. The truth came into focus.

They were searching for a specific body to serve as the vessel for their descent ritual and great technique.

“They need the Celestial Star’s star-body? But that Evil Star should’ve already lost its light…”

The Heaven-Slaying Star—a fearsome entity said to be sent from the heavens to drench the world in blood.

He looked up. Countless stars twinkled in the night sky.

And among them, one star—once radiant—now dulled and dead.

“I can’t make sense of this…”

Could it be… that the Heaven-Slaying Star would manifest once more in this generation?

Namgung Jin narrowed his gaze as he studied the documents.

First, he had to report this. The Murim Alliance and the Demon-Slaying Unit pursuing the Blood Cult needed this information.

He tucked the letter inside his robe.

Then he scanned the contents of another letter.

“Dog-Beating Dragon—assessed as more dangerous. Raise threat level to Rank Three?”

The youth his father had told him to keep an eye on—seemingly brimming with talent. He’d sensed something strange about him on the duel stage.

And what about his own rank?

“Hmph, the Nangabong Monster is only Rank Four?”

Even after tearing through the Blood Cult’s hideouts and smashing every lackey he found, he was still only Rank Four.

Dog-Beating Dragon—just what kind of exploits had that guy been pulling off?

“…Looks like I’ll need to step it up.”

Namgung Jin hadn’t expected anyone to be more relentless against the Blood Cult than himself.

With a strange sense of rivalry bubbling up, the Cheongun Sword crumpled the letter violently.

Crackle.

✱✱✱

From dawn till her scalp burned at noon, Ilhong had been immersed in cultivation, perhaps to fully absorb the energy that had seeped into her body.

“Hah! Huff!”

Her sword sliced through the air, and her sweat drenched the training ground.

As if vowing never to let go of the thread to mastery she’d barely grasped, she trained with fierce resolve.

“Oh? Seems like she’s made some progress.”

Anyone could see that her aura was different. Had she really reached first-rate overnight?

“Heh heh.”

Hwang Geolgae, sipping booze tipsily nearby, beamed proudly as he spoke.

“She hit first-rate the moment she took the elixir. And apparently, an excessive amount of internal energy is still soaked in her meridians.”

Though she hadn’t reached Peak level due to a lack of enlightenment, the foundation was more than solid.

Such an effective item… Perhaps Cheonsugong held her in higher regard than expected.

A rather generous gift, that.

“But now that I think about it, was it really okay to casually pass down the Beggars’ Union’s core martial arts like that? Especially to someone aiming for the Hao Sect Leader’s seat?”

Sure, the Hao Sect had gone rogue these days—dabbling in shady business and even associating with the Imperial Court.

But back in the day, weren’t they one of the two most famed intelligence groups splitting the Central Plains?

And in this era, martial arts weren’t just personal assets—they were corporate secrets.

“If the higher-ups at the Beggars’ Union find out, won’t they go berserk, screaming about sealing her dantian or severing her meridians?”

Even some no-name second-rate sects would make a fuss over such things. Who knew how this would turn out?

“I’m the one who decides that, you punk. I’m the Dragon Head Sect Leader.”

Hwang Geolgae snorted, declaring himself the one who made the call to “cut that guy off.”

“But Master, didn’t you say you’d stop acting as the Dragon Head Sect Leader and keep living as the Divine Wind Daoist?”

With duty comes authority. If he abandoned his post and walked away, there’s no way the Beggars’ Union members would listen.

As I grumbled, he casually pointed the bottle at me and continued.

“Then you can stop them.”

“...Me? I’m still a nobody, though.”

A few members of the Beggars’ Union had recognized me, and I had discreetly leaked Hwang Geolgae’s position, creating a peculiar relationship, but that was it so far.

From their perspective, even if an unknown guy like me gave orders, would the tens of thousands of Beggars’ Union members really move?

“Haaht!”

Ilhong was unleashing the Branch-Summoning Sword Technique, the only sword art of the Beggars’ Union, with full force.

A sharp piercing sound rang out. Her movement, infused with internal energy, was far more vicious and precise than before.

“She’s working that hard. Shouldn’t you take better care of her? And her past was full of misfortune too.”

Hwang Geolgae glanced my way and subtly pressured me.

“As I said, I already take good care of her. She receives the best treatment among all my subordinates at our agency.”

“...Your agency still only has one subordinate, doesn’t it?”

“Exactly.”

I mean, technically, he wasn’t wrong.

“I heard you treat her like some tomboy? When she’s such a delicate and graceful girl.”

Apparently, Ilhong had been grumbling about how I treat her during her training with her master.

“So what? I think being friendly is just fine.”

In my mind, I was taking good care of her—like a little sister just a year younger than me. What was wrong with that?

“Tsk tsk, should you really treat a girl her age that way? You should be a bit more affectionate and gentle, hmm?”

What a dangerous thing for this old man to say.

“She’s dressing like a man. If I act all sweet and affectionate, people around us will get the wrong idea. Some already have.”

Even Tang Yeo-hye had been giving us strange looks, clearly suspicious of our relationship.

I didn’t have the confidence to endure the misunderstandings of the world.

“Heh heh, that much you’ll have to endure. You’re a man, aren’t you?”

“What the…?”

Always beating me with a stick, yet turning around and talking like this—it really caught me off guard.

“Anyway, the fact that you finished watching over Ilhong and came to me… means you came to check my progress, right?”

The small insight I’d gained after defeating three Peak Martial Artists.

Over the past few days, I’d swung the Dog-Beating Staff fiercely under Hwang Geolgae’s guidance and reached several realizations.

“So, how far has your cultivation come?”

I ignited my white-hot Staff Qi and replied.

“Whirlwind Steps, Hundred-Knot Divine Fist, and Starfall Heart Cultivation Method have reached Five-Star level. Dog-Beating Staff Technique is at about Four-Star.”

A realm I achieved through countless crises and life-or-death battles. Thinking of all the effort, pain, and victories, I couldn’t help but feel a little proud.

Hearing this, Hwang Geolgae let out a quiet sound of admiration.

“As expected of the Heaven-Slaying Star.”

He nodded as he said so.

“...I earned this realm through effort, not because I’m the Heaven-Slaying Star.”

“Mmhmm, surely a martial prodigy sent by the heavens to destroy the world.”

“I told you, it’s my effort!”

As I insisted, Hwang Geolgae clicked his tongue and took a long swig of booze.

“Tsk tsk. You really are a guy overflowing with a desire for recognition. Fine, I’ll praise you. There, praise.”

It’s ridiculous how hard it is to get a compliment with one star on your forehead.

Even if you’re a genius, it means nothing if you don’t put in the effort.

“But don’t get conceited. There are other Evil Stars out there whose talent rivals your own.”

Especially in these times, with ominous celestial energy looming, who knows what other Evil Stars might be lurking—Hwang Geolgae warned again.

“They’re rare enough that you might never even meet one. But you, left alone, get tangled with the Eastern Depot and the Royal Guards, so I figured I’d better give you a heads-up…”

Listening to that, I realized again how strange my fate was.

“Master.”

He said not to get entangled, but I was already way too tangled up.

Especially with someone who seemed to have feelings for me—and who had recently misunderstood something again.

“You told me to be careful of the Purple Tenuity Star, right?”

“Yes, you punk. A fated rival driven by the destiny of the stars. You must never get involved.”

The moment you meet, a destiny you can’t escape begins.

Like how Murong Cheongjin in the past struggled but couldn’t escape his fate of blood and slaughter.

“Then, say the Purple Tenuity Star exists in this generation…”

“Hm.”

“What if I’ve already helped her cultivate her realm… twice? What does that make me?”

The first time had been unintentional, the second time a return for a favor received.

“What does that make you? The dumbest Heaven-Slaying Star in history.”

Ah, yeah. That’s what I thought.

Back then, I’d done it in the name of gratitude and repayment, but now looking back, it was a pretty dumb move.

“What the hell did you do…?”

Because of my past involvement with the Imperial Household, Hwang Geolgae now eyed me suspiciously.

“N-no! It’s not like that!”

I quickly shook my head and bolted from the scene, fleeing those suspicious eyes.

✱✱✱

“Are you leaving?”

Jo Harang silently nodded in response to the question from her master, Song Ryeong, whose hair had turned lavender.

She had stabilized her Peak-level cultivation and insight, and under her master’s guidance, she had nearly reached the threshold of the Super Peak realm.

“Has the storm within you settled?”

“...Yes. I think so.”

The shocking sight she had witnessed before ascending Mount Song.

Jo Harang had felt an inexplicable sense of betrayal.

The more confusing part was that she didn’t even fully understand why she felt betrayed in the first place.

But now, after enduring the winter and a year having passed, her emotions had settled, and she’d learned to manage her inner turmoil.

Thus, Jo Harang decided to descend the mountain.

“So, what was his name?”

Then suddenly, her master Song Ryeong asked such a question.

Jo Harang, who had just bowed her head to say farewell, looked up slightly and asked back.

“Who do you mean by ‘he’...?”

“You used to mumble sometimes. Something-something Mujin.”

“...I never said that, Master.”

At her disciple’s flustered response, Song Ryeong smiled knowingly.

“...Then, I shall go down the mountain and bring honor to the name of the Purple Mist Sect, and accumulate righteous karma!”

With another deep bow, Jo Harang turned and ran off.

Just like when she had climbed the mountain, seemingly driven by emotion, now, as she descended, her heart seemed far away—tied to someone.

A girl who once lived solely to strike down evildoers with all her might.

“Hoho, youth indeed.”

Song Ryeong watched her disciple’s back with a smile of amusement on her lips.