Murim Troubleshooter Dan Mujin

Chapter 50: Boy Detective Dan Mujin

“Wow, so this is what they call a feast.”

“Meat... the juices are spilling out from every direction.”

“Boss, thank you for the meal!”

After being stuck with dry, tasteless meals from the Warehouse Assistant, the kids’ eyes widened at finally being served proper dishes.

“Yeah, eat up, all of you.”

Meats deep-fried in oil, soaked in sauce, and boiled till tender, along with a variety of seafood.

The kids stuffed their mouths with whatever came out. In a blink, the dishes vanished as if stolen by a ghost, leaving Ilhong beside them flustered.

“Guess you were really starving, huh.”

I knew that feeling too, having had my fair share of meals from the Warehouse Assistant in the past.

It was about on par with Galjeotang without any meat—completely devoid of taste.

“Hey, try this duck! It just melts in your mouth!”

“This thing called Huiguorou is chewy and really good too!”

“So this is what rich people get to eat, huh.”

Their goofy faces boasted what they’d eaten.

They say earn like a dog, spend like a noble. Back when the Troubleshooter business made money, I’d often treat the kids at the Sky Love Orphanage to a big meal.

Even the head of the orphanage, who always scolded me, would praise me with a warm smile at times like that.

And now, it seemed the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method was filling that role.

‘Something around the Dantian feels strange.’

A warm, tingling sensation filled to the brim.

It was the feeling of Righteous Energy accumulating.

The money I spent suddenly felt doubly worthwhile.

In a world where doing good comes with proper rewards, there wouldn’t even be a need to commit evil in the first place.

Aside from the Heaven-Slaying Star, who squirmed like he was discontent with the whole thing, it was the picture of a happy world.

“Looks like you’re lucky.”

Just as Hwang Geolgae had said, the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method truly was an Ultimate Heart Cultivation Method.

I felt embarrassed that I had doubted it at first.

“Hey kids, anything giving you trouble on the job?”

Feeling generous, I asked them about their hardships.

The kids answered with mouths full of food, spilling their updates.

“The work’s tough, but it’s not like we’re getting beat or going hungry anymore, so it’s manageable.”

“Besides, the people at the Trading Company are really considerate.”

“It’s the first time anyone’s taken care of us like this... it’s kind of surreal.”

I had asked Chief Steward Jin to take good care of the kids.

Sounded like he’d taken that request to heart.

Even if the job was physically demanding, now that they had a productive occupation to build their future on, they said they were getting by.

“And Ochil-hyung says he wants to become a martial artist like you, boss. He’s even training whenever he gets the chance.”

At their chatter, I turned to look at Ochil.

Scratching the back of his neck shyly, he finally spoke.

“Well, um, one of the Escort folks said I’ve got good stamina and solid bones, so I should look into becoming an Escort.”

“Hm, is that so?”

From my experience, Martial Arts Knowledge was heavily reliant on talent.

Ochil had always been bigger than his peers. That made me wonder about the state of his muscles and Meridians.

I reached out and carefully felt the bones and tendons in his limbs.

“Boss, don’t tell me you’ve picked up some weird habit of groping people from that old guy?”

“I’m checking your bones. Don’t talk nonsense.”

So this is how Hwang Geolgae must’ve felt back then.

I gently pushed in some Qi, inspecting his Acupoints and Meridians. No congenital defects or issues that would hinder the use of martial arts.

“You’ve got decent potential. With effort, you could make a name for yourself.”

Hearing that, Ochil’s face instantly lit up.

“Does that mean I can become a martial artist like you, boss?”

“No, don’t be like me. It’s too dangerous.”

My life had been filled with more deadly encounters than one person should survive.

A Wanderer or Troubleshooter always threw themselves into dangerous situations, constantly facing trouble.

That’s why it’d be better for him to settle for a safer life as an Escort.

They sometimes ran into Bandits, but usually couldn’t take on all of the Eighteen Green Forest Keeps, so most encounters ended with negotiating a passage fee.

“I’ll talk to the Head Escort. Go get trained as an Escort. Learning something useful will help.”

The elders around me always said—learn a skill.

Even if it was a Second Rate Martial Artist level technique like the Eight Slashing Fists that Escorts used, mastering it completely would put you on a different level than an average person.

“Boss... no, Dan Mujin-hyung! Thank you! From today on, I’ll treat you as my Sworn Sibling!”

Like some oath made under a peach tree, Ochil, face full of emotion, declared we were now forever Sworn Siblings.

“Enough of that, just train hard. That’s what matters.”

We’d been through tough times together. Even in the past, I was always warm to kids from the Sky Love Orphanage. Cold and harsh only to everyone else.

“Hah... if I hadn’t tried to steal your begging money that day, who knows where I’d be now...”

“You punk, that almost sounds like you’re glad you did.”

“Er, that’s not what I meant.”

This guy had gone from half-delinquent to a proper person.

Now he had a stable job and was starting to pull his weight—he’d be fine from now on.

“Boss, have this.”

At that moment, Ilhong, fending off the kids’ gluttony, managed to save a piece of Dongpo Pork and placed it gently atop my steaming rice.

Oh... this kinda moved me.

Men can fall for gestures like this, you know?

“You didn’t seem to get much to eat.”

“Uh... thanks.”

But I worried, ‘cause he was such a kind kid, maybe he’d act like this in front of others too. This felt even bolder than helping with perilla leaves.

“Hwang Noya, thanks to that old guy, this one piece circled around and came to me.”

The meat, soaked in sweet sauce for hours, was so tender that it fell apart the moment my chopsticks touched it.

So this was authentic Dongpo Pork. With a blissful face, I took a big bite—

CRASH—!

With a deafening noise, something came crashing down from above.

A mass shaped like a human slammed onto the ground with a thud.

In the rich Dongpo Pork broth, dust and wood debris floated aimlessly.

“...You son of a bitch.”

Furious, I shot up with my staff in hand.

Now I understood why fights always broke out at inns in wuxia stories.

Not even dogs are disturbed while eating, yet some bastard dared—

“Gurk... urgh.”

But the one I should be angry at—this guy—was coughing up blood, face pale as a sheet.

Had he fallen headfirst, maybe it’d be understandable, but it wasn’t even that high—why was he like that?

“Keheok!”

Then came the dying groan, and just like that, he passed.

“What in the…”

They say when you're too dumbfounded, you can't even speak.

What the hell was going on here?

The clue came from upstairs.

“P-Poison! Someone put poison in the food and assassinated Instructor Kang!”

With just that one line, the inn turned into complete chaos.

People began spitting out whatever they’d been eating in panic.

“Uwek!”

An inn was a place where people from across the Central Plains gathered to eat or drink.

And in Murim, where psychopaths were commonplace, if people gathered in numbers, there was almost always an incident.

“Who would do such a wicked thing…!”

Those trembling with rage in front of the corpse, stiffened in death.

“Instructor Jang! Was it you? You’re the one who poisoned Instructor Kang!”

“What kind of nonsense is that?! Why would I poison Kang?!”

“Because you were in love with the Director’s daughter! And you hated Kang to death since he was her lover!”

Pouring down from the third floor in a frenzy were the instructors and assistant instructors of Ilpung Martial Academy located in Seomun, Beijing.

They had finished their training early and came to have a drink—only for this disaster to unfold.

“You’re mistaken! I gave up on her long ago! How can you slander me like this…!”

“Ha! Look at him! He admits he had feelings! And you were sitting right next to him, perfect spot to poison!”

“You bastard…!”

In Murim, fists often moved faster than words.

Whether they were long-time rivals or not, things escalated quickly with shouting and ended in an explosion.

They didn’t draw blades, but a fierce clash of internal energy began immediately.

Crash! Shatter! Crack!

Anything that fell into the hands of martial artists was smashed to pieces—tables, chairs, you name it.

Tableware and dishes shattered and flew; the inn once again descended into chaos.

“Aigoo! No! My inn, my inn!”

And there stood the innkeeper, helplessly wailing at the sight.

“Enough! Both of you withdraw your internal energy! If you don’t, you’ll never step into this academy again!”

At the Director’s thunderous warning, the two instructors halted, bloodshot eyes and all.

“It might have been done by an outsider. As you know, we’ve earned grudges taking down four rival academies.”

Hearing that, the people of Ilpung Martial Academy began glancing suspiciously around at the others dining nearby.

One instructor fixed his eyes on a slightly cocky-looking waiter.

“You bastard, now that I think about it, you were unusually slow bringing the food! Don’t tell me it was you who poisoned him?”

Their blame turned to the waiter, the last one who could have touched the food.

“Wh-What? N-No! Absolutely not! Why would I have any grudge against chivalrous Murim heroes…!”

The waiter jumped back in terror, adamantly denying it.

But those who had just lost a comrade to what was considered the most cowardly act in Murim—poison—had no intention of listening.

“We’ll beat it out of him until he talks!”

“Please! Spare me, sirs!”

Next, they looked ready to beat up the cook who prepared the meal too.

With one eye half-open, I peered deep into the waiter’s inner self.

He was a rude bastard who judged people by appearance, treating me like a beggar—but he didn’t carry the murderous intent required to pull off a poisoning.

Only I, the Heaven-Slaying Star, could tell something like this.

“Please stop your hands, sirs. That waiter is not the culprit.”

At those words, all eyes from Ilpung Martial Academy turned to me.

“And who are you to butt in?”

Well, that’s a hard question to answer so suddenly.

“I’m Dan Mujin, the Troubleshooter.”

I wasn’t some Wanderer hired for a request today.

Besides, if I introduced myself as a Certified Wanderer, I’d probably just get laughed at.

“A Troubleshooter? Isn’t that what they call those scoundrels from the Unorthodox Faction who take money to do shady jobs?”

“I’m different from them. My master is Divine Wind Daoist, and flowing through my blood is the righteousness of the Orthodox Murim.”

“…Huh, Divine Wind Daoist!”

When I showed them the Eunseong Token from the trading company where that mysterious master stayed, they finally looked at me with renewed respect.

Thanks to the sword qi I had displayed before the crowds of Beijing, some people had started to recognize me.

I really needed to come up with an alias of my own soon to bolster my reputation.

“So, disciple of Divine Wind Daoist, if you’re stepping in, you must already know who the culprit is?”

The Director of Ilpung Martial Academy glanced around before asking me that.

Huh? I didn’t know. I only stepped in because I didn’t want to see an innocent waiter get beaten.

There were many other martial artists in the inn, and everyone had built up a decent amount of killing karma—it was hard to pinpoint.

But whether I knew or not, everyone’s attention was now focused on me, the sudden intruder.

As I scratched my cheek awkwardly, unsure what to do, a red aura flared up and started pointing like a finger.

“…?”

I cautiously opened my half-closed eyes and delved deep—and there I felt it. The enormous size and density of the killing karma.

And when I said I knew who the culprit was, that person subtly hid a bottle inside their clothes.

“Hah, really now.”

Pretending to be a victim and putting on such a show in hiding—unbelievable.

It was like finding a wolf wearing a mask among sheep.

Kill (殺), Consume (過), Absorb (吸)...

The Heaven-Slaying Star painted glowing red characters.

Though the messages still broke up due to incomplete communication, the rough meaning was: kill him and absorb his killing karma.

But I completely ignored that dog-like voice and chose only to reveal the culprit.

“That one’s the culprit!”

I declared boldly, pointing at the real poisoner—everyone stared in shock.

Even the Director of Ilpung Martial Academy widened his eyes in disbelief and asked me again.

“What… Are you certain?”

With unwavering conviction, I shouted:

“On my grandfather’s name!”