Murim Troubleshooter Dan Mujin

Chapter 29: A Familiar Face

"Why the reaction? Do you know her or something?"

Gam Un asked with a puzzled look as I flinched at the bittersweet alias.

"No, I have absolutely no idea who that is."

I shook my head and answered firmly.

Wasn’t she like the Clan Head who’d sever even his own son if necessary, and her elder sister who led the charge?

I didn’t want to get entangled with them any further.

At least, the Murong Cheongjin inside me seemed to think so.

"I know her! She’s the pride of the Murong Clan and one of the Five Phoenixes of the Murim Alliance!"

Ilhong, on the other hand, looked overflowing with interest.

Going beyond mere familiarity, she sparkled with admiration, calling her a female martial artist she deeply admired.

"They say she’s cut down over a hundred Demonic Practitioners, and then there’s the Sword Flash of Heaven and Earth that’s like a lightning bolt!"

Ilhong praised her swordsmanship excitedly, saying it carved thunderous trails with the sword tip.

I knew firsthand. That sword technique was terrifying.

Her strikes aimed at her own younger brother were sharp beyond belief.

"Anyway, she’s incredibly famous, so it’s a bit surprising the Boss doesn’t know her at all."

"Tell me about it……."

Just listening to them left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Was this how Hong Gildong felt when he couldn’t even call his father?

"Boss, if you don’t want to die a meaningless death in the Murim, you should at least memorize the aliases and traits of the famous ones."

Ilhong offered advice, looking genuinely concerned about my ignorance.

But I’d grown up deliberately isolated from the Murim world, you see.

"It’s fine, I have you. Just tell me when things come up."

Besides, I was currently in a state of day labor and night training—referred to as ‘day tilling, night studying.’

Meaning, I had no time to memorize personal info on Central Plains folks. Let my guard down, and Hwang Geolgae’s fists and feet would be flying my way.

"Geez, what are you gonna do if I disappear someday?"

"Then just don’t disappear. Stay by my side forever, then."

Even in Water Margin, heroes didn’t study.

I handled the brawn, she handled the brains. We complemented each other’s weaknesses. That’s how proper business works—putting the right people in the right places.

"Yeah, stick by your side forever… Wait, hold on. What did you mean by that?"

Ilhong blinked wide-eyed mid-sentence and questioned me.

"I meant exactly what I said."

A competent troubleshooter should have an excellent sidekick.

A capable subordinate needs to be marked before another agency snatches them up.

"Pfft. I’m not the type to fall for sweet words like that, you know?"

"What’s she even talking about?"

For some reason, Ilhong suddenly avoided my gaze, stammering like she’d misunderstood something.

She acted weird sometimes, but as the successor of the Hao Sect with an astounding memory, she was an incredibly useful person.

"...What are you two doing?"

Gam Un Chairman, looking at us boys with a strange atmosphere between us, asked with a bewildered expression.

Worried about unnecessary misunderstandings, I quickly cut in.

"It’s not what you think."

"Then what is it, punk?"

"Anyway."

Come to think of it, there’s no way to explain without removing the Human-skin Mask. I decided to just let him stay misunderstood.

"You weirdos… Anyway, thanks to that Cold Jade Maiden, there won’t be any bounty requests for a while."

Gam Un said if we wanted bounty hunts, we’d have to wait until that heroine moved elsewhere.

Really, masters were walking natural disasters from a commoner’s perspective.

"Then, are there any other requests?"

"Your enthusiasm is commendable. Of course there are."

Despite just finishing a job, I was already asking for the next, which made the middle-aged man smile in approval.

"Do you know of Ohga Family’s Master Oh?"

I didn’t. But I had human WoodWiki Ilhong by my side.

"Ohga Family is famous for ginseng trade. They probably have many martial artists under them, so why would they need a wanderer?"

"Apparently, his wife’s cheating. He needs a wanderer to lie in wait and beat up the adulterer."

Yeah, that’s definitely not something you’d assign to your own subordinates.

"Ew, I don’t take those kinds of jobs."

I waved my hand in disgust. That kind of job had gotten me stabbed to death.

Unless they offered a jaw-dropping reward, I’d be refusing all adultery cases from now on.

"You little punk, what’s wrong with beating up an adulterer? It’s the kind of job wanderers love, so I picked it specially for you."

Clicking his tongue, Gam Un mocked my lack of the earlier bravado.

"I mean, that’s a bit much. Please give me another job, if only for the Trading Lord’s sake."

"Man, for someone who squeezed overdue payments so viciously... How about this then?"

He casually slid over a request slip.

It was a detailed order to go beat someone up in the marketplace. The pay: three silver coins.

"Is he a bad guy?"

"He’s a civilian selling miscellaneous goods. Apparently there’s a grudge."

So it’s just a hired beating. Like those third-class escorts who came to beat up kids for pay.

Still, I had standards. A Second Rate Martial Artist beating a civilian? I’d be racking up Killing Karma, not Good Karma.

"Anything else?"

"Good grief, picky bastard… Just so you know, this is the last one."

Grumbling, Gam Un tossed the final request slip.

"It’s a request to find a missing person. These usually pay little, the clients are desperate, and they suck up a lot of time and labor, so wanderers tend to avoid them..."

But the Good Karma and internal energy gained must be massive.

Wasn’t this exactly the kind of job I was looking for?

"I’ll take that one."

I picked up the slip and tucked it inside my clothes.

"You like that one better? What a weirdo."

Gam Un chuckled dryly at my atypical response.

"The Boss is a bit weird, yeah."

Ilhong, who’d been watching me all this time, nodded in agreement.

Weird, huh.

With Heaven-Slaying Star stuck in my head, where else would you find someone as normal as me?

"You’re gonna have a tough time. Beating people or collecting debts is all about effort, but missing person work is just pure grind with no promise of results."

"It’s fine. I’m used to that."

At my response, Gam Un gave me a look that said, ‘What kind of kid would be used to that?’

About 20% of our agency's jobs had been tracking missing persons. It was one of our main services.

Only problem was, the Central Plains was way too vast.

"So, who’s the missing person?"

"The client's son has just reached the age of thirty, and it's been a few months since he went missing."

A few months, huh. That meant the golden window for safe return had long passed.

But I was someone who had even found people gone for years.

"You’ll get the details from the client. He should be waiting at a nearby village where the disappearance happened."

Even the smallest lead might bring something up.

And every single one of those actions for the client would count as a virtuous deed.

"Then I’ll trust that this won’t take long again."

The Chairman repeated my bold claim from before with a chuckle.

And I was the type to live up to expectations.

"Of course. I’ll take care of it quickly and return."

Even if I wasn’t sure whether I could or not.

Head a hundred li south of Beijing, and there lies a village called Baekyangchon.

Surrounded by a small stream and rice paddies, it was a place where people lived off primary industries like hunting, livestock, and logging.

It was also where we were supposed to meet the client.

"Huff… Huff… This makes no sense. He clearly said it was a ‘nearby’ village."

One hundred li. In modern terms, nearly a full marathon distance.

In the vast Central Plains, you couldn’t take the word ‘nearby’ lightly.

After two days of forced marching, Ilhong was panting like she’d collapse any second.

"Boss, can’t we slow down a little?"

"Hurry up. I walked more than half a month eating grass and chewing bugs."

"…That doesn’t even sound real."

"But it was real."

Swept far by a river and walking endlessly after that.

I’d walked myself to the bone to evade pursuit from the Murong Clan.

"And didn’t you learn Whirlwind Steps from Hwang Noya? Just changing how you walk would make it easier."

"I did learn it… but how can I master that in just a few weeks?"

His footwork was certainly mysterious.

But the thing is…

"It worked for me."

"……."

When I said it took me less than a week, Ilhong pouted like a duck.

Quick with theory and memorization, but it seemed her body was slow to catch up.

"What’s the secret?"

"Get beaten to the brink of death."

Humans unlock superhuman strength when cornered.

In my case, as the Heaven-Slaying Star, I could see others’ killing intent, predict the trajectory of punches, and even vaguely mimic martial arts just by watching.

"I saw a few of your training sessions… Normal people would die if beaten like that."

Ilhong said, looking horrified, having witnessed my bloodied, bone-cracking training style.

"It’s fine. I won’t die."

Probably.

With those classic last words of a man, I kept walking toward Baekyangchon.

And just when Ilhong’s whining about sore legs had gone on for roughly a double hour,

I spotted an elderly man crossing the road toward us with a cane.

"Boss, I think that guy’s been waiting for us."

A troubled face and deep shadows in his eyes suggested recent hardship.

His back hunched, but when he saw us, his eyes widened.

Tapping his cane, the old man approached.

"You two… Are you the wanderers sent by Chairman Gam Un?"

With a hoarse voice, he asked our identities.

His gaze lingered on my youthful face.

"I’m Dan Mujin, and this is Ilhong."

Just in case he didn’t trust us, I held out our wanderer tokens as I introduced us.

The old man blinked, checked the wooden tag, then nodded.

"I’m Cheon Yugang. My old body’s not up to much, so I was worried. Thank you for coming."

He took our hands warmly, saying he had considered giving up but felt reassured with two wanderers showing up.

Strange. I thought he’d be more outraged.

It’s his son we’re talking about. If I were him and some middle schoolers showed up after I called in professionals, I’d be cursing the Chairman blue.

Yet he was letting it go so easily.

"Boss, boss."

Just then, Ilhong tapped my arm.

When I turned, she was glancing at the old man while tapping the skin of her own face.

Then, covering her mouth with one hand, she mouthed something only I could see.

"In. Pi. Myeon. Gu."

I flinched and looked closely at the old man’s face.

At first glance, it was just a wrinkled, age-spotted old mug.

But having seen a Human-skin Mask up close, Ilhong must’ve noticed something odd.

"What’s the matter…?"

The man returned my gaze calmly and asked innocently.

To figure out what he was up to, I immediately activated the Starfall Heart Cultivation Method to sense his energy.

Ever since the Heaven-Violating Yin Fiend stabbed my gut, this ability to gauge people had become sharper.

Personally, I called it my crisis radar—or the Heaven-Slaying Eye.

Beyond sensing killing intent, I could now even detect more fundamental malice.

Maybe Hwang Geolgae was right when he said the Heaven-Slaying Star grew stronger through deadly trials.

I fully utilized this ability, bought with the cost of a terminal condition, and probed the old man’s energy.

"Hmm?"

Then something strange tickled my mind. Not killing intent, not malice, but a peculiar familiarity.

It was a qi I’d felt before.

The kind my survival-sensitive Heaven-Slaying Star had instinctively remembered—the qi of a powerhouse.

‘When did I feel this…?’

A hazy memory surfaced. Mulberry fields, a man in blue official robes, and a veiled woman of mystery.

That overbearing pressure that had burst forth to suppress me as I charged in.

I cautiously voiced the name, disbelief etched across my face.

"Are you… Eunuch Uncle?"

At that, the kindly old man’s face twisted horribly.

"…You thunderstruck little brat."

He straightened his hunched back and peeled off his face mask in one smooth motion.

Oh.