Murim Troubleshooter Chapter 78 : Gold Reward

Chapter 78: Gold Reward

The bloody assault on the Blood Cult’s Dragon-Phoenix Tournant.

Several days had passed since the so-called “Dragon-Phoenix Bloodbath” incident had been settled.

Thanks to the recognition of our achievents in cutting down dozens of those Blood Cult bastards, my companions and I were allowed to stay in Sukgaekdang, one of the finer lodgings within the Murim Alliance.

“Boss, try this one too. The at juice is incredible.”

“Oh, is this pheasant? Damn, that’s good.”

“Right?”

Among the eight delicacies considered rare even in the Central Plains, pheasant belonged to the Eight Rare Birds.

Since we were here, I took Ilhong’s advice to milk the opportunity and filled my belly with the best als three tis a day.

For days, I indulged in a banquet of delicacies to the point where the master chef’s waist must have nearly broken. Then, one day, Murong Cheon suddenly showed up.

“Why are you here?”

I asked while chewing on a mouthful of abalone dumpling.

Maybe it sounded too much like why are you interrupting my al? because his brows twitched upward.

“For this Thunder Sword Murong Cheon to co in person, only you would dare react like that.”

The middle-aged man shook his head as if at a loss for words and walked toward .

He looked like his internal injuries were severe, but as expected of a martial artist who had once transcended human limits and entered the Transformation Realm, he had recovered sowhat.

And behind him were his children, Murong Hui and Murong Cheonghye.

“As always, your mouth is the problem.”

Murong Hui, clearly displeased, stepped forward with that remark.

“Hey now, is that sothing you should say to your lifesaver?”

“…Hmph.”

Unable to refute, Murong Hui turned his head sharply and shut his mouth.

Who would have thought I’d be the one to silence that insolent brat? At least he seed aware of the debt he owed .

Still, this was a strange feeling.

They didn’t know it, but in this place, aside from the eldest, most of Murong Cheon’s children were gathered.

“So, why did you co?”

I asked again as I swallowed the pheasant at.

“Didn’t you say it yourself? That I shouldn’t let you go empty-handed.”

Ah, the promised reward.

Looks like he ca to pay up. That makes him a welco guest, then.

I quickly straightened my posture.

“I heard my Cheonghye had hired you as a troubleshooter. Then this is your commission fee. Take it.”

He pulled out a small but heavy chest and tossed it to .

Click.

When I opened it, I saw golden ingots shaped like horseshoes gleaming inside.

Unlike coins minted for circulation, these were pure gold, one hundred percent.

“Heh.”

The golden light that stirred human greed filled my vision.

But considering the lives I’d saved and the work I’d done, it was well worth it.

Even when I checked my conscience’s balance—using the Starfall Heart Cultivation thod—there was no sign of the Heaven-Slaying Star stirring within .

That ant I could accept this.

“Oh my… You shouldn’t have.”

I hugged the wooden chest to my chest, unable to hide the grin slipping out.

“You said you were of wanderer origin, didn’t you? What about your sect or age?”

“I’m an orphan, never belonged to a sect. I mostly learned martial arts on my own while getting beaten up. As for age, I’m fifteen.”

Since he had handed

a fortune, I answered his casual probing with ease.

Besides, if the Murong Clan really wanted to dig, they’d uncover it in days.

“To reach the Peak Realm at such a young age… without formal teaching, no less. Truly, an extraordinary martial talent.”

“I’m not at the Peak Realm though.”

“…Hm?”

He frowned, then glanced at Murong Hui.

“You an you didn’t hold back your true strength against him? You beat my son without even reaching Peak Realm?”

“Well, yeah. That’s how it turned out.”

At my answer, Murong Cheon’s face grew more solemn.

“To possess power beyond the Peak Realm without actually being Peak….”

Others might think he was troubled, but I knew that look well. It was the face of soone running abacus beads in their mind.

“If you want, I could give you another gift.”

“And what would that be?”

And when soone thought that hard, it usually ant so absurd offer to maximize clan interests.

I asked cautiously, suspicion flickering in my eyes.

“Be adopted into our clan. If you do, the Murong Clan will be your strongest shield—none will dare lay a hand on you.”

“…”

He was telling

that if I beca his adopted son, the clan would spare no effort in supporting

with resources and elixirs.

“…Tch.”

Hearing that, Murong Hui shook with rage before storming out of the room.

That guy, seriously.

Though he didn’t know the full story, to think he would try to take back the son he once cast out…

What a pri example of swallowing when sweet, spitting when bitter (甘呑苦吐).

“For a lone martial artist, fierce storms often co crashing down. That’s why you need a strong shield to withstand them.”

At those words, I could feel Murong Cheongjin inside

boiling with rage.

He abandoned

when it suited him, and now that it suits him again, he wants

back?

“No thanks.”

I spat out a few more bitter words and stood up abruptly, just like Murong Hui.

“Let’s go, Ilhong.”

“Yes, Boss.”

There is a saying: If you cannot defeat your enemy, make them your ally.

And Murong Cheon, the head of the Murong Clan, had tried to do just that—take in a young orphan of humble birth but extraordinary martial talent.

But the young man called Dan Mujin had rejected him flatly and stord out.

“Hmph. Perhaps my carrot wasn’t big enough.”

Murong Cheon stroked his chin as he muttered.

Truth be told, there was more he could have offered.

This boy had defeated Peak Realm opponents despite not being Peak himself, and he had fought ferociously against the Blood Cult.

At fifteen, already standing before the Peak Realm’s threshold. With the clan’s support, he could surely break past it.

“Perhaps… he might even surpass that brat, the son of the Heavenly Sword, who seed blessed by the heavens themselves.”

The battles of the older generation had tilted in favor of the Heavenly Sword.

But for the sake of the clan’s future, the next generation could not be left behind.

Thus, Murong Cheon coveted talent all the more.

“Cheonghye.”

“Yes, Clan Head.”

“I told you to call

Father.”

“…Since the Blood Cult’s raid has been confird, I have retained the position of Vice-Captain of the Demon-Slaying Unit. I cannot do so.”

“Tsk.”

Children always had their own sharp edges.

“You haven’t been able to take your eyes off that fellow since earlier. Could it be you have feelings for him?”

“…”

If adopting him as a son was difficult, then he could be brought into the clan in another way.

Realizing her father, the Clan Head, was considering him as a son-in-law, Murong Cheonghye’s expression briefly tightened.

“Not at all. I never looked at him with that aning.”

At her words, Murong Cheon nudged her again, as if to reconsider.

“I always said your match would be chosen from within the clan, but this once I could make an exception.”

“…I told you, it isn’t like that. Clan Head.”

Murong Cheonghye firmly shook her head.

The reason she had gazed at Dan Mujin so intently was because he had stirred a sense of longing within her.

They were of a similar age, and she wondered if her younger brother would have looked like that had he grown up.

But his face was different, and seeing him stand so brazenly against her father had made her think, Ah, he really is soone else.

And yet, one of the lines he had just uttered while looking up at the sky shook that thought.

“Yes, you always did this sort of thing.”

Whenever the Clan Head decided sothing about her treatnt, her third brother would stand before her, looking at the sky, and mutter with that sa tone.

“But… that child’s star had surely fallen.”

Her face wavered with disbelief.

People could deceive people, but no one could manipulate the stars in the sky.

The Heaven-Slaying Star, once burning red, had dimd to black—that was the surest sign of her third brother’s death.

And it had been a height so impossible that even she, second only to Murong Cheon himself, could not have survived.

That was why she had been certain of his death, despite never finding a body.

“No, it can’t be…”

She shook her head desperately, trying to cast away the sprouting doubt.

Her fist clenched so hard her nails dug into her palm.

“It can’t be. Impossible…”

It had to be impossible. It must be impossible.

If he really were her third brother, then she herself had been the one who pierced him through, even as he cried out in madness that he was sane.

That was why she had to whisper to herself for a while, as though forcing herself to believe.

“He’s not Cheongjin… Pull yourself together.”

After a battle ca the inevitable rewards.

Once my body had recovered sowhat, the Murim Alliance Leader summoned

before a hall full of high-ranking figures.

“You saved many righteous sect warriors and dealt the Blood Cult a heavy blow. Your rit is great indeed.”

The Heavenly Sword, Namgung Pyo—an old man with snow-white hair, covered in age spots, who looked frail at first glance—praised

with a delighted expression.

“Bow your head, Boss.”

As I stood there blankly, Ilhong poked my side.

“Ah, I am imasurably honored by your grace… I an, thank you for your kind words.”

I quickly clasped my hands in salute. Despite my awkward response, Namgung Pyo still smiled warmly.

Truly, his virtue was leagues apart from certain others.

“As Alliance Leader, I must reward you. Bring it forth.”

And as the pillar of the righteous sects, he did not stop at words of gratitude.

He placed two heavy coin pouches into my hands.

When I loosened the knots slightly, I saw the glimr of gold—it was all gold ingots.

“Oh my, you really shouldn’t have.”

Though my super-high-stakes betting pool had gone up in smoke with the Thunderburst Bomb, this was just as profitable.

It was the rightful value of labor and proof that my reckless efforts had paid off.

“And to honor the courage and spirit you showed in the Dragon-Phoenix Tournant battle, I, the Heavenly Sword, bestow upon you the alias Dog-Beating Dragon (打狗龍).”

Normally, aliases spread through word of mouth.

But when the head of the righteous Murim declared one, no one dared dispute it.

Who could object, when the Murim Alliance Leader himself proclaid it?

“But why Dog-Beating Dragon? Like… a dragon that beats dogs?”

“Boss, hush. Don’t argue here.”

Ilhong quickly tried to muzzle , nervous that so many martial experts were listening.

I noticed Jo Harang beside

stifling a laugh.

“Ahem… Thank you for the alias. But…”

As always, I couldn’t stop myself from asking when curious.

“Why does it have to start with ‘Dog-Beating’…?”

I was glad to receive the title of Dragon, despite not winning the tournant.

But with ‘Dog-Beating’ in front, it felt… cheap. Almost like the Woonchil Three Heroes.

“Hoho, I heard it from my son, about your way of fighting.”

Namgung Pyo gestured toward Namgung Jin nearby.

The mont our eyes t, that strange sense of déjà vu hit

again—sothing like kinship mixed with revulsion.

“They said you swung your staff like a madman beating down a rabid dog. It was quite a vivid description.”

Namgung Pyo assured

that I shouldn’t think too deeply about the alias, since it was up to the one bestowing it.

“Still, if you’re going to give

one, isn’t a dog-beating dragon a bit… lacking dignity?”

“On the contrary. It suits you perfectly. You’ll shake Kaifeng itself in the future.”

“…”

He must have suspected my identity to so extent.

I scratched my head, thinking, Well, guess that’s blown.

“Anyway, thank you for the gold reward and the alias.”

“No, I am the one who should be thankful, and even sorry. I should have heeded your warning from the beginning.”

The Murim Alliance Leader stroked his white beard kindly as he spoke.

“Indeed you should have.”

“Boss, seriously!”

Ilhong jabbed my side again, exasperated.

“Pfft.”

Jo Harang, unable to hold it in, finally burst into laughter.