49: The Change (1)

On a high mountain peak there was a thatched house which seemed nice.

The house, which didn’t appear that big, once entered, was strangely spacious.

“Oh oh.”

A middle-aged man wrapped in a gray robe shouted as he looked at the items displayed in the room.

Each of these items were unusually shaped.

The middle-aged man pointed to each of these objects, one after another, asking the white haired man who was standing behind him about what each one was.

“What is this Elder?”

“Neutralizing.”

“What is it used for?”

“Wearing it will protect you from heat and cold.”

“Ohh, amazing! What is this?”

The middle-aged man pointed to a handle which seemed to be made of bamboo.

“That is a herb for tolerance”

“Where is it used?”

“It is used to bring back life which has lost vitality. It is a perfect thing to use when food goes bad. Hehehe,” joked the old man.

They were talking about this mysterious object, which could purify rotten things.

The middle-aged man who was looking around, pointed towards something which had a needle-like shape on the top shelf and asked,

“And that?”

It stood out more than anything else.

At that, the white robed man took it out and held it in his hand. It looked like any ordinary needle, but if one looked at it closely, they could see the subtle golden letters engraved on it.

“It is the Needle of Change.”

“And where is that used?”

“It is used to get rid of the dirt in the body, simplify the mind, and strengthen the self.”

“Oh! So if this is used, then it will be like turning the person into a child who accepts any logic being told. It would be great if that could be used in training.”

“Right. If it is used in that way.”

“… does it have any other uses?”

“Other uses…”

Of course there was.

The man in white robe fidgeted with the needle and thought about something.

‘Come to think of it, hasn’t it been seventeen years since I entrusted that child with Yu Hakjeong. I wonder how he is doing.’

Looking at how the world was quiet, nothing seemed to have happened.

It may be natural, since those dials on the child’s body were being used, but why was his heart trembling at this strange thought?

Chik!

‘Huh? It’s turning hot again.’

Mumu looked at the dials on his body.

The dial was a lot redder than it was when used on 5.

He could even feel the heat burning into him. He could hold out a little longer with patience, but there was no reason to do so, so Mumu changed the dial to 8.

Because of that, his body changed back to its original state.

“Ah, are you fine?”

Mumu ran to Im Jong who had collapsed, but because Im Jong had suffered from internal injuries, he struggled to speak.

“You… you… what are… you?”

“What am I?”

“Yes!”

“Mumu.”

“…”

Was Mumu really messing with him?

Im Jong thought that it was absurd.

“I’ve never seen a freshman at the academy defeat a member of the special masters.”

“But I got hit a lot.”

Im Jong was speechless.

Of course he got hit, but wasn’t he fine?

“…no, that is because his footwork was fast, but you made him like that with only one punch,” said Im Jong, looking at the man who had fallen to the floor.

One punch caused the man to fly to the ceiling and then fall back down to the ground.

Im Jong looked at Mumu with suspicious eyes.

“You… you aren’t only disguising yourself as a student right?”

“What would I be disguised for?”

“What are you saying? If you think about it, isn’t it strange that you picked up that black iron rod? Wasn’t this all meant for you to come to this hidden archive?”

“Ehhh. Aren’t you just making it out to be too weird?”

At Mumu’s words, Im Jong went silent.

Well, it made sense.

Entering and exiting in this fashion would be considered an invasion and a best case scenario would result in only a warning being given.

Even a member of the special masters was sent.

“Ah. My head. What to do now?”

Aside from the fact that Mumu was suspicious, even the situation was a problem too.

All because this kid made Hwang Won, someone undefeated in the academy, and it wasn’t a situation which anyone would willingly accept.

No matter who came, it didn’t seem likely that words would work.

“Because of you I don’t know what to do.”

“What do you mean?”

At Mumu’s question, Im Jong clicked his tongue.

‘Ugh.’

He couldn’t tell if this kid was optimistic or not.

Looking into his languid eyes, it didn’t seem like he was being sneaky.

‘Who the hell is he?’

If he was aiming for the third basement, then once he had taken care of Hwang Won, he would have simply hurt Im Jong and then taken the treasures displayed there.

Instead, this kid was only concerned for Im Jong.

‘I don’t know anymore.’

Im Jong, who stared at Mumu asked,

“Hey, let me ask you this instead. If you are this strong, there is no reason to come here as an academic student, so why come here?”

Mumu scratched his head.

The more he revealed his power, the more suspicious people were getting of him.

He didn’t know why, but he too wanted to clear the misunderstanding.

“Ugh. This. I was wondering if I could find my birth parents who had abandoned me when I was young if I became famous after coming here.”

“What?”

“Because my stepfather took me in.”

Im Jong went silent at Mumu’s calm words.

He was wondering if there was a grand reason for this kid hiding his strength and then joining the academy, but when he heard the reason he felt sorry.

“Oh my… is that true?”

“It is.”

“You came here to look for your parents… kid. You really are kind.”

If he had truly entered the academy for that reason, his heart ached for the kid.

Clutching his chest, Im Jong thought,

‘Ehh. This is maternal love’

Although he wasn’t even related… he looked at Mumu with affection.

Rather, it was closer to compassion and he felt very bad for doubting this cute and kind young man.

“Ugh.”

“Are you alright?”

“Huh… ugh… ah, I think I need to treat my internal injuries with cultivation.”

“What is cultivation?”

“Huh?”

Im Jong frowned.

This child didn’t even know that? That was strange.

How did he defeat Hwang Won without even knowing that?

“Euk!”

He was puzzled, but then blood to his throat, and turning impatient, spoke to Mumu and pointed at the display cases.

“Hey, let’s go in there just in case there is something to help us.”

“Ah! Then I’ll have to bring him too.”

“Right.”

Mumu lifted Hwang Won, who had fainted from serious injuries and took Im Jong to the display cases.

As they got closer, Im Jong closed his eyes.

“Is it getting worse?”

“No, we should either bow our heads or keep our gazes away from the cases.”

“Why?”

“What if I get greedy after seeing the treasures in there?”

“But we don’t deserve them if we don’t get enough stars.”

“…”

At Mumu’s words, Im Jong looked at him.

He didn’t think Mumu was that naïve.

‘This child… has no greed?’

If they were to find the rumored third basement where the best treasures in Murim world were, anyone would get greedy.

But since it was against the rules, this child didn’t seem to care.

‘He may be a really kind kid, more than I thought too.’

His reason for joining the academy had moved him, but seeing how he wasn’t greedy for anything made Im Jong perceive Mumu in a different light.

Mumu didn’t seem greedy for anything, so Im Jong confidently moved around to find a place to cultivate.

Mumu sat down next to him.

‘Ah… I’m tired.’

He was curious because of what his friends spoke about this place, but all he got was tired. Mumu, who had turned drowsy, closed his eyes for a moment, and then looked at the display cases.

A few books and unusual items were placed on the shelves.

‘That one is so gorgeous.’

It was the most beautiful one as it had a gold-plated glove with five colored jewels embedded in it.

‘Would it make money if I sold it?’

Gold and jewels were surely expensive.

However, he didn’t have more stars to take it. Mumu shook his head and turned to another display case.

‘Huh?’

After the gloves, there was another thing which caught his eyes.

It was an old book with bloodstains everywhere.

The book was titled, Blood Supremacy Demonic Arts.

‘What is this?’

Even upstairs there were books with Martial Arts and the name Arts was written grandly.

However, unlike that, this had a different character called Demonic attached to it.

Mumu turned his head to another case.

He looked around, but he couldn’t find any.

‘What about that one?’

He was told that the most special book was in here which spoke about martial arts.

However, there was no book with that title in here

There seemed to be four books, and the rest were all expensive looking weapons.

‘Ehh. Had to be a rumor.’

Mumu looked for it because he thought he could make huge money through it, but was disappointed because it wasn’t there.

He thought that there was no need for him to collect the stars anymore.

‘Ah! This is good too.’

If not he would have gotten the wrong impression and kept working hard to get a book which didn’t exist in here.

He wanted to tell the others too.

Having thought that, Mumu laid down on the floor and smiled.

He was tired and wanted to close his eyes.

But,

‘!?’

Something on the ceiling caught his eye. A half broken black stone was embedded in the ceiling.

The ceiling was so high that there were no lights like the other ones, so it was difficult to find that stone unless someone looked very clearly.

‘Why is that stone there?’

He was curious and looked more carefully.

‘Uh?’

Something like writing was engraved on the surface of it.

‘A saying?’

At first glance, the text felt like it. Mumu narrowed his eyes and looked at it.

As a result, he ended up trying to read the content.

‘Abyss…below… true heart… weaken martial arts…’

Reading that, Mumu felt strange. His entire body turned warm.

The feeling was refreshing instead of unpleasant so Mumu didn’t mind it and continued to read.

‘….’

Woong!

Mumu, who was concentrating on the words, was unaware that a light haze was arising from his body and his eyes were shining bright.

‘…out standing martial arts… connected… ’

Mumu stopped, the text was cut off there.

It seemed like it would continue, but it looked like the stone had been broken.

‘I don’t think that was the end… huh?’

Mumu felt something uncomfortable in his head.

As he fiddled with it, something half-protruded from the center of his crown.

Mumu grabbed it and pulled it out.

Swosh!

Surprisingly, the length was longer than he expected.

‘What is this?’

Mumu was startled and looked at what he pulled out from his head.

It was none other than a needle.

It was much longer than the acupuncture needle he saw at the Tang clan, but looking closely, it too had some gold letters engraved upon the surface of it.

‘How did this get stuck in my head?’

Pssss!

Puzzled, he tried to check what was written on it, but the needle scattered like ash.

At that moment, Mumu grabbed his head at the sudden headache.

“ack!”

The pain was beyond imagination.

Thousands of things were rushing into his mind.

Im Jong, who was cultivating, turned startled at the screaming sound and hurriedly approached Mumu.

“Child! Child!”

Mumu’s eyes were rolled back and his body was convulsing.

Just looking at it, it seemed like something had gone terribly wrong.

‘Why is this happening?’