Translator: FenrirTL
Editor/Quality Checker: Saphartlantis
Murim Term Consultant: Kopke
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Chapter 336: I Like the Dishes Your Son-in-Law Makes
Geom Mugeuk lay still for a moment, gazing up at the falling snow.
Aside from the time spent replenishing his inner energy, he had rushed here without taking even a single break.
Thanks to that, his Star Light Step had broken through the limit of Ten Star Greatness and entered the realm of the Eleventh Star. It was the first step toward the Twelfth Star Greatness. Just how fast would the Star Light Step become once it reached the Twelfth Star? 1
Of course, what brought him the most joy was the fact that he had made it in time. Geom Mugeuk gave thanks to old man Heavens. ‘Thank you, truly.’ He was grateful to Jo Chunbae as well. ‘Thank you for holding out.’
As if responding to that gratitude, the falling snow gently settled on Geom Mugeuk’s face, hands, and body.
After lying there for a moment and watching the snowfall, Geom Mugeuk sat up.
Even then, everyone present was still staring at him—this man who had suddenly fallen from the sky.
Geom Mugeuk brushed back his tangled hair. People around him looked surprised by his unexpectedly young face.
He turned to look at Jo Chunbae. Tears were streaming down the man’s cheeks.
‘That man is the standard by which I measure the path of demonic cultivation. When tears no longer fall from that man's face, it will mean that my path is finally on the right track.’
Jo Chunbae struggled to speak.
"How… how…?"
He had never even imagined that Geom Mugeuk would show up here.
With a smile, Geom Mugeuk looked at him and said,
"I came to see the Tavern Owner."
The moment he heard those words, Jo Chunbae was overwhelmed by emotion once more.
"I went to drink, but your place was closed."
Jo Chunbae was moved to the core by the fact that the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult had come all this way for him.
‘Young Cult Leader…!’
He couldn’t think of a single thing to say. He was simply grateful—so deeply grateful. But there was no need to speak. His tears, his expression—they were answers enough.
It was then that Gong Chan, who had once tried to cut off Jo Chunbae's tongue, stepped forward.
"And who might you be, young warrior?"
If he was just an acquaintance of the innkeeper, he likely wasn’t anyone special. But the way this young man had appeared was too dramatic to ignore.
At first, it had seemed like he had fallen straight out of the sky. Any expert would’ve been seriously hurt from that impact, yet he appeared completely unharmed. How was that possible?
The real issue was that the young man didn’t appear to have any martial cultivation at all. There was no way someone that young could’ve reached such a state of internal refinement.
Geom Mugeuk ignored Gong Chan’s question and walked over to Yoon, Jo Chunbae’s mother-in-law, who was lying on the ground.
“Please get up, Mother. Your sons-in-law will be fine now.”
Geom Mugeuk helped Yoon up, then helped Yang In and Yang Seon to their feet as well.
“Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Geom Mugeuk, the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
For a moment, silence fell over the entire place.
The moment he heard those words, Gong Chan was so shocked it felt like his breath had stopped. The escort guards around him were equally stunned, unable to utter a single word.
Clang.
One of the escorts even dropped his sword out of sheer surprise, but no one paid it any attention.
If Jo Chunbae hadn’t said earlier that the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult wouldn’t sit by and do nothing, everyone would’ve thought they’d heard wrong—or that the man was insane.
But the very Young Cult Leader Jo Chunbae had spoken of had literally fallen out of the sky.
Naturally, Gong Chan refused to believe it.
“Lies! There’s no way the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult would come here alone looking like that!”
His clothes were stained with dirt, his entire body drenched in sweat, and even his hair was a tangled mess. He didn’t look the least bit like the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult.
Geom Mugeuk explained the situation to the three women.
“Please forgive my appearance—I came in such a rush that I look disgraceful. I heard that the family of someone I deeply admire and care about was in danger, so I ran here without a moment to spare.”
As if to say that very person was Jo Chunbae, he looked straight at him.
Under normal circumstances, he would’ve resolved things without revealing his identity.
But today, he had chosen to disclose who he was—for Jo Chunbae’s sake. It was for his family. To show them that the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult had dropped everything and came running to save him. For his wife, for his mother-in-law, for his sister-in-law, for his brother-in-law. For all of them to see.
This was Geom Mugeuk’s way of showing his respect and regard for Jo Chunbae, who had always welcomed him without change.
And because that sentiment was so clear, Jo Chunbae clenched his teeth and struggled to hold back the wave of emotions rising inside him.
“Mother, I like the dishes and drinks your son-in-law makes the most. Even my father himself, the Heavenly Demon of our Cult, visits just to eat and drink what he prepares. He’s someone truly precious—to me and to our entire Cult.”
Yoon was so shocked and moved she didn’t know what to do. One moment she was seeing her son-in-law, and the next she was seeing Geom Mugeuk. One moment it was her daughter, and then her son-in-law again.
She didn’t know what to say, just kept repeating the same thing: ‘Such a noble man… such a noble man…’ In truth, she didn’t fully understand what it meant to be the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult. She just felt, instinctively, that he was someone of great importance.
In contrast, Jo Chunbae’s wife, Yang In, was genuinely stunned.
She had heard her husband talk about the Young Cult Leader often. But in her heart, she had always assumed he was exaggerating. Sure, maybe the man had visited their tavern a couple times—but was he really that close?
Her husband had said that the Young Cult Leader treated him like a friend. ‘Yeah, right’, she had thought at the time. But that "yeah, right" was now unfolding before her very eyes.
“…It’s an honor to meet you, Young Cult Leader.”
Yang In tried to bow again, but an invisible force gently lifted her back up.
Her younger sister, Yang Seon, pleaded,
“Please save them—my husband, my brother-in-law—please, I beg you.”
Geom Mugeuk gave the three women a reassuring smile before turning back toward Jo Chunbae. He was conversing with them, but at the same time, he had emitted several streams of qi in multiple directions, perceiving even the slightest movements behind him in full detail.
Until that moment, the two escort guards were still holding Jo Chunbae by his arms, and Gong Chan held a dagger in his hand. All of them were still in disbelief, uncertain whether this man was truly the Young Cult Leader.
“He’s a fake Young Cult Leader!”
Gong Chan came to his own conclusion. It had to be a scheme orchestrated by Jo Chunbae and that young man to save Jonghak. The way he had fallen into the sparring ground earlier—he had simply dropped awkwardly due to lack of skill. Now that he thought about it that way, everything seemed to fit.
“They were just going to lose their tongues and hands, but now they’re going to lose their heads.”
He drew back his arm to thrust the dagger into Jo Chunbae’s neck, causing the three women to scream.
Geom Mugeuk thrust both hands forward simultaneously.
First, the result brought about by his left hand was astonishing.
Huwaaaak!
The two escort guards holding Jo Chunbae were sent flying backward. An unseen, rough force had launched them away.
It might’ve looked like they were simply thrown back, but it was a strike infused with the essence of martial enlightenment. In that brief moment, the hands that had been gripping Jo Chunbae were forcefully pried open, and only the two attackers were thrown—leaving Jo Chunbae exactly where he stood. Even more incredibly, the two escort guards who had been hurled got back up without a single injury.
But what his right hand did was even more shocking.
Tiiing!
A sharp metallic sound rang out.
Everyone’s eyes turned toward the dagger in Gong Chan’s hand. The blade had been snapped clean off.
Startled, Gong Chan quickly threw the broken dagger to the ground.
Sure, a decent martial artist might have unleashed a burst of force to knock away the escort guards. But to snap a dagger midair with Void Telekinesis?
Others might assume it had been broken by a thrown weapon, but Gong Chan knew the truth. Nothing had flown through the air. The dagger had simply broken without warnings.
Gong Chan, whose attention had been consumed by the snapped dagger, looked up—only to find Geom Mugeuk already right in front of his face. The moment their eyes met, an indescribable fear swept over him, freezing his entire body.
Only then did he realize.
‘He really is the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult!’
And yet, he still couldn’t understand it. The Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult had come all this way to save a tavern owner? Looking like that? Alone? Why? 2
When Geom Mugeuk took one step closer, Gong Chan flinched and screamed.
“Uwaaah!”
Geom Mugeuk merely subdued his Devil's Hole with a light touch. He didn’t beat or intimidate him. Eventually, when the full truth of this matter would come to light, only the dead and the spared would remain. And already, he had a sense of which group this man belonged to.
“Did you not hear me? I am the Young Cult Leader of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
Geom Mugeuk’s demeanor was calm and respectful. But it wasn’t out of consideration for Gong Chan. It was for the sake of Yoon, Jo Chunbae’s mother-in-law, as well as his wife, Yang In, and sister-in-law, Yang Seon.
Geom Mugeuk looked around. Though he hadn’t released any demonic energy, the overwhelming weight of his presence alone made the escort guards’ hearts shrink.
The guards threw down their swords. None dared to meet his eyes; they all lowered their heads. At that point, whether he was a fake Young Cult Leader didn’t matter anymore. No one had the courage to oppose someone of this level.
It was only then that Yoon, Yang In, and Yang Seon truly grasped that the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult had come.
Geom Mugeuk spoke to the escort guards nearby.
“Bring me five comfortable chairs.”
Without a word, the guards rushed to fetch them.
Geom Mugeuk released the pressure points—both Blood Point and Devil’s Hole—on Jonghak.
“Thank you, thank you so much.”
Jonghak’s voice was filled with gratitude, and Geom Mugeuk smiled.
“Give your thanks to your brother-in-law.”
Jonghak turned a heartfelt gaze toward Jo Chunbae—the very man who had stepped up to protect him even before the Young Cult Leader had arrived. 3
“I’m so glad I married into this family.”
At Jonghak’s words, Jo Chunbae and his family laughed.
Right after speaking, Jonghak coughed in pain.
Geom Mugeuk swiftly helped him sit down, placed his palm against his chest, and infused a stream of internal energy.
His body had sustained heavy damage from the brutal beating, but fortunately, there were no injuries that would leave him crippled. With some time to recover, he would regain his health.
After soothing his internal injuries, Geom Mugeuk led him to where his wife was standing.
“Dear!”
“I thought you were going to die!”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m just so relieved. Thank heavens you’re okay.”
The family all embraced Jonghak in one place, shedding tears together.
The villagers all watched the scene unfold. Geom Mugeuk had deliberately not sent them away. He needed to show them that Jonghak had been falsely accused. Because even if he left, these people still had to live here.
That’s why Geom Mugeuk was careful with how he handled everything. Not emotionally, but calmly, steadily, and with certainty.
Among the escort guards watching, some knew Jonghak personally as a colleague. They had always found it strange—Jonghak tampering with an item made no sense in the first place, and the punishment of severing both his hands had always seemed far too excessive.
In the meantime, the guards returned with the chairs.
After placing them in a row, they invited Jo Chunbae and his family to sit.
“Please, sit comfortably over here.”
“I’m fine, really.”
“No, it’s okay. Please make yourself comfortable.”
Geom Mugeuk seated Yoon in the most comfortable chair and then helped the rest of the family take their seats.
As Jo Chunbae sat down, his heart thumped with a new kind of tension.
At that moment, his wife, Yang In, who sat beside him, quietly reached for his hand. Her hand, too, was trembling. Jo Chunbae forced himself to steady his fear. The person he had to protect was right next to him.
Yang In moved her lips and mouthed the words,
‘You were amazing, dear.’
Jo Chunbae held her hand more tightly. He was glad his life had been spared, but he was even more grateful that he had been able to protect his family. And being acknowledged by his wife and in-laws filled him with joy.
‘Thank you, Young Cult Leader.’
Geom Mugeuk spoke to Jo Chunbae.
“Now then, let’s hear what happened.”
Jo Chunbae calmly began to explain the situation.
“My younger brother-in-law works as a porter here at Yellow Dragon Escort Bureau. During the most recent delivery mission, he was accused of being a thief and nearly had both hands cut off.”
Jo Chunbae included even the details he had heard directly from Jonghak. Since Geom Mugeuk was someone who could deduce ten truths from a single fact, even a rough explanation was enough for him to grasp the essence.
“So, it wasn’t that he actually touched the cargo—but rather, he saw something he shouldn’t have, and that’s what triggered all this.”
Geom Mugeuk turned to Jonghak and asked,
“What exactly did you see?”
Jonghak looked at Gong Chan as he replied.
“By chance, I saw Escort Chief Gong meeting with some man in secret. The look in his eyes when he noticed me… it was so sharp, I got scared. I thought the matter had ended there, but after returning from the mission, I was branded a thief. No matter how I think about it, that has to be the reason for the false accusation.”
“Did you recognize the person Escort Chief Gong met with?”
“No, I’d never seen him before. But the man had a large mole on his forehead.”
That mole must’ve been the issue. It was no longer simply about meeting someone—it had become about meeting someone with a distinct identifying mark.
Everyone’s gaze shifted to Gong Chan. He simply glared at Jonghak with a hardened expression. He was filled with regret.
‘I should’ve just staged an accident and killed him on the spot.’
But he hadn’t been able to—because someone inside the bureau needed to be informed. He had been instructed to never handle anything on his own, no matter how small.
The way things were handled afterward was a problem too.
He had proposed staging a bandit attack and wiping out the whole family. But the other man had insisted they use this opportunity to benefit the bureau. If they were going to kill him anyway, better to make it useful—cut off his hands, stop the bleeding, and let him die from the wounds. That way, they’d reinforce discipline in the bureau and dispose of him at the same time. Two birds with one stone, so to speak.
Geom Mugeuk approached Gong Chan and asked,
“Why did the fact that you met someone become a reason to cut off that man’s hands? Just who was it? If you tell the truth, I’ll let you live.”
Though, your hands and tongue will still be cut off.
Gong Chan’s eyes wavered—he couldn’t quite grasp the meaning behind the omitted words.
Just then—
A door opened in the escort bureau building, and someone stepped out.
“Please stop right there.”
The man who appeared was a middle-aged figure with a towering build and sharp eyes. He was none other than Woo Sochu, the Master of Yellow Dragon Escort Bureau. For someone in charge of a mere escort bureau, he possessed quite an imposing presence.
“I am Woo Sochu, Master of the Yellow Dragon Escort Bureau.”
Until now, he had remained silent—only stepping forward at this decisive moment.
“We’ve had a distinguished guest arrive, so please allow me to escort you inside. Come in.”
Geom Mugeuk declined politely.
“I have my people out here, so I’m afraid that would be inconvenient. Let’s talk here. It’s snowing, and the mood is just right.”
Woo Sochu interpreted Geom Mugeuk’s refusal as coercion. 4
“No matter how high your position is as the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult, you should not be pressuring a righteous escort bureau in this way.”
“Oh? The Yellow Dragon Escort Bureau is affiliated with the righteous factions? I saw people trying to cut off someone’s hands over a false accusation, so I assumed it belonged to the unorthodox side.”
Woo Sochu’s expression stiffened slightly.
“If you lay a hand on us, the Lord of the Martial Alliance will not forgive you.” 5
Geom Mugeuk looked up at him with a smile.
“Have you ever met the Martial Alliance Leader?”
Woo Sochu had no answer. He had once attended a large gathering and seen him from afar, but never once had he met him in person.
“I figured. That’s probably why you’re able to say such things. If the Martial Alliance Leader knew you were trying to cut off the hands and tongue of two innocent men, your heads would’ve already been smashed in by his hand. So, enough with the empty threats—come down here.”
Geom Mugeuk walked across the freshly fallen snow with a soft crunch, making his way back to Jo Chunbae’s family. He gently brushed the snow off Jonghak’s shoulder and said,
“You defend your people, and I defend mine. So, let’s sort out who was right and who was wrong here—on this pure white snow.” 6
Still, Woo Sochu stood there, looking down on Geom Mugeuk from above.
“I tried treating you with courtesy, but it seems you don’t understand your situation. The person standing before you nearly lost a friend—he is the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult. So...”
Geom Mugeuk, who had been nothing but polite until now, added in a low, cold voice.
“Come down while I’m still being nice, Woo Sochu.”
1 : Finally. First time his Wind God Four Steps star rank is mentioned in an entire hundred chapters. Now I can finally confirm he just reached 11 Stars. Once again, thank you to all the readers for pointing out typos, don’t hesitate to continue !!! And breathe, because breathing is important.
2 : You’ll never be able to understand Mugeuk’s motivations and actions. You’re but a villain after all.
3 : “ It’s easy for strong people to solve things with violence. People like Kouki-kun can easily fling themselves into trouble and just fight their way out of it... but few people who’re weak have the courage to stand up for others, and even fewer could bow down like that for someone else... “ (Arifureta)
4 : It reveals a lot about his character.
5 : Dude, he can literally go drink a cup of tea with Jin Paecheon whenever he wants. Although he would be wary, yes, after saving his granddaughter twice and his grandson once, he certainly wouldn’t refuse.
6 : Let your lies flutter through the air and your sins color this pure white crimson.