Murim Troubleshooter Dan Mujin

Chapter 36: The Suspicious Painter

Dark green claws pierced through flesh, skin, and bone, scrambling the Blood Boar’s skull.

Brain matter flowed down her pale wrist. The bright red boar, quivering, died without even managing a scream.

“Wow, what the…”

That solid skull had been crushed like tofu in a single move.

I stared in disbelief at the tiny woman before me.

“Humph, finally, someone recognizes the greatness of this body? I like that look.”

With that, Tang Yeo-hye raised her head proudly, basking in her own glory.

They say the fuller the grain, the lower it bows. So why am I always surrounded by these arrogant martial artists?

Perhaps it's the fate of the Heaven-Slaying Star to attract only those steeped in Killing Karma.

“You little brat, you somehow survived that Semi-Transformation. I, Tang Yeo-hye of the Venomous Sparrow's Blood, will especially acknowledge you.”

So even compliments can sound that arrogant.

Not a trace of joy stirred in me after hearing that—itself a kind of talent, I suppose.

“Please understand. The Young Mistress rarely compliments anyone... In fact, that was practically high praise by her standards.”

Stepping in from the side, Neungsam annotated his master's words with a solemn tone.

Truly, the movements of a professional servant.

“Hah? Who praised who? That’s ridiculous.”

Tang Yeo-hye's crimson eyes flared as she snapped back.

“You were impressed earlier when that brat saved your life, weren’t you?”

“That was just the poison talking nonsense… Ugh, are you seriously trying to read my mind with that fake Telepathy again?!”

So she boasted in front but said sweet things behind? That’s unexpected.

“It’s not fake. I, Neungsam, who remembers the pure days of the Young Mistress, know that compliment came from the heart…!”

Declaring proudly that he had served her since her babbling days, the servant from the Tang Clan in Sichuan.

“Ah, geez! I said shut up!”

Her tiny fist flew into Neungsam’s broad back.

Whap! Whap! Whap!

“That hurts, Young Mistress.”

“Die! Just die, you bastard!”

She wanted to smack him on the back of the head, but their height difference turned it into something of a bunny hop instead.

Then came Ilhong, quietly stepping up just like Neungsam had.

“Boss, are you okay? That hit earlier looked brutal.”

“I’m fine. This much won’t kill me.”

It seems she’s the only one who genuinely worries about me.

“Sometimes I wonder if you’re even human. Same when you got stabbed… How are you so sturdy?”

While saying that, she poked at various spots on my body.

“Ow, you little… My whole body’s already aching.”

“Oh, sorry.”

The pain was raw and real. But like Ilhong said, my endurance was at the level of someone who had trained external arts to the extreme.

Must be because some star that turns humans into murder weapons is lodged inside me.

“That was you earlier, right? The one who nailed that arrow near its eye?”

“Yeah, I shot it.”

“You’re a good shot. You saved me.”

“Aw, we survived thanks to you, Boss.”

Smiling bashfully in front of me was a pretty boy with flawless skin.

Washed and polished, everything he did looked straight out of a pictorial.

As we chuckled, Tang Yeo-hye—having finished her bickering—drove a palm wrapped in gathered energy into the Blood Boar’s belly.

Its steaming innards spilled out like at a butcher’s shop.

“Urgh.”

Ilhong gagged mid-laugh at the gruesome scene.

Such a barbaric era, truly.

“Ugh, seriously. Where is it? It should be around here…”

With a gleam in her eye, she dug through the flesh and finally pulled out something walnut-sized.

“Found it! Neungsam, look! It’s the Blood Boar’s Poison Pellet!”

Her face lit up like a ginseng digger striking gold.

Tang Yeo-hye triumphantly raised the jet-black Poison Pellet brimming with venom.

“Unbelievable… Young Mistress, if you use that to make the Blood Jade Pellet, it will greatly aid your poison arts training!”

“Obviously! With this, I’ll finally surpass that wretched Orabeoni!”

Neungsam looked equally thrilled at the windfall.

Gone were the squabbles, replaced by cheerful banter and joy.

“Ah, but I probably can’t make a Blood Jade Pellet from it. Once removed, it deteriorates quickly, so I have to consume it here.”

She explained that if she had wanted to refine it into a pellet, they would have had to capture the Blood Boar alive and drag it back to Sichuan.

“But Young Mistress, consuming it raw without refinement will make the poison rage. You could suffer severe internal injuries.”

“I can’t just throw it away, can I? I worked hard for this… I’ll slowly neutralize it and blend it with my internal energy.”

She showed resolve, saying she would tame the Poison Pellet and make it her own.

“Then for recovery, we’ll have to stay here in Hebei for a while. I’ll secure a quiet place for training.”

As Tang Yeo-hye and Neungsam discussed their next steps, my eyes stayed fixed on the dark Poison Pellet, its venomous aura wafting up.

“For something to leave a core… it must’ve been an ancient spiritual beast, Boss.”

“…No wonder it hurt like hell, damn it.”

I muttered a sigh in response to Ilhong’s whisper.

Still felt like my whole body was wrecked. I thought I could withstand any pain after training with Hwang Geolgae.

“And a monster like that shows up on a newbie request? What the hell is Chairman Gam Un doing?”

They say once is coincidence, but three times is sabotage.

The moment I returned, I’d barge in and demand answers.

And if they refused to give me another request? I’d just pull some strings with Noonim Eun Hwaran.

“Anyway, dear clients, let’s settle up. We’re busy, so sort out the rest after we leave.”

The requested herb collection had been a huge success.

We’d found ten Heuksongneung and even scored a Poison Pellet. We’d far exceeded the mission parameters.

No way twenty iron coins would cut it. We should get at least ten silver coins.

“Hmph, fine, brat. You did well. Neungsam, give them a decent amount and send them off.”

True to the Tang Clan’s way of clearly settling debts, Tang Yeo-hye gestured to her servant.

“It wasn’t just hard work—Boss literally saved your life when you were helpless. If that Blood Boar had charged before detoxification…”

“Shit, I know, okay?! That’s why I’m telling you to pay them a lot, you dumbass.”

Mumbling how she couldn’t be honest to save her life, Neungsam reached into his coin pouch.

Then suddenly, his face stiffened.

“What’s with that look? Like someone who had to stop mid-shit.”

The rawest speech, unthinkable from a daughter of a prestigious clan.

“Young Mistress… we seem to be almost out of money.”

“…What?”

That shocking revelation wiped the smug look off Tang Yeo-hye’s face.

She reached out and futilely touched his now-flattened coin pouch.

“What, why?”

“Young Mistress, didn’t you say you wanted to sample every delicacy in Beijing and ran all over the place? You know how brutal the prices are here… Of course we’re broke.”

So the culprit was Tang Yeo-hye, raised in luxury and spending money like water.

Anyway, was she seriously planning to skip my hard-earned payment?

I glared at the two of them, fire in my eyes.

Even when I ran my office, paying meant being a client—no pay, and you’re just a freeloader.

“Sigh, guess there’s no choice. Take this.”

Letting out a long sigh, Tang Yeo-hye pulled out something flat and copper-colored from her clothes.

“What’s this?”

The answer came from Ilhong standing beside me.

“It’s a Gratitude Token the Tang Clan bestows when they owe someone a debt. Judging by the color, it’s a Copper Token, the lowest of the three grades.”

With fingernails imbued with internal energy, Tang Yeo-hye scratched her name onto the Copper Token.

“Hey, you. You better be grateful and take it.”

With an air of great generosity, she flung the token at me.

I caught it—it felt thinner and more pathetic than I expected.

None of the wuxia novels I read when business was slow ever had something like this.

“Ilhong, you think this is worth anything?”

“Well, it’s the lowest-grade Copper Token… I guess it depends on how you use it?”

Depends on how I use it—what an annoyingly vague answer.

Too low-grade for a big favor, too valuable to waste on something petty.

I felt like a prime minister holding an unwanted chicken rib.

Some eccentric eunuch once flipped a shiny gold coin for just knocking around a few bandits.

“Hmph, it’s not much, but I’m cutting you a break.”

I muttered with a displeased face and slipped the Gratitude Token into my coat.

Tang Yeo-hye looked at me like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Wow, are you crazy? Hey! That thing isn’t something you can get even with money—!”

“Now, now, Young Mistress. Isn’t Young Master Dan the one who risked his body to stop the Blood Boar? Please, calm yourself!”

“I know, but that guy pisses me off! I’ve never met anyone ruder than him! Just one punch, please!”

“What are you saying?! You hitting him would be a disaster!”

Upon seeing me accept the Tang Clan’s Gratitude Token, Neungsam upgraded my title to Young Master Dan.

He handled the beast-like second daughter of the Tang Clan like a seasoned animal trainer.

“You’re probably the only person who talks like that to a Master Level.”

A remark from Ilhong, quietly watching from nearby.

“I do try to live honestly.”

“That wasn’t exactly a compliment.”

After dying once, getting a strange star lodged in my head, and being diagnosed with a terminal fate, I stopped worrying about what others thought.

“But you weren’t serious about that reward being too little, right? It’s still a Tang Clan Gratitude Token.”

“Nope, I was completely serious.”

I took a brutal beating and got this scrap of a Copper Token as payment—definitely too little.

And because my sincerity was so damn real, the scales of karma had tilted toward virtue, and my internal energy surged accordingly.

So much that even Hwang Geolgae’s eyes had gone wide with surprise.

“Training with Hwang Noya… I’ll need to double down.”

Reading my expression, Ilhong sighed deeply, sensing more trials ahead.

In any case, what was supposed to be a simple herb gathering mission ended with many twists and a reward.

We descended the mountain, leaving behind the short-tempered woman still shrieking behind us.

The Beijing Wanderers' Guild—frequented by countless sword-carrying wanderers.

Though it was morning and the place should’ve been quiet, an unexpected commotion erupted.

All because a boy had just stormed out, loudly venting his complaints.

Everyone looked baffled, except for Chairman Gam Un, who scratched his scar in silence as if he alone understood.

His expression was more wistful than annoyed.

“Hah, looks like my instincts haven’t dulled just yet.”

Turned out the clients were martial artists, and the Blood Boar had appeared during the request, with two young men barely escaping death.

He had thought age had dulled his intuition, his sense of ominous signs.

“But yeah, there’s no way the instinct of this Giant-Slaying Blade Gam Un would fade so easily. Ahem.”

Maybe his reflexes were slower now, but his abilities hadn’t deteriorated.

If that was the case, then Dan Mujin and Ilhong had survived that hell twice now.

“That’s a bit odd. Usually when my scar throbs, someone ends up bleeding.”

The Trading Lord of Eunseong Trading Company had praised them as exceptionally talented, and now he was starting to see why.

Despite their youthful appearance, they clearly had something hidden up their sleeves.

“Looks like a promising seed just rolled into the Beijing Branch. Heh.”

Grinning, Gam Un downed a sharp shot of rice wine in one gulp.

And at that moment, the door burst open and in walked a dopey-looking young man.

Small build, dark circles under his eyes—not a wanderer, clearly a client here to post a job.

“I heard this place has decent wanderers…”

See that?

“Of course. The wanderers here all work harder than they’re paid for.”

Gam Un, refilling his cup, asked what the young man had come for.

“Oh, I’m Neung Jin-sam. I make a living as a painter around Beijing.”

He added that he hadn’t yet created a piece worthy of being called a masterwork.

“I want to go deep into the mountains to capture scenes with my own eyes, but I hear it’s dangerous to go alone.”

“Well, there’s bloodthirsty wild beasts, bandits now and then, and steep cliffs where one slip can be fatal. Having a sword-wielding helper is definitely better.”

“…Right.”

So it was just a simple escort request. Kind of deflating.

Still, I was personally intrigued.

“What do you mostly paint? I’m actually familiar with the field. I’ve bought a few landscape paintings by well-known artists.”

The kind of paintings that had skyrocketed in value after the artists died young.

He’d bought them on the recommendation of some high-up at a gathering, and it had turned out to be a wise investment.

“Ah, I, um…”

“Yes?”

“I mainly draw animals with lots of soft fur.”

“…Huh? Don’t most painters focus on landscapes or portraits, majestic scenes captured in grand strokes? That’s what most people want, after all.”

A single landscape painstakingly painted by a famous artist could be worth more than a bar of gold.

And if a revered Taoist happened to pen a poem on it, the price would shoot through the roof.

“But I just… I like animals with soft fur and big round eyes. Even if it doesn’t make money.”

“…”

Gam Un’s mouth shut at the rather excessive level of animal affection.

Well, if that’s what the client wanted, a broker had no say.

The only issue was who to assign it to.

Wanderers usually preferred jobs with good pay and a chance to make a name for themselves.

They didn’t like getting pulled into trivial work.

“Ah, that guy.”

Some new wanderers had recently begged for a safe assignment after getting burned by dangerous ones.

And this time, even his scar hadn’t reacted.

“Someone go to Eunseong Trading Company and fetch that kid named Dan Mujin.”

Looked like the next job had been decided.