Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 10

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Golden Buddha Statue stolen from the Royal Palace could be found!
Trusting only that promise, Hong Won-chang led the constables himself to the location Dan Woo-hyeon had revealed.
‘If this is true, it’s a jackpot! Nothing like what Jangbaek Mountain could offer!’
Thump-thump!
His heart hammered violently. Dan Woo-hyeon had no reason to lie, so recovering the Golden Buddha Statue was all but certain. A grin spread across Hong Won-chang’s face as he came to a stop before an inn.
‘I never would have guessed it was here.’
It was a fairly well-known inn in Ak-yang.
Known for its classical atmosphere and exceptional cuisine, it was a place Hong Won-chang himself frequented.
Yet he’d never imagined that an underground merchant and the thief who’d stolen the statue would conduct their transaction here.
Hong Won-chang gestured to one of his constables.
The constable moved quickly, kicking the inn door wide open.
Bang!
Then Hong Won-chang’s voice rang out across the surroundings.
“Take them all!”
“Yes, sir!”
Clang-clang!
At the command, the constables surged forward. Moving with practiced precision, they flooded into the inn and began binding everyone inside.
Not a single soul could escape.
Even ordinary patrons were suspect—surely some of them had come to dispose of the stolen goods.
The constables poured in and seized the inn in an instant.
Crash!
“What’s happening?!”
“Ahhhhh!”
“Run…… run!”
Just as expected, the guilty scattered in every direction. But Hong Won-chang had already stationed a considerable number of constables throughout the perimeter—he was confident none would slip away.
Hong Won-chang’s eyes gleamed as he surveyed the inn transformed into chaos. He saw several men rushing quickly up the stairs.
Hong Won-chang gestured to his constables.
The most skilled among them followed him up to the upper floor.
Thud-thud!
“Ugh!”
“Kck!”
Subduing one after another.
Trampling over the fallen, they pressed forward. At last, reaching the topmost room of the inn—the one where the underground merchant was surely to be found—Hong Won-chang pushed open the door.
“Well, you’re not fleeing. How admirable.”
“Heh, with constables posted everywhere, how was I to escape?”
The underground merchant sighed long and deep, his expression one of resignation.
Hong Won-chang flicked his eyes toward the constables, and two of them stepped forward to drag the man out forcibly. As the bound underground merchant was hauled away, his eyes flashed.
“Tell me who informed on me.”
“No need.”
“This Hwang—mark my words, it won’t end so easily.”
“Ha, don’t worry. You won’t leave that cell so quickly, I assure you.”
Watching the underground merchant’s eyes gleam like cold steel, Hong Won-chang spoke with finality.
A man who’d tried to fence the Royal Palace’s treasure could never walk free from prison.
Even if he offered bribes, no one could help him this time.
It was, after all, effectively a command from Dan Woo-hyeon.
As the underground merchant was dragged away, Hong Won-chang exhaled in relief and looked around. There, on the table, sat the Golden Buddha Statue he’d been seeking.
“So it really was here all along……”
Hong Won-chang pointed at the statue with trembling hands. This was the very object the Royal Palace had been searching for so desperately.
If he returned it, he might win not only the Royal Palace’s favor, but perhaps even the Emperor’s trust.
He swallowed hard and reached out his hand.
In that instant, he felt someone’s gaze.
Without thinking, he looked up to find the source of that stare.
It was Dan Woo-hyeon.
Perched casually on the windowsill since who knows when, he sat gazing at Hong Won-chang with a faint smile. That cryptic smile sent shivers racing down Hong Won-chang’s spine.
“The constables must be chasing the ones who fled.”
“I know.”
“Is there another order you wish to give?”
“The fact that I’m involved in this matter…….”
“I will not breathe a word of it, not even in the grave.”
Whoooosh—!
Suddenly the wind came roaring down. The constables behind him, and Hong Won-chang as well, squeezed their eyes shut against the sudden gust.
When the wind died away and they opened their eyes again, Dan Woo-hyeon had vanished without a trace.
“Ha……!”
The constables and Hong Won-chang could only gasp at empty air. A man had disappeared in the blink of an eye—how could they possibly describe it?
He truly did not wish to have anything more to do with that man.
Hong Won-chang reached out with trembling hands and picked up the Golden Buddha Statue.
Once again, thanks to Dan Woo-hyeon, he had been given a stepping stone to climb even higher.

***

“Huff… huff… huff!”
“After him! Don’t let him escape!”
Hearing the shouts from behind, Jang Sam-tae cursed under his breath. There were far too many constables. Just when he thought he’d shaken one off, another would appear.
It was as if they already knew where he was going and how he meant to move.
Were they predicting his path?
‘Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!’
He couldn’t allow himself to be caught.
If he was taken now, no amount of money would buy his way out. He’d be dragged straight to the Royal Palace, subjected to every torture imaginable, and his head would roll.
That was why he fought so desperately.
The constables pursuing him were skilled—remarkably so. Even with the considerable distance he’d opened using his Lightness Skill, they kept coming, relentless in their pursuit.
‘If only I weren’t weighed down!’
Thud!
He’d been paid in gold coins, not drafts. He would have fared better if everything had been in Money Transfer Notes.
It wasn’t just the weight—the coins clinked and rattled inside the cloth bundle, constantly distracting him and throwing off his Lightness Skill.
‘Focus! If I’m caught, it’s over.’
This was the crisis of a lifetime.
Jang Sam-tae gritted his teeth and pushed forward. Drawing up his True Yuan True Qi and unleashing his full Lightness Skill, he moved faster than an arrow loosed from a bow.
‘Just a little further!’
Just a little more and he’d be there. A cliff awaited—not too steep, but the slope was sharp enough that those constables without Lightness Skill would be left behind. It was perfect.
Running with clenched teeth, his figure was pure desperation made flesh.
The voices of the pursuing constables faded from hearing, and when Jang Sam-tae reached the predetermined spot, he couldn’t help but let out a cry of shock, eyes going wide.
“You’re later than I expected. I thought you’d arrive within the hour at worst.”
“Huh?! Ugh—!”
A man stood there. Perched on a small rock, he regarded Jang Sam-tae with an utterly impassive expression.
No interest, no emotion—just the cold, blank stare of his face.
“How… how did you…….”
“How, you ask?”
Even that slight, twisted look was threat enough.
Jang Sam-tae clenched his fists tight. He hadn’t fled with stolen goods just to be cornered by Dan Woo-hyeon in a place like this.
Even if he couldn’t win in a fight, he could still escape.
He bolted again, hurling himself without hesitation toward the cliff. Fortunately, Dan Woo-hyeon—who hadn’t made any preparations—didn’t seem able to give immediate chase.
“Huff, huff!”
He scrambled down the steep cliff face at breakneck speed. His clothes tore and frayed. He lost his balance several times, tumbling along the way.
In his desperation to shield the cloth bundle holding the coins, the wounds multiplied and his strength drained away with every scrape.
At last his feet touched solid ground.
But this was no time to catch his breath and compose himself. He had to run now—run as far from this place as possible.
He’d come to realize that the constables were no longer the real threat.
There was something far more dangerous.
“Damn it all!”
Dan Woo-hyeon was here.
“Tsk, you should be more careful climbing down a cliff. Look at the state of your clothes.”
He hadn’t even seen the man move, yet there Dan Woo-hyeon stood before him—not a sleeve out of place, as if he’d walked down that sheer cliff face itself!
Jang Sam-tae ground his teeth together.
The Royal Palace, the law—none of that mattered anymore. He understood now how Sun Wukong must have felt, desperate to escape from Buddha’s palm.
“Damn you! I’ll never be taken!”
“Ha ha.”
Cursing, he took off running blindly.
He was so furious he scarcely realized what he was doing.
Yet even in that state, knowing full well that charging straight ahead was impossible, he bolted sharply to the left.
The speed of his escape was utterly different from before.
It was a moment that proved his boast was no idle claim — that with Lightness Skill alone, he could rank among the top three in the Central Plains.
He knew this territory better than anyone. He’d spent months surveying it beforehand, before the raid on the Royal Palace.
He’d even mapped out the escape routes with perfect precision.
Descend the cliff, turn left, and Dongting Lake would appear. There were docks where boatmen moored their vessels, and if he could commandeer one and follow the river, he’d vanish in no time.
He ran.
Again, he flew like the wind.
Cold sweat drenched his entire body, and his throat had grown so parched that bile rose in it.
Jang Sam-tae was pushing himself to the absolute limit; if he didn’t escape within the hour, he would surely collapse like a puppet with its strings cut.
So he drove his legs harder still.
On and on he ran, refusing to stop.
He barely managed to steady his reeling frame and, with an arrow’s speed, reached the place where the boats lay moored.
But he could not bring himself to board, and instead spun around in alarm.
“What the hell is that bastard doing there?!”
Dan Woo-hyeon was there again.
While Jang Sam-tae heaved and gasped for breath, Dan Woo-hyeon stood there with unnerving calm, even waving a hand in casual greeting.
The sight of that face sent rage boiling through him.
He ran again.
He had no choice but to run.
Now he was simply fleeing blindly toward some unknown destination, trying to open distance between them.
But it was a dream far too hollow to be real.
For more than half an hour, Jang Sam-tae fled. He surpassed his own limits, even drawing upon his True Yuan True Qi, yet no matter where he went, Dan Woo-hyeon was always waiting for him.
“Hah…… gasp…… gasp…… gasp.”
Jang Sam-tae lay sprawled on the ground, gasping roughly.
Now he hadn’t the strength to move a single finger. His eyes rolled, and a terribly familiar sight came into view.
The cursed Jang Estate — the very place he thought he’d escaped.
He realized that all his efforts to shake off Dan Woo-hyeon had been nothing but a dance in the palm of his hand.
And against the vast sky above loomed that familiar face.
“I must have told you countless times, yet you still haven’t grasped it. Buddha’s Palm…….”
Dan Woo-hyeon tapped his left palm with the fingers of his right hand and laughed. The gesture made plain that resistance was futile, no matter where he went or what he did.
Jang Sam-tae felt a crushing emptiness rise into frustration.
“Damn it all…….”
Dan Woo-hyeon’s hand moved without hesitation. He searched through the prone Jang Sam-tae’s clothing and took the cloth bundle containing Gold Coins and the money transfer note.
Two million coins — that enormous sum — passed into another man’s hands in an instant.
“As promised, it’s doubled to four million coins, so even after repaying the two million owed, two million remains.”
“Aaargh! You damned bastard!”
Jang Sam-tae bolted upright, vomiting resentment. Whether he’d lost his mind or not, he threw the last of his strength into a punch aimed at Dan Woo-hyeon.
But.
Crack—!
“Ugh!”
With a sharp sound, he crumpled.
The last thing he saw was Dan Woo-hyeon’s faint smile.
‘This…… you son of a…….’

Dan Woo-hyeon looked down at the unconscious Jang Sam-tae and pocketed the money. Since this had been the goal from the start, he no longer had any use for the man.
“Hmm…….”
Killing him felt wrong, and simply leaving him behind seemed wasteful.
His cooking, at least, was exceptional. Dan Woo-hyeon himself cared little what he ate, but he wanted to give Hwa So-mi only the best — the finest food, the finest clothes.
For that, this man was indispensable.
Unless he found a new cook.
He’d never actually intended to collect the full four million coins anyway, so releasing him would have caused no loss — except for one thing: Hwa So-mi would object.
Scratch-scratch—
Dan Woo-hyeon scratched his head and let out a small sigh.
Then he seized Jang Sam-tae by the hair and dragged him slowly back toward the Jang Estate. In the end, it was thanks to Hwa So-mi that Jang Sam-tae kept his life, and he had become a fixture of the household.
In any case, he’d obtained the money he’d so long desired.
It was a substantial sum — enough to live without financial worry for years to come. The mere thought of it left a smile lingering on Dan Woo-hyeon’s face.
Then suddenly, he came to a halt.
“Now that I think of it…….”
Dan Woo-hyeon had turned down the bounty on Jangbaek Mountain’s head.
Was this the heart of a parent raising a child?
And so Dan Woo-hyeon began, bit by bit, to understand the true weight of money.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————