Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 102

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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‘How did things come to this…….’
He was a man who led a trading company in Honam.
Though modest in scale and meager in profit, it earned enough to provide for his household.
Then fortune smiled upon him.
By chance, he’d acquired a substantial quantity of goods from a Western Regions merchant, and he was now en route to Anhui—where selling them would yield the greatest returns.
Fearing bandits, he’d hired ten additional escort swordsmen to bolster his previously small retinue, and he’d departed with confidence in their protection.
He’d never imagined the bandits would prove so formidable, nor that his hired escorts would prove so pathetically weak.
But that was where the real trouble began.
A peculiar entourage that had rescued him from the bandit attack.
The journey alongside them toward Anhui weighed on him like mountains of lead.
“Thank you so much!”
Jeom So-i bowed brightly, flashing a radiant smile.
Well, he had reason to smile.
They’d ordered an enormous quantity of food at the inn—it seemed like almost everything on the menu. And the bill for that? He didn’t dare calculate.
Several silver coins had vanished in an instant.
Whose fault was this?
That bizarre entourage’s, of course.
‘Your destination is Anhui? Ours as well. We might as well travel together. Consider it payment for saving our lives—you need only see to our comfort.’
That was what the man Dan Woo-hyun had said, with an air of benevolence.
Compared to the two bickering old men, he’d seemed rational, and he appeared to ask for little, so Geum Eun-hak had reluctantly nodded his agreement.
Ten days had passed.
And Geum Eun-hak, master of the Geumhwan Trading Company, felt his purse growing steadily lighter.
“Hmm, this inn falls rather short of expectations.”
Dan Woo-hyun tossed out the remark carelessly.
Geum Eun-hak’s lips trembled—hardly the place to complain after eating nearly the entire menu—but he swallowed his anger. What choice did he have?
These men before him were masters of considerable skill, capable of subduing bandits in a single stroke. One had to mind every word.
“Next… next time we shall find somewhere better.”
“Much obliged to you.”
Dan Woo-hyun’s response to a mere bowl of noodles he hadn’t even purchased left Geum Eun-hak grimacing.
Shameless.
The man was utterly shameless.
He’d glimpsed it before when Dan Woo-hyun bought something for that girl Dan So-mi—this man wasn’t poor by any measure. If anything, he likely had more wealth than Geum Eun-hak himself.
On top of that, he’d even claimed the bounties on the bandits they’d captured.
A sigh escaped Geum Eun-hak’s lips.
“By the way, do you know the situation in Anhui?”
“Ah, you mean that?”
Geum Eun-hak sighed heavily.
Now that he thought about it, he’d already heard.
The Namgung Clan had collapsed?
With them maintaining order in Anhui, bandits were virtually non-existent. But if the Namgung Clan had fallen, one had to prepare accordingly.
“It is shocking, certainly…… but there’s nothing to be done about it now, is there?”
“Have you heard of anything else?”
“Well, there’s been talk that the Blood Sect has begun operating throughout Anhui…….”
“The Blood Sect?”
“Ha, they appeared suddenly. The fact that they brought down even the Namgung Clan suggests they possess considerable power. But surely the Murim Alliance will sweep them away soon enough, won’t they?”
Dan Woo-hyun nodded.
He’d heard accounts of the Martial World’s state of affairs several times already. If the Blood Sect had truly brought down the Namgung Clan—one of the Eight Great Families under Heaven—then the Murim Alliance, which had been protecting them, would hardly sit idle.
The Blood Sect would soon be suppressed.
“Yet they seem surprisingly inactive for all that…….”
Kwon Mu-jin, who had drawn near without notice, murmured the observation.
His thoughts ran differently.
Shortly after the Namgung Clan’s attack, and merely hours later, the Murim Alliance should have moved—there was no reason for delay. They maintained secret communication networks with the Eight Great Families and the Nine Schools and One House, after all.
Yet tens of days had passed, and still no Murim Alliance members had been mobilized. This suggested something unusual was stirring within the Alliance itself—something was not proceeding as it should.
Kwon Mu-jin’s eyes flicked toward Namgung Cheon, who stood near Dan So-mi.
He said nothing.
But the man likely understood as much.
“We’ll be in Anhui soon. We should be able to confirm things one way or another…….”
“It doesn’t matter. We set out on a pleasure journey, didn’t we? Sightseeing and good food—that’s all we need.”
Watching her anxious expression, Dan Woo-hyun let out a quiet laugh.
He’d suggested to Dan So-mi that they take this excursion.
A journey was just a journey.
Whatever happened elsewhere was not their direct concern. Having made up his mind and spoken thus, Kwon Mu-jin nodded in agreement, bowing slightly.
“So soon… Anhui?”
Dan Woo-hyun gazed eastward.
Once they crossed that mountain, they would enter Anhui. He found himself curious already—how much had changed in the thousand years since he’d last set foot there?

***

“Ugh!”
Namgung So-hye gritted her teeth, binding cloth tightly around her arm.
Having no proper bandage, she’d cut strips from her own garments as a makeshift dressing.
She wiped away the blood trickling down and steadied her breathing.
‘Fortunately, the pursuers’ presence is gone now….’
She’d been lucky.
There was no other way to look at it.
When she’d regained consciousness, she found herself wedged among the rubble of collapsed buildings. Because she was in the deepest corner, it seemed the Blood Sect members had failed to find her.
More than a month had passed since she’d managed to slip away from that place.
Having fled Anhui and now heading toward Honam, Namgung So-hye’s steps grew heavier with each passing moment.
Just days ago she had fought a fierce battle against the Blood Sect who pursued her, and for over a month now she hadn’t eaten or drunk properly.
‘Something’s wrong.’
And this situation.
It was far too strange.
By now, the Murim Alliance should have sent a suppression force—should have sent it long ago. Yet she’d heard no word of their departure.
That was precisely why she hadn’t gone to the Murim Alliance.
‘There’s a spy inside.’
Someone who had aided those who destroyed the Namgung Clan.
Or someone who had tried to kill her grandfather.
One of them, or perhaps several, were embedded within the Alliance.
Otherwise, this situation made no sense.
She yearned to cast off caution and search for her family with every fiber of her being, but in her current state, she could accomplish nothing.
She would only become a weight around their necks.
She needed rest to recover her strength.
A place to hide.
Only one location came to mind for Namgung So-hye.
‘So-mi’s house….’
Dan So-mi’s home.
That place in Ak-yang would be enough to conceal her. The Murim Alliance’s attention would not reach there, and those hunting her would not know its location.
Having resolved this, Namgung So-hye moved swiftly along the roads.
There was no time to hesitate.
Since she didn’t know when her pursuers might catch up, she had to reach that place as quickly as possible and recover.
‘When he sees me like this, I’ll get an earful again.’
Namgung So-hye smiled bitterly at the image of Dan Woo-hyun that rose in her mind. But even as she thought this, she heard rustling sounds not far away.
Namgung So-hye’s face hardened, and she drew her blade.
‘Persistent creatures!’

***

“Then I shall take my leave here.”
Geum Eun-hak exhaled in relief and bowed.
This was Anhui, Hefei where the Namgung Clan dwelt.
Having reached his destination, the wisest course was to depart quickly. To remain with them any longer was to court disaster.
Without waiting for a response, Geum Eun-hak urged his porters onward and vanished.
“How cold-hearted. We’ve traveled this whole journey together, and you simply slip away without so much as a word?”
Sa Do-hak muttered, his expression uneasy.
Until now this man had paid for most things, so he’d been preparing to treat them all to a fine meal today. But now that he was just leaving, it left a sour taste.
“Don’t worry. We’ll meet again—it’s the way of fate.”
“…Do you perhaps read the heavens or something?”
Sa Do-hak, remembering Dan Woo-hyun’s peculiar way of speaking, asked him a question.
He recalled how Woo-hyun would gaze at the sky lost in thought, or whenever he met someone, he’d ramble about wind and fate and connections.
Most people who spoke like that either suffered from some mental affliction, or surely they’d need to be at least at the level of the Eight Immortals, didn’t he think?
‘Are all the descendants of Martial Gods like this?’
The legends about Martial Gods were one thing, and this fellow—presumed to be their descendant—was another, but it made him wonder if all of his sect brothers didn’t have something wrong with their heads.
“It’s not heavenly secrets. The wind tells me things.”
“Right, the wind… the wind, you say. Heh heh.”
Sa Do-hak waved his hand dismissively through the empty air as he spoke.
He could feel the wind well enough, but it didn’t tell him anything. Or wasn’t it odd in the first place that wind could even speak?
Even Sa Do-hak, who had talents surpassing all others in wielding Magical Energy, had never once thought that such a force could convey anything to him.
“So you feel the wind too?”
Sa Do-hak asked Namgung Cheon, somewhat aggrieved at the notion. He was thinking that perhaps Namgung Cheon could sense things that he himself could not.
But Namgung Cheon shook his head.
“Haha, wind… I’ve never felt such a thing before.”
“Then this fellow is the odd one.”
Sa Do-hak clicked his tongue.
That was clearly a mocking look directed at the other man.
Dan So-mi, having witnessed the scene, approached with an indignant expression.
“My father always tells the truth!”
“Sure, sure. Maybe just with you.”
“No! Jang and Kwon say so too. When Father says someone will live, they live, and when he says they’ll die, they die. He says even if a dog is a cat, you should believe him, and even if feces is poison, you should believe him!”
“……….”
“……….”
Namgung Cheon and Sa Do-hak turned their heads away, unable to find words. Behind them, Jang Sam-tae and Kwon Mu-jin stood with awkward expressions, their eyes downcast.
It seemed that what she had just said came from the heart.
“Hoh! That’s quite an amusing thing to say.”
Dan Woo-hyun reacted as well.
Though he hadn’t intended to say such a thing, if she was going to make such claims, it didn’t seem like a bad idea to test it once.
“Feces as poison, you say…? Shall we give it a try?”
“…Yes… if My Lord commands it thus……”
“Are you insane!?”
Kwon Mu-jin gave a reluctant answer with a fearful expression.
Startled by that outburst, Jang Sam-tae raised his voice. What he had said earlier was nothing more than a way to elevate Dan Woo-hyun in front of Dan So-mi.
Of course, he understood that Woo-hyun was a man worthy of reverence, but…….
There was no way he could actually do such a thing.
“I jest. More importantly, let’s find a place to stay. This town seems to have quite a bit to offer.”
Dan Woo-hyun smiled slightly and glanced around at his surroundings.
He felt gazes upon them from all directions.
Those gazes, directed at them the moment they arrived in this place, were far from friendly. Some of those stares carried with them the weight of caution, even murderous intent.
Such a large town, especially one that the Namgung Clan had supposedly been governing—he couldn’t imagine such hostile gazes coming from here.
Then whose would they be?
Undoubtedly, they belonged to those who had brought down the Namgung Clan.
Namgung Cheon, seemingly having arrived at the same conclusion, nodded.
“Follow me. I know a good place.”

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