Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 111

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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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“What on earth—!”
When the expected contact never came, and no one arrived to collect him, In-young realized something was amiss and made his way to Sachul-dan’s headquarters.
But the sight that greeted him stopped his breath.
“Annihilated?”
The marks of violence were unmistakable.
The Divine Descent Technique had been used—he could see its traces etched into the corpses scattered about. Yet they’d been utterly destroyed despite deploying that technique. How was that possible?
In-young clenched his teeth and pushed deeper into the cave.
The interior was carpeted with bodies.
The metallic stench of spilled blood and the putrid reek of decay seeped from every corner, assaulting his nose and feeding his dread. When he reached the chamber where the Namgung Clan members had been held, he went rigid, then let out a hollow laugh.
“Cut clean through.”
The bars were forged iron, not wood. And their energy centers had been sealed besides—there was no way they could have cut through this themselves.
Which meant there had been an intruder.
“From the traces… three, perhaps?”
He’d examined both the cave’s entrance and interior before reaching that conclusion.
Two from outside.
One from within.
Most of those who’d used the Divine Descent Technique were masters of considerable rank—he suspected they approached the caliber of the Ten Sovereigns or the Seven Stars themselves.
Or perhaps…
‘The Sword Emperor…’
That was the most likely candidate.
He’d been monitoring the Murim Alliance’s movements from the start. If something had shifted there, he would have known.
It was conceivable that the Nine Schools and One House or other powers within the Eight Great Families had sent masters in secret, but three seemed far too few for an operation against an enemy whose full strength remained unknown.
No faction would send only three without intelligence on their opponent’s capabilities.
Nor could the Seven Stars or Ten Sovereigns be moving—he kept watch on them as well.
His surveillance of those circles had been thorough.
‘The most probable scenario is that the Sword Emperor is alive and came here with companions… to extract the Namgung members.’
In-young swallowed hard.
If the Sword Emperor had lived and escaped with the Namgung people, it would be catastrophic. The Orthodox Faction’s purpose was to shake their foundation. The Namgung Clan had been their great pillar—and the Sword Emperor the massive support upon which it stood. But if the Sword Emperor’s survival became known, the Orthodox Faction’s fragmenting power could be rallied anew without great difficulty.
In-young’s brow furrowed.

“What kind of animals are they…”
Think it through.
The opposition numbered three at most.
Whether the Sword Emperor was actually there was a secondary concern. What mattered most was determining who the other two were, where they’d come from, and where they’d gone.
Snap!
In-young flicked his fingers.
In response, a peculiar figure emerged from the earth itself. He wore a black robe that concealed his frame, his face wrapped in cloth. His stocky, powerful build resembled a bear’s, and the sliver of eyes visible above the mask gleamed with blade-sharp intensity.
What little of his face showed between the wrappings was unsettling.
It bore the grotesque scarring of severe burns.
“Find any suspicious individuals who’ve arrived recently. I want information on every last one of them.”
“Yes!”
Whoosh.
The man’s body dissolved like mist, vanishing from sight.
Though any observer would have noted the uncommon grace of his movements, In-young paid it no mind, his expression hardening further.
“If the Sword Emperor truly lives, the day he meets me will be the last day of his life.”
His eyes narrowed to slits.

***

Dan So-mi woke from the bed, disheveled and groggy.
She glanced around—an unfamiliar room.
She turned her head several times, searching for any sign of another presence, but the chamber was empty save for her.
Her eyes snapped open.
Alone in a strange place.
That realization jolted the small girl fully awake.
Without so much as washing her face or combing her hair, she threw off the bedding and opened the door. A long corridor stretched before her, lined with several rooms.
One of those doors surely led to where Dan Woo-hyun and the others had gathered yesterday.
A large room with a sizeable door visible in the middle.
Dan So-mi trotted over to it and pulled the door open.
Yet for all her searching, the cavernous space bore no trace of another soul.
Where could he have gone?
She tilted her head, puzzled.
A flutter of anxiety stirred in her—had he abandoned her and left?—but she quickly shook her head, dismissing the thought as foolish.
This was Dan Woo-hyun, after all.
Without her, he couldn’t manage a thing. He was the kind of man who needed looking after, who required her care and attention.
So there was no way he’d leave her behind.
The small child nodded solemnly to herself.
Having convinced herself, she turned and set off again.
If he wasn’t here, perhaps he was at the inn.
She slipped out of the annex and made her way cautiously toward the inn.
Though the hour was early morning, the inn was crowded with people. Those dressed in fine silks dotted the common room—noble sons, wealthy merchants, and their retinues, all of them carrying the unmistakable air of importance.
Dan So-mi glanced down at her own garments.
They were slightly disheveled.
She smoothed them gently and moved toward a spot in the inn.
“Oh? Little one, come sit here.”
Jeom So-i appeared from nowhere, beaming, and offered her a seat. The inn was already packed with waiting patrons, but the moment Dan So-mi was led to her chair by Jeom So-i’s hand, eyes from every corner of the room converged upon her.
The gazes of those who had been waiting were sharp and intent.
Yet Jeom So-i paid them no mind.
For guests staying in the annex, such service was merely proper. They possessed both the wealth and station to warrant it. Moreover, the Innkeeper himself had given explicit orders that they be treated with exceptional care.
In Jeom So-i’s view, all of this was nothing more than her duty.
“You ought to have breakfast. Is there anything you’d like to eat?”
“……So-mi would like… dumplings…….”
“Ha-ha! Of course, of course. I’ll bring them right away—you just sit quietly now.”
Jeom So-i’s hand came to rest gently upon Dan So-mi’s head, stroking it softly.
The small head bobbed up and down with each caress, delightful and supple. Jeom So-i seemed to find such amusement in the gesture that she continued petting the child long after any other customer might have called her away.
“Ah, my head…….”
Dan So-mi began to feel dizzy.
When Dan Woo-hyun stroked her head, it was never like this. This Jeom So-i was rather clumsy at it—pressing down so firmly that dizziness had begun to settle in her skull.
Yet being doted upon by someone was hardly an unpleasant thing.
So she sat alone at the large table, waiting for her meal.
Then, suddenly, something occurred to her: “Oh!”
‘I didn’t come here to eat.’
Her head snapped up.
She’d come to search for Dan Woo-hyun, so why on earth was she sitting here? But then again—how could she possibly leave now that delicious dumplings were being promised?
Dan So-mi bit her fingernails, her small frame trembling.
Jeom So-i was frightening.
In but a single moment, she’d completely won over the little girl’s heart.
Now she understood why she’d been told never to talk to strangers. She pouted despite herself.
What should she do? What should she do?
It seemed far too late to get up now.
Before long, Jeom So-i returned with the dumplings.
“Here now, eat up and enjoy them.”
“Y-yes…….”
Dan So-mi heaved a resigned sigh and slowly reached out to take a dumpling. The texture was quite pleasant. It felt entirely different from the dumplings she’d eaten in Ak-yang.
Was this what expensive food tasted like?
Did all costly dishes feel this way?
Before Jang Sam-tae appeared, she’d never tasted anything truly fine. Even after he’d joined their company, she’d eaten many flavorful dishes, but what did she know of whether they were dear or cheap?
Yet these dumplings were different.
They truly bore the mark of luxury.
She opened her mouth and bit down eagerly.
“Wow!”
Dan So-mi let out a small cry of delight. The moment she bit into it, the juices flowed forth. The flavor surpassed anything she’d ever tasted before—there was no exaggeration in that.
The taste was that good.
With bright, gleaming eyes, Dan So-mi stuffed dumpling after dumpling into her mouth, her little cheeks soon plump with food, before swallowing.
Something felt strange, so she glanced around—and noticed many patrons regarding her with pleased, warm expressions on their faces.
What? Why were they looking at her like that?
Bewildered, she tilted her head, and from here and there came soft exclamations of delight. Some of them even blushed at the sight.
Why were her eyes shining so brightly?
She swallowed the dumpling that had been stuffed in her cheek. At the same moment, scattered exclamations rippled through the inn, and faces glowed with unmistakable adoration.
“Huh?”
Dan So-mi, bewildered by the attention she couldn’t quite comprehend, tilted her head in confusion. She had no idea why the guests were reacting this way.
And just then, customers throughout the inn began placing orders for dumplings.
“Hey, Jeom So-i! Two plates of dumplings here!”
“Here! Three plates!”
Jeom So-i bustled about, taking down the orders.
Dumplings were rarely ordered at this inn. They were on the menu, certainly, but so few people asked for them that on a busy day they might move ten plates at most.
Yet this sudden flood of orders caught everyone off guard—even the head cook and Jeom So-i herself couldn’t hide their surprise.
“Ha ha, you’re quite the little lucky charm for this place.”
The Innkeeper approached Dan So-mi as he watched the scene unfold. When she looked up, she recognized the man she’d seen the night before.
“Hello.”
“There, there—did you sleep well?”
“Yes! So-mi slept very well. But Papa and… Grandfather weren’t there…”
“Ah, they’ve gone out to Market Street. They said they had some preparations to make.”
“Oh… So-mi wishes they’d taken me with them.”
“Don’t hang your head. It was very early morning, and you were sleeping so soundly they probably didn’t want to wake you. In any case, are you full?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. So-mi is fine.”
“Ha ha, if there’s anything else you’d like to eat, just say the word. I’ll give it to you for free.”
At that offer, Dan So-mi hesitated.
She certainly wanted to eat more—her appetite was insatiable. A few dumplings weren’t nearly enough to satisfy her hungry belly.
And it would be free, too.
But Dan So-mi soon shook her head firmly.
She couldn’t impose any more than this.
“Papa said not to accept free things or even look at them.”
“Ho? That’s wise counsel indeed.”
The Innkeeper broke into a genuine smile—the first in a long while.
He’d been watching Dan So-mi since she arrived, so he understood perfectly why the inn’s atmosphere had shifted so completely.
This child was genuinely adorable.
Every movement she made drew people’s eyes and commanded their attention. Most of the guests here likely had daughters of their own, yet they found joy in witnessing something in this child that their own daughters lacked.
It was deeply gratifying.
In that moment, as the Innkeeper’s face broke into a contented smile—
Bang!
Someone slammed their fist roughly against the wall and raised their voice.
“How much longer are we supposed to wait?! Hey, you brat! I came after her, so why is she sitting down while I’m standing up?!”
A rough-looking man cursed loudly, his face twisted in anger.

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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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