Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 3

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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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There was nowhere in Ak-yang to rival this Estate. Even the wealthiest mansion beside Dongjeong Lake could not compare—he was certain of it.
Dan Woo-hyeon’s skill in building was nothing short of masterful.
The craftsmanship of one who lived by the sword was impossible to imagine. Sometimes he wondered if the man’s true calling had been carpentry rather than martial arts.
A sprawling courtyard opened before the main house, and in its center lay a pond, dug deep and broad. Water drawn from Dongjeong Lake itself filled it—and he’d managed the entire feat alone.
Lotus blossoms drifted across the surface, and beneath them, sturdy fish swam in lazy circles.
These too he had caught himself, through patient fishing.
At the very heart of the courtyard stood an enormous pine tree, ancient and towering.
A timber of a thousand years, its height was staggering enough that even passersby beyond the outer walls could see its silhouette.
That magnificent, majestic pine gave the Estate a presence all its own, a silent testament that nothing here had been built without care and intention.
Behind the main residence sat a modest training ground, and beside it, a kitchen area had been prepared.
He had completed all of this in merely four days—work that would have taken ordinary men weeks or months, even with a full crew of laborers.
And now, Dan Woo-hyeon was still at it, hammer in hand, unsatisfied.
Bang-bang, bang-bang!
Hwa So-mi pressed back the stream from her nose and watched him quietly.
She wasn’t trying to accomplish anything in particular.
Though her hands were small, she remained nearby in hopes of being useful to him in whatever way she could, ready to fetch or carry whatever he might need.
It wasn’t as though she had nothing else to do on the Estate.
She had been watching him like that for quite some time.
Steadily, intently—as if boring holes into him with her gaze. If staring alone could pierce flesh, Dan Woo-hyeon would have been riddled with hundreds of wounds by now.
Finally, unable to bear the silence any longer, So-mi spoke.
“Mister.”
“What is it?”
“What are you making?”
She mumbled softly, hesitantly.
Knowing how he disliked being interrupted while working, she’d wrestled with herself dozens of times before mustering the courage to speak.
For a child as young as So-mi, it had been an act of considerable bravery. She’d been watching from beside him the whole time, yet couldn’t for the life of her guess what he was building.
To her eye, it looked like nothing more than a simple barrel.
“A bathing tub.”
“A bath…?”
“Yes. For washing yourself.”
So-mi rose quickly from where she’d been standing.
Now that he mentioned it, she recalled how much water he’d drawn from Dongjeong Lake earlier. At the time she’d wondered what it was for, but now it made sense.
A bath, of all things.
“Stay where you are.”
“……”
Dan Woo-hyeon called out just as So-mi was creeping away like a cat.
She froze mid-step. His words carried a weight that, to her, was worth more than gold.
“I sold the wild boar and timber from yesterday and bought new clothes with it. You can’t wear new clothes in a dirty body.”
“No, you don’t need to wash, you look great just as you are!”
“I may, but you don’t.”
“No, no! I’m completely clean, really!”
Dan Woo-hyeon snorted.
Clean?
She’d only slept one night on the bed he’d made, and already she was caked in grime.
As for her clothes—he couldn’t remember when they’d last been washed. The dark stains seemed permanent.
Just look at her face.
Traces of dried mucus ran down her cheeks, and dirt clung to nearly every inch of her skin. Her bruises from the beating hadn’t faded either, making it nearly impossible to tell if the child was a boy or a girl.
Dan Woo-hyeon began pouring the water he’d drawn from Dongjeong Lake into the tub. Watching it fill, So-mi swallowed hard. The thought of bathing in this cold weather terrified her—she might freeze to death.
She truly felt she might perish.
The child bolted without hesitation.
She sprinted toward the Estate’s front gate in a single burst. Her small frame moved with such speed that it barely seemed possible. Yet as if someone were pulling her from behind, she was suddenly dragged back to where Dan Woo-hyeon stood.
“What? Wait—”
So-mi’s eyes went wide with shock at the impossible turn of events. But she had no time to process it further.
With a sudden, violent splash, an icy chill swallowed her whole.
Glub-glub!
She thrashed and flailed, putting up a desperate struggle, but Dan Woo-hyeon’s strength was overwhelming—she could not break free.
“Gasp!”
“Simply soaking won’t get the grime off.”
Dan Woo-hyeon reached out and quickly wiped the child’s face clean. Each time he did, black filthy water streamed down his hands in rivulets.
He stripped away every tattered piece of clothing. Hwa So-mi startled when she found herself suddenly bare, but Dan Woo-hyeon was not the sort of man to feel desire at the sight of a child’s body.
He washed her thoroughly, scrubbing every corner.
The water turned foul in an instant. The stench that rose from it was so rank he had to hold his nose.
Even with his hands in it, it was the kind of water he didn’t want touching his skin.
“How long does someone have to go without washing to end up like this?”
“I… I don’t know! Ugh…….”
Dan Woo-hyeon’s rough hands didn’t stop, and eventually Hwa So-mi crumpled into a heap, her face screwed up in misery.
After half an hour, he pulled out Hwa So-mi, whose eyes had gone dull as those of a half-dead fish, and dried her off thoroughly.
The bathing had been such an ordeal that Dan Woo-hyeon himself was soaked through.
After changing Hwa So-mi into fresh clothes, Dan Woo-hyeon slipped into a new White Robe—not his finest, but adequate. Hwa So-mi stared intently at the way he undressed without hesitation.
“What are all those?”
She was asking about the scars crisscrossing his body. There were so many cuts and puncture wounds that the sight of them made you want to look away.
Yet Hwa So-mi did not turn away.
Despite her youth, her composure seemed too composed to be mere ignorance.
Dan Woo-hyeon let out a soft laugh.
“Scars of Glory.”
“Glory? Is that something you eat?”
“No—stop connecting everything to food.”
“My mother used to say that eating well and sleeping well were the best things in the world.”
It wasn’t wrong, exactly.
Eating well meant you had wealth, and sleeping well meant you had a good roof over your head.
“Hah, there’s truth in that. But these are different. I’d call them the marks left behind by a journey to the top.”
“The top? Do you mean carpentry?”
……
In Hwa So-mi’s eyes, Dan Woo-hyeon was unmistakably a carpenter.
There was no other way he could be so skilled at making things.
Looking around this house and the rooms inside, nothing here had been bought—everything was made by Dan Woo-hyeon’s own hands.
Hwa So-mi was certain he was a carpenter of unmatched ability.
“I’m not a carpenter.”
“You’re not? Then what are you, sir?”
“Working with wood well doesn’t make one a carpenter. I’m simply better with a blade than most.”
“A blade? A cook? But everything you’ve made me is either roasted or raw…….”
“Haha…….”
“Ah! You became a beggar because you can’t cook!”
Hwa So-mi seemed to nod sagely, her eyes filling with sympathy.
She seemed to have concluded that he was skilled with his hands but couldn’t actually cook—so he couldn’t work as a proper chef and had ended up a beggar.
“I wasn’t a chef either.”
“Then tell me a little more, please.”
Dan Woo-hyeon let out a low hum and sat down at the table.
How was he supposed to explain this?
He’d wandered the world with a blade in hand, killing men. But could that even be called work? No matter how he turned it over in his mind, he had no idea how to put it into words.
He hadn’t even made money from it.
And to speak truthfully about taking lives—Hwa So-mi’s innocent face stayed his tongue. In front of this child, he wanted to be someone he could be proud of.
So he had no choice but to deflect.
“You’re better off not knowing. Never mind that—how does the outfit fit?”
“It fits great! I’ve never worn anything like this before!”
Hwa So-mi jumped up and spun around in delight. She clearly loved the clothes. They weren’t made of silk, not some expensive fabric, but they were fashioned from good-quality material bought at the market.
Still, it had cost him dearly.
Most of what he’d earned from selling wood and leather had gone into buying this single outfit.
“I’m glad it fits. I was worried it might not…….”
Thump.
Hwa So-mi plopped down in the chair and swung her legs back and forth. Then she fixed her round eyes on Dan Woo-hyeon with a steady gaze.
He couldn’t tell what she wanted to say, but her eyes—clear as untouched water—held only him.
“Even if it didn’t fit, it’d be fine. Even if I wore cheaper clothes or went hungry…… I’m fine with anything. As long as I’m with you, sir, anything’s all right.”
Dan Woo-hyeon stared at Hwa So-mi blankly.
Her innocent expression and tone carried not a trace of artifice.
When was the last time he’d heard such heartfelt sincerity?
Never. Not once in his entire life.
Those who approached him came with a single purpose: to gain something from him, or to claim his head. With every word they spoke, they drove a blade deeper into Dan Woo-hyeon’s chest.
Yet Hwa So-mi’s words stirred something within him.
Without thinking, he turned his gaze away.
He could not bring himself to look directly at her.
Perhaps this child too harbored some purpose. But it was not profit she sought—only the desire to be near him.
And perhaps that desire itself could be called an interest she might gain from Dan Woo-hyeon. Yet it brought him no harm.
That was why his heart grew softer.
He could not help but care.
He found himself wondering: could this child truly fill the vast emptiness of a thousand years?
Dan Woo-hyeon smiled without meaning to, and looked away.
“For one so young, your words shine rather brightly.”
“My mother always said that. She said So-mi is young but wise beyond her years. I don’t quite understand what she meant…….”
“It means you’re old for your age.”
“What does that mean? Is it something to eat?”
She tilted her head in confusion again.
She truly seemed not to comprehend.
Dan Woo-hyeon let out a helpless chuckle.
This child thought of everything in terms of food. He suspected it was because she had gone hungry for so long.
He reached out and gently stroked her hair.
Hwa So-mi closed her eyes, her face breaking into a blissful smile.
“If we could live quietly like this, wouldn’t it be wonderful?”
“We can!”
“Ha, yes. That truly would be wonderful.”
Dan Woo-hyeon gazed at the landscape visible through the window. Wind drifted through the open pane, brushing gently against him, then seemed to pause and fall still.
He knew it better than anyone.
One who lived by the sword could never escape that fate. The wind now upon him dwelt at the edge of a blade.
He prayed.
That this wind might never blow again.
It mattered not if his Martial Arts Prowess withered away.
He only yearned desperately for this peace to remain unbroken.
It was the only wish Dan Woo-hyeon possessed now. This moment, quiet and content, satisfied him far more than that violent life of blood and fury.
A faint smile crossed Dan Woo-hyeon’s face as he spoke.
“Well then, since we’ve finished eating, shall we climb the mountain?”
“Yes! Today I’ll make something delicious for you. Hehe.”
Dan Woo-hyeon reached out again and stroked the hair of Hwa So-mi, whose smile bloomed with joy.

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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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