Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 31

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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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He hadn’t known a bounty of 200 Gold Coins hung over his head.
The truth was, the reason such a substantial bounty had been placed was singular and simple.
The Murim Alliance had tried repeatedly but failed to properly eliminate them.
Whenever they thought they’d caught the tail, it was severed; whenever they thought they’d seized the body, the members would assassinate themselves or commit suicide, never allowing the head to be reached.
So much time had passed in this manner that the bounty had no choice but to keep climbing.
Now that the Black Sword Society had been eliminated, the Murim Alliance could breathe easier, and 200 Gold Coins was nothing—they could dispense with it as easily as brushing dust from their sleeves.
“Ahem! There’s tea over there…….”
“Ah! I’ll pour it. Please, sit.”
At Ma Il-woong’s words, Namgung So-hye scrambled to her feet and began preparing the tea. By the thin scent rising from it, it seemed like cheap tea, but what did it matter?
The urgent task was to win their favor.
‘But…… how does one prepare tea?’
She’d watched the handmaidens do it now and then from the side. First, you heat the water, then place the leaves in the cup. After roughly some amount of time has passed, you pour it out slowly and evenly.
“By the way, I’ve been curious since earlier—who is this So-hyeon?”
It seemed that Dan Woo-hyeon’s presence had been bothering Ma Il-woong greatly, for he asked this. Woo-hyeon didn’t speak like Namgung So-hye, nor did he seem to be investigating anything in particular.
He simply sat nearby listening quietly, and with not the slightest change in his expression, he was thoroughly disconcerting.
‘A bodyguard for the lady?’
Those who called themselves the Honam Five Swords thought as much. It was natural, after all, to assign an escort to a woman of high station.
“I am called Dan Woo-hyeon…… You are the Honam Five Swords……?”
“Indeed, we are.”
Even stray thugs would be questionable to defeat with such strength—and yet these were the Honam Five Swords.
Their expression and bearing were so brazen that had one not known the truth, one would have been readily deceived.
“I see. But how did you overcome the Black Sword Society’s master?”
“Ah, I’ve been curious about that too. The master of the Black Sword Society has reached the Peak Realm, so it must have been quite the fierce battle, yes?”
Namgung So-hye brought the tea and asked. Ma Il-woong frowned but then smiled boldly, regarding both Namgung So-hye and Dan Woo-hyeon.
“His strength exceeded our expectations. Had the five of us not managed a proper Combined Attack, we might well have lost. Fortune favored us.”
At this proud remark, Namgung So-hye let out a small gasp of admiration. Surely the battle between these men and the Black Sword Society had been a clash worthy of recording in the Murim History.
It was truly a shame she hadn’t been there to witness it.
Watching masters fight would have been education enough in itself.
Then Dan Woo-hyeon murmured.
“Strange. From the level of Inner Power you displayed just now, you should have chewed up the Black Sword Society’s master without breaking a sweat. Yet you struggled……?”
“Eh?”
“Huh?”
“Gasp!”
Namgung So-hye snapped to attention. Now that she thought about it, the depth of Inner Power they’d demonstrated moments ago was not exaggeration to say it rivaled the patriarchs of the Nine Schools and One Faction.
With such profound Inner Power, their martial prowess would be beyond question, and the notion that they’d struggled against the Black Sword Society’s master simply didn’t make sense.
“We… we were careless. I believed you to be weaker than me, but it seems you were far superior to what rumors suggested.”
“Yes, that’s right. Our brother tends to be quite careless sometimes.”
“……Is that so?”
Namgung So-hye nodded with an unconvinced expression. Even masters of great skill sometimes fell to the weak because of the confidence that they were stronger—it happened often enough that perhaps these men had succumbed to the same.
With such thoughts, she carefully poured tea into the cup before Ma Il-woong.
In that instant, a hand moved toward her unexpectedly, and she jumped back in surprise, her eyes going wide and round.
Hadn’t he just tried to touch her hand?
“Did I displease you? I was merely trying to check your pulse for a moment.”
“My… my pulse?”
“Indeed. To my eye, your Qi Pathway seems somewhat obstructed, causing your cultivation to progress a touch slowly. I merely wished to confirm this, but I failed to consider that you are a woman. My apologies.”
“Oh, no. Once you draw the blade, what place does gender have?”
Watching Namgung So-hye’s awkward smile, Ma Il-woong raised the cup to his lips. It was to dampen this unease and the dryness in his throat.
And the moment he sipped.
Glug—
“Bleegh!”
The liquid that had entered his mouth shot back out again.
Bitter. Acrid.
The heat that shot up was so intense he wondered if his palate had been scalded, so he collapsed onto the table, stamping his feet frantically.
The burning sensation was that fierce.
“Are… are you alright? Doesn’t it taste good?”
“Ghack! Lady…….”
Ma Il-woong’s teeth were gritted tight. It was cheap tea, yes, but it had never tasted this dreadful. Moreover, it was far too hot to be consumed by any living person.
‘She’s pretty, so I’ll forgive her.’
His teeth ground together, yet no cry escaped him—not entirely because of her beauty, but more from the fear that she might actually use her hands.
“The tea is ready. Why don’t you pour us some wine instead?”
“Pardon?”
Ma Il-woong turned to look at his youngest brother, who hurried into the kitchen and returned moments later with small wine cups and a bottle.
He set them down one by one and pushed the bottle toward Namgung So-hye.
“What’s the matter? Surely you’re not saying you can’t pour a cup of wine for us, who’ve just solved the Murim Alliance’s headache?”
“……Ha ha.”
Grind.
Namgung So-hye’s teeth clenched.

***

“What kind of people are these?!”
On the road back to the manor.
Namgung So-hye couldn’t contain the fury rising in her chest, and she lashed out roughly with her foot. In an instant, with a sharp crack, the stone she’d kicked shattered into pieces.
“You seem quite angry.”
“Does that even deserve to be called an excuse? If there hadn’t been that recruitment notice from the Alliance, we’d have had a sword fight right there.”
She huffed harshly, venting her frustration on the ground.
Just thinking about it made her blood boil.
‘What do they take me for—a courtesan? Pouring wine, no less?’
In her usual frame of mind, she might have slapped him on the spot.
“Amusing fellows, though. They’ll prove useful to the Murim Alliance.”
“……I suppose so.”
Dan Woo-hyeon smiled faintly. He found himself imagining what might happen if such con artists actually joined the Murim Alliance.
It would surely be a sight difficult to witness with open eyes.
The very thought amused him.
Dan Woo-hyeon wanted to cheer them on. The two hundred gold coins were a pity to lose, but this wasn’t the sort of spectacle one could see even if they paid for it, was it?
And Namgung So-hye’s efforts to contain her anger were quite entertaining as well.
“So we’re leaving early tomorrow morning?”
“……Yes.”
Namgung So-hye let out a small sigh and nodded. Since the Honam Five Swords were traveling together to the Murim Alliance, there was no reason to linger here.
They would depart for Hanan in the early dawn, bringing those men with them.
At last, they were done with the dreary Ak-yang.
As she was lost in such thoughts, they arrived at the manor before she knew it. This familiar act of opening the gate and stepping inside—that too would soon be farewell.
“Take this.”
Dan Woo-hyeon tossed something to her.
Startled, she caught it reflexively, and found it contained about ten silver coins.
Namgung So-hye gazed at the silver coins for a moment.
For only a few days of work, it was quite a substantial amount.
Ten silver coins—something she hadn’t even dared to expect?
She slowly lifted her head and looked at Dan Woo-hyeon’s face.
Today, somehow, his expression seemed different.
“Perhaps……”
“No.”
Before she could finish her words, he shut her down completely. Despite herself, a small smile tugged at the corners of Namgung So-hye’s lips as she lowered her head.

***

“The Master of the Phoenix Pellet Faction?”
In some inn in Ak-yang.
A middle-aged man staying there regarded his subordinates intently. He was not the sort to involve himself in such trivial matters.
He had earned considerable reputation even among the Heterodox Sects and held rank fifty in Wuhuang City’s hierarchy.
As a master who had reached the Peak Realm, he was hardly the caliber of talent to be dispatched on mere errands of locating people. Yet why was he here?
It was simply for amusement.
“Who did that girl meet?”
“The ones called the Honam Five Swords, sir.”
“Never heard of them.”
“Neither have we, sir.”
……
“…….”
Ma Dok-jin looked down at his subordinate with a crooked expression. Then, with a light flick of his finger, came a sharp crack.
Crash!
“Gahhh!”
“Do you think I’m in a position to trade words with you?”
“I… I’m sorry…….”
The subordinate rubbed his head and bowed again, his face lowered. Inwardly, he lamented having a master who didn’t understand a joke, masking his feelings.
“The Honam Five Swords…… It’s quite likely they’re the ones who struck the Black Sword Society.”
“…….”
The subordinate said nothing.
Having just been beaten for his last remark, he thought it wise to keep his mouth shut now.
In that instant, with another sharp crack, the man’s body flew up once more.
Crash!
“Ahhhhh……!”
“You damned wretch—do you find your master’s words so sweet you need to chew on them?”
“I… I’m sorry…….”
The subordinate scrambled to compose himself and bowed again. Intense pain radiated from where he’d been struck, but he couldn’t show it.
Or he’d be beaten even worse.
“You do think it was them who attacked the Black Sword Society, yes?”
At the question, the subordinate answered urgently.
This time, he didn’t misstep.
“I believe that to be the case.”
“But I haven’t heard…… The Black Sword Society’s master is said to stand on the threshold of the Peak Realm, yet he’s still a formidable man…… An reclusive master, perhaps?”
“That seems likely to me.”
The moment he opened his mouth—
Whack!
“Argh!”
A fierce Finger Wind struck him, and his body slammed against the wall. Dazed by the raw power, he slid down the wall and collapsed.
“I didn’t even ask—and you speak?”
‘What do you want from me!?’
The subordinate truly wanted to weep.
This cursed temperament never changed. If you didn’t answer, you got beaten for not answering; if you did answer, you got beaten for answering.
If this happened only occasionally, it might be bearable—but it occurred two or three times a day, and the subordinate’s one desire was simply to die.
How had he ended up serving such a man?
‘Damn bastard, drop dead already!’
For the Heterodox Sects, absolute loyalty to their superiors was the foundation of their order.
Though not like the Demonic Cult, where devotion went to an absolute ruler at the apex, the trust and integrity owed to one’s master among the three great forces was no less formidable than anywhere else.
And yet this man wished Ma Dok-jin dead.
Such was his weariness with this life.
‘If I could have chosen my master, you wouldn’t have been it.’
Even as his face twisted in anguish, the man swiftly repositioned himself and bowed low. The considerable Internal Injury he’d sustained made even movement difficult, but failing to do so would bring harsher punishment.
Then Ma Dok-jin’s voice came.
“Tch, regardless—it doesn’t matter which way it went. Direct observation will settle it. Follow them. I need to see with my own eyes just how exceptional this master is who destroyed the Black Sword Society.”
“Your will!”
The man—Gwon Mu-jin—finished his reply and vanished swiftly from the place.
Out of sight of others, he spat bitterly as he left.

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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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