Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 39

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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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His throat was parched.
As if he stood in the heart of a barren desert, his throat burned with thirst.
The moment a groan escaped his lips, cool, refreshing water touched them.
It felt like possessing the entire world.
His mind drifted back slowly, and he opened his eyes blearily. The first thing that came into focus was the ceiling. He was certain he’d entered somewhere like a stable, yet doubt crept in—where was he now?
As that thought took shape, his senses began to return one by one. Though his body still throbbed with dull ache, as sensation crept back, a sudden realization struck him.
“Am I… alive?”
“Yes, you are.”
He turned his head in surprise.
It was a human voice—a child’s voice. At the edge of his vision sat a small figure, a child holding a water bowl in both hands and beaming with a bright smile.
“You’re alive!”
“Y-yes… that’s right.”
“Hehe, I’m so glad! You wouldn’t wake up for days, and I was really worried.”
The child smiled innocently and quietly handed him the water bowl. Gwon Mu-jin took it almost dazedly and drank, his mind slowly piecing together fragments of memory.
He’d entered the Stable, and he thought it was over then. He heard children’s voices calling urgently, and everything after that was so hazy he could barely recall it.
“You… rescued me?”
“I found you, but my father was the one who saved you. When you see him later, please tell him how grateful you are. Hehe, I’m so happy you’re alive!”
There wasn’t a trace of self-interest in the way she spoke.
This child seemed genuinely satisfied simply that Gwon Mu-jin was alive.
“Oh, and you should thank my uncle too. He worked so hard feeding you broth every day.”
“Your… uncle?”
“Yes!”
“… Where am I?”
“My home!”
Dan So-mi had come alive with joy.
She had finally saved the person she’d wanted to save. Though it hadn’t been through her own strength, she felt a deep satisfaction at not having let someone die before her eyes.
The man who hadn’t woken for days had finally opened his eyes, and her smile never faded, her mood only brightening with each moment.
“Uncle told me to tell him the moment you woke up. He said he’d give you a hit.”
“A hit? On me?”
“Yes! He said you keep spitting out the broth he feeds you.”
Dan So-mi quickly gathered the bowl and rose from her seat. She had to tell Jang Sam-tae and Dan Woo-hyun about this right away.
……
“Well then, I’ll go. Rest now.”
The small child toddled out carrying the bowl, a sight that was genuinely endearing.
Gwon Mu-jin found himself smiling warmly, leaning back against the bed.
“I… am alive.”
He had experienced death.
No—he thought he had died. He’d understood that there was no way to survive.
Yet now that he was breathing like this, what greater joy could there be?
‘I can still do it.’
Gwon Mu-jin’s eyes gleamed with sudden brilliance.
He could do it. He was alive, so he could do it. Hope swelled in him—the hope that he could do anything to climb higher still.
Then the door creaked open.
He glanced over and saw a peculiar man enter.
“Hm! How’s the body treating you?”
Judging by the way he stood with hands clasped behind his back and cleared his throat, this seemed to be the master of the house. He looked somewhat odd to be the child’s parent, yet there was no doubt he was the benefactor who’d saved his life.
Gwon Mu-jin rose from the bed with effort and took the Poquan stance.
“… My gratitude knows no bounds. You have given me my life.”
“Hm! That’s enough said. Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused? Well… tsk tsk. Next time you want to die, do it gracefully. Did you see how shocked the children were?”
“I… I am utterly ashamed. My sincerest apologies.”
Gwon Mu-jin bowed his head in genuine contrition.
He had indeed been a burden, and though unintended, he’d shown the children something terrible.
“You saved my life, and I will never forget this debt of gratitude.”
“Then don’t forget it for the rest of your life.”
The man with the clearing throat stood with hands clasped behind his back, gazing up at the ceiling. His lips twitched slightly—as if pleased to receive such acknowledgment from someone.
‘He speaks bluntly enough, but he’s a decent man.’
Gwon Mu-jin smiled to himself.
Then, footsteps sounded again. He was wondering if someone else was coming when he noticed the man inside the room suddenly step backward and bow respectfully.
The moment the door opened—
“You’ve arrived, Master Jang?”
“Yes.”
Gwon Mu-jin hadn’t yet glimpsed the face of whoever had entered. He was too startled by the unexpected voice, his eyes fixed on the man bowing before him.
“Aren’t you the master of this house?”
“I never said I was the master. Are you confused about something?”
“Oh! It’s Jang—he’s the one who does the cleaning here and, um, the cooking too. He’s the one who made the porridge you ate.”
At Dan So-mi’s words, Gwon Mu-jin felt a sharp twinge at the back of his skull.
He had bowed his head, thinking this man was his savior—a sincere gesture of gratitude for the burden he’d imposed. But it was only a servant’s trick?
Just a servant’s prank, after all.
His lips trembled as he glared at the man, and he could see Jang Sam-tae’s mouth twitch, struggling to suppress his laughter. It nearly made his fury burst forth.
If he hadn’t heard that man’s voice a moment later, he might well have lashed out.
“You’re moving about freely enough. It seems your body has recovered well.”
The familiar voice startled him. He turned to look and saw a face he recognized, the man’s expression utterly composed.
“You!”
“Dan Woo-hyun. I’m the father of that girl, and the one who saved you.”
“You… you saved me? You did?”
“Yes. Fortune smiled on you.”
Looking at Dan Woo-hyun, Gwon Mu-jin grasped one crucial truth: the man hadn’t saved him out of any desire to do so.
Had the girl not existed, he would have watched Gwon Mu-jin die without blinking an eye.
“Give your thanks to So-mi. This child has brought you heaven’s blessing.”
Gwon Mu-jin could not refuse those words. The presence and force of this absolute being before him bore down on his entire body, compelling him to bow his head.
“I’m truly… grateful. I owe my life to you.”
“No! That’s not right! So-mi didn’t do anything at all. My father did it.”
Dan So-mi answered in confusion, her eyes darting between Gwon Mu-jin and her father before she tucked herself behind Dan Woo-hyun’s back.
“The two of you, leave for a while. I need to speak with him alone.”
“Yes! Don’t forget we’re going fishing later!”
“Ha, I won’t.”
Dan So-mi took Jang Sam-tae’s hand and left the room. An awkward silence settled over the space.
Gwon Mu-jin didn’t know where to begin and so said nothing, afraid to speak carelessly.
It was Dan Woo-hyun who broke the silence first.
“Sit. Standing must exhaust you.”
“… Thank you.”
Just as Dan Woo-hyun said, Gwon Mu-jin was indeed struggling to remain on his feet. He had forced himself up only to offer his thanks; otherwise, he would have stayed lying in bed.
His entire body was wrecked.
“As I said, had that girl not been there, you would be dead.”
“… I understand.”
“Call it luck or call it fate. In the end, heaven favored you, and the wind guided me to your side.”
…
Dan Woo-hyun’s words struck an odd note.
It was as though he was entangled in something he never sought—as if, against his inclination, he accepted this too as the natural order of things and simply followed wherever it led.
“I am in your debt… for my life.”
“Don’t think of it as a debt. I saved you so my child wouldn’t have to grieve.”
Dan Woo-hyun leaned back in his chair.
He tilted his head slightly and looked down at Gwon Mu-jin. It felt as though he could see straight through to his thoughts.
“It was your companions who did this to you?”
…
“The Murim has always been a place where one must do anything to survive—betrayal included.”
“I know.”
“Don’t harbor ill will. You cannot be certain that you wouldn’t have done the same, had you been in their position.”
…
Dan Woo-hyun rose from his seat.
He had said all there was to say. He had no desire to lecture a wounded man. By saving Gwon Mu-jin, Dan Woo-hyun had fulfilled his role.
“And this—do not nurse your rage, nor sharpen your blade in anger. When the heart grows poisoned, so too does the blade. A poisoned blade shatters easily in the end.”
“… I will remember your words.”
Gwon Mu-jin bowed deeply.
Dan Woo-hyun had imparted wisdom to him. It was merely a brief utterance, and he knew it had nothing to do with Martial Arts, yet he felt the killing intent toward Ma Dok-jin that he had harbored in his heart slowly begin to dissolve.
Had Gwon Mu-jin not heard such words, he would certainly have spent every day sharpening his blade, grinding and grinding again, all with the singular purpose of killing Ma Dok-jin.
“Stay here and recover for the time being. In that condition, you’d only become a corpse if you tried to leave.”
“Thank you…….”
The moment the door closed, Gwon Mu-jin lay back on the bed. His eyelids grew heavy with such profound exhaustion that sleep seemed ready to claim him.
‘He’s remarkable.’
Gwon Mu-jin meant it sincerely.
To shift a person’s heart with merely a handful of words—it was extraordinary.
Especially so when that person was already sharpening a blade.
Yet Dan Woo-hyun had done it.
Not through the words themselves, but through some strange energy that emanated from his very being—a presence that had steadied his mind, cleared his thoughts, and restored his capacity for rational judgment.
It was genuinely astonishing.
‘Could it be that he stands at a height far greater than I ever imagined?’
Everything about Dan Woo-hyun seemed shrouded in mystery.
‘Dan Woo-hyun…… and Dan So-mi……?’
A faint smile crossed Gwon Mu-jin’s lips.
At the thought of their faces, his heart grew still. It was a strange sensation—one he had never experienced before, despite having lived his entire life since childhood chasing success with relentless desperation.
His heart had grown warm.
That alone was enough to content him.
Drip—
For the first time in his life, he wept at the touch of another’s kindness.

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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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