Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 40

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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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Namgung Sohye stood before the Murim Alliance’s leader, the Sword Emperor. She made a formal bow, and Namgung Cheon, seated upon his throne, acknowledged her with a nod and a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
It had been long since he’d seen his granddaughter, and he was clearly pleased.
“Well then, what news do you bring? Why have you returned alone?”
His question brimmed with trust.
He believed utterly that she could not have failed. Yet Namgung Sohye said nothing, turning her gaze instead toward the attendants gathered in the chamber.
Namgung Cheon caught the hint at once and waved his hand.
“Leave us. All of you.”
“As you wish.”
Jegal Un, the Chief Strategist, and the others withdrew with proper courtesy. Those who remained in this chamber would keep what was said within these walls; those who left could not be trusted with such knowledge.
It was a distinction both practical and final.
“What troubles you? Did you fail to find the one who destroyed the Black Path Society?”
“…… I found him.”
Namgung Sohye’s voice was hollow, drained of spirit.
Namgung Cheon noted it and let out a low hum. In all his years of watching his granddaughter, he had never seen her like this.
“He refused to join the Murim Alliance?”
“Yes……”
“Can you tell me who he is?”
“He said that in this martial world, sometimes one must see without seeing, and hear without hearing.”
……
In other words, he wished his identity to remain hidden. To refuse the recruitment of the Murim Alliance itself—the pillar of Orthodox Martial Arts—was unprecedented.
Namgung Cheon found himself intensely curious about this man.
Was he of the Demonic Path? Or bound to some unorthodox sect?
Or perhaps he was simply a hidden master nursing his strength in obscurity?
Whatever the case, Namgung Cheon was deeply displeased. That such a man would not only refuse the personal invitation of the Alliance’s leader but show him such disdain—it grated.
Yet watching Namgung Sohye, he sensed there was more to this than simple refusal.
“Was he strong?”
At that single question, Namgung Sohye’s fists clenched. Even now, the memory sent shivers down her spine.
She had questioned whether such a thing could belong to the human realm at all, and even now she recoiled from accepting what her eyes had witnessed.
The strength she had seen was that terrible.
“…… Yes.”
“Heh. How formidable must he be for you to be so dejected?”
Namgung Cheon could not comprehend it.
“I cannot say precisely…… but he handled the Overwhelming Force Saber as if it were a child’s toy.”
“Ma Dok Jin?”
What was this? That Ma Dok Jin had been in Akyak was already shocking enough, but to have been treated like a child meant that man had already transcended the pinnacle itself.
Namgung Cheon’s eyes lit with sudden interest.
In that moment, Namgung Sohye spoke again.
“And he said that arrogance dwells in this girl’s blade……”
“……!”
Namgung Cheon’s hands trembled visibly.
For a moment, rage surged up at such a critique of Namgung Sohye’s swordsmanship, but he suppressed it with extreme discipline.
After all the care lavished on her upbringing, all the effort poured into her training—and someone dares speak such words so casually?
A strange laugh escaped him even as he shook his head, caught between exasperation and self-doubt, between disbelief and something close to admiration.
‘He saw what even I could not see?’
Even the Sword Emperor himself had failed to perceive it—yet this stranger had discerned it? Of course, the man might have been speaking nonsense, but looking at Namgung Sohye’s expression, there was something in his words that had struck home.
‘Well now, this is rather interesting.’
Namgung Cheon stroked his beard and nodded slowly.
“You have done well. Rest for now. We can speak of the rest another time.”
“Yes……”
With her head bowed, Namgung Sohye withdrew from the Cheonun Pavilion, her shoulders sagging beneath the weight of something she could not yet name. The Sword Emperor’s gaze followed her departing figure in silence.

***

“Damn, this is sloppy work.”
Janggwon was in an uproar again today.
The sound of the laundry mallet struck in rhythm with Jang Samtae’s grumbling voice, relentless and grating.
Clinging to Gwon Mujin’s side like a master himself, Jang Samtae rattled on with nagging remarks that seemed to know no bounds.
“No, if you scrub like that, you won’t get the dirt off—you’ll turn the clothes into rags.”
…….
Gwon Mujin clenched his teeth.
It had been more than a month and a half now.
That cursed servant planted at his side, and here he was stuck doing menial work at Janggwon. His body still hadn’t fully healed, but there was a reason he bore this labor.

“I can’t abide idle hands.”

He had never once thought of practicing martial arts as idleness—not since birth. For a martial artist, wasn’t it their very livelihood?
But Dan Woohyun apparently saw things differently.
Thanks to him, Gwon Mujin had done laundry and cleaning work fate had never meant for him, and had even helped Jang Samtae prepare meals in the kitchen—a state of affairs so pathetic he could barely stand himself.
What galled him most, however, was this man.
Jang Samtae.
A servant had no business being so talkative.
Every task brought fresh nagging from beside him, cutting and malicious.
If not for Dan Woohyun, he’d have buried this wretch in some ravine long ago—a regret that would haunt him forever.
He ground his teeth in silence, muttering under his breath.
“You’re not working?”
“Keeping watch over you is my job!”
Jang Samtae threw back his shoulders boldly and laughed aloud.
Now that Namgung Sohye had gone and he’d taken on the household chores alone, Gwon Mujin was like a windfall blessing dropped into his lap.
Moreover, there was the debt of gratitude: Jang Samtae had tended to him when he lay blind and helpless. So Gwon Mujin, for his part, mostly held his tongue and tolerated the old servant’s sharp wit.
But today, something had shifted in him.
“You think this is funny? Shouldn’t it be you doing this servant’s work, not me?”
“I may be a servant, but aren’t you in the same boat? The master didn’t call you a guest, did she? So that makes me your senior, and you’d do well to listen to me.”
Watching Jang Samtae smile with that spiteful gleam, Gwon Mujin let out a long sigh. He rose to his feet and stepped directly in front of him.
He couldn’t hold back any longer.
In his right hand, he held the laundry mallet.
He tapped it against his palm with a smirk.
“You. Come with me out back for a moment.”
“You think I can’t follow you?”
Jang Samtae bellowed with swagger. Gwon Mujin’s expression showed open mockery at such bravado, but the old servant paid no mind and huffed indignantly.
‘Why is this latecomer running his mouth so much?’
Gwon Mujin turned and headed toward the rear of Janggwon.
Seeing this, Jang Samtae snorted and bolted after him.
Into Janggwon.
“Young master—! This bastard—!”
“Hey, you son of a bitch!”

Dan Somi stared as Jang Samtae came scrambling into Janggwon, drenched in sweat. What in the world was happening?
She saw Gwon Mujin chasing after him too.
Laundry mallet gripped tightly in hand, his face fierce, he pursued Jang Samtae relentlessly.
It looked like some twisted game of tag.
Dan Somi closed her primers and murmured softly to herself.
“Father’s stepped out.”
“Somi! Somi! This madman’s trying to beat me to death!”
Gasping for breath, Jang Samtae ducked behind the small frame of Dan Somi for protection.
The roles of protector and protected seemed suddenly reversed—but for Jang Samtae, it was a matter of desperation.
Gwon Mujin was no ordinary threat.
Whether the man before him was truly that fearsome master of the Demonic Path or not, Jang Samtae knew well enough that his martial prowess was formidable.
That was reason enough to run.
Fortunately, Dan Somi intervened between the two of them.
“You mustn’t bully Jang. It’s not nice.”
Ahem.
Gwon Mujin hid the mallet behind his back and coughed awkwardly.
Bright, gleaming eyes, plump rosy cheeks, skin as pale and luminous as white jade.
He’d seen many children in his time, but none quite so adorable.
And her voice—so delicate and lovely that hearing it made his heart seize up without warning.
More than that, she was the child who had discovered him and gone to great lengths to save his life.
Affection had grown between them naturally, and he found himself wanting to protect her.
Gwon Mujin forced a smile and opened his mouth.
“I’m absolutely not teasing you! Ha ha ha! I would never torment anyone.”
Dan Somi tilted her head.
“Yes, Somi trusts you. But why are you carrying that laundry mallet?”
“Ah, well, I spotted a rabid dog a moment ago, and I was worried it might hurt you, so I tried to catch it.”
Dan Somi’s eyes went wide.
She’d seen such dogs before, even in Akyak. Strays that wandered the streets, charging wildly at people.
At the thought of such a terrifying creature lunging at her, her body trembled involuntarily.
But then her eyes grew round again as she looked at Gwon Mujin.
“No, you can’t! My teacher said life shouldn’t be harmed carelessly.”
“Ha ha, all right, all right. Don’t worry. I’ll just give it a few whacks and teach it a lesson.”
“Hic!”
“No! If it gets hit, it’ll hurt, won’t it? So the dog will hurt too. And if you accidentally get bitten, it’ll hurt a lot! So you can’t do it!”
At those words, Gwon Mujin felt something catch in his chest.
How could he not be moved when a mere seven-year-old child showed compassion for a stray dog and worried for his safety, fearing he might be bitten?
Gwon Mujin looked at Dan Somi with an expression of admiration.
“You have a truly kind heart.”
“Pardon?”
“Ha ha, you’re like a fairy maiden!”
“He he, thank you.”
Dan Somi laughed awkwardly at the difficult-to-understand compliment.
This man was a bit strange.
Why would he compare her to a fairy maiden here of all places?
Fairies lived in the heavens, after all.
“But where has your father gone?”
“Dad is… on the mountain.”
Dan Somi turned her head away with a slightly pouty expression.
She’d wanted to go up the mountain with him for the first time in a while, but Dan Woohyun had insisted she study quietly today instead.
Since she’d started attending the academy recently, the time she spent with Dan Woohyun had dwindled, and she resented it.
She puffed out her plump cheeks as far as they would go to express her displeasure.
“Ah, he’s gone hunting again, then?”
Gwon Mujin, having stayed at Janggwon during his recovery, had come to understand Dan Woohyun’s habits reasonably well.
Despite his wealth, Dan Woohyun would occasionally venture up the mountain and return with game.
Deer, wild boar—even bears and tigers at times.
Gwon Mujin glanced sideways at Dan Somi.
‘Now that I think of it, just a few days ago, he brought back a tiger hide that was spread across this child’s floor.’
Seeing that, Dan Woohyun’s affection for Dan Somi seemed inexhaustible.
‘Come to think of it, if a child this good were my daughter, I’d do anything for her.’
He clicked his tongue and turned his gaze to fix Jang Samtae with a look.
Jang Samtae stuck his tongue out.
Slurp—
Gwon Mujin’s expression twisted in an instant.
Thwack—!
“Kyaaaaa—!”
“Uncle!”

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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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