Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 44

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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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“Gack—!”
Gok Jung reeled backward, gasping, as the successive blows drove the wind from his chest.
The sight of him crashing down with a loud thud was almost comical.
“Huff, huff…!”
Jang Sam-tae stood watching, breathing hard.
The whole situation felt like a dream. He’d defeated the one who looked strongest—not some minor thug, but the leader himself.
His heart thundered so violently he thought it might burst from his chest.
He could scarcely believe he’d done it.
“Chief—Chief has fallen!”
The remaining bandits cried out in shock. That Gok Jung had been thrown down was staggering enough, but he was the man who’d sworn up and down that nothing short of Jang Baek Mountain itself could defeat him. Their amazement doubled.
They raised their blades and charged toward Jang Sam-tae.
In that instant.
Thwip-thwip!
“Ack!”
“Argh!”
Something flew at them from nowhere, and they crumpled helplessly.
None of them saw where the attack came from, or even who’d struck them.
Their vision went black, and consciousness slipped away into darkness.
“That should suffice.”
Dan Woo-hyeon rose to his feet and flicked the arrows away, dusting off his hands.
“I thought you were dead?”
“Ha—to kill me with arrows, you’d need at least a million of them.”
Jang Sam-tae knew well enough that this man was beyond the reach of arrows.
He dropped to the ground, caught his breath, and laughed.
“I did it!”
“Yes. You did.”
“God, I nearly died out there.”
“That is the nature of a life-or-death fight. Until you stake your own life and stand against true danger, fear grips you—you shrink. But once you’ve crossed that threshold, something changes.”
Jang Sam-tae nodded and looked down at his own hands. He could still feel what had just happened, burned into him.
Death had hovered inches away.
And because of that—because he truly feared it—he’d fought with everything he had. Then something occurred to him, and he turned sharply to Dan Woo-hyeon.
“Lord, if I may ask…”
“What is it?”
“…If I’d lost and nearly died, you wouldn’t have helped me at all, would you?”
“Of course not. If you wish to grow strong, you cannot lean on another. The difference between master and novice lies in how one uses the strength one already possesses. In that urgent moment, you made good use of what you had.”
Looking into Dan Woo-hyeon’s eyes, Jang Sam-tae saw he spoke no falsehood.
Even if death had come to claim him, Dan Woo-hyeon would not have moved.
He understood better than anyone that a true Martial Master must stand alone.
Jang Sam-tae smiled wryly.
In truth, he’d survived only because Dan Woo-hyeon had sent a Sound Transmission at the last moment, showing him a way to reverse his fate—he hadn’t directly intervened, but he’d taught survival.
No hands-on rescue, but the knowledge of how to endure.
Fail to learn it, and death takes you. Master it, and you grow stronger.
‘Damn fool—but magnificent.’
Though he had every reason to be angry, Jang Sam-tae found Dan Woo-hyeon’s composure far too impressive to resent.
He exhaled deeply and shook the thought away.
“This Gok Jung—let’s wake him up.”
“Yes.”
Jang Sam-tae rose and approached the fallen man.

Gok Jung’s consciousness stirred as something touched his face.
Through the fog, his lips parted slowly.
Dribble—
Something warm flowed into his mouth.
It tasted bitter and foul.
Gulp-gulp—
As he swallowed reflexively and his eyes began to flutter open, he found himself staring up at a man with his trousers lowered, holding something grotesque before his face.
Beyond it, something yellow gleamed.
His mind cleared in an instant.
“Gag!”
“Ah, finally opening your eyes. I tried waking you every way I knew, so I resorted to the final measure.”
Gok Jung, startled, stumbled backward in a panic, but the nauseating stench seeped into his nose.
“Cough, cough…! Ugh!”
He retched violently, wondering if the food he’d eaten moments ago was about to come back up.
As time passed and Gok Jung slowly regained his composure, he glared at Jang Sam-tae with eyes burning with fury and let out a howl.
“What in the blazes are you doing?”
“Then who asked you not to wake up?”
Jang Sam-tae replied as if nothing was amiss.
“You… you… you mad bastard!”
“That’s enough.”
At that moment.
The atmosphere abruptly grew heavy.
At the sound of a weighty voice, Gok Jung turned his head.
Only then did he spot a figure seated there. And strewn about him were his subordinates.
The instant his gaze met Dan Woo-hyeon’s as he sat perfectly still, a terror seized him—as if he were being pulled into the very flames of hell itself.
Gok Jung swallowed hard.
‘Surely… isn’t this the same man who screamed that he was dying after taking the first arrow, then collapsed?’
“W-who are you…?”
“I’ve no time for idle talk. So let’s move past that. I have something to ask you instead. Do you know this man?”
Dan Woo-hyeon drew a wanted poster from his tunic and held it before him.
Gok Jung stared at it for a moment, then his eyes widened. He glanced sideways and pointed without hesitation.
“Isn’t it this man right here?”
“No, you wretched fool!”
Watching Jang Sam-tae’s outburst, Gok Jung flinched. Yet no matter how he looked at it, the figure before him seemed to match the drawing in nine out of ten ways.
Then Dan Woo-hyeon let out a small sigh and murmured,
“Opium was found on your subordinates’ persons. Where did you obtain it?”
“Ah, opium—naturally from… the back alleys…”
*Snort.*
Dan Woo-hyeon gave a derisive chuckle.
Upon hearing that sound, Gok Jung turned his head, trembling.
“Do I look like I came all the way here to jest with you?”
“No, sir…”
The pressure was overwhelming.
It was as though a tiger had roared right before him. For that reason, not a single crude word or expression crossed his lips.
‘A… an Expert!’
And no ordinary one at that.
“B-but if I open my mouth, I… I will die!”
Dan Woo-hyeon extended his hand with a slight smile.
The gesture was simple, yet to Gok Jung it felt as though Death itself were reaching out to him.
“If you do not speak, I shall make you suffer far worse than death.”
Upon hearing those words, Gok Jung did not hesitate and answered at once.
“The Samdohoe!”
“The Samdohoe?”
Dan Woo-hyeon tilted his head and looked toward Jang Sam-tae.
But he too seemed unfamiliar with it and shook his head.
“Continue. Explain.”
“Ever since the Heukdohoe collapsed, haven’t the men who were lying low begun to stir from every corner?”
When the great organization known as the Heukdohoe fell, those who had been holding their breath began to spread their wings.
On the surface, it appeared that with the Heukdohoe’s disappearance, peace had returned. But behind the scenes, the forces operating in the shadows only continued to grow.
Dan Woo-hyeon narrowed his brow.
Yet this much he had foreseen to some degree.
“Among such men, there is an organization called the Samdohoe operating in this Honam region—they supply not only opium, but women as well.”
“What manner of men are they?”
“They are strong. Even their foot soldiers have learned Martial Arts, so we cannot stand against them. Moreover, they wear masks whenever they conduct business, so we don’t even know their faces. In truth, I never wanted to lay hands on opium in the first place, but when those men used force to beat down all our people and forced it upon us… well, when others refused their demands, more than one hideout of theirs simply vanished.”
Gok Jung felt wronged.
He knew full well how much opium destroys a person. For that reason, he had deliberately kept his hands clean until now. But one day, these men appeared without warning and forced him into the trade.
To survive, he had no choice but to buy the opium with money, and in struggling to pay those exorbitant prices, he’d stolen far more frequently—only to get thoroughly caught by Dan Woo-hyeon.
“Where are they located?”
“I don’t know either. She comes by once a month or so, but when exactly… I couldn’t say.”
Dan Woo-hyeon stroked his chin.
The man didn’t seem to be lying. There was no honor among thieves, no code that would make them keep secrets for one another.
Which meant these brigands were part of an organization like the Heukdohoe operating in Honam, and they’d trained themselves in martial arts sophisticated enough that even archers couldn’t touch them.
“So this bastard really doesn’t know anything?”
“Doesn’t seem like he’s lying.”
“Damn it! Then what are we supposed to do with him?”
Dan Woo-hyeon turned his head to look at Gok Jung, who was shaking violently.
“Hand over all the opium you have. The women too.”
“What?”
“You didn’t hear me?”
Slice!
With a light flick of his hand, the front of Gok Jung’s robe was cleanly torn open. Seeing this, Gok Jung’s face turned a sickly pale, and he nodded frantically.
“Y-yes! I understand! I’ll give you everything!”

***

Deep within Ak-yang, there was a place where shabby houses huddled together in clusters.
A woman wearing a hat and face cloth gazed around the area, her delicate brows knitted with displeasure.
Some moved about with vitality, but others stared blankly up at the sky or crouched in corners, moaning softly.
Like those addicted to drugs.
“More…… more…… more…… I need more…….”
“Ugh…… ugh.”
There seemed to be far more people out of their minds than those in their right senses.
This wasn’t unique to Ak-yang. Throughout Honam, in countless villages she’d passed through on her way here, the same phenomenon was unfolding.
The woman pressed on, leaving them behind.
She bit her lip hard, her dissatisfaction plain. But she knew well enough there was nothing to be done about it now.
Shortly after, the woman arrived at the lower market of Ak-yang.
Beyond the throngs of people, men could be spotted standing motionless in the alleyways, keeping watch over their surroundings.
Upon spotting her, they vanished swiftly into the depths of the alleys.
The woman hurried toward them.
At that moment, careless about her surroundings, she collided with someone.
“Ow!”
“Oh…… are you alright?”
The woman looked down in alarm.
A small girl was rubbing her nose with a quiet whimper. But she lifted her head almost at once and smiled brightly.
“So-mi is fine. Are you alright, sister?”
The woman’s eyes widened as she took in the child’s lovely face.

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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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