Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 51

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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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Today was hotter than any other day.
The oppressive heat was so stifling it could steal your breath away, and even sitting idle in the shade, sweat poured down relentlessly.
Sizzle, sizzle—
Watching them labor in the full sun was pitiful in a way that defied description.
Namgung So-hye sat in the shade, slowly working a candy between her teeth as she gazed at them, struck by how truly wretched their lives seemed.
“Ugh, damn it…….”
“…….”
“Ah— I’m burning up…….”
So pitiful.
The two men were one thing, but Dan So-mi was truly heartbreaking to watch.
So-hye desperately wished she could have her rest in the shade alongside them, but Dan So-mi was bound by a sense of honor—she’d committed to staying out with the two older men until the work was finished.
“Why in the world would you till fields on such a scorching day? You have plenty of money—why not hire help?”
“You think we don’t know that?”
Jang Sam-tae’s voice rose sharply, clearly irritated by Namgung So-hye’s casual and carefree tone.
They too wished they could hire others.
Unlike Dan So-mi or Kwon Mu-jin, who had something to learn, Jang Sam-tae had nothing new to gain from felling trees—making his frustration all the deeper.
But all of this came from Dan Woo-hyun’s orders.
In half-Double Hour increments, they were allowed only a Short Time of rest before returning to felling trees for a full Double Hour—only then could they use the remaining daylight freely.
This exception extended to Dan So-mi as well.
Ever since the Samdo Society incident, Dan Woo-hyun had been driving them relentlessly with such tasks. Though in truth, only four days had passed since it began.
Just then, as Namgung So-hye rested quietly, Kwon Mu-jin’s expression soured and he muttered under his breath.
“Don’t just sit there—come help us out.”
“It’s too hot.”
“No one finds it cool. So-mi’s out here doing it—don’t tell me you’re worse than a child.”
“Ugh……!”
“No, please—this is our work. You don’t have to help.”
Dan So-mi laughed brightly.
After four days of laboring outdoors in this blazing heat, her face had darkened noticeably from her usual complexion.
Her hands, gripping the sickle, had blistered and cracked—blood seeping through from where the tool had chafed, a testament to her still-clumsy grip.
Making such a young child do manual labor…….
Namgung So-hye let out a long, weary sigh.
“So-mi, come here. Sit by your sister.”
“I can’t. Father gave me this task.”
“You mustn’t listen to such a stepfather. Your beautiful hands will be ruined.”
Dan So-mi glanced down at her own palms.
She saw blisters that had burst open, blood trickling from the wounds.
Her face twisted in pain for a moment, but she quickly shook her head.
“Really, I’m fine. I’ve done farm work before, you know.”
She laughed softly and settled down on her heels.
Then, gripping the sickle once more, she returned to cutting weeds and resumed her labor.
Though it was genuinely difficult, memories of working the fields alongside her parents long ago brought a certain joy to it all.
As Namgung So-hye watched her, a quiet sigh escaped her lips.
“Those who do not work shall not eat. You know that proverb, don’t you?”
A voice came from behind.
Namgung So-hye, mid-candy, choked and coughed violently, pounding her chest. The sudden appearance of this figure, without so much as a whisper of warning, had sent what she was eating straight into her throat.
“Could you—could you at least make some noise when you come around?”
“Your inability to hear is no one’s fault but your own.”
“Hah—hah! Well, either way. And ‘those who do not work’? I completed my assignment for the Murim Alliance and I’m on rest now, aren’t I? Besides, I’m paying for lodging every single day. Quite expensive lodging, at that!”
Namgung So-hye frowned deeply.
A single night’s lodging cost a whole silver coin.
No inn anywhere would accept silver coins for payment—it was an exorbitant sum.
And meals, too; for two out of three daily servings, she had to pay.
Five copper coins per meal.
‘I’m glad I brought money from home. If I hadn’t, I’d be begging again by now.’
Namgung So-hye congratulated herself on her foresight.
Upon realizing that opium was being distributed in Honam, she’d taken double her usual stipend from the Murim Alliance and extracted a substantial allowance from her father, who remained at the Alliance headquarters.
Without those precautions, she’d have been completely broke already.
“Expensive? The inn provides one free meal a day, and your room is plenty spacious—I could charge five silver coins instead of one and still be getting a bargain.”
“……Hmph.”
Namgung So-hye turned away with a petulant expression.
Dan Woo-hyun wasn’t wrong.
Even in a shabby inn, a night’s lodging ran to more than twenty copper coins.
Since meals weren’t included, one’s expenses added up quickly once you started buying this and that.
Which was why she’d nearly gone bankrupt before.
And the rooms were cramped besides.
“If you’ve nothing else to do, why not try working?”
“Huh? Me? I’ve never done farm work before…….”
Click-click.
Namgung So-hye looked away.
It wasn’t proper farming, exactly. What these people were doing now was the groundwork itself—breaking earth, clearing stones. Which made it all the harder to stomach.
Kwon Mu-jin was wielding an enormous hammer, smashing rocks, while Jang Sam-tae was chopping wood.
Dan So-mi was pulling weeds, which left So-hye with absolutely nothing she could do.
Then Dan Woo-hyun let out a soft laugh.
He handed her a hoe he’d been holding—when he’d brought it, she couldn’t say.
“Just break up the earth.”
“What?”
“From here to all the flattened ground over there.”
Namgung So-hye gazed down at the earth.
The ground around where she sat was already quite level. The clearing work was finished; she could start hoeing right away and prepare it for cultivation.
The problem was, no matter how many stones you cleared away or branches you felled or weeds you tore out, the rocks buried deep in the soil didn’t simply vanish.
Even now, she could see a few small stones lodged in the earth before her.
And he wanted her to hoe over those?
It would be faster to use an ox to turn it all over.
“Why not use an ox…….”
“Buy one.”
“…….”
When he said to buy one, there was nothing to say back.
Why would she spend good money on an expensive ox for his sake?
“I’m paying for my lodging.”
“Then I’ll charge two silver coins per day.”
“What?!”
“The room’s spacious, the views are lovely, there’s water nearby……and it’s peak season now that summer’s arrived, so I’ll raise my rates a little.”
Was that something to say so brazenly?
Namgung So-hye’s lip corners twitched and trembled with indignation.
Yet Dan Woo-hyun wasn’t wrong.
It was sweltering weather, and people were out in droves for pleasure.
Especially here in Ak-yang, bordering Dongting Lake, most inns raised their prices substantially during peak season to squeeze what they could from travelers.
That’s what Dan Woo-hyun was about to do.
But Namgung So-hye had her own resources.
Her purse was more than adequate—it was overflowing.
“Go ahead!”
“Hmm? Seems your pockets are rather heavy these days?”
“After what I’ve been through, of course. Don’t underestimate me.”
Namgung So-hye laughed sharply.
This time, Dan Woo-hyun wouldn’t get his way.
The sum she’d received from the Murim Alliance was substantial, but the allowance her father gave her was nearly equivalent to a year’s wages for an ordinary person.
“Shall we make a wager?”
“A, a wager?”
Namgung So-hye regarded Dan Woo-hyun with a suspicious gaze.
A wager, out of nowhere?
He didn’t seem like someone who enjoyed gambling, yet he was proposing this?
Caught off guard, So-hye opened her mouth with a faint smile playing at her lips.
“What would it be?”
“Simple enough. From here to there—whoever finishes hoeing ten rows first with this hoe.”
So-hye swallowed a hum of consideration.
From where she sat to the end—where Dan So-mi was clearing weeds—was roughly a little over twenty paces.
Though she’d never hoeed before, she had more than enough stamina for that.
Moreover, her Internal Energy was formidable enough that she might finish the digging in a quarter hour if she set her mind to it.
When she laughed, Dan Woo-hyun opened his mouth.
“You’re accepting, then?”
“What are the stakes?”
“I won’t charge you for a night’s lodging.”
Namgung So-hye pondered this.
She couldn’t begin to guess what he was thinking, but it didn’t seem like a terrible proposal.
It was a perfect chance to save some money, after all.
“All right! But one more thing—you’ll have to feed me free as well.”
“Of course.”
“So what am I betting…?”
“There’s nothing in particular I need from you, but a wager demands something on both sides—otherwise it loses its fire. How about one silver coin?”
It was only about a night’s lodging anyway.
Namgung So-hye nodded readily.
‘Since when does this man make proper proposals?’
She almost wondered if the sun would rise in the west tomorrow.
But it wasn’t bad. She had little to lose.
“However, since you’re a master, I’ll start first and count to twenty before you begin. That seems fair, yes?”
“Count to fifty before I start.”
“Confident, aren’t you?”
Dan Woo-hyun chuckled softly and nodded, a faint smile playing at his lips.
Namgung So-hye smiled back.
She had possessed exceptional stamina since childhood, and she was certain that even against someone of Dan Woo-hyun’s caliber, she would not yield in sheer strength and endurance.
Moreover, with him having to count to fifty, he would inevitably fall behind her—that was simply the reality.
Of course, she had never dug before and might feel awkward at first, but it was just a matter of turning the earth as she went—nothing too difficult.
The field was only about twenty paces long and ten rows wide.
Even better, time was on her side.
“Then let us begin.”
“Ready!”
Namgung So-hye gripped the hoe and channeled her Internal Energy into it.
Determined to dig clear to the far end in one burst of effort, she threw all her strength into the work.
Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!
She surged forward in a flash.
Moving as if she would reach the end in no time, her focus was so fixed ahead that everything else seemed to vanish from her awareness.
Right now, her mind was wholly consumed by the digging.
‘I’ll win this! I’m winning!’
Namgung So-hye threw herself into the work, eyes blazing with determination.
Behind her, she could hear him counting—one, two—and the sound of those numbers drove her hands faster and faster still.
Soon sweat drenched her body.
She finished one row, turned, and tackled a second.
Then she carved out a third.
Proof of how grueling the labor was: sweat poured down like rain, and her whole body trembled as if all strength were draining from her limbs.
Yet she gritted her teeth and kept digging.
This time—this time she would not lose to Dan Woo-hyun!
In what felt like mere moments, she had cleared nine rows of the field.
The instant she heard “fifty” called from behind, she scraped the final patch and dropped the hoe with a ragged gasp, her face breaking into a broad, triumphant grin.
“Huff… huff! See…… see? I won, didn’t I?”
Unable even to wipe away the streaming sweat, she fixed her gaze on Dan Woo-hyun. The heady rush of victory and the satisfaction of having beaten him seemed to flood through her entire being.
But something was wrong.
Dan Woo-hyun had not so much as turned a single row of earth.
He simply stood there looking at her, a faint smile playing at his lips, and tossed his hoe to the ground.
“You won. Well done.”
A soft chuckle reached her ears.
Then he turned and walked away.
……
Namgung So-hye stared blankly after him. For a moment her mind couldn’t quite grasp what had just happened; her lips trembled, then she turned away.
At the edge of her vision, Jang Sam-tae and Kwon Mu-jin came into view.
She pointed after Dan Woo-hyun as he retreated, her voice sharp.
“Hey…… hey, where are you going? Wait! Say something! You can’t just leave like this!”
But Dan Woo-hyun, though he had heard her calling, paid it no mind and disappeared.
Namgung So-hye stared at it with a vacant expression.
Her lips trembled slightly as she glanced around at the others.
“I… I won, didn’t I?”
“Sigh…”
Kwon Mu-jin shook his head slowly and exhaled, then turned his attention back to cracking the rocks as if he’d rather think of nothing else.
Jang Sam-tae, sensing an indescribable pity, approached her, patted her shoulder gently, and walked away.
“Hey! Just tell me I won! Please! I did win, didn’t I? Tell me I did!”
She pleaded again and again, but both men kept their mouths firmly shut. The situation was clear: Namgung So-hye had fallen completely for Dan Woo-hyun’s trap.
‘How simple.’
‘A fool, truly.’
The two men exchanged wry smiles, each concealing their inner thoughts.

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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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