Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 63

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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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“What on earth could it be?”
“I don’t know. From her face, it looks rather urgent.”
Dan Woo-hyun recalled Namgung So-hye’s expression. Her pallid face seemed to announce the urgency of whatever had brought her.
Still, he had no intention of prying into it.
The Murim Alliance’s affairs were theirs to resolve.
Dan Woo-hyun couldn’t simply insert himself and meddle in their business.
No matter how well-acquainted he was with Namgung So-hye, there were boundaries neither should cross.
“Either way, it’s nothing to do with us. Don’t concern yourself with it.”
Dan Woo-hyun rose lazily from his seat and brushed off his hands. As he turned his head, he caught sight of Jang Sam-tae’s face, which had been glancing in his direction.
“Sir… Master.”
“Yes, Sam-tae. Have you brought the ball?”
“The… ball, I don’t see it, sir.”
Jang Sam-tae flinched at Dan Woo-hyun’s somewhat displeased gaze.
On the first day, searching the mountains late into the evening for a ball that didn’t exist had left the entire household with empty stomachs and wounded feelings.
When Dan Woo-hyun sternly rebuked Jang Sam-tae upon his return home, the man merely repeated that he’d been out searching for Dan So-mi’s ball all this time.
And so Dan Woo-hyun had said this:

“Since you starved the household while searching for the ball, you’ll now ensure no meal is missed, and then bring me the ball.”

In the end, he’d have to fabricate a ball that didn’t exist and find it.
Dan So-mi gazed at Jang Sam-tae with sympathetic eyes, but Dan Woo-hyun’s commanding presence was so sharp that she clamped her mouth shut without uttering a word.
The situation had escalated to this point largely because of Dan So-mi’s lie.
“A ball doesn’t have legs—it can’t have vanished. It must be somewhere, so bring it to me.”
“I’m sorry, Master! Forgive me just this once! From now on, I’ll return the moment it’s time to eat, no matter what!”
Kneeling before him, Jang Sam-tae was already in tatters.
He’d been struck more times than could be counted for loitering nearby, and from having to search the mountainside for a nonexistent ball, his clothes were filthy.
Then Dan So-mi came running and threw her arms around Jang Sam-tae.
She turned to Dan Woo-hyun and spoke.
“Dad, it’s So-mi’s fault. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“What’s so difficult about bringing a ball?”
The truth was, telling him to find a ball that didn’t exist was the problem.
Dan Woo-hyun glanced between the two of them for a moment, then let out a soft laugh.
He reached toward the pine tree in the courtyard, and his hand closed around a ball.
“Gasp!”
“No… that’s impossible…”
Dan So-mi and Jang Sam-tae were stunned.
They’d assumed the ball didn’t exist and never once considered it might be caught in the branches of the pine tree.
“Thought is a dangerous thing. When you believe something doesn’t exist, you’re convinced it can never be found, no matter where you look—and you give up before you’ve begun.”
Dan Woo-hyun tapped his own head gently.
In fact, it was Dan Woo-hyun himself who had hidden the ball.
So Jang Sam-tae had something to say, but the truth remained—he’d failed to find something right before his nose.
“Or you could have bought one, if you’d used your head?”
At those words, Jang Sam-tae’s body went rigid.
He glanced away at Gwon Mu-jin and Dan So-mi, and saw them turn their heads in guilty silence.
It seemed the two of them had already thought of that possibility.
Only Jang Sam-tae had failed to consider it.
“But… even if I had bought one, wouldn’t you have complained about why I bought it?”
Jang Sam-tae, venting his frustration, raised his voice.
‘If I’d bought it, I’d only have gotten scolded!’
Then Dan Woo-hyun let out another soft laugh.
“I told you to bring me the ball, not to find it.”
“What!?”
“Words are truly mysterious. This is the first time So-mi has understood that.”
Jang Sam-tae stared at Dan Woo-hyun without daring to speak. Indeed, he had been told to bring the ball, not to find it—there was logic in his words.
“Why would you do something so troublesome?”
At that moment, Dan Woo-hyun looked up at the sky.
His expression was inscrutable—whatever he was thinking was impossible to discern—and then he turned his gaze to Jang Sam-tae and fell silent, his lips pressed firmly shut.
The three people in that place came to a sudden realization.
‘He wasn’t thinking at all.’
‘His mind was entirely empty.’
‘Hmm, now and then you see that even our lord is rather…….’
It had not been an act done with any particular intention.
It was clearly nothing more than a desire to tease Jang Sam-tae.
Watching the three of them laugh awkwardly, Dan Woo-hyun turned away. It irritated him that they seemed to be reading his innermost thoughts so easily.
“By the way, I heard something yesterday when I went to Ak-yang…….”
Just then, Gwon Mu-jin muttered softly.
In truth, he had wrestled with this decision many times—whether to speak of it at all.
The matter of the Gunja Sect remained unresolved, and on account of that, Ak-yang and all of Honam were in a state of unease; he had wondered whether there was any need to mention such a thing at such a time. That was the weightiest reason for his hesitation.
Moreover, since Dan Woo-hyun was always at Namgung Cheon’s side, there had simply been no opportunity to speak.
“They say a martial faction is establishing itself in Ak-yang.”
“A martial faction?”
“Yes, has the region around Ak-yang and Honam not been in turmoil recently?”
“Has it?”
As Dan Woo-hyun let out a short question, Gwon Mu-jin and Jang Sam-tae fixed their gaze on him.
It seemed Dan Woo-hyun had no awareness whatsoever of who was responsible for bringing things to this state.
Gwon Mu-jin cleared his throat and continued.
“It appears that men are rising up claiming they will administer Ak-yang on account of this very chaos. Moreover, given what happened with the Gunja Sect, it seems they believe there may still be something to gain.”
“How troublesome.”
Dan Woo-hyun’s expression darkened.
What he had liked about Ak-yang was its quietude. The fact that it cradled Dong-ting Lake was pleasant enough, but the entire village was peaceful, and the martial artists there caused no great disturbances.
But if factions and clans were now to establish themselves in such circumstances, it was clear they would go poking and prying about everywhere.
For someone like Dan Woo-hyun, who detested tedious affairs, this was not at all welcome.
He scratched his head and let out a sigh.
“The flies are beginning to swarm.”
“Really! Ak-yang is ours, is it not? Let us drive them out at once!”
Jang Sam-tae rolled up his sleeves and growled with intensity.
In his view, Ak-yang was the domain of this Dan Clan.
Though they had not formally declared themselves as a martial clan, had it not been because of their presence that Ak-yang had endured safely until now without incident?
They were the ones who had resolved the matter of Mount Jangbaek, the Hukdo Society, and even the opium trade; and thanks to their efforts, even amid all the chaos, Ak-yang alone had remained at peace. So it followed that the administration of Ak-yang itself belonged to—
the Honam Dan Clan!
This thought alone consumed Jang Sam-tae’s mind.
Of course, it appeared the same was true for Gwon Mu-jin.
“For now, let us observe and wait.”
Dan Woo-hyun, his expression darkened, spoke quietly and turned his head away.

***

The faces of the two riding horses toward the Murim Alliance Honam Branch were deeply shadowed.
They had already ridden for three days and nights without rest, yet the branch still did not come into view.
Still, the two did not stop.
They had not even properly taken meals.
The fact that the Murim Alliance’s general had been ambushed could be interpreted as a declaration of all-out war against the Murim Alliance itself.
Since they did not know who the culprit was, the frustration was beyond words.
Flap—!
Just then, a carrier pigeon flew toward them from afar. Namgung So-hye snatched it swiftly and tore open the message.
“What does it say?”
“They are pursuing the group that ambushed the general and heading toward An-hyang. It seems several clashes have already occurred there…….”
Namgung So-hye’s complexion grew pale.
By the content, the enemy appeared to be formidable indeed.
Judging by their ability alone to ambush the general and escape while shaking off a considerable number of pursuers, it was clear.
Namgung Cheon nodded.
“I shall head to An-hyang. You go to the branch.”
“Are you certain you’ll be all right?”
“Ha, do you think I have grown so old as to warrant such concern?”
Namgung So-hye let out a soft laugh and shook her head.
Who was Namgung Cheon?
He was none other than the supreme master of the Orthodox Faction and the man known as the Sword Emperor. To harm him, one would need to be a being that rivaled the Five Emperors themselves.
“Understood! I don’t know who these people are, but I’ll make sure to teach them a lesson.”
Namgung So-hye seized the horse’s reins and drove the animal forward even faster. Now that the Sword Emperor had stepped in, that matter would be resolved.
Still, she had to prepare for any unforeseen complications, and most importantly, she needed to confirm the condition of Jeol-gal Un.
She galloped onward without pause.
Driven by a single thought—to arrive even a moment sooner—she never ceased the whip.
Another hour or so had passed when the Murim Alliance branch building began to appear in the distance ahead.
Namgung So-hye urged the horse to greater speed.
In a heartbeat she reached the branch entrance, dismounted, and ran inside. Several people who recognized her face brightened and made to greet her, but she had no time for pleasantries and swept past them.
“Is that… you, Unit Commander?”
“Where on earth have you been?”
The members of the Phoenix Unit who saw her face welcomed her, but the situation was too urgent for her to attend to each of them individually.
“Where is Jeol-gal?”
“He’s in the inner quarters. But why do you—”
Namgung So-hye didn’t wait for the answer to finish. At the mention of the inner quarters, she rushed toward it, and the moment she burst through the door—
“Haah… haah… haah…”
She gasped for breath as she took in the scene before her eyes.
Jeol-gal Un sat before a large table.
A tea cup rested on the table, as if he had been in the middle of drinking.
The Honam branch commander also occupied a seat beside him, and both men turned to look at the suddenly arriving Namgung So-hye with expressions of surprise.
“So-hye? What on earth is the matter that you’re gasping for breath like that? And where is the Alliance Lord?”
Jeol-gal Un regarded Namgung So-hye and opened his mouth with apparent calm.
His unharmed form, not a scratch on him, was so utterly different from the news she had heard through the carrier pigeon message.
Hadn’t they said he was under attack and barely clinging to life?
“How… how are you uninjured?”
“Are you saying you wish I had broken something?”
Jeol-gal Un let out a hollow laugh, then shook his head slowly.
“But… surely… you were under attack… and hovering at death’s door……”
“What are you talking about?”
Jeol-gal Un’s complexion darkened rapidly.
Namgung So-hye was not someone who would lie about such a matter.
Knowing this better than anyone, he grasped in an instant just how dangerous the words she had just spoken were.
“That is……”
“What in blazes happened! Where has the Alliance Lord gone!”
The general’s voice rang out sharp and clear, echoing through the Murim Alliance branch.

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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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