Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 66

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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 Cheon let out a groan.
His body felt drained of all vitality, his Danjeon hollow and empty. He tried to move slowly, testing each limb, but even that proved difficult.
Yet he seemed to still be alive.
Ravaged by San-gong-dok with his Naeryeok completely scattered, struck by Byeokryeok-tan in that defenseless state, and having endured against so many opponents for several Double Hours—by all rights he should have been dead.
He found himself laughing, almost deliriously, at this stroke of impossible fortune.
“So you’ve still got the strength to laugh.”
At the familiar voice that drifted down, he pried open his eyes with effort. He was startled—he hadn’t even sensed the presence of someone beside him.
“You are…?”
“Dan Woo-hyun.”
“Did you save me?”
“Didn’t save you so much as you crashed into my ship of your own accord.”
Namgung Cheon managed a hollow laugh.
That something like this had happened—he never imagined it.
He should be grateful to still be breathing, yet why did all strength drain from his body?
Namgung Cheon glanced toward his left arm.
The sensation of his severed limb felt strange, foreign.
His arm—the very life of a swordmaster—cut clean away?
And since Namgung Cheon had always been left-handed, the shock was beyond measure.
San-gong-dok had scattered all his Naeryeok, and the arm he’d relied on as an eternal anchor—believing he could always rise again as long as it existed—was now gone. The Muin named Namgung Cheon no longer existed.
The emptiness of it was suffocating.
“So it came to pass as you said. The Muin Namgung Cheon is finally dead… ha.”
His voice that emerged was lifeless. To lose all the Martial Arts he’d thought defined his existence—what hollow despair could compare?
Once he had stood at the pinnacle of strength; the shock must strike him with a force many times what others would bear.
“There’s still breath in you, so you live. If there weren’t, I wouldn’t have brought you here.”
“Ha ha, you’re a cold one, aren’t you?”
Namgung Cheon felt Dan Woo-hyun’s gaze upon him.
Impassiveness.
Nothing more, nothing less.
The eyes of a man who had rescued him yet showed not the slightest flicker of intent to do more.
In those eyes where no such thing as compassion dwelled, it seemed Namgung Cheon barely registered at all.
“If you wish, I could inform the Murim Alliance.”
“No… no, that won’t do. Could you… let me stay here for a while?”
Namgung Cheon, who had once carried the title Geomhwang, had no desire to show his pathetic state to others.
He who had always looked down on others, who had been the object of longing for some and the pinnacle of reverence for still others—he would not accept pitying glances or sympathetic eyes.
Neither did he wish to return to the Namgung Clan.
Certainly he would receive lavish treatment there, but even such solicitude was something he couldn’t bear to see.
As he harbored these thoughts, he suddenly lifted his head.
And he realized this man’s gaze hadn’t changed in the slightest from when he first opened his eyes.
“Hm… thinking about it now, you seem quite… introspective.”
“Either curse me or praise me. Not both.”
Namgung Cheon laughed awkwardly.
Now that he thought about it, what he’d just said amounted to an insult.
“Stay as long as you wish. But if you’ve no money, don’t expect to idle about eating for free.”
“So you’re telling me to work for my meals… an old man nearly at death’s door?”
“You’ve got enough strength in your tongue—you’ll manage something.”
Dan Woo-hyun let out a soft laugh and turned to leave. He had remained only because it was time for Namgung Cheon to wake; there was no other reason for his presence here.
“Recover for now. Once you’re healed, then work.”
Ha ha ha.
So he meant to put him to work after all.
As Dan Woo-hyun closed the door and departed, Namgung Cheon’s eyes fell shut, and he sank into thought.
Tracing through past events one by one, his eyes glinted sharp as a blade as resentment rose unbidden.
‘Who on earth were they?’
He considered whether they might be those who had appeared on Gunja Island, but recalling their Sword Technique and bearing, the impression felt different.
Moreover, they had demonstrated the precision of utilizing the Murim Alliance’s intelligence network.
It was something impossible to accomplish without a thorough grasp of the alliance’s communication web—which meant the enemy lay within the Murim Alliance itself.
‘They made their move with the succession of the next Alliance Leader drawing so near. As if… they’d been waiting for me to step outside the Murim Alliance.’
Namgung Cheon’s eyes flickered open, half-lidded.
There was undoubtedly someone within the Murim Alliance concealing their true identity.
Those seeking to destroy the name of Geomhwang and gain something in return.
The fact that they wielded even Byeokryeok-tan and San-gong-dok, substances difficult to procure, suggested they possessed both wealth and power.
Several names flickered through Namgung Cheon’s mind, but he soon shook his head and dismissed the thought. He couldn’t imagine anyone going to such lengths, no matter who they were.
He exhaled a long sigh.
“What foolishness, at my age. Heh.”
Namgung Cheon shook his head slowly.
The more he thought, the more only one word surfaced: revenge.
An old man with scarcely the strength left could never accomplish such a thing.
Those who remained there would have to resolve it themselves.
Geomhwang Namgung Cheon was now merely a powerless old man.
He gathered his resolve and cast away his idle thoughts.

***

“Not a trace…… not a single trace?”
Jegal Un clutched his throbbing head and drummed the table repeatedly.
Over a month and a half had passed since they began searching for Namgung Cheon, yet they hadn’t found so much as a single clue, let alone any real trace of him.
His teeth ground together of their own accord.
He should have thought more carefully.
As the leader of the Murim Alliance, Geomhwang Namgung Cheon had many enemies—not only the faction of Sama, but also certain orthodox sects who stood to gain from his removal.
He hadn’t anticipated they would use San-gong-dok, but perhaps it was inevitable that such a calamity would befall him.
“It is truly regrettable, but if we have searched this long without finding him…… should we not begin to accept the inevitable?”
“That is impossible!”
Jegal Un’s jaw clenched as he glared at the man before him.
Short-cropped beard, a muscular frame, and an angular face that radiated intimidation to all who beheld it.
The name he bore was no less impressive than his appearance.
Moyong Hyeok-mun of the Moyong Clan, the second-greatest power under heaven.
He was a cherished friend and worthy rival who had yielded the name Geomhwang to Namgung Cheon and earned the title Geomseong as one of the Seven Stars.
Having been close companions since childhood, he had rushed over the moment he heard of Namgung Cheon’s disappearance and spent days and nights searching for any trace of him.
“And what good would that do? Already more than a month and a half has passed. Word of the incident on Gunja Island has spread, and the Murim Alliance has suffered another humiliation. We can barely manage the aftermath as it is—how could we announce that the Alliance Lord himself was attacked by brigands and has vanished?”
“Ugh…”
Jegal Un fell silent.
Moyong Hyeok-mun was right. The Murim Alliance’s reputation had plummeted recently. They had gained nothing from the cave of the Muin, and instead suffered attacks that cost them many warriors.
They were already being scorned for failing to capture even the culprits. If word spread that Alliance Lord Namgung Cheon had vanished, the Murim Alliance might tear itself apart.
“The Namgung Clan has already dispatched their own personnel separately. Our priority now must be stabilizing the Alliance.”
Against words that could not be refuted, Jegal Un pressed his lips firmly shut.
Though he wished to abandon everything and search for Namgung Cheon, as Chongsa of the Murim Alliance, all authority fell to him during the Alliance Lord’s absence.
‘First, I must stabilize the Alliance. I do not know who attacked the Alliance Lord, but I swear I will find them.’
He organized his thoughts rapidly and steadied his resolve.
Now was the time to trust the Namgung Clan.
“I will return to Hanam for now.”
“Yes, you’ve decided well.”

***

“Meticulous work.”
The man examining the scene of Namgung Cheon’s attack furrowed his brow.
The traces where Byeokryeok-tan had been hurled were plainly visible, and bloodstains here and there remained, not yet dried away.
“Father, then grandfather…… is he……?”
……
Namgung Yong, the current Gaju of the Namgung Clan, steadied his breathing.
Jegal Un and the Dang Clan had confirmed that San-gong-dok had been scattered.
No matter that he was Geomhwang—if his Naeryeok had been dispersed and he took an attack of this magnitude, he could not possibly have emerged unscathed.
Should he survive, it would be nothing short of providence, yet surely he could no longer even lift a sword.
Yet still, Namgung Yong believed his father lived.
‘He is not someone who would depart this world so easily.’
The title Geomhwang had not been earned lightly, and having witnessed every step of that ascent, Namgung Yong could not even imagine Namgung Cheon’s death.
“I believe he still lives.”
“But…… he must be in grave condition, surely?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t care what we have to do. As long as I can find Grandfather, I’ll do anything.”
Namgung Yong nodded as well.
It was the same for him.
Though he had lost his strength, the name Geomhwang was all but a symbol of the Namgung Clan itself.
‘But knowing Father’s character…….’
It was clear he would not wish for this.
Rather than become a decrepit old man in some back room, he would choose seclusion and hide away.
Of course, this was a choice one could only predict on the assumption that he was still alive.
“If we continue along this path, where does it lead?”
“An-hyang.”
“A place where waterways connect to Dongting Lake, then.”
Namgung Yong moved slowly toward it, scanning the surroundings. The path remained treacherous, and traces of blood were scattered here and there.
Even as his Naeryeok scattered, to have slain so many spoke volumes of just how formidable the Geomhwang’s strength truly was.
After walking for some time, the signs of battle gradually thinned, until finally nothing remained visible.
All that was left was a single, unmistakable smear of blood, as though a person had been cleaved in two.
“He made it this far.”
Namgung So-hye nodded.
She too had surveyed the area up to this point. But beyond it, further investigation proved difficult.
The ground where the two now stood was considerably elevated from the gorge, and before them loomed a cliff of considerable height, beneath which flowed a deep river.
Had he fallen while his Naeryeok was in disarray, he could never have survived the fall.
The jagged rocks jutting up all around only made it worse.
The only small mercy was that there was no blood smeared on the cliff face.
“We’ll have to send out a boat. Release the men and search the surroundings thoroughly.”
“Jegal Chongsa has already…….”
“Even so, we cannot be certain unless we search once more ourselves, can we?”
‘What do you mean?’
Namgung So-hye tried to ask, but the words would not come.
She was too afraid of what might come from Namgung Yong’s lips.
She bowed her head and clenched her fists.
Having steadied her trembling heart with effort, she opened her mouth softly.
“Yes…….”

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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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