Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 80

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

“So something like that happened.”
Dan Woo-hyun drew Dan So-mi close, even as she said nothing.
Though she showed no sign of it, the wound had cut deep. Dan So-mi was the sort who smiled brightly through almost anything, who seemed determined never to let anything hurt her—but Woo-hyun knew better than anyone that beneath that cheerfulness lay a fragile heart.
Sure enough, she gripped his collar tightly against her face.
“Damn it! What the hell is going on?”
Just then, Jang Sam-tae burst through the gate, his voice rough and agitated. His face flushed crimson, he breathed in short, angry huffs.
Kwon Mu-jin at his side looked equally displeased.
“What’s the matter?”
“Well, it’s like this. We went to Market Street in Ak-yang to buy some necessities, but every merchant there—every single one—claimed their goods were gone. They said someone else had already bought everything and left it on reserve. They wouldn’t sell to us.”
If only one or two merchants had refused, it might have been dismissed as coincidence. But not a single shopkeeper would sell them anything.
Jang Sam-tae couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling that someone was orchestrating this.
“You don’t think they’re behind this, do you? Playing tricks on us?”
Jang Sam-tae rolled up his sleeves, his anger mounting. He looked ready to chase after them and settle it right there.
After months of living here, they’d grown friendly with the shop owners. That even they refused was enough to make his blood boil.
“Surely not. Even so, they wouldn’t resort to such methods. They call themselves the Orthodox Sect, after all.”
“Hmph. It seems the Sword Saint is still lost in dreams.”
“What did you say?”
Kwon Mu-jin let out a low, knowing laugh.
At Jang Sam-tae’s words, Kwon Mu-jin smiled wryly.
Having once belonged to the Unorthodox Sect, he knew intimately how the so-called Orthodox Sect truly conducted themselves.
Of course, this was true whether one spoke of the Central Plains or any other place—those with power naturally despised and oppressed the weak.
And now was such a time.
Just as Jang Sam-tae had suggested, the powerless merchants in Market Street were undoubtedly being threatened by the Punggeom Sect.
“This is unmistakably the work of the Punggeom Sect.”
“But they are affiliated with the Murim Alliance—an Orthodox Sect faction.”
“Whether Orthodox, Unorthodox, or Demonic—every organization has its rotten core.”
Namgung Cheon exhaled slowly.
He didn’t want to admit it, but he couldn’t deny it either. Not when he understood it better than anyone. His brow furrowed as he turned to Dan Woo-hyun.
Even after hearing the story, Woo-hyun remained silent. His expression was unreadable—no clue as to what thoughts occupied his mind.
Was he angry?
Or was he sad?
Or did he feel nothing at all?
What did that calm gaze reveal?
Then Woo-hyun lifted Dan So-mi from his embrace and smiled gently.
“Don’t worry. Friends are visible from outside, but learning doesn’t require a School. I’ll find you a good teacher.”
“……Really?”
“Yes.”
Namgung Cheon, Kwon Mu-jin, and Jang Sam-tae fell silent, watching this exchange.
No one would sell them anything—no goods, no food.
This was truly serious.
They had planted crops, but the harvest wasn’t ready. It would take at least a couple of months before anything was edible, which meant their food supplies were in immediate crisis.
Yet Dan Woo-hyun glanced around at them and smiled faintly.
“I don’t understand what you’re so worried about.”
“But sir, there are ingredients we can’t live without from Market Street, and clothing too, and—this is a serious problem!”
Dan Woo-hyun let out a short breath.
Then he recalled the time when he first built this Estate.
True, Ak-yang was nearby, but it was still about a Double Hour’s journey away. He’d never entertained even the slightest thought of making regular trips there to buy supplies.
His sole purpose had been to live quietly in this place, without any desire to form connections with others.
Of course, much of that had changed because of So-mi, but the result was not fundamentally different from his original intention.
“It’s fine. We can make clothes ourselves, and for food, we’ll hunt as we did before. So-mi is confident in hunting. We’ll catch tigers before long, won’t we?”
“Rrraaagh!” Dan So-mi threw up her hands, mimicking a tiger’s stance. Where moments before she had seemed despondent, she now appeared to be accepting this reality, understanding it a little better.
Dan Woo-hyun nodded, smiling.
“That’s right. Nothing has truly changed.”
“But……are you truly serious about this?”
“I’m serious.”
“Still, you won’t be able to drink your favorite alcohol anymore, will you?”
“Then we’ll make some. Don’t you have a gift for craftsmanship?”
“If you would think of us that way, I’m grateful, but…….”
Jang Sam-tae broke into a cold sweat.
It wasn’t impossible to prepare food. They could forage for edible plants in the mountains and cook with them.
But where would they buy seasonings, and with winter approaching, where would they find warm blankets and clothing?
Everything he’d enjoyed before had vanished into thin air.
Jang Sam-tae could already see the hardship ahead.

Several days later.
Hu Ja-ryung, sitting in the office of the Punggeom Sect, chewed his lip.
A response should have come long ago by now.
He’d used his influence at the School to drive out their only daughter, and he’d arrested not only the nearby merchants but everyone who’d done business with them.
Since he hadn’t heard that they’d entered Ak-yang recently, it meant they understood to some degree how dire the situation was.
Yet they hadn’t come seeking the Punggeom Sect?
‘Something’s wrong……. Really, something feels off…….’
Hu Ja-ryung furrowed his brow and looked up as the office door swung wide open and a man entered.
It was Yeok Do-gang, the first disciple of the Punggeom Sect and Hu Ja-ryung’s right hand.
He too was drenched in cold sweat.
“Well then, how is it going? They should be packing their things by now, shouldn’t they?”
“That…… is the thing, sir…….”
Yeok Do-gang didn’t know how to explain.
Though they were clearly taking a significant hit, the Estate seemed far too content.
As if to prove that people could live without spending money, they fished in Dongting Lake when hungry, hunted in the mountains, and lived off the land.
More than that, they not only made clothes and blankets from animal hides but showed remarkable ingenuity by cultivating crops to supplement their food supplies.
Watching from a distance, Yeok Do-gang realized anew that what they’d done simply didn’t work against these people.
“What? That’s really true?”
“Yes, sir. It is.”
“What kind of strange people are there…….”
Hu Ja-ryung let out a long sigh.
Normally, under such pressure, people would weep and beg without shame. Yet this man called the Estate Master was skillfully slipping through their grasp—he didn’t seem like an ordinary person.
“What about Hyun-seung? What is Hyun-seung doing?”
“I checked just a moment ago, sir…… It seems he’s having quite a difficult time persuading the constables.”
“Having difficulty persuading them? What do you mean by that?”
“It appears the Estate Master there is something like a divine figure to the constables. The ones who came recently follow Hyun-seung’s orders obediently, but the ones from before refuse to comply, saying the Estate cannot be touched.”
“Hmm…… That’s…… something I can’t quite understand…….”
In the County Magistrate’s absence, Hyun-seung inherits all his authority. His power should therefore be formidable, yet the constables were resisting him outright. It was hard to believe.
Hu Ja-ryung grasped his throbbing brow.
“Send the boys to Hyun-seung. Disguise them as constables and drive those people out right now!”
“Yes, understood!”

“So you’ll need to leave this Estate.”
Hyun-seung spoke with confident bearing, his eyes fixed on the people before him.
It had been nearly a month since his posting, and this matter was quite important to him. He could gain a connection to the Punggeom Sect, the Murim faction that controlled Ak-yang.
With the substantial sum he’d received from them, if he resolved this well, he might gain a reliable patron and become County Magistrate of Ak-yang himself.
Harboring such sinister thoughts, Hyun-seung had come here.
“…….”
“What?”
“This crazy bastard…….”
But the reaction was decidedly strange.
Though Hyun-seung served as the County Magistrate’s representative, his position was still one common people could never treat carelessly.
Yet these people were glaring at him.
“Where is Hong Won-chang?”
“You! How dare you speak the County Magistrate’s name so casually! You have no need to know, and we will not tell you.”
At the sight of him shouting at Dan Woo-hyun, both Jang Sam-tae and Kwon Mu-jin were startled. Their expressions said, ‘This man is truly mad.’ And with his voice raised like that, it wouldn’t be strange if he died on the spot.
“I see. Then what shall I do?”
“Leave the Estate.”
“Where would we go?”
“That is for you to figure out! To build an Estate on imperial land and hunt without permission is already grounds for execution.”
“That’s not true! This Estate wasn’t built by my father! It was here from the beginning!”
At that moment, Dan So-mi burst forward with a rebuttal.
Feeling somewhat wronged, she raised her voice and fixed her gaze on Dan Woo-hyun. It was the look of someone asking, ‘I’m right, aren’t I? Father did nothing wrong, did he?’
“……Well…… yes, that’s…… that’s right.”
Though he stumbled over his words, his nod made Dan So-mi’s face grow even brighter. Then she turned to look squarely at Hyun-seung, who was trying to pin the crime of constructing the house on Dan Woo-hyun.
“See?”
‘See what. It’s obviously been built.’
‘And it hasn’t been here long at all…….’
‘Hah, how in heaven’s name could anyone believe this?’
Kwon Mu-jin, Jang Sam-tae, and even Namgung Cheon shook their heads in unison.
No matter how many times one examined this Estate, there wasn’t a single trace of it being anything other than a newly constructed building.
Moreover, judging by Dan Woo-hyun’s expression, this Estate was unquestionably built from the ground up.
“Hmph! Whether it was built or renovated matters not! Residing in this Estate is absolutely intolerable—pack your belongings and leave at once!”
Hyun-seung shot Dan Woo-hyun a look of smug satisfaction.
His expression held no trace of fear. At his side stood the constables under his command, along with disciples from the Punggeom Sect.
Should any trouble arise, Hyun-seung had no doubt that they would shield him.
Then Dan Woo-hyun nodded.
“Very well.”
“S…… Lord?”
“Master!”
At how readily Dan Woo-hyun assented, both Jang Sam-tae and Kwon Mu-jin started in surprise, staring at him.
This was their foundation—why should they submit to such unreasonable demands?
Yet Dan Woo-hyun spoke calmly.
“It’s too late today. We’ll depart tomorrow.”
“Hmph! That’s what you should have done from the start.”
Hyun-seung nodded approvingly.
A day’s grace was acceptable. In any case, this fulfilled his agreement with the Punggeom Sect.
“Then I shall return tomorrow to verify. Should anyone remain here by then, I shall have you all arrested and brought to justice.”
At his words, Dan Woo-hyun nodded once more.
He watched as the man faded from sight, then slowly turned away and walked toward the Estate. Namgung Cheon and Kwon Mu-jin, bewildered, hastened to follow him.
“Is it…… truly acceptable? If we leave this place now, where will we……?”
“There’s no need to worry.”
Dan Woo-hyun smiled faintly, his expression composed and serene.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————