Chronicles of the Martial God’s Return - Chapter 98

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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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“Are you serious about this?”
Sa Do-hak stared at what lay in his own hand and let out a hollow laugh. An axe rested in one palm, and towering trees surrounded him on all sides.
“Dead serious.”
“Hah!”
Sa Do-hak exhaled sharply, scanning the forest around him.
This was a wood some distance from the Manor—dense with sturdy timber, the sort of place where one might fell trees for a dwelling.
Dragged here with an axe in hand, anyone watching would mistake him for a woodcutter rather than a martial artist.
Complaints burned in his throat, but when he turned to look at the others, he found them all standing before their own trees, axes in grip, each one mirroring his predicament.
‘Build a house? Is this man serious?’
Sa Do-hak couldn’t believe it.
A Descendant of God of War.
At that level, there was no need to build anything with one’s own hands. Simply attaching oneself to a single organization would bring a palatial estate and considerable wealth without lifting a finger.
So why would such a person refuse all that and instead fell timber with his own labor?
Unable to fathom it, he glanced toward Dan Woo-hyun.
The man smiled—silently, without a word.
That infuriated him all the more.
Part of him wanted to throw a punch, consequences be damned.
But he’d learned the hard way that he was no match for his opponent. Any action would be meaningless.
Since rising from his sickbed, he’d thrown countless punches from behind and lost consciousness more than once for his trouble.
“If it’s money you need, I’ll provide it. Hire workers.”
“The Manor is destroyed because of me, so I’ll pay for the repairs. Besides, don’t you have people available? The ones standing right here.”
“……?”
Sa Do-hak found himself speechless once again.
So he meant to take money and labor from them both? What kind of wretched man operated this way?
His lip quivered as he exhaled slowly.
“I have no intention of building anew. It’s merely repairs.”
“No intention… of building… anew,” Namgung Cheon murmured from beside him, his tone dripping with disbelief.
He laughed despite himself.
The destroyed Manor had almost nothing left intact. To call it repairs was almost comical—it was, for all intents and purposes, construction from the ground up.
The paper resting in Dan Woo-hyun’s hands was a blueprint he’d painstakingly drawn through an entire sleepless night.
Even from a cursory glance, executing such a design with ordinary laborers would take months, if not a full year.
“Three days. Build it within three days.”
Dan Woo-hyun spoke with complete sincerity.
Namgung Cheon forced a smile, though inwardly he wanted to weep. Resistance was impossible, which made it worse.
“If you can’t manage it, you’re free to leave.”
Dan Woo-hyun’s words came with a soft chuckle, each syllable piercing Namgung Cheon’s heart like an awl.
Leaving the Manor itself wasn’t difficult, certainly. The Mountain Public Poison had been treated; he could spend his remaining years in solitude if he wished.
But he didn’t want to. For Namgung Cheon, the Manor had become his entire world.
In the end, he picked up the axe.
“Well then, I’ll give it my all.”
His enthusiasm suddenly kindled, and he began swinging at once. Though he wielded only one arm, each stroke split the timber with a sharp crack.
He was drawing upon his Inner Energy.
Kwon Mu-jin and Jang Sam-tae watched in silence, then exchanged a fleeting glance at Dan Woo-hyun, anxious.
Was he about to forbid them from using Inner Energy as he had before? The dread washed over them, yet Dan Woo-hyun sat quietly without a word.
That settled it.
They were permitted to use their Inner Energy.
Kwon Mu-jin grinned, rolling up his sleeves.
Chopping wood was child’s play.

At that same moment, in Anhui—within the Namgung Clan Estate.
West of the main hall stood an enormous Thunder Prison, encircled by a formidable contingent of guards who formed an impenetrable cordon. Lookouts from the Namgung Clan were stationed on the rooftops, concealed from view, positioned to intercept any intruder descending from above—a sight that suggested something momentous was unfolding.
The sheer tension of it all cast an ominous shadow over the place.
Namgung So-hye stepped quietly into the Thunder Prison.
Inside, the cacophony of countless voices assaulted her ears.
The moment she crossed the threshold, a torrent of curses and sexual degradation poured forth—language no woman should have to endure.
But Namgung So-hye paid no heed to any of it.
After all, they’re just lowborn wretches who’ve already abandoned their lives. Even if we kill them here, they won’t bat an eye.
‘The Snake Blood Group… yes, that was the name, wasn’t it?’
She had no idea where these people had come from or how they’d appeared so suddenly. Despite multiple rounds of interrogation, none of them had broken their silence.
“Miss, this place is not…”
One of the Namgung Clan’s guards frowned.
This was no place for Namgung So-hye to enter. He had hoped she would stay away, yet here she was. The guards who failed to stop her bore some blame, but the real problem was that no one alive could break Namgung So-hye’s resolve.
“Is this the one?”
Namgung So-hye stepped before a man in silence. Unlike the others, he was confined alone in the Thunder Prison.
Rippling muscles and disheveled hair.
A thick beard and narrow, piercing eyes.
At first glance, he radiated considerable menace.
He surely knew this was the Namgung Clan’s Thunder Prison, and that the woman standing before him was Namgung So-hye, recognized even by the Murim Alliance itself—yet the man sat cross-legged without so much as a flicker of concern in his gaze.
“That’s correct.”
……
Namgung So-hye bit her lip hard.
The Namgung Clan maintained merchant partnerships with no fewer than ten trading houses.
This man was the one who had raided those establishments, stolen their goods, slaughtered the merchants, and hung their severed heads in the forest.
He had also severed the Namgung Clan’s information networks hidden throughout the region and attacked dozens of subordinate sects under the Namgung banner, inflicting grievous casualties.
This was nothing like……
‘An orchestrated assault on the Namgung Clan itself.’
These were no simple bandits.
They clearly operated with deliberate purpose.
That was why the Clan’s elite had mobilized to capture them and why they now remained under such stringent guard.
“Ha! This is an honor! To lay eyes upon Anhui’s finest beauty—who would have dreamed it?”
……
The man opened his eyes and looked at Namgung So-hye while drumming his thick fingers against the wooden door. If his core wasn’t sealed, she could sense the monstrous strength that would let him burst free in an instant.
Namgung So-hye’s expression hardened.
“Even that frown suits you. How about you come here… just…”
Scrape!
Before his words finished, a blade flashed like lightning.
The guards around Namgung So-hye had no time to comprehend what happened. They reached for their swords, but the blade that moved first—belonging to Namgung So-hye herself—had already severed the man’s arm clean from his body.
The blade’s wielder was Namgung So-hye.
The severed arm tumbled across the floor.
Blood sprayed in all directions.
“Gck… gaaah! Can’t take a joke, I see.”
“Haha! Captain, that was just a jest, wasn’t it? Seemed serious to me!”
“That’s our captain, all right!”
Yet something even stranger unfolded next.
Despite having his arm severed, the man endured the pain without crying out. His expression twisted briefly with discomfort, but he didn’t scream. Instead, he laughed while stanching the wound with his remaining hand.
The reactions of his men were equally disturbing.
Their captain’s arm had been cut clean off, yet they laughed and chattered on—was this how any sane person would behave?
‘They’re insane.’
That was Namgung So-hye’s assessment as she watched them.
But it wasn’t mere madness.
These were people who seemed content to die, who appeared willing to grit their teeth through their final moment if it meant tormenting the Namgung Clan—that conviction burned unmistakably in their eyes.
“Why do you target the Namgung Clan?”
“Ha ha ha! Why does anything exist?”
Namgung So-hye raised an eyebrow.
‘They mean to keep their mouths sealed.’
She was about to raise her blade again, pressing harder this time, when the captain’s lips curled into a smile and he finally spoke.
“Simply because you’re an eyesore. I’d prefer if you all just… disappeared.”
“Spoken boldly for someone in your position. Do you not grasp what circumstances surround you?”
“Ha ha ha!”
The man burst into unhinged laughter.
The sound of someone drowning in madness.
His eyes alone were enough to unsettie any ordinary person.
Namgung So-hye narrowed her eyes and lifted her blade once more.
“Ah… Miss!”
A man suddenly rushed into the Thunder Prison. His ashen face and labored breathing made it clear something had gone terribly wrong.
Namgung So-hye glanced toward him.
He still wore that enigmatic smile.
“What is it?”
“It’s—it’s terrible! The Young Master—he’s been attacked by brigands and kidnapped!”
…….
Namgung So-hye’s lips sealed shut.
She stood frozen as if struck, unable to form a single word. Then her body began to tremble, and her lips quivered.
“What of the rescue party?”
“The Patriarch and the elders are already leading the clan’s finest masters in pursuit.”
Namgung So-hye’s gaze snapped toward the man with the scarred face.
‘So that’s what his smile meant.’
Her wide, burning eyes never left his face.
He deepened his smile.
It was the smile of someone who had foreseen this exact turn of events—confident, even arrogant.
The man leaned casually against the wall and settled in, utterly at ease.
“Hah! Someone dares snatch away the Namgung Clan’s Young Master? Whoever they are, they’ve got nerve.”
Kra-ha-ha-ha!
Laughter erupted from every corner.
They were savoring this moment, toying with it.
Namgung So-hye clenched her teeth.
She had seized and subdued everyone she could find, confining them to the Thunder Prison. That’s why she had been able to feel somewhat secure. But others had seized the opening to strike.
‘Was this their plan all along?’
Attacking and abducting the Young Master was a far different matter than anything they had attempted before. It was nothing short of a declaration of war against the entire Namgung Clan.
Crack!
Namgung So-hye ground her teeth.
This—this she could never forgive.
Bang!
She kicked savagely at the Thunder Prison’s door.
The violent crash echoed with such force that everyone instinctively clapped their hands over their ears.
“I will never forgive this!”
“Impressive. But are you certain that’s wise?”
“What……?”
The scarred man slowly rose to his feet, reached down, and picked up his severed arm from the ground. Blood dripped steadily as he brought his crimson-stained face close to hers, swallowing a mouthful of his own blood.
The sight was so grotesque that even Namgung So-hye recoiled a step. A vile, bone-deep malice radiated from him—so ugly it forced even her burning rage to retreat.
In that dark space, the man’s eyes gleamed red.
“This place is abandoned, isn’t it? Who will protect you now?”
Boom-boom-boom!
That single sentence was the trigger.
Explosions thundered from all around.
The ground shook as though struck by an earthquake, and the acrid stench of gunpowder spread everywhere.
Cannons. Unquestionably cannons.
Crash!
A cannonball fell directly into the Thunder Prison.
It punched clean through the ceiling and plummeted down, and everyone inside—Namgung So-hye foremost among them—threw themselves aside, eyes wide.
Shards of stone and debris erupted in all directions, raining down upon Namgung So-hye.
Just before darkness swallowed everything, she heard the scarred man’s voice rising in triumphant, booming laughter.

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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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