Return of the God of War - Chapter 17

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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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Chapter 17: It Has Been a Long Time
How long they walked, he couldn’t say.
Before long, they left the main road and turned onto a path where few people wandered.
As Muk Yeojin surveyed his surroundings, a tavern came into view.
It was a shabby inn bearing the name Chunhyang Tavern.
‘So that’s the place.’
The moment Muk Yeojin stepped inside, a young boy came running toward him.
“Welcome, sir! We’ve just received some excellent birds today—might I interest you in our crispy Rolled Chicken? A fine choice for a gentleman.”
Once seated at the table he was shown, Muk Yeojin discreetly withdrew a Silver Coin from his sleeve and placed it on the table.
“That sounds good, but today I’m drawn to Fish-Fragrant Pork Slivers. The weather’s gloomy, so bring me a bottle of strong liquor as well.”
Yet the weather that day was remarkably clear.
At Muk Yeojin’s words, the boy suddenly flinched, then snatched up the Silver Coin and spoke.
“Ah—you’re the one who left something here recently. You’ll find what you’re looking for in the fourth room on the third floor.”
The boy shouted “One Fish-Fragrant Pork Slivers!” and disappeared into the kitchen, while Muk Yeojin rose slowly and moved toward the stairs.
Before establishing his merchant house, Bu Yeon had operated an information broker’s business.
And the Chunhyang Tavern was precisely that business.
What Muk Yeojin had just said to the boy was a Secret Code—a signal that he wished to meet the proprietor.
Ascending to the third floor, Muk Yeojin approached the fourth room as instructed and pushed open the door.
Creak.
The interior was lavishly appointed—the complete opposite of the shabby exterior of the inn.
At a table in the center of the room sat a young man in his early twenties, his face bearing a gentle, approachable expression.
“Please, come in. I am Bu Yeon, an information broker.”
This man was none other than Bu Yeon, who would one day become the master of Honglian, the greatest merchant house in the land.
Faced with Bu Yeon’s face—unblemished by time, free of a single wrinkle—Muk Yeojin felt an unexpected tightness in his chest.
Bu Yeon, who had once supported the martial artists fighting against the Woneum Cult with both resources and influence, had ultimately been captured by Gyodu and Guryun Hwanyeo, meeting a terrible end.
‘Bu Yeon, after all this time. It’s me, Muk Yeojin. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you then.’
Concealing his true feelings, Muk Yeojin took the seat across from Bu Yeon.
“It is an honor to meet you. I am Muk Yeojin of Sadocheon.”
Bu Yeon’s eyes flickered slightly.
He had caught sight of a strange emotion in Muk Yeojin’s eyes in that fleeting moment before the introduction—something he had never expected to see.
It was the look of nostalgia, or perhaps sorrow.
‘What was that?’
Why had this stranger, whom he was meeting for the first time, regarded him with such a look?
But as a man practiced in the arts of survival, Bu Yeon’s expression remained perfectly composed as he welcomed Muk Yeojin warmly.
“Ha, so you’re the youngest son of the Sadocheon master. What a stroke of fortune to make your acquaintance!”
“You flatter me. I hardly deserve such praise.”
Of course, Bu Yeon had surely already learned his visitor’s true identity.
Mak-ho was as good as his own front yard.
‘He likely knows as well that I disposed of that Flawless Young Master last night.’
Seated at the table, Muk Yeojin gazed distantly across it before speaking.
“I’d appreciate it if you would dismiss your listening ears.”
Bu Yeon’s eyes widened in feigned innocence as he glanced around the room.
“But surely there’s no one here besides you and myself? How could I dismiss anyone when—”
“Two above the left ceiling, one on the window ledge outside, one behind the right wall, two beneath my feet.”
Flinch.
Bu Yeon’s face hardened instantly.
Muk Yeojin had just recited the exact positions of the bodyguards Bu Yeon had stationed as a precaution.
Operating an information broker’s business, one occasionally becomes entangled in dangerous affairs and encounters extraordinary individuals.
The bodyguards were stationed as insurance against any unforeseen emergency.
Bu Yeon raised a Silent Whistle hung around his neck to his lips.
Though no audible sound emerged, the presence of those in hiding seemed to dissolve away.
It must be a special whistle—audible only to the trained ears of his men.
Bu Yeon bowed with utmost courtesy.
“Please forgive my rudeness. These men were merely stationed for my own protection. I harbored no ill intention toward you whatsoever.”
Muk Yeojin nodded in acknowledgment.
“I understand.”
At his composed response, Bu Yeon released a breath he hadn’t known he was holding.
It had been a situation easily misread as an ambush against the youngest son of the Sadocheon master.
Bu Yeon wet his throat and carefully studied Muk Yeojin’s expression.
‘To detect my bodyguards the moment he stepped into the room…’
His guards, who doubled as intelligence operatives, might have lacked raw martial prowess, but they were trained operatives skilled in concealment and infiltration—and yet this Muk Yeojin’s abilities far exceeded what he’d anticipated.
The man possessed a martial skill that was far more formidable than expected.
And even in a situation like this, that unflinching composure—not a tremor, not an inch of wavering.
‘This is no child to be underestimated,’ Bu Yeon thought grimly.
Bu Yeon drew a sharper breath and opened his mouth.
“So, what information are you seeking to commission from me?”
Before Bu Yeon had finished his question, Muk Yeojin launched into his proposal.
“It’s not a commission. I’ve come to hire you, Bu Yeon—to serve as the general manager of a merchant enterprise I’m establishing.”
Bu Yeon’s brow twitched.
A man appears out of nowhere, seeks out a small-time intelligence broker in a provincial town, and without preamble demands he become the manager of his trading house?
For a moment, Bu Yeon wondered if Muk Yeojin was joking.
But the man sitting before him showed not the slightest trace of jest.
“Forgive me, but my understanding is limited—I cannot grasp the deeper meaning behind your words.”
“There is no hidden meaning. Exactly as I say: become the general manager of my merchant house and make it the finest in Jungwon.”
Bu Yeon studied Muk Yeojin’s eyes and came to a certainty.
‘He speaks the truth, truly.’
Bu Yeon’s mind raced.
What could the direct heir of the Heavenly Lord want with running a merchant enterprise?
And what did he see in Bu Yeon that made him worthy of such a position?
Bu Yeon could not fathom it.
And yet.
Separate from understanding, his answer was already decided.
“First, I am grateful for your trust in entrusting such an important responsibility to me. However, I currently have a matter that demands my full attention, and I cannot afford to turn my focus elsewhere. I hope you will understand.”
His tone was courteous but unyielding.
Muk Yeojin took a serene sip of tea.
He had known from the start that Bu Yeon would refuse.
And he had come prepared with his countermeasure.
“Bu Yeong-seol.”
The teacup shattered with a crystalline crash, fragments scattering as Bu Yeon’s grip failed him.
Blood dripped steadily onto the floor, yet rather than cry out in pain, his face went pale as ice.
“…How do you know that name?”
Bu Yeong-seol was his sister.
And the matter Bu Yeon had spoken of—the pressing matter that consumed him.
It was the search for his sister, who had vanished three years prior.
The very reason he maintained his intelligence business now.
“Tell me. How do you know that name?”
The affable merchant’s face twisted into something that conjured the visage of a Demon of Wrath.
Muk Yeojin understood his anguish, yet he needed an affirmation.
“Let us make a bargain. I will not only tell you where your missing sister is—I will help you find her.”
…
After a long silence, Bu Yeon’s rigid face opened once more.
“What is it you want in return?”
“Did I not say? That you accept the position of general manager of my merchant house. That is the price.”
“That alone is sufficient?”
“If you doubt me, I will even stake my father’s name with a handprint seal as proof.”
Bu Yeon regarded him with suspicious eyes.
How could it be otherwise?
A stranger appears without warning, claims to know the whereabouts of a sister that no amount of searching across all of Jungwon could trace—not even a whisper.
And his price is merely that Bu Yeon accept a merchant position?
How many would believe such a tale?
Yet for all Bu Yeon’s reasoning, he could find no motive for Muk Yeojin to deceive him so.
And more than that.
Even if it were a lie, Bu Yeon was in no position to afford scruples.
Straw or rotted rope—anything at all—he would grasp it if it meant finding his sister.
At last, Bu Yeon resolved himself.
“I give you my word. If you can find my sister, I will do whatever you ask—be it general manager or porter, anything at all.”
Bu Yeon was quick of mind and clever with schemes, but he was not a man of cheap duplicity.
In the face of the Woneum Cult’s threats, he had not hesitated to throw himself into the flames to honor his oath.
Such a pledge, spoken by a man of such deep integrity, needed no further guarantee.
At his words, Muk Yeojin’s lips curved into a quiet smile.
“Then I look forward to working with you, Bu Yeon.”
But Bu Yeon drew a line at once.
“We must be clear about the order of things. My sister comes first. Tell me now—where is my sister?”
Muk Yeojin nodded.
There was no further need to torment Bu Yeon, so he gave him the answer he sought immediately.
“Your sister is currently confined in the basement of an establishment called Chosong Tower in Hojin County, Zhejiang Province.”
At those words, Bu Yeon’s face went ashen.
His sister had taken it upon herself to become the concubine of a merchant named Heo Sang-do, who had settled in Jungkyung to provide whatever relief she could to their impoverished family.
But three years ago, word from his sister simply stopped.
Unable to wait any longer, Bu Yeon had gone looking for Heo Sang-do, only to hear that his sister had caught another man’s eye and fled with him in the dead of night.
In truth, Bu Yeon had been relieved at the time. He had never wanted his sister to live as a concubine to an aged, decrepit man.
So when Heo Sang-do demanded compensation for the jewelry his sister had taken, Bu Yeon had paid willingly.
Yet even so, he could not accept that his sister would go months without sending him so much as a single word.
It had been nearly three years since he began searching for her.
But an establishment? A pleasure house?
His sister, who had run away to be with a lover—why would she be there?
And more than that.
“An establishment is one thing, but why would she be confined underground……”
Muk Yeojin answered the very question that gnawed at him.
“Chosong Tower hosts a secret black market every ten days.”
He paused, gauging Bu Yeon’s expression before continuing.
“Human trafficking is one of the primary revenue streams for those who run it.”
Bu Yeon’s eyes went cold. In that moment, he could not help but grasp his sister’s true situation.
“Surely not……”
Muk Yeojin nodded.
“Yes. In five days, on the fifteenth of the sixth month, your sister will be put on display at that black market as merchandise.”

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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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