Return of the God of War - Chapter 19

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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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Episode 19: There’s Nothing to Resent
Muk Yeojin’s decision to stir up such a commotion had a clear purpose.
The slaves sold at the Black Market Auction in Choseongroo were all confined while under the effects of a Poison Pill.
Only after payment was received would the proprietor hand over an Antidote to the buyer.
Bu Yeon’s sister, Bu Yeongseol, had surely already consumed the Poison Pill as well.
If he rushed into Chosongroo without a plan, he couldn’t guarantee Bu Yeongseol’s life.
‘Besides, the disciples of the Guangtian Sect—Chosongroo’s backing—would be stationed throughout the building.’
Even if those fools were just a rabble of third-rate thugs, Muk Yeojin alone couldn’t manage an entire sect in his current state.
‘If I had no one to protect, perhaps I could afford recklessness. But this is not the time for hasty bravado.’
That was why Muk Yeojin had decided to participate directly in the Black Market Auction held at Chosongroo.
It was the most natural way to gain entry.
As was customary with secret auctions, attendance required an introduction from a broker.
The disturbance at the Inn had been a calculated performance to summon such a broker.
‘Once word spreads that a mysterious wealthy patron with skilled martial artists has arrived in Zhejiang, men who smell money won’t hesitate to show themselves.’
And indeed they did.
Before much time had passed, the server who had delivered their meal set a small letter on the table and withdrew.
“The bait has been taken. My lord, just continue acting arrogantly. I’ll handle the rest.”
Bu Yeon nodded, his expression tense.
The two men finished their meal at the Inn and made their way to the address written in the letter, where an attendant led them into a private chamber.
There sat a corpulent man, grease visibly streaming down from between his teeth.
He poured fragrant tea naturally and introduced himself.
“Ah, what an honor to meet you. I’m Gok Pansoo, a humble merchant operating a small business.”
A merchant indeed.
The stench of rotten blood emanated strongly from the bodyguards standing behind him.
It was obvious these men dealt in human trafficking—vermin and nothing more.
Perhaps, from their perspective, trafficking in human beings qualified as running a legitimate business.
Bu Yeon, who possessed a keen eye for character, found himself instinctively repulsed by Gok Pansoo.
His cold voice soon cut through the room.
“Your face is enough to make one retch. Much longer and I fear the meal I’ve just consumed will come right back up. So out with it, then. What reason would a worthless maggot like you have for summoning me?”
Muk Yeojin nearly laughed at Bu Yeon’s biting words.
This was no man who had spent the journey worrying about how to act arrogantly.
Gok Pansoo’s brow furrowed.
Such brazen insolence from the moment they met!
At the same moment, the bodyguards behind him began radiating murderous intent.
Now it was Muk Yeojin’s turn to act.
He stepped forward with a contemptuous smile.
“How dare you harbor killing intent while gazing upon your master. I see I must instill manners into these creatures.”
They cursed loudly and drew their blades.
Muk Yeojin took another step and suddenly closed the distance to the bodyguards.
“Hah!”
A truly wondrous Body Movement Technique.
The bodyguards gasped in shock.
Whoosh!
They swung their swords in desperation, but only carved through empty air.
Thud!
These men hardly warranted even deploying the Mountain King Dance.
A casual palm strike sent both their jaws spinning simultaneously.
One of the bodyguards, consciousness shattered in an instant, collapsed to the floor.
Muk Yeojin grabbed the dazed Gok Pansoo by the hair and slammed his head against the table.
Bang! Bang!
“Hgh! Gah—gah!”
Muk Yeojin picked up one of the teacups from the table, sniffed the fragrance, and his expression darkened.
“You dared to offer tea laced with Dream Soul Powder? I suppose even in death, you’d have no cause for resentment?”
Dream Soul Powder was a type of sedative that clouded the mind.
“G-great hero, surely this is some misunderstanding—gah!”
Crash!
Muk Yeojin brought the teacup down directly onto Gok Pansoo’s skull.
“Hgh! Great hero, I was mistaken—ughk!”
Muk Yeojin offered him no chance to explain and continued the beating.
Thud! Smack!
Even as Gok Pansoo was struck relentlessly, his mind paradoxically grew sharper, clearer.
That very clarity amplified his terror.
‘At this rate, I’m really going to die.’
The thought had barely taken hold when—
Muk Yeojin now hefted the teapot itself, intent on shattering his skull with it.
In that instant, Gok Pansoo—his face a ruin of tears, snot, and blood—seized the hem of Muk Yeojin’s robe.
“Mercy, Master! Mercy! I was wrong, all my fault! Spare me, I beg you! I’ll do anything—anything at all!”
The teapot froze mid-swing with a hollow thud.
Muk Yeojin regarded the prostrate man with eyes of ice, then spoke softly.
“There will be no second warning.”
Thud!
Gok Pansoo’s forehead cracked against the floor as he answered with fervent certainty.
“Not a chance, Master! Not a chance!”
As Muk Yeojin returned, brushing blood flecks from his robe, Bu Yeon whispered to him.
‘How did you know there was poison in the tea, Master?’
‘There was none. I caught the aroma—it was genuine Dragon Well Tea, high quality.’
Bu Yeon’s eyes widened.
‘Then why did you—?’
‘A warning, of sorts. A message that trifling with us carries consequences. And it gives us leverage to use him with.’
Bu Yeon shook his head inwardly.
To reduce a man to a half-corpse on a charge fabricated merely to send a warning—
He found himself thinking that he’d entangled himself with someone far more ruthless than he’d imagined.
And yet it was all in service of finding his sister, so gratitude rose alongside his unease.
Muk Yeojin had set the table; now it was Bu Yeon’s turn to take the next move.
“You said your name was Gok Pansoo?”
“Yes! Yes! That’s correct, sir!”
“Tell me everything about yourself without omitting a single detail. Should I judge you useless, I’ll separate your head from your shoulders on the spot.”
Gok Pansoo trembled at the menace in those words.
One false step, and there wouldn’t be enough of him left to bury.
“I… I’m a lowly operative for the Guangtian Sect, an organization of the underworld. I handle kidnappings and detentions, and my main work is capturing unattached women and selling them to Hongru.”
In other words, the kind of vermin barely worth using as fertilizer. Blood rushed to Bu Yeon’s temples.
His sister too must have fallen into the hands of such scum, ending up in her present circumstances.
He almost laughed at himself for feeling even a shred of pity for Gok Pansoo during Muk Yeojin’s beating.
But now was not the moment to waste anger on garbage.
Bu Yeon steadied himself and spoke in a low, secretive tone.
“If you’re with the Guangtian Sect, then you have connections to Chosongroo, don’t you?”
Gok Pansoo’s eyes lit up.
‘Their target is the Black Market Auction at Chosongroo!’
He felt as if he’d found the single lifeline in a sea of death.
“Yes! Yes! That’s right! The Black Market Auction at Chosongroo has extremely tight security—money alone won’t get you in—but if I vouch for you, I can easily arrange places for both of you.”
Muk Yeojin and Bu Yeon exchanged glances and nodded at each other.
The fish had swallowed the hook, and it was a fine catch indeed.
Muk Yeojin then withdrew a dark pill from his robe and tossed it to Gok Pansoo.
“Swallow it.”
Gok Pansoo’s eyes trembled as though the earth had shaken.
“M-Master, what is this?”
“Why ask when you already know? It’s a Poison Pill—the kind your sort favors. Once we’ve obtained what we seek at Chosongroo, you’ll receive the Antidote.”
Color drained from Gok Pansoo’s face.
“Master! I swear! I swear I won’t betray you!”
“Swallow it.”
Before the chill in that voice, Gok Pansoo had no choice but to gulp down the Poison Pill, tears streaming.
‘Ugh… I’ve truly found my match this time.’
As Gok Pansoo slumped in despair, Bu Yeon murmured softly.
‘That Poison Pill is fake too, I take it?’
Muk Yeojin let out a quiet laugh.
Bu Yeon had grown quite adept at reading his methods.
* * *
The next evening, as dusk settled into night.
The two men rode in the finest carriage Gok Pansoo could procure.
Muk Yeojin and Bu Yeon were wrapped from head to toe in cotton gauze and long robes, every strand of hair concealed.
The carriage rattled forward for roughly two hours before finally arriving at Chosongroo.
A seven-story establishment, resplendent and ornate to the eye.
Yet the party’s true purpose lay not in the brothel itself, but in the Black Market Auction held in the depths below.
Gok Pansoo guided the carriage toward the rear entrance of the establishment.
There were far more martial artists standing guard than he’d anticipated.
“Well, well—Pansoo, it’s been ages. We’ll have to share a drink soon.”
“Of course, of course. Today I’ve brought some very distinguished guests, so if you’d kindly clear the way.”
As he spoke, Gok Pansoo quietly slipped silver coins into the man’s palm. A glance toward the carriage’s rear, and the guard stepped aside without a word.
Muk Yeojin, surprised at how smoothly they’d gained entry, nodded with satisfaction.
“The man has his uses.”
“Ha. Thank you for your kindness, sir. Just head down that way below.”
Following the hidden stone staircase in a corner of the establishment, the underground space where the Black Market Auction was held soon revealed itself.
Contrary to expectations of a murky, oppressive atmosphere, the interior gleamed with the same lavish splendor as the establishment above.
‘Quite impressive in scale.’
And there were considerable numbers of clients gathered for the auction.
Those wearing face masks alone numbered well over a hundred.
‘They know perfectly well they wouldn’t dare show their true faces. Disgusting creatures.’
Even as Muk Yeojin feigned indifference and surveyed the surroundings, he couldn’t suppress a shudder.
‘There are actually Righteous Sect members here.’
According to Gok Pansoo, around forty percent of the Black Market Auction’s clientele were Righteous Sect practitioners.
He’d always wondered, despite himself, whether those who claimed to walk the path of righteousness would really participate so openly in human trafficking auctions—but apparently they did.
‘That carelessly concealed aura is unmistakably Righteous Qi.’
Even if they didn’t comprise forty percent, there were certainly legitimate Righteous Sect members openly present.
Men like these were the parasites that gnawed away at Zhongyuan itself.
If he followed his impulses, he’d draw his blade and cut them all down where they stood. But their numbers were overwhelming.
Unfortunately, his current strength made such a notion absurd.
‘Another reason to grow stronger, and quickly.’
Muk Yeojin suppressed the rising wave of revulsion and focused instead on gauging the atmosphere of the auction hall.
Then, moments later:
“We offer our gratitude to all our distinguished guests for gracing Chosongroo’s Black Market Auction once again today. I am Geo Hansoo, proprietor of Chosongroo.”
The proprietor of Chosongroo took the stage, signaling the beginning of the auction.

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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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