Return of the God of War - Chapter 52

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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 52. You didn’t know, did you?
Crash!
Thud!
Bang!
What is all this commotion at the break of dawn?
The household servants hurried over in clusters.
An old man was forcibly pushing his way into the inner quarters without restraint.
How dare he act this way, knowing full well whose residence this was?
It was a situation where the guards on duty should have rushed out at once to seize and drag out this old fool—and no one would have blamed them.
But the old man’s true identity was another matter entirely.
If he was Pi Yangcheon, the former Sword Gungju known as the Twin-Flame Blade, the situation changed completely.
Rather than subduing the old man, the martial artists who stepped forward to block him were left floating helplessly in the air, hurtling into corners and crashing to the ground as naturally as stones falling from the sky.
“Sir, please—you mustn’t do this. The Lady Hye Rangyeong expressly forbade anyone to enter….”
The chamberlain Jeong Yeo stood in his way, flustered and pleading, but how could an untrained man possibly accomplish what even seasoned martial artists could not?
In the end, Pi Yangcheon stepped into the inner quarters and tore open Hye Rangyeong’s door with brutal force.
Bang!
The moment the door swung open, a potent stench of liquor rushed into his nostrils.
Even Pi Yangcheon’s eyes creased involuntarily—the smell was that overpowering.
To create an odor of such intensity would require far more than just one or two bottles.
And indeed, that proved true.
The floor of the room was strewn with countless sake bottles scattered in every direction—far too many to count.
And among them, sprawled face-down over a small wine table, lay Hye Rangyeong with her head buried in her arms.
At the sight of this, Pi Yangcheon clicked his tongue disapprovingly.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Hopeless, utterly hopeless. I saw from the moment you took your first steps that there was something fundamentally rotten in you, but even so, I never imagined you’d turn out to be completely worthless.”
His words cut deeper than she’d anticipated, and the prostrate Hye Rangyeong flinched.
She was conscious enough to understand, yet she could not bring herself to lift her face, knowing full well how wretched her current state appeared.
And Pi Yangcheon knew it too.
His harsh words were only just beginning.
“Do you have nothing? What is this palace-like manor, then, and what are the funds with which you bought all these bottles? Will you only come to your senses after losing everything and sitting in the gutter?”
If Pi Yangcheon willed it, such a fate could befall her this very day.
“What is this obsession with strength and power that grips you so?”
Hye Rangyeong wanted to cry out.
That he could speak such words only because he possessed both—that was what she longed to say.
But what use was such a reply now?
She kept her head down, waiting only for this moment to pass.
Pi Yangcheon could not hide his deepening disappointment.
“I will concern myself with you no longer. If you wish to destroy your own life, no amount of counsel from others will change that. But what sin have your children committed?”
At the mention of her children, Hye Rangyeong’s heart suddenly grew heavy.
“Do you truly believe Iyeon withdrew to that remote corner of nowhere simply because she preferred a quiet life?”
Muk Iyeon had told Muk Yeojin that she had gone to Yunnam merely because she enjoyed living simply.
It was not a lie, yet neither was it the whole truth.
As long as Muk Iyeon remained at her side, Hye Rangyeong would never relinquish her appetite for power.
And so Muk Iyeon had instinctively sensed that such hunger would ultimately lead to ruin.
Her prediction had proved devastatingly accurate.
In her previous life, there had been no Muk Yeojin as he was now.
Because of this, Muk Iyeon had continued to hold the position of Red Maiden House Leader, and Pi Yangcheon, moving by force of habit alone, had remained her backer.
Hye Rangyeong had wielded her power without restraint.
Yet her ambition did not end there.
In the end, that boundless greed had circled back upon her as the charge of treason, and
what she met was not glory, but a shameful purge.
In this life, through the incident at the Mangdam Event, Muk Iyeon had naturally stepped down from the position of House Leader.
Yet for all that, her nature—too gentle to truly condemn her mother—remained unchanged.
Thus, the path she had chosen was singular and clear.
To distance herself from her mother’s sight.
This was the greatest reason why Muk Iyeon had never returned to the main house.
And Hye Rangyeong’s children were not merely one.
Pi Yangcheon’s voice pierced her ears once more.
“Do you know what Byeongho has been doing lately?”
She had no way of knowing.
“That boy defeated the heir of the Iron Fist School in this Martial Tournament opened by Heaven’s whim.”
Hye Rangyeong was startled despite herself.
She who knew the power structures of Gangnam inside and out couldn’t possibly be ignorant of the Iron Fist School.
She was naturally aware that its successor was one of the notable Rising Stars making a name in the martial world.
And her own son was a dullard who couldn’t hold a candle to him.
How could such a son become the Iron Fist School’s successor……?
“The attendants tell me Byeongho hasn’t slept more than two hours in months. You didn’t know that?”
She hadn’t.
“His palms have turned to tree bark from wielding the blade so fiercely. His body is covered in wounds, and he’s used more Golden Wound Medicine than bottles of liquor you’ve drunk — did you know that?”
She hadn’t known that either.
“If Byeongho wins just one more bout, he advances to the semifinals in first place. I will help him win in the martial tournament.”
Pi Yangcheon’s voice emanated a chill that cut through the air.
“But make no mistake. I’m merely lending a hand to a pitiful boy who receives no proper recognition because his mother is a fool. I’m not strengthening your position.”
Pi Yangcheon turned away sharply and continued speaking.
“The match is in two days. Come watch. Appear neat and dignified, without wine on your breath, and cheer for your son’s bout. Show everyone that Hye Rangyeong still stands. For your son’s sake if nothing else.”
With those words, Pi Yangcheon left the chamber.
Even after he had completely vanished, Hye Rangyeong could not lift her head.
She couldn’t bear to look at her own reflection in the mirror as it was now.
* * *
To the west of Sadocheon lay the great lake known as Jangbaek Lake.
A woman stood gazing at the magnificent display of golden sunset unfolding across its waters.
That woman was Gwi Yeong.
Gwi Yeong drew a hanging scroll from her bosom and unfurled it.
It was the Spirit Portrait she had received from Muk Yeojin some time ago.
To live on as a bodyguard and a spy.
She had forced down her emotions—joy, sorrow, pleasure—all of them.
After more than a decade of that, those feelings had grown so faint she barely remembered what they felt like.
Yet Muk Yeojin’s painting.
When she gazed upon it, those forgotten feelings seemed to well up anew.
It was why she, a woman with no connection to art, had recently begun taking interest in paintings.
As she contemplated the white crane in the scroll, a voice reached her from behind.
“What occupies your thoughts so deeply?”
When she turned, there stood a nimble figure in a white mask—Muk Yeojin—approaching her.
Gwi Yeong was hardly startled.
He was the one who had told her the location of Jangbaek Lake, and she had already sensed someone drawing near.
Of course, Muk Yeojin had deliberately let his presence be known to avoid arousing unnecessary suspicion.
Whish!
A white bird that had been sitting by the lake spread its wings wide and soared into the sky.
It was the same white crane as the one depicted in the Spirit Portrait.
Gwi Yeong watched the departing crane.
“Where do you suppose that bird is going?”
Muk Yeojin also lifted his gaze to follow it.
“Who can say? Perhaps it seeks prey and hunts for food. Or perhaps it’s returning home. Or perhaps its heart is simply restless and it wishes to fly anywhere at all, yes?”
“Freedom…… Even such a worthless creature has a better lot than mine.”
……
Muk Yeojin sat down beside Gwi Yeong, who was wearing a wry smile.
He then drew a cup and a bottle of liquor from his bosom and offered them to her.
“Will you take a drink?”
Gwi Yeong looked at the cup and shook her head.
“So you’re a man after all, painter. Approaching a woman drowning in self-pity to ply her with drink—your motives are transparent, aren’t they?”
Yet contradicting her words, she immediately accepted the cup, drained the liquor he poured in one gulp.
Muk Yeojin removed his white mask and raised his own cup.
Gwi Yeong was taken aback in that moment.
“Is there some story behind why you wear it?”
“There is. Few people have seen my true face.”
Muk Yeojin wore a Human Skin Mask beneath the white mask.
Since the only people who had seen that masked face were perhaps one or two, his words weren’t entirely a lie.
Of course, Gwi Yeong would interpret his words differently.
“Why trust me, when we’ve barely exchanged a few words?”
“Then why did you so readily accept and drink the liquor I offered? What if it had been poisoned?”
Gwi Yeong, who had been regarding Muk Yeojin quietly, let out a soft laugh.
“That’s true enough.”
The two of them drank several cups in silence.
Then Gwi Yeong abruptly broke the quiet.
“I’m a bodyguard. But not long ago, someone told me I was only half a bodyguard.”
“An arrogant fool. Why didn’t you give him a taste of your fist?”
Gwi Yeong let out a soft laugh. She knew he was merely humoring her to win her favor, and yet she didn’t find it entirely unpleasant.
“But he was wrong about that. I’m not half a bodyguard—I’m a complete failure at it.”
Gwi Yeong drained another cup.
“I’ve been deceiving my master all this time. I’ve betrayed her trust, her faith in me. So how could someone like me ever dare to call myself a bodyguard?”
Gwi Yeong wondered why she was saying these things to a man she’d only just met.
And then she understood.
‘Ah. I’m exhausted.’
Exhausted from deceiving the Gungju, from carrying out secret missions with her life on the line, from spending each day wracked with anxiety.
Everything had become unbearable.
A thousand-fathom cliff stretched before her, its edge sheer and absolute.
Standing at that precipice, trembling with dread at every moment, uncertain when she might fall—this life had become unbearable.
She wanted to fly away freely, the way the White Crane had done.
But how to achieve it?
What good would asking do?
She had known the answer all along.
It was only courage that had been lacking.
In that moment, a strange, almost serene smile appeared on Gwi Yeong’s face.
At last, the decision had been made.
With her mind settled, anxiety no longer touched her.
She need not fret any longer about falling from the cliff.
Because she would jump of her own accord.
Unlike the White Crane, she had no wings.
She could foresee the outcome without needing to see it with her own eyes.
Muk Yeojin caught the shift in her bearing at once.
‘She’s resolved to end it herself.’
Gwi Yeong rose quietly from her seat.
“Thank you. Your work has given me the clarity to settle my heart. I’ve received a great kindness.”
But Muk Yeojin suddenly posed a different question.
“Who is your master?”
Caught off guard, Gwi Yeong blinked—but now that she had abandoned all attachment to this world,
there was nothing she could not say.
“On the surface she appears rough, but underneath she is deep and warm. In both martial prowess and strategy, she surpasses me so utterly that there is no comparison.”
“A formidable master, then.”
Gwi Yeong answered without hesitation.
“She is certain to become a giant who will one day seize all of Cheonha.”
Muk Yeojin nodded slowly.
“But you see—”
He set down his cup with deliberate care and fixed his gaze upon her.
……!
Gwi Yeong flinched.
In that moment, a chill ran down her spine.
What fell from his lips next made her eyes widen involuntarily.
“Do you truly believe someone so remarkable would not have noticed that you’ve been deceiving her?”

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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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