Return of the God of War - Chapter 54

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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 54. The relationship between one person and another is the most difficult riddle of all.
Gwiryeong stood in the broad courtyard of Cheon Gaekwon.
Her face, always as cold as ice, now bore traces of emotion—complex and rare.
The conversation she’d had with Weolhwa Hwabaeq just moments ago refused to leave her mind.
“Your master must be quite remarkable, it seems.”
“And yet—someone so remarkable wouldn’t truly have failed to notice you deceiving yourself all along, would they?”
Those words struck her mind like lightning.
The shock lingered like a hammer blow to the back of her skull.
‘The master… does he already know I’m a spy?’
Gwiryeong’s pupils trembled without cease, her gaze rigid with tension.
‘It can’t be. That’s impossible.’
It wasn’t emotional denial born of desperation, but an objective judgment rooted in reason.
Gwiryeong was among fewer than five elite spies in all of the Murim Alliance’s Tongmyeong Hall.
She had known nothing but that calling since before she had even developed a sense of self.
From childhood onward, she’d endured brutal training for one purpose alone: to become a spy.
Looking back over her work, she could find not a single misstep.
There were no cracks in the Demonic Faction’s intelligence network through which she could be exposed—not one.
‘And yet…’
Cheon Hwarin.
She surpassed every master swordsman Gwiryeong had ever encountered.
What if she were the kind of person who stood in a realm beyond the comprehension of ordinary mortals?
On the other hand, perhaps… it was impossible not to consider the possibility.
If that were true…
Gwiryeong’s eyes deepened.
‘Then I need to know for certain.’
She’d already thrown herself halfway off the cliff.
What more did she have to lose?
The moment she resolved this, Gwiryeong sat in meditation and began circulating her Qi.
The change did not take long.
Whirrrrr.
The presence of the Hwaeyeong Demonic Art dwelling in her Danjeon faded gradually, then vanished without a trace as though it had never existed.
It was as if she were someone who had never cultivated demonic techniques at all.
And in its place, a different energy began to flow into her Danjeon.
Something fundamentally different from Demonic Qi in nature.
It was Immortal Qi.
The pure Immortal Qi she had kept locked away behind a dark veil now revealed itself, filling her Danjeon with elastic vitality.
Any observer would have gasped in horror at the sight.
A Danjeon is meant to hold only a single heart method by nature.
It was true that Nangung Yeongryeong had once wielded both the Changgung Great Art and the Cheonrae Heart Method, but this was a different principle altogether.
The root of Cheonrae Qi lay in Cangqiong Qi itself.
Cheonrae, derived from Changgung, could be said to stand in a parent-and-child relationship with its source.
Thus, in a single Danjeon—much as two generations living under one roof—there could be harmony without collision.
But Demonic Qi and Immortal Qi…
These two energies were fundamentally opposed in nature.
What would happen if one forcibly confined two such enemies beneath a single roof?
If they fought and shattered the household vessels, that would be internal damage; if they tore out the very beams, that would be the Demon Possession Deviation itself.
To cultivate two heart methods of opposing natures simultaneously was nothing less than an act of suicide.
Yet now, unlike moments before when her Danjeon had been filled with thick Demonic Qi…
Gwiryeong’s Danjeon now clearly displayed the majesty of Immortal Qi.
How was such a thing possible?
On a great tree beyond the courtyard of Cheon Gaekwon, the eyes of Jugok, Lord of the White Wolf, gleamed with recognition.
In a single glance, he understood the reason for Gwiryeong’s unfathomable ability.
‘The Liang Yi Gong.’
The Liang Yi Gong.
A secret transmission of the Nine Schools and One Way—specifically, the Wudang Sect.
A supreme art that allowed one to split the Danjeon and cultivate two different Mugong within a single body.
It was a divine technique of the Wudang Sect that Gwiryeong had mastered before she threw herself unarmed into the Heavenly Demon Cult.
‘The bodyguard of the Demonic Faction’s Second Leader studies Wudang techniques? Is she a spy?’
But if she reveals Immortal Qi, discovery would be inevitable. Why would she take such a risk?
Jugok pondered the mystery a moment, then turned away.
This was not a matter he should concern himself with.
He would report it to Cheonju, though it wasn’t urgent enough to warrant their direct attention.
Meanwhile.
Gwiryeong opened her eyes, confirming that the Immortal Qi had taken perfect root in her danjeon.
Within that gaze burned a clarity and stillness no demon could ever possess—a luminescence that shone softly in the depths of her eyes.
“…….”
It had been so long since she’d employed the Liang Yi Gong to replace her danjeon’s contents with Immortal Qi that even she found it strange.
‘If my lord saw this, she would know at once.’
That was when it happened.
Creak-creak.
The gates of Cheon Gaekwon swung open, and a woman stepped slowly through the threshold.
It was Cheon Hwarin.
“Ah, after moving around so much, I’m famished. Gwiryeong, let’s eat——”
Her words caught in her throat.
She had sensed it.
The foreign aura emanating from her guard.
Cheon Hwarin’s eyes grew cold and sharp.
Her gaze fixed upon Gwiryeong.
It was not murderous, but neither was it touched by feeling—a stare so devoid of warmth it seemed utterly impersonal.
That look alone stopped Gwiryeong’s breath in her chest.
Cold sweat dripped steadily down her spine, and her legs had gone rigid as stone, refusing to move.
What would her lord say?
Would she rage that Gwiryeong had been mocking her all this time?
Would she not bring down that immense Great Stone Axe upon her neck?
In truth, if she could atone to her lord in that way, Gwiryeong felt she could accept such a death without regret.
Silence stretched between them.
Then Cheon Hwarin opened her mouth, shattering that quiet.
And at her words, Gwiryeong could only collapse where she stood.
“……Let’s go eat. How about noodles? That place was delicious before, wasn’t it.”
Thump.
Gwiryeong’s body began to tremble.
She had surely noticed that the aura had changed.
There was no way her lord, no way Cheon Hwarin, could fail to recognize that what dwelt in Gwiryeong’s danjeon was the cultivation of the Orthodox Way.
Ultimately, this could mean only one thing.
“Since when…… How long have you known?”
Her voice wavered.
Since when had her lord discovered that she was a spy?
Cheon Hwarin answered at once, her tone flat and unhurried.
“From the beginning.”
“……!”
Gwiryeong’s eyes widened in shock.
From the beginning……
The day she first met her lord.
Ten years ago.
From that very day when she was chosen as a personal guard.
“Then why…… why did you……”
Keep me at your side all this time?
Why have you treated me with such kindness?
What possible reason could there be?
Cheon Hwarin crouched down before the prostrate Gwiryeong.
Meeting her eyes with quiet steadiness, she spoke.
“Simply. There’s no reason to dislike someone, just as there’s no reason to like them.”
Tears spilled from Gwiryeong’s eyes.
They say kindness without expectation of return is something only parents can offer.
But Gwiryeong had never received such kindness even from her own parents.
Gwiryeong’s true home.
The Jinryong Estate—one of the collateral families of the Wudang Sect.
The master of Jinryong Estate had deliberately set his daughter upon the path of a spy for the sake of his clan’s power.
The training used to nurture spies.
It was a process that could never be called humane.
To become the linchpin of the Murim Alliance, Jinryong Jangju had cast his own child—barely able to take his first steps—into the living hell.
Cheon Hwarin extended her hand toward the weeping Gwiryeong.
“Gwiryeong—or rather, Eun-hwa. Shall we be friends?”
Gwiryeong bowed her head low.
“I have deceived the Second Leader all this time. How could someone like me ever…”
“That arrogant bastard at the inn—well, more than arrogant, he’s just strange. Anyway, that’s what he said. That if you make up your mind, you can befriend a merchant, a beggar, a bodyguard, anyone at all. So what if the other person is a spy? Listen, I’ve made my decision. What about you?”
To Eun-hwa, to Gwiryeong, that small hand extended before her seemed like a lifeline.
A rope to pull her up from the abyss into which she was falling, wingless and helpless.
Gwiryeong knew all too well how shameless it was to take that hand.
Yet.
When she came to herself, she was already gripping the hand Cheon Hwarin had offered with all her strength.
Cheon Hwarin smiled faintly.
And then a fierce aura erupted from her.
Boom-crash-thunder!
The Blood Heavenly Qi, deepened and concentrated through the Enlightenment State, burst forth in a torrent across her entire body.
“Eun-hwa. Do you wish for revenge?”
With the whirlwind, Cheon Hwarin’s hair and Jangpo whipped about wildly.
“Tell me. Do you not desire vengeance against the clan that stole the name Eun-hwa from you by force and wasted your youth on a desolate mountain, and against the Wudang Sect that urged them to do so?”
Gwiryeong clenched her fists.
If she could, yes—she would.
After razing everything her cruel father had built to the ground.
Before that ruin, she would smash the signboard of Jinryong Estate and cry out.
Was it for this pittance that you sacrificed me?
She had dreamed such dreams countless times.
And now the opportunity had come.
Cheon Hwarin’s presence grew even more ominous.
“You desire revenge. That single phrase is all I need. Should you say it, I will at once invoke the Second Leader Order and rise up the Demon Army. I will erase Jinryong Estate from this world without a trace—and the Wudang Sect, the very lifeblood of the Orthodox path.”
Cheon Hwarin was rational and coldly calculated, yet conversely impulsive and tyrannical as well.
The moment Gwiryeong asked for vengeance, the instant she nodded her head, the cream of the Heavenly Demon Cult’s forces—the Dark Extreme Demon Army numbering thirty thousand—would surely march on Hubei, where Jinryong Estate and Wudang Mountain stood.
Wudang went without saying, but Jinryong Estate too held its name among the current Murim Alliance’s Tribute Families, a pillar of the order.
The moment the Demon Army rose, the Murim Alliance would not stand idly by.
And that would bring little benefit to her lord, Cheon Hwarin’s future.
She had risen to the position of Second Leader with the favor of the Cult Master, Cheon Ilhwi, but there were no shortage of jackals eyeing her seat.
If she deployed the Demon Army for personal purposes and sparked friction with the Murim Alliance, the factions doubting her competence would only grow.
Of course, Cheon Hwarin herself would care not one whit about such things.
But a subordinate could not simply stand by and watch.
Gwiryeong slowly unclenched her fists.
A faint smile played across her upturned face.
“My lord, I find the name Gwiryeong most pleasing to my heart.”
…….
Shhhhh.
The aura that had shaken the air around Cheon Hwarin subsided as if it had been a lie.
She gazed at Gwiryeong for a moment, then let out a soft laugh and spun around sharply.
“Then let’s go get some noodles.”
“Yes, my lord.”
As the two of them stepped out from the estate, Cheon Hwarin glanced sidelong at the distant mountains.
“That strange fellow—I’ve accumulated a debt I must repay to him.”
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“Never mind, let’s go. Besides, we agreed to be friends, didn’t we? Loosen up.”
“L-Lord, even so, how can I…”
“Friends don’t call each other lord.”
“Y-yes, understood.”
“Goodness! We have far to go, far indeed.”
And so Cheon Hwarin made her way to Marketplace Street with Gwiryeong.
And.
From a distance, Muk Yeojin, the scarred swordsman who had been watching, exhaled deeply.
“Somehow it resolved itself well.”
To twist one thread of the fated tapestry of human affairs took such effort….
No.
Perhaps the bonds between people are the most difficult riddle of all.

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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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