Return of the God of War - Chapter 60

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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 60. What I’ve gained proves far greater than what I’ve lost.
Click.
The moment Pi Yangcheon slipped out of the sleeping chamber, Hye Rangyeong asked as though she’d been waiting.
“How is Byeongho?”
“With Master Gang at his side, there’s little cause for serious concern.”
At his words, the tautness in Hye Rangyeong’s expression eased slightly.
Sado’s finest physician—Gang Changchang.
While his Medical Art did not quite reach the level of a Divine Physician, he was undoubtedly a renowned healer who had saved countless lives.
“Mark my words: by the day of the finals, he’ll be back on his feet in full vigor.”
Pi Yangcheon had meant it as reassurance, but his words only drew fresh clouds across Hye Rangyeong’s face.
Five days hence, the So Cheolheol Arena finals would unfold.
Hye Rangyeong’s heart found no peace.
Muk Byeongho had returned from the semifinals bearing grave wounds.
Had fortune turned even slightly, the injury would have left lasting sequelae.
Yet still, her son insisted on entering the martial stage again.
Her fear was simple: what if he took the bout while still not fully healed? What if something went wrong?
“Forgive me, but… what are the chances Byeongho wins in the finals?”
“Hmm. Shall I soften it for you? Or speak plainly?”
“…I choose the latter.”
“None. Not a chance.”
The bluntness of it made Hye Rangyeong’s shoulders flinch.
“But… if you were to aid him… surely there’s some possibility—”
“Yeongryeong.”
Pi Yangcheon’s gaze turned grave.
“I say this not because he’s my disciple. That boy is a monster, pure and simple. I say it with regret, but Byeongho has no chance of victory against Yeojin.”
Hye Rangyeong’s eyes wavered.
“…I see.”
In truth, she had harbored much the same suspicion.
Muk Yeojin—the man who had set Sado ablaze of late.
That his strength was incomparably supreme among his peers was something her ears could not help but hear.
Hye Rangyeong exhaled a long breath.
“Then could you not convince Byeongho to forfeit? I have no wish to see him injured needlessly. If the battle cannot be won, isn’t it better to avoid it?”
Such thoughts were only natural for a mother.
But the answer that came was Pi Yangcheon’s stern rebuke.
“That cannot be.”
“But—”
“Yeongryeong.”
Pi Yangcheon’s presence settled low and heavy.
“A man and a martial artist must sometimes face battles they cannot win. For Byeongho, this bout is precisely such a moment.”
Hye Rangyeong was neither man nor martial artist.
No matter how she turned it over in her mind, she could find nothing but loss and no gain—so why pursue such a thing?
To her silence, Pi Yangcheon approached quietly and patted her shoulder twice.
“I know your heart, child. You fear for him, naturally. But isn’t Byeongho’s resolve already so firm? Someone once told me that becoming the mother your child wishes for is itself a parent’s duty. So lend him your encouragement. Support his fight.”
A moment of silence passed, and Hye Rangyeong finally nodded.
Seeing this, Pi Yangcheon smiled and turned to leave.
“If you’re still worried, find him something nourishing to eat. Let him build his strength.”
He meant tonics and restorative foods.
But in that moment, a certain object flickered across Hye Rangyeong’s mind.
‘The Spirit Medicine the Commander gave me…’
Uneasy though she was, she had made inquiries through proper channels.
It was indeed a rare, superior-grade Spirit Medicine.
The Sachan School—whose authority in poison and medicine was supreme throughout the Central Plains—had certified it without question.
And yet, until now, she had kept it stored and never given it to her son, solely because her instincts had warned against it.
Moreover, her trust in the Commander had evaporated entirely.
But still.
‘A superior-grade Spirit Medicine would surely bring Byeongho tremendous benefit…’
Or perhaps it could become a great opportunity for him.
There was good reason martial artists risked their very lives for a single Spirit Medicine.
In that instant, the image of Muk Byeongho from the semifinals flickered before Hye Rangyeong’s eyes.
That earnestness and yearning he had shown upon the martial stage—it still burned vividly within her.
“…….”
Hye Rangyeong stood in silence for a long time, and finally, the next day.
She took up the wooden box where the Spirit Medicine was stored and made her way to Muk Byeongho’s sleeping chamber.
* * *
“You’ve really made a mess of things.”
“My apologies, Commander.”
Hosung Brigade Commander I Gwang clicked his tongue at the sight of I Muha bowing his head with unruffled composure.
What was the point in berating a man who clearly knew his own fault yet committed the offense anyway?
A sigh escaped unbidden.
A tame cat climbs onto the hearth before you know it.
The man he’d thought was decent compared to the others had done something far worse than even the basest of them—it was enough to make his breath come in short gasps.
How was it that all his brigade members were cut from the same cloth?
“Now what do you intend to do? That arena was packed with genuine masters beside whom I amount to nothing. Unless their eyes are mere knotholes, they couldn’t possibly have missed that your bout with So Nachal was irregular.”
I Muha nodded.
“I understand fully. But… when else would I have the chance to face you again? If not for this, I would likely have spent my whole life unable to offer even a shred of atonement to my aunt and to you.”
“Why would you—!”
Why were you, who bore no part of that transgression, acting as though you could atone for it?
I Gwang swallowed the words that had risen to his throat.
There was no use. I Muha was the sort of man who would do this.
I Gwang’s eyes deepened.
“Do you understand how grave a crime it is to leak Family Martial Arts to an outsider, regardless of circumstances? Avoiding capital punishment is not the end of it. With your limb meridians severed and your Danjeon sealed, you’d spend decades locked in the prison tower!”
“……I have made my peace with that.”
His voice trembled faintly as he spoke those words of resolve.
Of course it would.
I Muha.
He was scarcely past the middle of his twenties.
For a young swordsman with a brilliant future stretching out before him, his life ending now—how could he not be afraid?
“Upon my return to the Alliance, I will resign my post so that no embers of this matter touch you or the brigade.”
Then he would.
“You bastard!!”
A thunder-crack of a roar erupted.
I Muha’s body stiffened.
“Is the Hosung Brigade worth so little to you?!”
Sparks flew from I Gwang’s eyes.
“Do we strike you as beasts who would abandon our own to avoid a scratch?”
I Muha felt something catch in his chest.
Each word he spoke was like a pickaxe carving into his heart.
“You are not only a member of the Nangung household—you are a member of the Hosung Brigade that I command. Should anyone dare to persecute one of my men, I will draw my sword and call the duel protocol, no matter who they are! Even if it means standing against the entire Namgung Clan!”
“But Commander—”
“Enough.”
I Gwang’s expression softened slightly.
“The others feel the same way. Isn’t that right, you troublemakers!”
“Yes, sir! That’s right, sir!!”
With a hearty chorus of assent, the Hosung Brigade members who had been hiding behind the wall suddenly emerged.
Emotion welled up in I Muha’s eyes.
“Vice Commander, brothers…….”
Vice Commander Do Pyeongsu sauntered over and jabbed his shoulder playfully.
“Well, well, you cunning thing. You went and pulled such a clever stunt without us knowing?”
Following his lead, all the members came forward and added their own remarks.
A torrent of censure and blame-laden curses rained down, but I Muha understood full well what lay beneath those words.
I Muha bowed his head in silence.
At the sight of their warm camaraderie, I Gwang smiled contentedly.
To guard these reckless, unprepared ruffians.
‘That is precisely my role.’
I Gwang’s expression grew stern again.
“Alright, you lot! We’re done here. Get ready to move out. We depart in one hour. A hell of a training regimen awaits us on the road, so steel yourselves!”
“Yes, Commander!”
As the disciplined brigade members began efficiently gathering their belongings.
Whistle!
A flying dagger streaked toward I Muha.
The flying dagger carried barely any force behind it.
Clang!
I Muha caught it effortlessly, tilting his head with a puzzled expression.
“A letter?”
A scrap of paper was bound to the tip of the dagger.
After reading the single brief line written on the letter, I Muha’s face broke into a radiant smile.
‘So I’ve gained a good brother. On balance, this incident has brought me far more than it’s taken away.’
Should you ever need assistance, please do not hesitate to send word to me at any time.
Muk Yeojin, respectfully submitted.
* * *
Muk Yeojin watched the delegation from the Jeongdo Martial Alliance depart Sadocheon before returning to his quarters.
“I Gwang—whatever else one might say of him, he’s the sort of man willing to stake his life to protect his own. So there’s no need to worry about that boy.”
“You know him?”
“Yes, we crossed paths long ago, briefly…….”
Even as she spoke, his mother’s gaze remained fixed on a single object.
The secret manual inscribed with the Emperor Sword Form that I Muha had handed over.
In her eyes as she regarded it, a tempest of emotions swirled and eddied.
It seemed to him like sorrow, yet also anger, and perhaps—he found himself thinking—something akin to longing.
Muk Yeojin watched his mother in silence for a moment, then spoke quietly.
“If the burden grows too heavy, come to me and indulge yourself with a little dependence. Mother.”
Nangung Yeongryeong lifted her head.
Her son had just returned to her, word for word, the very thing she had said to him not long ago.
A brief silence settled between them.
She looked at her son.
Though he was her own child, he possessed such composure and such considerate restraint.
All this time, regarding the clan’s hidden sorrows, he had never once pressed her to confess—had never pried or dredged up the past.
He simply waited.
Nangung Yeongryeong smiled faintly.
‘In the matter of maternal fortune, I am surely first under heaven. Someday…… someday there will come a time when I tell him everything.’
But not yet.
Not yet was she ready to burden her son with her own karma.
Whoosh!
In an instant, Nangung Yeongryeong reduced the secret manual in her hands to ash using the Sammai Divine Fire technique.
Muk Yeojin gasped in alarm.
“Mother, what a waste!”
“Do not gaze upon the unattainable fruit. The Emperor Sword Form is a secret art that only those bearing the qualifications of sect leader may cultivate. We have no right to covet it. Besides…….”
Nangung Yeongryeong’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Haven’t you already committed every word of it to memory?”
Muk Yeojin flinched.
“……Your intuition is uncanny, Mother.”
Nangung Yeongryeong smiled with an expression that said she knew it all along.
“But in the matter of technique cultivation, you must exercise caution upon caution, and avoid displaying it before others if at all possible.
“I shall remember this counsel always.”
Nangung Yeongryeong nodded.
“Still…….”
The smile faded from her face.
“The packs of jackals prowling about these quarters have grown more numerous of late.”
Muk Yeojin had already noticed this long ago.
“It’s a sign that the other factions have begun to stir.”
Nangung Yeongryeong nodded.
“It seems they’ve finally found their nerve. They’ve been so cautious with each other that they haven’t even dared approach directly. Hmm…… which faction do you think will make contact first?”
Muk Yeojin stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“I couldn’t say…….”
Then it came.
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap.
The sound of someone rushing urgently down the corridor reached their ears.
Bang.
The door flew open and a woman stepped through.
It was Pyo Yeon.
But her expression was far from ordinary.
Her face was on the verge of crumpling into tears at any moment.
“Oh, miss! What—what shall we do? Gam Muin… Gam Muin….”
Nangung Yeongryeong replied with composure.
“Calm yourself. What has become of your master?”
“Gam Muin has been arrested and taken away by the inspection martial artists of Younghung Pavilion.”
In that instant, the gazes of Muk Yeojin and Nangung Yeongryeong met.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
“They say even tigers come running at the mention of their name. So it seems you were the first to make your move after 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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