Return of the God of War - Chapter 63

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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 63. Is There No Trust and Loyalty?
The master’s study of Yeonghung Pavilion.
Facing Muk Yeojin, Muk Hyeonam’s tongue clicked silently in his mind.
‘Extraordinary.’
His youngest brother had barely entered his twenties.
Yet his frame already surpassed his own.
His build was neither large nor small, but beneath the martial robes, that firmness was palpable.
There was no mistaking a body honed with relentless discipline.
‘And this refined Qi….’
According to the hastily received report, his youngest brother had manifested the Sword Manifestation at the martial competition.
If so, the amount of martial force he already possessed was enough for connoisseurs to affix the designation of Jiazi to his name.
Yet what Muk Hyeonam sensed was merely a handful of Qi.
‘He’s concealing his martial force well enough to deceive even my eyes?’
He felt a chill run down his spine.
A man of Muk Hyeonam’s stature seldom believed anything he had not directly verified.
So the rumors about Muk Yeojin too—he had assumed at least some exaggeration was mixed in.
But now.
‘It seems the reports were actually diminished by more than thirty percent.’
A bitter taste rose in Muk Hyeonam’s throat unbidden.
He had miscalculated the board from the very first move.
He should have approached his youngest brother cautiously, positioning him as an equal or superior rather than a lesser player.
Muk Hyeonam rose from his seat.
He clasped his fist in a brief salute.
“Forgive me. I have gravely underestimated both you and my aunt. I offer my sincere apologies for this breach of courtesy.”
His manner caught even Muk Yeojin off guard.
By age, by position, by influence—Muk Hyeonam was a person of consequence incomparably above Muk Yeojin.
Yet he had bowed his head first, and even apologized.
Muk Yeojin’s temperament had grown coarse through his past life’s bloodshed.
If provoked, he would not hesitate to charge forward like a war-horse maddened with frenzy, heedless of retreat or restraint.
But his nature, born gentle, had not been entirely erased.
These two extremes of temperament were now woven together into who he was.
When others struck at him, he would respond with overwhelming force, leaving no room for further thought.
But when the other party bowed their head first and smiled, he knew well enough to smile back.
That was Muk Yeojin.
Muk Yeojin also rose and clasped his fist in return.
“I too regret that I could not contain my youthful passion and let it run wild.”
The corner of Muk Hyeonam’s eye twitched.
Youthful passion he could not contain?
The youngest had deliberately chosen the busiest thoroughfare on the road from Geomgung to Yeonghung Pavilion.
Moreover, he had kept his pace deliberately slow.
He had ensured that everyone would be forced to witness their passage.
Every step of that journey had been meticulously calculated.
It was a display arranged with an eye toward the moment when public opinion might prove necessary.
Formidable martial prowess coupled with unassuming humility.
An unwavering resolve to make bold, even desperate moves when the situation demanded it.
And beneath all this, a mind of considerable depth.
‘If I’m distracted by arrows raining down from above, I might well find myself skewered by spears thrusting up from below.’
A moment passed.
Muk Hyeonam produced a small Gourd Bottle and two cups.
Clink.
“Will you have a drink?”
“I would be honored.”
Muk Hyeonam filled the two cups before them.
“The fragrance is excellent.”
“It’s fine Sauce-Fragrant Wine brewed at the Shangliang Distillery in Guizhou. The aroma is rather polarizing, so I’m glad you approve.”
“The Shangliang Distillery… Is that where the master known as the Drunk Immortal resides?”
“Hmm? Yes, that’s right. You seem to take quite an interest in spirits.”
He was fond of them.
Not only Muk Yeojin, but his sworn brothers, including Cheon Hwarin, were all lovers of wine.
In truth, looking back now, perhaps they had not so much enjoyed the drink as scrambled to fill an emptiness within with it.
Muk Yeojin drained the cup in one long pull.
Muk Hyeonam’s gaze deepened.
“What would you do if poison were mixed into that drink?”
…….
Muk Yeojin held his stare for a moment, then spat a small pellet from his mouth.
“Poison-Avoiding Alcohol?!”
Poison-Avoiding Alcohol was an antitoxin in pellet form; when held in the mouth while drinking, it neutralized poison on the tongue itself.
Of course, with the Lotus Wheel at Muk Yeojin’s disposal, he had no real fear of poisoning.
But this gesture carried a warning.
A warning against any more hasty games.
“With respect, there isn’t enough trust or loyalty between us to share a simple drink, is there?”
He exhaled softly.
Direct, without hedging.
On the surface, it might have seemed harsh, but Muk Hyeonam found his candor refreshing.
At the same time, he recognized that he had miscalculated—twice now.
Muk Hyeonam set down his cup and shook his head slowly.
“Twice I have misjudged. I am still… far from sufficient.”
…….
Muk Yeojin offered no reaction to his self-reproaching murmur, only met his gaze with steady calm.
Muk Hyeonam drew a quiet breath and continued.
“At first, I tried to subdue you through force and authority. When that failed, I thought to win your favor through warmth. But… that, too, was a mistake.”
His presence visibly dimmed.
The subtle smile that had lingered at his mouth vanished without trace, and a sharp, austere composure settled over his features instead.
Muk Hyeonam rose from his seat in silence.
He straightened his robes and bowed deeply, his head lowered with genuine respect.
“My thinking was shallow, Acting Master of Geomgung. I beg your pardon for my rudeness.”
Only then did the corner of Muk Yeojin’s mouth lift slightly.
It was the first smile he had worn since entering the room that night.
Muk Yeojin answered with ease.
“I accept your apology, Master of Yeonghung Pavilion.”
“Thank you.”
Their gazes met.
A brief silence settled between them.
It was Muk Yeojin who broke it.
“Shall we not have another, brother?”
Muk Hyeonam stared at him for a moment, then let out a small laugh.
Quietly, he sat back down.
“Yes, pour another.”
The cup was filled, and Muk Hyeonam drained it at once.
A grave expression then settled across his face.
“It seems you prefer directness to roundabout talk. I’ll come to the point then.”
“Please do.”
The moment his words ended, Muk Hyeonam’s voice cut through the air.
“I… wish to become the Cheonju. More than that—I must become the Cheonju.”
It was indeed the heart of the matter, stated plainly.
When Muk Yeojin showed no immediate response, Muk Hyeonam pressed on.
“I know my own shortcomings well. I cannot match my Elder Brother in martial prowess or reputation, nor can I approach Second Sister in cunning or wealth.”
He pushed the wine bottle slowly to the side and turned his head.
“Yet if either of those two becomes Cheonju, Sadocheon will be set upon the path to ruin.”
Muk Hyeonam was laying bare thoughts he had harbored in silence for a very long time.
“My Elder Brother and Second Sister are opposites in nature, yet they share one fatal trait: he wishes to stand above all others, and she wishes to hold all others in her grasp. If either of them becomes Cheonju, what will become of Sadocheon?”
At this, Muk Yeojin’s own voice dropped lower.
“The Dark Path Dominion?”
Muk Hyeonam’s eyes widened for a moment in surprise, then he nodded.
“Yes. If one of them becomes Cheonju, a great war is certain to erupt. And it is my conviction that Sadocheon cannot possibly survive such a war victorious.”
To this, Muk Yeojin conceded the point to some degree.
The Mado and Baekdo unite without hesitation for their respective causes.
But the sects of the Huekdo are filled with individuals devoted entirely to their own petty desires.
It is why the faction inevitably fragments at crucial moments.
And why the Huekdo has never achieved unified rule in the centuries before Sadocheon.
For now, the Three Existences Under Heaven stand firm across the three camps, and so no one dares make a premature move.
But when their era fades and successors grasp supreme power, the world will surely change.
‘Of course, in the future the Yuanyin Sect will overturn the Central Plains, so the concerns Elder Brother expressed won’t come to pass.’
What mattered was that Muk Hyeonam viewed the political situation with remarkable clarity and reason.
‘I never expected my third brother to hold such thoughts.’
Above all, the attitude he showed today.
He knew how to admit his mistakes and lower his head.
Such men never stagnate—they advance ceaselessly.
That single reason alone was enough to make Muk Hyeonam worth joining hands with.
After a moment’s reflection, Muk Yeojin opened his mouth.
“So to put it simply—you want me to lend my strength to my third brother here.”
“……Your summary is clean.”
Muk Hyeonam drank a cup of cold water before speaking again.
“Truth is, if you too aspire to become Cheonju as a successor, Elder Brother and Second Sister—those closest to supreme power now—will be great obstacles. So let us form an alliance. I alone cannot manage it, but if you, Yeojin, lend your hand, we can surely play the role of Shu.”
Muk Yeojin nodded.
“The Three-Partition Strategy of All Under Heaven.”
“Precisely.”
A heavy silence fell between them for a moment.
Then Muk Yeojin gazed at Muk Hyeonam and smiled warmly.
“I accept. I’ll take the hand you’ve offered.”
“Truly?”
“But there is a condition.”
Muk Hyeonam’s expression, which had begun to brighten, suddenly hardened.
He forced a smile and spoke.
“Yes, well, that’s possible. What is this condition? Whatever my hands can reach, I will try to make happen.”
“It won’t be easy.”
“Mm, speak.”
Muk Yeojin met Muk Hyeonam’s gaze directly.
This transcended matters of succession and politics.
It was a request for the battle Muk Yeojin would wage in the future.
“A comrade.”
“……What?”
“Not an ally—become my comrade instead, brother.”
……
Muk Hyeonam’s face grew grave as he asked.
“What is the difference between those two?”
“Trust and loyalty.”
Trust and loyalty.
These were things that could not be promised, could not be given and received simply because one wished them.
Yet Muk Yeojin needed comrades he could trust and lean upon with his back.
Muk Hyeonam spoke honestly.
“……That is difficult.”
“I told you—it won’t be easy.”
Muk Hyeonam wore an expression of complete bewilderment.
“How can I give you such trust and loyalty?”
“I don’t know either.”
“What?”
“Only someone told me once—this is how you take that first step.”
Splash.
Muk Yeojin picked up the wine bottle he’d set aside and filled his brother’s cup.
Then he handed the bottle to him and offered his own cup.
Muk Hyeonam, staring at it, broke into hearty laughter.
“Ha ha ha, I thought you were nothing but a monster. But you have quite an appealing side to you, Yeojin.”
Muk Hyeonam too gladly filled his brother’s cup.
“Yes—was this someone perhaps our Aunt?”
Muk Yeojin smiled and clinked his cup against his brother’s.
“……Yes. A woman I’m grateful to, who sent me back to speak with you like this.”

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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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