Return of the God of War - Chapter 70

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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 70. The Trusted Ally.
The killing intent that Muk Yeojin harbored in this moment was no mere bluff or posturing.
He had driven her forward with genuine resolve to end Hye Rangyeong’s life.
Why had such drastic measures become necessary?
Hye Rangyeong.
‘This woman had handed the Gwangpokdan to Muk Byeongho.’
If that were true, it meant she was connected to Woneum-gyo in some fashion.
He needed to determine whether that was willing collaboration or mere exploitation.
There was no time for slow, careful approaches—no room for measured deliberation.
So he had chosen this method instead.
And the results spoke for themselves.
‘Hye Rangyeong is nothing but a puppet being used, nothing more.’
The reason was simple.
Regardless of age or gender, all humans stand equal before death, and in that final moment they become most honest with themselves.
That was pure instinct.
Especially for ordinary people like Hye Rangyeong—doubly so.
But standing at death’s threshold, suspended between life and the abyss—
she had begged only for her son, Muk Byeongho, to be spared.
Muk Yeojin had detected not a shred of falsehood in that plea.
‘A woman like that would never have knowingly pressed such a poison into her own son’s mouth.’
Slide.
Thump.
As Muk Yeojin released his grip, she collapsed limply to the ground.
“Cough. Cough, gasp, gasp.”
As she drew breath through her constricted throat, Hye Rangyeong replayed the question the black-robed man had posed.
‘Who gave me that elixir?’
She’d received it from Gyeom Jeok.
Then was this black-robed figure one of Gyeom Jeok’s subordinates?
No. If so, he would have no reason to interrogate her like this.
She tried to piece it together herself, but her thoughts spiraled and tangled endlessly.
Muk Yeojin regarded the hesitant woman and spoke in a low voice.
“It’s called the Gwangpokdan. That elixir you gave your son.”
“Gwang… pokdan?”
“Yes. Even a skilled physician would see it as nothing but a rare and precious elixir, but it is a demon’s filth—a thing that transforms people into beasts and reduces them to mere instruments of slaughter.”
“…!”
“If you had eyes, you would have noticed your son’s condition was abnormal during the final match. Had luck turned against him, he would have lost his life there and then. Because of that elixir.”
Hye Rangyeong’s hands began to tremble slowly.
The world tilted before her eyes.
“That… that can’t be…”
Remorse gnawed down to her very bones.
The son she had fought so hard to protect—she had nearly destroyed him with her own hands?
‘Because of me? Because I gave that elixir to Byeongho?’
Muk Yeojin continued, his voice resolute.
“That person who gave you the elixir—he was your right arm. For more than a decade he served you with zealous devotion. And all the while, he subtly goaded you—whispering that you must seize power here in Sadocheon to survive, to endure.”
“…”
“But consider this in hindsight. Were all these actions truly for your benefit? Did they not profit someone else even more?”
Her pupils dilated with violent shock.
“Or perhaps this occurred: the principled voices around you, those who didn’t spare harsh counsel—they vanished. Died. One after another.”
“…!”
Hye Rangyeong’s eyes snapped wide open.
Several faces flashed through her mind at once.
Suspicions she’d half-glimpsed now crystallized—not just a few, but quite a number of them.
Only now did Hye Rangyeong begin to piece together the full picture from the fragments.
A moment passed.
“Ha.”
A hollow laugh escaped her.
It was absurd.
All this time she had mocked emperors who let sycophants cloud their judgment, who closed their eyes and ears—yet she was no different at all.
Each suspicion she had half-felt before now fell into place, one by one, until doubt at last transformed into rage.
“… Yes. It was you, Gyeom Jeok.”
Flames flickered in her eyes.
Hye Rangyeong bit her lip hard and drew a deep breath.
“It wasn’t just an attempt to embezzle a few coins… He approached this from the beginning with deliberate intent!”
It must have been the same before the return.
Muk Byeongho dying a mere vagrant’s death on the streets, Hye Rangyeong recklessly raising rebellion with her insignificant forces only to be purged without ceremony—
All of it must have been his scheming.
Hye Rangyeong had played the role of a pawn, used and discarded by them.
Muk Yeojin narrowed his eyes and asked.
“You said his title was Chief Inspector Gyeom?”
Hye Rangyeong ground her teeth as she answered.
“Yes. His real name is Gyeom Jeok. Though that may not even be his birth name—in any case, he’s the one who handed me the oath.”
“What do you mean by embezzlement?”
Whatever else remained unclear, one thing was certain: this master in black also stood opposed to Gyeom Jeok.
Hye Rangyeong laid out the facts candidly.
“Not long ago, I discovered that Gyeom Jeok was secretly siphoning money from one of our business enterprises that he manages.”
“Did you confront him over it?”
Hye Rangyeong shook her head.
“We had shared a long history together, so I was inclined to overlook it. I tried to let it pass unnoticed. But there was something unsettling about it, so I began secretly tracing where the funds were headed.”
Muk Yeojin’s eyes deepened.
‘If Gyeom Jeok is indeed a member of the Woneum-gyo, he would have already sensed that Hye Rangyeong had caught wind of his activities.’
Yet Hye Rangyeong had not yet been eliminated by their hand.
That meant they had not yet begun to move in earnest.
After a moment’s deliberation, Muk Yeojin spoke.
“Where have all those funds gone?”
“Based on my investigation so far, the money has flowed into three separate locations. But it’s clear those three places funnel everything into a single destination, which I’ve found impossible to trace.”
Muk Yeojin nodded.
‘That must be the heart of their organization.’
Having swiftly decided his next move, Muk Yeojin spoke.
“That Gyeom Jeok is part of the Hidden Force I’m pursuing. Even if I eliminate him, the safety of you and your son won’t be guaranteed given your connection to them. So cooperate with me.”
The words “Hidden Force” and all the rest barely registered with Hye Rangyeong.
She had only one objective.
“I will cooperate. As long as my son can be protected. What must I do?”
Beneath his mask, a faint smile crossed Muk Yeojin’s lips.
“A wise decision. The fates of you and your son have changed in this very moment.”
* * *
After parting with Hye Rangyeong, Muk Yeojin immediately began preparing to leave the Sadocheon headquarters.
There was no time to hesitate.
From now on, it was a race against the clock.
‘I must move before they erase their traces.’
Yet he did not rush carelessly.
Muk Yeojin, as always, moved with both speed and composure.
He donned the Yongho’s Armor beneath his outer robe and bound the Heuk Ya Sword firmly at his waist.
Finally, he left behind letters.
The recipient was his mother.
And Pi Yangcheon.
‘Now that Hye Rangyeong’s role as a discarded pawn of the Woneum-gyo has been revealed, it’s clear that my master is indeed uninvolved with them.’
If Pi Yangcheon were truly connected to the Woneum-gyo, why would he cast out Hye Rangyeong?
‘There would be no reason. He wouldn’t have stepped down as Gungju or accepted me as his disciple.’
Rather, he would have protected Hye Rangyeong and allowed her to wield greater power, enlarging the organization’s body.
‘That way, they too could hide themselves behind Hye Rangyeong.’
By inference, Pi Yangcheon’s departure played a role in the reason for Hye Rangyeong’s abandonment.
‘In their eyes, Hye Rangyeong and my master were as one.’
But Pi Yangcheon turned his back on her and instead stood at Muk Yeojin’s side.
It was the moment Hye Rangyeong’s value halved in Gyeom Jeok’s estimation.
It must have been one of the decisive factors that led them to abandon her.
Tracing back the origin of all these chains of causation,
Everything had been set in motion by that small quarrel with Muk Byeongho on the first day of the return.
‘That slight breeze from that day has, by today, become a typhoon that sweeps across the land.’
Having finished his preparations, Muk Yeojin departed without hesitation.
His form kicked off the ground and shot skyward.
A western breeze whispered past, and a dark shadow cleaved the night sky.
Whoosh.
Muk Yeojin had become a gust of rapid wind itself, moving with blinding speed.
Even as he moved, his mind churned with purpose.
‘Donglim Trading Post, Manseong Pawnshop, Goyang Tower.’
Three enterprises where the embezzled funds had flowed in.
On the surface, they seemed to have no connection whatsoever, yet there was a common thread that bound them.
All three were businesses rooted in Junggyeong.
Muk Yeojin’s plan was deceptively simple.
‘Infiltrate all three enterprises and extract their secrets.’
If it involved the Dark Hand of Woneum-gyo, then each business would certainly be handling it with the utmost secrecy.
‘But if I examine this matter from multiple angles rather than just one, I can surely grasp the truth beneath it all.’
Yet there was one critical flaw in this plan.
‘If they discover even one intruder at a single location, they’ll certainly take measures. I’m sure of it.’
And once that happened, matters would spiral into chaos—as certain as fire itself.
‘So I must infiltrate all three enterprises simultaneously and uncover the Mastermind.’
But regrettably, Muk Yeojin possessed only one body.
Even for a master of unparalleled skill.
One cannot simply divide into three.
In the end, what was truly needed
‘was a trusted companion to work alongside me.’
Not merely a companion, either.
Someone trustworthy enough to risk life itself with.
Someone whose back he could depend upon even in the face of mortal peril.
And so.
Muk Yeojin quickened his pace in search of that companion.
Bang!
Several days later.
Muk Yeojin stepped into the Samsaeng Tea House on the outskirts of Honam.
A middle-aged proprietress, neat and composed in bearing, greeted him.
“Welcome, Master. Is there a particular tea you’d prefer?”
Of course, Muk Yeojin had not come to this place for tea.
Without hesitation, he drew from his sleeve a elegant Gold Pouch along with a Silver Coin and pressed both into her hands.
“There’s no time for pleasantries. Tell the owner of this pouch that I await them at the Cheongsu Inn in Junggyeong.”
“I beg your pardon?”
The proprietress, bewildered by the sudden turn of events, tilted her head as she accepted the pouch in confusion.
Its surface, crafted from fine silk, bore an embroidered crimson demon mask in exquisite thread.
The moment she glimpsed it, the proprietress’s eyes widened as though they might burst from her skull.
“W-who are you?!”
But by the time those words left her lips, Muk Yeojin had already vanished from sight.
Only a cool breeze remained, stirring the threads of her hair.
And two days after that.
Muk Yeojin had arrived in Junggyeong and was quenching his thirst at the Cheongsu Inn.
How much time had passed?
As he gazed aimlessly out the window, he suddenly broke into a smile.
There, in the distance.
A figure whose commanding presence stood apart even amidst the throng of people came into view.
The person Muk Yeojin trusted more than anyone in the world.
Cheon Hwarin was approaching, her steps steady and deliberate.

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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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