Dokmaeuiseon - Chapter 163

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 163

 

Outside was indeed bustling.

 

There was no way he, who had become the Guild Leader, wouldn’t notice.

 

“How unnecessarily noisy.”

 

He replied as if finding it absurd.

 

“Noisy? You think you can just casually call this noisy and brush it off?”

 

“Then what do you want me to do?”

 

“Listen. Those are all sounds of people leaving.”

 

“Leaving where?”

 

“Where else. Our Golden Tiger Gang! They’re not even leaving secretly, they’re openly declaring they’re abandoning the Golden Tiger Gang.”

 

“Well then. At least the food expenses will be less.”

 

“Stop talking nonsense! Doesn’t this mean our Golden Tiger Gang’s prestige has fallen?”

 

“Hehehe… So what if that prestige falls.”

 

“Hah…! We’ll be ruined at this rate! Several places are already saying they’ll go independent. Especially the Donghwa Guild!”

 

“That guy is quite cunning, isn’t he? I didn’t know he’d switch sides this quickly!”

 

“No, please! Stop with the thoughtless talk!”

 

The Vice Guild Master’s eyes turned cold.

 

At this, he who had become the Guild Leader only chuckled.

 

The moment the Guild Leader, who served as the focal point, disappeared, it was natural for this situation to collapse.

 

Originally, those called Unorthodox Sect Members were bound to change depending on who stood above them.

 

‘Why can’t he understand that.’

 

What could he do.

 

He had to point out what the other couldn’t grasp.

 

The Guild Leader thought this and spoke.

 

“There’s no particular need to catch those idiots running away now.”

 

“What are you saying?”

 

“I’m saying nothing will change even if we catch them now.”

 

“Hmm…?”

 

“In the end, dying is the same. Whether they scatter and die, or gather and die all at once!”

 

His voice was low but filled with conviction.

 

“Anyway, if they leave our gang, they’ll die. But we won’t die.”

 

“What nonsense are you talking? Earlier you said everyone would die?”

 

“Physician Sage. If he wants us dead, we’ll die. That won’t change.”

 

“So you’re saying Physician Sage doesn’t want our deaths? That means he’ll leave us alone?”

 

“Right. Still don’t get it? I mentioned the game earlier, didn’t I?”

 

“Game?”

 

“Right. Game! The reason that Physician Sage didn’t cut me down is obvious. He left me here to serve as a focal point.”

 

“So if they leave, they die, but if they stay here, they live?”

 

“Right. So even if we leave them alone, they’re bound to return anyway. When they think they’ll die if they leave, they’ll come back.”

 

The Vice Guild Master slowly closed his eyes.

 

Then he opened them again and answered.

 

“By the way, the reason Physician Sage spared us wasn’t out of mercy or any sympathy.”

 

“Then?”

 

“You said it earlier. That he set up a game. With us in that game, would the Golden Tiger Gang collapse?”

 

“My goodness. How nice it must be for someone of Guild Leader rank to say such things directly.”

 

“What if it’s not nice? If I get worked up here, I’m the only one who loses, aren’t I.”

 

What saved the Golden Tiger Gang.

 

In the end, it was only because he, the Guild Leader, needed to stay alive for Physician Sage to easily manipulate the game.

 

That’s right. It was because of necessity.

 

There was no other reason.

 

That was reality.

 

He tried gritting his teeth at this, but reality didn’t change.

 

“…So then, what should we do from now on?”

 

“We need to draw a line first.”

 

His voice sank low.

 

“What kind of line?”

 

“A line that we will never defy him.”

 

“No, what… You’re openly choosing humiliation!”

 

“Because that’s our way to survive.”

 

“Hah…”

 

Hearing this, the Vice Guild Master tried to deny the situation and shout, but eventually realized the reality.

 

The Guild Leader, who had been watching him quietly, spoke.

 

“So send an envoy to Jung Myeong’s side.”

 

“What should we tell them? What should we use as grounds for negotiation?”

 

“What negotiation…”

 

“Then?”

 

“I told you. That we won’t defy him. We need to convey that we submit.”

 

“!!!”

 

From the moment the Guild Leader died,

 

the Golden Tiger Gang had only one choice.

 

Scatter and die, or stay bound and survive.

 

‘In the end, we’ll all die anyway… but shouldn’t we live even one more day to find a way?’

 

The Guild Leader muttered while looking out the window.

 

“We must now acknowledge that the entire game has been overturned. From now on, Hangzhou will operate according to his whims.”

 

“Hah… It feels like everything ended before it even began.”

 

“Right. It’s over.”

 

Far from a fleeting dream, the Guild Leader clearly realized that everything had been overturned before it even began.

 

* * *

 

Cheongseong Mountain on the outskirts, quite far from Hangzhou, atop a small pavilion deep in a valley perpetually shrouded in mist.

 

In the center of a room draped with black curtains, a man sat alone.

 

“….”

 

He examined the ledgers and several maps spread before him, reading the world.

 

Moving small wooden plaques to place them in Hangzhou.

 

Sometimes taking plaques carved with “Lotus” and placing them across various provinces.

 

His eyes were on the map, but his gaze lingered nowhere in this place.

 

Before such a man, a small letter was placed.

 

“Hmm….”

 

He paid no attention whatsoever to who brought the letter.

 

He only focused on the contents of the letter before him.

 

“…Hangzhou’s number one.”

 

He looked at the letter and muttered lowly.

 

After swallowing quietly, he slowly lifted the tea cup beside him.

 

The bitter taste rising from the completely cooled tea.

 

Rather than frowning at it, he felt refreshed.

 

His stomach was bitter from a bitterness far worse than the bitter tea’s taste.

 

“To kill the Geumho Faction Leader in one strike. Ju Ma-ji-sal must be the same.”

 

Tap. Tap tap. Tap.

 

He set down both the letter and tea cup, tapping the desk as he pondered for a long while.

 

His eyes remained darkly sunken.

 

“I thought he was a small thing that couldn’t even become a variable. But he’s climbed this far. He’s not one to join the grand plan… So he’s ultimately a problem.”

 

Hangzhou. Jusan Archipelago. Ju Ma-ji-sal. Geumho Guild. Donghwa Guild. Jeongjin Medical Clinic.

 

Various words flashed through his mind, taking shape.

 

“Physician Sage. Sword Sage would be more fitting…. Tsk.”

 

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. It was such a minute movement that its meaning was indiscernible.

 

He looked down at the map, calculating alone.

 

Tap. Tap tap. Tap.

 

Along with the habit that emerged whenever his thoughts deepened.

 

And so he finished his calculations.

 

“The board has grown larger than expected. So I have no choice but to use this. Though Ju Ma-ji-sal’s Blood Temple failed, if I use it in reverse, it could grow even larger.”

 

A conclusion to reverse-utilize even this situation.

 

He embraced that conclusion and slowly rose to his feet.

 

With the sound of curtains rustling, his shadow stretched long.

 

“I should meet the Alliance Leader.”

 

A peaceful voice as if going for a stroll.

 

His eyes revealed along with it were cold and quiet. An expression as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

 

The pavilion’s silence stretched long.

 

* * *

 

At the medical clinic, silence was utterly impossible to find.

 

People swarmed there day after day.

 

“Patient? No. Your body is healthy.”

 

“I… came to see the Physician Sage.”

 

“If you want to see the Physician Sage, you shouldn’t have come here, but should have visited through another door. Don’t you know?”

 

“That place is already packed with people too….”

 

“Shall I make it so you can’t enter the medical clinic at all?”

 

“…I’m sorry.”

 

“Get lost.”

 

Those trying to set foot in the medical clinic using even shallow tricks overflowed.

 

The door where people formally sought him was even worse.

 

“They say they wish to see the Physician Sage.”

 

“Ask them.”

 

“Chief Manager. An envoy has come from a sect in Anhui.”

 

“Where did they say?”

 

“I… I’m sorry. I’ve heard so many places.”

 

“At least write them down.”

 

“Yes!”

 

Countless people sought him, whether individuals or sects.

 

Meanwhile, what was surprising was something else.

 

“I’ve come from the Geumho Guild.”

 

“What?”

 

The Geumho Faction Leader.

 

He moved quickly.

 

“A chief manager from the Geumho Guild has come. He says he brought a letter from the new Guild Leader.”

 

Even the Chief Manager found it difficult to know what the letter’s contents were.

 

However, one thing was certain.

 

That the Geumho Guild would no longer oppose the Physician Sage.

 

Not a single person among those present didn’t know that it would be filled with content for his benefit.

 

Therefore, the Chief Manager didn’t speak at length either.

 

“I’ll deliver it well, so tell them to just leave the letter and go for now.”

 

It would be fine to just leave it and go.

 

‘To think there would come a day to receive a letter from that Geumho Guild… Hehe. What a thing to see after living so long in this world.’

 

Manager Jang, the chief manager, inwardly found this situation truly absurd.

 

Until just recently, they had to bow their heads even when martial artists from Donghwa Guild, which was under Geumho Guild, passed by.

 

Could he have ever imagined a situation would come where he could tell someone of chief manager rank to just leave their letter and go?

 

‘In the past, this would have been unthinkable…’

 

Since he was handling this so naturally, even he couldn’t help but find it absurd.

 

However, the other party still seemed unaware of their place.

 

“I told him that, but he insists he must see the physician before leaving.”

 

“Good heavens…!”

 

The chief manager insists he must deliver the letter.

 

What could be done?

 

Manager Jang used his authority to suppress this.

 

“If they don’t even want the letter delivered, tell them not to leave it. Say that if they come out like that, we’ll refuse unconditionally.”

 

“Will that really be alright?”

 

“I, as chief manager, will take responsibility.”

 

“Then I’ll do as ordered!”

 

Besides this, many other places sought out Jung Myeong, the Physician Sage.

 

Each time, the answer sent by Jeongjin Medical Clinic was always the same.

 

Impossible!

 

They only refused.

 

In reality, he had no official meetings whatsoever after his final sparring match with the Guild Leader.

 

Making a mockery of the phrase “crowds at the gate,” the medical clinic’s door was firmly shut.

 

Nevertheless, the murmuring outside never ceased.

 

“I heard he’s consolidating the enlightenment gained from sparring with the Guild Leader.”

 

“Didn’t they say he only used one move?”

 

“That’s right. But skilled martial artists are different, aren’t they? There must be depth contained in that one move!”

 

“From what I heard, that’s not it. When super peak level fighters battle, they spend days just circulating their energy. They say it’s because of that.”

 

Various plausible speculations circulated.

 

However, the truth was different.

 

* * *

 

That night.

 

The medical clinic’s backyard.

 

When it became a quiet time without a single sign of human presence.

 

Jung Myeong was alone, climbing over the wall.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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