Dokmaeuiseon - Chapter 174

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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 174

There’s a scheme in between.

The problem is I don’t know what that scheme is.

Anyway, this letter was brought by none other than the Provincial Commander’s adjutant.

“In any case, they’ve moved the government to tie the Alliance’s hands and feet.”

“Yes. They’ve made us spectators on the board they created.”

“Then what shall we do? Do we just sit and watch like this?”

“For now, we must do so.”

Anyway, the situation had turned out as Jung Myeong wanted.

With this, the Martial Arts Alliance had no choice but to exercise restraint.

One might say they were bound by just one letter from a Provincial Commander.

‘The Hangzhou Provincial Commander isn’t someone who ends as just a Provincial Commander.’

He’s someone who will soon be promoted.

At the same time, he’s one of the family members of a house recognized even in the capital.

And if you consider who he serves on top of that.

‘Tsk. It’s become difficult to touch him easily.’

They had no choice but to listen to the Provincial Commander’s words, at least for the time being.

Perhaps because everything was frustrating.

Jegal Hyeon narrowed his eyes.

“Since the government has come out like this, we can’t move officially. Let’s cancel the investigation team we were going to dispatch.”

“Military Strategist!”

“Instead.”

Jegal Hyeon’s eyes gleamed coldly.

“If official intervention isn’t possible, we’ll have to keep our unofficial eyes wide open.”

“What do you mean?”

“Let’s put more communication tubes into the Beggar’s Sect. Tell them to dig up everything, down to the very bottom of what kind of deal that Jung Myeong made with the Provincial Commander.”

“That seems insufficient?”

“Of course. I’ll prepare something separately.”

“Hmm… I’ll trust only you, Military Strategist.”

The adjutant withdrew, and the Hall of Martial Arts was left with only the Martial Artists.

There, only heavy silence lingered once again.

The move Jung Myeong threw transformed and struck precisely at the Martial Arts Alliance’s vital point.

With the government as a massive shield in front, he had leisurely escaped the Alliance’s encirclement.

‘The government and the Poison Demon Physician. Hmm… what exactly was inserted in between?’

Jegal Hyeon pondered the name written in the letter once more.

To dismiss him as just a physician, the picture he was drawing was too grand and meticulous, and too different from what he’d heard.

‘Perhaps everything I thought was wrong. Or even if I was right, there might be something more. Whether it’s the latter or the former, it should be interesting.’

With this, Jegal Hyeon decided to suspend all the judgments he had made about Jung Myeong so far.

Then he relaxed his expression and smiled with a chuckle.

“An interesting fellow has appeared in Jianghu.”

It was because his predictions had been beautifully shattered after a long time.

* * *

In reality, it had gone one step further than what Jung Myeong wanted.

What Jung Myeong had asked Provincial Commander Eom Maeng for was just a fair game.

‘I wanted neutrality.’

It was a request for neutrality, asking the government to maintain balance so that the Martial Arts Alliance or other forces couldn’t forcibly intervene and overturn the board.

However, the letter Eom Maeng sent was clear protection beyond neutrality.

This was one step further than what Jung Myeong had wanted.

The Provincial Commander is a cunning ambitious man.

No matter how much he valued Jung Myeong, such a man would never threaten the Martial Arts Alliance for just one physician.

The reason he came out so strongly was due to the decisive role of another letter Jung Myeong sent through the Provincial Commander.

The recipient of that letter was precisely the person Jung Myeong had treated in the Hangzhou Guard.

The future lord whom the Provincial Commander would directly serve!

Before the Provincial Commander sent his adjutant to the Martial Arts Alliance, he had secretly summoned the Provincial Commander to his location.

* * *

The well-appointed tea room he entered at that time.

Provincial Commander Eom Maeng looked at Jung Myeong’s letter while the young man watched with a smile. It was a refreshing smile that anyone would find appealing at first sight.

“Hmm. This physician is truly modest whenever I see him.”

“It might only appear so in your eyes, my lord.”

“Haha. Is that so?”

“Your caliber is different.”

“My, it seems your flattery has improved since your promotion.”

“…I apologize.”

“Haha. It’s fine. You’ll know to exercise restraint on your own.”

The young man chuckled and gave a warning to the Provincial Commander.

Then he put down the letter that had made him laugh on the table.

“Even knowing how much the military’s strength has been enhanced by the spirit medicine he created, all he wants is observation. How is this not modest?”

“Still, he’s asking for the Martial Arts Alliance’s observation, isn’t he?”

“Ha. Even so, it’s just the Martial Arts Alliance.”

“The martial power those fellows possess is real.”

“I know. However, they’re different from those called the Four Blood Alliance. They have shackles they made themselves, don’t they?”

“The orthodox faction!”

“Exactly that. So they have no choice but to follow the government’s words. As long as there’s justification. Hasn’t that physician already created that justification quite plausibly?”

“He did.”

“But whether he knows his place or lacks ambition, he only seeks to observe. Ha. The more I see, the less I understand him.”

“As those with Divine Power usually do, perhaps he’s reluctant to get deeply involved in worldly affairs.”

“For that to be the case, his medical clinic is quite large.”

“Yes. That’s what makes it confusing.”

At the Provincial Commander’s answer, the Young Man shook his head.

He too seemed puzzled by Jung Myeong’s intentions.

“Probably, if he didn’t want to get involved, he wouldn’t have started this game in the first place. He’s simply maintaining boundaries. Very cleverly.”

“When you say boundaries…”

“He’s riding the middle ground.”

The Young Man’s eyes narrowed.

Jung Myeong was clearly indicating his intention to borrow the government’s power through the Provincial Commander, but not to fall under its control.

An ordinary person in power might have found this presumptuous, but the Young Man rather liked this aspect.

“Provincial Commander.”

“Yes.”

“Do as he wishes. No, let’s do even more than that.”

At the Young Man’s command, the Provincial Commander raised his head.

“When you say even more…”

“Whether it’s the Martial Arts Alliance or anyone else, make sure they dare not touch him. He’s not just a simple physician. Isn’t he a supply warehouse that will provide the war funds and military strength needed for my great enterprise?”

“…I will follow your command.”

The Young Man had already experienced the efficacy of the True Origin Pills and True Energy Pills that Jung Myeong had created.

He couldn’t stand by and watch such talent disappear due to mere power struggles in the martial world.

‘If I can bind the Martial Arts Alliance and erase debts with just one letter, it’s a profitable deal.’

For him, this was also a beneficial matter.

“Neutrality is something you maintain toward others. For my people, I must become a reliable umbrella. Only then will he not harbor other thoughts later.”

“I will keep that in mind. I’ll convey the government’s position very clearly so the Martial Arts Alliance won’t entertain vain thoughts.”

“Good. Oh, and.”

The Young Man casually added while lifting his tea cup.

“Let’s grant that one request he wrote in his letter.”

“That one?”

“Isn’t it a letter sent by someone who’s becoming a supply warehouse? We should send at least one token of appreciation.”

“…I will follow that command as well.”

“Haha. Good.”

Jung Myeong had included a small insurance at the end of his letter to the Young Man.

The Young Man was saying to grant it willingly.

“I’ll go and return immediately.”

“I’m counting on you.”

After the Provincial Commander withdrew, the Young Man looked out the window and murmured.

“Jung Myeong, indeed, how will the game he’s created unfold? This should be quite entertaining to watch.”

The ball Jung Myeong had thrown up.

That ball was passing through a much higher place than he had thought and returning as a massive shield.

* * *

The main mountain of the Uiseon School, which prided itself on governing all medical arts under heaven.

It didn’t take long for news of what happened at the Martial Arts Alliance to reach there.

“Huh…”

“Is this true?”

“I’ve confirmed it several times on my way back.”

In the Main Hall where the gentle fragrance of medicine should have lingered, suffocating silence settled.

Along with it, cold killing intent circulated.

The complexion of Yu Baek, the Uiseon Sect Leader and Heavenly Physician sitting in the seat of honor, turned red and blue.

“So… the Alliance withdrew their hand?”

Yu Baek’s voice dropped low.

“Yes, Sect Leader. With one letter from the Hangzhou Provincial Commander, the Acting Alliance Leader canceled the investigation team and returned to an observational stance.”

The voice of the disciple making the report trembled.

“Using the excuse that the government intervened?”

“…That’s what they say.”

“A mere physician, not content with being in league with demonic forces, colluded with the government to destroy an orthodox sect, and the Alliance will just watch?”

Bang!

As Yu Baek struck the armrest.

Crack-

The solid ebony chair developed a fissure.

“Though Gosan Sect may not have direct ties with us, aren’t they clearly members of Jianghu?”

“That’s right!”

“But a heretical demon who uses poison masquerades as medical arts to toy with martial artists, and even resorts to assassination… The Alliance’s conduct is too cowardly!”

What Yu Baek said in his anger sounded plausible on the surface.

At least all those belonging to the Uiseon School agreed with his words.

However, at the same time, they all knew.

Yu Baek’s anger wasn’t simply due to a sense of justice.

They all well knew there was another real reason that touched his nerves.

“Right. What’s that person’s title?”

“He’s called Do, the Poison Demon Physician.”

“Physician Sage! Hah… how dare he call himself a Physician Sage!”

Yu Baek trembled with rage as he shouted.

“How dare a lowly bastard who handles poison dare to speak the name ‘Physician Sage,’ which is no different from the symbol of our sect? And not only that, but mixing it with the vile character for ‘demon’?”

That was his reverse scale.

The Uiseon Sect had always proclaimed itself to be the pinnacle of Central Plains medical arts and a sacred place that dealt with life.

Yet a rootless Gangho Physician had learned poison arts that killed people and was brazenly calling himself a ‘Physician Sage.’

That very fact was an insult to them.

Moreover.

“And I hear the report from the Hangzhou Branch is quite a sight to behold. The market order is being disrupted by that cheap medicine called ‘Clear Intestine Decoction’ that bastard created, and physicians from our sect are suffering humiliation? And on top of that, he’s creating suspicious medicines?”

“Yes. By bewitching patients with prices that ignore market rates, he’s painting physicians who practice legitimate medical arts as profiteering merchants.”

“He’s crossed the line.”

Yu Baek’s eyes grew coldly sunken.

“He’s a bastard who backs himself with the government, intimidates the Alliance, and even drags the Way of medical arts through the mud.”

“Exactly!”

“If the Alliance can’t move because they’re watching the government’s mood, then we must step forward.”

He rose from his seat.

“Since when have we been a place that only watches the Alliance’s mood? The power of the Uiseon Sect doesn’t come from sword points, but from the connections that link All Under Heaven and the fingertips that grasp and shake life itself.”

Yu Baek flicked his sleeves and gave his command.

“Everyone, listen!”

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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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