Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 133

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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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Chapter 133
Geum Seok-du was the first to react.
He kicked off from his chair like a cat and sprang to his feet, and almost simultaneously, Dokgo Ak, who sat beside him, shot up and drew his blade.
Clang! Slash!
He deflected the axe at an angle, then pivoted his sword to cleave diagonally across the assassin’s upper body.
The movement was so fluid and swift that the woodcutter left only a brief cry—”Ugh!”—before falling silent forever.
‘…Damn it, why is it always me?’
Geum Seok-du grumbled and returned to his seat. Dokgo Ak cast a cold glance at Muyong Ji before sitting down without a word.
The only changes from moments before were the acrid stench of blood and a single corpse.
Thud!
Muyong Ji struck his knee in admiration.
“Impressive. To react so swiftly! Geum Seok-du and Dokgo Ak—both of you are far different from what I’ve heard…”
He spoke their names naturally.
Dokgo Ak was one thing, but he’d just revealed that his investigation into the unknown Geum Seok-du was already complete.
Dokgo Myeong frowned and spoke.
“Your table manners leave much to be desired.”
“My apologies. But might I ask you something?”
Muyong Ji’s eyes gleamed.
“What exactly have you done to these people? Teach me as well. All four of them have their senses honed to a razor’s edge.”
Muyong Ji asked, shifting his weight eagerly as if genuinely curious.
Dokgo Myeong’s gaze turned cold.
“What would you do with that knowledge?”
“I’d like to try teaching my carefully cultivated slaves.”
“Slaves?”
“Ah, the Hidden Assassins I mentioned. I explained already, didn’t I?”
…
“Our assessments and their growth are truly different. What method did you employ…?”
“Shut your mouth, you filthy old wretch.”
Dokgo Myeong cut off Muyong Ji’s words with a sudden outburst.
Dokgo Myeong raised his voice at Muyong Ji, whose eyes widened in shock.
“Is that something to boast about? You put leashes on people and parade them around—is that something to be proud of? Fine, you can raise them. That’s the way of Gangho now. But you raise them, test them once, and then throw their lives away? And you call it teaching your slaves?”
Crash!
Dokgo Myeong slammed his fist on the table.
The table cracked and collapsed, and dishes and food scattered everywhere.
“Know your limits. Why is it that creatures like you never understand moderation?”
Just as Muyong Ji was about to respond with a twisted expression.
Dokgo Myeong pointed his finger sharply at her and spoke.
“I said shut up. Don’t move your mouth.”
…
“Wow, this old wretch actually closes her mouth when told. A mere boy says shut up and you obey, you were the victim but became the perpetrator—is that really how you want to live? Haven’t you ever thought about changing anything?”
“…This is absurd.”
“Of course it’s absurd. What does this bastard think he’s relying on? But I feel the same way. I live trusting myself, so what exactly are you relying on to live like that?”
All emotion drained from Muyong Ji’s face. As if a mask had been placed over it, his gaze grew clouded, and his expression flattened into harsh lines.
Though no killing intent or murderous aura flowed outward, everyone felt the old man’s heart fill with the intent to kill.
“Dokgo Myeong. Do you not know that the Gyeokjang Strategy is useless to us?”
“The Gyeokjang Strategy, you say.”
Expression vanished from Dokgo Myeong’s face as well.
Then a voice low and guttural as a beast’s cry resonated through the air.
“That’s something you do against an opponent you think you might lose to.”
“What did you say?”
“The moment you picked up your spoon here, you were already one move behind. And by failing to answer my question, you fell two moves behind. This is already a battle I’ve won.”
“How can you claim victory without even fighting?”
“Even if I die, this is still a battle I’ve won.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You wouldn’t understand even if I told you. How could a puppet living while dead comprehend the words of the living?”
In the silence, Muyong Ji glared at Dokgo Myeong.
Dokgo Myeong, meeting that gaze directly, soon gestured.
“If you’re finished eating, withdraw. And wait.”
“….”
“Next time, I’ll come find you.”
Screech!
Without a word, Muyong Ji pushed his chair back and rose from his seat.
* * *
Muyong Ji walked with heavy, deliberate steps, his expressionless face turned toward the empty air as he spoke.
“Have you secured the positions?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t underestimate him for his youth. His eyes—there was a killing intent unlike any other. He was one close to our side. Tsk tsk!”
At Muyong Ji’s words, the air around them rippled once.
Muyong Ji’s expression grew stern.
“Even that level of reaction will tell us much. Assess the danger as the highest level. Evaluate and proceed as if facing the Nine Sects’ elders, a sect leader of the first rank, or the patriarch of a renowned clan. Everyone, keep your wits sharp.”
Muyong Ji spoke again.
“Do we have provisions stored?”
“We’ve confirmed preparations of dried rations for approximately one week.”
“Have you poisoned the water?”
“We’ve mixed it into the drinking water as well.”
“You should also prepare the beds and the latrines.”
“We’ve installed small amounts of gunpowder that will detonate upon contact.”
“Good work. When they can’t hold out any longer and rush out, we’ll have victory.”
“Yes.”
“What about the archers?”
“I’ve stationed separately hired men in position.”
“Good. Ah, now that I think about it.”
Muyong Ji tilted his head.
“Did they have any traps prepared?”
“There was nothing.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Was it all just bluster then?”
Muyong Ji nodded calmly.
‘Unless you reach the pinnacle of the Realm of No Extremes, you’re already a dead man.’
The Dark Assassins were formidable as martial artists. Even without fighting like hired killers, they could easily erase an entire sect.
This was true even without opening the blood techniques they’d all learned together.
And yet they would fight like assassins. Dokgo Myeong’s decision not to flee from the start had been reckless arrogance.
“Tsk tsk.”
Muyong Ji gazed at the manor standing distant from the street and smiled.
It wouldn’t be bad to have one like that among his raised slaves.
“You said you’d come find me? Very well, let’s see you try. That day will be your memorial day.”
* * *
Muyong Ji let the first day pass without doing anything. He deliberately took no action.
But Dokgo Myeong and his companions would be losing their minds.
When will they come? Why haven’t they come? Such thoughts alone exhaust a person easily. Even the most seasoned martial artist is no exception.
“…or so they would think.”
Dokgo Myeong muttered, gazing at the darkening sky.
“Planning to start soon?”
Dokgo Ak asked.
“Yeah, the weather’s perfect. With no moon, the world is pitch black and dark, just as I like it.”
“…Hey.”
Dokgo Ak hesitated, looking at Dokgo Myeong.
“Are you really, truly sure about this?”
His eyes showed genuine concern, not his usual theatrics.
Dokgo Myeong let out a scoff.
“Hah, is this really the time for you to worry about me? What’s a weakling like you worrying about?”
“Ugh, even at a time like this…”
Dokgo Ak grumbled and stepped back.
Dokgo Myeong chuckled and looked at Geum Seok-du.
“Did you scout everything?”
“Yes, Young Master.”
“How was it?”
“Everything was rigged. It seems they replaced the poison with medicine and left only a small amount of gunpowder, fearing we might use them.”
After Muyong Ji left, Dokgo Myeong had ordered Geum Seok-du to thoroughly search the manor.
It seemed he’d prepared quite meticulously, as if he’d anticipated being trapped here.
‘For someone with that level of martial prowess, he’s remarkably thorough. Is that why he’s so formidable?’
Dokgo Myeong clicked his tongue.
‘A master of the Ascending Realm. To possess martial strength ranked among the top hundred in all Gangho and live like this. Truly absurd.’
I’d thought the Hidden Assassin was merely skilled in assassination techniques, but he was actually a master of the Ascending Realm. No matter how much his advanced age and rapid achievement, combined with the aid of blood cultivation techniques, could explain it—it was still an impossible accomplishment.
How disorienting.
Truly, this is bewildering.
Thinking of the Moyong Family and Muyong Ji ignited my fury, while contemplating the dark assassins forced into servitude as killers chilled my heart.
My emotions swung between scalding heat and icy cold, leaving me suffocated by a lukewarm frustration.
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes darkened with a murky hue.
So what would I do?
Destroy it all.
Dokgo Myeong surveyed the four people around him.
“You all remember what you need to do, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Of course.”
Dokgo Myeong nodded.
“Let’s tear it down.”
There were no words like “come back alive” or “don’t get hurt.”
Such sentiments were absent.
Dokgo Myeong walked toward the wall, muttering softly to himself.
“…Here I am again in this life, doing assassination work. Damn, this is really it.”
Dokgo Myeong laughed at himself and gazed up at the night sky, darkened where the moon was obscured.
The Chamma Unit was not a martial artists’ brigade.
Everyone had learned and wielded martial arts, but few could truly be called martial artists.
We were closer to soldiers.
The members, the officers, and even Dokgo Hyeon, our commander, behaved more like soldiers than martial artists, pursuing mission success rather than martial achievement.
Within the chaos of war where everything was permitted, we had to become assassins and killers, slaughtering countless lives, sometimes becoming murderers and madmen devoid of reason.
Whoooosh!
The moment Dokgo Myeong kicked off the ground and leaped over the wall, his sensory perception activated.
Numerous killing intents emanated from all directions.
The strongest presence came from directly ahead.
Countless arrows were flying through the air.
‘Did they hire archers separately? They’ve prepared well. An archer unit isn’t bad for dealing with martial artists either.’
That wasn’t the end.
Whoosh! Screeeech!
As if waiting for this moment, spear blades erupted from below the wall, while curved blades flew from both sides.
All four directions sealed off.
Dokgo Myeong stamped his foot.
Boom!
“Hah!”
Whoosh!
I swept both arms in a wide arc.
My inner force, flowing seamlessly into the Dragon Scale Palm, deflected the hidden blades and arrows without leaving a scratch on my body.
And the spear shaft flying up from below—
Whirr! Clang!
I kicked it up with the tip of my foot, then caught it with both hands in a spinning motion.
The Jahagyeol Jecheon Gi.
I could see the hidden blade assassin beneath it widen their eyes in shock.
I gripped the spear shaft in reverse and drove it downward.
Crack!
“Gasp!”
The moment the spear pierced through them, something acrid wafted up sharply.
‘Poison.’
They had prepared thoroughly. These bastards must have been waiting for me to break out.
Well, it made sense.
With their overwhelming forces, they would have been confident.
But that was their mistake. They should have rushed me all at once instead.
Whoosh!
I dropped below the wall.
Just as I seemed to land, my form vanished, and all sound ceased.
Soon, screams began echoing from the darkness.
The hidden blade assassins and the Demon Slayers shared similarities.
And one thing was certain: the Demon Slayers and I were far more skilled than them.
* * *
The man known as the Farmer among the Three Swords of the hidden blade assassins, called so by Muyong Ji, was thinking.
‘How did it come to this?’
They were clearly rats trapped in poison. The manor’s siege was complete, and all we had to do was wait for them to break out in desperation.
If they gave up quickly and escaped early?
Then it would end even faster. The difference in preparation and strength was obvious.
If they held out and defended?
Without water or food, they would inevitably grow exhausted. It was already a finished battle.
‘So why has it come to this?’
The Three Swords could not understand.
What if we had all rushed in at once?
If we had done that…
“Argh!”
Suddenly, a scream erupted from somewhere.
Not here. The man must be over there.
The Three Swords clenched his lips and spun his body toward the opposite direction.
Zing!
In that instant, I felt a murderous intent piercing from the side.
‘It’s him!’
My hair stood on end.
I threw my body to the side.
Crash!
Suddenly, a deafening sound erupted from beside me, and I gasped in relief.
Thank goodness. It was a jar. In my haste, I must have brushed it with my scabbard.
‘But why is there a jar here?’
Moreover, wasn’t that one of the poison jars we had prepared?
“Cough!”
I quickly covered my nose and mouth, leaping backward.
And the moment my right foot stepped on a certain spot.
Snap! Whoooosh!!
I felt my right foot bend sharply as I was launched skyward.
A trap. Thin wire was wound around my ankle.
Immediately after, the darkness before my eyes rushed forward.
‘No!’
I swung my blade.
Thud!
I felt contact at the blade’s tip. Not a cutting sensation, but at least bones should have shattered.
Yet the murky darkness didn’t budge an inch.
Thump. Squelch!
Then, something pierced deep into my chest and withdrew.
My mouth fell open reflexively, but no sound came out. I had been struck precisely through the windpipe connecting both lungs.
‘How is this possible?’
Had he anticipated my movements and prepared this snare beforehand?
No, he had lured me here deliberately.
‘This isn’t a martial artist’s method—it’s an assassin’s technique….’
Feeling blood trickling up my throat, I stared into the darkness.
Dokgo Myeong, gripping his fractured forearm, blazed with cold, piercing eyes.
“Don’t feel lonely. There are still many companions waiting for you.”
Dokgo Myeong smiled coldly and melted back into the darkness.
* * *
“…What did you say?”
“Three, Six, Eleven, and Fifteen have been found dead.”
“Seven has just been confirmed dead as well.”
Muyong Ji’s eyes flashed.
“We only just saw the arrows being fired, and you’re telling me five died in that instant? How could you let this happen!”
As Muyong Ji roared, the two assassins who reported trembled with fear.
One of them spoke up in excuse.
“No, that man isn’t engaging us through martial prowess—he’s attacking us like an assassin.”
“What?”
“Glass-powder-coated hidden silk threads, throwing blades, projectiles dulled to kill the light of steel… These are an assassin’s weapons.”
“Are you saying that bastard is hunting us right now?”
Muyong Ji’s eyes widened.

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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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