Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 16

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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 16
Yu Baek-cheon let out a scoff as he watched Dokgo Myeong crack his knuckles.
‘Arrogant brat.’
No matter how old he’d grown, he was once a first-rate escort master known by the epithet “Wind Heaven Palm.”
It seemed the boy had grown cocky after recently capturing Dokgo Ak, but what was he really but a mere youngster?
Yu Baek-cheon’s eyes gleamed.
“Today I’ll teach you the vastness of this world!”
Swish!
Yu Baek-cheon extended his palm.
It was his secret martial art—the Willow Leaf Mad Palm Technique. He intended to suppress and finish it in one move without causing unnecessary commotion.
But then.
Whoosh!
His hand cut through empty air in vain.
Yu Baek-cheon’s eyes widened.
“What?”
Why didn’t it connect?
He could dodge, sure, but just by twisting his neck?
“Damn it all.”
Thud!
Along with a mocking voice, something burst against his solar plexus.
In that instant, Yu Baek-cheon felt as though someone were wringing his stomach.
“Ugh!”
Before he could even comprehend what had struck him, the appetizers from his drinking session surged up to his throat.
Yu Baek-cheon doubled over, retching.
“Damn, this is filthy.”
“Cough! I, I merely let my guard down for a moment…!”
Yu Baek-cheon charged forward with clenched teeth, flailing his hands.
But Dokgo Myeong simply shifted his steps with an air of indifference, evading every attack effortlessly.
‘Why, why won’t it connect?’
He didn’t possess exceptional footwork or overwhelming internal energy.
Then why did his attacks, infused with such power, keep missing?
‘Surely he’s not reading my movements?’
Dokgo Myeong was clearly slower than him. The difference in internal energy made that inevitable.
Yet he responded.
With each moment, he reacted appropriately and evaded the attacks.
And then…
Crack!
“Gasp!”
Whenever an opening appeared, he annoyingly drove his fist through it.
Dokgo Myeong stood at an angle, looking down at Yu Baek-cheon.
“Tsk… Lord Yu, don’t you see that further effort is meaningless? Whether it’s you or me, we’re both losing sleep over this nonsense.”
“Gal!!”
Yu Baek-cheon roared and gathered every ounce of his inner energy.
His signature technique, the Jade Leaf Palm’s Mad Wind Scattering Leaves, unfolded in a single strike.
‘He’s quite skilled at evasion! Then I’ll simply make it impossible for him to escape!’
Whoooosh!
Like willow leaves scattered by a violent gust, countless indistinguishable palm shadows flooded Dokgo Myeong’s entire front.
“Has this man gone mad? He’s infused it with killing intent?”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes turned fierce in an instant.
Uuuuung!
His surging perception pierced through the incoming palm technique.
In that moment, Dokgo Myeong extended his hand toward the descending palm shadows.
* * *
Yu Baek-cheon, watching Dokgo Myeong extend his hand, was certain of victory.
To dare meet the Mad Wind Scattering Leaves head-on. Soon Dokgo Myeong’s hand would be shattered beyond recognition.
But why was it.
Why did a chilling sense of danger creep through his chest.
“…!”
Yu Baek-cheon’s eyes betrayed him in that instant.
Crack!
Dokgo Myeong’s hand shot through the thread-thin gap in the technique like an arrow.
Crack!
The sound of something bursting echoed out.
Yu Baek-cheon felt his vision darken in an instant.
“Ugh!!”
Only after his vision returned moments later did a pained groan escape his lips.
‘How… how did he find the gap….’
It was then that Yu Baek-cheon realized Dokgo Myeong’s fist had twisted his jaw.
His shock at the unbelievable reality was short-lived.
“Ack!”
Yu Baek-cheon felt his breath catch in his throat.
The fist that had struck his jaw suddenly opened, seizing his hair in an iron grip.
Immediately after, Yu Baek-cheon saw Dokgo Myeong’s palm descending toward his face.
Smack!
“Gah!”
Yu Baek-cheon let out a single scream and collapsed to the ground.
Smack! Crack! Slap!
After that, he could only take several more blows without resistance.
Grabbing hair and striking the face repeatedly.
It was not the method of a martial artist trained in the arts. It was a technique one would see in the brawls of back-alley thugs.
Yet that crude attack buckled Yu Baek-cheon’s knees with a sickening crack.
“Ugh… ugh…”
Yu Baek-cheon gasped for breath, straining to look up at Dokgo Myeong through sheer willpower.
Through his wavering vision, Dokgo Myeong’s figure came into focus.
“Lord Yu, feeling wronged?”
“…!”
“Can’t accept losing to someone so much younger than yourself?”
Dokgo Myeong gazed down at him with perfect indifference.
Those piercing eyes felt like the gaze of Yama himself, seeing through every secret of his soul.
Dokgo Myeong continued with a cold sneer.
“You need to have some conscience.”
“…!”
“How long has it been since you faced real combat? When was the last time you trained your martial arts until the taste of iron filled your mouth?”
How could he possibly remember such things?
At this age, reaching this position, wasn’t it natural to neglect martial training?
“Men like you are all the same. You make excuses for yourselves and call it comfort.”
Dokgo Myeong released the hair he’d been gripping.
Yu Baek-cheon’s head drooped forward limply.
Dokgo Myeong crouched down, meeting Yu Baek-cheon’s gaze directly.
“So your pure desire to grow stronger through training faded into the background, and Saheon Hall—once your benefactor—became merely a stepping stone for advancement.”
Yu Baek-cheon’s eyes trembled violently.
Dokgo Myeong was speaking of his original heart. Those words flew like a hidden blade, piercing Yu Baek-cheon’s core.
Dokgo Myeong let out a derisive laugh.
‘Pathetic fool.’
Just from observing his inner energy reserves, his stance, and the fluidity of his techniques, I could tell Yu Baek-cheon had once trained diligently.
Once, that is.
Now his inner energy and techniques were disconnected, his stance and instincts utterly clumsy.
‘The hallmark of those who neglect real combat or grow lazy in their training.’
Predictable.
As the saying goes, see one and know ten—and it wouldn’t be limited to martial arts alone. His way of living, his mindset, everything had lost its original purity and crumbled.
“Nngh…”
Yu Baek-cheon let out a groan tinged with despair.
Only then did he accept it.
His defeat to Dokgo Myeong wasn’t due to luck or fortune, but simply a difference in fundamental level.
Fighting again would only result in another loss.
He had grown dull while Dokgo Myeong remained sharp. When dull steel collided with sharp steel, the dull blade could only shatter.
‘Regardless… how is he so formidable at such a young age?’
Whether he chose not to use his inner energy or couldn’t, Dokgo Myeong had subdued him without it.
‘He’s a monster.’
He’d been completely toyed with. Had he known this would happen, he never would have attempted such clumsy moves.
“You’ve already crossed a river you shouldn’t have. You understand that, don’t you?”
Dokgo Myeong’s voice reached Yu Baek-cheon’s ears as he wallowed in despair.
“….”
“But it’s not as though you have no chance remaining.”
“What do you mean….”
“Confess everything from beginning to end. Then I’ll let you live.”
Yu Baek-cheon’s face twisted.
“You, are you trying to force my mouth open?”
“You?”
Dokgo Myeong tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
“My, it seems the Lord of the Baekcheon Trading Company has a disease of the tongue as well. You don’t seem to grasp the situation.”
“What are you saying now….”
“Don’t worry. I may not know much else, but I’m quite skilled at curing diseases of the tongue.”
After all, wasn’t I the one who instilled manners even into a ruffian whom Confucius and Mencius themselves had given up on?
Dokgo Myeong raised his arm again with a refreshingly bright smile.
A flicker of dread crossed Yu Baek-cheon’s eyes.
And that dread proved fatal.
Crack!
“Ugh! You bastard….”
“Hmm? Bastard?”
“Ah, no….”
Thwack!
“Ahhh!!”
Smack!
The world spun before my eyes.
“Wait, if I move I die!? Really, if I move I die!?”
“Aaahhh!”
It hurt.
It hurt far more than I could bear.
‘These punches don’t even have inner force behind them!’
Normally I should have been able to endure this, but Dokgo Myeong’s fists penetrated unnaturally deep into my very bones.
Whoosh!
Just as the sound of cutting air reached my ears once more, Yu Baek-cheon squeezed his eyes shut and cried out.
“I, I apologize!”
“Apologize?”
“I will! My sincerest apologies!”
Pride meant nothing—I simply wanted to live.
Only then did Dokgo Myeong’s arm, which had been swinging with cruel force, come to a halt.
“I will answer all your questions… so please….”
And from above Yu Baek-cheon’s bowed, trembling head, Dokgo Myeong’s cold voice rang out.
“Yu Baek-cheon.”
Yu Baek-cheon hiccupped with a gasping sound.
“Y-yes, yes… I’ll answer anything you ask….”
“Keep quiet. People will gather if you make noise, and that’s annoying.”
“Th-that’s…!”
“This won’t do. Ah, here. Ahhh~.”
“Mmph! Mmmph!”
A cloth was shoved into Yu Baek-cheon’s mouth.
It was the moment the gates of hell opened.
* * *
“Are you starting to think this might go easier now?”
Nod, nod.
“Tsk, it seems the injury hasn’t fully healed yet….”
“N-no, it hasn’t….”
His speech was slurred from missing teeth.
“Good.”
Yu Baek-cheon, still kneeling, nodded with his swollen face.
‘This man… is a demon….’
It was truly merciless violence.
If he was going to beat him, he should at least ask questions while doing it, but this man just beat him. Even when he tried to cry surrender, even when he tried to mumble something, the cloth in his mouth prevented him from saying a single word as he was struck.
“Now let’s have a conversation.”
“P-please ask me anything.”
“Why should I be the one asking?”
“Pardon?”
“You should be the one talking. Tell me something that would interest me.”
“…!”
Yu Baek-cheon answered faithfully.
How the Geumsan Sect had grasped the outstretched hand when the Dokgo School and Saheon Hall hesitated.
How the Baekcheon Trading Company’s operations were deliberately made difficult, how the ledgers were manipulated to increase debts, how false penalties were imposed through fraudulent trade failures, and….
“Higher-ups?”
“Y-yes… it seemed there were dealings with higher-ups.”
“Ah, this damned family.”
Dokgo Myeong clicked his tongue sharply.
‘I knew it would come to this.’
Yes, before being a martial artist, this man was a merchant, so one could forgive him for thinking about lining his own pockets. His father, who had withdrawn from external affairs and lost his standing, bore some responsibility too.
But those bastards from the Geumsan Sect and their higher-ups were different.
No matter what, they were organizations coexisting within the framework of the Dokgo Clan.
Moreover, it wasn’t even a different organization—it was family. Whether faint or strong, they shared the same bloodline.
‘And they call this the greatest family under heaven?’
Dokgo Myeong let out a derisive snort.
Even beasts look after their own pack, yet here you are tearing at each other like rabid dogs.
‘The greatest family under heaven? More like a house of flour scattered to the winds.’
Thwack!
Dokgo Myeong kicked Yu Baek-cheon in a fit of rage.
“Ugh! Why, why are you doing this!”
“Just. I don’t like it.”
“Ugh….”
“Hey, Yu Guk-ju.”
Yu Baek-cheon trembled at the sight of Dokgo Myeong’s flickering gaze.
“You have a ledger, don’t you? Hand it over.”
Yu Baek-cheon felt his breath catch in his throat.
“W-what ledger are you talking about?”
“I know the nature of creatures like you well enough. You must have made a back door somewhere.”
“…!”
“Did you really think I’d back off after hearing a few words?”
Yu Baek-cheon’s swollen eyelids trembled and twitched.
“N-no, I don’t have one.”
“You don’t?”
“O-of course not. Why would I lie….”
“Really? You really don’t have one?”
“Yes, yes!”
The truth was, he did.
Just in case he was cast out by Geumsan Sect, he had prepared a duplicate ledger. After all, anyone with a foot in the merchant world knew to dig themselves an escape route.
‘But that one, I cannot reveal.’
It would expose not only his betrayal of Saheon Hall but also his betrayal of Geumsan Sect.
And then his life would be?
Finished!
‘As long as there’s no evidence, I have a way out. This affair has already progressed as far as it will, and Saheon Hall will sink into the mire anyway….’
As he rolled his eyes and steeled his resolve,
Dokgo Myeong let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“Ha… I don’t need you to tell me. I already know everything.”
“I-I really don’t have one!”
“Our Yu Guk-ju won’t do. It seems you haven’t fully recovered yet.”
“Why, why are you like this? I-I really don’t have it!”
“Yes, yes, I understand. It’s all because of your illness.”
“Huh! N-no… nngh!!”
Dokgo Myeong, looking exhausted, shoved a cloth scrap into Yu Baek-cheon’s mouth again.
Then he raised his fist and thrust it before Yu Baek-cheon’s eyes.
“I think this will make you produce that ledger.”
“…!”
Whoosh!
Yu Baek-cheon tumbled across the ground.
* * *
The hour when dawn’s pale light began to break across the sky.
Jang Sam dozed fitfully, waiting for Dokgo Myeong.
His mind refused to settle, and he’d been waiting in Dokgo Myeong’s room for hours now.
Click!
At the faint sound, Jang Sam’s head snapped toward the window.
Dokgo Myeong was slipping through the window like a seasoned thief, entering the room.
“Young Master! You really went and came back?”
“Yeah.”
Jang Sam’s mouth fell open.
When he’d said he was leaving, I’d harbored doubts, but he’d actually gone to the Baekcheon Trading Company and returned.
Soon, Jang Sam noticed blood splattered across Dokgo Myeong’s clothes in various places.
“Gasp! Young Master! Blood!”
“Oh, this isn’t my blood…”
“You beat someone up again?! How many people did you have to hit for there to be this much blood…!”
Ah, right. I never even considered that I might be the one beaten.
That’s actually a relief. It means he trusted me.
…Surely that’s what it means?
Dokgo Myeong briefly explained what had happened at the Baekcheon Trading Company.
“…You obtained the ledger? How on earth did you manage that?”
“He just gave it to me.”
“What? That doesn’t make any sense…”
What merchant would simply hand over a ledger containing evidence of their own misconduct?
Jang Sam’s eyes drifted toward the bloodstains on Dokgo Myeong’s sleeve.
“No, no. Of course that’s what happened.”
…Jang Sam didn’t particularly want to know how the secret ledger had been obtained.
But setting that aside.
‘Even if Yu Baek-cheon has retired from active duty, he was still considered a master in his own right…’
And that wasn’t all.
A trading company would have its guards, yet Dokgo Myeong didn’t appear to have a single injury.
Regardless, Jang Sam spoke with a bright smile.
“So it’s all resolved now, right?”
“This is just the beginning, not the end.”
“What? We just need to hand this ledger over to the Law Enforcement Bureau!”
“I’d sooner trust a stray cat with a fish.”
Dokgo Myeong let out a derisive snort.
“Sir?”
“The Law Enforcement Bureau reeks just as badly.”
What exactly is the Law Enforcement Bureau?
It’s a place where the Dokgo Clan gathers only the most elite, the cream of the crop—so could they truly have been ignorant of Geumsan Sect’s scheming?
Clearly, some of those Law Enforcement Bureau bastards are backing Geumsan Sect. There’s no other explanation for this.
‘Just how much did these fools underestimate Saheon Hall….’
No matter how impoverished and shabby Saheon Hall might be, it held special meaning for me.
It was where Dokgo Wi-hak, my former benefactor and now my father, resided—the one place that felt like home amid my harsh existence.
And they dared to scheme against such a place?
“Then this ledger is completely meaningless?”
“Not entirely.”
It’s still excellent evidence. With this alone, the unjust debts will be cleared, and several of them will face consequences.
“The problem is that the important ones can cut their tails and escape.”
I’d already skimmed through the ledger on the way here.
It was quite detailed, but it contained only enough information for them to sever ties and flee when the matter exploded.
And those severed tails would likely be Yu Baek-cheon, the ledger’s owner, and Son Tae-im, who handled the actual operations, while Dokgo Maek and Geumsan Sect would remain unscathed.
“So… wait, but why are you so calm about this, sir?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said we can’t arrest those bastards!”
“When did I say that? I said we can’t arrest them with just this.”
I gazed at the ledger and smiled wickedly.
It was a smile that radiated composure, as if I’d anticipated this situation all along.
“Do you have some plan in mind, sir?”
“Smashing everything would be convenient, but I’d rather not dirty my hands directly….”
I ran my tongue across my lips and savored the moment.
“Jang Sam. My brother Jang Sam needs to do something for me.”
My eyes gleamed with a brilliant light.
‘Those eyes have gone mad again, haven’t they?’
Jang Sam trembled slightly.

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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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