Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 178

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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 178
“Well then, let me organize this for a moment.”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed.
“The Moyong Family’s objective is to become the alley boss.”
What?
What kind of boss?
“Fundamentally, they’re no different from street thugs in the back alleys. They want to pressure the prominent families in their territory and become the head honcho.”
Moreover, these despicable fellows didn’t try to settle things within their own neighborhood—they even brought in thugs from the adjacent village.
Dokgo Myeong pointed his index finger at himself.
“Back then, a scrappy kid from the neighboring alley caught onto their scheme and whined about it, getting in the way. The problem was this kid wasn’t just any ordinary child—he managed to uproot several pillars of their plan.”
Dokgo Myeong looked at Namgung Sohwa.
“On top of that, he even became allies with the daughter of the family that once dominated their alley. Now the Moyong Family can’t ignore me. To become the alley boss they desire, they need to bring down these two troublemakers.”
The Cheonma Sect members nodded with peculiar expressions.
Explained this way, it was easy to understand, but it felt somewhat deflating that matters entangled with the realm’s very fate had become like a brawl between street thugs.
Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, Ye-hwa nodded and added her thoughts.
“So that’s when the adults from that kid’s household showed up. They came chasing with a switch, saying fighting wasn’t allowed.”
A moment of silence fell.
All the Cheonma Sect members stared at Ye-hwa in bewilderment.
“…Well, that’s true, but…”
Dokgo Myeong spoke with reluctance.
“Even so, you shouldn’t call me a kid, should you?”
“It seemed the leader enjoyed using the term ‘kid,’ so I tried following suit.”
“Well, yes, that’s…”
“Yes.”
Ye-hwa nodded again, then smiled as if quite satisfied with herself.
What is this girl really?
Dokgo Myeong let out a bewildered laugh and glanced toward the martial arena above.
“Regardless, I’ve personally opened this arena to settle things cleanly without further testing. Yet for some reason, Moyong’s arrival is delayed. What do you all think?”
Dokgo Ak exhaled slowly and spoke.
“Confidence, perhaps?”
“That could be it.”
Then Geum Seok-du opened his mouth.
“Perhaps they’re aiming for this very atmosphere itself.”
“This very atmosphere?”
“Yes.”
Geum Seok-du nodded.
“Though things have gone well and it’s become like a festival, an event that started during the day has stretched into early evening—the atmosphere can’t remain entirely favorable, can it?”
In truth, if we simply declared the gathering closed now, that would be the end of it…
But then the appearance would become strange. The significance of this gathering would fade, and Moyong’s justification would remain unshaken.
In fact, from Moyong’s perspective, there was no particular reason they had to appear just because Dokgo Myeong mentioned them.
In the end, I had no choice but to continue waiting. Whether I grew tired or exhausted, I remained under the gaze of the Martial Arts Alliance Leaders.
“It’s a principle found in military strategy. Exhaust the strength of the defending enemy before launching an offensive. Making them wonder, ‘What are they scheming?'”
“….”
“Despite us striking first, we’re psychologically conceding a move before we even begin. If they truly aimed for this, they’ve sharpened their blade exceptionally well.”
“What if there was simply another reason?”
“That would be ominous in its own way, wouldn’t it?”
I fell silent in thought for a moment, then nodded slowly.
Either way, there was truth in those words.
“Regardless, our objective remains unchanged. Prevent that bastard from becoming the alley lord, and beat the family elders senseless.”
The Cheonma Sect members stared at me with expressions of disbelief.
“Isn’t that backwards? The beating and the prevention, I mean….”
“Damn this guy. Now he’s spouting violations of filial piety without a second thought.”
At that moment, Namgung Sohwa, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
“Fine. But what exactly will you do if they don’t come like this?”
I shook my head.
“They’ll come.”
“….”
“As I said, their target isn’t my head but the alley lord position.”
Namgung Sohwa nodded.
“If they do come, we must be prepared. It means they’ve calculated every detail, and they won’t be careless anymore. And we still have the Dokgo Household as a variable.”
If they truly came, the Moyong Family would step into the arena wielding a sharp blade forged from deception and lies.
Could I win that battle with nothing but confidence and truth?
This fight was fundamentally different from any battle she or the Cheonma Sect had fought before.
Geum Seok-du spoke.
“Young Master. Or rather, Commander. Do you have any separate plans? When is Ju Dangju arriving?”
“I don’t know. We were supposed to contact each other beforehand, but it is what it is.”
“How so?”
“I intend to turn their own methods back on them.”
At that moment, my gaze turned toward the distance.
“Falsehood with truth, incitement with justification, and if they try to crush with force, I’ll seize them with words.”
The Cheonma Sect members followed my gaze, as did the people gathered at Dengyongji.
Clatter! Rumble rumble!
The sound of a carriage moving echoed from afar.
The Moyong Family had arrived.
* * *
Today’s encounter at Dengyongji was a truly rare event.
If it concluded like this, perhaps new history would be written at Dengyongji.
Given how martial artists loved naming things, perhaps it would be called something like “Myeong’s Discourse on the Martial Realm” or some such name?
It would be remembered as an event that transformed the brutal martial realm into something more befitting of the martial world itself.
But everyone knew.
This gathering could never have ended beautifully from the start.
Whirrrr!
The spectators, those engaged in discussion, those awaiting the martial contest—all turned their gazes toward the sound of wheels, as if by some unspoken agreement.
Clang!
Soon a magnificent carriage came to a halt, and the band of martial artists following it stopped as well.
Presently, three figures descended from the carriage.
A woman wearing a veil led the way forward.
Rustle, rustle!
The sound of her palace robes trailing across the ground echoed. She landed gracefully on the martial arena with soft, refined footwork.
“Forgive my late arrival due to unfamiliarity with the roads. I am Moryong Sohgyo, and I have come to pay my respects on behalf of my family.”
Her voice flowed like jade pearls rolling.
Every eye in the assembly—young and old, male and female—fixed upon her.
‘Moryong Sohgyo… isn’t she the most beautiful woman in Zhejiang?’
‘One of the Five Phoenixes. The Jade Ice Flower!’
Moryong Sohgyo lifted her veil slightly.
Silence fell upon the assembly for a moment.
Her face proved her identity. Such beauty made it possible.
“I pay my respects to Dokgo Myeong, the Fallen Dragon.”
“You’re late.”
“Yes.”
Her lips parted slowly.
All eyes fixed upon her mouth, and from it came a shocking revelation.
“Following my father… I came to see the merciless enemy who killed my uncle and brothers. I saw no reason to hurry.”
The crowd’s expressions darkened with shock.
Dokgo Myeong, arms crossed, observed her and the assembly’s reaction with amusement.
Whether intentional or not.
With merely this entrance, she had claimed the atmosphere of the Deungnyongji that Dokgo Myeong had controlled until now as her own.
Dokgo Myeong chuckled softly.
“Speaking nonsense from the very first meeting, I see.”
Moryong Sohgyo responded with bold composure.
“Nonsense? What nonsense do you speak of?”
“I admit to killing your uncle and cousin here. It is fact, and I am not ashamed of it.”
“….”
“But your father? I have no recollection of that. Are you attempting slander through insinuation?”
Upon the Deungnyongji, on the martial arena.
In the silence, the gazes of all the martial leaders converged.
A beautiful Moryong Sohgyo dressed in white palace robes like a goddess descended from heaven, and before her stood Dokgo Myeong in jet-black robes.
They were male and female, black and white, delicate and formidable.
Many contrasts aligned as if deliberately orchestrated.
Though no one spoke it aloud, it appeared as though good and evil themselves had come face to face.
“Martial Arts Alliance Leaders.”
Moryong Sohgyo turned her body with fluid grace, her gaze sweeping across the gathered crowd beneath the martial stage.
“I am Sohgyo of the Moyong Family. From this moment forward, I shall reveal the true nature of the Fallen Dragon before you all. I humbly ask that you judge what is right and what is wrong.”
Moryong Sohgyo exhaled silently, her eyes gleaming with venom.
‘Dokgo Myeong. I apologize to you, but…’
My very survival depended on this moment.
‘I need you to live.’
This was not a battle fought with inner strength and flesh, but rather the beginning of a war waged through slander, cunning schemes, words, and public opinion.
Moryong Sohgyo looked at Dokgo Myeong once more.
“You truly claim to have no memory of that incident?”
“That is correct.”
“Then allow me to refresh your memory. During the Anhui Blood Massacre, when the Bidong collapsed, there is testimony that you rushed toward the location where my father was.”
“I saved people there. How does merely rushing toward that place become evidence that I killed your father?”
“Because the woman you rescued and brought out was not my father, but rather some other woman.”
Moryong Sohgyo continued.
“And that woman was none other than a villainess who harbored resentment toward our main family. She was the principal culprit behind the Guhua Blood Massacre. There is testimony for this as well.”
At that very moment, someone behind Dokgo Myeong cried out in great agitation.
“Wait! This is absurd! It’s all a misunderstanding!”
It was Geum Seok-du, who knew all the circumstances of the matter.
Dokgo Myeong stopped Geum Seok-du, whose scalp had turned crimson with excitement, from stepping forward.
“Hold on, Seok-du.”
“But Master! Aren’t you furious!? These bastards are now accusing you of—!”
Dokgo Myeong chuckled.
“You’ve expressed all my anger for me, so I feel quite relieved.”
“They’re trying to frame you with these ridiculous accusations!”
Then another voice rang out through the crowd.
“Ridiculous? How is it ridiculous?”
It came from behind the Moyong Family’s group, below the martial stage.
Dokgo Myeong and Geum Seok-du’s eyes widened as they looked in that direction. They recognized the man whose voice had spoken.
The man ascended the martial stage lightly, his hands clasped behind his back, and spoke.
“What the Moyong child just said—I shall bear witness to it. With these two eyes of mine, I clearly saw that villainous wretch appear alongside some woman who was battered and broken.”
The man was none other than Hyeon Un-jin, the Single Malice Sword Elder of the Hwangsan Sect, who had been entangled in matters near Guhua Mountain.
“The Hwangsan Sect?”
“The Single Malice Sword Elder!”
The crowd gasped once more in astonishment.
The name of the Nine Great Sects carried such weight. In this delicate situation, his status sent the atmosphere rippling once again.
Dokgo Myeong let out an unexpected laugh at this unforeseen encounter, greeting him warmly.
“My, Elder Hyeon Un-jin, you’ve come all this way? I did anticipate it, but I never expected you’d arrive in the Moyong Family’s carriage.”
Hyeon Un-jin growled.
“Arrogant bastard. Your pride hasn’t changed from then until now.”
“I tend to be that way. Ah, how is your disciple faring?”
“After failing to recover his martial arts, he came down the mountain and is convalescing. But how dare you ask such a thing?”
“So he’s doing well then. How fortunate.”
The deliberately provocative tone, complete with a dismissive click of the tongue, finally made Hyeon Un-jin’s eyes blaze with fury.
“You wretch! How dare you!”
Just as Hyeon Un-jin was about to unleash his rage.
She gently shook her head.
Moryong Sohgyo subtly gestured for him to stop, her eyes signaling restraint.
Her gaze caught the murmuring crowd, people whispering amongst themselves.
‘If Okbinghwa’s father was Moyong Ryung, who was once the True Dragon Lord…’
‘They say he killed Moyong Ryung there?’
‘And if he brought that woman with him, could it be that what happened at Guhua Mountain was actually orchestrated through Dokgo Myeong’s hand…?’
Manipulation and fabrication work best when you don’t reveal all ten parts of the truth.
Half is enough. People fill in the remaining half with their own imagination.
Dokgo Myeong recognized her strategy and couldn’t help but admire it.
‘Hmm, I admit it. That was truly sharp.’
I thought she’d aim for something else, but she dared to touch the Guhua Blood Sect?
The Guhua Blood Sect was the foundation of righteousness that remained unshaken even as I built my dark reputation.
If she sent this woman specifically to target that, then the Moyong Family Head had truly sharpened her blade well.
Moryong Sohgyo opened her mouth again.
“This is not yet the end.”
“Ah, there is more?”
“Of course.”
“Then speak. I am listening.”
“…Pardon?”
“What’s wrong? If you have more to say, speak freely. I will hear you out.”
Moryong Sohgyo hesitated, caught off guard by the unexpected response.
‘Why?’
I expected him to panic or rage wildly given his volatile nature, yet he was even smiling.
What scheme was he harboring?
What did that smile mean?
Her pupils trembled faintly.

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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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