Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 20

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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 20
Several days had passed since the Geumsan Sect incident.
The Dokgo Family had been in turmoil. It was as if a sudden typhoon had swept through.
Jipbeop-bu Leader Dokgo Yeon-sin seized this opportunity to thoroughly investigate every organization within the Main Sect.
The Geumsan Sect Leader was punished for his crimes, had his assets confiscated, and was executed by beheading. Beyond that, regardless of rank or organization, numerous high-ranking members and section leaders, along with a few others, were demoted or forced to relinquish their positions.
Yet amid all this turmoil, the very person who had instigated everything remained utterly untroubled.
“…And so, signs of factional conflict have begun to emerge recently… Yes! From all over, they’ve been sending messages to the Main Sect!”
A gilded pig… no, Son Tae-im finished speaking as his cheeks jiggled.
“For now, I handled it according to the young master’s instructions…”
Son Tae-im abruptly stopped mid-sentence.
Dokgo Myeong was now staring at him with bright, eager eyes.
“…”
“…”
Son Tae-im felt cold sweat trickling down his spine.
In the next moment, Dokgo Myeong swung his hand.
*Crack!*
“Ugh!”
Son Tae-im, struck across the cheek, collapsed with a sound like a pig being slaughtered.
“W-why again…?”
“Our Tae-im here. It seems your mouth’s illness has relapsed.”
“I-I’m a Sect Leader now too! I deserve proper treatment…!”
Son Tae-im cried out while rubbing his cheek.
“Oh? This seems worse than I thought. That won’t do. Let’s settle this today.”
“Gasp!”
Son Tae-im inhaled sharply and threw himself flat on the ground.
“I-I’m sorry! I’ll correct myself!”
Son Tae-im shouted while lying prostrate. His speed was such that it was impossible to believe he hadn’t trained in martial arts.
‘He really is just like a pig.’
I marveled inwardly.
How could a person be so pig-like?
Son Tae-im’s form, hunched and rounded, truly didn’t look human at all.
“Mm, fine. I’ll be watching.”
“…Sob.”
Son Tae-im shed a few tears as he hung his head low.
‘I’m easily twice his age!’
Even the ghosts won’t take this one away.
So why did I have to grab the hand of this reckless madman…?
‘B-but if I hadn’t grabbed his hand back then…’
Son Tae-im swallowed hard and glanced sideways at Dokgo Myeong.
I would have been torn to shreds by this lunatic.
Son Tae-im wasn’t foolish enough to be unaware that he owed his life to Dokgo Myeong’s intervention against the Jipbeop-bu Leader’s blade.
‘This bastard… operates on a different level than ordinary mortals.’
Son Tae-im swallowed hard.
His actions were reckless and his nature demonic, yet Son Tae-im found himself sensing something peculiar emanating from Dokgo Myeong.
A cunning wisdom, an overwhelming presence, or perhaps what one might call an inexplicable aura of seasoned authority—he had felt such things from this man.
It was surely…
‘Ahem! I’m overthinking this.’
Son Tae-im shook his head vigorously.
Yet he continued to gaze up at Dokgo Myeong with an odd intensity.
And in that moment, he noticed Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleaming.
“I apologize!”
Son Tae-im immediately lowered his head.
“…What?”
“In any case, I sincerely apologize!”
A satisfied smile bloomed across Dokgo Myeong’s previously expressionless face.
“Hmm, your condition has improved considerably.”
“Ha, ha-ha…”
“Now, rise.”
“Yes!”
Son Tae-im sprang to his feet.
“You seem to have something you wish to say. Go ahead.”
Dokgo Myeong crossed his legs leisurely and gestured with his chin.
Son Tae-im opened his mouth with palpable tension.
“Ahem, well! Young Master, surely our transaction isn’t concluded yet?”
“And?”
“So now you must honor your promise—or rather, I would be grateful if you would.”
From the ledgers to the evidence, his lifeline remained firmly in Dokgo Myeong’s grasp.
“Well, that’s true enough.”
“Hehe, so…”
Dokgo Myeong nodded and spoke as though bestowing a favor.
“Leave the Geumsan Sect’s seal and depart. I won’t stop you.”
“Pardon?”
Son Tae-im’s expression went blank.
“Our agreement was only to spare your life, wasn’t it? If I spared you, then it’s finished.”
“What kind of word game is this!”
“Did you think I wouldn’t collect what I’m owed?”
“Owed? What debt are you speaking of?”
“How much suffering has the Geumsan Sect caused Saheon-gak? And the false debts, the business operations… this debt carries a steep price! Don’t merchants know such things?”
So are you a thug?
Son Tae-im stared blankly at Dokgo Myeong.
“Don’t worry. Unlike creatures like you, I have no intention of holding people’s leashes and shaking them around—nor do I want to.”
“Then, then please just let me go!”
“That’s why I’m telling you to leave. I’m not holding you.”
Dokgo Myeong said this while clenching his fist tightly.
“I’m not holding you—I’m going to crush you.”
*Crack!*
Why did the sound of a walnut shell breaking echo when he was only clenching his bare fist?
“I promised to spare your life, so I won’t kill you. I won’t kill you….”
Dokgo Myeong chuckled darkly as he muttered.
Son Tae-im could no longer think at all.
Large tears streamed down his face as he asked.
“How much… would it take?”
Dokgo Myeong grinned wickedly.
“How much do you have?”
Finally, Son Tae-im collapsed, clutching his neck.
* * *
Son Tae-im left Saheon-gak with the support of Geumsan Sect servants.
Dokgo Myeong clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“Tsk, such a fine-looking gentleman, yet his body is so weak? Collapsing like that.”
“….”
Jang Sam looked at Son Tae-im with sympathetic eyes.
Though he was once a man who tormented me, for some reason… I felt a sense of shared misery.
No, wait. Shared misery is too much.
“But, Young Master.”
“What?”
“Why did you spare that man’s life?”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes widened.
“You’re a frightening person, Jang. To speak of killing someone so casually.”
“Ah, that’s not what I meant!”
Jang Sam carefully gauged Dokgo Myeong’s mood.
“…Honestly, I thought you’d drag Sect Leader Son into this as well.”
Though he was laughing cheerfully, Jang Sam knew that Dokgo Myeong was furious over this matter. So he had assumed that Son Tae-im, who was complicit with the man who had dragged Saheon-gak into the mire, would not be spared.
Then Dokgo Myeong suddenly spoke.
“That wouldn’t be bad either, but if I did that, I couldn’t take over the Geumsan Sect.”
“What? The Geumsan Sect all of a sudden?”
“Don’t I need to collect compensation?”
Jang Sam’s eyes widened in shock.
“Surely, Young Master….”
“There’s no justification to simply take it. I need to set someone up as a figurehead, and that fool is useful enough for the job.”
Jang Sam blinked.
Not long ago, I was struggling because of debt, and now there’s talk of swallowing the Geumsan Sect whole.
If Dokgo Maek in the afterlife had known… he would have screamed.
“B-but… will it be alright? Even if we overlook Son Tae-im, if those who instigated the Geumsan Sect hold a grudge….”
In this affair, the Geumsan Sect was merely a blade.
The one who wielded that blade was someone else, but Dokgo Myeong had taken the blade away entirely.
“The more refined fellows are, the more they avoid muddy waters.”
“But… what if they don’t avoid it?”
“Then they get covered in mud. For a while, they’ll be too busy tearing each other apart to have any leisure to touch us.”
Jang Sam didn’t understand what he meant, but he nodded anyway.
“Phew.”
Jang Sam exhaled deeply and gazed out at the courtyard of Saheon-gak.
Perhaps because the typhoon had passed. Saheon-gak had returned to its former quiet and silence.
“…Why do people always itch to grab and wield those who appear weaker than themselves?”
His voice carried a hint of weariness.
At Jang Sam’s words, Dokgo Myeong’s eyes sank deeply.
“Because such people created the Gangho of today.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s frustrating. Whether it’s wealth, martial power, or authority. Without it, you can only be manipulated in this world.”
Though I had gained a new life, people still lived the same way in back alleys, on battlefields, and in the Dokgo Clan.
“Then there will be incidents like this at the Main Sect in the future too. To be honest… Saheon-gak has nothing.”
Suddenly, Dokgo Myeong grinned, baring all his white teeth.
“Of course Saheon-gak has no money, no power, and no people, but….”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed brightly.
“I’m here.”
“Y-yes?”
“If I set my mind to it, whether it’s the Martial Arts Alliance Leader or the Sect Leader of any sect, they’re as good as dead.”
“Ahahahahaha!”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Huh? That wasn’t a joke?”
“….”
“Ah, yes, my apologies.”
Jang Sam carefully managed his expression.
Then he cautiously opened his mouth.
“By the way, young master, isn’t it time?”
“…It’s already that time?”
“Yes, you said to come at the end of the Hour of the Sheep. You should head out soon.”
“Should I go to the Study?”
“No. You were told to come to the Rear Training Grounds.”
“The Training Grounds? Why…?”
“Well, that’s….”
Dokgo Myeong’s expression twisted.
Several days had passed since the incident with the Geumsan Sect.
Dokgo Wi-hak, who had been occupied with cleanup, finally finished his arrangements and summoned Dokgo Myeong.
“…Did I get caught?”
“Would I be calling you if you hadn’t?”
“…”
“I’m sorry, Young Master.”
“Why are you suddenly apologizing?”
“No, it’s just… it’s nothing. Go on ahead.”
Dokgo Myeong tilted his head in confusion, then rose with a heavy sigh.
“…Very well.”
I thought I’d overcome several critical hurdles this time, but the biggest mountain of all was waiting for me.
* * *
Dokgo Wi-hak stood in the center of the Training Hall.
An immaculate white martial robe without a speck of dust and a wooden practice sword worn smooth by use. He looked like a crane in human form.
Dokgo Wi-hak’s long hair fluttered in the breeze.
“Sect Leader.”
Dokgo Myeong swallowed hard as he called out to Dokgo Wi-hak.
“You’ve come.”
Dokgo Wi-hak, who had been lost in thought while gazing into the void, turned his head to look at his son.
“Call me Father. Today I summoned you not as the Sect Leader, but as your father.”
“Ah, yes…”
To be honest, the word “father” still didn’t come easily to my lips. In my previous life, I often called him that jokingly when told to regard him as a father figure, but now that he was truly my father, no word felt more difficult to speak.
“You understand why I’ve called you here, don’t you?”
“…I’m not sure?”
“So you’re testing my patience.”
*Creak!*
…Sect Leader?
Why are you gripping the wooden sword while speaking?
“Did you coerce Yu Guk-ju and extort the ledgers?”
“…”
“Did you have Jang Sam spread rumors and even sow discord between Son Tae-im and Dokgo Maek?”
“…”
“Didn’t I clearly tell you not to act recklessly?”
Dokgo Myeong scratched the back of his head with an uncomfortable expression.
“…How did you find out?”
“You’re not denying it.”
“…!”
No, I fell for such an obvious trick!
Dokgo Myeong immediately bowed his head.
“…I apologize.”
But even if I could guess, how on earth did he come to know such detailed information?
Then suddenly, Dokgo Myeong recalled the image of Jang Sam apologizing so readily.
‘Brother Jang…! This man! I never pegged him as the type!’
Dokgo Myeong ground his teeth.
At that moment, perhaps sensing his son’s displeasure, Dokgo Wi-hak opened his mouth.
“Just because I keep my mouth shut does not mean I close my eyes and ears as well. I merely confirmed the matter with Servant Jang. And…”
Dokgo Wi-hak began to continue but let out a long sigh instead.
In truth, he had never intended to scold him in the first place. Though his actions were rash, he understood perfectly well why Dokgo Myeong had acted that way.
But this affair was far too dangerous a tightrope to walk.
That was what worried him.
He wanted to ask his son why he had gone so far, where he intended to go.
Perhaps even the unspoken thoughts he could not hear, and many other things besides.
But he lacked confidence in playing the role of a father who would counsel his son with eloquent words.
And so…
“Which weapon do you have the most confidence in?”
“Pardon?”
“I will teach you a technique.”
Dokgo Wi-hak straightened his sword and looked toward Dokgo Myeong.
Sometimes a single exchange of techniques could teach far more than a hundred words ever could.

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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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