Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 309

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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 309
The Old Physician dispatched from the main house found himself doubting his own eyes.
“Ugh, I hate this! I said I hate it! From now on, just circulating my qi through breathing exercises will heal everything!”
“Damn it, you bastard! Not a single day goes by without chaos! Mu-baek! You take the legs! I’ll handle the arms!”
“Understood.”
“Ye-hwa, bring the medicine quickly. The physician is waiting.”
“Yes, Manager Geum. But be careful—it looks like his neck might break if you’re not gentle.”
Crash! Boom! Crunch!
Every time Dokgo Myeong twisted his body, something shattered and burst. It took Cheolmu-baek and Dokgo Ak pressing down hard on his limbs, along with Geum Seok-du firmly restraining his head, just to keep him subdued.
The Old Physician exhaled a sigh so deep it seemed the earth itself might collapse.
‘Anyone watching would think we’re torturing him.’
I came here to treat him, but this scene looked far too strange.
Taking his pulse, changing bandages, applying wound medicine, administering acupuncture, giving him tonics—that was all.
‘It’s already a miracle he recovered this quickly. How can he move around like that?’
Was he even human?
Recently, all manner of rumors about Dokgo Myeong had circulated through the camp.
Some said he wasn’t human at all but a dragon. Others claimed the Jade Emperor himself, moved by the Saheon Sect Leader’s devotion, had sent down an iron man as a gift.
It was the sort of nonsense and exaggeration the frontier martial artists loved to spread, but witnessing his superhuman recovery rate made it seem not entirely implausible.
“Argh! You wretches! After all I’ve raised you, you betray your commander like this! I’ll eat dirt before—mmph!”
“Please! Anyone watching would think we’re poisoning him! We’re treating him!”
“You try it! Do you know how much it hurts when medicine touches a sword wound? And then stabbing raw needles into the injury!”
“We’re stitching the wound closed! Honestly, I didn’t want to go this far!”
Namgung Sohwa suddenly jabbed her finger deep into one of Dokgo Myeong’s wounds.
“Hack! You… you?”
“If you don’t stay still, I’ll stab again, won’t I?”
“Sohwa! You’re the one I trusted most!”
“What are you talking about? Here, bite down on this gag. You might bite your tongue.”
“Mmph! Nngh! Nnngh!”
Namgung Sohwa turned back to the physician with a cheerful expression.
“Now then, shall we proceed with the treatment, Physician?”
“Ah, y-yes, of course.”
The Old Physician approached Dokgo Myeong, stammering through words as he faced a scene of chaos unlike anything he’d ever witnessed.
Throughout his lifetime as a physician, he’d earned a reputation as a skilled healer, yet today his hands trembled.
“Nngh! Mmph! Nnngh!”
Thrashing about!
Dokgo Myeong writhed and glared at the Old Physician with bloodshot eyes.
Why did he have to open his eyes so wide? We’re treating him, yet I have to worry about future complications…
“I’m… finished. That is, I do hope you’ll refrain from treating Dokgo Myeong too roughly, considering he is a patient.”
“It’s fine. This bastard can be handled roughly. Phew, that was exhausting.”
Dokgo Ak rolled his shoulders and grumbled.
Seeing this, Cheolmu-baek let out a blunt remark.
“I thought you’d grown bigger, but your manner of speech remains unchanged. Still a young master, are you?”
“What?! You dare speak informally to someone of my household?”
“Of course not. One must show respect to their elders.”
Why were these two always bickering?
I had no idea. Nor did I wish to know.
“I shall take my leave now. I must attend to the other disciples as well.”
“Ah! Thank you so much.”
Geum Seok-du escorted the Old Physician to the entrance of the barracks.
Dokgo Myeong watched Geum Seok-du’s limping figure disappear, then struggled to his feet with difficulty.
“Ugh… Now I can finally breathe a little easier.”
“Making such a fuss about your injuries, and now you claim to be fine? Have you no shame?”
Ye-hwa’s sharp remark made Dokgo Myeong bristle.
“Hey! You all whine terribly when you’re hurt too! Ye-hwa, you were practically in tears! And Cheolmu-baek over there—with that massive frame of his, he can’t even drink his medicinal broth without help!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about…”
“That never happened.”
The managers avoided Dokgo Myeong’s gaze as if they’d made a pact.
In the brief silence that followed, Dokgo Myeong huffed and examined his managers carefully.
“Is everyone… truly alright?”
At Dokgo Myeong’s cautious question, the managers’ eyes widened.
“I mean, there are no serious injuries? Nothing permanent?”
“But we’re all seriously injured?”
“I’m asking if there are any lingering aftereffects or severed limbs or anything like that. Do I really have to spell out every little thing?”
“…?”
Everyone blinked at Dokgo Myeong in bewilderment.
Good heavens.
Dokgo Myeong was showing concern. Genuine, worried concern at that.
Namgung Sohwa spoke in a serious voice.
“Ye-hwa, go fetch the physician again. It seems the Captain’s dantian has developed a problem.”
“Let me examine him first. If it’s related to martial techniques, I understand such matters better.”
“Should I give him a piece of my mind?”
Dokgo Myeong’s expression hardened.
“Do you wish to die?”
Only then did the managers release sighs of relief.
“Ah, he’s back to normal.”
Cheolmu-baek, chuckling softly, answered Dokgo Myeong’s question.
“Enough. We’re all fine, so worry about yourself instead. You’re the one who took the most damage, yet here you are fretting over us.”
The managers watched Dokgo Myeong grumble with subtle smiles on their faces.
They all knew how much Dokgo Myeong cared for them, for the Cheonma Sect. He might complain constantly with his words, but they understood well how large a place they occupied in his life.
“Help me up.”
“Why? Are you heading to headquarters?”
“Not before I see the disciples’ faces. I can move around a bit now.”
“Rest a little longer. You still need to be careful.”
“Why should I rest when I’m the one who dragged them out and got them killed or wounded?”
“…It’s not the Captain’s fault. Why speak that way?”
“Whether it’s my fault or not, the responsibility lies with me.”
“…!”
Namgung Sohwa, who had been silent for a moment, gently supported Dokgo Myeong’s body. It had been only two weeks since he’d awakened, yet with her assistance, he could move about—a sign of remarkable recovery.
Dokgo Myeong stepped out of the barracks immediately.
‘Ugh, so bright.’
After spending two weeks confined to a sickbed, the sunlight stung his eyes.
As he slowly lowered his shielding hand, the Cheonma Sect’s encampment at the main camp came into view.
Though it was hard to tell if it was a military position or a hospital ward.
The Cheonma Sect was in ruins.
Their first proper war—perhaps their first true combat.
Was it too greedy to hope everyone would come through unscathed?
“Captain!”
“Everyone stay seated. Why are you getting up?”
“Sit down and speak.”
“Who is it? Which one of you?”
“It’s me, sir.”
It was Bang Dan-a.
Not an opponent after all. Though that one really needed a name change.
Scrape! Thunk!
Just then, Jang Han-chung thoughtfully brought over a chair, and Dokgo Myeong collapsed into it.
The disciples gathered around him one by one.
Those receiving treatment, those who had finished, those resting inside tents—all of them.
These battered wrecks of men were looking at him with sparkling eyes.
‘Still, they’ve recovered quite a bit.’
Though improved, there were more seriously wounded than lightly injured.
Excluding Geum Seok-du’s subordinates who had fallen out of the battle midway, everyone was wounded.
‘Five died.’
Dokgo Myeong gazed upward at the sky for a moment.
He had prepared better than most, but preparation was never enough, no matter how much effort went into it.
Yet still, he had saved lives and turned the tide of battle.
“All you injured ones, get ready for hellish training. Weak as you are—tsk tsk! Didn’t I tell you to train harder? Didn’t I?”
The Cheonma Sect disciples laughed at Dokgo Myeong’s reproach.
He was the strongest, trained the hardest, and was injured the most.
“But you did well. Really well.”
“….”
“We’ve saved hundreds of lives. If we count the casualties that would have occurred, we’ve saved several times that number.”
I leaned back against the support, enduring the sharp pain that coursed through me.
“Let’s take pride in this. We accomplished what even those stronger, more talented, and greater than us could not. We achieved what everyone thought impossible.”
“Yes!”
“Lying here listening to the tales, it seems absolute chaos has broken loose. Not just in the main family, but across the realm, people speak of the Cheonma Sect, the Cheonma Sect, celebrating the birth of heroic knights-errant.”
The disciples’ eyes burned brighter.
I smiled wickedly.
“But looking at you all up close, these so-called heroic knights-errant are nothing but a bunch of half-cripples barely clinging to life.”
My deliberately crude words sent them all bursting into laughter.
I laughed along with them, then turned to Geum Seok-du.
“Seok-du, bring some alcohol.”
“Alcohol during wartime? The leadership will cause an uproar.”
“If they make a fuss about it, I’ll perform a sword dance with my Hyeonchul Blade. Wait! Speaking of which, my sword! Did you recover it?!”
Cheolmu-baek let out a scoff.
“It’s been carefully preserved. Don’t worry.”
Geum Seok-du asked.
“How many bottles should I bring?”
“How much do we have?”
“That’s not important.”
What kind of answer is that, Seok-du?
“Just bring what you see fit.”
“Hehe, understood.”
Soon, Geum Seok-du returned with his team, remarkably carrying entire jugs of alcohol along with simple side dishes. No one could fathom where or how he’d obtained them.
In any case, the alcohol was quickly distributed.
I channeled my inner energy into the hand holding the bottle and spoke.
“Let’s pour one bottle skyward for those who can no longer taste this fine drink.”
Ssshhhhh!
Smoke rose from within the bottle.
The smoke drifted skyward and dispersed, and a long silence fell until the entire bottle was emptied.
From somewhere, the sound of weeping seemed to drift, yet no one turned their gaze.
“We’ve sent one bottle their way, so they can enjoy it among themselves. Now let’s stop this melancholy and have ourselves a proper drinking celebration!”
I gulped down the alcohol in large swallows.
People near the Cheonma Sect’s encampment glanced over at me.
What are you looking at? If you’re jealous, why don’t you try saving lives and breaking through the Thousand-League Net yourselves!
Anyone who comes to pick a fight will be flattened. Truly.
Thus, the Cheonma Sect held a grand drinking celebration.
“Cheonma Sect Leader.”
“Young Master Dokgo Myeong.”
As the sun began to set, several people arrived at the Cheonma Sect’s encampment.
“Oh, you all… could it be?”
“You haven’t forgotten.”
“I am Ji-eum-saeng of the Baekcheon Division. I will never forget the grace of your life-saving kindness.”
“Thank you. Because of you, I’ll be able to see my family’s faces again. I am Heo Gong-tae.”
“My gratitude. Truly, truly grateful.”
The martial artists whom the Cheonma Sect had rescued from the depths of that hellish encirclement had come to express their thanks. They bowed not only to Dokgo Myeong, their captain, but also to the managers and disciples.
“Come now, each of you take a cup.”
“But surely alcohol is……”
“If anyone complains about this, I’ll actually hold my sword upside down and use it. Unless the Sect Leader himself appears, no one will say a word.”
Dokgo Myeong had made several captains his accomplices.
The unit the Cheonma Sect had saved was not only allies. The left army had barely been touched, but the main force was somewhat entangled, and there were many units from the right flank as well.
Thus everyone mingled together, laughing heartily as they passed cups of wine back and forth.
‘In a way, it was because they were surrounded that the Cheonma Sect was able to distinguish itself.’
Then had the Cheonma Sect gained its renown through the blood of the Jeongheol Sect and the Moyong Family, or through the blood of our own forces?
‘If I had applied myself more strategically, if I had persuaded the Outer Hall Master and the Elder Council Leader, or if I had simply devised a different plan……’
Clang!
When I closed my eyes, the sound of cups clinking sounded like the clash of blades.
The boisterous chatter of the drinking gathering seemed to sound like the voices of five dead men.
The boisterous chatter of the drinking party sometimes sounded like the voices of five dead people.
‘Damn it, how pathetic of me.’
Dokgo Myeong let out a soft laugh. Seeing useless thoughts filling his mind, it seemed the intoxication was slowly rising.
Then someone spoke.
“Young Master.”
Looking at his face, it was Seo Jung-baek, the right army’s captain.
Surely this man shouldn’t be here either, should he?
“Well……”
Seo Jung-baek tried to say something but ultimately pressed his lips shut.
Dokgo Myeong waved his hand dismissively.
“Enough with the thanks. What good is gratitude spoken only with words? You must show sincerity, sincerity. Isn’t that right?”
“……”
“I jest. Do relax your expression.”
“Ah, you were joking?”
Dokgo Myeong closed his mouth and drained his cup.
Seo Jung-baek, laughing awkwardly, called out to him.
“Young Master. Or rather, Captain of the Cheonma Sect.”
“Yes.”
“I heard that the main family’s current advance on the front lines and great victory… was because the enemy focused on the right army and the Cheonma Sect, leaving themselves vulnerable to a counterattack.”
“That’s roughly how it was.”
“Then……”
Seo Jung-baek paused for a moment before speaking slowly.
“Can I believe that my subordinates, who died surrounded due to my incompetence… did not die meaninglessly?”
“It was no meaningless death. Thanks to him, we prevented even more blood from being spilled.”
“Do you think it would be appropriate for me to offer them wine?”
“Of course.”
Seo Jung-baek nodded in acknowledgment.
“I see.”
Only then did he concentrate his inner energy into the wine bottle.
The seasoned master, who had weathered countless hardships, offered the wine to the heavens.
Wisps of pale smoke rose endlessly toward the sky.
* * *
“Yes, I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Yes.”
A day after the wine ceremony.
Unable to delay any further, Dokgo Myeong went directly to find Dokgo Un-hak.

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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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