Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 337

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 337
“First, I want to establish that Muyong Tae… the current Muyong Gaju is not a legitimate head of house, but rather someone who seized the position by force.”
“…?”
“He ascended to the position without the clan’s consent. Moreover, he is illegitimate, murdered loyal retainers of the family, and unilaterally brought in outside forces…”
Dokgo Myeong’s expression became peculiar. Glancing at Dokgo Gun, I saw he too was squinting at Wi Jang-chun as if wondering what he was talking about.
‘What is he trying to pull?’
I folded my arms and fell into thought for a moment.
Wi Jang-chun and Muyong Cheol—these two had been Muyong Tae’s closest confidants.
Now those very men had not only betrayed their lord, but came bowing before the family’s greatest enemy, shouting ‘Actually, he’s a villain, and we’ll betray him for you!’—it was an absurd situation.
‘But why go through all this? We already know everything there is to know…’
In that moment, I felt my mind light up the way it had when I discovered the hidden sword manual that Geum Seok-du had stashed away.
“I don’t deny that the main house has its faults. So please…”
I leaned forward toward Wi Jang-chun and let out a sinister smile.
“Overseer Wi. Do you want to die right here?”
“…!?”
Whoosh!
Wi Jang-chun trembled in shock as a faint killing intent washed over him.
I continued leisurely.
“I’m pretty sure I warned you to choose your words carefully.”
“Which of my words offended your ears?”
“All of them.”
I turned to look at Dokgo Gun.
“Shall we leave now?”
“You don’t want to hear more?”
“I can already guess what he’s going to say.”
Dokgo Gun smiled faintly.
“That’s true enough.”
“Then we’re done. They shouldn’t have gone far—let’s hand them over to the Cheon I-gak-won immediately.”
“Wait, wait! Please wait just a moment!”
Wi Jang-chun’s face had turned ashen.
“Why are you doing this without even hearing the full story?!”
I scoffed and turned back to Wi Jang-chun.
“Why bother listening when I already know what you’re going to say?”
“The actual proposal hasn’t even been made yet!”
“Forget the proposal. You crazy…”
At that moment, Dokgo Gun spoke up.
“It’s not difficult to listen to what someone has to say. The night is long anyway—why not give him a chance to see what he’s proposing?”
“…”
I hesitated for a moment, then clicked my tongue.
“Tsk, fine. But drop the flowery language and political rhetoric—let’s be direct about this.”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes flashed with intensity.
“You’re begging for your lives by denying Muyong Tae and betraying him. That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”
“…!”
“And on top of that, you’re asking us to let the Moyong Family cling to a thread of survival.”
His directness was almost brutal.
Wi Jang-chun swallowed dryly before speaking.
“I don’t even ask for survival. Just allow us to preserve our family line.”
“And why should we do that?”
“The main family’s collapse is already inevitable. I’m aware of our position.”
The main family’s sins were known to heaven and earth alike. Wi Jang-chun had already handed over all that evidence to the Dokgo Family, and could provide even more details if they wished.
Even if they miraculously won the war, the Moyong Family had no future left.
“But in that process, your family will shed considerable blood. However, if we cooperate, couldn’t that be reduced?”
“Cooperate, you say.”
“What greater advantage could there be than an insider’s cooperation at this crucial moment before the final battle?”
“….”
“I’ll provide all the internal information you desire, including what the Jeongheol Sect and Muyong Tae have concealed—troop deployments on the front lines, supply routes, and all manner of secret intelligence regarding key passages.”
“And?”
“And if we help, after your family destroys ours, you’ll be able to seize our territories far more thoroughly and easily.”
Dokgo Myeong gestured with his chin for him to continue.
Rather than appearing arrogant, his expression created an oppressive weight that made breathing difficult.
Wi Jang-chun forced his stiffening tongue to move.
“Furthermore, if this truly ends in total annihilation, the Dokgo Family will gain the notoriety of having exterminated an entire clan. But if you accept us….”
“The Dokgo Family becomes known as a righteous and honorable house that saved a clan oppressed by the tyrant Muyong Tae. Is that what you’re saying?”
Dokgo Myeong nodded.
“So, are you finished with what you had to say?”
“…!”
Wi Jang-chun was taken aback, and Muyong Cheol’s face went completely pale.
Dokgo Myeong smiled faintly.
“One thing I understand now—you’re laboring under a very profound misunderstanding.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you really think our family would fear the notoriety of exterminating a single clan? If so, you’ve gravely misjudged us.”
“…!”
“And do you think we’d hesitate to shed blood at a time like this?”
Truth be told, he did fear it.
After each battle, whenever the commanders began with “The casualties are…,” his breath would catch. He’d lost count of how many times he’d secretly sighed with relief when they said “none.”
But fear of bloodshed wouldn’t stop him from doing what needed to be done.
“Let me be clear—everyone who belongs to the Moyong Family will be held accountable and pay the price. Do you understand?”
Muyong Cheol, who had been rolling only his eyes from the side, interjected in a timid voice.
“D-do we really have to go that far…?”
Dokgo Myeong turned to look at him.
“Many in the main family didn’t foresee things would come to this. There are innocent people among them….”
“Surely you’re not counting yourself among those innocent ones?”
“Gasp!”
Muyong Cheol flinched at the piercing gleam in Dokgo Myeong’s eyes, even hiccupping as he shrank back.
But Wi Jang-chun seized the moment and continued speaking.
“Regardless of shame, I beseech you. Please show us mercy.”
“….”
“Many of the main family’s members were helplessly exploited and manipulated by the Muyong Gaju and the fanatics of the Jeongheol Sect.”
Wi Jang-chun pleaded to the silent Dokgo Myeong.
“How could I hold those who knew nothing responsible? It is not merely the severing of a family line. I beg you—take everything if you must, but please preserve the family’s lifeline….”
“Impossible.”
Dokgo Myeong let out a scoff as he spoke.
“While your house descended into that state, you turned a blind eye out of fear. Now you claim ignorance and bear no responsibility? That’s a rather convenient excuse.”
“But!”
“There are no buts. It won’t happen.”
Once a move is made on the gambling table or the Go board, it’s finished. If you’ve wagered your family’s fate as the stakes, you must be prepared to lose everything.
“And the agreement has already been reached. The Muyong Family must be completely destroyed as an example.”
Wi Jang-chun froze.
“An agreement? An example…? What do you mean?”
“The establishment of the Murim Alliance, and an example for our conflict with the Jeongheol Sect. Don’t you think it necessary to show what happens when you ally with the Blood Sect?”
“That, that’s…!”
At that moment, Dokgo Gun, who had been listening silently beside Dokgo Myeong, opened his mouth.
“Moreover, after the war ends, we’ve agreed to divide the Muyong Family’s vast interests among the three great families. If Muyong himself remains intact, wouldn’t that undermine our agreement?”
“…!”
“Not only that, but we’ve already reached an implicit agreement with the various sects that consented to establishing the Murim Alliance. There’s no turning back now.”
He spoke the monster’s circumstances in a calm, admonishing tone.
Dokgo Myeong looked down at the two men with an indifferent expression and spoke.
“Former Overseer of the Muyong Family. From the start, you lack the qualifications to negotiate over your family’s fate. Unless you brought the Gaju’s head.”
“Ah, I….”
“Those conditions you mentioned earlier. To that extent, I’ll allow one family unit to survive by my discretion. Nothing more.”
Wi Jang-chun slumped as if the heavens had collapsed.
Meanwhile, Muyong Cheol sprang to his feet with an excited face.
“Is, is that really true? You’ll let one family survive? If you even give us new identities…I’ll do anything!”
A sound like pig squealing poured out, as if he was grateful to salvage even this much.
Wi Jang-chun watched that sordid display blankly and thought.
‘Was there never any room for negotiation or proposals from the beginning?’
But how could this be.
Wi Jang-chun opened his mouth with difficulty.
“I myself… bear responsibility as the Overseer who failed to dissuade the Gaju.”
“….”
“As you say, no one bears greater responsibility than I, Wi Jang-chun. I cannot simply escape with a single excuse of ignorance, so how could I concern myself only with my own safety? Please, if there is any way, I beg you to tell me.”
Thud!
Wi Jang-chun pressed his forehead to the ground.
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes narrowed.
“You don’t even seem to be from the Moyong Family, so why do you serve with such devotion?”
“The Moyong Family is a great house. When you count the branch families, the number of dependents exceeds ten thousand. Among them, even if a thousand were wronged, it would be a mere pittance.”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes grew distant.
They came together, yet their appearances were so different.
One rejoiced that he could save his own life, while the other begged that his life be forfeit so that the innocent might be spared.
“Hmm….”
Dokgo Myeong released a peculiar breath through narrowed eyes.
“…?”
Dokgo Gun looked at Dokgo Myeong with a puzzled expression.
The conversation was finished—he should summon Cheon I-gak-won to hand him over and be done with it, yet he remained seated without the slightest movement.
‘There’s more to come.’
The corners of Dokgo Gun’s mouth curled upward.
“I beg you, Cheonma Sect Master!”
Just as Wi Jang-chun cried out with desperate urgency, Dokgo Myeong spoke again.
“Pressing your forehead to the ground won’t make the impossible possible.”
“Ah….”
The light of hope faded from Wi Jang-chun’s eyes.
But then.
“Though, thinking it over carefully….”
“…?”
“It seems there might not be absolutely no way after all….”
Wi Jang-chun’s head snapped up.
“What do you mean, sir?”
“Ah, no. Why would there be any reason to go that far? Forget it.”
“No, no! If there is any method at all, please!”
Dokgo Myeong shook his head.
“Ah, it was a foolish thought. There is a code of honor in the martial world. This is not it.”
“Cheonma Sect Master! Please!”
“If you insist so strongly….”
A peculiar gleam flashed across Dokgo Myeong’s eyes.
“Would you care to hear it?”
* * *
Come to think of it, there seemed to be many traitors in my surroundings.
Son Tae-im had long ago betrayed the Geum San Pavilion, and Ak-i had, in a manner of speaking, a history of betraying his own father.
Moreover, had not a certain Cheonryeong General, who betrayed the Jeongheol Sect, once come seeking me out?
And now I had even encountered a traitor willing to sell out an entire family. The more I thought about it, the more absurd it all seemed.
“…Is that truly so? You’ve discovered who the traitor within the Moyong Family is?”
“I didn’t discover anything—he came straight to me on his own.”
Upon my return, I explained the situation, and Moryong Sohgyo gasped in surprise.
Dokgo Myeong stared at her for a moment before speaking.
“Come to think of it, you’re a traitor too.”
“…Pardon?”
“And you were the one who sought me out first, just the same.”
What is this? Does the Moyong Family have cursed fortune? How many traitors does that household produce?
‘No, but why do all these traitors keep flocking to me?’
With a wry expression, I dismissed the idle thoughts and gave Moryong Sohgyo a brief account of our conversation in the cave.
“Wi Suk-bu?”
“An uncle? You seem close to him.”
“Ah, he was one of the few who looked after me when I was in the family.”
“I see.”
“But…that is…”
Moryong Sohgyo’s expression grew troubled.
“He said the condition was that I enter the service of the Dokgo Family as a vassal…”
That was precisely the final condition I had presented.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————