Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 4

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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 4
The air froze solid.
Dokgo Ak’s mouth fell open in shock, and even Dokgo Cheon’s brow furrowed.
“What did you just say?”
Dokgo Myeong spoke as though the matter were trivial.
“It seems the Family Head has already decided what he wishes to hear, so there would be no point in my speaking, would there?”
“….”
“You summoned me, did you not, Family Head? If you have something to say, then ask. I shall listen.”
At that moment, Dokgo Ak’s face twisted as he interjected.
“You insolent wretch! How dare you speak to the Family Head with such disrespect!”
“Sit down. You’re the one being rude right now.”
At Dokgo Myeong’s dismissive sneer, Dokgo Ak’s eyes widened.
“W-what did you say?”
“The Family Head is questioning us directly. Where did you learn such manners as to interrupt?”
In that instant, Dokgo Ak’s pupils trembled.
Dokgo Cheon’s lips parted.
“Enough.”
Dokgo Cheon’s gaze shifted.
The disappointment that had clouded his eyes dissipated, replaced by a peculiar curiosity.
“Myeong-i, you have changed greatly indeed.”
“Thank you.”
“Heh.”
A glimmer of intrigue flickered across Dokgo Cheon’s eyes.
“You ambushed your cousin, two years your junior, and wounded him. Do you feel no remorse?”
“No, not at all.”
A cold smile played at the corners of Dokgo Myeong’s lips.
“I only regret that I did not finish the matter before the interruption came.”
The corners of Dokgo Cheon’s eyes twisted.
An expression peculiar in some way.
To Dokgo Myeong’s eyes, it appeared as though Dokgo Cheon was restraining a smile born not of anger, but of satisfaction.
“Regardless of the circumstances, causing a disturbance that becomes the subject of family gossip is undoubtedly a mistake. I summoned you both today to resolve this matter.”
“Yes, Family Head.”
“How do you intend to resolve this?”
“I shall resolve it according to the main family’s way.”
“The main family’s way?”
“As befits descendants of a martial clan, I shall settle it cleanly with a single match.”
“….”
Silence fell.
Crunch!
In that moment, a grinding sound emanated from where Dokgo Ak stood.
“That bastard….”
At that moment, Dokgo Cheon finally burst into laughter.
“Hahaha!”
Dokgo Cheon looked Dokgo Myeong up and down as if seeing him anew.
Then, his gaze shifted to Dokgo Ak.
“Ak, remember this well. What Myeong-i said is what you should have said.”
“….”
“A tiger hunts for itself alone and does not hope for someone to bring it prey. That is what stray dogs do. Do you understand?”
He was pointing out the fault in Dokgo Ak, who had tried to shift the burden of solving the problem to Dokgo Cheon.
Dokgo Ak clenched his hands tightly, folded neatly upon his knees.
“…Yes, I understand.”
“Hmm….”
Dokgo Cheon narrowed his brow.
His expression said he understood the words, but absolutely could not accept them.
‘Still immature.’
Dokgo Cheon shook his head and looked at Dokgo Myeong once more.
“Good. Let us set the martial contest for about a month from now. Ak-i, what do you think?”
At Dokgo Cheon’s words, Dokgo Ak’s eyes gleamed brightly as he exclaimed.
“Yes, excellent. I shall do so.”
Dokgo Ak’s eyes burned with competitive fervor.
An opportunity had come to set right today’s affair. There was no reason to refuse.
‘Hehe.’
Dokgo Myeong smiled subtly as he watched Dokgo Ak.
‘Got you, you fool.’
Why would I avoid when he was laying out a stage where I could truly crush him?
With this new life gained by heavenly fortune, I have no intention of being tossed about by this and that.
If I’m going to do this, I must do it properly from the start, different from my past life.
And if I happen to beat that reckless bastard to a pulp in the process, wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?
‘But it feels a shame to end it with just one martial contest….’
Dokgo Myeong glanced at Dokgo Cheon.
Dokgo Cheon was looking at him with a meaningful smile.
‘Isn’t that right, old man?’
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes shone.
* * *
“Then I shall take my leave.”
With all matters settled, Dokgo Ak left the Study with a smug expression on his face.
However, Dokgo Myeong remained seated and did not rise.
Dokgo Cheon looked at Dokgo Myeong with curiosity.
“Is there something more you wish to say?”
“Indeed, but it seems the Family Head also has much he wishes to ask.”
“Hmm.”
Dokgo Cheon’s lips curved into a subtle smile.
“Indeed. As you say, I too have matters left to discuss. Let us speak for a moment.”
Dokgo Cheon smiled while observing Dokgo Myeong’s expression.
‘He has certainly changed.’
Bearing and magnanimity—these qualities are called presence. I could distinctly feel that Dokgo Myeong’s presence had transformed.
“It seems this old grandfather has indeed been away from you too long. To discover my grandson has changed so much only now. Hmm….”
Dokgo Cheon paused, his gaze sweeping over Dokgo Myeong, and his eyes gleamed with clarity.
“Let me ask you one thing first.”
“Yes, please ask.”
“Are you not afraid?”
“Afraid of what?”
“The martial duel with Ak-i.”
Dokgo Cheon stroked his beard while scrutinizing every detail of Dokgo Myeong’s appearance.
“Ak-i is far more exceptional than you believe. Surely you are not unaware that even if you somehow succeeded today by fortune, a formal duel would yield a different result?”
Dokgo Myeong smacked his lips.
‘Still just a brat, no matter how you look at it.’
But well… I understood his point.
Setting aside character, if one considered martial talent alone, Dokgo Ak was a child who lived up to the word genius as a direct bloodline descendant.
‘In comparison, I am still unfamiliar with my own body.’
These soft, underdeveloped bones, this pittance of inner energy….
Everything felt awkward and constraining. How could it be otherwise, having lived in a fully grown adult’s body and now inhabiting the frame of a youth not yet twenty?
And who was Dokgo Myeong?
At best, a fool of the highest order; at worst, an idiot and imbecile.
“Do you believe I will lose?”
“Yes. You will lose.”
The words fell like a blade cutting through stone.
Dokgo Cheon spoke and fixed his gaze intently upon Dokgo Myeong.
A soft chuckle.
In that instant, laughter spilled from my lips.
“But you hope I will win, do you not?”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because it would serve as a great stimulus to the main family.”
“….”
Dokgo Cheon’s wrinkled eyelids lifted upward.
“Hehe… you truly have changed. Truly, you have changed so very much.”
Dokgo Cheon muttered as if lost in thought, staring intently at Dokgo Myeong.
Soon a faint smile graced his lips.
“Yes, I believe I have heard all I need to hear. Now then, let me hear your tale.”
“I have but one request.”
“What?”
“Instead, I will achieve victory as you desire.”
At such audacious words, Dokgo Cheon’s smile deepened.
* * *
In the space Dokgo Myeong had vacated.
Dokgo Cheon sat quietly in the study, tapping the armrest rhythmically.
After dwelling in thought for some time, Dokgo Cheon murmured to himself.
“It’s not merely growth—the person has transformed entirely.”
Recalling Dokgo Myeong, I felt my expression soften without realizing it.
Until now, Dokgo Myeong had been undoubtedly a dullard.
It wasn’t merely a matter of martial talent. The person himself learned slowly, possessed a weak temperament, and was timid.
Thus, through repeated disappointments, my interest in him had gradually waned.
But seeing him today… was that not the case?
‘Is it merely a momentary change? Or has he truly grown?’
No.
‘Such matters are irrelevant.’
My thoughts deepened.
As the sound of tapping the armrest continued to echo.
“Family Head. The Saheon-gak Director will arrive shortly.”
At the Black Dragon Sect Leader’s voice from beyond the door, I ceased my finger’s rhythmic tapping.
“Understood. Clear all nearby servants and guards.”
“As you command.”
The voice faded, and soon all nearby sounds of breath vanished as well.
And how much time had passed?
“I greet the Family Head.”
Dokgo Wi-hak, my third son, arrived at the Gajubu.
“…Yes. Come and sit.”
I regarded him silently for a moment, then gestured with my chin toward the seat before me.
Silence flowed between us. The atmosphere between father and son was cold enough to defy such a description.
It was I who clicked my tongue and spoke first.
“How have you been lately?”
“I have been attending to matters at the Saheon-gak. I believe you are already aware through the duty reports, Family Head.”
“This is a private setting. Speak freely.”
“…”
He still refuses to utter the word father.
I furrowed my brow in displeasure.
“Is it not time you bent your will? Do you intend to spend your entire life handling trivial matters at the Saheon-gak?”
“…”
“Tsk, so be it. Live your whole life as stubbornly as you wish.”
Dokgo Wi-hak did not readily open his mouth.
Dokgo Cheon, who had been fidgeting with the surface of his teacup with a hardened expression, suddenly spoke.
“Myeong-i has changed quite a bit. He’s grown in such a pleasing manner.”
At those words, Dokgo Wi-hak’s eyes shifted.
‘What did that child say to make him speak thus…’
Surely until just recently, this man had shown no interest in him or his son whatsoever.
Then, Dokgo Cheon let out a scoff.
“So even you, as a father, find yourself curious about your child’s affairs?”
“….”
“Myeong-i demanded a martial contest with Ak-i. That audacious brat even brazenly wagered against me.”
“…!”
“In any case, I’ve decided to take some interest in Myeong-i.”
Dokgo Wi-hak’s expression froze with a chill.
“Interest, you say.”
“Whether this is merely a fleeting change in a passing moment, or if he has truly awakened—I cannot leave such matters to you. I must verify it myself.”
Dokgo Cheon spoke as though making a proclamation, then drank his tea.
“It would be better for that child’s future as well.”
A brief silence fell.
Dokgo Wi-hak’s closed lips slowly opened.
“As a grandfather, I cannot prevent you from taking interest in your grandson.”
“However….”
“But if that interest comes as the head of the family, I must refuse.”
In that instant, the atmosphere plummeted.
“What did you just say?”
“Myeong-i is not a tool of the family, but my son and a person in his own right. Please allow that child to live as he wishes.”
Whoooosh!
The air in the study transformed.
“How dare you.”
The momentum of a sword sage discussing the fate of the world itself.
A chilling, razor-sharp aura rose up savagely, as though it would lacerate the spacious study.
“You, who broke your sword and have been confined, now dare to command me?”
“If you intend to lay a hand on that child, you must reckon with me.”
“What could you possibly do in your current state?”
“At the very least, I can fulfill a father’s duty to his child.”
The piercing gazes of the two father and son locked in the void.
Amidst the razor-thin tension, Dokgo Cheon suddenly curled his lips upward.
“You are like me after all. A man who claims to cherish his son, yet cannot even see him clearly.”
“I am different from you, the family head.”
“How laughable—speaking thus when you yourself failed to master your own heart and abandoned your child.”
For the first time, Dokgo Wi-hak’s pupils trembled.
Dokgo Cheon sneered.
“So be it. Now, off with you.”
Dokgo Cheon waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting away flies, and turned his head away. It was a command to leave.
Dokgo Wi-hak rose from his seat with a hardened expression.
The moment he reached for the door, his father’s voice echoed from behind.
“Let him live as he wishes?”
A soft murmur followed, tinged with amusement.
“That is enough.”

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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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