Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 43

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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 43
The funds had been secured, and I had already reported everything to the family.
Dokgo Myeong wasted no time in preparing to leave the clan.
“I’ll be going, Father.”
“What about servants?”
“It’s not an official event, so there’s no real need for anyone to accompany me. Besides, if things go smoothly, I could be back quickly.”
“You’re not seriously planning to go without any guards, are you?”
“Seo, the White Tiger Guards’ commander, has agreed to help again.”
“Don’t cause any trouble.”
“Pardon?”
“Just don’t cause any trouble.”
It had been only a few months since returning from the Jeongcheon Alliance.
Dokgo Myeong was finally able to escape the daily routine of having “etiquette” drilled into him by Dokgo Wi-hak and venture beyond the clan.
* * *
The day after Dokgo Myeong departed.
“Goodness! Young Master! Please stop beating people!”
Thump!
Jang Sam, who had been dozing in the corner of the Saheongang courtyard, suddenly jolted awake with a cry.
“I-I must have dozed off. But what an ominous nightmare…”
Jang Sam wiped the cold sweat from his brow.
In the dream, he had seen Dokgo Myeong beating people indiscriminately, saying “You’ve caught a disease of the mouth too,” regardless of age or gender.
…It might not have been just a dream.
Jang Sam shook his head vigorously.
“When things ease up, the mind should find peace, but instead I’m growing anxious. What is this…”
Jang Sam let out a deep sigh.
The hall was cleaned, the courtyard was swept, and the Sect Leader had retired to his chambers early, so there was nothing but leisure.
‘But why am I so uneasy?’
Out of sight meant more anxiety.
He couldn’t predict where or what kind of trouble would happen!
Thwack! Thud-thud-thud! Thwack!
Just then, a strange sound like someone being beaten came from somewhere.
“…Young Master?!”
Jang Sam rushed toward the source of the sound.
It turned out to be not the sound of someone being beaten, but a banner fluttering in the wind.
Jang Sam exhaled with a pale expression.
“Phew.”
When anxious, one should work to ease the mind.
Though he had already finished everything, Jang Sam picked up a broom and headed out the front gate of Saheongang.
And then.
“….”
“…What, what are you doing?”
Jang Sam discovered some pig hanging from the wall… no, Tae-im clinging to it.
“Ahem! It’s nothing at all. And what about you, Jang?”
Even if I pretended nothing was wrong now, I’d already seen him hanging from the wall.
“Well, I was just thinking of sweeping the ground….”
“At this hour of the evening? And it’s already so clean?”
“….”
“….”
Both Tae-im and Jang Sam became mute at the same moment.
Jang Sam cautiously opened his mouth.
“Sect Leader Son, could it be…?”
“…Are you the same way?”
A peculiar atmosphere flowed between the two.
Tae-im let out a false cough.
“Since things have come to this, how about a drink?”
“Pardon? Well….”
Jang Sam, looking flustered with wide eyes, soon nodded.
“Yes, it would be my honor.”
“Wait just a moment!”
And so the drinking session began.
Tae-im, if it had been the old him, wouldn’t have even glanced at this shabby bench in front of the servants’ quarters, yet here he sat heavily.
He had brought along several bottles of bamboo leaf liquor and side dishes as well.
“Ahem, but that… the young master really did leave, didn’t he?”
Tae-im spoke while glancing around cautiously.
“Could that be why you were watching Saheongang?”
“Well, yes, that’s so.”
“….”
“Really, really he left, right? He’s not going to suddenly appear and say ‘Tae-im, aren’t you working?’ is he?”
“No, didn’t he not even greet me this morning?”
Tae-im, who had been fidgeting, trembled with a shudder.
“Ahhh… finally….”
Tae-im suddenly lifted his head.
“Ahem! I’ve shown you a shameful sight.”
“I understand.”
“Yes, who else would understand my heart if not you, Jang? And I understand your heart well too….”
“Of course.”
“I’m truly sorry and grateful. I shouldn’t have done that to you back then….”
“No, no. I’ve forgotten it all.”
The drinking session, which I thought would be awkward, turned out to be quite pleasant.
You could say we shared the same affliction.
As the people most often swayed by Dokgo Myeong, the two of us got along remarkably well.
After several rounds of drinks had made their way around, Son Tae-im’s eyes began to redden.
“Hic! Do you know? These days I’m no different from a penniless vagrant.”
“How could the great Geumsan Sect Leader speak of himself as a vagrant?”
Son Tae-im drained his cup in one gulp and let out a deep sigh.
“The previous Sect Leader’s incident wiped out our funds, and just when I’d managed to restore things, suddenly he demands bribes and squeezes money from me….”
Jang Sam, unaware of these circumstances, widened his eyes.
“He’s been pouring money into this Jeongcheon Alliance matter, and he squeezed five thousand taels from me. Hic!”
Ah… could it really have been that much?
No, surely the Young Master knows this too—he’s not wringing out the last drop from a dry cloth. He actually took that money?
‘What is the Young Master thinking?’
Jang Sam observed Son Tae-im with an uncertain expression.
“….”
The plump flesh that once filled his face had vanished, leaving it gaunt, and his eyes were darkened with exhaustion.
It was truly a pitiful sight, but honestly, I had no idea how to treat Son Tae-im.
We’d never had a good relationship to begin with, and even after settling our karmic debt, he’s been treated like a slave, so it was somewhat… difficult to witness.
‘And when did that once-robust gentleman become like this?’
Sparse wisps of hair still grew in patches like weeds.
But at this rate, the wasteland that awaited him before Dokgo Myeong’s cutting wind seemed not far off.
“Please, hang in there.”
“…What are you looking at when you say that?”
“What do you mean, what am I looking at? Ahem.”
Son Tae-im suddenly felt sorrow welling up and began to sniffle. I could only awkwardly pat his shoulder.
After that, the gossip about Dokgo Myeong continued.
“The Young Master can be excessive at times, it’s true.”
“Exactly! He charges in without considering consequences!”
“Sometimes he seems like a madman.”
“I saw him fight the Paedo Sect Leader…!”
“He even made a wager with the Family Head…!”
After continuing to gossip about Dokgo Myeong for a while, Son Tae-im let out a heavy sigh.
“Still… he’s quite remarkable, isn’t he?”
“That much is true.”
“What is the Young Master looking at, I wonder?”
At Son Tae-im’s question, Jang Sam smiled bitterly.
“How would someone ignorant like me know such things?”
“Not just you—nobody knows.”
Son Tae-im understands now.
Every time, he wears that characteristic frivolous smile and appears to care only for profit, but once you spend time with him, you realize that’s not all there is.
While everyone else gazes at the same place, Dokgo Myeong alone looks toward a distant horizon.
A distant place that others cannot see.
No one knew what lay in that place.
“…Sometimes I wonder if someone like me should even be at the Master’s side.”
“Come now, why would you say such a thing?”
“Don’t I carry sin?”
Jang Sam’s expression suddenly turned serious.
“Don’t try to slip away on your own like that.”
“What, what?”
“Here, have some more wine.”
“Ah, ah? N, now….”
Son Tae-im drank the offered wine without thinking.
The drinking continued for some time after that.
With the wine loosening his tongue, Jang Sam found himself thinking of Dokgo Myeong.
‘Just what kind of person did he go all the way to Hangzhou to bring back?’
With his mind growing hazy, Jang Sam suddenly looked up at the night sky.
An unnamed bird was flying across the empty air.
Screech—! Screeeech!
…But what kind of bird cry sounds like that?
An ominous feeling welled up again.
‘Well, the Master has his own thoughts, so he wouldn’t just start swinging his fists out of nowhere.’
Until recently, I worried about Dokgo Myeong, but now I worry about whoever gets entangled with him.
Jang Sam could only pray that this time things would pass without incident.
* * *
“Hm, it feels like someone’s talking about me again.”
Dokgo Myeong scratched his ear and furrowed his brow.
How well he’d been behaving lately—who dared speak ill of him?
At most it would be Wi Mu-jin, Jang Sam, Dokgo Ak, his father Dokgo Jo-hak… and Tae-im?
Hmm, that actually seems like quite a few.
‘Well, I’m not sure, but when I return, I should torment our Tae-im a bit.’
With that resolve, Dokgo Myeong looked ahead.
“Master, is there anything uncomfortable…?”
“Ah, it’s fine.”
Dokgo Myeong waved his hand and gave the man who had spoken a grin.
“Rather, do you have any complaints about guarding a foolish direct descendant like before?”
“Complaints? That would be presumptuous of me.”
Before Dokgo Myeong stood Seo Ryun, the leader of the White Tiger Guards who had accompanied him on the Jeongcheon Alliance expedition long ago.
“Besides, I volunteered for this. How could I possibly have complaints?”
“I could have gone alone….”
“For the sake of propriety and dignity, you mustn’t do such a thing.”
Dignity be damned.
Dokgo Myeong let out a scoff.
I had planned to depart alone, but my relatives and father strongly opposed it.
They were about to assign an entire unit of warriors to accompany me, but I managed to travel light by mentioning that the White Tiger Sect Leader would be joining me.
“But why did you really follow me?”
“To be honest, I’m not entirely sure myself.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Pardon?”
“Even if you don’t know the reason, you wanted to help anyway, didn’t you? That’s something to be grateful for.”
Seo Ryun suppressed a smile, his lips twitching slightly.
Dokgo Myeong had no idea that it was precisely these kinds of words, heard so often, that had compelled him to follow along.
“Well, enough of that. We’ve rested enough—let’s start again.”
“…You wish to continue?”
“Of course.”
Dokgo Myeong grinned and clenched his fists.
Thump!
As Dokgo Myeong approached with explosive speed, Seo Ryun responded with a weary expression, drawing his blade.
Ever since leaving the family compound, the two had been engaged in repeated sparring matches.
Continuously, at that.
At first, Seo Ryun had waved his hands in protest, but after assessing Dokgo Myeong’s level, he began to engage in combat with full force.
“Your mind’s wandering again.”
“Ugh!”
In that instant, Seo Ryun detected Dokgo Myeong surging forward with a sudden acceleration, closing the distance.
Whoosh! Crash!
A tremendous impact transmitted through the blade.
His footwork was oddly, unnaturally heavy.
A stepping technique specialized for forward momentum, combined with a peculiar striking method as if wielding a sledgehammer. Despite multiple sparring sessions, he still couldn’t adapt.
The most troublesome aspect was…
‘There are no standardized techniques or ingrained habits.’
Yet he discerned the openings in Seo Ryun’s swordplay with uncanny precision.
‘And his stamina is extraordinary.’
It wasn’t just one or two sparring matches—he kept rushing in whenever there was a free moment, leaving him utterly exhausted.
Boom! Clang clang clang!
After exchanging one final attack, the distance between them widened.
Seo Ryun felt the soreness creeping up his arms and slowly lowered his stance.
“Hah… wouldn’t it be wise to call it a day?”
“Already?”
Already? We’ve sparred more than five times throughout the entire day!
“If we move swiftly from early morning tomorrow, we should arrive in Hangzhou, should we not? So…”
“Well, let’s do that then.”
Dokgo Myeong nodded and brushed off his hands.
Seo Ryun exhaled a sigh of relief and sheathed his blade.
“There is a manor in Hangzhou owned by a distant branch of the Main Sect. Would you wish to go there?”
“No, I have somewhere else to go. Do you know of Hwawol Pavilion?”
Seo Ryun’s eyes widened.
“How do you know of Hwawol Pavilion?”
“So even you, Seo, know of it?”
Dokgo Myeong chuckled and spoke.
“I’m aware it’s not just an ordinary tavern, but a gambling den.”
“…Yes, it is a gambling establishment.”
A gambling den—that’s what it was.
Hangzhou had no shortage of gambling dens, but among them, Hwawol Pavilion was the most secretive and largest.
“It is the primary source of income for the Black Bear Gate, a newly emerged dark path faction in Hangzhou. All dark path sects are much the same, but they are particularly disreputable.”
The Black Bear Gate engaged in gambling, loan sharking, illegal auctions—in short, one could say they did every wicked deed that dark path scoundrels typically did.
Dokgo Myeong smirked and spoke.
“In the end, they’re nothing but dark path rabble, aren’t they?”
“That may be true, but is there a particular reason you seek out Hwawol Pavilion?”
“The man I’m looking for will be there. He’s the one most necessary for the new martial force I’m building.”
“…”
Seo Ryun’s expression became peculiar.
“Why that expression?”
“My apologies. I was merely concerned whether this person possesses the skill to warrant such risk.”
“Skill, you say…”
Dokgo Myeong grinned widely and spoke.
“You could say he’s someone who knows how to use his head brilliantly.”
* * *
Hangzhou, West Lake.
True to the saying that it was a paradise on earth, the streets were lined with all manner of resplendent taverns and inns.
This was a place that shone even brighter when night fell.
And where light shines bright, shadows grow deep.
“…The atmosphere of this street is absolutely chaotic.”
Dokgo Myeong snorted derisively and surveyed the surroundings.
Both sides of the long street were packed with gambling dens, taverns, brothels, and dingy shops whose purpose was unclear.
‘Hmm, the stench of the gutter. It’s foul everywhere.’
Though this street was new to me, this particular smell was quite familiar.
The distinctive reek that emanated from the dregs of the underworld. Streets filled with those who had abandoned their own lives always carried the same odor.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
Dokgo Myeong strode forward down the street.
Soon a three-story pavilion came into view, standing prominently at the far end of the street.
Hwawol Pavilion.
For a place run by dark path scoundrels, it was an extraordinarily resplendent building.
I pushed open the door and stepped inside—the place was absolutely packed with people.
Martial artists with swords, men who looked like scholars, farmers, women, and elderly folk… it was as if every type of person in Hangzhou had been gathered into one place.
“Damn it! My hand is garbage!”
“Oh dear, I keep losing!”
“Hahahaha! I’ve got it all! I’ve got it all!”
Seo Ryun let out a hollow laugh.
This was a complete mess.
An absolute disaster.
It was a gambling den that looked like it had been painted from a picture. Crazed gamblers huddled around tables, engrossed in games of sword cards, horse dominoes, and dice games.
“…Tsk.”
Seo Ryun clicked his tongue, his expression complicated.
Ordinary martial artists might not have minded, but for someone like Seo Ryun, who had lived his entire life as a warrior of a Noble Family, such a place appeared nothing but vulgar.
“…Young Master. Are you certain the person you’re looking for is really in a place like this?”
“Probably?”
“Pardon?”
Probably?
“I heard he was hanging around here during this time… but I’m not entirely certain myself.”
“…?”
That was when it happened.
Crash!
Suddenly, a commotion erupted from one side of the gambling den.
“You just used a technique on me! Why is your hand going into your sleeve!”
“Oh brother, a technique? Look at my eyes. Don’t you see these innocent, law-abiding eyes?”
“Your mouth runs too much! If it wasn’t a technique, how did you take everything in a row!”
“Hey! Hey hey! Let go of—”
“Shut your mouth!”
A heavily built man seized the bald man by the collar.
“You bastard! Something was off from the start! I’m going to take your life today!”
“Uh, uh uh!”
It was a common sight at a gambling den.
And by all appearances, the slender bald man was about to suffer greatly at the hands of the obviously muscular man.
But in that moment.
Crash!
The bald man used his head.
It was not a figure of speech. He literally twisted his neck and swung his head with full force.
“Gack! Crack!”
Thud! Crunch!
He grabbed the muscular man’s shoulder and brought his head down ferociously, each impact accompanied by a sickening sound.
“….”
Thump!
In the end, the muscular man’s eyes rolled back and he collapsed with a thud.
“Oof, my head’s pounding. Gambling’s supposed to be fun, but you’re charging at it like it’s life or death. Good grief, this is ridiculous.”
The bald man rubbed his shiny forehead vigorously.
“My apologies, friend. I’ll count this round as a loss on my part. Come now, let’s shuffle the cards and play again.”
The man sat back down with a thud as if nothing had happened, his shamelessness on full display.
“Ah, when the flow gets interrupted, even good fortune flies away!”
Seo Ryun shook his head and turned his gaze toward Dokgo Myeong.
In that moment, Dokgo Myeong’s eyes were gleaming.
“Found him.”
“Pardon?”
Seo Ryun’s head snapped back around.
Dokgo Myeong’s gaze was fixed on the bald man grinning slyly.
“That one. The one I’ve been searching for.”
Blood that hadn’t been wiped away clung to his gleaming scalp.
Found him? That one?
So that’s what they meant by using one’s head well?
Dokgo Myeong smirked.
‘It’s been a long time, Geum Seok-du.’
The man before me looked far younger than the one in my memories.
For the martial force that would be newly established, I needed someone to walk this path with me.
‘You’ll be first.’
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes gleamed with intensity.

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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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