Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 454

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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 454
Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province.
This was the very ground where Cao Cao’s forces and Sun Quan’s armies had clashed in that distant past.
The gateway to the south and a strategic chokepoint connecting the southern regions to the Central Plains.
Yet as time flowed onward and the waterways of the Yangtze River grew in importance, this place had gradually fallen into decline.
“That’s precisely why it’s even better. It’s quiet for a city, but far too bustling to be called countryside.”
“….”
“You mentioned you’d never properly visited Hefei before, didn’t you? I’m certain you’ll find it to your liking. Not just because it’s my hometown, but because it truly is a wonderful place.”
Namgung Sohwa was unusually talkative, her excitement evident.
‘How long has it been?’
In truth, she held almost no memories of her hometown. When she was born, her clan had already experienced the calamity of annihilation and lived in seclusion, and when she grew older, she had hidden away in the mountains.
Though it was essentially a foreign place to her, knowing it was her clan’s ancestral home and the land of her birth stirred her heart with inexplicable warmth.
Yet soon the two of them encountered an unexpected situation.
“Ah, you must be children of noble houses who’ve taken a wrong turn!”
“H-hand over anything of value and be on your way! If you d-don’t…!”
Shabby figures—gaunt men wielding rusted blades, sickles, and flails—had emerged before them.
“Please don’t do this. We are martial artists.”
“Gasp!”
“What in the world is this in broad daylight, right in the middle of the main road?”
It wasn’t some remote mountain path—it was the middle of a well-maintained official road, practically within sight of the city gates.
Yet these clumsy commoners were attempting robbery in broad daylight? What manner of situation was this?
“R-run!”
“Eeek!”
Without even needing to exchange blows, the bandits scattered in panic and fled.
Such incidents continued to occur afterward.
Whenever they passed through mountains, mountain bandits would appear without fail, and in seedier areas, local ruffians would attempt to extort money.
Up to this point, it had been manageable. These were incidents she had encountered frequently during her travels.
But when they finally abandoned the main road and headed toward the ferry to cross the river, Namgung Sohwa received a tremendous shock.
“Wh-what is this….”
Everything was ash and ruin.
Broken and charred wreckage lay scattered everywhere, and a pungent smell hung thick in the air.
People being carried on stretchers, fishermen sitting vacant-eyed, and an elderly boatman who seemed unable to stop his wailing were all visible.
“Alas! Those wretched things! Woe is me!”
Namgung Sohwa quickly grabbed a nearby man and questioned him.
“Excuse me! What in the world happened here?”
“Can’t you see?! Last night, those cursed martial artists brought such devastation… Gasp! M-martial artists? Oh no! I beg your pardon!”
“Calm yourself. We aren’t just martial artists—we’re from the Alliance….”
“I misspoke! Please! Spare my life!”
“….”
Despite being wrapped in tattered cloth, the man trembled violently the moment he caught sight of the sword at Namgung Sohwa’s waist.
Only after opening the region could the reason be understood.
“We are investigating that the scattered Black Blade members from the Myeong-i incident harbored resentment and committed these acts.”
“Not in a remote border region, but in Anhui, at a major thoroughfare leading into the provincial capital? This is happening there?”
“You were unaware. These incidents have been occurring constantly in various places lately.”
Namgung Sohwa suddenly asked.
“Where are the culprits now?”
“Unknown. They likely left Anhui by now. They could be in Hubei by this point.”
“They left the region?”
“They probably headed toward Chongqing. All the heterodox sects and Black Blade members under heaven are much the same.”
Chongqing—she meant Paedobyeon.
In fact, the First Sado Sect had already expanded its domain to include parts of Shaanxi, Hubei, and Guizhou.
In the end, Namgung Sohwa and I had to take to the official roads again.
“How many times is this now?”
“If you count the place that became a ghost village back then, this is the third time.”
“…I’ve shown you quite a sight after speaking of this as a good region.”
Namgung Sohwa’s expression had grown rigid.
She asked.
“Why is this happening in a place that isn’t even remote?”
“It’s because of the Murim Alliance.”
“Pardon?”
“As the Azure Plan begins in earnest, the Black Blade members are being driven out. Since they’re leaving anyway, they’re causing chaos out of revenge, or perhaps thinking of one last plunder before they go.”
And rather than subduing the Black Blade members scattered across regions, Paedobyeon absorbed them through silence, expanding their power.
They were all solidifying their position as the First Sado Sect while everyone’s attention was turned elsewhere.
“The Alliance… what is the Murim Alliance doing?”
“It’s a transitional period. By the time the Azure Plan concludes, the branches and divisions will be established and maintaining order.”
“That’s truly how it will be, isn’t it?”
I simply nodded silently.
‘It has to be that way.’
I bore some responsibility for this current state of affairs. After all, I was the one who sketched the blueprint of this era.
Now I couldn’t even guess how this world would flow. The history I knew had already been twisted.
But one thing was certain.
An age of chaos was not defined by more villains, more sword clashes, and more frequent warfare.
This was chaos. The scenes I encountered proved it.
‘Paedobyeon.’
When this journey through the martial realm ended and I returned, the first thing I would need to address would be them.
Before a full-scale collision with the Sinxue Sect occurred, I had to firmly establish relationships with the major powers of the martial realm that I had postponed.
* * *
I and Namgung Sohwa finally entered Hefei.
Fortunately, both the security and the complexion of the people seemed acceptable.
The two of us headed straight to the planned location and soon encountered familiar faces.
“No, who is this! Aren’t you our Overseer Jo!”
“It has been a long time, Director.”
Jo Ryang-ui bowed his head calmly.
About to embrace him warmly, Jo Ryang-ui stepped back slightly and spoke in a chilling tone.
“However, I am not Overseer Jo, but rather Dharma Protector Jo. If you wish to address me by title, please call me Dharma Protector Jo, and if you prefer informality, it is proper etiquette to use my courtesy name and call me Jo Won-myeong.”
“….”
“Even a commander must be mindful of titles and observe proper decorum for an organization to maintain discipline. As Confucius said….”
“Fine! I understand! Good grief, where did this fellow crawl out from?”
“It was you who recruited me, Director.”
“….”
“And please, maintain your dignity. If the other branch members see this, won’t they lose respect for you?”
“….”
Dokgo Myeong squeezed his eyes shut and exhaled a long sigh.
‘Why are all the people around me like this?’
Was everyone except himself, the only sane one, a bit off in the head? It was truly lamentable.
“Anyway, what’s happening here? The main house?”
“Chong-sa is overseeing it.”
“He must be looking miserable again.”
“Pardon? No, his complexion has improved considerably.”
“How so?”
“Well….”
Since the Director hasn’t been at the family estate lately, most of the usual work had been cleaning up after Dokgo Myeong’s messes, so naturally that burden was gone now, wasn’t it?
Jo Ryang-ui cleared his throat with a cough and changed the subject.
“I am here to manage the rights and interests granted to the Namgung Family in the war against the Moyong Family.”
“Wasn’t that something Son Tae-im was handling?”
“The Finance Department handles the actual work, but someone is needed to oversee it all.”
At that moment, Namgung Sohwa lowered her head with a dark expression.
“I apologize, Dharma Protector Jo.”
“Captain Namgung, what could you possibly be apologizing for?”
“When you think about it, this was something given to me, yet I’ve dumped all the work on you. I’m truly sorry.”
Jo Ryang-ui nodded.
“Indeed, when you put it that way, it is true.”
“…Yes?”
“Still, it is fine. When stationed away from the main house like this, I receive fifty percent more in salary. With such steady earnings, I can enjoy a luxurious retirement. So it is not entirely bad.”
“…?”
Namgung Sohwa regarded Dokgo Myeong with an uncertain gaze.
‘What is this? I never heard anything like that.’
Of course not. Salary management was not Dokgo Myeong’s responsibility.
‘Can he even do this?’
Was he really determining salaries and distributing them as he pleased?
This seems like one of the signs that appear before an organization collapses, doesn’t it?
“Rather than that, allow me to explain first. It is something you will eventually need to handle personally, Captain Namgung.”
Jo Ryang-ui explained the Namgung Family’s sphere of influence, which currently existed only on paper.
The Yangtze River shipping routes in southern Anhui, a portion of the commercial district in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, a couple of mid-sized merchant houses, and Cheonzhu Mountain, their sacred ancestral ground.
“You… you’ve been managing all of this?”
On top of handling the internal affairs and practical operations of the Dharma Protector Division, she was managing all of this as well.
She had cultivated considerable knowledge for the sake of rebuilding the family, so she understood perfectly how absurd this level of responsibility was.
“I did not handle it directly myself. Rather, I brought in the administrative officials from the Dharma Protector Division to manage it. I merely constructed the framework and established the system for handling these matters.”
“Framework and system…”
“When you eventually stand alone to lead the family, the first thing you must do is establish a framework and system. If proper order exists in any endeavor, it will not waver.”
“It seems more difficult than I thought.”
“Consider your master for a moment.”
“The Captain?”
Jo Ryang-ui nodded.
“Yes, would you not say he is a truly excellent master?”
“Uh… yes? A master? You mean the Captain?”
Namgung Sohwa could not hide her skeptical expression, while Dokgo Myeong, who had been feigning indifference, formed an ‘me?’ with his lips and blinked his eyes.
“Think about it. No framework, no system, and he handles everything through sheer force and bluster—that is your master.”
“…Uh, yes?”
“Then he dumps tasks on his subordinates and keeps them awake without rest until the work is finished, threatening them all the while.”
“…?”
“Do the exact opposite!”
A gleam of cunning flashed in Jo Ryang-ui’s eyes.
“If you simply do the exact opposite…! You will become an excellent family head. Do you understand?”
“Uh, yes, yes…”
Namgung Sohwa nodded somewhat bewilderedly.
Dokgo Myeong became silent as a stone, merely glaring at Jo Ryang-ui.
After a moment, Namgung Sohwa, who had been reviewing documents, opened her mouth somewhat cautiously.
“There is one thing I wish to ask.”
“Please speak.”
“That… what became of the old Namgung Family estate that was in the outer districts of Hefei?”
“Hmm.”
Jo Ryang-ui paused for a moment before speaking.
“I apologize, but it had already been sold. I attempted to recover it by offering a premium price and even made inquiries through information brokers… ah, the Hao Gate as well, but we could not trace it.”
Dokgo Myeong asked.
“Could it be the Hwangsan Sect?”
They, who had entangled with the Cheonma Sect several times in Anhui after the Namgung Family disappeared.
From the last conflict, they had received the rights to the Cheonzhu Mountain area, the Namgung’s sacred ground, but that was all.
“No. It was not them, and the Hwangsan Sect said they did not know either.”
“How does that make sense?”
“We’re still searching for information on the matter.”
Jo-ryang continued with an awkward expression.
“It appears someone purchased it several years ago and registered it with the authorities. All I’ve managed to discover is that the Miljiao Temple grounds were originally left vacant after the great Anhui fire disaster, so the land was sold at a pittance.”
“Then… are you saying it will be difficult to reclaim that place?”
“I’m afraid that seems to be the case.”
Jo-ryang and I observed Namgung Sohwa’s expression carefully.
She offered a faint smile as if to say it was of no consequence.
“Well, there’s nothing to be done about it. Not when I can’t even find my ancestors’ memorial tablets.”
Though her words were dismissive, a deep regret flickered in her eyes.
Jo-ryang asked me in a more serious tone.
“I heard the news. You’re planning to seek out this person who claims to be a descendant of the Namgung clan?”
“Yes. Do you happen to know anything about him?”
“Hmm…”
Jo-ryang hesitated for a moment. It was unusual for him—a man who typically spoke his thoughts without filter—to struggle with his words.
After a pause, he spoke carefully.
“In truth… there are few in these parts who don’t know of him.”
“For what reason?”
“He is known as a man obsessed with money.”
Namgung Sohwa’s eyes wavered.

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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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