Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 475

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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 475
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“If I lend you my strength, you could even surpass the old outer faction. This Dokgo Hwi-hwa….”
“I came today to check on your health, and fortunately you seem quite well, so I’ll take my leave now.”
Dokgo Myeong rose from his seat without hesitation.
Dokgo Hwi-hwa watched Dokgo Myeong stand with an impassive gaze.
“Do you think this old man’s ramblings are just the delusions of someone facing death? Sit down. It won’t take long.”
Dokgo Myeong stared intently at Dokgo Hwi-hwa.
“Do you remember what the Alliance Leader once told me?”
“What did I say?”
“That you held power for the family’s sake. That you couldn’t allow some unworthy fool to grasp the family you’d built through such hardship.”
“You remember everything, don’t you?”
“Those words left quite an impression, so I’ve maintained my principles all this time. Yet now you’re suggesting we split the family in two.”
“….”
“Whether it’s despair or refusal to accept defeat, don’t entangle me in it.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa chuckled softly.
“When an elder speaks, you should at least pretend to listen, yet here you are spouting only your own words. Cough, cough!”
“Pretending to be weak won’t help.”
“It’s not pretense—I’ve truly grown weak.”
At those words, Dokgo Myeong’s eyes wavered slightly.
“Heh. Now I’m beginning to understand you. You push back with all your might against force, but you can’t resist when approached with sincerity and goodwill. Sit down. Is sitting with a dying old man so unbearable?”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa wore a villainous smile, but the muscles around his eyes had gone slack.
Finally, Dokgo Myeong sighed and collapsed back into his seat.
Dokgo Hwi-hwa lifted his teacup and spoke.
“With such a soft heart, how will you survive in this harsh world? Coward.”
“Should I leave?”
“Tsk tsk!”
Silence fell between them.
Time passed—enough to take a few sips of the now-lukewarm tea—before Dokgo Hwi-hwa spoke again, his voice gentler.
“I understand your position well enough. You’re worried that if we sit facing each other too long, the already unsettled atmosphere will only grow more turbulent. You want to focus more on external matters.”
“Setting that aside, what is it you wish to say?”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa asked abruptly.
“Do you truly have no ambitions?”
“I have many ambitions.”
“Then….”
“The main family’s seat simply isn’t among them.”
Dokgo Myeong cut through Dokgo Hwi-hwa’s probing in one clean stroke.
“I trust you understand why. When you do nothing, it’s paradise; when you scheme, it becomes a quagmire. Why would I choose the latter?”
“You’re the one who once wreaked havoc on the family with your own hands.”
“That was because I had nothing to lose back then, so I didn’t care about the consequences.”
In truth, I no longer wished to involve myself in the Dokgo Family’s affairs, nor did I feel any necessity to do so.
The era was in upheaval.
Only a few steps remained until the conclusion.
Soon, the Martial Alliance would hold an election for a new Alliance Leader. That position would undoubtedly fall to Baek Mu-heun, but I needed to prepare means to check him.
After the Alliance Leader election, the Blue Plan would be finalized, and the Black Plan would commence immediately. Regardless of which direction I took, I had to settle accounts with Paedobyeon.
After that precarious tightrope walk ended, there would be war.
The Divine Blood Sect… even thinking about it gave me a headache.
That was why family power and prestige held little value for me anymore. I was even considering handing everything over to Dokgo Jo-hak when the time came.
“Dokgo Myeong.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa’s eyes gleamed coldly.
“Though I have no children, I have one child more precious than life itself.”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Did you perhaps adopt someone in secret?”
“Adopt, adopt… tsk tsk! Yes, you could say it that way.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa continued in an unusual tone.
“This family is my child. I brought it through to this day when it faced the crisis of being uprooted entirely. It is a child I nurtured by spreading my very life as fertilizer. It is the one and only thing left to this stubborn old woman, you understand?”
After pouring out those lengthy words, Dokgo Hwi-hwa coughed harshly once. She moistened her throat with tea water and caught her breath.
Dokgo Myeong spoke in a softened tone.
“Alliance Leader, do you truly distrust Uncle so much?”
“Dokgo Un-hak, that ill-mannered wretch won’t do. He lacks ambition.”
“Lacking ambition? Are you speaking of him?”
“Yes. His mind contains nothing but the family. The family alone is the limit of his ambition.”
“….”
“There is a limit set. It may be fine for now, but what of the next generation? And the one after that?”
“Planning that far ahead is obsession.”
“What concerns me most… is his successor. Dokgo Gun is even worse.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa’s eyes flashed.
“You must know something of this as well?”
“….”
“So you set yourself in opposition to him?”
Dokgo Myeong gazed at the teacup growing cold.
After the silence, Dokgo Myeong asked.
“Then why me?”
“Because you are the exception.”
An exception. I was hearing that word frequently today.
“Realistically speaking, you are the only alternative. Do you think Un-hak would allow the Dharma Protector Division to take the position the Elder Faction once held? Historically, those newly seated on the throne have always begun with internal reorganization.”
“So you’re telling me to become your successor, Alliance Leader?”
“Not to become my successor, but to absorb my position. You simply need to expand the main branch further, that is all.”
“Alliance Leader. I….”
Dokgo Myeong began to speak but closed his mouth.
Dokgo Hwi-hwa looked at me with a puzzled expression, about to urge me forward, but then closed her mouth and turned her gaze toward the door instead.
Creak. Creak.
The sound of footsteps treading on the floor echoed through the room.
Soon the footsteps halted before the door, and a voice called out.
“Alliance Leader, it is Shin Heum.”
“What is the matter?”
“The conversation seems to be growing lengthy, so I have prepared fresh refreshments. May I enter?”
After a moment of silence, she slowly opened her mouth.
“There is no need. It appears the Dharma Protector does not care much for tea.”
“I have also brought the medicinal broth that the Alliance Leader should consume. Much time has already passed.”
Suddenly, Dokgo Hwi-hwa slowly turned her head and met Dokgo Myeong’s gaze.
“….”
Dokgo Myeong said nothing in particular.
Yet the moment I saw the heaviness in Dokgo Myeong’s eyes, my heart sank with a terrible feeling.
I deliberately turned my gaze away and spoke.
“It cannot be helped. Come in.”
Shin Heum personally brought in a tray bearing the medicinal broth and refreshments, setting it down carefully.
He first offered a respectful bow to Dokgo Myeong.
“Forgive my intrusion while you were conversing.”
“Think nothing of it. I was merely rambling on about trivial matters, and besides, I arrived without any prior notice.”
“Thank you for your understanding. Alliance Leader?”
“Bring it here.”
With great care, he placed the medicinal broth and a white cloth for wiping her mouth before me.
Steaming hot tea was poured into Dokgo Myeong’s cup.
“Do you see? Our Sect Leader takes such meticulous care of me. Tsk tsk.”
“He seems almost like your own son.”
“My own son….”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa gazed at Shin Heum.
“Yes, Shin Heum is as good as my own child.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa lifted the bowl of medicinal broth.
She gulped down the dark liquid in one breath, then set the empty bowl down.
“Then I shall take my leave. We shall meet again, Dharma Protector.”
Shin Heum bowed once more and slowly left the room.
Dokgo Hwi-hwa opened her mouth with a slightly subdued voice.
“…Yes, where was I in my story?”
“Is that truly important right now?”
“….”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa’s face hardened rigidly.
“What do you mean by that?”
“I have never been one to believe in mere coincidence.”
“….”
“Let me examine your wrist.”
“Why? Were you planning to send off a dying old man in one breath?”
Dokgo Myeong didn’t even blink at the teasing remark, extending his hand across the table.
“….”
After hesitating, Dokgo Hwi-hwa finally offered her wrist to Dokgo Myeong.
Whoosh!
A thread of true energy penetrated through, searching every part thoroughly.
A moment later, Dokgo Myeong slowly withdrew his hand.
“Fortunately, there is nothing wrong except for age-related ailments.”
“….”
“However, I cannot continue this conversation any further today.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa picked up her teacup.
Her expression remained composed, but the trembling at her fingertips could not be hidden. She eventually set the cup down.
“Alliance Leader.”
“Enough. Don’t try to sow discord with needless words. What would you do if you were wrong?”
“Alliance Leader. If we truly trust each other, suspicion should end with nothing more than disappointment. Because we understand one another.”
“…So what are you asking me to do?”
“That is for you to decide, Alliance Leader.”
“Understanding, understanding….”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa murmured for a long while before clamping her mouth shut.
A deep shadow fell across her face.
* * *
The next morning at dawn, Dokgo Hwi-hwa opened her eyes.
“Is anyone there?”
A guard immediately opened the door and entered.
“I await your orders.”
“I need to attend to some matters today. I will move myself, so prepare accordingly.”
“You, you will move yourself….”
“Will you make me repeat myself?”
“I, I apologize. Then whom should I summon?”
“Never mind. I will go alone.”
“That, that cannot be allowed!”
“Cannot be allowed? How dare you….”
The guard quickly bowed and spoke.
“The Alliance Leader has given strict orders that you must never go alone, as you may collapse again.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa paused.
“Strict orders?”
“Sect Leader Shin has been most insistent about this….”
“Am I the superior, or is Sect Leader Shin the superior?”
The hesitant guard finally lowered his head.
“Y-yes, I’ll prepare everything at once.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa eventually finished her preparations as the sun fully rose.
After sitting in a chair for a while to pass the time, she suddenly rose from her seat.
“Alliance Leader!”
Shin Heum burst through the door, seemingly having rushed over urgently.
“You should be resting! How can you be attending to duties?”
“I’m not dead yet. If I’m still breathing, I should earn my keep.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa walked out, leaning on her walking stick.
“At least bring along some guards and servants. It’s a matter of dignity.”
“I don’t need them. I hate dragging all those people around.”
“Then I shall accompany you. I cannot yield on this matter.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa stared at Shin Heum silently, then walked out of her quarters. Shin Heum followed just a step behind her.
Dokgo Hwi-hwa visited the faction’s sect leaders to receive reports on their duties, offering brief words of praise before moving on.
After wandering about for roughly two hours, a headache crept up on her, and she sat down in a pavilion near the Overseer’s residence to catch her breath.
Dokgo Hwi-hwa gazed at Shin Heum quietly before opening her mouth.
“Samcheon.”
Shin Heum was momentarily taken aback.
“Yes, Alliance Leader.”
It was a childhood name he hadn’t heard in far too long. It was the name Dokgo Hwi-hwa had given him directly when he was an orphan.
“How old were you when we first met?”
“Since I was a street orphan, I don’t know my exact age.”
“Right, that’s true. You were a child covered in filth, but your eyes were so bright that I brought you in myself, had hot water brought, and washed you clean. And now look how well you’ve grown.”
“You even entrusted me as an adopted son to the Shin family, one of the branch families.”
“You were like a son to me. You’ve served this difficult old woman your entire life—your debt of gratitude is repaid.”
“Why are you suddenly saying such things?”
“When were you planning to tell me?”
The blunt words made Shin Heum blink.
“Tell you what?”
“The servants and sect leaders have been watching your expression, not mine. Why did I only realize this now…”
“…”
“It hasn’t been recent, has it?”
“…”
“Were you dissatisfied about something? Or was it something else…… No, it’s all meaningless anyway.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa’s voice, which had been calm, grew increasingly cold.
“When were you planning to tell me? When my last breath was leaving me? Or when you were pouring wine at my grave? Were you planning to confess like a penitent to ease your own conscience?”
Shin Heum let out a long sigh and slowly opened his mouth.
“Alliance Leader. Why are you like this?”
“Don’t play innocent.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“…?”
Shin Heum’s slightly hunched back gradually straightened.
Naturally, his gaze rose slowly, and before long he found himself looking down at Dokgo Hwi-hwa, who remained seated.
“Alliance Leader. Can you not simply regard me as you do now—as a son-like figure and a trustworthy confidant? Is there truly a need for this?”
“What are you…?”
“I wish to serve you faithfully until the very end, Alliance Leader. Rather, why not let go of this burden now….”
“….”
“I do not wish to become a source of inconvenience or worry to one as precious as a mother to me.”
At Shin Heum’s words, tinged with such sorrow, Dokgo Hwi-hwa’s eyes trembled slightly.
‘This ungrateful, disloyal wretch….’
Dokgo Hwi-hwa shut her eyes tightly, her face etched with exhaustion.
“What is your reason?”
“Do you remember when, years ago, you told me that though you could not give me much, you would cherish my gratitude, and that I must understand I could not be made your successor because I am not of the Dokgo blood?”
“Did that resentment run so deep?”
“No. I simply did not understand.”
Shin Heum continued calmly.
“I have understood you my entire life, so this once, please understand me. Understand me, who cannot understand you.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa’s lips moved silently several times before she asked in a voice grown heavy and distant.
“Was the medicinal broth laced with poison?”
“How could I commit such a heinous act? It is truly a tonic brewed from precious medicinal ingredients.”
“What did Un-hak promise you?”
“I have not exchanged words with him.”
“Then with that serpent Dokgo Gun…?”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa’s voice trembled faintly.
“Have all my people already been swayed?”
“Not all. You still have many loyal servants, Alliance Leader.”
“…Very well. That is enough.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa covered her eyes with her wrinkled hands.
She was exhausted. Everything was so unbearably difficult.
“Go now. I wish to be alone.”
“Alliance Leader. If you collapse again….”
“Enough.”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa cut him off decisively.
“I would prefer never to see you before my eyes again.”
“Alliance Leader. Must you truly do this?”
Dokgo Hwi-hwa did not answer.
Shin Heum, hesitating, pressed his palms together and bowed deeply.
“If it troubles you, I shall withdraw. However, I will have a servant and a physician wait at the entrance.”
Left alone, Dokgo Hwi-hwa gazed blankly at the sky.
Even she, standing at the threshold of death, found herself overwhelmed by a torrent of countless emotions too heavy to bear.

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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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