Martial God of the Sun and Moon - Chapter 91

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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 91
There was no need for lengthy explanations.
I had barely begun to voice my thoughts when Dokgo Cheon’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“Have you already discussed this with that child?”
“No. I need to go negotiate with him first.”
Dokgo Cheon’s eyes narrowed to slits.
“Do you truly believe such a deal would work? That child would never simply accept your proposal.”
“A negotiation always begins by offering something one cannot refuse.”
Dokgo Cheon let out a soft chuckle.
“Well, a boy who’d float with only his mouth above water even if drowning would surely manage this on his own.”
“You keep treating me as though I’m all talk….”
“Quiet.”
….
“Still, it won’t be as simple as you think. You may not even get the chance to speak with him.”
“What?”
“You’ll understand once you go.”
Dokgo Cheon cut off the conversation as if he had nothing more to say.
The dialogue ceased, and a brief silence fell between us.
Dokgo Myeong carefully opened his mouth.
“Then you’re granting me permission?”
“Permission is hardly the issue. Didn’t I promise to remain neutral from the start?”
After a moment of silence, Dokgo Cheon asked with a puzzled expression.
“You haven’t grown greedy, have you?”
“What do you mean?”
“With Geumsan and Saheongang added together, you’ve become the leader of a faction commanding thirteen sect tokens. At such a young age, no less. Do you have no desire to wield such power?”
“For now, it’s merely a meaningless number. I’m aware of that much.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because it lacks influence.”
Sect tokens were certainly power. The Baekgak Assembly, which determined the clan’s direction, was decided through the voting of sect tokens.
Yet being able to determine direction was different from actually pulling the clan in that direction.
In the end, it came down to influence. This was why the Outer Hall Master and the Elder Council Leader focused as much on strengthening their faction’s capabilities as they did on increasing their sect tokens.
“Power is still power. The moment you place the sword in their hands, that power will no longer flow perfectly according to your will.”
“Yet the owner of the sword remains me.”
….
“As I mentioned at the beginning, I have become the fulcrum of the scale. However, I have no intention of spending my life merely balancing both sides of that scale.”
“Then?”
“I must move diligently and build my strength. I still lack enough.”
Dokgo Cheon gazed intently at his grandson.
“Very well, give it a try. Just as you have been doing thus far.”
“Yes, I shall do so.”
“Remember just one thing—do not fear the mud that spatters upon your garments.”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“Once you’ve stepped into muddy waters, even if you now wish to withdraw and remain clean, your robes are already soiled beyond redemption.”
Dokgo Myeong had undoubtedly profited from this affair.
And that meant someone else had lost what he had gained.
The murky swamp had already ensnared Dokgo Myeong’s feet.
* * *
“Ahahahahaha!”
Laughter erupted from the Outer Hall Master’s study.
The senior sect leaders and advisors seated around the table flinched.
“It’s like cooking rice only to feed it to dogs. Haha!”
“My apologies. We never anticipated they would act in such a manner…”
“What can we do about carelessness? That cunning bastard orchestrated this brilliantly. Hehe.”
Dokgo Un-hak laughed with apparent delight.
Yet his eyes burned with barely contained fury.
The sect leaders and advisors realized their positions had become precarious and swallowed hard.
“So then, what is the current situation exactly?”
“The leadership, including the sect leaders, is being reorganized, sir.”
“Reorganized? You mean they’re being purged?”
“More precisely, most have voluntarily submitted their resignations to the inner sect and are hastening to return to their homes.”
“How is that possible? These are not men who would simply withdraw because Yong-hyeol commanded it.”
“Recently, evidence was discovered of information gathering regarding financial flows from Geumsan Sect. It appears they’ve collected evidence of misconduct.”
“If it were merely misconduct that could be discovered so easily, the Law Enforcement Bureau would have moved already.”
“….”
The Outer Hall Master clicked his tongue.
Though uncertain, one possibility came to mind.
‘Did he blackmail the Star Image Hall Master?’
Only Jin I-chu would know the misconduct of the subordinate sect leaders and leadership in such detail.
If Dokgo Myeong had wrested the ledgers from Jin I-chu, it made sense.
‘Did that wretched old man Jin I-chu play me for a fool?’
It was peculiar, certainly.
That desperation at the time was surely no mere act.
Dokgo Un-hak clicked his tongue again.
‘Regardless, the boy started with a purge first. The young one leaves no openings.’
There was only one most efficient way to make them understand their leadership had changed.
To seize and wield the power of personnel appointments.
I couldn’t fathom where this young man had learned such things.
Then, observing Dokgo Un-hak’s hardened expression, one of the advisors spoke up.
“Wouldn’t it be better to exploit that very point?”
“What do you mean?”
“With multiple decision-makers absent, their support base will crumble. If we strike at them now and shake their foundation, the Main Sect will….”
In that instant, Dokgo Un-hak’s brow furrowed.
“You. Why are you still sitting there?”
“Y-yes?”
“I had you sit there to see what I cannot see, yet you spout such foolish drivel? Why are you still occupying that seat?”
“…!”
“The support base will crumble? When the seats above become vacant, it’s those below who rejoice. They gain an opportunity to rise.”
Those who climb up this way—whom would they serve? The support base would only grow more solid.
“Vacate your position.”
“B-but…!”
“You’ve worked hard all this time.”
“S-Sect Leader!”
The Advisor cried out urgently at Dokgo Un-hak’s cold voice.
Dokgo Un-hak shook his head.
“I acknowledge your past efforts. But it seems there is no longer a place for you here.”
“…!”
At Dokgo Un-hak’s merciless words, the Advisor’s jaw trembled slightly.
Yet he soon lowered his head and slowly departed from the Study.
“Tsk, Gun.”
Dokgo Un-hak turned his gaze toward his son, who had been quietly maintaining his position at the side.
“Did you perhaps anticipate this would happen?”
“Had I anticipated it, I would have informed you.”
“….”
“I merely thought that no one in this world would abandon power that could fall into their own hands.”
Dokgo Un-hak clicked his tongue.
“Regardless, it’s unfortunate. Had I known, I would have absorbed those factions by force long ago.”
In truth, he could not have done so. If they moved, the Elder Council would check them, and the reverse would have been equally true.
Jin I-chu was a man who had survived precisely in this manner. The neutral faction was truly a useless asset.
‘Yet for that child, it would be marbled meat ripe for the taking.’
I still could not discern his intentions.
Did he truly intend to clash with the Outer Hall and seriously involve himself in factional strife?
I felt no certainty. He was always a child whose intentions remained unclear.
Then, Dokgo Gun asked.
“How shall we conclude this matter?”
“Do you have some thought on it?”
“We must first settle what needs settling.”
Dokgo Gun turned his gaze toward the Outer Hall representative seated in the room. He still wore that gentle smile.
“Has the whereabouts of Jin Sect Leader…no, Jin I-chu been ascertained?”
“Pardon? Ah, yes—it appears he made a hasty return home in the dead of night.”
Dokgo Gun turned his gaze back toward Dokgo Un-hak.
“Then let him first pay the price for insulting the Main Sect.”
“What?”
“Otherwise, it will damage the Sect Leader’s prestige. And it would serve as a warning to Myeong-i as well.”
The atmosphere in the hall grew cold.
Dokgo Gun furrowed his brow slightly as he spoke.
“The family head forbade us from diminishing the clan’s strength.”
“Now that he has returned home, he is no longer a member of the Main Sect.”
Dokgo Un-hak shook his head without a moment’s hesitation.
“That will not do.”
“….”
“Even if Jin I-chu was of lowly birth, he rose to become a Sect Leader. If his departure becomes not merely shameful but utterly pathetic, who will then dedicate themselves to loyalty toward the Main Sect and our clan?”
It was statecraft and the art of leadership bordering on the Way of Kings.
Dokgo Un-hak continued in a reproachful tone.
“One must always care more for those who depart than those who arrive. For all our retainers, save those of our own blood, will eventually leave us.”
“….”
“He is already a fugitive who abandoned everything. He was never truly one of the Main Sect to begin with, so do not lay a hand on him.”
Dokgo Un-hak dismissed the matter thus.
Dokgo Gun nodded calmly.
“Understood. I shall do as you say.”
Though he had been subtly rebuked before all present, Dokgo Gun’s expression remained unchanged.
Dokgo Un-hak surveyed the assembly.
“Yet we cannot simply stand idle like a dog chasing chickens. Let us seize several of the business ventures that the neutral faction controlled and bring them under our control.”
“Jeon Myeong.”
“Nothing has changed. In the end, it is the stubborn Elder Council faction we must topple first. Proceed as you have been doing.”
Dokgo Un-hak rose from his seat and looked toward his son.
“You are to meet with Myeong-i at once.”
“Yes, I shall do so immediately.”
“Then let us conclude this meeting.”
Dokgo Un-hak departed from the Study.
* * *
“Young Master, I concede.”
Jang Sam spoke while regarding Dokgo Myeong.
“Concede what?”
“I have given up trying to understand you, Young Master. Heh heh.”
Jang Sam spoke with a gentle laugh.
“I simply accept it now. Heh heh, heh heh heh.”
His expression was utterly serene, as though he had attained some profound enlightenment.
Dokgo Myeong smiled wryly.
“Finally, Jang has come to understand something. Ordinary minds simply cannot comprehend genius.”
“Unless that genius is a natural disaster, I must respectfully disagree.”
“What?”
“Sigh….”
Jang Sam could bear it no longer and released a heavy sigh, turning his head away.
“Regardless, this is hardly the place for such behavior.”
Jang Sam’s gaze fell upon the plaque above the entrance.
Baek Ok-gak.
One of the Dokgo clan’s residences.
And this place was none other than….
“This is the residence of Elder Dokgo Jo-hak and Young Master Dokgo Ak, is it not!”
The reckless scoundrel of the realm, Dokgo Ak, and his father Dokgo Jo-hak—this was their dwelling.
“We came because we needed to, so knock on the door.”
“Young Master, we did send word of our visit, but we haven’t received a reply yet. They surely won’t simply admit us like this….”
“Should I just kick the door down?”
Better to act than to suffer. Better to act than to suffer.
I no longer even cared why I had come here.
“Young Master Dokgo Myeong of Saheongang has come to visit! Please open the door!”
Boom! Boom!
It was just as the door knocker was about to strike for the third time.
Creak.
The door opened and a woman appeared.
She was a middle-aged woman with a cool, austere impression and impeccably rigid posture.
“….”
The woman stood blocking the doorway, her large eyes fixed intently upon Dokgo Myeong.
After a moment, the woman spoke.
“You offer no greeting?”
At the woman’s blunt voice, Dokgo Myeong blinked in surprise.
‘Who is this woman?’
Though momentarily flustered by her unfamiliar face, a sudden realization struck him regarding her identity.
“…I offer my respects, Aunt.”
“Very well.”
The woman nodded matter-of-factly.
She was none other than Jeong So-hee, the wife of Dokgo Jo-hak and mother of Dokgo Ak.
* * *
“Be seated.”
I was inwardly impressed. Never before had I encountered someone with such angular, disciplined posture outside of martial practitioners.
“Do you enjoy tea?”
“Ah, that is quite all right.”
“There is no need for courtesy.”
“This is really quite fine….”
Jeong So-hee’s eyes gleamed with interest.
“Drink it. I have some excellent tea leaves.”
“…Ah, yes.”
Dokgo Myeong broke out in a cold sweat.
In my lifetime, I’ve met all manner of people, yet never anyone quite like this. And she wasn’t even summoning a servant—she was brewing the tea herself.
“Wait a moment. Depending on the type of tea leaves, they require a rinse to properly awaken their fragrance and flavor before steeping.”
The moment Jeong So-hee picked up the kettle and stepped away, Dokgo Myeong whispered to Jang Sam, who stood beside him.
“Who is this woman? Is she always like this?”
“How would I possibly know?”
“Is she perhaps poisoning the tea?”
“Actually, among the servants she’s known for being quite benevolent….”
“Benevolent? Her?”
“Honestly, Young Master, considering what you’ve done, isn’t it enough that she didn’t add salt?”
“What did I do?”
“….”
“Still, isn’t the atmosphere at least acceptable now?”
“As I said, I wouldn’t know.”
Soon after, Jeong So-hee poured the tea for Dokgo Myeong with a grace that seemed almost painted from a portrait.
“Drink.”
“Ah, yes….”
“How is the flavor?”
“It seems quite good.”
“I see.”
“….”
“….”
That’s it? That’s the end?
Shouldn’t there be something more after this?
‘…This is suffocating.’
Truly suffocating. I couldn’t understand why the air felt so stifling.
‘No, this household’s daughter-in-law isn’t normal either.’
Her expression was nearly blank, and her tone carried no inflection, making it impossible to discern any emotion or nuance in her words.
“Um, where did the Sect Leader go? Are you receiving me in his stead, Aunt?”
“Is there a reason I shouldn’t be here?”
“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant….”
“And since this isn’t an official matter, why do you address your uncle by his title?”
“I….”
“I wasn’t reproaching you. Don’t take it so uncomfortably.”
…She said that wasn’t a reproach?
As Dokgo Myeong stood there dumbfounded, his mouth hanging open, Jeong So-hee slowly parted her lips.
“Why have you come seeking me out?”
“….”
I couldn’t quite discern whether he was genuinely asking for my reasons or reproaching me for having the audacity to appear here.
Dokgo Myeong decided to press forward with confidence.
“I’ve come to see the Sect Leader. On official business, I assure you.”
“Since the Elder withdrew into seclusion, the Main Sect has ceased receiving visitors. That is why I myself have come to meet you.”
“Pardon? The Elder?”
“?”
“Ahem! Never mind.”
The term “Elder” typically referred to an older brother. For someone of that age and bearing to use such a title… I found myself momentarily taken aback.
“But seclusion, you say—is he perhaps unwell?”
“You dare ask such a thing?”
“Pardon?”
“It is because of the incident involving you that he has fallen into such a state.”
Dokgo Myeong’s eyes widened in surprise.
“What? Me?”

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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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