Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 10

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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 10
* * *
Yeon-woo’s lips curved into a sly smile.
Un-hyeon’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
Yeon-woo began unpacking the bundle with careful deliberation.
“I knew you’d pull something like this, so I brought it along.”
Heh-heh.
A different mountain peak than yesterday.
Un-hyeon had brought Yeon-woo here on the pretext of having caught a rabbit.
Though the mountain was steeper and rockier than the day before, Yeon-woo followed without complaint.
There was good reason—the old man had been most cooperative with all her requests lately.
‘Since he’s been rationing our meals, I noticed the hunger lingering even after we finished eating.’
So when he’d mentioned going to eat rabbit meat, how could she have refused to go along?
But determined not to fall for the same trick twice, Yeon-woo unpacked the bundle in front of him with a flourish.
“And here we have… wait?”
Yeon-woo’s eyes went wide.
“What? I packed it, I really did pack it!”
She’d definitely grabbed the Salt Jar before leaving.
She’d even patted it reassuringly after putting it in the bundle.
So where was it?
“Dear me. What shall we do now?”
Un-hyeon raised his eyebrows, his voice perfectly measured.
Of course, the Salt Jar Yeon-woo had packed had been removed before he left and carefully placed on the Veranda.
“Today we’ll simply have to eat it without salt. How else could I bear to trick you a second time…?”
“No, no, no, absolutely not!!”
Meat without salt has no taste whatsoever!!
“I’m going back to get it!”
Yeon-woo bolted down the mountain without even listening to his protest.
“Heh-heh, that girl.”
He’d intended to prod her a little more if she’d been reluctant to leave.
But apparently she loved eating far too much for that.
Un-hyeon gathered the dry branches he’d prepared earlier behind a rock and stacked them in one place.
Once he’d finished so the meat could be roasted immediately upon her return, he followed after her.
Pat-pat! Pat-pat-pat!
Yeon-woo raced swiftly down the steep mountainside.
Since the upper reaches of the mountain were thick with rocks, the descent grew easier the further down she went.
Yeon-woo’s mind was entirely consumed with thoughts of rabbit meat.
The very memory of that unique taste—so different from bird or pork—made her feel as though she could fly.
Sniff—
Yeon-woo’s head turned briefly in another direction.
‘What a good scent.’
An herbal aroma that seemed like it would be good for grandfather.
‘I should come back for some later.’
While making a mental note of this, she continued racing down the mountain.
“……!”
In the next instant, Yeon-woo’s head snapped in a completely different direction.
Her pupils fixed on a single point, unblinking, as she stared intently.
She didn’t slow her pace, but her gaze remained fixed in that direction.
‘Blood.’
A faint but unmistakable scent of human blood.
Having encountered it just days before, she couldn’t mistake it for anything else.
The scent drifting from where Yeon-woo was staring was most certainly blood.
And it was drawing closer to her with each passing moment.
As the distance narrowed, the scent grew thicker and more distinct.
Crackle-crackle! Crackle-crackle-crackle!
Through the trees, a man in dark martial robes came into Yeon-woo’s view.
Appearing and disappearing among the dense foliage, he drew closer with each blink of her eyes, his strides growing longer.
Yeon-woo kept running but could not tear her gaze from him.
Crackle-crackle! Crackle-crackle!
The man pulled something from his chest.
In that instant, something wedged between his fingers gleamed silver.
Snap!
Darkness swallowed Yeon-woo’s vision.
Then.
A wet, heavy sound—and the world flooded red with the scent of blood.
* * *
Gasp—ragged breath—
Thick beads of sweat rolled down Un-hyeon’s cheeks.
His gaze trembled with strain.
Following Yeon-woo down the path, Un-hyeon had sensed the assassins’ presence.
The moment they met, they attacked without hesitation, all at once—as though they’d been waiting for him from the start.
Un-hyeon fought them off, then rushed to follow Yeon-woo.
Yeon-woo was in danger.
That thought alone drove him down the slope.
Rustle—
‘Blood…’
What Un-hyeon found was a dark crimson stain soaking the brush—a vast quantity of blood, its source unknown.
‘Yeon-woo.’
Un-hyeon followed the trail of signs stretching before him.
From this point onward, the child’s traces vanished; only the path of a single adult remained.
That realization deepened Un-hyeon’s dread.
‘The tracks lead toward…’
The house.
Thud!
Un-hyeon’s pace quickened.
He sprinted toward the house without pause.
Please, let nothing have happened to Yeon-woo.
Let that blood not be his.
Praying silently, he reached the house in moments.
A distance that would take the boy half a watch-period—he’d covered it in barely a quarter hour.
Gasp—ragged breath—gasp—
The house, distant now, was as quiet as always.
That silence fed his fear.
“…….”
Perhaps he’d pushed his still-healing body too hard.
Through the ringing hum that filled his ears, Un-hyeon forced himself forward, one step, then another.
Steadying his breath, his trembling hand stretched toward the front gate.
His legs, heavy as waterlogged cloth, carried him at last to the entrance—
“Oh—! Grandfather!”
In the courtyard before the house.
Yeon-woo stood by the veranda, waving both hands as he ran toward him.
A salt jar hung from the boy’s grip.
“I found the salt! It was over there. But Grandfather, why are you here? What about the fire? The meat?”
As Yeon-woo glanced back behind himself, Un-hyeon’s eyes fixed on the man approaching in heavy footfalls.
* * *
A quarter hour earlier.
Thud—
Something warm and vast covered Yeon-woo’s eyes.
At the same moment, the sharp scent of blood reached him.
Yeon-woo’s brow furrowed.
Then he grasped what covered his eyes and pulled it down.
It was a hand of flawless, delicate beauty.
“Not yet.”
Held just above his eyes, the hand refused to lower, blocking his view.
Soon the scent of two or three people appeared and faded, and the hand covering his eyes fell away.
Yeon-woo’s gaze naturally turned toward the place where the blood-scent drifted.
But before he could see it, his body was lifted—whoosh—into the air.
Yeon-woo stared up with wide eyes at the man holding him.
It was the half-masked man who had plagued Un-hyeon days before.
“……!”
Yeon-woo’s brow furrowed sharply.
“What?”
At Yeon-woo’s sharp tone, the masked man’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“You know I just saved you, right?”
“Why would you save me?”
“Because you were about to die?”
“Don’t lie. You’re a liar.”
She’d been rushing home when he showed up—what saving was there in that?
“You came back to torment Grandfather again, didn’t you?”
Yeon-woo’s gaze sharpened with vigilance.
It was the kind of hostility that suggested she might bring an axe down on him at any moment.
Am-yeong-ma-gun spoke as if wronged.
“I made peace with your grandfather.”
“Really?”
Am-yeong-ma-gun nodded.
Behind the mask, his violet eyes gleamed with a clear light that insisted on his innocence.
“I even gave him medicine to help him recover.”
Hmm?
Yeon-woo’s brow tilted.
She clenched her jaw in thought.
Now that he mentioned it, there had been dried herbs she hadn’t seen before, hadn’t there?
They were definitely the good sort for Grandfather.
If that was true….
Whoosh—
Yeon-woo lifted her hand.
‘Is she going to hit me?!’
The moment Am-yeong-ma-gun, well aware of Yeon-woo’s aggressive nature, began to furrow his brow—
Pat. Pat.
“……!”
Am-yeong-ma-gun’s eyes widened in surprise.
Yeon-woo had begun patting his head.
“Good. Let’s not fight anymore, okay?”
“…….”
Suddenly praised by a child, Am-yeong-ma-gun blinked blankly.
Even as he stood there, the small, plump hand continued its gentle patting.
“Pf—”
“……?”
“Pfahahahahaha!!”
Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Am-yeong-ma-gun burst into laughter.
The more he replayed the moment in his mind, the more the laughter came.
The sound was so loud that Yeon-woo frowned and covered her ears.
After laughing for a long time, Am-yeong-ma-gun grasped Yeon-woo’s arm and gently pulled it down.
He brushed her hair back from her furrowed brow and spoke.
“I’ll make you a promise.”
“……?”
“I swear that my own hands will never take your grandfather’s life, nor cause him harm.”
Yeon-woo’s eyes brightened.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Am-yeong-ma-gun hooked his pinky finger lightly around hers.
“I’m quite good at keeping my promises.”
A warm smile spread across Yeon-woo’s lips—warmer than any before.
Am-yeong-ma-gun let out a quiet chuckle at her satisfied expression, as if she’d just expertly mediated a quarrel between young friends.
* * *
“Well, hello there.”
Am-yeong-ma-gun approached Un-hyeon with a cheerful wave.
“Did you run all the way here? Why do you look so worn out? Didn’t the Spirit Medicine work?”
He tilted his head while clenching his jaw—his usual unflappable demeanor unchanged.
Un-hyeon let out a low sigh.
“What’s happened?”
“Hmm?”
– The Assassins should have been handled by you, surely.
Un-hyeon’s gaze darkened as he sent the Telepathic Transmission.
– Ah — you ran into them?
– Four. All First-Rate Martial Artists.
– Five.
Am-yeong-ma-gun’s face broke into a bright smile as he spread his hand wide.
– That makes five, counting the one who was after Yeon-woo.
“Yeon-woo…!”
Un-hyeon moved urgently to inspect Yeon-woo’s body.
“Not a hair out of place — don’t worry. I told you, didn’t I? She’s too valuable on my end.”
“You…!”
Un-hyeon’s eyes turned sharp and fierce as he regarded Am-yeong-ma-gun.
It had been his responsibility to deal with the Assassins.
That promise had meant he would intercept any such danger before it could reach Yeon-woo again.
The fact that a situation like this had unfolded anyway sent fury coursing through Un-hyeon’s chest.

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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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