Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 29

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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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Episode 29
Chapter 4. What Cannot Be Spoken. What Cannot Be Known Without Being Told
* * *
A few days later.
It was one of those afternoons when Un Hyeon was repeating his usual Movement Training.
Kee-eee-eee—
At the cry of a hawk that pierced the sky, Un Hyeon’s gaze snapped upward.
The Blue Hawk he had sent off days ago with a Messenger Letter declaring him alive had returned.
Likely carrying his son’s reply.
“Grandfather. How should I position my legs here?…”
“Yeon Woo.”
Un Hyeon gripped Yeon Woo’s shoulder.
Yeon Woo looked up at Un Hyeon.
Yet Un Hyeon was not looking at him.
Even as he spoke the boy’s name, his gaze was fixed elsewhere.
“Continue with your training.”
Whip—
Before Yeon Woo could even answer, Un Hyeon vanished before his eyes.
A heartbeat later, rough wind swept in the direction he had gone with a sharp pull.
Yeon Woo blinked, staring after the place where Un Hyeon had disappeared.
Though Un Hyeon’s form was already beyond sight, Yeon Woo gazed at that spot for a long moment before resuming his Movement Training.
* * *
Thud—
Un Hyeon moved an entire mountain as he had done before.
Then he whistled, and a massive hawk descended with a flutter of wings.
A great shadow engulfed Un Hyeon for a moment.
The Blue Hawk folded its wings and perched on Un Hyeon’s arm.
Un Hyeon opened the small box tied to the hawk’s leg and drew out the paper inside.
The instant he unrolled the tightly wound paper, tears nearly spilled from Un Hyeon’s eyes unbidden.
‘Ho Yeon’s… handwriting….’
So familiar, unmistakably his son’s script.
Un Hyeon pressed down on his suddenly burning chest and read what was written.
[Father, I shall come to bring you home. Please tell me where you are through the Blue Hawk.]
Because so little could be written on paper, the message was exceedingly brief.
Yet Un Hyeon heard his son’s voice as if it were ringing in his ears, and he read even that short note several times over.
Un Hyeon withdrew paper, a small brush, and a bottle of ink from his robe—things he had arranged in advance through official channels.
He had received them beforehand.
Before, circumstance had allowed him only to send a mark indicating he was alive, but this time Un Hyeon replied with a brief message of his own.
[Meet me at Han Eum Valley in four days. Tell no one.]
Han Eum Valley was a small gorge situated at the boundary where the north of the Central Plains met the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.
Meeting at Han Eum Valley meant the small inn nestled in that gorge.
It was one of many stopping points where travelers could rest when journeying between the Demon Cult and the Central Plains or vice versa, but among those, it was hemmed in by such steep mountain ridges that few ever passed through.
Un Hyeon placed the brief letter in the box tied to the Blue Hawk’s leg and stroked the hawk.
Then he raised his arm high, and the Blue Hawk spread its great wings and soared into the sky.
Whoosh— Whooosh—
As the Blue Hawk rose on powerful wingbeats and receded into the distance, a quiet smile flickered across Un Hyeon’s gaze.
In four days.
In four days he would meet his son.
This place was not far from Seol Hun Mountain, so Han Eum Valley too would not be distant.
‘A half day’s journey at most.’
He could make the trip there and back in half a day.
The problem, however, was this.
Whishhh—
“….”
Un Hyeon gazed toward a distant direction.
The direction where the house he shared with Yeon Woo stood.
Un Hyeon’s gaze, fixed upon it, settled into a still, quiet light.
* * *
“Today let us gather medicinal herbs. It has been a while since you last did that, has it not?”
And so Un Hyeon led Yeon Woo to a distant, steep mountain they did not usually visit.
“Using only your sense of smell to find them. Can you do it?”
“Yes!”
Yeon Woo nodded with confidence.
This mountain was too distant for Yeon Woo to visit alone, and she had never come here to gather herbs before.
Which meant.
‘Good smells everywhere!’
The untouched slopes were thick with medicinal plants!
Un Hyeon covered Yeon Woo’s eyes and ears.
Thump-thump!
The thought of gathering fragrant herbs after so long made Yeon Woo’s excitement surge.
Even with her eyes blindfolded and ears blocked, she felt no fear.
Smell had always been her keenest sense.
– Come now, begin.
The moment Un Hyeon’s transmission voice reached her, Yeon Woo moved.
She crouched low and felt her way forward with her hands, following the delicate fragrance.
‘Roots, roots….’
As expected, Yeon Woo began gathering the herbs without difficulty.
Unable to see or hear, she could instead concentrate fully on her work.
Half a day passed.
After wandering the mountain for more than half a day, Yeon Woo’s gathering pouch had grown satisfyingly full.
Then, at some moment.
“…!”
Yeon Woo suddenly straightened her posture.
Her nose twitched.
‘An incredible scent…!’
A sweet and intoxicating fragrance tickled the child’s nose.
Such an aroma meant an exceptional herb.
Yeon Woo knew this from her previous experience with the Bi Yun Herb for Un Hyeon.
‘Careful….’
Yeon Woo moved cautiously.
She felt her way along the ground, pushing through brush for some time.
The rich scent grew steadily closer, and Yeon Woo advanced toward it as if entranced.
Then, at some moment.
“…!”
The crawling child’s movement stopped abruptly.
Cold sweat began to bead on Yeon Woo’s forehead.
She could not see or hear, yet every nerve in her body, rigid with tension, screamed a warning.
That directly ahead lay immense danger.
And facing the blindfolded child was.
Grrrrr….
A massive tiger, baring its teeth toward her.
As if ready to swallow the small child’s head in a single bite.
“….”
Yeon Woo’s hands trembled finely.
The child had already stopped breathing.
‘If I move….’
I’ll die.
If I run, I’ll die. If I twitch a finger, if I part my lips, or even if I simply breathe.
I’ll die.
‘If I die….’
Grandfather will… be sad….
Yet the suffocating tension made her breathing quicken.
Holding back the breath that had risen to her throat, and finally exhaling softly in desperation.
Grrrowwwl-!!
The tiger’s jaws yawned wide.
Wide enough to swallow the child in one motion.
“…!”
Shriek!
Yeon Woo’s body jerked backward in reflexive terror just as.
Whoosh—Craaash! Thud!
The black cloth that had been tightly bound around Yeon Woo’s eyes and ears caught on something and slipped loose with a soft whisper.
As his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, Yeon Woo looked up blankly at the figure standing before him.
Short black hair swept back from his face, a thin black silk eye covering, lips pressed into a firm line.
A martial robe dyed entirely black—belt cinching neck and waist, sleeves all shadow-dark.
A black spear shaft and black blade, bound together with a black knot.
A man dressed entirely in black stood blocking Yeon Woo’s path.
And at his feet lay the tiger that had been threatening Yeon Woo moments before.
With his eyes open, it was far larger than he’d imagined—larger than Yeon Woo himself.
“The danger is….”
Yeon Woo stared at the man, startled by his unfamiliar voice.
Swish—!
The man flicked the blood from his blade and turned toward Yeon Woo.
“One must face it the moment one perceives it.”
His breathing carried a faint weariness, yet his voice remained low and clear.
“If you cannot win, then run. Sitting there in a daze like that will only lead to….”
Beyond the thin black silk covering his eyes, obsidian pupils flickered into being, regarding Yeon Woo with an almost tangible presence.
“A Dog’s Death.”
Yeon Woo’s lips parted slightly.
Child of Darkness.
That was the first thought that rose in the child’s mind.
“…Who are you, sir?”
“….”
The man regarded Yeon Woo in silence, offering no answer.
There seemed to be a dark aura coiling around him, and Yeon Woo found himself thinking again:
‘Child of Darkness.’
Thud—
“Yeon Woo…!”
Un Hyeon appeared at last.
He helped the fallen child to his feet, brushing dirt from his clothes, examining him from every angle.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
Yeon Woo nodded, his gaze still fixed on the man in black.
“No.”
Un Hyeon turned to face the stranger as well.
“And you are….”
“Gu Yeong, they call me.”
“…I see. So you’re the one the Dark Shadow Demon Army sent….”
A dog….then.
The words stuck in Un Hyeon’s throat.
They’d said they’d leave a dog watching while he was gone, but what kind of epithet was Gu Yeong? What did it even mean?
‘The dog’s shadow….’
And not the character for dog as in noble creature, but as in lowly beast.
It was the character used when speaking of dogs in a disparaging way.
It meant a dog stripped of dignity, a dog of shame and servitude.
To bear such a name, to speak it aloud himself—it was as if he were intentionally degrading himself, wasn’t it?
Could he truly be content with that?
“I….”
“Gu Yeong.”
…These Demon Cult members….
Un Hyeon exhaled quietly and rose to his feet.
“…Gu Yeong. Thank you for saving Yeon Woo.”
Un Hyeon regarded Gu Yeong steadily.
The black pupils beyond the thin silk covering remained fixed on him, unmoved and impassive.
“Thanks to you….”
“….”
The child was able to remain safe.”

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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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