Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 4

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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 4
Yeon-u stared hard at Un-hyeon.
“Zhongyuan?”
“That’s right.”
The evils of the Demonic Sect cannot be stopped.
But surely we can save one child caught in those evils, can we not?
“Your mother always said there are wonderful things to eat there — so many delicacies from mountains and seas in Zhongyuan.”
“……!”
Yeon-u’s eyes went wide.
“Really? We’re going there?”
“Yes. I’ll let you taste the delicacies of Zhongyuan. You’ll love it, I’m certain.”
“Let’s go!”
Yeon-u had no reason to refuse.
Why would he refuse a trip to Zhongyuan, full of delicious food?
“When do we leave? Tomorrow? Right now?”
The promise of delicious food made Yeon-u giddy, and he tugged at Un-hyeon’s sleeve.
“Right now? Huh? Right now?”
Un-hyeon chuckled softly and stroked Yeon-u’s hair.
“That’s impossible right now. My body isn’t well; even crossing the mountains won’t be easy.”
“Awww.”
Yeon-u pouted.
But Zhongyuan was far away.
Stubbornness wouldn’t solve anything.
“Once my body recovers, we’ll go. The road to Zhongyuan is long, and healing will take time.”
Yeon-u’s face brightened at once, and he nodded eagerly.
“Got it! I’ll go find you lots of good herbs! You eat them and get better quick! Okay?”
“All right, all right.”
Un-hyeon burst into laughter.
* * *
The next day.
The two of them left before dawn broke.
At the Forest Junction, they waved goodbye and parted ways.
Yeon-u went to gather medicinal herbs for Un-hyeon, while Un-hyeon set out to find a good place to cultivate his Inner Force.
From that day on, Un-hyeon devoted himself to healing his internal injuries and recovering his Inner Force.
True to his word, Yeon-u brought medicinal herbs from somewhere each day and gave them to Un-hyeon, who ate them to recover.
Every so often, scattered among what Yeon-u brought were Spirit Herbs.
As Spirit Herbs, they were merely low-grade goods scattered widely through the Namgung Clan’s stores, but Spirit Herbs were treasures that an ordinary person would never lay eyes on in a lifetime.
Yet a child had found them.
“Where on earth did you get this?!”
Un-hyeon asked in astonishment.
“I found it on the way.”
That was all he would say.
Yeon-u himself didn’t seem to think it was anything special at all.
Un-hyeon considered following the boy to see what he was doing, but decided against it.
Instead, he focused on using the Spirit Herbs Yeon-u brought to heal his internal injuries and recover his strength.
So four days passed.
“Hmm.”
Tap-tap-tap—
Small feet tapped restlessly, one after another.
Before Yeon-u loomed a towering Rock Cliff.
His gaze was fixed on a small flower blooming midway up the cliff.
“It smells amazing….”
He’d known for a long time that this plant gave off a scent unlike anything he’d encountered before.
But climbing this impossibly high cliff was terribly difficult.
Yeon-u stood before a hard task he’d been avoiding all this while.
“If Grandfather eats this, he’ll get better faster, right?”
If Grandfather got better, we could leave for Zhongyuan sooner, couldn’t we?
And in Zhongyuan, there’d be so much delicious food, wouldn’t there?
“Grandfather said he’d let me eat delicious things.”
So here he was.
How am I supposed to climb up there?
Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap—
He was still standing there, chin in hand, lost in thought.
“What are you doing here?”
A stranger’s voice suddenly came from his right.
A man had appeared at Yeon-u’s right side—though when he’d arrived, Yeon-u couldn’t say.
The man had bent his waist to match the child’s height, mirroring Yeon-u’s pose with hand to chin. A white half-mask covered his eyes and nose.
Black hair that shimmered silver in the sunlight. Skin so flawless and luminous it seemed to glow, a perfectly straight nose, a playful smile.
The mask concealed his face, yet it could not hide his beauty.
“I’m trying to figure out how to climb up there.”
“Why do you want to climb it?”
“There’s a good herb at the top.”
“A good herb?”
Hmm—
The man gazed intently up at the cliff face.
His eyes narrowed for a moment.
Then the man let out a low chuckle.
“You’re right. I can feel an unusual aura.”
Yeon-u spun around sharply, his voice ringing out.
“It’s mine!”
The eyes behind the mask widened slightly, then curved into a smile.
The man bent his knees fully, crouching down with his chin resting on his hand.
He faced Yeon-u, whose gaze had turned serious and fierce, and spoke.
“Then—the person who finds it first claims it. You found it, so it’s yours. I’m not here to take it.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Then help me.”
The man chuckled at the quick shift in tone.
“All right!”
In an instant, a powerful wind swept through with a whoosh—!
Dust swirled up in the gust, and Yeon-u raised his arm to shield his face.
The dust settled slowly, and the fierce wind died down.
When Yeon-u lowered his arm—
“Here.”
In his hand was a flower that, moments before, had bloomed on the cliff face above.
“……!”
Yeon-u’s eyes suddenly sparkled.
Yeon-u eagerly snatched the Spirit Herb from the man’s outstretched hand.
“Wow!”
He’d torn it down so easily!
Wow!
“Nothing to say?”
The man who’d handed over the Spirit Herb as promised puffed out his chest and shrugged his shoulders proudly.
Yeon-u looked up at him with gleaming eyes.
“Thank you, Grandfather!”
Then he spun around and dashed toward home.
He wanted to get this herb to Un-hyeon as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the man’s eyes curved in an odd, crooked way as he watched the child disappear into the distance.
“Grandfather…?”
* * *
That evening.
Un-hyeon entered the house with noticeably lighter steps.
A dead pheasant hung limply from his waist.
‘To catch a pheasant—my luck was good today.’
That boy Yeon-u loved pheasant meat most of all.
I wonder if he’ll like it this time too.
The thought of Yeon-u’s delighted face, bouncing with joy, made his own spirits lift.
‘When we go to Zhongyuan, there will be so many foods far more delicious than this.’
What expression would he wear each time he tasted them?
If it were Yeon-u, he might even cry in surprise.
With such thoughts in mind, he dressed the meat and prepared the campfire.
As he kindled the flames, the sun slipped away, and murky darkness descended upon the forest.
“Yeon-u is late.”
Yeon-u arrived just as the fire began to blaze.
Un-hyeon lifted his gaze toward the distant darkness.
Beyond the cottage gate, at the far end of a long path, a small figure pushed through the gloom, footsteps steady and unhurried.
Un-hyeon rose to meet him.
He reached for a torch to go out, but by then the child’s footfalls had quickened—a light, rapid patter growing nearer.
Un-hyeon smiled warmly.
‘So pleased to have someone come meet him—what a simple joy.’
Children were children, after all.
Un-hyeon himself walked toward the gate with an easy stride.
One hand clasped behind his back, he stood waiting for the approaching boy.
Thinking ‘Perhaps he likes being held,’ he smiled and reached out his hand—
“You’re quite la—”
“Such a delicious smell!”
Something whooshed past Un-hyeon’s side.
It was Yeon-u.
“Wow! Pheasant! Roasted pheasant!”
A chill wind fluttered the hem of Un-hyeon’s robe.
Un-hyeon stood for a moment with his hand awkwardly extended, then clasped both hands behind his back once more and turned toward Yeon-u as if nothing had happened.
Yeon-u stood before the browning pheasant, fists clenched tight, bouncing on his heels.
“You were very late today.”
“Yeah! I went really far!”
“What did you gather to be so de—”
In that instant, Un-hyeon’s hand, reaching toward Yeon-u’s hemp sack, froze.
An unusually strange aura emanated from the sack Yeon-u had set down.
‘This is…’
He didn’t need to open it to understand.
Inside that sack lay a Spirit Herb so rare that even the main house of the Namgung Clan might not possess one.
Un-hyeon’s hands trembled as he lifted the sack.
He opened it carefully to glimpse its contents, and for a moment his breath caught in his throat.
‘This is… this is…’
The Bi Yun Cao—was it not?
Growing only upon sheer cliffs untouched by human hand, it cleared the mind when taken and granted achievements equal to one full year of cultivation!
A treasure so rare that even the masters of renowned sects and great families rarely glimpsed one in a lifetime!
“Where on earth did you find this…?”
This was no mere herb one simply picked up on a whim.
Yeon-u, who had been gazing at the roasting pheasant all this while, turned to look at Un-hyeon.
“Oh, that—”
As Yeon-u pointed to the sack and began to answer, it happened.
“……!”
In an instant, Un-hyeon’s expression hardened like stone.
Un-hyeon moved swiftly to Yeon-u’s side and gently placed a hand over the boy’s mouth.
“……?”
“Yeon-u.”
Yeon-u looked up at Un-hyeon in bewilderment.
“Go inside for a moment.”
“Why?”
“Just for now. Don’t come out until I call for you.”
Un-hyeon held Yeon-u’s shoulders and met his eyes.
“Do you understand?”
“Mm…”
Confronted with a gravity unlike his usual demeanor, Yeon-u hesitated for a moment.
He didn’t want to go inside.
He wanted to eat the roasted bird.
“If you obey me, I’ll give you both of the pheasant’s legs.”
“I will!”
Yeon-u immediately dashed into the cottage.
Once he confirmed the door had closed, Un-hyeon rose to his feet.
‘Two. No, three of them.’

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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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