Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 42

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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 42
Part Five: Five Years
* * *
Gasp—wheeze—gasp—
In the dim hours before dawn, as daylight began to creep across the sky.
Namgung Ho-yeon, who had spent the entire night ransacking the mountain, could not believe the sight before his eyes.
A valley far removed from Han-eum Valley.
He had stopped here half-expecting to find nothing, yet the scene that greeted him was nothing short of carnage.
“Infinite Heavens….”
Myeong-hyeon Jingin murmured softly.
A ravaged valley.
Corpses lay strewn across it.
Those pierced through vital points by flying blades, and those cut down by swords.
‘Father….’
Staring at the horrific scene, the ominous thoughts he had tried to suppress rose up and seized Ho-yeon’s mind with dread.
No. It couldn’t be. It wouldn’t be.
Father’s corpse could not possibly be among all these countless dead….
“Sect Leader. You need to see this.”
A martial artist from Kunlun who had come with them pointed to a spot.
His expression was etched with shock.
Myeong-hyeon Jingin and Ho-yeon approached him.
“…!”
“Gasp…!”
The faces of both men hardened in an instant.
“This is….”
“Is this… a person…?”
Shriveled skin stretched tight over bone. Or rather, a body withered and twisted into something barely recognizable as human.
“Ugh….”
The realization that this thing—desiccated as if its very essence had been drained from it—was once a human brought bile rising to his throat.
Even the sight of a decomposed corpse unearthed from a grave would not have been this grotesque.
“Has this body been dead for a long time?”
“No.”
Myeong-hyeon Jingin knelt before it.
He felt along its arms and legs.
“I once read in a scroll that when all True Qi drains from a human body in a short span of time, it withers like dead wood in this very manner.”
“Then….”
Myeong-hyeon Jingin nodded slowly.
“For whatever reason, this one died when his True Qi was exhausted.”
The time of death would be the same as the other bodies in this valley.
The corpses scattered about appeared to have been dead for less than a day.
“It seems something occurred here last night.”
“Sect Leader.”
Clink—
The martial artist from Kunlun picked something up from near the withered corpse.
It was a short blade, the kind one might use in the kitchen.
On the handle, just below the blade, a single character was inscribed: “Mad.”
“Mad… as in the Gwang Cham Blade…?”
“Could this truly be the Gwang Cham Blade of the Padao Sect Master?!”
At the words “Padao Sect Master’s Gwang Cham Blade,” Ho-yeon’s gaze, which had been sweeping over the surroundings, snapped sharply toward the two men.
Ho-yeon moved closer to Myeong-hyeon Jingin.
“Please… let me see it too!”
He took the blade from Myeong-hyeon Jingin’s hand and examined it. The character “Mad” was indeed carved into it.
‘Padao Sect….’
Padao Sect—wasn’t that the very sect his father had mentioned before he left the inn?
The one watching over the inn, keeping surveillance on Father…!
‘….’
Ho-yeon’s hands trembled as he surveyed the valley.
Last night, there had been a confrontation here between the Padao Sect and his father.
These countless corpses were Padao disciples.
And beside them, the corpse of the Padao Sect Master. If that were true….
‘If Father…’
“I think we ought to inform the Murim Alliance of this matter. Young Master Namgung.”
Myeong-hyeon Jingin called out to Ho-yeon.
Ho-yeon, who had been staring blankly at the corpse, turned to regard him.
“Do you believe this affair relates to the Supreme Sword, then?”
“This matter here…”
Ho-yeon had been about to speak of the friction between his father and the Padao Sect when suddenly—clarity returned.
His eyes, which had been vacant and loose, snapped back into focus.
‘A Blank Missive.’
Father had sent a Blank Missive when he sought aid from Kunlun.
That gesture meant he could not fully trust them.
‘What lies before my eyes is the corpse of the Padao Sect Master.’
Not Father’s corpse.
Of course, a more thorough search of this place would settle it, but for now there is no evidence that Father has been brought to harm.
‘If that is the case…’
Assuming he still lived, he must act with caution.
If he lived, there had to be a reason he left no trace.
“This place…”
Namgung Ho-yeon fixed Myeong-hyeon Jingin with a hard stare.
“It lies within the Demonic Cult’s territory, does it not? Then this affair could not have arisen between the Demonic Cult and the Padao Sect alone.”
“You are certain it bears no connection to the Supreme Sword?”
Ho-yeon nodded.
“Yes. When I last saw my father, he was utterly exhausted from his battle with the Demonic Cult. Such a clash would have been impossible for him then.”
“I see…”
Myeong-hyeon Jingin stroked his chin.
A full night spent combing the mountain in search of the Supreme Sword, only to encounter not the Supreme Sword but the devastation of the Padao Sect.
When Ho-yeon himself could not be certain whether he had truly met the Supreme Sword, the matter of the Padao Sect only muddied the waters further.
“If you don’t mind, I’d prefer we return for now. We should inform the Murim Alliance of this before it grows any later.”
At Myeong-hyeon Jingin’s careful words, Ho-yeon nodded in agreement.
“Yes. Understood. For now…”
Ho-yeon cast a lingering glance back at the desolate valley.
“Let us depart.”
On the wind that swept through the valley, the heavy scent of blood hung thick.
* * *
Crunch, crunch—
Meanwhile, as darkness gradually retreated and dawn began to break much the same way,
the footsteps of one entering the house where Yeon-u and Un-hyeon made their dwelling halted just before crossing the threshold.
A low chuckle escaped.
Beneath the white half-mask, lips curved in a soft smile.
Crunch, crunch—
The footsteps crossed the courtyard and turned toward the veranda.
At the base of the veranda, leaning against a pillar that supported the house, sat a solitary figure.
Drenched in blood, ravaged and broken, he was the Supreme Sword—Namgung Un-hyeon.
Swish—
Un-hyeon lifted his head and looked up at the one standing before him.
“…You’ve come back too.”
Half his face stained with blood, his voice came weakly, and Am-yeong Magun let out a low chuckle.
“I thought you’d run.”
Un-hyeon fell silent for a moment before speaking.
“I made a promise with Yeon-u. That I would return.”
“And you found your son well?”
“Fortunately, he was in good health.”
“But why do you look like this? All the medicine I gave you, and you come back torn to pieces again?”
He had even provided Spirit Medicine to help him recover, and yet here he was, returning broken once more.
“For that, I apologize.”
At Un-hyeon’s forthright apology, Am-yeong Magun’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Am-yeong Magun bent at the knees and crouched down before Un-hyeon.
“You’re hurt badly.”
“…As you see.”
“This part here.”
Am-yeong Magun jabbed Namgung Un-hyeon’s chest with his finger.
“Looks like something’s weighing on you—your expression gives it away.”
……
Un-hyeon’s gaze, which had been lowered, fixed on the hand Am-yeong Magun pointed toward his own chest.
‘Strange.’
He’d been here only a few months, yet it brought him such a sense of peace.
“You’re more sentimental than you appear, aren’t you?”
Am-yeong Magun let out a low chuckle.
“Don’t say things like that.”
“You were planning to run.”
At Un-hyeon’s words, Am-yeong Magun’s eyes dimmed at once.
“If possible, you meant to take Yeon-u with you.”
After meeting his son and preparing an escape route, Un-hyeon had planned to seize a moment when Am-yeong Magun was away and take Yeon-u back to the Central Plains.
He knew that with Am-yeong Magun present, it would be impossible to take Yeon-u out.
Even if he’d shed blood in his clash with Gu-yeong, he believed such an opportunity would never come again.
“Then why didn’t you go?”
“There’s nowhere to go.”
……
“The Central Plains I knew—the world I believed in—it’s all gone.”
Un-hyeon’s fingertips trembled faintly.
Though he’d wanted not to believe it, wanted to hold onto hope, the matter with the Padao Sect had taught him the truth.
“The Murim has lost its Righteous Alliance and martial artists have forsaken the Way. The Central Plains now is nothing but a Realm of Hungry Ghosts, teeming with nothing but desire and greed. I can no longer tell who my enemy even is.”
The martial world of the Central Plains had rotted.
It had festered so thoroughly that the stench rose from it.
He felt ashamed not to have recognized that rot sooner.
“So you’ll abandon it?”
At Am-yeong Magun’s seemingly indifferent question, Un-hyeon’s eyes recovered their true light in an instant.
His gaze, lowered until then, flashed with a cold gleam.
“No—I must cut away the corruption.”
Carve out what has rotted, sever what has festered.
If it was his duty to save those still living, those who had not abandoned the Way and righteousness.
“So I ask you now.”
His eyes held a venom that sent shivers down the spine.
“How strong are you in this Demonic Cult?”
Am-yeong Magun’s lips curved into a wide smile.
He liked Un-hyeon’s audacity in asking such a sensitive question without hesitation.
Yes. This was what the Supreme Sword should be.
“I state it without doubt.”
Am-yeong Magun answered with confidence.
“I am the strongest in this Singyou.”
* * *
Chirp—chirp—
A clear morning, with the peaceful call of birds drifting on the wind.
Yeon-u, who had been curled up asleep on his bed, opened his eyes groggily at the noise.
Bright sunlight streamed through the half-open window, and beyond it, a clear blue sky came into view.
A bird perched on the windowsill tilted its head when its eyes met Yeon-u’s, then fluttered away.
Bang-bang-bang—
“Yeon-u!”
What woke Yeon-u was the sound of someone pounding on his door early in the morning.
Still curled in his bed, Yeon-u stared at the trembling door with no intention of opening it.
Bang—bang—bang—
“Wake up already! He’s come to get you!”
In that instant, Yeon-u’s eyes flew wide open.
He immediately threw off his blanket and leaped from the bed.
The moment he yanked the door open, Gwan-hyeok, who stood beyond it, stumbled backward with a startled “Oh!”
Leaving Gwan-hyeok in his wake, Yeon-u rushed out.
As Yeon-u ran without looking back, Gwan-hyeok called after him.
“Hey, wait! Put on your shoes! You need your shoes!!”

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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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