Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 47

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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 47
“It’s been there since before you closed your eyes.”
“Really?”
Yeon-woo’s eyes widened.
If it was before she closed her eyes, that was an incredibly long time ago.
Drawing up her senses and carefully reading her surroundings through something other than sight required quite a bit of time.
It felt like a very brief moment, but when she opened her eyes, an hour had often passed.
This time wasn’t quite that long, at least.
“Did you see it all?”
Un-hyeon nodded.
“Excellent work.”
Yeon-woo’s lips curved upward in a faint smile.
Un-hyeon wasn’t stingy with praise, but Yeon-woo treasured his approval.
Even though he gave it often, there was never anything hollow about it.
Each compliment came from the heart, and that’s why she valued his words so much.
“There’s still a long way to go, though.”
“Didn’t you split it splendidly?”
“Only the log. That’s the thing.”
Yeon-woo remembered.
The Il-geom technique Un-hyeon had shown her when they first began this training.
The blade he’d demonstrated had cut through more than just wood.
‘To cut water, I still need….’
There was still a long way to go.
How many years would it take? Or tens of years?
“I want to become like you, grandfather!”
“You’re already strong enough, Yeon-woo.”
…….
Yeon-woo’s lips pressed shut.
Un-hyeon, who had missed the small tremor, continued speaking.
“It’s only been five years. Do you think it’s easy to reach a level where you can manipulate your internal power merely five years into learning Mugong?”
Awakening her Nae-gong, forming her Dan-jeon.
And moreover, to reach a state where she could regulate her Un-gi of her own will.
She had climbed to the level Un-hyeon had once desired for her.
“To achieve this much at your age is counted on one hand even in the martial histories of Joong-won. So you can certainly have confidence….”
“…I need it.”
Yeon-woo murmured.
The girl with her head bowed had clenched her fists without realizing it.
“Hmm? What did you say?”
“…more.”
Un-hyeon’s brow furrowed.
He was about to step closer to hear Yeon-woo’s voice more clearly when—
she suddenly lifted her head and cried out.
“I still need you, grandfather!”
……!
Un-hyeon’s eyes went wide.
The edges of the child’s eyes were already flushed.
“You’re being foolish!!”
And the child turned and ran.
She fled desperately from a reality she didn’t want to face.
“Yeon….”
Un-hyeon couldn’t bring himself to stop her.
In her retreating figure, he saw the image of a small child running away from home five years ago.
Ah….
Un-hyeon lowered his hand and released a long sigh, pressing his temples as a dull pain crept in.
“This….”
‘I do it again….’
I wound you in the end.
He knew what about himself, what choice of his, became a wound for the child.
But because he knew, Un-hyeon could not step back.
He could not afford to retreat. Not ever.
“…….”
Unlike in childhood, Un-hyeon sighed deeply once more as he tracked the child’s receding presence, stretching endlessly into the distance.
* * *
“You two fought?”
Am-yeong-ma-gun crouched beside them, chin propped on his hand, and let out a low chuckle.
His narrow eyes flicked back and forth between Un-hyeon, who was building a fire, and Yeon-woo, who was preparing the evening meal.
“We didn’t fight.”
Thwack!
The axe blade separated the head from the fish Un-hyeon had caught that morning.
It was a wooden Mok-bu.
All the axes used in the house were made of wood, their blades dulled, so chopping anything required technique.
Learning that technique was itself part of the training, which was why Un-hyeon had set Yeon-woo to the task.
“I was the one who got upset with him.”
“Why?”
“Because Grandfather…”
Because Grandfather wanted to leave her behind.
But instead of answering, Yeon-woo twisted her lips in a pout.
From that sullen expression, Am-yeong-ma-gun already grasped what was on her mind.
‘She said she’d suspected something along those lines.’
Suspected? This was far more than suspicion.
She already knew. Completely.
“Sharp-eyed little thing.”
“What?!”
Yeon-woo snatched up the Mok-bu.
Am-yeong-ma-gun chuckled and pulled his body back slightly.
“Still, doesn’t it feel like a waste to let her go like this?”
“A waste?”
“Don’t play dumb. You know what I mean.”
That there wasn’t much time left together.
And that she wouldn’t see him for a long while.
“You don’t understand, but your grandfather is quite an extraordinary man.”
So much so that even children knew his epithet.
Though five years had passed since he vanished, countless martial artists still pursued him in his absence—his influence was that profound.
“I know. I know Grandfather is far more impressive than I thought.”
“No, you don’t.”
Yeon-woo’s brow furrowed sharply.
Am-yeong-ma-gun pressed his finger against her creased brow.
“That’s why it’s dangerous.”
Having grown up buried in the mountains, seeing only green and pure things, how could she know of the world’s abundance of filth and corruption?
“That’s why he can’t take you with him. Think about it—what if he took you somewhere good and you got hurt? What would the Jewang-geom do then?”
Wouldn’t he think he bore the blame for your suffering?
Never mind the emotional wounds.
“What if you were injured? What if you were kidnapped?”
And what if you died?
“Have you never considered that you could become the Jewang-geom’s weakness?”
Yeon-woo’s eyes, fixed on Am-yeong-ma-gun, wavered.
“A weakness…?”
“The Jewang-geom is extremely popular in many ways.”
Am-yeong-ma-gun chuckled playfully again.
But that laughter vanished in an instant, and his gaze turned cold.
“Which means he has many enemies. Those who aim for his life.”
Yeon-woo’s pupils darkened with shock.
Yeon-woo grabbed Am-yeong-ma-gun’s arm.
“Does that mean someone is trying to kill Grandfather? Who? Why?”
The fact that she didn’t know was itself the greatest problem.
‘If I explained all that, there’d be no end to it.’
“The important thing is: that’s why he can’t take you with him. That’s how the Jewang-geom protects you.”
“…….”
Yeon-woo’s gaze dropped low.
That lowered gaze trembled as if it had lost its way forward.
“So then….”
Her grip on Am-yeong-ma-gun’s arm tightened.
“What am I supposed to do, then?”
The tension spread through her hand, and her fingers trembled faintly.
“How can I make sure I’m not grandfather’s weakness?”
“How? Well.”
Am-yeong-ma-gun shrugged his shoulders.
“You have to grow stronger.”
Yeon-woo looked at Am-yeong-ma-gun.
“Stronger?”
“Strong enough that even your grandfather’s enemies won’t threaten you. Strong enough that the Jewang-geom won’t have to worry about leaving you behind.”
“But grandfather isn’t here anymore?”
How can I learn now?
“Growing stronger isn’t something only your grandfather can teach you, you know.”
Yeon-woo’s brows sank low.
At the unspoken question in her gaze, Am-yeong-ma-gun laughed and placed his hand on her head with a soft tap.
“You’ll learn Mugong at the Maryong-gwan you’re about to go to, and you can keep studying your texts too.”
“Isn’t that place where people fight?”
A place where they kill and are killed. That’s what they’d said—that Yeon-woo would die if she went there too.
“Well, that’s not entirely wrong either. Children grow through fighting, and it’s certainly the best kind of battlefield for getting stronger. But.”
Am-yeong-ma-gun chuckled and tousled her hair.
“You won’t die.”
“Why?”
“Because I won’t let you.”
“……?”
“And besides, it’s meant to be a place where they teach, after all.”
A training ground where they gathered promising young talents, trained and taught them, and cultivated them into excellent warriors of the Makyoung.
“If I become first in that place, would I be able to escape this weakness?”
“……!”
Yeon-woo’s eyes gleamed bright.
“Really? That would work?”
Am-yeong-ma-gun’s eyes widened.
That would… work…?
Even though he’d spoken so lightly.
“Ha ha ha ha ha!”
Am-yeong-ma-gun patted Yeon-woo’s shoulder and burst into laughter.
Her innocent reaction—born from not knowing what it meant to be first at the Maryong-gwan, or how difficult such a thing truly was—felt refreshing.
“More than enough! That would be more than enough!”
To reach the highest position at the Maryong-gwan would surely be proof enough that she wasn’t so weak the Jewang-geom would hesitate to take her along!
“Really?”
Yeon-woo’s face brightened, and she turned to look at Un-hyeon, who was building a fire in the distance.
‘If I do that…!’
If I’m first at the Maryong-gwan!
“I’m going to work really hard.”
Am-yeong-ma-gun watched Yeon-woo.
“I’ll work hard, become stronger. And once I’m stronger, I’ll become the top dog there.”
The leader.
“The leader?”
Yeon-woo nodded firmly.
Did she mean she’d become the head of the Maryong-gwan?
That must be what she meant.
“You learned the thousand-character text, but writing characters is another matter.”
Am-yeong-ma-gun let out a soft chuckle and patted Yeon-woo’s head affectionately.
* * *
Early dawn.
Un-hyeon stepped out of his quarters and stopped short.
Yeon-woo stood in the courtyard before Un-hyeon’s door, hands planted confidently on her hips.
Un-hyeon looked at her, a little startled.
“You woke up early.”
His surprise quickly shifted into concern.
“Can’t sleep?”
Yet as if to dismiss such concern, Yeon-woo opened her mouth with a clear voice.
“Grandfather.”
“Yes.”
“Guide my Un-gi for 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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