Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 70

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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 70
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“What’s this? Students brawling in the middle of the night?”
Waiting for Yeon-woo and his companions at the Uigak was yet another Gyojoo.
The only middle-aged man among the relatively young corps of Gyojoos.
Always chewing on some unidentifiable herb, he carried an air of vague disreputability about him.
This man, disheveled in a manner distinct from Gwi-ya-gaek’s untidiness, had various things dangling from beneath the robe he’d thrown on haphazardly.
Yeon-woo recognized them all as dried herbs.
On the right side of his robe hung aromatic grasses; on the left, herbs with a dangerous scent.
And because Yeon-woo remembered people by their distinctive odors, he recalled this man with perfect clarity.
A man who smelled of everything at once.
It was Man-cho, the Gyojoo.
Yeon-woo called out, pointing at him.
“Poison Gyojoo!”
“Huh?”
Man-cho, who had been hurrying out after being asked to carry two students, froze solid.
“You mean me?”
Yeon-woo nodded, a confident smile spreading across his face.
“Am I right?”
“Well, yes, but couldn’t you call me the Medicine Gyojoo instead?”
Earlier that day, Man-cho’s introduction had gone like this.
“I’m Man-cho, Gyojoo of Poison Mastery and Medicine. I’m also responsible for this session’s Uigak, so if anything hurts, come find me quick. And if possible, let’s not see each other too often.”
In other words, Yeon-woo had called him the Poison Gyojoo, but more precisely, he was the Poison-and-Medicine Gyojoo.
“Gyojoo, please examine the students’ conditions first. This one seems to have ingested poison.”
Man-cho nodded and led them deeper inside.
“Leave that one with me. Put that one over there.”
Man-cho took Baek Yeol-han, while Gu-yeong settled Yeon-woo onto the cot Man-cho had indicated.
Man-cho fetched a basin of water and clean cloth from somewhere and handed them to Gu-yeong.
“Would you wipe the blood off? I’ll examine that boy first and be right back.”
“Understood.”
Gu-yeong nodded and accepted the water and cloth.
Then, bending slightly at the waist, he carefully wiped the blood from Yeon-woo’s hands and face.
It was as Gu-yeong wiped Yeon-woo’s cheek.
“Tee-hee.”
Behind the Black Mask, Gu-yeong’s dark eyes glanced briefly at Yeon-woo.
“If you move like that, you might touch the wound.”
“But it tickles.”
Yeon-woo released another stream of giggles.
Then he flinched, his body tensing. “Ow!”
Sure enough—the cloth had scraped against the wound.
“Forgive me. Did that hurt?”
“I’m fine.”
Gu-yeong exhaled in relief.
His gaze lingering on Yeon-woo’s wound held a trace of pain.
“It’s torn deeper than I thought. It might need stitches.”
“Yeah, it’s okay. I got wounds like this all the time fighting with Tiger.”
“…You fought a tiger?”
Certainly, even when they first met, he’d rescued Yeon-woo from being attacked by Tiger.
“Yeah. Tiger hide is the best.”
Yeon-woo gave a thumbs-up.
Gu-yeong’s brow furrowed slightly, clearly not grasping the meaning.
But seeing the satisfied expression on Yeon-woo’s face, Gu-yeong let out an involuntary sigh.
“You still enjoy dangerous things.”
“You can’t gain anything worthwhile without taking risks, though?”
“Who taught you to say things like that?”
“Guess!”
There was no guessing about it.
Jewang-geom would have discouraged any dangerous business before even hearing the reason for it—so there could be only one person who’d teach such a thing.
A wretched human who would encourage dangerous pranks if there was nothing but entertainment to be gained.
Knowing that nature, Gu-yeong sighed quietly and shook his head.
“You should keep your distance from adults like that. They’re of no real use to anyone.”
“No, they have their moments.”
Like bringing back pheasants, or secretly telling Yeon-woo the location of Tiger’s den, or very occasionally helping him recite the Thousand Character Classic.
“Is that so.”
“Mm.”
Splash.
Gu-yeong dipped the cloth into water.
The crimson traces of blood dispersed faintly into the clear water.
He wrung out the cloth heavy with water, then gently cleaned Yeon-woo’s wound again.
A brief silence settled between them.
For the first time in years, Yeon-woo caught sight of Gu-yeong’s eyes, lowered beneath the Black Mask.
Gu-yeong’s eyes were still large and beautiful.
It seemed almost a waste to keep them hidden.
It was in that moment—when he’d thought he wanted to see those eyes beyond the cloth someday.
“I’m taking it back.”
Yeon-woo blinked.
“Taking what back?”
Behind the Black Mask, Gu-yeong’s dark pupils fixed on him in an instant.
“What I said about not acting as though you know me. Please, forget I ever said that.”
Yeon-woo tilted his head.
“Why?”
“I wanted you to be properly recognized here on your own merit. I thought that any connection between us would only stand in your way.”
If his connection with Gu-yeong became known, everything Yeon-woo accomplished would inevitably carry the shadow of ‘thanks to his connection with Gyojoo Hall.’
“Even before…”
It had been the same in his fight with Byeok Gyojoo.
The moment Byeok Gyojoo learned there was a connection between them, he’d questioned Yeon-woo’s very first test results.
‘If this relationship were known, everyone else would doubt me just as he did.’
“But ability proves itself in the end. That’s not what truly mattered.”
Gu-yeong gazed at Yeon-woo.
Behind the thin Black Mask, those beautiful eyes now held a wounded light once more.
“Had my connection to you been known, Byeok Gyojoo would not have touched you so readily.”
Yeon-woo’s brow furrowed slightly.
Really? How did that work?
“I don’t understand.”
“Sometimes a relationship becomes a safe fence around you. The longer you spend here, the more you’ll come to know such things.”
“Hmm.”
Yeon-woo mulled over Gu-yeong’s words carefully.
He couldn’t fully grasp it yet, but he sensed dimly what Gu-yeong was trying to say.
Then, at some point, Yeon-woo’s face brightened as if he’d grasped something.
“So now I can act like I know you? I can greet you and all?”
“Yes. I’m sorry I couldn’t accept that until now.”
Yeon-woo laughed softly.
Even with his wound raw and torn, surely it must have hurt—yet his smile was as clear as it had been five years ago.
It was the sort of smile that warmed even the deepest darkness in one’s heart.
“You two seem quite close.”
Man-cho, finished with treating Baek Yeol-han’s injury, approached.
Gu-yeong, who had just wiped away the last of the blood, stepped aside and nodded.
“A student I knew well. Since before Maryong Hall opened.”
“Oh! Then could it be the first test was…!”
“No.”
In an instant, a wave of flame rippled around Gu-yeong.
It was a misunderstanding, but Man-cho, having clearly seen it, instinctively flinched.
“…Or rather, a no is a no, so why get so—anyway. Anyway, there’s no way our Gu-yeong would do such a thing.”
Ha.
“Let me take a look at your condition.”
Man-cho began to examine Yeon-woo’s wound.
His hands were rough, yet they moved with the careful precision of a physician.
“Whew, that was close. Another bit deeper and we’d have needed to stitch it.”
At the news that stitching wasn’t necessary, Gu-yeong let out a relieved sigh.
His gaze fell upon Baek Yeol-han, lying on the adjacent cot.
“Is that student going to be all right?”
“Well, for now, yes.”
Man-cho nodded as he tended to Yeon-woo’s wounds.
“He did ingest poison, but it wasn’t virulent. It seems to be a type of latent poison.”
“What’s latent poison?”
“It’s poison that doesn’t show symptoms immediately. Instead, it accumulates in the body, and once it reaches a certain threshold, the toxicity manifests. You can consume it day after day without ever knowing you’ve taken it—until one day, suddenly, you’re dead. It’s a terrifying kind of poison.”
“That really is terrifying.”
“It is. Such dangerous poison….”
Man-cho cast a sidelong glance at Gu-yeong, his gaze lowered, before continuing.
“Where could that student have consumed it?”
Gu-yeong understood that the question was directed not at Yeon-woo, but at him.
“Gwanju will be summoning us shortly.”
“….”
Man-cho’s brows curved slightly.
He’d assumed it was just a scuffle between students, but for latent poison to be involved—enough for Gwanju himself to intervene—something far more serious had occurred.
“So something bigger happened than I thought….”
“Chwisakgak.”
“…!”
Man-cho’s attention snapped to Yeon-woo.
“What did you say?”
“He ate it at Chwisakgak. The poison was mixed into the rice and salt.”
“…You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
At Yeon-woo’s words, the color drained from Man-cho’s face.
Chwisakgak. Rice and salt. Poison.
If all of it was true….
“…Gu-yeong.”
“Yes.”
“Where is Gwanju now?”
“The last place I saw him was Chwisakgak. By now, he’s likely sorted out the situation and proceeded to Gyojoo Hall.”
“…I’m sorry, but could I ask you one thing?”
“Of course.”
A flicker of urgency crossed Man-cho’s eyes.
His voice grew heavier as he spoke.
“I need to check what food all the students ate tonight. If possible, from every dormitory.”

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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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