Appearance of the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 8

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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 8
* * *
“Grandfather! What are you going to buy me for my birthday?”
“Heh heh heh, little one, what would you like?”
“I want a robot! Buy me a robot toy!!”
A dark semi-basement room, thick with cold.
A small window so high that one had to stand on tiptoe atop a desk with a box placed on it just to reach it.
Beyond that window, through which countless pairs of feet—large and small—passed ceaselessly, lay the entirety of the world that Yeon-woo could see.
“Of course, of course! If my grandson wants it, I’ll buy it for him! Come on, let’s go pick out toys!”
“Wow! Grandfather, you’re the best!!”
Toys….
Yeon-woo did not know what a robot was.
But judging by how much the other child wanted it, he figured it must be something delicious.
Gurgle.
It had been half a month since his mother left.
Yeon-woo was so young that he could neither make food for himself nor open the door and venture out into the world.
‘I’m hungry.’
I want to eat a toy too.
If grandfather were here, could I eat one?
Would it taste good?
Gurgle-gurgle….
Mother… when will you come back….
The smell of food drifting in from the street beyond the window was all that Yeon-woo could enjoy.
Every day, Yeon-woo pressed himself against that window.
It was all the small child could do.
* * *
Flash!
Evening, when darkness had settled in.
Yeon-woo, who had slept through the entire day, opened his eyes.
For a brief moment he stared at the ceiling with wide, round eyes, then all at once he jerked his upper body upright.
Yeon-woo’s nostrils flared slightly.
Tap-tap-tap—Bang!
The door flew open.
“Meat!”
Bird meat too! And two of them?!
Dashing out in a heartbeat, Yeon-woo’s eyes fell upon meat roasting deliciously over a campfire.
It was pheasant meat—his favorite.
Saliva pooled in his mouth in an instant.
Wait!
Something suddenly struck Yeon-woo, and his gaze swept urgently across the yard.
A moment later, rustling came from behind the house, and Un-hyeon appeared, straw in hand.
“Grandfather!”
“You’re awake?”
Un-hyeon greeted Yeon-woo with a smile.
Yeon-woo’s eyes gleamed brightly.
He nodded, his cheeks dimpling with an expression of pure contentment.
“Yes!”
“The meat is just about done. Come here.”
Tap-tap-tap!
“Put on your shoes first.”
Tap-tap!
…….
Tap-tap-tap!
Yeon-woo came running with his shoes on and sat down beside Un-hyeon.
Un-hyeon, feeding straw into the fire, plucked out a well-cooked pheasant leg and handed it to Yeon-woo.
“It’s hot, so take your time.”
“Okay!”
The meat, fresh from the flames, was scalding.
Yeon-woo held both ends of the stick Un-hyeon had given him and carefully let the heat dissipate.
Un-hyeon placed the remaining three pheasant legs in front of Yeon-woo as well.
Tap-tap-tap.
Before a fire burning hot and fierce, a small child crouched down, blowing gently to cool the meat.
He was terribly small.
Thrown into such a harsh, merciless place, Yeon-woo was nothing but a small child.
“Yeon-woo.”
“Hmm?”
Yeon-woo answered while cooling the meat.
“Would you not try learning Martial Arts?”
“Hmm?”
Yeon-woo turned to look at Un-hyeon.
The boy’s eyes were full of bewilderment at the strange question.
“I saw the books in the room. Is that not a Martial Arts Manual?”
“That’s right.”
“Are you not interested in Martial Arts?”
“No, I’m not.”
Yeon-woo took a large bite of the meat.
“It’s hot, hot, hot!!”
White breath came puffing from the boy’s mouth as he complained of the heat.
“Didn’t I tell you to eat slowly! Water! Drink some water!”
“Phew-phew-phew!”
After pouring cold water into his mouth to cool the heat, Yeon-woo chewed and swallowed the meat with satisfaction, then continued.
“The mister brought me a teacher, but I said it wasn’t fun and I didn’t want to do it. So he gave me this and said I should at least look at it.”
“The mister… you mean the one who bought you?”
“Yes.”
Un-hyeon let out a low sigh.
That he tried to teach the child Martial Arts meant at least he held some desire for the boy to survive.
Though he bought the child to preserve his bloodline, perhaps he had not abandoned his humanity entirely.
“Then why do you not learn it? Do you not know that the place you must go is dangerous?”
“Still, I don’t want to learn Martial Arts. I’m already full and having fun as it is. I’ll just live like this and die.”
“Die…! Don’t speak of such things so carelessly. And if you learned Martial Arts, you might not die….”
“I don’t care if I die.”
The indifferent reply that flowed out without thought squeezed Un-hyeon’s chest tight.
Un-hyeon suddenly cried out.
“You’ve lived only a decade or so—how can you speak of death so lightly! Is your life so worthless?! Aren’t you afraid of death?!”
Yeon-woo’s eyes widened at Un-hyeon’s raised voice.
Soon the boy’s gaze hardened with defiance.
“No! I’m not scared at all!”
Yeon-woo’s voice rose to match.
Perhaps thinking he was being scolded, perhaps thinking they were quarreling, Yeon-woo forgot the meat he had been eating and shouted at Un-hyeon in rapid bursts.
“If I die, my stomach won’t ache and nothing hurts—so why would I be scared? Being hungry scares me a hundred, a thousand times more!”
“How can you speak such words! Have you ever died to know what it is? Hunger is only something you endure for a moment! Death is the end of everything, I tell you!”
“What if it’s not the end?! What would Grandfather know!”
“Because I have seen more than you, I speak thus! Look here! If you die, all the food you love so much will never be…!”
eaten again.
But Un-hyeon could not finish his words.
The boy’s small lips trembled slightly. His round eyes were already brimming with clear tears.
Oh no.
Un-hyeon only then realized he had raised his voice.
That was not what he meant to do at all.
“Yeon….”
“Grandfather is stupid!”
Yeon-woo jumped to his feet and ran out of the house.
In his hand he clutched four pheasant legs, taken he knew not when.
“Yeon-woo…!”
Un-hyeon rose hurriedly to follow the boy.
The night was deep, and the child was small.
The Dark Shadow Demon Army had said they would deal with the assassins, but there was no telling when or what threat might target the boy again.
Un-hyeon rushed after Yeon-woo.
Yet his steps came to a halt before he could even leave the door.
…….
Had he sensed danger?
Yeon-woo bolted away, but not far—he’d stopped just beyond the wall.
Un-hyeon erased his presence and peered quietly over the wall toward Yeon-woo.
Yeon-woo was crouched at the base of the wall, huffing as he tore into meat.
Faintly, Un-hyeon caught the words: “I hate Grandfather.”
Hah…
Un-hyeon released a breath of relief and leaned against the opposite wall.
He gazed up at the darkening sky.
Silver stars glittered there, oblivious to the world’s cares, shining with indifferent brilliance.
In Un-hyeon’s eyes, as he looked up at them, bitterness pooled like deep water.
* * *
“From today forward, the boy’s meals—morning and evening—should be less than the usual portion.”
Early morning.
Un-hyeon spoke to the Messenger as he brought the meal.
The Messenger usually came and went before Yeon-woo woke; Un-hyeon had waited and stopped him intentionally.
“Y-yes? What do you…?”
The Messenger was taken aback.
Coming here daily, he knew the boy was living with this mysterious man.
He’d even reported it to the Family Head, but the master had said not to meddle in the boy’s life.
So he’d carried on pretending ignorance, preparing meals as always and leaving them without question.
“Less food for the meals, you’re saying?”
“That’s right.”
Un-hyeon nodded.
“And no snacks. Better yet—bring no snacks at all.”
“But the boy wanted…”
“Tell your master this: if he wishes the boy to live, he’ll follow my words.”
“To live…?”
To save his life…?
The Messenger’s gaze turned toward the room where Yeon-woo slept.
He understood why the Main Family House took such care with this child.
This boy would enter the Ma-ryong Guan five years from now.
In place of the young master.
That’s why the orders had come down: give him everything he wanted to eat, wear, desire—until his admission to Ma-ryong Guan.
The Family Head was watching over him with that much attention.
‘He even tried to teach him Martial Arts.’
The boy had stubbornly refused, and it had come to nothing.
The Messenger glanced sideways at Un-hyeon.
There was an inexplicable pressure in his standing posture, hands clasped behind his back.
Though the Messenger knew nothing of where he’d come from or what he possessed, there was something that made him impossible to treat lightly.
There was something suspicious about him, certainly, but the Messenger found himself bowing anyway.
“I’ll convey your words to the Family Head.”
“Much obliged. I’ll see the meal reaches him properly today.”
The Messenger handed over the meal and departed.
Once the Messenger was out of sight, Un-hyeon entered the house, set the table on the floor, and sat beside it.
Some time passed that way.
A rustling sound came from inside the room.
Click—
Then Yeon-woo emerged, hair disheveled, rubbing his eyes as he stumbled out.
He shuffled over and sat down before the table.
Still half-asleep, he picked up the spoon and opened the rice bowl.
Un-hyeon, as always, placed small portions of side dishes on top of the boy’s rice.
This had become their habit of late—how the two of them began each day.
“I owe you an apology for yesterday, Yeon-woo.”
Yeon-woo, his mouth stuffed full of rice, turned to look at Un-hyeon.
His eyes were half-closed, still heavy with sleep.
“I shouldn’t have spoken so harshly. I was too stern with you. Will you forgive me?”
Yeon-woo nodded without hesitation.
It was an unbothered response—as if the night before had already slipped from his mind entirely.
Un-hyeon smiled gently as he added more side dishes to Yeon-woo’s spoon.
“Then today we’ll have pork—the kind you like. I checked my snare yesterday and caught quite a large one.”
“Really?!”
Yeon-woo’s eyes lit up, bright as starlight.
“Yes. After we eat, would you like to go watch it with me?”
“Yes! I’d love to!!”
Yeon-woo’s face transformed into pure brightness, and he hummed cheerfully as he ate.
The way his hips kept squirming made his eagerness plain as day—as if he might bolt from the table at any moment—and Un-hyeon felt a pang of guilt.

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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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