Chronicles of the Mad Demon - Chapter 226

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 226. Preparation and Meeting (1)
So Gwang, who had finished drafting the Reports, gazed quietly down at his Brush.
A Woman approached him as he stood there, staring at the Brush for a long while.
“What are you doing?”
“….”
“Listen here, Vice Leader of Hwang Jag. What are you doing?”
“Go Yun.”
The Woman, Go Yun, Vice Leader of Hwang Jag, flinched. So Gwang had rarely called her by name until now.
“Why?”
“….”
“What? You start talking to me and then give no answer?”
So Gwang sighed, letting the ink dry on the Reports as he asked.
“Did the work finish well?”
“Of course. The rest will be handled by the Hwang Ma.”
“…I see.”
Normally he would have scoffed and gone for a drink, but today his superior’s demeanor was so strange that she couldn’t help but ask.
“Is something wrong? Why do you look so downcast?”
So Gwang, who had been pondering for a moment, asked with a troubled expression.
“Have you ever thought about the Divine Physician of our Home School?”
“What? What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden?”
“Why is that nonsense?”
He looked up at Go Yun.
His expression was troubled and his eyes were confused. Yet for that very reason, his face was more serious than ever before.
Go Yun’s face grew serious in turn.
“Our Home School reveres the Divine Physician. Yet we have never once thought about or contemplated the Divine Physician—isn’t that strange?”
“What right do laypeople like us have to speak about the Divine Physician?”
“….”
“Come to your senses, you madman. The person who taught me the doctrines of our Home School was none other than you.”
“Yes, it was me.”
So Gwang closed his eyes.
“It certainly was.”
“You’re really strange today. Why? Did Moyong Bi beat you a few times? Your face looks fine though.”
“…I don’t know.”
“Know what?”
So Gwang sighed.
“It’s nothing but the rambling of an ignorant fool who understands nothing… but I don’t know. Why does his words confuse me so?”
Though people joked that he was the most taciturn in the sect, Go Yun actually knew several people more taciturn than him.
That didn’t mean So Gwang was talkative. Certainly, So Gwang today was strange.
“Stop this nonsense and submit the Reports. The Master will have words if you’re late.”
“Has the Master received the Divine Physician?”
In that instant, Go Yun’s expression shifted dramatically.
“Do you even understand what you’re saying right now?”
“….”
“Are you saying you don’t trust the Apostle?”
So Gwang hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.
“No, I trust him.”
“Then that’s settled….”
“To be precise, I want to trust him.”
Go Yun scratched her head.
“I honestly can’t understand this. You’re not some sixteen-year-old girl who breaks into giggles at every falling leaf, so why are you being so sentimental today?”
“….”
“If you’re tired, get some rest. I’ll submit the reports.”
“No. It’s my work—I should do it myself.”
“Then finish up quickly and let’s grab a drink together. The Hubei cuisine here actually suits my taste quite well.”
So Gwang rose from his seat with a bitter smile.
Though he showed no outward sign, Go Yun was genuinely astonished. She had witnessed more of So Gwang’s “human” expressions today than she had thought possible in a lifetime.
As her superior—whom she found oddly endearing, which only made her want to kill him more—left the room, Go Yun scrunched her face and muttered to herself.
“Has he been in active duty for too long? I never knew he could think so much.”
* * *
Neung Hyeong, seated in the Lotus Position while contemplating his inner essence, suddenly sensed a presence approaching.
Without even opening his eyes, he spoke.
“What brings someone so busy as you to see me?”
“Do you have a moment?”
Neung Hyeong opened his eyes.
Ten paces ahead stood Moyong Su Jeong and Guo Lao.
Moyong Su Jeong’s face was as composed as always, and behind her, Guo Lao’s eyes—fixed upon him with a gaze brimming with killing intent—were as loyal and piercing as ever.
“Have you finally resolved to punish me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Look at that old man radiating murderous intent. He looks ready to sever my neck on the spot.”
Moyong Su Jeong smiled.
“I couldn’t burden Guo Lao with such a task. If it had to be done, I would have done it myself or asked my Younger Brother for assistance.”
Guo Lao bowed his head silently in gratitude.
Neung Hyeong, rising from the Lotus Position, spoke with a grumble.
“How wonderful to see such family affection. I’m not just envious—I’m twisted with jealousy.”
“Are you not part of our family?”
“What?”
“Were you not part of our family?”
Neung Hyeong laughed coldly.
“Why would I be part of your family? I’m not of the Moyong Clan.”
“Yet you lodge and dine at the Main Family House, and you share deep bonds with its members.”
“The former is correct, but the latter is a misunderstanding. I’m simply using you because I have need of you.”
“Family always requires one another.”
“Stop spouting such nonsense and tell me what brought you here.”
“May I sit beside you?”
Neung Hyeong, who had been gazing up at her intently, shifted slightly to make room.
Moyong Su Jeong settled beside Neung Hyeong and looked up at the sky.
“The weather is pleasant, isn’t it?”
“Summer will be upon us soon.”
“How are you finding things? Is there anything uncomfortable about staying at the Main Family House?”
“The most uncomfortable thing for me is the Moyong Clan Members themselves. Every single day is an unending parade of discomfort.”
“Yet you don’t seem tense at all.”
“There’s only one skilled person here I need to be wary of.”
Neung Hyeong glanced toward Guo Lao.
“Though it could be two, perhaps.”
Moyong Su Jeong, who had been sitting beside Neung Hyeong on the bench, shifted her posture.
She turned her body to face the monster wearing the flesh of a young man, and her gaze was as clear and fathomless as always.
Neung Hyeong found himself thinking.
‘Those eyes.’
Moyong Su Jeong’s calm and profound gaze.
The longer one stared into them, the more one felt drawn into their depths.
They held something as treacherous as a swamp and as hopeless as an abyss. At least, that was how they appeared to Neung Hyeong.
They were identical to the eyes he had seen when he first and last met Moyong Cheon in the past.
“Neung Hyeong.”
“I’m sufficiently wary already, so spare the theatrics and speak.”
“You have deep connections to the Demonic Path, don’t you?”
In that instant, Neung Hyeong’s eyes wavered.
“What makes you think that?”
“I’m neither as clever as Bi Ah nor as driven. I lack Su Hyang’s passion and depth.”
“I don’t need you to enumerate your advantages as if distributing them among your siblings for me to know you’re no ordinary person.”
“But living a busy life as I do, I’ve developed a certain intuition.”
“So you believe I’m a Demon Person?”
“I never said that.”
Neung Hyeong, who had been studying Moyong Su Jeong intently, spoke with a voice suddenly drained of strength.
“Say what you mean to say. Conversing with you is exhausting.”
“I simply wished to have various conversations with you, Neung Hyeong. In other words, I’m already saying what I wish to say.”
“…You asked if I’m connected to the Demonic Path?”
“Yes.”
Neung Hyeong’s eyes grew increasingly transparent.
In that moment, Moyong Su Jeong felt a chill run down her spine.
With merely a shift in his gaze, it was as though he had transformed into someone else entirely—or rather, as though the human form had given way to reveal the monster beneath.
Guo Lao’s hand moved to his sword hilt without conscious thought.
“Anyone connected to the Demonic Path is dangerous, whether they’re a Demon Person or not. Do you understand that?”
“I do.”
“Then why speak of the Demonic Path before me?”
“Because I do not fear my younger brother.”
“What?”
She drew a shallow breath, then smiled bitterly as she spoke.
“In a certain sense, isn’t my younger brother also deeply connected to the Demonic Path?”
“….”
“He despises Demonic Arts and loathes Demon People. But hatred and affection coexist like two sides of the same coin.”
“….”
“Of course, Bi Ah does not love the Demonic. Yet precisely because he hates it so deeply, I believe he shares a profound connection with it.”
“By that logic, all under heaven would be bound to the Demonic.”
“Exactly.”
Weariness settled across Neung Hyeong’s face.
“I find such conversations exhausting. If you have no further business, please leave.”
“That is precisely why I came.”
“To exhaust me further?”
“Such conversations should not be difficult. We are family.”
A deep sneer etched itself across his weary features.
“If living together for a few months makes us family, then I could call all under heaven my kin.”
“Then there would be no reason to drive blades into each other’s backs. I long for such a world.”
“Parents devour their children and children sell their parents—that is the world. Family is merely a word; when circumstances grow dire, blood relations become worse than strangers.”
“Whether devoured or sold, at least it remains the final resort. That is what family is.”
“How convenient for you.”
“But my reason for considering you family is not merely because we lived together for a few months.”
Moyong Su Jeong’s face regained its composure.
“Because my younger brother cares about you, I consider you family.”
Neung Hyeong stared at her with startled eyes.
“That bastard cares about me?”
“You were not aware?”
“I’m aware. Very aware. He’s probably constantly thinking about how to kill me, what torture to inflict before death, what curses to hurl—yes, he cares.”
Moyong Su Jeong burst into laughter despite herself.
“You’re laughing? This amuses you?”
“Hatred and affection are two sides of the same coin.”
“If I accept such logic twice more, I’ll have beaten every person in the Central Plains to death.”
“At the very least, I am certain my younger brother trusts you.”
Neung Hyeong opened his mouth to dismiss her words as nonsense, then closed it firmly.
Though he did not say it aloud, he too knew the truth—Moyong Bi trusted him.
Otherwise, he would not have withdrawn the Explosive Blood Rupture Technique from one who could be called his sworn enemy.
‘Damn it.’
Neung Hyeong felt heat rise to his face.
The image of Moyong Bi, with that pitiful expression, releasing the seal flashed through his mind.
He didn’t want to admit it, but his heart had indeed been stirred.
Moyong Bi showed his genuine heart without hesitation to those who revealed theirs to him.
Take his dealings with the Ho Jeong Dan Vice Leader, for instance. The Martial Alliance had started rough from the beginning to probe what kind of place it was, but upon witnessing that man’s character and sincerity, hadn’t Moyong Bi apologized and treated him with proper respect?
One couldn’t call it a good temperament by any stretch, but that resolve—that in this chaotic age, if the other party showed sincerity, he would respond with sincerity in kind—was certainly something one could describe as soft-hearted.
‘Soft-hearted, yes. Soft-hearted, but…’
It was a good principle.
Neung Hyeong genuinely believed that.
Beneath that sincere attitude, he too had devoted himself wholeheartedly to teaching the Moyong Family Members. In just over a month, he had built a far deeper bond than the one accumulated over the previous three months.
A bitter smile crossed Neung Hyeong’s face.
‘Has that softness infected me too, turning me into soggy mud, dripping and formless?’
Suddenly, his mood sank.
“That man trusts me because of my abilities.”
“I don’t think it’s quite that simple.”
“You’d like to believe otherwise, wouldn’t you?”
“Of course. Bi Ah wouldn’t say such a thing—that he’s teaching the Main Family’s Martial Arts to someone he doesn’t completely trust.”
“Huh?”
Neung Hyeong tilted his head without thinking. What did that mean?
“Teaching Martial Arts?”
“Yes.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Bi Ah said so. He believes you’ve reached a plateau in your current level.”
“…?!”
“He said it would be good for you to learn different Martial Arts suited to your nature.”
Surprise flickered across Neung Hyeong’s face.
“How could he possibly know that… Wait, no! So that’s why he’s offering to teach me the Moyong Family’s Martial Arts?”
“…”
“Are you saying you’re going to transmit the Moyong Family’s Supreme Arts to me?”
Moyong Su Jeong laughed brightly.
“To teach students properly, a master must be thoroughly versed in the subjects he teaches, mustn’t he?”
“…?!”
“Shall I call you Instructor Neung from now on?”
Neung Hyeong’s mouth fell open.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————