Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 108

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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 108
Click-click-click—
The moment the beaded curtain swayed and chimed with a crystalline sound.
“…….”
The inn was seized by a silence as sudden as if someone had thrown cold water over it.
A group passing through the curtain.
Seven of them in total, and their faces were remarkably distinctive.
Two women whose beauty was striking enough to make eyes widen came in first.
Followed by an adorable young girl and a stern-looking old man.
And finally three young men.
The group, whose purpose for gathering was utterly unclear, surveyed their surroundings with satisfied smiles.
“After riding for four days, we’re weary even of speaking. If lodging is available, we’d like to stay here tonight.”
The young man Sim Wi Jin spoke first.
“Finally, we can rest.”
“That sounds good.”
“Yes, it does.”
“Ha, it’s been so long since I’ve lain on a proper bed instead of hard ground.”
“Wonderful!”
The group chimed in, as if they’d been waiting for this moment.
And the one young man who had remained silent, Cheon Hui, swept his interested gaze through the inn’s interior.
‘Interesting.’
The atmosphere in the inn was peculiar.
Before they’d entered, the inn had been bustling with noise, but the moment the group appeared, silence fell over everything.
Of course, one could have thought it merely a temporary lull from the arrival of new guests.
But that flash in their eyes—
that look which vanished so quickly was unmistakably one of caution, or even hostility.
‘Well, let’s see what unfolds.’
As he watched the guests hurriedly look away when their eyes met his, he nearly smiled.
“Welcome!”
A middle-aged man, apparently the inn’s proprietor, approached with his hands rubbing together like a fly’s wings.
“Oh my, guests. Have you come for a meal?”
“Is lodging also available?”
Sim Wi Jin asked, stepping forward.
“Oh, yes! Of course it is!”
The innkeeper’s expression brightened.
He scrutinized Sim Wi Jin and his companions with eager eyes, then asked carefully.
“How many rooms might you be needing……?”
“How many do you have?”
“Four rooms remain available, sir.”
Sim Wi Jin glanced subtly at So Hui.
Seeing her nod in approval, he turned to the innkeeper.
“What’s the price for all of them?”
“All of them, you say?”
The innkeeper’s eyes widened.
“T-twelve silver taels.”
“Here you are. Keep the rest for yourself.”
Sim Wi Jin said this and handed over a pouch.
As the innkeeper carefully opened the pouch, his mouth split into a broad grin.
“Oh my! A generous lord! I’ll show you to your quarters at once!”
He naturally guided the group to their seats with renewed vigor.
“I’ll prepare a hearty meal for you.”
The delighted innkeeper left.
“How much longer must we travel?”
Shin Ui grumbled from his seat.
Four days had passed since they left the Huashan Sect.
Though the group had ridden relentlessly in the carriage, they had yet to reach Xi’an, let alone even arrive in Shenxi proper.
Sim Wi Jin answered calmly.
“At least two months.”
“At least two months?”
Shin Ui frowned.
“Does it really take that long?”
“There’s distance involved. It will take time.”
“Ugh.”
Shin Ui clicked his tongue in clear displeasure and turned his head sharply away, but So Hui approached and spoke to him.
“I’ll make sure we arrive faster. Wi Jin, that’s possible, isn’t it?”
Sim Wi Jin startled slightly, but answered at once under So Hui’s cold gaze.
“It is possible.”
“Tch. Even so, we’ll only save a few days at most.”
Shin Ui thrust out his lower lip.
He was not pleased with the situation.
The journey to Qinghai City itself.
Then he shook his head as if thoroughly sick of it and clicked his tongue with a sharp “tsk.”
He held no fond memories of the imperial court.
In years past, Shin Ui had treated the late emperor’s illness, and the imperial household, enchanted by his medical skill, had tried every means to keep him from leaving.
They employed such varied methods that Shin Ui had wasted four years there.
If the late emperor had not finally released him, he might well have been trapped in the imperial palace forever.
He clicked his tongue and looked at Cheon Hui.
“Why did you suddenly decide to go to Qinghai City…….”
“Then you didn’t have to follow along.”
Cheon Hui gave a slight laugh.
“It’s not too late yet. Would you like to return to Huashan Sect now?”
“……Are you serious?”
“I am.”
“What about the treatment?”
“That’s not my concern.”
Cheon Hui spoke as if it were of no consequence.
“My duty is only to provide protection.”
“But you also know the true purpose of this journey, don’t you?”
“Whether it’s the true purpose or anything else — I only need to follow the Sect Master’s orders.”
……
Shin Ui, at a loss for words, pressed his hand to his forehead.
“Sigh. What can I even say to you.”
The moment he finished speaking, Shin Ui regretted it.
The Cheon Hui he had known all this time was someone who truly would not say a word back.
“No, I was just saying something.”
He quickly changed the subject.
“Tch, that’s a shame then.”
Cheon Hui clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Shin Ui’s brow furrowed.
Though he had anticipated that answer, hearing it aloud left a sour taste in his mouth.
“You truly have no respect for an elder, do you?”
“I’d say this is more than enough respect, wouldn’t you?”
“You wretched boy.”
Just as Shin Ui was pouting his lips, watching Cheon Hui refuse to budge an inch—
“Um, guests…….”
Kitchen Staff emerged from the back and approached hesitantly, lowering his head deeply.
“I, I apologize. With so much food to prepare, it will take some time.”
“Ha ha, that’s quite all right.”
“Please take your time.”
When Sim Wi Jin and Jeok Geom spoke gently, Kitchen Staff set down the tray he was holding.
“In the meantime, I’ve brought Longjing Tea. Please have some while you wait.”
Kitchen Staff, with an apologetic expression, set a teapot and cups on the table.
“Ha ha ha, that’s very kind.”
“Longjing Tea — it’s been a while.”
Just as everyone reached for the teapot—
“I’ll drink first.”
Cheon Hui got there before anyone else and took the teapot.
He poured a cup and took a sip.
“They used something quite expensive for this.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll also…….”
“Pour me a cup as well.”
“I’ll have one too…….”
“I’ll serve you in a moment.”
Cheon Hui batted away the hand of one of his companions reaching for the teapot and lifted his head.
“Isn’t this rather careless?”
“Pardon?”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“Sir?”
“What are you saying?”
The party was flustered by Cheon Hui’s sudden words.
But he ignored their remarks and poured tea into a fresh cup, then handed it to the Kitchen Staff, who stood bewildered.
“How about a cup?”
“Oh no, goodness. How could I drink from a guest’s cup?”
The Kitchen Staff waved his hands in refusal.
“It’s fine. Go ahead and drink.”
“No, I really couldn’t…….”
As the Kitchen Staff continued to refuse, Cheon Hui let out a soft laugh.
“Why? Didn’t you prepare an antidote?”
“Pardon?”
In that instant, the Kitchen Staff’s eyes flickered.
But it vanished in a heartbeat, and he smiled awkwardly, speaking.
“Guest, an antidote? I don’t know what you’re saying…….”
Red light suddenly burst from Cheon Hui’s raised index finger.
In that moment.
Whoosh!
The Kitchen Staff jerked his head back with impossible speed, dodging the red light.
“An assassin!”
“Don’t tell me it’s this inn!”
The party belatedly grasped the situation.
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran drew their blades, while Sim Wi Jin and So Ryeong jumped to their feet, shielding Lady So Hui and Shin Ui.
The Kitchen Staff, who had barely evaded the red light, scrunched his face and spoke.
“When did you figure it out?”
“From the start.”
The Kitchen Staff laughed coldly.
“You’re quite the boaster.”
“Isn’t it you who’s being careless?”
“Careless?”
“You’ve been preparing an ambush since the moment we walked in. And even now, you can’t hide your murderous intent. Tsk.”
Cheon Hui looked around, shaking his head with a scornful smile.
“And then there’s your hands.”
“My hands?”
“What kitchen staff in the world has hands so pristine and unblemished, without a single scar?”
“……!”
The Kitchen Staff’s pupils quivered.
“To notice that in such a brief moment…….”
“Oh, and one more thing.”
Cheon Hui tapped his own neck lightly.
“Your Human Skin Mask was poking out at the nape.”
“What!”
The Kitchen Staff quickly touched his neck.
“You caught me.”
“……!”
“If you’re going to do it, do it properly.”
The Kitchen Staff’s lips trembled.
But soon he let out a cold laugh, twisting the corners of his mouth.
“……Hah, you fool. You drank it even knowing it was a trap?”
The Kitchen Staff spoke with supreme confidence.
Even if the trap he’d prepared beforehand was discovered, once fallen into, it was the end.
‘Now that he’s been poisoned with Haejeok Red in the tea, he’ll be dead soon…… Wait?’
The man staring at Cheon Hui faltered.
The poison had already spread through his entire body—he should be dead by now—yet his face showed no reaction whatsoever.
“How… how could you survive drinking Haejeok Red…?”
“Oh! That was Haejeok Red?”
“Haejeok Red?!”
“What do you mean—”
The group, who had been keeping watch while listening to the conversation, went pale and jerked their hands away from their teacups.
Haejeok Red was notorious as an Absolute Poison—the moment someone ingested it, they would die without managing to draw breath more than three or four times.
And that very poison had been in the tea they were about to drink?!
“I did notice it tasted a bit bitter,” Cheon Hui remarked, extending his index finger straight out.
In that instant, a dark greenish liquid began to bead at the fingertip, then dripped downward.
Sizzle!
A small hole opened in the wooden floorboard, and black smoke curled up into the air.
“The Haejeok Red—!”
The Kitchen Staff’s body trembled violently.
“Surely you don’t have Ten-Thousand Poison Immunity…?!”
“Not quite that level yet,” Cheon Hui twisted the corner of his mouth into a smile.
“More like Thousand Poison Immunity, I’d say?”
“You bastard!”
The Kitchen Staff, thinking he was being mocked, shouted in a fury.
“Kill them all!”
In that instant, the other patrons who had vanished midway through their meal came pouring out from all sides.
Crash!
Cheon Hui deployed Divine Movement Hundred Changes to evade them, closed the distance to the Kitchen Staff in front of him, and drove a fist forward.
“Hah!”
The Inn Attendant, who swallowed empty air, did not dodge the strike. Instead, he overlapped his palms.
The fist and palms collided.
Boom!
The sound of exploding air rang out.
“What? You didn’t fall yet?” Cheon Hui complimented the Inn Attendant, who had only staggered backward after meeting the Flying Form Fist head-on.
“Not bad, is it?”
“…Tch! You damned—!”
The man brought his hand to his face and then began tearing at the skin.
Riiip!
“Are you taking off the Human Skin Mask now? Or putting it back on?” Cheon Hui watched with a pitying gaze as the man gripped the mask tightly in his hand.
Living must be awfully hard on him.
A wave of sympathy washed over Cheon Hui.
The face hidden beneath the mask had features that, examined individually, were not unpleasant—but each one seemed to be in a different place entirely.
“Are you mocking me right now!”
The man, glaring at Cheon Hui with bloodshot eyes, hurled the Human Skin Mask away violently.
“Oh.”
Cheon Hui sighed without thinking.
“You might want to pick that back up instead of throwing it away.”
“You never stop!”
The man rushed forward in a rage, his hands flashing sharp and quick.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Cheon Hui dodged the man’s slashing strikes with a slight tilt of his head.
Then, with a snap, he drove the Flying Form Fist forward.
Crack!
The Flying Form Fist drove straight into the man’s mouth, splitting his lips and shattering his teeth.
“Ow.”
Cheon Hui, startled, withdrew his fist.
“Did I go too far?”
He scratched his head, feeling apologetic.
The man’s appearance had become more grotesque than could possibly be imagined.
“Thish… thish kind of… guysh…”

The man’s words came out slurred and broken through his mangled face.
The man with the broken teeth, his speech slurred, yanked his hands from his sleeves and thrust them out.
In that instant, two sharp Hidden Blades flashed into view, catching Cheon Hui’s attention in a heartbeat.
“Your focus is impressive.”
Cheon Hui dodged the blades with a tilt of his head.
Then he seized the man’s throat.
“Who’s behind this… huh?”
As he moved to meet the man’s gaze,
Drip—
dark blood spilled from the man’s mouth, splattering onto Cheon Hui’s wrist.
‘Suicide?’
No pulse felt beneath his grip.
Cheon Hui squinted, opening his mouth as he stared down at the corpse.
Between his molars lay a small pill.
Tch.
Cheon Hui lowered his gaze to the man who had bitten down on the poison pill and flung the body to the floor.
“Their leader must be quite capable, it seems.”
The man was no common assassin.
Yet he chose suicide at the mere prospect of failing his mission—which meant whoever gave the order inspired genuine terror.
Cheon Hui surveyed the surroundings.
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran were handling their attackers with effortless grace.
‘No worries there.’
His eyes fixed on So Hui.
Being the only one among them untrained in martial arts, she was under Sim Wi Jin’s protection.
And before her, So Ryeong was toying with his assailants entirely.
‘Same story on that front.’
Watching the chaos at the Inn edge toward conclusion without his intervention, Cheon Hui turned his head slowly.
“Shall we step outside?”
Cheon Hui spoke to empty air, but no answer came.
“Getting tedious.”
In the next moment, an eerie gleam erupted from Cheon Hui’s waist, slashing through the void.
“…Gasp!”
At the same instant, a masked man materialized in the empty space, eyes wide open.
Cheon Hui’s finger rose at once.
Flash!
A crimson streak of light flickered, striking several points on the Inn Attendant’s body.
Thud!
With his Numb Acupoint sealed by the Finger Wind, the Inn Attendant collapsed forward lifelessly.
Next, Cheon Hui quickly pressed the man’s Dumb Acupoint, then opened his mouth.
“Hmm? This one has none?”
Confirming the absence of a poison pill, Cheon Hui closed the man’s mouth and peeled away his mask.
The face beneath was unremarkable.
An ordinary youth of the sort you’d see anywhere in the marketplace—yet Cheon Hui asked him,
“Where are you from?”
“….”
“Don’t feel like talking?”
“….”
“My, my. A tight-lipped fellow indeed.”
Cheon Hui smiled faintly, watching the man blink at him in silence.
“We need to change locations.”
Observing the din of fighting, Cheon Hui pressed his foot lightly against the ground.
At that moment, the man’s eyes flew open.
‘…!’
Just one step.
A single stride, and the entire scenery had transformed.
‘A… a room?’
As the stunned man’s jaw dropped,
“Then let’s talk again.”
Cheon Hui sat in a chair within the empty chamber, leaving the man sprawled on the floor.
Looking down at the man who lay there from the impact, Cheon Hui met his eyes and asked,
“Where are you from?”
The same question as before.
And again, there was no answer.
“Let’s see how long you can keep your mouth shut.”
Cheon Hui raised his index finger and fired a Finger Wind at the man’s abdomen as he lay there.
Thump!
In that instant, the man’s abdomen convulsed.
“……!”
At the same time, his face twisted in agony.
“Can you endure this?”
Cheon Hui watched the man with astonished eyes.
What he had just unleashed was a torture technique used by the Tianma Divine Sect — forcing Internal Force into the Dumb Acupoint to violently contort the muscles of the entire body.
Most victims would let out screams the instant it was inflicted upon them.
“First time I’ve seen someone not even whimper.”
A smile spread across Cheon Hui’s lips.
“Are you an assassin with proper training? Then perhaps a more severe torture method…….”
He was recalling the various methods he’d witnessed at the Tianma Divine Sect.
Suddenly―
The suffering man looked up at him, tears and snot streaming down his face.
“Hmm? If it hurts that much, you should answer……”
Cheon Hui, finding it strange that the man was enduring such pain without responding, belatedly realized his mistake.
“Ah! That’s right. I sealed your Dumb Acupoint just now. No wonder you could bear it.”
With a small chuckle at his own oversight, Cheon Hui released the seal on the man’s Dumb Acupoint.
The moment he did, the man began thrashing about.
“Your excellency! Your excellency! This humble one has nothing to do with those who attacked! I merely happened to be passing through…….”
Words tumbled from the man’s mouth like a raging torrent.
“Please, spare me! I have a cunning wife and children as innocent as rabbits waiting for me at home!”
Cheon Hui, perhaps fearing the man might kill him or seal his Dumb Acupoint again, was desperately insisting he had no connection to his attackers.
But his opponent was unreasonable.
Cheon Hui knelt and gazed down at the man shouting in desperation before speaking.
“How should I believe that?”
“That is…….”
“For someone uninvolved, your Concealment Technique and Light Body Technique are quite exceptional.”
The man’s body trembled violently.
The gaze fixed upon him held not a shred of emotion.
‘Damn it! Branch Leader, there’s nothing I can do! Even with your orders, I need to survive, don’t I?’
Feeling the threat to his life, the man squeezed his eyes shut with reckless abandon and cried out.
“I am a member of the Hao Men!”

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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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