Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 133

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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 133
The next morning.
Cheon Hui, deep in sleep, opened his eyes with irritation as he sensed a sudden murderous intent.
“Don’t you know not to disturb someone while they’re sleeping?”
He immediately drew his index finger.
In that instant, a brilliant arc of light blazed forth.
“Hack!”
A man cried out sharply, then tumbled from the tree and crashed to the ground with a thud.
“Huh!”
“What is it?”
“Another attack?!”
The Later Period Experts, jolted awake by the commotion, seized their weapons in a daze—then froze at the sight of the corpse.
“When did……”
At that moment, a swarm of figures poured down from the trees.
“Yawn.”
Cheon Hui, still drowsy, yawned before drawing his sword from where it lay on the ground.
Then he swept it sideways.
Slash!
In that instant, a long line of blood traced across the waists of those who charged at him.
Thud-thud-thud—
Blood Rain poured down.
“Ahhh!”
Hwang Bo So Hyeon shrieked as blood and corpses suddenly rained down from above, staggering backward in shock before freezing in place.
An assassin had appeared before her, sword drawn.
“I’ll take you as a hostage……. Hack!”
The assassin raised his sword to strike.
“Kyah!”
Hwang Bo So Hyeon cried out and drove her fist forward.
Crack!
The Heavenly King’s Three Fists struck the careless assassin’s jaw, sending him flying backward.
“Huh?”
Hwang Bo So Hyeon stared at the fallen assassin in surprise, then clenched her fists tighter.
“Hmph! Who dares cross me?!”
She planted her hands on her waist.
Yang Se Ryeong, observing her arrogance, grasped the Triple-Section Staff in both hands and spoke.
“I’ll guard your back.”
“Don’t worry!”
Hwang Bo So Hyeon and Yang Se Ryeong pressed their backs together.
The remaining three Later Period Experts exchanged glances and took their positions.
They had swiftly formed a defensive formation and now faced off against the assassins.
Clang! Ring! Slash!
Cheon Hui, surprised by how well the Later Period Experts were fighting, sheathed his sword.
None of the assassins came at him.
Instead, for some reason, they persistently targeted the Later Period Experts.
He slowly stretched his limbs.
His joints crackled, his body loosened, and hunger stirred in his belly.
“Something for breakfast……”
At that moment, a small shadow passed overhead.
“That’ll do.”
Cheon Hui picked up a pebble from the ground and flicked it toward the sky.
Whistle!
The stone, cutting through the air, pierced through the bird in flight.
Thwack!
Cheon Hui caught the falling bird and approached Yang Se Ryeong, who was still fighting the assassins.
“……!”
Yang Se Ryeong, locked in fierce combat with the attackers, started at the sudden appearance of the bird’s head.
Then, recognizing Cheon Hui a moment later, her eyes widened.
“Great… Great Hero?”
“We’ll have breakfast with this.”
“What?”
Yang Se Ryeong simply stood baffled.
Whoosh!
Just then, an assassin tried to strike at Cheon Hui from behind as he appeared suddenly.
Thud!
A stone pierced through the man’s chest.
Cheon Hui paid no mind to the collapsing corpse and handed the bird to Yang Se Ryeong.
“How long would it take to cook this?”
“Two hours or so…….”
“Good. That works.”
Cheon Hui brushed dust from his Martial Robe and turned away.
Then he swept his gaze across the assassins standing tense, one by one, before drawing his White Lotus Sword.
“We’ll handle them first.”
Cheon Hui disposed of them far more quickly than two hours.
Precisely because they fled before he could engage them, the matter was resolved swiftly.
“They’re fleeing all of a sudden?”
Suspicion bloomed.
These men who had charged at him with maniacal fury until now were retreating—impossible.
As he looked at them in bewilderment.
“What’s this, then?”
He spread his Qi Sense and narrowed his eyes.
Hundreds of presences arrayed around him at the center.
Those presences, like a net, were tightening steadily, inch by inch, in dense formation.
“How relentless.”
A laugh escaped him in that instant.
It was a formation far too familiar to him, a method he knew all too well.
‘They’ve deployed Tianluodiwan?’
Unlike its grand name—the Heaven-and-Earth Net—Tianluodiwan was devastatingly simple and crude in its approach.
The many crush the few.
Against a master, it was a tactic where multiple fighters harassed without restraint or mercy, regardless of how many fell in the process.
And Cheon Hui knew the counters to Tianluodiwan better than anyone.
He had faced it more than once or twice.
In Bukhai, in Daemak, in Seojang.
Whenever he drew near, Tianluodiwan would be deployed.
‘Ilwol Moon must have swollen its ranks considerably.’
His eyebrows curved like crescents.
Deploying Tianluodiwan meant they intended to see this through to the end.
‘They’re walking straight to their graves.’
When Cheon Hui let out a low chuckle.
“It’s ready now, Great Swordsman.”
Yang Se Ryeong approached cautiously.
In a wooden bowl carved in the night lay thick congee and roasted bird meat.
Cheon Hui stared at the congee.
“I boiled the leftover jerky with it. I thought it might be better in the morning…….”
Yang Se Ryeong spoke hesitantly, watching his reaction.
She wondered if she’d blundered in her attempt to please him.
“That sounds nice.”
Contrary to her anxious thoughts, Cheon Hui smiled with satisfaction.
“Phew.”
Yang Se Ryeong exhaled in relief.
“I’m glad it meets your approval.”
“I haven’t tasted it yet, though?”
…….
“Let me have a taste first, then we can talk.”
Yang Se Ryeong broke into a cold sweat.
‘Oh, it should be fine, right? No, it will be fine. Everyone said it was delicious.’
Never before had she been so tense.
As she spiraled through anxious thoughts about what might happen if he disliked it.
“Let me see.”
Cheon Hui savored the congee.
The seasoning was more delicate than he’d expected, and the texture of the jerky pleased him.
“The taste isn’t bad.”
The moment Yang Se Ryeong wiped her chest in relief.
“Huh?”
Cheon Hui, who had been chewing the roasted bird, suddenly furrowed his brow and spat it out immediately.
“Did you taste this?”
“Well, I… that is…”
Yang Se Ryeong’s face went pale.
Cheon Hui tossed the roasted bird back to her with an exasperated expression.
She caught it in surprise.
“Try it.”
At Cheon Hui’s words, Yang Se Ryeong cautiously bit into the bird, then grimaced.
The seasoning was off, the meat completely bland.
“…I’m sorry.”
“You’re supposed to be good at cooking, yet…”
Just as Cheon Hui was about to say more.
“Great Master, aren’t you thirsty?”
Je Gal Seung Ho hurried over and handed him a water bottle he’d filled from the stream the night before.
“It should be refreshing.”
Cheon Hui regarded Je Gal Seung Ho for a moment, then drank the water in great gulps.
‘Hmm, I’ll let this one slide, I suppose.’
Cheon Hui’s mood lifted slightly at Je Gal Seung Ho’s deft assistance, and watching the flustered Yang Se Ryeong, he smiled.
“Let’s overlook it this once.”
Yang Se Ryeong’s expression brightened.
Observing the change in her face, Cheon Hui turned his head and met Je Gal Seung Ho’s eyes.
“You read the room well.”
“Ha, haha.”
“But there won’t be a second chance.”
Cheon Hui threw the water bottle to Je Gal Seung Ho, who gave an awkward laugh, then rose to his feet.
“Let’s move on, then.”
“Yes.”
Yang Se Ryeong stood up as though she’d been waiting for this moment.
The relief of finally leaving this place made her expression brighten just slightly.
Soon the two of them led the way ahead.
“Sigh.”
Paeng Chul Wi exhaled deeply and gripped his wounded flank.
“Large movements are beyond me, aren’t they.”
Thanks to the Heavenly King Pill Hwang Bo So Hyeon had given him, he’d managed to treat the Internal Injury, but his body was not in the same condition as before.
The contusions remained.
‘I need to be careful for a while.’
As Paeng Chul Wi gingerly touched his deep wound, Hwang Bo So Hyeon, who had finished her Qi Regulation and Breathing, approached with a worried expression.
“Are you all right?”
“Not as before, but thanks to the Internal Injury Medicine and Wound Healing Medicine you gave me, my body feels quite a bit better.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a relief.”
Hwang Bo So Hyeon smiled brightly.
Yet that was only momentary—seeing his flank, she clenched her fists.
“Still, if it becomes difficult, tell me. I’m a martial artist too.”
“I have faith in your skill.”
As the two, who had grown noticeably closer, spoke to each other warmly, Mo Yong Sang, unaware of yesterday’s events, dropped his jaw.
“Je… Je Gal. What’s going on?”
“Something happened.”
Je Gal Seung Ho skirted the issue vaguely.
He couldn’t exactly say that a tender affection had blossomed the night before.
Instead, watching the group grow farther away, he urged Mo Yong Sang onward.
“Shall we hurry along as well.”
* * *
“Damn it!”
Je Gal Seung Ho ground his teeth.
He’d finally felt relief at beginning to travel with Cheon Hui, but it lasted less than a day.
‘Give me a moment’s rest, won’t you!’
His gaze swept across their surroundings.
Those wearing Martial Robes bearing the sun character on their chests and the moon character on their backs were rushing forward with crazed expressions.
Je Gal Seung Ho’s brow furrowed.
“Not a day passes without…”
A day would be a blessing.
Ambush attacks came what felt like every watch period.
Just like now!
Ting! Ting!
“Ugh!”
Je Gal Seung Ho unfurled his Fan Weapon and barely deflected the projectile whistling from the left.
Then he immediately took a Qi Defense Stance.
‘I’m going to lose my mind.’
The headache was setting in.
They’d been traveling together for slightly more than half a day.
In that time, ambushes had already occurred three times.
And these three were different from the previous attacks.
Not mindless charges, but hit-and-run tactics.
It was like the hunting strategy of those who pursued beasts.
“Are they trying to wear us down?”
Cold sweat began to drip from his brow as he realized that Ilwol Moon had begun their offensive in earnest.
‘Does he know?’
His eyes turned toward Cheon Hui.
But only for a moment.
‘Ah. He must already know.’
He sighed internally.
There he stood, regarding the Ilwol Moon disciples with perfect composure, as though the current situation had nothing to do with him.
Yet Cheon Hui’s thoughts ran elsewhere.
‘Sending expendables to probe our mettle.’
Cheon Hui glanced at the charging Ilwol Moon disciples, then drew out several Iron Coins.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
Then he flicked them one by one with his fingers.
The Iron Coins, traveling at speeds beyond the eye’s tracking, pierced the foreheads of the Ilwol Moon disciples and claimed their lives.
‘Sloppy.’
Though it was an organized ambush, to one who had endured the Tianluodiwan’s great onslaught before, it was child’s play.
‘No masters among them, either.’
Cheon Hui’s eyes swept the surroundings.
Ilwol Moon disciples scattered in all directions.
Whether they’d deliberately brought disposable pieces, there wasn’t a true master among them.
‘With nowhere left to run…’
Cheon Hui drew upon his Internal Force.
‘When cornered, they’ll have no choice but to show themselves.’
He took a light step.
Whoosh—
His body technique vanished.
At the same moment, impact sounds and screams erupted from all around, though arriving late to the ears.
“…Phew.”
Yang Se Ryeong wiped the sweat from her brow.
The absence of Ilwol Moon disciples charging forward and screams ringing from every direction confirmed that he had moved.
Sure enough, moments later Cheon Hui reappeared.
“Thank you, Master.”
Cheon Hui regarded the grateful Yang Se Ryeong for a moment before speaking.
“Let’s eat.”
* * *
Four days since the journey began.
With each passing hour, the Later Period Experts’ appearances were changing visibly.
Faces worn with exhaustion were utterly commonplace, and dark circles now lay heavy beneath their eyes.
And that wasn’t all.
Their clothes were so filthy and torn in so many places that one questioned whether they still served any purpose.
The sight was grave enough that the stench seemed to carry from a distance.
“…When do you think this will end?”
Hwang Bo So Hyeon spoke in a weary voice.
She had abandoned all pretense of composure long ago.
She looked disheveled enough that calling her a member of Gae Bang wouldn’t have seemed out of place—yet she forced her drooping eyes open through sheer will.
“Until either they’re all dead or we are.”
Je Gal Seung Ho muttered the words like a man in a daze.
The ambushes from Ilwol Moon continued without pause.
None of them were masters of the martial way.
But because they rushed forward without fear of death, even Later Period Experts like themselves couldn’t afford to lower their guard for an instant.
And yet the most terrifying thing was this:
‘They don’t distinguish between day and night.’
The thought of the relentless attacks made his head spin.
For days now, they hadn’t slept properly.
Whenever they tried to rest, another ambush would strike.
The exhaustion mounted, eroding their minds until they reached their lowest point—their pupils had been dilated for quite some time now.
Cheon Hui, by contrast, remained unaffected.
While the Later Period Experts lost sleep to the ambushes, he slept soundly.
And his meals were provided without him lifting a finger.
It was the perfect environment for him.
‘Hmm, it’s time I stepped in directly now.’
Cheon Hui sensed the presences all around them.
Throughout more than ten ambushes, he had never allowed any of the Ilwol Moon disciples to escape.
The reason was simple.
He was thinning their numbers to draw out the key forces of Tianluodiwan.
And now they were nearly at their target.
Unaware of this calculation, the Later Period Experts shook their heads watching Cheon Hui walk so deliberately slowly.
“It would be nice if we could move faster…”
“You’re growing tired now.”
When their exhaustion became visibly severe, Yang Se Ryeong—who had spoken with Cheon Hui more than the others—stepped forward.
“Great Master.”
“Yes?”
“Could we perhaps hurry a little?”
“There’s no need.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Cheon Hui tilted his head to the side.
“Come on out.”
The moment those words left his mouth—
“…You’re a vicious one. You face Tianluodiwan and act like it’s nothing.”
A familiar voice rang out, and a recognizable face emerged from between the trees.
A one-armed middle-aged man with his right shoulder heavily wrapped in bandages.
Myeong Wol Do—the one who had had his arm torn off by Cheon Hui.
Cheon Hui, who had already sensed his approach, twisted the corners of his mouth into a smile.
“This time you didn’t run away.”
Myeong Wol Do’s eyes narrowed.
“One step back is one step forward for the greater advance.”
“That’s not just a retreat?”
What nonsense was this “one step back for the greater advance”?
It was just running to save his own skin.
“Did you bring everyone this time?”
“You sound frightened.”
“I am, actually.”
“Of course you are. Our school’s…”
“If there are still people left after this, I’d have to go all the way to Ilwol Moon myself. When would I ever get there?”
“You speak as though you could face our entire sect alone.”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
“…Your confidence is boundless.”
“It’s not confidence—it’s fact.”
Myeong Wol Do’s eyes flashed with fury.
“I will shatter that arrogant certainty of yours.”
“Is that so?”
Cheon Hui spoke with indifference.
Since his previous life, countless people had tried to correct this nature of his, yet not a single one had succeeded.
“Then go ahead and try to break 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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