Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 149

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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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Episode 149
A guest arrived at Ja Ha Pavilion after a long time.
The Sect Master gazed at the young man before him for a moment, then handed him a cup of tea.
“Th-thank you.”
“Heh, you must have had a hard climb up here.”
“No, not at all!”
The Sect Master watched Ju Go Ryul, who was wound tight as a spring, and took a leisurely sip of his tea.
“There’s no need to be so tense.”
“Ah… yes, I understand.”
The Sect Master studied Ju Go Ryul with a satisfied expression.
‘The boy has grown so much.’
He had become a capable young man, yet traces of his former self lingered in his features.
“Then…”
The moment he opened his mouth, his smile faded.
“Can you tell me the details now?”
Ju Go Ryul straightened his spine.
“…Recently, Sapa have been springing up like bamboo shoots around our sect’s territory.”
“In Yenan?”
The Sect Master’s eyes narrowed.
Yenan was a region with few notable sects, save for Ilwol Moon.
But suddenly, Sapa appearing there?
“Why would Sapa suddenly appear in Yenan?”
Ju Go Ryul bit his lip before speaking.
“After Baek Gwi Seong fell, the Sapa practitioners have come and are establishing sects.”
“…!”
The Sect Master’s eyes widened with shock.
The situation crystallized in his mind.
“Now that Baek Gwi Seong—which ruled Shenxi—has collapsed, the other Sapa are eyeing the territory.”
A sigh escaped him unbidden.
He had been so preoccupied with the Huashan Sect that he’d failed to grasp the broader landscape.
“…A grave oversight on our part.”
The Sect Master smiled bitterly.
He had toppled Baek Gwi Seong but left no one to tend what came after.
Could this be anything but a profound mistake?
“How dangerous is Ilwol Moon?”
“Extremely dangerous. They attack our sect without mercy, threaten us, and coerce us. Most of our disciples are either grievously wounded or have abandoned the sect after succumbing to their threats. Only about a dozen of us remain, including my father and myself.”
Ju Go Ryul’s hand trembled as he gripped the teacup.
“If things continue this way, our sect will…”
As he contemplated the worst outcome, his voice broke with tears.
“Please, help us.”
Then.
“I’m sorry.”
The Sect Master took Ju Go Ryul’s hand.
Ju Go Ryul started at the sudden touch and looked up at him.
He too was grieving.
“Ilwol Moon stood by us even when the Huashan Sect was struggling, and yet I knew nothing of their plight all this while. It is all my fault.”
As he finished speaking, he lowered his head.
“Sect Master, please. Raise your head.”
Ju Go Ryul was taken aback.
The Sect Master of the Huashan Sect, bowing to a mere Sect Master of a subsidiary sect.
“How can I raise my head? I am ashamed to face the heavens.”
The Sect Master’s words came out harsh and bitter.
At the same time, his anger flared.
But not at anyone else—at himself alone.
‘Hyunsang, have you forgotten the Way?’
Ilwol Moon was a subsidiary sect that had steadied the Huashan Sect even when it wavered.
Moreover, its Sect Master had visited every year, showing such care for the Huashan Sect.
And what had he, the Sect Master of the Huashan Sect, been doing?
Had he ever truly thought of Ilwol Moon?
No.
That said, Baek Gwi Seong showed no concern for the crumbling state of Shenxi.
He simply accepted the tribute that came his way from the Huashan Sect, and moved only to elevate the sect’s renown.
How utterly shameful it was.
Had there been a rat hole nearby, he would have crawled into it on the spot.
“Still…….”
The Sect Master looked up, listening to Ju Go Ryul’s anxious voice.
Just as Ju Go Ryul let out a breath of relief, his hand brushing his chest.
“Wait a moment. I’ll prepare personnel to send to the Ilwol Moon.”
“Is that… truly so?”
Ju Go Ryul’s expression brightened.
“Thank you!”
“Rather, I should apologize for the delay.”
“No, not at all.”
Ju Go Ryul waved his hands urgently.
The Sect Master’s continued apologies were almost overwhelming in their sincerity.
“But the Sect Master’s absence suggests the situation is quite dire.”
Ju Go Ryul flinched for just a moment.
But it was so brief that the Sect Master did not notice.
“Yes, that is correct.”
“I’ll hurry then. Though it will take some time still, so rest here at our sect in the meanwhile.”
Shortly after, as Ju Go Ryul emerged from the Ja Ha Pavilion, he drew a long breath and clenched his fist.
“It’s done!”
Just then, a Taoist from outside approached.
“You’ve come out.”
Jeok Un smiled brightly at Ju Go Ryul.
“Please follow me.”
“Of course.”
Ju Go Ryul hastily unclenched his fist.
He then followed Jeok Un down the mountain path, his eyes wandering.
‘So this is Huashan.’
Perhaps because he hadn’t visited the Huashan Sect since early childhood.
Everything felt foreign and unfamiliar, as though he were seeing it for the first time.
‘Yet it’s not what I imagined.’
When one thought of Huashan, plum blossoms came to mind.
But the actual Huashan had fewer blossoms than expected, and instead was dotted with great stone formations.
‘And the paths are so steep.’
His gaze turned downward.
The mountain paths were narrow and precipitous as cliff faces.
Seen from above, they were even more vertiginous.
‘If I hadn’t learned the Lightness Martial Art, it would have taken far longer to climb.’
He’d heard that the Taoists of the Huashan Sect were said to excel in the Lightness Martial Art alongside those of the Kunlun Sect, and now he understood why.
As he was admiring the view for some time.
“Aaaaagh! P-please, save me!”
“I’m going to die!”
Suddenly, screams pierced the air.
Alarmed, Ju Go Ryul glanced at Jeok Un’s back, but he simply continued walking as though he couldn’t hear those cries at all.
“Um, that person over there…….”
Ju Go Ryul called out to him in haste.
“Is something wrong?”
Jeok Un turned around with a smile.
“There are screams coming from over there…….”
When Ju Go Ryul pointed east and asked, Jeok Un’s expression shifted, and he spoke.
“Ah! You needn’t concern yourself with that.”
“I… beg your pardon?”
For a moment, Ju Go Ryul stood dumbfounded.
Don’t concern himself? How was that possible?
“P-please, make it stop!”
“Ughhhhh!”
Even now the screams continued to echo across the peaks—how could he possibly ignore that?
Jeok Un let out an awkward laugh and spoke.
“I’m in the middle of training.”
“Training?”
Ju Go Ryul’s eyes shifted.
His bewilderment transformed into astonishment.
‘So this is Huashan! They push their disciples through such grueling training that they cry out like that.’
As he, who had never heard such things about Huashan’s methods in all his years, began to understand and nod along.
‘Ah, I’ve grown too accustomed to it.’
Jeok Un scratched the back of his head.
Hearing screams every single day, he’d simply let this one pass without a second thought.
Then a dark shadow suddenly materialized.
The figure that appeared was a young man—a striking youth with an uncommon, arresting beauty.
Jeok Un started in surprise and spoke.
“M-master?”
‘M-master?’
Ju Go Ryul’s eyes widened as he watched the youth, who appeared to be his own age, address the newcomer with such a respectful title.
The young man, Cheon Hui, glanced sideways at Ju Go Ryul, then turned to meet Jeok Un’s gaze and asked.
“Why are you standing around here instead of training?”
Jeok Un flinched.
“I was showing the guest around.”
“Guest?”
Cheon Hui’s gaze pierced through Ju Go Ryul.
For a moment, Ju Go Ryul’s breath caught in his throat.
‘Eyes like this… they shouldn’t exist in this world.’
Eyes with sharply divided black and white not only seemed to see through one’s heart, but to thoroughly lay it bare.
“Who is he?”
“He is the Sect Master of the Ilwol Moon.”
“Ilwol Moon?”
Cheon Hui tilted his head in confusion.
Where was that?
As he tried to recall this sect name he’d never heard before, Jeok Un added further explanation.
“It is a Subsidiary Sect of our school.”
“Hmm? A Subsidiary Sect?”
At Cheon Hui’s question, Jeok Un looked flustered and glanced anxiously at Ju Go Ryul, but.
Fortunately, Ju Go Ryul still stood in a daze, consciousness not yet fully returned.
Jeok Un stepped closer to Cheon Hui and whispered near his ear.
“It’s one of the Subsidiary Sects that has been sending tribute to our school every year since long ago.”
“Is that so?”
Cheon Hui’s eyes gleamed.
Even as they walked the path toward decline, they continued to send tribute?
Most would have severed ties by now.
This one had integrity.
“Then I suppose this visit is also with tribute?”
“That is to say…”
As Jeok Un’s words faltered.
“I have come to request assistance.”
Ju Go Ryul, having regained his composure, spoke with measured courtesy, bowing his head.
Interest kindled in Cheon Hui’s eyes.
“What sort of assistance?”
“Our sect has recently fallen under threat from heterodox forces…”
“Threat, you say…”
One corner of Cheon Hui’s mouth twisted.
‘This could be interesting.’
He had returned to Huashan, but found himself at loose ends.
“Where is the Ilwol Moon located?”
“In Yenan.”
“Hmm, that works out perfectly.”
Cheon Hui’s smile deepened.
“Has the number of people going been decided?”
“The Sect Master will determine that, or so I was told…”
“Excellent.”
That moment.
Whoosh—
Cheon Hui vanished like the wind.
It was like being struck by a club in the dead of night.
Ju Go Ryul stood staring in the direction Cheon Hui had disappeared, his expression vacant.
“……You’ll have your hands full.”
Jeok Un spoke with a note of sympathy.
“Pardon?”
“Never mind.”
At Ju Go Ryul’s question, Jeok Un shook his head as if it were nothing.
Then he met the man’s eyes.
“Once the Master goes, the Ilwol Moon will be safe.”
Ju Go Ryul’s eyes widened as he observed Jeok Un speaking with such certainty.
“And who exactly is this person…….”
* * *
“You’re going to the Ilwol Moon?”
The Sect Master looked at Cheon Hui, who had appeared suddenly, with startled eyes.
“Yes.”
“What’s brought this on all of a sudden?”
“I have nothing left to do within the Huashan Sect anyway.”
“That may be true, but…….”
“Or have you already decided who’s going?”
“I was thinking of assigning the task to the Wulian Pavilion Master and the Maehwa Sword Masters.”
The Sect Master’s eyes grew firm.
It might be excessive, but given all that had transpired, it was necessary to commit that level of force for the sake of the Ilwol Moon’s loyalty.
“Will that work? Without the Wulian Pavilion Master, you won’t be able to open the Maehwa Chilgwan.”
Within the Huashan Sect, only Cheon Hui and the Wulian Pavilion Master knew how to operate the Maehwa Chilgwan’s control room and the Mechanism Array.
“Then you…….”
“Even if I do it, once the Maehwa Sword Masters leave, there’s no point to it.”
That was true.
The personnel for the first opening of the Maehwa Chilgwan had been fixed as the Maehwa Sword Masters.
“Then postpone it.”
“We already open the Maehwa Chilgwan so rarely—why waste the opportunity?”
“Still, it hasn’t been long since you completed the last mission……. Are you certain?”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s not far anyway.”
Cheon Hui chuckled.
“I had nothing to do anyway, so it’s good to get out and see the world.”
“……I understand.”
The Sect Master spoke apologetically.
“I’m placing another burden on you again.”
“The last one was a bit much.”
Cheon Hui recalled the task of escorting So Hui, and his mouth twitched slightly.
“This one is fine.”
“Then I’m relieved.”
The Sect Master smiled gently.
“Have you already thought of who should accompany you?”
Cheon Hui chuckled as he answered.
“Of course.”

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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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