Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 16

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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 16
The Five Mountains Conference, which could be called long or short depending on one’s perspective, concluded with a shocking result.
The Huashan Sect’s first defeat.
Since the inception of the Five Mountains Conference, this was the sect’s humiliation—a first in living memory.
Yet most who had witnessed the conference spoke not of the Huashan Sect’s loss, but only of the young boy who appeared afterward and displayed such extraordinary martial prowess.
“……So plum blossoms bloomed with the wind, and they filled the entire Martial Arena?”
“Yes, it truly was a beautiful sight.”
One of the female disciples, who had missed the event due to other duties, tilted her head in bewilderment as she listened to her companions reminisce, their eyes distant and dreamy.
“But is that really true?”
At the skeptical question, the two women struck their chests simultaneously.
“Goodness, how infuriating.”
“Sigh, you should have seen it yourself.”
Rather than shrinking under their reproach, the disciple only grew more puzzled.
“But I heard Tian Hui is only fourteen. And besides, I heard he’s been in poor health all along and has only been recovering…….”
The two disciples flinched at once.
Now that she mentioned it, that was true.
Though they knew of Tian Hui, until they saw him with their own eyes at the Five Mountains Conference, he had been less real to them than a dragon or a qilin—a thing of legend.
They had only heard rumors of his cultivation and recovery; they had scarcely ever seen his face.
“Was he not actually ill?”
“Perhaps the elders concealed the truth and claimed he was sickly so they could raise Tian Hui as the sect’s secret weapon?”
“A secret weapon?”
“The sect’s prestige and renown have been declining lately, haven’t they? So they must have been secretly cultivating him to restore the sect’s former glory. It’s the only way it makes sense.”
Clap!
The two clapped their hands together in agreement.
“That could very well be it.”
“Of course—it’s the Huashan Sect, after all!”
As distorted rumors about Tian Hui spread through the Huashan Sect in this way.
……
The Jaha Pavilion, where Jangmun In was staying, was filled with a biting chill.
At the center of that coldness was Hyun Ryeo.
She sat with eyes as glacial as ice, her gaze shifting back and forth between Jangmun In and Hyun Do, who sat across and before her.
Sip—
“Hmm, mm.”
Meeting her piercing stare, Jangmun In avoided her eyes and sipped his tea, while Hyun Do beside him perspired profusely.
As this awkward silence stretched between them.
“Senior brother.”
Hyun Ryeo’s lips opened slowly.
At her summons, Jangmun In and Hyun Do exchanged glances and laughed nervously.
“Ha ha, sister. So you’re calling on us.”
“Ha ha ha, and what would senior brother say? If sister addresses us so gravely, then surely the master of the Huashan Sect—senior brother himself—is the one being summoned, is he not?”
Seeing them try to shift the blame onto each other, Hyun Ryeo raised her eyebrows sharply and spoke.
“Senior. Brothers.”
“Ha ha ha.”
*Ahem.*
At the clipped, deliberate tone, Jangmun In laughed awkwardly while Hyun Do cleared his throat and averted his gaze—but in that very moment.
“Why didn’t you inform me that Tian Hui possessed such martial prowess?”
The two stiffened at Hyun Ryeo’s pointed words, their expressions those of people who had hoped to avoid something only to face it head-on, and their eyes shut tight.
And her words came as swiftly as a keen blade, just as they had anticipated.
“That’s not all! You suddenly made him compete when his body hasn’t even fully recovered! What on earth were you thinking to put him through such a thing…….”
Her sharp, piercing voice cut through the air like needles through the ear, and Jangmun In hastily opened his mouth.
“Sister.”
“And so…… speak.”
At his summons, Hyun Ryeo fell silent and narrowed her eyes, waiting to hear what would come next.
“It was all for Tian Hui’s sake.”
“For Tian Hui’s sake…… you say?”
Hyun Ryeo’s voice grew even sharper, yet Jangmun In responded with composure.
“Through this, we have made Tian Hui’s existence known to our sect and the Five Mountains Sword Sect. When else might such an opportunity to raise his renown arise?”
It was, in truth, a feeble excuse.
They had merely summoned Tian Hui urgently to resolve a situation spiraling toward catastrophe, harboring no such intentions.
But what did that matter now.
Regardless of how it had come about, the result was what it was.
“But Tian Hui has only recently begun to recover his strength.”
At Hyun Ryeo’s objection, Jangmun In let his voice drop to a grave murmur.
“After witnessing Tian Hui’s martial prowess that day, you still speak such words?”
……
Hyun Ryeo fell silent.
What he said was true—the martial prowess Tian Hui had displayed that day had been overwhelming.
And yet it was one thing or another.
Her displeasure remained unchanged.
“Then why didn’t you tell me about it?”
Jangmun In glanced sidelong at Hyun Do.
‘You answer for yourself.’
Hyun Do’s shoulders tensed at that look.
His throat suddenly parched, he reached for the cold tea before him and drained it in one long gulp.
“Wasn’t the master terribly busy with the Five Mountains Conference?”
“I meant to tell you once it was over.”
“Is that truly the case?”
As Hyun Ryeo regarded them both with a skeptical expression, Jangmun In and Hyun Do nodded as though the matter were perfectly innocent.
“Ha ha ha, of course it is.”
“The master asked me directly to attend to this—how could I not keep you informed?”
Just as Hyun Ryeo, tilting her head slightly, seemed satisfied with this explanation, both men relaxed.
‘What are these people doing?’
Tian Hui, the very subject of their quarrel, suddenly felt his face contort at the unexpected turn of events.
Glance—
Keeping their distance of roughly three zhang away, they had come no closer to him, yet they scrutinized his every gesture and movement.
Under the weight of their gazes, sharp and pricking as the cruel sun, Tian Hui’s brow furrowed.
‘What are you looking at?’
He glared at them.
At once they jerked their heads away. But in their haste, several of the female disciples ended up with their noses buried in their books, some holding theirs upside down.
An unwilling frown creased his face.
The moment he frowned, the female disciples peeking from behind their books lit up with delight.
Seeing their expressions shift, Tian Hui’s face filled with disbelief.
They enjoyed a scowl? Were they mad?
In the past, whenever he frowned, most would flee in terror, their faces draining of color, or prostrate themselves before him.
Yet they seemed to like it.
Shaking his head side to side, he walked past them.
“Ah……”
Their disappointed sighs followed him as he strode away with lengthening strides. By the time he descended the stairs and the oppressive weight of their gaze finally faded—
“Hui.”
Hyun Cheong, who had begun visiting Manjing Pavilion daily and grown considerably closer to him, called out his name.
He regarded Tian Hui with visible bewilderment at the sheer crowd gathered here.
Then his mouth opened.
“It’s the first time so many disciples have come to Manjing Pavilion. Do you happen to know what’s brought this about?”
“I have no idea.”
Tian Hui spoke firmly as he left Manjing Pavilion, and Hyun Cheong cocked his head in confusion.
No matter how he looked at it, Tian Hui was the only one deeply connected to what was happening now.
The eyes and attention of every disciple who had entered Manjing Pavilion were fixed solely on Tian Hui.
‘How has it come to this?’
Hyun Cheong’s eyes filled with questions.
He gazed up at the disciples watching from above, then closed the book he held in his hands.
* * *
Some time after leaving Manjing Pavilion, how long had he been climbing the narrow mountain path?
“……Sir!”
At the faint voice that reached his ears, one of Tian Hui’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
It seems to be coming from my quarters?
He quickened his pace.
Tap— tap—
“Please teach me martial arts!”
Then came another resounding cry.
As he drew closer to his quarters, that shout grew louder and clearer, piercing his ears.
That was when Mo Ok came into view.
And the shadow standing before it.
The shadow—which seemed to be the source of all the clamor—knelt before Mo Ok with hands clasped respectfully in supplication.
Then the shadow lifted its head once more.
“Master!”
Master?
He narrowed his eyes.
The back of that head seemed somehow familiar.
Where had he seen it before…?
Then it struck him—that fool who’d frozen stiff with nerves during the sparring match.
Ah, Jeok Geom, was it? That one.
Just then, Jeok Geom cried out again.
“Please teach me martial arts!”
Did he actually think someone was inside?
Tian Hui, watching how Jeok Geom’s gaze never once wavered from Mo Ok, approached him.
He came to stand directly behind him and asked softly.
“What are you doing?”
“Gasp!”
Startled by the sudden voice from behind, Jeok Geom jumped and swallowed hard.
“M-Master?”
Thoroughly flustered, he turned to look at Tian Hui.
Then he quickly glanced back at Mo Ok.
Looking at Tian Hui, then at Mo Ok.
As his head swiveled back and forth several times, his face and ears flushed crimson.
So he really had thought someone was in there.
Tian Hui regarded the embarrassed Jeok Geom with a look of pity, then stepped past him toward Mo Ok.
Grab!
A rough grip seized his pant leg.
“Master!”
Nearly sprawled on the ground as he reached out desperately, Jeok Geom clutched at Tian Hui’s pant leg with urgent, pleading eyes.
“Could you offer even a little instruction to one of such humble aptitude?”
Their eyes met, and Tian Hui’s mouth, which had been closed, fell open.
“Why should I?”
“…I beg your pardon?”
Jeok Geom released a deflated whisper at the entirely unexpected reply.
Watching the boy’s stunned silence, Tian Hui’s feet moved.
Swift—
In less than a breath’s time, he unfolded the Seven Star Steps, slipped free from Jeok Geom’s iron grip, and entered Mo Ok.
Jeok Geom, who had been staring blankly as if entranced, snapped back to himself as Tian Hui vanished inside, and called out urgently.
“M-Master!”
Though his cry was desperate, Tian Hui dismissed it lightly and frowned.
Was it because of that sparring match?
As he pondered the concentrated attention and gazes directed at him today, he shook his head.
There was no other explanation.
“It won’t last long anyway.”
Tian Hui, thinking this was merely a fleeting interest that would fade naturally with time, immediately settled into a cross-legged position.
After about an hour had passed.
“I shall return another time, Master.”
A quiet voice drifted from outside.
Then came the sense of Jeok Geom, who had been waiting outside Mo Ok all along, departing.
Organizing the martial manuals at Manjing Pavilion alone kept him busy enough—as if teaching wasn’t burdensome enough.
He immediately ceased his Qi Circulation.
“Now let me focus properly.”
His expression brightened at the nuisance’s departure, and he smiled with satisfaction.
“Of what I saw today…”
Basking in the peace, he soon recalled the Sweep Leaf Leg Technique, which he’d found quite intriguing while reading at Manjing Pavilion.
But perhaps it was a cruel jest of fate.
Tian Hui’s peace would not last long.
Footsteps—footsteps—
From far beyond, footfalls echoed, and Tian Hui’s face hardened like stone as some dark foreboding seized him.
A voice reached him then.
“Master.”
This time it was a woman’s voice.
“I am Seol Ran, your disciple.”
Having introduced herself with proper deference, Seol Ran paused briefly before speaking again, her voice now carrying unmistakable intensity.
“If it would not trouble you, might you teach your disciple some martial arts?”
Confronted with a request from her that matched Jeok Geom’s word for word, Tian Hui scratched his head vigorously and suddenly sprawled flat on his back.
“Blast it.”
Today was simply not his day.

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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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