Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 161

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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 161
Cheon Hui descended the mountain with O Chief Steward, his eyes bright as he gazed ahead.
“It’s quite clean.”
The moment Cheon Hui caught sight of it, the impression tumbled straight from his lips.
A long, winding path cutting through barren mountainside.
And at the far end of that path sat an inn, stark and solitary, drawing the eye irresistibly.
The inn, though plain and modest as if to proclaim itself freshly built, possessed a subtle charm that blended seamlessly with the verdant foliage surrounding it.
Any traveler passing along this mountain path would have their gaze unconsciously stolen by it.
“It looks complete from here. What’s left unfinished?”
“Nothing, on the outside.”
O Chief Steward stepped inside the inn, and Cheon Hui followed at his heels.
The problem became apparent at once.
The inn was hollow inside.
Not a chair, not a table.
Not a single item of furnishing remained.
“Every time we try to bring goods in, those men keep interfering…….”
O Chief Steward’s brow furrowed as he recalled the headaches of the past few days.
“The merchants willing to transport goods are starting to avoid us now. At this rate, we’ll have to hire porters separately…….”
As he spoke words tinged with resignation.
Swish—
The sound of a curtain being pulled back echoed through the space.
The man who entered was broad-shouldered and thick-set, with a vivid scar running sharply across his cheek.
He swaggered about, surveying the interior, until he spotted O Chief Steward and strode directly toward him.
“Well, well. Wandering about without paying your debts, are you?”
O Chief Steward shrank slightly beneath the man’s bulk, but his eyes widened as he spoke.
“I’ve said it repeatedly—there’s nothing I owe you.”
“What? Nothing owed?”
The man clicked his tongue, then spat with a wet sound before stomping on the floor with a loud thud.
“Building an inn on our land without so much as a word, and now…….”
“Well, I’ve never seen anyone conduct themselves with such crude manners before.”
At the sudden interjection, the man’s head snapped around.
Upon seeing Cheon Hui, his eyes narrowed.
‘Damn, he’s handsome.’
Taking in Cheon Hui’s sharp yet striking features, the man tilted his chin and spoke.
“Who are you?”
“Someone staying at this inn.”
“Hah.”
The man shook his head as though bemused, then fixed his gaze on Cheon Hui’s waist.
“You think you’re fearless because you’re wearing two swords? Now you think you can just butt into this—Ugh!”
The man suddenly shrieked, clutching at his shin.
Thud! Thud!
Cheon Hui, having driven his sword scabbard down against the man’s shin, slung it across his shoulder and approached the man, who was still hopping about frantically.
“For someone that big, you bounce around pretty well.”
“You…… you bastard!”
The man clenched his teeth and drew back his fist to swing at Cheon Hui, but in that instant, Cheon Hui swung his scabbard and struck the man’s face.
Crack!
Teeth scattered into the air, and blood sprayed from his mouth.
And then, with a dull thud, the man collapsed flat on his back.
“Did I hit too hard?”
Cheon Hui tapped the unconscious man a few times, then looked at O Chief Steward and asked.
“You have water?”
“We do, but why suddenly—”
“We need to wake him up.”
Moments later, Cheon Hui splashed water on the man’s face.
Splash!
The man who had been knocked senseless jerked his upper body upright at the sudden deluge.
“Ugh… gah!”
Still dazed and struggling to piece together what had happened, he shook his head and looked around, then flinched upon spotting Cheon Hui.
Cheon Hui twisted the corner of his mouth and asked.
“Where did you say you came from again?”
“H-Huk Yu Moon, sir.”
The man answered in a panicked rush, but his words came out garbled—his mouth was split, teeth missing.
Cheon Hui glanced at O Chief Steward and asked.
“What’s he saying?”
O Chief Steward let out an awkward laugh.
“It seems he’s saying Huk Yu Moon.”
“Huk Yu Moon?”
Cheon Hui tilted his head in confusion.
“Where’s that?”
O Chief Steward’s expression turned cold.
“A criminal organization that runs brothels and gambling dens in this area.”
“In this area?”
Cheon Hui asked, sounding puzzled.
Even if this place was some distance from Huashan, it was still near the Huashan Sect territory, wasn’t it?
O Chief Steward answered that question at once.
“No matter how close the Huashan Sect is to this region, they cannot possibly concern themselves with every hidden gambling den or brothel. Huk Yu Moon is an organization that reaches into such places and extorts money from them.”
“Ah! So they can’t openly show their faces in Kangho, and instead prey on commoners’ coin—is that it?”
Cheon Hui spoke bluntly, and O Chief Steward managed an uncomfortable smile.
“That is correct.”
“Hmm, so that’s how it is.”
Snap.
Cheon Hui seized the man by the scruff of his neck and hoisted him up as though plucking a weed from the ground.
Meeting his eyes, he demanded.
“Why is this land Huk Yu Moon territory? I thought you already sold it to them.”
“I-I d-don’t k-know.”
The man answered urgently, his head thrashing left and right.
“The M-Moon Master o-ordered it, s-so we d-did it.”
“What are you saying?”
When Cheon Hui’s expression darkened with displeasure, the man’s face went deathly pale.
At that moment, O Chief Steward cut in.
“The Huk Yu Moon Master ordered you to do this?”
At his words, the man’s face brightened with relief, and he nodded vigorously.
“Those bastards……”
Just as O Chief Steward’s eyes grew sharp with the revelation of the true culprit’s identity—
“Huk Yu Moon, then……”
Cheon Hui released his grip on the man’s neck.
“Guide us.”
* * *
Arriving at the village with the man, Cheon Hui turned not toward the main street but into the alleys.
The moment he stepped into the cramped passage—
“Please, just a coin, good sir.”
“Heh, heh.”
The atmosphere shifted at once.
Beggars soliciting alms, men sprawled out in drunken stupor from wine and drugs—they were everywhere, and no one paid them any mind.
As if it were perfectly natural.
And several figures prowled the alley, radiating killing intent.
“T-there, sir.”
The man quickly pointed them out.
“You wait here.”
The man nodded frantically.
As Cheon Hui drew near to those men—
“Huh? Who are you?”
“What’s with this tall bastard?”
They squinted and opened their mouths.
Then, as they swiftly looked him up and down, they soon noticed the two swords at his waist, their guard rising.
“This is Huk Yu Moon, isn’t it?”
At Cheon Hui’s words, their expressions melted like ice.
“Oh, a customer?”
The man on the left grinned.
“What else would I think?”
The man turned his body.
Then he swept back the curtain hanging behind him, and a staircase descending downward came into view.
“Looks like this is your first time, but once you step inside, you’ll see the world differently.”
“Go on in and enjoy yourself thoroughly.”
They spoke in turn and stepped aside, gesturing for him to proceed.
The moment Cheon Hui passed them and set foot on the stairs, the scent of liquor drifted up.
‘A drinking game’s underway?’
When he reached the bottom of the staircase, a room dimly lit by red light appeared before him.
Inside were many tables, all crowded with people holding bottles.
Yet something felt off.
They weren’t paying attention to the gambling; instead, they kept stealing glances toward one spot.
‘They’re all in on it together.’
Cheon Hui grasped their scheme at once and shifted his gaze in the direction they were looking.
“This is insane! You’re a fraud, a fraud! My entire fortune!”
An anguished cry assaulted his ears.
A middle-aged man was pounding the table with both fists, shouting at the top of his voice.
The man seated across from him smiled faintly.
“Ha, now, my dear guest. Where would there be a fraud here?”
Then.
Thud!
The middle-aged man seized the man’s collar.
“Stop your tricks! I saw it clearly on the left the whole time! You’re all in cahoots right now!”
In an instant, the air in the room turned cold.
As the temperature shifted suddenly, the middle-aged man sensed something was wrong.
“Guest. You mustn’t interfere with our business.”
A broad-shouldered man appeared and gripped the middle-aged man’s shoulder, dragging him away.
“Wait, let go! Give me my money back…….”
As the man was being dragged away, still thrashing, Cheon Hui grabbed someone nearby and asked.
“Where is the Huk Yu Moon Master?”
All eyes turned toward Cheon Hui.
“He’s asking for the Master now……?”
“What nonsense is he spouting…….”
As they spoke in turn.
Clap!
The man who had just fleeced the middle-aged man of everything he owned clapped his hands and laughed.
“Why do you seek the Master?”
“I have something to ask him.”
The sly man’s eyes narrowed.
“Well then, care to wager with me?”
As he spoke, the man placed two cups in front of himself.
“If you win, I’ll tell you where the Huk Yu Moon Master is. But if I win, you’ll grant me one wish.”
“That’s fine with me.”
Cheon Hui dropped into a chair.
The man, seeing Cheon Hui accept readily, dropped a marble into one of the cups.
“Now, watch carefully. All you have to do is find which cup the marble is in.”
The man displayed swift hand movements.
“Ohhh!”
The onlookers gasped in admiration at the man’s dazzling hand tricks.
‘Jin Na Shu? No. This is far superior.’
Even as Cheon Hui observed the man’s technique, which far surpassed his own martial prowess.
Tap.
The man’s hands stilled.
“Now then, which one is it?”
“The one on the left.”
Hearing Cheon Hui’s answer, the man lifted the left cup with a confident expression.
There was nothing beneath it.
The man smiled with bitter amusement.
“You’ve lost.”
The moment his words ended, the people around them gathered one by one.
Not a single one without an air of killing intent.
Yet Cheon Hui remained utterly composed.
“What are you talking about? I won.”
“But that’s….”
Crack!
A sickening sound filled the air.
At the same instant, a line of blood appeared across the man’s left wrist, and his hand fell onto the table.
“Ahhhhh!”
Only then did the man cry out, clutching at the stump of his severed wrist.
“What in the….”
Everyone stood frozen in shock.
With a smooth motion—
Cheon Hui picked up the severed hand and unfolded each finger one by one.
Then he withdrew a hidden marble.
“See? Left side, isn’t it?”
Cheon Hui spoke with a faint smile.
“You… you bastard!”
The man, now stanching his wrist with cloth, bellowed with fury contorting his face.
“Kill him! All of you, kill him!”
“Yes, at once, Master!”
At that, all the thugs surrounding him surged forward at once.
“So you really were the Huk Yu Moon Master.”
Cheon Hui watched them charge toward him with an unflinching expression, then rose from his seat.
In that moment, he closed the distance between them.
“Die!”
Soon everything became a tangled blur of motion.
The Huk Yu Moon Master gnashed his teeth as he watched Cheon Hui surrounded by his disciples.
“You dare sever my hand and walk away unscathed….”
His confident voice grew quieter, then ceased entirely.
“What… what is this….”
Thud. Thud.
The disciples who had rushed at the youth fell limp to the ground, unconscious.
“Only you left.”
Cheon Hui stepped over the fallen bodies, brushing dust from his hands as he approached the master.
“I… I beg your forgiveness!”
The Huk Yu Moon Master dropped immediately to his knees.
“Spare me that.”
Cheon Hui looked down at him and asked.
“There’s something I want to know.”
“Ask whatever you wish, I beseech you!”
“You know the new inn near Huashan, don’t you?”
“Yes, I know of it.”
“Why did you claim ownership of that land?”
Perhaps facing death sharpened the Huk Yu Moon Master’s wits.
“I will never do so again, I swear it!”
“That’s not what I’m asking.”
Cheon Hui regarded him with disdain.
“Why did you claim it?”
“Because… because it is slash-and-burn farmers’ land, and I thought I could claim ownership of it as I pleased….”
“So you arbitrarily claimed ownership of that land to extort money from them. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes… yes, that’s correct.”
“That business caused me real trouble. The inn should have been finished by now and already operating.”
“I’m sorry, truly sorry! I’ll never show my face there again!”
“Now you say that?”
The Huk Yu Moon Master’s breath caught.
“That is… I didn’t know you were a great hero….”
“I don’t think that’s it.”
Cheon Hui cut his words short.
“Just moments ago, you were ready to kill me, just like that man your underlings brought in. Weren’t you?”
The Huk Yu Moon Master’s hair stood on end.
This man saw through everything.
The fact that he’d tried to kill him.
The fact that he’d just killed that man.
At that moment, Cheon Hui let out a soft laugh.
“If you’re going to kill someone, you have to be prepared to die yourself, don’t you?”
As a thick, suffocating killing intent poured from Cheon Hui’s body, the Huk Yu Moon Master’s eyes went wide.
“Please, I beg you—just spare my life……. Ack!”
Thud!
Cheon Hui’s hand pierced through his throat.
“Your technique was more impressive than I expected, so I thought you might be hiding something—but that was all there was to it.”
He tossed the Huk Yu Moon Master’s corpse among the other bodies and stepped outside.
“Pfft! What? The Master’s in danger?”
“Tsk, getting himself beaten up somewhere, and now his mind’s gone fuzzy? What kind of talk is that about the Master being in danger?”
Loud, careless voices echoed through the space.
“Ugh, that bastard must still be passed out…….”
The man with livid bruises fresh on his cheeks was speaking earnestly to the two at the entrance when he caught sight of Cheon Hui and froze.
Cheon Hui smirked at the three of them.
“Ah, I nearly forgot. You lot were here too, weren’t you?”
“Huh?”
“He’s already come out…….”
The moment the two started to turn at the faint voice from behind them—
Flash—
A searing streak of light swallowed them whole.
“Well then, time to head back.”
Having disposed of all three in the end, Cheon Hui threw their bodies into the stairwell and slipped out through the alley.
* * *
Crunch— crunch—
Around that same time, someone emerged from the opposite alley into this passage.
“Hmm? Where did these fools go?”
The white-haired old man’s brow creased at the absence of those who should have been guarding the door, and he altered his course.
Crunch— crunch—
As he strode forward with measured steps, hands clasped behind his back, his nose suddenly wrinkled.
“……The smell of blood?”
The moment he caught the scent, he quickly deployed his Speed Movement Technique and descended the stairs.
Tap.
Arriving at the gambling den in one breath, the old man’s eyes narrowed at the scene spread before him.
“How dare you strike at my only source of income……!”
The old man trembled with fury, then began to move, radiating a vicious killing intent.
“Whoever it is, I’ll find them and tear them to shreds.”

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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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