Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 204

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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 204
The sun sank low, painting the nameless mountain in dusky light.
At the end of the Guan Dao that marked the boundary between Shenxi and Henan, the carriage arrived at an inn glowing softly with lamplight.
“This should do nicely.”
With those words, Cheon Hui gazed up at the inn’s signboard.
The Mangsong Inn, then.
He appreciated how perfectly the name matched the hour—the old pine at twilight.
Whoosh—
Cheon Hui entered the Mangsong Inn first.
Unlike the serene atmosphere glimpsed from outside, the interior thrummed with noise and bustle.
Countless patrons and a dizzying array of dishes.
The place was so hectic that even the Inn Attendant and the innkeeper himself—his enormous belly jiggling—darted frantically back and forth.
In the chaos, the young Inn Attendant finally spotted them and hurried over.
“Forgive me for keeping you waiting.”
“It’s all right.”
Dan Mok Lin smiled brightly.
At her smile, the boy—who looked to be thirteen or fourteen—felt heat rise to his cheeks.
“Please, this way to your table.”
“A good spot would be appreciated.”
“Yes, sir!”
The Inn Attendant answered with enthusiasm, his footsteps sharp and quick as Cheon Hui, Dan Mok Lin, and Cheon Yi Gae fell into step behind him.
Eyes turned.
Eyes shifted toward the group.
More precisely, they fixed on Dan Mok Lin.
Some gazed brazenly, studying her without shame; others forgot to eat, their mouths hanging open as they stared.
Cheon Yi Gae shook his head at the shameless attention.
“Have you considered wearing a face veil?”
Dan Mok Lin let out an awkward laugh.
During her previous travels through Kangho, she’d been meticulous about wearing one—she disliked entangling herself in unnecessary trouble.
But after spending so long training at the Huashan Sect, and with limited time away from it, the habit had slipped her mind entirely.
“You’re right. I should pick one up separately.”
Thus, the group that had monopolized the inn’s attention followed the Inn Attendant to a table on this floor and sat.
“What would you like to eat?”
“Your finest meat dish and wine.”
Cheon Hui spoke as though he’d been waiting for the question.
“The price is steep. Would that be acceptable?”
The Inn Attendant asked cautiously; Dan Mok Lin smiled gently and nodded.
“No problem at all.”
“Understood. I’ll prepare it at once and bring it over.”
The Inn Attendant hurried away.
Once he was out of sight,
“Are you allowed to eat that?”
Cheon Yi Gae looked at Cheon Hui and asked.
“What do you mean?”
“The wine and meat.”
“Why wouldn’t I want to?”
“It’s not that you wouldn’t want to—I’m asking whether you’re allowed to as a Daoist.”
Cheon Yi Gae spoke very quietly.
“Aren’t you bound by the precepts?”
“What matters is not getting caught.”
“What?”
Cheon Yi Gae stared at him in disbelief for a moment, then burst into loud laughter.
“Ha ha! I thought you were an unusual one, but who knew there was someone even more peculiar than me lounging about.”
Laughing until tears streamed, he wiped his eyes with his finger, then spoke.
“If the Sect Master of Huashan learned what you’re doing, he’d have an apoplectic fit.”
“That won’t happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because he already knows.”
Cheon Yi Gae’s eyes went wide.
Caught so off guard, he stared at Cheon Hui with round eyes, momentarily forgetting how to speak.
“What? You knew and still let him eat it?”
“I wanted to eat it, so what was I supposed to do?”
Cheon Yi Gae found it absurd.
At the same time, he found it hilarious.
The future of the Huashan Sect, as they called him, eating meat and drinking wine.
And when he thought of the Sect Master stammering helplessly about it, how could he not laugh?
‘I’m quite the eccentric myself, but this one is no small matter.’
As Cheon Yi Gae was laughing.
“The food has arrived.”
The inn attendant appeared with the dishes.
Cheon Hui, watching the steaming plates and the bottles of wine laid out before them, immediately poured himself a drink and drank.
“Ahh, yes. This is it.”
As Cheon Hui drank, Cheon Yi Gae, who had been watching, immediately grabbed a bottle as well.
And then he drank directly from it.
Gulp — gulp —
Moving his throat loudly, he emptied the bottle in one go, his nose already flushed crimson.
“Ahh! Today I’m going to drink until my nose bends.”
Soon after, he was practically shoving meat and wine into his mouth, utterly at odds with his neat appearance.
After drinking for a while and chewing the meat, Cheon Hui looked at Dan Mok Lin.
“…Hmm?”
Seeing her picking at her food with chopsticks without touching her cup at all, Cheon Hui tilted his head and asked.
“Aren’t you drinking?”
“I’ve never drunk before…”
Dan Mok Lin wore an uncomfortable expression.
Because of her Tae Eum Ki Jeo Ji Ji Che in the past, she had kept her distance from alcohol for her health.
That’s why she had never even properly smelled wine, let alone drunk it.
But Cheon Hui, already drunk and in high spirits, wouldn’t leave her alone.
‘It’s better if there are more accomplices.’
Cheon Hui grinned wickedly.
“Come on, have a drink. When else will you get the chance?”
“W-well, that’s true…”
Not uninterested in alcohol, she looked at the cup with a curious gaze, swallowed, and pushed the cup forward.
“Then… just one glass for me…”
“Here you go.”
Splash —
As the wine filled the cup, Dan Mok Lin squeezed her eyes shut and downed it in one gulp.
“Hm?”
After a moment, Dan Mok Lin opened her eyes and looked at Cheon Hui.
“It’s not that bitter.”
“It’s not a strong one.”
Contrary to how nervous she’d been, the drink went down easily, and she broke into a smile.
“At this rate, I could have another glass…”
The moment Dan Mok Lin, still smiling, pushed her cup forward.
Thud!
Her upper body slumped forward, her head striking the table with a heavy thud.
Seeing her side profile as she lay there grinning, already completely drunk, Cheon Hui let out a soft laugh.
“No wonder she kept smiling.”
Cheon Yi Gae, watching her collapse, swallowed the meat in his mouth and asked.
“Uh, what’re we… gonna do?”
Cheon Hui glanced at her, then poured more wine and threw it straight back.
“We can just carry her to her room later.”
* * *
The next morning.
Dan Mok Lin, in the carriage that had departed early at dawn, covered her mouth with her hand.
“Ugh, ugh…”
Experiencing a hangover for the first time in her life, she felt a headache and dizziness unlike anything before.
Trying to settle her churning stomach, she looked to the side.
Seeing Cheon Hui’s profile, she tried to focus on recalling what had happened last night.
‘How did this happen? I definitely drank the wine…’
She furrowed her brow, trying to remember, but that was where her memory ended.
“Um, senior, what happened yesterday…….”
“Nothing much.”
Cheon Hui spoke casually.
True enough, nothing had happened.
He’d simply blacked out.
Then, glancing sideways at Dan Mok Lin, who was suffering from a hangover, he added, “Look, try not to drink if you can help it.”
“Hmm, try not to drink if you can help it.”
Dan Mok Lin nodded slightly.
She didn’t need to be told—that had been her intention anyway.
Whatever had happened yesterday, she had no desire to experience this hangover again.
‘I’m going to die.’
Her face twisted into a wince.
As the carriage passed through Guan Dao and turned onto the mountain road, the nausea only grew worse.
She was on the verge of retching.
But.
‘I can’t let us stop.’
She bit her lip and forced herself to endure.
This journey was one she’d only tagged along on—Cheon Hui was the main purpose. If she was the reason they had to halt—
If she was the reason they had to halt—
She couldn’t accept that.
‘Better than falling out of favor with senior.’
She was pressing down hard on the bile rising in her throat when, suddenly—
Whinny!
The carriage lurched violently.
“Ugh!”
She clapped a hand over her mouth.
Pale as ash, she forced her head up and peered out the window.
Blocking the road stood a group of warriors wielding strange weapons.
“If you want to pass through here, hand over the toll!”
Instantly, her expression brightened.
“I—I’ll handle this!”
She cried out urgently and seized the chance to scramble out of the carriage.
“Hey! Hand over the toll now…….”
The man at the front, bellowing roughly, fell silent the moment he saw Dan Mok Lin’s face.
And that wasn’t all.
The men surrounding the carriage all lost their wits, staring at her.
“Phew.”
Breathing in the fresh air deeply, Dan Mok Lin straightened and asked, her face visibly improved, “Bandits?”
The man, hearing her bright voice, snapped to attention and opened his mouth.
The man, hearing her bright voice, snapped to attention and opened his mouth.
“How dare you lump us in with bandit scum.”
He wrenched up the Zhan Ma Dao he’d planted in the ground and slung it over his shoulder.
Thud!
With a heavy sound, his feet sank an inch into the earth as dust billowed up.
‘That should have frightened her.’
The man, displaying a show that would have made anyone ignorant of martial arts tremble, thrust his chin up confidently.
But then—
“So if you’re not bandits, why are you blocking the road and demanding a toll?”
Her reaction was unexpected.
The man’s confident expression crumpled as she posed the question calmly.
‘She’s not even scared?’
He glanced sideways at the middle-aged man beside him.
The scruffy, bearded middle-aged man next to him nodded.
“Hey! Do you know who this man is? The legendary Gwi Cham Geo Do!”
At the ringing cry, Cheon Hui and Cheon Yi Gae emerged from the carriage.
“That’s loud enough to rupture an eardrum.”
Cheon Hui asked, cleaning out his ear.
“This Gwi Cham Geo Do—do you know who that is?”
“No, never heard of him. Probably just some nobody trying to sound impressive with a grandiose alias.”
“You two are pretending not to see what’s right in front of you.”
“Well, most Sapa scum are like that anyway.”
Gwi Cham Geo’s face twisted.
“You wretches! I was willing to let you pass for a mere toll, but that arrogant Ip Bang-jeong is rushing your deaths.”
Gwi Cham Geo hoisted the Zhan Ma Dao high.
The crude, weighty blade blotted out the sun, and shadow crept steadily across the ground.
“All of you—attack them!”
Those surrounding them drew their weapons.
Then they began inching closer, narrowing the distance.
By the time they’d encircled the carriage at a radius of ten paces,
“You, woman—I won’t kill you. I’ll keep you alive, right at my side…….”
Gwi Cham Geo grinned wickedly as he spoke.
“You talk too much.”
Dan Mok Lin cut him short.
The next instant, she drew her sword and advanced, her gaze cold as ice.
“This bitch!”
Gwi Cham Geo, startled, swung the Zhan Ma Dao he’d raised high in a savage arc.
Whoosh—
A violent wind crashed forward.
In the moment the Zhan Ma Dao, slashing through the air, met the slender Baekryeon Sword,
Clang!
“Hah!”
Gwi Cham Geo gasped and staggered backward.
Though he’d struck only a paper-thin blade, his Zhan Ma Dao and his hands trembled.
“How is this……”
“Next time, I won’t hold back.”
Dan Mok Lin’s eyes narrowed.
Drawing upon her Inner Power, the pounding in her skull vanished and her roiling stomach settled, her mind growing steadily calmer.
Her breathing steadied, her spirit crystallized.
Soon her blade rose with subtle grace.
The Baekryeon Sword—a gift from Hyeon Ryeo.
No legendary weapon, merely an ordinary sword.
Yet in her hands, that plain blade emanated a presence all its own.
Inner Power pooled densely along the steel.
And then—
A beautiful plum blossom bloomed at the sword’s tip.
Without vitality still, its crimson hue not yet vivid enough to truly be called a flower,
yet that alone sufficed to overwhelm Gwi Cham Geo in this moment.
“What? She’s already manifested a Sword Flower of that caliber?”
Cheon Hui watched in astonishment, his eyes fixed on Dan Mok Lin and the blossom she’d unleashed.
The plum that bloomed at her sword’s point remained unstable, but measured against the time of her entry into Huashan, it was a remarkable achievement.
“At that pace, Jeok Geom and Seol Ran might catch up to her sooner than I’d thought.”
As Cheon Hui murmured this,
“To show weakness before me!”
A man seized the moment when Cheon Hui’s attention was fixed on Dan Mok Lin, swinging a sickle at him with savage force.
But before the blade could reach him,
Crack!
Cheon Hui’s scabbard, swung in an instant, struck the man’s jaw squarely.
“Urrgh!”
Broken teeth and blood sprayed as the man’s body collapsed limply to the ground.
A wretched sight.
Yet Cheon Hui spared the fallen figure not a glance, his gaze returning fully to Dan Mok Lin.
‘That talent… it ranks among the finest three I’ve ever witnessed.’
As he gazed upon Dan Mok Lin’s gifts with genuine admiration,
Smoothly—
her blade rose slowly.
Then as her sword’s point aimed at the man wielding the Zhan Ma Dao,
Thud.
Gwi Cham Geo naturally lowered the Zhan Ma Dao to the ground.
Then he fell to his knees and cried out loudly,
“This humble one pays reverence to the esteemed Sage of the Great Huashan Sect!”

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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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