Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 229

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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 229
It was no wonder that the Cheonha Relay Station, operated directly by the Cheonha Trading Company, had its escort agents and porters ready with impressive speed.
Twenty escort agents led by Chief Escort, along with thirty porters, stood tensely around four carriages laden with cargo.
“Quite a substantial caravan.”
Cheon Yi Gae spoke as he examined them one by one.
Four carriages with a total of fifty people.
Considering that ordinary caravans comprised around thirty members, this was an excessive investment.
“Precious goods, then. This must be an important journey.”
“Precisely why they requested assistance.”
Cheon Hui responded indifferently to Cheon Yi Gae’s words as he stared intently at the carriages.
What the cargo was hardly mattered.
What mattered now was the Greenwood.
‘If it’s the Hangsan Bandit Group, we’ll need to travel some distance from here.’
As Cheon Hui recalled the nearest bandit den he’d learned of from Magistrate O, the magistrate’s voice cut through.
“Then let us depart.”
The magistrate’s command had been given.
At that moment, the tense Chief Escort opened his mouth toward the lead porter.
“Everyone mount the horses.”
Once Chief Escort confirmed that all twenty escort agents had smoothly mounted their horses, he turned his head.
Observing the Plum Blossom Sword Masters standing awkwardly as if unfamiliar with caravan travel, he lowered his head slightly.
“I apologize for the delay.”
No matter his position as the direct commander of the caravan, his counterparts were the Plum Blossom Sword Masters of the Huashan Sect.
“We shall depart now, so if you would kindly mount, we can be on our way.”
“Ah! Of course.”
It was then that Cheon Hyang and the Hwa Ryeong Dan finally grasped the situation and began to mount.
“No. That won’t be necessary.”
A voice cut across them.
Cheon Hui held their attention as they remained awkwardly half-mounted on their horses, and he spoke.
“We’ll be walking the entire way.”
“I’m afraid I don’t understand, sir…….”
Chief Escort’s bewilderment spilled out.
These were premium horses prepared specifically for the Plum Blossom Sword Masters, and yet they were being refused.
Cheon Hyang was equally astonished.
The distance from Taiyuan to Datong, the northernmost point of Shanxi, was considerable.
And they were being asked to walk all that way?
“Master, are you saying we should walk all the way to Datong?”
Cheon Hyang stared at him in surprise, but—
“Yes.”
Only a resolute answer came back.
“It’s perfect for training your Body Technique.”
“But the Cheonha Trading Company prepared horses for us…….”
Cheon Hyang poured out her objections urgently.
Then Cheon Hui cast his gaze toward where the porters stood and countered.
“Even people without martial training are walking this distance. Surely you can manage as well?”
“…….”
“If not, I’d be disappointed. Is the Hwa Ryeong Dan’s strength really so limited? It seems you’re still far behind the Bi Geom Dan and Mu Hwa Dan.”
“What……?”
In an instant, Cheon Hyang’s eyes blazed.
“We can manage that much.”
At her sharp reply, the faces of the Hwa Ryeong Dan members went pale, and they rushed to restrain her.
“M, Master! There’s no need to deliberately invite hardship upon yourself.”
“That’s right. Perhaps you should reconsider and think it over once more?”
Though the Hwa Ryeong Dan members tried to get her to reverse her decision, Cheon Hyang showed not the slightest sign of wavering.
“You hear that and you’re not angry?”
Cheon Hyang’s eyes burned with determination.
“If you can’t do it, you’re out of the Hwa Ryeong Dan!”
Having deliberately pricked her pride, Cheon Hui was satisfied watching Cheon Hyang’s immediate reaction.
Yes, that’s the way.
Though Cheon Hyang was often troublesome, her martial spirit and resolve were among the finest even in Huashan.
At the same time, a smile twisted his lips.
It wasn’t tension that permeated the Hwa Ryeong Dan, but rather an almost playful enthusiasm about the mission itself.
‘I need to snap them back to focus.’
Cheon Hui spoke to the Chief Escort.
“Have the porters ride the horses.”
“Begging your pardon, sir—the porters are to ride?”
“Why not?”
“No objection, sir.”
The Chief Escort shook his head side to side.
Porters trained in horsemanship as standard practice, in case of emergency.
They simply rarely found occasion to use it.
“Understood, sir.”
“Ah, one more thing—can everyone actually ride?”
The Chief Escort found the question odd, but thinking through the numbers, he nodded.
“If we put two to a horse, it’s possible, though….”
Cheon Hui’s eyes lit up with amusement as he cut in.
“Then mount them all.”
“Is there a particular reason, sir?”
“Isn’t faster always better?”
With that, Cheon Hui grinned slyly and leaned close to the Chief Escort, beginning to whisper something into his ear.
Once the Chief Escort had heard the full explanation, his eyes widened in surprise and his jaw slackened.
“Is it truly all right, sir?”
“No problem. If it causes any pushback, I’ll take responsibility.”
The Chief Escort glanced sidelong at the Maehwa Sword Masters, then nodded up and down.
“Then I shall arrange it as you say, sir.”
“Good.”
After concluding his conversation with the Chief Escort, Cheon Hui walked toward the carriage where the Overseer was waiting.
“Now that you’re here, we can depart at once.”
The Overseer greeted him warmly.
Inside the carriage already sat the Overseer, Cheon Yi Gae, and Jin Gae.
“You’re going too?”
Jin Gae hunched his shoulders.
Cheon Yi Gae answered in his stead.
“Someone needs to attend to the household, doesn’t he?”
Cheon Hui narrowed his eyes and looked between the two of them, then shrugged.
“Well, suit yourselves.”
As Cheon Hui took his seat, Jin Gae released a breath he’d been holding.
Dan Mok Lin, following in Cheon Hui’s wake, moved to climb into the carriage as she usually would.
But someone seized her shoulder firmly.
It was Cheon Hyang.
“Where are you going?”
Dan Mok Lin flinched at her words.
“You’ll walk with me.”
……
Dan Mok Lin looked up at Cheon Hui.
Though her veil obscured her eyes, Cheon Hui could see them clearly—hopeful and gleaming.
Bright with expectation.
But.
“Your younger sister is right.”
Cheon Hui crushed her hopes.
“…Elder brother?”
“You walk too.”
As Dan Mok Lin stood there dumbfounded, Cheon Hyang seized her chance and dragged her away.
“He’s really merciless, isn’t he?”
“Ha, haha.”
Cheon Yi Gae shook his head while the Overseer let out an awkward laugh.
“We depart now!”
The Chief Escort’s commanding shout rang out.
The thunder of hoofbeats followed, and the carriage began to move forward slowly.
By the time they had departed Taiyuan and entered Guandao, Cheon Hui thrust his head out the window and spoke.
“Now shall we pick up the pace?”
At those words, every eye snapped toward him.
The escort agents and porters had been murmuring among themselves, watching the Maehwa Sword School members proceed on foot with evident unease.
But to increase speed further…
Cheon Hui read the uncertainty in their faces and spoke to the Hwa Ryeong Dan walking ahead.
“Keep pace as best you can.”
Before he’d finished, the Chief Escort at the front bellowed a command.
“Increase speed!”
The Chief Escort cracked the whip.
At once his pace quickened, and those behind scrambled to match it.
“……!”
The Hwa Ryeong Dan, who had been advancing at a measured walk, were forced to deploy Light Body Movement in urgency.
Cheon Hui withdrew his head from where he’d leaned out.
As he deployed Light Body Movement and watched the Hwa Ryeong Dan chase behind through the wide-open window, he clicked his tongue with mock regret.
“If it were up to me, I’d have them haul the carriage along too. But they say that’s impossible.”
The three seated in the carriage regarded Cheon Hui with expressions of mock exasperation.
Yet even so, the pupils of both Cheon Yi Gae and Chief Escort Wi Jung Yeon darkened with revelation.
‘Could it be that Huashan’s present strength has been built through just this sort of effort?’
‘This might be the secret to why Huashan grew so suddenly powerful…’
The two turned their gaze inward, now captivated by this method of training.
Jin Gae, meanwhile, deployed Light Body Movement and watched the Maehwa Sword School members pursuing the carriage with sympathy in his eyes.
‘At least I belong to Gae Bang. I’m fortunate for that.’
As he was reassuring himself and patting his chest,
“Are you cultivating Body Technique?” Cheon Yi Gae asked Cheon Hui.
Cheon Yi Gae posed the question to Cheon Hui.
“Physical conditioning combined with Body Technique cultivation, sir.”
“Ah, I see.”
In that instant, Cheon Yi Gae laughed with sinister delight.
Jin Gae felt an inexplicable chill at that laughter.
“You go too.”
Cheon Yi Gae’s words were directed at Jin Gae.
“Me, sir?”
Jin Gae pointed to himself in confusion, and Cheon Yi Gae answered,
“Who else? This fool Hu Gae with such pitiful martial prowess—isn’t it shameful?”
With that, Cheon Yi Gae seized him by the scruff of the neck and hurled him toward the carriage door, kicking it open.
“Elder!”
Jin Gae’s complexion drained white in an instant.
Yet despite this reaction, Cheon Yi Gae added a menacing addendum.
“If you try to run… you understand, don’t you?”
Cheon Yi Gae threw Jin Gae out of the carriage.
For a moment suspended in air, Jin Gae’s eyes grew misty before he let out a shriek.
“Aaaaagh!”
Flailing through the air, Jin Gae’s feet touched ground, and he hastily deployed his Body Technique.
The Whirlwind Body Technique steadied his center of gravity, which had been shaken by his sudden ejection.
The Maehwa Sword School members watching exclaimed with admiration as they observed Jin Gae.
His Body Technique was remarkable given his comparatively meager Internal Force and martial prowess.
“Cough, cough! Elder!”
Jin Gae, caught off guard and choking, called out to Cheon Yi Gae as he pursued the still-open carriage door, but
“Then follow us well.”
Cheon Yi Gae, grinning wickedly, slammed the door shut with a bang.
Jin Gae, watching this unfold with helplessness, tore at his hair and cried out.
“Aaaagh! Why me!”
At that moment, Cheon Hui thrust his face out through the open window.
“My lord, please… let me in…”
Jin Gae pleaded desperately, sensing an opportunity, but Cheon Hui paid him no attention.
Nor was that all.
From Cheon Hui’s slowly opening mouth came words like a thunderbolt from clear sky.
“Increase speed even further.”
* * *
On the sixth day, the caravan’s pace slowed.
They had arrived at Hangsan, the place they had most dreaded throughout their journey.
The Chief Escort glanced back over his shoulder.
Watching the Maehwa Sword Masters deploy their Light Body Movement like animated corpses, he clicked his tongue in admiration.
“Impressive indeed.”
What should have easily taken over ten days they’d managed to compress, thanks to pushing forward without respite.
The caravan only stopped when the horses tired and when sleep became unavoidable.
Every other moment was spent riding.
And that wasn’t even the half of it.
The Master in the carriage—no, the Master of the Plum Blossom Divine Art—had ordered the Maehwa Sword Masters to train even during their rest periods.
Horse Stance practice, Martial Arts drills, Sparring matches, and more.
It was a relentless succession of training so brutal that just watching it made his limbs ache in sympathy.
‘No doubt the Huashan Sect’s recent rise in reputation owes to this very regimen.’
The Maehwa Sword Masters exceeded even the rumors about them.
Not just their Martial Prowess, but their spirit as well.
He’d lost count of how many times he’d marveled at these swordmasters enduring such brutal, unrelenting training.
Yet precisely because of that, worry gnawed at him.
‘Can they truly hold up in this condition?’
The Maehwa Sword Masters were in poor shape.
Heavy shadows of exhaustion hung thick beneath their eyes.
‘Facing the Hangsan Bandit Group in a state this worn down… it could be disastrous.’
He was contemplating the worst case when it happened.
“Huh?!”
A massive silhouette appeared before them, and the Chief Escort seized the reins sharply, projecting his voice with Internal Force.
“Halt!”
At his command, everyone came to an abrupt stop.
Thud!
A heavy sound echoed out at the same moment.
All eyes turned forward.
Blocking the path ahead on the broad mountain road stood a man with imposing frame and massive build.
Seeing him, the Chief Escort let out a low groan.
“The Hangsan Bandit Leader…”
Wi Jung Yeon, the Hangsan Bandit Leader, rested his Crescent Moon Halberd across his shoulder and opened his mouth.
“If you wish to pass through Hangsan, you’ll pay the toll.”
The Chief Escort heard the words he’d anticipated, bit his lip slightly, then asked slowly.
“How much?”
“One Gold Yuan Treasure.”
The Chief Escort’s eyes widened.
It was certainly steep, but it was a price he could bear.
‘No point stirring up a fight over this.’
Though the Chief Escort knew that Nok Lim was allied with the Dae Eun Trading Company, he still preferred to avoid conflict if possible.
“That’s all you require?”
“A man of his word doesn’t repeat himself.”
“Then here it is.”
The Chief Escort drew out the Gold Yuan Treasure and tossed it toward him.
“Ah, how fitting for the Cheonha Trading Company—decisive and generous.”
Wi Jung Yeon caught the Gold Yuan Treasure, his expression settling into satisfaction.
“I’ll be on my way then.”
The Chief Escort moved forward.
And just as the escort agents and carriages began to follow, Wi Jung Yeon brought the Crescent Moon Halberd down in a savage arc.
Crack!
In an instant, the earth behind the Chief Escort split open with a sound like rending cloth, and the horses bolted in panic.
Neigh!
The Chief Escort hastily steadied his mount and shouted at Wi Jung Yeon before him.
“What in blazes are you doing?!”
“What are you doing, you mean.”
Wi Jung Yeon raised an eyebrow in mock bewilderment and smiled thinly.
“Where do you all think you’re going?”
“We just paid the toll!”
“I collected from one person. Not many.”
…!
Wi Jung Yeon, twisting one corner of his mouth upward, pointed at the line he’d gouged into the earth directly behind the stunned Chief Escort and spoke.
“Anyone else who wants to pass can do so for one Gold Yuan Treasure per person.”
The Chief Escort’s jaw tightened.
“This… this…!”
As he clenched both fists in fury, Wi Jung Yeon let out a low chuckle and hoisted his Crescent Moon Halberd high.
In that instant, bandits poured from both sides of the mountain path, blocking the way ahead.
Those crude-faced men, spears in hand, smiled with cruel satisfaction as killing intent flooded the air.
“If you can’t pay, you don’t pass.”
Wi Jung Yeon finished speaking with a grin when—
“Why not just say what you really mean?”
A voice laced with mockery cut through the moment.
Cheon Hui had stepped out of the carriage and fixed Wi Jung Yeon with an unflinching stare.
“You want to sabotage this caravan run. You’re working with the Dae Eun Trading Company, aren’t you?”
Wi Jung Yeon’s eyes went cold.
“Who are you?”
“You ask me a question instead of answering. For bandits, your manners are abysmal.”
Those who knew Cheon Hui well stifled an internal groan.
Who was lecturing whom about manners?
Cheon Hui, oblivious to their reaction, smiled faintly and spoke on.
“If you’re coming to fight, come now. If not, I’m leaving.”
“You brat!”
“How dare you speak to our Bandit Leader that way!”
Just as the bandits erupted in rage—
“I’m about to lose my hearing.”
Cheon Hui flicked his ear dismissively, treating their fury as nothing, then turned to the Hwa Ryeong Dan. “Why are you all just standing there? Let’s go.”
“Huh?”
“What…?”
“I… beg your pardon…?”
Just as everyone froze, baffled by the way he’d spoken as though he’d handle everything himself before urging Cheon Hyang and the Hwa Ryeong Dan onward, Cheon Hui clarified.
“I’ll deal with these small fries.”
The Hwa Ryeong Dan stared at Cheon Hui in disbelief as he said it so casually.
“This is something I need to handle myself.”
“…Understood.”
“Yes… Master.”
Seeing their reluctant replies, Cheon Hui smirked and added sweetly.
“Actually, since you’re going to be difficult about it, fine. Once you’ve beaten these fools, you can ride on the horses. And we’ll stop training until we arrive.”
Cheon Hyang’s eyes sparked with sudden brightness.
“Really? You mean it?”
At her question, Cheon Hui nodded firmly, and Cheon Hyang drew her sword with a cry.
“Come on! Let’s go!”
The Hwa Ryeong Dan’s eyes lit up at her command, and they drew their blades, charging forward.
“Let’s go! Aaaaahhh!”
“Just beat these guys and we can rest!”

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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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