Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 28

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Episode 28
When Tae San Ilkwon fell to Tian Hui’s strike, the Demon Subduing Sect members, including the sect’s disciples, all surrendered to the Bifeng Trading Company.
And Hwa Ma was swiftly suppressed through Go Gyeyoung’s orders, allowing the Bifeng Trading Company to begin restoring its stability.
What had at first seemed like a complete annihilation at the hands of the Demon Subduing Sect came to an anticlimactic, almost laughably easy end.
Yet the wounds and losses the Bifeng Trading Company had suffered remained unhealed.
Not only were the talented warriors they had brought with such effort lost, but more than half of the servants had become names on a memorial tablet.
That was hardly all.
Though Hwa Ma had been suppressed, the halls of the Bifeng Trading Company were either scorched black or reduced to rubble—a complete wasteland—surrounded by the stench of blood and corpses.
It would take astronomical sums of time and money to restore the interior, at minimum six months. Facing such devastating damage, both Go Gyeyoung and Yeon Suran felt their hearts sink.
Yet there was simply no clear path forward from this situation.
Demand compensation from the Demon Subduing Sect?
It was impossible without courting madness.
They were the Evil Faction of the Martial World. The moment a demand was made, they would launch a full assault without hesitation.
And neither could they appeal to the magistrate’s office for aid after being attacked.
They would certainly disavow any connection to their own subordinates and cut ties.
How many times had this happened before?
The Green Forest Bandits had stolen goods from them countless times, yet the magistrate had feigned ignorance.
Though the schemes were transparent and amateurish, there was nothing to be done against them.
Because the magistrate had no desire to entangle itself in Martial World affairs, they simply accepted such excuses.
‘If it happens the same way this time…….’
Go Gyeyoung’s face twisted.
If the outcome were identical again, it would be he and his people who suffered the headache.
Not only would compensation slip away, but it would also give the Demon Subduing Sect grounds for further aggression.
“And behind the Demon Subduing Sect stands White Ghost Castle besides……. Ah.”
Sighs escaped constantly from his lips now that he had become entangled in the depths of the Martial World.
In the end, there was only one thing to rely upon.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Force with force, the Martial World Code with the Martial World Code.
“The aid of the Huashan Sect alone.”
* * *
In one of the few intact halls of the Bifeng Trading Company, which lay in ruins, Tian Hui and the Plum Blossom Sword Masters, along with Go Gyeyoung and Yeon Suran, sat in a circle around a table.
Then Go Gyeyoung rose from his seat and bowed respectfully.
“I shall never forget the debt of gratitude I owe this company for your aid.”
At his gesture, Seol Ran and the other Plum Blossom Sword Masters started in surprise and rose to their feet as one.
“No, please.”
“It’s unnecessary.”
“It was only what we should have done.”
“If it is your matter, it is our matter as well.”
Watching the flustered reaction of the Plum Blossom Sword Masters, Go Gyeyoung broke into a gentle smile.
Generally speaking, Martial World masters did not make a favorable impression on merchants.
And little wonder—they were all high-handed and proud to their bones.
Moreover, since the Martial World figures he typically encountered were the Green Forest Bandits or the Eighteen Strongholds of Yangtze River, such prejudices had taken root naturally.
‘They were the sort who believed even a great trading company could be commandeered whenever they pleased.’
Go Gyeyoung wore a bitter smile.
To them, the sword in front of their eyes had always been closer than the laws of the empire.
Yet now that prejudice had cracked.
‘So this is the Righteous Faction, and this is the Huashan Sect.’
Despite having risked their lives in battle, these masters showed embarrassment at receiving thanks—and watching them, his lips could not help but curve in genuine warmth.
‘I was right to send Hyeon Yi to the Huashan Sect.’
It was no accident that the Daoist masters of Huashan earned the respect of the common people.
Then his gaze turned to Tian Hui.
Tian Hui sat unmoved, his expression one of complete indifference to the proceedings.
It was a distinctly discourteous manner, yet Go Gyeyoung said nothing to him about it.
The debt of aid had been too great, and he had already heard all about the man from Jeok Geom.
‘Free-spirited, was it?’
Even as he studied Tian Hui in this way.
“Father.”
Jeok Geom, who had risen from the opposite side, gestured with his eyes for Go Gyeyoung to return to his seat.
“Haha.”
Go Gyeyoung, smiling, took his seat and then lowered his voice toward Tian Hui.
“How many reinforcements can we expect, do you think?”
Tian Hui glanced sideways at Go Gyeyoung.
Seeing the eager light in Go Gyeyoung’s eyes, Tian Hui promptly extinguished that hope.
“None.”
“……I see?”
Go Gyeyoung’s face darkened.
“Do you know which faction is targeting the Trading Company right now?”
“The Demon Subduing Sect, isn’t it?”
Tian Hui answered immediately, as if the question were obvious.
“You’re aware, then. But do you know what sort of place the Demon Subduing Sect truly is?”
“I know the basics. They say it’s a rising upstart sect that’s recently made a name for itself.”
The moment Go Gyeyoung heard the answer, he seized his chance and spoke quickly.
“They are an evil faction that has recently gained prominence within Shanxi. Lately they’ve been growing stronger, nipping at White Ghost Castle’s heels…….”
As he spoke and his eyes swept across the Plum Blossom Sword Masters, Tian Hui grasped his meaning.
“In other words, you’re saying our current strength isn’t sufficient to repel their attacks.”
“To be frank, yes.”
Go Gyeyoung wore an uncomfortable expression.
It was an impolite thing to say, but it was the truth.
The Demon Subduing Sect was a rising power that had recently made its mark. Yet the support sent from the Huashan Sect amounted to merely six people.
Five young Plum Blossom Sword Masters just past their coming of age, and one inexperienced commander.
The Demon Subduing Sect versus six young Daoist masters of the Huashan Sect.
To anyone’s eye, it was a foolish attempt to break rock with an egg.
Of course, Go Gyeyoung knew the Plum Blossom Sword Masters were among the Huashan Sect’s finest forces, and that Tian Hui, who led them, was exceptionally skilled.
But anxiety was unavoidable.
‘I cannot send Hyeon Yi to certain death. And for the sake of Bifeng Trading Company itself, reinforcements from the Huashan Sect are absolutely necessary.’
Having quickly weighed his options, he revealed the information he had recently obtained.
“Of course, I know your skill and that of the Plum Blossom Sword Masters is exceptional. However…….”
Go Gyeyoung cut himself short, drew all eyes to him, and lowered his voice.
“The Demon Subduing Sect has a backer.”
“A backer?”
The Plum Blossom Sword Masters stiffened momentarily.
If the Demon Subduing Sect alone was already a considerable power, then a backer behind them meant…….
“Surely not……”
Go Gyeyoung spoke, his eyes darkening.
“White Ghost Castle.”
“……!”
The Plum Blossom Sword Masters caught their breath.
It was exactly what they had feared.
‘Not White Ghost Castle, of all places.’
Despair painted their faces.
The Demon Subduing Sect might have been thought manageable, but White Ghost Castle was another matter entirely.
One of the six pillars that upheld the Dark Stream.
White Ghost Castle was one of the Six Major Sects, which ranked alongside the Nine Great Sects and Eight Righteous Factions.
Moreover, White Ghost Castle had once held the premier position among the Six Major Sects.
True, their influence had waned due to the incident thirteen years past, and they maintained a silence verging on seclusion, but who would dare dismiss White Ghost Castle?
Even the Huashan Sect, sworn enemies, could not afford to overlook them.
If anything, they were even more wary.
They knew their strength all too well.
“Are you certain it is truly White Ghost Castle?”
Jeok Geom asked again to confirm.
“Incredible as it is, yes.”
“Hmph.”
“White Ghost Castle, no less.”
As the Plum Blossom Sword Masters shook their heads,
‘What does White Ghost Castle matter?’
Tian Hui displayed a lukewarm reaction.
He certainly knew of White Ghost Castle, but he did not regard it as a serious concern.
‘Sending the Sword Demon alone would settle them. What are they trembling about?’
His standards were different.
For he had once been the Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, a power that in all of history no single faction could hope to challenge.
No matter how notorious White Ghost Castle had become in the Central Plains, to him it was just another sect like any other.
As these thoughts drifted past, fragments of old conversations surfaced in his mind.
‘Come to think of it, wasn’t White Ghost Castle the enemy of Huashan Sect?’
While recalling the bitter enmity with White Ghost Castle that Hyeon Do and Hyeon Cheong had described at exhausting length, Go Gyeyoung broached the subject.
“Since we now know White Ghost Castle stands behind the Demon Subduing Sect, we should send word to Huashan Sect requesting reinforcements.”
Tian Hui met Go Gyeyoung’s gaze as he spoke, then opened his mouth slightly.
“Well, you handle that however you see fit.”
Tian Hui had no real interest in the matter.
Reinforcements to Huashan Sect, this and that.
What did any of it have to do with him?
All that mattered was doing his job.
“Thank you. Then I shall send a letter to Huashan Sect, and in the meantime, please make yourself comfortable here at our trading company.”
Go Gyeyoung began to speak with visible relief, when—
“By the way, when do we eat? My stomach’s about to touch my spine.”
Tian Hui threw out the words abruptly.
As everyone froze at his unexpected remark, Go Gyeyoung snapped to attention.
“Haha, I’ll have it prepared at once.”
Speaking with a laugh, he whispered to Yeon Suran, who had been fidgeting beside him.
“My lady.”
“Yes, I understand.”
As Yeon Suran rose from her seat to leave the room—
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d like meat dishes, please.”
“I beg your pardon? Meat dishes?”
……!
Jeok Geom and Seol Ran clenched their eyes shut, while the other Plum Blossom Sword Masters gasped in horror.
“Master!”
“Meat consumption? What on earth are you saying…….”
“Haha.”
Go Gyeyoung, watching the Plum Blossom Sword Masters frantically try to dissuade Tian Hui, also spoke up urgently.
“Though Huashan Sect does associate with the secular world, you abstain from meat, do you not?”
“Well, that’s what they say, yes.”
“Then the meat consumption—”
“As long as nobody finds out, it’s fine.”
Seeing Tian Hui respond so matter-of-factly, as though it were no problem at all, the Plum Blossom Sword Masters fell silent, their faces draining of color.
Whoosh—
A flustered Yeon Suran glanced sideways at Jeok Geom, who was nodding.
‘Accept it,’ the nod seemed to say.
Yeon Suran wondered briefly at the gesture, but acquiesced to the request.
“Ah, very well.”
After she left, an odd silence settled over the room until the food arrived.
* * *
In the darkened chamber.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had proper meat dishes.”
The meal was nothing like the meat roasted plain at Huashan Sect—it was genuinely well-prepared—and his mood lifted accordingly.
“And there’s even a bed.”
He flopped down onto it.
As he felt the soft texture of the bed rather than the hard ground, a satisfied smile spread across his face of its own accord.
“Though I do have one regret.”
Tian Hui fidgeted with his hands.
“They all died before I could even properly stretch my martial arts.”
As he muttered this, Tian Hui suddenly remembered the task Jang Moon In had entrusted to him.
‘He told me to protect the Bifeng Trading Company, didn’t he?’
In the midst of his recollection, a method to resolve this mission occurred to him.
A way to nip the threat to Bifeng Trading Company in the bud, and to satisfy this terrible craving.
“That should do it.”
Tian Hui rose from the bed with a sinister smile.
He strapped the White Lotus Sword back to his waist—the sword he had left leaning against the wall before washing—and gazed out the window at the moon hanging in the night sky.
The pale blue moon was halved, scattering its light in all directions.
“The timing is perfect too.”
He gripped the window sill and leaped out.
“Let’s take a walk after eating.”
In that instant, his daoist robe and the crimson plum blossom began to fade slowly into the darkness.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————