Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 326

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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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326
Fire
The evening of the next day.
Despite the commotion that had erupted the night before, Hwacheonru continued its business as usual, its rooms even brimming with patrons.
In a way, it was only natural.
This street in Muhyeol was, after all, a haunt for vagabonds.
It had merely been quiet these past days thanks to Dok Gwi Su’s favor—but such disturbances were hardly uncommon throughout Muhyeol.
And yet one couldn’t simply close the doors each time such a thing occurred.
Cheon Hui, too, sat in his newly acquired room, playing the Seven-Stringed Zither just as he had the night before.
‘It’s about time he arrived.’
Cheon Hui’s eyes grew distant.
The martial artist who had fled the moment he was discovered last night was a master one or two levels above Saek Hun Su Sa, who ruled Muhyeol.
As the thought crossed his mind, his fingers moved.
Though his thoughts wandered elsewhere entirely, the melody flowed on without interruption.
Time passed that way.
Ting—
The moment Cheon Hui’s fingers left the strings after playing the final note of “Spring Night’s Dream,”
“We’ve brought refreshments, sir.”
“Please, help yourself.”
Cheong Hwa and Hong Hwa hovered close, their attentiveness deepened.
Their manner had grown even more earnest than before.
They were pouring extra care into their service as repayment for the favor he had shown them the night before.
“That was such beautiful playing, sir.”
Hong Hwa poured his wine with care, stealing a glance at Cheon Hui, her cheeks flushing.
At her reaction, Cheong Hwa smiled wryly.
Ever since the young man’s performance four days ago, there had been something unusual in the way she looked at him—and after last night, she seemed utterly smitten.
‘Such foolish feelings….’
The young man before them was a master of Kangho.
More than that—a master of such caliber as to strike down Saek Hun Su Sa in a single blow.
Which meant he lived in an entirely different world from theirs, mere courtesans though they were.
‘I should put such thoughts away.’
Even as she thought this, Cheong Hwa shook her head to herself.
How could one control the heart with reason alone?
‘I only hope she doesn’t end up hurt.’
She was holding back a bitter smile when it happened.
Clap, clap, clap!
Applause suddenly rang out.
From the window.
Cheong Hwa and Hong Hwa’s breath caught in their throats.
Just moments before, there had been no one at that window.
More than that—they had felt no presence at all, and yet now a shabby-dressed man sat perched on the sill.
Both women trembled.
The terror of death they had felt the night before came crashing back upon them, even more forcefully now.
“Quite exceptional skill, I must say.”
The man, meanwhile, paid the two women no attention, his mouth curling into a thin smile.
His gaze was fixed solely on Cheon Hui.
“To command sound through Internal Force, to hold it beneath your hand—mastery indeed.”
The man spoke as though he had grasped every detail of Cheon Hui’s playing.
“Have you studied the Eum Gong technique?”
At the question, Cheon Hui let out a soft laugh.
He had already sensed the man’s arrival at Hwacheonru while still playing.
Tap.
Cheon Hui set down the Seven-Stringed Zither and delivered his answer to the man’s question.
A corner of his mouth twisted as he spoke.
“Not really. I never formally studied it.”
At the mocking edge in his voice, the man—Chil Yo Seon—felt his brow twitch for a moment.
“Young you may appear, but your manners are severely lacking.”
“What? Manners? The one lacking them is you, not me.”
Cheon Hui twisted his mouth further.
It was unmistakable mockery.
“You waltz into my room without permission.”
“…….”
Chil Yo Seon stared at Cheon Hui in silence.
His eyes were cold, piercing.
Cheong Hwa and Hong Hwa, sensing the shift in atmosphere, hurriedly backstepped and widened the distance between them.
They felt the threat instinctively.
As the two women trembled with unease, watching for any sign,
“Hahahaha!”
Chil Yo Seon suddenly burst into laughter.
Whether he’d infused it with Internal Force or not, the building of Hwacheonru itself creaked and swayed in an instant.
“Eek!”
“Ahhhhh!”
Cheong Hwa and Hong Hwa, as if an earthquake had struck, stumbled with the swaying Hwacheonru and rushed to press themselves flat against the walls.
“Aaahhh!”
“H-help! Someone help!”
Outside, guests and courtesans already alarmed by the commotion were fleeing in panic.
How long did he laugh like that?
“My ears are ringing.”
Cheon Hui, cleaning out his ears, opened his mouth and
—Whoosh
lightly waved his hand.
At that gesture, as if swatting away an insect, Chil Yo Seon’s eyes suddenly hardened.
‘……What is that?’
The gesture stirred wind.
It was a gentle breeze.
Yet the Energy Wave riding that breeze held within it the force of a tempest.
A casual hand movement, when executed by a master, could become a supreme killing technique.
And the gesture this young man now displayed proved that perfectly.
The moment the Energy Wave born from his hand swept across the room,
—Crash!
the very air cried out.
Simultaneously, the Lion Roar that had been infused with Internal Force was shattered to pieces, scattering swiftly.
It happened in a single instant.
“…….”
Chil Yo Seon’s laughter ceased abruptly.
At the same moment, the Hwacheonru that had been trembling stilled, and quiet settled in.
“Indeed…….”
Chil Yo Seon’s gaze grew cold.
“Confident in your prowess, so you flaunted yourself so recklessly.”
“I wasn’t flaunting myself recklessly.”
“You felled Saek Hun Su Sa with a single strike and drew the attention of Muhyeol’s elite upon yourself, yet you speak such words?”
“Oh, is that what you think?”
Cheon Hui replied with an amused tone.
“Then I’ve achieved exactly what I intended.”
“What you intended……?”
Chil Yo Seon’s expression froze over with a chill.
The smile that had been plastered across his face gradually faded, and his features transformed into a rigid, expressionless mask.
“You laid a trap.”
His voice was sharp with menace.
It sounded like the growl of a beast.
“To draw me out.”
“That’s right.”
Cheon Hui, by contrast, spoke with an easy, refreshing tone.
He seemed quite pleased with himself.
“Though I must say, I’m a bit surprised. I thought you’d wait and watch a while longer before making a move, but to come directly yourself so soon—”
As he spoke, Cheon Hui twisted his lips slightly and regarded Chil Yo Seon steadily, adding one more remark.
“It was worth drawing your attention.”
Upon seeing Cheon Hui’s sneering smile, Chil Yo Seon straightened his body rigid.
A bone-chilling murderous aura radiated from his entire frame, completely transforming the atmosphere of the room.
“Are you from the Murim Alliance?”
“It could be. It could not be.”
Cheon Hui spoke with a mocking lilt, then seized the wine cup before him and drained it in one smooth motion.
Chil Yo Seon’s eyes narrowed at the sight.
He had drunk the wine.
For anyone affiliated with the Murim Alliance, that single act narrowed the possibilities considerably.
‘A young master with martial prowess of this caliber…… not Murim Alliance.’
Among the Later Generation Masters of the Murim Alliance at this level, one could name the Maehwa Sword Association or Ok Gi Rin—but no one else.
The Special Corps was said to have headed toward Mansu Gate, yet it wouldn’t be strange if one had slipped away and ended up here.
But those two were Daoist practitioners of Wudang and Huashan respectively, so the youth before him could not be either of them.
The bridge of his nose creased.
This was beyond what he’d anticipated.
‘I was told we’d grasped all Murim Alliance intelligence…… Could he have come from somewhere else entirely, not affiliated with them at all?’
Chil Yo Seon, lost in thought, fixed his gaze on Cheon Hui and parted his lips.
“There are few in All Under Heaven who possess such martial prowess at your age. Only those called the Three Greatest Talents of the Realm and the Maehwa Sword Association would have reached your level by now. You don’t seem to be one of them…… So who are you?”
Cheon Hui let out a soft laugh.
“A foolish question. Do I look like I’d spoon-feed you answers if you ask?”
It was provocation pure and simple.
“If you’re curious, find out yourself.”
“……Arrogant bastard.”
Chil Yo Seon’s robes rippled.
Between the layers of cloth, pure white vapor—like smoke itself—seeped out in billowing clouds.
It was a wondrous, eerie sight.
As though a pristine white long robe had been draped over his shabby frame.
From within that haze, his lips moved.
“There are occasionally specimens like you—youths who stumbled upon strength beyond their years and grew drunk on arrogance.”
A voice without inflection drifted out.
Lips that had been clamped in a thin line gradually softened upward.
They bore a sinister smile.
“And such men who overestimate themselves almost always meet the same end.”
In that instant, his eyes flashed wide open.
“Just like this one here.”
Before those words had even finished, a sound came from above, and a massive shadow plummeted between them.
Thud!
It was a person.
Nearly covered in blood from head to toe—a corpse in all but the faintest fluttering of breath in the chest—it was still, just barely, alive.
‘……This aura?’
Cheon Hui’s eyes narrowed to slits.
The faint energy emanating from that half-corpse was terribly, unmistakably familiar.
Chil Yo Seon bent low, seized the man’s hair in a brutal grip, and hauled him up in one swift motion.
“Ugh…….”
A weak groan escaped.
When Cheon Hui saw the face that Chil Yo Seon had lifted, his expression hardened.
“So your laughter has finally died.”
Chil Yo Seon tilted his chin upward.
His lips curved with contempt.
“Look at what’s become of your subordinate. How does it feel?”
Cheon Hui’s voice turned glacial.
“I told him to flee if he was discovered. Getting caught was his failure.”
It was a rebuke aimed at Ho Gwang Gae.
“Still, seeing him keep pressing about my identity, I doubt he gave anything away.”
At those words, Ho Gwang Gae flinched.
He opened his mouth next, but no sound emerged—he lacked even the strength to make a noise.
“We can discuss the details later.”
Chil Yo Seon’s brow twitched at Cheon Hui’s dismissive tone.
“Ridiculous. You truly believe you’ll have a ‘later’?”
As he spoke, Chil Yo Seon moved his left hand.
His layered sleeve blurred in an instant, his palm carving a long afterimage through the air.
Its target was Ho Gwang Gae’s neck.
Whissssh—
Energy erupted from his palm in a violent burst, instantly spawning a vicious wind.
For an instant, the very air itself seemed to warp.
Then his hand completed its arc, a trajectory meant to pierce Ho Gwang Gae’s throat.
Whoosh!
But his hand passed through empty space.
“……!”
Chil Yo Seon’s eyes snapped wide.
The blade he’d been holding had vanished.
He turned his gaze slowly.
A terrible suspicion had already formed.
And then.
“…….”
His eyes froze cold.
Right before him, the Handsome Youth held the blade that had been in his own hand.
Cheon Hui examined Ho Gwang Gae.
His condition was dire.
He bore signs of torture—his body covered in wounds, blood seeping from the seven orifices.
With a grave expression, Cheon Hui let a trace of Internal Force flow from his fingertips.
He needed to assess what lay beneath the surface.
‘At least the inside isn’t completely shattered.’
Cheon Hui nodded slightly.
Fortunately, despite the gruesome exterior, the inner organs remained intact and unbroken.
‘In a state like this, and yet he revealed nothing to me or the Myeoljjeol Corps.’
He was nearly a living corpse.
And even in this condition, he had refused to speak of Cheon Hui and the Myeoljjeol Corps.
“This cannot simply be overlooked.”
Speaking softly to himself, Cheon Hui laid Ho Gwang Gae down flat, then drew Hwawol from the scabbard at his side.
The subtle crimson-tinged blade reflected the lamplight of the yellow lanterns, scattering it in all directions.
For a moment, it created an illusion of sunset spreading across the world.
And within that radiance.
“You’ve made a grave mistake.”
A low voice resonated from all directions.
It was the Yuk Hap Jeon Seong.
The surging power of the Plum Blossom Divine Art amplified Cheon Hui’s voice, engulfing the space itself.
Everything bent beneath it.
Chil Yo Seon clenched his teeth.
The Yuk Hap Jeon Seong was a realm that required far more Internal Force and precision than he possessed—one he could never hope to reach.
Yet this youth had accomplished it.
‘A true master.’
Realizing the Handsome Youth was far more skilled than he’d anticipated, his gaze wavered slightly.
Then Cheon Hui spoke again.
“You thought you could shake me by leaving him like this, did you? If that was your intention, you should have killed him and brought him to me instead.”
As he spoke, Cheon Hui took a step forward.
Tap.
The sound of his footfall was light and measured.
And a voice followed—detached and cold beyond measure.
“Then at least he could have died in peace.”

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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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