Heavenly Demon of the Huashan Sect - Chapter 37

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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 37
Luoqian County in Shaanxi Province.
Since ancient times known for its nighttime streets, Luoqian County’s avenues teemed with all manner of folk conducting raucous conversations.
Hustlers and women soliciting for trade.
Courtesans luring patrons from the pleasure houses.
And those enchanted by their call.
The night streets of Luoqian County burned brighter than daylight, bustling with an energy few other counties could match.
“Think I’ll visit Hyang today.”
“Ah, you’re thinking of Hyang again? Forget it—let’s go to Fenghua Tower instead this evening.”
“Fenghua Tower? Is it any good?”
“Need I explain? Come along!”
The faces of those conversing glowed with anticipation. By rights, the two of them should have already departed Luoqian County to complete their pending business.
Yet having tasted these night streets, they found their feet would not obey.
Seductive, lethal night streets.
For merchants such as they, the stimulation ran too deep—not merely captivated, they had been utterly consumed.
Nor were they alone.
The majority who lingered here belonged to the same breed.
“This way, honored guest.”
“We have delicious meals prepared here.”
Pleasure houses and inns along the street hawked their wares, and newcomers melted into the nocturnal tapestry.
The vitality and desire of the crowds burned through the encroaching darkness.
Soon Luoqian County thrummed with energy.
Yet even within such streets, there existed something oddly silent and cold.
It stood at the very heart of the district.
In Luoqian County rose a fortress, grander and vaster than any other structure.
Yet despite its position at the heart of the bustling streets, the castle remained mute, not a single light burning within.
Utterly incongruous.
But no one found it strange or spoke of it.
Rather, they deliberately pretended ignorance.
In truth, anyone who dwelt in Luoqian County or even briefly visited these parts knew full well of that fortress.
The sole martial sect in Luoqian County.
The very power that had shaped and now ruled the county itself.
Most of those lingering in Luoqian County spoke of it thus:
Within that castle dwelt the White Ghost—lord of Luoqian County in all but name.
* * *
Inside a vast hall lavishly appointed with golden pillars and walls.
Thud.
A man dropped to one knee.
Sima Fanzheng, military strategist of Baigui Castle and known in the Jianghu as the White Ghost’s Advisor, gazed upward at the ornate jade throne situated in a place of honor.
The throne, formed of golden dragons, displayed splendor that rivaled any seat in the imperial palace.
And upon that throne reclined a man, his back against the cushions, at perfect ease.
The man’s appearance held something mystical.
For he was entirely white.
Hair, beard, raiment—all white.
Any who beheld him in that instant understood why they called him the White Ghost.
Then Sima Fanzheng opened his mouth.
“Lord of the castle.”
With those words, the man’s identity became clear.
There was but one man in all the realm whom Sima Fanzheng addressed as lord of the castle.
In some circles known as the White Ghost—the lord of Baigui Castle.
The man upon the jade throne was none other than Baek Sasin, called in the Jianghu the White Death God.
Baek Sasin’s eyes narrowed as he spoke.
“What matter brings you, strategist?”
Baek Sasin’s voice, unlike his appearance, rumbled like an echo from a deep cavern—profound and remarkably low.
“Was it not excessive to dispatch the entire Salhon Corps to the Bifeng Merchant Guild?”
“Excessive? What could be excessive in this?”
“The Salhon Corps possesses strength sufficient to dismantle a mid-sized sect with ease. True, the Lengmian Daogui plan failed, but they remain a merchant guild.”
“So you speak of excess in their fighting strength.”
“Indeed. Though the Maewhwa Sword Masters are said to protect that place, by accounts they are all novices.”
Sima Fanzheng paused mid-speech to catch his breath, then continued.
“Of course, the fierce beast that toppled the Paewang Sect troubles me somewhat, but according to Eunsu Chamssal, that beast is a master of the Evil Sects. Which means the Bifeng Merchant Guild has no connection to it…….”
“Strategist.”
Baek Sasin cut him off.
“How much have we suffered all these years? Our castle’s strength and reputation, which had nearly reached the inner council of the Six Royal Sects, have plummeted endlessly since that day. Because of it, we’ve been forced to hole up in Luoqian County like we’ve been under siege for years……. Is that all, Strategist?”
Sima Fanzheng tilted his chin upward.
He understood that Baek Sasin’s summons required him to speak.
“The other sects of the Six Royal Sects began to look down on us, and the worthless wretches we once wouldn’t have deigned to acknowledge are now eyeing our castle’s position with hunger.”
“The plan we established to annihilate the Huashan Sect—those dogs we could crush with our teeth and still feel cheated—and to silence all who dared despise our castle…….”
“It is the Huashan Destruction Plan.”
Sima Fanzheng picked up Baek Sasin’s thread.
Baek Sasin, watching him with satisfaction, bared his pearly teeth.
“You know perfectly well how critical the Huashan Destruction Plan is, and yet.”
Baek Sasin rested his chin in his palm and continued.
“Originally, the Huashan Destruction Plan was not meant to begin now, but we had no choice but to accelerate the timetable. And you know exactly why we did.”
Sima Fanzheng nodded heavily.
The Huashan Destruction Plan, upon which over a decade of effort had been poured since that day of catastrophe, was originally scheduled to be executed next year, or the year after.
But because of recent events at the Bifeng Merchant Guild, it had to be moved forward.
The reason was that the Bifeng Merchant Guild, which he had thought of only as bait to draw out the Huashan Sect, displayed unexpected cunning and opened trade routes with Beihai.
Had it ended there, he could have accepted it.
But they were now attempting to use those Beihai connections to forge ties with the government itself.
If left unchecked, the Huashan Destruction Plan would never be set in motion before official intervention descended upon them.
Baek Sasin withdrew the predatory gaze he had been leveling at him.
“Yet it failed from the start.”
“But if I send the entire Salhon Corps, the subsequent plans will suffer a setback…….”
“But?”
Baek Sasin cut off Sima Fanzheng’s words.
Speaking with a chilling tone, Baek Sasin lifted his back from the chair and leaned forward.
Sima Fanzheng’s reflection trembled in the blazing depths of his eyes.
Thud—
In an instant, the air in the room grew heavy.
“We’ve just failed to lay the foundation for the Huashan Destruction Plan, and you say ‘but’?”
“…….”
Sima Fanzheng fell silent.
The pressure he felt from Baek Sasin was immense, but he had no rebuttal to offer.
In the silence, Baek Sasin spoke again.
“Perhaps you’ve grown complacent because I waited thirteen years.”
His eyes turned infinitely cold.
“I have less patience than you thought.”
Sima Fanzheng’s adam’s apple bobbed.
Then he spoke carefully.
“Without the Paewang Sect, if we destroy the Bifeng Merchant Guild, our castle’s involvement could be exposed.”
“It doesn’t matter if we’re discovered now. My castle’s true nature was always meant to be revealed—accelerating it changes nothing.”
Baek Sasin answered flatly.
Though the Huashan Destruction Plan had diverged slightly from its original form, it was already an arrow that had left his hand.
“……I understand. I shall revise the Huashan Destruction Plan to accommodate this.”
Sima Fanzheng stepped back.
He was the strategist; Baek Sasin was the castellan.
All authority rested with Baek Sasin.
Whoosh—
As Sima Fanzheng turned to leave the chamber, Baek Sasin called to him.
“Strategist.”
“Yes, my lord?”
“I have told you repeatedly: the Huashan Destruction Plan is merely the beginning. Do not forget that my castle’s true aim only begins after we’ve annihilated both Huashan and Zhongnan, and brought Shaanxi Province into this hand of mine.”
“……I have not forgotten, my lord.”
Sima Fanzheng replied quietly.
Only after seizing Shaanxi Province would the true beginning commence—the grand design itself.
This was why the sole survivor of the Sama Clan had thrown in his lot beneath Baek Sasin.
They had reached a dramatic compromise.
But neither of them knew.
How gravely they were underestimating what was already unfolding in Hanyang County.
It was several days later that they grasped the gravity of the situation.
* * *
“He tells us to stand aside because the Evil Sects have destroyed each other? He understands nothing of how serious this is.”
Ha Wujin read the reply from the Zhongnan Sect, his expression complicated.
The traces of the fiend who had toppled the Paewang Sect were far too vivid to overlook, yet the Zhongnan Sect remained oblivious to the danger.
Though he understood why.
‘Since that day, the fiend has vanished from sight. Perhaps it’s only natural they think that way.’
A bitter smile tugged at his mouth.
In truth, had he not witnessed it himself, he would have thought the same.
Who could believe it?
That a rising sect like the Paewang—one that had made a name for itself across Shaanxi in recent years—had been destroyed by a single man.
Without even a trace of martial technique.
‘The elders likely think I simply lack knowledge of Evil Sect martial arts and failed to find the traces.’
Ha Wujin tucked the letter away.
The moment he read this reply, he felt the Zhongnan Sect withdraw its interest.
‘At least the Kaifeng branch still pays attention.’
He recalled the Kaifeng disciples he’d seen moving secretly around the Paewang Sect days earlier, shook his head, and quickened his pace.
With no support forthcoming from the Zhongnan Sect—indeed, with their interest waned—he now had no choice but to gather information alone.
Thud—thud—
His footsteps carried him toward a place connected to the fiend.
The Bifeng Merchant Guild.
The place attacked the night before the Paewang Sect’s destruction, and currently the most suspicious location linked to the fiend.
Especially after witnessing the Bifeng Merchant Guild’s sharp rise following the Paewang Sect’s fall, suspicion only deepened.
Though the Bifeng had reeled from the Paewang’s assault back then, the situation had now reversed entirely.
The moment the Paewang Sect fell, the Bifeng Merchant Guild swallowed up their trade rights and various commercial interests as if it had been waiting for exactly this.
‘People say they’ve nearly become the foremost merchant guild in Shaanxi.’
He recalled the recent days.
Hanyang County had descended into chaos for several days.
Battles erupted endlessly over the Paewang’s trade rights, leaving common folk trembling in fear.
It was the Bifeng Merchant Guild that moved at that moment.
Normally, as a merchant guild rather than a martial sect, they would have been dismissed—but hadn’t he mentioned it already?
That the Maewhwa Sword Masters were staying with them.
‘Though the Huashan Sect has weakened, in Shaanxi only our sect and Baigui Castle can compare with them.’
The victor was predetermined.
The Bifeng Merchant Guild rapidly absorbed the trade rights, dividing what was difficult to manage between themselves and the various sect leaders through deals.
Day by day, fortune smiled only upon the Bifeng Merchant Guild, and suspicion crept in—but then he stopped himself.
‘That can’t be.’
He ruled out any connection to the fiend.
The Bifeng Merchant Guild was not a sect.
An absolute master powerful enough to topple the Paewang Sect alone could never stand beneath them.
Not only that.
The Bifeng Merchant Guild had always operated under the protection of the Huashan Sect; the notion of a heterodox master among them was absurd.
Yet still, he had reason to visit the Bifeng Merchant Guild.
‘The Paewang Sect’s attack on the Bifeng might somehow be connected to the fiend.’
It was a one-in-a-million thought.
But in the absence of any other leads, it was the best evidence he had.
As his pace quickened and he arrived at the Bifeng’s gates, the sound of raised voices caught his ear.
“So… so you’re saying you’re a Daoist of the Huashan Sect?”
“That’s right.”
The gatekeepers, looking up at the tall man in a red-and-white Daoist robe, trembled visibly.
The man’s face was decidedly harsh.
His hair hung wild and unkempt, a faint scar running across his cheek.
His eyes were raised in a keen gaze, and the dark shadow beneath them made even these fearless guards lower their heads instinctively.
‘A Daoist? Him?’
The gatekeepers exchanged glances, then shook their heads in unison.
Though he wore the robe, he looked like a bandit who’d simply picked one up and thrown it on.
“…How are you going to prove that?”
The gatekeeper on the left asked the man cautiously.
At that, the man’s brow furrowed.
“Do I need to prove it?”
The scar on his cheek twisted grotesquely, and the gatekeeper flinched, speaking in alarm.
“No, we cannot let you pass inside without permission.”
Only then did the man seem to realize the gatekeepers had taken fright. He smoothed the distortion from his face, his expression shifting to one of difficulty.
But that was the man’s mistake.
The change only made his face look more sinister, and the gatekeepers hastily drew their blades.
“Are you now attacking the Bifeng Merchant Guild?”
“No, didn’t I say I am a Daoist?”
The man thumped his chest in frustration.
Then, as if remembering something suddenly, his eyes gleamed and his mouth moved eagerly.
“Then perhaps the guild master is inside? Or if not, the Maewhwa Sword Masters, or Tian Hui—they would recognize me. They would…….”
The man seemed to be listing those who could verify his identity, but instead it only frightened the gatekeeper more.
“You know the Maewhwa Sword Masters are here, yet you came in so brazenly?!”
“……My head aches.”
As the man pressed his forehead, wincing at the pain,
‘That face…….’
Ha Wujin, who had been observing the entire scene from behind, widened his eyes.
The man’s features were quite familiar.
A few strands of his hair had gone gray, and the wrinkles had deepened from before, but the scar on his cheek and the sinister expression were identical to what they had been.
“Hyeondoja……?”

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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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