Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 101

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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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101

Cheonhaerang dismounted from Baekho’s back in a flurry of panic.
He regarded the child with an expression of profound unease.
What in the heavens was happening? If his suspicions held any truth, this child could only be Gihyeongrang.
Yes, of course Gihyeongrang must have had a childhood. But why had he suddenly been sent back to that time?
The Evil Spirit had clearly orchestrated this temporal displacement.
Even while dying, it possessed such formidable power?
As unanswerable questions flooded his mind, a familiar voice resonated in Cheonhaerang’s ears.

From what wellspring is evil born?

Cheonhaerang stiffened, his gaze sweeping the surroundings with rigid intensity. Yet the Evil Spirit was nowhere to be seen, nor could he sense any presence at all.
The Evil Spirit was undoubtedly dead. I had pierced its heart with the Sword of Spiritual Dao.
And yet, the Evil Spirit’s power lingered still.

Can you truly claim your judgment to be absolutely infallible?

The Evil Spirit’s voice resonated through his ears once more, only to be drowned out by the child’s voice.

“Big brother, can I ride the tiger too?”

Jolted back to awareness by the child’s words, Cheonhaerang realized the sword was still in his grip and hastily concealed it.
Fortunately, the child’s attention remained fixed upon Baekho—upon Jiho.
Cheonhaerang met Jiho’s bewildered blue eyes, then turned toward the child with hurried words of excuse.

“Ah, sorry. I don’t think that’s possible. If anyone but me rides, the tiger might get startled and roar.”

At Cheonhaerang’s words, the child’s face fell. Yet the child did not surrender easily.

“Then… can I at least touch it?”
“….”

Cheonhaerang met those blue eyes once more. They seemed to hold much to say.
But in the end, he could not bear to disappoint the child, so he closed his eyes gently. He appeared to be enduring something profound.
Cheonhaerang answered the child.

“Oh… then just a little? I have to be very gentle? Slowly, so I don’t startle you.”
“Thank you!”

The Child’s face brightened instantly, as if it had never been downcast at all.
The Child smiled brightly and greeted the blue eyes before me.

“Hello! Hey, would it be okay if I just barely touched you?”

Watching the Child, Jiho felt an extraordinarily peculiar sensation.
It was likely the Evil Spirit’s doing, but they had come to the past.
To that distant childhood when Gihyeongrang lived with his mother.
As I gazed upon this Child, I began to understand why the Evil Spirit had sent us back.
This was the Evil Spirit’s trial. The words it spoke before dying.
Can you truly claim that your judgment is absolutely right?
Young Gihyeongrang. It was extraordinarily difficult to connect this Child with the Gihyeongrang of now.
The Evil Spirit was asking them.
Whether to kill this Child or let it live.
If this Child survives, it will spark a war in the Heavenly Realm and eventually be reborn as an Evil God.
If this Child dies now, the past could change.
No war in the Heavenly Realm, no Evil God born—a different past entirely.
But.

“Good, so good.”

The small Child’s hand touched me.
Giggle—the Child laughed.
The Child’s hand was warm. Jiho felt utterly confused.
The Evil Spirit’s words echoed in my mind as if etched there.

Can you truly judge what is good and what is evil?

To prevent future evil, is it righteous to kill the good in the present?

Can you truly claim your judgment is absolutely right?

Can it be called the right thing to do?

* * *

Jiho ran through the Forest Path with a troubled heart. In the end, she had given in and let the Child ride on her back.
Fearing the Child might slip off, Cheonhaerang climbed onto her back as well.
A single Child wasn’t particularly heavy, but the real problem was the sound of its laughter.
Delighted and amazed by the sensation of cutting through the wind, the Child’s giggles never ceased.
How had things come to this? I had even missed the timing to return to human form.
Jiho exhaled softly.

After running for quite some time, an open clearing suddenly appeared before us.
A magnificent Waterfall cascaded down, its waters tumbling freely. Jiho finally came to a halt.

“Well then, shall we let our tiger rest for a moment?”

With those words, Cheonhaerang climbed down from Jiho’s back, cradling the Child in his arms.
Watching Cheonhaerang’s tender expression as he held the Child, an unbidden image suddenly bloomed in Jiho’s mind—a child bearing a striking resemblance to Cheonhaerang nestled safely in his embrace.

‘…Have I lost my mind? What am I thinking?’

Jiho shook her head vigorously, scattering the image that had filled her thoughts.
She then trudged toward the Pool beneath the Waterfall. The water was so crystalline that the bottom was visible.
Jiho hesitated as she gazed at the clear water. This was something one did only as a child.
Though not yet an adult, as a divine beast who had matured to this age, such an undignified display was….
Lap. Lap.
Jiho’s throat was parched. She could not resist drinking. The water tasted like honey.
Cheonhaerang, who had been asking the Child if it was having fun, discovered Jiho eagerly drinking from the Pool. His heart grew heavy. He felt a pang of pity for her.

It is all because of you. Because of you, who knows not your place.

“….”

In that instant, the seductive words flashed through his mind. Cheonhaerang shook his head to dispel them. The Child, witnessing this, asked.

“Brother, what’s wrong?”

Cheonhaerang turned his gaze toward the Child. In truth, those words had come from this very child.
This child from the future.
Only now did Cheonhaerang understand. The Evil Spirit had been asking a question.
Of this child who knew nothing.
Whether to kill while seeing the future.
Or to save while seeing the present.
Could you truly claim your judgment was right?
Was it right to harm the good of now for the evil of later?

“Brother?”

The child’s small, fern-like hand touched Cheonhaerang’s cheek.
The child’s hand was impossibly small and soft. The two eyes gazing up at him were filled with concern.
The human woman had raised this child with such tenderness, even while raising him alone.
Cheonhaerang smiled and shook his head.

“No, nothing at all. Oh, but… what’s our friend’s name?”

Cheonhaerang had begun to call the child by name before catching himself, redirecting his question instead.
Since they were strangers now, he couldn’t pretend to know the child.
The child answered with a bright smile.

“I’m Gihyeongrang!”
“Is that so? What a splendid name. Aren’t you thirsty, Gihyeongrang?”
“Um, then could you put me down for a moment?”
“Huh?”

The child squirmed with such determination to descend that Cheonhaerang, bewildered, set him gently on the ground.
The child then scampered off somewhere. Cheonhaerang watched in silence, uncertain what the child was doing.
The child plucked a leaf from a nearby tree and hurried toward the Pool. After doing something there, the child soon returned to him.
Cheonhaerang gazed at what the child held out with both hands.
A large leaf, curled into a cup, held clear water pooled within.

“Brother, you drink first.”
“….”

The child’s smiling face resembled the warm sunlight pouring down from above.
Something seemed to constrict Cheonhaerang’s throat, leaving him unable to speak.

What is evil born from?

The Evil Spirit’s words echoed through my mind.
Could a human be born evil from the beginning?
Perhaps it was possible, but at least not this child.
Then what was this child’s evil born from?
Cheonhaerang could not answer that question.

“Big brother?”

At the sound of the child calling me, Cheonhaerang emerged from his reverie. He forced the corners of his mouth upward and nodded.

“Thank you, Gihyeongrang.”

The child laughed with delight, a cheerful giggle escaping his lips. Holding the leaf in my hand, Cheonhaerang watched the child’s retreating figure. The child was heading toward Jiho, who lay sprawled before the pool.
The child crouched beside Jiho and chattered away. Jiho, who had been regarding the child with an indifferent expression, soon pulled him closer with her front paw.
With a soft thud, the child tumbled onto Baekho’s belly and burst into delighted laughter.
It was a scene like a painting—utterly serene.
Cheonhaerang gazed upon this sight and swallowed the water cupped in the leaf.
The water was sweet.
Yet it tasted bitterly, achingly bitter.
However, it tasted bitterly unpleasant.

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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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