Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 104

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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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104

I had assumed that hours, days—some stretch of time would have passed.
But upon returning, time in that place had frozen entirely.
It was like a paused frame. Only the Evil Spirit and us could move within it.
Cheonhaerang remained mounted upon Jiho’s back, his blade piercing straight through the Evil Spirit’s heart.
The Evil Spirit coughed, spilling blood as it muttered in a low voice.

Haedosol….

The woman of the family I led to annihilation.
That woman alone refused to succumb to my enchantment.
I wanted to break something so rigid, yet it would not shatter.
Had I known she would ruin everything like this.
Back when she resisted my enchantment. When she was still a helpless child, I should have killed her then.
Crack.
The bronze blade piercing the Evil Spirit’s heart twisted violently.
The blade gleamed, and the Evil Spirit’s body slowly scattered like smoke.
The Evil Spirit laughed toward the golden eyes.

Do you know? In the end, you were wrong too.
You should have killed that child.

Screeeech—.

“….”

Cheonhaerang sheathed his sword. At last, the Evil Spirit had vanished.
It was annihilation.
And then, time—which had frozen—began to move once more.
CRASH!
A deafening roar tore through the dimensional space. The cliff where the Evil Spirit had clung crumbled without mercy.
To evade the cascading debris, Jiho hurried across empty air—only to feel something coil around her foot. It was a tendril of pitch-black water, lashing out from the river. Cheonhaerang swiftly severed it.
But that single tendril was not the end. Dozens of them surged toward them.
Cheonhaerang unfurled the Turtle Shell.
SPLASH!
The tendrils shattered against it. Black water dripped down the shell’s surface.
Beyond it stood Gihyeongrang.
In the blink of an eye, his hand had already touched the Turtle Shell.
Black smoke erupted from Gihyeongrang’s palm, engulfing the shell in an instant.
Golden eyes blazed with terrible brilliance. A voice thick with fury tore through their ears.
Golden eyes gleamed brightly. An angry voice rang in their ears.

How dare you…

The dimensional space was collapsing. Gihyeongrang seemed indifferent now to the fact that Yueul still remained here.
They had to escape this place. Otherwise, they would be trapped forever.
Jiho glanced downward. Far below, she glimpsed three figures.
Yueul and the Jade Emperor, and even Princess Yeonhwa.
Their battle had not yet ended.
With the Jade Emperor present… how could this be? Had Yueul grown so formidable?
Her mind reeled for a moment, but this was not the time for such thoughts.
CRACK.
Fissures were spreading across the Turtle Shell. Jiho urgently sent a telepathic message to Cheonhaerang.
Cracks were forming in the Turtle Shell. Jiho hurriedly sent a telepathic message to Cheonhaerang.

I’m going to the princess! Hold on tight!

CRASH, BOOM!
A deafening roar that left ears ringing and minds reeling.
The demon’s wrath spread in all directions, discriminating between neither ally nor enemy.
A dust storm so thick that eyes could not open swept across the land, leaving only the fallen in its wake.
With a splitting headache that felt as though her skull would shatter, Jiho barely opened her eyes—only to discover Gihyeongrang strangling Cheonhaerang against the cliff.
Black smoke poured from Gihyeongrang’s hands as they closed around Cheonhaerang’s throat. Cheonhaerang writhed in agony.
Black smoke was flowing from Gihyeongrang’s hands as he strangled Cheonhaerang’s neck. Cheonhaerang was writhing in pain.

“Roooar! (Cheonhaerang!)”

A luminous arrow streaked across the sky above Baekho, only to shatter before it could reach Gihyeongrang.
There was no choice now. I had to grab onto Gihyeongrang’s pant leg and hold on for dear life.
Jiho charged toward Gihyeongrang without hesitation. Launching herself with tremendous force, she sank her teeth into the arm that was strangling Cheonhaerang’s neck.
Crunch—her fangs pierced deep into his flesh. Gihyeongrang watched with a cold sneer playing across his lips.

“Nothing but a beast’s whelp.”

Crack!
Jiho was hurled backward and plunged into the river. Though Cheonhaerang saw her fall, he could not even cry out her name.
It was not only his throat that was sealed shut. The Evil Spirit burrowed into his most vulnerable depths.
Cheonhaerang was drowning in nightmare. His hands grew steadily weaker.
Splash—the Sword of Spiritual Dao tumbled into the river. Only then did Gihyeongrang release his grip on Cheonhaerang’s neck.
The limp body plummeted into the waters below.
All I needed to do now was seal this dimensional space and depart. Then they would remain trapped forever, dying endlessly within dreams that never ceased to repeat.
Gihyeongrang descended to the ground. Leaving Hand Ogeong and Cheonuyhua sprawled upon the earth as they were, he approached Eul.
Eul barely managed to open his eyes and look upon Gihyeongrang.

“M-Master….”

Gihyeongrang gazed down at Eul in silence. His eyes were utterly devoid of warmth, glacially indifferent.
Eul understood. This man would end his life.
The price of long servitude was death.
This man had never betrayed him. Was this, then, a betrayal?
He did not know. Could not know. Yet perhaps he had always known, from the very beginning.
From the moment he resolved to follow this man for all his days, death had already been written into his fate.
So if asked whether he regretted following this man, well….

“You have labored long and well.”

The man’s quiet words fell like a whisper. His voice carried no emotion whatsoever.
Yet Eul smiled. For the sake of his long devotion.

“I too was… grateful….”

Eul’s words never finished. His body grew still and powerless.
Eul closed his eyes. A death as fleeting and quiet as morning mist.
Gihyeongrang gazed upon the place where nothing remained, where all had vanished, then turned to walk onward. It was time to retrieve his beloved.

* * *

I had lost consciousness for a moment, but soon regained my senses. I was sinking deeper into the river, engulfed in an endless darkness.
I swam urgently, trying to reach the surface, but it proved far more difficult than expected. It felt as though the profound darkness itself was pulling me down into its depths.
I barely managed to break through to the surface, gasping for breath as I looked around. The cliff from which I had fallen was still not far behind.
Yet I could not see Cheonhaerang or Gihyeongrang on the cliff. Instead, something gleaming with a bronze hue was drifting across the river’s surface.
It was the Sword of Spiritual Dao.
I swam frantically toward the blade. As I drew near, I spotted something else.
It was Cheonhaerang.
I seized him by the collar and hoisted him onto my back, then clamped the Sword of Spiritual Dao firmly between my teeth and swam rapidly toward the surface.
The river was wider than I had anticipated. After swimming with all my strength, I finally emerged onto dry land.
I set down the Sword of Spiritual Dao and laid Cheonhaerang on the ground, then shook my body vigorously, casting off the water clinging to my fur.
Soon after, I transformed into human form and examined Cheonhaerang. His face bore the anguish of a nightmare—one that gripped him still.
I understood. This was no ordinary nightmare from which he would easily awaken.
How could I rouse him? Could the Sword of Spiritual Dao offer some solution?
I fell into contemplation. That was when I sensed a presence nearby.
I turned my head. My eyes widened.

“…Yerim?”

Yerim stood before me, her expression vacant and dazed.

* * *

Yerim blinked blankly, her mind shrouded as though by mist. She could recall nothing clearly.
Yet the man’s words remained vivid in her memory.

Yerim, could you become mine?
And I will become yours.

The man had finally become hers—the man she had longed to possess for so very long.
Then why did her heart feel so hollow?
Why did it feel as though she were forgetting something of profound importance?
Yerim rose from the bed and stepped down onto the floor. The room was familiar to her.
The chamber where she and the man dwelt together. There was no lingering scent of his presence—only the faint, delicate fragrance of flowers.
Yerim gazed upon the empty bed and pondered.
Where had he gone again?
Now that he was hers, why did he not remain by her side?
Yerim left the chamber to search for him, and somehow a white dress now adorned her form.

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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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