Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 70

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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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70.

Hand Ogeong was an exceedingly troublesome creature. The title of Jade Emperor was no exaggeration—he possessed overwhelming power.
That power surpassed even Cheonuyhua’s. Perhaps it rivaled the Patriarch himself. Such speculation had circulated long ago.
So it made sense that Cheonuyhua had brought Hand Ogeong along. He had succeeded in the formation technique where Cheonuyhua had failed.
But in the end, he was merely a monkey. However cleverly he might have climbed to that position, he was not one to be compared with me.
Upon the ground, a crimson pattern emerged. Yet it was soon swallowed by black spectral essence.
And then.
Clang.
The pattern shattered.
Whooom. The earth cried out. The ground turned pitch black.
Gihyeongrang, kneeling on one bent leg, extended his hand toward the earth. The ground trembled.
Soon he descended into the earth itself. It was the profound darkness where the Evil Spirit lay sealed.
A thick, oppressive yin energy enveloped him. The energy was absorbed into his being.
Gihyeongrang walked through darkness so complete that the path itself was barely visible.
After walking for some time, he finally reached the end of the path.
When he stopped, the darkness lifted.
In place of darkness, thick black mist now hung heavy. Within the mist loomed a massive gate.
A gate bound tightly with iron chains. Upon it lingered a crimson haze.
Five marks.
Now only four remained.
He walked toward the gate. Stopping before it, he grasped the chains.
Crackle—the chains crumbled. And then.
Creak.
The gate, now free of chains, swung open.
As if welcoming him. He smiled with satisfaction and stepped inside.
Beyond the crimson-stained river rose towering cliffs. Upon them hung a figure bound by chains of azure light.
An Evil Spirit.
The Evil Spirit was a woman of such transcendent beauty as to bewitch countless men.
Any ordinary man might have been entranced by that face. But Gihyeongrang knew better.
An Evil Spirit was merely an Evil Spirit.
It could transform freely to seduce others.
A woman before men, a man before women.
A family member before those who had lost their kin.
Thus far, it had burrowed into human hearts, enchanted them, and consumed them.
The Evil Spirit, meeting his gaze, laughed softly.
Then it descended before him. It was a manifestation.
The Evil Spirit approached him with a swaying gait, placing her hand upon his body as though to seduce the Unknown Man.
At a distance where breath could mingle, the Evil Spirit whispered.

So it was you who awakened me.

The voice that tickled his ear was so beautiful it seemed impossible it belonged to an Evil Spirit.
The Evil Spirit was attempting to enchant him.
Gihyeongrang seized the Evil Spirit’s wrist. Her hand never reached his cheek.

“Stop with these games.”

Gihyeongrang had already discerned that the Evil Spirit was attempting to absorb the yin energy I possessed. There was no way the Evil Spirit could be unaware of this. And as if to prove it, the Evil Spirit’s form changed.
Into the shape of a woman he knew all too well.
In the form of a woman he knew well.

You’re saying it’s a trick? You know it too. I’ve always wanted to reach you.

For a moment, his pupils wavered. The Evil Spirit did not miss this.
Just as crimson lips were about to touch him—
It was the moment her red lips were about to touch his.

Ugh!

Fire engulfed it in an instant. The form crumbled and vanished in flames with a whoosh.
Gihyeongrang looked upon the Evil Spirit. As their eyes met, she grinned wickedly.
The Evil Spirit’s eyes burned crimson. A chilling voice pierced his ears.
The evil spirit’s eyes were stained red. A chilling voice rang in his ears.

“If you continue like this, it will only harm you. Do you wish to remain trapped here forever?”
Gihyeongrang.
Gi Hyung-rang.

The evil spirit called out his name. That name which no one had ever taught it.

“….”
He merely gave you the position of Cheongan and pretended to love you most of all. Yet to that mere child, he gave everything. Things you could never grasp.
I merely pretended to love you most while giving you only a lowly position, when I gave that brat everything—things you could never hold.

I had to silence that mouth. It was nothing but a cunning three-inch tongue meant to shake my resolve.
Yet Gihyeongrang could not. He was unable to.
The Evil Spirit’s voice echoed, resonating through his ears.

But I am different. I can give you everything the Patriarch cannot.
Wealth and honor, heaven and earth. And even that woman.
So then, do you not need me as well?
Come now, child. Come to me.

The voice that had been so unsettling transformed.
I had thought it was something ancient, faded and worn, but perhaps that was not so.
Gihyeongrang knew this voice intimately. He still remembered it.
One step. His foot moved forward.

Come now, child. Hurry.

The voice coaxing him was intoxicating.
Mother. Gihyeongrang whispered softly. Just as his foot was about to touch the river.

“I love you.”

A familiar voice echoed in his ears. The voice of a woman who had once told him she loved him.
His dazed mind cleared in an instant.
Gihyeongrang stepped back. Had he not regained his senses, he would have fallen into the river and become food for the Evil Spirit.
The Evil Spirit was overwhelmingly powerful. Whether it had always been this strong, or had grown stronger by consuming human malice, he could not say.
In even a moment of carelessness, it would not be him consuming the Evil Spirit, but the Evil Spirit consuming him.

How unfortunate.

The Evil Spirit’s voice returned to its originally chilling tone.
Gihyeongrang spoke in a low, cold voice.

“Enough of your tricks.”
Thwack!

A sharp blade pierced through the Evil Spirit’s heart.
Gihyeongrang twisted the blade. With a agonized cry, the Evil Spirit spewed forth black blood.

“There is nothing to gain by provoking me further. It will only bring ruin upon yourself as well.”
Ha ha. How amusing.

The Evil Spirit laughed toward Gihyeongrang, blood trickling from the corner of its mouth.

How truly entertaining you are, Gihyeongrang.

In that instant, a violent gust of wind erupted.
And he was cast back.
Gihyeongrang gazed down at the ground where the crimson markings had vanished, his expression cold and contemptuous.

“Master?”

Yueul’s voice pierced his ears, tinged with bewilderment.
Gihyeongrang commanded him.

“It is nothing. Tell Jeong to return as well.”
“Yes, Master.”

Yueul vanished.
Left alone, Gihyeongrang turned his gaze toward something distant.
But I am different. I can give you what the Patriarch cannot.
Wealth and honor, heaven and earth. And even that woman.
The Evil Spirit was mistaken. It could never give him that woman.
That woman was now forever beyond his reach.

* * *

She was in a dream. She realized it was a dream because the building before her eyes lay in ruins and desolation.
The structure once called Sunhwa High School had crumbled into a wasteland. If she hadn’t been familiar with the space, she wouldn’t have recognized it as Seonhwa High at all.
Acrid concrete dust scattered on the wind. She moved forward slowly.
Crossing the playground, she reached the school’s entrance. The glass doors were shattered.
Naturally, the interior was no better. Walls lay broken throughout, and shards of glass from shattered windows littered the floor.
Protruding rebar jutted out sharp enough to pierce her. She walked between them.
She climbed the barely intact staircase. Creak. Creak. Unpleasant sounds echoed through the silent space.
Finally, her footsteps halted before a classroom. The nameplate indicating the class number hung loosely, half-detached.
Yet none of this classroom’s windows were broken, and the walls remained intact. The door was undamaged.
Unlike the other classrooms.
2-4. Her and Cheonhaerang’s class.
It was an inexplicable intuition, but she felt certain something lay within this classroom.
She carefully grasped the door handle.
Click.
The door opened.

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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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