Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 74

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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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74.

I couldn’t find my undergarments, so I simply threw on some clothes and left. It wouldn’t matter anyway—they’d be ruined soon enough.
Leaving the bedroom and walking down the hallway, a sprawling living room opened before me. It was a mansion built in the modern Human Realm style, through and through.
Yerim endured the sharp, throbbing pain in her lower back as she approached the window where no curtains hung.
Outside was pitch black. Only a few streetlamps in the grass-covered garden cast a crimson glow. There was even a swimming pool in the garden.
It reeked of wealth—unmistakably, overwhelmingly so.
With that level of appearance and this degree of fortune, wouldn’t women flock to him in droves?
How many women had he dated since they broke up?
As these thoughts consumed her, Yerim let out a hollow laugh. Her own mind seemed ridiculous to her.
Did her heart truly belong to him just because they’d shared a bed a few times? She must have been temporarily insane.
She shouldn’t be thinking like this. She recalled what was most important to her.

“Retrieve the Seoniyeong that Gihyeongrang possesses.”

The Seoniyeong. She had to recover the Seoniyeong that Gihyeongrang held.
The Seoniyeong, one of the Heavenly Talismans. That divine artifact was likely kept directly on Gihyeongrang’s person.
The way Heavenly Beings carried weapons—he would carry it just the same.
But how could she possibly take it from him?

‘Should I ask him to show me? But he’d just put it back after.’

Then should she ask him to give it to her? But Gihyeongrang would never hand it over.
Even when they were lovers, he’d never truly confided in her.
Back then, Yerim had never even dreamed that Gihyeongrang would start a war.
He’d never revealed such ambitions to her—if anyone else, perhaps, but not her.
Yerim couldn’t help but sigh. She had no idea how to overcome this obstacle.
In the first place, the fact that Gihyeongrang possessed the Seoniyeong was something she was never supposed to know.
Even if she asked to see it, she would only arouse his suspicion.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

A voice, dark and subdued, accompanied thick arms that wrapped around her waist.
Yerim’s heart lurched in surprise. Her body flinched involuntarily.
Then a low chuckle echoed near her ear. She felt the man’s firm body pressing against her back.

“What were you thinking about to look so startled? Is it wrong for me to know? Ah, could it be…?”

A large hand gripped her chin firmly. Her head turned along with his hand.
Even in the darkness where not a single light burned, his eyes gleamed with an intense brilliance.

“You’re not thinking of leaving this place, are you?”

Yerim understood. Gihyeongrang had no intention of letting her leave. In simple terms, it was confinement.
Since he still suspected her, it was only natural—an entirely reasonable precaution.
Besides, I had no particular desire to leave either. I couldn’t afford to arouse Gihyeongrang’s suspicion.
Only then would Gihyeongrang reveal at least some of his secrets.
So I had to demonstrate that I had betrayed them.
To make Gihyeongrang lower his guard.

“…No, I was just looking around.”
“In the middle of the night like this? When your body isn’t even fully recovered?”
“Why can’t I? And my body isn’t in bad shape because of me—it’s because of you.”

At her sullen tone, Gihyeongrang let out a soft chuckle.

“Right, it’s because of me. So I should take responsibility.”

With those words, Gihyeongrang lifted Yerim into his arms effortlessly. She wrapped both arms around his neck as if accustomed to it.
Gihyeongrang spoke in a playful tone.

“So where shall I take you, my princess?”
“I’m tired. I want to go to sleep.”
“Your wish is my command.”

Yerim’s legs dangled as she rested in Gihyeongrang’s arms.
Watching her smooth legs and delicate feet extending beneath the hem of her skirt that reached her knees, Gihyeongrang’s eyes rippled with emotion.
That night, Yerim was only able to fall asleep around the break of dawn.

* * *

In the dark night, eyes gleaming with crimson and gold light shone brilliantly.
It was Hand Ogeong’s Fiery Eyes of Truth, capable of piercing through the very essence of things.
Whether Cheongan had stopped hunting humans or not, his form was nowhere to be found on this land. In the end, he had only killed a handful of demons.
He questioned the demons about Cheongan’s whereabouts, but not a single one of these small-fry knew anything.
There had to be others who followed Cheongan, yet none of them possessed any useful information.
He had been given one week.
Yeonhwa must have set the timeframe of one week because she believed the Evil Spirit’s seal would break within that period.
No matter what happened, he had to find Cheongan within the week.
But if Cheongan stopped hunting humans and deliberately hid himself like this, it would not be an easy task for him either.
The brilliant light faded from his eyes. He quietly closed them.
Whoooosh. Leaves rustled in the blowing wind.
After listening to the sound of the wind for a long while, Hand Ogeong opened his eyes. His pupils shone once more.
He moved silently. His feet came to rest at a place he had visited before.
The archery range behind Seonhwa High School.
A faint smell of blood emanated from this place. So faint that one would not notice it without paying careful attention.
Hand Ogeong let out a hollow laugh. They say the area beneath the lamp is darkest—this must be what they meant.
This archery range was Cheongan’s hunting ground. Here, Cheongan must have devoured humans.
The smell of blood grew increasingly pungent.
He turned his head slowly. Only darkness occupied the surrounding forest.
Yet Hand Ogeong knew something was lurking within that darkness. One corner of his mouth rose.
Finally, I found one.

* * *

In just a few weeks, Seonhwa High School was to face midterm exams, but the school issued a closure order.
The reason given was that a sinkhole had appeared within the school grounds, and classes were suspended for the safety of the students.
Naturally, the school fell into chaos.
After the dawn meeting, the faculty had to handle inquiries from students and parents.
But there was no choice.
The sinkhole discovered behind the Main Building threatened to collapse the structure itself, and its size was so vast it consumed half of the rear courtyard.
At this rate, no one could predict when the school might collapse entirely. There was no way to keep children in such a place.
Moreover, hadn’t Imdonggu’s funeral venue also been swallowed by the sinkhole? The children who attended Imdonggu’s funeral had nearly crossed a river from which they could not return.
All classes would proceed online until the school construction was completed. The exams would be the same.
Amid such unease and confusion, Cheonhaerang and Jiho’s field study application was submitted.
It was immediately approved by the school director, which amounted to nothing more than a notification to the teachers.
The faculty wondered what on earth was happening. It was the first time the director had handled matters so unilaterally.
With the school atmosphere already so ominous, this only added to their concerns. The teachers feared the school might collapse entirely.
In any case, before worrying about the school, they had to handle the immediate tasks before them.
Preparing for online classes and exams. They also had to address inquiries from students and parents.
Overwhelmed by the tasks that needed immediate attention, their questions about Cheonhaerang and Jiho’s field study quickly faded.
Thus the school fell into silence.

Yeonhwa gazed quietly at the empty school. With the students’ overflowing yang energy gone, the suppressed yin energy that remained in the school began to seep out slowly.
It was a suffocating, dense yin energy. Yet the energy could not escape beyond the barrier surrounding the school.
Instead, creatures imbued with yin energy prowled through the school.
I had seen them not long ago.
They were demons created by the Evil Spirit.
Yeonhwa swung her hand once. A fierce wind swept across the school with a sharp whistle.
Shriek! Wail!
Grotesque screams echoed from all directions.
That was the moment.

Kiki. It’s been a while, Cheonuyhua.

With a sharp sound, a blue chain extending from Yeonhwa’s hand wrapped around something pitch-black.
Yet it laughed without any sign of disturbance.
It was a fragment of the Evil Spirit.

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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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