Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 89

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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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89.

The water churned violently, and a whirlpool erupted. Within it, the Jade Emperor’s form blazed with radiance.
The whirlpool consumed every last strand of the black tendril.
Then the Jade Emperor burst forth from the vortex, rushing toward something.
Crash!
Beneath the water, the sound of violent collision reverberated through the depths.
By then, Gihyeongrang had appeared with unhurried grace, facing the Jade Emperor directly.
This was the moment. As I turned toward the entrance where light streamed in, I felt arms encircle my waist.
I had sensed it from the moment the Jade Emperor appeared. Cheonhaerang had finally awakened.
I turned to face Cheonhaerang. The instant our eyes met, we passed through the entrance.
The light burst forth so brilliantly that I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, we stood in a mountain forest as dawn broke.
I had no idea where we were.

“Jiho, are you alright?”

Hearing the concern in his voice, I exhaled a long breath.
Without speaking, I nodded and turned to look at Cheonhaerang. He stood bathed in the radiant morning sunlight.
There was something dreamlike about him, and I needed to confirm he was real. I pulled him into my embrace.
The spring water was peculiar—neither of us was wet at all.
As if to soothe my heart, Cheonhaerang patted my back gently.

“I’m fine. Thank you, Jiho. You’ve done so much.”

The body that had burned like a raging inferno now held a warm, gentle warmth. It was a relief.
But thinking about it, with such a body, he had used the Heavenly Talisman again.
I hastily pulled Cheonhaerang away from my embrace and examined him carefully.

“What about now? Are you still alright?”
“Yes. I’m fine. You don’t need to worry anymore.”

Cheonhaerang answered with a smile.
What remained after the brief fever had passed was a strangely overflowing surge of power.
Even after summoning the Jade Emperor with that body, he felt no fatigue whatsoever.

“I’m truly, truly relieved.”

Jiho exhaled a sigh of relief as she spoke. Cheonhaerang, embracing her once more, soon noticed the state of her clothing.
The wind was still brisk, yet her garments were far too thin. Moreover, he was certain she hadn’t been wearing such clothes before.
Ah. Cheonhaerang released a quiet sigh. My clothes had been used to care for me.
A sharp ache pierced my heart. Yet when I thought of Jiho, who had given so much for my sake, I could not let it show. Instead, I draped my feathered robe across her shoulders.

“Huh? What is this? A feathered robe?”
“Yes. It’s still cold.”

Though spring had arrived in full—cherry blossoms had bloomed and faded—the morning air deep within the mountains remained quite crisp.
Only now did Jiho begin to feel the chill. She gripped the feathered robe tightly as she asked.

“But how do you have this?”
“Well… I was a celestial maiden too, wasn’t I?”

At Cheonhaerang’s answer, Jiho suddenly recalled the days past. They seemed so distant, though not so long ago.
She had come to the Human Realm to find the runaway celestial maiden, Yeonhwa, the princess.
Yet a conspiracy far greater than imagination had been lurking all along. Had I known then, I surely would not have believed it.
Then did the Supreme Deity know all along that things would unfold this way?
Jiho found herself wanting to ask the Supreme Deity about it when they met.

“How is the robe? Does it suit you? Are you warm enough?”
“Yes. It’s fine.”

Though the feathered robe was thin, it proved far more effective at warding off the crisp air than expected.

“By the way, we need to meet the princess and the Jade Emperor. What should we do? I don’t even know where we are.”
“Let’s first figure out where we are.”

Cheonhaerang answered Jiho’s question while producing something. It was the Samjokoh.
The Samjokoh fluttered its small wings and took flight, circling around them before soaring toward the sky.
Cheonhaerang and Jiho gazed at the sight the Samjokoh revealed.
She had thought it might be some nameless mountain deep in the wilderness, but it was nothing of the sort. The mountain stood in the heart of the city.
Familiar buildings came into view.

“…Our school?”

Jiho met Cheonhaerang’s gaze. He nodded, confirming that her answer was correct.
Which meant this place was Seonhwago Backhill.
A place like this existed on the Back Mountain? Was the Back Mountain really that vast?
Bewilderment clouded her mind, yet she had no choice but to accept that it was indeed the Back Mountain. The Samjokoh had shown her such unmistakable scenery.
More precisely, it was the Archery Range of the School Backhill.
But why was that Spring Water connected to this Back Mountain? According to Yeonhwa, their training grounds lay deep within mountains far removed from Seoul.
They had made it difficult to find.
But how? Why?

“…Gihyeongrang’s Residence.”

Cheonhaerang spoke softly.

“Gihyeongrang’s Residence?”
“Yes. It might be here.”
“What?”

Jiho’s eyes widened at his confident answer. Her mind spiraled into chaos in an instant.
What was he saying? That Gihyeongrang’s Residence was on the School Backhill?
How could that be? And how could no one know about it?
Yet the theory was not without merit.
Most of what had happened so far had occurred on this Back Mountain and at the School, had it not?
Even if the School was where an Evil Spirit was sealed.
Everything had unfolded within Gihyeongrang’s domain.
Perhaps this was what they meant by the lamp being darkest beneath itself.
Jiho let out a hollow laugh. She truly felt like she had been dancing in the palm of Gihyeongrang’s hand.

“But then why did we come here?”

The place where they had been was far from here, near the sea. There was no way the Spring Water’s current could have connected that distant shore to this location.

“It seems the White Bird led us here.”
“The White Bird?”

In response to Jiho’s question, Cheonhaerang withdrew the Eight Trigrams Talisman and held it forth.
The bronze Eight Trigrams Talisman gleamed with radiance. And the beam of that light pointed toward somewhere.
The two exchanged glances, and without further words, they nodded in unison before rising to their feet.
They followed the beam of light as it led them forward.
They walked for so long that I wondered if the Back Mountain had always been this vast. At last, they arrived at the Archery Range.
At the Archery Range, Samjokoh awaited them.
Flying toward Cheonhaerang like an arrow, Samjokoh rubbed its face against his cheek once before settling upon the ground. Then it tapped the earth with its beak—tap, tap.
The landscape before their eyes wavered.
Soon, what unfolded before them was a ruined manor.
Gihyeongrang’s Residence.
Or rather, long before that….

“….”

In a fleeting moment, Cheonhaerang glimpsed a woman and a man. The woman smiled radiantly toward the man. The man, in turn, gazed upon the woman and smiled likewise.
The man bore the face of someone utterly foolish.
An ancient phantom. Or perhaps the past.
Perhaps… what Seon Igyeong was showing them.
A deep hum resonated. The Eight Trigrams Talisman sang.
The light of the Eight Trigrams Talisman blazed brilliantly in all directions.
It was blinding radiance. Cheonhaerang and Jiho could not open their eyes properly.
Before long, the light faded. The two opened their eyes.
And what met their gaze was a bronze mirror hovering above the Eight Trigrams Talisman.
Seon Igyeong.
Jiho thought that whatever had transpired in this manor, Seon Igyeong should have belonged to either Gihyeongrang or Yeonhwa.
Yet Seon Igyeong was before them. As though it had been waiting for them all along.
Then, before their very eyes, something miraculous occurred.
The Sword of Spiritual Dao materialized beside Seon Igyeong.
A bronze blade honed to razor sharpness. A blue dragon coiled around that blade.
Light emanated from the sword. Soon, within that radiance, Seon Igyeong and the Eight Trigrams Talisman vanished.
Where the light had faded, only the Sword of Spiritual Dao remained suspended. The Four Spirits coiled around the sword’s blade before dispersing.
Cheonhaerang reached out and grasped the hilt of the Sword of Spiritual Dao. A deep hum resonated. The Sword of Spiritual Dao resonated with him.
Cheonhaerang felt an overwhelming surge of power.
At last, all the Heavenly Talismans had gathered, and the Sword of Spiritual Dao had gained its strength.
The power to slay Evil Spirits and malevolent deities.

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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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