Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 94

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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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94.

Yeonhwa smiled as if she had expected this, then turned her gaze toward the tree.
The tree, laden with golden blossoms, harmonized with the Blue Sky beyond it, resembling a single brushstroke painting.
She had never witnessed this place. No one had ever spoken of it to her.
Yet her intuition had proven correct.
This was the house where the Patriarch had dwelled—with the human woman he had loved so dearly.
Yeonhwa broke the prolonged silence and spoke.

“It’s a cornus tree. Before the fruit ripens in summer, the blossoms bloom like this. And the flower language of these blossoms is….”

A gust of wind swept through from somewhere, causing the flowers to sway.
Her soft voice scattered away with the breeze.

“Eternal love.”

Cheonhaerang found himself at a loss for words. He could say nothing.
Betrayal toward the Patriarch who had broken his oath? Abhorrence and contempt?
Such emotions had long since burned away, leaving nothing behind.
Cheonhaerang felt only exasperation.
If he had loved her so deeply, why not have spent his entire life here?
If he had been concerned about Baekokgyeong, he could have simply surrendered his throne to his elder sister.
In the end, he was nothing but a cowardly man—lacking even the courage to abandon everything.

“To swear eternal love with a mere mortal. How absurd it all is.”

His tone was cynical. Cheonhaerang agreed.

“Precisely. If that were his intention, he should have protected that woman here for all his days. Yet he couldn’t even manage that.”

Yeonhwa glanced at Cheonhaerang. His face was colder than she had ever seen it.
Perhaps the end of such fleeting love should be called tragedy.
Yet the Patriarch’s tragedy brought her a grim satisfaction.
Yeonhwa gazed fully upon Cheonhaerang and spoke.

“Go and come back safely.”
“…What?”

Cheonhaerang, who had been gazing at the tree alongside Yeonhwa, turned his head.
When their eyes met, Cheonhaerang’s pupils wavered for an instant.

“Really… I can go alone?”
“Why? Now that I’m telling you to go alone, you can’t?”
“No, it’s not that….”

Cheonhaerang felt oddly conflicted.
The Jade Emperor, whom he could now call a stranger, had tried to stop him, yet his own sister—bound by the same blood—acquiesced far too readily.
Observing Cheonhaerang’s expression, which seemed difficult to articulate, Yeonhwa let out a soft laugh before speaking.

“All I can do now is trust you. And….”

Yeonhwa’s gaze drifted elsewhere. Cheonhaerang followed the direction of her eyes.

“I truly cannot let you go alone. The Jade Emperor will accompany you.”

Yeonhwa added her words.
Cheonhaerang found himself somewhat bewildered as he looked at the Jade Emperor.
He had objected so strongly to me, yet he listens immediately to my sister’s words.
No matter how much of a princess she might be, wasn’t he a prince in his own right?
Then, suddenly, a fact surfaced in Cheonhaerang’s mind.
It was only natural, but he had not been present when his elder sister and the Jade Emperor were married. He had learned of it later from his younger sister.
Along with stern warnings to mind his words in their presence.
He had never learned why they divorced. His younger sister did not know either.
Yet it seemed one of them still harbored feelings….
Cheonhaerang regarded the Jade Emperor with a measuring gaze before his attention was drawn back to Yeonhwa by her voice cutting through the air.

“First, let me explain where the Evil Spirit is located.”

Perhaps Gihyeongrang and Eul of the Heavenly Realm were also there together.
Yeonhwa continued speaking with such a possibility in mind.

* * *

The White Bird surveyed its surroundings.
It was a space that had slipped through a crack in the gate. There was no light in this space.
Yet even in the darkness, every landscape remained vivid and clear.
Beyond the crimson-stained river loomed a towering cliff. Upon it hung a figure bound by chains of blue light.
There was no need to draw closer to understand. It was an Evil Spirit.
Dense mist clung to the river’s surface, while black fog laden with thick malevolent energy drifted through the void.
The bird flapped its wings frantically, ascending as a captive. As it climbed higher, the space revealed itself in greater expanse.
Trees crowded densely around the river. Between them, something close to the water’s edge emerged.
It was a Massive Mansion. It would not be an exaggeration to call it ninety-nine traditional tile houses.
The bird flew toward the mansion.
It was the moment the bird attempted to cross the wall.
Crackle—!
Blocked by something, the bird ignited in an instant, consumed entirely.
In its final moment, the bird’s eyes met someone’s gaze.
There stood a man, watching the bird vanish without a trace.
Fortunately, in its last instant, the bird had managed to capture the man’s image.

* * *

A moment of silence descended among the three. What Hand Ogeong’s messenger had shown them last was Yueul.
The one who had consumed other Heavenly Realm beings and devoured their power—Eul.
Yet no matter how that was, how could he endure the malevolent energy of an Evil Spirit and remain there?
Moreover, that mansion. There had never been such a structure there originally. Gihyeongrang had created it.
That place was no longer the Evil Spirit’s domain. It had become Gihyeongrang’s space.
The conclusion of what had been merely conjecture until now became clear. Gihyeongrang had not yet fully absorbed the Evil Spirit.
Yet Gihyeongrang was already an Evil God.
Perhaps the Evil Spirit was merely becoming a subordinate of the Evil God.
A sense of helplessness washed over them. The Evil Spirit alone could not be eliminated.
To eliminate the Evil Spirit, they would have to face not only Yueul but also Gihyeongrang, who would be present in that space.
There was no way to confront them separately.
Then at the very least, they had to seize a moment when Gihyeongrang was absent from that space.
A matter that only Gihyeongrang could attend to personally.
The eyes of Hand Ogeong and Yeonhwa met briefly. Both already knew that method well. Perhaps… Cheonhaerang did as well.
But they knew Cheonhaerang would never consent to it.
Of course, they themselves were not particularly inclined toward it either.
It was danger of an entirely different magnitude than before.
Yeonhwa stole a glance at Cheonhaerang’s expression. His face had grown rigid and tense.
She moved her lips soundlessly before finally speaking.

“Cheonhaerang, you’re exhausted today. Let’s rest for now and think of a good strategy while we recover. We still have time.”

The Evil Spirit’s seal had not yet been broken.
More than that, I needed to consider how Gihyeongrang had transformed into an Evil Spirit without absorbing it.

“You’re right. You haven’t slept at all. Go rest now.”

Hand Ogeong patted Cheonhaerang’s back as he spoke.
Cheonhaerang sensed what Hand Ogeong and Yeonhwa were thinking. A thought had also suddenly occurred to him.
A way to pull Gihyeongrang out of the space.
Baekho’s heart.
Using Jiho.
Cheonhaerang could never do that.
Yes, the Jade Emperor and his sister were right. There had been so much.
For now, it was better to rest today and reconsider tomorrow.
Cheonhaerang felt belated exhaustion wash over him. He nodded.

“…Then I’ll get some rest.”
“Yes. Sleep well.”

Cheonhaerang headed to the adjacent room. Though a grown man and woman would be sleeping in the same room, neither seemed to mind.
Yeonhwa watched Hand Ogeong. His face was lost in thought.
As she gazed at that expression, Yeonhwa soon opened her mouth to call to him.

“Hand Ogeong.”

As if all his attention was focused on her voice, he quickly emerged from his thoughts.
Hand Ogeong met Yeonhwa’s gaze. Those eyes, still devoid of warmth, pricked at his heart.
Yet as always, he skillfully turned away from his emotions.

“Yes, Princess.”
“What do you think? What do you believe Gihyeongrang has done?”

Gihyeongrang had already transformed into an Evil Spirit despite the seal not being broken.
To break the Evil Spirit’s seal, a vibrant human heart was needed.
Nine hearts in total.
The Human Realm now overflowed with evil far more than before.
If the hearts were not used solely to break the seal….
A low voice shattered Yeonhwa’s train of thought.

“A newborn babe.”

A newborn babe—a term for an infant so young it must be swaddled and cradled, unable yet to walk upon its own.
In other words, a freshly born child.

“Surely not….”

Yeonhwa could not find the words to continue.

“….”

Hand Ogeong said nothing.
Yet Yeonhwa understood. It was a silent affirmation.
The heart of a newborn child.
Gugsim was not something needed only by Evil Spirits.

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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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