Looking for the Runaway Heavenly Maiden - Chapter 95

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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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95.

Cheonhaerang gazed down at Jiho, who slept with soft, rhythmic breathing. She remained undisturbed, clearly exhausted from the trials that had befallen her. He lifted his hand and carefully brushed her hair back from her face.
She stirred restlessly, a whimper escaping her lips, and Cheonhaerang quickly withdrew his hand.
Her eyes fluttered open, and their gazes met. Jiho blinked slowly, struggling to focus through the haze of sleep.
Cheonhaerang’s hand, momentarily adrift, found hers and clasped it gently.
Still caught between sleep and wakefulness, her mind foggy, Jiho recognized the presence beside her as Cheonhaerang.
Cheonhaerang’s hand, which had momentarily lost its place to go, soon grasped Jiho’s hand.
“Cheonhaerang?”

“No, it’s fine. I should get up anyway. I need to—”
“Sorry, I woke you up.”
Her words trailed into silence. The moment of wakefulness slipped away, and her mind drifted back into the depths of slumber.

“This is strange. Why am I so tired…?”

Jiho’s eyes grew heavy once more. Cheonhaerang smiled tenderly and gently placed his hand over her eyes.

“Sleep more, Jiho.”

Darkness enveloped her vision. The descent into slumber came easily now.

Only when her breathing returned to its steady, rhythmic pattern did Cheonhaerang finally withdraw his hand.
Looking at her peaceful face, so innocent and childlike in sleep, he let out a soft laugh.
But the smile faded quickly from his lips.
He could not be certain this place was truly safe. Yet in their current circumstances, nowhere else offered greater sanctuary.
Jiho had to remain here.
What Gihyeongrang desired was painfully clear.
Under such circumstances, he would never bring Jiho to where Gihyeongrang waited.
And yet, he knew all too well that Jiho was the most certain means of drawing Gihyeongrang out into the open.
Despair crashed over him as he sank deeper into thought.
A fleeting moment. If he could act within that narrow window of opportunity—
Just as Gihyeongrang had laid traps for them, perhaps they could lay a trap for him.
Just a brief opening. If I can eliminate it within that gap.
Just as Gihyeongrang had set traps for them all this time, if they could set traps for him too.

‘…Let me rest for now.’

Cheonhaerang lay down beside Jiho carefully, afraid she might wake.
Using Jiho’s breathing as a lullaby, Cheonhaerang quietly closed his eyes.

* * *

Gihyeongrang lifted the hair of the woman sleeping soundly and pressed a gentle kiss to it.
In the place where suffocating excitement had subsided, a satisfaction that filled his chest remained.
I couldn’t remember the last time I felt such fullness.
Even if the woman had fallen under his enchantment, he didn’t care. After all, it meant he was her weakness.
It meant he occupied a place in her heart.
Gihyeongrang forcibly suppressed the urge to covet the woman once more and rose from the bed.
His body, in its primal form, began to be covered by black mist. The mist became his clothes.
He closed his eyes quietly and drew in a breath. The Evil Spirit’s yin energy felt intoxicatingly sweet to him.
Opening his eyes, Gihyeongrang moved slowly. As he arrived before a certain room, the door creaked open of its own accord.
Gihyeongrang rolled his eyes leisurely. Inside the room, a woman sat on her knees, bound by black chains.
Yueul stood beside the woman. Observing Yueul’s undulating yin energy, Gihyeongrang tilted his chin.
Following his master’s command, Yueul removed the gag that had been in the woman’s mouth.
Gihyeongrang approached the woman and knelt on one knee, meeting her gaze.
Eyes from which brainwashing had shattered and self had returned.
Those eyes held contempt and revulsion directed at him. In short, they were full of defiance.
If others had looked at him with such eyes, they would have long since perished. But this woman was different.
She had her purpose. Now he would need to think more carefully about that purpose.
Perhaps he should have discarded her when she began to malfunction. His attachment to Cheonuyhua was more persistent than expected.

“Jeong.”

Gihyeongrang called the woman’s name softly. Yet she only clenched her mouth tighter.
Gihyeongrang twisted one corner of his mouth upward.

“Do you think I would kill you so readily?”

Death is far too peaceful a rest. He had no intention of granting her that rest so easily.

“Unfortunately for you, what can I do? I have no intention of killing you here just yet.”

Yujeong’s face contorted. She knew all too well what purpose she would serve in Gihyeongrang’s hands.
She had no intention of being used so readily. Yujeong unleashed every ounce of power she possessed.
In a brilliant flash, flames erupted throughout the room. Fire—the element of the Five Phases that she could command.
The inferno engulfed both Gihyeongrang and Yueul. Yet neither of them wavered in the slightest.
Of course, Yujeong had anticipated this outcome. It was never her true objective, after all.
The flames swelled, threatening to consume the entire chamber.
Gihyeongrang made no move. Instead, his gaze fixed upon Yujeong with an expression that seemed to invite her to try harder.
In that instant, something tore through Yujeong’s chest. Flames—her own flames.

“Hack!”

Crimson blood sprayed from her lips. The fire born within her own body had pierced her heart.

“Just as Eul described it. The Heavenly Realm commits suicide in precisely this manner.”

Those of the Heavenly Realm maximize their individual element of the Five Phases and embed it within their own bodies. When they wish to end their lives, it pierces the heart.

“But Jeong, I told you. I will not grant you such a merciful death.”

With a sickening thrust—!

“Gahhh!”

Gihyeongrang’s hand suppressed the flames and pierced through Yujeong’s chest.
Her heart was seized in his grip. The pulsing organ was no different from that of any human.
He twisted it. Yujeong could not even scream through the agony.
Energy flowed from his hand, seeping into her heart.
The flames that had enveloped the room began to fade.
Soon, Gihyeongrang withdrew his hand. The pierced chest returned to its original state as though nothing had happened.
Yujeong’s eyes, fixed upon Gihyeongrang, flushed crimson before returning to normal.
Gihyeongrang smiled with satisfaction. His lips, vivid as blood, curved upward.
The voice that emerged from those lips embedded itself in Yujeong’s mind.

Die.
Before Cheonuyhua.
That is your final task.

* * *

Jiho’s eyes snapped open. In the shallow darkness, an unfamiliar ceiling came into view.
Blinking several times to focus her blurred vision, Jiho turned to the side at the presence she felt.
Cheonhaerang was sleeping soundly.
She had glimpsed his form in her drowsy state and wondered if it was a dream, but it seemed it was not.
Jiho gazed at Cheonhaerang for a long moment before carefully rising. Then, cautious not to wake him, she slipped quietly from the bed.
The unfamiliar room lay shrouded in darkness, revealing that she had slept for quite some time.
I didn’t know I could sleep so deeply. My body must have been more exhausted than I realized.
Well. After what I endured, there was no way I wouldn’t be exhausted.
Stepping out of the room, Jiho caught sight of the room across the hallway. Its light was extinguished.
Now that I think about it, Yeonhwa had been sleeping in this room originally. It seemed she had woken while I was asleep.
I should pay my respects. Seeing the darkened room, it seemed she was sleeping there, so Jiho decided to step outside for some fresh air.
Outside, all was silent—not a breath of wind stirred. Even the sound of the forest leaves was absent.
Someone stood in that stillness. It was before a tree where yellow flowers bloomed brilliantly, shimmering with light.

“…Are you awake, Princess?”

It was a small voice, murmured as if to herself, yet it rang clear in the silence.
Yeonhwa turned to face the source of the voice. She lifted the corners of her mouth.

“Did you sleep well?”
“Are you feeling better now?”

Jiho hurried toward Yeonhwa and asked. Yeonhwa nodded as if to say she was fine.

“I’m fine. What about you?”
“Me? I’m fine.”

Jiho wielded her mother’s bow. With her still-unrefined body, it would be difficult to handle its full power.
Yeonhwa pondered this as she observed Jiho carefully.

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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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