Namgung Heavenly Demon - Chapter 74

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 74

Munhyangryu .

True to its name as a pavilion where one listens to fragrance, a peculiar scent wafted from the entrance.

A unique aroma mixing aged wood, old paper, and the smell of metal.

It was the scent of time emanating from countless rare objects.

“Welcome.”

An old man guarding the entrance greeted Namgung Cheon and Namgung Rin.

The old man’s lips curved gently upward as he looked at Namgung Rin with eyes clouded by time.

“It’s been a long time since you’ve come.”

“Yes, I came to challenge it today.”

“…!”

The old man’s eyes widened greatly at Namgung Rin’s bold words.

“Please wait a moment.”

He briefly went inside to send word, then guided the two inside.

The interior of Munhyangryu was structured differently from ordinary giru.

Instead of tables for drinking, display cases filled the walls, packed with all kinds of musical instruments and ancient books.

In the center of the space was a circular dais, with seats arranged around it.

And at the center of that circular dais.

A single pipa placed elegantly on purple silk.

With its dark red lacquered body and strings that sparkled like the Milky Way, it was Cheonwolhyeon.

Its appearance was so magnificent that anyone would gasp in admiration.

But beneath that beauty.

‘The demonic energy is tremendous.’

Dense demonic energy lingered there, at the level that a demon who had practiced demonic martial arts for decades would emit.

‘Cheonwolhyeon.’

A cursed object he had glimpsed in his previous life.

‘Cheonwolmafu was ultimately consumed by Cheonwolhyeon’s demonic energy and took her own life.’

Why on earth, with what thoughts, was Namgung Rin trying to obtain such a thing?

Namgung Cheon looked at Namgung Rin with such thoughts.

Namgung Rin was silently gazing at Cheonwolhyeon.

With wistful and earnest eyes, as if meeting someone she had longed for.

He had expected her eyes to be colored with greed, like a martial artist looking at a divine weapon.

‘Why is this?’

It seemed there was some deeper, more desperate story.

At that moment, Namgung Rin turned her gaze from Cheonwolhyeon and looked around before speaking.

“There are quite a lot of people.”

The audience seats were already so full that it was hard to find empty spots.

Kaifeng’s notable idlers, artists, and connoisseurs were watching Namgung Rin with expectant eyes.

But none of them were speaking.

“Everyone’s quite quiet.”

To Namgung Cheon’s words, Namgung Rin quietly replied.

“Because they remember that day ten years ago.”

“Ten years ago?”

“Yes. The last challenger was my master.”

A glint appeared in Namgung Cheon’s eyes.

The fact that Pungryugweno had challenged it but Cheonwolhyeon was still here meant.

‘Even Pungryugweno failed to master Cheonwolhyeon.’

A disciple challenging what her master had failed.

He could somewhat understand the meaning contained in people’s silence, and the desperation in Namgung Rin’s eyes.

Then, a heavy voice echoed from the second-floor railing.

“So you’ve come.”

An old man in splendid robes was leaning against the railing.

It was the master of Munhyangryu, Taeag.

He was a madman who had devoted his life to collecting rare objects, and also the current owner of Cheonwolhyeon.

Taeag quietly gazed at Namgung Rin with profound eyes before speaking.

“Haven’t I told you before? Give up. Your master also came down coughing up blood.”

“No, I will challenge it.”

At Namgung Rin’s firm answer, Taeag pondered for a moment, then glanced at Namgung Cheon standing beside her.

“Is that person… serving as a witness?”

Namgung Rin nodded at those words.

“Yes, he should be sufficient as a witness.”

“….”

Taeag’s eyes narrowed.

The meaning of ‘witness’ in this place was not light.

A witness was just a euphemism when there were no other words to use.

In reality, it was closer to an executioner who had to personally behead someone consumed by demonic energy.

Taeag stared intently at Namgung Cheon.

‘Their faces are strangely similar…’

At that moment.

“Are you insane?”

Taeag’s anger-filled words burst from his mouth.

“Are you saying you’ll put your own blood relative forward as a witness?”

But Namgung Rin did not back down.

Instead, she raised her head proudly and asked back.

“Then, who could kill me?”

“…What?”

“The martial artists in Munhyangryu are at most at the early stage of peak level. Do you think they could stop me rampaging while consumed by demonic energy, especially me holding Cheonwolhyeon?”

“…!”

Taeag was speechless.

It wasn’t wrong.

Her martial prowess, which she had revealed before, was at the extreme of peak level.

If such a person accepted Cheonwolhyeon’s demonic energy and went berserk?

Munhyangryu would become a sea of blood, and no one would be able to stop her.

“That’s why it must be my younger brother.”

Namgung Rin pointed to Namgung Cheon.

“Because he can kill me. Most certainly, and most painlessly.”

At those words, Namgung Cheon nodded inwardly.

‘So that’s how it was.’

A final bastion prepared for when she became a monster.

She needed someone with the martial power capable of handling that role.

Moreover, what Orthodox Faction martial artist in Kaifeng would dare kill someone of Namgung blood?

In the end, what she could choose was.

‘The eldest young master must have already refused her. That’s why she asked me.’

Only himself.

Taeag looked back and forth between Namgung Cheon and Namgung Rin for a long time.

Finally, he let out a deep sigh and shook his head.

“…What a terrible bloodline.”

Taeag muttered quietly.

He finally shook his head and stepped back.

“…Do as you wish.”

At Taeag’s half-resigned words, Lady Namgung Rin lightly walked out onto the dais.

As she stood in the center of the dais, the silence in the audience became even heavier.

Everyone’s gaze focused on her.

Instead of answering, Lady Namgung Rin sat down in front of Cheonwolhyeon.

And immediately, she embraced the pipa.

Wooooong―!

The pipa vibrated with an unpleasant resonance and began to emit dark red demonic energy bit by bit.

“Kuk!”

Lady Namgung Rin’s brow furrowed.

Cold energy and killing intent crawled up from her fingertips.

‘Vicious from the very start.’

But she did not let go.

Instead, she drew up her internal energy to suppress the demonic energy and firmly maintained her posture.

“I shall begin.”

Dong―!

A heavy and intense vibration like striking a massive drum shook the entire Munhyangryu.

The piece she chose was Ten-Sided Ambush.

Meaning enemies lying in ambush on all sides, it was a pipa piece depicting the urgency when Overlord Xiang Yu was surrounded by Han forces at Gaixia.

Dadadadang―!

A dazzling rapid passage followed.

A majestic yet murderous melody filled the space, as if tens of thousands of cavalry were charging across a battlefield.

The audience was drawn into that overwhelming sound, forgetting even to breathe.

However.

“Uuk.”

As the performance reached its climax, Lady Namgung Rin’s expression contorted.

An alien noise mixed into the pipa’s sound.

The demonic energy had dredged up wounds from the deepest part of her memories.

Clang! Kakang―!

It was the sharp explosive sound of sword clashing against sword.

From her childhood, it was the reason she had to flee the Namgung Clan and the terrible noise she had avoided her entire life.

‘I hate it….’

Her breath caught.

Her vision blurred, and the audience in the seats transformed into warriors holding swords.

The noise from their clashing blades pierced her ears each time they struck.

I have to run away.

‘Just like back then.’

In her childhood, her father had quietly held her and taken her outside the clan.

To a world without noise, where only wind and sound existed.

And the master she met there was salvation sent down from heaven.

But.

‘Master….’

That salvation was crumbling.

So.

‘I must save him….’

She desperately plucked the strings.

But fear made her fingers stiff.

The rhythm became tangled as she tried to avoid the phantom blades flying endlessly before her eyes, and her lips split and bled from swallowing screams.

‘Uuuuk….’

Her fingertips trembled violently.

The nightmares of the past she had fled from mixed with present despair, crushing her mind.

“….”

Namgung Cheon stood below the dais with his arms crossed, watching the entire process.

‘It’s stimulating her inner demons.’

Namgung Cheon saw through to the essence of the situation.

Instead of attacking Lady Namgung Rin’s qi and blood, the demonic energy was burrowing into her memories to make her collapse on her own.

Drawing out the fear hidden in the deepest places to lead her into qi deviation.

That was Cheonwolhyeon’s method.

‘However, it’s not time yet.’

Namgung Cheon did not move.

This too was a wall she had to overcome.

If she could not conquer her own fear, even if he helped her, she would forever remain a half-hearted master manipulated by demonic energy.

Time passed like this.

Tung. Tung. Tung.

Lady Namgung Rin’s performance had already become too disordered to call a melody.

She was barely managing to continue the notes, but even that seemed precarious, ready to break at any moment.

Sweat beading on her forehead flowed down her chin and dripped onto the pipa.

Blood flowing from her lips stained her white collar red.

‘Like this….’

Far from saving her master, would she too become a plaything of the cursed pipa?

It was at the moment when despair was about to swallow her.

―Pull yourself together and listen carefully.

A familiar voice pierced through her mind.

‘Little brother?’

Her fading consciousness became clear for a moment, as if responding to that voice.

The mental transmission continued immediately.

―Do not struggle to clear muddy water. Simply observe where that turbid flow wishes to go, and open that path for it.

Don’t try to purify the turbid flow, but rather open a path for it.

That single phrase opened Lady Namgung Rin’s blocked airways.

‘…Ah!’

Her pupils shook violently.

‘Yes, if the demonic energy came from the pipa….’

Namgung Cheon’s mental transmission continued.

―Accept the demonic energy.

Below the dais, Namgung Cheon’s eyes flashed.

―And send it back out. Through the pipa.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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