Regressed by the Heavenly Demon - Chapter 12

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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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I had returned to the Heavenly Demon Sect.
White Spirit Tree (2)
The Lady of the House, seated in the gold chair of the Grand Hall, dismissed the attendants who had been trimming her nails.
As I entered, Geon Pyeong stood with his head bowed, his face flushed as though he had committed some grave offense.
“I was intending to pay my respects regardless. But what do you mean by a marriage proposal?”
“Before that, I heard from your brother what you’ve done. You made a shambles of the Banquet Hall, and despite so many witnesses, you’ve tarnished our family’s honor.”
She made no mention of the fact that he had attacked me first and been thoroughly defeated—whether from pride or some other calculation, it remained unsaid.
For my part, it was convenient.
“……”
“Did you obtain a stroke of fortune? With your skill level, that shouldn’t have been possible.”
I nodded without hesitation to the Lady of the House, whose gaze carried unmistakable weight.
“Yes.”
“Could it be that this is connected to the land you purchased? That Wood Garden your brother mentioned you’d suddenly acquired?”
The Lady of the House’s intuition, honed sharp as a blade by piecing together the turning events, was incisive.
But I did not answer her openly.
“There is a party involved in this transaction present here. It would be a disadvantage to me to reveal whether that transaction harbored any ulterior motives. I shall tell you of it another time.”
“How fascinating. I wonder whether I simply failed to see you until now, or whether you’ve finally come of age. Truly remarkable.”
I had begun to cultivate enough strength to protect myself within Hwanggeum Manor, and I judged that continuing to mimic Geon A Seong as before would now poison rather than aid me.
It seemed wiser to let the miraculous growth in Geon A Seong’s abilities invite assessments of arrogance and recklessness instead—a better mask than slavish imitation for keeping my true nature hidden.
Though before long, the time to shed this ill-fitting skin would arrive.
“What surprises me more is that after that scuffle with me, my brother saw fit to scurry off and tattle to Mother about it all. How much longer do you intend to cling to our mother’s skirts?”
“You insolent wretch——”
Whether shame or fury, Geon Pyeong glared at me with murder in his eyes. But when I held his stare without flinching, he turned away, his gaze falling to the floor.
Watching this with interest, the Lady of the House spoke to him.
“Leave us.”
“Mother!!”
“I said leave. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
Geon Pyeong, reading the air, forced himself to step away, his feet reluctant to obey.
Once he had gone, the Lady of the House turned to me with a meaning-laden expression.
“You changed after Geon Gon’s death. How curious. The only witness to all the circumstances of that time—that dual-eared mute—was killed by Seolha, and everything else was quietly buried. So it occurred to me to wonder.”
The Lady of the House gently gripped the armrest with her fingertips, her smile turning cold.
“Who are you? Who are you to be impersonating my son?”
The Lady of the House descended upon me.
Simultaneously, the elite guards of Hwanggeum Manor—those who moved only at her command—closed in around me.
Roughly thirty of them.
The Gold Scale Guard.
Among them, the commander of the Gold Scale Guard, standing as a match for the personal bodyguard captain of Hwanggeum Manor’s Lord.
Golden Steel Scar: Geum Sa Yeop.
Within this encirclement so tight that escape seemed impossible, the Lady of the House closed the distance until her breath nearly touched my face.
A position where even breathing itself felt suspect.
I paused for just an instant in consideration.
Whether to cut them all down.
Survival against Geum Sa Yeop was uncertain, but if I were willing to perish alongside them, I could kill them all—this much was clear.
Especially this middle-aged witch standing before me.
My fingers itched to draw my blade. Yet the identity of a Hwanggeum heir still held enough utility that I was not yet ready to discard it.
That alone gave me pause.
And if it gave me pause, I should exploit it further.
I stepped half a step closer.
“What is it that you wish to know?”
The Lady of the House did not answer. Instead, she reached out and brushed her hand across my neck and face.
A subtle surge of True Qi cut against me with the sting of a blade.
“So it’s not the Skinmask Technique.”
What equipped a spy with the necessary tools owed much to the Heavenly Demon Sect’s advanced secret arts and their refinements.
The Skinmask Technique was not mere technique—it was a tool whose activation and dissolution could be controlled according to the grain of True Qi that I myself had set, making it capable of being reversed and reattached. Unless one could see through this precisely, my Skinmask would never be exposed.
Rip——
Dissatisfied, the Lady of the House forcibly tore open my upper garment.
It was obvious.
She was seeking to confirm the black mark that remained above my left shoulder.
I was neither a clumsy spy nor a mere assassin.
I was one possessed of the authority and skill to command those who had worn such masks smooth through long years of use.
I who knew how to exploit others would naturally be able to discern even the finest distinctions.
The dots themselves used the Complete Inscription Technique, a facial transplant art similar to the Skinmask Technique.
“Mother? Whatever do you mean by this? You’re behaving strangely today.”
Of course the Lady of the House, ignorant of it all, could only feel bewildered.
To her misfortune, I had not wasted my years.
I drove the wedge deeper as the Lady of the House hesitated.
“The reason I coveted the Opportunity in the Wood Garden and did not speak plainly to you, Mother, was to lay the proper groundwork for a succession struggle.”
“…….”
“You have always shown special favor only to my eldest brother and the third son. I was caught in the middle, never given the chance to properly prove my strength, and my shortcomings only made my incompetence shine the brighter. But now it is different. I desire the position of Manor Lord. I wish to cast aside my brothers with your trust at my back.”
At my brazen declaration of wanting the Manor Lord’s seat, a faint smile flickered across the Lady of the House’s rigid features.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. If you wish, I will lay bare every detail of what Opportunity I have obtained.”
“Enough. If you are truly my son as your words suggest, then your strength benefits me, so there is no need to hear more.”
Deeming that I had undergone sufficient scrutiny, the Lady of the House returned to her seat and settled herself anew.
Unlike her usual languid and indifferent gaze, her eyes fixed upon me now burned with fierce intensity.
“I thought you gleamed only with your father’s polish and had inherited nothing of me, yet it seems my blood does flow through you after all. Then you mean to say you would kill your brothers whenever it suits your purposes.”
“I would do so without hesitation if necessity demands it.”
“…….”
“Yet only if you grant me leave, Mother. I require your encouragement and your forbearance.”
“Forbearance, you say….”
“Are you not the mistress of Hwanggeum Manor, and do you not desire above all that this House grow mighty? The tumult that arises from pruning the useless branches and preserving only the strongest stem is but the necessary pang of growth.”
I straightened my garments and stepped closer to the Lady of the House.
Geum Sa Yeop moved to block my approach, but the Lady of the House waved him back with a casual gesture.
With each step forward, the distance narrowed.
The Lady of the House’s psychological resistance crumbled before me.
Now, I had come far enough.
“Simply watch and see. Let this second son, neither the first nor the third, undertake deeds that will illuminate your legacy further. Yet should my brothers become obstacles to that course, I shall make merciless choices in your name.”
“What if you fail?”
“Could there be anything more just than that? You need only extend your hand to the victor, Mother. For the sake of your grand ambitions.”
The Lady of the House I knew was, throughout her life, a singularly selfish creature.
She desired not her children’s ambitions, but that which would fulfill her own.
The internal strife that would later become one of the reasons for Hwanggeum Manor’s decline stemmed largely from the Lady of the House’s blindness to her own greed—she heeded not the conflicts of her children.
I had merely touched that nerve.
Thereupon, the Lady of the House would become as one who gave me wings.
Wings for an uncontrollable, irregular existence.
I knelt before her.
“Command me, Mother.”
Shortly after, above my bowed head came the laughter of the Lady of the House, tinged with a coquettish tone.
“Haha, I shall see whether your ability matches your confidence. I never dreamed you possessed such audacity.”
Crisis is but opportunity.
From this suspicion, I had obtained the Lady of the House’s forbearance, and that meant this middle-aged witch’s ruin would only accelerate.
“Yes, Mother. I shall devote all to aid your legacy.”
“Good. Now let me see how this marriage proposal that lies before you might be of use to me. Bring in the Marriage Proposal Document that was sent and receive the guest.”
Not long after, the principal in the marriage matter I myself had wondered about revealed themselves.
Hmm?
It was a face I knew.
*
*
*
Presently, as Geon A Seong led the guest outside, the Lady of the House watched with an enigmatic gaze.
“What do you make of it?”
Geum Sa Yeop replied in a measured voice.
“There are points enough to arouse suspicion, though no clear evidence emerges. Thus I now regard the sudden emotional change as having transformed the second young master. Yet I cannot yet discern why he made Seolha, that escort, yield without protest.”
“Hmm.”
“Given his devotion to Geon Gon, suicide should have been his proper course long ago, yet he follows the second young master without any extraordinary incident. This sits uneasily with me. Particularly….”
“Continue.”
“Though he appears to acquiesce, there is an instinct that he might draw the blade of betrayal at any moment. Such flawless absolute obedience itself speaks to a man exercising rigid control over his own heart.”
“…….”
“Yet even accounting for all these variables, for now he seems to share the same aim as his lord, so would it not be wise to observe further?”
“You speak truly. Yet desire is a sentiment that may turn at any moment and strike at me, so should it seem to become a detriment, report it at once.”
“Yes.”
Geum Sa Yeop retreated back into the shadows.
*
*
*
“You’re not saying much, are you?”
…….
A spirited girl stood before me, beaming with undisguised delight.
She was the one who had mingled with Yeon Gyu Baek’s group, concealing her identity by withholding her name until the very end.
Nineteen years old.
Of exceedingly noble birth.
Je Gal Myeong’s daughter—the Heavenly Strategist himself.
Je Gal Rin.
The sole and singular daughter of the Je Gal Clan’s patriarch, lacking any sons to inherit.
Though she lacked the overwhelming martial prowess of the Sichuan Dang Clan, one of the Five Major Clans, the Je Gal family’s influence spread so wide throughout the Martial World that their renown and authority could never be dismissed. Such was their reach.
Even the Heavenly Demon Sect counted the Je Gal Clan as their most troublesome adversary among the Five Major Clans—a testament to their brilliance and precision.
There was even a saying about them.
—Do not trust even the breath that escapes the Je Gal Clan’s lips.
In other words, this girl’s visit to me might have been motivated by far more than simple curiosity.
I might as well play along—
“Hoho, I don’t appeal to you, then?”
“It’s merely the abruptness of it. How could I not find you appealing? What finer matrimonial prospect exists than one of the Five Major Clans?”
“You’re too kind. But wouldn’t the second son of Hwanggeum Manor—the one who stirs all of Sichuan Province and shakes the realm—suffice?”
“After all, what is he but a merchant? The rumors aren’t even kingdom-wide—they’re merely the chatter of banquets and celebration halls.”
“How modest of you.”
“Yet tell me—why did you bring up the matter of marriage? I recall no particular conversation between us.”
“You showed us something quite extraordinary. Those young men, after all, are the sons of fairly renowned martial families within Sichuan Province—the sort who’ve spent their whole lives eating rice and wielding swords.”
“And?”
“Yet as you demonstrated, a mere merchant made sport of those heirs like they were nothing more than grass. And it wasn’t just me who witnessed it. Everyone present was astonished by the young master’s prowess.”
“You took a fancy to me because of that?”
“Precisely. The Hwanggeum Family’s financial reach is so formidable that even the Sichuan Dang Clan regards them with caution, is it not? And on top of that, exceptional martial talent. Where could one find a more satisfactory match? Besides, the word hasn’t spread far enough yet—there are scarcely any rivals to compete with.”
…….
“I hear the lady of the Ju Seong Clan still regrets not choosing you over Geon Pyeong. So I thought….”
Je Gal Rin interlaced her fingers, rested her chin upon them, and leaned closer.
“What about me?”
I answered flatly.
“Not interested.”
Je Gal Rin’s brow twitched with unmistakable displeasure.

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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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