The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 291

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

Chapter 291.
A single meteor traced a pristine arc across the pitch-black sky before vanishing into the darkness.
In the dead of night, when starlight flickered in rhythm, a shadow moved through the depths of a remote mountain, treading along a densely forested path.
After walking briskly for the better part of an hour up a narrow trail winding toward the mountainside, an ancient Mountain Gate finally came into view.
Whoosh.
Beyond the Mountain Gate lay a sprawling Flower Garden.
Shimmer, shimmer.
The flowers and plants blooming in the garden emanated a soft, ethereal glow.
At first glance, it appeared as though stars scattered across the night sky had been strewn upon the ground.
Thud, thud.
Passing through the Flower Garden, a small shrine constructed entirely of wood from floor to ceiling came into view.
The shrine’s form was extraordinarily unique and mystical—a style utterly foreign to anything found in Zhong Yuan.
Upon entering the shrine, amber lanterns burned beneath the eaves, and before them stood a massive altar carved from black stone.
Atop the altar rested a hemispherical metal vessel, as though a great bell had been split in half.
Within it churned a dark, murky liquid that moved as though alive, writhing and shifting of its own accord.
Thud, thud.
The shadow observing the altar passed it by and entered a corridor to the right.
The chamber beyond was vast and square, its interior supported by metal pillars that emitted a soft luminescence.
The pillars’ surfaces bore engravings of the Four Symbols—the qilin, the vermillion bird, and others—all glowing with gentle radiance.
The well-patterned ceiling bore inscriptions in unknown characters, their borders chaotically carved with oracle bone script.
Thump.
The shadow prostrate upon the floor opened its mouth and spoke.
“Jeongsayang-do is assembling a massive investigative unit to look into the kidnappings of children.”
The shadow paused briefly before continuing in a hushed voice.
“All of this stems from that one having discovered and annihilated the Ohdok School.”
When no response came, the shadow spoke again with utmost caution.
“If we allow this to continue unchecked, it will gravely hinder our great undertaking.”
At last, an extraordinarily low and faint voice emanated from the chamber.
[Bu Eunseol.]
The voice resonated with an eerie tranquility.
Its tone and timbre shifted ceaselessly, making it impossible to discern whether the speaker was female or male.
Yet once heard, it was unforgettable—intense and utterly captivating.
[Is he not already the successor to the Demon Palace?]
Bu Eunseol had become one of the Four Gods Seven Kings, wielding tremendous influence throughout Murim, and above all, the successor to the Demon Palace.
To touch him was to invite the Demon Palace’s wrath.
[Or do you now suggest we erase the Demon Palace itself?]
The voice seemed to genuinely believe it could sweep away the Demon Palace—that fortress of a million demonic paths—without hesitation.
“His martial prowess is formidable, and his temperament is known to be exceptionally cold and distant… yet he possesses an unexpected weakness.”
[A weakness?]
“The Ten Demon Immortals.”
The shadow bowed low, speaking in a hushed voice.
“He appears indifferent to all things, yet harbors a peculiar affection for the Ten Demon Immortals.”
The shadow paused briefly before continuing.
“Examining his past actions, every reckless decision he made was solely to save the Ten Demon Immortals.”
The prostrate shadow spoke once more with earnest conviction.
“If we exploit the Ten Demon Immortals, we can surely lure him out alone and eliminate him.”
At that, a peculiar emotion colored the voice emanating from within the chamber.
[The most terrifying trap in this world is one that uses affection as its snare….]
For the first time, emotion infused that voice.
Sorrow and anguish.
“….”
Silence stretched on for a long while.
After prolonged quietude had settled over the interior, that strange voice echoed once more.
Yet it was so faint that it resonated only in the ears of the shadow prostrated before him.
* * *
Bu Eunseol sat in her office, gazing down at a letter.
She continuously mobilized the intelligence networks of Mu Ha Soo Yu Jeong and the Guusal Unit to track both Saixiang and Chil Ji Ma Do Bu Janyeong.
This was the only method that could possibly lead her to Hyung Su’s traces.
Knock, knock.
At that moment, Si Bi’s low voice sounded.
“Lord, a visitor has arrived.”
“A visitor?”
Creak.
The door swung open, and a sturdy figure clad in black martial robes strode in without hesitation.
Long hair draped on both sides of his face, revealing an androgynous yet captivating visage between the strands.
It was Seo Jin Ha.
“Are you busy?”
Seo Jin Ha glanced around the office before speaking.
“As expected of a successor’s office—quite impressive.”
Though Seo Jin Ha served as commander of the Cheon Sal Unit, there remained a vast gap in status between him and Bu Eunseol, the heir to the Demon Hall.
Yet he surveyed the surroundings as if entering his own home, then settled onto the table with perfect ease.
Bu Eunseol regarded Seo Jin Ha’s natural demeanor with composure, then continued writing the letter as she spoke.
“What brings you here?”
“I’ve taken about a month’s leave. The main unit has had no pressing assignments lately.”
Seo Jin Ha flashed a white-toothed smile.
“We agreed to gather together for drinks when things quieted down.”
He glanced around once more before continuing.
“Call Myo Cheon Woo and Yu Woon Ryong as well. I’ll treat everyone to a proper drink.”
“Hmm.”
As Bu Eunseol’s expression grew troubled, Seo Jin Ha’s eyes widened.
“What’s this? Too busy to even have a drink?”
“That’s not it. They’ve both requested leave.”
“Oh? Where to?”
“Myo Cheon Woo took his men to Haenam. He said he’d be testing his newly developed spear technique against the waves.”
Recently, Myo Cheon Woo had been selecting talented members and teaching them his spear purification method.
Now he’d taken leave to conduct proper training in Haenam.
“And Yu Woon Ryong?”
“Yu Woon Ryong went to Jeol Gang Yong Cheon to work on the Ten-Section Staff. He needs to find an exceptionally skilled craftsman.”
Yu Woon Ryong had been drafting the design for the Ten-Section Staff.
He’d discovered that the weapon he’d created possessed one fatal flaw.
The chain connections—essentially the joints of the Ten-Section Staff—were dangerously weak.
If an opponent learned of this weakness, they would target the joints first, and the weapon would be destroyed instantly.
To remedy this flaw, Yu Woon Ryong intended to completely redesign the chain sections of the Ten-Section Staff.
“He took leave, so why is he doing this?”
Seo Jin Ha’s expression turned bewildered.
“He should just rest comfortably. Why is he doing such things? Don’t tell me you ordered him to.”
“How could I?”
Bu Eunseol spoke with a dismissive snort.
“I clearly told them to rest easy. But both of them insisted these were personal matters they’d handle during their leave.”
“Hah, they’ve become complete workaholics.”
Seo Jin Ha’s shoulders drooped in exasperation.
Myo Cheon Woo’s gloomy nature was one thing, but…
Yu Woon Ryong, who seemed unable to adapt to the Demon Palace, had become a workaholic too.
“How exactly do you turn reckless brutes into loyal subordinates?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Mubon Squad is like that, and Yu Woon Ryong—that rebel of the world—is the same.”
When Bu Eunseol offered no response, Seo Jin Ha muttered with regret.
“The squad has strict discipline, so that’s one thing, but… honestly, demanding unconditional loyalty through force and authority isn’t my style either.”
Then he sighed deeply and continued muttering.
“How can I make our Jo’s men into subordinates who serve with genuine devotion…?”
At that, Bu Eunseol, who had been writing a letter, spoke up.
“Loyalty doesn’t exist.”
“What?”
“What loyalty could sword-eaters possibly have? They’re merely struggling to survive.”
Bu Eunseol continued speaking flatly, her gaze fixed on the letter.
“Your only duty is to train your subordinates so that no matter the circumstances, they survive and return alive.”
“…”
“That’s what a commander with even a single coin or shred of power should do.”
Seo Jin Ha’s expression went blank for a moment.
Then he suddenly burst into laughter.
“Hehehehe.”
After laughing heartily for a while, he nodded as if he had realized something.
“So that was the method.”
“What method?”
“You appear indifferent, yet you take meticulous care of your subordinates.”
“I do not.”
“Hehehehe.”
Seo Jin Ha rose from his seat with a faint smile.
“Truly, if I had a superior like you, I would have devoted my life to loyalty.”
Despite his lavish praise, Bu Eunseol responded not at all, continuing only to write her correspondence.
“Hmm.”
Shaking his head, Seo Jin Ha approached and swiftly pulled the letter Bu Eunseol was writing toward himself.
Had anyone witnessed this, they would have been utterly astonished.
Bu Eunseol possessed a ruthless temperament and held in extreme contempt any behavior that overstepped propriety.
“What are you doing?”
Though receiving Bu Eunseol’s frigid gaze, Seo Jin Ha gestured to his own face with an unbothered expression.
“What can I do? It is a day of rest.”
“….”
“You should humor me at least.”
On a night when the moon hung brilliantly in the sky.
Bu Eunseol sat atop the roof of the Jamma Pavilion, piercing the darkness above.
And beside him was Seo Jin Ha.
In the past, Bu Eunseol had greatly enjoyed drinking wine upon rooftops.
It was for the gaze that looked down upon this world, and the sense of liberation that could only be felt in such a high, open place.
Yet after the drinking gathering with Gongssi Ssangma at the Gu Sal Dae Ak Yang Branch, Bu Eunseol no longer drank wine upon rooftops.
For their final, lonely and desolate moment had come to mind.
But was it mere coincidence?
Seo Jin Ha had procured fine wine and suddenly led Bu Eunseol to the roof of the Jamma Pavilion.
Gulp, gulp.
After taking a sip from the gourd flask, Seo Jin Ha tossed it back to Bu Eunseol.
Though he had brought plenty of wine, Seo Jin Ha deliberately used only one gourd flask, passing it back and forth with Bu Eunseol as they drank.
―Why drink in such an inconvenient manner?
An ordinary person would have asked at least once why they drank this way.
But Bu Eunseol did not ask.
For I had long understood that this was how Seo Jin Ha drank with a cherished friend.
It was something I could sense from long ago.
Clink.
After drinking, Bu Eunseol tossed the gourd flask back to Seo Jin Ha.
Drinking upon a roof bathed in moonlight required no many words—it was as though they had shared hundreds of sentiments with open hearts.
The two passed the flask back and forth, drinking for a long while.
“Even with leave, I’m still stuck like this.”
Seo Jin Ha sighed while gazing into the wine within the gourd bottle.
“There’s simply nothing to do.”
He smacked his lips, and as if some thought had struck him, he burst into laughter and spoke.
“But that was impressive, wasn’t it? To seize both flowers of the Jeongsayang-do in each hand while being so busy.”
In that instant, Bu Eunseol’s complexion darkened.
The memory of suffering through those days because of that “betrothal incident” came flooding back.
“We are nothing to each other.”
“What are you talking about? Nothing to each other?”
“It was a desperate measure to quell the rumors about seeking a bride.”
“Huh?”
“Otherwise, portrait albums would have continued pouring in endlessly until now.”
“The Shin Nyeo Gung made an official announcement too. They said you were betrothed.”
Seo Jin Ha tilted his head in confusion.
“Thanks to that, the young men who had gathered at the Shin Nyeo Gung, hoping to catch even a glimpse of her, left in tears of blood.”
“We were not betrothed.”
“What do you mean? Then why didn’t you deny it when that rumor spread?”
“There was a reason.”
Bu Eunseol lowered her head with a dejected expression.
“An unavoidable circumstance.”
Seo Jin Ha barely suppressed the laughter threatening to burst forth.
Bu Eunseol, whose martial prowess was remarkable and who overcame every crisis that descended upon her in a single breath, was now wearing an expression of frustration?
“Could it be that you’re actually completely naive in this regard?”
“What are you saying?”
“Well, isn’t it so? The Lord of Muhonjung, who possesses not only formidable martial skill but also great wisdom, overcoming any difficulty.”
Seo Jin Ha spoke with a smirk.
“Yet you cannot easily resolve matters of the heart?”
“I have resolved it. In my own way.”
“How?”
“If I had acted harshly, they would have clung to me all the more.”
Bu Eunseol’s eyes narrowed.
“The world is filled with magnificent and excellent people. As time passes, they too will come to understand this truth.”
“In other words, time heals all wounds.”
“Precisely.”
Seo Jin Ha crossed his arms as he spoke.
“But what if they continue to wait for you even as time passes?”
“….”
“What will you do then, if they desire only you until their hair turns white and they become bent old women?”
“Until their hair turns white….”
In Bu Eunseol’s eyes as she gazed toward the distant sky, a profound silence settled.
“If I could live long enough to see my hair turn white… that would truly be a miracle.”
His eyes and tone resembled that of a child abandoned alone in this world.
In that moment, Seo Jin Ha’s eyes grew red.
Bu Eunseol.
What could you possibly be thinking? What goal drives you forward…
How can you despair so deeply of life and regard your own existence as so fleeting?
Seo Jin Ha was a person of profound emotion.
Had it been otherwise, he could never have harbored feelings of friendship toward the extremely cold Bu Eunseol.
“But… how did the Ohdok School find out about this?”
After a long silence, he turned the conversation away, gazing at Bu Eunseol’s profile reflected in the bright moonlight.
“The kidnapping of the children was something even the leadership of our organization didn’t know about. How did you discover it?”
Tak.
Bu Eunseol, having received the gourd bottle, took a deep swig of the liquor.
And only after a long pause did he slowly open his mouth.
“It seems Cheon Sal Dae Ju ordered me to investigate it.”
“Ha ha. You really can’t escape him.”
Despite having his true intentions instantly seen through, Seo Jin Ha laughed playfully.
“As you know, our Lord greatly dislikes you. Moreover, he’s quite close with the leadership of the Ten Demonic Gates who view you unfavorably.”
And he spoke with a bitter expression.
“He somehow knew I was friendly with you, and ordered me to investigate once.”
“How they obtain information. How they operate that organization. He ordered me to investigate.”
“That’s right.”
Bu Eunseol, who had been silent for a moment, spoke in a low voice.
“I investigated the Murim Alliance for a time.”
And he suddenly shared facts that would astound Seo Jin Ha.
“And I happened to discover a spy who had infiltrated the Murim Alliance. He turned out to be a member of the Ohdok School.”
Seo Jin Ha’s eyes widened greatly.
Bu Eunseol had investigated the Murim Alliance? That meant he had either dispatched agents there or infiltrated it himself, didn’t it?
If such a fact were to become known, a great war could erupt between the Demon Palace and the Murim Alliance.
“Why are you telling me all of this?”
Seo Jin Ha asked with wide eyes.
“We made a promise.”
Bu Eunseol spoke with an indifferent expression.
“That I would not stab you in the back.”
In that instant, Seo Jin Ha’s pupils trembled.
―This body will at least not betray anyone.
Those were the words Bu Eunseol had spoken when Seo Jin Ha proposed they join forces on Hell Island.
And Bu Eunseol had believed in those words.
Even now, after all this time had passed.
‘He’s trusted me all along.’
Bu Eunseol always claimed she never believed in friendship.
Yet she held steadfast to her own words—wasn’t that the very essence of true friendship?
Seo Jin Ha barely suppressed the overwhelming emotion swelling in her chest, and grumbled without reason.
“Well, you’ll manage things well enough on your own, but the leadership of the Righteous Path and the Ten Demonic Gates are still keeping a close eye on your movements.”
After taking a deep breath, she spoke again.
“For now, refrain from mobilizing your intelligence network and rest. In your current state, whatever you do will be discovered by them.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Because there’s something I must find.”
“What on earth?”
When Bu Eunseol didn’t answer, Seo Jin Ha sighed.
“You’re already the successor to the Demon Hall. Yet you still lack something?”
“I became the successor to the Demon Hall precisely to operate an intelligence organization like this.”
Bu Eunseol spoke with slightly weary eyes.
“But there’s something I cannot find even with the power I possess now.”
“What exactly are you trying to find?”
….
“Is it something you cannot even tell me?”
“It’s simply something I must do.”
“Bu Eunseol.”
Seo Jin Ha looked at her directly with a serious expression.
“I may not be as powerful as you, but I am the commander of the Cheon Sal Unit, and I wield considerable influence.”
And she spoke with a forceful voice.
“In other words, I might happen to acquire information you don’t possess.”
After a long silence, Bu Eunseol spoke in a low voice.
“Saixiang.”
“Saixiang?”
“Yes. I must catch their trail.”
In that instant, Seo Jin Ha’s expression became strange.
Saixiang was known as the greatest master of assassination, but that was all.
They merely distributed refined assassination techniques throughout Murim. The assassins rarely revealed themselves, and they wielded no influence over Murim.
Moreover, they concealed their identity so thoroughly that their headquarters had never been discovered for ages.
Why would Bu Eunseol seek out such a place?
Seo Jin Ha, gazing into Bu Eunseol’s eyes, nodded her head.
“Yes, I understand.”
There was no need to know the reason.
Bu Eunseol had resolved that no matter what hardship lay ahead, she would find Saixiang.
Then my own path was already determined.
For that is what friendship truly is.
“I’ve only made this drinking session heavier with pointless talk.”
Seo Jin Ha slowly rose to his feet.
“I’ll be heading back. It’s been far too long since I’ve had a proper respite.”
Turning his head, Seo Jin Ha’s face brightened with a warm smile.
“While I’m away, take care of yourself.”
And before Bu Eunseol could even respond, he unfurled his divine technique and descended below the Jamma Pavilion.
“….”
Bu Eunseol stood motionless, her gaze fixed on Seo Jin Ha’s receding figure.
Unlike love, friendship can endure even when sustained by only one person’s devotion.
That is both the greatness and the tragedy of friendship.
But Bu Eunseol did not yet understand this truth…
Soon, she would come to deeply regret what transpired this day.

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