The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 389

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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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Chapter 389.
The Assassin Leader’s voice rang out with fury.
“That doesn’t belong to you—it belongs to our organization. If you wanted to leave, you should have done so quietly. Why did you steal it?”
‘So the item she needed to return was the Debt Repayment Coin.’
So Yo hadn’t simply left Baek Ryeol Sal Moon.
She was fleeing after stealing the Debt Repayment Coin that Baek Ryeol Sal Moon had been secretly safeguarding.
‘They were keeping the Debt Repayment Coin in a place like Baek Ryeol Sal Moon?’
Bu Eunseol, greatly startled, soon grasped something crucial.
She too had received a Debt Repayment Coin from Nam Goong Woon.
Perhaps she had received it as payment for a contract, or perhaps she had seized someone else’s.
In other words, if one knew the whereabouts of a Debt Repayment Coin, there were countless ways to obtain it.
‘So Baek Ryeol Sal Moon’s true objective is her Debt Repayment Coin. They’ll pursue her relentlessly until it’s returned.’
My mind raced with crystalline clarity.
I had conceived of a way to save So Yo by exploiting this very situation.
At that moment, the Assassin Leader cried out again.
“You would save a child with no connection to you and betray the organization that has sheltered you all this time?”
He continued, glaring down at So Yo.
“Or did you steal the Debt Repayment Coin to find a way to escape our pursuit?”
In that instant, I understood several truths.
She had not entered Baek Ryeol Sal Moon of her own volition.
And not only did she possess a Debt Repayment Coin like myself, but she was being hunted because she had refused an order to kill a child.
“Return the Debt Repayment Coin, and I will let you go.”
The Assassin Leader gritted his teeth as he spoke.
“And I will cease pursuit.”
“Refused.”
“Why.”
“Because I need a way to save that child.”
“A way to save her?”
“Severed Yin Meridian.”
In short, the child suffered from Severed Yin Meridian, and she had taken the Debt Repayment Coin to find a cure.
“And… you won’t keep your promise anyway.”
At So Yo’s words, the Assassin Leader’s eyes blazed crimson.
“If you’ve thought that far, there’s no choice.”
The Assassin Leader sighed and bellowed toward his subordinates behind him.
“From this moment on…”
“Wait.”
At that moment, Bu Eunseol suddenly stepped forward in front of So Yo.
“There’s no need to fight.”
The Assassin Leader’s brow furrowed as Bu Eunseol came forward.
“Who are you?”
Bu Eunseol reached into her robes and produced an old coin instead of answering.
It was the Gratitude Coin created by Shin San Ja.
“How… did you obtain that?”
“The reason matters not. But understand this.”
Bu Eunseol, her gaze fixed on the distant sky, spoke in a low voice.
“This Gratitude Coin now belongs to our Alliance, and we have assumed responsibility for her recovery. Therefore, cease your pursuit.”
“Our Alliance?”
Sal Soo stared intently at Bu Eunseol before his eyes flashed with recognition.
“You speak of the Murim Alliance?”
“Now go.”
Bu Eunseol smiled coldly.
“Unless you wish to die.”
When it came to schemes and stratagems, Bu Eunseol was second to none.
With those words alone, she had set the Baek Ryeol Sal Moon and the Murim Alliance’s assassins against one another.
Whoosh.
Detecting the faint sound of air being torn from a distance through her Empty Heart Divine Eyes, Bu Eunseol’s lips curved upward as she spoke.
“Of course, such words alone won’t make assassins of the Baek Ryeol Sal Moon’s caliber back down, will they?”
Whoosh.
The faint sound that had been barely audible began to grow increasingly distinct.
It was the sound of air splitting as masters with superior movement techniques deployed their inner energy—the distinctive resonance of the Lightness Arts in motion.
In other words, more than thirty masters were rushing toward this location with their techniques fully unleashed.
“Leave the rest to our Alliance’s reinforcements and let us depart quickly.”
Bu Eunseol grasped So Yo’s sleeve and spoke with casual confidence.
“They will be annihilated regardless.”
She immediately deployed her Lightness Arts.
The movement was so fluid and natural that she channeled a formidable suction force through the hand gripping So Yo’s sleeve.
Whoosh.
Thanks to this, So Yo’s small frame was instantly drawn against Bu Eunseol and lifted into the air.
The moment Bu Eunseol escaped with So Yo using her Lightness Arts,
Whoosh, crash.
Forty-some assassins arrived behind where Baek Ryeol Sal Moon stood with his men.
Their eyes gleamed with intensity and their formation was perfectly coordinated, suggesting that Bu Eunseol’s claim about the Murim Alliance was no lie.
“When did she make contact with the Murim Alliance!”
The Assassin Leader, watching the distant figures of Bu Eunseol and So Yo vanish, ground his teeth together.
He immediately shouted orders to his subordinates.
“The Blood Ghost Squad—intercept them! The rest of you, follow our Master!”
* * *
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Bu Eunseol moved swiftly through the air alongside So Yo, deploying her Lightness Arts at full speed.
Though she suspended So Yo’s entire body beside her using her inner energy, she felt no weight whatsoever.
So Yo’s body was so thin and frail that she couldn’t have weighed more than sixty jin.
Thud.
Bu Eunseol finally released her hand as they arrived at a nearby village.
“There was no time to explain everything.”
Realizing that So Yo was older than herself, Bu Eunseol let go of her sleeve and spoke in a respectful tone.
“Please forgive my rudeness.”
“Why.”
So Yo seemed to be asking, “Why did you help me?”
“We both have pursuers, so I simply made use of that.”
“Why.”
This time, the question seemed to be, “Why do you have the Debt Ledger?”
“I have been searching for Shin San Ja for a long time. I came to Gangho this time because I found traces of his whereabouts.”
Perhaps it was because their temperaments and dispositions were similar.
Bu Eunseol, who somehow understood all of her words, continued explaining earnestly.
“In any case, since two forces have clashed, there will be no pursuit for a while. Let us stop sleeping rough now and rest comfortably.”
And without waiting for a response, he walked into the bustling Village Entrance.
However, after walking for some time, Bu Eunseol sensed something amiss.
He could not feel her presence following behind him at all.
“”
Turning his head, Bu Eunseol could not hide his bewilderment.
He had naturally assumed she would rest comfortably and eat at an inn.
Yet there she was, wading into the sewer at the Village Entrance with her pants rolled up.
Splish, splosh.
So Yo, who had entered the foul-smelling sewer, began fishing out floating garbage.
“Wait.”
Bu Eunseol was not one to meddle in others’ affairs under normal circumstances.
But this time was an exception.
Every action of So Yo drew Bu Eunseol’s attention fiercely, like a magnet pulling iron filings.
“Why do you not go to the inn and instead scavenge scraps from the sewer?”
Bu Eunseol’s expression was filled with questions, as if confronted with an unsolvable riddle.
So Yo did not even look at him as she fished out food scraps and spoke.
“No money.”
‘So she was a vagrant.’
Only then did Bu Eunseol come to understand that her life had not been smooth.
And he could infer that her character was more upright than expected.
Despite possessing exceptional martial prowess, she refused to beg or steal… so she would rather eat garbage from the sewer.
“There is no need to eat that.”
Bu Eunseol spoke matter-of-factly.
“I will buy you a meal. Let us go.”
“No.”
But she refused outright.
She didn’t speak the words aloud, but her expression made it clear she had no desire to receive kindness without reason.
“Thanks to you, I was able to shake off my pursuers. I’m simply repaying that debt.”
Kindness.
It meant the small benevolence one human could offer another without expecting anything in return.
And such gestures often brought unexpected connections into being.
“Bu Eunseol.”
For the first time, emotion flickered across her eyes.
It was an indifferent gaze, yet one brimming with questions.
“The successor of Demon Hall.”
“You know of me?”
“I had to come to Zhong Yuan.”
So Yo’s purpose was to find Shin San Ja in Zhong Yuan to rescue the child.
For that reason, she must have memorized information about Zhong Yuan’s Murim situation, details about outstanding figures, and their appearances.
That was why, unlike the assassins of Baek Ryeol Sal Moon, she could recognize Bu Eunseol immediately.
“And you are?”
When Bu Eunseol asked, she replied with her silver eyes gleaming.
“So Yo.”
“Is that your real name?”
“Just So Yo.”
It seemed she too had been abandoned without even knowing her true name, and had received this designation from Baek Ryeol Sal Moon.
“I see.”
Bu Eunseol nodded lightly and extended her hand in a casual gesture.
“Then let us go.”
The fact that someone like So Yo had revealed her name meant she was accepting my kindness.
Hyang Hwa Inn, banquet hall.
A large table sat there, spacious enough to comfortably seat ten sturdy men.
And atop it lay dishes piled high enough to satisfy the appetites of ten such men.
A girl in black martial robes and a man in gray martial robes sat facing each other, eating.
They were Bu Eunseol and So Yo.
Crunch, crunch, crunch. Clink, clink, clink.
While Bu Eunseol picked up a single piece of braised fish.
So Yo was chewing with a piece of roasted duck, a chopstick of egg noodles, stir-fried beef, and plump shrimp all crammed into her mouth simultaneously.
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
So Yo’s appearance was that of a girl barely thirteen years old, yet her appetite exceeded that of more than ten grown men combined.
Food disappeared into that small mouth and stomach so relentlessly that one could not fathom where it all went.
“More.”
As the dishes emptied rapidly, So Yo pointed at a plate with her finger.
Each time, Bu Eunseol called for the Tavern Servant to bring more dishes.
But as this continued repeatedly, the Tavern Servant simply waited outside the banquet hall, continuously taking orders.
“One bowl of rice with soy sauce, fried beef. And one roasted duck plus two chickens!”
Scritch, scritch, scritch.
In the meantime, So Yo held a bowl in one hand while sweeping food onto it with chopsticks.
“Remarkable.”
She was the type who wouldn’t bat an eye at most things.
Yet Bu Eunseol’s eyes continuously betrayed the emotions flowing through her.
“Eat slowly.”
Bu Eunseol spoke calmly.
“The collision between two forces won’t end easily. There won’t be pursuit for some time.”
So Yo spoke while chewing a mouthful of food.
“When you can eat, you have to eat a lot.”
In that moment, Bu Eunseol’s eyes darkened.
It was a common habit among vagrants. Days when one could eat decent food were few and far between.
So when the opportunity arose, they would fill their bellies as much as possible.
An ordinary Murim martial artist would have asked her various questions while eating.
But Bu Eunseol asked nothing. She had simply invited her to share a meal.
So Yo. Of all the people I had encountered in my life, she was the one who had sparked my curiosity and interest the most.
Yet unexpectedly, she broached the subject first.
“If you have the Debt Record, can you ask about everything?”
She had stolen the Debt Record, but it seemed she didn’t have much information about Shin San Ja.
“Probably.”
“Have you met him?”
She continued speaking casually, as if addressing a subordinate.
But Bu Eunseol didn’t mind much.
Though she was older, her years as an assassin seemed to have left her without any sense of propriety.
“I know someone who has met him.”
Bu Eunseol recalled So Ok Rim’s round face, smiling with white teeth showing.
“According to her, the title of Murim’s sage doesn’t seem to be false.”
“Mm.”
So Yo’s eyes held the look of deep contemplation.
She appeared calm, yet there was an unmistakable sense of desperation about her.
“Is the child you need to save family?”
Through the Assassin Leader’s words from before, Bu Eunseol had deduced that she had left the Baek Ryeol Sal Moon to save some child.
And that she had stolen the Debt Record for that purpose as well.
“A child I don’t know.”
She hadn’t really expected an answer when she asked.
But So Yo unexpectedly revealed her circumstances willingly.
“But he looks exactly like my younger brother who starved to death when I was young.”
With those words alone, Bu Eunseol could understand everything.
So Yo, who had gone out on an assassination, must have discovered a child who looked exactly like her brother who had starved to death.
But the Baek Ryeol Sal Moon would naturally have ordered the child’s death—they never left witnesses alive.
She had refused that command and saved the child instead.
Yet that child happened to suffer from the Yin Severing Meridian Illness.
When So Yo learned there was no cure, she must have stolen the Repayment Coin from the Baek Ryeol Sal Moon’s vault and fled.
“So that was it.”
Bu Eunseol nodded, having pieced together the entire picture of her circumstances.
Assassins live confined and shrouded lives, venturing out only for their assignments.
And when an assignment ends, they say an extreme emptiness crashes down upon them.
Most assassins drown that void in alcohol or women.
But she had endured that tedious, agonizing existence by yearning only for her dead sibling.
Then, upon discovering a child who resembled her sister so closely, she must have believed it was fate and surrendered her entire life to save them.
“Leave first.”
Bu Eunseol spoke while gazing toward the distant sky.
“I will remain in this village a while longer to rest.”
In truth, Bu Eunseol was lying.
The Murim Alliance’s warriors were no fools. The conflict with Baek Ryeol Sal Moon would not last long.
And Baek Ryeol Sal Moon had a purpose they must fulfill—recovering the Repayment Coin.
Since Bu Eunseol now possessed the Repayment Coin, Baek Ryeol Sal Moon would pursue him, not So Yo.
Bu Eunseol intended to become the bait, allowing So Yo to reach Shin San Ja first.
“Perhaps the assassins of Baek Ryeol Sal Moon and those of the Murim Alliance will destroy each other.”
The lies flowed smoothly from his lips.
Even Bu Eunseol could not understand why he was showing her such kindness.
“So set your mind at ease and head to Myo Ga So first.”
“Why.”
“I told you. I will rest here a while longer before departing.”
But So Yo fixed him with a cold gaze and asked again.
“Why.”
So Yo understood as well.
That Bu Eunseol was deliberately becoming the bait to free her from pursuit.
She was asking, “Why are you helping me?”
“Hmm.”
Bu Eunseol fell silent for a moment, understanding the true meaning behind her words.
Then he spoke honestly.
“As I said before, I don’t know either.”
From the moment he learned she had fled Sal Mun to save the child, the desire to help her had awakened within him.
It stemmed from the righteous qualities inherent in his nature, yet Bu Eunseol could not precisely explain why he had made such a choice.
He simply did not fully understand it himself.
“Do not worry. I possess sufficient strength. Even if both Baek Ryeol Sal Moon and the Murim Alliance pursue me, I can escape.”
“And that’s it.”
“That is all. There is no deeper meaning.”
A moment of silence fell between them.
Had she accepted my offer of goodwill?
So Yo rose from her seat. Without a word, she left the inn first.
I spent that night at the Hyang Hwa Inn.
After washing away the grime of travel, I slept soundly in a comfortable bed for the first time in ages. Yet there was still no sign of pursuit from Baek Ryeol Sal Moon or the Murim Alliance.
“This should be enough distance.”
With a half-day’s head start, Baek Ryeol Sal Moon and the Murim Alliance would surely pursue me.
And while I engaged them in battle to buy time, So Yo could reach Myo Ga So safely.
Perhaps because of this, I might never meet Shin San Ja.
The meeting with Shin San Ja I had longed for so many years—I was willing to sacrifice it to genuinely help So Yo.
Though I didn’t understand why.
“I should be on my way.”
I left the village and headed toward the sparsely populated mountain paths.
But something unexpected happened.
A shadow flickered.
As I was crossing over a ridge, a small silhouette suddenly appeared from the opposite direction.
It was So Yo.
“Why didn’t you leave?”
“Same path.”
“You could have gone ahead.”
“That would be fine too.”
So Yo regarded me with a resolute expression.
“This way is safer.”
Her expression and eyes showed no sign of jest or hidden agenda.
In that moment, I nodded faintly.
‘She’s not lacking in intelligence.’
She knew I was the successor to Demon Hall, renowned for my martial prowess and strategic acumen.
And she must have weighed her options carefully.
Arriving at Myo Ga So while I bought time—or traveling with me. Which would be safer for her?
Ultimately, she had judged that traveling with me was the safer choice.
‘So that’s why she explained everything from the start.’
Only then did I understand why So Yo, who rarely spoke more than necessary, had revealed her entire situation to me.
She had already assessed my capabilities to some degree. Now she seemed to be gauging my character.
Whether I could be trusted to watch her back as a traveling companion.
‘It’s certainly not a poor choice.’
I nodded in acknowledgment of So Yo’s judgment.
While I could block the assassins pursuing from behind, I couldn’t defend against those lying in ambush ahead.
Moreover, with the cunning to turn Baek Ryeol Sal Moon and the Murim Alliance’s agents against each other with mere words…
After careful calculation of all factors, she had determined that traveling with me was far safer than going alone.
“Very well. Let us go together then.”
Bu Eunseol nodded and continued forward.
Chirp. Chirp.
As night fell and the insects began their chorus, I found a suitable place to rest and kindled a fire.
Without thinking, I gathered fallen leaves and arranged them into a makeshift bed.
There was no conversation, but I was fulfilling my duties as a traveling companion.
When dawn broke, we both unleashed our lightness technique and crossed over the mountain pass.
When hunger struck, I would roast the dried provisions I had obtained from the Inn, or catch fish.
Then I would gather firewood, kindle a flame, and cook the meat.
Throughout all this, not a single word passed between us, yet our movements were perfectly synchronized.
Without needing conversation. Without even looking at each other.
Our hearts had grown so attuned that we could understand each other’s intentions with merely a glance.
Whoosh!
Swish!
Moreover, even when I deployed the Extreme Speed Shadowless Movement at the Seven Star level, So Yo kept pace effortlessly.
Once, I had tested her lightness technique by unleashing my full speed and creating distance between us.
The gap widened considerably, yet she found me again in no time.
She possessed the distinctive senses of an assassin and had mastered superior pursuit techniques.
Because of this, even if I concealed myself or hid my presence, she would still manage to locate me.
‘Her skills are formidable.’
With such ability, she would have reached the highest ranks of elite assassins within the Baek Ryeol Sal Moon.
I could understand why the Baek Ryeol Sal Moon pursued So Yo so relentlessly.
After all, their unique assassin techniques could potentially be leaked.
‘But her manner of speech seems to bear the influence of the Cold Soul Technique.’
Though one might say her personality was cold, So Yo’s speech and demeanor were frozen as if she could not think normally.
Assassins typically master the Cold Soul Technique, which erases fear and freezes emotion.
For assassins who seize opportunities and execute contracts, composure and patience are the foremost necessities.
It seemed that because So Yo had perfected even the Cold Soul Technique, her speech and manner had inadvertently become stiff and rigid.
‘But… this journey is not unpleasant.’
The journey with So Yo to Myo Ga So brought me a tranquility and peace I had never known before.
So Yo’s indifferent and cold demeanor.
It resembled my own childhood so closely.
Though her actual age was considerable, in my eyes she appeared merely as a girl with youthful spirit remaining.
Without exchanging lengthy words, it felt as though we had spoken hundreds of sentences, and her gaze was comfortable.
Whether animal or human, one finds ease among kindred spirits. For the first time in Murim, I had encountered someone like myself.
‘The feeling is somewhat strange.’
All the people I had traveled with through Gangho before possessed temperaments opposite to mine.
But So Yo’s every inclination aligned with mine, and even her insight seemed similar.
Even when deciding to rest for the night—the selection of location, the timing.
And even in gathering firewood, kindling flames, and preparing the bed—our preferences matched perfectly.
Well. Well.
The only thing that was completely different was her appetite.
Her consumption of food was at a level that defied belief.
When Bu Eunseol ate a single piece of dried meat, she devoured an entire bundle of it in one sitting.
Yet watching her eat did not seem unpleasant.
The way she filled her belly with such earnestness and gravity possessed an almost solemn dignity.
Whoosh.
Then, from the distant sky, the sound of tearing air echoed forth.
Their numbers were approximately eighty.
Bu Eunseol, who had been keeping her eyes closed for a moment, waited for them calmly without deploying her divine technique.
Thud.
The assassins who finally arrived were none other than the Baek Ryeol Sal Moon assassins she had seen before.
They bore the marks of an intense battle—their garments were torn, and they were covered in dust and blood.
“This wretch….”
The Assassin Leader glared at Bu Eunseol and gnashed his teeth.
“You spouted nonsense while having nothing to do with the Murim Alliance!”

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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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