The Great Heavenly Demon Sovereign - Chapter 57

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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 57
What if Bu Eunseol refused a direct order from above?
Both of them could be demoted on the spot. In the worst case, they might find themselves imprisoned in the underground dungeon once more.
“I, um…”
Sang Ryang and Ma Woon, their faces drained of color, bowed their heads as if about to kneel and clutched at Bu Eunseol’s sleeve.
“If this happens, we’ll be in serious trouble.”
“Y-yes. In the worst case, the Ak Yang Branch itself could cease to exist.”
Bu Eunseol responded to their pleas with a flat murmur.
“Then I could simply transfer to another branch.”
Members of the Guusal Unit had no fixed affiliation.
They could move to any other branch whenever they wished to take on assignments, and could retire at any time after fulfilling a year’s service.
At Bu Eunseol’s words, Sang Ryang’s eyes rolled back in panic.
‘No, this can’t happen!’
If she left, all his efforts until now would be for nothing.
Sang Ryang bit his lip and pressed his palms together.
“Please, I beg you to take on this task. I’m asking you this earnestly.”
With his hands clasped together, Sang Ryang bent at the waist as if about to prostrate himself.
“If this goes wrong, our heads could roll.”
“That does sound troublesome.”
At Bu Eunseol’s indifferent response, Sang Ryang’s sagging cheeks trembled.
By temperament, he wanted to pull out the judge’s brush hidden in his robes and drive it into her vital points.
But his opponent was the pillar of the Ak Yang Branch and the greatest Guusal Unit member of all time—Number Eighteen!
“Y-yes, that’s right.”
Sang Ryang, gritting his teeth, forced a smile and spoke.
“If you take on this task, I’ll provide you not only with all the equipment in the branch, but also all the intelligence that comes in.”
In that instant, Bu Eunseol’s drooping eyes lifted slightly.
Equipment mattered little to me.
But the prospect of receiving all the intelligence flowing into the branch was quite an attractive proposition.
It would be equivalent to acquiring a personal intelligence network.
“What’s the time limit?”
“What time limit? We’re in the same boat, after all.”
Sang Ryang’s eyes gleamed as he rubbed his hands together.
It was the most cordial manner he had shown toward anyone since leaving Gangho.
“Very well.”
Bu Eunseol nodded and slowly turned her body.
“But only this once. I won’t take on such tasks again.”
Thud.
As the secret chamber door closed behind her, Ma Woon turned to Sang Ryang with a bewildered expression.
“Brother, have you lost your mind? Providing all the intelligence that comes into the branch?”
“What else can I do with someone who refuses money? That woman’s only interest is the intelligence flowing into the branch.”
“Even so, that’s going too far. If things continue like this, won’t our branch become nothing more than that bastard’s personal intelligence organization?”
“It’s fine. Once this matter is settled… we might finally be able to return to the Demon Palace.”
“Is that true? Has some good news arrived?”
As Ma Woon’s face brightened, Sang Ryang smiled wickedly.
“Nothing like that has happened yet. But once we finish this task, that good news will surely come.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“If that woman handles this matter well, it’s the same as making a good impression on the person who can save us.”
“Wait. Don’t tell me… the person we’re supposed to escort is someone of that caliber?”
As Ma Woon asked in a trembling voice, Sang Ryang narrowed his eyes.
“That’s right.”
* * *
Dan Ga Jang.
It was a grand estate where a wealthy merchant bearing the surname Dan and his extended family resided.
Yet now this massive estate lay empty, with only a few servants standing respectfully in attendance.
“Hmm.”
Bu Eunseol gazed upon the beautiful garden where exotic flowers bloomed, exhaling softly.
According to the letter, the person she was to escort had merely stopped by Ayang for leisure. Yet to purchase an entire estate for such a brief stay?
‘This must be an extraordinarily wealthy person.’
Clop, clop, clop.
Just then, the sound of hoofbeats accompanied an ornate eight-horse carriage as it came to a halt before the main gate of Dan Ga Jang.
Click.
As the coachman descended from his seat and opened the carriage door, a middle-aged man of confident bearing stepped out slowly.
Following behind him came a young woman dressed in golden silk, her face veiled with transparent gauze.
The middle-aged man carried an aura as sharp as the edge of a blade, while the young woman possessed an enigmatic beauty reminiscent of a single blossom.
“Who are you?”
To the middle-aged man’s question, Bu Eunseol answered flatly.
“I come from the Ak Yang Branch.”
“I asked who you are, not where you’re from.”
“I am a member of the Guusal Unit from the Ak Yang Branch. I have come to undertake an escort mission.”
Her voice was monotone, like stone speaking.
As the middle-aged man’s eyebrows rose at her curt response, the veiled woman stepped forward.
“So you are the warrior who will be escorting me this time.”
The woman’s manner of speech and bearing carried an elegance that surpassed even the beautiful visage visible through her veil.
“May I ask what I should call you?”
“You may call me Number Eighteen.”
“Number… Eighteen?”
“Members of the Guusal Unit have no names.”
At this, the middle-aged man standing beside her spoke with irritation.
“There’s no need for titles here.”
Just as Bu Eunseol was about to respond, the veiled woman laughed and spoke.
“Ah, now that I think about it… that’s a false face, isn’t it?”
A glimmer of intrigue flickered across Bu Eunseol’s eyes.
No one had ever discovered it until now—yet this young woman had seen through the Phantom Face Bone Technique in an instant?
“There’s no need to be surprised. I simply have a keener eye for observation than most.”
When one speaks, the muscles around the mouth and eyes move in concert.
However, when the Phantom Face Bone Technique alters one’s visage, the facial muscles move with an unmistakable unnaturalness.
Bu Eunseol, intimately versed in human musculature, was well aware of this flaw, yet no one had ever discerned it before.
Yet the veiled woman had detected it immediately.
“Even if we were to see your true face, there is no one here who would recognize you. You may reveal yourself freely.”
“I must decline.”
“Why?”
“The work I undertake demands that I conceal my true identity always. I can make no exceptions for anyone.”
As Bu Eunseol spoke with finality, a flash of irritation crossed the middle-aged man’s eyes.
“Have you grown so bold as to burst with audacity since earlier?”
“I don’t understand what you mean.”
“From now on, do not contradict anything she says. Do as you are commanded.”
“I agreed to serve as a bodyguard. I never consented to become a mere servant who obeys every whim.”
“What did you just say?”
In that moment, a shimmering aura erupted from the middle-aged man’s form.
The force was as immense as Mount Tai itself, rendering the very air of the courtyard heavy as iron.
“Uncle.”
At that moment, the veiled woman shook her head gently.
“This warrior is merely fulfilling his duty with integrity. Please be understanding.”
“But that wretch has been….”
“I’m asking you, please.”
At her earnest plea, the middle-aged man reluctantly withdrew his overwhelming presence.
“What shall I call you?”
The veiled woman gazed at Bu Eunseol and smiled warmly.
“However, ‘Tenth Master’ or ‘Eighth Master’ sounds rather odd… so I shall call you Master Ho instead.”
“As you wish.”
Bu Eunseol nodded and replied flatly.
“And what shall I call you?”
The middle-aged man then let out a derisive snort.
“Hmph, why would you need to know such a thing?”
“I understand. Should danger arise or I need to call for her urgently, I shall simply make a sound like ‘Ak’.”
As Bu Eunseol replied curtly, the middle-aged man’s face flushed crimson with indignation.
The veiled woman’s eyes crinkled like crescents as she suppressed her laughter.
“I am… So Yok.”
As Bu Eunseol stared directly at her, the veiled girl lowered her gaze slightly, her cheeks flushing crimson.
“You may call me however feels most natural to you, Master Ho….”
“Then I shall call you Miss So.”
Bu Eunseol nodded and fixed her gaze upon the middle-aged man once more.
Grasping her intent, the middle-aged man exhaled through his nose and spoke.
“I am called Woo Mun Hwang.”
Bu Eunseol’s expression shifted with subtle surprise.
This man, bearing the stature of someone in his prime years, referred to himself as an elder, yet she had never heard such a name before.
‘A master from the previous generation.’
The tome that Cheol Master had provided contained the names of all masters who had made their mark over the past three decades.
If his name was absent from it, he must surely have been a renowned master of an earlier era.
“You appear to be quite an accomplished elder, so it seems you would have little need for my protection.”
At Bu Eunseol’s words, the woman in the veil smiled faintly.
“My uncle possesses not only considerable standing but also withdrew from Gangho activities long ago. The household concerns themselves with that very point.”
“Do not worry. They simply fret over needless matters. With this uncle at your side, you need fear nothing.”
Though Woo Mun Hwang grumbled, Bu Eunseol immediately grasped the true meaning behind her words.
Having long departed from Gangho meant his senses for detecting danger had grown considerably dull. In unfamiliar lands, this posed a significant constraint upon his ability to provide protection.
“I understand what my role must be.”
The Ho Nam region was a place where complex and diverse forces collided.
And since Bu Eunseol knew this territory quite well, she was indeed the perfect candidate to assist Woo Mun Hwang.
“You shall have little of consequence to do.”
Woo Mun Hwang raised the corners of his mouth and spoke.
“I shall handle everything myself. You need only refrain from interfering with So Yok’s leisure.”
And he gestured toward Bu Eunseol’s worn garments.
“Return as you are today, and come back here again tomorrow morning. Then simply conduct yourself as the retinue of a noble house accompanying So Yok on her excursion.”
Woo Mun Hwang regarded Bu Eunseol as though she were nothing more than a useless decorative screen.
Yet Bu Eunseol accepted this without the slightest concern, nodding calmly.
“Understood.”
* * *
Bu Eunseol, now dressed in the silk robes provided by Nangya Sect, returned to Dan Ga Jang.
An eight-horse carriage was already waiting there, and within it rode So Yok and Woo Mun Hwang.
“You arrived at precisely the right moment.”
She wore a white robe embroidered with golden thread upon fabric as pure as snow.
Though she wore a veil, her beauty and refinement were like gazing upon a crane within the clouds.
―Where are we bound?
An ordinary person would have asked about their destination.
But Bu Eunseol boarded the carriage in silence. Wherever they went, she need only follow Woo Mun Hwang and protect her.
The first destination was a boat excursion.
“The Sage of Poetry, as Li Bai was called, loved wine and the moon throughout his life.”
So Yok, aboard the vessel, spoke with delight upon her face.
“Even Li Bai’s death came when, after drinking wine at Dongjeong Lake, he fell into the water while boating, attempting to grasp the moon’s reflection upon the surface….”
The next destination was Ak Yang Tower.
“The waters of Dongjeong Lake are the finest under heaven, and Ak Yang Tower is the greatest pavilion under heaven. It means that Dongjeong Lake possesses the most exquisite waters in all the realm, and Ak Yang Tower stands as the most magnificent structure….”
With each step of our journey, So Yok regaled the sightseers with an endless stream of tales about the origins and histories of these scenic landmarks.
‘Remarkable. She speaks so incessantly, yet her voice shows no sign of strain.’
I listened to her discourse in attentive silence.
Fortunately, her voice was remarkably clear and melodious, making it quite pleasant to hear. Had it been otherwise, I would have covered my ears and distanced myself considerably.
Yet her tour continued unabated throughout.
We ventured into Gunsan Island to visit the Shrine of the Xiang Concubines and the bamboo and tea groves surrounding it.
Then, boarding a boat once more, we ascended Geum Sung Tower, which stood at the eastern edge of Akyangbu.
“Bring out all the dishes your establishment takes pride in.”
Seated at a window table with a splendid view, So Yok ordered enough dishes to leave leftovers even if ten robust men were to dine.
Soon the table was so laden with food that there was scarcely room to set down a wine cup.
“Please, enjoy your meal!”
Once Jeomsoi finished placing all the dishes, So Yok removed her face veil and began eating with careful deliberation.
I had never placed great significance on eating.
Dining was merely the act of placing sustenance into one’s mouth to preserve strength and life—nothing more, nothing less.
Yet those of elevated station devoted considerable effort even to their meals.
‘How peculiar.’
Seated across from them, my expression grew subtle as I observed So Yok and Woo Mun Hwang’s dining habits.

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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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