The Heavenly Demon Cult’s Strongest Maid - Chapter 258

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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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Episode 12

The morning dawned for our departure to inspect the secret branches.

The purpose of this journey to Jungwon was literally to secretly investigate the secret branches.

Therefore, I would officially be entering seclusion for training.

If I left my position vacant, someone might notice my absence and try to uncover my whereabouts.

Regarding my expedition, only a very few among the Maegyo leadership knew about it.

It was such an important schedule that couldn’t be revealed to outsiders.

“Have a safe trip.”

Even though I had personally visited Tak Mansion yesterday to pay my respects, Grandpa Tak had come out to see me off.

“Take care of yourself.”

“Yes, Grandfather.”

I could see that his wrinkles had deepened considerably over the past few days from worrying about his granddaughter.

I had an ominous feeling that he might secretly follow me again like last time.

“If anything happens, contact those old geezers immediately. Then this old man will rush over right away.”

By “old geezers,” he must be referring to Am-jon Grandfather and Hojeon Grandfather.

It seemed they had established their own communication network without my knowledge.

Well, with Hyeon-wol-dang’s intelligence network, that would be possible.

Not only that.

Nok-lim Sip-pal-chae was itself an excellent cell organization.

Sichuan Land was considered a frontier region in Jungwon, but conversely speaking, it was a connecting point linking Maegyo and other external forces.

So with Sichuan at the center, a massive network of sorts was formed.

It meant that while they acted like they wanted to devour each other when they met, behind the scenes they were holding hands tightly.

‘Heh, well, this is all because of me.’

The grandfathers’ exceptional affection toward me was now too bothersome to even explain.

Ah, don’t misunderstand.

It’s not that the grandfathers themselves are bothersome.

Having a grandfather called one of the Ten Elders in both righteous and evil factions is honestly incredibly awesome.

To me, they were very, very precious people I wouldn’t trade for even billions of gold.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It’s nothing. Nothing at all.”

“You little rascal, how bland.”

When I shook my head and smiled broadly, Grandfather held my hand and gave me his final words of advice.

“You remember everything this old man said, right?”

“Of course. It’s all inputted in my head. You even sent me two excellent junior disciples, Grandfather.”

“…Haha, that’s right.”

Grandpa Tak’s eyes wavered subtly.

Huh? He’s even letting go of my hand now?

Anyone watching would think he had done something terribly wrong to me.

‘Come to think of it…’

I had forgotten for a moment.

The three great witches of the headquarters who had gathered under my command.

“…”

I quickly turned my head to look at Gong Grandfather.

I really just looked at him.

But why was he avoiding my gaze?

That only made me want to ask more questions – that’s human psychology.

Even after leaving the headquarters, Gong Grandfather kept watching my reactions.

He seemed quite sorry for sending Gwi-nyeo to me.

With Grandmother beside him, he couldn’t say anything about it.

It seemed like he might not live to his natural lifespan if this continued, so I came outside the carriage under the pretext of getting some fresh air.

“Whew!”

The outside air was indeed cooler than inside.

‘If only Grandmother wasn’t pregnant, we’d be traveling at insane speed right now.’

This year was when Gong Grandfather had promised Am-jon Grandfather to visit Sichuan.

So since we were going to Jungwon anyway, I decided to stop by Sichuan as well.

This inevitably made the procession larger in scale.

The gifts Gong Grandfather prepared for his in-laws exceeded three carriages, and the security personnel escorting the Maegyo’s Grand Strategist were also quite numerous.

Bongwang Fortress mixed in with that group was only ten people including myself.

I glanced back.

“Pfft.”

Seeing the Bongwang Fortress members walking among the supply carriages made me burst into laughter.

Stiff shoulders and unnatural gaits.

They were pretending to be quite calm on the outside, but their tension was clearly felt.

Well, I understand.

Though they were talents who had distinguished themselves as junior disciples at headquarters, this was still their first journey into Gangho.

And their first destination happened to be Sacheon-dangmun.

What kind of place was Sacheon-dangmun?

For generations, they had freely handled poisons and hidden weapons, and had been called the foremost family in the martial arts world since ancient times.

Though their family fortune had temporarily declined when Grandmother, who was the leader of Am Sa-dae, was framed and became a public enemy of the martial arts world, now that she was cleared of those false charges, they were praised as the greatest among the Five Great Families.

Last year, Am-wang Grandfather officially ascended to the Martial Arts Ten Elders and earned the title Am-jon.

A family notorious for walking the righteous path while thoroughly distinguishing between gratitude and grudges.

For someone raised as a demon to visit such a place, being nervous was quite natural.

No matter how much I was the granddaughter of the Dang Family, no matter how much Grandmother, who was Am-jon’s daughter, was going with us, they wouldn’t know unless they experienced it.

Just as the Martial Arts Alliance denounced Maegyo as a den of demons, headquarters also ridiculed the righteous factions as places full of hypocrisy.

They didn’t hesitate to curse and belittle them as hypocrites whose outsides and insides were different.

‘I’m relatively free of prejudice since I’m a possessor.’

I suddenly remembered when Yang Ha-rin first came to Maegyo.

How much chaos she caused, terrified about human sacrifices and whatnot.

‘She even begged to be killed without pain.’

That same girl was now very excited.

The other members would soon adapt as if nothing had happened.

By then we’d arrive at the secret branch, so choosing to go to Sichuan first wasn’t a bad choice for me either.

Clip-clop. Clip-clop. Clip-clop.

The journey to Sichuan was leisurely and peaceful.

Even the breeze gently touching my skin was warm and drowsy.

To enjoy this atmosphere, I closed my eyes and let my body follow the horse’s movement.

Whoosh!

It was then that I heard a sharp sound cutting through the air from somewhere.

Swish—

Something flew toward me, cutting through the wind.

Thwack!

I opened my eyes wide and caught it.

‘An arrow?’

It was a crudely made arrow from roughly cut tree branches.

‘Bandits wouldn’t attack me, would they?’

My puzzlement was brief as I realized the opponent might not recognize me.

“Enemy attack!”

“Take defensive positions!”

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The Ghost Spirit Hall warriors in the lead all drew their swords in unison. In the blink of an eye, they even erected barriers around the carriage.

“Hehehehe!”

A rough and coarse laughter came from ahead right on cue.

As if that was a signal, successive laughter erupted from all directions.

“Kekekeke!”

“Keeheehee!”

“Uhahahaha!”

The Ghost Spirit Hall warriors’ vigilance became even more strict.

On the other hand, a slight smile formed on my lips.

Only then did I have an idea of who the owner of the arrow was.

Rustle. Rustle.

The nearby thickets swayed as bandits revealed themselves one by one.

Each one had such fierce expressions that I randomly thought this wouldn’t be good for Grandmother’s prenatal care.

“You bastards! If you want to pass through the mountain path, shouldn’t you greet the master of the mountain first?”

The most menacing-looking giant among them shouted while swinging his twin axes.

“Show your sincerity to this mountain hero! Uhahahaha!”

“Oh my, what a loud welcoming greeting.”

Despite the terrifying words, the other party’s face clearly showed signs of welcoming me.

That was because he was the right-hand man of Bandit Grandfather and deputy leader of the Mountain Bandit Gang, Geo-ryeok Ssang-bu, also known as Axe Uncle.

I didn’t know why Axe Uncle had suddenly appeared in a place so far from the Mountain Bandit Gang, but he was currently pulling a surprise prank on me.

“Don’t worry, these people are…”

Just as I was about to explain the situation to the Ghost Spirit Hall warriors.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

“Huh?”

Three figures swept past me like the wind.

They were Phoenix Corps members, specifically the Three Great Witches.

“Wait, you guys…”

“You bastards! How dare you block our path? Do you all want to die?”

“Why ask, it’s a waste of breath! Bandit bastards, you’re all dead!”

“The head is mine!”

Im Cheong, Ma A-jin, and Jeon Hye-yun each grabbed their weapons and stepped to the front.

“No, sisters! That’s not it!”

Yang Ha-rin’s voice trying to stop them could be heard from behind, but none of the Three Great Witches listened.

“Why is the head yours? First come, first served!”

“Don’t you know about quick battles? In times like this, we divide and conquer!”

“Forget all that, let’s just beat them up randomly. Right?”

I had heard from Seo-ryeon and knew vaguely.

That they were reflecting a lot on ruining the picnic.

And that they were constantly looking for a chance to make up for it.

‘But do these kids know they’re about to cause another incident?’

No, they probably don’t have the slightest clue.

Even I hadn’t expected Axe Uncle’s appearance.

Whatever the reason, the fight had to be stopped before it began.

“Everyone halt!”

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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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