The Heavenly Demon Cult’s Strongest Maid - Chapter 96
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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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Chapter 96
“Seolha?”
I must have been concentrating too hard. I thought I was hiding, but as expected, it’s not easy to avoid the eyes of a master.
“My child, what are you doing not coming over here.”
Grandmother was waving her hand, calling me over.
‘So that’s why he said next.’
Not knowing that, I had been glaring at Eok I-geon for no reason.
What nerve I have, no matter how fearless I’ve become, how dare I glare at Eok I-geon?
With my rapid rise in status lately, I must have changed a lot too. I’m losing my sense of caution more and more.
‘I need to be careful.’
If Eok I-geon gets upset at this rate, then it would really be the end.
I steeled my heart and walked briskly toward Grandmother.
“You’ve arrived.”
Gong Pae-cheon politely bowed to me and Eok I-geon.
This man looks exceptionally neat today.
Perhaps because it’s a feast day, he dressed up and came out looking twice as handsome as usual.
They’re like a perfect gentleman and lady.
Looking at Grandmother and Uncle Gong Pae-cheon, a four-character idiom naturally came to mind.
Of course, our Grandmother’s share was more than eighty percent of that. Not just anyone can become one of the Three Beauties of Jungwon.
“Grandmother, what are you doing here?”
“What do you mean what. I was having a cup of tea with Military Advisor Gong.”
“Just the two of you?”
“That’s right. Is there some problem?”
“…No, no problem…”
When Grandmother came out so confidently, I shrank back instead.
I also thought that maybe I was overreacting unnecessarily when the two of them weren’t anything to each other.
“How about you, Seolha?”
“Me?”
“How does it feel to become the granddaughter of the Tak Family? Today is the day to announce that.”
Ah, right. That’s what it was.
Because of Grandmother and Uncle Gong Pae-cheon, I had completely forgotten about what happened in the banquet hall.
“Oh my, Grandmother. Don’t even mention it. I almost got caught today!”
“Caught?”
“Marriage! Everyone was making a fuss saying Grandpa should find a grandson-in-law!”
“What, what? Grandson-in-law?”
Shin Geum’s eyes curved sharply. At the ominous sign of a back-smashing appearing at an unexpected timing, I instinctively stepped back.
“Why are you trying to catch me? What did I do wrong?”
“Why would Grandmother catch you?”
“Weren’t you about to hit my back just now?”
“What Grandmother wants to strike isn’t you.”
“Then who?”
Don’t tell me she’s planning to lay hands on Grandpa Tak right now?
“Grandmother, are you crazy? No matter what, he’s elderly!”
“…Elderly?”
“That’s right! It would be troublesome if the youngest unit leader from the Martial Arts Alliance Dark Affairs Unit acts like this! I like our Grandmother because she’s righteous!”
“What are you talking about. Why are you suddenly bringing up righteousness?”
“Anyway, just don’t do it. I’ll really get angry!”
“This child, what do you take Grandmother for…”
It was the moment when Shin Geum was about to swing her palm at me.
“Miss Dang, there seems to be a slight misunderstanding in the conversation.”
Gong Pae-cheon quickly intervened and mediated.
“The Miss is angry at those who brought up the grandson-in-law topic, but First Miss seems to have mistaken the target as Lord Tak. Is that right, First Miss?”
“Yes. Grandmother, wasn’t that it?”
At Gong Pae-cheon’s quick explanation, I nodded.
Then Grandmother scolded me with veins bulging in her neck.
“Child! There are things to misunderstand, but how could you twist it like that? Have you been thinking of Grandmother as such an ignorant person who doesn’t know up from down? Did I raise you like that?”
“Nooo, I thought it was strange at first too! Our Shin Geum isn’t that kind of person.”
Before Grandmother’s anger gauge could rise further, I prostrated myself flat and apologized.
I was filled with regret for making such a foolish misunderstanding when I knew Grandmother’s personality well.
“I was wrong, Grandmother. Please forgive me just this once. Please?”
I unleashed my ultimate technique. Prepared for a punch to come flying, I clung tightly to Shin Geum.
Acting cute by rubbing my cheek against Grandmother’s embrace usually led to success.
“I really thought I had to get married and panicked. I’m going to live with our Grandmother for life. Right?”
“Even so, you should get married.”
As expected, Grandmother’s voice immediately softened.
But what did she just say?
“…Grandmother, are you trying to send me off to marry?”
“Then you won’t go?”
“Hey! I’m not interested in that kind of thing. My dream is to master Mahu’s martial arts and travel the world with Grandmother.”
“What will you do when Grandmother dies? People all need to have a partner.”
Wow, I was momentarily speechless from the rushing sense of betrayal.
Since Grandmother had never once brought up marriage in all the time I’d lived, I had no idea she was thinking such things.
“What about you, Grandmother? Are you going to abandon me and get married too?”
“What?”
Shin Geum’s eyes became as big as lanterns, but my mouth didn’t stop.
“You said people need to have partners. So that’s why you’ve been meeting with the Lord constantly these days, right? I was being tactless by butting in without knowing.”
“What are you saying right now?”
Without realizing it, I had lashed out at Grandmother.
Although this was a life I had possessed, I was someone who had only dreamed of living peacefully with Grandmother for life.
I knew in my head that Grandmother was saying this while thinking of me, but I couldn’t help feeling disappointed and resentful.
“I heard everything!”
“What did you hear?”
“The story of Grandmother and the Lord’s first meeting!”
At my words, Shin Geum and Uncle Gong Pae-cheon looked at each other.
Damn, why am I getting so angry about this?
Grandmother had just looked at Uncle Gong Pae-cheon, but to me it felt like Grandmother was being stolen away by him.
So I became even more rebellious.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know if you talked about it when I wasn’t around?”
“Young Master, what on earth did you tell her to cause this chaos?”
Grandmother’s arrow turned toward Eok I-geon. She looked extremely frustrated as she asked with a deep sigh.
‘Who’s the frustrated one here!’
“I merely conveyed exactly what you told me. Even that, I haven’t finished due to lack of time.”
“It got cut off at an important part because Grandmother called me. Why won’t you tell me? Why do I have to hear about Grandmother’s past from the Young Master?”
Now tears were even welling up.
Damn it, she’s my Grandmother! Why am I the only one who doesn’t know!
“…Are you that curious?”
“Of course! I’m Grandmother’s granddaughter, granddaughter!”
When I pounded my chest with my fists in frustration, Grandmother asked Eok I-geon.
“How far did the story progress?”
“We talked up to planning the Dok-hwa Gwi-rim Jin. You can start from Salmak.”
“…Grandmother, you’re going to tell me?”
My eyes widened as I snuggled closer to Grandmother again.
“I don’t know why you’re so curious about that story, but if you want to hear it, I should tell you. What choice does this old woman have?”
Oh, Shin Geum!
“I couldn’t tell my child because this old woman was a bit embarrassed, there’s no other meaning so don’t misunderstand. Got it?”
“Yes!”
Grandmother cleared her throat several times as if truly embarrassed, then finally began her story.
As soon as dawn broke and the city gates opened, Gong Pae-cheon mixed in among the merchants and left Chengdu.
The martial artists of Sacheon-dangmun were watching such Gong Pae-cheon from not far away.
The moment the Dang Family’s warriors confirmed his departure and turned around, there were other eyes watching them all—the Salmak assassins.
They always moved in the shadows, and not being caught was their ability.
“The snake returns to the thicket, and the rat is alone.”
Flutter—
A carrier pigeon soared into the sky.
Walking down the road with his hands hidden in his sleeves, Gong Pae-cheon was fingering a small empty medicine bottle.
It was the bottle that had contained the Thousand-Li Fragrance that Dang Yeong-ryeong had given him before leaving first last night.
“This fragrance will guide you to me.”
While applying the Thousand-Li Fragrance he received this morning to his body, Gong Pae-cheon thought of Dang Yeong-ryeong.
When he thought of her, strangely, he couldn’t bring himself to throw away the empty medicine bottle.
Heat spread across his cheeks as he touched the bottle.
‘Get it together.’
Gong Pae-cheon shook his head and steeled his mind.
He was now heading toward a crossroads of life and death. Dang Yeong-ryeong’s life was also at stake on this path.
Not even a moment’s wavering could be allowed.
Putting the empty medicine bottle inside his sleeve, Gong Pae-cheon once again took firm steps forward.
A secluded clearing in the forest.
A bamboo tube was stuck under a broken tree trunk.
Beneath it, deep underground, Dang Yeong-ryeong was buried.
Without even the slightest movement, she was as still as death.
It wasn’t just movement.
Dang Yeong-ryeong used the Gui-sik Daebub to nearly stop her breathing and even slow her heartbeat.
She entered a semi-death state, closing all her body’s senses and leaving only her sense of smell.
Concentrating on the scents flowing in from the end of the tube, she waited for the Thousand-Li Fragrance.
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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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