The Heavenly Demon of the Blue Sky - Chapter 22

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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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Cheongtian Heavenly Demon 022
We crossed the steep ridge and at last arrived at the Namgung Clan’s ancestral home.
“Hyeok!”
As the heavy gate swung open, three sisters came rushing out barefoot.
“You’re back! Are you hurt anywhere?!”
The one with arched brows seized my shoulder, then went pale as she spotted the bloodstains on my clothes.
“Blood, there’s blood……. What on earth happened……!”
“No need to fuss. I’ve returned safely.”
I brushed off my outer robe and answered dismissively.
“The upstart merchants from Gangnam had been capturing Namgung clanspeople and offering them as sacrifices to the elders of Hyul Gyo. I worked with Shaolin and Gaebang to drive them back and freed all who were imprisoned.”
I unfastened the sword strapped to my back and held it forward.
“And I recovered this as well.”
On the snow-white scabbard were carved clouds and the emblem of a soaring gyrfalcon.
My three sisters’ eyes grew as wide as lanterns.
“This is……! Ah, Father’s……!”
“Yes, that’s right. The enemy commander had stolen it and fled.”
In this moment, the sect’s treasure and Father’s legacy were restored.
“Ah……. Our youngest has healed the clan’s ancient wound!”
Plop, plop. Fat tears rolled down Yuhwa’s cheeks.
Yeonhwa and Seolhwa pressed their lips together and began sobbing silently.
The image of Father from my memories seemed to overlap with who I am now.
“As for you three,”
I deliberately shifted the subject, uncomfortable with the gathering emotion.
“Has anything happened at home while I was away?”
“Thanks to the foundation you laid, we’ve simply tended to the household carefully. Nothing has occurred,” Seolhwa answered with a faint smile, but her eyes couldn’t deceive me.
Deep shadows lay beneath my sisters’ eyes.
Their gaunt faces bore the unmistakable mark of sleepless nights and days.
‘And that…….’
I turned my gaze to one corner of the courtyard.
On a large stone sat a single bowl of clear spring water, left there solitary and bare.
The earth around it bore the sharp impression of someone kneeling and bowing there every single day.
‘They’re no good at lying at all.’
Day after day, they must have prayed through the night for their youngest brother to return safely.
In that moment, something stirred deep in my chest.
In my past life as the Heavenly Demon, hundreds of thousands of disciples prostrated themselves beneath my feet, yet not a single soul had ever prayed for me with genuine sincerity.
They only knew fear and reverence.
‘Who knew how to be grateful? Why would I do something so foolish.’
I grumbled internally and clicked my tongue. But then——
“Baek! Where are you!”
At my shout, the old physician came stumbling out from the back.
“Yes, yes! Clan Head! Did you call for me!”
“Whether it’s deer antler or mountain ginseng, spare nothing. Brew the richest decoction and make sure these three sisters take it faithfully.”
“Ah……!”
At my command, my sisters’ eyes went round as rabbits’.
“Hyeok, we’re fine! Such precious medicine for us……!”
“Is it because you’ve noticed our complexion isn’t good? It’s nothing…….”
“Don’t misunderstand.”
I snorted and cut off my words.
“You’ll be working yourselves to exhaustion under me to rebuild the clan going forward. With an already insufficient workforce, if you were to suddenly collapse and fall ill, who suffers the loss? I do.”
A thoroughly calculating and selfish answer—Demon Sect doctrine through and through.
Yet before those words had even finished——
“Our Hyeok……!”
“He’s speaking harshly on purpose so we won’t feel burdened!”
“Goodness, such sensitivity! Look at the depth of his heart!”
Yuhwa, Yeonhwa, and Seolhwa gasped in unison, then, as if by agreement, came rushing toward me.
“Mmph!”
In an instant, I found myself trapped in the embrace of three sisters. Their fervent hugs and kiss-kisses threatened to choke the breath from me.
“Ugh! No, that’s not it! I’m saying it’s all for my own benefit! Let go! I can’t breathe!”
My face flushed crimson as I thrashed about, but I lacked the strength to escape from my joyful sisters’ arms.

“What are you doing? Help me out here!”
Desperate, I shouted toward Namgung Gyeong, who stood a distance behind me.
But my cry didn’t seem to reach his ears at all.
With a face flushed with rapture, he held open his notebook and wielded his brush like a madman.
Scratch, scratch, scratch—the sound grated against my eardrums.
“Though the Clan Head presents himself outwardly as a cold and steely ruler, within burns a warm spring breeze that first considers the weariness of family……!”
His face held the focused reverence of someone transcribing a sacred text.
“No, you lunatic! Stop writing useless drivel and get me out of here right now!”
I cursed, but he merely lifted his brush with an enraptured expression, nodding with deep emotion.
“Ahh……!”
The majestic authority of the Heavenly Demon who once commanded the realm had vanished without a trace.
It was a cacophonous morning—suffering amid fanatic worshippers and overprotective sisters.

* * *
Several days later.
Massive clouds of dust rose at the foot of Cheonju Mountain.
“Clan Head! The household has arrived!”
At Namgung Gyeong’s cry, I stepped into the courtyard with my sisters.
A long procession of carriages wound safely through the ruined village and came to rest at the main gate.
“Clan Head!”
Uncle, spotting me, came waddling over and cupped his hands in salute.
“As you commanded, we gathered the remains of those who died unjustly and held a grand ceremony in their honor. We have also carefully inventoried all the resources and wealth of Gangnam, and brought safely every soul of the Namgung Clan who has sworn to follow your will—not a single one left behind!”
The people of Namgung were far more than those who shared the same surname.
There were the maternal relatives of our married-in wives.
And the servants and their families who had served Namgung for generations.
People, each bearing their own stories, gathered once more at Namgung’s side.
By count, they numbered more than five hundred—enough hands to rebuild the village.
“You’ve done well.”
At my brief words of praise, deep relief washed across Uncle’s face.
Then he lowered his head, gazing at my three sisters standing beside me.
“P-please forgive this worthless uncle, my ladies!”
He seemed desperate to atone for his past wrongs and step forward anew.
“When the Hyul Gyo brought calamity, I abandoned the main house and you, my ladies, and fled—and that was not enough. In those days, I arranged marriages between you and wealthy merchants of Gangnam, seeking petty gain for myself!”
It had been a contemptible and ugly greed of the past.
“That one so young should rise and rebuild our house—I never dared imagine such a thing. As an elder, I have done shameful and dishonorable deeds. I beg you, punish me!”
It was a far cry from those days when he’d begged forgiveness only after being beaten.
At his sincere contrition, my sisters caught their breath softly.
The Namgung people gathered behind him likewise apologized for their past failings.
“We too are criminals who abandoned the house and fled……!”
The homeland where blood had seeped deep into the earth—blood shed by those who stood to defend it.
Standing before it now, they felt keenly the cowardice of their flight, wringing their chests in remorse.
The wide courtyard became a sea of lamentation in an instant.
I looked down at them silently, arms crossed.
Had this been the Demon Sect, we would have executed the deserters and used their corpses as fertilizer.
But this was Namgung. It was not my place to act.
“Lift your heads, all of you.”
Led by Yuhwa, Yeonhwa and Seolhwa stepped forward.
“When our parents and the great heroes of Namgung stood against the demons, they did not wish for all to die on that same day and hour.
Her eyes grew wet, yet her voice remained clear and steady, unshaken.
“They hoped that somehow, you would all survive and draw a new future together. We three sisters also live on today because of that sacrifice, standing beside our brother.”
The sound of quiet sobbing from those listening began to fade.
“Each of you must have had desperate reasons to flee that terrible night. Some lost parents before their eyes, others lost children—was this not so for all?”
“Ah…….”
“We breathe today as if by miracle, thanks to the providence and devotion of those who fell.”
Yuhwa gazed from one to the next with a warm smile, beginning with Uncle and moving to all the household members.
“So cast aside your self-reproach. The fact that you have not forgotten the name Namgung and have returned to us—for that alone, we are grateful.”
This was the spirit of the Righteous Path that embraces all of the martial world.
With a warmth like that of our mother, she washed away their guilt.
Yeonhwa and Seolhwa offered words of comfort as well.
“Please, unburden yourselves of the weight you carry in your hearts.”
“From this moment onward, I ask that you all support our new Clan Head in bringing about the Namgung’s revival.”
“My ladies……! Waahhh!”
At her radiant smile, Uncle finally could not hold back, his shoulders trembling.
The clan members prostrated on the ground were no different.
Like children, they wept without restraint. Soon, all eyes turned naturally toward me.
“This wretched, decaying life! Thanks to the Clan Head, we have been granted a chance to live anew and move forward!”
One of the clan members sprang to his feet, wiping tears of blood from his face as he cried out.
“All of us swear it—we will never flee again! As people of the Namgung, we will stand with dignity and give our utmost, even if our bones shatter and our flesh tears!”
“For the Namgung!”
“For the Clan Head!”
The unified cry of resolve rang through Cheonju Mountain like a bell.
Bitter regret and the story of salvation wove together into a bond hard as steel.
I had gathered proper, usable subordinates—the kind one could truly put to work.
“Now then, enough with the tears.”
I stepped forward and gestured toward the ruined village.
“We will rebuild the Namgung’s foundation. Unload every last scrap of goods and materials from the carts without fail!”
The moment the Clan Head’s first command fell, a thunderous answer tore across the courtyard.
“I obey your command!!”

* * *
Thus the full-scale work of rebuilding the village began.
“Sister.”
My eyes fell first upon Yuhwa, whose calloused hands were smoothing the sword hilt.
“From today onward, I appoint you as the martial instructor of the Namgung.”
“What…… What? A martial i-instructor?”
“Gather anyone who wishes to learn the sword, form them into groups, and teach them from the fundamentals. We need to establish patrols throughout the village starting tomorrow.”
“Patrols?”
“Hundreds of people have moved. Vast quantities of goods and provisions have arrived. Word will spread soon enough.”
It was as certain as fire that starving bandits, rogue swordsmen, and brigand gangs would catch the scent during winter and come creeping in.
The Namgung’s own people had fled when fighting terrified them, after all.
Before they could gather their courage to attack, I intended to strengthen our vigilance enough to give them pause.
“We need a guard detail to protect the clan.”
At this pragmatic and cold assessment, Yuhwa swallowed dryly and nodded her head.
But soon a deep shadow fell across her delicate face.
“B-but… Hyeok. How could I possibly be one to teach anyone?”
Doubt in herself.
I clicked my tongue sharply and gripped her shoulder firmly.
“Who was it who stood and endured my ferocious swordplay with eyes wide open?”
“Wh-what……?”
“Who threw themselves in front of me when an axe nearly split my skull? And who thrashed about in the training yard every dawn, breathing hard?”
Yuhwa’s wavering eyes gradually steadied at my words.
“Don’t doubt yourself over the blood and sweat you’ve already shed.”
I’d spoken those words to make use of her, yet Yuhwa was more delighted than ever, her eyes glistening with tears.
“My brother believes in me, such a useless older sister, so deeply. How could I shrink away? Leave it to me—I’ll do my very best!”
Soon she called out loudly and powerfully to gather people. But then.
“What face would we have to show, coming now to inherit the Namgung’s sword?”
“We were people who abandoned the sword from the start, lacking talent. Rather than us…….”
Older men approached with apologetic expressions, unwilling to join.
They believed they could be of no help, thinking they had nothing worth offering even if they lent their hands.
“Fresh barley should be stored in new sacks, should it not?”
Instead, boys and girls who might be called the next generation approached Yuhwa with eager hearts swelling in their chests.
“We wish to learn the Namgung’s sword! We hope you will give us this chance!”
Counting them, there were forty. Yuhwa opened her mouth with gravity.
“Taking up the sword is no easy matter. You must endure the pain of your palms splitting and tears of blood flowing. In true combat where lives hang in the balance, there is no running away. Are you truly prepared to bear such a heavy burden?”
A sincere warning—one only one who has walked a savage path could offer.
“When we were trapped in that prison cell like hell itself, there was a single ray of light that saved us. That was you, the Clan Head.”
“Though you are of an age similar to ours, before those terrifying demons you never retreated even an inch.”
“And beneath the pitch-black night sky, to see you command the clouds and summon the wind was truly magnificent.”
“So this is the Cheongtian Martial Arts that the adults spoke of with such wonder…… At last, I have come to admire it.”
The very thought of it filled their fists with strength.
“And so we, too, wish to become swordsmen like you, Clan Head, and someday represent the Namgung. What could we possibly begrudge, when we owe our very lives to you, and offer them freely to you and our house……!”
Forty pairs of burning eyes turned toward me in unison.
In that moment of despair and darkness, I was the one who had saved them.
Their yearning for me and their hunger for the blade burned bright and fierce.
Yuhwa turned to look at me then.
Her face was radiant with deep, unmistakable pride in her brother.
“With such noble aims set before us, how could I refuse?”
She gripped the twin swords at her waist and cried out.
“This instructor shares your goal entirely. Let us move forward together, so that you lack nothing in your pursuit of the Clan Head.”
“Yes, instructor!”
“For the Clan Head and the Namgung!”
A mighty roar rang out across the sky above the Namgung ancestral home.
It was the moment when the small but fierce sparks that would bear the weight of the clan’s future kindled and rose up together.
Standing at a distance, watching it all unfold, I found myself scratching my cheek awkwardly as their earnest gazes and loud voices pressed in from all sides.
“……What’s gotten into them?”

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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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