The Heavenly Demon of the Blue Sky - Chapter 31

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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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Cangqian Demonic Qi: Episode 31
Several days had passed since Namgung Hyuk, the head of the Namgung Clan, and his eldest daughter Yu Hwa departed Cheonju Mountain for the Jegal estate, where the Yongbong Assembly was to be held.
On the roof of the Namgung main house’s guest quarters, two men sat side by side, and from both their mouths came a deep sigh in unison.
“Sigh…….”
“Namo Amitabha Buddha…….”
It was Jang Ho, the renowned Kaebang master known as Bun-ta-ju, and Hye Gwang, an abbot of Shaolin.
This hard-won respite was the fruit of a brutal conflict—a honeyed reprieve earned through blood.
They had come hoping to deepen their bond with their comrade-turned-steadfast ally, the head of the Namgung Clan, and to while away the hours in leisure, drinking their fill.
But when they came to their senses, they found themselves left behind as temporary security captains and training instructors for the Namgung household.
“I mean, how can such a thing be? The man himself said this wasn’t some backwater wayside inn, and yet he entrusted two guests who arrived at his door with the entire administration of his household before simply departing?”
Jang Ho thrust out his lip in disbelief and grumbled.
Hye Gwang, too, offered a wry smile as he rotated his 108 Prayer Beads between his fingers.
The words that Namgung Hyuk had left behind just before departing—uttered while patting the bewildered shoulders of the two men—still echoed in their ears.
“When two men have walked the boundary between life and death together, when blood has mingled between us, why would I doubt or worry about you? Make yourselves at home; treat this as your own house.”
And with that, he had left them in charge and departed without looking back.
“Is he simply eternally optimistic, or does his heart possess the breadth of an ocean? Or perhaps…….”
“We simply look so naive that he’s decided to put us to the test!”
Jang Ho clicked his tongue, though there was no hint of displeasure on his face.
After all, such absolute trust in them was itself a compliment.
“We are, after all, renowned talents of the Kaebang and Shaolin.”
If they were to shirk their duties and blemish the Namgung name in any way, it would reflect poorly upon their own reputations as well.
And so they rolled up their sleeves and began to weave themselves into the daily life of the Namgung household.
“Listen here! You can’t load cargo with knots tied so sloppily! Now, let Jang Bun-ta-ju show you the absolutely unbreakable Three-Stage Knot Technique that I learned from years on the road!”
Jang Ho deployed his characteristic sociability, blending seamlessly with the workers of the Namgung trading company.
He freely shared the practical techniques he had acquired through rough years traversing difficult roads—methods for pitching tents in moments despite wind and rain, tricks for securing cargo with unyielding knots, and more besides.
“Ah! Truly worthy of the great hero of Kaebang!”
At such sincere praise, Jang Ho’s nose rose skyward without restraint.
Meanwhile, Hye Gwang remained among the residents.
“Avalokiteshvara, I sense deep worry in your heart. Yes, sowing seeds in barren soil is arduous, but at the end of that perseverance, there surely awaits…….”
He listened to the small concerns of the residents worn by their labors, and as a Buddhist monk, he offered them warm solace and counsel, proving himself an invaluable help.
Yet that was not all.
Whoosh! Crack!
The two men took charge of the Hyomyeong Training Ground, left vacant with both the head and the instructor absent.
“Yes! That’s it!”
Speaking of the freedom of Kaebang and the harmony of Shaolin, they guided the trainees through their forms.
As training progressed, the two men’s eyebrows furrowed deeper.
“What do you make of it, Abbot?”
“……It’s bewildering.”
He had heard that these youths had only recently taken up the sword.
Yet their rooted stance and the fundamentals of their energy cultivation were solidified with a terrifying precision.
“The Namgung Clan has barely managed to revive itself, and everyone believes it impossible for them to recover their former strength…….”
It was said that most of the martial arts that had been transmitted for a thousand years had been lost.
Restoration would be difficult even if one devoted centuries to the effort.
But the two men who had directly witnessed the sword forms on the Hyomyeong Training Ground held a completely different view.
“The individual martial skill and systematic foundation of these young trainees is refined to such a degree…….”
“This too must be the handiwork and capacity of that monstrous clan head. Truly, a genius that sends chills down one’s spine.”
Thus, as they seamlessly filled every gap by overseeing martial training as well, before long the sun began to set and darkness fell.
The two men returned to their quarters utterly exhausted, collapsed flat upon the floor.
“Ah, my aching body! In all my years, this is the first time I’ve worked this hard during a vacation.”
“Namo Amitabha Buddha. I am in agreement. My first time sitting down today.”
They had come with good intentions, yet found themselves caught in a grueling routine.
“At this point, I find myself harboring strange resentment toward the clan head who has bound us here.”
Jang Ho pouted, and it was precisely when Hye Gwang, kneading his stiff shoulders, let out a quiet sigh.
Knock-knock—
“Honored masters, might we come in for a moment?”
With a refined voice, the guest room door opened, and Yeon Hwa and Seol Hwa, the second and third daughters of the Namgung household, entered.
In both their hands were neat dishes and warm millet wine.
“Oh my! What is all this?”
“Master Jang Bun-ta-ju, Abbot Hye Gwang. You have labored so very hard all day long, looking after our Namgung family.”
Seol Hwa offered a dignified smile as she set down the food, and Yeon Hwa likewise beamed as she continued.
“Thanks to the protection you two great masters have given the Namgung Clan so steadfastly, my younger brother and eldest sister were able to set out on their travels without a single worry or burden. We’ll return with a treasury of wonderful memories we’ll never forget for the rest of our lives.”
Both sisters bowed deeply toward the two men, their eyes brimming with genuine gratitude.
“We sisters are equally delighted and grateful for that fact. All of this is due to your kindness. While you remain here, we shall ensure you lack for nothing and receive the highest honor as our guests.”
In that instant, Jang Ho and Hye Gwang’s breath caught in their throats.
“Haah!!!”
Two sisters who boasted beauty that could topple countries.
When they smiled luminously beneath the candlelight and tended to them with such thoughtful care, the hearts of a beggar and a monk who had been rolling about in a place crawling with dull-faced men began to pound like thunder.
There were many servants who tried to seduce with their looks, but the sight of one whose very existence was grace and beauty showing genuine gratitude was on another plane entirely.
‘Ah…. The presence of these women transforms this place into paradise itself.’
The two men, who normally kept their distance from women, found their lips quivering unbidden.
“Ah, no! As friends, this is simply what we ought to do, ahem!”
“Namo Amitabha Buddha! This humble monk acted gladly through the Buddha’s compassion, suffering no hardship whatsoever!”
The resentment they’d been muttering toward the Namgung patriarch just moments before vanished without a trace.
“Magnificent! Indeed, you are both bold and splendid. Allow me to refill your cups!”
A single beautiful smile washed away the day’s fatigue like snow melting before the sun.
Then, wearing a foolish, blissful grin, he drained the wine cup.
Shortly after the sisters took their leave and departed the room, a pleasant silence settled over the guest quarters.
Jang Ho set down his wine cup quietly and gave Hye Gwang a nudge.
“Hey, you.”
“……What is it?”
“Coming to Namgung was truly the right choice…… wasn’t it?”
To Jang Ho’s idle question, Hye Gwang fingered his large prayer beads and nodded with genuine gravity.
“Avalokitesvara. Paradise was never far away after all.”

* * *
At that very moment, on the road departing Cheonju Mountain and heading toward Hubei Province.
After days of travel, the carriage bearing us finally arrived at Yungzhong, the host city of this Yongbong Assembly and the ancestral seat of the Jegal Clan.
“Hmm.”
Yungzhong, the heart of Hubei, had a distinctly different character from other Jianghu cities.
As befitted a city where the Jegal Clan had invested centuries of effort, the roads and buildings interlocked with the precision and intricacy of a vast Eight Trigrams Formation.
Wide streets laid out flat as a Go board and towering pavilions rising majestically toward the sky.
It was a landscape that exemplified the grandeur and distinctive refinement of the Jegal family, known throughout Jianghu as the finest minds.
Scholars in academic robes and intellectuals were as numerous in the streets as swordsmen bearing blades, and the fragrance of ink and vitality enveloped the entire city.
Ordinary people would have gazed in wonder, but my impression was different.
‘The same now as ever. They’ve twisted every inch of ground into formations. No wonder it’s hard to enjoy oneself here.’
Coming as an outsider master, stepping into this place felt like entering a Go board down a handicap stone.
By contrast, Yu Hwa sitting beside me seemed not yet to feel such discomfort.
Her cultivation was still insufficient to properly sense the environment surrounding her.
“Hyuk! Look there! There’s a fire-breathing performance troupe! My goodness, is that rare candy they’re selling?”
Instead, she was wiggling on the carriage seat like a child, her face pressed to the window frame.
Her usual quiet, composed bearing had vanished entirely.
“Show some dignity, won’t you? The guards outside will hear.”
“B-but…… oh! Look at those ornaments displayed there! They’re so beautiful!”
My rebuke apparently fell on deaf ears.
Unable to contain her excitement any longer, she seized my arm and began shaking it.
“Hyuk, couldn’t we just stop and look around for half a two-hour period…… no, even just a quarter hour? Please? I may be the eldest daughter representing the Namgung Clan, but if I’m too ignorant of worldly affairs, won’t I be laughed at by people from other clans?”
Her eyes sparkled like those of a young deer.
Ah, that expression again. To think I’d see that invincible technique she’d been using since behind the walls deployed here in the heart of Yungzhong.
‘…… How did I acquire such an inconvenient weakness?’
I clutched my throbbing temples and let out a deep internal sigh. Then I rapped lightly on the front wall of the carriage.
“Yes, Young Master. I am here.”
It was the voice of Namgung Gyeong, whom I’d entrusted with guiding this journey.
“Stop the carriage. We need to stretch our legs in the marketplace for a bit.”
“At once, sir.”
The carriage halted and Yu Hwa leaped out like a child.
Surveying the rows of stalls, her eyes sparkled without ceasing.
“Goodness, who carved these so exquisitely?”
While Namgung Gyeong and the scouts kept watch at a distance.
I followed behind my sister at a leisurely pace, hands clasped behind my back.
“Hyuk! Look at this!”
Yu Hwa stopped before a stall selling ornate jewelry.
Her gaze fixed on a luminous jade hairpin displayed among the wares.
“Isn’t it lovely? It would be perfect for keeping my hair neat while wielding a sword.”
“If you like it that much, buy it.”
I’d intended to settle the purchase and be done with this tedious browsing.
Just as my fingertips were about to brush the smooth jade hairpin—
A swift motion.
A slender, delicate hand suddenly extended from nowhere and grasped the hairpin at the same instant I reached for it.
“…?”
Turning my head, I found a woman standing there in white martial robes topped with a green sleeveless tunic.
Half her face was concealed behind a thin veil, yet her eyes were remarkably sharp and imperious.
Across her jade-smooth forehead sat a crescent-shaped silver ornament.
“This hairpin caught my eye first, you see.”
I nearly laughed aloud at that.
“What does it matter who sees it first? Whoever grabs it owns it.”
“We grabbed it at the same time, didn’t we? Our hands are right on top of each other!”
The woman held her ground without yielding an inch, meeting my challenge squarely.
While Yu Hwa tilted her head in confusion, I murmured softly to myself.
“Then whoever lets go first forfeits their claim.”
“Fine. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The moment the words left her mouth, a distinctly foreign force began to seep into my hand from her fingertips.
‘Interesting.’
This was no mere test of will.
A sharp, tingling numbness spread across my skin the instant it made contact.
And threading through the air came the faintest, sweetest hint of pear blossom fragrance.
‘The Sichuan Tang Family, then.’
The Orthodox Faction’s preeminent house of poison and concealed weapons.
To lace even a minor qi clash with subtle paralytic toxin over a single hairpin—bold tactics for someone so young.
An ordinary martial artist would have yelped and released it at once, but such crude tricks held no sway over me.
‘How dare you play games with me?’
I smiled coldly and drew upon the Cangqian Demonic Qi coiled deep within my Dantian, pulling it up with exquisite restraint.
Compressing it as sharply as the tip of a white-hot needle, I discharged it directly into her hand.
A sharp crack.
“…Ah!”
A stinging, heavy blow to her fingertips.
Followed by an overwhelming, bone-chilling force that froze her to the core.
The woman reflexively jerked her hand from the hairpin and stepped back half a pace.
Shock rippled visibly across the veil-concealed features of her face.
“I win. How amusing.”
I picked up the jade hairpin with unhurried grace and turned back toward Yu Hwa.
“Here you are.”
“Um, thank you. Hyuk… but who is that woman?”
At Yu Hwa’s question, I glanced at the woman and lifted one corner of my mouth into a slight smirk.
“No idea. She was just making a scene out of nowhere.”
I drew a small silver coin pouch from my sleeve and tossed it to the stall owner.
“Keep the change.”
Without a backward glance, I turned and walked into the crowd.

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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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