The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 113

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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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The Introverted Heavenly Demon Episode 113
The Woman in the Portrait
As she spoke, Jin Seol withdrew a large rolled sheet of paper from the chest she had been holding and unfurled it, presenting it to me.
“This is….”
“A portrait of Nangung Yeon Hwa.”
The Nangung Yeon Hwa in the portrait appeared to be in her early twenties.
And true to what I had heard, she possessed the kind of beauty that would certainly warrant being called one of Kangho’s most beautiful women.
Clear, luminous eyes, a refined and graceful nose, delicate features.
But what struck me most profoundly was her radiant smile.
It was like gazing upon a single flower blooming in a sunlit meadow, glistening in the spring light.
Her smile evoked the sensation of hearing bright music, compelling one to smile in return.
A person whose very existence illuminated everything around her.
Whether man or woman, no one could help but love such a person.
Though I had never met her, this portrait alone was sufficient to understand what manner of person Nangung Yeon Hwa had been.
Had Jin Seol not spoken to me just then, I likely would have continued gazing at this woman’s smile for considerably longer.
“It seems to me that she resembles someone. Am I the only one who feels this way?”
“Who do you mean?”
I could only answer thus.
Though I had studied her portrait at length, no particular person came to mind beyond the observation of her beauty.
“No, it must be my mistake.”
My gaze shifted from the portrait to Jin Seol, and I found myself saying this:
“Now that I look more closely, she bears some resemblance to you.”
“To me?”
Yet it seemed Jin Seol had not considered that Nangung Yeon Hwa resembled her.
Her surprised reaction suggested as much.
“Beautiful women tend to share a similar presence, after all.”
Upon hearing my words, Jin Seol raised her eyebrows slightly, then narrowed her eyes into crescents and gave me a sidelong glance.
“When conversing with you, Minor Sect Leader, I often find myself confused. Sometimes it seems you understand women’s hearts quite well, and other times it appears you don’t understand them at all.”
I suspect I lean far more toward the latter when it comes to understanding women’s hearts.
Jin Seol let out a soft hum and began organizing the belongings she had brought.
It was a habit of hers that emerged when she was in good spirits.
I too examined the portrait she had given me once more, then carefully rolled it without creasing it and stood it upright in a corner of my chamber.
I would need to devise a way to conceal it, lest the Sect Leader discover it and create complications.
“But tell me, Minor Sect Leader—why are you curious about her?”
“I shall explain later.”
“Ah, you needn’t feel obligated to tell me. However, if you shared your reasons, it would make gathering information considerably easier.”
“I shall keep that in mind.”
“By the way, I mention this merely as a precaution, but if you wish to learn about her, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to ask someone other than me?”
“More appropriate than you, the Vice Palace Master of Maryeom Palace?”
“Yes. No matter how extensive one’s information network may be, uncovering the intimate secrets of a household is no simple matter.”
As I listened to Jin Seol’s words, I belatedly realized something I had overlooked.
“Indeed, you speak the truth.”
“Hehe, then I shall take my leave now.”
It was like the saying—the area beneath the lamp is darkest.
There had been someone perfectly suited to ask about Nangung Yeon Hwa, yet I had failed to think of them until now.

* * *
“The Namgung Prince? I haven’t seen him much lately either.”
“Well, I’m curious how he’s been doing.”
I began walking toward the pavilion district of Myeong Shin Palace alongside Young Ho Bin.
Young Ho Bin had said that Namgung Eon should be at Myeong Shin Palace by now.
Though knowing him, he had a habit of wandering outside whenever the opportunity arose, so I couldn’t be certain.
‘I wonder if he knows anything about his aunt.’
Namgung Eon was the fifth son of the current Namgung Family Head, Nam Goong Jin Yu.
And Nangung Yeon Hwa was Nam Goong Jin Yu’s younger sister.
Of course, she had died before Namgung Eon was even born, but he was still family—surely he had heard something about her.
However, I wasn’t meeting Namgung Eon solely to ask about Nangung Yeon Hwa.
It was time to check in on how he had been faring all this while.
I had heard that Namgung Eon had been quite disappointed about not being able to accompany me on the Chengdu expedition.
In a sense, he was the one who had left his prestigious family because of me and now remained alone within the Il-Wol Divine Sect.
I should have looked after him better, but I had pushed him aside due to my busy schedule, and I felt somewhat guilty about that.
He shouldn’t have grown distant from his family, lonely and desolate, or become twisted in spirit….
“Minor Sect Leader, if I may add something.”
“Hmm?”
“I’ve recently heard that the Namgung Prince has taken a lover.”
“What?”
Well, that was needless worry on my part.
“What sort of woman is she?”
“All I know is that she’s a Disciple belonging to Myeong Shin Palace. I’ll gather all the details when we meet him this time.”
I nodded and patted Young Ho Bin’s shoulder with my hand.
Indeed, there was no one more reliable than Young Ho Bin for matters like this.
It was just as we drew near to Myeong Shin Palace.
“Huh?”
Young Ho Bin and I spotted something in the distance and stopped in our tracks, exchanging glances.
Thud! Thud!
A man was being beaten by several people.
Despite the considerable distance, the blows rained down so mercilessly that each time fists and feet struck his back and abdomen, the sharp sounds of impact carried clearly to our ears.
And yet.
“Isn’t that the Namgung Prince?”
Needless to say for Young Ho Bin, but even my eyes—honed to a level of perception incomparable to ordinary people through reaching the first-rate realm—could see him distinctly.
Surrounded by three men, being beaten down one-sidedly—it was unmistakably Namgung Eon.
Crack.
Witnessing this sight, I felt as though my blood was rushing backward through my veins.
Hearing the sound of my teeth grinding in fury, Young Ho Bin moved with swift precision.
“My lord. Please remain here. I shall handle this matter.”
Young Ho Bin’s expression betrayed his concern that I might lose my reason and slaughter them all.
With a resolute demeanor, he steadied me before launching himself forward with explosive speed toward where Namgung Eon lay, his body moving like wind itself.

* * *
Four years had already passed since Namgung Eon began his life as a disciple at Myeong Shin Palace.
He harbored a burden he could confess to no one.
‘Why does my martial prowess remain perpetually stagnant?’
The Namgung Clan, counted among the Five Great Families of the Righteous Martial World, was renowned above all for martial arts so formidable that none in Kangho could match them.
The current Family Head of the Namgung Clan, three elders, and even the commander and vice-commander of the Cheon Young Dan—the martial force of the family itself.
That a single household possessed five masters at the pinnacle of their craft was no mere coincidence.
From the innate martial talent possessed by the family’s members, to the martial arts they studied and their educational methods—the Namgung Clan was spoken of as a house that existed solely to glimpse the apex of martial mastery.
The Namgung Clan’s wealth, renown, and connections that reached every corner of the Righteous Martial World—all sources of the family’s influence ultimately stemmed from such martial excellence.
When Namgung Eon, the fifth son of the Namgung Family Head, pledged himself to the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, it was only natural that all disciples poured their expectations upon him.
His assignment to Myeong Shin Palace, which took as its primary role the research, development, and inheritance of martial arts, arose from those very expectations.
And yet.
‘Is he truly the biological son of the Namgung Family Head?’
Despite Namgung Eon’s earnest dedication to martial cultivation, the pace of his advancement was pitiful.
The disciples of Myeong Shin Palace who studied the martial arts of the Namgung Clan and the Righteous Martial World had initially held high hopes, but it took less than a year for it to become apparent that his martial skill offered little assistance in advancing the Divine Sect’s techniques.
At first, they attributed it to his youth.
Yet the Minor Sect Leader, of similar age, saw his martial prowess surge daily, reaching new heights with each passing year.
Namgung Eon’s martial skill was embarrassing when compared to the Minor Sect Leader’s.
He even began falling behind ordinary disciples as time went on.
As a result, whispers began circulating among the disciples of Myeong Shin Palace.
‘They say Namgung Eon didn’t abandon the Namgung Clan to pledge himself to the Sun and Moon Divine Sect.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘His martial skill is so wretched that the Family Head cast him out, and he rolled all the way here.’
‘Come now, surely not….’
‘I thought it was nonsense at first too.’
‘But thinking about it, the story isn’t entirely implausible.’
‘Look at the state of him. If I were the Namgung Family Head, I’d have disposed of him myself.’
Namgung Eon was keenly aware of the suspicious and mocking gazes the disciples cast upon him.
Yet what allowed him to endure was his distinctive unwavering resolve.
And the quiet consideration shown to him by the Minor Sect Leader behind the scenes.
Because the young Minor Sect Leader brought Namgung Eon along on every external mission, the ordinary disciples could not bring themselves to disrespect him.
It was also true that Namgung Eon had risen in standing within Myeong Shin Palace for a time, having accomplished great merit by uncovering the Cheon San Sect’s conspiracy to undermine the Divine Sect alongside the Minor Sect Leader.
His martial prowess was unremarkable, but his administrative acumen was exceptional—so much so that he had once been entrusted with important duties within Myeong Shin Palace.
Yet that was the extent of it.
‘How is it that four years have passed without the slightest progress?’
‘I happened to observe him cultivating his inner strength, and he seemed to lack all sense of gathering and channeling his power.’
From the moment it became clear that Namgung Eon’s martial abilities lagged far behind disciples of comparable age, and that no future advancement was possible, his standing within the Divine Sect plummeted with terrifying speed.
The disciples began to treat Namgung Eon with thorough contempt.
The very label that had once distinguished him—his origin from the Namgung Clan—had become a malicious stigma.
‘A traitor from the Orthodox Sects.’
‘Namgung in name only; a worthless wretch abandoned by the Namgung Clan.’

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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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