The Introverted Heavenly Demon - 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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The Introverted Heavenly Demon Episode 031
Proselytization
Among the throng of women who had gathered, the Minor Sect Leader recognized a familiar young girl’s face.
The girl spoke to the Minor Sect Leader in an embarrassed, hushed voice.
“Minor Sect Leader. Do you remember me?”
The girl was none other than the very same one who had been summoned to a banquet at the Divine Sect a year ago to play the guqin.
And she was also the daughter of the woman the Minor Sect Leader had rescued just days before.
The girl’s name was Jang Seo Yoon, and she appeared to be in her mid-teens—several years older than the Minor Sect Leader was now.
With her face flushed crimson, she waited for the Minor Sect Leader’s response.
“Yes, I do. How have you been? You’ve put on some weight since last time.”
“…Ah, th-thank you….”
Jang Seo Yoon’s face had turned red the moment she approached the Minor Sect Leader, and she couldn’t manage to speak.
Yet she lingered without departing, hesitating in a way that suggested she had something she wished to say.
“Seo Yoon, go ahead and speak.”
A woman who appeared to be around twenty years old, who had come with her, tugged at Jang Seo Yoon’s sleeve, but still she could not find her voice.
“Minor Sect Leader, if it would not be presumptuous, might I speak on Seo Yoon’s behalf?”
“And you are?”
“My name is Yu Hee Jin. I am Seo Yoon’s close friend.”
“…Very well, please speak.”
Seeing that Jang Seo Yoon would not manage it, the woman named Yu Hee Jin began her explanation instead.
“Ever since that day when Seo Yoon returned home with new guqin strings and plenty of food, she’s been wasting away like someone afflicted with a fever, gazing up at the sky as though lost in a dream. I never imagined the person who had captured her heart was you, Minor Sect Leader.”
“Ah, Sister Hee Jin!!”
“Ha ha. In any case, thanks to the grace the Minor Sect Leader has shown, Seo Yoon’s guqin skills have improved by leaps and bounds. And you saved the lives of her mother and younger sister as well. So, the thing is….”
The Yu Woman’s face flushed as she winked at the crimson-faced Jang Seo Yoon, then clasped her hands together and bowed respectfully to the Minor Sect Leader as she spoke.
“Would it be possible for you to tell us about the Sun and Moon Divine Sect?”
“Tell you about it?”
“Yes. We’ve heard rumors of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect from time to time, but rumors alone cannot be the whole truth. Since there are such wonderful people as you and your disciples here, we thought we would like to learn about it properly. All of us.”
By “all of us,” the woman meant the young women and girls of the village, including Jang Seo Yoon.
True to her words, some ten young girls and women gazed at the Minor Sect Leader with eyes full of anticipation.
Namgung Eon also looked pleased, waiting for the Minor Sect Leader’s permission.
The Minor Sect Leader recalled the conversation he had shared with Namgung Eon just moments before.
Namgung Eon had encouraged the Minor Sect Leader to attend the village banquet, saying:
“If you don’t mind, why not use this occasion as an opportunity to proselytize to the villagers?”
“Proselytize?”
Originally, Namgung Eon had come to this village for the purpose of proselytization.
Like any other religion, proselytization was one of the important duties of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect’s disciples.
‘Proselytization… proselytization, I see….’
The results of proselytization efforts were also one of the criteria by which the Minor Sect Leader was evaluated.
To recruit disciples for what was called the Demonic Cult, the Sun and Moon Divine Sect.
The Minor Sect Leader had no idea how to even begin, what to do, or where to start.
However.
‘If it’s something I must do anyway, it would be a shame to miss an opportunity like this.’
After all, there would be no better time to achieve results in proselytizing than now, when I had accumulated all the prestige I could among the villagers.
“Minor Sect Leader? Will that be alright?”
The Minor Sect Leader emerged from his thoughts and met the women’s gazes.
Then he spoke with a dignified smile.
“Of course. I shall ask Young Master Namgung Eon to handle it.”
“Thank you, Minor Sect Leader.”
“Namgung Eon, come here.”
“Yes, Minor Sect Leader!”
The moment the Minor Sect Leader gave his permission, Namgung Eon came rushing over with delight.
He then gathered the women separately, cleared an entire large table, and seated them there.

* * *
From an introvert’s perspective, extroverts were truly fascinating creatures.
‘How do they possess such boundless energy?’
That was precisely what the Minor Sect Leader felt watching Namgung Eon conduct his proselytizing activities among the village women.
“And so it was that I made my declaration to my father in that moment and pledged my loyalty to the Minor Sect Leader.”
Extroverts, it was said, drew energy from meeting with people.
Namgung Eon was now experiencing that same fullness of energy the Minor Sect Leader had felt during his wall-facing meditation in the Hall of No Mind.
Namgung Eon had gathered the young village women of Maehwa Village and was recounting his journey to becoming a disciple of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect.
It was a subject that should have captivated anyone, yet the women’s minds were elsewhere entirely.
‘Ah, the Minor Sect Leader… how can he be so handsome?’
Han Miss, Kang Young Lady, Eun Young Lady—all of them alike.
Their ears heard Namgung Eon’s words, but their thoughts wandered in different directions.
Some even cast sidelong glances at the Minor Sect Leader without restraint.
The Minor Sect Leader paid the women no attention whatsoever, yet merely gazing upon his face was enough to set more than one woman’s cheeks aflame.
‘Did the Minor Sect Leader just look at me?’
‘If only I could hear his voice once…’
Unaware of it all, the Minor Sect Leader had utterly captivated the women with his taciturn and aloof charm.
The noble status of the heir to the Sun and Moon Divine Sect.
The strength befitting that station, combined with an impression and bearing so distant and lofty that they seemed beyond mortal reach.
When the Minor Sect Leader’s reticent nature was added to this, the women perceived him as something mystical—like an immortal from legend itself—and naturally found themselves wishing they could hear his voice even once.
It was an eternal truth: while extroverts caught the eye first, once an introvert captured your heart, there was no escape.
“The story has grown quite long. Let us rest for a moment.”
Sensing that continuing the doctrinal lecture was impossible under these circumstances, Namgung Eon spoke thus and paused the teaching.
Seeing this, the Minor Sect Leader hardened his resolve.
‘As I suspected, nothing gets done if I leave everything to my subordinates.’
“Namgung Eon.”
“Yes, Minor Sect Leader!”
Having resolved upon something, the Minor Sect Leader summoned Namgung Eon to his side.
Namgung Eon approached respectfully and took a seat beside the Minor Sect Leader, and naturally, all eyes in the gathering turned toward him.
“It has now been a year since you pledged yourself to the Divine Sect. What have you felt during this time?”
“What I have felt, you ask….”
“Whether the teachings and philosophy of the Divine Sect seem worthy of staking everything upon.”
“Ah…, Minor Sect Leader, is it appropriate for me to speak of such things here?”
“Are there matters you would rather not discuss before others?”
Upon hearing this, Namgung Eon grasped the Minor Sect Leader’s true intention.
The Minor Sect Leader did not merely wish to hear Namgung Eon’s sincere convictions.
His purpose was to place a final seal upon all the proselytizing efforts Namgung Eon had undertaken thus far.
“No, Minor Sect Leader. I shall speak freely.”
Namgung Eon began his explanation with crystalline clarity.
“The Sun and Moon Divine Sect’s unique philosophy of self-exaltation, its tendency to establish order through strength, and its manner of dismissing all faiths outside the Divine Sect—these are matters I believe the heart must overcome. Perhaps I feel this way because of my Orthodox Sect origins, but not all who come from the Orthodox Sects are inherently corrupt.”
“Hmm….”
Young Ho Bin, who had been listening to Namgung Eon’s words, was utterly taken aback.
Though the Minor Sect Leader had invited him to speak freely, to launch into such direct criticism was extraordinary.
Given the Minor Sect Leader’s temperament, one might have expected immediate rebuke and curses to follow.
Yet the Minor Sect Leader merely listened, his face absorbed in deep contemplation.
“However, when one considers how thoroughly corrupted the so-called righteous sects of the Murim have become, and how greatly the common people suffer at their hands, there emerges a paradox wherein the teachings of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect—branded as the Demonic Cult—acquire genuine moral legitimacy that all must acknowledge. Moreover, the doctrine that all humans are equal, whether they be high officials or humble villagers, and the Divine Sect’s teachings to protect the weak and succor the impoverished—these shall become the singular and unparalleled banner of the Kangho Murim in ages to come.”
As Namgung Eon’s words continued, the heads of many in the gathering nodded of their own accord.
The unfortunate incidents that had befallen this village recently, intertwined with the events that had unfolded here today, lent his words compelling force.
Because it was not blind praise of the Divine Sect, it resonated with authenticity all the more.
“To answer your question, Minor Sect Leader, I believe I am prepared to sacrifice everything for the teachings and philosophy of the Divine Sect. My conviction has only grown stronger than it was a year ago when I first swore my loyalty to you.”
After Namgung Eon finished speaking, he knelt and prostrated himself before the Minor Sect Leader, whereupon applause erupted among the villagers.
Some nodded their heads, moved by his words.
At that very moment, the Minor Sect Leader, who had listened in silence until now, opened his mouth to speak.
All the villagers, who had yearned to hear the Minor Sect Leader’s words, turned their attention upon him as one.
“Do not forget what you have said this day. And Namgung Eon, Young Ho Bin—I now issue a command to you both.”
“Yes, Minor Sect Leader!”
Especially the young women, including Jang Seo Yoon, listened intently to the Minor Sect Leader’s every word, their eyes gleaming.
“As the Minor Sect Leader of the Divine Sect, and as the future Sect Leader, I cannot help but revere strength, self-exaltation, and the principle of survival of the fittest. Yet should the day ever come when I forget the very foundation of which Namgung Eon has just spoken….”
“…!”
“You must offer me counsel through your loyalty at any time, so that I may remain a guardian of the Divine Sect’s teachings to save all people.”
“…!!!”
“And should I refuse to heed your words, then you must use your strength to bring me back to my senses.”
Every word the Minor Sect Leader spoke came from the depths of his heart, untainted by falsehood.
That sincerity was conveyed to all who heard it.
“Hmm. For that to come to pass, you must all train far more rigorously than you do now.”
The villagers felt profound emotion toward the Minor Sect Leader, who despite his exalted station was genuinely prepared to cast aside everything for the common folk of the Kangho.
Young Ho Bin and Namgung Eon felt precisely the same.
“Minor Sect Leader, your words are absolutely correct.”
“I shall devote my life to fulfilling your command!”
At the Minor Sect Leader’s sincere order, both Young Ho Bin and Namgung Eon were moved to renew their oath of loyalty—needless to say.
“Ah, Minor Sect Leader!!”
“You are truly the beacon of light that shall save Kangho!”
The villagers, who had never even attended a doctrine lecture, all nodded in admiration.
Several women wore expressions as though they might faint from emotion.
“Young Master Namgung Eon, I wish to become a disciple of the Divine Sect. How do I do that?”
“Have you received your parents’ permission?”
“Both Mother and Father have decided to become disciples together.”
“I see. Come this way then! I shall explain everything to you!”
Thus, there was no need to belabor the point that the proselytizing efforts were succeeding spectacularly.

* * *
Kang Ho Haeng, who had departed to investigate Namgung Eon and the Cheon San Faction, had achieved considerable results, but the energy I expended as an introvert was greater than ever before.
That night, I returned directly to my chamber and slept soundly.
The next morning, I woke early, intending to report the situation to Woo Sa on behalf of the Sect Leader.
“The atmosphere seems rather strange today… wouldn’t you say, Young Ho Bin?”
All the disciples I encountered on the way to the Ilwol Great Hall to meet Woo Sa bowed their heads deeply, gazing at me with expressions of profound emotion.
As though I had accomplished some great achievement and returned.
Of course, it would not be strange for them to evaluate me that way, but the odd part was that I had not yet spoken to anyone about that matter.
I had even instructed Namgung Eon to say nothing until I reported to the sect.
“It is like this, sir….”
Only after hearing Young Ho Bin’s explanation did I come to understand the reason.

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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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