The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 56

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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 056
Schemes and Conspiracies
“Come now, Minor Sect Leader? Try this instead of alcohol.”
Whatever orders the woman had received, she showed no intention of leaving my side despite the fierce glare Baek So Cheong was directing at her.
This time, she picked up a dish with the very chopsticks she’d been eating with and brought it to my mouth.
Her scheme to use seduction to pin my attention and presence here was painfully transparent.
‘How appetizing. What is she doing with chopsticks she’s already used?’
It seemed Jang Yeon Hwi’s investigation of me was still incomplete.
Had he conducted even a cursory inquiry, he would have discovered that seduction held no sway over me.
“I’ve eaten quite enough already and my stomach is full. Please, help yourself, Young Lady.”
“Pout. It seems the Minor Sect Leader doesn’t fancy this girl.”
The woman, who had been seeking opportunities to approach me brazenly since earlier, was supposedly the daughter of a merchant guild master who conducted business with the Cheong Yun Merchant Group.
Beautiful and of good family, the men attending the banquet had their attention fixed entirely on her every gesture and movement.
Yet when I offered her not even a glance, those present—though they dared not show it openly—were visibly impressed by the dignified bearing I possessed.
In truth, it was merely the instinctive aversion of an introvert toward strangers.
In any case.
‘The atmosphere seems ripe now.’
The night had grown late, and as the drinking continued, most of those present—save myself—had consumed considerable amounts of alcohol.
Young Ho Bin and Namgung Eon, and even Baek So Cheong, feigned inability to refuse and drank the wine offered by the Cheong Yun Merchant Group and its associates.
I exchanged a meaningful glance with Young Ho Bin and Namgung Eon, whose faces had flushed slightly from the alcohol.
They met my gaze and nodded, signaling that preparations were complete.
Our plan for tonight was thus:
The Cheong Yun Merchant Group would arrange another drinking session tonight, and we would participate appropriately while waiting for people to become intoxicated.
Then Namgung Eon would provoke a quarrel with the drunken patrons and begin arguing.
Young Ho Bin would pretend to stop him but instead encourage the fight.
When the drunken men began fighting, I would slip away from the inn under cover of the chaos.
It was a classical method, but one proven effective throughout the long history of Kangho.
It would be strange if martial artists drank without a single fight breaking out.
I signaled once more to Namgung Eon, and he, accustomed to drinking disputes, prepared to provoke the burly man he’d been watching nearby.
It was at that very moment that an unforeseen situation erupted.
“Damn this scheming wench!”
Crash!
The sharp voice of an angry woman, followed by a heavy impact, and then the sharp sound of shattering glass rang out in succession.
Turning my head, I saw the dining table where Baek So Cheong had been sitting was completely destroyed, with wine bottles and cups that had been upon it now scattered in fragments across the floor.
“Baek Young Lady…?”
Baek So Cheong glared at the woman who had been sitting beside me, her breathing heavy with indignation.
With a mere light strike infused with inner force, befitting a first-rate martial artist, the table had been reduced to splinters.
The woman stood frozen, unable to utter a sound, her shoulders trembling violently.
“I’ve been watching, and you’ve been clinging to the Minor Sect Leader this whole time! He has no interest in you!”
Baek So Cheong’s face was flushed from alcohol as she snorted indignantly.
Young Ho Bin and Namgung Eon, who had been preparing to execute their operation at any moment, stared at the scene with expressions just as dumbfounded as mine.
However, the woman bearing the brunt of Baek So Cheong’s fury was no ordinary person either.
“What am I doing wrong? I was just trying to get closer to the Minor Sect Leader by pouring him some drinks and being friendly. Is that such a terrible offense?”
The woman cried out thus, then shot to her feet, rolled up both sleeves, and began raising her voice at Baek So Cheong with increasing vehemence.
“I was curious why the Minor Sect Leader, blessed with such refined features, martial prowess, and scholarly knowledge, had no romantic partner. Now I understand—it’s because this sister of yours interferes and obstructs from the sidelines like this. How could the Minor Sect Leader ever have a comfortable conversation with women?”
“Ro, romantic partner? The Minor Sect Leader is only thirteen years old. What are you even—”
“Thirteen is old enough to know everything!”
Perhaps it was the sudden quarrel between the women, or perhaps it was because the subject matter itself was so provocative.
Everyone at the gathering fell silent, holding their breath as they listened intently to the exchange between the two.
And I….
“Enough, woman.”
“But Minor Sect Leader, my words weren’t wrong—”
“I said enough!”
And this was something not part of the plan.
-Are you just going to stand there watching a woman treat my sister like that? Tonight, let’s make it this woman!
‘Silence.’
Whether this woman’s words were right or wrong mattered not at all.
Something within my heart was kindling a terrible fury toward her.
“It’s, it’s the Cheon Ma!”
Someone cried out upon seeing crimson blood-light burst forth from my eyes, which had turned red in an instant.
“Evacuate at once!”
It was only natural that the banquet attendees, having witnessed the Cheon Ma—infamous throughout Kangho—before their very eyes, fled in terror as if they had seen ghosts.
Even the woman who had been sobbing and sitting in her seat was led away by Namgung Eon’s hand, escaping the banquet hall.
And in an instant, only Baek So Cheong and I remained in the banquet hall.
“Minor Sect Leader, are you alright?”
Baek So Cheong looked at me with wide, blinking eyes.
The moment our eyes met, the Cheon Ma vanished without a trace.
Along with the inexplicable fury that had filled my heart, melting away like snow beneath the spring sun….
“I see now that you possess quite the talent for improvisation, sister. That was a convincing performance.”
“Ah….”
Only then did Baek So Cheong recall what she had said under the influence of alcohol, and her face flushed crimson as she hung her head low.
“It wasn’t entirely an act….”
“What was that?”
“Nothing at all. Anyway, we’re done now, aren’t we?”
I glanced around at the now-empty surroundings and shrugged my shoulders.
The tedious banquet and the strangers who had been troubling me—all had vanished.
More importantly, if I wished to slip away from the inn now and attend to my business, no one would notice.
No one would dare to surveil the Minor Sect Leader of the Demonic Cult, who had just triggered the Cheon Ma’s rampage.
“Thanks to you, sister, I can proceed with the plan as intended.”
The gains that Young Ho Bin, Namgung Eon, and Baek So Cheong had obtained over the past four days were not entirely without merit.
A small tavern located on the outskirts of Chengdu held the key to everything.
Though the tavern had ceased operations long ago and stood vacant, members of the Cheong Yun Merchant Group had been frequenting it without pause in recent days.
Particularly during the sparse hours of night, cargo wagons and carts moved in and out ceaselessly—there was no doubt something was transpiring within those walls.
Today, I planned to visit that place alone, evading the eyes of the Cheong Yun Merchant Group, to investigate their clandestine activities.
“There is nothing to worry about now.”
At my words, Baek So Cheong gazed at me intently before her expression grew troubled, and she released a weary sigh.
“It’s the opposite. Sending the Minor Sect Leader alone to such a dangerous place where anything could happen…”
In Baek So Cheong’s words, I felt the full weight of her concern for me.
I let out a scoffing laugh and spoke.
“Do you still think I am a child, sister?”
At my words, Baek So Cheong offered a smile tinged with melancholy, then approached and stood close, bringing her head near mine.
Our noses nearly touched, and her hair brushed softly against my cheek.
I heard her inhale and exhale, her breath tickling my lips several times.
Though it carried the faint scent of alcohol.
“Well, seeing how you’re still this much shorter than your sister…”
Baek So Cheong playfully placed her hand atop my head as she spoke.
“I’d say you’re still very much a child, wouldn’t you?”
She was right—my height still fell short of hers by barely a finger’s breadth.
I rose slightly onto my toes and tilted my head, gently bumping her forehead before turning away.
Baek So Cheong’s delicate brows furrowed slightly as she rubbed her forehead.
Whether from the effects of alcohol or not, her cheeks remained flushed crimson.
“The day you can say such things won’t be far off, sister.”
“Ha ha. I suppose you’re right about that.”
I draped a black cloak across my shoulders and wound a hood around my head that could conceal my face.
I fastened the Cheon Sa Gwi Myeol Sword, which I had prepared beforehand, to my belt.
“Be careful, Minor Sect Leader. When you return, look at your sister’s face first thing. Understood? I’ll be waiting…”
“I’ll be back soon.”
I opened the window at the rear of the inn instead of using the main gate, and propelled myself through the opening.
From the now-empty banquet hall and the guest chamber where I was staying, no sounds of people moving about could be heard for quite some time.

* * *
As I cultivated the Hyeon Ma Nae Hyang Sim Gong, I became as adept at erasing all traces of my presence as I was at amplifying my inner energy.
While moving swiftly without a sound, no one detected my passage.
Evading the gazes of the Cheong Yun Merchant Group’s guard unit scattered throughout, I crossed the back garden of the inn and vaulted over a low wall, revealing the shadowed night streets beyond.
I sprinted through the darkness, following the route I had memorized beforehand.
Before long, I arrived at a place where two torches cast their light across the dim path ahead.
Two martial artists from the Cheong Yun Merchant Group stood steadfast before what appeared to be a former tavern.
A group of servants had just arrived, loading something onto a cart and carrying it into the building.
I could not discern what was happening inside.
As I watched from my hiding place, the cart soon emerged again.
This time, I caught sight of Poong Cheong Jin’s face.
Poong Cheong Jin mounted a horse behind the cargo cart, then departed along the same path they had come.
All that remained in my view were the two guards.
I moved silently toward a spot beyond their line of sight and scaled the wall once more.
Inside the wall, I saw no additional guards stationed.
After a few more steps, I found a small window beside the building’s entrance through which I could slip inside.
The interior was utterly dark—no lights burned within, and no moonlight penetrated the walls.
Though I could not see even an inch ahead, I had little difficulty searching the space.
My experience exploring the Spirit Saint Cave alone a year prior proved invaluable.
‘Is there truly no one inside?’
The first floor was empty—devoid of both people and goods.
The main hall contained only a few tables, some drawers, and several empty crates scattered in a corner.
I searched the second and third floors by way of the staircase, but found the same emptiness.
‘If no one is here, then something precious must certainly be stored somewhere.’
The constant stream of cargo carts, combined with the Cheong Yun Merchant Group’s iron-tight security, made it clear this was no ordinary operation.
Above all, it was something they wished to hide from both me and the Sun and Moon Divine Sect’s delegation.
I descended to the first floor again and began a meticulous search, this time focusing on the floor and walls.
Before long, I discovered something in a corner of the floor.
Sliding my hand into what appeared to be an imperceptible crack, I felt it—a heavy iron plate concealing a secret passage.
I drew upon my inner energy and pushed the plate aside.
As expected, a hidden staircase descending into the underground chamber was revealed.
‘Found it.’
I carefully descended the dark stairs into the depths beneath the building.

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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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