The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 88

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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 088
Secret Stories
Moreover, it was even harder to believe that the Sect Leader possessed such a side to him.
I could not easily imagine the Sect Leader and Dongbang Cheon speaking of me in hushed tones, addressing each other as older brother and younger brother while avoiding the eyes of others.
“Ahem, what I have just said must remain a secret. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Master.”
Even as Dongbang Cheon spoke those words, his lips continued to twitch slightly.
As if inviting me to ask more questions if I was curious….
But if I could ask more questions here, I would not be an introvert.
I swallowed the question that had risen to my throat and kept my lips firmly sealed, but Dongbang Cheon could not do the same.
“Are you curious about what your father was like in his youth?”
“….”
“You must be curious, right? After all, your father is hardly the type to sit you down by the warmth and regale you with tales of old. Hehe.”
He seemed as though he would be quite disappointed if I did not ask more here.
I hesitated for a moment, but ultimately I surrendered to his expression.
“Master, then…, might I ask just one thing?”
“I said no, and yet you persist, haha. My, how you trouble this uncle of yours.”
“Who was the mother of my sister So Cheong?”
There was no particular reason I needed to ask Dongbang Cheon this question.
But I thought this might be my only chance to hear this story.
It was something I had been deeply curious about for some time.
“Hmm….”
But seeing Dongbang Cheon, who had been smiling mischievously until moments ago, suddenly turn serious, it seemed this was indeed a difficult question.
“You are a strange one indeed. You are more curious about that than about your own mother?”
“Ah….”
True, I am also curious about the first wife of Sect Leader Baek Mu Myeong, who passed away when Baek Yeon was six years old.
What kind of person she was, how she died—I knew nothing of it.
But regarding Baek Yeon’s mother, I could always ask Woo Sa later.
“Father is extremely reluctant to speak of that matter. I thought I would ask just in case. If it is difficult for you to answer, please simply forget I asked.”
But after a brief moment of deliberation, Dongbang Cheon seemed to have made his decision and opened his mouth.
“Regarding that matter, I myself do not know for certain. Your father never spoke of it to anyone. However….”
“However?”
“Do you know the Family Head of the Namgung Clan?”
“You speak of Family Head Nam Goong Jin Yu. Yes, I have seen him once before.”
“Your father was close with the Namgung Clan before he ascended to the position of Sect Leader.”
“Ah…!”
“But due to some incident, the Baek Family and the Namgung Clan became mortal enemies.”
As Dongbang Cheon brought up the matter of the Namgung Clan, old memories surfaced.
When Nam Goong Jin Yu had visited the Sect Headquarters leading Namgung Eon and his retainers.
There seemed to be some inexplicable and complex history between Baek Mu Myeong and Nam Goong Jin Yu.
The Namgung Family sent assassins multiple times through the Martial Alliance to kill me.
So you’re saying that incident is deeply connected to some event from Baek Sect Leader’s youth?
“But what does that have to do with my sister’s mother?”
“I don’t know the details either, so I’ll tell you what I’ve heard through rumor. You must pretend you don’t know anything to your father….”
“Yes, Master.”
“Your father—no, Baek Sect Leader—was making quite a name for himself as a late-stage expert back then. The Main Sect hadn’t even earned the title of Demonic Cult yet. We were just counted as one of the ordinary heterodox sects.”
“I see.”
Dongbang Cheon was so absorbed in his story that I found myself swallowing hard without realizing it.
“Among the people Baek Sect Leader formed bonds with during his wanderings through Kangho, there were several renowned late-stage experts. One of them was a woman named Namgung Yeon Hwa.”
“Could she be from the Namgung Family…?”
“Yes. Namgung Yeon Hwa was the beloved daughter of the Namgung Family Head at the time. I’ve seen her from a distance myself, and she was truly beautiful enough to be called a peerless beauty. She had a warm and gentle smile that seemed to brighten everything around her. Her martial skills were also exceptional—she was even evaluated as superior to Namgung Jin Yu, who was the Crown Prince then and later became the Family Head.”
I had heard fragments of this story from Namgung Eon before.
That his father had a younger sister.
“What happened to her?”
“She died.”
“…!”
Dongbang Cheon’s face darkened as he continued in a low voice.
“I don’t know what happened. This is a secret kept not just by your father, but by the Namgung Family as well. There are probably only a handful of people in the entire Kangho Realm who truly know about this….”
“….”
“But one thing is certain—after Namgung Yeon Hwa met her tragic end, the Namgung Family came to view Baek Mu Myeong as their mortal enemy. Namgung Jin Yu, who lost his only sister, needless to say. It seems they believe Baek Sect Leader was the cause of her death.”
“Master, could it be that Namgung Yeon Hwa was…?”
It was the question anyone would naturally ask after hearing the story up to this point, but Dongbang Cheon shook his head.
“I say again, I don’t know exactly what kind of relationship Baek Sect Leader and Namgung Yeon Hwa had. Especially, I’ve never heard that they were lovers. There’s only one thing I’m certain of.”
Dongbang Cheon turned his head to meet my eyes and continued.
“After the incident in which Namgung Yeon Hwa died, Baek Sect Leader ended his wanderings through Kangho and returned to the Sect Headquarters. At that time, he brought back an infant. That child was So Cheong. He said nothing to anyone about anything except that she was his daughter. If anyone asked about the child, he would fly into a rage….”
The story that followed was something I had never imagined when I asked about So Cheong’s biological mother.
But perhaps it was a story even more important to me than I realized.
Baek Mu Myeong.
A supreme master who rivaled the greatest experts under heaven, a heartless Demonic Lord who devoted his entire life to the Demonic Path.
All I knew about him—the original owner of the body I now inhabited, Baek Yeon’s father—was this much.
I had felt no need to know anything beyond these facts.
But it seemed he harbored many facets that neither I nor the world knew about.
And at the center of his secrets was Baek So Cheong.
And another woman—Namgung Yeon Hwa.
It was astonishing to learn that the Namgung Family, a prestigious clan representing the righteous path, had come to regard Baek Mu Myeong as an irreconcilable enemy for such reasons.
“And when Baek Sect Leader returned to the Sect Headquarters with So Cheong, he had become a completely different person. Even I, meeting him after so long, was startled by how cold-hearted he had become.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Your father was not always the cold-hearted man he is now from birth.”
“Ah….”
“He was a chivalrous wanderer who would joke and laugh with me, and roam through Kangho sharing friendship and righteousness with many companions. Though he was taciturn even then.”
When I thought of Baek Mu Myeong as he was now, it was extraordinarily difficult to imagine him conversing and laughing with Dongbang Cheon.
Perhaps the burden of responsibility for leading the Sect had transformed him into a different person?
However, Dongbang Cheon’s account diverged somewhat from my expectations.
“In any case, when your father returned at that time, he cast aside everything else and devoted himself entirely to martial cultivation. He brought every rival competing for the Sect Leader position to their knees one by one, and seven years after his return to the Sect Headquarters, he ascended to the position of Sect Leader. And simultaneously, he declared war against the Martial Alliance.”
This suggested that rather than the man changing after becoming Sect Leader, the man had changed first and then became Sect Leader as a result.
The incident that caused Baek Sect Leader to suddenly become so ruthless was likely connected to some matter involving Nangung Yeon Hwa, which remained shrouded in mystery.
In any case, hearing directly from Dongbang Cheon about the circumstances surrounding Baek Mu Myeong’s ascension to Sect Leader left me with an oddly unsettled feeling.
Considering that the Dong Bang Family under Dongbang Cheon had virtually monopolized the Sect Leader position for nearly a century before Baek Sect Leader.
Baek Mu Myeong had displaced his uncle Dongbang Cheon and seized the Sect Leader position.
It would not have been strange if Dongbang Cheon harbored resentment.
Yet Dongbang Cheon, as if discerning my thoughts, spoke with a bittersweet smile.
“Do not worry. I myself acknowledge that your father is far more suited to the Sect Leader position than I am. I harbor no grievance whatsoever. Rather, I am grateful to your father for relieving me of such a heavy burden.”
“I see….”
“The same applies to the position of future Sect Leader. The world occasionally speaks of my son competing for the Sect Leader position, but… from what I observe, there is no one more suited to it than you. As for Dong Bang Heon, that fellow is somewhat….”
A complex expression crossed Dongbang Cheon’s face as he mentioned his eldest son, Dong Bang Heon.
“Ah, when the opportunity arises next time, you should meet him.”
“Yes, Master.”
As the conversation drew to a close, Dongbang Cheon posed an abrupt question.
“Tell me—do you understand why I have shared such matters with you?”
As I remained unable to offer any response, he spoke slowly.
His voice carried a note of concern.
“You must be aware that your father, as Sect Leader, seeks to lead the Sun and Moon Divine Sect and unify the Kangho Murim.”
“Yes….”
“However, it seems to me that it is a dream far too distant to be realized within your father’s lifetime. I believe your father understands this as well. Though the Main Sect has grown tremendously in the dozen years since your father assumed the Sect Leader position, the Kangho Murim is simply teeming with formidable masters. This is why your father places such great expectations upon you, and why, as a father, he treats you with a severity that is scarcely imaginable….”

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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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