The Introverted Heavenly Demon - Chapter 89

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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 089
I ask this of you
After hearing Dongbang Cheon’s account, I found myself gaining a clearer understanding of who Baek Mu Myeong truly was.
He believed I could accomplish the mission he himself could not fulfill.
I nodded and responded.
But then….
“Yes, Master. So that I may carry on the will of the Sect Leader, my father….”
“No. That’s not it.”
“?”
Dongbang Cheon shook his head with unexpected firmness.
Then, gazing into the distance with profound eyes, he spoke slowly.
“Just because you are the son of Baek Sect Leader, and even if you ascend to the Sect Leader’s position in his stead, you are still yourself. No matter how great your father’s expectations may be, there is no law that compels you to blindly follow his will. Is there not?”
“…Then, what are you asking me to do?”
“You must discover why your father came to despise the Baekdo Martial World and this world itself. I am not telling you to do it immediately. Cultivate your strength and observe the world with your own eyes. Why did the Sun and Moon Divine Sect turn the Baekdo Martial World into an enemy, bearing the stigma of the Demonic Cult from the world? Why must they fight them at the cost of countless disciples’ lives? If it proves too difficult to uncover, then ask your father directly. Even after you inherit the Sect Leader’s position, it matters not. And….”
“….”
“If at that time you come to believe your father is wrong, you must correct him. That is your role as a son and as the heir to the Sect Leader. As your master, I ask this of you.”
“Yes…, Master.”
Faced with this unexpected request from Dongbang Cheon, I could only respond as I did.
Yet his words did not end there.
Rather, I suspected that what he added afterward was what he truly wished to say.
“And if…, you come to agree with your father’s will….”
The expression on Dongbang Cheon’s face as he spoke these words was indescribably complex.
Yet precisely because of that, I could discern that his words carried not a shred of falsehood—they were pure sincerity.
“Then, difficult though it may be, you must carry on your father’s will. This is a request I make to you as your uncle. I too shall do everything within my power to aid you.”
“Yes…, Uncle.”
Dongbang Cheon smiled as if relieved, brushing himself off as he rose from his seat.
Then he placed a hand upon my shoulder and patted it several times as he spoke.
“It seems I’ve gone on at length. I should be heading back now. I must also check on how matters stand with the Four Great Families.”

* * *
Fifty unknown martial artists blocked the front, while a hundred Divine Sect warriors filled the rear.
The Four Great Family Heads and their entourage found themselves suddenly surrounded on all sides, plunging into chaos.
As Jin Seol’s commands rang out, the Ma Yeon Palace disciples moved in perfect synchronization as if rehearsed, subduing the Four Great Family Heads—and the escort unit’s panic reached its peak.
Baek So Cheong asked in bewilderment.
“Miss Jin. What is the meaning of this?”
“Baek Young Lady. I apologize for not informing you in advance for security reasons. Ma Yeon Palace’s investigation has confirmed that one of the Four Great Families has shown signs of betraying the Sect.”
“What did you say…?”
“The situation is not yet concluded, so please remain vigilant.”
The young heirs riding near the Four Great Family Heads were equally shocked by the sudden turn of events.
The Ma Yeon Palace disciples seized the Family Heads and forced them to their knees.
Noh Sang Do and Im Myeong Un, though bewildered, complied obediently with the disciples’ demands, so no significant resistance occurred.
But Kang Cheon Mu of the Kang Family and Gongsun Do Heon of the Gongsun Family were different.
Kang Cheon Mu fiercely resisted the disciples attempting to restrain his guards, wielding an iron fan and breaking one disciple’s arm.
Gongsun Do Heon even drew the sword at his waist.
“Do you understand what you’re doing right now!?”
“Gongsun Family Head. We are executing the Sect Leader’s orders, so I advise you not to resist.”
Kang Cheon Mu and Gongsun Do Heon stood back-to-back, growling menacingly at the disciples as if ready to devour them.
Meanwhile, the Divine Sect forces rushing from the rear passed through the escort unit and collided head-on with the mysterious warriors blocking their front.
Leading the Divine Sect forces atop a magnificent steed was Gwangmyeong Left Elder Jang Hyeon Do.
Elite martial artists selected from White Tiger Palace, Blood Cloud Palace, and Myeong Shin Palace followed behind him.
As a dozen warriors clashed at the front lines, the peaceful gorge instantly transformed into a battlefield.
The clash of weapons, battle cries, and screams of the wounded filled the gorge.
But the fighting did not last long.
When five or six of the mysterious men fell wounded by the Divine Sect’s blades and spears, they—already outnumbered—instantly lost their will to fight.
They had intended to ambush the defenseless escort unit but instead found themselves caught in a larger ambush. They realized from the start that victory was impossible.
As the first few men broke ranks and fled from the rear, the mysterious warriors scattered in all directions within moments.
“Don’t let a single one escape!”
With Jang Hyeon Do’s resonant command, the Divine Sect forces pursued the fleeing remnants, subduing them one by one.
The complexions of the two Family Heads still facing off against the Ma Yeon Palace disciples had turned ashen.
Kang So Young, standing beside Kang Cheon Mu and watching helplessly, burst into tears.
“Baek Young Lady! Please, I beg you. Can you at least explain what is happening?”
All the young heirs of the Four Great Families stood in stunned silence.
Though Baek So Cheong did not understand the unfolding situation, she believed it was wrong for the Family Heads and heirs of families visiting the Divine Sect to be treated this way.
“Baek Young Lady, do not approach them.”
Jin Seol tried to stop Baek So Cheong, but it was already too late.
Kang So Young, her face streaked with tears, approached Baek So Cheong, who helped her to her feet and tried to comfort her.
That was when it happened.
Whoosh!
Jin Seol had drawn the three-foot blade at her waist in an instant, and its edge split the air with lightning speed.
Before Baek So Cheong’s eyes, a brilliant flash of white sword light streaked across the air.
In the next instant, Kang So Young’s severed right hand was spinning through the sky.
“Disciple Jin! What in the world are you doing…!”
Baek So Cheong’s words trailed off.
“Kang Young Lady?”
I had caught sight of Kang So Young’s face, now twisted into something monstrous and grotesque, burning with an indescribable fury and hatred.
“Seize her!”
The disciples who rushed forward immediately subdued Kang So Young and threw her roughly to the ground.
Her severed right hand still clutched a razor-sharp dagger.
That blade gleamed with a deadly poison that would kill with even the slightest touch.
Thud.
The sound of Kang Family Head abandoning all resistance and falling to his knees echoed quietly through the chamber as he watched Kang So Young’s subdual.
Gongsun Do Heon, witnessing the actions of Kang Cheon Mu and his successor Kang So Young, finally seemed to grasp the situation.
“I shall obey the Sect Leader’s command.”
Gongsun Do Heon, resigned to his fate, knelt and surrendered himself to the disciples.
The Family Heads and successors of the other clans followed suit.
It was only the Kang Family that had betrayed the Divine Sect, and the other families had been unaware of their treachery.
Yet with a traitor emerging from one of the Four Great Families, and with the Sect Leader personally intervening, none of them could escape rigorous investigation and censure.
“Baek Young Lady, are you unharmed?”
“Yes. I’m fine.”
Jin Seol asked in a tone devoid of emotion, and Baek So Cheong answered with a melancholy voice.

* * *
After more than a month of investigations concluded, the Kang Family Head and all family members who had conspired in the rebellion faced severe punishment.
I encountered Jin Seol shortly after the Sect Headquarters finished dispensing all penalties related to this incident and awarding merit to those who had distinguished themselves in the process.
“Minor Sect Leader.”
“It has been a while, Miss Jin.”
That day, Jin Seol wore a crimson palace robe instead of her usual practical garments.
With her hair gathered up and makeup applied, she appeared almost like a different person—unfamiliar to my eyes.
It was as though she had cast aside the beauty she had long concealed and now displayed it in full.
“Or should I call you Deputy Palace Master Jin now?”
Jin Seol had been promoted to Deputy Palace Master of Ma Yeon Palace in recognition of her merit in thwarting the conspiracy by the Kang Family and preventing the assassination of the Four Great Families’ disciples.
Throughout the three-hundred-year history of the Sun and Moon Divine Sect, this was the first time a twenty-year-old female disciple had become Deputy Palace Master of one of the Five Demon Palaces.
Jin Seol rarely smiled as often as I did, yet in this moment, she smiled at me.
It was a captivating smile that seemed capable of enchanting one’s very soul.
“There’s no need for such formalities as Deputy Palace Master. Didn’t I tell you?”
Without looking around, she approached me and gently grasped my right hand.
“I’d prefer if you treated me a bit more casually.”
Just before Jin Seol’s extraordinary promotion to Deputy Palace Master, two disciples of Ma Yeon Palace who had ranked ahead of her simultaneously fell from grace.
Their downfall came after they violated doctrine and engaged in a life-or-death duel, both sustaining severe injuries—rumors suggested they had frequently quarreled over a woman’s affections.
Some whispered that woman was Jin Seol, though it was never confirmed.
“That cannot be. I’ve heard rumors that all men who treat you casually meet with misfortune.”
Now that I think about it, when I went out to make contact with the Lower Five Gate, no one from the Lower Five Gate appeared—instead, I happened to meet this woman.
Then why was that scoundrel who had become obsessed with Jin Seol and died by my blade present in that place at that time?
That’s not all.
How could a woman of such high skill as Jin Seol have been rendered unconscious by some drug-laced liquor administered by that wretch?
“You’re saying you believe the rumors circulating on Market Street, Minor Sect Leader?”

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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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