The World’s Greatest is Dead - Chapter 394
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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 Heavenly Supreme Has Died – Episode 394
Gungwi (弓鬼)?
I couldn’t help but wear a bewildered expression at the somewhat unexpected epithet.
‘Why is Gungwi appearing here?’
Gungwi was one of the Celestial Demons who had distinguished herself during the Great Demon War.
She was a figure who wielded a bow befitting her epithet, and she had earned the name Gungwi—meaning “Bow Ghost”—because her aiming precision and accuracy were said to be ghostlike.
‘There was also another thing….’
She was said to be unreasonably beautiful.
‘I heard she was from the Northern Sea, not from the Central Plains.’
The Northern Sea, where snow fell regardless of season.
A foreign martial artist from that place.
I didn’t know the circumstances of how someone from the Northern Sea came to participate in the Great Demon War.
But she was a figure who had contributed significantly to the war. She had saved the Scholar Cheon Rijin-an countless times, and it was said that the number of demons she had killed with her archery skills was beyond counting.
Because she was from the Northern Sea and had made such a tremendous contribution to the war, people called her the Celestial Demon.
“Why did Gungwi suddenly pop up…?”
Why had Cheonhye-in determined that Eunwol Sword was Gungwi’s agent?
“Both Gungwi and agent—what do you mean by that?”
“Do you know much about the person called Gungwi?”
“I don’t know her that well.”
Celestial Demon.
Northern Sea native.
Archer.
And.
‘The Most Beautiful Under Heaven.’
The fact that she was from the Northern Sea and was known as the most beautiful woman.
That was all I knew.
“Is there something more I should know besides this?”
As I asked whether there was any other important information beyond this.
“…You don’t know the most important thing.”
“The most important thing?”
Was there such a thing? As I stared blankly at Cheonhye-in, wondering what she meant.
“Gungwi has a very poor relationship with the Sword Saint, the previous Moonju.”
“…What?”
A poor relationship with the Sword Saint?
“To be precise—she had a poor relationship with the Cheongwol Sect itself.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Gungwi had a poor relationship with the Cheongwol Sect? That was a strange thing to say.
“What reason would there be for her to have a poor relationship with the Cheongwol Sect?”
A reason for someone from the Northern Sea to have ill feelings toward the Cheongwol Sect? I couldn’t think of any.
“I don’t know that far. However, before Gungwi departed for the Northern Sea, I do know what she left behind as a message for the Cheongwol Sect.”
“Words left behind?”
“I will destroy your moon.”
“….”
“This is… no different from a declaration to destroy the Cheongwol Sect someday.”
It was a valid point. Since the entire Central Plains understood what the moon meant to the Cheongwol Sect, destroying the moon was essentially—
‘Destroying the Cheongwol Sect.’
That’s what she must have meant.
“…Did Gungwi really say that before she left?”
“Yes. Before she disappeared. She declared it boldly to the current Moonju.”
“…To Wol Seon-geom.”
The Celestial Demon had boldly declared she would destroy the Cheongwol Sect and vanished.
‘I didn’t know about this.’
I wondered if such a thing had even happened.
‘Of course I wouldn’t know….’
From what I was hearing, this was something that happened internally. Though it was called a declaration, the Cheongwol Sect would have kept it quiet as well.
‘And it’s not just anyone—it’s the Celestial Demon.’
Though she was called a figure from another place, she was known as a hero.
If it became known that she had declared war on the Cheongwol Sect—
‘It would be a loss.’
Someone would dig into why they had made an enemy of a hero, and that would be damaging no matter what.
‘So they kept it quiet internally.’
But what mattered here was—
‘If it were entirely Gungwi’s fault—’
The Cheongwol Sect wouldn’t have remained silent. Yet they had been this quiet, which meant—
‘It wasn’t entirely Gungwi’s fault.’
The Cheongwol Sect’s fault. Or—
‘That damned old man caused another incident.’
The probability that Yoo Cheon-gil was at fault was quite high.
That was my analysis so far.
“So.”
I needed to hear more.
“What’s the connection between Gungwi and the Eunwol Sword?”
The connection between Gungwi, who had made an enemy of the Cheongwol Sect, and the Eunwol Sword, who was Wol Seon-geom’s disciple.
“Why do you see him as Gungwi’s pawn?”
I believed that was the most crucial part.
“….”
Cheonhye-in hesitated. She seemed to be deliberating whether to speak or not.
‘Look at that.’
I wasn’t someone who would fall for such transparent tactics.
‘She’s trying to create an opening by drawing things out.’
Given Cheonhye-in’s nature, she couldn’t have failed to anticipate my questions.
‘So that attitude is…’
It was a calculated demeanor. Meant to seize control of this conversation and steer it her way.
‘How irritating.’
I’d thought I might slip past this quietly, but it seemed I’d underestimated Cheonhye-in far too easily.
‘Well then.’
What should I do? Let it slide smoothly? Yield the momentum? I hesitated for a moment, but…
‘I don’t want to.’
The fact that I’d been forced into this from the start already rubbed me the wrong way.
I no longer wanted to play along with Cheonhye-in’s designs.
“It seems there’s something about this you’re hesitant to discuss.”
“Well… it’s rather important, you see.”
“Or perhaps you should go ask Elder Baek Yeon about it first?”
“….”
She froze.
At my words, Cheonhye-in’s body went rigid. Seeing that, I grinned wickedly.
“Ha.”
With a soft exhale, her expression vanished.
Then she raised her pale, delicate fingers and brushed them across her face once.
“Really. You’re so irritating.”
Her expressionless eyes were brimming with annoyance.
“Why? I was just being thoughtful, helping you speak carefully.”
“…Tsk.”
At the mention of Baek Yeon, she bit her lip.
I knew you and Elder Lee had a close relationship.
With that statement, I’d cut through the pretense.
“When did you find out?”
“Ugh.”
What’s the point if you’re going to ask so directly?
“I’m not sure when exactly, but with so many eyes and ears around, it was impossible not to know.”
“….”
I quoted her own words back at her once more. Her expression twisted further.
This was amusing. Watching her mask crumble before me like this, when she wore it so flawlessly everywhere else.
Now then.
“Let’s start with why you prepared all this.”
It was time to get down to the real matter.
“What exactly is the deal with the Eunwol Sword and Gungwi?”
“….”
Cheonhye-in wore a deeply displeased expression, but now that everything was exposed, there was no point in wasting effort on resistance.
“Sigh….”
I let out a long, heavy sigh.
“…The Eunwol Sword hasn’t been at the Cheongwol Sect for the past three years.”
“Yes, so I’ve heard.”
“Do you know where he went?”
“How would I?”
I’d only been at the Cheongwol Sect for less than a year—there was no way I could know.
“He received a special assignment from Sowoldae and departed on a long-term mission. However, that assignment was…”
Cheonhye-in fell silent for a moment before speaking to me.
“…to conduct an investigation into the Death King, one of the Five Heavenly Kings.”
“….”
This time, I was the one who hesitated, not Cheonhye-in.
‘…The Death King.’
My brow furrowed involuntarily at that name.
‘Of all people, him?’
One of the Five Heavenly Kings, yet the one who appeared before people least of all.
Moreover.
‘A righteous faction member who borders on the demonic path.’
Even his fellow righteous faction members shunned him—an ominous and bizarre figure. It couldn’t be helped. He was.
‘Known to worship ghosts.’
The Death King worships ghosts and death. This was the legend known throughout the Central Plains.
In truth, his origins lay with a great family of the righteous faction, and he himself was a martial artist belonging to the righteous path, but his actions and the tales that circulated about him were so bizarre that calling him demonic wouldn’t seem strange at all.
And simultaneously.
‘…the man I despise most.’
He was the human I least wanted to be entangled with.
‘Become my disciple.’
I recalled our entanglement from childhood. Damn it.
‘Just thinking about how things nearly went wrong because of Youngsoon.’
Muyong Youngsoon and her mother. I had become entangled with the Death King because of that affair.
Whether he worships ghosts or death—I didn’t care about such things.
‘He is a true shaman.’
In my judgment, the Death King was a genuine shaman in this world where fakes held sway.
‘That’s why I hated being entangled with him even more.’
The genuine recognizes the genuine.
No matter how well I hid, he saw through me.
To move past that and escape it, I had to endure grueling trials with my small child’s body.
‘…And it was because of that man that I had a ring bound around my heart.’
But now the Eunwol Sword went to investigate the Death King?
“What was the reason for the investigation?”
“I don’t know that much. It’s classified information known only to Moonju and the Eunwol Sword.”
“Hmm.”
I understood. Then.
“But what about the Death King and Gungwi in all this?”
It was a connection I hadn’t expected. I wondered if there was any reason for the two of them to be linked.
“The Death King is Gungwi’s disciple.”
“…What?”
An utterly unexpected statement had just come out.
“A disciple? Who…? The Death King is Gungwi’s disciple?”
“That’s right.”
“…What kind of nonsensical claim is that?”
It was truly a bizarre story. And for good reason.
“…The Death King must have an age. Besides, what could he possibly learn from Gungwi?”
What could the Death King, who wielded an entirely different power, learn from Gungwi, an archer? Much less—
‘…From what I know, the Death King’s age…’
Wasn’t significantly different from Paewang’s.
Which meant—
‘He’s around the same age as the Celestial Demon.’
Yet he became a disciple? No matter how I thought about it, I could only find it strange.
To my confusion, Cheonhye-in spoke.
“I can’t tell you more than that.”
She offered an answer that she couldn’t divulge the information.
This was absurd.
“Isn’t it a bit cowardly to do this after coming this far?”
“This is a rather important matter.”
“So I’m supposed to have a conversation with someone who hides their cards?”
“…At least you have reason to listen, don’t you?”
“Mm.”
I wasn’t pleased about it.
“Let’s continue then.”
I could at least hear her out.
“Let’s assume the Death King is Gungwi’s disciple. Then what’s your reasoning for suspecting that the Eunwol Sword became a spy?”
“…He spent three years on the Death King’s mountain. Do you know what that means?”
“I don’t.”
“Most who enter that mountain never return, or if they do manage to come back…”
“If they do?”
“They all came back insane. Completely out of their minds.”
The Death King’s mountain.
Those who went there either couldn’t return or came back mad.
Hearing this, I suddenly recalled the state of the Eunwol Sword.
‘That spiritual energy I felt back then.’
He didn’t seem to possess divine sight, but I remembered the strange presence he carried with him.
“Moreover, there’s also been news that Gungwi has recently entered the Central Plains. They say that after appearing for the first time in over a decade, the place she moved to was the Death King’s mountain.”
“…Gungwi in the Central Plains?”
The Northern Sea woman who had gone into hiding after the Jeongma Great War had entered the Central Plains and headed toward the Death King’s mountain?
“That’s right.”
“Right after that information came through, the Eunwol Sword emerged from the mountain and returned.”
“…Are you saying that’s suspicious enough that it could be a conspiracy?”
“Because Gungwi had certain methods she used in war.”
Methods Gungwi used in war? I had no knowledge of such things. In any case.
“You can’t reveal the source of that information either, can you?”
Gungwi’s journey to the Central Plains. The Death King’s affair. Where did you hear about these things—that’s what I was asking.
“I’m afraid not.”
At that, Cheonhye-in nodded her head.
“Hmm.”
Whether that information was true or not, I didn’t know.
‘It’s vague.’
Simply viewing the Eunwol Sword as being entangled with Gungwi was far too absurd.
Would Cheonhye-in not know that?
‘There’s no way.’
She knew as well, and that’s why she came to tell me. Or so I thought.
“What do you want from me?”
Why did she seek me out in this situation?
The Eunwol Sword might be a spy—so what?
I was asking what I was supposed to do here.
“I’d like you to investigate with me.”
“Investigate?”
“Yes. I think you’d be capable of it.”
So what she was saying was….
“Investigate whether the Eunwol Sword is a spy or not, together…?”
“That’s right.”
Investigating a fellow sect member. Moreover, investigating Wol Seon-geom’s disciple.
“No, that’s….”
Utter nonsense. Just as I was about to say that.
“In return, if you’ll investigate with me, I’ll tell you the location of the secret records left behind by the Sword Saint, which I know of.”
“….”
I had to close my mouth at Cheonhye-in’s words.
‘…Secret records?’
Could the secret records she was speaking of possibly be.
‘…The ones I already know about?’
The secret records that exist beneath the Cheongwol Sect. Was that what she meant? If so, I already know them well.
Thinking that way, I tried to say it wasn’t necessary, but.
‘Ah.’
A thought suddenly struck me.
“…Is that really true?”
A way to use Cheonhye-in amusingly, that is.
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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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