Chapter 100: Heavenly Demon’s Disciple (22)
“Die!”
Shhhhing—!
The Blood Demon bit his lip hard and swung the sword in his hand through the air in a wide horizontal arc.
‘Sword wind!’
Invisible blades of wind sliced clean through the silk curtains.
“This much is—oops!”
If I dodged, Mi-bong’s waist would be cut in half. A horrific scene flashed before my eyes.
Shrrring—!
Without a moment’s hesitation, I halted my step and whipped out the Green Forest Eighteen Blades sheathed at my waist.
“Urgh!”
BAM!
It was nowhere near the level of the Heavenly Demon, but blocking that sword wind head-on still overloaded my body.
My one and only weakness.
When it comes to pure internal energy competition, I can’t match the veterans of the martial world who’ve spent decades accumulating it through every method imaginable.
‘So this is the Blood Demon for you!’
Power worthy of the villain who tormented the protagonist all the way up to volume 214 of the martial arts novel <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?>—right before the finale.
Especially the internal energy he rapidly amassed through the Star-Absorbing Great Law that steals others’ cultivation—it was downright shameless in quantity.
“Young Master Kang…!”
“I’m fine.”
But I had given the Blood Demon time to escape.
“An unlucky day, it seems.”
“Let her go!”
In that brief moment, the Blood Demon had already tucked the bound woman under his arm. Standing on the window frame, ready to flee at any second, he asked me,
“Are you really the Number One Demon of Sichuan?”
“That’s me.”
“Hah! So the rumors were true—the Heavenly Demon’s grandson. You took my sword wind straight to the face and don’t even have a scratch.”
BOOM! CRASH!
Hearing the commotion on the sixth floor, chaos erupted on the fifth as well.
“Block hi—argh?!”
“Protect the Cult Leader!”
“Guh! It’s the Fist King!”
It sounded like the little Fist King was fighting the Blood Demon’s subordinates.
Struggle, struggle.
The Blood Demon looked down with amusement at the futile resistance of the woman whose hands and feet were tightly bound, then asked me,
“Not going to attack?”
“Why haven’t you run away yet?”
“Looks like we’re thinking the same thing.”
“Same here.”
As Master Bone had once said, the Blood Demon is not a martial artist.
He is a sorcerer—a strategist.
People often mistake him for one because he’s strong as a fighter too, but he’s the type who prefers using his brain over his fists.
I’m the same way, being a “shaman.” I prefer rational negotiation over pointless violence.
“You’re hostile toward me because of Mi-bong, correct?”
“Correct.”
That’s the surface reason. The real one is that I came here to obtain the Emei Divine Sword that Mao Zhai is searching for—the bait meant to lure out the Heavenly Demon’s disciple, “Ma-ryong.”
“I promise I won’t touch Mi-bong from now on.”
“How can I trust that?”
“I already have plenty of beautiful women. I even have the Number One Beauty Under Heaven, who’s far more stunning than Mi-bong.”
“Ah!”
It felt like someone had just smashed a hammer into my skull.
‘Right! There was the Number One Beauty Under Heaven!’
In the early volumes of <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?>, the Number One Beauty Under Heaven gets captured by just one member of the Blood Demon Guard.
Just one!
The excuse was that she was drugged with sleeping incense.
Back then, the still-green protagonist barely managed to defeat that single Guard and rescue her…
‘But he never actually rescued her!’
The author wanted to pair the protagonist with the ultimate beauty early on, but the original story’s ridiculous plot completely ruined the Number One Beauty’s life!
“You get it now? I already have the Number One Beauty Under Heaven. That’s why I have no great desire for Mi-bong.”
Tremble, tremble.
Mi-bong shook with humiliation at being ranked below the Number One Beauty.
I gently stroked her head to calm her down and asked,
“How can I believe that?”
“Try searching the entire Central Plains for the Number One Beauty Under Heaven. You won’t find her anywhere.”
The Number One Beauty Under Heaven (天下第一美).
The most beautiful woman in all the Central Plains!
If she’d gone missing, the entire martial world should’ve been in an uproar, but because of her notoriously wild behavior, no one even noticed.
Wanderlust.
Cross-dressing.
The Number One Beauty Under Heaven loved to travel and always disguised herself as a man, hiding that peerless face and her true identity.
Who would ever suspect?
Part of the blame also falls on the author who forcibly crammed in the setting that this same Number One Beauty—who got knocked out by sleeping incense—was actually super strong.
Anyway.
“You can’t prove it right now, can you?”
The Blood Demon was telling the truth, but I had to act like I didn’t fully trust him in order to negotiate.
“Hmm. I cherish the Number One Beauty too much to show her off so easily.”
“I understand.”
“Hahaha! It’s been ages since I met someone I can actually talk to!”
It seemed the Blood Demon had been seriously stressed out by all the martial artists who only knew how to solve things with their fists.
The mood wasn’t bad at all.
‘I haven’t forgotten my original goal…’
Mao Zhai.
And the Ma-ryong that Mao Zhai is hunting.
The Emei Divine Sword was supposed to be bait to lure out the Ma-ryong, and I had planned to rescue it.
But after realizing the Blood Demon and I could actually communicate, my thinking shifted.
“Who’s that woman?”
“The Number One Beauty of Sichuan.”
“…”
The Number One Beauty of Sichuan.
The pride of the Emei Sect was currently dangling from the Blood Demon’s side like a piece of luggage.
Why?
Yet another crime of the irresponsible author who made the Blood Demon Guard weak only when facing the protagonist.
“I’ll give you the Number One Beauty of Sichuan.”
“She’s an old grandma!”
Looks can be deceiving.
“As long as the lives of her two beloved disciples—Emei Fairy and the Emei Divine Sword—are in my hands, the Number One Beauty of Sichuan will never dare rebel.”
“You’re thorough.”
“A strong and beautiful puppet.”
Tremble.
Treated like a puppet, the Number One Beauty of Sichuan shook with searing humiliation, but she didn’t resist the Blood Demon.
“You filthy bastard…”
Taking the two disciples she cherished like her own daughters as hostages and forcing obedience—this was peak villain behavior.
“You think I’m an idiot? As long as the Emei Divine Sword and Emei Fairy are in your hands, the Number One Beauty of Sichuan is nothing more than a watchdog.”
“Hah! Not bad.”
The Blood Demon laughed, openly amused, and readily admitted it.
Now it was my turn.
I voiced the request that had just changed from “give me the Emei Divine Sword.”
“Blood Demon. Teach me sorcery.”
“…That came out of nowhere.”
“I can talk to lingering spirits who haven’t passed on.”
I’ve only ever met Master Bone, but the Heavenly Demon himself had confirmed I wasn’t hearing things—by acknowledging the existence of his “daughter,” a character who never even appeared in the original novel <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?>.
“So that’s it… That’s why I felt a sense of kinship from the start.”
“Can you teach me?”
“What’s in it for me?”
“An alliance.”
It might look like a one-sided deal that screws the Blood Demon over, but the moment he saw me, his first thought was escape.
The martial world runs on the law of the jungle.
That’s exactly why this has meaning.
“Not disciple—alliance?”
“There’s no way someone weaker than you would become your disciple, right? And if your Blood Demon Guard hadn’t targeted Mi-bong, I wouldn’t even be here.”
“A bit irritating, but… I acknowledge you. You’re right.”
There was no real enmity between the Blood Demon and me. Sure, I killed a few of his Guard, but that was cheap payment for trying to touch Mi-bong.
Even though we’d just met, we negotiated quickly and warmly, as if we’d known each other for years.
“Young Master Kang…?”
Mi-bong, who had been listening quietly beside me, looked completely bewildered.
I’d never told her I could hear the voices of the dead.
At that moment—
“Young Hero Kang…!”
CRASH!
The little Fist King came barreling up the stairs like he was about to destroy them.
“Cult Leader!”
“Intruders!”
“It’s the Fist King… gasp!”
The Blood Demon’s subordinates who had climbed up the outer wall from the fifth floor rapidly filled the sixth floor.
“Good. I accept.”
Whoosh~
The Blood Demon callously hurled the bound-and-helpless Number One Beauty of Sichuan right at my feet.
“Kyaa?!”
Her pained scream from slamming into the hard floor was neatly ignored.
“Why this granny?”
“It’s a test.”
“Aha!”
“If you truly can see heroic spirits, then we shall meet again.”
Flutter~
The Blood Demon turned, led his men, and melted into the darkness.
“No need to chase?”
The little Fist King, fists dripping with blood, asked me.
“No need.”
I hoisted the groaning Number One Beauty of Sichuan onto my shoulder.
‘Mission accomplished, after all.’
***
- Breaking! Heavenly Demon’s grandson rescues the Number One Beauty of Sichuan!
- Shocking! The vanished Number One Beauty Under Heaven was the Blood Demon’s woman?!
- Trending! This is the Mi-bong era now!
If the Central Plains martial world had newspapers, the streets would be plastered with headlines like these.
In particular, the news that the greatest beauty of the Central Plains had fallen into a villain’s arms drove nails into the hearts of countless wandering heroes.
“I never said a word…”
The only people who knew the Number One Beauty Under Heaven had been kidnapped by the Blood Demon were me and Mi-bong.
So who was the culprit spreading the rumor?
“Hmm~ hmm-hmm~♪”
Mi-bong was humming cheerfully, clearly enjoying the situation.
“Miss Mi-bong, you seem in high spirits lately.”
“That big sister I never liked ended up marrying a perverted old creep.”
“…You’re brutally honest.”
“Is it wrong when I didn’t do anything bad?”
“Not at all. It’s fine.”
In the original novel, Mi-bong and the Number One Beauty Under Heaven were as close as real sisters.
“But if Young Master Kang doesn’t like it, I’ll keep it to myself from now on.”
“No, it’s okay. I actually like your honest side, Miss Mi-bong.”
“Oh my!”
“I mean it.”
Mi-bong acting differently from the original <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?> was excellent reference material.
And the little Fist King, in a different way…
“I took down the Blood Demon Guard with nothing but my fists!”
…was also excellent reference material.
Martial arts.
Mi-bong, whose concerns revolved only around looks and romance, lacked this area—and Little Fist King conveniently filled in the gap.
“Miss Mi-bong.”
“Yes!”
“Land Dragon is spreading the rumors properly, right?”
“Don’t worry. When I ask him for something, he does it right.”
“Hmm.”
I glanced at the beautiful “granny” who had been staring blankly at the blue sky outside the window all day.
The Number One Beauty of Sichuan.
She had recovered somewhat from the shock of the Blood Demon, but she still spoke little and her face remained dark all day.
That part didn’t really matter, but…
‘Ma-ryong is taking way too long.’
If that timid guy truly wanted to save the Emei Divine Sword, he should have come looking for me—the one who rescued the Number One Beauty of Sichuan—by now.
Did he lose interest?
The source of the intel that Ma-ryong had gone searching for the Emei Divine Sword was none other than Land Dragon.
‘Could that beggar have lied to me?’
There was also the possibility that Ma-ryong had already given up on the Emei Divine Sword—who was still a total stranger to him—and left to chase some destined love instead. Logically, that was the most likely answer.
My plan to lure out Mao Zhai had just gone back to square one.
Now the only thing left was…
“Venerable Master Hyeon-ryeong.”
“…”
In the original novel, that was the title she was most often called by.
No reaction.
“Number One Beauty of Sichuan?”
“…A woman whose inner energy was completely drained by the Blood Demon is unworthy of that title.”
She answered in a voice devoid of strength.
“Then Bodhisattva!”
“This body has been defiled by the Blood Demon. Please call me by a worldly name.”
“Granny Hyeon-ryeong.”
“My worldly name is Tang Sayang! Hyeon-ryeong is the dharma name I received when I devoted myself!”
“Granny Tang Sayang.”
“The Blood Demon was kind enough to leave me just enough inner energy to preserve my youth.”
So, she was telling me not to call her grandma.
“You’re suddenly speaking a lot more.”
“…”
Did I say something wrong? The Number One Beauty of Sichuan shut her mouth again.
“Elder Tang.”
“…Even if my body is tainted, my heart is still that of a maiden. Please refrain from hurtful remarks.”
“Then what should I call you?”
“Tang…”
“Pardon?”
Avoiding my eyes, she whispered in the tiniest voice possible,
“Miss Tang…”
An utterly shameless request.
BAM!
“Elder Tang! Act your age and maintain some dignity as a senior of the Emei Sect!”
Mi-bong, who had been listening the whole time, finally exploded and scolded her harshly.
“Oh my! I’ve recently been through something horrific. Could you not be so hard on me?”
“W-well… I’m sorry…”
But Mi-bong instantly backed down at the pity play.
“Miss Tang.”
“…Thank you.”
Just for calling her what she wanted, the Number One Beauty of Sichuan looked like a rescued lamb.
This was all Mao Zhai’s fault for failing to play the protagonist properly.
“What do you think the test the Blood Demon mentioned is? Any guesses?”
“Not at all…”
(Oh my god! Young Master Kang just called me ‘Miss’! My heart is going to burst!)
“…”
What is this?
“I’m sorry… for not being any help.”
(No! I can’t even look him in the eye! Stay calm—no, screw it! I just want to fall apart!)
“Um… are you alright…?”
“I’m still struggling because of those horrible memories, but thank you for worrying.”
(I’ve done enough! From now on I’m living for myself! Young Master Kang! Call me ‘Miss’ one more time!)
“…Miss Tang.”
“Yes.”
(Kyaaa! He did it again! Oh heavens! Those eyes that seem to pierce right through my tainted heart—so cool…)
“Now I understand.”
I finally realized why the Blood Demon had handed the Number One Beauty of Sichuan over to me.
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