Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Has He Been Born Yet? (2)
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Namgung Hye wore a complicated expression.
She had gone looking for her mother to relay the contents of the letter she'd received from Kang Yun, never dreaming she would witness that her father had a new younger sibling.
No, had she truly not known? It was probably closer to her simply not wanting to think about it.
"Would you like to hold our Gyeon-i...?"
No matter how much of an expert she was, giving birth was still exhausting. Her mother, looking a bit worn out, cradled the baby who couldn't even open his eyes properly.
"You ended up going with that name after all."
"It's a good name, isn't it?"
Kang Yun had asked them to name his son Gyeon (堅), meaning resilient and strong, if a boy was born.
The fact that he had even put thought into the name made it seem like he truly cared...
"Ah, he's so small..."
Supporting the baby's limp neck carefully as her mother instructed, Namgung Hye took him into her arms. He was incredibly tiny.
So small it was hard to believe he was human, yet every feature was there—eyes, nose, mouth, ears, nothing missing. It was wondrous.
He resembled her mother in some ways, and that infuriating man in others.
"He takes after his father, doesn't he?"
That was how her mother saw it, apparently.
Now that she mentioned it, Namgung Hye could imagine the baby's closed eyes curving slyly into that irritating smile, just like that man's.
She had thought she would find him utterly repulsive—enough to make her skin crawl—once she thought of him as that man's child. Strangely, though, he felt endearing.
A tiny hand poked out from the swaddling cloth, clenched into a loose fist. When she slipped her finger into it, the little hand gripped it gently.
"Baby, I'm your big sister..."
"Waaah!"
The baby, of course, couldn't understand a word. Not even knowing who his mother was yet, he somehow sensed that Namgung Hye wouldn't feed him and turned his head away, bursting into tears.
Namgung Hye hurriedly handed him back to Eon So-young, who opened her robes and offered her breast.
The briefly noisy room quickly fell silent. Namgung Hye watched in awe as her mother nursed the baby.
Meanwhile, Eon So-young smiled softly at the sight of the baby suckling vigorously, then suddenly spoke up.
"The young master said that a mother's first milk is full of good things for the body..."
"...I've never heard that before."
"Even the physicians and midwives said they'd never heard of it."
Namgung Hye let out a hollow laugh. He wasn't a doctor, so where on earth had he picked up such nonsense?
But regardless of whether it was true or not, her mother seemed grateful for the sentiment.
"I don't know where he heard it, but it's still thoughtful, isn't it? He's not telling you to eat something weird..."
Namgung Hye felt a pang of envy watching her mother nurse the baby like that.
Both the overflowing love the child received and the mother lavishing it upon him.
Even knowing full well he was born of an affair, Namgung Hye was startled by her own feelings and quickly changed the subject.
"The Huangbo family head will be visiting the sect soon. The date isn't set yet, but... it might be good if you could attend, Mother."
"...The family head?"
The current head of the Huangbo Family was the grandfather of Huangbo Jun, Namgung Hye's betrothed. Eon So-young tilted her head at the mention of the grandfather rather than the father.
"It seems... the Peng Family really was attacked by the Demonic Cult. He'll discuss my wedding too, but..."
It would be something like a strategy meeting.
"...I see. Understood."
Eon So-young nodded gravely and looked at her daughter's face, suddenly realizing just how grown she was compared to the baby.
A face so much like her own. If the marriage went smoothly, she would become a daughter-in-law of the Huangbo Family.
Eon So-young vividly remembered her daughter as a baby twenty-odd years ago. No, she remembered every moment of her growing up.
"My daughter... Your mother still loves you dearly."
"...What brought this on?"
Though their relationship had grown distant after she fell for another man, Eon So-young hoped her daughter would find happiness in marriage.
Huangbo Jun wasn't in line to become family head, so they could surely love each other freely.
"I just want you to be happy."
"...I will be."
Namgung Hye brushed it off as obvious.
But Eon So-young had believed the same about her own life before marrying Namgung Tan—and even after, for a time. Only after awakening to happiness as a woman did she realize her own had been only half complete.
'I hope that's the case for you...'
If she couldn't find happiness as a woman, wouldn't it be better never to realize it at all?
Eon So-young had no answer.
Shin-gang.
At the Demonic Cult's main headquarters, Young Cult Leader Young Ho-kyeong was paying respects to his father, the Cult Leader and Divine Demon Young Ho-sang.
"It seems you pulled some strange stunt out there."
"Wasn't it their choice?"
"If they knew those tempting spirit pills were made by the Demonic Cult and ate them anyway, sure."
"Cult Leader, he returned unscathed, so let's just..."
"That's exactly why he needs to be disciplined. If he'd died or been gravely injured, there'd be no need for this!"
The Cult Leader's sharp rebuke made First Elder regret butting in and retreat without salvaging anything.
"I know why you did it. You hoped those who realized the pills were from our cult after consuming them would turn hostile toward us."
"..."
"And on top of that, you could cut short the futures of promising young talents. It must have seemed perfect."
First Elder swallowed a sigh at the Cult Leader's sarcasm.
He had explicitly ordered them to keep him out of trouble, yet his subordinates couldn't even manage that...
"Well? Do you have a plan? Can you take responsibility for the futures of our cultists dying pointlessly because of your greed?"
The Cult Leader's rising aura pressed down on the two men. Though they were transcendent experts themselves, they paled in comparison.
His presence boiled like molten lava, pricking their skin like needles.
"We will win. Yes, that's true. We might even conquer the entire martial world and live far more luxuriously. But I told you the problem comes after!"
"C-Cult Leader, please show mercy..."
"You shut up! Do you think you have the right to criticize what happened under First Elder? Yours was just a bit more moderate—you did the same...!"
"I won't do it anymore. I was wrong, Father."
"...What?"
The Cult Leader blanked for a moment, and the constricting aura weakened.
Young Ho-kyeong bowed his head slightly and repeated himself.
"I've realized my thinking was wrong. I won't start any more such incidents. Believe me, Father."
"Ha..."
Regardless of their good father-son relationship, Young Ho-kyeong had never yielded on his stance toward the righteous martial world. The Cult Leader glanced at First Elder.
First Elder shook his head to indicate even he didn't know what was going on. The Cult Leader fully withdrew his aura and rubbed his forehead.
"Good, very good that you've come to your senses. Then from now on, behave yourself..."
"But I have no intention of changing my mind that our cult's future lies in the Central Plains."
"...What are you talking about? Didn't you just say you wouldn't pull stunts like this anymore?"
"Of course. There'll be no need."
Meeting the eyes of the Cult Leader and First Elder, Young Ho-kyeong spoke.
"The Blood Demon's disciple is coming to our cult."
"...Who did you say? This old man's ears must be failing him..."
"The Blood Demon's disciple? That man had a disciple?"
The Cult Leader cut off First Elder's denial with a clear voice.
"Yes. A young man in his early twenties with immense orthodox inner energy that carries the demonic qi of the Sacred Blood Pill."
"...Is that all?"
"Yes."
"Age and martial prowess?"
Young Ho-kyeong found the Cult Leader's probing questions odd but answered anyway.
"Early twenties, roughly high first-rate..."
"You've been fooled."
Young Ho-kyeong bristled at the dismissal, but the Cult Leader ignored it and continued.
"You don't know him well, so you fell for the illusion. I know him. An arrogant bastard through and through."
"..."
"Early twenties and only first-rate? No way he'd take a disciple with such mediocre talent."
"But his inner energy is undeniably peak level. And detecting the Sacred Blood Pill's demonic qi means it can't be explained by anything but the Blood Demon Divine Art..."
"Must have gorged on spirit medicines. And there's no proof he detected the pill's qi himself."
Young Ho-kyeong had no retort. Come to think of it, there was no concrete evidence.
No one had survived a frontal clash with the Blood Demon, so even data on his martial arts was scarce.
That was why, despite seeing him demonstrate it several times, he hadn't been certain.
Had his expectations been too high? Had he been neatly duped by a con artist?
"Then... what should we do with him...?"
"If he comes, let him. If not, when we catch him later, make him pay for daring to deceive the Young Cult Leader of our cult."
The Cult Leader had fully branded him a fraud, but Young Ho-kyeong had a hunch.
That man was definitely the Blood Demon's disciple. No matter how much his father denied it, Young Ho-kyeong had sensed destiny in him.
Kang Yun would be the key to opening the Demonic Cult's future. With the Blood Demon's aid, the day of Demonic Cult supremacy was not far off.
"I'd like to keep this secret from the rest of the cult for now."
"Do as you like. If he's fake, it'll come out eventually, and you don't want it known you were duped."
That wasn't the reason he'd brought it up, but it worked out fine.
There was no need to reveal the possibility of allying with the Blood Demon prematurely to either the pro-conflict or anti-conflict factions.
He would seize the initiative. If that man was real and two of the Three Venerables joined forces, the cult's opinion would swing dramatically.
'Even Father, the supreme leader, couldn't ignore that.'
Young Ho-kyeong prayed that Kang Yun would appear by the promised deadline and proudly prove he was the Blood Demon's disciple.