Chapter 245
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 245
Chapter Title: The Heavenly Demon Wants to Live Quietly (3)
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To bunk down with a massive horde of wives, you needed an environment that wouldn't draw prying eyes.
The popular vtuber Yeon Hong had poured her hard-earned cash into this trip without a second thought, renting out an entire inn.
"Do you always travel like this?"
"...Honestly, no. Back when I was broke, I camped out plenty."
"You mean rolling around on the bare ground?"
"Don't you know the difference between humans and animals? We can stand and move, so why bother rolling on the dirt?"
"Hm, fair point."
They traded crude jokes like lowly alleyway thugs while knocking back a casual drink.
"Your popularity's been slipping lately. Taking a break like this won't hurt?"
"Yeon Hong's star power won't waver over something so trivial..."
"Says the guy who got neck-and-neck with Jangseon."
"...That guy's just got natural talent. Even if he edges me out in the rankings, it wouldn't sting much."
They lightly bantered about business too.
"Cheon Siwoo? Or Hong Sundok?"
Geum Sihyeon's sudden jab made Yeon Hong-un's face twitch, his composure cracking for a split second.
Staring him down, Geum Sihyeon sighed and downed his drink.
"...How'd you know?"
"There's nothing in this world this body doesn't know."
Pure bullshit, of course.
He could've used the Heavenly Demon Divine Art to force a confession akin to a soul-searching spell, but he hadn't tapped that power yet.
It was just deduction from observing Yeon Hong-un's patterns over time.
Dragging not just a few, but all his wives out of Shaanxi.
Even ditching his bread-and-butter vtuber gig, which he actually enjoyed.
Unless he planned to uproot his entire life, he wouldn't go to such lengths, Geum Sihyeon figured.
"Wasn't planning to leave for good. If trouble hits, having the wives around helps with my martial arts..."
Yeon Hong-un trailed off, sounding a bit sheepish and sorry.
The Harmony of Clouds and Rain Art's perk.
Growing stronger when deeply entwined in body and soul with a woman—nothing wrong with what he said, by that logic.
Still, not discussing it upfront rubbed Geum Sihyeon the wrong way.
Considering their history.
The fact he hadn't felt outright betrayed and stabbed the guy already proved Geum Sihyeon's character was above average for the Central Plains.
So instead of tyranny,
the Heavenly Demon showed mercy once more.
"Explain yourself. Make me buy it."
But in exchange,
"If it's lacking, I'll slice off your manhood myself and shove Jade Transformation Preservation right in its place."
"...I'll spill everything. Just spare me that."
Yeon Hong-un put on a groveling face, chugged his drink, and came clean.
"You know Hong Sundok—that lunatic—is doing vtubing too?"
"Of course. I gifted her the gear."
"...?"
He felt like calling out the nonsense, but it wasn't the time to nitpick.
Yeon Hong-un hastily shoved the info aside and continued.
"Her old-lady ass lacks my broadcasting flair, but damn, her instincts are sharp. She sniffed out my identity in under an hour of collabing."
"That's 'cause you spew lowbrow jokes all the time."
"Could be. Anyway."
Yeon Hong-un's confession rolled on.
To counter Hong Ryeon's evil plot of leeching off his channel for growth—
he'd begged his ex-boss, Blood Lord Cheon Siwoo, to please quit screwing around.
But no happiness comes free in this world.
"She dangled another promise, huh?"
"You ever met the Blood Lord?"
Geum Sihyeon calmly recounted meeting Cheon Siwoo at the Nangong Family, tossing in how he'd lopped off the family head's arm for good measure.
Yeon Hong-un was floored.
"You did that and still call yourself righteous sect?"
"Rude, but yeah, righteous."
Ironically,
that very line erased the last flicker of hesitation in Yeon Hong-un's heart.
Because,
if he truly betrayed him, this bastard would absolutely leave him neither dead nor alive.
Seeing that ruthless nature.
He'd force the Jade Transformation skill, cripple his inner energy, turn him into a cute but powerless little girl, then ravage her with his lust—
"Cut the crap."
"Sorry."
Spotting two steel rings hovering midair snapped Yeon Hong-un back from his flights of TS-fallen-woman depravity fantasy.
A chance to pioneer the genre and become a literary giant, lost to the ages.
"So, what condition did Cheon Siwoo slap on you?"
The rings vanished, but Geum Sihyeon's eyes stayed ice-cold.
If it was something psychotic like wiping out the Sa Family and Yeon Hong-un had agreed—
Geum Sihyeon had no mercy planned.
But what came out of Yeon Hong-un's mouth blew past his wildest guesses.
"Seduce Poison Flower, daughter of the Sichuan Tang Family."
"...?"
Geum Sihyeon's face went blank.
Sichuan Tang's Poison Flower—
clearly Dang Narin.
Unthinkingly, Geum Sihyeon sized Yeon Hong-un up and down.
Far from manly, not quite androgynous like Baek Ri-yeon, but still a pretty face.
A pale scholar type with zero muscle, like he'd never lifted a finger in his life.
Definitely not Dang Narin's type—she drooled nosebleeds over ripped abs.
"She's my junior. Touch her and die."
As the senior, Geum Sihyeon couldn't stand seeing his junior fall to a lecher. He got dead serious.
Yeon Hong-un nodded gravely.
Not because the five steel rings terrified him, but because he'd reclaimed his human decency.
And thought to himself,
This bastard.
A lecher who'd forsake even heaven's principles.
Non-Heavenly Lust Demon fit him perfect.
"Gonna head up and handle two at a time from midnight to survive the night."
"Live straight. For real, if you don't wanna croak."
Damn it all.
Never thought the martial world was this devoid of sane folk.
Watching that guy made even the Azure Heaven Society's fossil-bound geezer seem not that off-base.
Collaborating with the Blood Cult to dodge a vtuber outing?
Like that was sane thinking.
Sure, I got him into vtubing, but hey, I hooked him up with a job.
I did him a solid, and he betrays me.
World's gone harsh.
Already snagged his contact at the Nangong Family.
Sighing, he messaged the punk who'd dared block his cash cow and star slave with that bullshit proposal.
Notice to the Blood Cult's master:
The Lust Demon is already my loyal dog. Hands off.
Quit stirring shit.
Unless you wanna die.
?
Smartphones truly were a marvel of civilization.
Even on divergent paths, men could bare their souls like this.
Old fogey.
You're dead wrong.
On a whim, he checked Hong Sundok's channel—the one stuck wagging her tail forever with zero entertainment value and age-appropriate irrelevance.
"Hm."
She was on hiatus too.
Two weeks strong.
Compared to his own nurtured star Yeon Hong, her fanbase was laughably tiny.
No comments mourning "horns hurt" like Yeon Hong's followers.
But Hong Ryeon, who'd broadcast near-daily from her endless lifespan out of sheer boredom, going long-term dark? Ominous sign.
Around that time.
"Heehee, heeheehee..."
Dang Narin, the Sichuan Tang lady targeted by both original Lust Demon and brand-new Non-Heavenly Lust Demon—
was glued to her smartphone in the Tang Family carriage to the Martial Alliance, not even sleeping.
During her recent Nangong Family visit,
she'd scored pics via back channels of her ideal physique.
Muscles not overdone, perfectly defined, impeccably sculpted, with sharp pecs and abs.
Just staring made her belly full, Dang Narin swooned.
.
.
.
And at the same moment.
The ancient hag Hong Sundok, whom both original Lust Demon and brand-new Non-Heavenly Lust Demon openly despised—
"Heh heh hew... The air here's always so murky, no matter when I visit."
was scaling Mount Hua's lofty peaks near Shaanxi.
A rare outing in her true form,
but facing that opponent, she couldn't half-ass it with zombies.
Shrinking ground with Shrinking Steps for a bit.
Soon, her feet hit a humble hut.
Early dawn, yet an elder outside gazed skyward.
Gu Yang-hwi's star-tracking eyes coldly fixed on the intruder.
Hong Sundok met his gaze.
Politely cupping hands at her navel, she bowed.
"Your junior sister comes to pay respects to Third Senior Brother."