Chapter 168
Chapter 168
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Exploration
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"...Destined partner, you mean?"
"Yes. The destined partner."
The Heavenly Demon listened to my words and put on an intrigued expression.
"If it's a destined partner, are you talking about a mate?"
"Not necessarily limited to a mate. It could be a friend you'll spend your life with... or a comrade, or even a master and disciple—someone you'll grow so close to that it feels like fate."
"Hoo..."
It looked like I'd succeeded in piquing her interest.
Honestly, who wouldn't be curious?
No matter who you are—even the Heavenly Demon—being told about your destined partner would make it impossible not to wonder.
"Still, more than half the time, it's a mate. Usually, the closest bond is with a partner, after all."
"Then you'll tell me who my mate is?"
"It's hard to say exactly who. The most I can glean is their appearance or some fragmentary details... maybe even guess where they live."
"That's a little disappointing."
"What, did you think reading heavenly secrets was that easy?"
And even if I could pinpoint exactly who the destined partner was, telling them would count as a leakage of heavenly secrets, ruining their fate.
Even if they went off to meet that person, things probably wouldn't work out well between them.
There was no such thing as a fixed future anyway, so perfectly divining it was impossible to begin with.
'Now that I've said it, I'm curious too.'
The Heavenly Demon's destined partner?
Mate or friend, it didn't matter—I wanted to know.
At a glance, she didn't seem to have many close people... Honestly, she came off as a total shut-in. I had to wonder if a destined partner would even appear for her.
At least none of the people I'd seen so far had come up empty.
'What happens if there's no one at all?'
The people of this era all seemed to have crowds around them, so there was always at least one. But what about a case like this? I was curious.
'Hope it comes out right.'
I needed something to work with, at least.
If nothing showed up, I'd have to say something lame like, "It looks like you have no destined partner. What a shame..."
My body trembled.
I didn't even want to imagine what would happen.
Did I really think I could blurt out that she was fated to live her whole life alone in front of the Heavenly Demon and come out unscathed?
If nothing really came up, I'd have to come up with some excuse. With that in mind, I pulled the orb from my bosom.
A simple reading could be done with wooden plaques, but for something like this, I needed the orb's direct assistance.
I didn't use it often since it glowed when activated and might be mistaken for an expensive Night-Luminous Pearl, but I doubted the Heavenly Demon would covet something like that.
I picked up a long strand of hair nearby—presumably hers—and placed it atop the orb, preparing to read the heavenly secrets.
"While I'm reading the heavenly secrets, my consciousness will enter this orb. I'll be able to converse with the real world, but communication might not be smooth."
"Your consciousness enters the orb?"
"My body stays in reality, so I can speak and hear through the connection, but nothing beyond that. Essentially, I'll be defenseless."
"Hoo..."
...Her expression made me uneasy.
She wasn't planning to do something while I was out of it, was she?
"...If anything happens to my body in reality, it could trigger qi deviation, so please be careful."
"Is that so..."
I threw out the bluff preemptively, imagining her tying me up and kidnapping me while I was unconscious.
That should stop her from trying anything.
For some reason, she looked disappointed as I suppressed a chill and began channeling the heavenly secrets.
Hummm...
Fizzle.
'...?'
What was this? Broken?
I tapped the orb as its light flickered out midway.
'This is bad.'
I needed something to show, at least, for an excuse.
If it just glowed faintly and died, no excuse would cover it.
'Come on, orb.'
Tap tap.
Nothing like this had ever happened before, so I kept tapping and attempting to connect...
My body trembled.
As the orb trembled faintly and the light returned, I sighed inwardly in relief.
One problem, though—
Flash!
'...Isn't the light a bit too bright?'
It was emitting an abnormally intense glow compared to usual.
I felt a blue flash pierce my tightly shut eyes, and my consciousness was sucked right in.
Hummm...
'Ah. Made it in.'
Contrary to my worry that nothing might appear, I'd entered the orb safely.
A virtual space created using the power of heavenly secrets and the orb.
The space manifested the future heavenly secrets I sought to read. Here, I existed like a ghost—no interacting with the people inside.
I could only explore the space and gather information, but in return, I got far more detailed insights than with wooden plaques, so I used it when needed.
Dang Ayoung had once asked if she could use it to get hints on advancing her martial arts from her future self...
'As if I would know.'
And here I was in the middle of it, not knowing the first thing about martial arts. What could I even pass on?
No interaction meant I couldn't even talk to future Dang Ayoung. I could only observe and relay from my perspective.
Which might just look like "hurled hidden weapons quickly" or something useless.
'Gotta check quick.'
Shaking off the stray thought, I looked around. A fairly large house came into view.
Since this space was manifested to find the Heavenly Demon's destined partner, it stood to reason they'd be inside.
'Come to think of it, Ye Socheon said something.'
Hadn't Ye Socheon said something before we parted?
Definitely something about the Heavenly Demon...
'...Ah.'
I remembered.
He'd said to avoid reading the Heavenly Demon's heavenly secrets if possible.
"..."
Eh, it'll be fine.
I'm already in—can't back out now.
He'd said avoid if possible, not never.
'Yeah, it'll be okay.'
Just reading it wouldn't cause me any harm.
The records of the future wouldn't affect the present, at least.
Pushing aside my unease, I entered the mansion to fulfill my goal.
As expected of the Heavenly Demon.
It was so vast it could have been a family clan residence.
'Just who could the destined partner be...'
Thud!
As I thought it'd be hard to search such a big place, a loud noise rang out, followed by children's voices.
"Little sister!!!"
"Eek! Brother, save me!!!"
"I told you not to sneak into my room!!"
"I just went in for a second to look for something!"
Heading toward the voices, I saw four look-alikes—clearly siblings—in a standoff.
The girl called "little sister" was peeking out from behind who seemed to be the eldest brother, while a slightly older girl fumed angrily.
The remaining boy watched from the side with a "here we go again" look.
"Just put up with it... You can't yell at the baby of the family every time just because you're the older sister."
"It's because you always spoil her as the 'baby'! That's why she's getting bolder!"
"Be patient. You were the same when you were little. She'll grow out of it."
"Brother..."
Her eyes welled up.
From the context, the brother trying to calm things was the eldest. The girl hiding behind was the youngest. The angry sister was second or third born. Their looks screamed "Heavenly Demon's kids."
They were all still young, so their squabbles looked cute, but I could already see them getting their cheeks slapped plenty once they grew up.
'No, can't go slapping.'
Who was their mom? One wrong slap and they might end up dead.
They'd better learn to control their strength.
'They're all so young.'
Even as the Heavenly Demon's children, they fought like real siblings—it was so lifelike I couldn't help but chuckle.
But I didn't know how long I could stay in this space, so I couldn't just watch the kids forever. I left to find the husband.
"See?! She looks all innocent, but she's a total sly fox! She stuck her tongue out at me when you weren't looking!"
"That again? Why are you always picking on her? Little sister, did you?"
"I didn't, brother..."
"See? She didn't."
"Aaaah!!"
'The youngest is pretty sharp.'
Growing up that cunning already—what would she become?
Not my kids anyway. No need to worry.
That was for parents.
Leaving the siblings behind, I searched for the Heavenly Demon's destined partner—the presumed father somewhere in the house.
'...Where is he?'
I checked every room, but no sign of the husband—or even the Heavenly Demon herself.
It didn't make sense for neither to appear in a space created to find her destined partner.
Not in the mansion? I checked the surroundings, but the only place in the orb's space that could hold people was inside the mansion.
Which left one conclusion.
'Secret room...?'
There was a hidden room undetectable by normal means, and my target was inside.
Not that strange.
A person of the Heavenly Demon's stature without a single secret room? That would be odd.
'No choice.'
If so, even as a ghost, finding it without clues would take forever.
With the Heavenly Demon waiting outside, searching blindly for a well-hidden secret room was impractical. I pulled a talisman from my bosom and channeled heavenly secrets into it.
Hard and annoying to make, so I saved them—but what else for a time like this?
Following the swiftly flying talisman into a room,
I discovered a door leading deep underground.