The Heavenly Demon Who Reigns

Thump- thump-.

Bloodstains were scattered at regular intervals in front of Cheon Myeong.

It was the blood shed from the wounds the bird of prey had received from the Black-spotted Python.

Using the bloodstains as a marker, Cheon Myeong was chasing after the bird of prey that had disappeared into the forest.

'It seems to be getting closer.'

The amount of blood was increasing as he went on.

That meant that the bird of prey had not yet healed its wounds, and since the poison would have spread throughout its body, it would not be able to survive, no matter how much of a spiritual beast it was.

So Cheon Myeong thought that he would be able to find the bird of prey, which was either already dead or half-dead, soon.

'There it is.'

As he moved his gaze along the path of blood, he saw the bird of prey he had seen earlier lying under a huge tree.

The bird of prey was lying still, its whole body stained red.

From a distance, it seemed to be already dead.

Cheon Myeong cautiously approached the place where the bird of prey was with Soyeon Sang.

"...?"

At that moment, another carcass was visible behind the tree.

Discovering that carcass, Cheon Myeong's eyes widened in surprise.

'Why is there another carcass?'

Behind the tree, a bird of prey that looked exactly the same was dead.

No, looking closely, he could see that its size, the amount of blood on its exterior, and its condition were slightly different from the bird of prey that had fought the Black-spotted Python.

'Were there originally two of them?'

At first, two birds of prey and a Black-spotted Python had fought here.

And one had died here, and the other one and the Black-spotted Python had fought to the death and had come to the place he had first discovered.

Cheon Myeong could predict so from the circumstances.

'Anyway, this is an unexpected windfall.'

To think that two birds of prey were dead.

That meant that he could obtain twice as many inner cores as he had originally expected.

Wasn't this an unparalleled situation for Cheon Myeong?

If he hadn't been greedy and had come here, he felt that he would have really regretted it.

"Soyeon Sang, I'll dismantle these guys here, so go up the tree and keep watch in case any dangerous guys approach."

"Can you do it alone?"

"Yes, these guys are small, so I can dismantle them by myself."

Of course, that was in comparison to the Black-spotted Python.

In terms of the size of the bird of prey alone, it was not inferior to a fattened pig.

But that much was enough for Cheon Myeong to dismantle by himself.

"I understand."

Answering Cheon Myeong, Soyeon Sang quickly climbed up the tree.

And Cheon Myeong, rolling up his sleeves, approached the bird of prey.

Since he didn't have much time, he was planning to proceed with the work quickly.

'This is...'

The moment he lifted the bird of prey's wing, Cheon Myeong discovered something hidden under it and stopped moving for a moment.

A white egg was visible at the end of Cheon Myeong's gaze.

The bird of prey was holding it under its wing as if it were precious.

"..."

Without thinking deeply, he could immediately tell that the egg was laid by the bird of prey.

If so, why was the bird of prey holding the egg under the tree?

It probably didn't have the leisure to hold the egg when it was fighting the Black-spotted Python.

If so, it meant that it had come here bleeding and had held the egg...

"...Is that so?"

Muttering so, Cheon Myeong raised his head and looked up.

And he shouted at Soyeon Sang, who was already up the tree.

"Soyeon Sang! Is there a nest or something there?"

When Cheon Myeong asked that, Soyeon Sang began to search the top of the tree.

'Is that it?'

Soyeon Sang immediately discovered what looked like a nest.

And he approached it and said to Cheon Myeong below.

"There is."

"Are there eggs there?"

"..."

He didn't know why Cheon Myeong was curious about that, but for now, in order to answer Cheon Myeong's question, Soyeon Sang looked closely inside the nest.

Soyeon Sang entered the nest to get a closer look.

The nest was wide and sturdy enough to support Soyeon Sang even if he entered.

And when he went inside and looked around, he could find broken eggs all over the nest.

"There are eggs, but... there are only broken eggs."

"Okay. Please maintain your guard again."

Cheon Myeong said that to Soyeon Sang and looked at the bird of prey again.

As expected.

Although this was just a guess, wasn't the reason why the Black-spotted Python and the bird of prey fought because the Black-spotted Python was aiming for the nest where the birds of prey lived?

And in the process of protecting the nest, all the eggs were broken, and the only one that remained safe was probably this egg in front of him.

"..."

After that, it would be as Cheon Myeong had seen.

The bird of prey behind died first in the process of protecting the egg, and the other one killed the Black-spotted Python after a fight to the death.

And it had returned here and had met its death while holding the only remaining egg.

'Did it use all its remaining strength to protect the egg even after returning in that state?'

Was it paternal and maternal love?

As he learned how the two birds of prey had met their deaths, Cheon Myeong felt a corner of his heart become gloomy.

"...Good."

Cheon Myeong reached out his hand towards the bird of prey as if he had decided something.

And he picked up the egg that the bird of prey was holding.

'I'll take this egg.'

If he left the egg here as it was, it was obvious what its end would be.

It might be lucky enough to hatch, but since there were no parents to feed it, it was highly likely that it would die as soon as it was born.

That would be the same even if it was a spiritual beast.

Any living creature needs someone's care when it is young.

Cheon Myeong decided that he would play that role.

'At the very least, I'll take care of this guy until he can stand on his own.'

Cheon Myeong had never raised an animal before, nor had he ever thought of raising one.

But as he learned the circumstances of the pair of birds of prey, he couldn't bring himself to leave the egg behind.

Of course, it didn't matter to him what happened to this egg.

But since he was planning to take the inner core of the bird of prey with the fisherman's gain, wouldn't it be uneasy if he pretended not to know and left the egg that they had tried to protect until the end?

Even if the opponent was an animal, Cheon Myeong felt that he would be at ease only if he did something for what he had gained.

Swish-.

Cheon Myeong silently put the egg in his hand into his pocket.

And he put his hands together in prayer towards the dead bird of prey.

'I'll take care of your young. So don't resent me for using your carcass.'

Even if it was a spiritual beast, it might be ridiculous to do this to a bird of prey.

But whether it was a person or this bird of prey, the point of protecting one's young was not much different.

Rather, among people, it was common to kill blood relatives for selfish desires, so the bird of prey was better in some ways.

The bird of prey in front of him had at least fulfilled its role as a parent until the end and had met its death, so Cheon Myeong was just praying for its well-deserved peace.

"..."

After finishing his prayer, Cheon Myeong released his clasped hands.

And unlike with the Black-spotted Python, he carefully took out the inner core so as not to damage the bird of prey's carcass as much as possible.

After taking out all the inner cores from the two carcasses, Soyeon Sang came down from the tree.

"Are you finished with your work?"

"Yeah, I'm done."

"Then let's get out of this forest quickly."

He didn't know when another spiritual beast like this would appear.

For Cheon Myeong's safety, Soyeon Sang was trying to leave this place as soon as possible.

"There's one last thing to do before we leave."

"What? What else is left?"

Cheon Myeong nodded lightly at Soyeon Sang's question.

Whether he knew Soyeon Sang's feelings or not, Cheon Myeong just looked relaxed.

And Cheon Myeong smiled lightly and asked Soyeon Sang.

"Soyeon Sang, do you know how to gather medicinal herbs?"

Be greedy for everything when you can be greedy.

Cheon Myeong was practicing those words very well right now.

* * *

Hoo-.

The old man was sighing as if the floor would collapse.

When he thought of Cheon Myeong and Soyeon Sang, who had entered Musan in the morning, he couldn't help but sigh.

'Now that young lady will be coming soon.'

Outside, the sun was already setting.

That meant that a whole day had already passed since Cheon Myeong and Soyeon Sang had entered Musan.

Since the two had not been seen all day, it seemed that their companion, Mihwa, would be looking for them soon.

"..."

He had expected that a time like this would come from the moment the two had entered Musan.

But as that time approached, the old man's heart grew heavier.

'Yes, it would be better for my heart if I went to that young lady first and told her.'

If he kept it in like this, only his own heart would be heavy.

Of course, telling Mihwa that the two would never come back would be just as heavy on his heart.

But isn't there a saying that it's better to get the beating over with quickly?

The old man thought that his heart would be a little lighter if he told Mihwa the truth first.

Swish-.

In the end, after making up his mind, the old man got up from his seat.

And he was about to leave the house to go to the meeting hall where Mihwa was.

But at that moment.

Knock- knock-.

Before the old man could leave the door, the sound of someone knocking on the door from outside was heard.

Hearing that sound, the old man stopped walking.

The old man thought that the person knocking on the door outside was Mihwa.

'She's already here?'

To think that Mihwa would come here before he went to find her.

Nothing would change anyway.

Since he was just about to leave the door, if she came here first, wouldn't he be able to deliver the truth a little faster?

The old man thought so and approached the door.

"Is anyone there?"

At that moment, a voice was heard from outside.

It was not a woman's voice.

And thinking that he had heard that voice somewhere, the old man stopped walking for a moment.

'Could it be...!'

As if he remembered where he had heard this voice, the old man ran to the door in a hurry and opened it.

When he opened the door, Cheon Myeong was standing in front of it.

Although he was carrying a lot of things and was holding bundles in both hands, the old man's eyes did not see such things.

All that could be seen was Cheon Myeong's face.

The old man looked as if he couldn't believe that Cheon Myeong was in front of his eyes right now.

"You..."

"You were inside."

"...Is it really you?"

"Who else would it be?"

"..."

If he had his way, he wanted to pinch his cheek to check if he was a ghost, but the old man was so surprised that he just stood there with a dazed face.

And looking at the old man, Cheon Myeong smiled and said.

"Didn't I promise to visit you first when I came out of Musan? I came as I promised."

"Musan... yes, did you really come out of Musan?"

"Yes."

"You didn't just go to the entrance and come out..."

"Why would I do that?"

"...That's true."

The old man had watched Cheon Myeong walk into the forest.

Even just going that deep would be enough to get lost in Musan.

The fact that Cheon Myeong had returned like this could be called a miracle.

'To think he really came out of Musan...'

Originally, he should have been happy that Cheon Myeong had returned, but the old man was so surprised that he couldn't say anything yet.

And Cheon Myeong held out one of the bundles he was holding in his left hand towards the old man.

"...What is this?"

"It's a reward."

"A reward?"

"You said that my returning alive was enough, but I feel a little uncomfortable if I don't give you anything as a reward."

Saying that, Cheon Myeong put the bundle in the old man's arms.

The old man took the bundle in a daze and looked at Cheon Myeong without a word.

"Then I'll be going."

After handing over the bundle, Cheon Myeong turned around and walked away as if his business was done.

The old man stood there for a long time and watched Cheon Myeong's back as he walked away.

And as if his heart had calmed down, his gaze finally went to the bundle in his hand.

'What is this?'

The old man put the bundle he was holding on the floor and untied it.

At that moment, the old man's heart, which had barely calmed down, began to beat fast again, and his two eyes were much wider than before.

"T-this is...!"

Medicinal herbs were piled up in front of the old man's eyes. They were all medicinal herbs that were not easy to obtain even if he wandered the mountains all day for ten days.

To think that such things were piled up in a bundle.

He had been a herb gatherer for a long time, but this was the first time he had seen such a sight in his life.

'Is this a dream or reality?'

Not only had the person who had entered Musan returned alive, but precious medicinal herbs were piled up like a mountain.

Is it time for me to die now?

The old man could only think of that right now.

(End of Chapter)