There is a certain basis for thinking that this woman is the Heavenly Demon from a parallel world.
This world was a different dimension from the Martial Forest.
If this place is Earth 1, then the Martial Forest feels like Earth 3.
Not only is there no inner power here, but the historical facts themselves are different.
The country ruling Central Plains back then was the Jun nation, and a place called Haedong occupied the Korean Peninsula.
Even a country with little knowledge of history could know this much.
It was a country I had never heard of in my entire life.
No, now is not the time to think about such things.
The fact is, it didn’t really matter whether this woman was the Heavenly Demon from a parallel world or a reincarnated Heavenly Demon.
The most important issue was that this woman, who gave off the vibe of the Heavenly Demon, was approaching me.
A pair of tight blue jeans, a white tee, and a jacket of an indeterminate deep orange color.
On her feet were thick ivory-colored hiking boots.
Despite the rather unconventional fashion, it looked amazing on Heavenly Yuah.
She’s not just beautiful; she’s incredibly stunning.
In truth, the Heavenly Demon’s beauty was renowned even in the Martial Forest.
Even the elders of the Orthodoxy couldn’t deny the Heavenly Demon’s beauty.
Just by the descriptors like “enigmatic” or “bewitching,” you could tell.
If we’re talking only about appearance, this would amount to high praise.
Even in a Martial Forest that subtly looked down on foreigners, the Heavenly Demon, with her blonde hair and blue eyes, was considered one of the five greatest beauties.
Before the Heavenly Demon’s beauty, differences in race were meaningless.
“Damn, thinking about the past pisses me off again.”
Because the Heavenly Demon was so beautiful, even the young masters of the New Religion’s influential families lost sleep.
The position of the “General of the Heavenly Demon Army” (husband of the female Heavenly Demon) within the New Religion was essentially powerless and not very attractive. However, because it was associated with the Heavenly Demon, the value skyrocketed like crazy.
I can somewhat understand their feelings.
What else is there in life?
The Heavenly Demon was a peerless beauty worth dedicating your life to.
But the Heavenly Demon chose no one.
The only man the Heavenly Demon allowed by her side as she traveled the Central Plains was me.
And because of that, during my time in the New Religion, I lived under countless glances of envy, always exhausted.
There’s a bit of resentment in this situation.
It’s not like the Heavenly Demon liked me enough to have me around.
Most people who follow the New Religion are rigid and don’t think deeply.
This isn’t about being unintelligent; it’s because their martial skills are so high, they just overpower situations without much thought.
So, their ability to handle situations flexibly is overwhelmingly low, right?
Plus, everyone acted as if they were the Heavenly Demon’s followers, so even when she acted strangely, no one dared to stop her.
When I took the Heavenly Demon’s followers to the Central Plains, they were immediately discovered, and the vast net of the Orthodoxy would begin.
In the end, the reason the Heavenly Demon only brought me around was the fault of the New Religion, wasn’t it?
But life isn’t usually rational.
Even though I explained the situation step by step, no one understood.
And as the Heavenly Demon never spoke about why I was by her side, no one could defend me.
Because of this situation, I’ve endured quite a lot of misfortunes.
It was a daily routine for assassins to meet and conspiracy-plan on my bed.
Whenever the Poison Demon Pavilion developed a new product, clinical testing began at my dining table.
Even worse, there was a sinister plot from the Secretive Demon Pavilion to make me work myself to death.
It was all because of the Heavenly Demon.
“Damn, that’s indeed a harmful creature. A Heavenly Demon, thinking about it gives me chills…”
Even though it was the Heavenly Demon who gave me a complete transformation, I don’t really feel grateful.
In the end, it was just the Heavenly Demon’s cunning plan to work me to death.
To me, the Heavenly Demon was nothing more than an extremely pretty trash.
“Hello, teacher. My name is Yuah Cheon.”
“White Siu here.”
During that brief moment of reminiscing, Cheon Yuah approached me and extended her hand.
Damn, I was about to fall to my knees and grab both her hands without thinking.
Damn ingrained servant mentality, really…
I wondered why a top actor would come here instead of just heading home after the shoot. It seems she really came to see me.
What is it?
Considering this, I decided something was a bit odd as I quietly observed Cheon Yuah’s demeanor.
After exchanging a brief greeting, it became even clearer that Cheon Yuah is not ‘that’ Heavenly Demon.
If she were, she wouldn’t not react to hearing my name.
What’s more, my current face is that of a renowned Orthodoxy expert.
The Heavenly Demon wouldn’t not know that.
We had once narrowly escaped a crisis by disguising myself and my granddaughter as an Orthodoxy master.
Pretending ignorance while knowing would be unimaginable for ‘that’ Heavenly Demon, so it’s pretty definitive that Cheon Yuah is not that Heavenly Demon.
“Could I perhaps briefly observe your acting? I’d like to learn from the depth in your performances praised by my seniors.”
“Ho ho, I’m worried I might disappoint you.”
“Oh, nonsense.”
Hence, this is how it is, isn’t it?
I wondered why Cheon Yuah was acting this way, but it seems other veteran actors spoke about me.
It must be because of the script reading.
With around ten years of acting experience, one can usually judge others’ skills through a reading.
It seems that the elder actors were surprised by the depth of the acting from someone they’d never met before.
Hearing those stories, Cheon Yuah became curious about me.
This is quite burdensome.
Despite not being the Heavenly Demon I know, just thinking about being watched by someone who resembles a Heavenly Demon makes me tense and tired.
Is it PTSD? Trauma? Whatever it is, it’s definitely far from pleasant.
Is this woman also a type of Heavenly Demon?
Either way, whether it’s this woman or the other, both have an unparalleled talent for exhausting people.
Mr. White Siu, we are about to begin filming then. Miss Eun, please get ready as well.
“Understood, Director Yoo.”
It’s a bit awkward, but there’s no reason to reject someone coming to observe acting.
Even if I were a real elder actor, it might be strange, and I’m not an elder but a rookie actor.
If Director Yoo wanted to stop it, it would be different, but Director Yoo smiled and rather encouraged it.
I think he wanted to add the tagline “even cheated by Miss Cheon Yuah.”
What can I do in this situation?
Just concentrate on acting while soothing my aching heart.
Through this experience, I reaffirmed it again.
A Heavenly Demon is a harmful creature to me.
Resolved to never involve myself with a Heavenly Demon in this world, I immersed myself into my character.
*(Cheon Yuah)
When did it start?
Cheon Yuah had been plagued by nightmares.
A frightening nightmare where she was clad in strange martial robes, wielding only a sword, slaughtering countless people.
Killing, killing, killing, killing.
Killing so many people it seemed countless, until the entire world was stained red with blood and the Cheon Yuah in the dream burst out in maniacal laughter.
The maniacal laugh, or perhaps it was a sorrowful cry filled with suffering.
Even though it was a dream, the feelings were vivid and raw.
An overwhelming sense of emptiness and powerlessness pressed against her chest, making her feel as if she were suffocating.
After dreaming such nightmares, she felt so drained that she couldn’t function that day at all.
This was far more painful and tormenting than the magical curse that used to afflict her once a month.
Previously, even though she occasionally had nightmares, she managed to continue her acting career.
They happened only once or twice a month, so she gritted her teeth, telling herself she could get through it.
But for the past year, it felt like living in an endless hell.
Because of the frequent visitation of nightmares, life itself felt pointless.
How could anyone endure when almost half a month was dominated by nightmares?
Obviously, her acting activities also had to be paused.
What the public knew as a “sabbatical year” was, in reality, a period where she couldn’t act due to the nightmares.
Of course, nothing was left untried in treating it.
She sought psychiatric counseling, and though embarrassingly, even relied on folk beliefs.
But nothing helped, and her heart grew heavier with time.
“And? Did you find out anything?”
“Yes, miss. But…”
“But what?”
“Though we investigated every theater in the country, no one knew of the veteran actor named White Siu.”
“So, what is he? Is he from overseas?”
“That, we’re still…”
“Hmph, understood. Has Director Yoo’s team replied?”
“Yes, though they just said they’ll know later as time passes.”
“Why can’t they understand how precious time is? Though I guess it’s inevitable that they wouldn’t understand my predicament.”
As a change of pace, the day she made a cameo appearance on Director Yoo’s drama, Cheon Yuah had a peculiar experience.
The veteran actor named White Siu she met during filming appeared in her dreams.
His hand gently brushing her head, as if he were her own grandfather, felt so warm and comforting that she woke up in much better condition than usual, after what seemed to be the first peaceful sleep since the nightmares began.
This was extraordinary.
Because this was the first time after her nightmares began that she had another kind of dream.
This was a miraculous change appearing just before her acting life and even her entire life would be ruined.
Even composed Cheon Yuah couldn’t keep her calm under such circumstances.
Maybe White Siu was the unique existence who could resolve her nightmares.
But the identity of the other party was completely unknown, and the sole person who knew White Siu’s contact details, Director Yoo, was tight-lipped.
“I must find him.”
“Perhaps visiting the filming site might be good?”
“Yes. That’s probably the fastest and most reliable method. However…”
In fact, there was a very simple solution.
As the drama was still shooting, White Siu, being an actor, would definitely show up at the filming site at some point.
If she went there herself, meeting White Siu wouldn’t be that difficult.
“I can’t help but feel that doing so is not a good idea.”
“Uh… That’s tough.”
“Exactly. It’s difficult.”
“But Miss, your premonitions have an almost prophetic accuracy.”
“Then, find another way.”
The problem was that Cheon Yuah’s senses were telling her that trying to approach directly would definitely fail.
Cheon Yuah, who usually listened to her intuition and selected successful works based on it, felt bound to follow it now.
Since her instincts insisted that meeting White Siu absolutely must be avoided, she couldn’t take the easy way out.
“Let’s monitor the situation for a bit longer. Director Yoo simply said he needed time, he didn’t say he wouldn’t provide any information.”
“Hmph. Alright.”
“And isn’t there a verification process we should undertake regarding White Siu?”
“Verification…”
“First, we need to know who this is, right? We can’t plan without that knowledge.”
“Alright, I’ll wait a bit more. Thank you, Secretary Ju.”
“Understood, Miss.”
Even from Secretary Ju’s perspective, this Mr. White Siu was quite mysterious.
From the fact that he seemed to sense and evade their tailing like a ghost, it already seemed a bit dubious.
They found out that he commuted with one of the assistant directors’ cars, but suddenly disappeared at some point, making it impossible to verify his residence.
There was no way to introduce such a suspicious character to Miss, so they too needed time.
Unless they could use force, all they could do was some preliminary investigation.
Secretary Ju intended to extract whatever information about White Siu at all cost.
If everything became clear…
“I need to set a trap.”
Quietly, a strange scheme was being prepared by someone unknown to White Siu.
If he knew about it, he might have stuck out his tongue and muttered, “Ah, this isn’t really the Heavenly Demon style, is it?”
