“You seem to be in a good mood.”
At Geom Muyang’s words, the Demon Buddha smiled and replied, “It must be because I’ve brought good news.”
The Demon Buddha acted brighter and more energetic than usual.
“It seems you won’t have to worry about the Fist Demon. He has clearly stated his support for you, Young Master.”
Despite the good news, Geom Muyang’s expression did not brighten significantly.
“First Young Master, let me speak frankly. I know you have been disappointed with me lately. I tried my best, but some things did not go as planned. For that, I apologize to you, Young Master.”
The Demon Buddha apologized with genuine sincerity, without a hint of pretense.
It was an extension of the emotions he had felt while watching Geom Mugeuk train earlier.
He had felt that if things continued as they were, he would not be able to defeat Geom Mugeuk.
A change was needed, and he had decided that he must be the one to start it.
“No. I am the one who should be apologizing.”
From Geom Muyang’s reaction, the Demon Buddha could tell.
Geom Muyang was flustered and doubted his words.
Geom Muyang was a man who looked for the hidden meaning in others.
He was one to filter what others said.
Right now, he was doubting his sincerity.
Yesterday, the Demon Buddha would have been angered by this reaction.
He would have been reminded of the rift that had formed between them.
But he didn't.
He decided to accept it now.
This was the essence of the man named Geom Muyang.
If he didn't like it, he would have to be the one to leave.
Whether he knew the Demon Buddha's heart or not, Geom Muyang spoke calmly.
“When I returned to the Sect, I think I was flustered because Mugeuk had grown so much more than I had expected. The Mugeuk I knew was a young wolf, but when I returned, he had become a great tiger. In my impatience, I was rude to you, Demon Buddha, on several occasions. I am sorry.”
Geom Muyang lowered his head.
The Demon Buddha's heart softened.
This was enough.
He decided to see the crack between them not as a risk of their relationship shattering, but as a sign toward building a better one.
Rather, it was a crack he could look at to find strength when he felt hurt and weary.
“You are a tiger too, First Young Master. So do not be afraid, and roar to your heart's content. I will protect you.”
“Thank you.”
The Demon Buddha was mustering his strength.
Yes, this is how we should approach someone.
Just as Geom Mugeuk approached him without hesitation, he too should stride towards Geom Muyang like this.
That way, no matter how this ended, he would not have regrets.
The Demon Buddha's gaze turned to the window.
“The moonlight is especially beautiful tonight.”
But Geom Muyang's eyes could never enjoy that beautiful moonlight.
‘This won't do.’
He thought that the Demon Buddha, whose eyes grew moist while gazing at the moonlight, would not be able to defeat Geom Mugeuk.
‘If you truly are for me, you shouldn't be praising me as a tiger, you should be bringing me a trap to catch that other tiger.’
At a time when every trick in the book wouldn’t be enough, when every desperate measure and scheme needed to be mobilized, he was indulging in such leisure.
It was because he wasn't as desperate as he was.
After all, if he lost the succession battle, he was the only one who would die.
Because their hearts were different, the moonlight of this night was different as well.
Such a soft and warm, yet cold and lonely moonlight shone upon the two men.
*
In the Training Grounds, under the moonlight, I was throwing punches alone.
Through my recent training, I had perfectly mastered even the forms the Red Fists were learning.
They found them difficult, but to me, they still felt as easy as the basics of fist techniques.
However, since a strong foundation was essential, I had invested all my time from the very first moment of training into honing my fist techniques.
Just then, the Fist Demon walked over.
With the moon at his back casting his face in shadow, the Fist Demon truly looked like an evil spirit.
“Are you not afraid of me?”
“How could anyone not be afraid after seeing that face?”
“It's not just that you aren't afraid; you seem to be taking me lightly.”
“Do you prefer that people find you frightening? It must be something you’ve experienced your entire life.”
The Fist Demon slowly walked until he was right in front of me.
He pushed his face close to mine.
It was the first time I had seen his face this close.
He truly had the face of a demon born in this world.
“How is it, seeing it up close?”
Looking at the Demon Sovereign's face, I had such a feeling for the first time.
“You look tired.”
“!”
“What on earth is making a Demon Sovereign of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect so tired? Is it the Iron Fists? Or that cliff? Or is there something else?”
For a moment, the Fist Demon's eyes trembled slightly.
No one must have ever asked him so directly.
Not even my father treated the Demon Sovereigns carelessly, let alone his fellow Demon Sovereigns.
“You must have coaxed all the Demon Sovereigns this way, but it won't work on me.”
It seemed my words about him looking tired had struck a nerve.
“As I said, I never hoped for that in the first place. What I desire is something else.”
“What is it?”
“Please teach me your fist techniques. I'm having so much fun learning them. I'm so excited and thrilled I can't even sleep.”
I said it with all my heart.
Perhaps it was because I had trained in the sword all my life.
Perhaps it was because I had reached Twelve-Star Great Mastery in the Flying Heaven Sword Technique.
Perhaps it was because I had achieved Great Mastery in the Four Divine Wind Steps.
The fist techniques had come to me at this exact time, as if by fate.
“Please teach me. I want to fight you, Fist Demon, with the techniques you teach me!”
“!”
“With those techniques, I want to defeat you.”
In that instant, an aura erupted from the Fist Demon's body.
The Fist Demon’s aura was like the wind.
It was a pressure so strong I couldn't open my eyes, a fear that I would be blown away somewhere that turned my mind white.
The Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art activated naturally, and I drew upon my protective energy to counter his aura.
At that, the Fist Demon's aura grew even more powerful.
A wind blew that felt like it would sweep away not just my body, but my very soul.
I infused my clenched fist with inner energy and executed a single form.
It was a form I had learned from the Red Fists' training, the Sky-Bearing Strike.
Bang!
A refreshing sound of wind burst from the empty space where my fist struck.
I stared into the Fist Demon's eyes and said, “You have awakened something within me, Fist Demon.”
Even without me saying it, the Fist Demon would know what it was.
As he withdrew the aura that had been pressing down on me, the Fist Demon asked, “Why did you only come to me now?”
The seventh connection among the eight Demon Sovereigns.
It was a question he had a right to be curious about.
“Was I not that necessary of a person to you?”
“It’s the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“I heard that you, Fist Demon, are fulfilling the roles of two Demon Sovereigns. That is why I wanted to meet you when I had become a little stronger.”
“Who told you I was fulfilling the roles of two people?”
“My father.”
My father had said that although the number of Demon Sovereigns was four to three, the balance was tight.
Through the Drunken Demon, I confirmed that he had said this with the Fist Demon in mind.
My father certainly had an influence on the Demon Sovereigns.
At the mention of my father, the Fist Demon, too, revealed somewhat complicated emotions.
“I can’t believe the Cult Master would say such a thing. Do not overreach in your attempt to bring me to your side.”
“Go and confirm it for yourself.”
The Fist Demon's face turned even more frightening.
I can guarantee that if I were to go out into the Central Plains with that face, every day would be a series of new incidents and entertaining events.
Staring at me fearsomely, he asked, “Were you serious when you said you might become my disciple?”
“I am serious. This is your only chance to become the master of the Heavenly Demon. Do not miss it.”
“What will you do if I try to control my disciple, the Heavenly Demon, as I please?”
At last, I too released my aura.
It was the first time I had revealed it to the Fist Demon.
An endlessly unfolding, vast sky.
Clear water reflecting that sky.
A deep sea whose bottom cannot be seen, a fact one only realizes after dipping a foot into what appeared to be shallow water.
I projected that suffocating fear and spoke sternly.
“Is your Heavenly Demon such a meager person?”
The Fist Demon stared at me with a surprised expression.
We gazed at each other in silence for a long time.
It was the Fist Demon who broke the long silence.
“Hold out your hand. Hold out that baby hand of yours.”
I extended my hand forward.
“Make a fist.”
I slowly clenched my fist.
A strange light flickered in the Fist Demon's eyes as he examined my fist.
Yes, this was not a hand one could see easily.
This hand you call a baby's hand was the hand of a Heavenly Martial Body, bestowed by the heavens.
To become a master, the entire body is important, but the hands are especially so.
This is even more true in fist techniques, as one cannot hide the body's weaknesses with a weapon.
He enveloped my hand with his large one.
Hand met hand, exploring each other.
Presently, the Fist Demon turned and walked away without saying a word about my hand.
“Starting tomorrow, come to the Black Fists training.”
*
After leaving the Eastern Fist Hall, I went straight to the Valley of the Wicked.
It was to ask the Evil Heart Laughing Demon about the Fist Demon.
For some reason, I felt that the Evil Heart Laughing Demon would know the Fist Demon well.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon was sitting vacantly in that all-white room, as always.
His first words upon seeing me were, “Second Young Master, you want to fight the Fist Demon.”
I was startled.
“Have you learned a martial art that reads minds? Or have we become so close that we can read each other's minds just by looking into each other's eyes?”
“You are wearing a mask today, are you not?”
“Does wearing a mask mean I want to fight the Fist Demon?”
“Yes, it means you want to fight the Fist Demon.”
I smiled and pushed the mask up onto my head.
“What if I came like this?”
“Then you must have come because you wanted to play with me.”
Since I hadn't come to play, at least not today, I pulled the mask back down.
“I may be able to fool a ghost, but I can't fool you, Laughing Demon.”
I nodded and admitted it frankly.
“Are you longing for blood?”
“I think so. The moment I long for blood, you are the first person that comes to mind.”
“When I heard the news that you were learning martial arts from the Fist Demon, I knew you would come to see me at least once.”
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon and the Fist Demon were completely different people.
Their feeling, their atmosphere, their personalities, everything.
But if one were to categorize the Demon Sovereigns without any given criteria, it felt like the Evil Heart Laughing Demon and the Fist Demon would be placed in the same group.
“Do you know why the Fist Demon supports the First Young Master?”
“Because I was late in visiting him?”
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon shook his head.
“Because he supports succession by the eldest son?”
“That is likely not it either.”
“Then why does he support my brother?”
An unexpected answer came back.
“It's likely because of the Cult Master.”
“Because of my father?”
“Until you recently began to distinguish yourself, Second Young Master, everyone expected the First Young Master to be the successor. The Cult Master at the time probably had his mind made up that way as well.”
“Does that mean the Fist Demon is following my father's will?”
“That's right. He probably thinks the Cult Master wants the First Young Master as his successor. He is unaware of how much the situation has changed recently.”
“Because he has been focused solely on teaching his subordinates.”
“Exactly. If he finds out that the Cult Master has you in mind, Second Young Master, he will change his mind.”
The Drunken Demon had said that my father, who was purely mad about martial arts, would like the Fist Demon the most.
It occurred to me that perhaps the person who liked my father the most was also the Fist Demon.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon gave me one last piece of advice about the Fist Demon.
“The Fist Demon's title is The Undefeated. He is a man who has never lost. You will learn what kind of person the Fist Demon is when he is defeated.”
I nodded silently.
Perhaps I would be the one to deliver him that first defeat.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon read the fervor in me.
“Second Young Master, why are you trying to become so strong?”
He knew exactly that my ultimate goal in learning fist techniques from the Fist Demon was not to gain a Demon Sovereign, but out of a desire to become stronger.
“Are you perhaps dreaming of the Unification of the World?”
“No.” I said firmly.
“Do you want to become the number one under heaven?”
“That's not it either.”
“Then why are you running so breathlessly?”
“It's because I have a premonition that a powerful enemy will one day appear before me. An enemy I can never defeat unless I train like a madman. I suppose I have that kind of anxiety.”
I revealed my honest anxiety to him.
Strangely, I felt comfortable revealing such emotions to the Evil Heart Laughing Demon.
Staring at me quietly, the Evil Heart Laughing Demon suddenly launched a finger technique.
Zzzzzzzk.
A long line was drawn on the white wall he always stared at.
I was shocked.
He had drawn a line on a wall that I thought he would never deface.
“Second Young Master, how far have we come?”
After a very long time, he drew a line and asked me.
The last time he drew one, I had said I had reached the line of survival.
I drew my Black Demon Sword and, passing the survival line I had drawn before, drew a vertical line at the end of his line.
“I have come this far.”
I hadn't spent much time with him.
But two life-or-death battles where we had each other's backs had allowed me to draw the line here.
“Do you remember? When we first met, I told you I don't become friends with people who wear masks. Now, my principle has changed. Since I also wear a mask, I will be friends with people who wear masks.”
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon said to me with clear eyes.
“You said it, Second Young Master. You said when we reached that line, we would become friends, eat together, drink together. We’d have fun together, and fight too. If one of us was in danger, the other would go to save him. And if one died first, the other would sprinkle wine on his grave.”
“That's right.”
“If that powerful enemy you spoke of appears and you find yourself in danger, Second Young Master…”
After a brief pause, the Evil Heart Laughing Demon added, “I will go and save you.”
“!”
I could tell.
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon's line was drawn in the same place as mine.
My father always says not to trust people.
He says this kind of heart is a cheap sentiment, a naive sentiment that gets one killed.
Even so, I love this moment so much.
“I will be waiting for you to save me.”
The Evil Heart Laughing Demon's eyes shone clearly.
No more words were needed.
As I was about to turn and leave, I asked the Evil Heart Laughing Demon worriedly, “By the way, is that wall okay? Isn't it a wall for training?”
He had said that he gained more inner energy by looking at the white wall to train.
My worry about what he would do now that it was damaged was answered by the Evil Heart Laughing Demon as he looked at the white wall on the opposite side.
“I never liked the color of that wall. From today, I'll face this wall.”