The next day, after finishing my Black Fists training, I followed after the Fist Demon.
“Please have a meal with me today.”
The Fist Demon always ate alone.
Of course, the other Demon Sovereigns were no different, but the Fist Demon never even ate with his subordinates.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“It’s uncomfortable.”
“If I’m uncomfortable, I’m uncomfortable, but you’re saying you’re uncomfortable? Who in the world would believe that?”
“I am uncomfortable with you.”
The Fist Demon strode away first.
The Iron Fists stared at us with surprised faces, at the Fist Demon who said he was uncomfortable even with his subordinates around, and at me, who was pestering him for a meal.
Of course, I wasn’t giving up.
The next day, I followed him again.
“Then how about a cup of tea today?”
“I don’t like tea.”
“They say drinking a lot of tea is good for your body.”
The Fist Demon stopped in his tracks.
“What on earth are you doing? Do you want to put poison in that tea?”
“Of course not. If I poisoned you, I wouldn’t be able to learn the next formula, would I?”
“That’s right. You’d have to learn everything before you poison me.”
“You misunderstand.”
Despite my cry, the Fist Demon strode away.
The next day, when training ended, I followed him again.
“Do you perhaps know how to play Go?”
“I don’t. What’s a real man doing holding such tiny stones? It’s not like a little girl's playhouse.”
“That playhouse is something my father is very much into these days.”
“…”
The Fist Demon walked away without looking back.
Perhaps because of the talk about my father, his steps were even faster than the day before.
The next day, and the day after that, the Fist Demon was a solid wall.
It wasn't going to be easy like this.
I'd succeeded in putting the Fist Demon into a boiling pot, but this large, sturdy opponent showed no signs of softening.
I wanted to boil and eat him, but he wouldn’t cook.
At times like this, when I felt so frustrated, one person came to mind.
I immediately headed to the Southern Path Sect where the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was.
*
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was teaching martial arts to Seo Daeryong.
Now an official disciple, Seo Daeryong was learning the signature martial art, the Heaven-Slaying Demon Blade Form, from the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
So as not to disturb their training, I went to the backyard, quietly closed my eyes, sat in a meditative posture, and circulated the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art.
I had achieved Twelve-Star Great Mastery in the Flying Heaven Sword Technique, and I had also achieved Great Mastery in the Four Divine Wind Steps.
Among the martial arts I had learned, the one that I absolutely had to achieve Great Mastery in was the Heavenly Demon Body-Protecting Art.
As I was training for a while, I heard Seo Daeryong’s cautious voice from a distance.
“Training is over.”
He had informed me quietly, in case he might disturb my training.
When I opened my eyes, Seo Daeryong, drenched in sweat, collapsed next to me.
“Is it tough?”
“It’s killing me.”
It seemed that Seo Daeryong, having started his training in earnest, was going through a series of hellish sessions.
“I’ll have a word with him. Our Investigator Seo is having too hard a time. Please go a little easier on him.”
“Of course. There are many ways to kill a man.”
I quietly looked at Seo Daeryong’s profile.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’ve changed. Your feeling.”
“How so?”
“You look stronger.”
At that one phrase, Seo Daeryong’s mood instantly brightened.
He clenched both his fists.
“Just you wait!”
“‘Villains!’ No, I mean, ‘Ladies!’ right?”
“Was it that obvious?”
“Keep it up, my right-hand man! Without this time spent grinding yourself down, you’ll either be killed by villains or rejected by women.”
“What if I get rejected even after grinding myself down?”
Seo Daeryong’s deer-like eyes hoped for a ‘that won’t happen,’ but…
“Then let’s catch at least one more villain. Ah! The world’s villains might just go extinct.”
“Hey! Are you serious?”
I laughed loudly, and Seo Daeryong laughed along.
He stood up and bid farewell.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow. Ah, and that thing you said about me looking stronger, please say it again next time! Whenever I’m having a hard time.”
“Alright.”
After sending him off, I went to the front yard, where the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was wiping his sweat, leaning against his Heaven-Slaying Blade.
“You must be busy throwing punches, why did you come? Are you already tired of it?”
“Yes. I am tired of it. I’m full of regret, wondering why I decided to learn a fist technique when I could have been out having fun with you, Elder.”
“Who said I’d play with you?”
I went and sat down next to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“No matter how much I fan the flames, he shows no sign of cooking.”
“You’re trying to cook a boulder. Do you think it will cook?”
“That’s why I came to see you, Elder.”
“So you’re going to try adding some old ginger to the boiling water?”
“This is why I like you, Elder. You get it in an instant.”
“What is it you want from the Fist Demon? His martial arts? Or his heart?”
“At first, it was his martial arts.”
“And now you want his heart too?”
“He wants to tear down a cliff. At first, I thought that was cool, so I wanted to tear it down too. But now, I’ve become curious as to why the Fist Demon wants to tear down that cliff so much.”
“When you find out, it’ll probably be for a trivial reason.”
“Isn’t that how it is for everyone? Me included.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon looked at me as if I were a little old man.
“I’m sorry to tell you this after you’ve come all this way, but I don’t know much about the Fist Demon.”
“It’s alright. I just came to see you because I was feeling stifled.”
The spicy ginger was used not for cooking, but for healing.
“Hey, Second Young Master.”
“Yes, Elder.”
“Are you alright?”
“!”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was asking me.
If I was alright.
If anyone else had asked, I would have said I was fine, but I didn’t want to do that with the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“I’m not sure.”
“Saying ‘I don’t know’ is more dangerous than saying ‘I’m not okay.’ When you’re tired, you should rest.”
It was a moment where I felt once again that the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was genuinely worried about me.
These days, I found myself disarmed in front of him.
I had tried so hard to open his door, but perhaps my own door had swung wide open first.
“Then, Elder, may I lean on your blade for a bit?”
“You may not. Seeing as you’re talking nonsense, you must be perfectly fine.”
“Just once. I’ve wanted to lean on it just once for a long time.”
As I pleaded, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon finally relented as if he couldn’t win.
“Then just this once.”
I tried leaning on the Heaven-Slaying Blade.
“Ah! Now I see why you always lean on this.”
“It feels dependable, like it’s protecting me, right?”
“No. It’s incredibly cool.”
The Heaven-Slaying Blade had a primal coldness to it.
“So you were the only one staying cool on those hot summer days!”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, perhaps not expecting me to argue like this, just laughed and said, “You rascal.”
Joking around with Seo Daeryong and laughing like this with the Blood Heaven Blade Demon relieved a lot of my frustration.
And I also received a great method of healing.
“When I’m tired, I will rest.”
“Come anytime you’re having a hard time.”
The words ‘anytime’ pierced my heart.
“What would I do without you, Elder?”
“You’d live just fine, throwing punches with the Fist Demon. Stop with the idle talk and go back. You have that late-night training or whatever, don’t you?”
“No way. How are there no secrets in this Demon Sect?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon, who had drawn his blade, said as he went inside the house.
“Who do you think they take after with those loose lips?”
*
I took the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s advice.
The next day, I didn’t go to the Black Fists training.
At the time when training would have been in full swing, I was in the world of the Space-Time Displacement Art.
A blue sky and sea resembling my Sword Force, a sun-drenched sandy beach, the shade of a broad-leafed tree.
Even a cool mat.
I was lying down in the most comfortable way possible.
Today was a day to skip out.
After returning from the Martial Alliance, I hadn't had a single moment of proper rest while getting involved with the Fist Demon.
So today, I intended to spend some time alone.
I decided not to think about anyone else.
It was the perfect day of leisure, complete with drinks, snacks, and a book to read.
I looked at the sky, then the sea, then a crab crawling on the sand.
I read a book, dozed off, woke up, and stared blankly at the sea again.
“Ah! This is great!”
It was more than great.
I lazed around like that all day long.
That afternoon, a person came to my residence.
It was Cheon So-hee.
“Senior Brother, Senior Brother.”
She calls me Second Young Master in front of the Fist Demon, but calls me Senior Brother when it’s just the two of us.
It’s cute.
“Where did he go?”
I saw her peering into my room through the window.
Having attended the Black Fists training every single day without fail, she must have been worried when I suddenly didn’t show up.
After pacing the yard for a moment, she left the residence.
I had fully expected her to come, but a moment later, a completely unexpected person visited me.
To be precise, he didn't visit but passed by.
Surprisingly, it was the Fist Demon.
He passed by my residence as if he were passing by on some other business.
As he passed, his eyes flickered toward my residence.
He passed by while raising his energy to check if I was at home.
It was so funny how he pretended not to notice, and at the same time, I was touched.
I really wanted to undo the Space-Time Displacement Art and run out.
I wanted to ask him if he came because he was worried about me, to see his flustered expression.
But I didn't.
Hey you people, you should know how precious I am!
I lazed around like that until late, then filled up my inner energy with the heart technique, and then lazed around some more.
It might have seemed like an insignificant day, but for me, it was a valuable time of recharging.
Then, it was time for the late-night training.
The three of them arrived on time, and as soon as they came, Cheon So-hee asked me.
“Why didn’t you come to the Black Fists training today?”
At the mention that I hadn’t gone to training, Lee Ahn was startled.
“Young Master! Are you sick? How badly are you hurt!”
“Why are you making such a fuss?”
“There’s no way the Young Master would skip training! What is it? What happened?”
“I’m human too. There are times I want to skip out, and times I want to rest.”
As I said that, I looked at the Fist Demon.
“Isn’t that right?”
The Fist Demon looked at me for a moment, then shook his head.
“I have never done such a thing.”
“Really?”
“If I had lived such a lazy life, someone else would be in the Fist Demon’s seat right now.”
“Isn’t it hard for you?”
“Not at all.”
I know.
What truly makes a person tired is not that the work is hard, but that no one recognizes that hardship, and even if they do, they pass by indifferently.
“If you’re tired, come have fun with me! I’m on standby anytime.”
Of course, the Fist Demon pretended not to hear.
As the training was ending that day.
Whoooosh!
An unfamiliar sound of wind came from my fist.
It wasn't the sound of thunder, but it wasn't the sound of my punches until now, either.
“What is this sound?”
At my question, the Fist Demon looked at me with a surprised face.
“It is the sound of a gathering storm.”
It meant that the time for thunder was not far off.
At my unbelievably fast achievement, fighting spirit rose from the Fist Demon’s entire body.
He looked like he wanted to charge at me right away.
He instinctively took a step forward, and I stepped back.
In the tense situation where a fierce battle could break out at any moment, Lee Ahn and Cheon So-hee also became tense.
I quickly said to him.
“Shall we make a bet?”
“What kind of bet.”
“I don’t like hitting and getting hit, so how about a lightness arts bet? If I win, please teach me the Second Fist Form of the Thunder Asura Fist.”
“And if I win?”
“I will have a match with you, Fist Demon.”
A confident smile spread across the Fist Demon’s lips.
“You must have thought I was slow because my body is so big.”
The greatest masters of fist techniques have amazing footwork, and footwork is connected to lightness arts.
“Fine. I accept that bet.”
The Fist Demon was full of confidence.
He was confident enough in his lightness arts to wager his signature martial art’s Second Fist Form.
“To the entrance of Demon Family Village. How about that?”
“That place isn’t suitable for a duel. About ten li further from the entrance, there’s a bamboo forest. Let’s go there.”
In the Fist Demon’s mind, he had already won the bet.
Lee Ahn drew a line on the ground, and we stood side by side on the line.
“Ready, go!”
The two of us shot out like arrows fired at the same time.
I can imagine how surprised the two women were at our figures disappearing from view in an instant.
The Fist Demon was really fast.
I’m sure he’s the fastest among the Demon Sovereigns.
That must be why he accepted the bet, but he couldn’t be faster than my Swift Step.
I matched his speed and ran neck and neck.
The Fist Demon’s surprise was conveyed through his ragged breath.
I arrived at the bamboo forest a few steps ahead.
I acted as if I had barely won, panting for breath.
The Fist Demon, who arrived shortly after, looked at me with a surprised face.
It seemed he never imagined I could be faster than him.
“First, teach me the Second Fist Form, and if you feel it’s unfair, you can wager the Third Fist and we can go again.”
The Fist Demon’s scary face making a scary expression was truly scary.
But scary is scary.
He was not a man who broke his promises.
“Fine. I will teach you the Second Fist Form right here.”
I was inwardly surprised by his decision without hesitation.
He was truly a man among men.
It was too precious of a martial art to give away over a lightness arts bet.
What was the Fist Demon thinking right now? Did he really not think he could lose from the start? I was curious about his intentions.
“Will you be alright?”
“Are you asking if I’m alright after luring me into a trap?”
That trap, did you perhaps know about it and fall into it on purpose?
Second Fist Form, Thunder Asura.
If the First Fist Form, Black Cloud Asura, was about focusing all one's power to strike a single opponent, the Thunder Asura was a form that threw punches so fast they were invisible to the eye.
It focused on speed rather than power, similar to the Azure Heaven Form, the swift sword form of the Flying Heaven Sword Technique.
The Fist Demon taught me the formula and stances.
I used all my mental energy to make his teachings my own, without missing a single thing.
And so, the Fist Demon’s second fist also became mine.
“Thank you very much. This fist will never be used for the wrong purpose.”
I bowed to him.
We hadn’t become master and disciple yet, but I had received up to the second fist.
“Well then, since we’ve come this far, why don’t we get some fresh air before we go back?”
The Fist Demon looked at me with an expression that asked what I meant.
“It’s been a while since you’ve left the Sect, right? I had so much fun skipping training and playing yesterday. Fist Demon, why don’t you skip out with me for a bit?”
The Fist Demon snorted as if it were out of the question and turned his steps toward the Main Sect.
Looking at that big, thick back, I said.
“You go out like that every day, so no one appreciates how precious you are.”
The Fist Demon stopped dead in his tracks.
“The Fist Demon’s goodwill toward the Main Sect has continued for too long.”
I didn’t express it as goodwill toward his subordinates.
I didn’t want to belittle the natural human instinct of the subordinates who feared the Fist Demon, nor the Fist Demon’s affection for them.
The Fist Demon turned toward me.
Our gazes locked in mid-air.
For a long while, we said nothing.
He was a smart man, and he understood the hidden meaning in my words.
“You look tired.”
This was the second time I had said this to him.
Did the words finally reach him?
After a brief pause, the Fist Demon asked.
“Do you have anywhere to go?”
I smiled brightly and said.
“The joy of skipping out is in having no plan. Let’s go.”
Before he could change his mind, I started running, and the Fist Demon ran with me.
We matched our pace and ran side by side.
On the face of the man running beside me, I saw a glimpse of something.
A kind of joy I had never seen before.
And so, we moved away from the Sect in an instant.
We moved away from our daily lives.