The following day, I entered closed-door training for a period of ten days.
I left the affairs of Hwangcheon Pavilion to Seo Daeryong, and forgot about the Demon Venerables.
This training was urgent.
Everything has its trigger and its proper time. Just as in a duel, when the moment comes, you must stake everything on victory, there is also a right moment for training.
My trigger was the duel with my father, still vivid in my mind. Before that duel faded from my thoughts, I had to melt it down and make it my own.
I decided not to think about the Demon Venerables.
The Drunken Demon might have come looking for me the next day, or the Demon Venerables might have ended up fighting among themselves. In any case, they were not people I could control as I wished, so I focused only on what I had to do.
I replayed the duel at the Pungryu Tavern, where I had fought in a state of selflessness, exactly as it had happened.
I reproduced my duel with Father down to the smallest movement. When I moved like this, Father moved like that. When I attacked in that way, Father defended in that way. I compared and analyzed Father’s movements and my own.
This duel held great meaning in many respects. There was the fact that I had fought without setting limits on myself, and the immense constraint of not being allowed to touch the objects around us even in the midst of that urgency.
Because of that, there was much I felt, and much I had to learn.
It was not training that exhausted the body, but training of deep contemplation and reflection. I thought only about martial arts, and I sank into them more deeply than ever before.
Ten days later, I emerged from the training hall with a thick beard grown over my face.
At that moment, the sharp smell of alcohol wafted over me, and just as I thought, Surely not, that very “surely not” spoke to me from behind.
“Just who are you trying to kill, training so hard? Me? No, right?”
Astonishingly, the Drunken Demon had been waiting for me.
“Why are you here?”
“Why else? I was waiting for you to come out. The day after we drank at the Pungryu Tavern, I went looking for you, and they told me you’d gone into closed-door training for ten days. The moment I heard that, I came running here.”
“Are you telling me you’ve been waiting here the whole time?”
“Of course! I’ve been waiting since the first day.”
I stared at him, then said with a smile.
“That’s a lie. You must have told Martial Artist Yeo, ‘Let me know when the Second Young Master comes out after ten days of closed-door training.’ Then you went off and happily drank yourself silly, didn’t you? When did you arrive today? Just a little while ago, right?”
“Hm. Has Yeo Bin turned to your side?”
At his frank confession, I couldn’t help but laugh.
The Drunken Demon asked with suspicious eyes.
“By the way, you didn’t go into closed-door training because I was annoying you, did you?”
“To be honest, I enjoy drinking and spending time with you, Drunken Demon. If anything, the problem is that it’s too enjoyable.”
“When I heard you’d gone into closed-door training, I thought the sky had collapsed. If you’d gone into seclusion for a hundred days, I would have become a stone statue waiting for you.”
“Do you not have other drinking companions?”
“Who?”
“You could drink with the Sword Venerable.”
“After suffering such humiliation from that Soma that day, would she want to meet anyone and drink? I have to give her time to cool her anger.”
As if that were the reason. This was a man who had come all the way to wait in front of the training hall. Right now, rather than the Sword Venerable, he was interested in me, so she probably did not even enter his eyes.
“Isn’t it precisely at times like this that one needs a friend?”
“I’m avoiding her because I’m her friend.”
That, too, was true, so I could not refute him.
“Now, let’s go drink.”
“Do you enjoy drinking with me that much?”
“You said you don’t call someone brother after drinking together only twice, didn’t you?”
It was something I had said to him at the Pungryu Tavern. It seemed to have remained in his mind.
“Would you do it if we drank together about two hundred times?”
“If we’ve shared cups two hundred times, wouldn’t the form of address be meaningless by then?”
“No, it’s important. If we drank together two hundred times and still couldn’t call each other brothers, wouldn’t that be a strange relationship?”
“That is true, but…”
“If I asked you to drink tea with me, I doubt we’d even reach five times. But if it’s drinking alcohol, I can reach two hundred.”
“Why go this far just to call each other brothers with me?”
Then an unexpected reason came out.
“It’s simple. Right now, your chances of becoming the Heavenly Demon are half and half, aren’t they? Isn’t this an opportunity to have the Heavenly Demon as my younger brother with a fifty percent chance?”
“You’re under one major misconception.”
“What misconception?”
“If I become the Heavenly Demon, I won’t treat you as an elder brother. Those two hundred drinking sessions will vanish in that instant.”
“Only on the surface, surely?”
“Not in my heart either. Nor behind closed doors. In fact, because I wouldn’t want such a misunderstanding, I might treat you even more strictly, Drunken Demon.”
The Drunken Demon looked at me with a strange gaze.
“I thought that even if you became the Heavenly Demon, you would show an open and unguarded side. I thought you would break formality and live like brothers with the Demon Venerables.”
“That would be a preconception about me. I’m colder and less affectionate than I look. Perhaps I only pretend to be more affectionate in order to hide that. If I become the Heavenly Demon, I will draw a sharp line between public and private matters. If you expected that I would vaguely muddle things along and call you brother, then investing the remaining hundred and ninety-eight drinking sessions in my elder brother would be wiser.”
At that, the Drunken Demon spoke in a meaningful tone.
“Your elder brother must not become the Cult Leader.”
“Why?”
“I’ll tell you over a drink.”
The Drunken Demon quickened his steps and walked off.
I walked in the opposite direction.
The Drunken Demon, who had gone some distance, came chasing after me.
“Now, this is too much. Second Young Master, aren’t you curious?”
“Not at all.”
“It’s the reason your elder brother must not become Cult Leader.”
“Yes.”
“Why on earth not?”
This time, I spoke in a meaningful tone.
“You’re curious why I’m not curious, aren’t you?”
“I am.”
“I only pretended not to be curious so you would become curious, Drunken Demon. Aren’t you the same? You’re trying to make me curious and bait me into drinking with you when there’s no real reason, aren’t you?”
“When a man is too clever, he loses his humanity!”
“I already told you I’m a person without affection.”
As I strode away, the Drunken Demon persistently followed after me.
“I waited ten days. Second Young Master, are you truly going to be like this?”
Fine. If he had gone this far, I had to acknowledge his effort.
“I lose. First, I’ll wash up and rest a bit, then I’ll visit the Great Drunken Forest this evening.”
Only then did the Drunken Demon’s expression brighten radiantly.
“I’ll be waiting. You must come.”
“But you must tell me. The reason my elder brother must not become Cult Leader.”
“You said you weren’t curious.”
“As if that could be true. Then I’ll see you later.”
I returned to my quarters, shaved my beard, washed myself, and changed into fresh clothes.
Then I stood before the bronze mirror.
The me of ten days ago and the me of now had changed yet again.
Through this closed-door training, I had raised the Wind God Four Steps to a new realm.
The Wind God Four Steps, eighth level.
When I entered seclusion, I had anticipated results.
I had brought the Flying Heaven Sword Art to the Great Completion of the twelfth level, and I had gained enlightenment from the words left behind by the Progenitor of All Things. I had faced Baek Manggi in combat, and afterward, I had even had the strange experience of examining that fight again through the eyes of a third party in a dream.
On top of that, the duel with Father had been decisive. As if he had anticipated this outcome, Father had dealt with me throughout the duel using the Wind God Four Steps as his footwork.
Ah, there was one more thing. The desperation to reach Great Completion in the Wind God Four Steps before receiving the Nine Flames Demonic Art, no matter what.
As a result, I had achieved what could, in a way, be called the inevitable feat of bringing the Wind God Four Steps to the eighth level.
Once the Wind God Four Steps rose to the eighth level, the greatest change was that I was overcome with the desire to run somewhere using Rapid Steps. My body itched so badly that I barely restrained myself from rushing straight to the training field. That would not be enough. I needed to satisfy this desire properly.
First, I lay down on the bed and slept. Perhaps because I felt so good, for the first time in a long while, I slept deeply, without a single worry, making up for all the sleep I had missed.
* * *
That evening, when I bought a bottle of alcohol and went to the Great Drunken Forest, the Drunken Demon was lying in a ferryboat, drifting across the lake.
I boarded the ferryboat Yeo Bin provided and slowly approached the boat the Drunken Demon was on.
There was nothing in his boat but bottles of alcohol.
“As expected! When I’m not watching, you don’t eat any snacks with your alcohol.”
“If you drank with me every day, I would eat snacks every day. Here, take a cup.”
“I’ll drink the liquor I brought.”
One thing I liked about the Drunken Demon was that when it came to alcohol, he never forced anything on anyone. No matter what liquor you drank, or whether you merely touched your lips to it and put it down, he did not care. Nor did he force you to get drunk with him. I thought the Drunken Demon was someone who truly loved alcohol.
“I felt this the last time I came, but this lake really is wonderful.”
“There are places in the Great Drunken Forest even more splendid than this. I’ll take you next time.”
“Do you truly think there will be a next time for us?”
“Why do you think there won’t be?”
Instead of answering, I drank.
“Yes, I know what you mean. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon hates me terribly.”
He drank as well.
“True. Then again, am I the only one he hates? Do you really intend to gain the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and lose three others? Isn’t that far too much of a loss in business? That man is someone who would go to the First Young Master at any time if the conditions were right.”
The Drunken Demon slowly began sowing discord and pushing the Blood Heaven Blade Demon away.
“I told you that day, didn’t I? That I would gain all three of you. That is why I came here today.”
“If you fail to distinguish between ideals and reality like this, the First Young Master will become the successor in the end. The successor who will become the Heavenly Demon is not decided simply by who has greater martial arts, or who is more intelligent. It is not determined by such things.”
“Then what is it determined by?”
“Think about it. Choosing a successor is not the same as choosing the greatest demonic sword under heaven. It is choosing the person who will lead our Cult well. A Cult Leader who yields what must be yielded and harmonizes well with the Eight Demon Venerables. If not, our Cult will split apart, and in the end, the Martial Alliance will devour us. Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I did not know you were someone who thought so rationally about the future of our Cult, Drunken Demon.”
“I am the prime victim of misunderstandings and preconceptions.”
“If you dislike that, why not stop drinking?”
“The Drunken Demon who gave up drinking? The whole murim would laugh at me.”
Saying that, the Drunken Demon drank.
“May I ask you one thing? I have wanted to ask for some time.”
“What is it?”
After a brief pause, I asked him.
“Drunken Demon, do you drink in order to forget? Or do you drink in order not to forget?”
“…!”
The Drunken Demon flinched for an instant, then stared at me before answering that it was neither.
“To enjoy it. I drink simply because I like alcohol. Because I like alcohol itself. Assuming I must be drinking because I have some story—that, too, is a preconception.”
With that, the Drunken Demon drank again. I could not tell whether those were sincere words or an excuse. As long as he was drinking, it was not easy to see the truth in him.
I drank the liquor I had brought as well. When I was with him, I found myself drinking again and again. Back when I drank heavily, I had certainly had a reason.
Back then, had I drunk in order to forget? Or had I drunk in order not to forget?
“In that case, you could simply support my elder brother as the successor. Unlike me, he won’t say absurd things like that he must reconcile with Elder Blade Demon.”
At that, the Drunken Demon brought up something unexpected.
“The First Young Master must not become the successor.”
It was the same thing he had said in front of the training hall. The fact that he brought it up first meant it had not merely been bait to drag me to a drinking session.
Could this be the reason this man had approached me? While saying we should call each other brothers?
“The First Young Master… likes the Cult Leader too much.”
“…!”
Words I had never expected came from the Drunken Demon.
“I like Father as well.”
“He likes him beyond comparison to you.”
It was not something I could deny. Whether it was because he truly liked Father in his heart, because he was suppressed by Father’s authority, or because he wanted to become successor, my elder brother was someone who would do anything if Father said it.
“I acknowledge that you are superior to the First Young Master. But even so, I cannot yet be certain that you will become the successor.”
Again, I had to acknowledge it. Father was someone who could duel me today, then tomorrow bluntly say, “The successor is your elder brother.”
“Very well. Let us say that is true. But why is the fact that my elder brother likes Father a reason he must not become successor?”
“Because the First Young Master will not be able to defy the Cult Leader’s will.”
“What will?”
Once again, astonishing words flowed from the Drunken Demon.
“The will to unite the murim.”
The Drunken Demon knew. He knew that Father harbored the ambition of unifying the murim.
I recalled the conversation I had once had with Father regarding Cult Leader Pungcheon.
—The time has not yet come. Know only that.
At the time, I had thought that Father might be dreaming of the unification of the murim.
The Drunken Demon had sensed that ambition of Father’s. Perhaps it was not only the Drunken Demon. Among the other Demon Venerables, someone else might know as well. After all, the Demon Venerables had all avoided mentioning anything related to Father.
“The First Young Master will become the successor and faithfully follow his father’s orders. Without doubt, he will become the vanguard and set out to conquer the murim. But what about you? You would stop the Cult Leader. The you I have seen so far is not someone who approves of war.”
“That is correct. I do not want war.”
“Then you must become the successor and stop the Cult Leader.”
I truly had never dreamed that the Drunken Demon had chosen me for such a reason.
He had chosen me to prevent the war that would occur in the future? This Drunken Demon, who was always drunk? This person who seemed the most thoughtless among the Eight Demon Venerables?
I brought my face close to the Drunken Demon’s.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m trying to determine how much is truth and how much is lies.”
“Everything I have said is the truth.”
“You, Drunken Demon, who spends every day drinking, chose me because of the peace of the murim? Are you telling me to believe that?”
“Call it my final preconception.”
Looking at me with drunken eyes, the Drunken Demon revealed the truth as if confessing.
“That is precisely why I sent the broken bottle of liquor to the First Young Master.”