“You seem to be in good spirits.”
At Geom Muyang’s words, Mabul smiled and replied.
“Perhaps it’s because I’ve brought good news.”
Mabul was acting brighter and more energetic than usual.
“I don’t think you need to worry about the Fist Demon. He made it clear that he supports you, Young Master.”
Though it was good news, Geom Muyang’s expression did not brighten all at once.
“Eldest Young Master, allow me to speak frankly. I know there have been things recently that disappointed you in me. In my own way, I tried to do well, but there were matters that did not go as intended. For that, I apologize to you.”
Without the slightest pretense, Mabul apologized sincerely. It was an extension of the emotions he had felt earlier while watching Geom Mugeuk train in martial arts.
He had felt that if things continued like this, they would not be able to defeat Geom Mugeuk. Change was necessary, and he had resolved that the change had to begin with himself.
“No. The one who should apologize is me.”
From Geom Muyang’s reaction, Mabul could tell. Geom Muyang was flustered, and he was doubting his words.
Geom Muyang was the sort of person who looked first at what lay behind another person. He was the sort of person who filtered others’ words at least once before accepting them. Even now, he was doubting Mabul’s sincerity.
Had this been yesterday, Mabul would have grown angry at this reaction. He would have thought of the crack that had formed between himself and Geom Muyang.
But he did not. Now, he intended to acknowledge it. This was the essence of the man called Geom Muyang. If he disliked it, then he was the one who had to leave.
Whether he knew Mabul’s thoughts or not, Geom Muyang spoke calmly.
“When I returned to the Cult, I think I was flustered because Mugeuk had grown far more than I expected. The Mugeuk I knew was a young wolf, but when I came back, he had become a great tiger. In my impatience, I was rude to you several times, Mabul. I apologize.”
Geom Muyang bowed his head.
Mabul’s heart eased. This much was enough.
He decided to think of the crack between Geom Muyang and himself not as a fissure that might break apart and send them plummeting, but as a mark for a better relationship in the future. Rather, it would be a crack he could look at whenever he felt hurt or weary, and from which he could draw strength.
“You are a tiger as well, Eldest Young Master. So do not be afraid. Roar to your heart’s content. I will protect you.”
“Thank you.”
Mabul was finding his strength.
Yes, when we approach someone, this is how it must be done. Just as Geom Mugeuk spoke to him without hesitation, he too had to stride toward Geom Muyang like this. Only then, no matter how this matter ended, would he have no regrets.
Mabul’s gaze turned toward the window.
“The moonlight is especially beautiful tonight.”
But Geom Muyang’s eyes could not enjoy that beautiful moonlight at all.
‘This won’t do.’
As he looked at Mabul, whose eyes had grown moist in the moonlight, he thought that this man could not defeat Geom Mugeuk.
‘If you truly care for me, you should not be praising me as a tiger. You should be bringing me a trap to catch the tiger over there.’
Even if they used every method available, it would still not be enough. Even if it meant overreaching, even if it meant schemes, they had to employ everything—yet Mabul was indulging in such leisure.
It was because he was not as desperate as Geom Muyang. After all, if they lost the succession struggle, the only one who would die was Geom Muyang himself.
Because the two men’s hearts were different, the moonlight tonight was different as well. And so that moonlight, soft and warm yet cold and lonely, shone upon them both.
* * *
In the training ground where moonlight fell, I was thrusting my fists alone.
Through my training thus far, I had perfectly mastered even the forms that the Red Fists were learning. They found them difficult, but to me, they still felt as easy as the basics of fist arts. But the basics had to be solid, so from the very first moment I began training, I had invested all my time in practicing fist arts.
At that moment, the Fist Demon walked over.
When shadows fell across his face with the moon at his back, the Fist Demon truly looked like an evil spirit.
“Are you not afraid of me?”
“How could I not be afraid after seeing that face?”
“You are not merely unafraid. You look down on me.”
“Do you like it when others see you as frightening? It must be something you’ve endured your whole life.”
The Fist Demon walked over slowly until he stood right in front of me.
He thrust his face toward mine. This was the first time I had seen his face from such a close distance. It truly was a face that seemed as though a devil had been born into the mortal world.
“How is it, seeing it up close?”
For the first time, as I looked at the face of a Demon Venerable, I felt this.
“You look tired.”
“!”
“What on earth is making a Demon Venerable of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult so tired? Is it the Iron Fists? Or that cliff? Or is there something else?”
For an instant, the Fist Demon’s eyes trembled slightly. No one had likely ever asked him so directly before. Not only his fellow Demon Venerables, but even Father did not treat the Demon Venerables carelessly.
“It seems you’ve seduced all the Demon Venerables in this manner, but it won’t work on me.”
It seemed my comment that he looked tired had touched his emotions.
“As I told you, I never hoped for that in the first place. What I want is something else.”
“What is it?”
“Please teach me fist arts. Learning fist arts is so enjoyable. It makes my heart race and fills me with excitement, to the point that I cannot sleep.”
Those were words from the heart. Perhaps it was because I had trained in sword arts all my life. Perhaps it was because I had achieved great completion in the Soaring Heaven Sword Art at the twelfth stage. Perhaps it was because I had achieved great completion in the Wind God’s Four Steps. At precisely this time, fist arts had come to me like fate.
“Please teach me. I want to fight you, Fist Demon, with the fist arts you teach me!”
“!”
“I want to defeat you with those fist arts.”
In that instant, waves of energy poured from the Fist Demon’s body. The Fist Demon’s aura was like the wind. It was the kind of aura that made it impossible to open one’s eyes in the fierce gale, that filled the mind with blank terror as though one might be blown away somewhere.
The Heavenly Demon Protective Divine Art activated naturally, and I drew up my protective astral qi to withstand his aura.
Then the Fist Demon’s aura grew even stronger. A wind blew that seemed as though it would sweep away not only my body, but even my soul.
I injected internal energy into my clenched fist and executed a single form.
It was a form I had learned from the Red Fists’ training: One Fist Bearing Heaven.
Paaang!
From the empty air where my fist struck, a refreshing burst of wind rang out.
Staring into the Fist Demon’s eyes, I said,
“You have awakened something inside my body, Fist Demon.”
Even without my saying it, the Fist Demon would know what that something was.
Withdrawing the aura that had been pressing down on me, the Fist Demon asked,
“Why have you only come to me now?”
Among the eight Demon Venerables, he was the seventh connection. It was a question he had every right to wonder about.
“Was I not someone you needed that much?”
“It is the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“I heard that you, Fist Demon, play the role of two Demon Venerables. That is why I wanted to meet you when I had grown a little stronger.”
“Who said I play the role of two people?”
“Father did.”
Father had said that although the number of Demon Venerables stood at four to three, the balance remained even. Through the Drunken Demon, I had confirmed that he had said it with the Fist Demon in mind.
Father certainly had influence over the Demon Venerables. When Father was mentioned, the Fist Demon too revealed somewhat complicated emotions.
“I cannot believe the Cult Leader said such a thing. Do not overreach in order to draw me to your side.”
“Go and confirm it for yourself.”
The Fist Demon’s face became even more frightening. I could guarantee that if I went out into the Central Plains with that face beside me, every day would bring new incidents, accidents, and a continuous string of entertaining events.
Glaring at me fearsomely, he asked,
“Were you sincere when you said you might become my disciple?”
“I was sincere. 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 manipulate my disciple as I please once he becomes the Heavenly Demon?”
At last, I too released my aura. It was the first aura I had revealed to the Fist Demon.
An endlessly spreading, vast blue sky.
Clear water reflecting that sky. Water that looked shallow, until one dipped a foot into it and realized it was an abyss whose bottom could not be seen. Extending that suffocating fear, I spoke with solemn dignity.
“Is your Heavenly Demon truly such a petty person?”
The Fist Demon looked at me in astonishment.
For a long while, we stared at each other in silence. It was the Fist Demon who broke the long silence.
“Hold out your hand. Hold out that baby hand of yours.”
I held out my hand.
“Make a fist.”
I slowly clenched my hand into a fist.
A strange light flashed through the Fist Demon’s eyes as he examined my fist. Yes, it would not be a hand one could easily see. This hand, which you call a baby hand, was none other than the hand of a Heavenly Martial Body bestowed by the heavens.
To become an expert, the entire body is important, but the hands are especially important. In fist arts, they are even more so. One cannot hide the weaknesses of the body behind weapons.
He wrapped my hand in his enormous hand. Hand met hand, and they explored each other.
At length, without saying anything about my hand, the Fist Demon turned and walked away.
“Come to the Black Fist training starting tomorrow.”
* * *
After leaving the East Fist Gate, I went straight to the Valley of Villains.
It was to ask the Extreme Evil Soma about the Fist Demon. For some reason, I felt that the Extreme Evil Soma would know the Fist Demon well.
As always, the Extreme Evil Soma was sitting silently in that room that was entirely white.
The first thing he said upon seeing me was this.
“Second Young Master, you want to fight the Fist Demon.”
I was startled.
“Have you mastered a martial art that reads minds? Or have we become close enough to understand each other just by looking into each other’s eyes?”
“You are wearing a mask today, are you not?”
“If I am wearing a mask, does that mean I want to fight the Fist Demon?”
“Yes. Then it means you want to fight the Fist Demon.”
Smiling, I lifted the mask up onto my head.
“What if I came like this?”
“Then it would mean you came because you wanted to play with me.”
At least today, I had not come to play, so I lowered the mask again.
“I might deceive ghosts, but I cannot deceive you, Soma.”
I nodded and admitted it honestly.
“Do you miss blood?”
“It seems I do. Since I miss blood, you were the first person who came to mind, Soma.”
“When I heard that you were learning martial arts from the Fist Demon, I knew you would come to me at least once.”
The Extreme Evil Soma and the Fist Demon were utterly different people. Their feeling, their atmosphere, their personalities—everything.
But if one were asked to classify the Demon Venerables without being given any standard, the Extreme Evil Soma and the Fist Demon seemed likely to end up in the same place.
“Do you know why the Fist Demon supports the Eldest Young Master?”
“Because I went to him late?”
The Extreme Evil Soma shook his head.
“Because he supports succession by the eldest son?”
“That likely is not it either.”
“Then why does he support my elder brother?”
Then an answer I had not expected came.
“Because of the Cult Leader, I believe.”
“Because of Father?”
“Until recently, before you began to distinguish yourself, everyone expected that the Eldest Young Master would become the successor. The Cult Leader himself likely had his mind set that way at the time as well.”
“Does that mean the Fist Demon is following Father’s will?”
“That is correct. He likely believes the Cult Leader wants the Eldest Young Master as his successor. He does not know that the situation has changed considerably these days.”
“Because he has been focused only on teaching his subordinates.”
“Exactly. If he learns that the Cult Leader has you in mind, Second Young Master, he will change his mind.”
The Drunken Demon had said that Father would like the Fist Demon, who was purely mad for martial arts, the most. Perhaps the person who liked Father the most was also the Fist Demon.
The Extreme Evil Soma gave me one last piece of advice regarding the Fist Demon.
“The Fist Demon’s title is Undefeated. He is a man who has never once lost. You will learn what kind of person the Fist Demon truly is when he is defeated.”
I nodded silently. Perhaps the person who would deliver that first defeat would be me.
The Extreme Evil Soma read the heat within me.
“Second Young Master, why are you trying to become so strong?”
He knew precisely that the ultimate reason I was trying to learn fist arts from the Fist Demon was not to gain a Demon Venerable, but because of my desire to grow stronger.
“Are you perhaps dreaming of unifying all under heaven?”
“No.”
I spoke firmly.
“Do you wish to become the greatest under heaven?”
“Not that either.”
“Then why are you running forward so breathlessly?”
“Because I have a feeling that one day, a powerful enemy will appear before me. An enemy I will never be able to defeat unless I strive like a madman. It seems I have that sort of anxiety.”
I revealed my honest unease to him. Strangely, it was comfortable to reveal such feelings to the Extreme Evil Soma.
The Extreme Evil Soma, who had been quietly looking at me, suddenly released finger wind.
Ziiiiiiik.
A long line was drawn on the white wall he always gazed at, left behind by the finger wind. I was startled. He had drawn a line on a wall that seemed as though he would never damage it.
“Second Young Master, how far have we come?”
For the first time in a very long while, he drew a line and asked me. The last time he had drawn one, I had said we had reached the line of survival.
I drew the Black Demon Sword and, passing the line of survival he had drawn before, marked a vertical stroke at the very end of the line.
“I have come this far.”
It was not as though I had spent a great deal of time with him. But the two life-and-death battles in which we had stood back to back had made me draw the line here.
“Do you remember? When we first met, I told you that I do not become friends with people who wear masks. Now my principle has changed. Since I am wearing a mask too, I will be friends with people who wear masks as well.”
The Extreme Evil Soma said to me with clear eyes,
“You said it, Second Young Master. That if we reached that line, we would become friends and eat together, drink together, enjoy ourselves together, fight together. If one fell into danger, the other would go to save him. And if one of us died first, the other would pour wine at his grave.”
“That’s right.”
“If an enemy like the one you mentioned earlier appears, and you, Second Young Master, fall into danger…”
After a brief pause, the Extreme Evil Soma added,
“I will go to save you.”
“!”
I could tell. The Extreme Evil Soma’s line had been drawn in the same place as mine.
Father always says this. Do not trust people. That such feelings are cheap sentimentality that will get you killed. That they are naive. Even so, I liked this moment too much.
“I will be waiting for you to save me.”
The Extreme Evil Soma’s eyes shone clearly. No more words were needed.
As I turned to leave, I asked the Extreme Evil Soma worriedly,
“By the way, will that wall be all right? It’s a wall for your training, isn’t it?”
He had said that he had to train while looking at the white wall in order to gain more internal energy. Worried about what he would do now that he had damaged it, I asked, and the Extreme Evil Soma looked at the white wall on the opposite side and said,
“I did not like the color of that wall. Starting today, I will look at this one.”