A heavy silence fell.
No one here had died, but something had. The bravado, bluster, and arrogance the Black Fists had carried until now had most certainly just died.
Naturally, the way they looked at me had completely changed. Awe, fear, anger. Each gaze held a different emotion according to its owner’s nature.
The one who broke the silence was the Fist Demon.
“Do you understand now that swords are to be feared?”
“Yes!”
The Black Fists answered thunderously.
“When I first taught you fist arts, I told you not to fear swords. But now you must know to fear them.”
At times, one must not fear them; at times, one must. That was the lesson the Fist Demon had wanted to impart to his subordinates today—that they had to hold both of those states of mind.
“That will be all for today.”
With those words, the Fist Demon was the first to leave. Though he did not show it before his subordinates, I could feel that he, too, had been shaken by the divine might I had displayed.
The remaining Black Fists could not disperse as they usually did and instead stared at me. Gazes filled with awe could be seen here and there. After all, demonfolk were, by nature, people who valued the strong, and their yearning to become strong was especially intense.
Cheon Sohui asked on their behalf.
“If you’re this strong, why are you trying to learn fist arts? Is it some kind of amusement for the powerful?”
It was an extremely provocative question.
She was still shocked by that single move from moments ago. At the same time, she was furious at herself for having been so helplessly beaten. Since she was someone who hated losing to anyone, perhaps she really could rise to the position of the next Fist Demon.
I calmly asked her in return.
“How could learning fist arts be amusement?”
“Then why are you trying to learn them?”
Why? Because a desire had arisen in me to bring down that cliff with these fists.
“When my sword flew toward you just now, both my hands were empty. What if I had been attacked then? What should I do if my opponent is an expert who won’t even give me the chance to retrieve my sword? I want to learn for that moment. Because this fist, driving into an opponent’s carelessness, may save my life.”
Cheon Sohui stared at me intently. She was probably wondering whether I was sincere or not, but it was impossible for her, still young as she was, to read my heart.
After saying that, I too left the training ground.
Just as the fates of everyone connected to me were changing, their fates, too, would change in some way. I only hoped that, if possible, it would be for the better.
* * *
That night, I was training in fist arts.
I slowly and thoroughly practiced every form I had learned, from the White Fists to the Black Fists. The Fist Demon’s exclusive fist art, too, would only be learned properly if these basic fist arts were firmly established.
Papapapang!
I loved the sound of fists striking the air. A yearning rose in me to learn the Fist Demon’s fist art and attain great mastery as soon as possible.
“You train diligently, even though the night is late.”
The person who had come looking for me was the Fist Demon. Each time I heard it, I was surprised by that calm voice, so at odds with his terrifying face. Which resembled his true nature more—his face or his voice?
In truth, I had expected the Fist Demon to come. I had thought he would definitely react to the skill I had shown earlier.
“I started late, so I must work twice as hard.”
“Not twice. Even if you worked ten times as hard, I would not accept you as my disciple.”
“May I ask the reason?”
The Fist Demon did not answer, but the heat in his gaze answered in his stead. He wanted to fight me. Since he could not fight a disciple.
“You want to fight me.”
Just as he had set a fire in my heart, I had also lit one in his.
“I will not fight.”
The moment I fought him, I would be unable to learn fist arts. There was only one way to learn fist arts from the Fist Demon. A succession struggle, political issues—none of that mattered. We had to become bound by martial arts. I had to make him teach me in the end because he wanted to fight me. That was my plan.
“Why won’t you fight?”
Like him, I also gave no answer. The Fist Demon, who had been staring at me, realized the meaning hidden behind my refusal.
“You’re worried you might defeat me.”
A flash of passion crossed the Fist Demon’s face. Ever since taking on the name Unbeaten, he had probably never experienced anyone worrying that they might defeat him. All he would have seen were people struggling not to die at his hands.
“Second Young Master, you need not worry about that. The martial arts you have learned are martial arts taught by the Cult Leader, so even if I lose, it would not be shameful.”
I peered behind his words as well.
“Do you want to fight me? Or do you want to win?”
For an instant, the Fist Demon looked startled.
“Is there a difference between the two?”
Rather than words born of arrogance, it was closer to this:
“You are so accustomed to winning that you can no longer even feel the difference.”
He strode over and thrust his face in front of mine again. Having to see that terrifying face from this close was, truly, more powerful than a fist flying at me.
“What is it you want to say?”
I recalled what the Extreme Evil Little Demon had told me. That I would know what kind of person the Fist Demon was when he lost.
“If you were the Blood Heaven Fist Demon or the Extreme Evil Fist Demon, I do not know, but as long as you are the Unbeaten Fist Demon, accepting defeat will not be easy for you.”
“You think I would break a promise from the shock of defeat? Just what do you take me for!”
The Unbeaten Fist Demon’s expression twisted fiercely. It was so frightening that it seemed as if the ground beside him might split open and evil spirits would burst out from hell.
“Teach me fist arts first. Then I will settle the match with you.”
The Fist Demon snorted, his expression saying that was out of the question.
“You will have to fight me first.”
Leaving those words behind, the Fist Demon turned and walked away.
Sorry, but that is not your card to play. So long as you are mad for martial arts, so long as you have built up the legend of being unbeaten, that card is mine.
Because I can wait, but you will not be able to.
* * *
Cheon Sohui was silently watching Geom Mugeuk.
Despite the uproar that was not quite an uproar yesterday, Geom Mugeuk participated in the Black Fists’ training as usual. He was immersed in training as if yesterday’s events had never happened.
But the Black Fists were different. Having appeared with Golden Sore Medicine applied to their ribs, they displayed a fervor unlike the day before.
“I was reborn yesterday.”
There was even a Black Fist who said such a thing outright.
Whether he knew of this change and agitation or not, Geom Mugeuk focused solely on his training.
His movements were more precise than anyone else there, and he understood the forms better. The suspicion that someone had secretly taught him the forms because he was the Cult Leader’s son had vanished entirely with the skill Geom Mugeuk had displayed yesterday.
“There is something I would like to ask. Would that be all right?”
Just as the warriors of the Red Fists had done, people among the Black Fists began to ask Geom Mugeuk about the forms as well.
“Of course.”
Geom Mugeuk sincerely explained what the man asked.
In just one day, the atmosphere among the Black Fists had changed this much.
After training ended that day, Cheon Sohui went to Geom Mugeuk.
“I lost the wager, so I’ll keep my promise. Tell me what you want to ask of me.”
Then Geom Mugeuk said something she had never expected.
“Make me the Fist Demon’s disciple.”
Cheon Sohui stared at Geom Mugeuk for a moment with an incredulous expression.
“Then please make me the Cult Leader’s successor.”
She said it thinking it was a joke.
But soon, through Geom Mugeuk’s expression, she could tell. He had meant it seriously.
“You’re not joking.”
“Of course I’m not joking.”
“I haven’t even become his disciple. How am I supposed to make you his disciple?”
At this point in time, the Fist Demon had not yet chosen an official disciple. A perfectionist when it came to martial arts, the Fist Demon did not make decisions about taking disciples carelessly.
“That is for you, the loser of the wager, to worry about.”
“I didn’t know you would make such an absurd request.”
“Then why didn’t you say so back then? That there should be limits to the request.”
“Well… I thought anyone with common sense would naturally make a reasonable request.”
“Is that really why? Or did you not bother saying it because you thought you would win?”
She could not refute him. Geom Mugeuk’s words were true. When they had made the wager to grant a request, she had intended to say that demands beyond common sense could not be made. But her instincts had stopped her.
Because it was a wager she would obviously win, she had thought there was no need to say such a thing.
“Fine, I admit it.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled. If she had not been this honest, he would have teased her a bit more.
“Admit what? If someone makes such an absurd request, you should firmly refuse and forget it.”
For a moment, she stared at Geom Mugeuk with a confused heart.
She thought he was truly impossible to grasp.
She turned around. After taking several steps, she stopped. In any case, she had lost the wager, and simply leaving like this wounded her pride. She turned back again.
“Fine, let’s say I have the ability to do that. Even so, if you become his disciple, the odds of me becoming one will decrease. There’s no way I would help you, is there?”
“That is wrong. If I become his disciple, your odds of becoming one will increase.”
“Why is that?”
“Taking the first disciple is difficult. After that, once the channel is opened, he will take a second and third disciple as if the water has begun to flow. And I will strongly recommend you as my junior martial sister.”
“Me? Why?”
Geom Mugeuk looked at her and spoke calmly.
“Because I think you will do better than anyone. Because you seem like the person best suited to be the next Fist Demon.”
She wondered if he was joking again, but Geom Mugeuk’s expression was serious.
A surge of emotion rose in her chest. Since entering Donggwonmun, she had never once heard words like that.
Neither from herself, nor from her peers. Her seniors and juniors, too, had all run while looking only upward. From the White Fists to the Black Fists, they had run with the mindset that if they were eliminated, they would die.
They were all comrades who had suffered together, but she had never sincerely said something kind to anyone. Nor had she ever heard such words.
Rather, deep in her heart, she had secretly wished for it. That others would suffer more than she did. That others would drop out of the competition. That she would become the Fist Demon.
And yet this Geom Mugeuk, whom she had met only a few days ago, said such things without hesitation. During all those long years, they had never once exchanged words like that among themselves.
She was not bitter because she had never heard them. Her heart grew heavy because it felt as if she had confirmed just how narrow-minded she had been, unable to say them to anyone until now.
“You don’t even know me!”
She snapped angrily, then turned and left.
* * *
That night, Cheon Sohui could not fall asleep easily.
Geom Mugeuk’s words kept coming to mind. Was she truly someone suited to become the Fist Demon?
Unable to sleep and tossing and turning, she could not hold back and headed to Geom Mugeuk’s residence.
It was the dead of night, so she did not think she would be able to meet him. She had simply gone because her heart felt stifled, but to her surprise, Geom Mugeuk was training in martial arts.
His training was so serious that she could not even greet him to announce her arrival. Afraid she might disturb him, she stood still.
At last, after finishing a round of form training, Geom Mugeuk sat on a flat rock in the yard and asked,
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
“No, I’m fine.”
Cheon Sohui sat down beside him. She did not particularly dislike the scent of sweat coming from Geom Mugeuk.
“It’s late, but I came because I had to confirm this. If you really become his disciple, will you recommend me as your junior martial sister?”
“I will.”
How much of this should she believe? When the Black Fist comrades gathered to drink, there was something they always talked about. Trust no one. That was the first principle for surviving long in the murim.
“My goal is to learn the Fist Demon’s martial arts. The one to inherit the Fist Demon’s position would be my junior martial sister.”
Now that such a powerful temptation had actually arrived, she could not judge clearly.
“My junior martial sister, whose senior martial brother is the Heavenly Demon.”
Yes, this must be why everyone falls for it. Even knowing full well that they are sweet words, the heart pounds like this, and so one is deceived.
What if he was tempting her like this in order to use her? What if she was used to her fill and then silenced forever? In her mind appeared Geom Mugeuk’s sword. It would pass through her face and say this: Naive bitch.
At that moment, Geom Mugeuk spoke to her in a calm tone.
“Living isn’t easy, is it?”
That single sentence, delivered gently, struck deep into her chest.
For an instant, she wanted to shout. What do you know about me that you keep acting as if you understand? It is easy. I am managing my life just fine. What is there to be difficult about? I just have to keep running and running. I just have to run while looking upward.
But the words that flowed from her mouth now conveyed the will of her heart rather than her head.
“…It isn’t easy.”
She answered that way without realizing it. She had never once shown weakness to another person. She had never told anyone in her life that things were hard. She had endured well until now.
The moment she acknowledged it, tears streamed down from Cheon Sohui’s eyes. She was even more flustered by the tears that suddenly fell. They had flowed without even giving her time to hold them back.
Could tears really flow this suddenly? Her emotions were clearly not sad at all, so why were tears coming? Since she had not shed tears after growing old enough to know better, she was utterly bewildered.
“N-no, this isn’t…”
Just as she was hastily wiping her tears with her sleeve, someone entered and said,
“As expected! Inspector Seo’s words that you’re a peerless womanizer were right. After a fated love, now you’re even making a woman cry.”
Seeing the person who had entered, Geom Mugeuk smiled brightly, and Cheon Sohui was startled. It was the first time in her life she had seen such a beautiful woman.