The Fist Demon’s body was perfect.
His face was like a fiend’s, but his body was a work of art.
The Fist Demon’s muscles looked ready to burst, large and thick, yet they did not seem sluggish. His diamond-hard physique, forged through grueling training and perilous battles, was enough to make a person feel intimidated just by looking at it.
There were fewer scars on his body than I had expected, but one long sword scar that crossed his chest caught the eye. If anything, it made his body look even more magnificent.
His body seemed to be saying this:
This is the body of a fist artist who has reached the ultimate realm.
Could I truly withstand the pressure when that body came surging at me? Could I endure the destructive force when those great fists came flying? Could my sword really protect me from that body?
I was sincerely impressed. Seeing my reaction, a faint trace of pleasure crossed the Fist Demon’s face.
He must have heard countless times that he looked magnificent, and he surely knew it himself. So I asked something else.
“What must one do to build a body like this?”
“If you made your body like this, it would get in the way of your swordsmanship, wouldn’t it?”
After all, the body of a swordsman and the body of a fist artist were clearly different.
“I would have to train so that my swordsmanship grows stronger even as I build my body like this.”
“Then you should move your body rather than your mouth.”
The Fist Demon began his fist training.
To be honest, I had thought that even if he joined the gathering, he would not train. Training could not have been his reason for joining.
But he began training properly. As though telling me to watch and take reference, he started displaying the fist techniques of the Black Fist.
He had taken off his clothes, so I could not just stand there doing nothing. I took off my upper garment as well and stood beside the Fist Demon, beginning to perform the forms.
With the Divine Eye Art, I examined the Fist Demon’s body in detail. When we performed the same movement, I compared his muscles with my own.
How they were different, and why they were different.
Understanding that difference would be the greatest lesson for me.
Ian and Cheon Sohui watched as the Fist Demon and I executed the forms with identical movements.
Though I could not know for certain, Cheon Sohui’s heart alone was probably yearning to throw off her clothes and jump in with us. That was how fiercely the fire in her chest was burning as well.
Ian and Cheon Sohui also began training.
The Midnight Training Gathering. Hearing the name alone, one might think it was some social club for loafers, but the four people gathered there were all aflame. That was why it proceeded more fiercely than any training session.
The sound of the wind stirred by the Fist Demon’s fists was different from mine. Naturally, the Fist Demon’s sound was more pleasant to hear. How could something so heavy produce such a brisk sound? Listening to the sound of the Fist Demon’s fists made my heart grow calm and my mood improve.
I became purely immersed in fist arts. From the moment I heard him say he wanted to collapse the cliff, I no longer looked at the Fist Demon with any other intention or purpose. I only wanted to learn fist arts from him.
Perhaps it was because he sensed that feeling in me that the Fist Demon was here with us at this moment.
After training ended, I told the Fist Demon one piece of news.
“Tomorrow, we will gather at Maga Village.”
“At Maga Village?”
“Tomorrow, we’ll be holding a welcome party for you, Lord Fist Demon. A welcome party for the new member.”
The Fist Demon was startled. Soon, a glare even fiercer than the one he had given me when I said he had to teach us his exclusive martial arts if he wanted to join the gathering came flying my way.
A welcome party for me? And a new member? Are you truly insane?
It was probably something he had never experienced even once in his entire life.
“We’ll assemble in front of Pungryu Tavern at the same time. That is all. Dismissed!”
I withstood the Fist Demon’s glare with a look that said, If you don’t like it, then withdraw.
The Fist Demon snorted and left the place.
I watched his back for a moment, then turned around and flinched in surprise.
Ian and Cheon Sohui were standing side by side, glaring at me frighteningly. It seemed the Fist Demon was not the only one who disliked tomorrow’s welcome party.
Ian raised her voice.
“Are you really going to do this? How are we supposed to drink in that situation?”
“It might be unexpectedly fun.”
Suddenly, Cheon Sohui put a hand to her forehead and said,
“Ah! I think I have a fever. I probably won’t be able to attend tomorrow.”
Ian chimed in.
“Ah! Right. I have plans tomorrow. I’d forgotten.”
Looking at the two women, I smiled and said,
“You think that’ll work? Then I’ll see you tomorrow at Pungryu Tavern!”
And so ended the first day of the Midnight Training Gathering with the Fist Demon.
* * *
The next night.
Jo Chunbae, the owner of Pungryu Tavern, yawned so wide his mouth nearly split.
There were unusually few customers today, and he had been dozing beside the counter, wondering whether he should close early or not.
Just then, he woke at the sound of someone’s presence and was scared out of his wits.
“Aaagh!”
He screamed and fell backward.
A terrifying evil spirit was standing before his eyes. Thinking he must have seen something in his sleep, he rose from the floor and froze stiff.
It was not an evil spirit, but a person. In all his life, this was the first time he had seen anyone look so frightening. The man’s forearms were thicker than his own thighs.
Then came a familiar voice.
“It has been a while, owner.”
Geom Mugeuk appeared from behind the man.
“Pavilion Master!”
Truly, it felt as though he had come back from the dead.
“This is Lord Fist Demon of our cult. Pay your respects.”
At the words Fist Demon, Jo Chunbae’s eyes widened. He had heard many rumors about the Fist Demon, but today was the first time he had seen him in person.
“I did not know such an honored guest had arrived and committed a discourtesy in my drowsiness. Please forgive me!”
Jo Chunbae bent at the waist until he was folded in half.
As of this moment, the record had been broken. Among all the Demon Venerables who had come as guests, the most frightening person was now the Fist Demon.
Ian, who entered after them, greeted him warmly.
“Hello.”
Jo Chunbae’s expression brightened. Seeing Ian, who always greeted him brightly, naturally lifted his spirits. With her standing beside the Fist Demon, it truly felt as though two extremes were standing together.
The three people other than Geom Mugeuk went up first to the second-floor seats where they always sat.
“How has business been lately?”
“It has been going well, thanks to you. I heard you have been training in fist arts lately, Pavilion Master. It seems the rumors were true.”
“You knew as well, owner?”
“If you don’t know that these days, you’re a spy. No, wait, a spy would have known first and reported it to the Murim Alliance.”
At Jo Chunbae’s joke, Geom Mugeuk laughed with him.
Compared to the cheerful atmosphere downstairs, the mood on the second floor was solemn.
Ian and Cheon Sohui were watching the Fist Demon’s mood. Cheon Sohui, in particular, was frozen stiff. Far from leaving the gathering, she had even been caught secretly proposing that they call each other senior brother and junior sister.
‘I really have no chance of becoming the next Fist Demon now!’
To break the awkward atmosphere, Ian asked the Fist Demon,
“Have you been here before?”
At that, the Fist Demon looked at Ian.
‘Was that question really something you had to glare at me so frighteningly for?’
If he had known Ian’s inner thoughts, the Fist Demon would have felt terribly wronged. He had merely looked at her, yet she thought he was glaring frighteningly.
“Tell them to bring liquor.”
“Yes! I’ll bring it!”
At the Fist Demon’s words, Cheon Sohui quickly rose and ran down to the first floor.
Now only the Fist Demon and Ian remained on the second floor.
“It was truly unexpected. That you would join our gathering, Lord Fist Demon.”
In truth, this was what Ian wanted to ask.
Did you really join because you want to fight the young master?
Instead of answering, the Fist Demon asked her,
“Are you not afraid of me?”
“I am afraid.”
“You don’t seem afraid at all.”
“If that is how you feel, it is probably because of the young master.”
“Why the Second Young Master?”
“If you were truly someone dangerous to me, Lord Fist Demon, the young master would not leave me alone with you. To begin with, you would not have been allowed to join the gathering.”
The Fist Demon’s gaze turned toward Geom Mugeuk, who was standing in front of the counter on the first floor.
“The greater the trust, the greater the wound.”
If Ian had heard those words with her eyes closed, she thought she might not have believed they had come from the Fist Demon. Both because of their content and because of the gentle tone. Ian suddenly wondered whether there might be parts of the Fist Demon she had misunderstood.
“I don’t think men know much about women. Women know everything. The only choice is whether to pretend not to know and go along with it, or to run away in advance.”
“So? Are you the type to pretend not to know and go along with it?”
“Originally, I’m more cunning than I look, so I’m the type to run away in advance. The young master, however, would be the one and only exception.”
“Misplaced trust invites misfortune.”
“That’s a shame. Since I won’t be able to experience it.”
Ian’s trust in Geom Mugeuk was absolute.
Just then, Geom Mugeuk and Cheon Sohui came up to the second floor carrying liquor.
“My apologies. I held the owner up for a moment, so the liquor was delayed.”
Geom Mugeuk poured liquor for the Fist Demon first. The cup in the Fist Demon’s large hand looked far too small and cute.
As Geom Mugeuk poured liquor for Ian and Cheon Sohui, he said,
“Anyone who has a bad drinking habit, don’t forget who we’re drinking with right now!”
Ian played along with Geom Mugeuk’s joke.
“As someone with a bad drinking habit, this is a seat where I must risk my life.”
Then she looked at Cheon Sohui.
“Do you perhaps have any bad drinking habits?”
“I don’t have any.”
“It’s not that you’ve never drunk all the way to the point where they come out, is it?”
Cheon Sohui was certain she would never misbehave while drunk. Misbehave while drinking with the Fist Demon? That would never happen.
“Now, we welcome Lord Fist Demon. Cheers!”
Geom Mugeuk raised his cup, and everyone drank a toast together.
Geom Mugeuk worked to make the long-awaited drinking gathering enjoyable and lively. For the Fist Demon as well, who had acted as though he would never come, yet had arrived exactly on time.
Led by Geom Mugeuk and Ian, they talked about all sorts of things. They talked about martial arts, about women, and about men. They also talked about the Murim Alliance and the Sado Alliance, and about the other Demon Venerables.
The Fist Demon did not seem to dislike the gathering either. He drank well, and he answered the questions occasionally asked of him.
But throughout the conversation, Geom Mugeuk felt it. That the Fist Demon was lonely. Seeing the Fist Demon in a place like this, where people laughed and chatted, made it even clearer.
Though the four of them were drinking together, only the Fist Demon was alone in a place impossibly far away.
That remote island was a place Geom Mugeuk had also been to.
Geom Mugeuk had been the same as the Fist Demon. He had been among people, yet he had never been able to fully enjoy that life. He had possessed only the single-minded resolve to gather the materials for the Great Regression Art; he had not had a life of his own.
Perhaps the Fist Demon, too, lived only with the single-minded resolve to collapse the cliff, having already lost the joys of reality.
As I drank, lost in those thoughts, Ian was looking at me. Her eyes, which looked even more beautiful than usual today, asked, What are you thinking so deeply about? Just this and that.
Then Cheon Sohui, slightly tipsy, brought up the words she had been holding back.
“I thought all night about the question you asked me yesterday, Lord Fist Demon. The question about what I would do if I became strong.”
She had truly agonized over it seriously.
“I honestly don’t remember what I used to think before entering Donggwon Sect. At some point, all I thought about was winning, and winning again, so I could become the Fist Demon. But even in the midst of that, I did think this much. If I become the Fist Demon, I’ll be happy. I’ll become happy. As long as I become the Fist Demon, all this effort will be rewarded.”
Her voice trembled.
“If I become strong… I want to be happy.”
Perhaps embarrassed even after saying it, she quickly added,
“Though I suppose it wouldn’t be proper for someone who dreams of becoming the Fist Demon to want something as insignificant as becoming happy, rather than some great undertaking for our cult.”
The one who responded to her words was Geom Mugeuk.
“I think that’s fine.”
Geom Mugeuk looked at the Fist Demon and asked,
“What do you think, Lord Fist Demon?”
“It is pathetic, but not bad.”
“If it’s pathetic, then it’s pathetic. If it’s not bad, then it’s not bad. Please decide on just one of the two. If you speak so ambiguously, our junior sister will spend the whole night worrying again and won’t sleep a wink.”
“It is not bad.”
Geom Mugeuk smiled and nodded as he looked at Cheon Sohui.
In truth, this was what Cheon Sohui wanted to say.
I want to become like this martial artist.
Ian looked happier than anyone. On top of that, she even had someone she trusted and liked as much as her own life.
‘I envy you.’
We all drank together.
The Fist Demon set down his cup and asked Geom Mugeuk,
“You said you wanted to learn fist arts because you wanted to become strong, did you not?”
“Yes.”
“What will you do once you become strong?”
It was the same question he had asked Cheon Sohui.
“I’ll live freely. If I want to go, I’ll go. If I want to come, I’ll come. I’ll spend time with the Demon Venerables, and when I want to be alone, I’ll shut myself up in the Heavenly Demon Hall for days on end. Then, when I feel stifled, I’ll suddenly head out into the Central Plains. If I meet good people, I might stay in their village for a few days. I’ll drink with herb gatherers on scenic mountains. At the very least, I won’t live cooped up in the Heavenly Demon Hall like my father, feeling stifled. He should go out and enjoy himself a little too. Why are you all making those faces? Why are you looking so scary… No, right?”
Imitating what Cheon Sohui had said yesterday, Geom Mugeuk turned around.
A person whose mere entrance made the surrounding air feel different, a person who made even the Fist Demon, who had remained relaxed the whole time, stiffen, a person whose very existence made everyone tense—the Heavenly Demon, Geom Ujin, was standing behind him.