The words the Fist Demon always said did not come.
A good attempt.
Had the attempt finally worked? Or did it mean he would no longer even mention it?
Without a word, the Fist Demon turned his gaze back to the arena. Two men were fighting fiercely, blood flying. And the crowd was going wild for them.
“This place will look the same even after several decades pass.”
“My son may one day come here with you, Fist Demon, when you’ve become a grandfather.”
At that, the Fist Demon looked at me in surprise.
“Why are you so surprised?”
“Do you intend to marry?”
“If there is someone good.”
Of course, I had no intention of marrying at all, but I gave the ordinary answer.
The Fist Demon spoke firmly.
“If it is not someone you truly love, I recommend you do not.”
Since he had told me of his youth and said he had resolved to go through life without family or friends, I thought it was only natural for him to give such advice. But there was another reason behind it.
“Even for someone as outstanding as you, a succession struggle without bloodshed is this difficult. Do you think your children could accomplish it as you have? It is not something ordinary people can bear.”
It was both a statement that valued me highly and a concern for future generations. Above all, it was based on the assumption that I became the Heavenly Demon.
“I will judge carefully.”
“Come to think of it, I have spoken of cutting off the Heavenly Demon bloodline.”
“It doesn’t matter. It will be after I’m dead.”
The Fist Demon’s expression, upon hearing my words, said this: If it were truly you, you might genuinely be thinking so carefreely.
“Let us leave.”
“Yes.”
At the exit, the Fist Demon looked back at the arena one last time. Would he ever come to this arena again in his lifetime? The future was unknowable, but the Fist Demon was probably looking at it with the heart of someone who would never return. When he looked around, his gaze was slow and filled with complicated emotions, but once he turned away, he strode out with great steps.
After leaving the arena, we walked without deciding on a destination. The Fist Demon no longer asked where we were going. I too walked along the road without a thought, as if having no plan was the plan.
“Have you ever lost your way?”
“No.”
“Neither have I.”
Perhaps that was why this loafing journey was all the more precious and meaningful.
Neither he nor I had ever lived so aimlessly before. The pleasure of losing one’s way in life had been something unimaginable.
“Right, I lost the bet. I admit it.”
“No. I lost this bet.”
That was unexpected. Though he had said it was fine, I had thought he could not have felt entirely good watching the match-fixing happen.
“It was enjoyable after so long. Thanks to you, I also recalled old memories.”
Wasn’t this what he wanted to say? Thanks to you, I showed you what kind of person I am.
“Then our battle of pride is one to one.”
“We must settle it.”
“Of course.”
At that moment, the Fist Demon said,
“Before that, there is somewhere I want to go.”
For the first time, the Fist Demon said he wanted to go somewhere.
“If it is with you, Fist Demon, I would go even to hell!”
“The place we are going is not so hot. Rather, it is a place where we should bring thick cotton clothes.”
And so, leaving behind the arena filled with the Fist Demon’s old memories, we began walking along the lengthening sunset.
* * *
After traveling a long road, the Fist Demon and I stood together at the summit of a snowy mountain.
Whoooooosh.
The wind that had driven the snow swept up the snow piled around us and lifted it into the air.
“Why did you want to come here?”
The place the Fist Demon had said he wanted to go was this snowy mountain.
“This is the place where the previous Fist Demon took me as his successor.”
“Ah, is that so?”
It was a fact even I had not known.
“In truth, my master and I did not suit each other well. When he chose his final successor, my master wanted to choose someone else. His martial arts were inferior to mine, but he was far more amiable toward my master. Do you know why my master chose me?”
“Because of my father?”
“That is right. Because of the Cult Leader.”
When the young Fist Demon had been placed in the Eastern Fist Sect, my father had not yet been the Cult Leader. But by the time the Fist Demon formally inherited the position of Demon Supreme, my father had ascended to the seat of the Heavenly Demon.
The previous Fist Demon could not have ignored the gaze of my father, who had become the Heavenly Demon.
“I became the Fist Demon because of your father.”
“Is that not an even greater thing for you, Fist Demon?”
“Greater?”
“Because my father’s eye for people must have been far superior to the previous Fist Demon’s. My father chose a young fighter throwing punches in an arena without a shred of internal energy. That fighter went alone from White Fist to Black Fist, and in the end became the Fist Demon. When it comes to judging people, trust my father.”
“There was a time when I was full of confidence. If not me, who could become the Fist Demon? But now, I myself do not know. Was the Cult Leader’s judgment truly correct?”
“If that judgment had been wrong, the other Demon Supremes would not have named you as the Demon Supreme they find most difficult to face. No matter who sees it, the person suited to that position is you, Fist Demon.”
The Fist Demon silently gazed at the snowy landscape. It was a rapturous scene that could only be enjoyed from this summit, standing tall in a world entirely white.
I held in high regard the Fist Demon’s way of looking back upon himself. Without such a heart, he would harden like a fossil into a stubborn old man. Because he was someone who looked within himself, I believed the Fist Demon could bring down the cliff.
I conveyed my honest feelings to him.
“At first, I was curious what kind of person you were, Fist Demon. Then I became enamored with your goal of bringing down the cliff, and I wanted to bring it down too. Now, I like your true self even more.”
“My true self?”
“I think the way you were in your youth, fighting against the black path, is your true self. When we return, I want to gather all the Iron Fists and tell them that story. Hey! This is the kind of person your Fist Demon is! Like that.”
“Did you say only such pleasant words to the other Demon Supremes as well?”
“They were not pleasant words, but honest words. Words others would not say because of the position of Demon Supreme. Ah, of course, I admit I flattered them to some degree. I wanted to see them favorably if possible, and I wanted to become close to them if possible. But I did not fabricate things that did not exist. I said the kinds of words that made me think, I hope someone says this about my life someday as well.”
Then I looked at the Fist Demon and added,
“People don’t say them much, do they?”
Even if one teaches hundreds, even if one resides where tens of thousands of cultists come and go.
“Such words... you don’t hear them often, do you?”
Would there be someone to say such words to me later? I had said them all for others.
The Fist Demon silently stared at me. After gazing at me for a long while, he then looked for another long while at the mountain across from us.
“What do you intend to do if you become the Heavenly Demon? Is your dream perhaps the unification of murim?”
“The opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“I will stop anyone from unifying murim. Even if that person is my father.”
The Fist Demon’s eyes shone.
“So you knew as well.”
Those words meant the Fist Demon knew too.
“I know that my father dreams of unifying murim.”
“Yes, there is no way someone as clever as you would not have noticed.”
“What do you think, Fist Demon?”
“I will follow as your father wishes. If he starts a war and commands me to kill them all, I will kill them all without hesitation. No matter who they are.”
Only now could I know for certain. My father’s right arm was the Fist Demon. Then was his left arm the Blood Heaven Blade Demon? The Blood Heaven Blade Demon had said the elixir he gave me was something he had received from my father.
“I will stop him. My father, and you as well, Fist Demon.”
After that, we stood there in silence for a long time.
Whoooooooosh.
When the blowing snowstorm swept coolly past us, the Fist Demon’s decision came to me on the wind.
“Mugeuk, I will take you as my first disciple.”
I was startled. Though becoming his disciple had been my goal, I had not expected him to take me as his disciple like this, in this place. Moreover, this was the very moment we had confirmed that we held opposing thoughts regarding the unification of murim.
His large, thick body turned toward me. That frightening face I had now grown used to—yet the look in his eyes now was different from usual. With a deep and serious gaze, the Fist Demon said,
“I will become your master, so become my disciple.”
The moment I heard those words, emotion surged within me. Joy welled up. In the end, I had succeeded in moving this man’s heart. It was not because I had gained a Demon Supreme called the Fist Demon, nor because I could obtain his fist art. I was simply so happy that this person had become my master.
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
I was so happy that I leaped on the spot. Like a puppy excited by falling snow, I expressed my joy to my heart’s content.
When I rejoiced sincerely, the Fist Demon’s expression softened. To the point that I wondered whether such softness had been hidden in that frightening face.
Because I was so happy, I unleashed the First Fist. Since it could cause an avalanche, I released it into empty air where there was nothing. I poured out the Second Fist in an instant as well.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Right there, I performed the Nine Bows Ceremony (九拜之禮).
“Disciple Geom Mugeuk formally greets Master. From now on, please guide this foolish disciple well with your great teachings.”
The Fist Demon’s large hand rested on my bowed shoulder. With that rough, thick hand, he lightly patted my shoulder. Come to think of it, this was the first time I had felt the Fist Demon’s gentle touch.
“Rise.”
I stood up.
“Master.”
The Fist Demon was someone I wanted as my master. He was a person fully qualified for it.
“My disciple.”
It seemed the Fist Demon did not dislike taking on his first disciple either.
“From now on, I will transmit the complete Thunderbolt Asura Fist to you.”
The Fist Demon did not delay the transmission of his martial art. Nor did he demand anything from me in exchange for it. The Fist Demon was that kind of man.
At the summit of the snowy mountain, the Fist Demon began transmitting the martial arts from the Third Fist to the Sixth Fist of the Thunderbolt Asura Fist.
The Third Fist, Heavenly Thunder Asura (天雷修羅).
It was the heaviest of the Fist Demon’s fists. It was not like Black Cloud Asura, which struck enemies at a distance, nor was it an attack like Thunderbolt Asura, which sent the fist flying swiftly. It was a form that struck directly with the fist, and the power contained in each and every blow was tremendous.
The Fourth Fist, Iron Leg Asura (鐵脚修羅).
The Thunderbolt Asura Fist did not consist solely of forms that used the fists. There was also a form that smashed the opponent with powerful kicks. The movements themselves were so splendid and impressive that I was certain admiration would always follow whenever Iron Leg Asura was displayed.
The Fifth Fist, Vajra Asura (金剛修羅).
It was a form that temporarily turned the body as hard as steel to protect it. Though it consumed an extreme amount of internal energy, it was a form that could save one’s life in a moment of crisis.
If I used the Fifth Fist together with the Heavenly Demon Body Protection Art, I wondered if I might temporarily achieve the effect of the Vajra Indestructible Body.
And the final Sixth Fist, Yama Thunder Asura (閻雷修羅).
The last fist of the Thunderbolt Asura Fist. It bore the name of the lightning struck down by the King of Hell, and it was the final form that poured all the internal energy within the body into a single strike. It was also the form meant to bring down the cliff, but if this move did not work, one would be killed by the opponent.
After all, if the enemy was powerful enough that I had to use the final Sixth Fist, then should this form fail, I would have to face him without a shred of internal energy.
At the summit of the snowy mountain, I received instruction in the Thunderbolt Asura Fist for seven days. From the First Fist to the final fist, I learned it all again in meticulous detail.
In that process, I also received all the various insights into fist arts that the Fist Demon had gained throughout his life. Once he had made up his mind to take me as his disciple, the Fist Demon truly gave without holding anything back. Perhaps I, too, had fallen for that refreshing decisiveness of his.
What remained now was for me to train diligently and achieve great mastery.
From now on, even if I lost my sword in battle, that situation would not become an opportunity for my opponent. Rather, that moment would become my chance to strike a careless opponent.
“When we return to the cult, I intend to make two announcements. The first is that I have accepted you as my disciple. The second is that the Eastern Fist Sect will officially support the Eldest Young Master.”
It was as I had expected. With this announcement, the cult would once again be thrown into an uproar. How would the other Demon Supremes or my elder brother react? And what about my father?
“Everyone will see me as a greedy man with a foot in both your camp and the Eldest Young Master’s.”
“What does it matter if they see you that way? You are going to live that way, Master. If they envy you, you can tell them, ‘Then you do the same. Do you think it’s easy? You cowards!’”
The Fist Demon laughed. I could feel that his laughter toward me had now become comfortable.
“Let us descend, my disciple.”
“Yes, Master.”
Together with the Fist Demon, I walked down the snowy mountain. We descended, leaving footprints in the snow no one else had trodden. Both he and I had already reached the realm of Treading Snow Without Trace (踏雪無痕), but we deliberately pressed our footprints deeply into the snow as we came down.
If I could have, I wanted to stamp footprints into the stone ground and set up a sign beside them that read:
The path where the Fist Demon and Geom Mugeuk formed the bond of master and disciple and walked down together.
After descending the mountain, we naturally set our direction toward the main cult.
Before departing, I stopped by the West Lake Inn near the snowy mountain to check whether any message had arrived for me.
“Ah! Master. There is somewhere I must stop by.”
“Where?”
“My people have sent word asking to meet me.”
Gowol and Cult Leader Pungcheon, who were out in the Central Plains building an intelligence organization, had sent me a message asking to meet.
“So? You mean to abandon me?”
“Abandon you?”
“Are you not telling me to go back alone? Now that you have learned all my martial arts, you are saying, ‘You, whose sweetness has been sucked dry, go away.’ Is that not it? Ah! This is why, since ancient times, they have said one must never give everything at once.”
Because I had never expected such words to come from the Fist Demon’s mouth, I burst into loud laughter.
“Well, if you come with me, I do not know when we will return.”
Gowol would not have contacted me over something trivial.
“Will the Iron Fists’ lessons be all right?”
Even now, he had been away for quite a number of days. I had asked out of consideration, thinking the Fist Demon must be worrying about it inwardly.
“What is there to worry about? I have a disciple now.”
“You have learned words that make a person feel good very quickly.”
The Fist Demon strode ahead and said,
“Of course. Whose master do you think I am?”