Baek Jagang sending mushroom dishes to Bisain was purely to show off to Jin Paecheon.
I even know all the dishes my disciple likes.
But Jin Paecheon already knew the dishes his grandson liked.
‘Well, he is his grandson, so they must have eaten together often.’
In truth, Baek Jagang was enjoying this situation. He truly had not expected today’s meeting to flow in this direction.
The way Jin Paecheon boasted about his grandchildren as if untangling years of accumulated pride was unexpected, and the new side of Geom Ujin—whom he had expected to reveal only coldness and ruthlessness—was intriguing.
Was it true that blood could not be deceived? Geom Ujin’s unexpected actions had aspects that resembled Geom Muguk’s eccentricity.
Conversely, it meant that Geom Muguk’s blood might also contain Geom Ujin’s cold and cynical nature.
In any case, today he had clearly learned where Geom Muguk’s path was heading.
His path was not an answer like, “Wouldn’t this much of an answer sound plausible?” to the question, “What is your path?” The Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult was walking a firm path. Perhaps even more so than those older than him.
Baek Jagang’s gaze turned toward Geom Ujin.
‘Your son’s path is not your path.’
The two men’s paths were not merely slightly different. They were roads in opposite directions.
‘What do you intend to do now?’
He could find no answer in Geom Ujin’s eyes, which held only coldness.
In any case, Jin Paecheon would be harboring the same concern.
‘What do you think? Of this father and son.’
But right now, Jin Paecheon was focusing on something else.
“Cult Leader Geom.”
Jin Paecheon looked at Geom Ujin for a moment.
“Will you accept a drink from me?”
Jin Paecheon had been greatly moved hearing Jo Chunbae’s words. Geom Muguk had accomplished something that even the heroes of the righteous faction could not easily do. It was something that should have happened at a tavern in front of the Martial Alliance, not a tavern in front of the Demonic Cult.
From the Alliance Leader’s standpoint, how could he not be pleased when the next cult leader was such a person?
That was why he wanted to offer a drink to the one who had raised Geom Muguk. There was no other meaning. He still hated the Demonic Cult and the Cult Leader.
It was something he had said after steeling himself greatly, but Geom Ujin seemed to dislike it as well.
“I refuse.”
Geom Ujin did not reveal the reason for his refusal.
“You would accept the tavern keeper’s liquor, but not mine?”
Still without any answer, Geom Ujin filled his own cup.
Jin Paecheon could guess the reason.
‘He doesn’t want to get close. Because someday, he will kill me.’
The ambition for the domination of the murim felt in Geom Ujin’s eyes remained the same.
Even if they smiled face to face, even if they drank together, even if they were swept up in a heated competition boasting of their children, even if they sent ten side dishes flying brilliantly.
The fact that they would become enemies the moment they stepped out of the tavern would not change. Such pleasures were naught but an illusion.
Jin Paecheon also filled his own cup alone and drank.
‘Then what will you do? Will you walk that path even if it means blocking your son’s path?’
This time, Jin Paecheon looked at Baek Jagang.
Baek Jagang was fiddling with his liquor cup, lost in thought.
The enemy was not just one.
He must not underestimate those small eyes. If one were distracted by the Heavenly Demon, one might end up with one’s neck severed by that very Baek Jagang. He was one who possessed that much strength and ambition.
One could tell just by looking at that black martial robe. When the time came, how swiftly and decisively he would move.
There was a jest among the people that if the three leaders of the current generation had been born in different eras, three wars would have broken out. When the renowned elders of the murim joked about his belligerent nature, they always brought up this story.
‘And you want us—people like you—to go fishing and hunting with our grandchildren?’
Suddenly, a scene floated into Jin Paecheon’s mind: standing blankly with a fishing rod in hand, staring in a daze at the burning Martial Alliance.
‘They are not ones to be trusted.’
Jin Paecheon turned his head and looked at the one who had nevertheless created today’s gathering.
‘Can you walk that path without being devoured by your father?’
Unlike the heavy atmosphere of the adults, the atmosphere on the young people’s side was bright.
Of course, it was Geom Muguk who was leading the atmosphere.
“Now, now, let me introduce the new face first. This here is my elder brother, who lost the succession struggle and is coveting my position at every opportunity.”
In the past, he would have shot back with a sharp retort, but now Geom Muyang could only let out a hollow laugh.
“I am Geom Muyang.”
He greeted bluntly. Geom Muguk knew. Given his brother’s personality, being present at this gathering together was already him making every effort he possibly could.
Jin Haryeong had heard much about Geom Muyang through her brother.
There was a time when all martial artists believed this person would become the successor.
Then she had heard the news that the Demonic Cult’s succession struggle had ended without a single drop of blood spilled.
At first, it had been truly hard to believe. After properly getting to know Geom Muguk later, she thought it might be possible, but how could such a thing be accomplished by one person alone? It must have been possible because this Geom Muyang was also an extraordinary person.
Jin Haryeong’s gaze, which had been looking at Geom Muyang, turned toward Geom Muguk, sitting beside her.
‘How can they be so different despite being brothers?’
Her thoughts seemed to have been conveyed to Geom Muguk.
“How do you see my brother?”
It was a question thrown to embarrass her, but Jin Haryeong received it calmly.
“I feel a sense of kinship.”
“What kind of kinship?”
“He’s in a situation similar to mine. I mean the miserable fate of being eliminated by the successor in the end.”
The punchline of her jest was directed at Geom Muyang.
“My own life is hanging by a thread, too.”
She wondered if it was all right to say such things to the Eldest Young Master of the Demonic Cult whom she had just met, but indeed, Geom Muguk’s influence was great. With him beside her, such banter came out naturally.
Fortunately, Geom Muyang did not appear offended.
Geom Muyang recalled old times.
The moment when Geom Muguk became the successor and he had asked when he would be killed.
That was why her joke resonated with him. The heart of one who walked alongside the successor was something only those who had experienced it could know.
“Will you accept a drink?”
It was unexpected. That he would offer her a drink. She accepted readily.
“Good. Let us drink, fellow sufferers.”
Geom Muyang filled her cup to the brim with liquor.
Jin Hagun, who had been watching, spoke.
“Didn’t you hear Grandfather just now? Who would dare touch his granddaughter, the world’s greatest beauty whom he wouldn’t even hurt if she were placed in his eye?”
Jin Haryeong, having received the drink, poured liquor for Geom Muyang and asked.
“What do you think? If the Cult Leader ordered you to kill me?”
Geom Muyang drank without answering.
Jin Haryeong said to Jin Hagun with a look that said, *See?*
“At least, it wasn’t something he could say with confidence at this table.”
Jin Haryeong also emptied her cup.
This gathering was so refreshing to her. To exchange jokes and drink with two people she would never have faced even once in her lifetime if not for Geom Muguk?
Jin Hagun stared at Geom Muyang expressionlessly. Honestly, he felt displeased. Geom Muyang should have said something like, “How could I kill such a precious person?” It was a joke involving his younger sister and her life, so his nerves were needlessly on edge.
Then Geom Muguk poured liquor for Jin Hagun and said.
“Please understand. My brother is originally taciturn. He resembles you greatly.”
Resembles me? In what way, exactly?
But then he thought about it, and it seemed he too would have said nothing if placed in the same situation.
This time, Geom Muguk filled Bisain’s cup. Geom Muguk’s hands and mouth were busy taking care of people.
“You are good because you are not taciturn.”
“This is the first time I’ve heard that I am not taciturn from you.”
Well, this wasn’t the only thing he was hearing for the first time.
—One who knows how to see people’s faces will know how handsome the original face beneath the scars is.
He had even heard that he was handsome.
“Young Cult Leader.”
“Why is that?”
Bisain asked with serious eyes.
“Why did you gather us in one place?”
The gazes of the four people turned toward Geom Muguk.
“What are those gazes? You think if it were me, there must be some grand hidden intention or plan? There isn’t. I simply thought everyone seemed too stiff, so I started this to help you loosen up. But the matter grew this big.”
“Then how will you end this meeting?”
“Won’t it be fine if we just enjoy ourselves to the fullest and then return? Given the personalities of those three over there, if one of them suddenly stands up and says, ‘Let’s go now,’ that will be the end.”
To everyone who was dumbfounded, Geom Muguk said.
“The three of you, please rest for even just today, and exchange some jokes. I think that is the most meaningful thing about this gathering. Because they are people who have never played in their entire lives. They probably don’t even know how to play.”
In truth, the same was true for Geom Muguk himself. He knew a life spent running while looking only at one path, but did he truly know what it meant to take care of himself and play for himself?
Jin Haryeong turned to look toward where the Cult Leader and the Alliance Leaders were. They were drinking, each lost in their own thoughts without even conversing. No matter how softly they spoke here, they would be hearing everything.
And then she thought. Perhaps, as Geom Muguk said, the three of them resting comfortably for even a moment might be a much more difficult task than devising a plan for the peace of the murim. And it might yield better results than that grand plan.
It was right then.
*Sreung.*
The sound of a sword being half-drawn came from the floor below. At that sound, silence fell upon the place in an instant.
Geom Ujin drank quietly; Jin Paecheon wore a slightly worried gaze; Baek Jagang smiled faintly instead.
Since he had to stop it before the fight escalated, just as Geom Muguk tried to rise from his seat.
Geom Muyang grabbed Geom Muguk’s shoulder to stop him and rose first. It meant he would handle it himself.
Geom Muguk looked at his brother with a surprised face at this unexpected sight.
Not only the others at the table, but Geom Ujin and the two Alliance Leaders also looked at Geom Muyang.
Geom Muyang walked to the railing, looked down, and politely introduced himself.
“I am Geom Muyang, the Eldest Young Master of the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.”
The gazes were curious as to why it was him and not Geom Muguk who had stepped forward.
The one who had half-drawn his sword was Taeeul Shingeom. The contest of qi with Ilhwa Geomjon had been ongoing, and she, who did not fear his gaze, had been grating on his nerves the whole time. Yet it would hurt his pride to avert his gaze first.
He had already lost the battle of composure, and it was a warning that if she did not avert her gaze, he might draw his sword.
Geom Muyang spoke to everyone without specifically pointing out Taeeul Shingeom.
“I know well what kind of people are gathered here. I also know that if not for the Cult Leader and the Alliance Leaders, you would not be standing there.”
He brought up the matter so politely.
“Since you are such people, you must also know how difficult it was to make today’s meeting happen. The one who accomplished the impossible is my younger brother. So I wish to let my brother rest for today. I do not wish to let him step forward to stop a fight from breaking out here as well. Today, I shall be the one to let him rest.”
Geom Ujin tilted his cup, listening to his son’s words without speaking. Jin Paecheon and Baek Jagang also listened quietly to Geom Muyang.
Taeeul Shingeom, who had half-drawn his sword, looked up at Geom Muyang with cold eyes.
Looking at him, Geom Muyang spoke. His manner of speaking, which had been extremely polite, changed to something provocative and intense.
“How far can you go?”
He had said *you* in the plural. He had not aimed his words at Taeeul Shingeom alone. If he provoked him in front of everyone, Taeeul Shingeom would have no choice but to escalate matters due to pride.
“I can go far. You may think what right I have to say this when I am not the successor, but precisely because I am not the successor… I can go all the way to the end.”
It was Geom Muyang’s will, a threat that if they touched him, he would see it through to the end.
“So you rest today as well. Have you not fought to the point of weariness your entire lives to reach that position?”
As he was about to turn around, he added one last thing.
“You saw my younger brother, who calls being a tavern keeper his path. That’s right. As you can see, he is a madman. I am that madman’s older brother. So unless you intend to go to the bitter end with madmen, do not cause trouble today.”
The tavern was quiet.
An even brighter light flowed from Ma Bul’s body. Ma Bul was smiling with pride. Because he felt that the time he had devoted to the Eldest Young Master had not been in vain.
Hyeolcheon Doma strode forward and sat at a table, saying.
“Proprietor, bring liquor here.”
He sat with his back to the masters of the orthodox and unorthodox factions. It was an expression of confidence—come at me if you dare—and also his will not to drink while looking at the faces of those orthodox and unorthodox bastards. The man known as the Hyeolcheon Doma had always been this sort of person.
Once Hyeolcheon Doma sat down, the Demon Venerables also divided themselves between that table and the seats beside it.
Clack.
The blade of the Taeul Divine Sword, which had been half drawn, slid back into its sheath. He had not intended to draw it in the first place, but with the Demonic Cult acting like that, how could he?
Unable to be overwhelmed in momentum, the masters of the orthodox and unorthodox factions also sat down in the seats closest to where they had been standing. Some confidently turned their backs, while others remained standing, still staring at their opponents.
‘What the murim needs for peace right now is only delicious wine and food!’
With that in mind, Jo Chunbae diligently carried out the wine and side dishes he had prepared. That was right. They had been standing around in a tavern without drinking, so of course a fight had nearly broken out.
As Geom Muyang returned to his seat and sat down, he cut Geom Mugeuk off first.
“Don’t say a word!”
“What do you think I was going to say?”
“Whatever it is, don’t say it!”
How much must he have suffered to be like that? I know that feeling well too. Bisa-in nodded and lifted his cup. Jin Hagun’s and Jin Haryeong’s cups struck it with vigor. It was a toast of shared sympathy.
“This is nice. Thanks to you, hyung, I get to rest like this. If I’d gone to stop them, there would’ve been trouble. I would’ve gotten worked up for no reason and said, ‘The Cult Leader and the Alliance Leader are staying still, so who do you think you are, drawing your sword on a day like today? Get up here.’ Then the guy beside him would’ve…”
Geom Muyang held out a cup to Geom Mugeuk, telling him to just drink.
“Let that mouth of yours rest a little.”
He spoke coldly, but how could Geom Mugeuk not know? The heart of his elder brother, who was looking out for him. How much resolve he must have needed to step forward just now.
Geom Mugeuk relaxed his posture, leaned comfortably back in his chair, and stretched out both legs.
“Yeah. Let’s rest a bit.”
It was comfortable. In that moment, he felt as at ease as he had lying on that beach within the Spacetime Transposition Art. No, perhaps even more at ease than that.
As Jin Haryeong watched him grinning with his eyes closed, she suddenly thought, though she did not know why, that he looked lonely. But that thought lasted only a moment.
The dish of duck placed in front of Jin Hagun began to slowly move across the table on its own.
While everyone watched, the duck dish made its way in front of Geom Muyang.
“If you wanted some, you could have said so.”
At Jin Haryeong’s words, Geom Muyang looked flustered.
“No! I didn’t do it.”
“Of course you didn’t!”
Everyone’s gaze turned to Geom Mugeuk at the same time.
Under the barrage of stares, Geom Mugeuk opened one eye slightly and said with a smile,
“My hyung likes duck too.”