Jinha-gun envied his younger brother’s courage.
His younger brother had always been like that, ever since they were children. Whenever there was something he wanted, he was the sort of child who would leap in first and think later. He was the kind of child who would boldly tell their grandfather that he intended to marry a servant.
He then looked at Geom Muyang, who was standing beside him. He was watching the three of them dance.
What could this person, who was said to resemble me, be thinking? Did he envy my younger brother as I did?
This time, Jinha-gun looked up at the second floor. Their grandfather’s expression as he watched his younger brother was gentle. To think he would see their grandfather wearing such a relaxed expression between the Demonic Cult Leader and the Alliance Leader of the Unorthodox Faction.
His dancing younger brother, their grandfather together with the Demonic Cult Leader and the Unorthodox Alliance Leader, and himself together with the Demonic Cult’s Grand Prince. None of it felt real.
Jinha-gun’s gaze finally turned toward the person who had created all these fantastical events.
Yes. How could even that person not feel embarrassed?
He was surely enduring it for the sake of a friend. Even if it had not been a dance floor but a deadly trap surrounded by thousands of enemies, the Geom Mugeuk he knew would have leaped in.
He had to manage the martial world together with this person. To keep pace with him, all he needed to do was remember this moment and never forget how much effort it would require.
Bisa-in, who was following along with that adorable dance despite his fierce expression, was surely making that effort as well. At least, he was one step ahead of Jinha-gun.
Geom Mugeuk shouted to the musicians.
“Now, give us the final song!”
Perhaps because they thought it would be their last, the three moved even more flamboyantly.
They had begun dancing in embarrassment, but things were different now. Fully absorbed in the dance, they were releasing all the anger that had built up within them. When would they ever have another chance to dance to music like this?
And so, the final song ended, and silence descended upon the place that had been so noisy.
Bisa-in belatedly came to his senses.
They had danced to the music, and Geom Mugeuk had leaped in. After that, he could hardly remember anything—not what dance he had performed or how he had danced it.
It felt as though a great storm had passed. A tidal wave had swept through the marketplace, while lava had set his heart ablaze.
Awkwardness came rushing over him. Should he run into the tavern? While he was debating that, Geom Mugeuk announced in a loud voice:
“That concludes the dance performance by the Unorthodox Alliance’s Young Leader, Bisa-in.”
Applause broke out from here and there, and the three performers clasped their fists and bowed. The hall leaders who had been guarding the place applauded enthusiastically. Jang Ho, in particular, shouted in a booming voice:
“Magnificent!”
Out of courtesy to Bisa-in and Jinha-ryeong, he did not single anyone out, but of course, he had been speaking about Geom Mugeuk. What he had really wanted to say was, “Young Cult Leader, you were the best!”
Geom Mugeuk smiled brightly and waved toward Jang Ho and the hall leaders.
Watching him, Jinha-gun found himself thinking: Had he ever seen a leader wave at his subordinates with such a radiant expression?
Did he not know that sorrowful truth—that in the end, people betrayed not the frightening ones, but the ones who treated them well? Of course not. He must have known that better than anyone. Even knowing it, he smiled and waved like that.
The trio of dancers walked toward the entrance.
“How was it?”
In response to Geom Mugeuk’s question, Geom Muyang answered with another question.
“Tell me honestly. You wanted to dance, didn’t you?”
At his brother’s joke, Geom Mugeuk laughed.
“I think I have a talent for dancing.”
Geom Muyang turned away as though he had not heard him, and everyone followed him into the tavern.
Jo Chun-bae, who was standing at the entrance, spoke with a deeply moved expression.
“There have been countless performances in Maga Village’s marketplace, but today’s was the best of them all!”
The scene of them dancing in front of his tavern had also become a painting in Jo Chun-bae’s heart. Like the sight of the Demon Venerables standing there, this was something he would never forget.
Meanwhile, the Unorthodox masters looked at Bisa-in with displeased expressions. Derision flickered across some faces, while others looked at him as though he were pathetic. Though most did not openly show it, their expressions were overwhelmingly negative. They could hardly be otherwise. The successor of the Unorthodox Alliance had danced without the slightest regard for decorum.
In the past, Bisa-in would undoubtedly have been consumed by such reactions. He would have thought that the reason his heart was pounding as if it might burst was because of them. He would have blamed himself for dancing a dance he should never have danced.
But things were different now. His heart was not beating so quickly because of them. This throbbing came from the joy of keeping his promise. From the friendship he had shared in his embarrassment.
That was why Bisa-in paid no attention to those who were now looking at him with displeasure.
They were his master’s people, anyway. By the time he became the Unorthodox Alliance Leader, new people would be standing in those places.
‘The people I need to worry about are the ones who will be standing there then.’
He already thought he had changed and grown greatly to reach this point, but Geom Mugeuk pulled him one step further by swaying his hips playfully.
Geom Mugeuk was looking at the Demon Venerables and teasing them by demonstrating some of the dance moves they had performed moments earlier.
The Demon Venerables each reacted differently. Some shook their heads, some looked away, and some smiled. But at least none of them sneered or looked at him with contempt. The deep familiarity and bond between them could be felt plainly.
Watching that, Bisa-in realized that his thinking had been wrong.
‘I shouldn’t wait until later. I have to change things now.’
Those Demon Venerables over there were not Geom Mugeuk’s own Demon Venerables, but the Demon Venerables of the current Heavenly Demon. Even so, they reacted like that. If they were this way, then what would Geom Mugeuk’s Demon Venerables be like in the future? If Geom Mugeuk leaped in, perhaps all eight of them would leap in and dance together. If they were Geom Mugeuk’s Demon Venerables, that is.
‘I have to work until the expressions of those Unorthodox masters change to resemble the expressions of these Demon Venerables.’
Bisa-in looked at the Unorthodox masters again. Then he clasped his fists politely, wearing an expression that seemed to say, “I’m still young, after all.”
How much difference could a single gesture like that make? And yet, amid the continued displeasure, he sensed that a few gazes had softened, if only slightly.
That was right. There was no later when it came to relationships between people. If you could not do it now, you would not be able to do it later, either.
Even during this brief moment after the dance performance, as they climbed to the second floor, Bisa-in continued to draw stimulation from Geom Mugeuk. Rather than letting that stimulation pass him by, he was trying to understand it and change himself.
They went up to the second floor.
Geom Ujin, Jin Paecheon, and Baek Jagang were standing there, looking in their direction.
Bisa-in walked over to them and stopped before Baek Jagang.
“I kept my promise and returned.”
Bisa-in was inwardly tense. He had gone out to dance while swept up in the heat of the moment, but now he had returned to reality.
Come to think of it, telling his master that he was going out to dance had been madness. He had even said it with the Demonic Cult Leader and the Martial Alliance Leader standing beside him.
He had been bracing himself for a thunderous reprimand, but—
“You could use a little more practice.”
Only then did Bisa-in relax.
“Yes, Master.”
The emotion on Bisa-in’s face was unmistakable.
‘Thank you, Master. I will never forget the immense consideration you showed for your disciple today.’
Jin Paecheon shook his head at Jinha-ryeong with an expression that said she was hopeless, while she melted her grandfather’s heart with a coquettish smile.
Geom Ujin was looking at Geom Mugeuk with his characteristic sneer. Today’s sneer seemed to say, ‘Now you’re even dancing in front of your father?’
Yes, Father. If I can see this sneer of yours, this sneer that shows you are responding to something new and enjoying yourself, I would do anything.
And so, the successors gathered together once more and drank.
Bisa-in drained his cup in one go. He felt truly liberated. Had he ever felt this free in his life?
He had even danced in front of all these people. What in this world could he possibly not do now?
Bisa-in expressed his gratitude to Jinha-ryeong. He knew she had joined in for Geom Mugeuk’s sake, but thanks to her participation, they had been able to finish on such a pleasant note. It had been fun, too.
“Thank you for joining us.”
“I enjoyed it, too.”
Bisa-in deliberately did not thank Geom Mugeuk. He had been waiting for Geom Mugeuk to playfully ask why he had not thanked him.
“You were the most impressive I’ve seen since the day I met you!”
Geom Mugeuk was always shattering his expectations like this.
Bisa-in stared at him without a word. Geom Mugeuk had rushed over and danced with him during that mortifying moment. Bisa-in could have even bowed to him if asked. And yet this man was the one to tell him first that he had been impressive.
Do you know something? I’m going to live as impressively as you do. That’s why I’m having such a hard time these days. Trying to chase a stork without tearing my thighs apart is exhausting.
“Is that a compliment to a martial artist?”
“It is because you’re a martial artist. What martial artist in the world could do something like that?”
Jinha-gun, who had been listening to their conversation, agreed with those words. Neither what Geom Muyang had shown earlier nor what Bisa-in had shown was something he could do.
Geom Mugeuk asked him:
“Do you regret it? Regret not dancing with us?”
Normally, Jinha-gun would have answered that it was something he could never do, even if he died. But he said nothing. Truthfully, if he had been able to do it, part of him wondered what it would have been like to try.
Reading his thoughts, Geom Mugeuk smiled.
“Then say it out loud and get it off your chest. Say, ‘If I get another chance like this, I’ll definitely dance!’ Say it with style.”
Jinha-gun turned to Bisa-in and asked:
“So this is how you fell into the trap?”
Bisa-in nodded.
“That’s right. By the time I came to my senses, I had already made the promise.”
The others smiled at his words.
Even as they drank together, they felt a lingering regret.
They knew that once this moment ended, it would not be easy to create another gathering like this, and so they regretted every passing second.
Once they left the tavern, this moment would remain only as a memory and a longing.
They wanted to drink through the night, but eventually the time to part ways arrived.
Jin Paecheon looked at Baek Jagang. They could understand each other through their eyes alone: It was time to leave. Baek Jagang nodded.
When they had first arrived, they had not even wanted to exchange a single word, so being able to share such a glance could itself be called great progress.
Jin Paecheon and Baek Jagang rose from their seats together.
“Thank you for inviting us.”
Geom Ujin stood.
“Thank you for coming such a long way.”
They exchanged brief, but proper, farewells.
They were still enemies, but at least until they had uprooted the force behind this incident, they would join hands.
The successors also said their reluctant goodbyes.
Geom Mugeuk said to Bisa-in:
“The way you kept your promise was impressive.”
Those were the words Bisa-in most wanted to hear from Geom Mugeuk. The greatest reason he had found the courage was that he wanted to show Geom Mugeuk that he could keep his promises. How flawless this man was. Geom Mugeuk had not forgotten to mention that very point.
“Even if you say that, I’m never making another promise like that again.”
This time, he said goodbye to Jinha-gun.
“Once you officially become the successor, let’s get together again. We’ll hold a celebration and play through the night!”
Jinha-gun had not yet formally taken the position of Young Alliance Leader.
“Let’s do that.”
Finally, they parted from Jinha-ryeong. Of the three, she was the one who felt the greatest regret. But she made an effort not to show it.
“Do you think word will spread that I danced?”
“It probably will.”
“If I’d known this would happen, I would have danced a little better.”
Geom Mugeuk looked around at everyone and said:
“I can’t bear to see Miss Jin feeling disappointed. Let’s dance one more time, all five of us.”
Geom Muyang and Jinha-gun simultaneously drew their swords halfway from their scabbards.
“See? I told you those two were exactly alike.”
And so, they exchanged reluctant farewells. At that moment, they felt as though they could play together all night.
Before they went down to the first floor, Jin Paecheon asked:
“Surely, Cult Leader Geom, you weren’t the one who wrote those words?”
They had checked the names written on the wall when they first entered. At the time, he had assumed they were merely scribbles left by drunkards, but now he wondered if that might not be the case.
“I was.”
Jin Paecheon was startled by Geom Ujin’s answer. If so, that meant the words left by the Demon Venerables were all genuine as well.
In all his life, he had never seen martial artists leave their names on the walls of a tavern or an inn in the martial world. And it was not as though they were ordinary martial artists.
Then someone spoke from behind them.
“Alliance Leader, why don’t you leave a few words as well?”
When they turned around, Geom Mugeuk was standing behind them.
“Me?”
Jin Paecheon was flustered. He was a man who rarely lost his composure, even in the face of extraordinary events, yet since arriving here, he had been surprised and bewildered again and again.
“Wouldn’t people find it strange? This is where you fellows have left your names.”
“Wouldn’t it make you look even more impressive? ‘The Martial Alliance Leader proudly left his name here before departing. How magnificent.’”
No, even so, it would not do.
“People will look at it without giving it much thought. ‘Oh, I see. So he wrote his name.’”
The moment he heard those words, Jin Paecheon recalled the emotion that had occurred to him earlier—the moment he had regretted the days of his youth, when he had neither smiled so brightly nor played like this.
‘What had I been thinking so hard about? Why had I treated life so seriously?’
Yes. He would leave a few words behind.
Jin Paecheon stepped toward the wall covered in inscriptions.
He was about to write on that wall when he turned toward another one. It would not do to write above the Heavenly Demon’s inscription, nor would it feel right to write beneath it. He was the sort of person who worried even about things like this.
Jin Paecheon drew his sword. With it, he carved words into the wall. His writing flowed freely from the very first character, without the slightest hesitation.
Jin Paecheon, Martial Alliance Leader, witnessed a new path of the demonic way here.
He had left those words for Geom Mugeuk. If not for him, he would never have written anything. No, he would not have come here in the first place.
“Thank you.”
Geom Mugeuk expressed his gratitude with a respectful clasp of his fists.
Then he looked at Baek Jagang. Baek Jagang did not hesitate.
“When Zheng and Mo go, the Unorthodox must follow.”
He left his inscription below Jin Paecheon’s. He did not worry about whether it should go above or below. If Jin Paecheon’s calligraphy was powerful and grand, Baek Jagang’s was neat yet sharp.
Baek Jagang, Unorthodox Alliance Leader, watched his disciple’s dance at the Wind and Current Tavern.
It was a historic moment: the words of the Heavenly Demon, the Martial Alliance Leader, and the Unorthodox Alliance Leader were all carved into the walls of the Wind and Current Tavern.