When Geom Muyang entered the ironworks, he saw Gwak Yeong in the distance.
She was loading chunks of iron onto a handcart and moving them.
Geom Muyang did not go to her, but walked straight to where Artisan Gwak was working.
Artisan Gwak, who had been inspecting finished weapons, saw Geom Muyang and greeted him.
“I am glad you returned safely.”
Geom Muyang also returned the courtesy respectfully.
“Thanks to your concern, I made it back well. Have you been well?”
At that, Artisan Gwak gave a strange smile and shook his head.
“No. Thanks to you, Eldest Young Master, I had a bit to ponder.”
Geom Muyang could guess what he meant. He was surely speaking of Gwak Yeong.
In the letter he had sent to Artisan Gwak, Geom Muyang had conveyed the facts exactly as they were.
That Gwak Yeong had been an artisan of the Murim Alliance’s ironworks, and that she had made counterfeit hidden weapons in order to save her younger sibling.
He had told him to see for himself and decide whether to accept her into the cult’s ironworks. He had also said that he was sending her only because her skill would be a waste, and that she had no connection to him, so Artisan Gwak should judge as he saw fit.
He intended only to introduce her to the ironworks, and had no thought of exerting any further influence. All authority here belonged to Artisan Gwak, and Geom Muyang respected that.
“I already knew the rumors about that woman.”
How could he not? The person who had become an artisan of the Murim Alliance’s ironworks at the youngest age ever. And as a woman, at that.
Artisan Gwak brought up something unexpected.
“The Gwak bloodline is well versed in handling iron.”
“Could it be?”
“Yes, that is right. I checked, and she too is a descendant of the Gwak Family Iron Gate.”
The Gwak Family Iron Gate.
It was a family once known to possess the greatest skill in all the Central Plains when it came to making weapons.
But at some point, the brothers of the Iron Gate quarreled, drew blades against one another, and scattered in every direction. The time it took for a great family to fall was no more than half a day.
The reason Gwak Yeong had been able to become an artisan of the Murim Alliance’s ironworks at such a young age was also because she had inherited the exceptional bloodline of the Gwak Family Iron Gate.
Artisan Gwak’s name was Gwak In.
He too was a descendant of the Gwak Family Iron Gate, and strictly speaking, he was related to Gwak Yeong.
“That was why I agonized over it all the more. Ordinarily, I would have accepted her at once, but I worried it might look as though I was taking her in because she was of the same house.”
Artisan Gwak was, by nature, a man of upright character.
“But you accepted her.”
When Artisan Gwak had first seen the counterfeit Jin-Gyeok, he had truly been impressed. The workmanship was so fine he could have believed they had made it themselves. Moreover, when he learned that she had made them not in a proper ironworks, but in a converted storehouse, with people who were not true ironworks technicians, he could not refuse her. Of course, that did not mean he could immediately entrust her with an important post.
“I told her to start from the bottom, like anyone entering the ironworks for the first time. In any case, if she wants to adapt here, she will have to prove herself with skill.”
How long that would take was impossible to know.
Artisan Gwak’s gaze turned toward Gwak Yeong, who was moving iron in the distance.
“That child must have lived thinking of herself as a sword already complete. But when she melts herself down again and begins from molten iron, I too am curious what kind of sword will emerge.”
Geom Muyang looked at her, her face flushed red, sweat pouring down as she did menial labor.
After gazing at her for a moment, Geom Muyang bade Artisan Gwak farewell.
“Then I will take my leave.”
After exchanging parting greetings with Artisan Gwak, Geom Muyang walked out of the ironworks.
He deliberately did not go to see her. He thought that acknowledging her in front of everyone would not help her.
Gwak Yeong also knew Geom Muyang had come, but she did not look at him. In her heart, she wanted to run to him and thank him. To thank him for arranging for her to enter the ironworks like this. But she did not.
The one she had to befriend now was not Geom Muyang, not Artisan Gwak, not her seniors, and not her colleagues.
The sole partner before her now was this.
Iron.
Depending on how close she became to this, her relationships with everyone else would also be decided.
‘I’ll keep the promise I made you after I marry this iron. Ah, I suppose it’ll be a remarriage.’
* * *
“Elder!”
After leaving the Valley of Villains, Geom Mugeuk ran straight to the residence of the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
When he opened the door and went in, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was in the courtyard practicing martial arts.
The training of the Demon Venerables, which had spread like a trend.
In truth, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon had been at the forefront of that trend. He had resumed martial training quite some time ago.
And recently, with Geom Ujin entering closed-door cultivation as the occasion, each of the Demon Venerables had felt a sense of mission. They had gained a goal: they had to overcome the wall that blocked their path.
The martial art the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was currently displaying was the Annihilating Heaven Demonic Blade Form.
The third form, Annihilating Blade Blood Gale.
Whoooooosh!
A fierce blade energy extending from his blade whirled forth like a storm. Since he had unleashed such a perilous martial art in the courtyard, it seemed certain the surroundings would be devastated.
Just at the moment when the blade energies were about to blow away the garden wall—
Ssssss.
As if it were a lie, the blade energies vanished right before the wall.
Seeing that, Geom Mugeuk could tell. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon was deploying the Annihilating Heaven Demonic Blade Form only within a precisely fixed area.
Just as walking slowly up into the air would be harder than soaring upward swiftly, performing martial arts under such restrictions was a far higher realm than grinding the wall to powder and destroying the buildings behind it as well.
‘The elder has reached a new realm too!’
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon swung the Heaven-Annihilating Great Blade again. This time, the target was Geom Mugeuk.
Shwaaaaaak!
An immense wave of blade energy surged toward Geom Mugeuk, who stood before the door.
The second form of the Annihilating Heaven Demonic Blade Form, Annihilating Blade Wave.
Geom Mugeuk did not dodge that terrifying attack.
At the moment of absolute crisis—
Ssssss.
Just as before, the incoming wave of blade energy vanished like a lie right before Geom Mugeuk’s face.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon shouted at Geom Mugeuk.
“Do you want to die? You did not even raise your protective qi!”
Only belatedly had he realized that Geom Mugeuk had been standing there defenseless.
“I trusted you, Elder.”
“What if I had made a mistake?”
“Then every day I’d appear in your dreams as a vengeful spirit, saying, ‘Give me back my handsome face!’”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon shook his head with an expression that said there was no stopping him. He could endure that, perhaps, but he would not be able to endure feeling sorry toward the Cult Leader.
“I missed you!”
When Geom Mugeuk tried to run over and embrace him, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon blocked his path with the Heaven-Annihilating Great Blade.
“I smell of sweat. Get away!”
“Your sweat smells better than spiritual medicine, Elder.”
“Say that after you smooth out that frown.”
At those words, Geom Mugeuk burst into laughter. Seeing the Blood Heaven Blade Demon put his heart at ease. There was a comfort that only he could give.
“I will wash and return.”
“I said it’s fine.”
“It is not fine with me.”
If asked who among the Eight Demon Venerables was the cleanest, Geom Mugeuk would answer firmly that it was the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. One could tell just by looking at his bed, which was always clean. Even though he seemed like someone who would be far from fastidious.
Just then, something caught Geom Mugeuk’s eye. Unfamiliar flowers and plants had been planted in the garden at the corner of the courtyard; proof that he was getting along well with the Ilhwa Sword Venerable was growing there.
How long had he been crouching there, looking at the grass and flowers?
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s voice came from behind him.
“The Cult Leader was pleased, was he not?”
Geom Mugeuk knew he was asking about the hunting trip with his father and older brother.
Yes, perhaps the person who understood his father’s heart best was this very Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
Geom Mugeuk rose from his seat, turned toward the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, and said,
“Phew, you would not believe how much he favored his eldest son. I cried myself to sleep every night.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon wore an expression that said, as if you would ever do that.
“That mouth of yours must not have rested even there.”
“How could it rest? It was two against one.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon smiled faintly and said,
“Well done.”
It was a brief remark, but it carried the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s sincerity. It was not said for Geom Mugeuk’s sake, nor for his brother’s. It was said with his father in mind. That he had gone and returned well for the Cult Leader’s sake.
“Next time, you should come with us, Elder.”
“Why would I go there?”
“To take care of me against my father, who favors only his eldest son.”
“If that is the purpose, you should take the drunkard or the masked one.”
“The drunkard would flatter Father and take my brother’s side. And Father wouldn’t want to take the masked one.”
“Then take your master, that fist-brute.”
“You know, don’t you? Master will only take Father’s side. The only one who will wipe away my tears is you, Elder!”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon laughed as if he found it amusing.
Geom Mugeuk carried the pleasant mood into an even better topic.
“Do you know this? This time in Wuhan as well, you saved me, Elder.”
“I did? I never even went near Wuhan.”
When the Blood Heaven Blade Demon looked at him as if asking what trick he was trying to play now, Geom Mugeuk said,
“Because of you, I came to like books, didn’t I?”
When he had given up on finding the bead for the secret coffer to absorb in the Murim Repository and was about to simply leave—
If, at the very last moment, he had not felt like reading just one book before going, he would never have obtained the Huangjing.
“The thought that I should read a book changed my fate. Thank you.”
Geom Mugeuk bowed his head and conveyed his gratitude.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon watched him silently for a time, then spoke calmly.
“If you want to defeat others, you must never let go of that sword. But if you want to defeat yourself…”
What followed was advice that no one would believe was being given to the next Heavenly Demon by the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.
“Even if you put down the sword in your hand, do not put down the book.”
* * *
The Drunken Demon’s gaze turned toward the lake as he ascended the Drunken Dream Pavilion.
Where his eyes came to rest, a corpse was floating away.
A corpse in his residence?
It would have been natural to be startled, yet the Drunken Demon was not startled in the slightest.
He walked over the surface of the lake toward the corpse.
Looking down at the corpse floating facedown on the water, the Drunken Demon asked indifferently,
“Is this a new way of expressing apology?”
As if it had been waiting, the corpse rolled over.
The person floating on the lake was Geom Mugeuk.
“It’s been a while, hyung.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I was trying to surprise you. I didn’t know you’d lost your childlike innocence to this extent.”
“It is not a matter of childlike innocence, but of conscience.”
The Drunken Demon had every right to say such a thing.
The last time Geom Mugeuk had left the cult, returned, and become acting Cult Leader, he had not seen the Drunken Demon then either. So it truly had been a long time. Even in ordinary times, the Drunken Demon felt slighted because Geom Mugeuk visited him later than the other Demon Venerables.
“Hyung, how long has it been for us?”
The Drunken Demon looked down at Geom Mugeuk quietly, then offered a courteous bow and said,
“Even when my father turned into a waiting stone and passed away, he spoke of the Young Cult Leader. He said that although the Young Cult Leader had treated him the worst among the Demon Venerables, Father still liked the Young Cult Leader the most.”
Geom Mugeuk was not one to let the Drunken Demon’s joke pass unanswered.
“You truly are handsome with atmosphere, just like your father. Aside from his personality and his drunken habits, you may take after him in everything else!”
The Drunken Demon shook his head once, then leaped back toward the Drunken Dream Pavilion. His movement technique as he walked over the water was exceedingly smooth and elegant. Geom Mugeuk shouted after him,
“Even so, it hasn’t been that long since we last saw each other!”
Geom Mugeuk lay back on the lake again and looked up at the sky.
“Ah, this is nice. As expected, the sky looks best from here.”
Floating in the lake of the Drunken Dream Pavilion after so long felt good.
After fully savoring the emotion of returning after so long, Geom Mugeuk climbed up to the Drunken Dream Pavilion.
The Drunken Demon poured liquor for him into the Ice Palace Holy Cup.
“How did the matter you went for turn out?”
“It went well.”
He explained to the Drunken Demon everything that had happened in Wuhan. It was the same story he had told the Extreme Evil Young Demon and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon before parting from them.
It had always been this way. When it came to the force behind the scenes, he told all the Demon Venerables everything. He was not fighting alone; he was fighting together with them.
After listening to the whole story, the Drunken Demon filled Geom Mugeuk’s cup again.
“You worked hard.”
At the Drunken Demon’s calm response, Geom Mugeuk tilted his head.
“You seem different today, hyung.”
“I do?”
“Should I say you somehow seem calmer?”
He seemed like he might have played more pranks of one sort or another. Yet he was not the sort of person who would truly sulk and act this way. Though Geom Mugeuk teased him for being petty, he knew better than anyone that the Drunken Demon was a person of great breadth.
The problem was that today’s change was a calmness tinged with worry.
“Is it perhaps because of Miss Yeo?”
He already knew that the Drunken Demon and Yeo Bin, one of the Three Great Drinkers, treated each other with affection. He wondered if something had happened between the two while he had been away.
But he had sensed nothing wrong from her when she had guided him earlier.
The Drunken Demon emptied the cup in his hand and stood.
“Follow me.”
The Drunken Demon took Geom Mugeuk and headed somewhere.
The two flew with lightness skill and landed on the lakeshore opposite the entrance.
The Drunken Demon led Geom Mugeuk into the Great Drunken Forest.
Deep within the forest, alcohol energy spread like mist.
The absolute forbidden zone of the Great Drunken Forest.
Because it was alcohol energy that could not be expelled with inner force, even an expert could not easily pass through it.
When the Drunken Demon walked forward, the alcohol energy formed a path as if it were alive. In that place where only the Drunken Demon could go, there was a brewery. It was the very place Geom Mugeuk had once visited while following the Drunken Demon.
After entering, the Drunken Demon spoke with an expression that said he could not understand it.
“The matter you went for went well, the Cult Leader has emerged from seclusion, and the Demon Venerables are growing stronger by the day. Everything is going well.”
The Drunken Demon’s steps stopped. His gaze turned toward the large cup set in the center of the place. There lay the reason the Drunken Demon’s mood had sunk.
“Then why has the newly brewed liquor essence spoiled again?”