The Drunken Demon was right. He had no need to worry about his father’s hangover. Whether his father regretted it or not, if he took even those feelings into account, he would never be able to stop this matter.
“I’ve said it before, but the more I see you, the smarter you are, brother. Out of all the Demon Venerables, you’re the smartest.”
Praise for being smart always put him in a good mood, so the Drunken Demon could not hide the smile that naturally bloomed on his face.
“You’re no ordinary drunkard, brother. You’re an extraordinary drunkard.”
With a pleased expression, the Drunken Demon poured wine into the Ice Palace Holy Grail. As Geom Mugeuk drank, he returned the words the Drunken Demon had once said to him.
“If the wine is called the Drunken Demon, I would gladly be drunk on it all night!”
Just as the two were drinking, someone caught a fish.
Splash!
It was the Extreme Evil Young Demon. It was the first fish he had caught today.
A reaction completely opposite to his indifferent one burst out.
“Lord Soma!”
Geom Mugeuk shouted toward the Extreme Evil Young Demon.
“Congratulations! At last, our Lord Soma has caught his first fish! That fish is probably the handsomest fish in this river!”
Seeing Geom Mugeuk jump up and down, rejoicing as though it were his own achievement, the Drunken Demon, standing beside him, expressed his dissatisfaction.
“Isn’t your reaction too different? You weren’t this happy when I caught one.”
“Because you’re not Lord Soma.”
“Don’t discriminate right in front of someone. That’s the worst thing you can do.”
“If you hated this, you should have stepped forward when I shouted, ‘Help me, Drunken Demon!’”
“I was going to.”
Geom Mugeuk looked into the Drunken Demon’s eyes. Faced with that steady stare, the Drunken Demon could not bring himself to lie.
“No. I wouldn’t have been able to.”
Defy the Cult Leader’s order and step forward? For the Drunken Demon, that was absolutely impossible.
“You have to admit what needs admitting. The most I could have done for you was pour wine over your grave.”
“It’s fine. If it was wine from you, brother, it would have tasted good. I’ll pour your favorite wine over your grave too.”
Then the Drunken Demon said something unexpected.
“Don’t pour wine over my grave. I’ve spent my whole life drinking like that—why would I need wine even after I’m dead? When I walk the road to the Yellow Springs, I plan to go sober.”
As if to say they should drink diligently while they were alive, the Drunken Demon drank, then filled the holy grail again and handed it to Geom Mugeuk. Looking down at the cup, Geom Mugeuk asked,
“What’s the drinking snack of your life, brother?”
The Drunken Demon thought for a moment.
“You. Watching you is fun and entertaining.”
“Other than me?”
The Drunken Demon could not answer easily.
“What about Warrior Yeo?”
“Yeobin isn’t a drinking snack to me… she’s strong liquor.”
At the Drunken Demon’s half-serious, half-joking reply, Geom Mugeuk laughed and asked again.
“Isn’t it about time you drank that liquor?”
The Drunken Demon looked at Geom Mugeuk with a face that said, Surely not.
“I mean, the two of you should get married.”
“Out of nowhere?”
“You have to think of Warrior Yeo too.”
He did not know her exact age, but since she had risen to the place of one of the Three Great Drunkards, she could not be young.
The Drunken Demon drank. Seeing the worry in his eyes, it seemed he was not entirely without such thoughts.
“What does Warrior Yeo say? Hasn’t she asked you to marry her?”
“She isn’t the type to bring up such words.”
“Who would easily bring that up when the other person is a Demon Venerable? You have to bring it up first, brother. Don’t you have some wine you’ve saved to take out when you get married? Bring out any sweet wine on a nice day and ask her to marry you.”
The Drunken Demon merely emptied his cup in silence.
“Why? Do you dislike Warrior Yeo?”
“Dislike her? Where else would I find a woman like that?”
“Then why?”
Looking down at the empty cup in his hand, the Drunken Demon let out a light sigh.
“I only know how to get drunk. I don’t really know how to sober up.”
It seemed he was worried whether a life spent doing nothing but drinking could take responsibility for someone else.
“Good grief, they say a monk can’t shave his own head. You give me all sorts of advice, but you’re this bad with your own affairs.”
Geom Mugeuk filled the empty cup in the Drunken Demon’s hand and said,
“Warrior Yeo won’t be any different.”
“What won’t be?”
“She’ll be worried too. If she rose to the place of one of the Three Great Drunkards, then she’s lived her whole life drinking as well. Whether because of martial arts or not. Do you think she wouldn’t worry? ‘Can someone like me live well with the Drunken Demon?’”
The Drunken Demon emptied his cup without answering.
“She knows wine better than anyone, has watched you longer than anyone, and likes you more than anyone. So consider her a lifelong drinking companion and marry her. Drink together in the evening, wake up in the morning and regret it together. Take turns quitting alcohol and live like that.”
The Drunken Demon looked at Geom Mugeuk and smiled. Once in a while, this very young fellow acted like someone who had lived an entire lifetime.
“They say men who live alone die the fastest.”
“What would I do with a long life?”
“You have to drink and play with me even when we’re old. You need someone like Warrior Yeo by your side to watch over you, brother. So catch her before she runs off somewhere.”
He would have liked to drink while talking about this all day, but there was something he had to do.
After emptying his final cup, Geom Mugeuk looked at the Fist Demon standing far away.
“Master would know Father best, wouldn’t he?”
“I suppose he would.”
As Geom Mugeuk walked that way, he added,
“What kind of drinker worries about a hangover?”
Geom Mugeuk, who had been walking toward the Fist Demon, stopped for a moment. Far off, he could see his father teaching his older brother how to fish.
All at once, he thought that perhaps, while teaching his eldest son to fish, his father might be recalling his own dead older brother. He did not know why that thought came to him.
Geom Mugeuk started walking again and stood beside the Fist Demon.
“Fishing isn’t fun, is it?”
The Fist Demon gave no answer, but that silence was already answer enough.
“If you keep scowling so frighteningly, the fish will be too scared to come near.”
“Seeing how relaxed you are, it seems you at least didn’t write down your own name.”
“Whose name I wrote down is a top secret.”
Geom Mugeuk stood beside the Fist Demon and looked at the river.
“Why are you wandering around like this instead of fishing at a fishing tournament?”
“I’m looking for a drinking snack.”
The Fist Demon was about to ask what that meant, but soon turned his head back toward the river. How could he ever understand the things Geom Mugeuk did?
Just look at what had happened earlier. The Young Cult Leader did things that did not even exist in the Fist Demon’s mind.
“I thought long and hard about what Father likes most. Ah, excluding people, of course. If we include people, wouldn’t it be me?”
Seeing the confident Geom Mugeuk, the Fist Demon wore an expression that seemed to ask whether that was really so.
“After becoming closer to Father, I learned a few things. He likes go, he likes cooking. He likes fishing too. But those are all hobbies, aren’t they? Surely he doesn’t like working from the Grand Preceptor’s chair.”
Geom Mugeuk let out a soft sigh and said,
“I tried so hard to become close to Father, yet I realized I don’t know what he likes most.”
Thinking about it, was it only his father? He did not know what his older brother liked most. What was Ian’s favorite thing?
He did not know what the Extreme Evil Young Demon, who had willingly offered up his life a moment ago, liked most. What was it that the Drunken Demon, with whom he had been drinking until just now, liked most?
The Fist Demon looked at Geom Mugeuk.
“Did you come because you thought I knew?”
“You don’t?”
He had thought that the Fist Demon, who had been with his father since their youth, might know.
“I don’t.”
It was not an answer given because he did not want to tell him. The Fist Demon truly did not know.
“Even if you asked me that question about myself, I would have to think for quite a while before answering. And even then, the answer might change tomorrow.”
The Fist Demon looked at Geom Mugeuk and asked,
“Then what do you like most?”
Geom Mugeuk could not answer readily either.
Yes. When he did not even know what he himself liked most, how could he know another person’s heart?
Thus the two of them looked at the river in silence. If there was comfort in the chatter he shared with the Drunken Demon, then there was comfort in this silence when he was with the Fist Demon.
How much time had passed? The Fist Demon suddenly said,
“I have not forgotten that promise.”
Geom Mugeuk understood. Long ago, he had made a promise with the Fist Demon. If his father ever decided to start a war, he would tell the Fist Demon first. And at that time, the Fist Demon would let him know in advance. The Fist Demon had willingly made that difficult promise.
“I hope I never have to keep that promise.”
It was the first time the Fist Demon had revealed his feelings about it. Geom Mugeuk bowed respectfully to express his gratitude.
“Thank you, Master.”
It was at that very moment.
“It’s a whopper!”
The one who had caught the first big fish was one of the three loudmouths, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon. It was twice the size of the fish caught so far.
Geom Mugeuk, who had been utterly quiet with the Fist Demon, changed completely.
“The current first-place fish has appeared!”
As Geom Mugeuk ran toward the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, he said what the man himself wanted to say for him.
“As expected! Incredible! Your skill as Father’s fishing teacher has not yet died! At this rate, aren’t you going to win, elder?”
“If you wanted to win the bet, you should have picked me.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon became thoroughly triumphant.
“You told us not to pick you, didn’t you?”
“You must overcome adversity to achieve victory.”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon lifted the large fish to show the One Flower Sword Venerable. The sight looked as though he had won and was asking her to take the Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Ginseng together with him.
Just as his father had made one for the Poison King, this time Geom Mugeuk made a pool of water.
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon placed the fish into the pool.
Squatting in front of it and looking at the fish, Geom Mugeuk suddenly said,
“You were very shocked earlier, weren’t you?”
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s hand, which had been putting a new worm on the hook, paused briefly before moving again.
“When has you startling me ever been a matter of just a day or two?”
“I’m sorry.”
“So? How do you plan to persuade the Cult Leader?”
“I’m searching for what Father likes most.”
Then the Blood Heaven Blade Demon said something unexpected.
“What are you going to do after finding out what he likes? Try to butter him up with it? I’m sure the Cult Leader would love that.”
In that instant, Geom Mugeuk’s eyes flashed. He was right. He realized that the very approach of finding out what his father liked most so he could get on his good side and improve his mood had been wrong from the start.
“Then what should I do?”
If it was about his father, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon would feel slighted if he were placed after the Fist Demon.
“You need to find out what he hates most.”
“!”
“What someone likes can be easily dressed up, but what someone hates is not so easily disguised. If you want to know someone deeply, you should look at what they hate rather than what they like.”
Geom Mugeuk cried out in admiration.
“As expected! Elder, you are the smartest! Even if we include all the Demon Venerables throughout history, you may be the smartest!”
Geom Mugeuk shouted loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Then someone immediately reacted.
“I’m quite sure I heard just a moment ago that I was the smartest.”
Rather than resolving the Drunken Demon’s grievance, Geom Mugeuk added another.
“You are drunk, Lord Drunken Demon. How could you be the smartest when Lord Blade Demon, who reads so many books, is here?”
The Drunken Demon looked at Geom Mugeuk with an incredulous expression, then soon drank as though giving up.
“Ah, I’m drunk.”
Even though it had been turned into drunken rambling, the Drunken Demon was in a good mood. At moments like this, it was enjoyable to be able to exchange such jokes.
Geom Mugeuk looked at his father. What did his father hate most?
As far as he knew, he disliked poison arts and also disliked soul-bewitching arts. He disliked assassins as well.
But those were merely general things.
What was it that his father truly hated?
The answer to this problem might lie in that very thing—something he had never once seriously thought about until now.
* * *
Shaaaaaa.
Everyone was beneath the tent, looking at the sudden shower that had begun to fall.
When the rain poured down, the guards of the Heavenly Demon Hall had just finished preparing lunch, so they had paused the fishing for a while and gathered under the tent.
“Fishing in the rain is the best kind of fishing.”
At the Blood Heaven Blade Demon’s words, those who had done some fishing all nodded at once.
Of course, the Fist Demon, the One Flower Sword Venerable, and the Extreme Evil Young Demon did not agree at all, while the Poison King and the Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable, who had newly taken an interest in fishing, only wanted to finish their meal quickly and go back out to fish, rain or no rain.
At present, the Poison King was still first in number caught, and the Blood Heaven Blade Demon was first in fish size.
“This is the first time, isn’t it? All of us gathering like this to eat outdoors.”
At Geom Mugeuk’s words, everyone nodded. Truly, who would have thought a day would come when all the Demon Venerables would gather together in such good spirits and eat while watching the rain fall?
“Father, please accept a cup from your son.”
Geom Mugeuk poured wine for Geom Ujin.
After receiving the wine, Geom Ujin poured for his two sons.
The Demon Venerables shared wine with those seated beside them.
The Drunken Demon first poured wine for the Fist Demon seated next to him.
“It has been a long time since I drank wine like this.”
It truly had been a very long time since the Drunken Demon had shared a drinking table with the Fist Demon.
With his large hand, the Fist Demon filled the Drunken Demon’s cup.
“I drank well the wine you sent through the Young Cult Leader.”
At those words, the Drunken Demon understood. Geom Mugeuk had divided the wine he had given him among the Demon Venerables as gifts. And kindly, he had told them it was wine from him. How could he not like him?
The Blood Heaven Blade Demon shared wine with the One Flower Sword Venerable.
“Are you confident you can win?”
“It would be strange if I couldn’t in this round.”
Now the sight of the two of them together was utterly natural. They did not bother hiding that exchange of feelings. The last journey had brought a great change to their relationship.
The Soul-Capturing Demon Venerable felt pleased to receive wine from the Extreme Evil Young Demon. This feeling was less a romantic sentiment than a kind of admiration.
There was an atmosphere unique to the Extreme Evil Young Demon that he could not feel from Cult Leader Pungcheon or Geom Mugeuk. An atmosphere unique to him that made one think, I want to become someone who gives off this kind of feeling.
The Poison King poured wine for the Demon Buddha.
“Thank you.”
The Poison King knew that when the Demon Buddha had stepped forward earlier and questioned why he had been the first to come out, it had been for his sake.
“The Young Cult Leader is worried. He says you may now have to search not for poisonous herbs, but poisonous fish.”
The Poison King did not deny it and smiled faintly. Then his eyes met Geom Ujin’s, and the way he slightly bowed his head was far more natural than before. It was a great change created by one small pool of water.
Shaaaaaa.
Looking at the falling rain, Geom Ujin said softly,
“How wonderful.”