Chapter 450. The Mad Demon Returns.
“We shall be leaving now.”
The Bald Master, who had finished his meal first, approached. In truth, I had been planning to leave the Murim Alliance first, but the Bald Master was certainly similar in temperament to me.
A disposition that utterly detested commotion.
The Bald Master and the Eighteen Arhats looked at me.
In truth, in my previous life and even in this one, I had yet to call him Master. If we parted like this, it seemed likely it would be difficult to meet him again for some time, so I stood and spoke in a calm tone.
“Please take care on your way. Master.”
At the word Master, the bald head replied.
“Sect Leader, I have taught you nothing. What sort of master am I?”
I stared silently at the Mad Monk.
“I learned a great deal. Those bald Eighteen Arhats are my junior brothers, so that makes you my master.”
Could there be a more pitiful excuse?
But since I was usually on the pitiful side anyway, the Mad Monk laughed it off.
“Sect Leader, when one’s skill reaches the heavens, if one moves too hastily, one may trample a passing swarm of ants. So from time to time, walk slowly and see what flowers you are passing by.”
It was sound advice, so I answered at once.
“Understood.”
“Then let our reunion be at Mount Song.”
The Mad Monk glanced briefly at the Eighteen Arhats, then spoke curtly.
“Let’s go.”
Yeon Guksa, who had taught me many things on the way here, opened his mouth.
“Do I now call the Sect Leader Alliance Leader? Or should I call you Eldest Senior Brother?”
I met Yeon Guksa’s eyes and answered.
“From now on, call me Eldest Senior Brother.”
Yeon Guksa paid his respects to me.
“I will see you again. Eldest Senior Brother.”
“Go on, you gleaming baldies.”
The baldies, who seemed likely to establish themselves as a formidable force on Mount Song, departed all at once, radiating light.
I said to my brothers.
“Let’s go too.”
Now intending to leave as well, I briefly looked around and met Alliance Leader Im’s eyes.
Im Sobaek asked.
“Sect Leader, where is your next journey?”
“I will go to Mount Hua, then return to Ilyang County.”
Im Sobaek smiled faintly.
“Then I shall go to Ilyang County later, so let us meet again there. Take care on your way.”
“Brother.”
“Mm.”
“You have worked hard.”
“You worked harder than I did… Sword Demon and Yukhap, take care as well.”
The Lust Demon, knowing that his master was about to leave, also approached and paid his respects. Perhaps the Sword Demon felt no nagging was needed for the disciple who would become the Murim Alliance Leader, for he spoke briefly.
“See you again.”
“Yes, Master.”
The three of us left the Murim Alliance without exchanging words with anyone else. As we left, I looked briefly for the White-Clad Scholar, but that fellow was nowhere to be seen either.
The three of us walked on, chatting about this and that, when the Ghost Demon brought this up.
“If White-Clad launches a surprise attack, do you think Fourth can stop him?”
Instead, Eldest Brother asked me.
“You would know best. Mongrang’s level seemed to have risen further too. What do you think?”
“His level has risen. And now guards will be sticking close to him too, so White-Clad’s surprise attack will be hard to make work. Unless he lets his guard down completely.”
The Sword Demon said in a low voice.
“White-Clad truly is sinister to the very end. To think he had infiltrated in disguise.”
“He’s someone who wouldn’t be invited, so we should understand. It’s difficult to stop an expert like that even if we try.”
He had probably come out of curiosity.
I stopped walking, then spoke toward the empty space to my left in a voice imbued with internal energy.
“Comrade White-Clad, see you again. Give Senior Cheon-ak my regards.”
From a fair distance away, the White-Clad Scholar’s voice was heard.
“Take care on your way, all of you.”
“Can’t you say greetings like that while showing your face?”
“Well, it is not as though we are on such affectionate terms.”
“That is true.”
I looked at Eldest Brother.
“How is Yoran?”
“In what way? Her training?”
I shook my head.
“No, she isn’t suffering from cold energy yet, is she? I thought it would take a few more years.”
Eldest Brother looked surprised.
“Ah, as it happens, when the Beggars’ Sect leader came, he pointed out Yoran’s condition. He told me to come find him later if she suffered from cold energy.”
“It seems even Senior Divine Beggar can’t predict the timing.”
“It is probably because she is still growing.”
I nodded, then looked at the Sword Demon and Ghost Demon.
“I should make a quick trip, then. I’ll go to Mount Hua and then return to Ilyang County, so I’ll see you later. Eldest Brother, Second.”
This was farewell.
In any case, we were men with places to return to, so we could simply reunite at Ilyang County whenever that might be.
The Ghost Demon said.
“I’ll be earning money around the Zhongnan area. Take care.”
Eldest Brother nodded as well.
“Go on ahead. You have a long way to travel.”
“See you again.”
…As always, I too went my own way.
The reason I had set Ilyang County as my return point was because of Yoran. I simply could not erase the suspicion that she might have learned Fourth’s ice arts too early.
It seemed difficult for Eldest Brother to treat her, so I thought it would be right for me to wait and prepare with my extreme yang internal energy.
Once I had made a plan, my steps grew faster and faster.
The Mad Monk would be heading to Mount Song, the Ghost Demon to Zhongnan, and Eldest Brother to Ilyang County, but I would be the fastest.
Because my footsteps were no longer those of a steel turtle.
The Ground-Shrinking Art (縮地法) of the ancient immortals was probably similar to my current lightness skill. This is what I think of the Ground-Shrinking Art: the reason the term Ground-Shrinking Art has been passed down by word of mouth is because such an art truly existed. That also means that immortals, who can no longer be found today, truly existed in the past.
If I were to gauge the history of martial arts based on that.
Martial arts will grow weaker and weaker as time passes.
Just as the immortals vanished, it is obvious that the people of the jianghu will someday vanish as well. Of course, whether that will be a thousand years from now or two thousand years from now, even I do not know.
If martial arts are destined to weaken and disappear anyway.
Then making people inherit the heart is the right direction.
Because as time passes, martial arts become nothing at all. If so, in the end, perhaps the saying that the chivalrous hero is the strongest is not a saying that applies in my era, but one that applies in an era where martial arts have vanished.
Lost in such thoughts.
When I focused all of my martial arts solely on qinggong.
I crossed an entire mountain, and even fairly wide rivers as if I were stepping over a clothesline.
For a while, no flowers came into view.
When crossing a river I could not possibly clear in one go, I set foot once on a ferryboat in the middle and sprang up again.
Perhaps this was the ancient ground-shrinking art.
When familiar terrain and the flower-lined road I had seen before suddenly entered my sight, I slowed down and walked at an easy pace.
As expected, an inn belonging to the Hao Sect appeared.
Yeonhong Inn.
I deliberately sat outside, watched the people passing by, and occasionally looked inside the inn. The boy who had been wiping down tables inside finally noticed me and came over, tucking the towel into his waistband.
“What can I get……”
The boy’s expression changed at once. He blinked, then continued.
“Sect Leader?”
“It’s been a while. What about the martial academy?”
The boy answered in a proud tone.
“I got kicked out.”
“Why?”
“Because I fought too much.”
“Why did you fight?”
“The hazing was too much. They kept looking down on me because I’m a waiter.”
“I see. I didn’t have high hopes anyway. Let me order.”
Yeonhong appeared from behind him and asked me.
“Sect Leader, what shall I prepare?”
“Same as last time.”
“Noodles, tangcu liji, and Dukang wine. Right?”
The boy looked at Yeonhong and said,
“I’m going to talk to the Sect Leader for a bit. Please prepare it.”
The boy naturally sat across from me and let out a sigh.
“Sect Leader.”
“Why do you sound so desperate?”
“These days, the Jeonghyeop Sect and the Yanguimun have fallen out, so things are really ugly.”
“What does that have to do with you?”
“How could it have nothing to do with me? The warriors of the Jeonghyeop Sect are guests here, and the warriors of the Yanguimun are guests here too. I’m terrified the whole inn will get smashed up. I’m telling you, it wouldn’t be strange if they started cutting each other up in the middle of a meal. I should have learned more martial arts……”
The boy glanced inside the inn, then whispered softly.
“Strangely, because of my sister, those bastards act even prouder here. You know what I mean, right? They keep trying to set some kind of mood here. It’s not as if my sister will like them just because they do that. Pathetic bastards…… I mean.”
The boy sprang to his feet and bowed toward a group of approaching customers.
“Welcome!”
Three customers sat around one table, and when I glanced over, the words Jeonghyeop (正俠) were written on their backs. Judging from the name alone, they ought to be a band of chivalrous men with no match under heaven, but was it their daily routine to come to a mere inn and act imposing?
If that was the case, I thought the Yanguimun would arrive soon as well.
Before long, three men dressed in the same style came walking straight toward Yeonhong Inn, then stopped in front of me and looked down at me.
One of them said to me,
“Would you mind giving up this seat? It’s where we always sit.”
“Hm.”
How in the world was I supposed to react to this? The boy half-rose from his seat and said to the Yanguimun warriors,
“This guest was seated here first. He is quite famous in the jianghu, so please be understanding just for today. I’m sorry.”
“Quite famous in the jianghu? Who might he be? Let us exchange names, then. I am Sin Byeokhwa of the Yanguimun.”
“Gang Heonso of the Yanguimun.”
“I am Ha Giljae of the Yanguimun.”
I nodded a few times, then answered without much thought.
“Hao Sect Leader Yi Jaha.”
Sin Byeokhwa let out a sigh, then picked his ear with a finger.
“Of course you are. You must be the Hao Sect Leader. Yes, naturally.”
Sin Byeokhwa looked at the other two and said,
“He says he’s the Hao Sect Leader. Junior brothers, let’s sit somewhere else today.”
“Let’s do that. We couldn’t possibly dare take the Hao Sect Leader’s seat.”
“Let’s go to that corner over there.”
As the three of them moved away, barking nonsense, I stared blankly at the boy.
“Has someone been going around pretending to be me? What’s with that reaction?”
The boy answered,
“Whenever a fight broke out here or things got noisy, I stopped them by saying Yeonhong Inn belonged to the Hao Sect. Each time, the commotion did die down a bit…… but no one really looked like they believed it. More like, because of your reputation, they figured they should let it slide?”
“So that’s what happened.”
The Jeonghyeop Sect called for the boy.
“Come take our order. What are you doing?”
“Ah, yes.”
As soon as the boy went over to the warriors of the Jeonghyeop Sect, he bowed his head again. The moment he took the Jeonghyeop Sect’s order, the Yanguimun called for him as well.
“Take our order too!”
“Yes, I’m coming.”
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
How on earth had I endured that sort of life as a waiter?
Making money was still difficult, keeping an inn running was difficult, and no matter who it was, living while staying sane seemed difficult.
A world where you had to hold on tightly to your wits to survive.
I rested my chin in my hand and sank into thought, then looked at the Dukang wine, tangcu liji, and noodles being placed on the table.
The boy looked at me and smiled awkwardly.
“Enjoy your meal, Sect Leader.”
“Did you make the noodles again?”
“No. My sister made them.”
“That’s a relief.”
I picked up a piece of tangcu liji with my chopsticks, put it in my mouth, and chewed while looking at the Jeonghyeop Sect and the Yanguimun.
Already, the two forces were occasionally looking at the other side and engaging in a staring contest. I had experienced plenty of this myself, so I knew that fights between men had very simple stages.
A staring contest, a war of words, then each side going about its business.
A staring contest, a war of words, then a real fight.
It was one of the two.
Whether they did or not, the noodles were definitely tastier than the ones I had eaten before.
As I ate the noodles and observed them,
it seemed there was one man in the Jeonghyeop Sect who liked Yeonhong, and another man in the Yanguimun who had set his sights on her.
Otherwise, there was no reason for warriors of the two forces to come here like this and glare at one another.
The boy busily carried food around, and smoke still rose from the direction of the kitchen.
In my eyes, the boy couldn’t throw himself into the jianghu because of his sister.
And his sister, in order to feed her younger brother, seemed to be working hard at cooking while rejecting the courtship of all those men.
Of course, it had been that way before, too.
After drinking a cup of Dukang wine, I stared blankly at the signboard of Yeonhong Inn.
Perhaps because it was a signboard that would soon disappear, it drew my gaze more than a little.
A moment later, Yeonhong approached with a weary look, untied the white band around her forehead, and used it to tie back her hair.
Yeonhong looked at me and silently held out an empty cup.
I poured Dukang wine into it.
Yeonhong bowed her head deeply, then lifted it and filled my empty cup with Dukang wine.
All we had done was pour each other a cup of wine, and yet, no joke, every single guest in the inn was looking this way.
Yeonhong said,
“Sect Leader, making a living is hard.”
Since that was obvious, I merely nodded. Then someone from the Jeonghyeop Sect side spoke.
“Are you really the Hao Sect Leader? I can’t believe it.”
Then Yeonhong’s younger brother also untied the white band around his head, came to sit with me, and held out an empty cup.
In the meantime, someone else spoke to me.
“Answer me. I’m asking if you’re the Hao Sect Leader.”
I had little interest, so I looked at Yeonhong and the boy.
“Are you both very tired?”
The siblings answered at the same time.
“Yes.”
I looked at their expressions, then suggested this.
“Then burn the inn in your hearts and come with me to Huashan. I’ll help you settle down there.”
Yeonhong looked at her younger brother.
“Will you go?”
“I want to. What about you, Noona?”
“Let’s go.”
As we conversed while ignoring everyone around us, the men of the Jeonghyeop Sect and Yangui Sect gathered as if they had formed an alliance and surrounded the three of us.
“Yeonhong, where do you think you’re going?”
“You’re saying you’ll follow this man? Do you think Senior Brother Song will stand for that?”
“Senior Brother Song isn’t the issue. Our Senior Brother Chae…”
Yeonhong slammed her fist down on the table.
“Enough!”
Yeonhong spoke in a trembling voice.
“My brother and I… aren’t slaves. All of you, please know when to stop.”
It looked as though flames were burning in her eyes. She looked at me, moved her lips, then asked,
“Sect Leader, could you teach them a lesson?”
“That would be a bit difficult.”
“Why?”
I looked at Yeonhong and the boy, then said quietly,
“Because if I hit them, I think they’ll die. Do you want to see six corpses?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Then I can’t use my strength carelessly.”
I picked up a piece of sweet-and-sour tenderloin with my chopsticks, put it in my mouth, and said to the younger brother while chewing,
“Go get only the money and come out. I’ll blow it all away.”
“Understood.”
I gestured at the martial artists around us.
“Stop trying to set the mood and all of you back off. Before I drag the Jeonghyeop Sect Leader and the Yangui Sect Leader here by the hair.”
Of staring contests, verbal sparring, and everyone minding their own business, only the staring contest continued.
The boy came running out with a single bundle.
“I’m ready!”
“That’s all? Modest.”
“Yes.”
“You two, watch carefully. It’s time to say farewell to the inn.”
Yeonhong and the boy turned around and looked at Yeonhong Inn. After confirming that there was no one near the inn, I thrust out my left palm and blew the entire inn away.
Until a moment ago, there had been an inn there. Now there was not.
I said to Yeonhong and the boy,
“Eat all the food that’s left. We have a long way to go.”
As if something were terribly sorrowful, Yeonhong and the boy shed tears as large as chicken droppings, grabbed their chopsticks, and began eating the remaining sweet-and-sour tenderloin.
It felt like I was looking at my past self, so laughter came out on its own.
Yeonhong said as she cried,
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because I feel like it.”
I stood and spoke to the martial artists of the Jeonghyeop Sect and Yangui Sect, who were standing there awkwardly.
“If I hear so much as one strange rumor about your two sects, I’ll come and make you disappear from the jianghu, just like that inn that’s gone now. Get lost.”
The six of them vanished without so much as opening their mouths.
I said to the siblings, who had emptied even the remaining Dukang wine,
“Let’s go, to Huashan.”
If they were siblings who had been running an inn this splendidly without any adults around, they were more than qualified to become disciples of Huashan.
What I said to the Fourth, about seeing which of us could better play the role of Alliance Leader, had not been empty words.
Because I had never once failed to keep words I had spoken.
My disciples and I headed for Huashan.
…Most people of the jianghu are mad.
So am I.
Because I was once the Crazy Demon. Perhaps I became the Crazy Demon because I hated living virtuously. But as I walked and thought about it again, it had become difficult for me to live as the Crazy Demon now.
If I taught disciples while still remaining the Crazy Demon.
Wouldn’t my disciples become other Crazy Demons too?
I do not wish for my disciples to live like me. To begin with, becoming the greatest under heaven is difficult to achieve through one’s insight or training alone. No matter how outstanding the master who teaches you may be, becoming the greatest under heaven is a separate matter of fate.
That is why I have no great expectations for my disciples.
Because what matters is teaching and caring for them, not that they must necessarily become the greatest under heaven.
As I thought these thoughts, I could not help feeling bitter on the way to Huashan.
Because casting aside madness.
Means becoming an adult now.
Perhaps I had never, even for a single moment, wanted to become an adult until now. But in order to teach disciples, I had no choice but to become one.
It was enough to drive me mad, having to give up being the Crazy Demon because of my disciples.
If this happens, what will become of the rest of my life?
I have no worthy opponents.
I have to pretend to be a solemn and serious grandmaster at Huashan.
That Lust Demon bastard, too, will have no choice but to pretend to be an adult if he wants to be the Wulin Alliance Leader.
But the same goes for me.
Will the interesting things in my life now disappear one by one?
Is this why the immortals of old ascended?
Simply because they had nothing to do and were bored.
How long and winding a road have I traveled, only to face the moment when I must set my madness down?
It is painful, and sorrowful.
In that sense, I offer my respect and courtesy to true adults like Brother Sobaek.
...As we walked, my disciple must have noticed my melancholy, for he asked me this.
“But Sect Leader, you are the sect leader of Haomun, so don’t you have a sobriquet of your own? All famous people of the jianghu have one.”
I stopped walking and answered.
“I do.”
“What is it?”
As I looked at the Yeonhong siblings, I went through internal conflict about eighteen times before answering naturally.
“Mad Demon (狂魔).”
“Pardon?”
“I said, Mad Demon.”
“Ah, understood.”
“The younger brother of the former Alliance Leader, the elder brother of the current Murim Alliance Leader, and the sect leader of Haomun. The man who defeated the Cult Leader. The one-man Alliance Leader of the Cheonha Alliance, the third master of Jang Yoran, your eldest senior sister, the fourth calamity to appear in the jianghu, the eldest senior brother of bald men though his own hair remains intact, the eldest senior brother of the Twelve Divine Generals and lay disciple of Monk Gwanghae, the subject of scholars’ research, name: I Jaha, affiliation: Haomun. A former waiter, a master of the sickle, a man who feels nothing even at the sight of the sea, the greatest under heaven, invincible—more than any of those things……”
“Yes.”
I had gone this way and that, but in the end, my essence remained unchanged.
“Mad Demon. That is me.”
...Return of the Mad Demon (狂魔回歸), Complete (完結).
Hello. This is Yu Jinseong.
I have brought Return of the Mad Demon, which I held onto for a long time, to its conclusion. As I thought about how best to finish it well, I found I could not simply write on and on as my heart wished. I believed that ending it well was more important than allowing mistakes to pile up.
When I once resolved that I would become an author someday, darkness surrounded me on every side. To all the readers who led me toward the light from within that darkness, I offer my thanks.
This Return of the Mad Demon was truly special to me as well.
Respectfully, Yu Jinseong.