Chapter 128 - If You Could Ask Just One Question

Seo Daeryong was leading Jang Ho to the Merry Life Tavern.

“Didn't we agree to resume our drinking gatherings once Warrior Yi returned?”

“We did.”

“Then why are we going drinking?”

The workday wasn't even over, yet Seo Daeryong insisted he had to come, practically dragging him along. Since nothing like this had ever happened before, Jang Ho went along without protest.

Their drinking gatherings had stopped in Yi An's absence, but before that, the two men had talked about all sorts of things. Their first gathering alone had been awkward and uncomfortable, yet by the last one, they had grown fairly close.

“There's someone I'd like to introduce to you today, Commander Jang.”

“Who?”

“You'll see when we get there. This person is important to me, so I really want you to meet.”

“Very well.”

For some reason, Jang Ho detected a boyish mischievousness in Seo Daeryong's expression. But Seo Daeryong had never played a prank on him in all their time together, so he couldn't imagine what sort of gathering this would be.

The two entered the Merry Life Tavern, where its owner, Jo Chunbae, greeted them warmly.

“Ah, it's been a while. If I'd known you two were coming, I'd have kept your table free.”

A veiled woman sat with her back to them at their usual table on the second floor.

“That's quite all right.”

Seo Daeryong took Jang Ho upstairs to the woman's table. She had already ordered liquor and a few simple dishes to accompany it, but her veil prevented him from making out her face.

Only when Seo Daeryong sat across from her did Jang Ho realize that she was the person he wanted to introduce.

'Is this the woman the Second Young Master mentioned?'

He had seen the Second Young Master tease Seo Daeryong about a junior colleague he liked. But if she was an investigator from Yellow Springs Pavilion, surely she wouldn't meet him wearing a veil? Especially at an introduction like this.

As Jang Ho silently wondered, the veiled woman greeted him first.

“I've heard a great deal about you, Commander Jang.”

Of course, she was Yi An. Once again, she had disguised her voice.

That was when Jang Ho recognized her.

“Warrior Yi?”

Both Yi An and Seo Daeryong were startled.

“How did you know it was me?”

Jang Ho hesitated briefly at her question, then spoke quietly.

“I'm extremely sensitive to sound. I'm good at remembering and recognizing the distinctive qualities of people's voices and intonations. No matter how someone disguises a voice I've heard often, I can identify the original.”

“Oh!”

Yi An and Seo Daeryong exclaimed in unison.

“That sensitivity to sound was also a great help in martial training and actual combat. It's part of what allowed me to become Demon Army commander. This is the first time I've told anyone.”

Seo Daeryong had also been the first person he told about his childhood dream of becoming a painter.

When Jang Ho first joined these drinking gatherings, he had never imagined he would share his personal history here. He had initially thought it couldn't hurt to befriend people close to Geom Mugeuk. Now he found himself telling these two all manner of things.

Yi An removed her veil.

“It's been a while, Commander Jang.”

“Welcome back, Warrior Yi.”

Jang Ho welcomed her warmly. Watching him, Seo Daeryong was inwardly impressed. Yi An's beauty hadn't shaken Jang Ho in the slightest. In contrast, hadn't he himself made every conceivable fuss?

'How can he be like that?'

He was even worried that Yi An might feel embarrassed.

Of course, she didn't mind at all. In fact, she seemed more comfortable because Jang Ho treated her just as he always had.

“All right, everything's on me today. Order whatever you like!”

The three talked about a great many things.

Yi An was unquestionably the star of the day. She told them everything: how difficult it had been to undergo the Bodily Toxin Purification Procedure, what had happened on her travels, and how much she'd enjoyed the first wedding she'd ever attended.

Seo Daeryong and Jang Ho listened and chimed in.

When she briefly stepped away, Seo Daeryong asked Jang Ho a question.

“Commander Jang, isn't Warrior Yi's transformation astonishing?”

“It is. She's become very beautiful.”

“Is that all?”

“Pardon? Is something else required?”

“No, but you don't seem very surprised. I even suspected you'd already met her and were playing a joke on me.”

“Certainly not. Nothing of the sort.”

Seo Daeryong lowered his voice and said insinuatingly,

“Then there's no need to hold back. It's just us.”

She's pretty, isn't she? Please, just say she's pretty! Those feelings were written so plainly on Seo Daeryong's face that Jang Ho finally laughed. They had grown close enough for “us” to come naturally.

“I hope this doesn't offend Warrior Yi, but I place no importance on people's looks. Perhaps the scar on my face makes me feel that way all the more. Part of me thinks, who am I to judge anyone with a face like this?”

At Jang Ho's candid words, Seo Daeryong shared something he had always thought.

“That scar of yours looks impressive, Commander Jang.”

“Impressive? It's ugly.”

“No, it's impressive. Truly. Sell it to me!”

Without hesitation, Jang Ho moved to draw his dagger.

“I can give you one just like it.”

Startled, Seo Daeryong stopped him.

“What are you doing?”

“Then be honest. Say it's ugly.”

“It's impressive because there's a story behind it. I'm offering to buy the story too.”

“There's no grand story. I was injured fighting enemies.”

“For a martial artist, that is a grand story. I don't want to get scarred by a friend's dagger while we're drinking.”

Seo Daeryong hadn't realized that he'd used the word “friend.”

“Let's have a drink.”

Jang Ho raised his cup.

Whatever Seo Daeryong thought, Jang Ho felt at ease here. He maintained an impeccably composed demeanor before the Demon Army soldiers, but only here could he finally relax and feel he was getting some rest.

Just then, Yi An returned.

“Where was I?”

Jang Ho said to her,

“The night is long, Warrior Yi. You can start over from the beginning.”

* * *

Meanwhile, I was meeting with the Single Flower Sword Supreme. And she told me something unexpected.

“I know the Drunken Demon well.”

To my surprise, she was on friendly terms with him.

“We have a drink now and then. We drank together just a few days ago.”

“Just a few days ago?”

“He sometimes comes to see me for a drink.”

It was difficult to picture at first, but on reflection, it was only natural that the Eight Demon Supremes, who held such power, had their own relationships with one another.

“What sort of person is the Drunken Demon?”

“Someone who's pleasant to drink with.”

The Single Flower Sword Supreme's appraisal was generous—the exact opposite of the Wicked Laughing Demon's.

“When did you become close?”

“I'm not sure myself. When was it? It's been quite a while, I think. We simply grew close over drinks.”

“What's his personality like?”

“Easygoing.”

If he really were easygoing, the Wicked Laughing Demon would never have described him that way. In other words, the Drunken Demon showed entirely different sides of himself depending on whom he was with.

“Could a Demon Supreme really be easygoing? He must be hiding his claws.”

“Perhaps. But why did you ask about him?”

“One of his people caused trouble recently. Yellow Springs Pavilion has locked the man up, but I thought the Drunken Demon might make a move.”

“And you're not planning to use that as a pretext to make a move yourself?”

“As perceptive as ever. The Drunken Demon is the only one who hasn't decided where he stands between my brother and me.”

The Single Flower Sword Supreme gazed steadily at me, then smiled.

“I haven't decided where I stand either. I haven't yet decided to take your side, Second Young Master.”

How could I not know that was how she felt? That was precisely why I responded with exaggerated dismay.

“Oh! And here I was, absolutely convinced you were on my side!”

“Of course I'm fond of you, my dear Second Young Master. Frankly, even comparing you to the First Young Master is absurd. But friendship is a private matter, while the succession is a public one, isn't it?”

“I understand.”

“That doesn't mean I'm choosing the First Young Master either, so don't feel hurt.”

“I would never feel hurt by you, Sword Supreme. No, I couldn't.”

“Why is that?”

“Do you remember what I said when we met before? I all but pestered you to prove that you could be more useful to me than the venerable Saber Demon.”

The Single Flower Sword Supreme smiled faintly. Her expression said she remembered it all.

“Now it's your turn, Senior. This is where you tell me, ‘Prove that you can be more useful to me than the First Young Master!’”

The very fact that she hadn't responded that way was proof of her goodwill toward me.

“I told you then that I despise people who try to win the hearts of their subordinates or juniors for nothing, with dreams, ideals, loyalty... things like that. I have no intention of winning your heart that way either, Senior. I'll have to fulfill your wishes wherever possible, while also showing you that I have the qualities of a Heavenly Demon.”

A flicker of admiration crossed her face at my words.

“Just as I thought! I've chosen my sparring partner well.”

Her mention of sparring at that moment meant it was among the things she wanted. She still had a yearning to grow stronger.

“I look forward to the day we spar again.”

* * *

After meeting the Single Flower Sword Supreme, I returned to my residence.

Go Wol, who had been staying with me, wasn't home. He had left the Cult to carry out my order to create an intelligence organization like Heaven-Reaching Pavilion.

Several letters from him had arrived at my residence. They reported that he was traveling throughout the Central Plains, using the money I'd given him to build an organizational network.

I wasn't worried about him. As though to prove he wasn't someone who would give me cause for worry, he had gone with the Wind Heaven Cult Leader. I couldn't help smiling as I imagined the pair bickering while carrying out the task together.

Yi An stopped by briefly that night. I'd expected her to arrive thoroughly tipsy, but she wasn't as drunk as I'd thought she would be.

“I talked so much that I've sobered up completely.”

“Did you enjoy yourself?”

“They say a journey isn't about leaving, but returning. Now that I've talked their ears off, I feel as though my journey is complete.”

Whether it was because her conception and governing meridians had been opened or because she'd gained some insight on this trip, she felt distinctly different from before we'd left the Cult.

“I made a resolution while we were traveling. I feel a little awkward saying it, as though I'm full of myself, but since I've brought it up, I'll tell you. All that excessive attention felt good, but it was also a heavy burden. And I concluded that the only way to free myself of that burden was to become truly strong.”

Yi An was ready to throw herself into rigorous training again. With this much effort, I believed she would accomplish something in the end, whatever it might be.

“But I won't just shut myself away in the training grounds. I'll read plenty of books like the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, and meet people too. I won't just strengthen my martial arts—I'll become stronger as a person. That's how I'll be able to make Blue Face and Seo Jin my team leaders, isn't it? They won't come to me simply because my martial arts are powerful.”

I believed she would become a true master, because that was where her efforts were leading her.

In martial arts, talent and effort mattered. Which art you learned mattered, and so did who your master was. Experience in real combat mattered too.

But once her martial arts, straining toward their limits, surpassed a certain level, she would realize what I had:

At the pinnacle of martial learning, the struggle ultimately came down to what sort of person you were.

I considered meeting and persuading the Demon Supremes part of the process of becoming stronger. Even my efforts to stop the Ghost Adept's marriage had been part of that process.

Understanding another person completely was nearly impossible. But I had finally realized that the more broadly I understood people and the world, the closer I came to the essence of martial arts.

“I'll be going, then. I've sobered up completely, but my head is still throbbing.”

As she turned to leave, I called to her.

“Yi An.”

“Yes?”

“Suppose you were drinking with the Drunken Demon.”

“With the Drunken Demon Supreme? Out of the blue?”

“You're no slouch in the world of drunkards yourself, are you?”

“That's true.”

“You want to find out what sort of person he is, but you can ask just one question. What would you ask?”

Yi An seemed to ponder it carefully, then came up with a question.

“He must have drunk an awful lot of liquor over the years. In that case, I'd ask him this.”

As though the Drunken Demon were standing before her, Yi An asked,

“When did you have the best-tasting drink of your life, and who were you with?”