Chapter 137 - This Is Why I Wanted to Come

In the silence that followed, the Drunken Demon realized something.

“Did you already know?”

“I suspected that might be the case. The brother I know isn't the sort to send you a broken liquor bottle.”

“I thought you two didn't get along?”

“Don't we tend to know more about the people we dislike than the people we're close to?”

After staring at me, the Drunken Demon sprang to his feet.

“Ah, the liquor's going to my head.”

Then he threw himself straight into the lake.

“You ought to break that habit of swimming after drinking, too!”

Despite my concern, the Drunken Demon was a good swimmer. More than his skill, though, he knew how to enjoy himself in the water. He dove under, floated on his back gazing at the sky, sped off into the distance and came back, and even leaped like a dolphin before plunging back in.

After thoroughly enjoying his swim, he climbed back into the rowboat.

“Now I'm finally sobering up a little.”

With that, he started drinking again.

“You went to all that trouble to sober up, and now you're drinking again?”

“Wasn't drinking again the whole point of sobering up?”

I shouted to Yeo Bin, who stood on the distant lakeshore.

“Please bring us something to eat!”

As though she'd been waiting for the request, Yeo Bin brought food over in a rowboat. Apparently, she'd prepared some and given it to him earlier, but the Drunken Demon had brought only the liquor. After handing us the food, she gave me a slight bow of thanks as she left.

“Please get into the habit of eating while you drink.”

“I've gone my whole life without doing it. Do you think it's that easy?”

“How can you go through life doing only what you want? Some things have to be done even if you don't like them.”

“Why are you so concerned about my health?”

I picked up a morsel with my chopsticks. It was warm. Apparently, she'd kept the food heated so she could bring it over at any moment.

“Do you think I'm the only one looking out for you? Here, eat.”

The Drunken Demon reluctantly ate as well.

After drinking together, we looked up at the night sky.

“Ah, this is wonderful!”

He was right—it really was wonderful. Floating on the lake, drinking beneath the stars, I had no reason to envy even an immortal.

Reclining as he gazed at the stars, the Drunken Demon said,

“My dream is to spend my days drinking and idling away. If war breaks out between the demonic and orthodox factions, this lake could turn crimson with blood. How would I sober up then?”

The signature weapon hanging at the Drunken Demon's waist was called Blood Tears. He was saying all this while wearing a weapon named for tears of blood.

“Do you mean that?”

“I do. I want to live like this until the day I die.”

“Is that really why you want to become one of my people?”

“It is.”

“Then prove it.”

“How?”

“Make peace with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.”

The Drunken Demon flinched, apparently caught off guard by the proposal.

“I'm serious, too. From now on, you'll need to make an effort to become one of my people. If you make peace with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon and maintain a good relationship with the Wicked Laughing Demon...”

I drained the remaining liquor in one satisfying swallow and told him,

“I'll agree to call you my brother.”

Silence fell again.

After staring at me for a while, the Drunken Demon finally spoke.

“You truly are unpredictable.”

“You're the unpredictable one, Drunken Demon. You're surrounded by all sorts of preconceptions. I'm being perfectly reasonable. We're exchanging what I want for what you want.”

After taking a hearty drink, I set down the bottle and asked,

“Were you joking when you suggested we call each other brothers?”

“I wasn't joking.”

“We're talking about forming a bond of brotherhood. Surely you ought to show at least this much sincerity. I need to see that you're doing something you really hate for my sake. That you're doing it even though you truly don't want to. Eating while you drink, making peace. Anyone can say anything. With words alone, I could even sweet-talk the Martial Alliance Leader into taking my side.”

“You might actually manage it.”

I gave a hollow laugh, and the Drunken Demon drank.

“It's not that I don't want to make peace.”

“Then what is it?”

“Making peace with the Blood Heaven Saber Demon is impossible to begin with. Have you ever seen oil and water mix?”

“You don't need to mix. Just floating together is enough.”

“What if someone sets it on fire?”

“Then it burns. If you really don't like that, be the water. Let the Saber Demon be the oil. He's a fiery man anyway, so let him be the oil.”

He laughed at almost any joke, but not this time. He looked deeply reluctant.

Judging by how he treated me, I'd have thought he could at least put on a smile and humor the Blood Heaven Saber Demon.

I understood why the Blood Heaven Saber Demon disliked him. He'd always hated people who drank and made drunken scenes.

But why did the Drunken Demon find making peace such a burden?

“You have another reason for approaching me, don't you? Cut the crap about peace in the martial world and tell me the real reason.”

He might have grown angry at my harsh words, but the Drunken Demon merely continued drinking, his eyes clouded with intoxication.

“My own brother is all I need of this sort of brotherhood.”

I leaped over to the rowboat I'd arrived in.

He might have tried to stop me from leaving like this, but he never said a word. As I brought my boat to shore, I looked back at him. The Drunken Demon was drinking alone beneath the moonlight.

* * *

At dawn the next day, I quietly left the Cult.

I left Seo Daeryong a letter telling him I'd be away for a few days.

Ever since the Wind God's Four Steps reached the eighth level, I'd been itching to move and couldn't sit still. I tossed and turned all night, wanting to fight someone powerful, but even stronger was my desire to run.

I knew I had to manage this desire properly. An art of the highest order like the Wind God's Four Steps demanded particular care.

Mishandling such urges sometimes led to qi deviation, or to death in a reckless fight. It often happened when someone learned a martial art beyond their capacity to handle.

Once I was clear of the Cult, I began running with Swift Step. My speed was truly frightening. I didn't even need a mask to keep anyone from recognizing me.

I was so fast that no one could tell who I was—or even whether what had just passed was a person, a bird, or an illusion. That was the kind of speed I reached. I'd been fast at the seventh level, but this was something else entirely.

Normally, such speed was possible only somewhere completely open, like a plain.

But the route I was running had obstacles. There were moving carriages and people passing by, trees and rocks.

Thanks to the New Eye Procedure, however, I could run at this speed on any road.

Moreover, reaching the eighth level had actually reduced my internal energy consumption. I could now use the art more efficiently.

I ran until my internal energy was exhausted, then circulated my qi and regulated my breathing before running again. Never in my life had I enjoyed running so much. Perhaps it was all the more exhilarating because I was heading toward people I wanted to see.

* * *

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader and Go Wol sat in a bustling tavern. Several people came to their table at intervals, reported something, and left. There were men and women, young and old.

After each visit, Go Wol recorded something on paper.

“Why write everything down so meticulously? He'll know you're working even without hearing from you.”

Ignoring the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's words, Go Wol continued composing his message. It was addressed to Geom Mugeuk.

On Geom Mugeuk's orders, Go Wol was engrossed in building an intelligence network in the Central Plains. With the Wind Heaven Cult Leader accompanying him, the work was proceeding smoothly.

As they worked, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader found himself impressed anew by Go Wol's abilities. He was building an organization that operated differently from the existing Heaven-Reaching Pavilion, yet could be merged with it later. He was planning as far ahead as the day Geom Mugeuk became cult leader.

That made the work more difficult, but the Wind Heaven Cult Leader made the process easier.

With the two of them joining forces, everything progressed by leaps and bounds. Of course, Go Wol had to put up with the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's complaints.

“Send those for a hundred days and see if the Second Young Master replies even once.”

“This is a report. Who replies to reports?”

“Why shouldn't he? If he cared, he would. Didn't I tell you? We'd end up as that cult leader and those shackles from back then. Just look at us. That's exactly what we've become. Out here in foreign parts, suffering every hardship imaginable.”

“Eating all the finest delicacies each region has to offer. Sightseeing whenever we have time. Such hardship.”

“Leaving home is always a hardship!”

“And where exactly is your home?”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader flinched. Go Wol looked up from his writing at him.

“The Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon isn't your home, is it? Your home is here in the Central Plains. Weren't you forever going on about expanding into the Central Plains? Take a good look around as we travel. You'll have to build your home somewhere here. Keep your eyes open!”

With nothing to say in reply, the Wind Heaven Cult Leader turned his barbs on Geom Mugeuk again.

“Hmph! Yes, I'll have to build a home. The Second Young Master will have forgotten us. If he sees us at the Cult later, he'll probably feel a pang inside. Oh! Right. Among all my countless subordinates, there was that bumbling cult leader from beyond the frontiers and that fellow in shackles. Ah, what was that shackled fellow's name again? However much someone insists he's different, people's hearts are all much the same.”

“Cult Leader.”

“What?”

“To someone, we're all that cult leader or that shackled fellow from back then. Only people like the Second Young Master are special to everyone. The rest of us live with being overlooked now and then. Besides, being special is tiring. This sort of life suits you better.”

“You're looking down on me again, aren't you? Again!”

Pretending not to hear, Go Wol returned his attention to his writing.

“You used to stare blankly at the Thunderous Sound Bell all day and move at a snail's pace. Look how industrious you've become. What do you like so much about the Second Young Master that you're going to all this trouble?”

“Then what do you like so much about me that you followed me all the way here to suffer?”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader had no answer.

“It's the same for me. Why do I need a particular reason to explain it? I simply like him. And you're next after the Second Young Master, so don't feel too disappointed.”

“Hmph! There are only two people around you. If I'm second, doesn't that make me last?”

“You noticed?”

“You lunatic!”

Go Wol laughed, and the Wind Heaven Cult Leader joined him.

These conversations were a pleasure for them both. They repeated the same stories again and again, badmouthed Geom Mugeuk, talked about the old days, then discussed what the future might bring. Every day, they told the same stories over and over.

“This is proof of real friendship. You can repeat yourself again and again, and still comfortably talk and listen. You can't have these conversations with the Second Young Master, can you? It's awkward, isn't it? That proves you're not close to him. Actually, he's so busy going around showing off that he doesn't even have time to listen to you, does he?”

Just then, someone spoke unexpectedly from behind the Wind Heaven Cult Leader.

“So you kept calling me ‘Second Young Master’ to the very end.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader turned in surprise to find me standing there, smiling.

“You meant you'd keep badmouthing me to the very end.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader and Go Wol sprang to their feet in astonishment.

“Second Young Master, sir!”

“Second Young Master!”

Still smiling, I told the Wind Heaven Cult Leader,

“This is why I wanted to come.”

“Hmph! Did I say anything that wasn't true? What are you going to do about it?”

Seeing him unchanged, my first feeling was delight.

The place I'd raced to like a madman was where the two of them were working. Their regular messages told me where they were and how their work was progressing, which was how I'd been able to find them.

I caught up with them both.

To my surprise, Go Wol already knew about my dealings with the Wicked Laughing Demon and the Drunken Demon, and even about my brother's contact with the Fist Demon and the Poison King.

Clearly, he'd already established a solid intelligence network within the Cult. His external network was also expanding rapidly throughout the Central Plains.

“How are the funds holding up?”

“They're almost gone.”

Hiring capable people and establishing a network cost a truly enormous amount. Go Wol had left with one million two hundred thousand taels, and he was already nearing the bottom of his coffers. The initial cost of setting up the organization was that high.

“I'll send additional funds soon.”

“Yes, sir!”

Thanks to the money I'd received from Golden Manor, I still had sufficient funds, but I'd need to earn more if I wanted to operate the Ghost Shadow Squad as well.

Just then, my eyes met the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's. He flinched.

“Why look at me while you're talking about running out of money?”

“Because it's been a while, and I'm happy to see you. Why? Am I not allowed to look?”

“It feels like silent pressure to lend you money! Yes, that's the look. That exact look! The sly look you gave me when you were after my sacred relics. Not a chance. No, you aren't getting my money!”

I burst out laughing.

“That sacred relic saved my life.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader was startled.

“Really?”

“Yes. I survived thanks to the supreme-grade heavenly silkworm silk.”

“Ah!”

Joy flickered across the Wind Heaven Cult Leader's face. He might grumble, but the affection in his eyes was incomparably greater than before.

Cult Leader, never mind the money. Let's just keep going like this. I know very well what you sacrificed to come this far. I'm grateful enough simply to have you at Go Wol's side.

“Now that I've seen you, I'd better head back. I need to return by the morning after tomorrow.”

“The morning after tomorrow? What are you talking about? Do you know how far it is?”

“I got here in two days. I'm hoping to shorten the return trip.”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader looked incredulous, then seized the opportunity to address Go Wol.

“See? That's your Second Young Master's true nature. Didn't I tell you before that he was a braggart? Now do you see what a good judge of character I am? Will you still look down on me?”

Go Wol quietly replied,

“Is it really a boast?”

His face held unwavering faith in me.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader raised his voice.

“Of course it is! Even running without rest, it would take ten days to reach the Cult from here. Even if I ran there myself!”

“You're slow because you've put on weight.”

“What? You've never seen me run, have you? I'm the Wind Heaven Cult Leader!”

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader challenged me.

“Two days? If you reach the Divine Cult of the Heavenly Demon's headquarters within two days, I'll give you a million taels. How about it? Let's wager a million taels. You wouldn't dare, would you?”

He radiated triumphant confidence. He considered it utterly impossible.

“Let's make that bet.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Surely you aren't trying to give me money in gratitude because the supreme-grade heavenly silkworm silk saved your life? You needn't do that. I have plenty of money.”

“I'm grateful, but I can't afford to give you money on top of that. As you know, my expenses are considerable right now.”

“Good, then it's a bet! I'll warn you now: I won't return a single coin. Crying poverty afterward won't help!”

“That's my line. No saying it was money for medicine, or your retirement savings, or anything of the sort.”

“I told you, I have plenty of money! I'm the former Wind Heaven Cult Leader!”

“Very well. When I arrive, I'll send you an official message from the Cult. It'll bear the date, and when you visit the Cult later, you'll be able to confirm when I arrived.”

“Don't worry. I have someone who can verify your arrival date. Don't forget, Second Young Master. One million taels.”

Smiling, I rose from my seat.

“I know how hard you both are working for me. I'm always grateful. I'll see you later, then.”

As I turned to leave, Go Wol remarked casually,

“Congratulations in advance on your million taels.”

“Thank you.”

Behind me, I heard the Wind Heaven Cult Leader grumbling.

“What are you talking about? You should be cheering for me! Keep that up, and even when I get a million taels from the Second Young Master, you won't see a single coin!”

After bidding them farewell, I started running toward the Cult again.

The more I ran, the more accustomed to it I became, and I pushed my speed higher still. With every stretch I ran, I grew faster and felt a greater sense of freedom. I also felt an intense desire to achieve complete mastery.

Two days later, I was at the Cult, writing a message.

[Wind Heaven Cult Leader, I'll put the million taels to good use. Thank you, as always. Ah, and if you're still dissatisfied, perhaps another round, with a day and a half this time...]