Chapter 189 - I Have Been to That Island Too

The Fist Demon's body was perfect.

His face looked like a fiend's, but his body was a work of art.

His bulging muscles were large and thick, yet they did not look unwieldy. Forged through grueling training and perilous battles, his diamond-hard physique intimidated people merely by its appearance.

There were fewer scars on his body than I had expected, but one long sword scar across his chest stood out. If anything, it made his body look even more impressive.

His body seemed to declare:

This is the body of a fist fighter who has reached the ultimate heights.

Could I withstand the pressure of that body charging toward me? Could I endure the destructive force of those enormous fists flying at me? Could my sword truly protect me from that body?

I was genuinely awestruck. At my reaction, a faint hint of pleasure crossed the Fist Demon's face.

He must have heard countless compliments on his physique, and surely knew how impressive it was himself. So I asked something else.

"What would I have to do to build a body like that?"

"Building a body like this would interfere with your swordsmanship, wouldn't it?"

There was a clear difference between a swordsman's body and a fist fighter's, after all.

"Then I'll have to train in a way that strengthens my swordsmanship while building up my body."

"Then you should move your body rather than your mouth."

The Fist Demon began practicing his fist arts.

Honestly, I had assumed he wouldn't train even if he joined the group. Training couldn't be his reason for joining.

Yet he began training in earnest. He performed the Black Fists' arts as though inviting me to watch and learn.

With him stripped down, I couldn't just stand there. I took off my upper garment too, stood beside him, and began performing the moves.

Using the New Eye Procedure, I scrutinized his body, comparing his muscles to mine as we performed the same movements.

How were they different, and why?

Understanding those differences would be the greatest lesson I could gain.

Yi An and Cheon Sohui watched the Fist Demon and me perform our moves in perfect unison.

I couldn't know for certain, but at least in her heart, Cheon Sohui probably wanted to throw off her clothes and join us. That was how fiercely the fire burned within her too.

Yi An and Cheon Sohui began training as well.

The Late-Night Training Group. The name alone might suggest a social gathering for slackers, but all four members were burning with passion. And so our training was more fiery than any other.

The wind stirred by the Fist Demon's punches sounded different from mine. Naturally, his sounded better. How did he produce a sound so weighty yet so crisp? Listening to his fists put my mind at ease and lifted my spirits.

I had fallen in love with fist arts for their own sake. Ever since I heard him say he wanted to bring down that cliff, I had approached him without any ulterior motive or agenda. I simply wanted to learn his fist arts.

Perhaps he had sensed that sincerity, and that was why he was here with us tonight.

Once training ended, I gave the Fist Demon a piece of news.

"Tomorrow, we'll meet in Demon Family Village."

"In Demon Family Village?"

"Tomorrow we're holding a welcoming party for you, Fist Demon. A party for our new member."

The Fist Demon was taken aback. Then he shot me a look even fiercer than when I'd demanded he teach me his exclusive martial art to join the group.

A welcoming party for me? And you call me a new member? Are you out of your mind?

He had probably never experienced anything like this in his life.

"Assemble outside Merry Life Tavern at the usual time. That's all. Dismissed!"

I held firm under his glare, giving him a look that said, If you don't like it, you can quit.

The Fist Demon snorted and left.

After watching him walk away, I turned around and started.

Yi An and Cheon Sohui stood side by side, glaring fiercely at me. Apparently, the Fist Demon wasn't the only one unhappy about tomorrow's party.

Yi An raised her voice.

"Are you seriously doing this? How are we supposed to get a drink down with him there?"

"It might be more fun than you expect."

Suddenly, Cheon Sohui put a hand to her forehead.

"Oh! I think I'm running a fever. I'll probably have to miss tomorrow."

Yi An chimed in.

"Oh! That's right. I have plans tomorrow. I'd forgotten."

I smiled at the two women.

"You think that'll work? All right, see you at Merry Life Tavern tomorrow!"

And so ended the Fist Demon's first night with the Late-Night Training Group.

* * *

The following night.

Jo Chunbae, the owner of Merry Life Tavern, yawned so widely his mouth seemed ready to split.

Business was unusually slow that day. He was nodding off beside the counter, wondering whether to close early, when someone approached.

Woken by the presence, he recoiled in terror.

"Aagh!"

He screamed and fell backward.

A terrifying demon stood before him. Assuming his half-asleep mind was playing tricks on him, he got up from the floor—and froze stiff.

It wasn't a demon, but a man. Never in his life had he seen anyone so frightening. The man's forearms were thicker than his thighs.

Then he heard a familiar voice.

"It's been a while, proprietor."

Geom Mugeuk emerged from behind the man.

"Pavilion Master!"

He truly felt as though he'd been brought back from the brink of death.

"This is the Cult's Fist Demon. Pay your respects."

Jo Chunbae's eyes widened at the title. He had heard all sorts of rumors about the Fist Demon, but this was his first time seeing him in person.

"I failed to recognize such an honored guest and behaved rudely in my drowsiness. Please forgive me!"

Jo Chunbae bent almost double at the waist.

At that moment, the record was broken. Of all the Demon Supremes who had visited as customers, the Fist Demon was now the most frightening.

Yi An followed them inside and greeted him warmly.

"Hello."

Jo Chunbae's face brightened. Seeing Yi An, who always greeted him so cheerfully, never failed to lift his mood. With her standing beside the Fist Demon, it truly felt as though two polar opposites stood together.

Everyone but Geom Mugeuk went ahead upstairs to their usual table.

"How's business these days?"

"Very good, thanks to you. I heard you've been training in fist arts lately, Pavilion Master. It seems the rumors were true."

"So you've heard too."

"Anyone who hasn't heard by now must be a spy. No, actually, a spy would have been the first to hear and report it to the Orthodox Martial Alliance."

Geom Mugeuk laughed along with Jo Chunbae's joke.

Unlike the cheerful atmosphere downstairs, the second floor was solemn.

Yi An and Cheon Sohui were watching the Fist Demon's mood. Cheon Sohui in particular was frozen stiff. Far from quitting the group, she had even been caught suggesting they secretly keep calling each other senior brother and junior sister.

'My chance of becoming the next Fist Demon really is gone!'

Trying to break the awkward silence, Yi An asked the Fist Demon a question.

"Have you been here before?"

He looked at her.

'Does that question really warrant such a terrifying look?'

Had the Fist Demon known what she was thinking, he would have felt sorely wronged. He had merely looked at her, yet she thought he was glaring menacingly.

"Tell them to bring the liquor."

"Yes! I'll fetch it!"

At his words, Cheon Sohui sprang to her feet and hurried downstairs.

Now only the Fist Demon and Yi An remained upstairs.

"It really was a surprise. I never expected you to join our group."

What Yi An really wanted to ask was this:

Did you truly join because you want to fight the Young Master?

Instead of answering, the Fist Demon asked her a question.

"Aren't you afraid of me?"

"I am."

"You don't seem frightened at all."

"If that's how I seem, it must be because of the Young Master."

"What does the Second Young Master have to do with it?"

"If you truly posed a danger to me, he would never leave me alone with you. You wouldn't have been allowed into the group in the first place."

The Fist Demon looked toward Geom Mugeuk, who stood at the counter downstairs.

"The greater the trust, the greater the hurt."

Yi An thought that if she had heard those words with her eyes closed, she would never have guessed the Fist Demon had spoken them. Both the sentiment and his gentle tone were so unexpected. It occurred to her that she might have misunderstood certain things about him.

"I don't think men understand women very well. Women know everything. We only choose whether to pretend we don't and let ourselves get hurt, or run away before it happens."

"So? Are you the sort who pretends not to know and lets herself get hurt?"

"I'm actually more shrewd than I look, so I usually run away beforehand. The Young Master would be my one exception."

"Misplaced trust brings misfortune."

"What a shame. I'll never get to experience that."

Yi An's trust in Geom Mugeuk was absolute.

Just then, Geom Mugeuk and Cheon Sohui came upstairs carrying the liquor.

"My apologies. I kept the proprietor talking for a while, so the drinks were delayed."

Geom Mugeuk poured for the Fist Demon first. The cup looked tiny and adorable in his enormous hand.

As he poured for Yi An and Cheon Sohui, he said,

"Anyone with bad drinking habits, don't forget who we're drinking with tonight!"

Yi An played along with his banter.

"Since I have bad drinking habits, I suppose I'm risking my life here."

Then she looked at Cheon Sohui.

"Do you have any bad drinking habits?"

"No, I don't."

"Are you sure you just haven't drunk enough for them to come out?"

Cheon Sohui was certain she would never misbehave while drunk. Act up while drinking with the Fist Demon? There was no chance of that.

"Now, welcome to the group, Fist Demon. Cheers!"

Geom Mugeuk raised his cup, and they all drank a toast.

It had been a while since they had shared drinks, and Geom Mugeuk did his best to make the gathering merry and lively. He did it for the Fist Demon too, who had arrived right on time despite acting as though he would never come.

With Geom Mugeuk and Yi An leading the conversation, they talked about all sorts of things. Martial arts, women, men. The Orthodox Martial Alliance and the Unorthodox Alliance, and the other Demon Supremes.

The Fist Demon didn't seem to dislike the gathering either. He drank readily and answered the occasional questions put to him.

Yet throughout their conversation, Geom Mugeuk could sense his loneliness. Seeing him amid all this laughter and chatter made it even clearer.

The four of them were drinking together, but the Fist Demon alone was somewhere unimaginably far away.

Geom Mugeuk had been to that isolated island too.

He had been just like the Fist Demon. Though surrounded by people, he had never fully enjoyed that life. All he had was his single-minded determination to gather the materials for the Great Art of Regression. He had no life of his own.

Perhaps the Fist Demon, too, lived solely to bring down that cliff and had already lost all pleasure in the world around him.

As I drank, lost in those thoughts, I found Yi An looking at me. She seemed even more beautiful tonight, and her eyes asked, What are you thinking so hard about? Oh, this and that.

Then Cheon Sohui, a little tipsy, brought up something she had been waiting to say.

"I thought all night about the question you asked yesterday, Fist Demon. What I'd do once I became strong."

She had given it truly serious thought.

"Honestly, I can't remember what I used to think before joining the Eastern Fist School. At some point, all I could think about was winning, then winning again, until I became the Fist Demon. But even through all that, I kept thinking one thing. Once I become the Fist Demon, I'll be happy. I'll be happy. As long as I become the Fist Demon, all this effort will be rewarded."

Her voice trembled.

"Once I'm strong... I want to be happy."

Seemingly embarrassed by her own words, she hastily added,

"Though I suppose someone who dreams of becoming the Fist Demon shouldn't want mere happiness instead of achieving something great for the Cult."

It was Geom Mugeuk who answered her.

"I think that's fine."

He looked at the Fist Demon and asked,

"What do you think?"

"Pathetic, but not bad."

"Either it's pathetic or it's not bad. Please pick just one. If you leave it that ambiguous, my junior sister will spend another sleepless night worrying about it."

"It's not bad."

Geom Mugeuk smiled and nodded at Cheon Sohui.

What she truly wanted to say was this:

I want to be like this martial artist.

Yi An looked happier than anyone. And on top of that, she had someone she cared for and trusted as much as her own life.

'I envy you.'

We all drank together.

Setting down his cup, the Fist Demon asked Geom Mugeuk,

"You said you wanted to learn fist arts because you wanted to become stronger, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"What will you do once you're stronger?"

It was the same question he had asked Cheon Sohui.

"I'll live freely. Go when I want to go. Come when I want to come. Spend time with the Demon Supremes, then hole up in Heavenly Demon Hall for days on end when I want to be alone. And when I feel cooped up, I'll head off to the Central Plains on a whim. If I meet someone nice, I'll stay in their village for a few days. I'll drink with herb gatherers on a scenic mountain. At the very least, I won't spend my life shut away in Heavenly Demon Hall like Father. He ought to go out and enjoy himself once in a while. Why are you all looking like that? You're scaring me... Don't tell me?"

Imitating what Cheon Sohui had said the day before, Geom Mugeuk turned around.

A man whose mere arrival changed the air around him, who made the previously relaxed Fist Demon stiffen, whose very presence put everyone on edge—the Heavenly Demon, Geom Ujin, stood behind him.