Chapter 48 - Why Would Living Alone Be Lonely?

The objects around me began to ripple as though they were alive. The desk, the display cabinet, even the sword and fan propped against the wall all sagged and ran, as if melting into a shapeless mass under intense heat.

The floor heaved like rolling waves. Simply walking here was difficult; using footwork seemed impossible.

The walls and ceiling undulated too, and lines like a checkerboard appeared across them, confusing my vision.

The Soul-Seizing Demon's voice reverberated deeply, as though inside a cavern.

"The world you lived in was nothing but an illusion. What you see now is the real world."

The Heavenly Demon's Body-Protection Art activated naturally. Had I not learned it, he would already have begun taking control of my mind.

Nor could I escape this predicament by blindly attacking. The Soul-Seizing Demon standing before me was surely an illusion himself.

He had yet to employ his most powerful sinister sorcery, so I could still keep the situation under control. Managing the ghost qi, I spoke calmly.

"A world where I can save on my drinking bill. I feel drunk and dizzy without drinking a drop."

Seeing me calmly joke when I should already have collapsed, the Soul-Seizing Demon looked surprised.

The next moment, his whisper reached my ears. It was a layered voice, like several people quietly passing along a rumor.

"So the rumors were true. They said the Second Young Master had become a hidden dragon and begun ascending to the heavens."

Before I knew it, he was beside me.

I couldn't tell whether the man at my side was real or an illusion. I would have to slash him to find out, but my first thought was to wonder whether I could cut him at all. If I was thinking this before even drawing my sword, a fight with him would be difficult indeed.

Now I understood exactly why Father had come to warn me.

Even with the Heavenly Demon's Body-Protection Art active, I was this disoriented. If he attacked as well, how could I possibly defeat him?

I turned toward the Soul-Seizing Demon beside me. His face was so ordinary that it seemed extraordinary instead.

"I have no intention of ascending to the heavens. I'd rather keep a low profile and enjoy a long life in this world. That's why I want to grow stronger."

To be precise, that was the life the Soul-Seizing Demon sought. He had kept a low profile and survived to the very end. He had left behind many remarks before his death, and this was something he often said:

["I spent my whole life striving to become stronger so that no one could kill me."]

He truly cherished his own life. The Heart-Soul Great Art, too, was an expression of that self-love.

The Soul-Seizing Demon grinned at me.

"A splendid notion."

At the same time, the undulations around us stopped. Our surroundings darkened, then brightened again, and before I knew it, they had changed.

The space that had nearly driven me out of my mind vanished. This time, a vast plain stretched before me, a sight that lifted the spirits just to behold.

The Soul-Seizing Demon stood far away in the middle of the field.

I shouted toward him.

"What a magnificent martial art!"

Normally, if I wanted to irritate him, I would have called it sinister sorcery or sleight of hand rather than a martial art. But I didn't bother now. In his world, yielding a little was the wise choice.

"A martial art that only I can wield in this world."

He spoke proudly. But that wasn't true.

The Wind Heaven Cult Leader could wield precisely the same art. I had learned that while seeking the Thunderous Sound Bell in my previous life. The martial arts both men had learned were rooted in the Blood Cult's demonic arts.

"Well? Wouldn't you like to live in a world like this?"

Though he stood far away, his voice sounded right beside me.

"If you would teach me, I'd be grateful to learn."

The Soul-Seizing Demon instantly appeared before me again.

"You're more devious than I thought. Trying to get a supreme divine technique for nothing."

"But wouldn't you gain me in return?"

He peered into my eyes. His pitch-black pupils shrank to pinpoints.

"I can see exactly what you're thinking. You may fool an imbecile like the Blood Heaven Saber Demon, but you can't fool me."

"What am I thinking?"

"You want to grab me by the hair, shake me, and slap me across the face. As you strike my cheek, you say, 'You fucking idiot, who do you think you are to refuse to listen?'"

"Close, but wrong. 'You fucking idiot, who do you think you are to kill people? Let's rip out that heart of yours that has no conscience first!' What do you think? A little different, isn't it?"

The Soul-Seizing Demon didn't grow angry. Confident that he could kill me, he displayed the composure of the stronger party.

"Being the Cult Leader's son makes it hard to get yourself killed, doesn't it? So you want to die by my hand?"

"Not at all. Isn't a living third-rate fighter better off than a dead greatest-under-heaven?"

That, too, was something the Soul-Seizing Demon often said.

A peculiar change seemed to pass over his expression.

The black portions of his eyes, which had shrunk to dots, returned to normal, and he withdrew all his ghost qi.

Our surroundings returned to normal. Once more, we stood facing each other in his room.

"What I just showed you was merely a taste. If I wished, I could open a place like hell and keep you trapped there for the rest of your life. Even now, you aren't afraid of me?"

"I am. Very afraid. Isn't that why I said I'd persuade Father?"

The Soul-Seizing Demon stared blankly at me for a moment, then laughed loudly.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Even his laughter was anything but ordinary. It was an eerie laugh that tore at his listener's mind. My insides shook, and nausea churned in my stomach.

"I must give you credit for this much. No wonder the Saber Demon has been scrambling to attach himself to you."

As expected, he had been watching my relationship with the Saber Demon. Of course, the other Demon Supremes were probably doing the same.

"Now, Second Young Master. Be on your way."

"Restrain yourself for the time being, if only out of regard for Father! I'll take my leave, then."

Since my threat invoked Father, it would work for two or three months.

"If you see me again, you will never return to this world."

I walked out without replying. I was finished talking to him.

* * *

Seo Daeryong, who had been waiting outside, asked me,

"Did you settle the matter you came for?"

"You could say it went well, or you could say it didn't."

"Pavilion Master, I think you did well simply by coming to see that terrifying Soul-Seizing Demon and trying to find a solution. Whatever the matter was... no one else had done it. I think that means something."

Comfort from this gloomy, cynical fellow. Imagine that.

"You're very angry, aren't you?"

"Do I look it?"

"Yes."

"I was furious when I first saw the bodies, but I'm all right now. I've already made up my mind."

After looking at me for a moment, Seo Daeryong resumed walking.

"You're leaving without asking what I've decided?"

"I've already heard the answer. It's the look you've always shown me—the look in your eyes before you accomplish the impossible."

I smiled sheepishly.

"This is why you need a right-hand man."

"You keep calling me your right-hand man, but isn't that Warrior Yi?"

"Yi An? No, she isn't my right hand."

"Then I've beaten Warrior Yi to the position?"

He looked a little hopeful.

"You are my right hand, but you haven't beaten Yi An."

"What do you mean?"

"Yi An is my heart. My heart."

"Now I feel slighted even as your right-hand man."

I laughed heartily, and Seo Daeryong joined in.

"I'll buy you a drink today."

"Really? Are we finally going to the finest courtesan house?"

"We're going to Merry Life Tavern."

I stuck out my lower lip, and Seo Daeryong protested that his salary was meager.

"Fine. Since our stingy Investigator Seo is buying drinks for the first time in ages, let's invite my left arm, my heart, and even my left wing."

"Your left arm would be the Demon Army commander, and your heart is Warrior Yi. Then who's your left wing?"

"Someone I know. Come on, let's go."

I strode off. Once I was some distance ahead, I looked back at Seo Daeryong.

"Aren't you coming?"

Still standing where I'd left him, he spoke with an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry. This is all I can do for you. If I could have my way..."

"If you could have your way?"

He looked toward the Soul-Seizing Demon's residence. His eyes said he wanted to go in, seize the Demon by the hair, and drag him out. I could feel the fervor that told me he would have done it, had he been strong enough.

Our gazes met.

Lately, I had come to rely quite a lot on this small, melancholy man.

"I'll take the thought alone."

"You'll have to!"

Leaving the Western Illusion Formation, we headed to Merry Life Tavern together.

"Looks like it's going to rain."

Indeed, thick dark clouds filled the sky, and a downpour seemed imminent.

"You picked a fine day. With rain coming too, today's drinking bill is going to be something else."

"Merry Life Tavern is fine. There are no women, so there's nothing else to spend money on."

"Ah... that's too sad a story! No, this won't do. I'll buy the drinks."

"You don't have a woman either, Second Young Master."

"I have Yi An, don't I?"

Apparently not expecting me to mention Yi An, Seo Daeryong blinked.

"She's your bodyguard. If you count that, then I also..."

"Have that junior colleague from before?"

Seo Daeryong's face flushed slightly.

"It's not her!"

We took the largest seating area on the second floor of Merry Life Inn.

"Welcome, Pavilion Master."

These days, I was the proprietor Jo Chunbae's best customer. He said that thanks to the Yellow Springs Pavilion branch, his sales had at least doubled. On top of that, much of the bullying by martial artists had disappeared, making life worth living again.

"Don't worry today. No tables will be broken."

"Ha ha, what does it matter if another one breaks? As long as no one gets hurt."

"Look forward to it. This friend of mine is finally opening his secret purse today."

"I'll bring you something delicious."

Jo Chunbae brought the wine before the main dishes.

For a while, we drank quietly without speaking. Seo Daeryong sank into his thoughts, and I into mine.

The Soul-Seizing Demon came to mind.

Whenever I thought of him, the desire to kill him rose alongside a fierce fighting spirit.

The old me wouldn't have sat around drinking on a day like this. I would have rushed to the training grounds and swung my sword without rest.

In my youth, whenever I suffered a setback, I exhausted my heart and mind in the effort to overcome it. Back then, I hadn't known that desperation could make hard work itself a form of escape.

But I no longer did that.

The more my anger rose, the harder I tried to remain calm. Now I knew that drinking with my people made me stronger just as training did.

Then Seo Daeryong spoke.

"I feel a little strange today. My heart keeps pounding."

"Did you see a pretty woman? Where?"

As I playfully looked around, Seo Daeryong laughed.

"You don't even like women, do you?"

"Who said I don't like women?"

"Don't you? I thought you weren't interested in them, Pavilion Master."

Women. In my previous life, living alone all my life had made me lonely—and, for that very reason, not lonely as well.

"Have you been lonely lately?"

"Why would living alone be lonely? It's just boring. Isn't loneliness something you feel when you're with someone?"

"Oh! I'll have to use that line someday."

"Use it on that junior colleague you like."

"I told you, I don't like her. And I never get to see her anyway."

"Should I put you on the same team?"

"No, thank you. A connection should develop naturally."

"See? You do like her."

"That's not... never mind. Ugh, I should just keep my mouth shut."

He drank.

"Is your heart still pounding?"

"Yes."

"Maybe something momentous is destined to happen today."

"Surely not."

Meanwhile, Jo Chunbae brought the food.

Even at that moment, Seo Daeryong had no idea what changes his decision to buy drinks today would bring to his life.

"Let's get thoroughly drunk today!"

And he couldn't even hold his liquor.