Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 100. When many gather, each voice rises—Part 4
Silence hung heavy in the Courtyard of Separate Building among those who remained.
They had never been acquainted in the first place. There was no topic to discuss, no reason to try.
Dam Ho folded his arms and closed his eyes, and the silence became almost suffocating. Namgoong Su frowned, disliking the atmosphere. It felt too much like Dam Ho had orchestrated it deliberately.
Hae So Wol stared at Dam Ho intently. She found herself unable to tear her gaze away. Though he must have felt her eyes on him, Dam Ho kept his own closed.
“Heh heh! Well, well.”
Cho Yeon Woon scratched his head and offered nothing but an awkward smile.
The ones truly at a loss were Eun So Cheong and Bang Jin Bo. For their age, both were remarkably mature, yet fundamentally they were still children. They lacked the boldness or worldly sense to break through such an uncomfortable impasse.
As everyone held to their awkward silence, it was Dam Ho who finally spoke.
“Bang Jin Bo.”
“Yes, sir!”
Bang Jin Bo answered as though he’d been waiting for the call. Dam Ho’s voice was more welcome to him than anything else in the world.
“What about food?”
“Ah, just a few moments and it will be ready.”
“You must be hungry.”
“Yes! Please wait just a little longer.”
Bang Jin Bo hurried toward the Cooking Stove. Eun So Cheong followed at his heels.
On a hastily made chopping board lay a half-prepared fish. Above the Cooking Stove, a flat griddle glowed a deep crimson.
It was heated far beyond what cooking required—if they placed ingredients in it now, they would burn instantly.
“In a case like this….”
Bang Jin Bo poured oil onto the griddle.
Sizzle!
The oil on the griddle’s surface spattered in all directions. Some of it splashed onto Bang Jin Bo’s bare skin, but he didn’t so much as flinch, remaining focused on his work.
Bang Jin Bo had forgotten everything.
The present discomfort, the many eyes watching him.
Standing before the Cooking Stove, he saw only the fire blazing before him.
‘I must concentrate on the fire.’
No matter how skilled a cook might be, without understanding fire, they could never create truly excellent food.
One must understand it, must feel it.
Bang Jin Bo felt the flames rising above the Cooking Stove with his whole body. Sweat poured ceaselessly from his brow and across his skin. Yet his face showed no distortion—only a faint smile played at his lips.
‘Jin Bo truly finds joy in cooking.’
Eun So Cheong stared at Bang Jin Bo intently.
He could sense the world that Bang Jin Bo inhabited—one where he felt the fire and conversed through ladle and chopsticks. The beauty of it was so bright his eyes burned, and tears threatened to spill.
“Ah!”
Eun So Cheong let out a gasp without thinking.
He had not realized that a person absorbed in something could be so beautiful. Though young in years, Bang Jin Bo had clearly decided his future and moved toward it with absolute steadfastness.
Slice, slice!
Bang Jin Bo drew his blade across the delicate fillet. Though the thin cuts seemed as though they should tear apart under the pressure, the fish flesh somehow held its shape.
It was precise work that tolerated not even the thickness of a sheet of paper.
The thinly sliced fish descended into the oil that shimmered with heat.
Sizzle!
Oil bubbles rose as the fish fillets curled back against their cuts. And upon the surface of the oil, a flower bloomed.
“Wow!”
Eun So Cheong, watching Bang Jin Bo work, cried out without thinking.
“Wait—is there any liquor…?”
Cho Yeon Woon patted his waist, found an Alcohol Bottle there, and smiled.
One could tell at a glance: what Bang Jin Bo was preparing now would be the perfect accompaniment to drink.
“Heh heh!”
Cho Yeon Woon laughed like a villain.
In any other moment, Eun So Cheong would have rebuked him, but now he said nothing at all.
Hae So Wol was no different.
Though she did not cry out, all of them were utterly absorbed in the culinary world that Bang Jin Bo revealed.
Hae So Wol’s astonishment ran deepest of all.
‘Remarkable focus. Had this boy trained with the blade, he would have become an excellent Swordmaster.’
His very technique in scoring the fillet was extraordinary. Beyond that lay a fierce concentration untouched by the chaos of their surroundings.
Though his frame was stout, should he take up Martial Arts now, he would surely achieve considerable mastery.
Namgoong Su, meanwhile, wore a look of displeasure.
Dam Ho had created silence, and Bang Jin Bo had broken it.
All eyes had turned toward them. Meanwhile, he himself was utterly overlooked.
For Namgoong Su, born always to receive the world’s attention, this strange reversal of fortune felt entirely unwelcome.
But he had to wait and endure until Namgoong Chang and the others finished their negotiations inside the Separate Building.
In the meantime, Bang Jin Bo’s cooking continued.
Tap-tap-tap!
The ladle moved so quickly it became a blur. The prepared vegetables were soon cut into fine strips.
Bang Jin Bo tossed all the julienned vegetables into the hot oil. The searing heat cooked them in an instant.
He began fishing out the strips with chopsticks. As he arranged them by color onto a plate, a pleasing composition took shape.
At the center of the plate, sliced fish arranged like a flower.
“Whew!”
Cho Yeon Woon let out a whistle at the sight—colorful vegetables and white fish arranged like a winter garden in bloom.
Last came the sauce made from his father’s secret recipe. When the thick glaze was drizzled over the fish, its aroma deepened to new heights.
“Heh-heh! All done! Bang Jin Bo’s special dish—the Five-Color Snow Flower Fish.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. Is this a dish you created yourself?”
“It was written in my father’s cookbook. This is the first time I’ve actually made it, though.”
Bang Jin Bo scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish.
“You’re really something, Jin Bo.”
“Heh-heh!”
“Well, well! Look at you two playing around. You little things, always stirring up envy among others. As for grown-up games, even if you wait ten more years before trying them, it won’t be too late. So please, just be patient.”
At Cho Yeon Woon’s teasing, Bang Jin Bo and Eun So Cheong’s faces flushed crimson.
Eun So Cheong shot a sharp look at Cho Yeon Woon.
“That’s not funny at all!”
“Enough talk. Let’s eat Jin Bo’s cooking. My mouth’s watering so much I can barely stand it.”
Cho Yeon Woon pulled out an alcohol bottle and took a seat at the table, calling out toward Dam Ho.
“Come on, friend! Hurry over. The food Jin Bo worked so hard to make will get cold.”
Only then did Dam Ho walk toward the table. Bang Jin Bo and Eun So Cheong quickly claimed their seats as well.
Hae So Wol and Namgoong Su, who hadn’t been invited, simply stood and watched from a distance.
Bang Jin Bo gestured toward them.
“There’s little to offer, but please join us. Come here.”
Hae So Wol and Namgoong Su stared at each other awkwardly for a moment. Shortly after, Hae So Wol began walking toward the table, but Namgoong Su remained motionless.
He had no desire to sit at the same table as Dam Ho, a man whose origins he didn’t even know. His pride wouldn’t allow it.
Once Hae So Wol took her seat, the meal began.
“Wow! This is amazing.”
Cho Yeon Woon was the first to exclaim. He couldn’t help himself and took a long sip of his drink.
“How wonderful!”
Eun So Cheong’s eyes widened.
After tasting it with a single bite of chopsticks, Hae So Wol nodded her approval of Bang Jin Bo’s skill.
Her gaze turned toward Dam Ho.
Dam Ho, his eyes half-closed, ate quietly and thoughtfully. Bang Jin Bo watched him with a smile.
Looking at the two of them, she thought they made a wonderful pair. They looked different and their natures seemed completely opposite, yet somehow they resembled each other.
Without realizing it, Hae So Wol asked aloud.
“What is your relationship to each other?”
…….
As Dam Ho gazed at her without speaking, Hae So Wol smiled faintly.
“Just curious.”
“We are…….”
As Bang Jin Bo trailed off, Dam Ho’s voice came forth.
“Jin Bo is my younger brother.”
“Is that so?”
“That’s right.”
“You seem to match well together. One could mistake you for real brothers.”
Was her remark unexpected? Dam Ho set down his chopsticks and looked at Hae So Wol.
She met his gaze without flinching. Indeed, she smiled slightly. Her beauty in that moment was striking—an effortless grace that seemed to radiate from her naturally.
Caught by the sight of her, Bang Jin Bo stared for a moment, lost in thought. Had Eun So Cheong not pinched his side, he surely would have stared much longer.
Tsk-tsk!
Cho Yeon Woon clicked his tongue at the two, his brows furrowed in disapproval.
Bang Jin Bo, rubbing his side where he’d been pinched, noticed Namgoong Su standing alone. For some reason, the sight made him feel lonely.
“Wait a moment…….”
Bang Jin Bo suddenly began spooning food onto a plate.
“Jin Bo.”
Eun So Cheong looked at him with a puzzled expression. But instead of answering, Bang Jin Bo picked up the plate of food and approached Namgoong Su, who stood silently to one side.
“Um…….”
“What is it?”
Namgoong Su’s frown deepened. Bang Jin Bo steeled himself and extended the dish toward him.
“P-please, try this.”
……
“Even so, I think you’ll find it worth eating.”
Ha!
At Bang Jin Bo’s tentative words, Namgoong Su exhaled sharply. His face betrayed his irritation plainly.
“This is absurd. Did you bring me this garbage out of pity?”
“Why… would you say that?”
“Then how else would you dare bring such slop?”
“I… what?”
“Absurd. Do you think I’d be pleased enough to eat garbage if that’s all you offered me? Would I really put my mouth to cheap scraps made by some lowborn kitchen servant who doesn’t know his place?”
“That… that is…”
Bang Jin Bo stammered.
He had merely offered the food out of kindness. He’d had no idea it would stoke Namgoong Su’s fury like this.
In Namgoong Su’s eyes burned flickers of emotion rarely glimpsed before.
He had thought himself and Hae So Wol growing quite close. But she had crossed over to where Dam Ho was without a moment’s hesitation, and now she dined with him—smiling a smile she’d never shown Namgoong Su once in all this time.
The sight had kindled a fire in his chest. And Bang Jin Bo’s kindness had poured oil upon it.
Namgoong Su hurled the dish of food to the ground and stamped it beneath his heel.
Bang Jin Bo stood frozen, mouth gaping, watching.
The food he had prepared with such care was crushed under another’s foot, defiled.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
Bang Jin Bo could not even rage—he only stared numbly at Namgoong Su. Yet even this expression only fanned the flames of Namgoong Su’s anger higher.
Namgoong Su himself was startled. He had never known such an inferiority lay so deep within his own heart.
That realization only made him angrier. He suddenly grabbed Bang Jin Bo by the collar.
“What do you take me for, you fat fool?”
“I… I…”
Bang Jin Bo stammered.
Namgoong Su’s hand shot upward. He looked ready to strike.
Bang Jin Bo shut his eyes tight without thinking.
Then a chilling voice cut through the moment.
“Let that hand go.”
Namgoong Su’s hand froze mid-air.
His gaze turned toward the voice. Dam Ho, sitting at one side of the table, was its source.
“What did you just say?”
“Let that hand go. Before your wrist gets broken.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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