Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 118

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

Episode 117. The Solitary Walker, the Lone Wanderer Style-2
“We’ll have to make camp here for the night.”
Dam Ho nodded at Bang Jin Bo’s words.
Despite their hurried pace, darkness had already begun to gather thickly around them.
Bang Jin Bo had long since learned to prepare for camp without Dam Ho needing to say a word.
He built a fire in a hollow space beneath a large rock and set about preparing a meal. Though simple provisions would have sufficed, Bang Jin Bo insisted on hanging a pot and fetching water from a nearby spring.
Meanwhile, Dam Ho sat with his eyes closed in meditation.
Over these past months, Dam Ho had fought countless battles—not only in Xinjiang, but continuously since arriving in the Central Plains. Likely no one had engaged in so many fights in such a short span of time.
The relentless series of conflicts had honed his combat instinct to its peak. Moreover, weaknesses in the Dark Form Fist were beginning to reveal themselves.
The Dark Form Fist he had forged in darkness was undeniably devastating. In one-on-one combat, few martial techniques could match its destructive force.
He had confirmed this truth through countless battles. The problem lay in many-against-one encounters. When fighting multiple opponents, the Dark Form Fist’s limitations became apparent.
Yet Dam Ho harbored no urgency. Refining martial arts with a firmly established foundation was never a simple matter—even for the one who had created it.
As Dam Ho pondered deeply on these concerns,
“Senior, dinner is ready.”
Bang Jin Bo’s voice drew him from his thoughts.
Dam Ho opened his eyes and looked at Bang Jin Bo, who had already arranged a presentable spread of food before him.
“Ha-ha!”
Bang Jin Bo’s culinary skills had improved noticeably of late. He had reached the point where he could coax genuine flavor from just a handful of basic ingredients.
Today he had prepared beef congee—fashioned from preserved beef jerky and dried grain powder he’d brought along.
“Well done.”
“No, please eat, senior.”
Bang Jin Bo ladled a bowl of congee and handed it to Dam Ho.
For something hastily made in the mountains, the aroma and flavor were remarkably fine. Dam Ho thought to himself that he’d grown quite spoiled since meeting Bang Jin Bo.
Watching Dam Ho eat with evident satisfaction, Bang Jin Bo lifted his own spoon. Despite having made it himself, he found it delicious.
“Ha-ha! It’s delicious.”
“Well done.”
“No, it’s nothing—just something I threw together without much effort.”
Bang Jin Bo waved his hand dismissively. Dam Ho gazed at him in silence.
The once-boyish face of Bang Jin Bo now bore a certain maturity. Through accumulated experience, he had grown solid in his own way.
Dam Ho felt a quiet pride in witnessing this change.
“Senior, may I ask you something?”
“Speak.”
“The Hua Shan Sect… Are you certain it won’t trouble you to leave without meeting them? Just departing as we are?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Truly? But you were a disciple of the Hua Shan Sect, weren’t you?”
“That’s the past.”
Dam Ho answered in an even tone.
After the incident with the Akyang Sword Sect, Han So Yoo had come seeking him. But Dam Ho had refused to meet her.
The bond had already been severed. Only through his Master did a thread of connection persist, but it was so fragile it could snap at any moment.
“Perhaps I’ll visit Hua Shan someday. But there’s no need for it to be now.”
Han So Yoo had made clear that Hyun So Zhenren was faring well.
That was sufficient. For now, there were more than enough reasons to set the Hua Shan Sect aside.
“Then you won’t be going to the Hua Shan Sect?”
“Not immediately.”
“Sigh!”
“Disappointed?”
“They say the scenery of Hua Shan is magnificent. I’ve always wanted to see it at least once.”
“We’ll manage it someday.”
“You must promise to take me then.”
“I will.”
Dam Ho replied calmly.
A bright smile bloomed across Bang Jin Bo’s face.
“Now get some rest. If we’re to depart early tomorrow, you’ll need to conserve your strength.”
“Yes, sir!”
Bang Jin Bo answered briskly and settled down to sleep. Worn from days of hard travel, he was soon claimed by slumber.
Dam Ho watched the sleeping form of Bang Jin Bo for a moment, then closed his own eyes.
The following morning, the two of them departed from their camp at the crack of dawn.
The path down the mountain was not difficult. The slope was gentle enough for a horse to traverse, making their descent smooth and unhurried.
“Phew!”
Upon reaching a small stream at the base of the mountain, Bang Jin Bo let out a sigh of relief.
Descending the mountain on horseback consumed far more energy than he’d anticipated. In merely half a day of riding, it felt as though he’d shed several pounds of flesh.
Bang Jin Bo dismounted briefly to wash his face. The cold water jolted him awake, and the fatigue seemed to drain away.
“Refreshing.”
Bang Jin Bo grinned broadly.
As the heat receded, they found themselves able to take in their surroundings.
Before them stretched vast fields of rice paddies. The stalks swaying in the breeze, heavy with grain, made for a magnificent sight.
“Wow!”
An exclamation escaped Bang Jin Bo’s lips unbidden.
He had never seen such fields brimming with rice, and Dam Ho had not either.
Here and there, farmers tended the paddies. The sight of them, trouser legs rolled to their waists as they pulled weeds, stirred something peculiar within Dam Ho.
“Ha, ha, ha!”
Their laughter carried all the way to where the two stood.
What brought them such joy? They chattered without pause, their faces bright with smiles.
Beads of sweat rolled down their foreheads and chins, yet not one of them uttered a complaint of fatigue.
Dam Ho and Bang Jin Bo watched the farmers in silence for a time. This was a world unlike the harsh realm they had known until now.
Women approached, carrying woven baskets balanced upon their heads.
“Come eat your midday meal!”
The women called out in loud voices to their husbands and sons toiling in the fields. The farmers, glistening with sweat, turned with laughter and walked toward them.
Suddenly, one middle-aged farmer noticed Dam Ho and Bang Jin Bo and turned to look their way. After studying them for a moment, he ambled toward them.
“Haven’t seen your faces before. Did you come over that mountain?”
“Yes! We’ve come from Hunan Province.”
Bang Jin Bo answered.
A smile crossed the farmer’s lips.
“Is that so? A long journey. You must be hungry, then?”
“Ha-ha! We sure are.”
Bang Jin Bo laughed with easy charm. Pleased by his manner, the farmer turned to Dam Ho with a bright smile.
“If you don’t mind, would you join us for a meal? There’s not much to offer, but you’re welcome.”
“I don’t mind.”
“This one, though—he doesn’t look convinced.”
Dam Ho gestured toward Bang Jin Bo.
Bang Jin Bo’s face looked as though he might burst into tears at any moment. His eyes gleamed with desperate longing.
‘Please, brother.’
When food was at stake, Bang Jin Bo became utterly defenseless.
Faced with such earnest pleading, Dam Ho found himself nodding in surrender.
“If it wouldn’t be a burden……”
“A burden? It’s only food we have left over anyway.”
The farmer led the two of them beneath a large tree. Beneath its shade, a middle-aged woman sat spreading out cloth, a child strapped to her back in a carrier.
On a tray within the cloth lay steaming potatoes and a jug of liquor made at home, wisps of steam curling upward.
“Dear, you must be famished?”
The woman welcomed her husband warmly, then noticed Dam Ho and Bang Jin Bo. The presence of strangers struck her as odd.
The farmer spoke bluntly.
“Just travelers passing through. Food tastes better shared among many than eaten alone, doesn’t it?”
“There he goes again.”
The woman shook her head with a resigned expression. It was clear this had happened more than once before.
But that lasted only a moment; soon she smiled warmly and said:
“We’ve only potatoes, but please join us.”
As the saying went—a harmonious couple reflects each other. She, like her husband, seemed to take pleasure in giving to others.
“Thank you.”
Bang Jin Bo made no pretense of declining. He bowed deeply and sat down at once. The woman laughed, covering her mouth.
Dam Ho settled himself beside Bang Jin Bo with a thump.
The farmer picked up a large potato and handed it to Dam Ho.
“Here, eat.”
“My thanks.”
“Think nothing of it. Potatoes are plentiful here.”
The farmer spoke curtly and began to eat. His wife gave a faint smile at his manner.
He was a man with a generous heart. When travelers passed by, he couldn’t bear to let them go; he had to feed them, even if it was only a single potato, or his heart wouldn’t rest easy.
One might call it simple-minded, but his wife loved him for it. His open-hearted generosity and tender consideration.
The farmer picked up the jug and spoke to Dam Ho.
“This is liquor we made at home. Would you like some? It may not taste like much, but it’s fine for quenching your thirst.”
When Dam Ho nodded, the farmer poured a bowl full of liquor for him, then filled his own bowl just as generously. Without hesitation, he drank it down in great gulps.
“Ahhh! Perfect.”
The farmer smiled, wiping sake from the corner of his mouth. He drank with such obvious relish that Bang Jin Bo found himself swallowing hard without thinking.
The farmer noticed Bang Jin Bo’s reaction and asked him.
“Why do you want to drink?”
“Yes!”
“There’s no hurry to drink. Wait until you’re grown. When hair starts growing on peppers, then you can drink.”
“Yes!”
Bang Jin Bo’s face fell at once. But the disappointment didn’t last long—he was soon enjoying the potatoes so much that he forgot his regret.
Dam Ho also ate the potatoes with genuine pleasure. Though the food was rough, with no salt added to it, it felt all the more delicious because the farmer’s wife’s affection for him seemed to have melted into every bite.
The woman squatted in place, watching Dam Ho and Bang Jin Bo with wonder in her eyes.
At a glance, she could tell Dam Ho was no ordinary man. His appearance and bearing were unmistakably different from any traveler she had seen before.
Curiosity got the better of her, and she asked.
“Where are you headed, if I may ask?”
“I have no particular destination.”
“Are you wandering, then?”
“Yes.”
At Dam Ho’s answer, the woman nodded slowly, her face betraying unmistakable envy.
She had been born here and married a man from here.
For her, the world was only this place. Longing for the outside world lingered in her heart, and so whenever she saw people who roamed the realm so freely, she often felt envious.
“Have you traveled far? What place did you find most beautiful?”
“Now, now…….”
The farmer clicked his tongue, and the woman shrank back slightly. But the curiosity in her eyes had not faded.
Dam Ho answered without hesitation.
“Of all the landscapes I have seen, Hua Shan was the finest.”
“Hua Shan—the one in Shaanxi Province?”
“Yes.”
“Is Hua Shan really that beautiful?”
“Of all the landscapes I have seen…….”
“What part of Hua Shan is so beautiful?”
“Let me think…….”
Dam Ho searched his memory.
“Hua Shan is a stone mountain, its character defined by narrow gorges and steep passages—staircases of stone rising nearly vertical. When you climb them, sweat pours down like rain. But beyond those heights, you see Polong Ridge, which resembles the spine of a dragon, and beyond that lies Yeonhwa Peak. Yeonhwa Peak is most beautiful at sunset—the glow is incomparable. At Joyang Platform, plum blossoms are supreme. The fragrance of plums carried on the spring breeze clouds the mind. When the blossoms fall, the whole of Hua Shan turns pristine white with petals.”
Words flowed from him without his knowing.
Memories that had not surfaced since his confinement at Cheon Geum Ma Yok came pouring out like a flood.
The small cottage on Un Dae Peak, the view of Hua Shan spread before him from that place, and the image of himself there with his master.
Memories of his childhood, when he had labored so hard with small fists to break stone, swept through his mind like a tidal wave.
Dam Ho’s gaze grew distant and deep.
The image of Hua Shan, forgotten for so long, had risen again in his memory.

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