Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 134

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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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Chapter 133. Blood Thicker Than Water—Part 2
Gwak Geo Cheol clenched his teeth and tried to endure. He truly intended to. But this ordeal had shown him, with perfect clarity, how fragile his willpower was. And there was no resisting violence.
Dam Ho did not rush.
He broke Gwak Geo Cheol’s body and mind methodically, relentlessly, piece by piece.
In the end, Gwak Geo Cheol confessed everything he knew.
For the first time, something like a human expression crossed Dam Ho’s face.
“So… so Hye Ryeong was the child you people kidnapped?”
“Yes! We meant to sell her into slavery, but she caught the eye of the Chief Administrator and was snatched away from us.”
The child taken from them became the daughter of Hwang Gyeong Moon and was given the name Hwang Hye Ryeong.
“We were afraid. Afraid that one day she would remember her true origins and seek revenge.”
“So you tried to kill her?”
“Yes! One must eliminate all traces of future trouble.”
“Where did you take Hye Ryeong from?”
His tone was calm on the surface, but in this moment, Dam Ho’s heart thrashed more violently than it ever had.
“A remote village at the foot of Tae Baek Mountain in Shaanxi Province. A small place with no more than a hundred souls. I remember it clearly because we encountered a vicious beast there—it tore out one of my comrade’s throat with its fangs. Grrrr!”
Thud!
In that instant, Dam Ho squeezed his eyes shut.
His jaw muscles twitched.
‘So that was it?’
From the moment he first saw her, there had been something familiar about the girl—perhaps it was the pull of blood calling to blood.
When Hwang Hye Ryeong was kidnapped, she was scarcely two or three years old. Dam Ho had changed as much as she had. Their faces bore little resemblance now. It was only natural he hadn’t recognized her at first glance.
Above all, Hwang Hye Ryeong had no memories of her childhood. She had been taken far too young.
It didn’t matter that she didn’t know him.
Even if Hwang Hye Ryeong had forgotten everything, Dam Ho remembered it all with crystalline clarity.
Dam Ho suppressed the turmoil within him and asked, “Where is the Black Water Sect?”
“Okwha Mountain in Gangxi Province.”
“Okwha Mountain.”
Dam Ho’s fists clenched. Seeing this, Gwak Geo Cheol began to plead.
“I’ve told you everything I know. Please, spare my life. I won’t forget your mercy.”
Gwak Geo Cheol did not want to die.
He had done many terrible things in his life, but that didn’t mean he deserved death.
He wanted to live.
He wanted to live more desperately than anything.
In that moment, Dam Ho’s voice came to him.
“The girl’s name isn’t Hwang Hye Ryeong.”
“What?”
“It’s Dam Ga Ryeong. The name of my sister you took from me.”
“That means…?”
Gwak Geo Cheol’s eyes widened in horror.
His pupils began to tremble.
Dam Ho’s face and the face of the boy he had encountered twenty years ago in a small village at the foot of Tae Baek Mountain suddenly overlapped.
“You… surely you’re not…?”
“Yes. Now you understand why you must die?”
“Noooo!”
The light of despair flooded Gwak Geo Cheol’s eyes.
He shook his head frantically.
“It wasn’t me! Jo Yoon San ordered it all. I only followed what I was told. I have no sin in this. Please, spare me!”
Gwak Geo Cheol seized Dam Ho’s leg and begged. But the eyes that looked down at him remained glacial.
“My parents begged for their lives too. Do you remember what you did then?”
“That was…”
“You killed them. Played with them like a child with a mouse. Humiliated them for hours.”
“Please! I was wrong. I beg you…kyaaaah!”
Crack!
Dam Ho seized Gwak Geo Cheol’s right arm and wrenched it.
Muscle tore. Bone snapped. The entire shoulder was ripped clean away.
Watching his own arm fall before his eyes, Gwak Geo Cheol screamed like a madman and thrashed in agony.
But Dam Ho’s retribution was not finished. He reached for Gwak Geo Cheol’s left arm.
“No, please!”
Gwak Geo Cheol wailed.

Rip!
“Ahhhhh!”
But Dam Ho showed no mercy. He seized Gwak Geo Cheol’s left arm and tore it away.
Blood poured from Gwak Geo Cheol’s shoulders like rain, now that both arms had been wrenched free. He had lost so much blood in mere seconds that his face had gone completely pale.
The light of life was fading from Gwak Geo Cheol’s eyes.
Dam Ho watched the sight without expression.
“You… demon! You won’t die easy either. You’ll surely….”
Gwak Geo Cheol, gathering his last strength, cursed Dam Ho. Those were his final words in life.
Dam Ho turned away without emotion.
Gwak Geo Cheol’s curse never took root in his mind.
He had already killed countless people and heard their resentful curses countless times. Adding one more from Gwak Geo Cheol made no difference at all.
Dam Ho made his way toward the cave where he had hidden Hwang Hye Ryeong.
Though his expression remained outwardly indifferent, his mind churned in confusion.
He needed to settle things quickly.
He needed to decide what was truly best for Hwang Hye Ryeong.
Suddenly Dam Ho looked down at his own fists.
They were stained red with another man’s blood, and the thick Scent of Blood rose from them. The sickly stench was enough to cloud his senses.
‘Where did it all go wrong?’
Dam Ho thought that something inside him had broken.
Until now he had paid it little mind, but after seeing his sister again, the weight of that truth pressed upon him.
Dam Ho closed his eyes. Even so, he walked without difficulty.
When he opened his eyes again, all trace of conflict was gone. His gaze settled once more into its unwavering blankness, showing no emotion whatsoever.
At last he reached the cliff face where the cave lay hidden. Pushing aside the overgrown brush, he revealed the cave concealed within.
Hwang Hye Ryeong was there.
“Brother!”
Bang Jin Bo greeted him first as he entered. Dam Ho’s hand fell gently on Bang Jin Bo’s head as he looked deeper into the cave.
“Brother.”
Hwang Hye Ryeong spoke to him.
Her complexion was much improved from last night. He was grateful, though he showed nothing on his face.
“How is he?”
“He’s regained consciousness. Thanks to you, brother.”
“I’m grateful for your help.”
Muk Il Gwang offered his gratitude.
Dam Ho nodded silently.
He did not let his gaze linger on Hwang Hye Ryeong.
He had lived as a man until now. Just as his own life existed, so too did Hwang Hye Ryeong have a life of her own.
He could not drag her into his blood-soaked existence.
The best way to protect her, he believed, was to live as he always had—following another’s path, staying distant from hers.
‘Hye Ryeong.’
Hwang Hye Ryeong’s expression seemed at peace.
That was enough.
The four of them left the cave.
They were now in a wild hill on the outskirts of Akyang—the same mountain Dam Ho and Bang Jin Bo had crossed just days before.
Having crossed it once, crossing it again would not be difficult. The problem was the pursuit of the Murim Alliance.
Any child of three could understand, if they thought about it for a moment, that they would never abandon their chase.
Setting aside Hwang Hye Ryeong and Muk Il Gwang, Dam Ho himself was marked as a Public Enemy of the Jianghu. The Zhenren Cheonggu had suffered grave wounds at his hand, and Namgoong Su had lost his life.
If they allowed him to escape now, the Murim Alliance’s prestige would suffer a serious blow.
For the newly formed Murim Alliance, it would be a devastating setback.
Dam Ho spoke to Hwang Hye Ryeong and Muk Il Gwang.
“Mount the horses.”
“But—”
“If you can walk, I won’t stop you.”
At Dam Ho’s words, Muk Il Gwang fell silent.
His body was in no condition to fight. He could not employ Light Body Technique, and even walking was difficult.
It was because of the Internal Injuries he had sustained protecting Hwang Hye Ryeong. His face was still ashen. It would take at least several days of Qi Cultivation to heal the injuries.
Dam Ho looked at Hwang Hye Ryeong.
“You ride as well.”
“Yes!”
Hwang Hye Ryeong answered at once.
Her eyes gazing at Dam Ho were filled with the light of trust.
It wasn’t simply because he had saved both her and Muk Il Gwang’s lives. For some inexplicable reason, she found herself trusting Dam Ho.
This man—she could believe in him.
From the very first moment she laid eyes on him, that seed of conviction had taken root in Hwang Hye Ryeong’s mind.
She didn’t know why. But Hwang Hye Ryeong had learned to trust her instincts.
To her, Dam Ho was someone she could trust, someone worthy of faith.
More than anything, when she looked at him, something deep within her chest seemed to surge upward, trembling with an emotion she couldn’t name.
She didn’t know what that feeling was. But the strangeness of it didn’t displease her.
Dam Ho helped Hwang Hye Ryeong onto Black Ghost. Muk Il Gwang mounted Bang Jin Bo’s horse instead.
Though he’d suddenly found himself on foot, Bang Jin Bo showed no displeasure. After spending so much time traveling with Dam Ho, walking and running posed no difficulty—his endurance had grown so much that he could move for hours without tiring.
Muk Il Gwang turned to Bang Jin Bo with an apologetic expression.
“I’m sorry, younger brother.”
“Not at all.”
“I’ll repay this kindness someday, I swear it.”
“Hehe!”
Bang Jin Bo simply laughed rather than bothering with a proper reply.
“Let’s go!”
Dam Ho took the reins of Black Ghost and moved forward. Bang Jin Bo grasped the reins of Muk Il Gwang’s mount and followed behind.
Hwang Hye Ryeong, seated on Black Ghost, asked a question.
“Where are we heading?”
“Hwang Shan.”
“Hwang Shan? Are you taking me to the Pae Wang Sect?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
“Oh… thank you.”
At Dam Ho’s blunt answer, Hwang Hye Ryeong’s face brightened with genuine emotion.
Simply getting her safely out of Akyang would have been more than enough to be grateful for—and yet here he was, offering to take her thousands of miles to the Pae Wang Sect. Not knowing the circumstances, Hwang Hye Ryeong couldn’t fathom why Dam Ho would go to such lengths.
Yet she lacked the courage to refuse. Muk Il Gwang had suffered such grave internal injuries, and she herself was hardly in a state to travel easily.
“Thank you.”
Dam Ho said nothing. He simply walked forward, eyes fixed on the road ahead.
“Sir!”
Bang Jin Bo drew closer alongside him.
He understood their circumstances well enough. He knew Dam Ho had been branded a public enemy of Jianghu. Yet he harbored no thought of abandoning Dam Ho’s side.
Whether in death or life, he would see this through to the end at Dam Ho’s side.
“Hehe!”
Bang Jin Bo laughed.
By now, laughter had become second nature to him.
Hwang Hye Ryeong asked, puzzled.
“What’s there to be so happy about?”
“Just being with you makes me happy.”
“Is that so?”
A faint smile played across Hwang Hye Ryeong’s lips. Somehow, she felt she understood exactly what Bang Jin Bo meant.
Dam Ho was a fearsome man.
She’d witnessed firsthand with her own eyes how merciless he could be toward those he deemed his enemies.
To stand against him would be terrifying beyond measure. But the thought that he stood with her, on her side, filled her with an assurance beyond words.
It was the first time in her life she’d felt such peace. The situation was dire, yet somehow she felt no fear.
A faint smile graced her lips.
Hwang Hye Ryeong couldn’t take her eyes from Dam Ho’s receding figure for a long while.

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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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