Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 136

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

Chapter 136. What Empties Out Is Always Filled Again—Part 1
Dam Ho and Bang Jin Bo walked slowly, each holding their horse’s reins. On the horses above them, Hwang Hae Ryeong and Muk Il Gwang practiced their cultivation techniques respectively.
The internal injuries they had sustained were by no means light.
Especially Muk Il Gwang’s condition was gravely serious.
The only mercy was that his Internal Energy cultivation was stable enough to allow him to continue his refinement even while the horse moved beneath him, so he had been able to heal himself throughout their journey.
Thanks to this, Muk Il Gwang’s condition was improving rapidly.
Hwang Hae Ryeong’s expression had also grown considerably more at ease. She looked down at Dam Ho from atop Black Ghost.
The sight of Dam Ho walking silently ahead, holding the reins, felt reassuring to her.
She didn’t know why, but whenever she looked at him, her heart grew warm and she felt the peace of being protected.
This feeling was entirely new to her, and it brought a certain bewilderment—yet even that bewilderment did not displease her.
Whether Dam Ho noticed her gaze or not, he continued walking in silence. After they had gone some distance, he suddenly stopped.
A man stood blocking the mountain path ahead of them.
“Senior!”
Bang Jin Bo broke into a broad smile at once.
“Yeon Woon! You’ve put on more weight, I see.”
The man teasing Bang Jin Bo with a laugh was none other than Cho Yeon Woon.
“What? More weight? I’ve only gotten thinner!”
“Ha! Young man, you don’t realize how plump your cheeks have gotten. Look in a mirror before you argue.”
“Really, after all this time apart, you’re going to pick on me?”
“That’s because I’m glad to see you.”
Cho Yeon Woon ruffled Bang Jin Bo’s hair roughly, then approached Dam Ho.
Dam Ho spoke.
“How did you find us?”
“The path a friend takes is always predictable. Think about it a little and you’ll figure it out quickly.”
“I see.”
“Don’t worry. There are no more pursuers.”
“Why is that?”
“Things have become absolute chaos. What you stirred up is nothing compared to what’s happened now.”
……
The Demon Cult has finally moved into the open. Three hundred martial artists who were sent to track you down have been completely annihilated by a single person.
“Three hundred?”
“Yes! Everyone within ten li has been slaughtered. All by one man.”
Dam Ho’s brow twitched. It was a story difficult to believe.
“Completely wiped out by a single person?”
“Hard to swallow, I know, but it’s the truth. The one responsible is a master of Eum Gong. Three hundred or so people were annihilated in an instant by an unexpected Eum Gong technique.”
Eum Gong……
“A truly fearsome master indeed. Not a single person within ten li survived.”
Just as suddenly as he had appeared, So Cheon San vanished. But before he disappeared, one martial artist who had been standing just beyond ten li witnessed his departure.
So Cheon San had revealed his identity to that man with a smile—a display of confidence befitting a true master, though it amounted to an insult to the Murim Alliance.
“Because of this, the Murim Alliance has fallen into turmoil. An entire organization toyed with by a single man—that’s what it amounts to.”
Dam Ho’s eyes grew distant and grave.
He remembered the conversation he had overheard through Eum Yoo Gyeong and Shin Mu Wol’s internal transmission. The name “So Cheon San” had definitely been mentioned in their exchange.
‘They said the Sect Leader’s unilateral decisions had to be stopped. Does that mean there’s an internal split within the Demon Cult?’
Nothing was certain yet.
“The Murim Alliance has recalled all the tracking units it had sent to pursue you. Now that the Demon Cult’s invasion has become real, they won’t have time to focus on you for a while.”
“Is that so?”
“Fortunate, really. For you and for the Alliance alike.”
In fact, Cho Yeon Woon had been in the most difficult position.
Twenty-some tracking units had been created to pursue Dam Ho, and Cho Yeon Woon had been forced to lead one of them against his will.
When ten or so of these units were completely annihilated by So Cheon San, he had been standing merely a few hundred zhang away.
Had he been just a little closer, he too would have suffered grave harm from So Cheon San’s Eum Gong.
Though his life had been spared, the shock he received was far from light.
People he had been breathing and conversing with moments before had been completely wiped out by a single Eum Gong technique—a realization that filled him with deep dread.
“Decades ago, during the Demon Cult’s first invasion, the one who dealt the most damage to the Jung Ui Meng was a monster who mastered Eum Gong. Perhaps this So Cheon San you’ve all been hearing of has learned that very same technique.”
……
“In any case, I must head back now.”
“To fight the Demon Cult?”
“I’m a disciple of the Baek Jeon Mun. My master and the disciples must surely be on their way to the Murim Alliance by now.”
Jang Il San’s hatred of the Demon Cult was truly terrible to behold. The moment he heard news of the Demon Cult’s emergence, he had begun marching south, the Baek Jeon Jeon Seung Ki held high.
Now that the Baek Jeon Jeon Seung Ki had been revealed to the world, all disciples of the Baek Jeon Mun had to gather beneath that banner. That obligation fell on Cho Yeon Woon as well, despite his current position.
Dam Ho gazed at Cho Yeon Woon in silence. Cho Yeon Woon then let out a soft laugh.
“That’s quite a stare you’ve got there.”
……
“Be careful. The Demon Cult has drawn attention away from you, but you’re still a wanted criminal of the Murim.”
Cho Yeon Woon’s face bore the light of genuine concern.
Dam Ho nodded.
“You’re right.”
“Take care.”
“Watch yourself.”
In that instant, Cho Yeon Woon’s eyes widened.
He hadn’t expected to hear words of caution from Dam Ho.
“Ha! Don’t worry about me. I’m Cho Yeon Woon.”
Cho Yeon Woon thumped his chest and made a bold declaration. Dam Ho watched him with an intent gaze.
“Then be on your way. And you—stay safe too, Fatso.”
“I’m not fat!”
Ha!
Cho Yeon Woon waved his hand and disappeared into the distance.
Dam Ho and Bang Jin Bo watched his receding figure in silence.
When Cho Yeon Woon had finally vanished, Hwang Hae Ryeong spoke up.
“He seems like a truly good person.”
“He is.”
Dam Ho nodded.
Though they hadn’t known each other long, Cho Yeon Woon had always treated them with sincerity. Such people were rare in the Jianghu.
‘A friend…….’
Dam Ho moved on some time later.
Just as Cho Yeon Woon had said, there were no more pursuers. Bang Jin Bo felt relieved.
The thought that no more people would die because of Dam Ho eased his heart.
No matter how accustomed Bang Jin Bo had become to Dam Ho, watching people die one after another before his eyes was no simple matter.
Heh heh!
Bang Jin Bo smiled unknowingly and moved forward.
After parting with Cho Yeon Woon, Dam Ho and the others made swift progress through the foothills and finally crossed into Hubei Province.
The first rumor they heard upon arriving in Hubei was, unsurprisingly, about the Demon Cult.
The shock left by So Cheon San, the Killer of Ten Miles and No Life, was truly staggering. Because of that one man, common people had come to truly fear the power of the Demon Cult.
Wherever one went in the Central Plains, conversation centered on the Demon Cult, and people lived in dread, not knowing when the Cult would launch a full-scale invasion.
“The Demon Cult……”
Hwang Hae Ryeong shook her head.
Though young in years, she knew well how terrifying the Demon Cult was. From childhood, Hwang Gyeong Mun had spoken of it until her ears ached.
Even Hwang Gyeong Mun, who feared nothing in the world, could not help but show fear in his eyes whenever he spoke the word “Demon Cult.” That expression had made such an impression on Hwang Hae Ryeong that dread had taken root in her heart as well.
‘How many more will die this time?’
The mere thought clouded her heart.
It was as Hwang Hae Ryeong unwittingly let out a sigh.
“We’ll camp here for the night.”
Dam Ho’s voice resonated in her ears.
Hwang Hae Ryeong looked around, coming back to herself.
The place where Dam Ho had stopped was a clearing near the reeds along an unnamed river bank. Surrounded by reeds on all sides, it looked quite sheltered and cozy.
Once they decided to camp, Bang Jin Bo approached Muk Il Gwang.
“Senior!”
“Hm?”
Muk Il Gwang blinked, not understanding.
Muk Il Gwang looked fierce just to behold. Most ordinary people would lose control of their bladders merely seeing his face, yet Bang Jin Bo treated him with such ease.
‘Does this boy not fear me?’
The thought crossed his mind.
But Muk Il Gwang didn’t know. He didn’t know how much Bang Jin Bo’s nerves had hardened through following Dam Ho.
No matter how fierce one’s appearance, it could not compare to Dam Ho’s terror. Dam Ho was both the most frightening person Bang Jin Bo knew and the most trustworthy.
Even if Muk Il Gwang were terrifying, he couldn’t hold a candle to Dam Ho. So Bang Jin Bo could act freely in his presence.
“You do know how to make a campfire, don’t you?”
“Of course!”
“Good. Senior, would you build us a fire?”
“And what will you do?”
“I’m going to see about finding us some supper.”
“Dinner fixings?”
“Yes! The river’s strong here, so there should be plenty of good fish to catch.”
Bang Jin Bo had fishing on his mind.
While in Akyang, he’d purchased fishing line and hooks for just this purpose.
Bang Jin Bo gathered a long stick and attached the line and hooks to it. He’d bought pork lard at a village on the way here; now he buried it in grain and threaded it onto the hook.
Hwang Hae Ryeong watched Bang Jin Bo’s deft fishing preparations with fascination.
“Can I come fish with you?”
“Of course.”
Bang Jin Bo nodded readily.
The two of them walked together toward the riverbank.
Left alone with Dam Ho, Muk Il Gwang’s expression shifted awkwardly.
As a martial artist of Deung Ryong Dae, Muk Il Gwang had feared nothing. Yet Dam Ho was unlike any warrior he’d encountered before. He was the only one who stirred something like dread in Muk Il Gwang’s chest.
Muk Il Gwang ventured to speak, his voice careful.
“Um, brother.”
Dam Ho simply stared at him in silence.
Eyes black as the bottom of a well—depthless, utterly still, devoid of any flicker of feeling.
“I’ll, ah, just gather some firewood.”
Muk Il Gwang stumbled over his words without meaning to.
When Dam Ho nodded, Muk Il Gwang exhaled with relief and hurried away.
Left alone, Dam Ho gazed out toward the river.
He could see Bang Jin Bo and Hwang Hae Ryeong fishing together, their low voices carrying as they talked.
Something flickered behind Dam Ho’s eyes.
It had been nearly twenty years since he’d seen his younger sister. Yet she had no idea who he was.
Perhaps it was only right. When he and Hwang Hae Ryeong had parted, she’d been barely two or three years old.
It was natural she’d remember nothing—not his face, nor their parents’.
But Dam Ho remembered her clearly. He remembered how dearly their mother and father had cherished her.
Their father had always told him, charging him to care for Hwang Hae Ryeong:
“If I’m not around, you’re the head of this household. Ha-ha-ha!”
That was what their father always said.
So many years had passed that his face no longer came into focus easily, yet his father’s hearty laugh and the scent of sweat clinging to him remained oddly vivid in Dam Ho’s memory.
He had no intention of telling Hwang Hae Ryeong that he was her brother.
They had lived such different lives. He simply hoped, as he always had, that they would each live well in their own way.
‘Hae Ryeong.’
Now she lived as Hwang Hae Ryeong. To her, a stranger who claimed to be her brother would have no place.
As Dam Ho was ordering his thoughts this way, Muk Il Gwang returned, his arms full of branches.
Muk Il Gwang skillfully lit the firewood. As he built up the campfire, Bang Jin Bo and Hwang Hae Ryeong returned together.
Bang Jin Bo was carrying a rather sizable carp in his hand.
The moment they’d left the river, he’d scraped off the scales, split open the belly, and cleaned out the innards.
“Tonight we’re having roasted carp.”
Bang Jin Bo set the carp down and spoke. He withdrew various spices and dried grains, packing the carp’s belly full. Then he scraped mud from the riverbank and coated the carp’s surface thickly before laying it across the campfire.
Bang Jin Bo wasted no moment. While the roasted carp cooked, he prepared a grain porridge over the flames.
Watching the meal take shape so swiftly, both Hwang Hae Ryeong and Muk Il Gwang’s mouths fell open.
“You’re a true genius, little brother.”
Muk Il Gwang raised his thumb in admiration. Hwang Hae Ryeong nodded in agreement.
Both of them were already salivating.
Moments later, their cries of delight echoed through the Reed Marsh.
“Wow! This is absolutely incredible!”
“Delicious.”
Dam Ho watched Hwang Hae Ryeong eating the roasted carp, savoring each bite, her contentment written plainly on her face—and said nothing.

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