Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 146

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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 145. Laying Down the Mat and Waiting—2
Chamhoedong was a small cave hollow nestled midway up the towering cliff face on the northern side of Hua Shan. Its entrance opened onto a narrow mountain path so cramped that only a single person could squeeze through at a time.
Guard that path alone, and no one could enter or leave—Chamhoedong was a natural fortress, impregnable by design.
Dam Ho, still bound by the Geumma Shackles, surveyed the interior of the cave. The entrance was sealed by iron bars as thick as a man’s forearm, and the space within was so confined that four adults entering together would have felt claustrophobic.
“You will remain here until the gate is opened for you.”
A Warrior of Paewangcae spoke in a flat, expressionless voice.
Dam Ho nodded and settled into a cross-legged position on the cave floor.
Twelve years—that was the span Dam Ho had endured in the Geumma Blood Jade. That place had been a hell without light, a space where not a single ray of illumination could penetrate from the outside world. Compared to that, this cave was almost pleasant, with sunlight streaming in and a certain austere comfort to it.
The Warrior of Paewangcae, having observed Dam Ho for a moment, sealed the cave entrance and departed.
He spoke to the warriors guarding the narrow path outside.
“Keep close watch. You must not open this gate under any circumstance until the Supreme Chief gives his command.”
“Understood, sir.”
The warriors responded with vigor.
Dam Ho’s ears caught their voices clearly enough, but he gave them little thought.
The Geumma Shackles binding his hands and feet were proving troublesome. For an ordinary person, the mere weight of wearing them would have caused dislocation; the burden was immense.
Dam Ho ignored the shackles and closed his eyes.
He had survived far worse conditions than these. Such trivial constraints would never induce discomfort in him.
Dam Ho’s thoughts turned to Jo Yun San.
Jo Yun San was a textbook example of a Filial Tyrant and an Opportunist.
Until now, Jo Yun San had remained hidden within Heuksucae, waiting and observing from the shadows.
Rising from a common bandit to become a Stronghold Chief, he had maintained ruthless concealment of his existence even after ascending to power. It was Jo Yun San—a man of patience and relentlessness beyond ordinary comprehension—who had, for the first time in years, left his mountain stronghold and come to Hua Shan.
Merely to meet Hwang Gyeong-moon? Or was it truly on account of the Demonic Cult’s emergence?
It was a pretext that didn’t hold water.
Men like Jo Yun San never move without careful deliberation.
Once they act, they must obtain some result commensurate with their effort, or they find no satisfaction.
So for that Jo Yun San, Dam Ho had laid down the mat.
He had removed himself as an obstacle to Jo Yun San’s ambitions, deliberately stepping aside.
Now nothing remained but to wait.
Dam Ho opened his eyes.
The Geumma Shackles still bound his limbs, their weight cumbersome.
On impulse, Dam Ho began to practice the Dark Form Fist.
Whish!
Because of the shackles, his form kept shifting slightly out of alignment.
He had believed that through thousands upon thousands of repetitions, he could perform the movements with his eyes closed—yet even this minor alteration revealed how fragile the human body truly was, how easily it lost its precision and subtlety.
Fortunately, Dam Ho possessed formidable patience—even more than Jo Yun San—and an endurance that never flagged.
He had the physical capacity and obsessive will to repeat a single movement ten thousand times over. Above all, he despised wasting time idly.
To others’ eyes, this place might appear a prison, but to Dam Ho it was the safest training ground in all the world.
Dam Ho began to practice his Martial Arts, shackles and all.
Whoosh!
Only the sound of Dam Ho’s body moving through the cave reverberated in the hollow space.
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“Ahhhhh!”
Yi Ga Heun jolted awake with a scream.
Her face was so swollen that its features were unrecognizable, and deep purple bruises covered her broken wrist.
She was not alone in the room. Jo Yun San sat there, along with Gwak Sam, O Jong Sam, and others.
Gwak Sam asked gently.
“Are you all right?”
“Ahhhhh! Son of a bitch! I’ll kill him! I swear I’ll kill him!”
Yi Ga Heun screamed instead of answering, her voice raw and furious.
Jo Yun San and the others sat silent, watching her rage unfold.
“I’ll strip the flesh from his bones and deep-fry it, feed his eyes to the dogs, throw the bastard into a shit-pit and fry him to death! What the hell does he think he is, breaking my arm? Huh?! I’ll kill him! Slow and agonizing, I’ll make him die screaming!”
She continued unleashing a torrent of bitter curses for some time after that.
Once the storm of her fury had passed, Jo Yun San finally spoke.
“Perhaps it is for the best.”
“What do you mean, for the best? My arm is broken!”
“It confined that bastard to Chamhoedong. Had he remained at large, we would have had to postpone our plans.”
At Jo Yun San’s words, Gwak Sam and the others nodded quietly in agreement.
Though Dam Ho was but a single man, the pressure and presence he radiated far exceeded that of any other master.
They understood all too well the impact a lone Absolute Master could have on the course of events.
“This Power Demon, as they call him—his temperament is genuinely warped.”
“I’ve never seen a bastard with such a foul temperament before. I’ve heard plenty about Demon Fist this, Demon Fist that, but I never imagined he’d be this insufferable.”
Gwak Sam and O Jong Sam each voiced their agreement.
As Stronghold Chiefs of the Nocrim, they had done their share of necessary and unnecessary deeds, met all manner of people. But none of them—not a single soul among all those encounters—could be compared to Dam Ho.
Yi Ga Heun fixed her gaze on Jo Yun San.
“Surely you don’t intend to simply leave him be just because he’s locked away in Chamhoedong? If that’s your plan, I won’t follow you.”
“Of course not.”
Jo Yun San shook his head slightly.
Even without her words spurring him on, he had no intention of leaving Dam Ho alone.
‘That man knows me. I’m certain of it.’
The problem was that he did not know who Dam Ho was.
Those who harbored hatred toward him were as countless as grains of sand on a white beach.
Leading the Black Tiger Unit, he had plundered indiscriminately, killing countless people in the process.
So many deaths that his hands could no longer keep count. He understood why those connected to the fallen would hold grudges against him.
But it was those eyes that troubled him.
There was something strangely familiar in that gaze—yet he could not place it with clarity.
Jo Yun San absently touched the scar that cut across his cheek. Oddly, the wound throbbed.
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Tap! Tap!
Bang Jin Bo’s ladle danced across the cutting board in rapid, bright rhythm.
Fresh vegetables fell away in neat slices, and thick cuts of meat were scored with practiced knife strokes.
Ssshhh!
Pork fat melted into the blazing hot cooking stove. The gleaming, oil-kissed surface received a scatter of trimmed vegetables.
The vegetables wilted at once, releasing their essence as pork tumbled down upon them. Then came a splash of wine—half a cup poured in one measure.
Whoosh!
Blue flame leaped across the stove, then vanished.
Sweat poured down Bang Jin Bo’s forehead in torrents, stinging his eyes as it fell. He did not blink once, his attention absolute on the work before him.
Hwang Hye Ryeong watched from the corner of the kitchen as Bang Jin Bo cooked.
The heat rising from the cooking stove made the kitchen feel like a sealed steam chamber. The oppressive warmth made even breathing labored. Yet Bang Jin Bo showed no sign of strain, entirely absorbed in his craft.
‘He’s truly remarkable.’
Though young, the way Bang Jin Bo carved out and walked his own path stirred much reflection in Hwang Hye Ryeong.
At last, the dish was complete.
It was a simple pork stir-fry, yet the aroma that drifted from it and the feeling it conveyed were far from ordinary.
Bang Jin Bo opened the lid of a square lunch box. Inside lay rice prepared earlier, alongside an assortment of other dishes. When he nestled the pork stir-fry on top, the lunch box was filled to perfect capacity.
“Done.”
Only then did a smile bloom at the corners of Bang Jin Bo’s mouth.
Bang Jin Bo wrapped the lunch box containing his careful work in cloth.
“You’re quite something yourself.”
Hwang Hye Ryeong shook her head slowly.
The food Bang Jin Bo had made was for Dam Ho. This was what they called devoted care—tending to a prisoner’s welfare.
“Isn’t it hard on you?”
“No.”
Bang Jin Bo answered flatly.
Those confined in Chamhoedong received nothing but thin, watery gruel. One could not recover strength on such fare.
A man needs a full belly to summon his strength—that was an old truth.
“Let’s go.”
Bang Jin Bo took the lunch box and led the way forward.
Hwang Hye Ryeong nodded and followed. But the path to Chamhoedong proved far from unobstructed.
“Where are you two headed?”
It was because of the figure blocking their way.
A man with a distinctive slash scar cutting across his left cheek—Jo Yun San—stood in the middle of the path, regarding them both.
“Chief Jo.”
Hwang Hye Ryeong bit her lip tightly.
Her pupils trembled.
She did not know why. Whenever she saw Jo Yun San, her heart would always shake with unease, and she could not find peace.
Jo Yun San’s gaze shifted to Bang Jin Bo, who held the wrapped bundle.
“What is that?”
Bang Jin Bo quickly moved the bundle behind him. At once, Jo Yun San’s eyes grew sharp and cold.
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to give food to the prisoner?”
“I, that is…….”
Bang Jin Bo faltered, startled, his words stumbling. In response, Jo Yun San’s expression twisted into a cold smile.
“Prisoners cannot be given any food except what the stronghold provides.”
“But…….”
“He is a serious criminal of the Nocrim Eighteen Strongholds.”
Jo Yun San’s voice cut through the air like frost, and his eyes glinted with serpentine coldness.
Bang Jin Bo took an involuntary step backward, seized by an ominous premonition. Hwang Hye Ryeong immediately moved to block his path.
“Jin Bo is my guest. You will not mistreat him.”
“No matter that you are the Supreme Chief’s daughter, you cannot violate the laws of the Nocrim.”
“Since when did Heuksucae’s rules become the rules of the entire Nocrim?”
Hwang Hye Ryeong’s blunt response made Jo Yun San’s brow twitch. The atmosphere in the room grew colder still.
“Are you now taking the side of a criminal?”
“Jin Bo is not a criminal.”
“But he is the criminal’s brother.”
“Does that matter?”
“It matters. Very much.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Whether it makes sense or not is not for you to decide. The laws of the Nocrim decide. Those born and raised in the Nocrim must never violate its laws. Ah—but you were not born in the Nocrim, so perhaps that does not apply to you?”
Jo Yun San murmured the words softly, yet they reached Hwang Hye Ryeong’s ears with perfect clarity.
“What do you mean? I was born and raised in the Nocrim.”
“Do you truly believe that?”
Jo Yun San’s lips curved upward in a thin smile.
His manner—as though he possessed knowledge she did not—made Hwang Hye Ryeong’s pupils tremble as if shaken by an earthquake.
Jo Yun San was always like this.
He perpetually belittled her, acted as though he guarded some secret about her existence. That was why encounters with him were always unbearable.
Jo Yun San let out a low chuckle.
“If that is what you believe, then continue to believe it.”
His words were the sort that could be twisted into any number of interpretations.
Hwang Hye Ryeong’s eyebrows shot upward.
“Are you mocking me?”
“How could I? How could I possibly mock the Supreme Chief’s only daughter? When the Supreme Chief himself stands so firmly in place.”
“That means you would have mocked me if Father weren’t around?”
“You are far too sensitive in your reactions. Where is your patience? Tsk, tsk!”
At Jo Yun San’s words, Hwang Hye Ryeong bit down hard on her lip. She could not defeat him with words alone.
An unbearable humiliation seized her entirely. Jo Yun San gazed down at her, smiling—as if he savored the sight of her shame.
Then Bang Jin Bo took hold of Hwang Hye Ryeong’s hand and spoke.
“If you’re finished talking, would you move aside?”
“What?”
“You said it yourself—these are Heuksucae’s rules, not the Nocrim’s. I need to bring food to my brother.”
“Insolent!”
“This is Paewangcae. If you came as a guest, observe courtesy. You are as much a visitor here as I am.”
“You must have a death wish.”
“If you can kill me, then kill me. And stop spouting nonsense about the Nocrim’s so-called rules.”
Bang Jin Bo fixed Jo Yun San with a hard stare.
The fear that had dwelt in his eyes moments before had vanished without trace.
He was the brother of Dam Ho, the Demon Fist.
He had endured threats like these countless times.
‘This fat bastard dares—’
An unpleasant expression crossed Jo Yun San’s face.

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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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