Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 150

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

Episode 149. A Pain Worse Than Death—3
Ting-ting-ting!
Countless fine needles clattered against the wall and tumbled to the ground.
Like the flutter of a mayfly’s wings, Dam Ho’s body underwent dozens, hundreds of minute vibrations with each breath. For a moment, his form blurred before their eyes.
“Gasp!”
Witnessing a monstrosity he had never seen before, Jwa Shin Chung drew a sharp, involuntary breath.
In that instant, Dam Ho’s body shot forward like a battering ram.
A Ram Device forged to shatter fortress walls built from ten-thousand-year stone—enhanced now with a Wall Breaking Hammer besides.
Crack!
The iron bars, wrought from dark iron, shattered like dry reeds.
What unfolded defied everything Jwa Shin Chung understood—and by all rights, should never have been possible.
“Stop him! Stop that monster!”
Jwa Shin Chung cried out and stumbled backward.
His subordinates fired the Jeol Myeong Tal Hon Chim again. Another hundred invisible needles descended upon Dam Ho.
The Jeol Myeong Tal Hon Chim was so fine it barely caught the eye—a calamity for any ordinary Martial Artist, wielding devastating force. Yet to Dam Ho, who had mastered Bang Chae, it was worthless.
Whoosh!
Dam Ho unfurled Bang Chae once more, and the needles, unable to penetrate his defense, fell harmlessly to the stone floor.
Countless needles lay scattered across the ground.
Boom!
Dam Ho’s fierce Jin Gak struck the ground. The needles scattered below were suddenly lifted into the air like dust caught in a tempest.
Whoosh!
Dam Ho released his inner energy through every pore of his body. The Jeol Myeong Tal Hon Chim suspended in the air rode the wind back the way it came.
The Martial Artists holding the Cylinders found themselves drenched in their own needles.
“Ahhhhh!”
“Gaaahhh!”
Those struck by the Jeol Myeong Tal Hon Chim screamed with unbearable agony. Their flesh melted where the needles struck; soon bone lay exposed. The power was truly devastating.
The chamber transformed into chaos in an instant.
“Wh—what?”
Gan Su blinked, his eyes wide with shock.
The sight of the Martial Artists before him dissolving into bloody pulp seemed wholly unreal.
Whoosh!
A powerful gust from Dam Ho’s advance swept past him.
Splat!
In that moment, Gan Su’s head burst apart like soft tofu. His headless torso thrashed for an instant before crumpling.
Until the moment he lost his head, Gan Su never grasped his own death. Perhaps that was a mercy—for the others would find no such mercy in theirs.
Crash!
Under Dam Ho’s single blow, a human body crumpled like parchment and flew skyward.
By the time the remaining Martial Artists recovered their wits and attempted to counterattack, Dam Ho already stood in their midst.
“Wha—”
In that moment, Dam Ho swung his palm, dense with concentrated power, at empty air.
Shhhaaaang!
“Ugh!”
“Kgh!”
Blood erupted from the eardrums and noses of everyone within three paces of Dam Ho.
Dan Gong Byeok.
A technique that strikes the grain of the air itself, unleashing a shockwave.
An attack developed further, drawing inspiration from Bang Chae.
Theoretically he had believed it possible; this was the first time he had ever actually manifested it.
In moments, more than twenty Martial Artists fell dead, blood streaming from nose and ear. Trapped in a three-walled cave, the power of Dan Gong Byeok was amplified tenfold.
Dan Gong Byeok did not merely claim their lives. The Golden Shackles binding his hands and legs took a terrible blow as well.
Those Golden Shackles, forged from what was said to be the hardest metal in the world—ten-thousand-year dark iron—lay torn and fractured like parchment.
As Dam Ho twisted his wrist, the Golden Shackles crumbled to nothing. The ones on his legs suffered the same fate.
Only one survivor remained: Jwa Shin Chung, who had fled to the mouth of the cave.
“Wh—what? How is this…?”
Terror flickered across Jwa Shin Chung’s face.
All the Martial Artists who had come with him were renowned masters even within Heuk Su Chae. And yet they had been utterly annihilated without mounting so much as a defense.
Faced with a horror he would fear to see even in nightmares, Jwa Shin Chung felt his mind drain of all color.
The mind that usually turned so nimbly now sat hollow and blank, unable to form even a single decision.
As this happened, Dam Ho walked toward him.
Limping slightly on his left leg, his approach seemed almost unreal. By the time Jwa Shin Chung regained his senses, Dam Ho stood before him, at arm’s length.
Crack!
Dam Ho’s fist struck Jwa Shin Chung’s ribs without warning.
“Argh!”
Pain lanced through his entire body, and Jwa Shin Chung’s spine bent like a shrimp.
The world knew nothing of it, but Jwa Shin Chung’s martial skill was formidable indeed. In Nok Rim at least, few masters existed who could threaten his life.
Yet this master couldn’t muster the will to resist.
It wasn’t a gap in martial ability. The terrifying presence radiating from Dam Ho, the suffocating murderous aura—these had stripped away his will to fight.
Jwa Shin Chung gasped, his mouth hanging slack.
Dam Ho reached out and seized Jwa Shin Chung by the jaw, then brought the bowl he held to the man’s lips.
“Ghk! Agh, no, no—!”
Terror flashed in Jwa Shin Chung’s eyes. He thrashed his head, struggling, but couldn’t escape Dam Ho’s iron grip.
Into his gaping mouth poured gruel thick with Blood Ruin Single Mountain Pill. He couldn’t close his teeth. In the end, Jwa Shin Chung had to swallow every drop.
“Krgh!”
Dam Ho released him, and Jwa Shin Chung rolled across the ground.
A pain like knives shredding his insides came crashing down.
“Hack!”
Blood mixed with fragments of torn organs spilled from his mouth. Blood ran down from his bulging eyes.
The Blood Ruin Single Mountain Pill lived up to its name. The problem was that Jwa Shin Chung himself had been the one who obtained it.
He was dying to the very poison he had sought.
Jwa Shin Chung lifted his head, gazing up at Dam Ho.
“Please… save me…”
“There’s no need to feel so bitter about it. At least you’re dying easier than Jo Yoon San.”
Dam Ho stepped past him.
Jwa Shin Chung reached out, trying to grasp Dam Ho’s leg. But his hand only trembled, refusing to move.
“Screeeech!”
Leaving Jwa Shin Chung’s agonized wail behind, Dam Ho continued forward.
Beyond the entrance of Chamhoe Cave, along a narrow ledge carved into the mountainside, a throng of martial artists had gathered.
They were the backup fighters Jwa Shin Chung had brought along, just in case.
From inside Chamhoe Cave, Jwa Shin Chung’s chilling screams still echoed outward. Those waiting outside couldn’t fathom what was happening, their faces twisted with unease.
“What in heaven’s name is going on in there?”
Then, a figure emerged from the entrance of Chamhoe Cave.
Cloaked entirely in black, emanating an ominous, sinister aura that turned the stomach just to behold—it was Dam Ho.
“Gasp!”
“Surely… all those who went in have been completely annihilated?”
Their anxiety swelled like a snowball rolling downhill.
“Everyone, stay calm. We only need to block the ledge.”
So Myeong Woong, leader of the backup forces, shouted in an attempt to quell the panic. But far from subsiding, it spread through the entire group like plague.
“Screeeech!”
Then Jwa Shin Chung’s scream erupted one last time, a piercing wail that suddenly cut off. The people’s dread only deepened, and in that moment, Dam Ho drew steadily closer.
He was still limping.
He planted his right leg, dragging his left behind him.
That uneven, syncopated gait set their fear ablaze.
“Ahhhhh!”
“We have to run!”
Several martial artists threw down their weapons and tried to flee.
“You think the leader will spare you if you run? Dead or alive, we have to stop him. You bastards!”
So Myeong Woong brandished his weapon and roared. At his words, many of the fighters steadied themselves and prepared to stand against Dam Ho.
In that instant, Dam Ho lifted his head and fixed his gaze upon them.
Eyes devoid of even a flicker of light. Black, hollow eyes.
At the sight of those eyes—abyssal, like a bottomless pit leading to hell itself, containing not a shred of emotion—their bodies turned to stone.
Like a frog before a serpent, like a deer before a tiger, the predator-prey relationship was established.
Those who met Dam Ho’s gaze trembled like aspen leaves.
Flight was unthinkable.
Then Dam Ho flicked a finger at So Myeong Woong.
So Myeong Woong’s head bowed deeply.
What shone in his face was the light of resignation.
As if spell-bound, he took a step toward Dam Ho—like an ox that knows its own slaughter, walking willingly toward the butcher.
So Myeong Woong clenched his teeth, attempting to resist. But Dam Ho’s presence had seized hold of his spirit.
Not only So Myeong Woong. Everyone in that place was pinned by Dam Ho’s presence, unable to move a muscle.
Dam Ho opened his mouth.
“Where is Jo Yoon San?”
“At the… at the Master’s residence. Please, I beg you. We’ve done nothing wrong.”
So Myeong Woong pleaded.
His trousers had gone dark with moisture. He’d lost control of his bladder.
Yet So Myeong Woong didn’t seem to notice, continuing his desperate appeals.
He didn’t want to die.
Or rather, if death was coming, he didn’t want it to be a dog’s death.
He wasn’t born to die in some nameless mountain ravine like this.
He’d believed himself a man of greater worth.
Born for something larger, something grander—or so he’d convinced himself. That’s why he’d followed Jo Yoon San, and until now, he’d never once regretted it.
At least not until he came here.
Then Dam Ho’s hollow voice cut through the air.
“It was the same back then.”
“What?”
“The older brother who lived next door did the same thing. He begged you. Pleaded for his life.”
“What are you…?”
“You laughed at him when you saw him soiling his pants. You said, ‘You pathetic wretch! Show some backbone! At least try to live a little longer.’ That’s what you said.”
So Myeong Woong couldn’t make sense of Dam Ho’s words.
It was as if Dam Ho knew him already, speaking as though they had a history. Yet So Myeong Woong swore he’d never laid eyes on this man before.
How could anyone forget a face like this? A presence so terrifying?
A man whose image burned into memory after a single encounter, unforgettable for a lifetime.
That man was Dam Ho.
“You don’t remember, it seems.”
“I…”
So Myeong Woong’s face crumpled, tears threatening to spill.
“That’s how it is. The victim carries the wound forever, but the perpetrator walks free, unburdened. And they forget—as if the memory never existed at all.”
“Great Master, I truly don’t know who you are.”
“My name is Dam Ho. You knew me as Gwon Ma.”
“That much I know, but—”
“The sole survivor of the small village at the foot of Mount Taebaek that the Heuk Ho Dan annihilated.”
“Then…?”
So Myeong Woong’s head snapped up.
A memory from long ago surfaced then.
In that moment, Dam Ho laughed.
“Now you understand why you’re dying.”
“Ahhhhh!”
As So Myeong Woong’s scream tore from his throat, Dam Ho’s fist rammed into his mouth.
Teeth shattered and crumbled as the fist drove deeper into his oral cavity.
“Gggghhh!”
“You said it yourself back then. Not a single one would be left alive.”
Dam Ho’s desolate voice pierced through So Myeong Woong’s eardrums.
Now everything came back to him.
The fiendish boy who’d scarred Jo Yoon San’s face, who’d slain his comrades.
That demon had become a monster, and now stood before his eyes.
‘Please… let me live!’
He begged silently. But his voice echoed only inside his skull, never reaching the outside world.
Bang!
His head disintegrated in that instant, brain matter spraying in all directions.
“Ahhhhh!”
The martial artists who’d been watching scattered like startled locusts, fleeing in all directions.
The gates of hell had opened.

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