Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 16

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

Episode 16. Beyond the World of the World……. -1
Dam Ho woke early, before dawn.
Twilight had not yet broken. He moved with purpose, first rinsing rice and setting it to cook.
It was then that Yeon So Ha approached him.
“You’re up early. Is there anything I can help with?”
“No.”
Dam Ho’s reply was curt, so decisive that Yeon So Ha felt a flutter of awkwardness.
Ignoring her, Dam Ho retrieved some preserved vegetables he’d been keeping and began seasoning them with practiced motions.
Yeon So Ha watched him with obvious fascination.
Since joining the Wudang sect, she had never once prepared a meal herself.
She was no lay disciple, no second-generation member—she held the rank of First-generation Disciple.
Moreover, she was a disciple of Cheong Heo. It was better for the sect that she spend her time mastering martial arts rather than idling away hours in the kitchen.
Dam Ho, too, was a First-generation Disciple of the Hua Shan sect. Watching him cook directly was something of a novelty.
Yet Dam Ho’s heart harbored a particular reason as he worked.
Once he’d begun serious martial training, his master Hyeon So had taken over all the cooking—a gesture of consideration so he could devote more time to the Way.
When he returned to formal cultivation, there would be even less time to prepare meals for his master. Before descending the mountain, he wanted at least once to provide his master with a proper meal.
So Dam Ho cooked with meticulous care, each motion reverent enough that Yeon So Ha simply watched in silence.
As the food neared completion, Cheong Heo returned. He had risen before even Yeon So Ha, venturing out to absorb the spiritual essence of Hua Shan with his morning walk.
“That smells wonderful.”
Dam Ho bowed to Cheong Heo.
Just then, Hyeon So emerged from the room.
“Ugh, my head…”
“Master.”
“You’re awake already? Or am I the last one up?”
Hyeon So’s headache still lingered; he pressed his temples gently with his fingertips. At the sight of him, Cheong Heo smiled.
“Is your stomach all right?”
“It’s fine… No, actually, I don’t think it is.”
Hyeon So shook his head and sank onto the platform bench. His honest response drew smiles from both Cheong Heo and Yeon So Ha alike.
Dam Ho brought the laid table to the bench.
“Once you’ve eaten, you’ll feel better.”
“Nngh! Thank you, Dam Ho. Let’s all eat together, shall we?”
“A guest need only be grateful.”
Cheong Heo sat first on the bench, and Yeon So Ha took her usual place beside him. Two more people now occupied what had always been their table for two.
Though only two more had been added, the air itself felt incomparably livelier than before.
Dam Ho lifted his spoon, then stopped, his gaze drifting blankly ahead. The others’ eyes followed his line of sight.
Wind scattered the plum blossoms, their petals dancing through the air and settling even on the platform where Dam Ho sat.
“Ah, this is the finest view under heaven. The greatest meal of my entire life.”
Cheong Heo’s hearty laughter rang out across the morning.
＊＊＊
After they finished eating, washing the dishes fell to Dam Ho as well, which he did without a single complaint.
Yeon So Ha observed him intently throughout.
‘Il-man Ryeon? Ten thousand times of refinement?’
Those were Cheong Heo’s words about Dam Ho. Her master had no reason to speak falsehoods to his disciples.
Feeling her gaze, Dam Ho lifted his head and looked at her.
“Is there something on my face?”
“No.”
Yeon So Ha shook her head, and Dam Ho returned to the dishes. Yet something about his manner stirred a memory in her.
‘There’s something about him that reminds me of… Jin Mu Young.’
In the next instant, she shook her head.
‘Nonsense. There’s nothing alike about them—their nature is completely different. It must be my imagination.’
She dismissed the thought.
Just as Moo Gyeong had emerged in the Hua Shan sect to inherit the insights of Hyeon Cheon, so too had a prodigy appeared in Wudang: one called Jin Mu Young.
He was hailed as the greatest talent Wudang had seen in a century—a paragon of exceptional skill, instinct, and raw gift in every regard.
How else could the elders of Wudang all cling to him, passing down their martial knowledge one by one?
Jin Mu Young absorbed everything he was taught, and then surpassed it still further. Such prodigious talent made the entire sect tremble with awe.
With Jin Mu Young’s rise, the sect elders agreed that Wudang’s standing in Kangho would remain unshaken for the next hundred years.
Jin Mu Young was Dam Ho’s opposite in every way.
He was not taciturn as Dam Ho was; a smile lingered perpetually on his lips. He showed courtesy to all and never overstepped his bounds, always mindful of his place.
Because of this, many loved and followed him. Yeon So Ha was among those who admired and respected him—she could claim to know him better than most.
Surely Jin Mu Young and Dam Ho shared not a single resemblance. Yet as she watched Dam Ho, that face kept surfacing in her mind, which was decidedly strange.
Her gaze drifted suddenly to Dam Ho’s hands as he washed the dishes.
Those rough, scarred hands caught her eye—far larger and coarser than ordinary, with calluses pressed deep as nails into the palms.
‘Why hadn’t I noticed such stark marks until now?’
When meeting martial artists from other sects, one habitually observed them closely—the shape of their musculature, the form of their fists, their build—to deduce what martial arts they had mastered and what level they had achieved.
Yeon So Ha had cultivated such a habit. Yet when she looked at Dam Ho, she had neglected such observation.
As she pondered this, Yeon So Ha soon grasped the reason.
‘I was too focused on his limp. Because of that, I only pitied him, and unconsciously forgot that he was a martial artist of Hua Shan sect.’
Yeon So Ha blamed herself for dropping her guard based merely on outward appearance. It was a failure born of insufficient experience.
Now she understood why her master had brought her here.
‘Master seeks to fill in the gaps in his inadequate disciple’s experience in this way.’
Yeon So Ha felt anew the solicitude of Cheong Heo. And she came to appreciate how fortunate she was to have such a teacher.
The unexpected journey to Hua Shan had given her much.
“Yeon So Ha.”
…….
At the sound of her name, Dam Ho lifted his gaze and looked toward her. Meeting his impassive stare, she smiled back at him.
“It’s truly beautiful. Hua Shan is…….”
Dam Ho nodded quietly in assent.
When Dam Ho’s party reached Chi-un Palace, the sun already hung high. A crowd of Hua Shan sect disciples stood arrayed in the courtyard before the palace.
“Master, we shall escort you.”
Moo Gyeong stepped forward to Hyeon So. Behind him stood Un Gyeong and thirty disciples in formation.
“Are they going along as well?”
“Yes.”
“This would be Hyeon Cheon’s decision?”
“Yes.”
Hyeon So wore a wry smile.
The disciples alongside Un Gyeong were among the most promising talents the Hua Shan sect had to offer.
‘Hyeon Cheon has truly set his ambitions high. Bringing promising talents on a journey fraught with unknown perils——’
These were the very future of Hua Shan sect. The inclusion of such youths in this expedition revealed how Hyeon Cheon viewed the current situation.
‘He seeks to turn crisis into opportunity. And to grant Hua Shan’s disciples the maximum experience possible beneath the Wudang sect’s umbrella, no doubt.’
Hyeon So shook his head to dispel the stray thoughts. Whatever the truth, he himself was part of this procession.
The responsibility to protect Hua Shan’s disciples fell upon him as well.
Hyeon So gestured.
“Come here, Dam Ho.”
Dam Ho, who had been standing at a distance, stepped forward. At that, Un Gyeong opened his mouth.
“Is Yeon So Ha joining as well?”
“She is.”
“That is far too dangerous, Master. For Yeon So Ha’s sake, it would be wiser to leave her at the Hua Shan sect.”
At Un Gyeong’s blunt words, Hyeon So’s brow creased slightly.
“It will be fine.”
“We are already stretched thin protecting you alone, Master. Should crisis arise, we may not be able to spare attention for Yeon So Ha.”
Un Gyeong’s tone was utterly cold and matter-of-fact—stripped of all emotion. His emotionless words made Moo Gyeong sweat profusely.
“What are you saying before the Master, In Seok?”
“I am merely stating reality, Senior Brother.”
“The Master surely has his reasons for speaking as he does. Say no more.”
“Very well.”
Authority crept into Moo Gyeong’s voice, and Un Gyeong withdrew quietly. But his eyes held no look of acquiescence.
Moo Gyeong turned his gaze to Dam Ho.
“Don’t take what your younger brother says too deeply to heart. He means well out of concern.”
“I don’t mind.”
Dam Ho’s words were sincere. Yet Moo Gyeong could not conceal his lingering regret.
He bowed his head to Hyeon So.
“My apologies, Master.”
Sigh.
Hyeon So exhaled a sigh instead of replying. At this, Moo Gyeong’s expression grew more awkward still.
Moo Gyeong shouted toward the innocent disciples.
“Are you all prepared?”
“Yes!”
The disciples’ voices echoed across Hua Shan.
Their momentum seemed to pierce the heavens.
“Since all appears ready, let us descend.”
Cheong Heo stepped forward. Moo Gyeong nodded in acknowledgment.
“Everyone, move out.”
“Yes!”
With Moo Gyeong at the lead, the disciples of Hua Shan sect began their descent down the mountain.
Hyeon So turned to follow them, then suddenly paused and looked back toward Chi-un Palace. In the window of that floor, a familiar face appeared.
‘The sect master.’
Hyeon Cheon’s gaze from above was so fathomless that one could not discern his thoughts.
After offering a respectful salute to Hyeon Cheon, Hyeon So descended Hua Shan.
Hyeon Cheon remained standing in that spot until the disciples vanished from sight, unmoving.
Hua Shan—a mountain he climbed and descended every day. There should have been nothing extraordinary about it. Yet today felt different.
Dam Ho gazed back along the path he had traveled with freshly opened eyes.
The treacherous routes marked by Baek Cheok Hyeop and Cheon Cheok Dang stretched before him. Upon the countless stone steps—each nearly vertical—lay his blood and sweat.
Dam Ho committed every sight to memory, one by one.
Just then Moo Gyeong approached, smiling.
“What is it? Why do you look at it as though you’ll never return?”
……
“Only joking, only joking. Really, you youngster.”
Moo Gyeong draped an arm across Dam Ho’s shoulders. His gaze turned toward Hua Shan.
“Is it not magnificent? Hua Shan dressed in plum blossoms…. How could one not love such a mountain? So do not worry. We shall return to Hua Shan safely, I promise you. And when we do, the plum blossoms will bloom in full splendor once more to welcome us home.”
Dam Ho did not answer. But Moo Gyeong believed his companion felt the same way. He did not notice the chill that gathered in Dam Ho’s eyes.
‘I do not love Hua Shan for its plum blossoms. No matter how profusely they bloom, a Hua Shan without my master can never hold such meaning for me.’

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