Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 26

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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 26. Everyone Must Stand Alone—Part One
The dust that had darkened everything like the fall of nighttime gradually settled. But O Gi-o and the guards remained motionless. Could not move, rather.
It was because of the man who emerged from the haze.
He looked like a beast. His hair was tangled wildly, a beard covered his chest, and between them gleamed a look that was eerie and unsettling.
Scraps of cloth barely concealed his lower body, and around his waist hung a small bundle, crudely wrapped in fabric.
“Hrrgh!”
A bestial sound came through his parted lips—something like the cry of a wild animal.
In that moment, O Gi-o and Yu Pyo flinched as if all the blood in their bodies had turned to ice.
They felt the breath of a savage beast in his rough breathing.
Before a fierce and brutal creature, they felt as though they were standing naked and defenseless. That was why they could not move.
‘What in the…’
‘Urgh!’
The man kept his eyes downcast, breathing heavily in silence for a long moment.
With each breath he took, the dust still hanging in the air trembled in response. O Gi-o, struck by the sight of it, could not find the courage to speak.
Suddenly the beast-like man raised his head and looked at them. In that instant, an intensity of gaze so overwhelming pierced through their very eyes.
“Nngh!”
O Gi-o could not bear to meet the man’s stare and quickly lowered his gaze.
From just that brief glimpse of the man’s eyes, his heart was thundering wildly in his chest.
‘What manner of killing intent is this…’
O Gi-o prided himself on being the chief guard of the Eunryeon Trading Company, having weathered countless dangers—and yet he had never before encountered anyone whose gaze held such a quality.
A man who could kill with his eyes alone—that is what O Gi-o believed.
After staring at them for some time, the man finally opened his mouth.
“Who… are you people?”
His voice was extraordinarily rough and murky.
Had O Gi-o not concentrated intently, he might not have understood the man’s words at all—his pronunciation was so unclear. Yet now the words rang in O Gi-o’s ears as loudly as thunder.
O Gi-o answered quickly.
“I am O Gi-o, chief guard of the Eunryeon Trading Company.”
“Eunryeon Trading Company?”
The man muttered as if hearing the name for the first time.
“We are based in Nanju and conduct business between here and the Western Regions, trading in goods.”
O Gi-o answered desperately.
There was no other choice—he could not endure silence.
Yu Pyo and Cheong-o beside him had gone pale, their hands gripping sword hilts, so overwhelmed were they by the intense killing intent radiating from the man.
“Then you are heading to the Western Regions now?”
“No. We are returning to the Central Plains.”
“That works well!”
The moment O Gi-o heard those words, he realized he had answered wrongly.
“I will trouble you for a short while.”
“……”
He could not refuse. The man’s gaze was far too terrifying for that.
It felt as though his heart was withering in his chest.
Jo Su-gwang, the owner of the Eunryeon Trading Company, could not hide his bewilderment at the strange figure O Gi-o had brought before him.
“Who is this man?”
“I will explain the circumstances later. For now, he has agreed to travel with us as far as the nearest village.”
A furrow deepened between Jo Su-gwang’s brows.
He saw the desperate look that had appeared on O Gi-o’s face. O Gi-o was gazing at Jo Su-gwang with eyes equally urgent and pleading.
“Ah, I understand.”
In the end, Jo Su-gwang could only nod in agreement.
Once Jo Su-gwang’s permission was granted, O Gi-o became busy.
“Cheong-o, bring a set of clothes suitable for this man.”
“Understood.”
“And…”
O Gi-o glanced hurriedly around. Suddenly his gaze fixed on a cargo cart in the middle of the procession.
He pointed toward it with his finger.
“You can travel in that cart.”
“Mm.”
The man who had come with O Gi-o nodded in acknowledgment.
The killing intent the man had been radiating during their journey here had diminished noticeably. It was as if he were restraining it of his own accord.
Thanks to that, though he looked strange now, he did not seem as frightening. Because of this, Jo Su-gwang and the other merchants could not understand why O Gi-o and his companions appeared so deferential toward the man.
The man took the clothes Cheong-o had brought and walked toward the cargo cart O Gi-o had indicated.
“Hmm!”
As the man drew near, Bang U-gwang, the owner of the cargo cart, furrowed his brow. The sight was grotesque enough—a man with barely a scrap of cloth covering his lower half—but it was the peculiar, rough aura radiating from his body that troubled him.
Yet this was a man brought by O Gi-o himself, the chief escort. As merely a cook, Bang U-gwang had no grounds to refuse.
“If you don’t mind the cargo hold, you’re welcome to ride there.”
The man nodded and climbed into the cargo hold of the cart.
“Hello there.”
The one greeting him was Bang Jin-bo.
Bang Jin-bo showed no fear as he looked upon the man with his eerie aura, flashing a bright, innocent smile.
“Hehe! My name’s Bang Jin-bo. Just call me Jin-bo. And what’s your name, mister—uh, older brother?”
At Bang Jin-bo’s question, the man lifted his head for a moment, gazing up at the sky. As if searching his memory for his own name.
After a pause, the man finally opened his mouth.
“Damho. My name is Damho.”
＊＊＊
Bang Jin-bo lay in the cart with wide-open eyes, watching Damho. Damho rested his head on his arm, staring up at the sky.
The sky was impossibly blue. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen such a blue sky. Yet strangely, it brought him no joy.
Though he might have expected excitement, his heart had turned to stone—numb, empty of feeling, as if he’d lost all capacity for emotion.
Suddenly, he felt Bang Jin-bo’s gaze. The boy was watching him like a stealthy cat, stealing glances.
Damho moistened his mouth with saliva.
Having gone so long without speaking, opening his mouth now required considerable effort.
At last, a hoarse voice emerged from between his lips.
“Do you know of the Demonic Cult?”
“The Demonic Cult?”
Bang Jin-bo’s eyes widened in shock. But after a moment, he nodded.
Damho’s eyes, hidden beneath his unkempt hair, gleamed.
“How long ago was the Demonic Cult destroyed?”
Bang Jin-bo couldn’t answer and looked toward his father. He’d heard the name before, but he didn’t know exactly when or how the Demonic Cult had perished.
Bang U-gwang, catching his son’s look, answered instead.
“From what I know, it’s been more than thirty years now. Thirty-two years, I’d say. But why do you ask?”
“……”
Damho didn’t answer. Couldn’t answer.
‘Then I’ve been locked in Cheongeummagyok for twelve years?’
A faint tremor ran through his shoulders.
He’d thought it was only five or six years at most. A gap of that length in a life seemed bearable.
But it had been twelve years. So long that even after mountains changed their course once, two years remained.
He’d arrived here at eighteen; now he was exactly thirty. He’d spent nearly half his life in that pitch-black cavern.
The twenties—the prime of a man’s years—had never existed for him.
“Khe-hehe!”
A low laugh escaped his lips. But the moment Bang Jin-bo and Bang U-gwang heard it, their hearts plummeted.
Their faces drained of all color in an instant.
That wasn’t all.
Neigh! Neigh-hiii!
The horses drawing the cart suddenly reared and bolted as if possessed.
“Gack!”
Even the escorts, trained in martial arts, felt their meridians rocked to the core and had to quickly draw upon their internal energy to steady themselves.
“G-great master! Please calm—”
O Gi-o, unable to bear it, made his plea, and Damho’s laughter ceased.
“Hah!”
Relieved sighs erupted from all quarters. Among them were Bang U-gwang and Bang Jin-bo, the owner and his son.
Both men’s faces had turned ashen. They had never imagined that the strange man they’d taken aboard possessed such terrifying killing intent.
‘I’ve loaded a god of death onto my cart.’
Bang U-gwang’s expression twisted in despair.
For the first time, he resented O Gi-o for forcing Damho into his cargo cart.
Damho clenched his jaw shut.
Killing intent seeped out with the slightest exertion of his eyes, with the merest laugh. Whether it was from twelve years of isolation in that place, or from the Demonic Martial Art he’d learned in Manmago, Damho himself didn’t know. Nor did he care.
But those around him were different.
Just as a tiger pays no mind to the flock but the sheep cannot help but watch the tiger’s every move, so too could they not tear their eyes from Damho’s slightest gesture.
‘Where did such a demon come from? We’ve courted disaster.’
Jo Su-gwang squeezed his eyes shut.
He resented O Gi-o for bringing such calamity. Yet upon reflection, he realized O Gi-o had likely had no choice either.
No matter that O Gi-o was the chief escort of the Eunryeon Trading Company, he fell considerably short compared to the renowned masters of the martial world.
The aura and presence emanating from the man overwhelmed O Gi-o. Even if all the escorts from the Eunryeon Trading Company rushed him at once, they would stand no chance against Damho.
He could only pray that Damho would leave as soon as possible. But contrary to their hopes, Damho had fallen into a deep sleep.
Damho opened his eyes long after.
“Wake up.”
Someone was shaking him. When his eyes opened, he saw Bang Jin-bo looking down at him.
“What is it?”
“Dinner’s ready.”
“Dinner?”
Damho pulled himself up. Before him lay a circle of cargo carts arranged in the middle of a flat field.
While he slept, Jo Su-gwang had decided they would camp for the night. The others had carefully prepared to make camp, taking care not to wake him.
Bang U-gwang and his son had likewise been swept up in the cautious mood and quietly prepared the meal.
Those gathered around the cooking fire kept stealing glances at Damho. He saw the fear that lived in their eyes.
Their fear was directed at him alone.
He had no intention of threatening them, yet they regarded him as a threat.
Damho spoke to Bang Jin-bo.
“Bring my meal somewhere else.”
“Why not eat with us?”
“I’m more comfortable here.”
“Understood.”
Bang Jin-bo went toward the cooking fire with an expression of resignation. When he returned, a large wooden bowl was heaped with freshly prepared food.
“My father and I made this. Please, eat well.”
“Thank you.”
Damho received the bowl.
A spicy aroma suddenly assaulted his nostrils.
“Stir-fried pork over rice. We made it Sichuan-style and quite hot, so be careful.”
……
“Hehe! Since I made it, please forgive me if it doesn’t taste good.”
Damho looked at Bang Jin-bo. Bang Jin-bo was smiling as though he’d never been afraid at all.
Damho picked up his utensil and scooped rice and stir-fried pork together.
His hand trembled.
He carefully brought the rice and pork to his mouth. The sweet juices of the meat spread across his tongue.
“How is it?”
Bang Jin-bo’s hopeful voice reached him. But Damho did not answer.
Bang Jin-bo’s expression quickly fell.
“Does it taste bad?”
“No. It’s delicious.”
“Really? Truly?”
“Truly.”
The corners of Damho’s eyes trembled.
How could it taste anything but good.
For the first time in twelve years, he was tasting warm food.

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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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