Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 44

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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 44. The Sand Storm Calls for Blood—Part 1
“Well, we’ve gained five more foals today. What fortune, what fortune! Hehehehe!”
“Damn it! Even horses manage to have offspring, but I…”
“But you possess something just as valuable as a horse, don’t you? Take pride in that.”
“Pride in something useless? What’s the point…”
“True enough! It’s useless indeed. The heavens are fair after all!”
“Hahahaha! Stop teasing, or you’ll have Chun-saeng in tears.”
The laborers had gathered after finishing their work and were drinking. What they called wine was nothing more than cheap grain liquor they’d brewed themselves, yet they laughed with genuine delight, their voices filling the air.
Their faces shone with a happiness that was almost startling to behold.
Laughing, chattering, savoring the simple joys of everyday life.
Life was harsh and demanding, yet they had found happiness in their own way.
Bang Jin-bo sat among them, laughing as if he’d always belonged. He had adapted so thoroughly that he seemed a true man of the Horse Ranch now.
The people loved him in return. They loved the food he prepared, and they cherished the pleasure of conversation with him.
Geum So-hye loved him most of all. Like a chick following its mother, she trailed after Bang Jin-bo from dawn to dusk.
Bang Jin-bo didn’t seem to mind the attention. Whenever he was among these people, his face brightened naturally with a warm, beaming smile.
One of the laborers called out to him.
“Jin-bo.”
“Yes!”
“You said you were heading to Hunan Province?”
“That’s right. More precisely, to Dong-jeong Lake.”
“Why trouble yourself with such a long journey to Hunan Province? Why not stay here and live with us?”
“Pardon?”
“Why exhaust yourself traveling all the way to Hunan? Just stay here and live with us. True, the land looks barren, but life here isn’t so bad. The water is pure, the people are good, and there’s nothing to worry about. Yes, the nomadic life searching for new pastures is grueling, but once you adapt, it’s perfectly bearable.”
“That’s right! Just watching the horses race across the boundless grasslands makes your chest open up. There’s no need to live a complicated life out there—you can find enough happiness right here, just as we do.”
The other laborers chimed in, adding their voices to the chorus of agreement.
For a moment, Bang Jin-bo’s expression showed temptation.
He genuinely liked this place. The thought of spending his whole life here, cooking and living simply, didn’t seem so bad at all.
The proprietor Geum Gwan-cheon treated him with kindness, and So-hye followed him like a true older brother. This kind of happiness was something he hadn’t known since his father’s death.
Honestly, he didn’t want to lose what he had now. And yet, there was an emptiness gnawing at one corner of his heart.
Bang Jin-bo laughed. He tried to laugh even brighter.
He laughed and chattered along with the others. Thus his happy hours slipped by.
“Hehehehe!”
Bang Jin-bo entered the room laughing. Once inside, he saw Dam Ho sitting on the bed, gazing out through the window.
“Brother!”
“You’ve arrived?”
“Hehehe! Yes, I’m here.”
Bang Jin-bo approached and sat down beside Dam Ho.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking.”
“At what?”
“At everything…”
Dam Ho answered plainly.
“What’s there to see in everything? How can you possibly see it all?”
Bang Jin-bo opened his eyes wide and looked out the window in the direction of Dam Ho’s gaze.
It was a guest quarters, far removed from the main building. From here, the entire Horse Ranch lay visible at a glance.
The sprawling pastureland, horses frolicking across it, and people moving about. An ordinary scene, no different from any other day.
Yet Dam Ho gazed upon that unremarkable landscape.
‘How does the world appear through his eyes?’
The thought suddenly came to him.
He found himself wondering what thoughts occupied Dam Ho’s mind, what feelings stirred in his heart as he looked out upon the world.
“Jin-bo.”
“Yes, brother!”
“We’re leaving tomorrow.”
“Already?”
Bang Jin-bo’s eyes widened in surprise.
Dam Ho turned to look at him for the first time.
“If your heart isn’t in it, you don’t have to come.”
“What are you saying? Of course I’m coming with you, brother.”
“Life here has its merits. There’s no need to undertake such a difficult journey.”
It was the first time Dam Ho had spoken at such length since meeting Bang Jin-bo.
“Brother?”
Tears welled up in Dam Ho’s lifted eyes.
“You’re going to abandon me?”
“It’s not abandonment.”
“Brother!”
“I thought this place suited you.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Bang Jin-bo shook his head forcefully, tears spilling down his cheeks.
Then he suddenly stood and began hurriedly gathering his belongings.
“I’m coming with you.”
“Jin-bo.”
“I have to follow you. Don’t try to stop me.”
Dam Ho’s gaze deepened.
These past few days, staying in this place, he had come to understand something with absolute clarity.
‘This peace doesn’t suit me.’
Like a single drop of oil floating on water’s surface, only he remained aloof. This world, this peaceful realm—it was not where he belonged.
No matter how many years passed, there would be no place for him here.
If peace did not suit him, then what remained was only the chaos of the battlefield.
The blood flowing through Dam Ho’s veins, his very nature, whispered this truth.
These few days had been confirmation of that fact. That was why he was leaving.
“It may be dangerous.”
“That’s fine. Besides, you promised. You said you’d take me to the Cheonha Jeil-ru.”
“Yes.”
“Then keep your promise.”
“Yes.”
Dam Ho nodded.
He would keep it, no matter what.
It was the first promise he had made since entering this world.
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“The Horse Ranch?”
Light kindled in Shim Ok’s eyes.
She had rushed here in a frenzy, unaware of what lay in this place. She had simply deployed her Lightweight Skill and found herself arriving.
“I can obtain a horse here.”
Once she acquired a horse and crossed the Gao-yu Pass, she could shake off her pursuers. After that, she would need to find a way to contact the Hyeol-rin Sal-mak.
Though she had only delayed the enemy’s pursuit, Shim Ok knew well that it wouldn’t buy much time.
The military strength of the Seocheon Sanjang that she had witnessed with her own eyes was formidable beyond measure—so much so that even the Hyeol-rin Sal-mak could not confidently claim to withstand them.
Eun Ha-seong’s martial prowess in particular was terrifying. Even Heuk-no, whom she relied upon most, would be no match for him.
If Eun Ha-seong were to obtain the Blood Demon’s Divine Technique, there would be no one in Xinjiang capable of opposing him.
Now, the only force that might stand against Eun Ha-seong and the Seocheon Sanjang was the Hyeol-rin Sal-mak itself. The sects of the Central Plains had no interest in affairs beyond their borders.
“So I must steel myself.”
It appeared the workers had scattered and slept throughout the Horse Ranch as if there had been a feast the night before.
Shim Ok did not hesitate. She vaulted over the Horse Ranch’s wooden fence. The ranch hands were ordinary folk—they could not possibly sense her presence.
Her gaze swept across the Horse Ranch with predatory sharpness.
One horse stood alone within her vision. Among the countless animals in the ranch, a single Black Horse radiated an unmistakable presence.
Shim Ok, who had practically lived atop horses since childhood, recognized at once that the Black Horse was a superior steed.
“A horse like that…”
Light kindled again in Shim Ok’s face.
A horse of that caliber could easily cover a thousand li in a single day. Then she would have no further need to fear pursuit.
Shim Ok did not delay. She launched herself toward the Black Horse.
Thump! Thump!
With merely two bounds off the ground, her body had already closed the distance to the Black Horse.
Though an anomalous presence like Shim Ok had suddenly materialized, the Black Horse remained utterly unmoved. But as she met its gaze—a gaze that looked down as if from a great height—her lips compressed. The horse seemed to be mocking her, as if laughing at this thief who had snuck over the fence like a cat burglar.
“It’s for the greater good.”
Even as she spoke, the words struck her as absurd. She was offering an excuse to a mere beast.
“Come on.”
Shim Ok grasped the horse’s bridle and pulled. But the Black Horse did not move.
“What?”
Shim Ok’s eyes widened as she glared at the Black Horse. But it did not budge an inch.
Snort!
The Black Horse instead snorted and backed away, dragging Shim Ok’s body with it.
Shim Ok realized the Black Horse was refusing her.
“Don’t be like this. Xinjiang’s fate depends on it.”
She pleaded, but the Black Horse paid no attention. His arrogance exasperated her, yet she couldn’t afford to waste time here much longer.
Just as she reached for the bridle again to pull him forward—
“Who goes there?”
One of the workers stirred at the sound of her presence. The others began to wake as well.
“Oh, no.”
Shim Ok’s face flushed with confusion.
The worker stared blankly at Shim Ok, who held the Black Horse’s bridle, then shouted.
“A—a thief!”
“A thief?”
Hearing the cry, the other workers scrambled to their feet.
Suddenly accused of theft, Shim Ok clenched her jaw. Since matters had come to this, she decided to be bold about it.
Shim Ok mounted the Black Horse.
“Go!”
She kicked the horse’s belly with her legs. Ordinary horses would have bolted at once. But this Black Horse was different.
Snort!
He stood firm and wouldn’t budge an inch.
The Black Horse was none other than Heuk-gwi.
“Cursed beast.”
In the end, Shim Ok abandoned Heuk-gwi with a string of curses and found another horse instead.
“A thief!”
“A horse thief’s gotten in!”
The workers shouted and charged toward her, but she paid them no mind.
Even injured as she was, her skill made them no match for her.
‘There’s no time to explain to them or buy a horse properly. Compensation can come later. Right now, I have to get out of here.’
She unfurled her Lightweight Skill and leaped onto the nearest horse. It was far inferior to Heuk-gwi, but beggars couldn’t be choosers now.
“Go.”
Just as she was about to spur the horse forward—
“Hold.”
Someone blocked her path.

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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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