Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 64

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

Episode 64. To Covet Another’s Treasure, One Must Stake What Is Dear—Part 2
“Ah, I’m dying.”
Bang Jin Bo groaned and stretched.
“You worked hard today.”
Song Hwan patted Bang Jin Bo’s shoulder lightly with his meaty hand.
Bang Jin Bo had more than pulled his weight again. Thanks to him, they’d managed to handle the flood of orders that came pouring in like the tide.
“Everyone did excellent work. The urgent business is finished, so you’re free to rest now.”
“Huzzah!”
Exclamations burst from the mouths of the chefs and assistant chefs.
Today had been the peak of Yi Sin Poong’s Sixtieth Birthday Celebration. It was the day the most people had gathered to see Yi Sin Poong. The kitchen staff had barely been able to catch their breath, so consumed were they with preparing food.
Song Hwan spoke to Bang Jin Bo.
“It will be difficult, but I’d appreciate your help through tomorrow as well.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.”
“Thank you. Working so tirelessly despite the hardship. We managed to get through a rough patch because of you.”
“No, it’s not like that. I’m doing this because I enjoy it. And I’ve learned about so many dishes I never knew before.”
Most of the food that the lodge master Yi Sin Poong ate had been prepared by Song Hwan himself. As befitted a Head Chef, Song Hwan possessed knowledge of countless cooking techniques that others did not know.
Simply by watching him cook from beside him, Bang Jin Bo had gained invaluable lessons.
Song Hwan was himself a renowned master chef in Gan Su Province. The very fact that Bang Jin Bo had cooked alongside such a person was an overwhelming, unforgettable emotion.
Song Hwan clapped his hands and spoke.
“Everyone worked hard. Clean up now and get some proper rest.”
“Thank you for your guidance.”
The chefs and assistant chefs bowed in unison to Song Hwan. He waved his hand to them and stepped outside. Woo Bok Gyeom, the second-rank chef, followed after him.
When all the other chefs had left as well, only Bang Jin Bo and So Jin Seo remained in the kitchen.
Bang Jin Bo smiled at So Jin Seo.
“Well then, shall we start again?”
“Let’s do it.”
So Jin Seo nodded. A smile lingered on his face.
Ever since hearing Bang Jin Bo explain his approach to fire, the smile had never left his features.
‘Now I think I can truly understand fire.’
He could not grasp fire completely, yet he had begun to understand how to work with it. His culinary skill was advancing by leaps and bounds because of this.
It was all thanks to Bang Jin Bo.
After that, Bang Jin Bo spared no advice for So Jin Seo. So Jin Seo was moved by Bang Jin Bo’s unwavering sincerity.
Now he no longer envied Bang Jin Bo. Instead, he cherished him and followed his guidance.
Tap-tap-tap!
The sound of their knives striking the cutting board rang out ceaselessly through the kitchen.
So Jin Seo tried to cook while understanding fire according to Bang Jin Bo’s teachings, while Bang Jin Bo recalled the image of Song Hwan cooking during the day.
“Ha ha ha!”
Their laughter echoed through the kitchen.
Bang Jin Bo left the kitchen some time later.
“Ah, good.”
Bang Jin Bo stretched and looked up at the sky. The moon appeared particularly bright.
The sight of the moon brought his father to mind.
“I’m doing well even without you, Father. So don’t worry.”
Bang Jin Bo waved at the moon, then dashed off.
In the distance, the guest house came into view.
“Dam Ho!”
Bang Jin Bo threw the door wide open. But Dam Ho was nowhere to be seen.
“Dam Ho?”
＊＊＊
Jwa Sang Cheon was in a splendid mood.
Around him now were four young martial artists of similar age. All of them were martial artists he had met at Hong Am Mountain Lodge.
Young martial artists with backgrounds similar to Jwa Sang Cheon’s. They were all renowned talents of Gan Su Province.
Somehow they had ended up seated together, their spirits harmonized, and they had remained together ever since.
“Ha ha! To finally meet friends who suit my taste. I’ve wasted my life until now.”
“Who would disagree? It’s truly fortunate to meet you all now.”
“To share a cup of fine wine with good friends—truly wonderful.”
Jang Hak Gyeong, Mo Jung Hyeon, and Yun Sang Han were precisely those names.
Jang Hak Gyeong was the young master of a fairly large merchant house with operations in Nan Zhou, and Mo Jung Hyeon was the senior instructor of the Yun Yang Martial School.
Yun Sang Han was an Outer Disciple of the Gong Dong Faction and was known as an exceptionally talented individual throughout Gan Su Province.
The place where they drank was the Annex Hall within Hong Am Mountain Lodge. The merchant house operated by Jang Hak Gyeong’s father provided a substantial sum to Hong Am Mountain Lodge every year. Thanks to this, they received special treatment and had been assigned the Annex Hall.
The high walls encircling the grounds meant no one from outside could see in, allowing them to drink as freely as they pleased.
They’d consumed a considerable amount—their faces flushed crimson, Liquor Bottles scattered across the floor at their feet.
The alcohol had reached its peak effect.
“Brother!”
A sharp voice suddenly pierced through the Annex Hall.
“Who’s this? Isn’t it our most beautiful sister-in-law?”
Jwa Sang Cheon regarded the woman who had entered the Annex Hall with half-lidded eyes. She was Moon Su Gyeong, his sister-in-law.
Moon Su Gyeong approached Jwa Sang Cheon.
“Brother, what are you doing here?”
“What do you mean?”
“You should be attending the celebration.”
“Attend for what? The master of this house won’t even see me.”
“What?”
“No matter how much I loiter around out there, do you really think he’d grant me an audience? The Hyun Hyun Mun means nothing to him.”
“Brother!”
“Accept reality, sister. Yi Sin Poong is beyond your reach—forget about him. Why don’t you sit here with us instead? Cultivating friendships with these people would be far more beneficial to the Hyun Hyun Mun’s future, trust me.”
Jwa Sang Cheon spread both arms wide. At his gesture, Moon Su Gyeong’s expression twisted.
Meeting so many people in this place had inflated Jwa Sang Cheon’s vanity considerably. It had always been present to some degree, but never like this.
“Brother, please…….”
“Just wait and see, sister. The Hyun Hyun Mun will rise even greater under my leadership.”
At his words, Moon Su Gyeong squeezed her eyes shut.
Jang Hak Gyeong and the others spoke in turn.
“Miss Moon, I’ve heard much about you from Jwa here. Please, join us.”
“Indeed! As you can see, we are not evil men. Building friendships with us would greatly benefit the Hyun Hyun Mun.”
They spoke with great courtesy. But Moon Su Gyeong was not listening to their words.
Moon Su Gyeong glared at Jwa Sang Cheon.
“Where were you last night, brother?”
“Hmm? Why do you ask?”
“You didn’t return to the quarters.”
“Ha! I had business to attend to.”
“What business?”
“Do I owe you a report on my every movement, sister? Don’t be mistaken. I am a disciple of the Hyun Hyun Mun, but I have no obligation to account for myself to you.”
“Brother!”
“If you’re not going to drink, then leave.”
Jwa Sang Cheon waved his hand dismissively.
His arrogant gesture made Moon Su Gyeong’s face flush hot with anger. She had held onto hope that he might yet prove himself, but Jwa Sang Cheon had only brought her disappointment after disappointment.
The problem lay with the people at his side. They had filled his head with delusions of grandeur.
Moon Su Gyeong was about to speak one last time.
Suddenly, the front gate of the Annex Hall opened without a sound. But Jwa Sang Cheon and the others, absorbed in their drinking, did not notice.
“Oh?”
Moon Su Gyeong alone among them watched as the gate swung open.
The great doors parted, and someone stepped inside.
The moment Moon Su Gyeong saw the man approaching, dragging one leg quietly across the floor, her pupils dilated.
A man with roughly disheveled black hair, dressed in a coat of leather black as pitch.
‘The older brother of Bang Jin Bo.’
The man who had been beside the portly boy who had made such a deep impression on her during the journey here.
His first impression had been striking, yet she had paid him little attention at the time. Thinking back, it was strange—even with her mind so occupied by Yi Sin Poong’s Sixtieth Birthday Celebration, how could she have shown so little interest in someone who made such a powerful impression? The very fact itself was peculiar.
Watching Dam Ho as he walked toward this place, Moon Su Gyeong understood why she had avoided taking notice of him.
Shiver.
It was fear.
Her mind had sensed the danger first and had deliberately pushed Dam Ho from her thoughts to protect her body from harm.
Dam Ho merely walked forward, yet her body trembled like an aspen leaf.
Moon Su Gyeong backed away hesitantly. She didn’t know how many steps she’d taken before her body came to rest against the bench where Jwa Sang Cheon and the others sat.
“What’s wrong? Sister. Have you changed your mind after all?”
Jwa Sang Cheon, still unaware of Dam Ho’s arrival, grinned. But when Moon Su Gyeong didn’t answer and her body began to shake, he naturally followed her gaze.
“Hmm?”
Only then did Jwa Sang Cheon notice Dam Ho, and his face registered bewilderment.
“You?”
The moment he met Dam Ho’s eyes, Jwa Sang Cheon’s face began to tremble.
Those eyes held no disturbance, no flicker of emotion—perfectly black pupils that revealed nothing. Yet in that instant, Jwa Sang Cheon felt his breath catch in his throat.
It felt as though his heart was shriveling, making it impossible to breathe properly.
Gripped by a strange and terrifying sensation unlike anything he had ever felt before, Jwa Sang Cheon lurched to his feet.
“What brings you to this place?”
He raised his voice deliberately, thinking that doing so might help him shake off the inexplicable dread creeping through him.
“What’s wrong, Jwa?”
Jang Hak and the others exchanged puzzled glances at Jwa Sang Cheon’s strange reaction.
Then came Dam Ho’s quiet voice.
“Why did you?”
It was a fragment of a sentence, stripped of all context.
Everyone else looked confused, but Jwa Sang Cheon alone grasped the meaning hidden within Dam Ho’s simple question.
“What are you talking about?”
Still, he denied it outright. He couldn’t afford to be humiliated in front of all these people.
“Do you have any idea where you are? This is no place for a crude ruffian like you to set foot.”
As Jwa Sang Cheon’s expression darkened, Jang Hak stepped forward eagerly from his side. The alcohol had robbed him of clear judgment, and the presence of Mo Jung Hyeon and Yun Sang Han beside him emboldened his nerve.
One was a senior instructor at the Yun Yang Martial School, among Nan Zhou’s finest establishments, and the other was an Outer Disciple of the Gong Dong Faction. By any reasonable measure, he had nothing to fear.
Mo Jung Hyeon rose with a smile as well.
“It seems you haven’t learned how the world works yet. Whatever issue you have with Jwa here, this isn’t the place for it. This is a space that Yi Sin Poong kindly set aside for us. Troublemaking by outsiders in such a place benefits no one.”
Though Jang Hak and Mo Jung Hyeon had stepped forward, Yun Sang Han remained seated, seeing no need for his own involvement.
But Dam Ho spared them not a glance. His gaze remained fixed entirely on Jwa Sang Cheon.
Dam Ho’s lips parted again.
“Why did you?”
“What does that even mean? I have no idea what you’re saying.”
Jwa Sang Cheon continued to deny it outright.
Earlier, drunk, he had made his way to the Stable. The thought of the Black Horse had been gnawing at him constantly.
The animal stood before him—sleek and black from head to hoof, not a single hair out of place—utterly irresistible.
He had pressed coins into the hands of the stable workers and attempted to mount the Black Horse. But the animal had resisted wildly.
Enraged, Jwa Sang Cheon had seized a nearby Whip and lashed the Black Horse savagely. Yet the animal had held firm, refusing to carry him no matter how hard he struck.
Exhausted from beating the creature, Jwa Sang Cheon had returned here and lost himself in drink once more.
Whatever the reason, the fact remained that he had struck the Black Horse—a shameful deed that must never reach the outside world.
It was then that Moon Su Gyeong, her senses now clear, intervened.
“Elder brother, what on earth have you done?”
“Quiet! What do you mean I’ve done something? Are you taking the word of some stranger over mine, a senior disciple of the Hyun Hyun Mun?”
“Elder brother, just who are you—”
Disappointment flickered across Moon Su Gyeong’s face.
They had seen each other nearly every day for more than a decade. She could read truth from falsehood in his expression alone.
The sorrowful gleam in Moon Su Gyeong’s eyes only deepened Jwa Sang Cheon’s despair.
He rounded on Dam Ho with a roar.
“Fine! I tried to ride your horse. So what? What’s wrong with that?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Yes, what’s wrong? You worthless bastard!”
Frenzied now, Jwa Sang Cheon hurled his fist at Dam Ho, fear forgotten.
It was no mere punch. The technique of the Nan Ming Quan, a Secret Martial Technique of the Hyun Hyun Mun, flowed through it.
A strike laden with Killing Intent rocketed toward Dam Ho.
“Elder brother!”
Moon Su Gyeong cried out in alarm and squeezed her eyes shut.
Bang!

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