Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 81

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

Episode 80. Unintended Meetings Bring Problems—Part 2
Do Hak Gyeong’s expression twisted at once.
“What? What did you just say?”
It was the Geum Sa O Ryong he had poured his heart into creating.
To compare an artistic masterpiece crafted from the finest sea cucumber and meat with the utmost skill to mere food made by some common fat man was unthinkable.
For him, it was nothing short of an unbearable insult.
“Are you saying the Geum Sa O Ryong I made has no flavor?”
“I think I’ve already tasted the finest Geum Sa O Ryong there is. Of course, it wasn’t something you prepared.”
En So Cheong wiped the seasoning clinging to her lips with her handkerchief.
Do Hak Gyeong’s Geum Sa O Ryong was truly delicious. Yet somehow it fell short for En So Cheong.
Ordinarily she would have couched her words carefully or said nothing at all. But fed up with Do Hak Gyeong’s arrogance, she found herself speaking bluntly without thinking. And it had ruffled his feathers.
“You’re telling me what I made has no taste? Is that what you’re saying?”
“Pardon?”
Bang Jin Bo’s eyes widened. His expression turned bewildered.
“N-no, that can’t be. Your food was truly delicious, sir.”
“Then why does your face look that way?”
“What do you mean I look—”
“Why are you wearing that sourpuss expression?”
Do Hak Gyeong’s voice rang out across the fifth floor with piercing clarity. The other patrons eating at their tables all turned to stare at Bang Jin Bo.
Bang Jin Bo didn’t know what to do.
He never thought the Greatest Chef Under Heaven, Do Hak Gyeong himself, would look at him with such intensity. Bang Jin Bo’s eyes darted toward Dam Ho.
In that instant, Dam Ho’s firmly closed lips parted.
“He’s just lost his palate.”
……
The atmosphere in the hall plummeted to an icy chill.
“M-master?”
Bang Jin Bo looked ready to weep.
Do Hak Gyeong’s sharp gaze fixed on Dam Ho.
“What did you just say?”
“I said it’s tasteless.”
“How dare you mock Do Hak Gyeong?”
The pride he took in his cooking was matched only by the tremendous anger he felt now.
Dam Ho raised his head and met Do Hak Gyeong’s gaze. In that moment, Do Hak Gyeong flinched.
The unbearably heavy, sunken depths of Dam Ho’s eyes were not something an ordinary person like him could withstand.
He was not alone in his tension.
Thump!
Jong Ri Soo’s fist clenched involuntarily. The instant he saw Dam Ho’s gaze, every muscle in his body went rigid and the back of his neck went stiff. His hands and feet tingled—a clear sign of how tense he had become.
If even Jong Ri Soo, who had trained in martial arts, felt this way, there was no possibility Do Hak Gyeong could hold Dam Ho’s gaze.
Do Hak Gyeong quickly turned his head away, fleeing from Dam Ho’s eyes.
Dam Ho set down his chopsticks.
“You tampered with the food.”
“W-what?”
Do Hak Gyeong’s face flushed crimson.
He wanted to lash out at Dam Ho right then and there, but lacked the courage to meet his gaze.
Do Hak Gyeong had worked as the chief chef of Cheonha Jeil Roo and met countless officials and martial artists. Yet he could swear that none of them had ever frightened him the way Dam Ho did.
Do Hak Gyeong opened his mouth to speak. But his lips only trembled uselessly, and no words would come.
Then it happened.
“What is this commotion?”
An unfamiliar voice rang across the fifth floor.
Everyone’s gaze turned toward where the voice had come from.
A man in his mid-to-late forties ascended the staircase. His clean-cut features and elegantly groomed beard paired beautifully with his white robe.
The moment En So Cheong saw him, her expression changed.
“Uncle!”
“So Cheong.
The man climbing the stairs was none other than Shim Woo Won, Sect Leader of Ui Seon Mun. Behind him, roughly a dozen Ui Seon Mun martial artists followed up the steps.
The intensity in their eyes was unmistakable—these were no ordinary practitioners.
Shim Woo Won spoke.
“What has happened?”
“Well, you see…….”
“These people have insulted my cooking.”
En So Cheong was at a loss for words when Do Hak Gyeong stepped forward.
The Ui Seon Mun was the Cheonha Jeil Roo’s greatest patron. At least here in Won Kang, they were practically omnipotent. So Do Hak Gyeong’s confidence was only natural.
Do Hak Gyeong’s gaze turned toward Dam Ho and Bang Jin Bo.
“Is this true?”
“That’s not what happened, Uncle.”
“You stay quiet. I’m asking them.”
Shim Woo Won ignored En So Cheong.
Though she was his niece and he cherished her dearly, he had to keep public and private matters strictly separate.
The Cheonha Jeil Roo earned astronomical sums in a single year. A considerable portion of that flowed directly into the Ui Seon Mun’s coffers.
This would have been impossible if Do Hak Gyeong weren’t the Greatest Chef Under Heaven. For that reason, the Ui Seon Mun could not afford to let his reputation suffer under any circumstances.
If his honor fell, so did the Cheonha Jeil Roo’s. Patrons would stop coming, and the loss would fall squarely on the Ui Seon Mun.
Do Hak Gyeong’s expression grew smug.
Like a dog who sits confidently beside his master, he had Shim Woo Won’s backing—a patron he could rely on completely.
En So Cheong, by contrast, looked visibly distressed. She hadn’t expected things to escalate like this.
Shim Woo Won’s eyes shifted to Bang Jin Bo.
The Ui Seon Mun was both a Medical Family and a Martial Family. Naturally, its Sect Leader—Shim Woo Won himself—was both a physician and a martial artist. Moreover, one who cultivated formidable martial prowess.
There was no way a boy as young as Bang Jin Bo could withstand such a gaze. He quickly looked away.
“I asked if it was true. Did you really insult his cooking?”
“Well……”
“It tasted bad.”
Dam Ho spoke instead of Bang Jin Bo.
A flicker of surprise crossed Shim Woo Won’s eyes.
“Everyone calls him the Greatest Chef Under Heaven. And you’re saying his food has no taste? You’re being absurd.”
“I’m simply speaking the truth.”
At Dam Ho’s words, the martial artists standing behind Shim Woo Won bristled forward.
“How dare you speak so recklessly? Do you know who this is?”
“Show respect.”
They looked ready to pounce on Dam Ho at any moment. But Shim Woo Won raised a hand, holding them back.
Shim Woo Won regarded Dam Ho carefully.
“Can you stake your life on that claim?”
“What? That it tastes bad?”
“Yes. Not a single guest who’s ever come here has said such a thing.”
“Just because no one’s said it before doesn’t mean no one ever will.”
“From where I stand, you’re simply looking for trouble. Today, for the sake of my niece’s face, I’ll let you leave peacefully. Now go.”
It was the greatest courtesy Shim Woo Won could muster. He would have liked nothing more than to teach Dam Ho and Bang Jin Bo a lesson right then, but En So Cheong was watching.
Though En So Cheong was his niece in private, she was the precious jewel of the En Family. Should the En Family decide to cut off its funding, the entire economy of Honam would grind to a halt.
No matter how much the Ui Seon Mun earned the world’s praise, it meant nothing without money flowing in.
En So Cheong’s father, En Il Myeong, was perfectly capable of such a thing. He treasured his daughter more than life itself. If she wished it, he would sever the purse strings without a moment’s hesitation.
“I’m speaking civilly—now leave. The Cheonha Jeil Roo has no need for guests like you.”
“Uncle!”
En So Cheong cried out in alarm, but Shim Woo Won remained unmoved.
“Now!”
At his command, his subordinates stepped forward. Killing intent blazed across their faces. Do Hak Gyeong smiled at the sight.
‘They dare insult my cooking? How fitting.’
No one was permitted to disparage his dishes. They were simply meant to taste what he had created and marvel.
“Get up.”
One of Shim Woo Won’s men placed a hand on Dam Ho’s shoulder.
In that instant, Dam Ho’s eyes turned glacial.
“Remove your hand. Unless you want to die.”
“Amusing. You truly are someone who needs to see a coffin before they’ll weep.”
The man who had grabbed Dam Ho’s shoulder drew upon his Gong Nyeok.
“Brother!”
Bang Jin Bo squeezed his eyes shut.
He knew better than anyone what would happen in the next moment.
Crash!
The Cheonha Jeil Roo shuddered.
Compressed air exploded outward in all directions, sending tables and utensils clattering across the floor. The diners tumbled along with them.
Splat!
A crimson mass was embedded in the wall—something that had not existed there a moment before.
A strangled gasp.
The moment the guests on the floor saw what it was, they retched.
Though the shape was unrecognizable, crushed beyond distinction, it had unmistakably been human. Alive and breathing just moments before.
All he had done was grasp Dam Ho’s shoulder. That was truly all.
And now it lay pulped like meat.
It had happened in an instant. Most of those present had no idea what had occurred.
A faint tremor ran through Shim Woo Won’s shoulders.
He was one of the few who understood what had happened.
The moment Dam Ho’s shoulder moved, a sound like thunder cracked through the air, and the subordinate flew backward. And became this—this grotesque thing.
Sliiide.
The corpse slid down the wall. The facial features were so crushed they were beyond recognition, and the sternum was caved inward, ribs jutting outward like broken twigs.
It was a sight too horrible to bear looking at directly.
“Gah—!”
Do Hak Gyeong, who had been so bold moments before, clamped both hands over his mouth.
He handled pig and cattle carcasses every day, but this was his first time witnessing a human corpse before his eyes.
Dam Ho rose slowly from his seat. Everyone’s eyes remained fixed on him.
When he was still, it was one thing—but the moment Dam Ho moved, the pressure in the room became almost suffocating.
“Hngh—”
A groan escaped Shim Woo Won’s lips unbidden.
Through the tangled hair, eyes like those of a beast. Within them, the thick, viscous intent to kill.
Shim Woo Won had lived his entire life within the shelter of the Ui Seon Mun, protected by its walls. Now those eyes—eyes he had never seen, never even imagined—fixed upon him with an unwavering stare.
‘How could I not have seen those eyes before?’
Regret washed over him like a tide.
He wondered if he had acted too hastily, relying solely on Do Hak Gyeong’s words. But the milk was spilled now, and far too many eyes were upon him.
He spoke.
“Who are you?”
“What does it matter?”
“What?”
“Does it matter so much who I am?”
Dam Ho moved toward Shim Woo Won, his legs limping slightly with each step.
Yet not a soul in the room dared to laugh.
‘Laugh and you die.’
This thought blazed through the minds of everyone on the fifth floor. Shim Woo Won felt it too.
Though he prided himself on mastering formidable martial skill, the moment he met Dam Ho’s gaze, his legs nearly buckled beneath him.
The warriors who had been shouting boldly until moments before now clamped their jaws shut. Their eyes flickered rapidly with dread.
Dam Ho finally stood before Shim Woo Won.
His lips parted.
“So what?”
Shim Woo Won caught the scent on Dam Ho’s breath—the fetid, acrid stench of death that only a beast that hunts living prey carries.
Shim Woo Won’s jaw muscles tensed. He tried to speak. But his lips would not open.
The Ui Seon Mun, for all it claimed to be one of the Five Major Sects of Honam, had never truly fought a real battle. Most of its members were physicians devoted more to the healing arts than to martial prowess.
He had to decide.
Whether to fight Dam Ho or to retreat now and lose face. Neither choice seemed possible.
Cold sweat beaded on his brow.
“Brother!”
Bang Jin Bo’s voice rang out through the room.

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