Fist Demon of Mount Hua - Chapter 86

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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 86. When the Shin Kang Blood Star stirs, blood winds blow—Part 1
Someone murmured.
“Why am I even here…….”
The words spoke for everyone in that room. Yet no one could voice their agreement. The sight before them was simply too horrific.
“Wheeze!”
What remained was barely breathing—a mass of blood.
Could one call this thing a human? Like an octopus cast upon land, every bone in its body shattered and broken, it merely gasped for air.
Everyone in the gambling house shuddered at the terrible spectacle Dam Ho had wrought. The target alone had changed, but the ruthless violence he had unleashed left indelible scars on them as well.
He had reduced one person to something that could no longer be called human, yet Dam Ho’s expression remained utterly blank.
It would have been more human if he had raged, if madness had erupted from him—but Dam Ho possessed no such human emotion whatsoever.
Like a machine grinding flesh, his form inspired not mere terror but overwhelming dread in all who witnessed it.
No Cheol babbled frantically—not to survive, but to escape the pain and fear. With his jaw shattered, no clear words could form. Yet still he spoke. It was all he had left.
But Dam Ho paid no attention to No Cheol’s ravings. Or so it seemed.
Dam Ho controlled his strength with meticulous precision, as though destroying No Cheol was his sole purpose. As a result, No Cheol could not even die.
“Please……kill me…….”
“Men don’t die so easily.”
“Please…….”
“Trust me. You won’t die quickly.”
“Kill me……I beg you. Then I’ll tell you something worth knowing.”
“Not interested.”
“No, you will be. Surely.”
Dam Ho’s eyes changed. No Cheol was desperate.
He whispered something into Dam Ho’s ear.
Despite his shattered jaw, words emerged—slurred and mangled, yet Dam Ho heard them clearly enough.
The moment No Cheol finished speaking, Dam Ho’s expression shifted.
His gaze turned to ice. The air around him grew infinitely heavy. It had been terrifying before, but now—now no one dared even breathe.
They all burned with curiosity about what had been said, yet not a soul dared ask.
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
“I swear it on everything I am.”
…….
Dam Ho closed his eyes for a moment.
Perhaps No Cheol was delirious, babbling only because he wished for death. Yet the words had shaken Dam Ho’s heart—of that there was no doubt.
Dam Ho asked him directly.
“Do you want to die?”
“Yes!”
No Cheol nodded frantically, with utter desperation. Whatever others might think, he was earnest beyond measure.
“Since you’re the first, I’ll grant you this mercy. The others won’t be so fortunate.”
“Thank you. Sob! Thank you…….”
No Cheol wept with gratitude at the promise of death. Everyone in the gambling house understood his sentiment well enough. Had they suffered what he suffered, they would have chosen the same.
Dam Ho pressed a finger to No Cheol’s forehead. As though soft tofu, the skull crumbled; his finger sank through.
‘It’s over. I can die now.’
Even as his mind began to fade, No Cheol’s thoughts turned to the colleagues who would soon face Dam Ho’s visitation. He was grateful that he, at least, would be spared to witness it.
That was the last thought No Cheol ever had.
Dam Ho stood. His Black Robe was drenched entirely red with No Cheol’s blood.
Do Sang Cheon’s eyes rolled wildly in their sockets.
He felt certain he would lose his mind. Part of him screamed to flee, but he couldn’t—and that impossibility drove him toward despair.
Dam Ho turned his gaze to Do Sang Cheon. At that moment, Do Sang Cheon held his breath. Between the blood-matted strands of Dam Ho’s hair, his eyes held a power that gnawed at the very soul.
Do Sang Cheon had no idea what Dam Ho would say next, and his panic refused to subside. Yet to his surprise, Dam Ho spoke no word at all. Instead, he turned and walked toward the exit.
Limping slightly, Dam Ho vanished. Yet no one in that room dared laugh at his limp.
Bang!
At last, Dam Ho closed the door behind him and disappeared.
“Ahhh!”
Thud!
In the moments that followed, sighs of relief and the sounds of people collapsing to the floor echoed throughout the space.
“Damn it!”
Do Sang Cheon’s legs gave out, and he slumped into a chair.
Only after Dam Ho had left and considerable time had passed did their racing hearts begin to settle, and reason slowly return.
“No Cheol was rambling about something for a long while—what did he say?”
In the chaos of the moment, no one had been able to listen closely to No Cheol’s words. But now, as the storm of tension receded, curiosity began to stir.
People began to murmur amongst themselves.
“Who in the world is that butcher?”
“When I saw those eyes, I swear my breath stopped.”
People were curious about Dam Ho’s true identity. But Do Sang Cheon already knew who he was.
Not long ago, a confidential register of Gang Ho figures had been delivered to the Total Tower, and it contained someone matching Dam Ho’s description.
‘The Shin Kang Blood Star.’
An invincible martial master who walked with a limp.
The man who had single-handedly wiped out the Seo Cheon San Jang clan outside the Six Regions.
These were all the words used to describe the Shin Kang Blood Star.
To be honest, when he’d first received that intelligence, he’d laughed it off. According to his understanding, it made no sense whatsoever.
That’s why he hadn’t recognized him at first, despite Dam Ho’s unmistakable traits. But as time passed, the pieces fell into place.
‘Damn it. The information the Total Tower gave me doesn’t even capture half of what this man is.’
A few lines of text on paper could never express what made Dam Ho terrifying. You had to face him directly to understand.
Do Sang Cheon had learned this truth viscerally today.
“Wait—I shouldn’t be standing here. I need to report this to the Ak Yang Branch immediately.”
Now that the legend of the Shin Kang Blood Star had proven real, he had to alert the Total Tower without delay.
He rushed toward the room where the messenger was staying.
Outside, Dam Ho mounted the Black Steed.
“Let’s go.”
The Black Steed understood and surged forward.
As the horse moved beneath him, Dam Ho’s thoughts wandered.
The fact that he’d killed No Cheol barely registered anymore. Unfortunately, No Cheol had known nothing of the others’ whereabouts.
Yet Dam Ho felt no disappointment. Instead, a single name had burned itself indelibly into his mind.
Dam Ga Ryeong.
His only sister. A small child who used to trail behind him everywhere.
So many years had passed that he could barely recall her face, but he remembered she had been beautiful. And he knew he had loved her dearly.
One side of his chest ached.
That place people call the heart. Where human feeling first breaks through.
Thirty-seven bandits had descended on the village, and fire had consumed the house. Dam Ga Ryeong had vanished. So he’d tried to forget, telling himself she must have burned to death.
But today, No Cheol had spoken words he never expected to hear.
‘Dam Ga Ryeong might still be alive? That girl?’
Jo Yoon San, who led the Black Tiger Gang, had taken Dam Ga Ryeong away to sell her wherever the coin was best.
It might have been a merciful lie, easier than the truth. But No Cheol’s words had torn through Dam Ho’s chest.
For the first time in twelve years, his heart was reeling.
But No Cheol didn’t know what had become of Dam Ga Ryeong after that. Jo Yoon San had disbanded the Black Tiger Gang shortly after pillaging Dam Ho’s village.
Even No Cheol didn’t know why Jo Yoon San had disbanded it. Fortunately, Jo Yoon San had distributed plenty of silver before the dissolution, so No Cheol had managed well enough—until he’d gambled it all away, of course.
―Boys, take care of yourselves. I’m moving on to bigger waters. Only those who can keep up should follow.
Those were Jo Yoon San’s last words when he’d dissolved the gang.
Dam Ho didn’t know what bigger waters meant. But he would find out. And he would make Jo Yoon San pay.
No Cheol’s death was merely the beginning.
Perhaps sensing Dam Ho’s fury, the Black Steed galloped with desperate speed. The harsh wind tore at Dam Ho’s face, and somehow it helped loosen the tightness in his chest.
The Black Steed carried Dam Ho toward Heng Shan, in the central reaches of Hunan Province—a place far from Dong Ting Lake, one that required four more days of hard riding even from Shang Yin County.
People speak of the Five Central Mountains. Five great peaks that symbolize the Central Plains.
The Eastern Mountain is Mount Tai.
The Western Mountain is Hua Shan.
The Northern Mountain is Mount Heng.
The Central Mountain is Mount Song.
And last, the Southern Mountain is Heng Shan.
Heng Shan had earned its place among the Five Central Mountains through its breathtaking beauty and profound mountain character.
Heng Shan’s splendor and spiritual presence drew many to its foot. Many had settled there, and among them were men of considerable wealth.
The An Family Manor was one such place.
Since establishing itself here more than a decade ago, the manor had flourished with steady prosperity.
The owner of the An Family Manor was a man named An Gyo Ik.
Now in his late forties, he was a man of generous character whose name was celebrated throughout the region. He knew how to share what he possessed with others, and this virtue had earned him the reputation of a Great Benefactor.
Because of An Gyo Ik’s reputation, the manor was always filled with visitors. He welcomed them gladly, and laughter never fell silent within those walls.
Today was no exception.
Many guests had come to the An Family Manor, and An Gyo Ik received them with open arms.
“So to govern under Heaven, one must always empty the mind and never be swept away by the current of the times.”
“Ah ha! Your wisdom astounds me, Great Benefactor So.”
The guest sitting across from him had spoken, and An Gyo Ik brought his palm down upon his knee in admiration.
An Gyo Ik was a man of generous bearing and benevolent countenance.
The man facing him, pouring out torrents of words, was So Jin Pung.
Across the Heng Shan region, his reputation as a Scholar stood high.
So Jin Pung burst into hearty laughter.
“Ha! I never imagined I’d find such accord with you, sir. I should have sought you out long ago and shared a cup like this.”
“It’s not too late even now. We need only continue this friendship from this moment forward, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Quite right. In that spirit, allow me to offer you three cups. Please, don’t refuse me.”
“How could I refuse a cup from the Great Benefactor? I accept gladly.”
“My thanks.”
So Jin Pung filled An Gyo Ik’s cup to the brim.
An Gyo Ik drained three cups in succession, then filled So Jin Pung’s cup just as generously.
“Ha! To find a kindred spirit—what fortune could be greater?”
An Gyo Ik was just breaking into a broad laugh.
Boom!
A thunderous crash suddenly erupted from the direction of the An Family Manor’s main gate. The entire compound trembled with such violence that the shock reverberated through the floor beneath their feet.
“What’s this?”
An Gyo Ik’s face drained of color in an instant.
He shot to his feet, crying out urgently.
“What’s happening?”
“S-sir! Intruders. They’ve breached the gates!”
A subordinate came rushing from the main gate entrance, his face pale as ash.
“Intruders? But how—”
In that moment, Dam Ho appeared.
His hands were drenched in blood—whose, no one could say. Fresh crimson dripped steadily from both his fists as he walked forward, an apparition of menace.
“Who are you?”
So Jin Pung’s voice rang out first, his fury blazing louder than An Gyo Ik’s.
Though renowned as a Scholar, So Jin Pung had cultivated considerable martial skill in his own right. He regarded An Gyo Ik as a worthy friend. The thought of anyone bringing harm to him was intolerable.
But Dam Ho’s gaze never wavered toward So Jin Pung. His eyes were fixed wholly upon An Gyo Ik.
“It’s been a long time.”
“Have we met before? If you’d come to see me, you needn’t have made such a display.”
“It seems your memory fails you.”
An Gyo Ik’s face went rigid.
Even without hearing more, he could sense that Dam Ho had come with ill intent.
Then Dam Ho’s voice cut through the silence.
“Don’t worry. You’ll remember soon enough.”

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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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