Chapter 145

Chapter 145: Laying the Mat and Waiting (2)

The Penitence Cave was a small hollow midway up the sheer northern cliff of the mountain. Its entrance was reached by a narrow plank path barely wide enough for a single adult.

Guard that plank path, and no one could enter or leave—a natural fortress of the highest order.

Dam Ho surveyed the interior of the Penitence Cave while wearing the Demon Binding Chains. The entrance was sealed with iron bars as thick as a man's forearm, and the space inside was so cramped that three or four adults would feel stifled.

"You will stay here until the Grand Chieftain gives the order to open the door."

A warrior of the Tyrant's Stronghold spoke with an expressionless face.

Dam Ho nodded and sat cross-legged on the cave floor.

He had spent twelve years in the Dark Prison. That place had been a hellish void where not a single ray of light penetrated from outside. Compared to it, this cave was positively comfortable—even sunlight filtered in.

After watching Dam Ho for a moment, the warrior closed the entrance and stepped outside.

He addressed the guards on the plank path.

"Keep close watch. Until the Grand Chieftain gives the order, you must never open it."

"Understood!"

The warriors answered with vigor.

Dam Ho heard their voices as well. But he did not particularly care.

The Demon Binding Chains on his limbs were somewhat cumbersome. Their weight was immense—enough to dislocate the joints of an ordinary person.

Dam Ho paid the chains no mind and closed his eyes.

He had survived in conditions far worse than this. A restraint of this level could not possibly cause him discomfort.

He thought of Jo Yun-san.

Jo Yun-san was a quintessential opportunist and schemer.

He had been hiding in the Black Dragon Stronghold all this time, keeping a low profile.

Starting as a common bandit, he had risen to Chieftain, and even after attaining that position, he had thoroughly concealed his existence. A man of patience and tenacity beyond ordinary imagination, Jo Yun-san had left his stronghold for the first time in years to come here to the mountain.

Was it merely to see Hwang Gyeong-mun? Or was it truly because of the Demonic Cult's reappearance?

An absurd excuse.

A man like Jo Yun-san never moved without purpose.

Once he moved, he had to achieve something commensurate with his efforts—it was simply his nature.

Dam Ho had laid the mat for Jo Yun-san.

He had even removed himself—Obstacle to Jo Yun-san's ambition—from the path.

Now, all that remained was to wait.

Dam Ho opened his eyes.

The Demon Binding Chains still clamped his limbs were irksome.

Without thinking, he began to perform the Shadow Fist.

Swish!

The chains kept throwing off his form.

He had believed that after thousands, tens of thousands of repetitions, he could perform it with his eyes closed. Yet even such a minor alteration revealed how frail the human body truly was, losing all its refined precision.

Fortunately, Dam Ho was a man of extraordinary patience. More patient even than Jo Yun-san, and possessed of an endurance that never flagged.

He had the stamina and tenacity to repeat a single motion more than ten thousand times. Above all, he despised wasting time above all else.

To others, this place might appear a prison. But to Dam Ho, it was the safest training ground in the world.

Dam Ho began to practice martial arts while wearing the Demon Binding Chains.

Swish! Swish!

The only sound echoing through the Penitence Cave was the rustle of Dam Ho's movements.

***

"Aaargh!"

Lee Ga-heun awoke with a scream.

Her face was swollen beyond recognition, and her broken wrist bore a dark blue bruise.

She was not alone in the room. Jo Yun-san, Gwak Sam, Oh Jong-sam, and others sat around her.

Gwak Sam asked,

"Are you all right?"

"Argh! That bastard! I'll kill him! I'll kill him!"

Instead of answering, Lee Ga-heun let out a string of shrieks.

Jo Yun-san and the others watched her ranting in silence.

"I'll carve out his flesh and fry it in oil! I'll feed his eyes to the dogs! That bastard! I'll fry him in a cesspit! Who does he think he is, breaking my arm? Huh! I'll kill him! I'll kill him in the most gruesome way!"

For some time afterward, she hurled curses too foul to repeat.

After the storm subsided, Jo Yun-san spoke.

"It's actually for the best."

"What do you mean? My arm is broken—how is that for the best?"

"Thanks to this, he's locked in the Penitence Cave. If he were still free, we would have had to postpone our plans."

At Jo Yun-san's words, Gwak Sam and the others nodded quietly.

Though Dam Ho was but a single man, the pressure and presence he exuded were beyond comparison with any other master.

They knew all too well what impact a single supreme master could have on the course of a battle.

"They call him the Fist Demon, but his temper is truly insufferable."

"I've never seen a man with such a wretched personality. All that talk of the Fist Demon, and it turns out he's a complete brute."

Gwak Sam and Oh Jong-sam each had their say.

They too had done much as Chieftains of the forest, dealing with all manner of people. But none among them could compare to Dam Ho.

Lee Ga-heun glared at Jo Yun-san.

"Surely you don't intend to leave him be simply because he's in the Penitence Cave? If so, I will no longer follow you."

"Of course not."

Jo Yun-san shook his head.

Even without her words, he had no intention of leaving Dam Ho be.

'That man knows who I am.'

The problem was that he did not know who the other was.

Those who bore grudges against him were as numerous as grains of sand on a beach.

He had led the Black Tiger Band, pillaging without restraint. In the process, he had killed countless people.

So many that he could not count them on his fingers. That those connected to them held grudges against him was understandable.

The problem was those eyes.

There was something familiar about that gaze. But he could not quite recall it.

Jo Yun-san habitually touched the scar on his cheek. Strangely, it ached.

***

Crackle! Crackle!

Bang Jin-bo's cleaver danced across the cutting board with a cheerful rhythm.

Fresh vegetables were sliced, and neat cuts were scored into the once-rough pieces of meat.

Sizzle!

On the searing hot griddle, lard melted and glistened. Trimmed vegetables were placed atop the oiled surface.

The wilted vegetables were heaped with sliced pork. Over it all, half a cup of liquor was poured.

Whoosh!

A blue flame erupted over the griddle and vanished.

Sweat poured from Bang Jin-bo's forehead like rain. It stung his eyes, but he did not so much as blink, focusing wholly on his cooking.

Hwang Hye-ryeong watched him from a corner of the kitchen.

The flames from the hearth turned the kitchen into a furnace. The oppressive heat made even breathing difficult. Yet Bang Jin-bo showed not the slightest sign of strain, absorbed entirely in his work.

'Jin-bo is truly remarkable.'

Though young, the sight of Bang Jin-bo carving out and walking his own path gave Hwang Hye-ryeong much to contemplate.

At last, the dish was complete.

It was a simple stir-fry of pork, but the aroma that刺激 the senses and the overall impression were far from ordinary.

Bang Jin-bo opened the lid of the container. Inside were rice he had prepared earlier and various dishes. When the stir-fried pork was added, the container was packed to the brim.

"Done."

Only then did a smile appear on Bang Jin-bo's face.

He carefully wrapped the container of food in a cloth.

"You really are something else."

Hwang Hye-ryeong shook her head.

The food Bang Jin-bo had prepared was for Dam Ho. In other words, he was tending to him.

"It must be hard on you."

"No."

Bang Jin-bo answered firmly.

The only food given to those confined in the Penitence Cave was thin, watery gruel. One could hardly regain strength on such fare.

A man must have a full stomach to wield his strength.

"Let's go."

Bang Jin-bo led the way with the container in hand.

Hwang Hye-ryeong nodded and followed. But the path to the Penitence Cave was by no means easy.

"Where do you think you're going?"

The man who blocked their path stood in the middle of the way.

It was Jo Yun-san, his scar across his left cheek unmistakable, staring at them.

"Chieftain Jo."

Hwang Hye-ryeong bit her lip.

Her pupils wavered.

She did not know the reason, but whenever she saw Jo Yun-san, her heart grew anxious and she could not find peace.

Jo Yun-san's gaze fell upon the bundle in Bang Jin-bo's hands.

"What is that?"

Bang Jin-bo hid the bundle behind his back. Jo Yun-san's eyes sharpened.

"Surely you are not planning to give food to a prisoner?"

"That—that is…"

Bang Jin-bo stuttered in surprise. Jo Yun-san smiled coldly.

"A prisoner may not be given any food other than what the stronghold provides."

"But…"

"He is a grave offender of the Eighteen Forest Strongholds."

Jo Yun-san's voice carried a frosty chill, and his eyes gleamed like a serpent's.

A sense of foreboding gripped Bang Jin-bo, and he retreated step by step. At that, Hwang Hye-ryeong stepped in front of him.

"Jin-bo is my guest. Do not treat him rudely."

"No matter that you are the Grand Chieftain's daughter, you cannot break the law of the forest."

"When did the Black Dragon Stronghold's rules become the law of the entire forest?"

At Hwang Hye-ryeong's spirited retort, Jo Yun-san's brow twitched. The atmosphere in the hall grew even colder.

"Are you siding with a prisoner now?"

"Jin-bo is not a prisoner."

"But he is the prisoner's brother."

"Is that a problem?"

"It is a problem. A very serious one."

"That's absurd."

"Whether something is absurd or not is not for you to decide. The law of the forest decides. Anyone born and raised in the forest must never break its laws. Ah, but you were not born in the forest, so perhaps it doesn't apply to you?"

Jo Yun-san muttered in a low voice, but Hwang Hye-ryeong heard every word clearly.

"What do you mean? I was born and raised in the forest."

"Do you truly believe that?"

Jo Yun-san's lips curled upward.

With an air that said, "I know something you do not," his attitude made Hwang Hye-ryeong's eyes tremble as if from an earthquake.

Jo Yun-san had always been this way.

He always condescended to her, acting as if he held some secret. That was why meeting him was always uncomfortable.

Jo Yun-san smiled faintly.

"If that is what you believe, then continue to believe so."

It was the kind of statement that could be interpreted in many ways.

Hwang Hye-ryeong's brows shot upward.

"Are you mocking me now?"

"Heavens no! How could I mock the Grand Chieftain's only daughter? The Grand Chieftain is still so健在."

"Does that mean if Father were not here, you would mock me?"

"You react too sensitively. You lack patience. Tsk, tsk."

At Jo Yun-san's words, Hwang Hye-ryeong bit her lip. She knew she could not win in a battle of words.

An overwhelming sense of humiliation gripped her. Jo Yun-san looked down at her with a smile—as though he were savoring her humiliation.

At that moment, Bang Jin-bo grasped Hwang Hye-ryeong's hand and spoke.

"If you've said your piece, would you mind stepping aside?"

"What?"

"You said it's the Black Dragon Stronghold's rules, not the law of the entire forest, didn't you? I need to bring food to my brother."

"How dare you—!"

"This is the Tyrant's Stronghold. If you came as a guest, then show some courtesy. You're just as much a guest as I am."

"You must have a death wish."

"If you can kill me, then kill me. But don't use those ridiculous forest laws as an excuse."

Bang Jin-bo glared at Jo Yun-san.

The fear that had been in his eyes had vanished without a trace.

He was the brother of Dam Ho, the Fist Demon.

He had faced threats like this countless times.

'That fat bastard dares—'

A revolting expression settled on Jo Yun-san's face.