AR Chapter 130

Silence fell.

It was a rather long and heavy silence, too much for two people to bear in one space.

The alcohol I had brought was the one Drunken Demon had sought just before his death. It was sold at a brewery near the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult, but no one knew why he had specifically wanted this drink. Drunken Demon died after drinking this alcohol.

“Why did you bring that alcohol?”

His voice trembled as much as his eyes.

Judging by his reaction, I was certain there was some story behind this alcohol.

I pretended not to notice and made an excuse to him.

“I was annoyed. You must have expected some extraordinary liquor, but I just stopped by anywhere and bought this. If you sent an empty bottle to test me, you should have been prepared for common alcohol from nearby. Didn’t I tell you how I felt when I received the empty bottle?”

At my answer implying I had no particular intention, Drunken Demon stared at me for a moment as if glaring.

“What’s wrong? Was I not supposed to bring this alcohol?”

To reduce suspicion, one must counter-question. Rather than avoiding, one must dig deeper. One must ask directly.

“Does this alcohol have any special meaning?”

As I looked at him with a suspicious gaze, Drunken Demon subtly changed the subject.

“You’ve got quite a temper.”

“Who doesn’t? We all just live while enduring it.”

Drunken Demon relaxed his posture, which he had abruptly straightened, and leaned back against the backrest again.

“You said you know the heart of someone lost in alcohol? How?”

“I was once lost in it myself.”

At this, he openly snorted.

“Is it that young drunkards aren’t acknowledged as drunkards again?”

This was a continuation of my earlier retort about whether young people’s stories aren’t considered stories.

“I understand. It’s an age when everything is intense.”

“Don’t mock me.”

“I’m not mocking you. I’m saying age is inevitable. I don’t want to act like an annoying senior who shows off and tries to teach.”

“That’s exactly what you’re doing right now.”

“That’s why I said age is inevitable, didn’t I? If you’re angry, drink that alcohol.”

Having said that, he gulped down his drink as if he was the one getting angry.

“Damn it!”

He slammed the cup down loudly. The cup shattered. He raised his hand, and the broken pieces floated into the air before flying to a corner. There was already a pile of broken cups there.

Drunken Demon poured alcohol into a new cup and said,

“I told you to have a drink too.”

“I’m angry, but I won’t drink.”

“Why?”

“Because I came here with the intention of not drinking today. If I were to drink while dealing with the Drunken Demon, what would the outcome be?”

“That’s a plausible thought, but have you considered this? How can you deal with the Drunken Demon without drinking?”

“Then promise me one thing. Let’s just drink today, nothing else.”

“Shouldn’t that be my line? Please don’t ask me for help while drunk.”

“Alright.”

I drank from the bottle I had brought. Even though I only drank a little, my throat burned.

“It’s strong. Would you like to try this alcohol?”

Drunken Demon shook his head.

I walked over to Drunken Demon with the bottle in hand. Then I sat across from him at the drinking table.

“I need to eat something while drinking.”

“A drinker without style.”

“Health comes before style. And I’m not much of a drinker anyway.”

I took out a silver needle to check if the food was poisoned. Seeing this, Drunken Demon burst out,

“Do I look like someone who would poison his guests?”

“That’s why I’m checking, isn’t it? To see if you’re that kind of person or not.”

Drunken Demon grabbed the dish I was about to check with the silver needle and ate it.

“What do you take me for? There’s nothing like that! Just eat!”

“No, thank you. How can I trust you?”

When I tried to stick the silver needle into another dish, he ate that one too.

“Trust me. I despise those who put poison or drugs in alcohol or food! I’d chew them up alive.”

To his enraged state, I calmly said,

“You’re eating the side dishes well. Please keep doing that. Think about the cook’s sincerity too. Are the side dishes flowers? Just looking at them.”

Honestly, I came here and ate the side dishes on purpose to say this. Because no one around him would dare tell Drunken Demon to eat his side dishes.

Listen, man, if you go on like this, you’ll die from liver disease. You love alcohol so much and take pride in it, but you can’t die because of it, can you?

This was an issue separate from whether he would be on my side or my brother’s. Even if he committed evil deeds and died by my hand, I’d rather he die by the sword.

Isn’t it too miserable for a person to die because of something they’ve loved and enjoyed all their life?

If he were to see his future self, I can guarantee. He would take his own life.

“Come on, have a drink.”

“If you don’t eat the side dishes, I won’t eat either.”

“Are you done? Are you done?!”

“Alright.”

We drank together. He seemed like he would struggle if he drank more, but he kept drinking despite appearing to struggle. He was getting more and more drunk.

In the midst of this, my flattery technique was inevitably attempted.

“You’re the best-looking among the Eight Demon Supremes.”

“That’s something everyone acknowledges.”

The art of flattery requires the technique of push and pull. If you’ve said something nice, you should also say something bad to make the compliment shine more, like this:

“Honestly, you look so much like a sculpture that it feels a bit distant.”

“Tell the women of the world. Please keep their distance from me.”

“Ah! I can’t stand this. I need to drink.”

Who in the world would dislike being called handsome? Drunken Demon also drank happily.

“There was a time… when women really lined up for me. Can you imagine righteous female martial artists and evil female masters fighting over me? Ah, those times really come to mind.”

Suddenly overcome with excitement, he stood up abruptly and took off his upper garments. Then, before I could stop him, he dove into the lake.

He swam around like a madman for a while before coming back up to the pavilion. His body, dripping with water, revealed a toned, muscular physique, but it was covered in scars.

Come to think of it, I had never seen the bodies of the Demon Supremes. Perhaps the other Demon Supremes’ bodies were also covered in such scars? Just as my body had been battered while gathering materials for the Great Regression Technique, these were the scars demanded by their positions.

“Ah, now I’m sobering up a bit. Let’s drink again from now on.”

He came back too soberly for it to be considered drunken behavior. He roughly put on his clothes and started drinking again.

I drank slowly. He drank incessantly, but he didn’t force me to drink. That was one thing I really appreciated.

“Shall I tell you honestly why I called you?”

“Please do.”

Then Drunken Demon gave a truly unexpected reason.

“Because no one comes to see me. Why don’t the Eldest Young Master or you come to see me? While you meet the other Demon Supremes so frequently? Are you looking down on me? Is that it?”

“If that were the case, I wouldn’t have come to see you today.”

“Then why? Drop that nonsense about the protagonist appearing last.”

“If I had to give a reason, it’s because I felt that you, Drunken Demon, seemed far removed from the succession struggle.”

“Me?”

“Am I wrong?”

“Not at all. What relationship is there between my love for alcohol and my efforts not to be pushed out of the power struggle within the cult? Aren’t these completely separate matters? What? If you like alcohol, you have to be a nice person, have no desire for power, and be without greed? Is that how it should be? Who decided that?”

“This too seems to have been a preconception. Truly, Drunken Demon, you are the embodiment of preconceptions.”

“Oh, what a tiresome world.”

Drunken Demon drank again. Whether he was happy, angry, or feeling any emotion, he drank. No wonder he died of liver disease, drinking like this.

After a few more drinks, I asked the question I had been holding back.

“Did you send an empty bottle to my brother too?”

“I did.”

“Did he come to see you?”

Drunken Demon shook his head.

“Instead, he sent this.”

He stretched out his hand, and a box flew from the corner.

When I opened the box, there was a bottle identical to the one he had sent me. And the bottle was broken.

“Do you know what I thought when I saw this?”

“I do.”

“You do? What did I think?”

“What the hell is this bastard trying to do?”

When I repeated the words I had said upon seeing the empty bottle Drunken Demon had sent, he laughed heartily and drank.

“Second Young Master, you’re fun. How about we become sworn brothers? It would be really great to have such an interesting younger brother like you.”

“I wish my brother felt the same way.”

Drunken Demon laughed even louder and drank.

I felt puzzled.

Since three Demon Supremes have been in contact with me, my brother is in a situation where he needs one more Demon Supreme. Yet he so blatantly rejected Drunken Demon’s offer?

If this is true, I need to find out why my brother made such a choice. There must be a reason.

“That’s unlike my brother.”

“You might be misjudging the Eldest Young Master.”

“No one knows my brother better than I do.”

“Listen, Second Young Master.”

“Yes?”

“You know what? The closest people often see the least.”

He said this as if it were quite profound, but in the midst of it, Drunken Demon spilled his drink. Perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed, he tried to go for another swim.

“I need to sober up. Those cheeky fish! They probably have a lot of preconceptions about me too. I’ll teach them a lesson.”

I stopped him as he stood up staggering.

“Let’s stop drinking. I should go now.”

Honestly, I wanted to drink more. Was it because I drank with Drunken Demon? Or was it because the alcoholic inside me had awakened? I enjoyed this drinking session.

But since this was a session with the person I should be most cautious of in this martial world, at least when it comes to drinking, I intended to end it after finishing only the alcohol I had brought.

“I’ll take my leave now.”

Drunken Demon, unable to steady himself and leaning against the backrest, asked me.

“Will you drink with me again?”

“Anytime, if you invite me.”

“We should become sworn brothers, shouldn’t we?”

Instead of answering, I asked him. It was the very question Lee Ahn had mentioned.

“When was the alcohol you drank the most delicious and enjoyable, Drunken Demon?”

I think this question is an excellent one that can give a glimpse into what kind of person he is.

Then came an unexpected answer.

“Now.”

“Do you mean this drinking session with me? I’m honored.”

“Our Second Young Master has quite ambitious dreams.”

Drunken Demon looked at the lake with unfocused eyes.

“The alcohol I’m drinking right now is always the most delicious. Whether I’m drinking alone or with a stranger passing by. The alcohol I’m drinking at this very moment is the most delicious. Even if you leave and an assassin comes to kill me, the alcohol I drink with him will be the most delicious.”

With that, Drunken Demon emptied his last cup. Now seemingly too drunk, he leaned back against the backrest, almost lying down, and closed his eyes. He gestured for me to leave, speaking with a slurred tongue.

“What memories could there be… in past alcohol that’s already left as urine? Go on, take care.”

With those words, he fell asleep.

I quietly turned and left.

Yeo Bin, one of the Three Great Drinkers who had greeted me earlier, rowed the ferry.

Halfway across the lake, I looked back.

Unable to steady himself, Drunken Demon was draped over the railing of the pavilion like laundry, watching me.

It was too far to see his facial expression, but thanks to my Divine Eye Technique, I could see his face clearly. On his flushed face, his two eyes were… indifferent.

It was such an empty gaze that it made me wonder what all the alcohol, jokes, and time we had shared were about.

He wasn’t unassuming as One-Flower Sword Supreme had felt, nor was he unpleasant as Extremely Evil Laughing Demon had felt. He seemed like a drunkard yet not a drunkard, appearing easy to deal with yet not easy at all.

I still don’t quite understand what kind of person Drunken Demon is.

****

After leaving the Great Intoxication Forest, I went straight to find Blood Heavens Saber Demon.

Blood Heavens Saber Demon was in the midst of sword technique training today as well.

“Why are you so immersed in training these days?”

Blood Heavens Saber Demon thrust his Heaven-Destroying Great Saber into the ground and leaned on it. His body was drenched in sweat.

“You might believe you can end the succession battle without bloodshed, but I don’t.”

It meant that a fierce battle could break out.

“Will you fight for me?”

“I’ll be fighting for myself.”

“That’s the same thing, isn’t it?”

“You’ve been drinking.”

“I drank with Drunken Demon.”

“With Drunken Demon?”

“Yes. He approached me first.”

I wonder how Drunken Demon appears in Blood Heavens Saber Demon’s eyes.

“Drunken Demon is a cunning fellow. Don’t get close to him.”

Cunning. Another aspect of Drunken Demon was revealed in that moment.

“Why do you always hang out with such bad people?”

“If only there were good people around.”

Blood Heavens Saber Demon merely clicked his tongue.

“Between Extremely Evil Laughing Demon and Drunken Demon, if you had to choose one?”

He couldn’t easily choose one person.

“Is he that cunning?”

“I hate those who are lost in alcohol. They’re different when drunk and when sober. With their drunken behavior, making scenes, and shameless forgetfulness. Drunken Demon stands at the extreme end of that madness.”

But that wasn’t the only reason Blood Heavens Saber Demon disliked Drunken Demon.

“Have you ever seen him sober?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Neither have I. Probably no one has. That’s why he’s a cunning bastard.”

The decisive reason why Blood Heavens Saber Demon disliked him came out.

“He has never shown his sober self even once.”

Is his drunken state really his true self? Or is he truly himself when sober?

“Be careful. The cunning one has started to move.”

I don’t know with what intention he sent me that bottle, but. Perhaps, Drunken Demon, it might be time for you to sober up at least once in your life.