Chapter 129: What Dreams Do You Dream When Drunk?

TL: FoodieMonster007

The next day, I arrived at the Sanzu River Hall.

The investigators and execution martial artists welcomed me back enthusiastically after my long absence. Morale at the Sanzu River Hall soared once again, especially since I had captured a subordinate of the Great Drunken Demon.

My office was as neat and tidy as when I had left. A flourishing flower in a pot by the window showed Seo Daeryong had managed the office well.

"Bring me all the backlogged work."

"I figured you'd say that, so I've brought it. These are the matters you have to handle personally, Director."

I expected a lot of work, but the documents Seo Daeryong handed me were fewer than I thought. Looking through them, I saw he had meticulously finished everything except for the tasks that required my direct attention. I remembered again that he was better than me at the Sanzu River Hall's work. His martial arts were also fine, since he was learning from the Blood Heaven Blade Demon.

He's growing up well, our future Sanzu Hall Director.

Of course, Seo Daeryong had no idea I was thinking this.

Just then, another investigator came in carrying a box. "This is for you, Director."

"Who sent it?"

"It's from the Drunken Demon."

He sent something right after I captured his subordinate? I had just asked the other Demon Supremes about the Drunken Demon, but he acted first.

The investigator set the box down and left.

As I was about to open the box, Seo Daeryong suddenly shouted.

"Be careful!"

"You scared me! Why?"

"What if poison smoke bursts out? That's what I was going to say, but I guess not. He wouldn't kill you, Director, over a subordinate who just killed someone while drunk driving a carriage."

"Of course not. In fact, you nearly made me die of shock."

I opened the box and found a single liquor bottle inside.

"He sent liquor."

I lifted the bottle and flinched.

"He didn't send liquor, he sent a liquor bottle."

The bottle was empty.

"Perhaps it's a valuable piece of pottery?"

"Isn't this just a common liquor bottle from the market?"

"Why would he send a cheap liquor bottle to you, Director? Isn't this a challenge to a fight?"

His reaction was understandable. Why send an empty bottle?

"This is a warning from the Drunken Demon. He's telling you to release his man."

"If that were the case, he would've sent a broken bottle. Or a knife."

"Then why did he send it?"

"Is there any need to think about it?"

I shot up from my seat.

"What are you going to do?"

"What else is there to do with the Drunken Demon?"

I left the office, holding the liquor bottle.

"I'm going for a drink."

With the liquor bottle in one hand, I entered the Great Drunken Forest, the Drunken Demon's home. I had sent word ahead, so a martial artist waited to guide me.

I followed the martial artist deeper into the Great Drunken Forest.

Houses ranging from huts to large manors were built here and there. The variety of homes gave the place a beautiful yet free-spirited feeling.

Large and small breweries dotted the forest. Drunkards sat on wooden benches drinking or lay completely intoxicated on the ground. It looked free, but also like a complete mess.

But I knew the truth. They were fewer than the other Demon Supremes' subordinates, but they were all skilled individuals. The gazes of the apparent drunkards were anything but ordinary.

A lake lay in the center of the Great Drunken Forest. A small island sat in the middle of the lake, and on it stood the Drunken Demon's pavilion.

I headed there on a small ferryboat.

The martial artist dropped me off on the island and returned.

I walked slowly toward the pavilion. At the entrance, a woman holding the door open welcomed me.

"Welcome, Young Lord. My name is Yeo Bin."

She had an elegant air. Like Gu Mayeong, whom I had met before, she was one of the Three Drunkards.

"The Demon Supreme is waiting. This way, please."

I slowly went inside.

She led me to a pavilion named the Drunken Dream Palace.

I ascended to the pavilion and found the Drunken Demon.

He was asleep, leaning back in a floor chair covered with soft fur.

The place reeked of alcohol and was a mess. Dozens of liquor bottles lay scattered everywhere, some toppled over and others standing upright.

But I could feel it. The bottles were not scattered randomly. I sensed that in a fight, they would all become his weapons. They could even activate as formations. It was a chaotic mess, yet it was not.

The Flower Sword Supreme called him easygoing, while the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon called him unpleasant. Now, he showed me a new side of himself, drunk and asleep.

Drunken Demon, what dreams do you dream when you are drunk?

I gazed at the sun-drenched lake beyond the Drunken Demon for a moment, then sat about ten paces away. I placed the liquor bottle I brought on the floor in front of me.

Then, sensing my presence, the Drunken Demon slowly opened his eyes.

The Great Drunken Demon, Song Saheok.

He was young and handsome, one of the most handsome men in our Cult. His youthful face made him look much younger than his age. He had a few days of stubble, but it made him look manly instead of messy, simply because he was handsome.

He opened his eyes, took a drink from the liquor before him, and asked me a question.

"Care for a drink?"

His face overlapped with an image from before my regression. It was the memory of his final moments, weakened and reduced to skin and bones.

The Drunken Demon had been alive when I returned to our Cult for the Great Regression Technique's ingredients, but he was only breathing, not truly living.

He was bedridden from a long illness. The demonic physician had diagnosed it as an illness caused by drinking too much alcohol.

The Drunken Demon, dying from a liquor bottle. The news shocked everyone and became a joke to those who disliked him.

"Care for a drink?"

Those were the first words he said to me on his sickbed. His first words then were the same as his first words now.

The words echoed in my mind. The image of the vibrant Drunken Demon before me overlapped with his sickly face from the past.

"It's a liquor you'd like."

"I'm fine."

He drank the liquor himself, as if to say he wouldn't force me.

"Why did you only come to see me now? Am I that unpopular among the Eight Demon Supremes?"

"The main character always appears last."

"Am I the main character of your story?"

"I'm the main character of my story. You, Drunken Demon, will be an ally or an adversary. What about in your story? What role do I play? Is my brother the ally? Or is it me?"

The Drunken Demon stared at me intently, then asked a question instead of answering.

"Do you like liquor?"

"There was a time when I did."

"And now?"

"I drink just enough to fit in at a drinking party."

"You're still so young, yet you speak as if you have a long story to tell."

I retorted confidently. "Is a young man's story not a story?"

The Drunken Demon laughed. His handsome smile made me think he must have made many women cry.

"What kind of liquor do you like?"

"I haven't drunk enough to develop a preference yet. I prefer liquor that's easy to drink over strong spirits."

He was probing me with questions about liquor.

His gaze turned to the liquor bottle in front of me.

"What kind of liquor did you fill it with?"

"Why do you assume it's liquor? It could be water, or it could be poison."

He smiled faintly at my answer and poured liquor into his cup. He did not ask me to pour, and I did not offer.

"Why do you think I sent you an empty bottle?"

"I don't know. Maybe you sent it to make me come and ask."

"How did you feel when you received it? Tell me honestly."

"Honestly? You might get offended."

"It's fine."

"No, really. You'll definitely get angry."

"I promise I won't. If I do, I can just drink. We have liquor, don't we? Now, go on."

"I thought, 'What the hell is this bastard trying to pull?'"

For a moment, the Drunken Demon flinched, then quickly drank the liquor in front of him.

"Ah, that's good!"

His expression had brightened when he set the bottle down.

"This is why I like liquor. When you drink, you forget everything and feel better."

He spoke as if he had drunk a whole bottle, not just a single cup.

"If you were so annoyed, why did you come?"

"Because it's a chance to find out what kind of person you are, Drunken Demon. Whether you're someone I can accept, someone I can achieve a great cause with, or just a mere drunkard."

A subtle demonic qi flowed from the Drunken Demon, unlike any I had felt before. It seemed mixed with the energy of alcohol. The moment his demonic qi enveloped my body, my head spun as if I were drunk.

I activated the Heavenly Demon Defense Art. The dizzying sensation vanished, and I regained my composure.

A flicker of surprise crossed the Drunken Demon's face when he saw my unwavering eyes.

"Drunken Demon, do you like liquor?"

The Drunken Demon withdrew his demonic qi as I endured his aura and asked a question.

"Do I like liquor? Is that a question to ask the Drunken Demon?"

"Isn't it a question that must be asked precisely because you are the Drunken Demon?"

"What do you mean?"

"You'd ask a martial artist if he likes martial arts, a musician if she likes music, or a painter if he likes painting. You'd ask the owner of the Alluring Inn how he feels about selling liquor. Isn't that a question you should ask those people at least once? So, I'll ask again. Do you like liquor?"

"!"

The Drunken Demon's expression openly showed his thoughts. Well, look at this one.

"You're truly different from the rumors. I'll admit it. Of all the people I've met, you are the one most different from your reputation."

"I hear that far too often. I don't know who's spreading these rumors about me, but I think I need to catch them and give them a good scolding. Tell them if they're going to spread rumors, they should at least get them right."

"To deal with you, I need to drink. It's too difficult sober."

"Isn't that something you should be thinking to yourself?"

"What's the big deal about drinking?"

He drank several cups in a row.

"What kind of liquor is that? It must be hard to find outside, right?"

"That's one of the preconceptions about me. I can drink any kind of liquor just fine."

He sent a cup flying toward me as if to prove his point. The cup flew slowly through the air and hovered before my face.

I smelled the liquor.

"Ah, this liquor is…?"

"That's right. It's the liquor from the Alluring Inn you frequent."

This meant he had been watching me.

"I'll discard my preconceptions."

He also retrieved the cup. It tilted in mid-air as it returned, and he opened his mouth to drink the liquor from it. The empty cup landed silently on the table.

His use of telekinesis alone revealed his skill. The move was so clean it was hard to believe a drunk person performed it.

"You're impressive too. To know it was liquor from the Alluring Inn just by the smell."

"It's because I've only been drinking from that place lately. Aren't you, Drunken Demon, the one who knows the taste of every liquor in the world by its scent?"

"How could I possibly know all the many liquors in the world?"

Contrary to his humble words, the Drunken Demon was famous for identifying liquor by its scent.

The Drunken Demon drank again, his face growing redder with each sip. I thought someone of his level could drink heavily without his complexion changing, but his face was noticeably flushed.

"Drinking makes you feel good. Isn't it the same for you?"

"It depends on who I'm drinking with."

"Liquor tastes best when you drink it alone."

"I don't know that world very well yet."

"Tsk! To not know this paradise-like pleasure!"

That was a lie. I drank a lot by myself during my life as a mercenary. Back then, liquor was my friend, my refuge, and my sanctuary. It was also the demon that tempted me toward ruin.

"You should have learned about liquor from me! From this Drunken Demon."

"You're right. Father taught me wrong about liquor. I'll be sure to tell him when I see him tomorrow."

Knowing it was a joke, the Drunken Demon laughed and drank.

The Drunken Demon's body tilted more as he drank. He acted like an ordinary drunk, even spilling some liquor. It was hard to tell how much was real and how much was an act.

He looked completely careless, but I knew he hadn't let his guard down. This was probably the most dangerous time to fight him. I would have to sober him up first.

"Come to think of it, you're right. The idea that the Drunken Demon would drink an infinite amount of liquor was also a preconception."

"It's because I'm the Drunken Demon that I drink in moderation. Only those who don't know liquor drink themselves into a stupor."

"You're right."

"Second Young Lord, have you ever fought while drunk?"

"No."

"You should try it. It's truly amazing. It eases your tension and makes you less scared. It even hurts less when you get hit. It'll probably increase your power by thirty percent. I bet all the great masters in the history of murim fought while drunk."

He looked at the liquor bottle in front of me.

"So drink. The liquor will give you strength. The liquor will soothe you."

I finally picked up the liquor bottle I had brought. Then, I slowly opened the stopper.

"I don't think so."

The scent of the liquor spread the moment I opened it. The Drunken Demon, who had been nearly lying down, shot upright. He knew this liquor.

I placed the bottle back down without drinking and spoke nonchalantly.

"Because I also know very well… what the heart of a person lost to alcohol is like."