Chapter 131: The Drunkards I Have Known

TL: FoodieMonster007

Seo Daeryong was waiting for me when I entered the Sanzu River Hall office the next day.

He sighed in relief when he saw me.

"You're safe."

"Why? Did you think I'd drown in the Drunken Demon's liquor vat?"

"You can't handle your alcohol well, can you?"

"I can drink just fine. I was just careful when I drank with you all."

"……"

"In case I acted out while drunk."

"Director, you have drunken habits?"

"I do."

"What kind of habits?"

It was a habit I could not tell Seo Daeryong about. My mood would plummet endlessly, and I would become extremely depressed.

If I had not met Seo Jin during my mercenary days, I would have either become a wreck from alcohol or gotten drunk and gone to kill Hwa Mugi. I probably would have died by his supporters' hands without ever meeting him.

I described the opposite of my real drunken habits.

"Drinking, singing, and dancing. It gets wild."

"I can't imagine it!"

"I also nag my right-hand man a lot."

"That, I don't want to imagine."

"Do you get it now? Why I hold back from drinking?"

"No, please drink. Go ahead and act out in front of us. You need to relieve your pent-up anger, Director. This right-hand man will take your nagging for up to an hour!"

I suddenly recalled the first time I met Seo Daeryong. I remembered him entering my room with a gloomy aura. He was so depressed and twisted back then, but now he was comforting me.

"We're planning to get together again tonight, Director. You should come too. General Jang will want to see you."

"Alright. I'll see you tonight."

"Yes. I'll just water the plant and be on my way."

Seo Daeryong watered the potted plant by the window.

"Now that the number one has returned, you are the number two from now on."

"What do you mean?"

"There are trials and tribulations that the number one doesn't know."

Just then, Seo Daeryong gasped while looking out the window.

I looked and saw someone entering the Sanzu River Hall. Another Demon Supreme walked across the training ground, just as the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon once had.

Everyone could tell who it was. The liquor bottle dangling from his waist announced its owner.

The Drunken Demon had surprisingly entered the Sanzu River Hall. A woman followed him. She was Yeo Bin, one of the Three Great Drunkards of the Great Drunken Forest, who had ferried me before.

Passing investigators and execution martial artists held their breath at the Drunken Demon's appearance.

Since becoming the Sanzu Hall Director, I was seeing Demon Supremes far too often. I had never seen one here before.

Seo Daeryong looked at me and asked, "How is it that every time you meet a Demon Supreme, they end up coming here? What on earth did you do yesterday?"

"I guess the alcohol we drank yesterday wasn't enough."

"But he's staggering on his way here?"

He was obviously drunk, even from a distance. The Drunken Demon was truly intoxicated all day.

"Go and greet our guest."

A moment later, the Drunken Demon and Yeo Bin entered, guided by Seo Daeryong.

"Welcome, the Drunken Demon."

"We meet again, our Second Young Lord."

He greeted me warmly, even calling me 'our' Second Young Lord.

"After drinking together yesterday, shouldn't we wait a few days before meeting again?"

"I've come on official business today."

"Are you perhaps here to see Do Ho?"

"That's right. He may have caused trouble, but isn't he still my man? I have to see him once before sending him to prison."

He had come for a truly unexpected reason.

"It's not me who will see him, but this person here."

"Of course."

I spoke to Seo Daeryong.

"Guide her to Do Ho."

"……"

Seo Daeryong took Yeo Bin and went outside.

Once we were alone, I said to the Drunken Demon, "You seemed quite drunk yesterday. Is your stomach alright?"

"It's not. So let's have a drink to cure our hangovers."

The Drunken Demon held up his liquor bottle and shook it.

"I can't, I'm still working."

"Didn't I tell you? Everything goes better if you do it after a drink. Drink up and throw them all in prison!"

"Isn't that how Do Ho got carried away and caused that incident? It would be one thing if he were the only one to die, but the problem is that he's perfectly fine while innocent people are dead."

"What will happen to Do Ho?"

"He'll have to spend a very long time locked up in prison. I intend to apply the maximum sentence."

"It'll be hard for him to live without alcohol."

"Then he shouldn't have caused trouble, but are you really here just because of Do Ho?"

"That's just an excuse. Have you forgotten? We agreed to call each other brothers, didn't we?"

He had used the phrase 'calling each other brothers' three times since yesterday. His gaze was quite serious, so serious one might believe he was sincere. However, I did not trust the Drunken Demon's words or his gaze.

The drunkards I knew were always worldly, serious, and truthful when drunk. They talked so much I'd wonder why.

But after the drinking ended, I always realized their stories didn't matter. They were full of lies and exaggerations. I often felt their inner selves were empty, just decorated with tales.

Drunken Demon, what about you? Are you the same as them? Are you truly a man standing precariously at the edge of that empty void? Are you really nothing more than the ultimate leader of those drunkards? If not… why are you so drunk?

"Why do you want to get close to me?"

"It's less that I like you and more that I dislike the First Young Lord. He has to pay the price for breaking my liquor bottle and sending it back."

"Why would he send back a broken bottle? He must have known you'd be this displeased, Drunken Demon."

"How would I know what's on his mind? Unless we had a drink together."

"Can you know someone by drinking with them?"

"I can."

"What kind of person am I?"

He looked at me, but his eyes were intoxicated, making it difficult to read his mind.

"That evaluation would be meaningless. The you of yesterday and the you of today are different people."

"How can a person change in a single day? The me of then and the me of now are the same person."

"Are you really sure about that? Does the Second Young Lord of then and the Second Young Lord of now view me with the same heart?"

I could not answer that question. Since the Blood Heaven Blade Demon told me the Drunken Demon was a sinister bastard, I was, strictly speaking, not looking at him with the same heart.

"That's why I'm suggesting we drink again today. A different us, drinking on a different day. Let's make a different history."

Fate seemed to be pushing me into a drinking session with him. Fine. We would drink again.

"I'll be drinking at the Alluring Inn tonight. Come there. Since there will be several of us, please bring the female martial artist who came with you."

I intended to learn about the Drunken Demon through Yeo Bin. I also wanted to stop the Drunken Demon from dominating the atmosphere alone.

"Good, I'll bring her."

The Drunken Demon looked genuinely pleased once the appointment was set. Does he just like alcohol? Or does he like drinking with me? He was an enigma.

Just then, the door opened, and Seo Daeryong and Yeo Bin returned.

The Drunken Demon rose from his seat.

"Well then, see you later."

"I'm telling you in advance, there's nowhere to swim at the Alluring Inn."

I was telling him not to act out. The Drunken Demon left the office making a swimming gesture, saying he would swim even in a liquor cup.

As the two left, Seo Daeryong asked urgently, "What was that about?"

"I told him to come to the Alluring Inn, and to bring Yeo Bin with him."

"But why?"

"Because he said he wanted to drink."

"Director, aren't you worried about us?"

"Who should I be worried about? The Demonic Army General? The Blood Heaven Blade Demon's disciple? My bodyguard, Lee Ahn? Who is there to worry about?"

"Now that you put it that way… I guess there's no one to worry about."

"Are you scared? If you're scared, you don't have to come."

Seo Daeryong sighed.

"As you know, I used to be completely immune to such provocations. The old me would have backed away to that door and waved goodbye, wishing you a good time. My liver is the size of a bean, after all."

"And now?"

"That bean has swollen and is now outside my belly. It's only the size of a walnut, but I feel like I could even drink face-to-face with the Drunken Demon."

"This is the perfect time to die, isn't it? When you gain confidence in your martial arts and develop this kind of clumsy arrogance?"

"You already know everything, so there's nothing left to teach. You may now descend the mountain."

"The old me would have taken your words about descending the mountain as bidding farewell to this world. I would have grabbed your pants and begged you not to let me go, but do you know what I'm thinking now?"

"What's so great about the jianghu? What's so great about the Drunken Demon! I should just face him like a man. What's the worst that could happen, other than dying?"

"These crazy thoughts are the first to pop into my head. Please, stop me. Am I perhaps suffering from qi deviation?"

He seemed glib, but Seo Daeryong was wary of his own arrogance. This is why smart people survive longer.

"What did Yeo Bin and Do Ho talk about in the interrogation room?"

"They didn't say much. The female martial artist asked if she could give Do Ho a drink, so I checked it for poison and then gave it to him."

Is this a custom of the Great Drunken Forest? Or does this drink have some other meaning?

It was at that very moment.

An urgent report came from outside.

"Director, Do Ho has committed suicide."

Startled, I rushed to the interrogation room with Seo Daeryong. Do Ho lay on the floor, his head smashed.

"He bashed his head against the wall and killed himself."

Hearing the report from the subordinate guarding the place, Seo Daeryong blamed himself.

"Should I have stopped her from giving him the drink?"

I shook my head.

"It wasn't because of the alcohol. Yeo Bin must have sent him a telepathic message to die."

"Why on earth would she order him to die? He was going to suffer in prison for a long time anyway."

Suddenly, I remembered what the Drunken Demon had said.

It'll be hard for him to live without alcohol.

Did you really kill him for that reason? To lessen your subordinate's suffering?

"Are you still coming tonight after this?"

Seo Daeryong looked angry. He probably felt like he had guided a grim reaper to Do Ho.

"I'm going. What's so great about the jianghu? What's so great about the Drunken Demon? What's the worst that could happen, other than dying? Don't try to stop me."

This is also why smart people sometimes die sooner.

"I think you're having a qi deviation."

Before going to the Alluring Inn, I went to see my brother.

When I entered his office, he was in the middle of working.

Being of the Heavenly Demon's bloodline didn't mean he could just play around. Just as I had taken the job of Sanzu Hall Director, my brother was also handling work from the Heavenly Demon Hall.

The massive Heavenly Demon Divine Cult required countless people to do their jobs. My brother was better than anyone at managing and running the organization.

Geom Muyang did not lift his head from the large pile of documents, even though he knew I had entered.

"Doing well? I bet those documents don't say you should greet people when they arrive, do they?"

Geom Muyang pretended not to hear and focused only on his work.

"Alright, I know you're good at multitasking, so listen while you work. Why did you reject the Drunken Demon? And even send him a broken liquor bottle?"

Geom Muyang's hand stopped for a moment, then started moving again.

"I took the bottle he sent, filled it to the brim with liquor, and went to see him. He liked me a lot, you know? And he was very angry with you."

As I spoke, I carefully watched my brother's reaction. I observed his face and body's responses with the Divine Eye Technique. He probably thought he showed no particular reaction, but there was a very subtle one.

"Do you know what the Drunken Demon said about you?"

At that, Geom Muyang lifted his head and looked at me.

"Looks like you're curious about that."

"What did he say?"

"Go ask him yourself. Oh, wait, he won't meet with you, will he?"

I saw Geom Muyang's lips twitch slightly. I realized he had something to say but was holding it back.

There's no reason for my brother to reject the Drunken Demon. Even if there was a reason, he would have accepted him regardless. There's definitely an inside story to this.

Geom Muyang's reaction made me even more certain.

"Thanks to you, I got the Drunken Demon for free. He came to see me again today, saying he wants to get close. We even agreed to drink together tonight."

Geom Muyang's gaze returned to the documents.

"If you're done talking, you can leave."

My brother would normally say something cold if I teased him like this. He held back until the very end, as if one word would make a liquor bottle fall and shatter.

Just seeing that reaction was enough to achieve my purpose for visiting.

A short while after Geom Mugeuk left, the Demonic Buddha entered the room.

"I heard the Second Young Lord was here."

"He came to sound me out. He wanted to know why we rejected the Drunken Demon."

"Did he know? About the liquor bottle?"

"No, it seemed he didn't know."

Then the Demonic Buddha said something surprising.

"Then the Second Young Lord must continue not to know. That it wasn't us who rejected him, but the Drunken Demon who rejected us."

The one who sent the broken liquor bottle was not Geom Muyang, but the Drunken Demon. The empty bottle the Drunken Demon sent to Geom Muyang was already broken.

Geom Muyang had taken it as a sign of rejection, that the Drunken Demon would not join hands with him.

"Why did the Drunken Demon choose Mugeuk? He could have weighed his options between me and Mugeuk."

"I do not know about that either."

"We must uncover the reason and make the Drunken Demon our man."

"There is no need to rush."

The Demonic Buddha, on the contrary, saw this as an opportunity.

"The Drunken Demon is an unpredictable man. If he starts stirring things up, even the Second Young Lord won't be able to handle him easily. Furthermore, while the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Extremely Evil Smiling Demon dislike each other, they dislike the Drunken Demon even more."

"In the end, the Demon Supremes the Second Young Lord has so carefully gathered will be divided. If he gains the Drunken Demon, he will lose one of the other Demon Supremes. He might even lose all three."

The Demonic Buddha's eyes shone with the same conviction as his golden body.

"Rather, this is an opportunity to turn an unfavorable situation around."

Geom Muyang held back what he wanted to say.

What will you do if the Drunken Demon smoothly joins Mugeuk's side as well?

However, the moment he received the broken bottle, he had no choice in the matter anyway.

He could only hope that the Drunken Demon would cause a bigger drunken scene than they anticipated.