Chapter 140: In the Age of a Foolish Beast

TL: FoodieMonster007

The Drunken Demon's face was flushed red. I couldn't tell if the color came from alcohol, the sunset, or a shame he had buried for many years.

"I think I need another drink."

I was about to stand, but I sat back down.

I knew why the Blood Heaven Blade Demon and the Flower Sword Supreme had a falling out. I knew they were once lovers who had a bad breakup. However, I never imagined the Drunken Demon was involved in their separation.

The Drunken Demon began to speak. "A long time ago, the Sword Supreme and I would occasionally drink and talk together. One day, the Sword Supreme asked me a question. Did I know what kind of person the Blade Demon was? I asked why she was asking. She said the Blade Demon had drawn her a picture. I asked to see what kind of picture it was. It was a painting of a beautiful woman, a portrait of the Sword Supreme. The moment I saw the painting, which depicted her as even more beautiful than she was in person, I knew. Ah, the Blade Demon likes the Sword Supreme. I just had a feeling."

This was them in their youth. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon drawing a picture for a woman was a truly unimaginable sight.

"Sure enough, after that, the Blade Demon started to express his interest in the Sword Supreme more and more. He'd ask her to have tea, go for walks. The Sword Supreme told me everything about her meetings with the Blade Demon. Do you know how I felt back then?"

"Was it bad?"

"Very."

"Were you also in love with the Sword Supreme, Drunken Demon?"

"It wasn't like that from the beginning. It was only when the Blade Demon started liking the Sword Supreme that I suddenly felt rushed. Until then, I thought the Sword Supreme liked the Cult Leader. So I thought she wouldn't accept anyone, but that wasn't the case. She had purely admired the Cult Leader."

I poured a drink into the Drunken Demon's cup. He stared blankly at the cup, recalling the past.

"One day, while we were drinking, I subtly hinted at my feelings for the Sword Supreme, but…"

The Drunken Demon couldn't continue. I sighed and finished his sentence.

"You were rejected."

The Drunken Demon slowly nodded.

"She said her heart was with the Blade Demon."

Suddenly, the Drunken Demon roared.

"Does that make any sense? Does it? That scrawny, ugly Blade Demon, who was even much older than us! I was so furious I couldn't sleep a wink. I was angry at myself for not confessing more carefully, and even angrier that she saw my flustered expression the moment I was rejected."

The Drunken Demon held nothing back and honestly recounted everything from that time.

"Thoughts like this tormented me. Did I not actually like the Sword Supreme that much, and only confessed because the Blade Demon liked her, driven by a selfish desire not to let someone else have her? What a fool, making excuses like this just because I was rejected! I couldn't sleep for days."

Considering the insidious Drunken Demon of today, it was an unimaginably pure side of him.

"Isn't that age a time when we are foolish beasts, led by instinct?"

"But you weren't, were you?"

I was the same.

"Damn it! Just thinking about it makes me so embarrassed and annoyed I could die!"

The Drunken Demon shot to his feet and paced back and forth across the pavilion. He then leaned against the railing and gazed at the now-darkened lake.

"From that day on, my heart became twisted. I didn't show it on the outside, but I wanted to tear the two of them apart somehow, but as time went on, the Sword Supreme's feelings for the Blade Demon only grew stronger. Then, one day."

The Drunken Demon lit a lantern attached to a pillar of the pavilion. He got angry, then talked, then paced, then lit a lamp. His complicated feelings were conveyed through his actions. The lantern lit up and brightened the surroundings.

"I was walking down a hallway in a brothel when I heard the Blade Demon's voice. He was drinking with some martial artists from the Southern Blade Sect. They must have been talking about the Sword Supreme, because the Southern Blade Sect martial artists were asking about her. How much do you like her, have you kissed? Have you slept with her? It was the kind of stuff friends say when they get together, but I was furious. Those bastards!"

The Drunken Demon emptied his cup. I drank with him. Perhaps because of the atmosphere, I didn't feel drunk. I felt as if I stood with the young Drunken Demon in that brothel hallway.

"I should have just kicked the door in and flipped the place upside down right then. You sons of bitches! Shut up!"

"Why didn't you?"

"I felt like the moment I broke down that door, my life would be over too."

We know now that nothing much would have happened even if he had. Looking back, it would just be remembered as a day of fighting and causing a scene.

"The next day, when I met the Sword Supreme, I told her what happened yesterday. I told her I'd met the Blade Demon at the brothel. That fact alone would have upset her, but I added words that were never said. I told her what the men with him were chattering about, as if the Blade Demon himself had said it. I said the Blade Demon was talking about kissing you. I still vividly remember how my heart pounded like crazy as I said those words. Am I really doing something this cheap? Am I really this kind of person? My heart was racing and my mind was berating itself, but my mouth was saying, 'Men always tend to show off in front of courtesans.' I didn't even know if there were any courtesans in that room that day."

"……"

A piece of the pavilion's railing broke off in the Drunken Demon's hand. I could feel the anger and regret in his drunken eyes. I could now clearly see the origin of his always-empty look.

"Some time after that, the Sword Supreme told me. She said she had a huge fight with the Blade Demon and they broke up. From that day on, the two of them fought every time they met."

"Did you continue to drive a wedge between them after that?"

The Drunken Demon shook his head.

"There was no need. Once the relationship was twisted, it unraveled uncontrollably. In fact, these days I sow discord freely. Sometimes I drink with the Sword Supreme just for the fun of badmouthing the Blade Demon together."

"Have you ever thought about apologizing to them?"

"I have."

"Then why didn't you?"

"If it had been for some grand reason, I might have apologized to the Sword Supreme, but I couldn't bring myself to say I did it out of jealousy. Or maybe I still hope the two of them don't get back together."

The Drunken Demon looked at me and added, "This is how petty and cheap of a person I am."

"I know."

"What?"

"Did you think I considered you an upright and honest person, Drunken Demon? You're insidious, wicked…"

"Enough!"

Hearing his own faults from someone else seemed to make him boil with anger.

"What did I do that was so wrong! If they were going to break up over a few words like that, they were bound to break up anyway, right? I'm right, aren't I? It's true he went to a brothel, and it's true he brought up the Sword Supreme in the first place, right? Who told him to go there? Who told him to meet me there? Damn it!"

I realized something. The Blade Demon and the Sword Supreme were not the only ones who had been fighting for all these years. Perhaps the Drunken Demon had been fighting the most fiercely of all.

"You're right. If they truly loved each other, they shouldn't have been shaken by something like that. Even if you had left them alone, they would have broken up for some other reason."

"Right? I'm right, aren't I?"

When I took his side, the Drunken Demon came over and grinned foolishly at me. Then he suddenly sighed.

"When she said they broke up, I wasn't happy at all."

It was time to ask the reason.

"Why did you tell me this story?"

"You kept asking, didn't you? Why I approached you. At a drinking party a while ago, the Sword Supreme told me. She said you wanted to make her and the Blade Demon your left and right wings."

"Did you come to cut off my wings? Or did you come to help attach them so we can fly together now?"

The Drunken Demon shook his head.

"I don't know either. Seeing the Blade Demon and the Sword Supreme getting along with you at the center, I just thought I should jump in too. I didn't know I'd end up saying all this."

"Do you feel relieved now that you've said everything?"

"I'm already regretting it. Why did I have to reveal such a pathetic act with my own mouth? I must have been possessed by a ghost. Completely taken in by all that talk about half-purity."

He flopped onto his back on the floor. He stared blankly at the pavilion ceiling and spoke.

"Every time you see me, you'll remember this."

"I probably will. Aigoo, my poor, foolish hyung."

The Drunken Demon laughed at my words. The small laugh grew louder and louder. After a good, hearty laugh, he asked, "Are you going to tell them the truth?"

I shook my head.

"That's not for me to decide."

"I plan on never telling them."

"Then don't."

"I really mean it."

"Go ahead."

The Drunken Demon shot up and stared at me.

"Don't you want the two of them to reconcile?"

"Do you really think they'll be happier if they learn the truth?"

"!"

"Setting aside their hatred for you, Drunken Demon, the two of them will feel even more regret that their love didn't work out for such a reason. Since they can't turn back time, that regret will be even greater, and what then, will the two of them start a new love now? Is that even possible? In the end, all three of you will be more miserable than you are now."

I believe this is a truth that should be buried forever. The Blood Heaven Blade Demon might try to kill the Drunken Demon in a fit of rage. Even if he succeeded, the Blood Heaven Blade Demon would have to pay the price, and how would the Sword Supreme feel in the middle of all that? After all, this all happened because the Drunken Demon liked her too.

"Consider the one chance you had to reveal the truth as having been used on me right now."

Whether he had told me or not would make a huge difference. This past that clung to him like a ghost was not something he could face alone.

"If you can free yourself from the obsession of having to reveal the truth, you might actually be better at helping them reconcile. From now on, try to get closer to the Blood Heaven Blade Demon, and when you drink with the Sword Supreme, praise him instead of badmouthing him. If you do that, an unexpected opportunity to bring them together might arise someday. It's not too late to give them wings."

"You should be the hyung."

"I refuse. It's more fun to tease my poor, foolish hyung if he's the hyung."

The Drunken Demon's expression became much more relaxed. Having said everything, he looked as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"But you must keep one promise."

"What is it?"

"Drink less, and eat side dishes with your alcohol. Since it's come to this, I have to make sure my poor, foolish hyung lives a long life."

I don't know if the Drunken Demon's fate will change from this day forward. Will he still die from alcoholism despite this, or will he live a different life?

Perhaps, as his fate changes, he might even die sooner, but that's fine. Any death would be better than the Drunken Demon's end, dying from alcohol poisoning.

"Hyung, let's have one last drink. I can't drink anymore, and… thank you for telling me honestly."

The look he gave me was one I had never seen before. I wondered if we could maintain this expression towards each other until the very end.

"Little brother… thank you."

The Drunken Demon clinked his cup against mine.

The next day, Father summoned me.

When I entered the Heavenly Demon Hall, I could feel the atmosphere was different from usual. The great strategist Sama Myeong was there, and my brother Geom Muyang had also come.

After I greeted Father and Sama Myeong, Geom Muyang spoke to me.

"You reek of alcohol. How can you smell of alcohol when you're meeting with Father?"

"I drank a bit too much yesterday. With the person who loves alcohol the most in our Cult."

I deliberately mentioned the Drunken Demon. Geom Muyang tried hard to act composed.

"Yes, I heard you've been spending a lot of time with the Drunken Demon lately. Don't drink too much."

Geom Muyang must have been in a bad mood. He probably hoped the Drunken Demon would cause problems for me, but it must look like we were just getting along well.

Nevertheless, Geom Muyang tried his best not to show his emotions. My brother definitely becomes a different person in front of our father.

"Shouldn't you be more careful, Hyung?"

"What do you mean?"

"I heard you're hanging out with the Poison King these days. Mine is alcohol, but his is poison, isn't it? Be careful, Hyung."

Even in front of our father, a tense war of nerves unfolded. I didn't try to hide it on purpose, not from Father and not from my brother.

As seen in the Drunken Demon's case, feelings that are hidden and suppressed will eventually cause problems. Fighting and bickering openly like this was the right way to fight a battle to save my brother. People curse you when you show your anger on the outside, but they send assassins when you hide it on the inside.

Father watched our exchange with an unreadable expression before he nodded to Sama Myeong, giving him a signal.

Sama Myeong then stepped forward and spoke.

"Today, two different missions will be given to each of the two Young Lord."

In Sama Myeong's hands were two red envelopes.

The time had finally come. The real test to decide the successor had begun.

"To ensure fairness, please choose the one you prefer."

The moment I saw those envelopes, my heart stirred.

Before my regression, I remember this day. The two missions given to us.

My brother succeeded, and I failed.

By messing up this mission, I was completely removed from the line of succession.

Just like in the past, my brother gave me the first choice this time as well.

"You choose first. Don't regret picking the wrong one later."

"I doubt that will happen."

I slowly extended my hand and chose one of the two envelopes.