The Beastman (2)
Baek So-cheon and Yeom Hwa-sin had parked their carriage in the forest and set up camp.
While Yeom Hwa-sin administered a pill to Jong Mu-jin inside the carriage, Baek So-cheon sat by the campfire flickering in front of it.
A moment later, the carriage door opened, and Yeom Hwa-sin stepped out.
"What're you thinking about?"
"Nothing. Campfires are made for staring at with an empty mind."
"Never heard that one before."
"You need more moments like this. When's the last time you just zoned out without a thought in your head?"
"Can't say there ever was one."
"Figured as much."
"Maybe I'll give being a blank slate a shot."
Yeom Hwa-sin sat down beside Baek So-cheon.
The two men stared at the fire in silence. Sparks danced upward from the burning logs, swirling into the air before vanishing. As he watched the fleeting passage of time, Baek So-cheon wondered if humans weren't much the same—mere flickers in the endless night.
After a long while gazing into the flames, Baek So-cheon turned to Yeom Hwa-sin. The firelight rippled in his dark eyes.
"What were you thinking?"
"Wondering if my body would burn or not."
"You saying your body might actually be fireproof now?"
"Not yet."
"Then what comes next?"
Yeom Hwa-sin nodded.
"The next stage... I suspect even flames won't touch me then."
Of course, even now, either of them could endure the fire for a brief moment with their inner power. But that wasn't what Yeom Hwa-sin meant.
He meant surviving inside the blaze—moving, speaking, living within it. Anyone witnessing that would see not a man, but a monster.
"If that's true, wouldn't that go beyond human limits?"
"Probably."
"Is that what you want?"
"Don't you?"
"Me... I'm not sure."
Yeom Hwa-sin's gaze, fixed on Baek So-cheon, shifted back to the fire.
"You've lost your way. I hope you find it soon."
Baek So-cheon's eyes followed suit.
He hoped this journey would lead him to his path.
"The road you're on and mine run in opposite directions."
"Ours run the same."
Baek So-cheon looked at him. Yeom Hwa-sin still stared into the flames, their glow dancing in his eyes.
"In life, you meet plenty who seem to walk the same road, but few make you think, This one's truly with me. Ever met someone like that?"
Many faces came to mind.
Ak So-gun, the Alliance Lord? Grand Strategist Je-gal Hyeon? Im Choong? Beon Saeng? His subordinates in the Alliance? Cheon-geuk?
But were they truly on his path? Liking them was one thing—this was another.
What about Yeom Hwa-sin?
He believed they shared a road. Baek So-cheon understood why.
Sorry, but I'm not on your path. Your loneliness dragged me onto it, that's all.
Baek So-cheon spoke his truth.
"I want to leave you and find my own way."
"The leisurely life you dream of is a mirage born from this hectic one. Once it becomes your reality, it'll just be dull and monotonous."
Maybe... he was right. He might end up yearning for moments like this.
"Is that how your life feels now?"
"Spot on. Mine's unbearably dull and monotonous."
"If you're chasing martial heights just to escape that... the next stage will make you even lonelier."
"Who knows what's waiting? Could be something far more thrilling."
"Really? If you grow stronger than now, to where fights lose all meaning... can you swear you won't toy with the Murim, wiping it out for fun? That you could stay sane with people staring up at you in terror, an immortal flame-walker?"
"......"
Baek So-cheon feared that silence. That's why he knew Yeom Hwa-sin had to die.
"Of course, as a martial artist, I'm curious apart from all that. What happens if you surpass your current self?"
"You'd want to kill that version of me, right?"
"Naturally, I'd want to defeat you as a warrior."
"Saying 'defeat' instead of 'kill.'"
"Don't nitpick. If I win, you die."
"So you don't want to kill me?"
"Delude yourself all you want. I'm turning in."
As Baek So-cheon lay down on the spread-out clothes,
both men's gazes snapped toward the distant darkness. Someone was racing their way.
Yeom Hwa-sin chuckled.
"A midnight caller. See? How can you leave this exciting jianghu life behind?"
It wasn't an ambush. Two men barreled toward them in blind panic, as if fleeing for their lives.
They skidded to a halt before the campfire, gasping for breath, faces twisted in raw terror.
From their breathing and clothes, Baek So-cheon pieced it together.
"These are the ones who attacked us earlier."
"Looks like it."
Yeom Hwa-sin extended a hand, yanking one man through the air with void grasp.
He seized the man's throat in his massive grip and growled.
"Who the hell are you? Why're you here?"
The man couldn't speak.
"Why so terrified? Speak!"
"......We... we were ordered to come to you."
Baek So-cheon, listening, asked,
"Come? Not kill?"
"No. Just to come to you."
"And?"
"A hundred set out. All dead."
"Dead? By who?"
"We don't know. Something terrifying's chasing us."
He was still shaking with fear.
It was suspicious. Scrutinizing the man, Baek So-cheon shouted,
"The smell!"
Yeom Hwa-sin sniffed.
"You're right—odd scent on him. What is that?"
A peculiar medicinal aroma clung to them.
Then—
Whirrr!
The other man across the fire was sucked into the darkness.
"Aaaagh!"
A gruesome crunch of shattering bones followed.
Crack. Crunnch. Snap.
The man's screams echoed through the forest, then silenced.
Yeom Hwa-sin hurled the man in his grip that way.
"No!"
But the same fate: ripping, tearing, dismantling—a horror of life unraveling.
Baek So-cheon scowled, but Yeom Hwa-sin looked intrigued.
They rose.
From the shadows beyond the fire, someone approached.
A hulking figure emerged, rivaling Yeom Hwa-sin's massive build.
Matted hair hung wild, eyes gleaming through strands. Blood dripped from his mouth and fingers—he'd torn the two men apart with hands and teeth.
Warriors were often called beasts, but those metaphors paled. This one was the beast—or rather, a beast wearing human skin. The beastman sent by Sa-do Chil-ga.
"Grraaawr."
No words, just a guttural roar.
Baek So-cheon warned Yeom Hwa-sin,
"Be careful."
"Yeah."
Shreek!
The beastman lunged at Yeom Hwa-sin—blindingly fast, faster than Jeong-gyun whom Baek So-cheon had faced.
Boom!
A tree behind Yeom Hwa-sin exploded. The beastman had slammed into it at full speed.
It reemerged from the wreckage, fangs flashing through its tangled hair.
"Grrrowl."
Yeom Hwa-sin glanced at his forearm.
Three red lines scored the thick muscle. In dodging, the beastman's claws had grazed it.
The speed was shocking, but scratching the Geum-gang Bul-goe Ji-che—Diamond Indestructible Body—with mere nails?
Yeom Hwa-sin's eyes turned icy.
"What the fuck are you?"
This wasn't mere martial mastery. The aura was alien—instinctual, despite trained movements.
Shreek!
The beastman charged again. Baek So-cheon understood why it targeted Yeom Hwa-sin first: the scent from those decoy corpses now on him, transferred by touch.
The hundred sent here had been guides, luring the beastman. Used as cannon fodder against Jeong-gyun before, now pathetic bait.
Even in the heartless Murim, this was cowardice. Sacrificing others without hesitation for their goals.
They need to vanish from this world.
Their names etched deeper into his kill list.
The clash between Yeom Hwa-sin and the beastman raged.
Boom!
Yeom Hwa-sin's fist smashed the beastman's jaw dead-on.
Thwack!
His head snapped back—not rebounding, but somersaulting mid-air with a reverse kick. Defying physics, amplified by its bulk.
Yeom Hwa-sin rubbed his jaw and grinned.
"Well, damn."
The beastman circled warily, sensing the opponent's might.
Baek So-cheon watched every exchange.
Imagining his own moves. Analyzing differences, their roots.
He had to learn, feel it. To match Yeom Hwa-sin's growth for their final clash.
The fight was ferocious.
The Murim was vast and mysterious. Who'd expect a match for Yeom Hwa-sin?
They'd aimed to forge an absolute master against him—and birthed this monster. Another tragic spawn of their ambitions.
Boom!
The beastman, flung by Yeom Hwa-sin's punch, sprang up. Its body as resilient as his. Unbroken by those savage blows.
The longer they fought, the stronger it grew.
In the frenzy, Yeom Hwa-sin took a hit. A long gash across his chest, staggering him.
The beastman pounced.
Boom!
It rammed his torso; Yeom Hwa-sin crashed down.
Mounting in an instant, claws slashed at his face.
Shreeek!
Just as they sank in—
Crack!
The beastman flew back, tumbling across the ground.
Baek So-cheon had struck its face mid-leap. Close enough to save him without inner power.
"You okay?"
Yeom Hwa-sin, still prone, met his eyes. The calm in his expression revealed all.
"You tricked me."
He'd baited the danger on purpose.
"Had to see if you'd save me when I was at death's door."
"Are you insane? Was your curiosity worth risking your life?"
"My face is too thick—those claws wouldn't pierce."
"Damn it! Wipe that blood off your chest first."
Blood oozed from the chest wound he'd taken deliberately to stage this.
"Why'd you save me?"
Baek So-cheon hesitated.
Why had he? It could've ended everything right there.
Far off, the beastman rose, radiating fiercer killing intent.
"Grrrowl."
Baek So-cheon told Yeom Hwa-sin,
"Didn't think I could take it alone if you died."
Yeom Hwa-sin rose, chuckling like it'd heard the best joke.
"You're still a terrible liar."