“How are you now?”
The old man asked the young child. The young child did not respond.
The old man sighed, thinking that either the child was wary of him or his injuries were so severe that he could not even utter words.
“Sigh…”
“Who are you?”
“..!”
But suddenly, the Old man’s worries were for naught. The young boy was able to speak!
“…”
But the old man stayed silent, finding it difficult to answer the question of the boy.
Should he reveal his identity to the Young boy?
It didn’t seem right too, if he did maybe the boy would die out of fear.
“An old man reaching the end of his life.”
Answered the old man in a cryptic way, he deemed that this would be enough for the boy.
“I don’t like riddles.”
“It wasn’t a riddle.”
The old man stood up and went to tend to the fire, the boy stared at the flickering flames, his scarlet eyes being dyed crimson.
“Who are you?”
He inquired again, curious.
The old man remained silent, he paid the boy no heed and continued to tend to the fire. His eyes seemed to be devoid of life, perfectly contrasting the young boy’s eyes full of life, eyes filled with flame of curiosity.
“Just an Old man waiti-”
“No.”
The young boy interrupted the old man.
“I sense power from you.”
The boy’s sudden burst of eloquence confused the Old man.
“… you speak well for a child.”
“I learned.”
The old man stared at the boy, dubious. His scarlet eyes began to glow, trying to observe the boy but he was left dumbfounded.
He found nothing worth noticing within the boy…yet why did he feel this aura of mystery around him? He sighed.
“Ma Cheon, that is my name.”
The old man finally declared his name to the young boy. He kept his eyes directly on the boy’s face, trying to discern any emotional changes.
But there was nothing.
“Ok.”
“…”
He was left dumbfounded…the boy did not know who he was.
Impossible, even Orphans and newborn babies were aware of the name of the heavenly demon, who terrorized Murim once! Ma Cheon was a name that echoed even in the womb of a woman!
Everyone knew of him and his tyranny.
“You do not know who I am?”
Asked the Old man, a light of expectation present in his eyes.
“No.”
The boy answered. The old man smirked and asked again.
“Ma cheon…does the name not ring any bells?”
“No.”
A smile crept over the face of the Old man, and he burst into boisterous laughter.
“HAHAHAHA!”
His laughter shook the foundations of the house they were in, and even the fire was responding to it.
“Who are you, boy?”
The old man calmed down and asked the young boy, wanting to know his identity. Who was he…that he did not know the name of the heavenly demon?
“I don’t know.”
However, the boy’s response intrigued the man.
“You don’t know? Where do you come from? The name of your mother? The city you lived in?”
Ma Cheon pressed the boy but to no avail.
The look on his face told him everything.
“You are a lost soul.”
The old man let out a laugh, and the boy tilted his head in confusion, unfamiliar with the term ‘lost soul’.
The old man, The current Heavenly Demon, Ma Cheon.
“A lost soul is someone who doesn’t know the meaning of their existence, he is someone who doesn’t know anything!”
Ma Cheon seemed to be amused. His eyes had changed. It wasn’t as if he was looking at a human anymore.
There was crazed lunacy in his eyes, however, he calmed himself down soon after.
He stood up from his seat and went over to the boy. He placed his hand over the head of the boy, caressing it.
“Your name from now on is…Ma cheon!”
“..?”
He forced the name upon the boy and declared.
“From now on…you are the disciple of the heavenly demon!”
And without a voice of opposition…one that would most likely be buried by the old man.
The young boy now had a master. In modern times this would be called kidnapping and child grooming.
But it’s Murim, so who cares?
*****
5 years had passed since the young boy became a disciple of the Heavenly demon.
“You monster.”
The Old man commented, clearly amazed by the boy. He was currently sitting on top of a wide rock, gazing at the boy bathing underneath a waterfall. The boy was deep in meditation, the gushing waterfall proved to be nothing to the boy.
The waves of power coming from the boy were immense, if the Old man had not created a barrier of demonic Qi around the boy…the entire area would have been reduced to smithereens.
“…Fucking hell…kids these days.”
Commented the old man, blood leaked out from the gaps between his teeth and escaped his mouth. It was taking everything he had to hold the energy in…
In just 5 years, The boy had done it.
He had mastered the Heavenly demonic arts in just 5 years…when it had taken the old man 80 years to do so.
“Hahahaha!”
His crazed laughter echoed out, and blood followed suit.
The boy stopped meditating, noticing the condition of his master.
“I’m sorry.”
His voice echoed throughout the valley. The boy stepped outside of the waterfall…and truly he had changed.
Where there was only bone before was now filled with incredibly hard and dense muscles, capable of tearing mountains with ease. His silky hair was like the night sky devoid of stars, reaching up to his lower back, his eyes were like blood, untainted by the foul nature of the world.
“It’s alright.”
“…”
The boy looked at the old man with worry.
“How old are you, 15?”
Asked the old man, if he remembered correctly he had taken the boy as his disciple.
“Yes.”
“My god…”
An awed sign escaped the man’s mouth. He was truly shocked. The young boy had mastered the Heavenly demonic arts…in just 5 years at the tender age of 15!
No one his age would be able to compete against him, they would be akin to ants! Even leaders of reputable sects! Only a few could stand against him now in the entirety of Murim.
“I am still lacking.”
However, Ma Cheon, the young heavenly demon was humble.
“If you are lacking then no one in this world deserves to be called talented.”
The Old heavenly demon however had a different opinion.
A cool breeze swept over them, carrying with it dead leaves.
“Winter is coming.”
The old man said, sighing.
“…”
The young heavenly demon knelt down and picked up one of the dead leaves, however, the leaf turned to ash soon after, and his demonic qi had pulverized it.
This was not what the boy wanted.
“Is there a way to stop winter with martial arts?”
Asked the boy, his eyes gazing upon the land far beyond the valley.
The old man stared at him, wanting to laugh. Seems like the young heavenly demon was still a child, he knew nothing but martial arts.
“Why? Did your dream tell you to do that?”
The young heavenly demon had already told the old man the existence of his dream, the dancing white dragon.
The young heavenly demon shook his head, clearly annoyed. The old man had teased him for his dreams but had also taught him a valuable lesson. 𝘪.𝑐ℴ𝘮
‘Dreams are special, every dream has meaning, whether it be significant or insignificant, some dream of how they will die, some of how they will reach the peak, and some of their minor inconveniences.’
Those were the words of wisdom of the Old man, and the young demon had engraved them into his heart.
“What meaning would winter have then?”
“…?”
The young demon failed to understand the meaning behind the words of the old man, he was acting as cryptic as always.
“Tell me…if there was no winter would spring have value?”
However, the words were still incomprehensible to the heavenly demon, his mind was still that of a child, no matter how much his body said the opposite.
“If there was no cold, we would not know the meaning of warmth, if there was no hunger, we would not know the value of food. Everything exists for a reason.”
“But Winter causes only suffering.”
“Indeed…but because of the suffering it causes we know the meaning of the happiness spring brings.”
“…”
Although it was still cloudy in his mind, he understood it somewhat, so he took a seat beside his master and stared at the waterfall.
“Then what about war and peace?”
He asked.
“The same, if there was no war there would be no peace. Everything would be meaningless.”
The old man sighed and gazed at the cloudy skies, rain would come soon.
“Ma cheon.”
He called out the young demon’s name.
“Everything exists for a certain period of time…
If it existed for eternity, its existence has no value, no meaning.”
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