Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 642

Wham!

Hollow Sky was hit hard and flew back, blood splashing in the air.

Thud!

Slammed against the ground, Hollow Sky stared blankly at the sky above. One side of the heavens was gradually turning crimson.

He was confused. He didn’t know what happened or why he was now on the ground, looking up.

“Did I fall? But why?”

He felt like he had lost his memory for a moment. The strange feeling of floating stopped when a sharp pain went through his left eye.

“Ugh…”

Only then did he remember Chung Myung’s elbow hitting his eye.

Throb! Throb!

‘My eye…’

He could barely see anything, as if all the blood vessels in his eye had broken. He didn’t need to check his eye to know how bad it was. His eye was probably swollen so much that he couldn’t open it.

But even though his eye hurt badly, his heart hurt even more.

Crack.

Hollow Sky’s fingernails scraped against the ground.

He forced his body to move, even though it felt like all his joints were worn out, and somehow managed to stand up.

‘From the beginning…’

The goosebumps all over his body wouldn’t go away.

It looked like the sword got longer. But that was not possible. Swords are made of steel and cannot stretch like rubber.

There was only one explanation.

“…He deceived me.”

A good swordsman always watches his enemy during a fight. So, he had naturally seen how far Chung Myung could attack and how much space he needed.

Chung Myung’s trick was simple.

He slightly bent his arm and changed the space between his sword strikes. He made Hollow Sky think that Chung Myung’s sword could only reach that far.

Then, he quickly changed that space, so easily and naturally.

So, Hollow Sky thought the sword had suddenly grown longer.

It was a small trick, but…

Was it really possible to do such a small trick so well during a real sword fight that Hollow Sky wouldn’t notice anything wrong?

No, even if it was possible…

It was strange to trick someone about distance like that, especially when fighting someone new. Even a small mistake could cause serious injury. Why take such a risk in a fight?

‘He’s insane…’

This wasn’t logic; it was crazy.

This trick worked better the more skilled the enemy was, the faster they understood Chung Myung’s swordsmanship.

A trick that only worked because he trusted his enemy? That was absurd.

“Cough!”

His body shook.

He felt sick to his stomach.

He could clearly see it in his mind: Chung Myung’s sword easily pushing away and changing the direction of his attacks.

That was the power of the Wudang sword.

“You…” Hollow Sky choked out.

He held his sword tightly and stood up, looking at Chung Myung. Chung Myung was staring back, his eyes like ice. They were so cold, they seemed to have no feeling at all. If it wasn’t for the blood on Chung Myung’s mouth, he could have been a statue, not a living person.

“Don’t… laugh at me, you kid!” Hollow Sky growled, his voice full of hate. “How dare you… use Wudang moves against me?”

This was worse than just losing.

It was like a fighter being beaten at their own game by someone who shouldn’t even know how to play.

“This…”

To be beaten by Wudang skills, by a Mount Hua swordsman, was the worst shame for him, a Wudang student.

“You did this on purpose…!”

His teeth were clenched so hard they felt like they would break. Hollow Sky glared at Chung Myung with pure hatred, like he was looking at his worst enemy. But Chung Myung just stayed cold and still.

Thud.

Chung Myung stopped walking. He looked right at Hollow Sky and spoke.

“You’re wrong about something.”

“…”

“There’s no grand meaning behind me punching you in the face.”

“…Shut up!”

Hollow Sky shouted without thinking. Chung Myung shook his head, showing no emotion.

“You’re an idiot.”

His cold voice hurt Hollow Sky’s ears.

“From the moment you tried to kill me, this wasn’t just a practice fight. If it was just practice, I would have played along. The way you wanted me to.”

“…”

“But this isn’t practice. It’s a real fight. In a real fight, there’s no yours or mine. The only thing that matters is who’s still standing at the end.”

Hollow Sky’s eyes shook as he looked at Chung Myung.

Chung Myung asked softly.

“Is ‘real fight’ too hard to understand?”

“…”

“Listen carefully, you little brat. From the moment you take out your sword to hurt or kill someone… it’s war.”

“…”

“In war, weapons don’t matter. You steal your enemy’s sword and cut their throat, cover yourself with dead bodies and pretend to be dead, then stab an enemy in the groin as they walk by.”

Chung Myung smirked.

“Are you going to complain in the middle of a war about why I stole your sword and used it?”

“…”

“Just stop it, you morons.”

Hollow Sky’s body shook.

He would do anything to win.

Hollow Sky had heard those words many times. He didn’t even think that, as a Wudang student, he should worry about what he should and shouldn’t do.

However…

He had never really understood what ‘anything’ meant.

He would trick his enemy in any way possible during a fight, doing anything to win.

Wasn’t that… more like a struggle than a war?

The tip of Hollow Sky’s sword started to shake again. Seeing that, Chung Myung’s eyes darkened.

‘No matter what I say, it’ll be hard to understand with just words.’

It’s like forcing someone to feel something they haven’t felt before, which is a type of violence.

Hollow Sky would understand in his mind. He must have heard it many times. Wudang had been in wars before. They must have told the younger students what they learned in those terrible wars.

But this wasn’t something he could understand in his mind.

‘He can never understand.’

Imagine someone who had lived a normal life suddenly being thrown into a war.

Imagine someone who has only heard about killing suddenly seeing someone die right in front of them, with blood everywhere.

Could they really understand and deal with that?

There was no way.

What was obvious to Chung Myung wasn’t obvious to Hollow Sky. Even the Wudang elder, even the martial artist who should understand life and death, couldn’t understand Chung Myung.

Hollow Sky’s eyes looked at Chung Myung the same way the Mount Hua students looked at the Demonic Sect. Chung Myung knew that fear well, the fear of seeing something they couldn’t understand.

‘This is really awful.’

Hollow Sky was looking at him like he was a demon from hell, the same way they had looked at the Demonic Sect.

But it didn’t matter.

Chung Myung knew he wasn’t necessarily right.

He didn’t need to know what war was. He didn’t need to know how to fight like a beast, the way Chung Myung did.

But being strong wasn’t the same as being good.

True strength didn’t come from how someone used a sword.

Before, Chung Myung would have clicked his tongue at Hollow Sky, but he wouldn’t have thought he was wrong.

If he hadn’t known that the Demonic Sect was still a threat, and if he hadn’t known that the Heavenly Demon might still be alive somewhere.

“I seem like a demon.”

“…”

“The real demon hasn’t even come yet.”

“…What do you mean?”

Chung Myung smiled.

“We were caught off guard before, knowing nothing. But now at least someone knows… at least one person.”

Hollow Sky looked suspicious, not understanding the words.

“So, you should feel lucky.”

Chung Myung looked at the Mount Hua students, then past Hollow Sky to the Wudang students.

Chung Myung’s sword scraped against the floor.

Scritch!

The sound made everyone watching jump.

“Because this time, there’s someone to tell you!”

Boom!

Chung Myung jumped off the ground and ran towards Hollow Sky.

“Kugh!”

Hollow Sky gritted his teeth. He didn’t understand what the monster in front of him was saying, but he knew what he had to do.

‘If I get dragged into his game, I’ll lose.’

Hollow Sky knew he couldn’t win in this messy fight where they were scratching and biting each other.

He didn’t know why, but this guy was good at street fighting, like he had been in a thousand battles.

If he fought that way, he would lose.

If he wanted to win, he had to bring his enemy into his own territory.

Chung Myung’s age didn’t matter anymore. He had to change from who he was, facing someone he had never understood before.

Bang!

Hollow Sky’s feet pushed off the ground.

Backwards, not forwards.

He had never retreated from an enemy before. And it was almost the first time he had retreated just to avoid an attack, instead of using the Wudang footwork.

Now wasn’t the time to worry about right and wrong.

He had to try his best to avoid his enemy’s sword and use his own.

He forgot his principles and lost his pride.

“Haaah!”

A huge wave of power came from his sword as he moved back, like a wild ocean.

Kwaaaa!

At the same time, his right hand shot out white energy like snow. The blue sword energy and white energy mixed together, looking like a giant wave.

But Hollow Sky had to see it.

The bright sword energy was revealed through the wave that was more than three yards high.

Fwoooosh!

The giant wave of power was cut in two. Chung Myung, holding his sword backwards, moved as fast as lightning through the opening made by the powerful sword.

Clang!

His sword blocked Chung Myung’s sword right in front of his face.

“Hmph!”

His left hand attacked Chung Myung’s side, but Chung Myung stopped it by pressing down on his sword and lifting his body.

And then.

Swoooooosh!

Many red flowers appeared above Hollow Sky’s head.

Flowers.

Seeing the flowers covering the sky, Hollow Sky swung his sword wildly.

One.

‘This…’

Water cannot rise forever.

Even Hollow Sky didn’t know this well. His sword, which followed the natural order, couldn’t work when it went against the natural order.

‘This, this is…’

Red petals moved strangely through Hollow Sky’s weakening sword power.

They flew around him, attacking him as if they were making fun of him.

Slash!

His shoulder was cut, and blood poured out.

Slash! Slash!

His thigh was cut, and sword energy went through his side.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

Swoooooosh!

Many petals fell at the same time, hitting his body.