Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 882

“Aaaargh!” a man screamed.

Steel flashed. A Hwasan sword ripped through a fighter’s shoulder, leaving a long, red gash down his side. The attackers, who had charged in wildly, were now learning a painful lesson. Their enemies were calm, their swords precise. Every angry swing from the attackers was met with cold, deadly skill. The fight was turning into a massacre.

“N-no… this can’t be happening…” someone choked out, fear in his voice.

“Run! We have to get out of here!” another yelled, his eyes wide with panic.

These fighters might have been cruel, but they weren’t stupid.

These fighters were not stupid. They were famous in Jiangnan for being dangerous. They knew when a fight was turning against them. The moment they realized they were losing, they only wanted to escape.

But where could they go?

Enemies surrounded them. Usually, it’s silly for a small group to surround a bigger group in a fight. Anyone who knows about fighting would say that’s a bad idea. Yet, the Hwasan warriors were showing that skill is more important than numbers.

Wham!

A cold face. And a sword even colder than that face, cutting and stabbing without any hesitation.

Breath caught in throats, and hearts sank.

Seeing nearly a hundred elite swordsmen, all trained in the same style, moving together perfectly, reminded everyone why the great clans were feared.

They knew that if things kept going this way, they would all be killed. Of course, after their first crazy attack, most were now being stopped instead of killed…

‘Bloody hell, what difference does it make!’

It wasn’t like these Hwasan fighters would let them go after capturing them. They would take away their martial arts and lock them up, which was almost as bad as dying.

“Aaaargh!”

Someone couldn’t take the pressure anymore and jumped over the Hwasan swordsmen, trying to escape. But before he got halfway, a flying sword cut off his legs.

…Bloody hell.

The unusual fighters felt despair.

If the Hwasan fighters were just young and reckless, there would be hope. There would always be a chance to win. But these fighters were so calm and cool, it was scary.

From the start until now, their sword skills hadn’t weakened at all.

One warrior, after cutting an opponent’s chest, didn’t even pause before stabbing the fallen enemy’s wrist to stop him from moving, then went on to the next enemy like it was nothing. It wasn’t just their skill; something about this made everyone watching shiver.

…The rumors of the Jianghu can’t be trusted, it seems.

Someone groaned, saying what everyone was feeling.

The world was wrong about Hwasan.

If they had known even a little about what they were, they would never have come to this Shanxi. What kind of crazy person puts their head in a tiger’s mouth?

But as always, regret comes too late.

There was no going back from this terrible mistake.

Dan Honhyeolsu’s face became hard as he looked around.

‘This isn’t good.’

The situation was getting worse.

The enemy’s strength wasn’t the main problem. The real problem was that these idiots were losing their will to fight.

The unusual groups were strong when they were winning, but they fell apart as soon as they started losing.

That was why they were unusual in the first place.

Why would people who cared most about their own lives, money, and fun risk their lives in a fight?

As soon as their lives were in danger, they would try to save themselves, no matter what. That was how the unusual groups were.

In this situation, there was only one way to get them fighting again: a strong leader.

But… he looked at Gal Cheon-rip, who was standing still like a statue.

‘Hopeless.’

That idiot couldn’t fix this. If he could, he would have been more than just one of the Seven Killers of Gangseo.

That fool thought he could be like Jang Il-so if he tried, but even saying that idiot’s name was insulting to Jang Il-so. They were completely different.

‘The situation?’

Dan Honhyeolsu looked around the battlefield.

‘Idiot.’

Hoeseonchangwi was running away from two Hwasan swordsmen.

He looked pathetic, but it wasn’t really fair to blame Hoeseonchangwi. First, the hole in his shoulder meant he couldn’t fight as well as usual.

And…

‘Not just two.’

It looked like he was fighting two, but really, Hoeseonchangwi was fighting three. Maybe even more. He seemed to be feeling a lot of pressure from the one watching silently behind the swordsmen.

The young swordsman with curly hair. He was probably the one who had made the hole in Hoeseonchangwi’s shoulder. Even from far away, he seemed strong and scary.

Hyeoldo-sal was the same.

He wasn’t winning against the three Hwasan swordsmen. If they were willing to get hurt and attack, he would have been bleeding and fallen already.

But they didn’t seem to think it was worth the risk, or they thought this was better, so they weren’t attacking, just playing with Hyeoldo-sal.

And…

‘Again?’

He saw another person standing behind those Hwasan disciples.

A female swordsman standing with a face that showed no emotion, which seemed strange on a battlefield. The moment he saw her, Dan Honhyeolsu felt his muscles tighten, and he started sweating.

“Hmph… Gal Cheon-rip, you imbecile.”

It wasn’t just those two.

Anyone watching carefully could see it. The Hwasan fighters were not even using half their real strength.

The most important Hwasan members weren’t even fighting right now.

The key figures were all over the battlefield, like mother tigers teaching their cubs to hunt, putting easy prey in front of them and watching from behind.

So they could step in if anyone was in danger.

This meant something terrible. If they had shown their true strength from the beginning, this whole battle would have been finished quickly.

Dan Honyulsu scoffed in his mind. *Not up to the standards of the Nine Great Sects?* What a joke.

No matter how great the Nine Great Sects are, they couldn’t possibly have a hundred sword masters like these. No sect in the world could win against Mount Hua on this battlefield without taking a single injury.

They might have a limited number of people, but they are stronger than small and medium-sized sects. How many of the Nine Great Sects can confidently say they could defeat them without suffering any losses?

Dan Honyulsu’s eyes narrowed, becoming sharp and intense like blue flames.

Should he step forward himself and clean up the battlefield now?

Impossible.

Someone might be able to change the battle just by being there. But the battlefield was a chaotic river, a swirling torrent of steel and screams. If you jumped in with weak skills, you’d be pulled under and drowned before you could even shout for help.

Could he completely reverse the course of this battlefield with his skills?

Impossible.

After thinking it over, Dan Honyulsu subtly stepped back.

He had criticized the Demonic Sect, but he was one of them after all. He thought about the Demonic Sect. *We are not so different from them,* he realized. *Especially those of us forced to retreat to Gangbuk by the Four Evil Alliances. We all become similar when we are desperate.*

What he desperately needed now was a way to escape with his life.

Fortunately, they weren’t paying much attention to him yet. It might be impossible to slip away silently, but if he could quickly take down one or two of them, taking advantage of their inattention, it wouldn’t be too difficult to escape.

There would be people chasing him, but hadn’t he survived countless chases until now? If he could just break free from the encirclement for a moment, he was confident he could survive.

So…

‘There!’

Just as Dan Honyulsu found a small opening and was about to jump away, a voice stopped him.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?”

His knees buckled as the strength drained from his legs.

Dan Honyulsu bit his lip and slowly stood up straight. Then, he turned to look at the person behind him.

“…Did you know?”

“Wouldn’t it be strange if I didn’t notice you glancing around so suspiciously?”

A deep sigh escaped Dan Honyulsu’s lips.

‘Damn it, I knew it.’

Things couldn’t be this easy.

He clenched his fist, looked at the person in front of him, and spoke.

“Noticing too much will get you killed faster.”

“Haha. I’ve lived a long life. Whether it ends here or not… it’s not the most important thing.”

“…Shouldn’t you just watch from the sidelines when the young ones are playing around? Why bother getting involved?”

“The children are fighting so hard; how can I stand by and do nothing? I don’t know about other places, but there are no spectators in Mount Hua.”

Dan Honyulsu’s expression grew darker.

He could tell that this person was strong. Unlike the Mount Hua swordsmen currently fighting, the person in front of him clearly had years of experience.

“Who are you?”

He asked quietly, and the person in front of him smiled and replied.

“I am Hyun Sang, an elder of Mount Hua.”

“…An elder.”

It was truly unfair. The others were facing younger disciples, but he got an elder.

But that also meant…

Dan Honyulsu glanced past Hyun Sang. He couldn’t see any other disciples behind him.

“Killing the old man means a path will open, right?”

“Indeed. Killing me will allow you to escape.”

Crack!

The sound of bones cracking echoed from Dan Honyulsu’s fist. At the same time, both hands began to glow crimson red.

“You’ve chosen the wrong opponent, old man. I’m different from those fools.”

“I know.”

Hyun Sang nodded calmly with a smile. At the same time, he slowly began to draw the sword at his waist.

“So, I must be the one to face you. Of course, there are many stronger people here than I, but it wouldn’t be right for an elder to deal with weaklings, would it?”

“That dignity…”

Dan Honyulsu was about to sneer, but he suddenly stopped. That dignity… *is just an act,* Dan Honyulsu thought with a sneer, ready to dismiss the old man. But then, something changed.

The man who had seemed like a kindly old man until he drew his sword now felt completely different, even his very essence had changed.

The energy coming from Hyun Sang was like a mountain pressing down on him, heavy and immovable. It was the energy of a swordsman who had lived through countless battles, weathered every storm, and stood firm against the passage of time.

An energy that felt completely good and just, the way everyone in the world thought it should be.

“Is that the real sword of Mount Hua…?”

“There is no *special* sword of Mount Hua. Every sword used by someone from Mount Hua *is* the real sword of Mount Hua.”

“…”

“It’s just a little older and a little heavier. But… I won’t disappoint you.”

Dan Honyulsu bit his lip tightly.

‘Damn it, I shouldn’t have come here.’

Thinking that this might really be the end, Dan Honyulsu gathered as much inner force as he could.

“I’ll end your tenacious life here, old man!”

He drew out blades of burning crimson energy from both hands and charged towards Hyun Sang in an instant.