Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 918

“Namgoong Hwang?”

“The Emperor Sword?”

The Five Swords, who had followed Chung Myung down the mountain, widened their eyes in surprise. Baek Cheon’s face went white with shock.

“Namgoong Hwang took the Azure Sky Sword Unit to Gugiang?” one of them asked.

“They called him to Shaolin, but instead of going to Shaolin, he’s attacking Plum Blossom Island?” another said, confused.

“Looks like it,” Chung Myung said, grinning.

Baek Cheon stared at Chung Myung, completely dumbfounded. Baek Cheon was usually good at hiding his feelings, but this time he was too shocked to hide it.

“Why?” Baek Cheon asked, his voice quiet.

Chung Myung grinned wider.

“Sasuk,” Chung Myung said, “if you’re going to lead people in the future, you need to know one thing for sure.”

“What is it?” Baek Cheon asked, looking uneasy.

Chung Myung replied as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

“There’s nothing more pointless than trying to find a reason for a madman’s madness.”

“…” Baek Cheon was silent.

“If you don’t understand, let me explain again…” Chung Myung started.

“No, Chung Myung. I understand perfectly,” Baek Cheon said quickly.

“…Huh?” Chung Myung looked surprised.

Yoon Jong nodded quickly from the side. “I understand too.”

“I understand it very clearly,” Jo Gol added.

“Me too,” said another.

“…What’s with these guys? Why are you all looking at me like that?” Chung Myung asked, confused.

Yoon Jong spoke carefully, choosing his words. “If you think about it, there is a reason. The Namgoong Clan must have felt very ashamed back then at the Yangtze River. It was just a quick look, but with the personality of that Emperor Sword, Namgoong Hwang…”

“Right. He must have been sharpening his sword… no, his blade, until now,” Chung Myung finished.

Everyone remembered Namgoong Hwang. They shivered thinking of his eyes rolling back and his sword. The power of his sword was so strong, it was more than just swordsmanship. It made their skin crawl and hurt.

“So, right now…” one of them started.

“Yeah,” Chung Myung grinned and nodded.

“He’s probably running around like a madman, isn’t he? Hee hee hee!”

An entire building flew away.

It was an impossible sight, one that wouldn’t occur even if dozens of artillery shells used by the military were to fall. But the one who created this spectacle was, absurdly, a steel sword that didn’t even reach four characters in length.

“You treacherous heretical bastards!”

A roar like a lion erupted from Namgoong Hwang’s mouth.

“Drive all those seal whelps who dared to set foot on the lands of Gangbuk out of this land!”

“Yes, sir!”

The Azure Sky Sword Unit, having received Namgoong Hwang’s order, shot out like rays of light in all directions. You could see how much they practiced in the last three years just by how fast they moved.

Namgoong Hwang’s eyes emitted a terrifying light.

“Black Dragon King!”

Three years had passed since that shameful day.

For Namgoong Hwang, that time was like an eternity. Every day, he remembered the shame, the disgrace, and how he had failed himself.

What allowed him to endure that time of pain, as if his intestines were being cut out, was only the hope that if he endured for just three years, he would be able to cut off the heads of that detestable Jang Il-So and the Black Dragon King with his sword.

In the midst of all that, the news that the Black Dragon King, of all people from the Four Evil Sects, had entered Gangbuk leading the Water Faction reached his ears.

“That dog-like bastard!”

Namgoong Hwang gritted his teeth.

If the two letters ‘Namgoong’ had remained in his mind, he would not have dared to cross the Yangtze River like this, not even with the Four Evil Sects, let alone alone.

He was so angry, he didn’t think clearly. When he finally calmed down a little, he was already going to Gugiang with his soldiers.

“Do-wi!”

“Yes! Clan Leader!”

Namgoong Do-wi. Namgoong Hwang’s son, who had endured a truly bone-carving training over the past three years, replied in a resolute voice. The three years were enough time for him to grow from a promising junior to a swordsman and the dignified next Clan Leader of the Namgoong Clan.

“Lead the Azure Sky Sword Unit and turn all the pirates into fish food! Let the whole world know that even after experiencing humiliation, the names of Azure Sky still hold chivalry and justice!”

“Yes!”

As Namgoong Do-wi ran forward, Namgoong Hwang’s eyes stared ahead.

“Humph!”

He had certainly received the letter from Shaolin. But Namgoong Hwang didn’t have even a shred of interest in its contents.

‘Cowardly bastards!’

Normal people should run from danger. But fighters should not run from danger. Especially those who uphold chivalry and justice as their banner will lose everything the moment they value their lives and step back.

“They should have died there.”

He thought, ‘If those Wudang people hadn’t been foolish, if Shaolin and Qingcheng hadn’t interfered…’

He would never have been reduced to begging for his life in such a humiliating way. And the glorious name of the Azure Sky Namgoong Clan would not have been thrown into the gutter during his time.

Namgoong Hwang’s foot slammed into the ground.

“No. It’s all just excuses!”

If Namgoong Hwang truly possessed the chivalry to not value his life, if he truly wanted the name of the Namgoong Clan to be a sect that could stake everything on the name of chivalry, he could have drawn his sword even in that situation.

At the last moment, something stopped him from using his sword. It was his own weakness. And that fact made Namgoong Hwang even more unbearable.

“Spilled water cannot be picked up again. But!”

Namgoong Hwang’s eyes emitted a burning light.

“Today, I will reclaim the name of Namgoong!”

At that moment, he saw a group of pirates rushing towards him with tremendous force.

“Stop them!”

“Damn it, do these bastards know where they are?!”

“The Namgoong Clan is nothing special! Kill them all!”

Namgoong Hwang, looking at the pirates rushing in like a swarm of bees, gripped his sword so hard it felt like it would break.

“This…”

Namgoong Hwang once again slammed his foot down on the ground as if to crush it. At the same time, blinding white sword energy that shone like the sun, emitted from the handle of the sword, began to rise in clumps.

The energy, so dense that it didn’t even feel like sword energy, completely enveloped Namgoong Hwang’s sword and emitted a dazzling light.

Bang!

The Emperor’s Walk of Overlooking the World. And the Emperor’s Sword of One Sword.

“Oooooooooh!”

Namgoong Hwang’s sword, raised above his head, was swung down in one swift motion.

Kwahhhh!

It was hard to believe that the sound came from swinging a sword. It was literally like the sound of artillery being fired.

But what was even harder to believe was not the sound that the sword made, but the size of the sword energy it created.

From the tip of the small sword, a white sword energy the size of a house was emitted. The faces of those who saw the giant sword energy covering their entire field of vision instantly lost all color.

“Ru, ru…”

Before they could even finish the word ‘run,’ the white sword energy covered the rushing pirates. Not only that, but it also left a huge scar on the central avenue, stretching forward and forward.

Kwakwakwakwakwakwang!

A power that was unbelievable even when seen with one’s own eyes. Even if it were internal energy, it would be dumbfounding, but to emit this tremendous energy with a sword?

It was a sight that forced one to understand why the Namgoong Clan was called the Azure Sky Namgoong Clan and why it was able to maintain its position as the head of the Five Great Clans, and why the head of the Namgoong Clan had always proudly placed his name as a candidate for the title of the Greatest Swordsman Under Heaven.

“You insignificant heretical bastards! Do you know who I am to dare block my path!”

Namgoong Hwang, having swept away the front with one sword and standing alone roaring, was worthy of the title of a divine general.

“Waaaaaaaah!”

“It’s the Namgoong Clan! The Namgoong Clan has come to save us!”

“The Azure Sky Namgoong Clan!”

“The Five Great Clans have arrived!”

Those who had been hiding in relatively safe buildings, watching and waiting, finally rushed out and cheered at the sight. Although the Namgoong Clan had shown a disappointing side in the past, they could not be compared to those pirates.

Seeing them come directly to Gugiang and slaughter the pirates washed away all the past ill feelings, and faith began to fill that place.

“Do not come outside! Those filthy pirates are still here! I will soon make you feel at ease!”

The people who heard those words quickly nodded and hurried back inside, sensing that this long wait was now coming to an end.

“Hmm!”

It was when Namgoong Hwang nodded and was about to take a powerful step forward. A person who approached him carefully opened his mouth.

“Brother.”

“What is it?”

Namgoong Hwang turned his head and looked at the person standing next to him. Lion Sword Namgoong Myung. His brother and the leader of the Azure Sky Sword Unit.

Namgoong Myung hesitated before speaking to Namgoong Hwang, showing he was afraid of his brother’s anger.

“Brother… are you sure about this? Are you alright?”

“What are you talking about?”

“…I understand your feelings, brother, but I feel like you’re moving too recklessly. I’m worried this might become too big…”

“Namgoong Myung!”

Namgoong Myung flinched and shrank his neck at Namgoong Hwang’s voice, which sounded like artillery fire.

“Since when have you become such a coward?”

“No, that’s not it…”

“Listen carefully!”

Namgoong Hwang stared at Namgoong Myung with murderous eyes and spoke.

“In a world where fools live, the one who is wise alone is treated like an idiot.”

“…Yes?”

“What other reason does a swordsman need to defeat the heretics!”

Namgoong Hwang’s voice did not contain a single point of doubt. It was filled only with firm conviction.

“We suffered that pain because we couldn’t take that obvious thing for granted! Because we couldn’t say what was right was right, and what was wrong was wrong!”

“Cla, Clan Leader. I’m just…”

“Quiet!”

Namgoong Hwang glared at Namgoong Myung as if he would devour him.

Of course, Namgoong Hwang understood Namgoong Myung’s concern about the damage that the Namgoong Clan would suffer because of this.

But now he knew.

A group that only calculates profits will only last a hundred years. If a group wants to be important for a very, very long time, they need more than just money and winning. Those who are blinded by small things and cannot see the big picture will eventually perish.

At that moment, the image of one person flashed through Namgoong Hwang’s mind. A small swordsman covered in wounds. A person who had his whole body stained with blood and was wailing.

At that time, Namgoong Hwang could not meet the eyes of that young swordsman looking at him. He couldn’t even dare to meet them. When the young swordsman looked back at him, he unconsciously avoided his gaze. His stomach twisted with the memory of his shame.

What had pushed Namgoong Hwang into true pain over the past years was the shame of not being able to meet those eyes at that moment.

“Never again…”

Namgoong Hwang clenched his fist.

“Never again will I avoid someone’s eyes. I will never do anything that I cannot be proud of myself! I am Namgoong Hwang! The Clan Leader of the Namgoong Clan, Emperor Sword Namgoong Hwang!”

“Brother…”

“If you have time to worry, pick up your sword. The swordsmen of the Namgoong family speak with their swords, not their mouths!”

“Understood, Clan Leader!”

Soon, determination settled in Namgoong Myung’s eyes as well.

Right or wrong was still unknown. However, one thing was certain: his Clan Leader was staking everything on this place right now.

If so, then as his brother, as a member of the Namgoong Clan, and as the leader of the proud Azure Sky Sword Unit, he had to respond to that will.

“Let’s go!”

“Yes!”

Namgoong Hwang gripped his sword as he watched the swarm of pirates rushing from the docks.

“Defeat the heretics!”

The white sword energy that erupted from his sword soared high into the sky, towards the ever-clear Azure Sky.