Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1379

Arrows rained down, each one whistling a deadly song.

“Shoot! Shoot!”

Whizz!

An arrow sliced through the air. Jo Gul’s face twisted in anger as arrows flew past his head.

“I hate these arrows!”

Bang!

He kicked off the ground, his sword flashed like a ray of light. The rain of arrows, faced with the shadow of his sword, bounced away like raindrops hitting the eaves of a house.

“Ugh.”

Having dealt with the arrows, Jo Gul landed and clutched at his side, groaning. Then, he roared.

“Hey, Demonic Sect! Are you too scared to fight with swords? Is shooting arrows all you can do?”

Baek Cheon muttered, sounding utterly dumbfounded.

“…Isn’t being cowardly kind of the point of being in the Demonic Sect?”

What on earth did the Demonic Sect look like in that idiot’s head?

Baek Cheon was dumbfounded, but Yoon Jong’s heart jumped into his throat.

“Don’t rush in, Jo Gul! Fall back!” he yelled, his voice tight with worry. He knew Jo Gul wasn’t fully healed.

“Hey, is anyone here in good shape? We’re all the same.”

“That madman…”

Jo Gul charged forward again like a wild colt. Yoon Jong let out a helpless sigh.

Of course, he wasn’t entirely wrong. There were fewer people in good shape here than those who weren’t.

The problem was, some people were much more injured than others.

“You’re practically half-dead!”

Yoon Jong’s eyes blazed as he kicked off the ground. He’d rather lecture a three-month-old puppy to stay quiet than try to make Jo Gul understand not to rush in.

“Hiyah!”

Yoon Jong moved like lightning, his sword a silver flash. It found its mark in the enemy’s throat before Jo Gul could even blink.

Jo Gul’s eyes widened.

“S-Senior Brother! That was mine!”

“Shut your trap, you idiot!”

Yoon Jong’s gentle face was hard with anger as he snapped the harsh words and immediately lowered his stance, deflecting the Demonic Sect thug’s incoming sword. He was about to launch a counterattack when he saw someone’s back blocking his view as they plunged their sword down.

Thwack!

“Gurgle!”

The Demonic Sect man, with a neat hole through the centre of his chest, collapsed in disbelief. The swordsman, without hesitation, pulled out his sword and pushed the falling Demonic Sect man away, shouting loudly.

“Uncle-Master… Huh?”

Yoon Jong flinched, assuming it would be Baek Cheon. It wasn’t the Mount Hua uniform.

“Press the attack! It’s nothing!”

“Yes!”

Then, a wave of blue crashed into the fight. Warriors in Hainan’s blue uniforms, their swords raised, pushed past Yoon Jong, a tide of fresh energy.

Yoon Jong watched the blue wave of Hainan warriors and a small smile touched his lips. It reminded him of…

Yoon Jong straightened his back, habitually flicking his sword to shake off the blood.

‘Is this when you’d say they’ve made remarkable progress?’

Of course, they were still lacking. To imitate Chung Myung’s way of speaking, ‘You’re still a long way off, you little brats.’

This wasn’t just Yoon Jong being conceited. Objectively speaking, they still looked like children holding priceless swords. They struggled to properly use the martial arts they had learned, especially.

But even so, they were wielding those priceless swords. They were a world apart from their first terrified trembling, not even knowing what they held in their hands.

“…Experience really is something…”

“Ah, blast it! Watch your mouth!”

“Huh?”

Yoon Jong, who had been muttering to himself, turned around, not understanding the sudden outburst. Jo Gul was grimacing, shouting loudly.

“I know what you’re thinking, Senior Brother, but if you say that, it justifies that rotten bastard throwing us into all sorts of hells!”

He was, of course, talking about Chung Myung.

“…That won’t do.”

That’s that, and this is this. Of course.

“So just keep your mouth shut!”

“…Alright.”

Yoon Jong answered humbly. But he soon smirked.

It was true that the enemies blocking their path weren’t that strong, but if Hainan hadn’t stepped forward and fought so fiercely, there wouldn’t have been room for him to chat comfortably with that idiot Jo Gul.

‘If they just fight calmly, they can’t not be a help.’

They were called the tail end of the Nine Great Sects – the nine most important martial arts groups in the land – but they were still one of the top nine sects in the world. There was bound to be a huge difference between being called a member of the Nine Great Sects, even if they were the weakest, and not being one at all.

If they fought like this, they would definitely be an asset. And the moment they finally lost their fear of fighting, they might become one of the sects representing the Heavenly Union.

Especially…

“The sword tip is shaking! Don’t get excited!”

“Yes!”

Yoon Jong narrowed his eyes.

‘That man is truly amazing.’

His gaze was fixed on Gwak Hwan-so’s back, who didn’t forget to give precise instructions even while fighting fiercely.

“Swords low! Protect your left!” Gwak Hwan-so roared, even as he parried a blow. Instantly, the Hainan disciples around him shifted, their movements sharper, more coordinated.

‘Because of that man, I sometimes forget that the Gold Sect Leader is here.’

It was almost disrespectful to the Gold Sect Leader, but Yoon Jong couldn’t deny it. Gwak Hwan-so in battle was a force of nature.

That was originally impossible.

Even a sect leader’s disciple couldn’t dare to compare to the sect leader. Even if he was to become the sect leader in the future, one couldn’t compare a realized fact with a vague possibility, could they?

But what was amazing about Gwak Hwan-so was that he even made Yoon Jong, who knew that fact well enough, sometimes mistaken.

He couldn’t even remember Gwak Hwan-so’s appearance at the Shaolin martial arts competition in the past. His current appearance was so intense that the past was all but forgotten.

A bitter smile appeared on Yoon Jong’s lips.

He now understood the reactions that those who knew Mount Hua showed every time they saw the Five Swords. If they saw even half as much change as Gwak Hwan-so had shown, they would naturally be surprised.

“Senior Brother, it’s ahead!”

“I know!”

“I’ll stand in front.”

“Fall back! This is my place!”

And the Hainan disciples who received Gwak Hwan-so’s instructions also showed absolute trust in Gwak Hwan-so.

People became incomparably closer after overcoming crises together. The bond they had built in this short period might even surpass the long time they had spent together within the sect before.

‘They’ll get stronger.’

Of course, the damage Hainan had suffered wasn’t easily recoverable.

They had lost many things. They had to leave Hainan Island, which had been their solid foundation, and many disciples had left in the process. Nearly half of the remaining disciples were sacrificed while breaking through Jiangnan.

Objectively speaking, Hainan might have already lost the qualifications to be called one of the Nine Great Sects. Even if there were no more damage, it was clear that it would take a long time to regain the lost power.

But even so, Yoon Jong believed that Hainan would become stronger.

He had already experienced that what made a sect strong wasn’t conditions. Neither foundation, nor property, nor even justification was important.

What made a sect strong was only the heart and will of those who belonged to that sect.

And Hainan now had that. That will that they didn’t have when they left Hainan.

“Yes. Get strong…”

“Don’t daydream on the battlefield, you pathetic fool!”

Baek Cheon, roaring, rushed forward like a whirlwind. Yoon Jong’s eyebrows furrowed strangely.

‘Should I suggest swapping the sect leader’s disciple with Hainan?’

Would Hainan not accept it?

Yoon Jong, laughing at the thought, gripped his sword and quickly followed behind Baek Cheon.

“Uncle-Master, there are more and more of them.”

“There will be more.”

Baek Cheon coldly assessed the enemies rushing in.

‘They’re still just riffraff.’

Frankly, they weren’t much of a threat. He didn’t even need to step up against the small and medium-sized Demonic Sects that had been hastily gathered. They weren’t even a match for Hainan anymore.

The important thing wasn’t how easy the enemy was to deal with. It was that the enemy had begun to pinpoint the location of the Heavenly Union and Hainan.

From now on, they would have to overcome difficult roads again.

‘But that means we’re almost at the Yangtze River.’

If they could just get past this crisis, there was Gangbuk. That peaceful land where they could lie down and stretch their legs without anyone attacking them.

There would be a hell even worse than what they had experienced waiting for them ahead, but there was no way to reach Gangbuk without breaking through it anyway.

“Green Forest King!”

“Yes, Acting Sect Leader.”

“How much further to Nanjing?”

Im So-byeong glanced up at the sky. After briefly checking the dark sky, he replied in a cold voice.

“At most, it’s a day.”

“A day…”

A shadow crossed Baek Cheon’s face. ‘A day…’ he repeated, the word heavy with unspoken danger.

‘Then our fate will be decided within a day.’

There was no option to stand before the Yangtze River and wait for a chance to cross. They had to decide the moment they arrived at the river. Whether to cross the river or fight to the death.

‘And there is no latter.’

He had to make sure of that.

“Deal with the guys over there and change direction!”

“Why bother? We’re only about a day away now?”

“The problem isn’t ahead, it’s behind! There are guys chasing us, aren’t there.”

“Ah…”

Jo Gul quickly nodded. The ones they really had to be wary of now weren’t the clumsy Demonic Sect thugs blocking their way. It was Ho Ga-myung, who was chasing after them with fire in his eyes.

“They know we’re going to the Yangtze River, but they don’t know we’re going to Nanjing. There’s no need to tell them the exact direction.”

“I understand!”

“Young Hyup!”

“Yes, Acting Sect Leader!”

“Please inform the Sect Leader as well! And make sure to leave clear markings so that the directions don’t get mixed up!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll check it myself.”

Baek Cheon nodded.

Geum Yang-baek and the elders had taken on the most dangerous task – drawing some of the enemy away, risking their own lives to protect the younger disciples. Because of the Hainan Sect Leader, Geum Yang-baek, leading the elders and moving separately, they could breathe a little easier. Defense was originally easier the narrower the place to block. Just dividing the group into two brought enormous advantages.

‘He’s an amazing man.’

Geum Yang-baek didn’t have the same strong leadership that other sect leaders showed. But he had a firm trust that others didn’t.

It wasn’t an easy choice to entrust the command of his disciples to others in the middle of the enemy’s camp and to form a separate unit himself.

But Geum Yang-baek volunteered for that role. To save even one more disciple and send them to Gangbuk.

“I can’t lose either.”

“Yes?”

Baek Cheon, instead of answering, gripped his sword and stared straight ahead.

“Let’s go! Follow me with the determination to die!”

“Yes!”

Leading the elite of the Heavenly Union, he ran forward.

The will to survive, the hope to succeed, and the passion to overcome were all mixed together and ignited.

But at the very back, Chung Myung watched, his expression unreadable. ‘A day,’ he thought, the word like a stone in his mind. He knew what a day in the enemy’s territory could mean. His eyes, usually bright with mischief, were now as dark and deep as a well at midnight.