Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1603

Crack. A small sound broke the silence.

The Dalai Lama’s eyelids fluttered. They were heavy, like they didn’t want to open. Slowly, he forced them apart. Dark eyes looked out.

In front of him was a small bell, a Vajra Bell. It was cracked, a long line splitting the metal.

“Om Mani…” His voice shook.

“Padme… Hum.” He finished the holy words, his voice almost breaking. His young hand gently touched the cracked bell.

“…Law King.”

The Dalai Lama looked up. The golden face of the Buddha statue above him seemed to watch with a sad, still face.

He stared at the Buddha for a long time, then closed his eyes again.

“It cannot be stopped,” he whispered.

Bansen Lama watched him, his face hard. He thought the Dalai Lama was speaking holy words, words too deep for normal people to understand.

“Maybe,” the Dalai Lama said, his voice low, “people suffer because some things cannot be stopped.” These words were for himself, not really for Bansen Lama.

“But still…”

A single tear rolled down his young face, a silent promise of sadness. He opened his eyes again. “I hope… I hope the suffering is not too much.”

Terrible. Was ‘terrible’ even the right word for this?

Hoga Myung had seen many battles. He knew death well. He had seen terrible suffering fill battlefields.

He wondered why this place had brought his master, Jang Il-So, so far. Part of him was confused. But another part… he understood.

The sight in front of him was both terrible and strange.

It was a large hole in the ground, about twenty steps across. The dirt inside was blackish-red, darker than the yellow-brown earth around it. It looked like dried blood.

There were no bodies. Only small pieces of torn clothes and bits of flesh showed that people had been here. Many people.

Hoga Myung’s throat felt dry and hot.

How could this…?

He swallowed, but it didn’t help. It felt like his throat was full of sand, scratching him when he swallowed.

How could something like this…?

His mouth was dry and tasted like dust.

Even though they were ripped and ruined, the pieces of clothing with the Hongcheon pattern told a clear story.

They were here. They were definitely here.

It was hard to believe, but the Hongcheon group they had sent, the special fighters meant to terrorize this place, had been here.

How could this special group be destroyed like this?

How?

But ‘destroyed’ wasn’t even the right word. ‘Destroyed’ meant there was a fight, a battle. Here, there was nothing. No sign of struggle.

The only word he could think of was ‘vaporized.’ It was like they had just vanished.

They had vanished. He and the skilled fighters that Jang Il-So had carefully trained.

Who could do this? What power could do this?

Even if the strongest fighters from Shaolin Temple had attacked them, it wouldn’t be like this. Maybe even if all the great fighting groups in the land attacked together, it would be impossible.

They could surround them, trap them, kill them. But to destroy skilled fighters like this, without any fight at all… This was not something a normal person could do.

The place was small, but the feeling was huge and terrible.

Jang Il-So stood in front of Hoga Myung, silent for a long time.

Jang Il-So was a powerful man. He had defeated the Shaolin fighters. He had ended the rule of the Nine Great Sects. He was the Hegemon, the most powerful person in the world. He controlled everything.

But now, his shoulders were shaking slightly. Jang Il-So’s shoulders, of all people.

“Lord Lian…” Hoga Myung said quietly.

“Ha…”

A short, empty laugh came from Jang Il-So’s mouth. He had been silent until now.

Hoga Myung could only see Jang Il-So’s back, but he could imagine his face.

The laugh wasn’t real. It wasn’t crying. It just disappeared.

Then, Jang Il-So spoke, his voice dry.

“…Even laughter won’t come out.”

His hand, hanging at his side, was shaking. Hoga Myung could see it clearly.

Hoga Myung didn’t know what to say to Jang Il-So. He couldn’t make fun of him, and he couldn’t encourage him.

Hoga Myung knew that the more you understood something powerful, the more afraid you became. He knew Jang Il-So understood this situation much better than him, and that’s why Jang Il-So was so shaken. Hoga Myung felt fear too, but Jang Il-So’s fear was much bigger.

“Is it a demon?” Jang Il-So whispered. “No… It’s more like a god.”

The empty laugh came again, like a groan.

“…A bad joke.”

Jang Il-So’s voice was usually calm and strong, with a strange laugh. But now, it was gone.

Jang Il-So was the leader of the Four Evil Sects, a very powerful group. People called him the Great Master of the Demonic Way. He should be happy now, enjoying his victory.

But here, he was just a man. A man who realized he was not as powerful as he thought. A man who was losing hope.

“…Who found this place?” Jang Il-So asked. “Who told us about it?”

At his question, some men who had been standing back, afraid to come closer, slowly stepped forward.

“Speak,” Jang Il-So said, his voice sharp.

“We… we are just here for the horses,” one man said, his voice shaking.

“Horses?” Jang Il-So asked.

“Yes! To change the horses…”

Jang Il-So’s eyes became cold.

“Enough,” he said. “Get to the point.”

The man was terrified by Jang Il-So’s scary look. He nodded quickly and started talking fast, like he couldn’t stop. “When we got here late this morning, it was already… like this. We almost rode past without seeing anything…”

They looked to the side, as if to show someone else. There, a man sat staring at the sky, his eyes blank.

Jang Il-So’s hand clenched into a fist.

He knew those clothes. The clothes of the mad man looked familiar.

“That… that person…” Jang Il-So said.

“Bring him here,” he ordered.

“Yes?” one of the nervous men said.

Hoga Myung moved instead. He grabbed the mad Hongcheon and dragged him over. He was rough, but the Hongcheon didn’t react. He seemed empty inside, like nothing was left in his mind.

Hoga Myung pushed the Hongcheon to his knees in front of Jang Il-So. Jang Il-So stared at him, then bent down to look into his eyes.

“Look at me,” Jang Il-So said.

The Hongcheon didn’t move.

“Look at me!” Jang Il-So repeated, louder.

The cloudy eyes became a little clearer.

“What happened?” Jang Il-So asked.

The Hongcheon’s eyes moved around, like they were trying to remember something.

“Die…” he whispered.

“What?” Jang Il-So asked.

“Die… All… all die…”

Jang Il-So waited.

“Die. All die. All die. Everyone will die. All! Die. Die. Die. All will die! Aaaaargh!”

The Hongcheon’s eyes rolled back, and he shook violently. Like someone drowning, he waved his arms and screamed until his voice was gone. Then, he grabbed his neck and shook again.

“Ggrck… Ggrck! Ggeueu…”

Foam came from his mouth, and his eyes rolled back. He scratched his face and neck hard, making them bleed.

Jang Il-So watched silently.

“Ggrck.” The Hongcheon made a last choking sound, then passed out and fell to the ground.

Silence fell. Hoga Myung’s hands were cold and wet with sweat.

Jang Il-So looked at the Hongcheon, who was still twitching even after he passed out. “Are you and this man the only ones who saw this place?” he asked the horse handlers.

“Y-Yes…” one of them stammered.

Wham!

Before he could finish, the heads of the two horse handlers and the Hongcheon exploded. Blood and brain splattered everywhere.

Hoga Myung jumped back, shocked. He bit his lip hard.

Hoga Myung understood. It was necessary. No one could know about this. If people knew about something so powerful, something they couldn’t control, they would be terrified. Fear could destroy everything.

Jang Il-So looked down at the three dead bodies and the blackish-red pit. He gave a sad smile.

“It’s like we are ants,” Jang Il-So said with a sad smile. “We are so small, this… thing… didn’t even notice us. It just stepped on our people like they were nothing.”

He gave a weak laugh. “A mirage…”

Jang Il-So laughed again, softly. “No matter how hard I fight,” he said, “is it all pointless? Is everything I get going to be taken away anyway? Can I not protect anything?”

His voice was full of hate, anger, and hopelessness.

Jang Il-So bit his lip hard.

This was a power you couldn’t fight. Something you couldn’t even argue with. It was a disaster. Something humans could do nothing about.

Compared to this, all the trouble and fighting humans do is just a silly game.

Jang Il-So felt this more than anyone.

“Ha…” He tried to hold back his laughter, but it came out anyway. “Hahaha.”

Then he burst out laughing, a loud, wild laugh. But it was different from his usual laugh. This laugh was full of despair. “Hahahahahahahahaha! Ahahahahahahahaha!”

“…Let’s go back, Gamyung,” Jang Il-So said, finally stopping his laughter.

“Yes…” Hoga Myung replied.

Jang Il-So turned around, his red robe flowing behind him.

The world stretched out in front of him.

The world had seemed real just a moment ago. Now, it felt fake and fragile, like a mirage that could vanish at any moment.

No, Jang Il-So thought to himself. That’s stupid.

His eyes flashed with anger.

If everything is going to be destroyed anyway, he thought, I will destroy it myself first. That’s my… no, that’s humanity’s last pride.

Jang Il-So started walking, his steps heavy.

Footprints in the dirt. Footprints that would soon disappear.

Rustle.

Bare feet walked slowly through short bushes. The ground was dry and dusty.

He walked slowly, not in a hurry. Each step was careful.

His face was young, partly hidden by torn cloth. But his eyes were empty, like there was nothing inside. They were dark and still.

Rustle.

He put his foot down again.

He didn’t know exactly where he was going. He just walked, following some feeling inside him.

But he would find it soon.

He would walk and walk, and then he would know. He would reach the place he was meant to be. The place he needed to reach.

Rustle.

The man, walking like he was on a long journey, slowly turned his head.

In the distance, a large mountain range rose up, reaching into the sky. In the middle of the mountains, a tall, rocky peak stood out.

The mountains were far away, too far to see clearly with normal eyes. But this man saw them clearly, as if he could hold them in his hand. Even with his empty eyes.

He stared at the mountain for a moment, without speaking. Then, he looked away, as if he didn’t care anymore.

He knew what it was. He didn’t know how he knew, but he did. He had never heard the name before, never learned it. But he knew.

“Hwa… San…”

He said the name softly, like singing. Then he kept walking.

One step. One step.

His steps seemed endless, but soon his journey would be over.