Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1068

Jo Gul’s mind went blank. He just stared at Chung Myung, his mouth slightly open, not even noticing the cold sweat trickling down his forehead and into his eyes. He didn’t bother to wipe it away.

“…No,” Jo Gul whispered, the word barely audible.

*Crazy.* Of course, Chung Myung was crazy. Every disciple of Mount Hua knew that. Who *didn’t* know that Chung Myung wasn’t quite right in the head? But even for Chung Myung, this felt different. There had to be a line, even for madness. Jo Gul had never imagined he could go *this* far. This was beyond reckless.

‘No, I still think….’

All this time, he thought that when that bastard did something crazy, he had some calculation behind it. He never thought he’d be so reckless….

“…Crazy bastard.”

It was Yoon Jong who said it. If Yoon Jong said it, it meant everything. Baek Cheon was slumped on the ground. Yoo Iseol was next to him, face down like a tired cat. Just looking at them showed how bad things were.

‘It would be more sensible to stick your head in a tiger’s mouth and shout at it to eat you!’

At that moment, Tang Soso muttered in a daze.

“That nutcase… If he’s going to die, why doesn’t he just die alone? Why drag us down with him….”

Jo Gul flinched and turned around. Even though Mount Hua wasn’t strict about hierarchy, calling a senior disciple a nutcase was a bit much… If Yoon Jong heard, he might get angry….

“Tell me about it!”

Never mind. Oh, dear, the senior disciple was very angry.

And it seemed that it wasn’t just the disciples of Mount Hua who were exhausted by Chung Myung’s madness.

“I….”

The gazes of everyone who was exhausted turned to the source of the voice. If it had been someone else’s voice, they wouldn’t have even had the strength to turn their heads, but even in this situation, Jang Ilso’s reaction couldn’t be ignored.

Perhaps unable to slump down like the disciples of Mount Hua, Jang Ilso kept his back straight, a look of disbelief on his face. His gaze was fixed on Chung Myung, who was walking towards them.

“I thought I was the craziest bastard in the martial world….”

“……”

“There was someone even worse.”

Hearing those words, the disciples of Mount Hua looked at each other with faces that couldn’t decide whether to cry or laugh. They never thought the moment would come when they would sympathize with Jang Ilso’s words.

Jang Ilso’s face looked a bit paler than usual, seemed to show that his words were not just a simple joke.

In contrast, Chung Myung’s face, as he approached, was as calm as if everything was someone else’s problem. He clicked his tongue as he looked at Baek Cheon and his group.

“Geez, anyone would think you’d done something amazing. What did you do to be sitting down like that!”

“Hey, you….”

“Benefactor… Benefactor, please go far away and die. Please….”

The disciples of Mount Hua, who didn’t even have the strength to shout, could only curse in weak voices.

Still, Baek Cheon, as the senior uncle, was the first to stagger to his feet and ask.

“What on earth….”

“Huh?”

“What happened? Why did that bastard go back so easily?”

He had vaguely heard the conversation, but without knowing what happened before, he couldn’t understand it even after listening.

“It’s nothing much….”

Chung Myung’s gaze flicked towards Jang Ilso.

“I’ll tell you later.”

Baek Cheon was about to nod, understanding the meaning, but Jang Ilso opened his mouth with a hint of disappointment.

“I thought we were comrades who fought together. Wouldn’t my heart ache if you ignore me like this?”

His voice was so soft it was almost friendly, but Chung Myung’s reaction was icy.

“The moment I use the word comrade with a bastard like you will never come.”

“I want to say that’s a harsh answer… But, seeing what you’re doing, I think it might be better for me too.”

Jang Ilso said with a slightly strange look in his eyes. Then, voices of agreement flowed out from here and there.

“That’s right.”

“…Honestly, I feel sorry for this side.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What, you bastards?”

Chung Myung glared at the disciples of Mount Hua who agreed with Jang Ilso’s words.

Jang Ilso opened his mouth.

“That Heavenly Demon those guys are waiting for….”

The atmosphere changed with the sudden mention of the Heavenly Demon. Jang Ilso still fixed his gaze on Chung Myung and opened his mouth heavily.

“It seems he’s not falling from the sky, but being resurrected from someone’s body?”

Chung Myung glared at Jang Ilso with cold eyes. But Jang Ilso simply raised the corners of his red lips and accepted the gaze.

“And the Demonic Sect guys have no way to confirm it until the resurrected one realizes he is the Heavenly Demon himself. So… no one dares to kill anyone?”

Chung Myung didn’t bother to answer. But in this situation, what answer could be clearer than silence? Jang Ilso’s eyes gleamed with a strange light.

“Does that mean… that the Heavenly Demon has already been resurrected and is living without even knowing he is the Heavenly Demon? Here in this area?”

Chung Myung’s eyes became even fiercer. Then Jang Ilso chuckled quietly.

“If you glare at me with those eyes, I can’t help but be more certain.”

Chung Myung, as if grinding his teeth at Jang Ilso, let out a sigh. It was Jang Ilso, not some other guy, and he had seen the whole situation with his own two eyes, so he wouldn’t be swayed by anything he said.

“There’s nothing certain.”

Chung Myung said in a low voice.

“Whether he has already been resurrected, or hasn’t even been born yet. Or whether he has already realized he is the Heavenly Demon but hasn’t revealed himself.”

“……”

“The problem is that no one knows.”

Jang Ilso nodded as if he understood roughly.

“Resurrection….”

After repeating it for a moment, he sighed lightly.

“You really believe such unbelievable stories. Those crazy believers, or you, who are even more insane than those crazy believers.”

Chung Myung didn’t bother to answer.

Jang Il-so wasn’t sure if the others would truly understand. He wasn’t even sure he could explain it to them. If he hadn’t changed so much himself, he would have thought their words were just crazy talk. Yes, just like he would have before his own rebirth.

Jang Il-so looked around at the ground where Dan Ja-gang had fought, still scarred and broken, and where the Celestial Killer had been.

“But… to dismiss those words as the ravings of a madman… those lunatics are not ordinary madmen.”

Jang Il-so had clearly felt the power of the Celestial Killer.

Dan Ja-gang alone was very strong, stronger than anyone he had ever faced before. Yet, the Celestial Killer had the power to crush even Dan Ja-gang quickly. To put it simply, there was no one in the world of Jianghu (a world of martial artists) who could stand against the Celestial Killer at this moment.

‘What if that power is combined with the power of the Demonic Cult, a group known for their dark magic, that I saw?’

The grand task of conquering the Central Plains wouldn’t feel so difficult. At least, it was more real than the future he had imagined for himself.

But neither the Celestial Killer nor the Demonic Cult moved.

A man who could get everything he wanted if he desired was wasting his life in some unknown place. All for the sake of faith.

Because he was Jang Il-so, and no one else, he could understand how absurd this situation was.

A strong person is full of himself. No matter how talented someone is, it takes great effort to use that talent and turn it into real power.

Therefore, a strong person who has gone through that difficult process and obtained the martial skill to rule the world becomes an example of self-love that is hard for ordinary people to understand.

If a strong person like the Celestial Killer had his immense self-confidence overflowing throughout the Central Plains, it wouldn’t be strange. However, instead of trying to defeat the Heavenly Demon with that power, he simply threw away everything he could easily obtain and was just waiting for the Heavenly Demon’s return.

Like a loyal dog guarding a house left by its master.

‘Is this really possible?’

Impossible. No, it shouldn’t be possible. There is only one situation in which that is possible.

Jang Il-so looked around at everyone with strange eyes.

“So, that Heavenly Demon…”

Everyone held their breath at the threatening voice.

“…is a being who can turn even that monstrous bastard into a dog guarding an empty house.”

Anyone living in Jianghu could not have failed to hear the words Heavenly Demon. That name was a symbol of strength and an embodiment of fear.

But more than any description he had ever heard about the Heavenly Demon, Jang Il-so’s sentence was more intense.

“Beyond loyalty, obedience… no, to the point where they can sacrifice themselves beyond obedience.”

Jang Il-so let out a hollow laugh.

Even Jang Il-so had never controlled anyone so perfectly. If he left behind words that he would be resurrected after his death, would Hong Gyeon be able to wait for him for a hundred years?

Would those murder-crazed bastards be stuck in the remote countryside like monks devoted to Buddhism, enduring a long life of patience?

‘No way.’

But what would you have to do to make someone like the Celestial Killer, not Hong Gyeon, do that?

Everyone couldn’t bring themselves to speak.

It was Dan Ja-gang who fought them, and it was the Celestial Killer they faced. But at this moment, it felt as if the huge shadow of the Heavenly Demon, whom they had never met, was pressing down on everyone here.

Jang Il-so’s eyes curved strangely.

“A guy like that might be living somewhere here without even knowing who he is…”

Jang Il-so slowly shook his head.

“That’s too much of a joke.”

He solved everything. He drove out the Demonic Cult that invaded Hangzhou, and even led to the death of the cult leader, one of their top fighters. In terms of achievements, one could not ask for more than this.

However, no joy about the achievement could be found on the faces of those who remained here. All that remained for those who had realized the power of the Demonic Cult and guessed the power of the Heavenly Demon was an indescribable sense of pressure.

“Well, whatever. That’s not an immediate problem anyway.”

Jang Il-so, who sighed lightly, smiled brightly.

“Rather than something that might happen sometime in the future…”

It was an exceptionally bright smile, but the moment the Mount Hua disciples saw his eyes, they suddenly felt scared.

“Shouldn’t we take care of our own business first?”

Jang Il-so’s voice changed. The slight friendliness that had remained disappeared, and soon a murderous feeling filled its place. The faces of Baek Cheon and his group quickly became tense.

‘Could it be…?’

‘At a moment like this?’

Everyone’s body tensed up.

They had thought that Jang Il-so might show his true colors someday. Wasn’t the reason they came to Jiangnan with only a small number of people because they couldn’t trust Jang Il-so in the first place?

But even so, this was too sudden.

No sooner had Jang Il-so finished speaking than Hong Gyeon quietly but quickly gathered around him. At the same time, the Mount Hua disciples also confronted Jang Il-so, with Chung Myung in the center.

Jang Il-so’s eerie eyes and Chung Myung’s cold eyes met.

In any case, Chung Myung and Jang Il-so were not in a condition to fight properly. Then this was a fight between Hong Gyeon and Mount Hua. Although Hong Gyeon was incredibly strong, Mount Hua’s power was not to be underestimated.

‘Just getting out of here should be possible…’

It was at that moment that Baek Cheon was about to look at Un Geom. Jang Il-so shook his head as if he could see his intentions.

“Oh, dear, oh, dear. Was it Baek Cheon, you said?”

“…You.”

“If you’re so slow to think… you won’t be able to survive in Gangnam, even if you can’t in Gangbuk.”

“What nonsense…”

Jo Gul, who was about to raise his voice for Baek Cheon, closed his mouth as if he had been stopped by someone. His eyes shook greatly.

He had seen them. The elite members of the Black Ghost Squad, whom they had left at the entrance of Hangzhou, were already surrounding them, closing in. It was as if they would not let a single person escape.

If it was just Hong Gyeon, they could somehow manage, but if the Black Ghost Squad joined in?

‘Damn it…’

A dark light flashed across the faces of the Mount Hua disciples. Jang Il-so, who was watching those faces with interest, laughed out loud.

“Aren’t you curious?”

A bright smile hung on Jang Il-so’s face. A cruel light flickered in his pale eyes.

“Which would be more terrible… fighting a house-sized lake monster… or being surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves?”

“You bastard…”

Blood began to fill Jo Gul’s eyes.