Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1084

The disciples of Mount Hua ran like the wind, constantly glancing at the child in Tang Soso’s arms.

“…Is the child okay?”

“I told you, the child is okay.”

Tang Soso, who had been patient, finally showed her annoyance, making Baek Cheon flinch.

“Ah, no. I was just worried….”

Seeing Baek Cheon acting more foolish than usual, she shook her head.

“The child is fine. Just exhausted. It’s that woman who’s the problem,” she said.

Everyone’s gaze turned to the woman being carried on Yoo Iseol’s back.

“If we had found her even a little later, it would have been too late to help her,” Tang Soso added.

“Ah….”

Everyone shuddered at her words.

If they had left Hangzhou, this woman and child would have been buried in the rubble. They couldn’t have escaped alone in their exhausted state.

“Nothing bad will happen, right…?” someone asked.

“No, don’t jinx it!” another replied.

“Please be quiet, benefactor!”

“I swear!”

“…Sorry, but who was that last one?” Baek Cheon asked, confused.

Baek Cheon glared, and Jo Gul slyly looked away. Baek Cheon gritted his teeth, stopping himself from beating up Jo Gul because they didn’t have time.

First, they needed to get the mother and child to safety as fast as possible.

“What about the Yangtze River?” Baek Cheon asked.

Lim Sobyeong, who was behind them, answered urgently, “It’s a full day’s run to the north.”

Baek Cheon looked at the woman on Yoo Iseol’s back. Tang Soso said she was fine, but he still felt worried.

Maybe he was worrying too much. But he felt like he couldn’t lose what they had just saved from terrible Hangzhou.

Baek Cheon knew that some things were more important than reason. Their worry was justified.

“Sasuk!”

“Yes. Let’s go faster,” Baek Cheon said.

“W-wait a minute! Masters! Faster?” Lim Sobyeong shouted, his face saying, ‘Are you crazy?’

Baek Cheon looked away instead of answering.

Lim Sobyeong followed Baek Cheon’s gaze and saw Namgung Dowi, whose face was pale, clearly showing that he wouldn’t slow down even if he died.

“…This is why my father told me not to hang out with righteous sect guys….” Lim Sobyeong muttered.

He thought, ‘People who say the Demonic Sect guys are crazy should be thrown into Mount Hua.’

“Run!” Baek Cheon ordered.

“Heeik! W-wait for me!” Lim Sobyeong screamed, speeding up to follow the Mount Hua disciples.

For the others, it was just about keeping up, but for Lim Sobyeong, it was about survival. If he was left alone in Jiangnan, anything could happen.

“Ah, no. W-wait for me… Ku, cough! I’m sick… Cough! Aren’t I sick too, you guys! Cough! Cough! Cough!” Lim Sobyeong coughed, as if he was about to cough up his lungs, but no one paid attention.

Actually, Chung Myung glanced back with slightly pitiful eyes, showing a little more affection for him than the others.

“D-dojang!” Lim Sobyeong was about to shout with emotion.

“Tsk tsk. That Demonic Sect guy. I wondered when he would die, but it looks like he’s finally dying now,” Chung Myung said.

“……”

“Whether he dies here alone or dies running, he’s going to die anyway, so why not bury him beforehand? Wouldn’t that be a way to at least leave his corpse intact?”

“…Son of a…” Lim Sobyeong cursed inwardly.

“What?” Chung Myung asked.

“Cough! Cough! Cough!” Lim Sobyeong quickly coughed and looked away from Chung Myung, cursing him in his mind.

He thought, ‘These guys talk about compassion. It’s ridiculous.’

“Ugh….” A low groan came from the woman on Yoo Iseol’s back. Everyone stopped and looked at her. It didn’t seem like she was waking up, just a sound that escaped her.

“Samae, are you okay? Should we switch?” Baek Cheon asked.

“I’ll do it,” Yoo Iseol replied.

“…Alright,” Baek Cheon quietly nodded.

For a woman of a private family, being carried on the back of an unrelated man could be a big deal. So, Yoo Iseol, who was more skilled, had to carry the woman.

‘It must be tough,’ Baek Cheon thought, looking at Yoo Iseol with sympathy.

Carrying a patient while running is harder than it seems. If the shaking is too much, the patient’s condition could worsen, so one must be careful with every step. It takes twice as much stamina and mental strength.

But Yoo Iseol carried the woman without complaining. Her face showed no feelings, but you could see she felt very responsible.

“Soso, should I hold the child?” Jo Gul asked.

“Get your hands off, Sahyung! Don’t touch the child with your dirty hands!” Tang Soso refused.

“…Dirty,” Jo Gul said, hurt.

But Tang Soso refused to hand over the child and showed her teeth.

“Everyone else is okay, but not Sahyung,” she said.

“That’s right,” others agreed.

“You stay back there. If the child wakes up and sees your face, they’ll have a fit,” Tang Soso added.

“…But these people….” Jo Gul trailed off.

The Mount Hua disciples ran fast, joking to hide their fear that the Evil Flower Union might attack. They were running as if their lives depended on it.

“Heuh… Heuh!” Lim Sobyeong, who had been keeping up, started to fall behind. His chronic illness caused him to have problems with endurance. He also hadn’t been pushing himself from the start.

The Mount Hua disciples were about to glance at him, but Chung Myung’s voice interrupted.

“Just run,” Chung Myung said.

He dropped back slightly and put his hand on Lim Sobyeong’s back with a displeased look.

“What kind of bandit is this weak?” Chung Myung asked.

“W-what reason does a bandit have to run like this… Cough! What reason would there be!” Lim Sobyeong replied.

“Yeah, yeah,” Chung Myung said.

“S-still, Heuh! You’re helping me….” Lim Sobyeong said.

Chung Myung clicked his tongue.

“Well, he did his part,” Chung Myung admitted.

If it hadn’t been for Lim Sobyeong, everyone would have died when the Black Ghost Squad attacked. He never thought he would be alive thanks to a Demonic Sect guy.

“Run faster, you bandit. Before I really leave you behind,” Chung Myung said.

“…You heartless bastard,” Lim Sobyeong muttered.

“Huh?” Chung Myung asked.

“…Nothing.”

Lim Sobyeong pouted and put strength into his legs. The hat he was wearing was crumpled and sliding down. Thanks to Chung Myung pushing his back, he felt a little better.

Then, he suddenly slowed down again. Chung Myung looked puzzled.

“What are you doing, you punk?” Chung Myung asked.

“Just a moment,” Lim Sobyeong replied.

Lim Sobyeong, who had created some distance from the others, spoke quietly.

“Isn’t something strange, Dojang?” Lim Sobyeong asked.

“What is it?” Chung Myung asked.

Looking at the woman on Yoo Iseol’s back, Lim Sobyeong narrowed his eyes.

“I checked, but there were no other survivors, right?” Lim Sobyeong asked.

“……”

“Even strong men couldn’t survive, but a woman like that survived the destruction… I don’t understand….” Lim Sobyeong said.

Chung Myung didn’t answer and kept running. Lim Sobyeong glanced at his hardened face and didn’t ask again, running silently. After a long time, he spoke again, his voice heavy.

“Am I guessing right?” Lim Sobyeong asked.

“…Maybe,” Chung Myung replied.

Lim Sobyeong looked meaningfully at the woman and child. Danjagang was the source of the demonic energy that destroyed the area. Jang Ilso and Chung Myung only attacked Danjagang.

Since Danjagang caused the deaths of those who were swept away, the reason the mother and child survived must have something to do with Danjagang.

But… Lim Sobyeong shook his head. It was a battlefield where lives were at stake. Could someone who had lost their mind and was rampaging while consumed by demonic energy really ensure that a specific area was not harmed?

“Maybe it’s just a coincidence,” Lim Sobyeong said.

“…That’s right,” Chung Myung agreed.

Chung Myung and Lim Sobyeong didn’t say anything else. Perhaps they would never know the answer. The only one who could give them the answer was no longer alive.

Chung Myung’s eyes darkened.

He couldn’t answer this question either. Chung Myung didn’t know there was a woman and child there. He wasn’t strong enough to focus on other things while fighting Danjagang and Cheonsal.

As Lim Sobyeong said, it might just be a coincidence.

But if… if Chung Myung’s thoughts were true, even a little bit….

‘Even if they are Demonic Cultists… they are still human children,’ he thought.

He didn’t want to think about it. Even if he knew, he had to forget.

“So… it’s something that must be done,” Chung Myung muttered.

Lim Sobyeong looked at him, confused. But Chung Myung didn’t look back. His mind was focused on someone else.

‘The Heavenly Demon,’ he thought.

No matter how much they accept the teachings, no matter how much they are brainwashed, humans will always doubt. And they can’t abandon the small bit of compassion in their hearts.

That’s why the Heavenly Demon is so terrible.

Because it turns humans into blind followers.

‘I must never let the Heavenly Demon run wild again, even if I have to risk everything,’ he thought. ‘I have to prevent another tragedy like Hangzhou.’

Chung Myung bit his lip and pushed Lim Sobyeong hard, hardening his resolve.

“S-say it with words!” Lim Sobyeong complained.

After running until sunset, the Mount Hua disciples finally arrived at the Yangtze River. They were exhausted, but they saw a large ship on the riverbank. It was clearly a pirate ship.

The disciples looked at each other, speechless.

“Is that the pirates’ ship?” someone asked.

“…It looks like it,” another replied.

“It doesn’t look like anyone’s inside?”

“Why is it here…?”

Chung Myung walked forward and smirked at the empty ship.

“That Jang Ilso is a nasty guy,” Chung Myung said.

Yoon Jong looked at the ship, dumbfounded.

“…When did he prepare this?” Yoon Jong asked.

“Who knows? Does it matter?” Chung Myung replied.

Chung Myung gestured towards the ship.

“Looks like he wants us to take it. Let’s get on,” Chung Myung said.

“T-this?”

“The pirates’ ship?”

“What else can we do? Should we have these people swim across?” Chung Myung asked.

The Mount Hua disciples looked at the ship with reluctance and then nodded.

“…There’s no other way. We have to get on,” one of them said.

“Yes, Sasukjo,” another agreed.

Even Un Geom agreed, so the Mount Hua disciples boarded the empty ship with uneasy feelings. They raised the anchor and unfurled the sails. Soon, the ship began to move along the river.

“…It’s been a long time,” one of them said.

“Indeed,” another replied.

The Mount Hua disciples leaned against the railing, exhausted, and looked at the land they were leaving behind with many feelings. It hadn’t even been two days, but it felt like months.

As they watched the receding land, they heard a child crying.

“…Looks like she woke up,” someone said.

Tang Soso began to comfort the child. The child gripped her thumb tightly. Everyone smiled at the sight.

Baek Cheon, unable to look away, said, “Next time….”

“Yes, Sasuk,” Yoon Jong replied calmly.

“Next time will be different,” Baek Cheon said.

They looked at each other and then at the child in Tang Soso’s arms again.

The setting sun painted the river in shades of fiery orange and deep red as the ship drifted downstream, carrying them away from the ruins of Hangzhou.