Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1150

An old man sat cross-legged, his eyes closed.

White hair flowed down his back, a long beard reached his chest, and pure white eyebrows framed his face. He wore clean, white robes. He looked exactly like a wise old hermit from a Taoist story. He seemed to be beyond the normal world.

There was something special about the old man.

He felt different from normal people. Being near him made you feel respectful.

Even people who didn’t believe in immortals might start to believe when they saw him.

The old man’s slightly faded lips parted, and he whispered something like a magic spell.

Countless candles flickered, lighting up the dim room. In the middle of them, the old man, who looked like an immortal, chanted his mantra.

The peaceful feeling in the small stone room shattered. *Creak!* The old wooden door groaned open, the sound harsh against the soft chanting. The old man didn’t even flinch, his eyes still closed, his voice a low hum.

*Thud. Thud.* Heavy footsteps approached. The air, thick with incense and the scent of old dust, seemed to tighten with each step. A voice, low and rough, broke the silence near his ear.

“I’m back.”

Since the old man was the only other person there, the words were for him. But he didn’t react, except to stop chanting.

“Took longer than expected. Those slow people.”

With each word, the candles in the room flickered wildly. But the old man’s calm mind stayed steady.

“I did what you asked. The person is dead.”

A person’s death is always important. But the old man’s face didn’t change. He stayed silent.

“But… I did something unnecessary. I didn’t need to go at all.”

There was a slightly sharp emotion in the voice.

“He would have died anyway, by the people in the Central Plains.”

Instead of answering, the old man started chanting again. It seemed nothing could disturb his calm.

“By the hand of that Hwasan brat.”

The old man stopped chanting.

As the old man’s lips closed, a heavy silence filled the room. After a long pause, the old man spoke, his voice soft and like a memory.

“Hwasan, you say…”

He murmured softly, his eyes still closed.

“A nostalgic name indeed.”

“Hmph.”

The assassin, standing behind the old man, frowned and stared at his back.

“So, the word Hwasan still reaches those ears, it seems.”

“Yes, a nostalgic name. To think they still remain.”

A gentle smile appeared on the old man’s lips.

“If possible, I would like to see them. How has Hwasan changed? I wish it could be as it was in the past. I have so few connections to that time left.”

The assassin’s lips twisted slightly at those words.

“It hasn’t changed much.”

“That is welcome news.”

“They even have someone like the Sword Demon.”

That was the moment.

The old man’s head, which had been still, slowly turned. At the same time, his tightly shut eyes snapped open.

The old man’s eyes were very different from normal eyes.

They were blood-red and pitch-black. The eyes, a mix of red and black, were like dots in the middle of his pure white appearance. They changed the old man’s immortal look.

No one who saw the old man now would think of immortals. The eyes are the mirror of the soul, and all that was in his eyes was a deep, dark emptiness.

“…What did you say?”

“Hee hee hee!”

The assassin covered his mouth and laughed.

“Are you deaf now, too?”

“I asked what you said.”

“I said I saw someone like the Sword Demon.”

“Sword Demon?”

The candles began to flicker. Or, the whole building where the old man was began to shake.

“The Sword Demon you speak of, are you talking about that cursed person?”

“Was there another Sword Demon in the world?”

The old man’s hair, which had been calmly settled, began to rise wildly. The assassin, watching, chuckled and shook his head.

“Calm yourself, Archbishop. It’s just a feeling. He was just a kid. Yes, just a kid.”

“…”

“Well, who knows? Maybe in fifty years, he might become a real Sword Demon.”

“Impossible.”

The old man’s rising hair instantly settled back down. Getting his calm back, the old man replied with a slightly sharp voice.

“There cannot be another like him in this world.”

“…That’s true, I suppose.”

The old man sighed softly.

“Hwasan has been revived, and they are raising another like the Sword Demon.”

“There’s only one who stands out… but there are definitely others who show promise. They are a tiresome lot.”

“That means that much time has passed.”

Regret was in the old man’s voice.

“A hundred years is not a short time. It is enough time for a group whose foundations had crumbled to grow again.”

“While we rot away here.”

The old man’s lips twitched slightly at those words.

“Thousand Slaughter.”

“I know, so don’t tell me the boring stories. I’ve heard them for a hundred years, and I’m sick of them.”

The old man stared at the assassin for a moment before turning his head. His gaze fixed forward again.

“What did you do with the cult members?”

“They were only following the fool’s orders, but that doesn’t mean they are innocent. I have sentenced them to a month in the Demon Valley, our place of punishment.”

The old man said nothing. The assassin glanced at his back and spoke gruffly.

“I still think that kid was wrong, but…”

“…”

“I agree with one thing he said. Our lives are short. If the Heavenly Demon, our Great One, does not return before we die…”

“The Heavenly Demon will return.”

“Of course. Yes, you’re right. But if he cannot find himself before we die, is that not the same as not returning at all?”

“What are you trying to say?”

The old man glared at the assassin with sharp eyes. The assassin responded with a twisted smile.

“I always thought that simply waiting was proof of my faith. But… I’ve had a different thought. Maybe waiting here without a goal is lazy.”

“I have said time and again…”

“The situation in the Central Plains is becoming interesting.”

The old man’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The assassin no longer made fun of the old man. Instead, he continued with an even more serious face.

“There is a good chance of a big war breaking out. A war that will cover the entire Central Plains.”

“…”

“Do you understand? Even if we don’t do anything, the Central Plains will be destroyed by fire. Do you know what that means?”

The old man’s lips sealed shut. But his lips were twitching slightly.

“Even that would be a small thing to him… but not to us.”

The assassin clenched and unclenched his fist slightly.

“Is it really enough to just wait like this?”

“You are feeling bloodlust.”

The assassin’s face hardened at the old man’s words, which stopped the conversation.

“You mentioned a child from Hwasan?”

“This isn’t about that…”

“I am curious. He is someone who has not lived for even a hundred years, but what kind of person is he to have shaken you so?”

“…”

“Well, even if it’s just a name, the name Sword Demon is not something you can use lightly.”

The cult hates the Sword Demon the most.

If they could hurt the Sword Demon’s soul even a little instead of falling into the endless darkness, the cult members would do it without hesitation. The Sword Demon dared to dishonor and destroy the perfect god that should never have been touched.

But the cult also knows the Sword Demon the most.

If they make the Sword Demon seem small, the greatness of the Heavenly Demon, who lost his life to that Sword Demon, also falls apart. So, the Sword Demon must be an absolute evil that must never be made small.

But even if they ignore the religious beliefs, anyone who saw the Sword Demon during the war would not be able to make him seem small. They could curse, hate, and cry, but that was all.

“Listen carefully, Archbishop.”

“…”

“I’m not doing this because I want to fight. I’m not doing this because I’m tired of this place.”

“…”

“I’m just worried. If many people are caught in that war, even the Great One, who has not woken up yet, cannot be safe. I must do something…”

“You simply don’t have faith in him.”

“…Are you questioning my faith now?”

A murderous feeling instantly filled the assassin’s eyes.

But the old man just accepted the murderous feeling with a calm look. Never changing, like a quiet lake.

The assassin’s face twisted slightly.

“I just don’t like that it seems faith is only about waiting and waiting.”

“That is an excuse.”

“Oh, is it?”

The assassin’s eyes curved strangely.

“Indeed… I am curious. Is your wanting to simply believe and wait really because you believe he will find us?”

His lips also slowly twisted.

“Or… are you simply afraid because you are not sure that he has returned?”

“How dare you…”

At that moment, a huge evil power burst from the old man. His clean, white robes instantly turned black, and an evil feeling, like a dark monster, swirled around his body.

“Did I touch a nerve?”

“Thousand Slaughter!”

“So, don’t try to stop me. I simply have a different idea than you. If you disagree, I will find my own way.”

“The Great One…”

“At the last moment!”

The assassin suddenly cut off the old man’s words with a shout.

“I don’t want to die regretting that I didn’t look for him myself in my last breath. I would rather die a good death at the hands of the resurrected Great One as punishment for moving without his permission.”

“…”

“Try to stop me if you can, Archbishop. But the only way to stop me is to kill me.”

The assassin turned his back.

“That wouldn’t be so bad either. Old friend.”

The assassin left the main hall without stopping.

Left alone, the old man stared blankly at the door the assassin had closed before letting out a deep sigh.

‘This is why I shouldn’t have gone to the Central Plains.’

It stirs the hearts of the people there.

That was why he couldn’t send the other cult members and sent the Thousand Slaughter himself, but even the Thousand Slaughter was shaken.

‘Heavenly Demon…’

The old man closed his eyes.

“How can you, in your perfection, understand our imperfect suffering? Please… please return as soon as possible. Please…”