Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1160

“Huh?”

“You?”

Confused looks came from everyone in the room. Chung Myung’s face tightened, his eyebrows furrowing in annoyance.

“What? Can’t I disagree?”

Baek Cheon spoke calmly, “Actually, it’s not that strange to see you disagreeing.”

Yoon Jong chuckled, “No, when you really think about it, it’s weirder when you *agree* with anyone else.”

Everyone nodded, agreeing with Baek Cheon, who understood Chung Myung better than anyone.

“That’s true,” someone murmured.

“Exactly,” another added.

“Typical of our granduncle,” Jo Gul said with a small smile.

“You little…!” Chung Myung started, glaring at them.

They quickly looked away, avoiding his angry stare. Even Tang Gunak, who had briefly lowered his gaze with the others, straightened up quickly, pretending he hadn’t.

“Hwasan Sword Saint.”

“Yes.”

“What are your thoughts that lead you to this?”

At that, Chung Myung slightly raised his head to look at the map.

“Hey, listen carefully.”

“Yes, sir!”

Beon Chung quickly spread the map wide and held it up. He seemed far more disciplined than when the Green Forest King ordered him, but no one found that fact strange. After all, no matter how odd things were, if Chung Myung was involved, they just accepted it.

Chung Myung scratched his ear and said,

“Well, it’s not like I want that Old Baldy to get angry and turn into a well-cooked octopus head.”

“You probably want that more than anyone.”

“In my opinion, that bastard will ascend to the heavens that day.”

“⋯⋯Will the Immortal Realm even accept him?”

“Ah⋯⋯. I hadn’t thought of that.”

If Chung Myung were to ascend, the Immortal Realm would have to hold an emergency meeting. There was no telling what would happen if they accepted someone like him as an immortal.

“Of course, that’s true. Besides, this isn’t just about our feelings towards Shaolin, is it?”

Tang Gunak continued in a serious tone.

“To screw over Shaolin⋯⋯. Ahem! No, resolving old grudges with Shaolin is merely a secondary matter. The important thing is to strengthen the Cheonwoo Alliance’s power and to confirm to the world that the Cheonwoo Alliance is now on par with the Nine Great Sects.”

“Hmm.”

“As you know, people don’t easily accept new things. It would take more than a hundred years to gain greater influence than the Nine Great Sects through normal ways.”

Even Hyun Jong nodded in agreement.

When Hwasan was on the path to destruction, Hyun Jong’s dream was to one day rejoin the Nine Great Sects, even though he knew it was impossible.

If Hyun Jong, who had experienced the sorrow of being expelled from the Nine Great Sects, felt this way, how much more would others?

“But if we can make a sect belonging to the Nine Great Sects choose the Cheonwoo Alliance instead, we can accomplish in an instant what would take a hundred years. Isn’t that so?”

“Well, I suppose so.”

But Chung Myung’s reaction was far from enthusiastic.

“Then why are you objecting? Isn’t it you who always insisted that we need to make the Cheonwoo Alliance stronger to stand against the Four Evil Sects and the Demonic Sect?”

“Ah, yes, yes. Of course, it would be a good thing if it works out.”

“Huh?”

Chung Myung grinned.

“Now, let’s decide. We’re going to break through Jiangnan, which is swarming with those crazy Four Evil Sects bastards, and where that lunatic Jang Il-so is wide awake, his eyes gleaming as he rushes to greet us, ‘Ohohohot! You’ve come crawling in nicely!’”

Chung Myung snapped his fingers, and Hyun Young said as if he had been waiting,

“For reference, based on Jiujiang, it’s three thousand li, the shortest distance, just to get to Zhanjiang, which is adjacent to Hainan Island.”

“Eek!”

“T-Three thousand li?”

Yoon Jong, his eyes wide, turned to Dang So-so.

“So-so, how far was it when we went to the Northern Sea?”

“That time⋯⋯. Hmm, that was probably about five thousand li. We started from Shaanxi.”

“F-Five thousand li was all it took to get to the Northern Sea?”

Jo Gul’s soul seemed to leave his body as he spoke.

“I almost died back then.”

“⋯⋯Indeed. I really thought I was going to die.”

“And there weren’t even any enemies there. But now we have to go through three thousand li of Jiangnan, where there are nothing but enemies?”

Everyone stared at the map with blank faces. Looking at the map, which depicted the entire Central Plains on a single sheet, they had momentarily lost their sense of reality. It was only after hearing the words ‘three thousand li’ that they finally grasped the situation.

“T-Then how long will it take?”

“If we’re going at a normal pace, let’s see⋯⋯ If we can somehow manage to go about seventy or eighty li a day⋯⋯”

“F-Forty days?”

“If we’re lucky, maybe a month. And that’s only if we travel on well-maintained roads.”

“Ha⋯⋯. Haha⋯⋯.”

Baek Cheon burst out laughing.

‘This won’t work.’

To be honest, anyone who could survive for a month in Jiangnan, which was dominated by the Four Evil Sects, wouldn’t need to go to Hainan in the first place.

That person would be a martial god. Why would they need to go to strengthen their forces? They could just wipe out the Four Evil Sects in that time.

“Okay, fine. Let’s say we go. Let’s say we go all the way to Hainan.”

Chung Myung scratched his ear with a grumpy face.

“What are we going to do when we get there?”

“What do you mean by that? Ah! I see what you mean. Hmm, but since the situation is bad, won’t the Hainan Sect cooperate?”

“No, what are we going to do if they cooperate?”

“⋯⋯Huh?”

Chung Myung’s face twisted in frustration.

“Let’s say they’re crazy enough to say, ‘Ah! We were already angry at that Old Baldy bastard anyway!’ So they decide to join the Cheonwoo Alliance!”

“Yeah.”

“Then do we just say, ‘Oh! Please take care of us!’ and come back? What’s going to change from now?”

“⋯⋯Hainan’s affiliation will change.”

“Ah, yes. That’s a very good thing. Then, when those Four Evil Sects bastards start beating up the Hainan Sect, we’ll get to hear that we were just watching from afar. That Old Baldy will click his tongue and say, ‘The Nine Great Sects would have helped. Damn it!’”

Just hearing it made his stomach churn.

“⋯⋯Then help⋯⋯. No, never mind.”

Even Jo Gul stopped talking halfway through. It was that absurd. How could they send troops to help from over three thousand li away?

If they could send their main force to the southernmost part of Jiangnan, they wouldn’t need to help or not. They would have already defeated all of the Four Evil Sects on their way there.

“Hey. You’re only thinking about one side of things.”

“Huh?”

Then Jo Gul chuckled and said,

“I’ve learned something from you too. In times like these, you just have to think the opposite! If the Four Evil Sects attack Hainan, we’ll invade the Yangtze River! Then the front lines will be split in two!”

“Ah, really? Then the Old Baldy will be clapping his hands with glee next to the all-out war between the Cheonwoo Alliance and the Four Evil Sects! ‘Good job! Good job! Fight each other and die!’”

Jo Gul’s cheek twitched slightly. Chung Myung rebuked him.

“Hey, you crazy bastard! Do you think we’ll gain the power to defeat the Four Evil Sects just by taking over one more Hainan Sect? Do you know what it’s called when the weaker side does a feint? It’s like a beautiful but useless gift.”

“W-Well?”

“Divide and conquer, you idiot! Divide and conquer!”

Chung Myung, enraged, tried to run towards Jo Gul, but Hyun Jong quickly grabbed the back of his neck.

“Chung Myung.”

“No, that guy is making me frustrated⋯⋯!”

“Yes, yes. But we’re still in a meeting, so hit him later.”

“Ugh.”

Chung Myung groaned, and Jo Gul lowered his head.

“Hmm. But Hwasan Sword Saint, I think Jo Gul’s words also make sense. A feint isn’t necessarily a strategy that only the side with more troops can use. If we can somehow find a way to move the Nine Great Sects⋯⋯”

“Then we’ll be doing exactly what Jang Il-so wants.”

“⋯⋯Why is that?”

“You can’t think of that bastard as a normal human being. That bastard is the kind of guy who would come all the way here and even kneel to beat up the Demonic Sect bastards who appeared in his territory.”

“⋯⋯.”

“To stab such a Jang Il-so in the back?”

Chung Myung scoffed.

“I guarantee that the moment we push into the Yangtze River, he’ll pull his troops back without a second thought.”

“⋯⋯You mean, abandon the Yangtze River?”

“That’s why leaders… no, that’s why people in charge think like this.”

Chung Myung shook his head.

“You’re thinking that Jang Il-so will respond because you’re trapped in the prejudice that you can’t easily give up land you once had. Jang Il-so isn’t someone who defends. He’s someone who attacks. If we go on the offensive, Jang Il-so will gladly pull his troops back. So, what should we do?”

“Well⋯⋯.”

Tang Gunak sighed.

“We have to keep attacking. Otherwise, it’s meaningless.”

“Yes. We have to attack all the way to Hainan. How many li?”

“⋯⋯Three thousand li.”

“Yes, yes. If we’re going against guys who are just stalling for time, it’ll take about a month. In that time, Jang Il-so will have steamed and eaten the Hainan Sect, built a villa there, and written a few poems while he’s at it.”

“⋯⋯.”

“When Jang Il-so comes back?”

Chung Myung stared at the map with cold eyes, like ice.

“What we were so worried about during the Demonic Sect incident will really happen. We’ll be eaten alive in the middle of Jiangnan.”

“⋯⋯It’s a terrible thing just to think about.”

The problem is the distance, the distance. So, realistically, there’s no way to help the Hainan Sect when they’re attacked.

Then Baek Cheon tilted his head, as if he didn’t understand.

“No, I mean⋯⋯ I don’t really understand why we’ve come this far. What we were initially discussing wasn’t about leaving the Hainan Sect there. It was about bringing the Hainan Sect⋯⋯”

“Dong-ryong.”

“Huh?”

Baek Cheon flinched and looked around, as Chung Myung stared at him with the most pathetic eyes in the world.

“Oh, right. It’s over if we bring the Hainan kids here, right?”

“Y-Yeah. The ship is a problem, but somehow we can make a plan⋯⋯”

“Oh. Okay. The ship arrives on land. Then what are we going to do?”

“What are we going to do? Well⋯⋯”

“Yeah. There are over five hundred Hainan Sect kids, and we have to break through Jiangnan with them.”

“⋯⋯.”

“And we have to protect them completely, because it’s meaningless if we lose any of our forces along the way.”

“Wow⋯⋯. That’s quite an achievement?” Jo Gul said with wide eyes and a fake smile.

“What, you bastard?”

“Ah, please talk with words! With words!”

Hyun Jong pulled Chung Myung back, but this time Chung Myung couldn’t calm down easily.

“If I could do that, would I be worrying here? I’d just go down to Jiangnan and cut off Jang Il-so’s head! Hey, you crazy! We’re strengthening our forces to defeat the Four Evil Sects, but you’re bringing up something that can only be done by defeating the Four Evil Sects? And everyone’s going ‘Wow, wow’? Hey, you people! You’re making my insides rot, rot!”

Everyone cleared their throats and avoided Chung Myung’s gaze.

He huffed and puffed for a while, then finally calmed down and took a deep breath.

“That’s what the word ‘white elephant’ is for. It’s good to have, but what you have to lose to get it is more than what you gain.”

“⋯⋯.”

“It’s not that the Old Baldy bastard doesn’t have any thoughts, it’s that he’s leaving it alone because there’s no answer. It’s a place that will only get worse if you mess with it.”

“Hmm, that’s true⋯⋯.”

“We were thinking too much.”

“It’s a shame. It was a good idea.”

Those gathered understood the practical difficulties and nodded. The plan wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t something they could easily handle. It was more beneficial to just stand by and watch.

Everyone understood that fact. But only one person, Yoo Iseol, was silently staring straight at Chung Myung with a clear gaze.

Chung Myung, pierced by that indifferent gaze, narrowed his eyes.

“Why, problem?”

“Then what about Hainan?”

“Huh?”

“⋯⋯Are the people of the Hainan Sect going to be abandoned like this?”

Chung Myung suddenly closed his mouth. His eyes darkened.

“⋯⋯.”

“⋯⋯Are they going to be abandoned like this?”