Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1233

Yoon Jong came back looking sad, his shoulders slumped. “Did you find anything?” Baek Cheon asked, watching him approach.

Yoon Jong scratched his head, looking unsure. “Not really…” he mumbled. “Not even a single piece of wood, let alone a boat, Senior Uncle.”

“Really?” Baek Cheon frowned. “Nothing at all?” He couldn’t believe it.

“How was it on your end, Young Clan Leader Dang?”

Dang Pae, who was with Namgung Dowi, shook his head. “Same here.”

“We need to find a boat to contact people and buy what we need, but there wasn’t a single boat on the nearby coast. There wasn’t even a fishing boat in what looked like a fishing village.”

Baek Cheon frowned, deep in thought.

‘What’s going on?’

Of course, there might be a shortage of boats.

It was true that this place used to be a port to Hainan, but it had been years since Hainan and Gangnam had stopped trading. They couldn’t have left the boats unused, so it wouldn’t be strange if they had taken them somewhere else.

But even so, wasn’t it strange that there wasn’t even a fishing boat in a place that faced this vast sea?

“Did you ask why…?”

Namgung Dowi shook his head before he could finish the question.

“Didn’t Green Forest King strongly advise us to avoid contact with people? I might have said something if I had seen a boat, but since I didn’t, I couldn’t just go around talking to people.”

“…You did well.”

It was hard for them to accept, but according to Im So-byeong, Jang Il-so surprisingly had a good reputation in Guangdong.

Jang Il-so was hard on martial artists, but he seemed to be nice to ordinary people.

So, even if they were righteous sects, they couldn’t be sure that the common people would take their side.

Also, if the family of anyone they contacted were to join the Myriad Man Manor, something bad could happen.

‘Gangnam is not an easy place.’

Even talking to normal people needed to be done carefully. They worried that if they spoke to the wrong person, it could cause trouble with the Myriad Man Manor.

“…We’ll think of something once the situation is clearer, but we can’t rush into anything, right?”

Baek Cheon slowly nodded. Just then, Chung Myung, who had been bothering Seol So-baek, spoke casually.

“I told you, let’s just split up.”

“…Just wait a little longer.”

“I don’t know why you keep wasting time. We have strong arms and legs.”

“…Our arms and legs are more fragile than you think.”

“That’s because you’re not training enough!”

“Ugh.”

Baek Cheon shook his head, annoyed. Just then, Yoo I-seol and Dang So-so ran towards them, looking worried.

“Senior Brother.”

“What’s wrong, Junior Sister?”

“Senior Uncle! You need to see this!”

Baek Cheon moved quickly.

Bare-chested men were burning large logs in the fire. The air hung thick and heavy, like a wet blanket. Sweat instantly beaded on their foreheads in the South Sea heat, and the smell of pine and burning wood filled their nostrils.

“Hurry up!”

“How’s the work going over there?”

“It’s going well. In about three days…”

“Too slow! Finish it in two days! If we don’t finish before the military advisor arrives, we’re dead!”

“We will finish it in two days!”

Hairy Jang Han looked around and shouted loudly.

“Move faster! If you don’t finish on time, you’ll be punished!”

“Yes!”

The men hurried without stopping.

Baek Cheon, hiding behind thick bushes, the scratchy leaves brushing against their faces, narrowed his eyes as he watched the scene below, peering through gaps in the foliage.

Large and small boats crowded the shore, their wooden hulls gleaming in the harsh sunlight. He wondered why he couldn’t find a single fishing boat, but it seemed they had taken all the boats in this area.

‘But they’re building more boats here?’

Even if he guessed, there were about five more boats being built. They weren’t very big, but the fact that they were building more was important.

Baek Cheon carefully moved back, trying not to make a sound. They looked at each other with serious faces.

“It must be the Myriad Man Manor.”

“It seems so.”

“Then that boat is…”

Dang Pae nodded, looking grim.

“It must be a boat heading to Hainan. They wouldn’t have needed to take all the boats if they weren’t planning something. They must have gathered them recently.”

Baek Cheon sighed.

However, Jo Gul tilted his head, not understanding.

“Senior Brother. What are you talking about?”

“…It means that boat is now useful. You need a boat to go to Hainan, right?”

“Yes?”

“It means the Four Evil Sects are getting ready to go to Hainan.”

Only then did Jo Gul understand, and his face turned serious. He quietly went to the bushes and looked at the coast again, then came back with a serious face and muttered.

“Wait… are *those* all the boats? That’s it?”

“…”

“No, how many troops are they planning to send…”

Jo Gul shivered, as if he had goosebumps.

On land, you can’t guess the number of troops by the number of carts. But it’s different at sea. The number of boats shows how many troops will invade Hainan.

“…It doesn’t seem like they’re just going to give them a light scolding.”

Im So-byeong, who had been listening, chuckled.

“It’s Jang Il-so. If he hadn’t gotten involved, I wouldn’t know, but now that he has, he’ll try to erase Hainan from the world. That’s what Jang Il-so is like.”

“…”

“More than that, things seem more urgent than I thought…”

Im So-byeong poked his head with his fan. When everyone looked at him with serious faces, he said reluctantly.

“Actually, the Four Evil Sects don’t need to hurry. They can take their time since they haven’t finished stabilizing things inside…”

Im So-byeong was quiet, thinking, then nodded.

“If there’s a reason, it’s one of two things.”

“What is it?”

“Either the Four Evil Sects have settled their internal problems faster than we thought.”

“…”

“Or Jang Il-so is more annoyed by the Hainan Sect than we thought.”

“Would Jang Il-so care that much about Hainan? At best…”

“I thought so too, but after seeing Guangdong, I understand. For Jang Il-so, Guangdong is like a perfect garden. Even though it’s a Demonic Sect, it has won the people’s hearts, and it’s a safe base in the back that can’t be easily attacked.”

“…That’s right.”

Even if the war between the Four Evil Sects and the Righteous Sects ends with the Righteous Sects winning, it will be hard to get to Guangdong unless they win completely. Why is that?

“The Ten Thousand Great Mountains…”

“That’s right, Young Clan Leader Namgung.”

Namgung Dowi groaned.

They knew because they had gone through the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. That place is like a natural fort that is almost impossible to pass through, both in geography and in people’s minds. Guangdong, with the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, was the safest base for Jang Il-so.

“But if Hainan is behind him, things change. We saw Hainan as a knife pointed at the back of the Four Evil Sects, but for Jang Il-so…”

“It’s a bad guy that could burn down his garden at any time.”

“Yes. So he’ll want to get rid of it completely. Even if there are problems, he can protect Guangdong.”

Baek Cheon frowned.

“That makes sense, but is Jang Il-so really that thoughtful? The one I know…”

“Don’t get me wrong, Sect Leader Representative.”

“…What misunderstanding are you talking about?”

Im So-byeong said seriously.

“People see Jang Il-so as a rising star who has won a lot and gotten to where he is now, but Jang Il-so hasn’t always won.”

“…”

“Before he was famous, he was barely surviving. That’s how Demonic Sects are. They try to stop promising people early on.”

Chung Myung nodded, agreeing.

“Jang Il-so has survived many attacks, sometimes running away, sometimes losing, to get where he is today. Don’t think of him as just a crazy person obsessed with war. He wants to get everything he can. He knows what’s important to get there.”

Im So-byeong probably feels the worst about Jang Il-so, as much as Chung Myung does. It was his opinion, so they had to believe it.

Im So-byeong tapped his head with his fan.

“Hmm. It doesn’t matter why they’re moving so fast. The important thing is… those boats will soon be full of Myriad Man Manor guys and dropped off in Hainan.”

“…”

“On that island where there’s nowhere to run.”

Namgung Dong-wi asked, sounding worried.

“How much time do we have left?”

“Well. From what I see, the ones building the boats seem to be the ones who were left in Guangdong… The ones who will get on those boats must be coming this way now. Judging by how long it will take to finish the new boats…”

Tap tap tap tap.

Im So-byeong, who had been tapping his shoulder with his fan, nodded.

“Five days at most. It won’t take longer than that.”

Baek Cheon groaned.

‘Damn it.’

If things had gone as planned, the Four Evil Sects would have moved a few months later. He had thought they would attack Hainan as soon as they were ready for the war with Gangbuk.

So he had come to Hainan with a small group. First, to talk with the Hainan Sect.

But now, telling Hainan to join the Heavenly Union Alliance was pointless. What good is the Heavenly Union Alliance if the sect is going to disappear in five days?

“What are you going to do, Sect Leader Representative?”

“Senior Uncle… what are you going to do?”

Baek Cheon thought hard, looking serious. There were two choices. Admit they weren’t strong enough and leave… Or go to Hainan as soon as possible to tell them what was happening and make a plan together.

“…We don’t need to think for long.”

He was glad he had made it through Gangnam. If he had taken a longer route, he would have heard that Hainan had been destroyed before he even got there.

“First, we go to Hainan.”

“…Isn’t it too dangerous?”

“Even if it’s dangerous, it’s not like the people here can’t escape.”

Baek Cheon said firmly.

“But Hainan doesn’t know the Four Evil Sects will attack now. Shouldn’t we at least tell them?”

Everyone nodded. Someone was thinking clearly, even in this situation.

“But how do we get to Hainan? Those guys have taken all the boats. Should we try to steal one at night?”

At Namgung Dowi’s question, Baek Cheon looked to one side.

“…Sect Leader Representative?”

Namgung Dowi, feeling worried, asked in a shaky voice.

Baek Cheon, who had been looking at the sea, turned and stared at one person.

“…You can do it, right?”