Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1251

Geum Yang-baek stared at the people across the wooden table, his mouth slightly open. He felt completely dumbfounded.

“That…” he began, his voice barely a whisper.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand what he had just heard. He understood perfectly. That was the problem.

He blinked hard, twice, trying to clear his thoughts. Then, he focused his gaze on the person sitting opposite him.

Baek Cheon, who had come as the Mount Hua Sect Leader’s helper, had moved back, his job seemingly finished. He sat straight and quiet. But in the main seat, where the most important person should be, sat a young man. This young man had a clearly annoyed face, his brow furrowed in a frown. Geum Yang-baek realized, with a jolt, that maybe this was right after all.

He considered this carefully. It seemed right.

Geum Yang-baek had been briefly distracted by the fact that Baek Cheon was here as the Mount Hua Sect Leader’s helper and from the Cheonwoo Alliance. But then he realized something. The real symbol of the Cheonwoo Alliance was not Baek Cheon. It was the person sitting right there.

‘The Mount Hua Sword Saint.’

No matter how great the Mount Hua Sect was, and no matter how much power the Mount Hua Sect Leader’s helper now had—so much that no one could ignore him—it was nothing compared to those words: ‘The Mount Hua Sword Saint.’

“That…”

Geum Yang-baek cleared his throat, trying to calm his surprised heart. He asked carefully, “So… you’re saying you’ll stay here and fight the Four Evil Sects…?”

“Let’s get straight to the point, Sect Leader.”

“……”

“What are you planning to do now?”

“Pardon?”

Geum Yang-baek blinked, confused. What was he planning to do? Shouldn’t they be asking him that?

Then, the Mount Hua Sword Saint asked, sounding annoyed, “Ah, you said you’d fight the Four Evil Sects. How are you going to fight them?”

“Well… that’s…”

How? Was there even a ‘how’ to discuss? Just defend this place and fight as hard as we can until we all die…

“Just defend this place and fight as hard as we can until we all die? Surely you’re not that naive? And you’re the Sect Leader of a whole sect?”

“Cough.”

Geum Yang-baek coughed.

“Come on, really? It’s not like only one or two lives are at risk. And you’re not acting like you’re already dead. You’re still the Sect Leader.”

“……”

“Right?”

When Geum Yang-baek didn’t answer, Chung Myung’s face tightened in a frown.

“I knew it.”

“……”

“Do these people only read hero stories? Do they think dying is easy?”

“Chung Myung-ah. Watch your words in front of the Sect Leader.”

“Does the Sect Leader have extra lives so he can just die for no reason?”

“……Still, be respectful.”

Geum Yang-baek was dumbfounded, looking at Chung Myung’s annoyed face.

“So…”

“What?”

“The Cheonwoo Alliance members, including the Mount Hua Sword Saint…”

“Just speak casually. We’re not being formal here.”

“Would that be… alright?”

“It’s better if we all speak casually, so we can understand each other.”

“……Then I will. Are you all really planning to win this fight against the Four Evil Sects?”

“Well, duh.”

“That’s why we’re here.”

“Of course.”

For a moment, Geum Yang-baek was speechless, staring at their faces.

“No, that’s…”

“What? Is there a problem?”

“I understand your spirit, but there’s such a thing as reality, isn’t there?”

“Reality?”

Chung Myung scoffed mockingly.

“Hey, mister.”

“……Chung Myung-ah, he’s the Sect Leader.”

“Isn’t the Sect Leader a mister?”

“Still, call him Sect Leader.”

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung frowned, then reluctantly corrected himself.

“Yes, Sect Leader. You’re talking about reality, but is it so difficult to understand what I’m saying?”

“Hmm?”

“According to you, the only thing left for the people here is to be killed by the Four Evil Sects, right?”

“……”

“So, is it so hard to understand that we’re going to make them suffer before we die anyway?”

Geum Yang-baek frowned.

“I don’t know how I made it sound, but we weren’t planning to die without a fight. Of course, we were planning to take as many of them with us as possible. Isn’t that obvious?”

“Now you’re talking.”

Chung Myung grinned and said, “Let’s go a little further.”

“A little further?”

Geum Yang-baek’s face became serious, as if he was being drawn in.

Chung Myung gestured and shouted, “Hey, Explanation!”

“Ahem! I will explain.”

Then, Im So-byeong came forward and sat down.

“Of course, Hainan Mountain is a good place to defend because of its shape. Taking the high ground and stopping those who try to climb has always been a common plan.”

“……That’s right.”

“But the problem is, we can’t win just by holding out. If we just defend the mountain, we’ll be trapped. All we can do is wait to die. And the attackers won’t need to hurry.”

Geum Yang-baek said sadly, “I understand. But you’re missing something. This is an island. Hainan Island is big, but it’s still an island. Even if we leave Hainan Mountain, we can’t run far. We’ll just be running around in circles near the sea.”

“Of course, that’s true too.”

“And if that happens, the people living on Hainan Island will suffer. Also, the Hainan disciples in the villages will be found by the enemy.”

Im So-byeong looked at Geum Yang-baek, a strange light in his eyes.

He thought Geum Yang-baek only spoke empty words, but he understood the situation better than he thought.

“So, the Hainan Sect must stay on this mountain. If we want Hainan Island to survive the Four Evil Sects’ attack, we must give them a clear place to attack.”

“The Sect Leader means we should make this mountain the only target of the Four Evil Sects, so other places will be safe?”

“Exactly.”

Geum Yang-baek sighed.

“I’m grateful for your concern. But we’re not stupid. We’ve been thinking about how to fight the Four Evil Sects for years. This is what we’ve decided.”

Geum Yang-baek nodded slowly. “Hmm, you’re right. If we *must* stay on this island, and we want to hurt the fewest people, then staying here is the only way.”

“I’m glad you see it,” Geum Yang-baek said, a little relieved.

“But…”

Im So-byeong’s smile turned sly. He cut off Geum Yang-baek before he could finish. “That’s only true if we think we *have* to stay here.”

“Pardon?” Geum Yang-baek frowned, confused. He didn’t understand.

Im So-byeong chuckled softly and explained.

“But there’s a way to do everything you said you wanted, Sect Leader. A way to completely stop Hainan from being hurt, even if we don’t defend this island. A way to protect the disciples we sent to the Sa Ga, and make them focus only on the Hainan Sect.”

Geum Yang-baek started to say, “But how could there be such a way?”, but stopped himself.

He had the same idea. What Im So-byeong was talking about. He had never thought about it before, thought it was crazy, but it was the only way to do everything they needed.

“You, surely…?”

“Yes,” Im So-byeong grinned.

“No one worries about another’s house when their own is on fire.”

…

“The moment we lead the Hainan Sect into Jiangnan, they won’t even think about Hainan Island.”

“A- are you… are you serious?”

“Of course, I’m serious.”

Geum Yang-baek’s mouth fell open. He looked around and saw that Im So-byeong and all his companions had calm expressions.

“So, you’re saying that instead of staying here and defending, we should attack their land in Jiangnan?”

“Yes.”

“And you think that’s a good plan? Do you even know what will happen if we do that…?”

Just then, Cheong-myeong spoke up casually.

“What’s going to happen?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

“Yeah, so what’s going to happen?”

“You frustrating fool! It’s obvious. If that happens…” Geum Yang-baek stopped talking.

Of course, everyone will die.

Every disciple of Hainan who steps into Jiangnan will die. But that’s…

‘Isn’t that the same as now?’

Geum Yang-baek was confused and fell silent. Cheong-myeong clicked his tongue, breaking the silence.

“Tsk tsk. This is what happens when people are only brave in small ways.”

…

“You’re brave enough to stay here and die, but not brave enough to go out, fight, and die?”

Geum Yang-baek couldn’t answer. He just stared at Cheong-myeong.

“If we’re going to die anyway, let’s die with a bang.”

…

“If you really want to show the spirit of Hainan, you shouldn’t die here. Even if you die, you should die over there. I don’t need to tell you what’s the right thing to do, do I?”

Geum Yang-baek’s hand tightened into a fist, then relaxed, then tightened again. He couldn’t decide.

He thought it was a crazy plan, but he also thought Cheong-myeong was right. Both ideas fought in his head.

“Then…” Geum Yang-baek looked at everyone, his face tight, like stone.

“Are you all ready to go to enemy land with Hainan and be completely defeated?”

He wondered if “be completely defeated” was the right way to say it, but he couldn’t think of anything better right now.

Cheong-myeong answered right away.

“No.”

“…Pardon?”

“That’s what Hainan would do.”

Geum Yang-baek frowned. Then what did they want to do?

“Listen carefully, mister.”

“Sect Leader.”

“Ugh. Yes. Listen carefully, Sect Leader. There’s no path that only leads to death. There’s only a way that gives us a *better* chance to live.”

…

“Our plan isn’t to die in Jiangnan.”

A corner of Cheong-myeong’s lips curled up in a confident, almost challenging smile.

“It’s to go back the way we came.”

“…Go, go back?”

“Yes,” Cheong-myeong said firmly.

“We will lead Hainan and fight back in Jiangnan. We will save as many people as we can and reach the Yangtze River.”

Geum Yang-baek’s eyes widened as much as they could.

“If we win, everyone in the world will know the name Hainan! Even if we lose, it will be much better than dying here. The important thing is that going to Jiangnan gives us a slightly better chance to live.”

“B, but listen. That’s…”

“If you are really the Sect Leader of Hainan, you shouldn’t just give up and let Hainan end. You should find a way to keep Hainan going and try it! That’s what a Sect Leader should do.”

“But…”

Just then, Cheong-myeong’s face, which had been annoyed, turned serious. When Geum Yang-baek saw that cold gaze, a chill ran down his spine. Cheong-myeong said.

“I will open the path.”

Geum Yang-baek couldn’t move, as if he had frozen. But Baek Cheon calmly corrected Cheong-myeong.

“Not you, *we* will open it.”

Cheong-myeong nodded right away.

“Yes. We will open the path. So Hainan only needs to decide one thing. Do you want to believe in a small chance and fight back? Or do you want to give up everything and die here?”

…

“You said you wanted to leave something behind, right?”

…

“Listen carefully, Sect Leader. People who give up because they think they will lose don’t leave anything important behind. Leaving something behind is only for those who try their best until the very end.”

Those words hit Geum Yang-baek hard.

“I’ve shown you the path. Now you just have to choose.”

Cheong-myeong narrowed his eyes and stared at Geum Yang-baek.

“What will Hainan choose?”

Geum Yang-baek bit his lip, not saying anything.

Cheong-myeong, who usually tried to win with words, waited for Geum Yang-baek to decide. He knew that no one could be forced to choose this path.

After thinking for a long time, Geum Yang-baek finally spoke.

“From now on…”

Everyone watched Geum Yang-baek.

“What can Hainan do for you?”

Cheong-myeong grinned. It was the best answer he could have hoped for.