Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1254

The small fishing boat rocked violently as a wave approached.

“Oof!”

“Watch it! You’ll fall in if you’re not careful!”

“Don’t worry about me. Think I haven’t done this before?”

“Yes, that’s what everyone says before they disappear.”

“You and your words of warning…”

The man hauling the net frowned and looked at his empty net. He clicked his tongue in disappointment.

“Not much of a catch today…”

“What do you expect the day after a typhoon? Stop complaining and get back to work.”

“Looks like we’ll come up empty-handed today anyway. Let’s stop working and go for a drink.”

“Are you crazy? I’ve been starving since the typhoon. If I go home empty-handed again, my wife will punish me.”

“There’s hardly anything left to catch anyway.”

“What was that?”

The sun-bronzed men argued as they hauled the nets, each pulling with all their strength. Thick sweat poured down their faces, but they seemed more happy than strained. As hard as working on a boat was, it was better than being stuck on land, wasting time.

“We need to catch something before sunset.”

“Tell me about it!”

Just then, as they looked at the sea…

“Huh?”

One of the men hauling the net spoke, flustered.

“W-what’s that over there?”

“What are you talking about?”

“There… can’t you see that ship?”

“There are ships everywhere. What’s so special?”

“N-no! Over there! Those ships! The ones coming this way!”

“Huh?”

The men stopped working, straightened their backs, and stretched their necks. Dozens of enormous ships were heading towards the island, their shapes becoming clearer.

“T-that…”

“That? That?”

Those who recognized the ships cried out in terror.

“Turn the boats around!”

“Quickly! Get out of the way! We can’t let them catch us!”

“But the nets…”

“Forget the nets! Hurry!”

The fishing boats left their nets and scattered. The large warships sailed through the path they had cleared. The fishermen watched the ships with fear in their eyes. They saw the large flag on the mast. The word ‘Hegemony’ was embroidered in red on the banner.

“T-the Four Seas Alliance…”

“Those bastards, finally…”

They had seen ships from the Four Seas Alliance before. For the past three years, their ships had watched the seas around Hainan. But those were just for watching. This was the first time such a large fleet had come to Hainan, showing the Four Seas Alliance banner.

Those who understood what this meant watched the ships leave with despair.

“Please…”

It felt like they could already smell blood.

“The report?”

“Yes, Strategist! No one has left the island, according to our people.”

Hoga Myung nodded.

‘They are either smart or foolish.’

There probably wasn’t much they could do. But waiting around wouldn’t change anything.

When ordinary people can’t find a way out, they usually give up.

“Still no movement?”

“Not yet.”

Hoga Myung sneered.

“Looks like we can’t use him. I mean the Hainan Sect Leader.”

From the Hainan Sect’s view, leaving the island by boat wasn’t a good idea. They couldn’t escape Hoga Myung’s trap. They would only die a worse death.

However…

“If they had fought us at sea, there would have been a chance.”

Hoga Myung was worried they would fight back with their ships. Even skilled martial artists can’t fight well on a ship. The Maninbang weren’t good at naval warfare, so their chances of winning would have been better.

‘If we had brought the Surochae bastards, we wouldn’t have to worry about this…’

But that wasn’t possible.

Surochae was needed to fight the righteous sects. Also, if Surochae lost too many men, it would be obvious and cause problems.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Even if they fought at sea, it would only be a small problem.

It was best to be perfectly prepared, but sometimes speed was more important. Hoga Myung thought speed was more important in this case.

“How much longer?”

“We’ll be there in half an hour.”

“How far is it from the coast to Mount Oji?”

“We can get there in an hour at full speed.”

“An hour and a half… Let’s say two hours, to be safe.”

Hoga Myung looked at the sea, his mind working fast. Jang Il-So had trusted him with this job. He couldn’t make any mistakes.

“I think the Hainan Sect Leader will be waiting for us at the main headquarters. With the gates open.”

“Surely, they aren’t that naive?”

“It’s not naivety, it’s what they think is right. The righteous sects sometimes think in very strange ways. It’s hard for us to understand.”

They thought fighting and dying bravely was good. This was even more true when things got bad, which was normal for the Central Plains righteous sects.

Only recently had strange people like the Mount Hua Sect appeared, making this seem odd. Until then, most of the Central Plains righteous sects were like that.

So, the Evil Sects thought it was crazy.

The Evil Sects thought if they were weaker than their enemies, it was okay to use poison, traps, or hostages to win.

“Strategist.”

Hoga Myung looked at the person who spoke.

“Did the Sect Leader order us to destroy the whole island?”

Hoga Myung frowned.

“How many times do I have to say it? We only need to destroy the Hainan Sect.”

“Of course, I know that. I’m asking, what should we do with others who fight back, who aren’t part of the Hainan Sect?”

The voice was cold. Hoga Myung sighed.

“That won’t happen, Blood Sword Leader.”

“We’ll see.”

Hoga Myung narrowed his eyes, annoyed.

He could control the Battalion Leaders easily, but he couldn’t control the Company Leaders with force. Especially since he was alone without Jang Il-So.

He had a higher position, but they were stronger. So, they had to treat each other as equals.

Of course, if Hoga Myung didn’t try to control them too much, they wouldn’t hurt him, since he was protected by Jang Il-So…

“The children are tired from the long trip. If they don’t see blood before going back, they might cause trouble.”

“That sounds more like you than the Blood Sword Unit.”

“I won’t deny it.”

Hoga Myung sighed.

“Be reasonable. Don’t make the Sect Leader angry.”

“I’ll try.”

Blood Sword Leader Gwai Yang said what he wanted, then turned and walked away coldly, as if he couldn’t stand being near Hoga Myung.

Hoga Myung frowned as he watched Gwai Yang leave.

‘Every single one of them…’

No matter how hard he tried, they showed their true nature when he was away from Jang Il-So.

They were crazy people that even the bloodthirsty Evil Sects couldn’t handle. They were the Maninbang’s greatest strength and weakness.

Their power had allowed Jang Il-So to quickly make the Maninbang the leader of Guangdong, but their uncontrollable nature made it impossible to split up the Maninbang’s forces.

Jang Il-So was the only one who could control them. Even Hoga Myung, the second-in-command, couldn’t command them. He could only persuade and calm them down to get them to move.

“Hoo.”

This was annoying for Hoga Myung, but that was all. He looked at Hainan Island.

‘But for them, it will be a disaster.’

He could already see Hainan Island covered in blood.

“Maintain maximum speed.”

“Yes!”

The fleet moved towards Hainan at full speed.

❀ ❀ ❀

“Hurry!”

“Yes, Senior Brother!”

The Hainan disciples ran around, drilling holes in the boats at the shore. Gwak Hwan-So watched, worried.

“Will we make it in time?”

He looked away from the boats and answered Cheong-Myung’s question.

“We’re doing our best.”

“I think it would be better to just destroy them.”

“The enemy isn’t stupid. If they see all the boats destroyed, they’ll know something is up.”

“Hmm.”

“Trust us. We know boats. We can make them float until the enemy arrives, then sink them when they try to get on.”

Cheong-Myung looked at Im So-Byung, who shrugged and said,

“I was going to smash them to make it look like the typhoon did it, but it would look fake. This will be better.”

“Do you think those Evil Sects bastards are smart enough to figure that out?”

“…Are you looking down on the Evil Sects like they’re animals?”

“Why are you insulting animals? What did they do to you?”

“…Do you hate the Evil Sects from a past life or something?”

“What are you talking about? Why do I need a reason to curse at the Evil Sects bastards? They’re worse than insects.”

Im So-Byung lowered his head. Just then, Namgung Dowhi came with a confused look.

“But if that’s true, wouldn’t it be better to destroy all the boats? Why only these boats on the coast…?”

Im So-Byung, who had been shouted at, looked at Namgung Dowhi with a surprised look, happy to have someone to tease.

“Wow, seriously. Even the Evil Sects wouldn’t think of that.”

“…Yes?”

“If we destroy all the boats, wouldn’t the Maninbang bastards be stuck on the island?”

“Th-that’s right?”

“So, you want us to trap the Evil Sects bastards, who are full of poison, on Hainan Island? What do you think they’ll do while they fix the boats?”

“Uh…”

…It would be a living hell. They would take their anger out on the people of Hainan.

Only then did Namgung Dowhi realize what he had said and tried to fix it. But Im So-Byung didn’t let him and took the chance.

“Kuh, as expected of the Namgung family, which has survived many years of fighting and death. Indeed! To do such great things, you have to think human lives are worth less than ants…”

“Sh-shut up! That’s not what I meant!”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It happens. The Evil Sects would like that idea. But if that’s true, why don’t you join a group that’s right for you…?”

“What kind of lie is that! Can’t you shut up!”

Dang Pae shook his head as he watched Namgung Dowhi argue with Im So-Byung.

That guy swears a lot now.

But it was strange. They seemed to hate each other, but they worked well together.

Just then.

“Th-that… Sword Demon of Mount Hua.”

“Hm?”

Gwak Hwan-So, who was telling the disciples what to do, hesitated before speaking to Cheong-Myung.

“Can I ask you something?”