Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1282

The ship moved through the rough waves.

As the ship went over the waves, Yu Gong felt a strange excitement. Maybe it was because he felt the sea in his blood.

But Yu Gong was not happy as he steered the ship. He was miserable. The ship carried the Maninbang villains, who had been so cruel to Hainan.

One of the villains, with a sword at his waist, asked, glaring, “You’re steering straight, right?”

Yu Gong bit his cheek and nodded.

“Of course.”

“You better not try anything.”

“…I’m not that stupid.”

“Looks like it to me.”

The Maninbang thugs laughed and insulted him.

Yu Gong couldn’t answer their obvious insults. From the moment he stepped onto the ship, his life was in their hands, maybe even before that.

“Remember this. Destroying a village is nothing. If you try anything, your villagers will die in the worst ways. They’ll suffer more than death.”

“…I know.”

“Heh heh heh.”

Yu Gong knew that their constant threats weren’t because they were worried. They were just having fun with him during the trip, because they knew he couldn’t fight back.

“Isn’t this the life? Imagine, being carried on a ship by a Hainan Sect kid.”

“He was kicked out, so he’s not Hainan Sect anymore, right?”

“That’s even more special. A Hainan Sect student is rarer than the Hainan Sect itself.”

The thug who mentioned rarity sneered and looked Yu Gong up and down.

“Those righteous groups are too soft. Letting an expelled student just walk around. In our gang, anyone who even thought about expulsion would have their neck slowly cut off.”

“No one would dare to think that.”

“Exactly. But they let him go without a scratch. The Hainan Sect leader must be crazy.”

“Right. Now, he’s like a dog biting the hand that let him go. If I were the Hainan leader, I’d be pulling my hair out.”

“Hahaha! I guess so.”

Yu Gong’s lips were bitten so hard they turned white. Each word they said hurt him.

What hurt even more was that he couldn’t argue with them. He had become a hunting dog chasing after the sect that had been kind to him, even more than anyone else…

Yu Gong looked back and saw Ho Gamyeong on the deck, releasing a red hawk. Yu Gong’s face hardened.

‘Damn it.’

The hawk was hunting down all the messenger pigeons that Hainan sent to the mainland. Now, it would tell the bad people hiding in Gangnam that the Hainan Sect was coming.

If it weren’t for those hawks…

Suddenly, Yu Gong’s face twisted, and blood appeared on his lips.

“This bastard looks like he wants to kill the strategist!”

“Stop it. The strategist said not to touch him!”

“Tsk.”

One of the Maninbang thugs glared at Yu Gong, annoyed. Yu Gong wiped the blood from his lips with his sleeve.

‘Damn it.’

He lowered his head, feeling a heavy darkness in his heart.

The hawk flew quickly into the sky from Ho Gamyeong’s hand. Then, it turned and flew toward the mainland.

Goe Ryang, who had been watching silently, spoke up.

“Where is he sending it? I thought we already sent the message where it needed to go?”

“Hao Mun.”

“Hao Mun?” Goe Ryang asked, confused. Ho Gamyeong nodded slowly.

“To trap them completely, we need many people watching. It’s dangerous without Hao Mun’s help.”

“Hmm.”

Goe Ryang stared at Ho Gamyeong, as if he found it funny. Ho Gamyeong didn’t really like Hao Mun, but now he was asking for their help. This showed how seriously Ho Gamyeong was taking this.

“To the main group?”

Ho Gamyeong didn’t answer. Goe Ryang’s mouth twisted.

“You’re not planning to hide this from the Leader, are you? You know that’s against the rules, Strategist?”

“Of course.”

Ho Gamyeong answered quickly and added, “If the Leader found out and took action, killing those guys would be easy.”

“And?”

“…But the Leader has a bad habit. When there’s something easy to gain, he doesn’t just take a little. He changes things to get much more.”

“……”

“But in that process, small gains might disappear. I want to stop that from happening.”

“Hoo. Is a planner like you judging the Evil Sect Leader?”

“Ha.”

Ho Gamyeong snorted and stared at Goe Ryang. Goe Ryang smiled meaningfully.

“It’s too confident to think the Leader will always like you.”

“I’ve never thought that way. I’m just showing how useful I am.”

“I wonder. No matter how much you prove yourself, will the Leader really favor someone who doesn’t follow orders?”

Ho Gamyeong couldn’t argue with that.

Ho Gamyeong knew it too. He knew that Jang Il-so hated being tricked or left out. If anyone else did what Ho Gamyeong was doing, they would be torn apart. Even Ho Gamyeong would be punished.

Jang Il-so had warned Ho Gamyeong about this before. Ignoring it would have serious consequences.

But Ho Gamyeong went ahead anyway. He was still sure of his decision.

“Sometimes, you have to do things.”

“Hmm?”

“…He’s dangerous.”

“Are you talking about the Mount Hua Sword Saint?”

Hoga-myung nodded slowly, his eyes thoughtful. He was sitting across from Gwe-ryang in the dimly lit room. Gwe-ryang frowned deeply, his eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

“I don’t understand,” Gwe-ryang said, his voice rough.

Hoga-myung paused, looking down at his hands for a moment.

“Of course, that person is a monster,” Gwe-ryang continued, leaning forward. “Compared to normal people like us, he’s like a walking disaster. No question.”

Gwe-ryang readily compared himself to an ordinary person.

He was the leader of Maninbang. His pride was immense. But he didn’t hesitate even slightly in calling himself ordinary, because if the opponent was the Mount Hua Sword Master, there was no room for hesitation.

“But that’s how *we* see it.”

Hoga-myung paused, thinking.

“For the Chief…”

“The Chief.”

“Yes, the Chief. If we compare him to the Chief, not to us, things change. Even if he tries his best, the Chief sees him as someone easily controlled, like a toy. Compared to the Chief, even that person is just an ordinary person. You know that too, don’t you?”

Hoga-myung remained silent. A rare look of surprise crossed Gwe-ryang’s eyes.

“You’re serious.”

“Why?”

Hoga-myung’s face hardened. He couldn’t find an answer to this question himself, so he couldn’t persuade Jang Il-so.

So, he had no choice but to answer like this.

“It’s a feeling.”

“A feeling?”

“Yes. Or maybe I should call it anxiety.”

Gwe-ryang stared at Hoga-myung expressionlessly and asked.

“Did I mishear something?”

“A feeling? Anxiety? Coming from Hoga-myung, the infamous Poisonous Mind Asura? I don’t think my ears are deceiving me?”

“Laugh if you want.”

“It’s not that I’m laughing, it’s that I don’t understand. The strategist I know would be the person furthest from such things.”

Instead of an answer, a sigh escaped from Hoga-myung’s lips.

Gwe-ryang was right. Hoga-myung was originally a person who hated making decisions based on just feelings. But now, he was making perhaps one of the most important decisions of his life, relying solely on a feeling.

It was something he himself found hard to understand.

“It’s hard to explain.”

“But the reason is simple. Whatever the nature of that anxiety, if it could harm the Chief even in the slightest, it must be eliminated early.”

Hoga-myung spat out the words as if chewing them.

“Even if it means disobeying the Chief’s orders in the process.”

“The Mount Hua Sword Master must be killed! If possible, before it reaches the Chief’s ears, and before they reach the Yangtze River region!”

Gwe-ryang shook his head with a slightly weary face.

It was the first time he had seen Hoga-myung so emotional. Looking at him now, no one would think that this person was the cold-blooded Poisonous Mind Asura Hoga-myung, the most feared man in Maninbang.

“Anyway, it’s something that stems from loyalty to the Chief, I see.”

“Will you stop me?”

“Me?”

Gwe-ryang chuckled softly, as if he was dumbfounded.

“If what you say is true, the moment that person’s actions are known to the Chief, there’s a high probability that the Chief will let him go.”

“Probably.”

“Then I’ll pretend I don’t know anything.”

Hoga-myung glanced at him, and Gwe-ryang twisted his lips and bared his teeth.

“I don’t have the courage to rebel against the Chief, but it’s also a matter of pride for me if someone I’m hunting escapes from my land. And I’m curious. What kind of expression will he have when he dies?” A cruel smile spread across Gwe-ryang’s face.

He licked his lips with his tongue, his eyes gleaming. Hoga-myung’s face slightly wrinkled.

There might be some among the Demonic Sect who avoid killing, but Gwe-ryang was particularly severe among them. He was someone who enjoyed the act of killing itself, more than the benefits that could be gained from it.

To be precise, he was addicted to the tension felt in the process of hunting down the strong, and the pleasure of finally defeating them.

But right now, Hoga-myung needed that Gwe-ryang the most. This fact could not be denied.

Gwe-ryang asked.

“So, what about the encirclement?”

“It’s already somewhat in place. It will be complete within a few days. So, be sure to kill him. Even if you have to bet everything you have.”

“You don’t have to worry about useless things like that. It’s my specialty.” Gwe-ryang puffed out his chest slightly, a hint of pride in his voice.

Looking at Gwe-ryang’s eyes, gleaming with murderous intent, Hoga-myung chuckled softly. Soon, his gaze shifted to the Jiangnan region. The very land that would become a death trap for Chung Myung.

‘Even if I explain it, you wouldn’t understand.’

What could he say?

No matter how much he was the Poisonous Mind Asura Hoga-myung, the strategist of the Demonic Sect, and Jang Il-so’s right-hand man, a thought that he couldn’t bring himself to say kept swirling in his head.

‘That person smells like the Chief.’

No one in the world might think so, but Hoga-myung, who had served Jang Il-so for a long time by his side, could tell that the two were alike.

Extremely different, yet extremely alike. So…

‘If, by some chance, one in a thousand, one in ten thousand, the Overlord falls at someone’s hands… that would be….’

Hoga-myung, who had been lost in thought for a moment, quickly shook his head.

‘No. That can’t happen.’

It was absurd.

But a strategist must prepare for even a one-in-a-thousand possibility without overlooking it. Even if it was just a baseless feeling, Hoga-myung would do what he could.

‘Mount Hua Sword Master Chung Myung.’

Hoga-myung’s eyes darkened.

‘If you are truly of the same kind as the Chief, I won’t be able to catch you. But you are not the Chief.’

That difference would tighten the trap for Chung Myung.

‘But I’m also curious.’

If Jang Il-so heard that Chung Myung had died at Hoga-myung’s hands, what kind of expression would he make?

Would he be angry? Or would he dismiss it, saying it couldn’t be helped? What kind of existence was the Mount Hua Sword Master to him?

‘What an presumptuous question.’

Hoga-myung banished the thoughts in his head.

He could disobey orders, but he must not dare to judge the Chief. If he couldn’t keep that line, Hoga-myung would no longer be Hoga-myung.

‘Only for the Chief.’

Hoga-myung’s eyes sank endlessly deep.