Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1289

“Bloody hell! The Lesser Demon Gate is gone!” someone yelled, his voice cracking with fear.

“The Lesser Demon Gate?” another voice shrieked. “But… they had over a hundred men! Couldn’t they even hold them for an hour?”

“An hour?” a third man scoffed, panic rising in his tone. “More like half an hour, if that!”

“Damn it all!” roared a fourth. “Where are they now?”

Just then, a man stumbled back, eyes wide with terror. “Right here!” he gasped, pointing wildly. “They’re right on top of us!”

Jang Cheon-gi, leader of the Yacha Clan, felt the blood drain from his face. A cold fist clenched in his stomach. ‘This is impossible,’ he thought, his mind reeling.

It was utter chaos. Even though the enemy hadn’t even shown their faces yet, it was as if a massive army had already swept through, leaving pandemonium in its wake.

It was hardly surprising. To trap an enemy, you need to surround them completely. Good communication between groups is very important for this.

But now, the communication network was constantly relaying disastrous news. This meant that the previously established encirclement was being breached very quickly.

So, wouldn’t it be stranger if they weren’t in an uproar?

“T-they seem to be arriving soon, Clan Master!”

“Already here? What happened to the ones in front?”

“Well, isn’t it obvious…?”

“O-oh dear…”

Jang Cheon-gi couldn’t even think of wiping the cold sweat trickling down his chin as he stared blankly ahead.

‘How did things end up like this?’

Just until he arrived here, the situation had been calm. He even had enough time to exchange greetings with the leaders of other unorthodox factions he knew.

Was he being too confident? No.

Of course, the Yacha Clan was a relatively well-known unorthodox faction in Guangdong. And it had managed to survive even under the rule of the Myriad Man Manor.

But that didn’t mean the Yacha Clan was a skilled sect.

The reason they were able to survive was simple. When the Myriad Man Manor started to clean up the surroundings, they didn’t resist foolishly but quickly surrendered.

Moreover, they were able to survive because they were merely an insignificant third-rate sect.

If they were a skilled sect, they would have been absorbed or eliminated by the Myriad Man Manor, but the Yacha Clan was a place the Myriad Man Manor didn’t need to bother with. So, they could protect their name just by pretending to be obedient dogs who did whatever the Myriad Man Manor told them to do.

Would such people be given proper missions?

Ho Gamyung also knew this very well, and the orders he gave them, even when mobilizing them, were only to fill numbers.

So, all they had to do was go to the place Ho Gamyung had instructed, strain themselves a bit, and enjoy the victory that the Myriad Man Manor had achieved. And if they were lucky enough to have the opportunity to cut off the breath of the remnants of the escaping enemies, that would be even better.

The missions given to the Yacha Clan had always been like that. So, they thought this time would be no different.

But the current situation was completely different from what Jang Cheon-gi had expected.

“Are the Hainan fellows this strong? Even if the opponent is one of the Nine Great Sects, the Lesser Demon Gate is much stronger than us!”

“H-how would I know that? I’ve never fought the Hainan fellows before.”

To be honest, it wasn’t just Hainan they hadn’t fought.

They had never mingled with a prestigious orthodox sect like the Nine Great Sects in their lives. If they had, they wouldn’t be alive in this world.

“Bloody hell… If they were this strong, would they have been stuck on that corner of Hainan Island until now? It’s madness! Is this even possible?”

“Clan Master.”

The Vice Clan Master stopped the agitated Jang Cheon-gi and quickly looked around. Then, lowering his voice, he asked.

“W-what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to do?”

“If we stay here, we’ll only die like dogs! Even the Lesser Demon Gate fell.”

“What…?”

“Rather, just…”

Jang Cheon-gi repeatedly moistened his dry lips with his tongue. Although he didn’t finish his sentence, he knew what the Vice Clan Master was trying to say.

Although he hesitated, his decision was already as good as made.

“N-no, I can’t.”

“Clan Master!”

“I’d rather die cleanly.”

Jang Cheon-gi vehemently shook his head. Wasn’t it all too obvious what kind of ending awaited him if he disobeyed Ho Gamyung’s orders and deserted the front line?

Of course, continuing to live even for a moment longer was an extremely important matter. Jang Cheon-gi was confident that he wouldn’t hesitate to do anything if there was a way to live even a day longer.

But that was only to be considered if the ‘death’ they would face as a result was the same. Only fools thought dying in battle was the same as facing Ho Gamyung’s anger. Those fools were long gone from Guangdong. Those who were alive all realized how terrible that anger was.

There could be no other choice for Jang Cheon-gi, who had seen such sights to the point of disgust. Those who didn’t have the courage to bite their own tongues had no choice but to defend this place.

“It’s possible that Ho Gamyung gave the wrong order!”

“You crazy bastard! How can you say that? What kind of person do you think he is to give the wrong order!”

“But this is just telling us to die…”

“That’s what it is.”

“Huh?”

“That’s what I said! Are you deaf!”

Jang Cheon-gi raised his voice in anger.

It was unimaginable that Ho Gamyung would misjudge the situation and make a mistake. No, even if such a thing happened, he was not the kind of person who would forgive anyone who ignored his orders.

“Bloody hell… I don’t want to die… I don’t want to die either. But if I run away, I’ll die even more miserably. What am I supposed to do…?”

Jang Cheon-gi muttered like a madman, without even caring about the people listening around him.

“If I had known this would happen, I would have crossed over to Gangbuk three years ago. Why did I stay here…?”

“C-Clan Master.”

The words that were originally supposed to follow were, ‘Lower your voice, there are ears listening.’ But those words never came out of his mouth. Because before he could even utter those words, a faint scream was heard from far away.

In an instant, the gazes of several people, including Jang Cheon-gi, who was located at the front, turned sharply forward.

Everyone’s face turned pale.

Just as they were about to doubt whether they had misheard, the scream was heard again. This time, a little clearer than before.

“H-he’s coming…”

Someone said with a groan.

In order to raise the fallen morale, several clan leaders urgently shouted.

“Don’t be afraid! No matter how great the Hainan Faction is, this is Guangdong. There’s no way the strategist hasn’t made preparations.”

“That’s right! The Hainan Faction doesn’t even reach the Myriad Man Manor’s toes!”

Of course, not everyone accepted those words as they were.

If Ho Gamyung had really made preparations to catch them, why were the factions in front being defeated so quickly? And how did the Hainan Faction, which didn’t even reach the Myriad Man Manor’s toes, appear in Guangdong? Above all, it couldn’t be explained why the clan leaders’ voices were gradually fading as if they were afraid of being discovered.

But in this place, such questions were meaningless. Even if they were brought up, there would be no one to answer them.

Everyone was just suppressing their rising anxiety and staring at the front with trembling eyes.

But a moment later, what they encountered was not the enemy’s murderous appearance. What jumped out of the swaying bushes were unorthodox faction members fleeing in utter terror, completely out of their minds.

“Aaaargh!”

“Save meeee!”

“G-get away! Get away from meeee!”

Faced with a sight they had never seen before, their bodies froze momentarily.

They were unorthodox factions. Even the unorthodox factions of Guangdong. Even if they weren’t martial artists worthy of being called first-rate, anyone in the unorthodox factions of Guangdong had experienced various battlefields several times and had seen people dying to the point of disgust.

But they had never seen anyone so terrified.

Jang Cheon-gi realized for the first time that a person’s bloodshot eyes could tremble so much.

A face pale without a trace of blood, bloodshot eyes, a vacant expression, and even saliva flowing down from the corners of his mouth.

What on earth must one see to become like that? Not just an ordinary person, but someone who had mastered martial arts?

Fortunately or unfortunately, that question was soon resolved.

“S-save…”

Thud!

Something sharp suddenly protruded from the neck of the man running away at the very back.

“Gurgle… Gurgle…”

He, whose neck was pierced in an instant, forcibly raised his trembling hand as if trying to grab what had come out of his neck. Countless people just blankly stared at that unnatural and bizarre movement.

But.

Crack.

In an instant, the blade that pierced his neck, which should be called a sword blade, twisted mercilessly.

Those who saw the sight involuntarily flinched.

It was an instinctive reaction that anyone should have, which could not be helped even with accumulated martial prowess.

“Gurgle…”

Crimson blood gushed out from the hole created by the twisting sword. The light gradually faded from the eyes of the man who was convulsing as if he had caught malaria.

Eventually, the man’s body collapsed forward weakly like rotten straw.

And everyone there saw it.

The one who revealed himself from behind the fallen man.

A young swordsman wearing a dark black uniform and holding a sword as dazzlingly white as it contrasted with it.

Jang Cheon-gi’s eyes widened.

“Th-that…”

In an instant, what captivated his mind was shock rather than fear. He was so surprised that he didn’t even notice the terrified people screaming and rushing past him.

His gaze was fixed on the young swordsman’s chest. On the swordsman’s top, stained darker than before with blood, a red plum blossom pattern was clearly embroidered.

A black uniform with a plum blossom pattern and a pure white sword.

Tightly tied hair and frighteningly cold eyes.

All of that was saying only one name.

“H-Hwasan… Hwasan Sword…”

Fwoooosh!

Something dazzlingly bright exploded before Jang Cheon-gi’s eyes.

He saw something whitish, and what Jang Cheon-gi felt was the sensation of someone’s sleeve brushing past him.

A terrible burning sensation followed.

“Keugh…”

Pain as if being branded with fire covered his neck. The pain soon spread to his shoulders and flared up.

Jang Cheon-gi knew the identity of this heat. He could know without bothering to look around. This heat was blood. The red blood pouring from his neck.

‘I knew it…’

Jang Cheon-gi’s world distorted. The screams that had been deafening soon became faint.

He thought as he felt the chillingly blue sky tilting and pouring down on him.

‘Right, there’s no way Hainan could do something like this.’

It was only because it was the Hwasan Sword Master that he could break through this defense line as if he were toying with it.

‘Then… that’s…’

Only he would know whether the emotion Jang Cheon-gi felt at the last moment was relief or solace.