Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1293

Dozens of messenger hawks flew in quickly. Guards near Ho Gamyeong grabbed the hawks and took the letters from their feet.

“Chwiho Gate is taken!”

“Gongryeong Barracks, too!”

“Strategist, the defense isn’t working!”

“Hmm.”

They were breaking through faster than anyone expected.

Gwaeryang smiled at Ho Gamyeong and said, “Things aren’t looking good, right?”

“You predicted they would be slower. Even you can be wrong.”

Ho Gamyeong replied calmly, “It’s not that strange.”

“My predictions don’t work on him.”

“Hmm.”

Gwaeryang’s eyes showed curiosity. Strategists usually hate when their predictions are wrong, but Ho Gamyeong didn’t seem to care. He seemed more and more mysterious.

Ho Gamyeong said, “And it’s not all bad.”

“Oh? Why?”

“If Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon was alone, it would be different. But this speed is only possible because he’s pushing himself too hard. I know Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon well, and he’s definitely overdoing it.”

“That doesn’t make sense. You told us not to guess Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon’s limits.”

“That’s right. We can’t measure his abilities. But he’s not alone, is he?”

“…Hmm.”

“Even without Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon, Hainan isn’t that strong. They can’t keep up this speed.”

Ho Gamyeong thought quickly.

He wasn’t trying to insult Hainan. Being one of the Nine Great Sects meant they were strong. Even the weakest of the Nine Great Sects was still a powerful force.

But their strength depended on the situation.

If Hainan was defending their home, they could fight with most of their power, even if they lacked experience.

But that wasn’t happening now.

In this situation, they would quickly lose energy just by moving fast. Fighting at the same time would be very difficult without great skill.

‘They think they’re breaking through, but they’re just being too confident.’

Anyone could see that running away from Ho Gamyeong’s group would cause many losses. Usually, the most deaths happened when chasing those who were running away. This was obvious.

Even a well-trained army couldn’t fight well when being chased. Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon knew this, so he must be willing to sacrifice some of his people.

This worried Ho Gamyeong.

“What are you planning, Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon?”

They were moving fast, but this was just a small part of the problem. They had to get through not just Guangdong, but all of Jiangnan.

It wasn’t smart to waste so much energy at the start. The faster they went, the harder it would be to fight, and the easier it would be to find them. Why show their location just to go a little faster?

Ho Gamyeong’s eyes darkened as he thought.

If anyone else did this, Ho Gamyeong would laugh and then slowly wear them down.

But Qingming and Lim Sobyeong were involved.

Qingming was impossible to understand, and Lim Sobyeong was a skilled strategist. They wouldn’t make such an obvious mistake.

“Ihyeong Gate is taken!”

“Ihyeong Gate….”

Ho Gamyeong’s eyes widened slightly.

“Say that again.”

“I, Ihyeong Gate is…”

“Before that!”

“Yes?”

“Tell me the order of the places they broke through!”

The assistant nodded quickly and said, “Chwiho Gate, Gongryeong Barracks, then Ihyeong Gate.”

Ho Gamyeong pictured a map of southern Jungwon. He saw where the places they had broken through were located.

“East?”

Ho Gamyeong’s face became serious.

It was clear. They weren’t going north to the Yangtze River, but northeast.

‘Why?’

They needed to escape Jiangnan as fast as possible. Why go northeast instead of north?

The longer they waited, the stronger the enemy’s forces would become. Soon, not just the small gangs of Guangdong, but also the Four Allied Evil Sects, including Haomun, would be after them.

‘It doesn’t make sense.’

Ho Gamyeong closed his eyes halfway and thought.

It would make sense to avoid a strong enemy, but they could break through any enemy right now. So why go to a faraway place?

‘What’s in the northeast?’

If they went straight ahead….

‘Anhoi?’

Were they going to Jeollang, where the Namgoong Clan was? That was very risky. If they got to Jeollang, they could get help from the Namgoong Clan’s followers. But if that was the plan, they should be heading to the Cheonwoo Alliance’s main base.

Suddenly, Ho Gamyeong flinched.

“Could it be….”

Gwaeryang was interested and his eyes lit up. “What’s wrong?”

“No.”

Ho Gamyeong bit his lip. “We need to go faster.”

“Why?”

Gwaeryang looked confused. “We’re just using weak fighters to tire them out, right? We can win just by following them slowly.”

Gwaeryang knew they couldn’t stop Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon that way. But even if they couldn’t stop him, they could still weaken him.

Even if they couldn’t drain his energy, they could tire him out and make his sword less sharp.

They just needed to pressure Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon and the Cheonwoo Alliance so they couldn’t rest.

They could win that way, so why attack before they were tired enough?

“Are you feeling sorry for those weaklings, Heart-Reading Rakshasa?”

“The situation has changed. Or it might change.”

“…Explain?”

“You wouldn’t understand even if I explained it.”

Gwaeryang glared, annoyed. But Ho Gamyeong didn’t explain.

He couldn’t explain it even if he wanted to.

He was confused by the thought that had come to him.

“First, we go faster.”

“Do what you want, Strategist,” Gwaeryang said, looking unhappy. Ho Gamyeong ignored him and gave orders quickly. The Maninbang members ran forward.

‘Mount Hua’s Divine Dragon.’

Ho Gamyeong bit his lip. His mind was racing.

‘What are you planning?’

“Qingming!”

“…”

“Qingming!”

Qingming finally turned around, looking angry. Anyone else would have been scared, but Baek Cheon shouted without hesitation.

“We need to rest here!”

“No.”

“It’s not a choice! People are falling behind! We won’t even make it halfway!”

Qingming stared at Baek Cheon silently.

Baek Cheon didn’t back down. He met Qingming’s gaze.

Qingming looked away first.

“Alright.”

As soon as Qingming said that, Baek Cheon raised his hand.

“Everyone, stop. Rest!”

The Hainan disciples, who had been running as fast as they could, fell to the ground.

“Cough, cough!”

“Haa! Haa! Haa! Haa!”

“Damn… it….”

Normally, they would never lie on the ground like that while others were watching. They were proud of being from Hainan.

But now, no one cared about that. Baek Cheon was right. If they kept going, more of them would fall behind.

The elders and Geum Yangbaek were still standing, trying to catch their breath. But even they didn’t blame the others for collapsing.

“Get up and sit down.”

Qingming’s voice was cold.

“Don’t just lie there. Meditate and get your energy back. Those who have energy should guard the others. We don’t know when we’ll be attacked again.”

The Hainan disciples glared at Qingming.

They knew he was right. But if they had the energy to do that, they wouldn’t have collapsed in the first place.

Qingming didn’t change his expression, even as they glared at him with anger and resentment.

“Don’t act like children.”

“…”

“No matter how hard it is, the enemy won’t care. They’ll be happy. If you want to die because it’s too hard, then just lie down.”

He wasn’t angry, and he wasn’t trying to make them feel ashamed. He was just stating a fact. But that made it even more painful.

“…Everyone, meditate.”

“Yes, Sect Leader.”

Geum Yangbaek gave them a way out. Those who heard Geum Yangbaek’s words stood up and sat down. They quickly began to meditate.

“Guard them.”

“Understood.”

Baek Cheon quickly gave instructions to the Cheonwoo Alliance members. They gathered around the Hainan disciples and began to guard them.

Qingming clenched and unclenched his fist silently.

Baek Cheon watched him carefully. Qingming always did that when he was worried. Only Baek Cheon knew that.

This meant that Hainan was having more trouble keeping up than he thought.

But there was nothing else he could do.

Mount Hua had been training to match Qingming’s speed for years, but the Hainan disciples hadn’t.

Even Baek Cheon would have struggled to keep up with Qingming if he had just met him.

“Qingming. First of all….”

Baek Cheon was about to say something when Geum Yangbaek approached them with a serious face. “Acting Sect Leader.”