Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1295

Gwak Hwan-so quickly finished his energy exercise and opened his eyes. As soon as he did, he checked how his body felt. His face looked sad.

“‘Only this much?'” he thought.

Usually, this energy exercise would take away most of his tiredness. But not this time. Some of his inner power had returned, but his body still felt heavy, like it was filled with stones.

Even worse, his head still felt foggy and unclear.

Gwak Hwan-so knew he couldn’t ask for more right now. He shook his head to clear it and stood up.

Even as they rested, the enemy continued to chase them. If they were caught, it would truly be the end.

“‘But… can we really escape?'”

Their escape had been going surprisingly well so far.

But the faster they ran, the more Gwak Hwan-so’s stomach twisted with worry.

“‘If we can’t shake off the enemy even at this speed…'”

Could they really reach the Yangtze River safely? Could they keep running this fast all the way through Jiangnan?

Gwak Hwan-so quickly pushed the worried thoughts out of his mind. Lee Ja-yang, who had been doing his energy exercise beside him, stood up at that moment.

“‘Are you alright?’

“‘…My body is a mess.'”

“‘Yes. Mine too,'” Lee Ja-yang sighed deeply and looked around. There were still many other disciples doing their energy exercise. Lee Ja-yang bit his lip and opened his mouth.

“‘Senior Brother.'”

Gwak Hwan-so shook his head. “‘Don’t think about anything. Let’s just focus on escaping from them for now.'”

“‘…Yes, Senior Brother.'”

One by one, the Hainan disciples who finished their energy exercise stood up. Their faces showed they were still very tired.

“‘Are you alright, Junior Brother?'”

“‘…Yes, Senior Brother. I’m fine.'”

“‘This is hell…'”

Those who stood up first had to wait for the others to finish. All they could do was talk about their situation.

Neither Geum Yang-baek nor Gwak Hwan-so could stop them, no matter what they said.

“‘…How far have we come?'”

“‘We’re only in Guangdong. We barely passed the Tan River.'”

“‘Only just?'” The one who asked the question was shocked.

Of course, it wasn’t a short distance.

The distance from the coast to the Tan River was about the same as crossing Hainan. It was a distance that would take ordinary people more than five days to travel.

They had covered that distance in less than half a day, which was amazing. But…

“‘Only just…'”

The Hainan disciples knew it too.

Jiangnan was huge. And they had only traveled a tenth of the distance they needed to.

Yes, a tenth.

They had only gone that far, but they were already exhausted, and six of their brothers had died. Including those lost in Hainan, nearly ten people had died on the way.

If they just guessed, over a hundred people would die by the time they reached the Yangtze River.

No, even that wasn’t right. The further they went, the stronger and more relentless the enemies would become. Thinking about that…

Thinking too much wasn’t always good. Those who had been focused on moving their tired legs started to think about how bad the situation was.

They thought about how reckless they were being, and how terrible the place they had entered was.

Someone spoke with a terrified voice. “‘The enemy’s main force… hasn’t even arrived yet, right?'”

This was the worst thing anyone could say right now.

“‘The Myriad Man House is chasing us from behind… if strong enemies come from the front too, won’t we just be surrounded and die?'”

“‘Why are you saying that now! You knew this!'”

“‘Ah, no, I knew, but…'”

What they had imagined was very different from what they were experiencing. They couldn’t admit that they had been too confident.

They didn’t know that people could die so easily.

And that their deaths could seem to matter so little.

They had imagined fighting the enemy bravely since they were young. But they never thought they would be running until they were so tired they could barely breathe, only to be stabbed and die. And then be left on the street.

“‘If this is the case, then in Hainan…'”

“‘Stop,'” Gwak Hwan-so interrupted them.

“‘It’s not too late to talk after we escape. Save your strength for now,'” he said.

“‘Senior Brother… but…'”

Lee Ja-yang glared at them. “‘Didn’t you hear what Senior Brother said?'”

The disciples lowered their heads. Gwak Hwan-so sighed.

‘I’m thinking the same thing,’ he thought. ‘No, I’m still thinking about it now.’

At that moment, the last person who had been doing his energy exercise stood up.

“‘Yang-po, are you alright?'”

“‘…Yes, Senior Brother,'” Yang-po rubbed his thigh, which was covered in blood. The wound on his thigh had not yet healed.

“‘The wound looks bad…'”

“‘Can you walk?'” The other disciples gathered around him with worried faces. It was clear that Yang-po’s injury was serious.

“‘I-I’m alright.'”

“‘Alright, my foot!'”

“‘No, the wound is not normal…'”

“‘Damn it! I said I can go!'” Yang-po shouted, startling everyone. All eyes turned to him.

“‘Why are you doing this when I said I’m alright!'”

“‘No, I’m just…'”

“‘I can run! I said I’m alright!'”

Those who were speaking stopped. They realized what Yang-po was thinking.

What would happen if he couldn’t run, if his injury was too bad to keep up? Would someone carry him? The others were also exhausted. It was hard enough to carry themselves. They wouldn’t have the strength to take care of the injured.

If they were retreating in an orderly way, they could help the injured. But when running from the enemy, the injured were usually left behind. No matter how loyal they were, how many would risk their lives to save others?

“‘What are you thinking! You crazy bastard!'”

You could see it in his bloodshot eyes. Yang-po was afraid of being left behind. He was terrified that his brothers, whom he had spent his whole life with, would see him as a burden and abandon him.

“‘Surely we wouldn’t…'”

Those who were about to get angry at his fear couldn’t speak and closed their mouths.

They were suddenly scared.

They were scared that they would break their promises. They now knew that everything they had protected had no value here, not even a speck of dust.

That’s why they were afraid. Afraid of breaking their own words.

“‘Surely what? What do you want to say?'” Yang-po shouted, spitting. At that moment, a calm voice interrupted.

“‘Please move aside,'” Dang So-so said as she approached.

“‘Aren’t you moving aside?'”

“‘A-Are you a doctor?'”

“‘Yes. I’m from the Tang family.'”

“‘Ah…'” Those around Yang-po moved aside quickly. Dang So-so walked to Yang-po and looked at the wound.

“‘Hmm. It’s gotten worse,'” she said.

If he hadn’t moved after being injured, the wound would have been healing. But because he kept running, it had gotten worse. It was lucky that it hadn’t become infected yet, but it needed treatment right away.

“‘Anyone have clean water?'”

“‘H-Here it is,'” Dang So-so took the water bottle and looked at Yang-po.

“‘Endure it,'” she said.

“‘Yes…? What is… Aaaaargh!'” Yang-po screamed.

She grabbed his wound, pulled it open, and poured water into it. Then, she clicked her tongue.

“‘…This won’t be enough,'” she said.

The weapons of these people are not clean. The orthodox sects are taught to take care of their weapons, so their wounds don’t get infected easily. But the weapons of these people are often rusty. That’s why their wounds often get infected. If they don’t wash it well, the blood will rot.

“‘Senior Brother! Senior Brother Chung Myung!'”

Chung Myung, who was far away, frowned. “‘What?'”

“‘Do you have alcohol?'”

Chung Myung threw the bottle of alcohol to Dang So-so. She snatched the bottle and smelled it.

“‘Ugh, it’s strong,'” she said.

“‘That man only drinks strong liquor no matter how much I try to stop him,'” she thought.

But it was helpful in this case. Dang So-so looked at Yang-po and said, “‘Endure it.'”

“‘Yes?! What, what again… Uwaaaaaaah!'” This time, Yang-po passed out.

It was a strong liquor that burned your throat. It would be extremely painful to pour it into a wound.

“‘That’s enough,'” Dang So-so put down the bottle, put ointment on the wound, and started to sew it up.

“‘Keu… Keueueuk…'”

Anyone could see that she was fast and accurate. The wound closed quickly.

“‘You endured it well,'” Dang So-so nodded as she wrapped the wound. The alcohol was so strong that it could disinfect the wound.

“‘However… you shouldn’t use your leg for a while,'” she said.

Everyone looked at each other with worried faces.

How could he not use his leg? This was worse than hearing that the wound couldn’t be treated.

“‘Someone has to carry him,'” Dang So-so said.

The Hainan disciples looked at each other carefully.

Of course, they wanted to carry him. But they hesitated because that could kill Yang-po.

“‘Then I will…'” Gwak Hwan-so started to step forward when Dang So-so called out to someone.

“‘Venerable Hye-yeon.'”

“‘Yes, Benefactor.'”

“‘You need to carry him for about an hour. Can you do it?'”

“‘Amitabha. Of course,'” Hye-yeon said.

“‘Please try not to shake him too much. It’s a headache if the wound opens up,'” Dang So-so said.

“‘I will keep that in mind,'” Hye-yeon said calmly.

The Hainan disciples were confused.

‘How can that person take this for granted?’ they thought.

How could someone who has nothing to do with Hainan…

“‘And also,'” Dang So-so said.

“‘It doesn’t matter if it’s a small injury or anything else. If you have any injuries, come quickly. It’ll be really bad later if the wound gets infected.'”

“‘…'”

“‘What are you doing, hurry!'”

“‘T-Then, I have this on my arm…'”

“‘I injured my leg too,'” Those who were injured started to gather around Dang So-so.