Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1375

“Hoo-eup!” Janggang Gyo-eo leaped out of the water, gasping for air like a creature surfacing for the first time. He wiped the water from his face and floated in the river, watching the distant fire.

“Burning nicely,” he said with a bitter smile.

The fire was so big that even the strongest ships would burn. He didn’t mind that the fast transport ships were also burning. The Surochae still had plenty of ships.

“He really is Lord Ryun,” Janggang Gyo-eo thought.

Even Janggang Gyo-eo was surprised that the ships were so poorly defended. Maybe Ryun-ju’s movements had drawn the guards away.

But Jang Il-so’s plan had clearly worked.

“Has everyone returned?” he asked.

“Lee Hal-jung is not yet back…” someone replied.

Janggang Gyo-eo glanced at the water.

“A day for the Janggang fish to feast,” he said.

“…”

“The mission is done. Let’s go back,” he ordered.

“Yes!” the others replied.

He swam back towards the riverbank. His men moved through the water like fish.

They left the burning riverbank behind.

The flames lit up Beop-jeong’s face. He looked grim as he watched the ships burn, sending thick black smoke into the air.

“Those filthy bastards!” Jongli-hyung cursed, trying to control his anger. His disciples had been guarding the ships. Beop-jeong saw burning ships, but Jongli-hyung saw the bodies of his disciples.

“Head Abbot!” Jongli-hyung cried, his face twisted with anger.

“We have to tear them apart!”

“Calm down, Sect Leader Jongli,” Paeng-yeop said.

“Calm down?” Jongli-hyung shouted. Even Paeng-yeop flinched at his anger.

“These…” Jongli-hyung ground his teeth.

The bodies of his disciples were being carried from the ships. They hadn’t lost too many, but they were disciples he cared about. Jongli-hyung was heartbroken to see them turned to ashes.

“How could they do such a thing!”

Paeng-yeop laughed quietly. Was it really so bad? They were at war. Surprise attacks happen.

“Head Abbot! Are you going to let those Surochae bastards get away with this!” Jongli-hyung shouted again. Beop-jeong turned to him, his face hard.

“What do you want to do?” he asked quietly.

“What a frustrating thing to say!” Jongli-hyung exclaimed.

“We’ve lost all our ships. How can we attack them? Are you going to swim? Against the Surochae, who are good at water combat?” Beop-jeong asked.

Jongli-hyung trembled, unable to answer. He had been angry, but Beop-jeong’s words brought him back to reality.

The ships were meant to stop the Four Evil Sects from crossing the river. Now that they were gone, they had no way to cross.

“Now, we can’t even slow down those bad guys from moving on the river,” Paeng-yeop said without emotion.

“It was a mistake,” Beop-jeong said, closing his eyes.

“We should have guarded the ships better.”

“Are you saying my disciples weren’t good enough?” Jongli-hyung asked, glaring at Paeng-yeop. The situation was tense, and it was hard to ignore the comment.

Paeng-yeop didn’t back down.

“Isn’t that what happened?”

“Watch your mouth! How could so few people guard so many ships?”

Jongli-hyung was furious.

“If there had been more people, we wouldn’t have lost to those river pirates! But half of the guards were called back to the manor!”

“They should have been able to handle river pirates with that many people,” Paeng-yeop replied.

“Have you said all you wanted to say!”

“Enough,” Beop-jeong said weakly.

Beop-jeong had ordered everyone to the manor because he was worried about Jang Il-so’s actions. He thought Jang Il-so was going to attack the manor. That’s why he called everyone back.

‘I’ve been tricked,’ he thought.

Jang Il-so had known what Beop-jeong would do. He knew that Beop-jeong would be worried and call the troops back. That’s why the ship defenses were weak.

Jang Il-so had been watching him from far away.

“Why blame each other? Sect Leader Paeng, stop. Don’t say that to someone who has lost his disciples,” Beop-jeong said.

“I apologize,” Paeng-yeop said.

A heavy silence fell. The three men stared at the burning ships. Disciples were trying to put out the fire, but it was hard because of the oil.

How many ships would be left when the fire was out?

“Now…” Jongli-hyung said weakly. He seemed tired after being so angry.

“Now… what should we do?”

Paeng-yeop didn’t know either. If they had attacked after burning the ships, it would have been better. But they had just burned the ships and left.

They had been beaten, but they couldn’t do anything but stare across the river.

Paeng-yeop sighed.

“We need to get more ships as soon as possible,” he said.

“We’ve already gathered all the ships we can from the river,” someone replied.

“We should use even small fishing boats and build new ships,” Paeng-yeop said.

“That’s not easy. It will take time.”

“Then do you want to do nothing?”

The two men started arguing again. Beop-jeong sighed. What should they do?

Even Beop-jeong didn’t know. Paeng-yeop was right. They needed new ships to stop the Surochae from moving freely on the river.

“H-Head Abbot!” Jongli-hyung cried. Beop-jeong tried to stay calm.

“First… Yes, first, as Sect Leader Paeng said…”

“N-No, that’s not it! Head Abbot, look over there! There!”

Beop-jeong opened his eyes. What was there?

All he saw were burning ships. They had already checked everything.

“Even if we save a few…”

“That’s not it! Look behind the fire!”

“Behind?” Beop-jeong looked into the distance. Through the flames, he saw something that made his eyes widen.

“S-Surochae! They’re moving!”

Beop-jeong felt a chill. The Surochae fleet was turning east.

“W-Why are they… ?” Jongli-hyung asked.

“They can move freely now,” Paeng-yeop said coldly.

“…What do you mean?”

“We were stopping them, but they were also stopping us. If they moved, we could attack their main base.”

“…Yes?”

“But that doesn’t matter now. They need ships to move to Hanam.”

Jongli-hyung didn’t understand.

“We lost the ships, but we can still swim across the river…”

“What’s there?” Paeng-yeop asked.

“The Four Evil Sects’ main base…”

Jongli-hyung stopped. He understood now. The main base meant nothing. It was just a few buildings. It only mattered because Jang Il-so was there.

They couldn’t gain anything by attacking Gangnam, where only innocent people remained. But the Four Evil Sects could gain a lot by attacking Hanam.

If they attacked the Four Evil Sects’ main base, Jang Il-so would attack Hanam.

“T-This…” Jongli-hyung said, turning pale.

“If so, we should have gone with those ships in the first place…”

“Then could we have burned our ships?” Paeng-yeop asked.

“…Does that mean… Jang Il-so knew all of this?”

Paeng-yeop didn’t answer. But it was clear that he agreed.

The Surochae ships were moving east.

“H-Head Abbot. What…”

“Ships…” Beop-jeong said.

“Call back those who are putting out the fire,” he ordered.

“Yes?”

Beop-jeong’s eyes flashed with anger.

“This was going to happen anyway. Gather the disciples. We have to follow those bastards to Anhui,” he said.

“…”

“Tell the Cheonwu Alliance,” he added.

“H-Head Abbot?” Jongli-hyung asked, startled by his eyes.

“We can’t have peace without stopping the evil-doers,” Beop-jeong said.

“…”

“We have been defeated. We have to admit it. But Jang Il-so needs to know something too,” he continued.

The gentle monk was gone. Beop-jeong’s voice was chilling.

“Schemes mean nothing without strength. The moment he crosses that river will be Jang Il-so’s end. I will make sure of it.”

The prayer beads in his hand broke and fell to the ground.