Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1389

“This…!”

Jo Gul’s eyes were bloodshot, and he started to shout. But before he could say anything, someone grabbed his shoulder, nearly breaking it.

He turned to see Yoon Jong shaking his head with a stern look. Seeing that, Jo Gul bit his lip.

This wasn’t a request or something to argue about. It was an order from the Sect Leader. Since he mentioned ‘expulsion’ from the sect, there was no room to negotiate. Jo Gul knew this.

But…

“Is this really necessary?”

The words slipped out despite himself. Baek Cheon nodded firmly again.

“Don’t confuse what you want to do with what you must do. What we must do now is clear.”

Jo Gul’s eyes darkened.

“Then at least let me…”

“I would have said so.”

Baek Cheon didn’t listen further. His face was stern.

“There is no room to argue. If you are a disciple of Mount Hua, follow my command. If you insist on going, then leave the sect.”

Jo Gul trembled with anger at the cold voice, clenching his fists.

“Sa….”

“I obey the Sect Leader’s command.”

Yoon Jong spoke quickly, before Jo Gul could argue more.

“Jo Gul, step forward and clear the path.”

“……”

“Now!”

Jo Gul looked back and forth between Yoon Jong and Baek Cheon. Then, without a word, he turned sharply and walked forward. Yoo Iseol and Tang Soso, who had been watching silently, followed him.

“Get out of the way, you sons of bitches!”

Roaring with anger, Jo Gul quickly cut down those in his path. The group hesitated for a moment, then began to move forward rapidly again.

Baek Cheon pushed off the ground and turned to Yoon Jong beside him.

“Help Jo Gul.”

“Yes.”

“Thank you for calming him down.”

“There’s no need to thank me. Following the Sect Leader’s command is natural.”

“And I don’t think the Sect Leader’s decision is wrong. If we disagree, we will all die. Even if we are wrong, we must follow this path to the end. Only then can we find a way forward.”

Baek Cheon nodded. Yoon Jong’s words explained his decision.

Chung Myung wouldn’t want them to rescue him.

If they left everything to rush to him, they would only find his hopeless face. Baek Cheon didn’t want to see that.

“However…”

Yoon Jong’s voice trailed off. Baek Cheon turned to look at him.

“My heart wants to follow the right path, but I am only human, and I struggle. Now I understand those words.”

“I know that the Sect Leader’s decision is right, and I understand that it is the best thing to do, but…”

Yoon Jong paused before continuing.

“If Chung Myung dies and we survive to reach Gangbuk, I will never forgive the Sect Leader.”

“Even if it is wrong.”

It was almost a curse. But Baek Cheon’s face didn’t change. Yoon Jong left with words that sounded like admiration or mockery and ran forward.

“You have become a Sect Leader, Martial Uncle.”

Left alone, Baek Cheon closed his eyes for a moment. His eyelashes trembled slightly. But when he opened his eyes again, he showed no hesitation.

“You two, take the sides.”

At his calm command, Hae Yeon and Nangong Dowook exchanged glances that showed they found it hard to accept. But only for a moment; with a sigh, they nodded and split off to the left and right.

Now, only Baek Cheon and one other person remained.

“A wise decision.”

“I was worried that the Sect Leader might make a reckless decision, but it seems I was wrong.”

“The Green Forest King…”

“Yes, I will watch from the rear. Then.”

Lim Sobyeong muttered as he retreated, barely loud enough to hear.

“But, even so, I thought that if it were the Sect Leader, he might decide differently.”

Baek Cheon didn’t respond. He was only holding back his emotions. He took a long, deep breath, exhaling slowly, so no one would see. He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek.

‘Damn bastard…’

Blood seeped from his clenched fist. His fingernails dug into his palm.

But Baek Cheon hid his hand inside his sleeve. No one could tell what he was feeling just by looking at him.

“Hurry! We’re going straight to the Yangtze River! As quickly as possible!”

Chung Myung glanced up, looking at the enemies coming from all directions.

“Hmm. No need to complain.”

The way the enemies were attacking showed they weren’t thinking about anything else. There was nothing else to worry about.

He had been secretly worried that Baek Cheon might not control his emotions and make a foolish decision, but thankfully, he wasn’t that foolish.

If he were the type to do that, he wouldn’t be the Sect Leader. All of Chung Myung’s actions came from trusting Baek Cheon.

He was sure that Baek Cheon would never make a foolish choice.

Chung Myung smiled slightly.

‘How long has it been?’

How long had it been since he believed that someone would understand his intentions without him explaining them, and would act on them? Not just trusting their intelligence, but trusting the person themselves.

A face came to mind.

The face of the one who always scolded and nagged him, but always believed in him.

“Eh, what am I thinking? No way.”

Chung Myung laughed it off and raised his sword. Although he was acting brave, he couldn’t relax. Baek Cheon making the right choice meant that the Myriad Man House bastards were targeting him alone.

No matter how skilled Chung Myung was, it wouldn’t be easy to win.

“Well, even so…”

“Dieeeeee!”

He blocked the sword of a Myriad Man House member with one strike and instantly beheaded him. Hot blood poured from the cut. At the same time, Chung Myung jumped into the air, blocking the daggers aimed at him.

“Just because it’s not easy doesn’t mean I can’t do it!”

If being surrounded meant he had to die, if being targeted by the enemy meant he had to give up his life, then even twenty lives wouldn’t have been enough for him in his past life.

Boom!

He kicked off the ground with force, and a rain of swords from enemies in red uniforms fell on him.

“Plum Blossom Sword Demon, we won’t let you escape!”

“Sword Demon?”

Crack!

Chung Myung gripped the sword so hard it might break and swung it towards the sky. He blocked the spears and shredded their upper bodies.

“You should call me Sword Saint, you stupid bastards. Don’t use such wicked words to address your elder. You want to die. Ptooey!”

Chung Myung spat out the blood in his mouth and glanced back.

‘Not yet.’

A little more. He had to wait a little longer.

He wasn’t trying to escape.

If he ran away too quickly, the enemy would split up. Then, those left behind would chase the main force instead of him, who had little chance of being caught.

To stop that, he had to draw as many of them as possible deeper into the area, so they wouldn’t be able to look away from him.

Then, Mount Hua and Hainan could cross the river. On the other side, the Nine Sects, including Shaolin, were closely connected, making it hard to chase them.

“Haha…”

It was a little funny.

Giving up on saving the one he wanted to save, to save more people. That was the choice Cheong Mun had forced on him. And Chung Myung never forgave Cheong Mun for that, not even when he died.

Even while respecting and cherishing him, he couldn’t forgive him. Maybe Cheong Mun regretted that when he died.

But now, Chung Myung was forcing that choice on Baek Cheon, just like Cheong Mun had done to him.

‘I’ll have to apologize to my senior brother in the afterlife.’

He had planned to complain to him if they met again. If he had known this would happen, he would have told him that he understood when he went to behead the Heavenly Demon. He should have said that.

Would Baek Cheon resent him? Like he had resented Cheong Mun?

Maybe he would.

But he had to endure. And he would endure. He was worthy of being the Sect Leader of Mount Hua. He would have to make these choices many times in the future.

Just like the great Cheong Mun.

“Then, all that’s left is…”

Chung Myung watched the enemies rushing in like a tide.

“Chase him! He’s alone! Don’t let him rest!”

“They look down on me.”

As if being alone was a big deal.

Now, Dangbo wasn’t behind him, but Chung Myung was stronger than before.

Now, Cheong Mun, who tried to protect him, was gone, but he could protect others on his own.

In the past, he could never grow up, but now he understood what was most important.

“So there’s nothing new about this!”

Chung Myung’s sword slashed through the air. He cut apart those who charged at him and moved forward like a snake through the bushes.

“Ooooooh!”

Wham!

Black poison powder exploded before his eyes.

Chung Myung held his breath and lowered his body, passing through the poison powder.

As soon as he came out of the smoke, dozens of chain sickles flew at him, but Chung Myung cut them all down with one stroke.

For a moment, he felt like he was back in his past life. He felt like he could do anything, break through anything. So this was…!

“So you were here, you stupid bastard! Who said you could fight alone?”

Chung Myung’s eyes widened, and he turned his head sharply.

But there was nothing there.

Neither Jo Gul, charging with a scream, nor Baek Cheon, glaring at him, nor Yoo Iseol, nor Tang Soso…

They weren’t there.

Chung Myung chuckled.

Whoosh.

Chung Myung kicked off the ground and shot forward.

A leaf swayed in the breeze. Even as the wind died down and the world was silent, the leaf continued to sway.