Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1390

Terrible pain exploded in his thigh. The kick he had just taken was much stronger than he expected.

Waves of dizziness came and went. He couldn’t tell if it was from losing too much blood or from the poison quickly spreading through his body. His breath was getting shorter and shorter.

“Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!”

He couldn’t stop now.

“Chase him!”

A rough voice echoed from nearby. His pursuers were cruel and would not give up. If they caught him, he would suffer terribly and wish he were dead.

It wasn’t the pain he feared. What he dreaded was dying in this place, crawling on the ground like an insect, having achieved nothing. That, he couldn’t bear.

Whish!

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his calf.

“Kugh!”

He lost his balance and fell, rolling several times before finally stopping.

Whoosh!

Several martial artists landed in front of him.

“You monster!” one of them spat.

They were all dressed in dusty blue robes, their faces twisted with anger. They stared down at the boy, who lay bleeding on the ground. There was no pity in their eyes, only burning hate. It was a hate so strong, it felt colder than ice.

“How dare you!” another shouted, his voice shaking. “You stole our sect’s treasure! And you killed the Master!”

“We will rip you apart!” yelled a third. “We will avenge the Master’s death!”

The boy looked like a helpless child, but he was actually more dangerous than a snake.

He had attacked the Master while he was practicing, even though the Master had been kind to him. Then, he stole the sect’s most important martial arts techniques and ran away. He had also killed at least ten people while escaping.

“Even a dog is grateful,” one of them said. “You are worse than a dog! The Master was so good to you!”

“Heh heh heh heh.”

The boy, who had been lying down, chuckled quietly and slowly sat up.

“Grateful…”

His pale eyes gleamed strangely between strands of his bloody hair.

“Does that really exist in this world?”

“…What?”

“That old man only wanted to use me. If I wasn’t talented, would he have been so ‘kind’?”

“This bastard…”

“People are strange. They don’t think about these things in their lives. But when they talk nonsense, they make it sound important.”

The boy clenched his fist and slowly stood up.

“You fool,” one of the men said. “Even if the Master planned to use you, you could have become a great expert if you had learned his skills. You threw away your chance. Now you will die miserably.”

“A great expert? By becoming that old man’s student?”

The boy laughed as if it was a ridiculous idea. His laughter was full of mockery and self-hatred. It was not the kind of laughter you would expect from a young boy.

A great expert? What good would it do to become famous in this unimportant place?

A bad life, a bad name.

What was the point of struggling for such worthless things?

Some people might be happy with that, but not him. A life without rising higher was worse than death.

“Not just the Master! Everyone in the sect had high hopes for you. If you had stayed…”

“Hopes? For what?”

The boy sneered at the man.

“Does your life change if I become great?”

“You, you wretch!”

“Does it make you more important? You’re just living useless lives anyway.”

The man was furious, almost foaming at the mouth. Then, the boy spoke sharply.

“Sect? Hopes? You depend on those things. You can only trust yourself! If you want to change, you have to push yourself. If someone who doesn’t deserve it gets something, it only leads to misery.”

“……”

“I don’t live like that. If I want something, I’ll get it myself, and I’ll accept the consequences.”

Was the boy just being foolish, or was he arrogant because he didn’t know the world?

His voice was so full of anger that even people twice his age would find it hard to listen to. It was impossible to know where it came from.

“…It was you.”

One of the men groaned, as if he had finally realized something.

“You killed the young master of the Joryeong Gate and stole their secret techniques… You killed the Gongnyeo of the Akho Bang and took their sacred object… It was all you.”

Everyone looked at him in shock.

“So, all the incidents in the sects over the past few years are all…?”

“…No way. They couldn’t be that stupid, could they?”

“Were we stupid to be fooled?”

Everyone fell silent.

No, they weren’t stupid. They couldn’t be.

The Myungdo Bang was a very famous and powerful group in the Bokju area. If their leaders were stupid, they wouldn’t be where they were today.

“We’re not stupid. It’s just that this bastard is too cunning. He tricked everyone perfectly in a short time.”

The men bit their lips. One of them muttered with disgust.

“Worse than a dog.”

“Heh heh…”

The boy slowly wiped the blood from his face. The red blood spread around his mouth like makeup on an actor. He looked like a crazy person laughing.

That completely changed how he looked. His innocent face became incredibly evil.

“Is that really my fault?”

“What nonsense are you going to say now!”

“Can you know what I’m thinking right now? What I think when I look at you?”

The man’s face twisted because he didn’t understand what the boy was saying.

“You don’t know, do you? Of course not. You can’t know what someone else is thinking. Even if you’re standing right in front of me, hating me, you’ll never know.”

The men’s eyes flickered. The boy smiled.

“But why do you trust others so easily, when you can’t even know their thoughts? And why are you so angry when they betray you? Is trust something you should automatically get? And if you don’t, does that give you the right to judge and curse?”

“What nonsense…”

“That’s very shallow.”

Maybe he was really asking a question.

The boy couldn’t understand why people depended on others, expected things from others, or thought they could control others.

To him, trusting others was like jumping into a dark well. You can’t see what’s inside. It was like a crazy person betting everything on hope, not knowing what kind of monster might be waiting.

They might think he was crazy, but he thought the world was crazy. It was full of people who weren’t thinking clearly.

He found such a world disgusting, but also beautiful. This world, full of things he couldn’t have, seemed to sparkle with danger and excitement.

That’s why he wanted to take it. This world, full of things he could never possess forever.

“It doesn’t matter what you’re saying. You will pay for what you’ve done.”

“You lot?”

“I admit you’re brave. But you’re just a kid. You don’t know the world well enough. And because of you, everyone will see how cruel the Myungdo Bang can be!”

The boy chuckled.

He was in terrible condition, and more pursuers were coming. But he didn’t feel alone.

“That’s why people with bad heads…”

“What?”

“You said it yourself. I stole the Joryeong Gate’s secret manual, and I stole the Akho Bang’s treasure.”

The men flinched.

“What do you think I did with them? Sold them for money?”

“S, seize him now!”

“Do you understand now? I didn’t run away because I was afraid of you. I just didn’t want my name to become too well-known here. You should have realized that!”

A wicked madness shone in the boy’s eyes.

A scream filled with anger could be heard.

A murderous intent filled the air.

It was as if the world was trying to catch and kill him.

But it didn’t matter. The world had always been like that. And he didn’t want it to be any different.

The moment he controlled this world, he would find his purpose in life.

Even if he was torn apart, he would have no regrets.

He would laugh and go to hell.

“Charge!”

Jang Il-So smiled as he looked at the men rushing toward him.

‘I will get it.’

Everything he couldn’t have.

❀ ❀ ❀

Jang Il-So slowly opened his eyes and looked out the window, looking bored.

‘That’s strange.’

He didn’t usually have dreams, especially not dreams about his miserable past.

Jang Il-So was thinking quietly. Then, he suddenly wanted to ask…

Had he gotten what he wanted?

No. Not yet. He hadn’t gotten anything.

His power, his fame, and his wealth were still not enough.

Because none of that was what he really wanted.

But Jang Il-So was sure that he would get everything he wanted if he kept going. And then…

“…Well.”

Jang Il-So muttered, looking bored.

“What happens after that is not my problem, right?”

Most people don’t understand.

For some people, it’s not about what they get at the end. It’s about the winning itself that matters most.

Maybe the one person who understands that is struggling right now, just like Jang Il-So used to.

And maybe he will feel the same things that Jang Il-So felt.

Jang Il-So gave up everything and survived. But can this other person do the same?

“Either way is fine.”

A smile that seemed kind at first flashed across his face. But his lips twisted, giving off an eerie feeling.

“It wouldn’t be bad if you came this way too.”

Then Jang Il-So might get it.

The only one in the world who can understand him.