Return Of The Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1391

His gaze slowly lowered, following his tilting head, until he stared at his own hand.

The hand holding the sword. That hand was trembling.

“Is my stamina gone?”

No. It couldn’t be.

He had rested enough. No matter how endlessly the enemies came, his stamina shouldn’t be used up so quickly.

His inner strength, made by gathering the purest energy, gave him more strength to keep going than he had before.

But the limit he felt wasn’t his body. It was his spirit, wearing down and collapsing.

Why?

That was what he couldn’t understand.

The Chung Myung of the past never fell apart. He had faced much worse situations many times, always winning, always overcoming.

He had felt the limits of his body many times, but he had never faced the limits of his spirit.

But why?

“There he is!”

Enemies poured out of the thicket. Chung Myung narrowed his eyes and charged towards them.

Stabbing someone running away was easy. If he wanted to face the enemy, he had to do something they didn’t expect.

Just like now.

“Aaaargh!”

The enemies didn’t expect Chung Myung to charge at them. They screamed and fell. Blood sprayed, and their screams were filled with despair.

Those two things would bring even more enemies to this place.

Or maybe they already had.

Chung Myung looked behind him. He could feel enemies coming from the sides, surrounding him. He knew it more by feeling than by seeing.

Whoosh!

Chung Myung jumped, moving like lightning towards his rear.

“Die, raaah!”

The enemies rushed at him, as if they had been waiting, filling his vision.

He swung his sword a few times. That was enough to know how skilled the enemies behind him were.

Attacks came fast, like sharp knives. They wanted to hurt him badly, break his bones, and destroy him.

Clang! Clang!

Chung Myung’s sword moved like lightning. He blocked every attack. Sparks flew as the swords hit each other. For a moment, the dark forest was lit up by the sparks.

In the light, the Grim Reaper’s blade cut through the necks of the enemies.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Chung Myung cut off the heads of three enemies. Then, he went into the middle of the falling bodies without checking if they were dead.

Chung Myung’s sword, covered in their flesh, swung in a burst, making a red semicircle around him.

Whoosh!

With a loud sound, those who had been rushing towards him fell to the ground, their bodies cut in half.

“Hoo…!”

Chung Myung breathed heavily.

But there was no time to rest. He jumped forward. The spears that flew into his previous spot were now stuck in the ground.

– You have gotten everything too easily. Things that are too hard for others must have been too simple for you.

Something flashed from all directions.

Swords and spears. Heavy blades and scythes with long chains.

Those weapons were all aimed at Chung Myung.

– People think you are great, and they also fear you. Maybe you feel the same way.

Chung Myung bit his lip until it bled.

“Aaaaargh!”

Plum blossoms appeared around his body. The red plum blossoms looked like drops of blood bursting from a wound.

– But Chung Myung, you have not earned anything yourself. Maybe all of that was just given to you. It was put in your hands, even if you didn’t want it.

‘So?’

Chung Myung’s eyes flashed.

What about it? What was he supposed to do? What did that have to do with anything?

Wham!

Chung Myung jumped, charging forward. There was only one way to survive: forward, where they were blocking him the most.

Chung Myung charged at the enemies without stopping. He brought down his sword, filled with anger.

Clang!

The heavy blade that blocked his sword broke. Before the person holding the blade could react, Chung Myung’s Plum Blossom Sword had cut his body in half.

The blood that poured out covered Chung Myung’s body. It felt like his skin was burning. The screams of the dying. All of that was on the tip of Chung Myung’s sword.

– So, I want you to know the weight of it. The value of something earned through your own effort and sacrifice.

“I did!”

It wasn’t something I got without doing anything!

That’s how it might look to you! But I! At least I!

– But Chung Myung.

At that moment, Chung Myung’s sword shook.

– On the other hand, I am afraid. Afraid of when you truly get something valuable, when you understand the meaning of something you made yourself.

The sword cut through the air.

His sword, which killed enemies and pierced hearts, hadn’t changed.

It was just…

– Whether you can stay as you are now. Whether you can still live as you do now.

Crack!

A broken sword was stuck in his shoulder. He felt the blade tear through his flesh. In that pain, Chung Myung took a step forward.

‘Senior Brother Sect Leader.’

Chung Myung bit his lip.

Cheong Mun was always like that. Chung Myung liked him. But he didn’t understand his words.

Because they saw things differently.

‘Did you really…?’

Whoosh!

Chung Myung’s sword spun his body, piercing in all directions.

“Kraaah!”

“Aaargh!”

Those who were rushing towards him were full of holes and fell. Chung Myung looked up at the sky.

‘Did you want me to grow up?’

He thought he understood. He thought he finally understood.

Cheong Mun always told him to see more. To understand more, and to stand with those who were different from him.

Always. Yes, always.

But Chung Myung could only understand now, standing here. What Cheong Mun really meant.

He always told Chung Myung to understand others, but maybe he hoped that he would never be like them.

Because Cheong Mun knew what Chung Myung would have to deal with when he understood others.

The path of a Taoist is to cut away at oneself.

Cheong Mun had walked that path. He knew how hard and painful it was. Maybe he hoped that Chung Myung would never walk the same path.

Even if it wasn’t the duty of a Taoist.

“Hoo…”

A life that puts others first.

Cheong Mun had lived that way. Others came before himself, and other groups were more important than his own.

If he had to sacrifice, he sacrificed himself first. If he had to sacrifice someone else, he sacrificed the one he loved most.

‘How did you deal with that, Senior Brother?’

He couldn’t know.

But he felt like he might.

“There he is!”

The forest was full of killing intent. Chung Myung’s hand trembled again as he faced it.

‘Ah…’

At that moment, Chung Myung understood.

Why his hand kept trembling. Why he was facing limits he had never felt before.

‘I am now…’

Chung Myung’s eyes darkened. More coldly than ever before.

‘Afraid.’

He had never thought about being afraid of death.

He thought it was enough to do what he had to do, even if it meant dying. He didn’t think life was that important.

He wasn’t afraid of death, but of not finishing what he had to do. That was all.

But now, Chung Myung was feeling the fear of dying for the first time.

He wouldn’t be able to see them again.

Those he knew.

He couldn’t go back to the place he knew so well. He couldn’t laugh and joke. If he turned his head, the faces he knew wouldn’t be there.

A place where everything was the same.

Only Chung Myung would be gone.

Chung Myung covered his mouth.

He felt sick. Even though his stomach was empty, his body tried to throw up.

Why did he try to protect everyone?

Yes. He was afraid. He was afraid of the emptiness that would be left if he lost the people he cared about.

The names Baek Cheon, Yuisul, Yoon Jong and Jo Gul, Tang Soso, and Hae Yeon disappearing from their world.

He was more afraid of turning his head and seeing that they were gone.

Because he knew how terrible it was when people disappeared.

But…

Is that really enough?

Is everything good just because they are alive? What if Chung Myung is not there?

It was the same as everything disappearing when Chung Myung disappeared. So shouldn’t he be the one to live?

Even if he lost some of them, wouldn’t it be better than him losing everything?

It wasn’t too late now.

He could escape. If he ran without looking back, he could live.

Even if Mount Hua and Hainan were destroyed, even if Hainan was wiped out, and he never saw some of the faces he knew again, he would live…

“Uwaaaaargh!”

Red blood flowed from Chung Myung’s mouth.

Chung Myung looked at the blood on his hand and chuckled.

“…Even if a demon comes, it comes so disgustingly.”

Yes. He was afraid.

He was so afraid of dying. More afraid than that was dying alone again, without a place to go. It was to feel again the feeling of dying alone in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

The enemies rushed towards him like a black wave.

“Hey, Senior Brother. Are you watching?”

Chung Myung looked up at the sky.

“I’ve never done anything you wanted me to do.”

Chung Myung gripped his sword.

His feet dug into the ground. He tried to tie his feet to the ground.

“So… Don’t expect anything. I’m that kind of guy.”

The enemies charged.

His hand still trembled, and his heart was still screaming.

But even so, Chung Myung stood his ground.

The regret he felt was tied to what he was protecting. Even if he wasn’t there when the past and future met, it didn’t matter.

Because will is not connected by life.