Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1414

The mountain, once named ‘Cheongseong’ for its green beauty, was now stained a color that didn’t fit its name.

Green plants and old buildings were burning in bright red flames. Even the ground that wasn’t on fire was red with blood, darker than the flames.

It looked like the world was wearing a red cloak of evil.

Byeok Hyeon-ja, the leader of Cheongseong, gasped for air in the middle of it all.

“Haaah…” he wheezed.

Cheongseong was his home, the place he had dedicated his entire life to, his everything. He remembered teaching young disciples in the peaceful gardens, the sound of their laughter echoing in his ears. Now, only screams filled the air. But now, Cheongseong was collapsing under the enemy’s attack.

“Cough!”

Dark red blood splattered from his lips as he coughed. The holes in his stomach and the cuts across his body showed what was going to happen to him.

Yet, Byeok Hyeon-ja felt no pain. Compared to the pain of Cheongseong burning, a place more precious than his own life, the pain from his body meant nothing.

“Cough! Cough!”

He coughed up more dark red blood, struggling to lift his head to look ahead.

‘Ibyeok…’

His fellow disciple, who had been with him his entire life, lay dead. Looking at the brutally killed body, Byeok Hyeon-ja’s heart was filled with grief and rage.

“Aaaaaaargh!”

“Aack! S, save me… Aaaaaaargh!”

A desperate scream echoed from far away.

The scream, piercing his ears, clawed at his heart. His disciples, whom he loved more than anything, were dying by the enemy’s cold blades.

But Byeok Hyeon-ja no longer had the strength to help his disciples.

No one could escape this disaster. Though the young disciples he had managed to evacuate at the last moment were escaping with Neung Ha-woon, there was no guarantee they could get away from those villains.

It is the end.

Yes, it is all over.

Cheongseong was a famous group in Sichuan with a long history. But today, it was ending. Not by the Demonic Sect or the Imperial Palace, but by those evil scoundrels.

‘How did it…

How on earth did this happen?

Why is Cheongseong burning?

Why did they appear here?

He thought they could just watch the fighting at the Jang River, like people watching a show. So why had this evil attack happened here?

“Haaah… Hee hee…

Byeok Hyeon-ja groaned, somewhere between laughter and tears, staring blankly into the distance.

The gate of Sangcheong Palace, which stood for Cheongseong, was burning. It was no longer a gate to a holy place, but a gate to hell.

And through that burning gate, a figure appeared. He moved slowly, like a predator sure of its kill. The flames danced around him, making his red robe seem to pulse with dark energy.

A man draped in a long robe, as red as the blood that covered Cheongseong and filled with a fierce energy like the flames, licking at the sky like hungry tongues.

A man covered from head to toe with fancy decorations that seemed out of place in this terrible scene.

Thud.

A twisted smile appeared on the man’s lips.

The sight of this clownishly dressed figure entering through the burning gate was so shocking that it caught the attention of even Byeok Hyeon-ja, whose mind was almost lost to grief and rage.

“Jang…”

Suddenly, Byeok Hyeon-ja thought this was all like a stage play.

The burning place, the man walking through it, even himself kneeling – it all felt like a scene from a sad, silly play, not real life.

“Jang… Il-so…”

Maybe it really was just a stage play.

Because only such things happened wherever Jang Il-so went. He destroyed the reality that ordinary people knew and created events that felt like scenes from a play.

“Jang Il-soooooooo!”

A beastly roar came from Byeok Hyeon-ja’s lips, filled with sorrow for the dead, despair at the terrible reality, and hatred for the one who had caused all of this.

But even hearing the scream that seemed to tear him apart, Jang Il-so showed no emotion. He just smiled slightly.

“Ja, Jang Il…”

Byeok Hyeon-ja’s hand trembled.

The disaster before him filled his vision.

The flames eating everything behind him, the disaster’s blood-red robe, the fancy decorations, and even his red lips.

Byeok Hyeon-ja looked into the eyes of the disaster, Jang Il-so.

Yet, Jang Il-so’s eyes were calm and peaceful. Without the madness or joy usually seen in those who kill, they seemed rather sad.

How could anyone understand that the eyes of the man who caused this terrible slaughter were the calmest of all?

“Haaah… Haaah…

A moan, like a sob, escaped his lips as anger, sorrow, fear, and pain mixed inside him.

Jang Il-so looked down at Byeok Hyeon-ja, who was bruised and beaten, slumped on the ground.

Surely, he would be ridiculed or mocked. They were not on terms to share anything else.

But surprisingly, Jang Il-so reacted differently than Byeok Hyeon-ja had expected.

He smiled brightly.

There was no malice. Or maybe it should be called a lack of formality. With a radiant smile without even a hint of mockery, Jang Il-so spoke in a friendly way.

“Come to think of it…” Jang Il-so said, his smile widening, but his eyes remaining cold. “We have met before, haven’t we, Sect Leader? It has been… a while. So,” he paused, tilting his head slightly, “how have you been?”

At the gentle and soft greeting, Byeok Hyeon-ja’s fingertips scratched the ground.

No amount of ridicule or blame could cause a person such pain. No, even if a poisoned dagger pierced his lungs, it would not hurt this much. At least that dagger would not shatter his soul.

“Why…”

Byeok Hyeon-ja released his tightly closed lower lip and spoke. Blood trickled down from his torn lip.

“Why… here…? Why… us…? Cheongseong… why…?” (followed by screams of “Whyyyyyyy!”)

A scream like the cry of a beast echoed through Cheongseong. Jang Il-so just watched Byeok Hyeon-ja, as if he found it amusing.

“Why, you ask…

He muttered for a moment, then chuckled.

“I wonder why?”

“…”

“It’s a little difficult to answer. There’s no real reason. I just wanted to, would that be enough of an answer?”

“Krrrgh…

Tears of blood streamed from Byeok Hyeon-ja’s eyes, carving red rivers down his dirt-streaked face.

Could there be a more polite and gentle mockery? That fiend showed no mercy even to a dying man. He simply mocked him completely.

“Ja, Jang Il-so… Jang Il-soooooooo!”

“Oh, dear, oh, dear. It seems you’re quite angry. But there really isn’t a reason.”

Jang Il-so moved closer to Byeok Hyeon-ja.

“But if I had to give a reason, there might be one.”

“What… is it?”

Jang Il-so’s voice whispered into Byeok Hyeon-ja’s ear.

“Because you’re weak.” Jang Il-so whispered, but for a fleeting moment, a shadow crossed his eyes, as if the word itself held a painful memory for him.

“…”

“Because you are the weakest. Because I can trample you as much as I want without taking any risks. Like the tender neck of a lamb, I can easily cut off your breath just by biting.”

“You, you fiend…

“Do you need any other reason besides that?”

Tears of blood poured from Byeok Hyeon-ja’s eyes. With the flames flickering and casting shadows, his face looked like that of a demon.

The teachings of Taoism that Byeok Hyeon-ja had followed his entire life were meaningless at this moment.

All that remained was burning hatred and rage.

“Aaaaaaaaaargh!”

Byeok Hyeon-ja’s eyes, though clouded with blood, burned with a final spark of defiance. ‘For Cheongseong…’ he choked out.

Byeok Hyeon-ja swung the sword he was holding with all his might, towards the fiend’s snow-white neck.

Thwack!

But before that, Jang Il-so’s hand pierced through Byeok Hyeon-ja’s chest.

Byeok Hyeon-ja, his eyes wide open, slowly looked down at his chest. Red blood flowed thickly down the white wrist that had pierced through his chest.

Jang Il-so said.

“You should have known.”

“…”

“That there is no safe place in this Jianghu anymore.”

Byeok Hyeon-ja’s body trembled like an aspen leaf in a storm.

“Of course, I like you. I mean, guys like you. Those who enjoy the bloodbath from behind while others bleed and fight. And those who show up late and take what someone else has achieved with their blood, pretending to be sorrowful. Those are the real humans, aren’t they?”

Shattered.

Not just his body. Even his mind was being completely shattered at this moment.

“But disgusting.”

“…”

“That complacency, believing that the flames will spare you even as you watch the world burn, disgusts me. When I see people like that, I want to burn them myself.”

Jang Il-so smiled radiantly.

“That’s the only reason. How about it? Isn’t it enough, even after hearing that?”

Byeok Hyeon-ja struggled to lift his trembling hands and grasped Jang Il-so’s hand that was embedded in his chest.

“Gho, Ghost…

“Hmm?”

“Even if… I become… a vengeful ghost… I will… curse… only… you… The grudge… of Cheongseong…

At those bloodshot words, spoken haltingly with all his remaining strength, the corner of Jang Il-so’s lips twitched.

“Haa… Hahaha! Hahahahahahaha!”

And soon, he burst into mad laughter.

“Why do those who can’t achieve anything on their own always say the same things! It’s all over once you die!”

Crack!

Jang Il-so’s remaining hand grabbed Byeok Hyeon-ja’s hair.

“If you had the strength to become a vengeful ghost and curse me, you should have bitten me while you were alive! If you wanted something, you shouldn’t have waited, you should have fought for it! If you really wanted it, you should have fought for it!”

Jang Il-so twisted his face grotesquely and laughed as he looked into Byeok Hyeon-ja’s fading eyes.

“But now, you won’t have that chance.”

Snap!

Jang Il-so’s hand was pulled out of his chest in one swift motion. The blood that followed drew a rough line across the world like a canvas.

Byeok Hyeon-ja’s body slowly crumbled.

Plop.

Even after his breath had stopped, he could not close his eyes.

It was a very pathetic death, not fitting for the leader of Cheongseong, one of the Nine Great Sects and a famous group of Sichuan.

Thwack!

Jang Il-so, having completely crushed Byeok Hyeon-ja’s head, lightly shook the blood off his hand.

“Hmm.”

He slowly looked around.

Everything was burning.

The mountain, the buildings, and the people.

The mountain that had been green when he arrived was now gone. The buildings had lost their past glory and collapsed, and the mountain, now turned to ashes, would never be the same.

A very happy smile appeared on Jang Il-so’s lips. A crescent moon, like his smile, hung in the night sky.

“Isn’t it quite splendid? Huh?”

The hem of his red robe fluttered wildly, looking like raging flames.

“Hahaha. Hahahahaha! Ahahahahahahaha!”

The flames that would burn the world flickered.

They were flames as red as blood, named Jang Il-so.