Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1478

“Where are they saying they’re going?” Jang Il-so asked.

He sat on a large, fancy chair in the deepest part of the tent. The tent was made of thick, dark blue cloth, decorated with silver thread. It felt strange to be in such a grand place, right in the middle of a dusty field. Jang Il-so’s eyes narrowed without him meaning to as he waited for the answer.

Ho Gamyeong stood in front of him, looking worried. “We got news,” he said, his voice quiet. “The common people from Hubei are moving to Shanxi. Lots of them.”

“Shanxi?”

“Yes. And some common people from the north of Sichuan too… to Shanxi…”

Ho Gamyeong hesitated for a moment.

The words ‘refugee’ or ‘escape’ didn’t feel right, at least not from their point of view.

“They seem to be trying to… move there.”

Doubt flickered in Jang Il-so’s eyes. He set down his wine cup and rubbed his chin.

“They’re going to Shanxi, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

It was a simple question, but Ho Gamyeong couldn’t answer it easily. He just couldn’t understand it.

“Gamyeong, where are we right now?”

“Zhangjiajie.”

“Exactly. We are in Zhangjiajie. From here, we could attack Hubei or Shanxi if we wanted to. Do you agree?”

“That is correct, Lord Leader.”

“And yet… these people from Hubei pack up and run, not to Henan or Hebei, but to Shanxi?”

“…”

“Ugh.”

Jang Il-so groaned.

“I can’t understand what farmers are thinking. Are they just too foolish, or do they think so differently from us?”

Jang Il-so sighed.

The movements of the common people weren’t really important right now. What mattered were the Nine Great Sects and the Cheonwoo Alliance. But the movement of the common people bothered Jang Il-so because he hadn’t expected it.

“So, what are those Cheonwoo Alliance guys doing? Surely they were surprised by the arrival of so many people. They can’t just turn them away after making such a fuss, can they?”

“That is…”

“Hmm?”

Jang Il-so frowned as Ho Gamyeong hesitated.

“The Cheonwoo Alliance is building many buildings in Hua Yin to house the refugees, they say.”

“…”

Jang Il-so stared at Ho Gamyeong, surprised.

“Housing them?”

“Yes. It seems they were preparing for it.”

Ho Gamyeong mumbled the words and looked carefully at Jang Il-so. He didn’t know how Jang Il-so would react to this news.

‘Why are they doing this?’

Poor farmers who can’t even hold a sword. What could they hope to gain by taking them in?

Taking in refugees is hard. Just feeding them takes a lot of food and money. People getting ready for war should never do this.

And yet, the Cheonwoo Alliance was doing this seemingly bad idea. It was like they had all gone crazy.

‘Could this really be happening?’

Even if someone, dreaming of ‘harmony,’ pushed for this, surely the leaders of the Cheonwoo Alliance weren’t all fools. What were they thinking, agreeing to such a silly plan?

No matter how hard he thought, he couldn’t understand it.

But because it made no sense, Ho Gamyeong suddenly understood what was really happening.

“Hmm.”

Jang Il-so leaned back in his chair. He looked very relaxed, but his eyes shone with a deep, serious light.

“Judging by the situation…”

“…”

Jang Il-so’s red lips twisted in a sly way.

“It seems that guy has taken control of the Cheonwoo Alliance.”

Ho Gamyeong lowered his head slightly.

He thought the same thing. There was no other way to explain it.

“How annoying.”

Jang Il-so chuckled.

“I cripple them so they can’t do anything, and they stab me in the back. I laugh at them, saying they can’t do anything at the level of a third-generation disciple, and they seize power right under my nose.”

His voice sounded amused.

But Ho Gamyeong could tell that the laughter in Jang Il-so’s voice was fading as he continued to speak.

“If that’s the case, then he predicted this in advance…”

Jang Il-so stopped speaking. His gaze deepened.

“No… no. It wasn’t a prediction. He didn’t just predict it and prepare. He planned it.”

“…”

Jang Il-so picked up the wine cup and took a sip, as if lost in thought. He looked more relaxed now.

Ho Gamyeong watched him and carefully spoke.

“Lord Leader.”

“Speak.”

“Does Lord Leader have any idea what they are thinking…?”

Ho Gamyeong held back a sigh.

The Plum Blossom Sword Demon was so scary not just because he was crazy. He was scary because he was a ‘crazy person who couldn’t be ignored.’

“Hmm.”

Jang Il-so looked directly at Ho Gamyeong. His calm eyes curved gently like a crescent moon.

“Gamyeong.”

“Yes, Lord Leader.”

“Do you think we need to worry about this?”

“…Sorry?”

Ho Gamyeong was startled by the strange question and lowered his head slightly. Jang Il-so chuckled and continued.

“For us, this is just a funny show, but others are in trouble, aren’t they?”

“Ah…”

The Nine Great Sects.

They would be the most worried about what was happening. For the Sa Pae Union, it was just people from Hubei moving to Shanxi. But for the Nine Great Sects, it was the people they protect leaving them to seek safety with the Cheonwoo Alliance.

What could be more embarrassing for those Nine Great Sects, for the Shaolin?

“They are probably doing everything they can right now, so let some people go. Let’s see what they find out.”

“I understand, Lord Leader.”

Ho Gamyeong nodded.

“Very well. You can go now.”

“Yes, then.”

Ho Gamyeong bowed deeply and left the tent.

After he left, Jang Il-so was alone in the tent. He looked down at his wine. He saw his face in the wine. His face was white, like a clown’s makeup. It looked like his reflection was laughing at him.

“Poor thing,” the reflection seemed to say. “You still don’t know what’s happening? Or are you pretending not to see it, even though you do?”

Jang Il-so looked up at the tent roof. His eyes were a little lost and empty. The tent roof was just plain white cloth.

“You know, the world is not a kind place. You can give and give, but you might get nothing back.”

He should be happy about this. Yes, it was a good thing for him.

When his enemies made mistakes, it was always good for him. His mind told him to be happy, to celebrate. He knew he should be happy that his enemy was making mistakes. This was good for his side, for his plans. But why did he feel so uneasy?

But Jang Il-so felt a strange tightness in his chest. It was like something heavy was pressing down on him.

“…My head aches. Bring me more wine.”

“Yes!”

Jang Il-so grabbed the wine bottle quickly. He moved more roughly than normal.

Um, shouldn’t we do something about this?

…

“Venerable Abbot, it’s not just the poor people leaving anymore. Even people who are important in Hubei are going to Shanxi, people are saying.”

…

“Venerable Abbot, we can’t just watch and do nothing, can we? We should do something.”

“Then what should we do?”

“Yes?”

“Should we use swords and spears to stop people who want to leave? Should we force them to stay?”

Jongri Hyung became silent, like a clam that closes its shell.

Paeng-op was right. They were not the government or the emperor. They couldn’t stop people from leaving. Jongri Hyung knew this, but that wasn’t why he was talking.

“I don’t think this is so bad.”

“Patriarch Paeng. What do you mean…?”

“These people can’t fight in a war. The Heavenly Union is taking them, so we don’t need to stop them.”

“That… that’s true, but…”

“We need to look strong, at least. Without these people, we will have more freedom to act. The important thing now is not the common people who can’t even use a sword. We need to bring together the smaller groups.”

Jongri Hyung closed his mouth.

He knew it too. That Paeng-op’s words weren’t wrong. That all of this was nothing but beneficial to them.

But he was still worried and upset.

‘Can we just ignore this situation?’

The common people were leaving them. No, the common people were abandoning them. Did they really not realize how strange this situation was?

Our group, the Orthodox Sects, learned to fight to protect weak people. But now, are those weak people saying they don’t want our help?

Could they really think this strange situation is not a big deal?

“Amitabha.”

At that moment, a calm Buddhist invocation came from Beop-jeong.

“We shouldn’t be happy. Why is it good that people trust the Heavenly Union more than us, the Nine Great Sects?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“However.”

Beop-jeong met Jongri Hyung’s gaze with calm eyes.

“Now it’s war. We need to think about what is useful, not just our feelings.”

…

“If we only think about what is useful, like Paeng-op said, maybe it’s not so bad.”

At those words, Jongri Hyung sighed deeply.

Was he really so stupid that he didn’t understand?

“First, we can’t just do nothing. You two should tell your students to try to convince people to stay. Tell them this place is safer than Shanxi.”

……I understand.

“And if people are having a hard time, let’s give them some of the food we have stored for the army. We need to show we care.”

“That’s…”

“That’s a great idea! Venerable Abbot!”

“Amitabha.”

Beop-jeong nodded to Jongri Hyung. Paeng-op had a slightly dissatisfied look on his face, but he didn’t bother to object to Beop-jeong’s words.

“So, it might not be all bad. If we think about it without emotion, it might even be good.”

“Yes? Venerable Abbot, why do you think so?”

“Because it’s the Heavenly Union.”

Jongri Hyung frowned at that incomprehensible remark. Beop-jeong chuckled softly at his expression.

“The Heavenly Union is always causing trouble, right?”

“That’s right.”

To be exact, it’s not really the Heavenly Union, it’s the Mount Hua Sword Saint, Cheong-myeong.

“I was shocked and confused at first, but now I think it’s actually lucky. If there were no refugees, the Heavenly Union would have done something weird for sure. Like when they attacked Sichuan, or went to Hainan before.”

“Ah……”

“But now they won’t have time for that. They will be too busy with the refugees. So, isn’t it better to have them busy in Shanxi?”

“Hmm. Certainly……”

Jongri Hyung and Paeng-op nodded simultaneously.

What was happening was very strange. But because of it, we know more about what the Heavenly Union will do.

Beop-jeong thought they understood him. He put his hands together and smiled kindly.

“If something is missing, we can fix it after the war. Let’s worry about that later. Now, let’s focus on what we must do.”

“Yes, Venerable Abbot. We will do so.”

“We will do so.”

Beop-jeong nodded quietly at the two men’s replies. His gaze unconsciously turned to the northwest, where Shanxi would be.

‘Mount Hua Sword Saint.’

Beop-jeong’s eyes sank deeply.

‘What on earth are you planning to do with those commoners?’

However, Beop-jeong didn’t know.

That Cheong-myeong was no longer with the commoners in Shanxi.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Hey! Cheong-myeong! That bird is too fast!”

“How are we supposed to keep up with that? Is this even possible?”

“Where are we? Are we still in Henan? I feel like I’m going to be sick!”

Cheong-myeong frowned as he looked at his brothers who were shouting.

“Did you only eat thin porridge? Stop complaining and keep running! I will break the legs of anyone who falls behind!”

“Well, you can say that! At least we got porridge!”

“Are you mad? How can we run as fast as a bird?!”

“Run, you guys, ruuuuun!”

Towards the rising sun.

The Five Swords of Mount Hua, led by Cheong-myeong, shot forward like lightning towards the eastern sky. While the eyes of everyone in the world were fixed far away on Shanxi.