Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1569

CRASH! The wooden door slammed against the wall, the loud noise ripping through the peaceful silence. Beopjeong, who had been sitting in quiet meditation, barely moved. Only a slight crease appeared between his eyebrows.

“Abbot!” Paeng Yeop’s voice was breathless and urgent, making Beopjeong open his eyes at once. It wasn’t Jongli Hyeong, the Joint Clan Leader, who had burst in so rudely. It was Clan Lord Paeng, his face pale and streaked with sweat, robes askew.

“Clan Lord?” Beopjeong asked, surprised. Paeng Yeop was usually so calm and proper. His wild appearance now shouted that something terrible had happened.

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

The answer came not from Paeng Yeop, but from Jongli Hyeong, who had entered with him.

“Abbot! The Four Evil Alliance has moved!”

Beopjeong shot to his feet.

“You say the Tyrant has moved?”

“Yes! They are leaving Zhangjiajie, a strategically important mountain region, and heading north!”

Beopjeong’s eyes widened instantly.

The leader of a clan should not act rashly, but the news was alarming enough to abandon proper behavior.

“Where! Where are they heading north to?”

“Due north! They are moving directly north.”

‘North?’ Beopjeong’s head swam. If the Four Evil Alliance moved due north from Zhangjiajie, they could target Hubei to the right or Shaanxi to the left. No, if they crossed Hubei, even Henan would fall within their reach.

Scratch. The prayer beads in Beopjeong’s hand rubbed roughly against each other.

“Has the Tyrant’s location been confirmed? We don’t know what he will do next!”

“That’s…” Jongli Hyeong hesitated to answer, his face suggesting he couldn’t quite believe it himself. He still seemed unsure if what he knew was true.

“Currently, the Tyrant is said to be leading the Four Evil Alliance from the front.”

“…The front?”

“Yes, Abbot.” Beopjeong’s face went blank for a moment.

“Is this not deception?”

“It doesn’t seem so. It is said that Jang Il-so’s unique martial arts were witnessed as he eliminated the Beggars’ Sect informants at the head of the group.”

Beopjeong gripped the prayer beads as if he would crush them.

Traditional groups have clear martial arts styles. But non-traditional groups are different. Their styles are mixed and hard to trace. This makes it very difficult to copy someone’s unique skills.

Especially Jang Il-so. Everyone knows how unique and powerful his martial arts are.

“…It’s true, then.”

“Yes, Abbot. This time, it seems the Four Evil Alliance is serious about settling things.”

At Paeng Yeop’s worried tone, Beopjeong paused thoughtfully before speaking with a grave expression.

“Could that be the case?”

“…Yes?”

“The opponent is Jang Il-so. There’s no way there isn’t a trick behind that obvious move. He would never compete fairly.”

“Then… are you saying this is also a trap?”

“Of course.”

Beopjeong answered immediately, as if there was nothing to think about.

Jongli Hyeong nodded along, unsure. Certainly, this was too obvious. Why would Jang Il-so bother to stand at the front and show his face? Just by concealing his appearance, everyone’s minds would have been even more confused.

“Then…?”

“Yes. Of course, it’s a ploy to draw us in.”

Paeng Yeop sighed.

“A trap… Thinking about it, it’s obvious. I apologize, Abbot. I got excited and…”

Jongli Hyeong cleared his throat quietly and nodded.

“Then it would be better to observe the situation a little more.”

“No.”

“…Yes?”

“We must go.”

Beopjeong’s voice was as calm as usual, and full of certainty.

Jongli Hyeong stared at Beopjeong in surprise, and even Paeng Yeop’s eyes widened as if he had heard something completely unexpected.

“G, go? You said they set a trap, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I said so.”

“But… go? Are you saying you’ll walk into the trap yourself?”

Beopjeong nodded heavily.

“N, no, Abbot…” Jongli Hyeong was about to ask again, speechless, but at that moment, a sharp aura flowed from Beopjeong’s entire body.

“What is the status of the support that was supposed to come?”

Momentarily overwhelmed by the aura, Jongli Hyeong hesitated before answering.

“G, Goolun has not yet arrived, but the Moiran Clan is near. And the related groups of each sect are gathering now.”

“Amitabha.”

Beopjeong’s eyes were cold.

“What of Jongnam?”

“Xian is also exposed, so they said they would protect Xian first…”

“I suppose so.”

Beopjeong nodded slowly with a sneer.

Jongnam and Wudang were originally supposed to be the core of the Nine Great Sects, along with Shaolin, but they abandoned their duty and chose to escape by closing their doors. Even if that closure is lifted, it will not be the same as before.

But it doesn’t matter. The enemy’s forces are only the Myriad Man Clan and the Black Demon Squad. There is no need for Jongnam or Wudang to deal with them. If they came, they would only want to share the credit for our victory.

“Clan Leader, gather all available people. And tell Moiran to hurry.”

Jongli Hyeong swallowed hard without realizing it.

He was serious. Beopjeong was now genuinely targeting the Four Evil Alliance.

“What are you doing? Now!”

“Yes! Yes, Abbot!” Jongli Hyeong hurriedly ran out, setting aside his flustered heart.

Beopjeong, who was watching his retreating figure, turned his gaze to Paeng Yeop. Paeng Yeop was staring intently at Beopjeong.

Beopjeong asked.

“Does it seem strange?”

“No, it doesn’t seem strange.”

Paeng Yeop shook his head.

“There must have been a clear reason why the Abbot has always chosen restraint. However, I am curious as to why this choice is different from before.”

Beopjeong nodded as if he understood and answered.

“The Tyrant is there.”

The Tyrant is there? Paeng Yeop frowned slightly.

Beopjeong explained further.

“It may not have seemed so, but I have never feared the enemy’s traps. Even so, the reason I have avoided the traps they set is very simple. There was nothing to gain by going into that trap.”

“You’re saying there is this time.”

“Amitabha.”

Beopjeong chanted the Buddha’s name as if no answer was needed, and certainly, no answer was needed. The most certain thing that could be gained from that trap: Jang Il-so’s head.

What else could there be?

Beopjeong was right. The Four Evil Alliance might have traps and plans, but if they can capture Jang Il-so’s head, they will win. That is the most important thing.

And the world would remember that it was none other than the Nine Great Sects and the Five Great Families who brought this war to an end, just as it always had been.

“So you must hurry, Clan Lord. Before that Cheonwoo Alliance clumsily interferes and ruins everything.”

“I will.”

Paeng Yeop bowed his head and turned around. His eyes were filled with firm resolve.

‘Jang Il-so.’ The world judges everything by its outcome. Paeng Yeop already knew this fact.

They remembered the Janggang tragedy and all the shame they suffered since then. They believed one thing could change everything: victory.

They had been waiting for this moment.

Paeng Yeop swallowed hard and nodded, “Certainly, Abbot.”

He bit his lip, trying to control his nerves. He knew this moment was crucial.

But just as he was about to turn away, the Abbot’s voice, calm yet firm, stopped him. “But, Clan Head,” the Abbot called out.

Paeng Yeop paused, took a slow, steadying breath, and turned back to face the Abbot. “Yes, Abbot?” he asked, his voice carefully neutral.

The Abbot’s gaze was direct. “What news do we have of the Cheonwu Alliance, a powerful group of clans? What are they doing right now?”

A shadow crossed Paeng Yeop’s face. His jaw tightened, and his eyes became cold. He hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “That is… Abbot, I need to confirm the latest reports.”

Boom!

Under constant pressure, Namgung Dowi’s sword bent as if it would break at any moment.

Yet, this sword, which had firmly upheld the two words ‘Azure Heaven,’ meaning our clan’s honor, endured the immense force bearing down on its blade.

Clang!

The strong sword sprang back, struggling to deflect the heavy, weighty glaive.

Whoosh!

But the glaive, which had been forced into the air, rushed towards Namgung Dowi’s sword with even greater speed and power, as if its earlier push back had been a lie.

Wham!

An explosive sound erupted, and Namgung Dowi was pushed back, skidding. His feet carved deep furrows into the ground, and his arched upper body bent as if it would snap backwards.

“Cough!”

Namgung Dowi, barely managing to stop himself, coughed roughly, splattering blood. But with his face already stained crimson, a few more drops were natural, unseen.

“You little whelp…”

The Black Dragon King’s eyes blazed with a fierce, blue light, burning with anger.

Yet, unlike the gaze that seemed ready to pounce and crush Namgung Dowi, his feet moved with utmost caution.

He, too, had recognized it.

The venom possessed by one he had dismissed as merely a cur. That those poisonous fangs could sink into his own neck.

From the moment he abandoned his arrogant stance and resolved to be cautious, an undeniable gap emerged between them.

A gap that could not be fully bridged even by praise that he was worthy to bear the mantle of Namgung… a gap of experience and years that he couldn’t overcome so quickly.

“Huu…”

Namgung Dowi pulled out the sword he had plunged into the ground to slow his momentum.

He couldn’t muster any strength in his hand. He almost dropped the sword.

It was his limit.

Perhaps it had been a crazy idea from the start. To think he could capture the Black Dragon King with his sword.

The Black Dragon King was the leader of the Demonic Sect, his name known throughout the world even before Namgung Dowi was born. He was a far too distant opponent for the still-young Namgung Dowi, even with the loss of one arm.

“Did you think you could win?”

The Black Dragon King’s growling voice burrowed into Namgung Dowi’s ears.

“Filled with rage, not forgetting your grudges, possessing a righteous cause! Did you think you could win? A mere sheltered boy!”

The Black Dragon King instantly closed the distance, lunging at him.

Whoosh!

He swung the glaive with immense force in a single motion.

Namgung Dowi gritted his teeth and struck the Black Dragon King’s blade with his own sword.

Clang!

This time, instead of an explosion, a grating metallic sound rang out. The Black Dragon King, rotating the glaive the moment the blades met, struck Namgung Dowi’s shoulder with the shaft with all his might.

Thwack!

His collarbone shattered, and flesh caved in.

Namgung Dowi’s body was flung away like a rag doll tossed aside.

Consciousness faded, and the surrounding sounds became distant, as if he were underwater. His grip on the sword loosened again and again.

Craaaash!

But the instant a series of dreadful air-splitting sounds pierced his ears, Namgung Dowi rolled his body across the ground without a moment’s rest.

Kawaaaang!

The ground where he had been lying just moments before burst apart like a snowfield struck by a rockslide.

“Cough!”

Namgung Dowi, unable to avoid the aftershock and tumbling once more, vomited blood again. Crimson blood.

“Dowi-yaaaa!”

Namgung Myung’s desperate cry echoed faintly from afar.

“Foolish wretch.”

The Black Dragon King ground his teeth.

“Righteous cause, will, rage. Anyone can possess those! Did you think you were special? A weakling who can’t do anything alone without the name of his clan!”

A weak laugh escaped from Namgung Dowi’s lips as he lay pinned to the ground.

“I’ve met countless times. Those with talent, those whose futures are promising, those who receive all the expectations of ruling the world. But in the end, those who dominate the world are the ones who survive.”

“…”

“If you wanted revenge, you should have endured! A wretch who can’t even bear a grudge will crawl on the ground and die. That’s the law of the martial world, known as the Jianghu!”

Thud!

The tip of Namgung Dowi’s sword slammed into the ground.

Namgung Dowi, gripping the sword hilt with both hands, struggled to rise, trembling.

Since when had his vision become so blurred?

The Black Dragon King’s figure, which had been hatefully clear even in his dreams, was now hazy.

But instead of despairing, Namgung Dowi plunged his sword into his failing feet, as if to say he would not fall even if he died.

“…Black Dragon King.”

“Do you have more to spout?”

“That saying… must be right.”

Namgung Dowi said, opening his eyes, which were so swollen it was hard to recognize their original shape. Perhaps it was because he had lost focus, but even though he was clearly looking at the Black Dragon King, his eyes seemed strangely empty.

“…I am still lacking. To surpass you.”

“Hmph. How well you speak. Whelp, know this clearly. Because of your foolish actions, not only you but the entire Namgung Clan will die here. When you meet your father in the afterlife, try explaining yourself well.”

Namgung Dowi’s back heaved.

Even though his face was so twisted he couldn’t smile, a laugh he couldn’t suppress burst out.

“What’s so funny?”

“Don’t… misunderstand, Jeok Sewang.”

Namgung Dowi forced his mouth open.

“I am foolish, but… I do not overestimate myself.”

The Black Dragon King’s face twisted.

What more is there? In that wretched body, in that wretch who has become unable to kill even an ant, what more could possibly remain?

Now, all that’s left for him to do is to offer his neck and beg to be killed nicely.

“Namgung’s bluster does not disappear even in the face of death.”

“I knew from the beginning. That I still… that I still cannot defeat you…”

The Black Dragon King clenched his fist.

There was no reason to listen to that nonsense any longer. He was not so free as to listen to the ramblings of a half-mad wretch.

“Speak your remaining words in the afterlife.”

It was then that the Black Dragon King put strength into the hand holding the glaive.

“But… I have already… yes, I have already learned. That I don’t need to win alone.”

“…What?”

It was at that very moment.

Kawaaaang!

With a great explosion, a corner of the Surochae forces that had been surrounding the Namgung Clan collapsed.

“What?”

The startled Black Dragon King hastily turned his gaze towards it.

There, appeared unfamiliar… no, all too familiar figures wielding swords like demons.

The Black Dragon King’s face twisted hideously.

“Hwa… San Sect?”

“Young Clan Head!”

Baek Cheon, confirming Namgung Dowi’s miserable state, bit his lip.

He glared at the Black Dragon King with burning eyes as if to kill him, and then shouted loudly.

“Help the Young Clan Head, now!”

“Yes!”

The swordsmen of Hwasan Sect, receiving the order, charged towards the Surochae, whose formation had completely collapsed from driving back the remnants of the Namgung Clan.

“Get out of the way! You sons of bitches!”

As expected, Jo Gul, who had charged out at the front once again, began to draw a frenzied plum blossom.

It was the moment when the battlefield, stained with blood, was shaken greatly once more.