Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 159

Heo Sanja wiped his face with his sleeve. Thick sweat mixed with blood, staining his white sleeve crimson.

“Bloody hell,” he cursed without meaning to.

Before him lay the corpses, half-rotted. The wandering souls, unable to find peace even in death, had finally been granted it.

As a follower of the Dao (a spiritual path), granting peace to wandering souls was his duty. Yet, Heo Sanja felt no pride.

The situation they were in was far too dire to be content with merely fulfilling his duty as a Daoist.

The Jiangshi he had faced were truly dreadful creatures. Their bodies were like steel, deflecting blades, and when he managed to cut them down, strong poison gushed out.

Had it not been such a confined space, he might have dealt with them more easily, but even the location was against them. Fighting these Jiangshi had made him very tired, both in body and mind.

“Are you alright?” Heo Sanja asked.

“Yes, Elder,” Jin Hyun replied, clutching his arm and nodding. Heo Sanja looked at his arm and sighed softly.

“Let me see,” Heo Sanja said.

“I’m fine.”

“Take your hand away.”

Jin Hyun reluctantly lowered his arm, and Heo Sanja tore away his sleeve, examining the affected area.

Jiangshi poison. The skin torn by the Jiangshi’s claws was stained purple, a sign of Jiangshi poisoning. If it were ordinary Jiangshi poison, Jin Hyun’s body would heal itself, but this was no ordinary poison. It came from the body of that dreadful Jiangshi. It would be very dangerous.

If left untreated, he would not only lose the use of his arm, but the poison could flow into his heart, endangering his life.

Heo Sanja grabbed Jin Hyun’s arm and channeled his vital energy into it.

“Elder…” Jin Hyun started.

“Shhh!” Heo Sanja said.

Jin Hyun clamped his mouth shut. Now that the vital energy had begun to flow, he mustn’t open his mouth carelessly.

He shouldn’t waste his vital energy. There was no telling what lay ahead. Perhaps things several times more dreadful than what they had already faced remained. Unless they had time to rest and recover their energy, they had to conserve every last bit of it.

Yet, Heo Sanja was using his vital energy to heal his wound. He wanted to stop him, but the treatment had already begun.

After pouring in vital energy for some time, a dark, viscous fluid flowed backward from Jin Hyun’s affected area. As a result, his arm, which had been stained purple, slowly began to regain its color.

“That’s enough,” Heo Sanja said.

“Elder, how could you…” Jin Hyun asked.

Before Jin Hyun could finish his sentence, Heo Sanja, anticipating what he was about to say, hardened his face resolutely. “It is important to obtain the divine artifact and elixirs of the Sword Tomb, but how could that ever compare to the arm of my disciple? Don’t talk nonsense.”

Heo Sanja’s face was stern. “And I won’t be weakened by something like this.”

Jin Hyun bit his lip tightly. He knew all too well how much energy and mental strength it took to extract poison from another’s body using vital energy. But in this situation, he had only one answer to give.

“Understood, Elder,” Jin Hyun said.

Heo Sanja nodded lightly with a grave look and gazed ahead.

“Disgusting…” Heo Sanja muttered.

Looking at the fallen Jiangshi, he felt disgusted. If the Wudang hadn’t been at the forefront, clearing the path, the damage would have increased exponentially.

Of course, those chasing behind them didn’t consider such efforts and were desperately trying to hinder the Wudang at every turn.

Beasts. Heo Sanja bit his lip tightly. Even if this place was a place where people only care about themselves, shouldn’t they be more mindful of the situation before acting foolishly?

Jin Hyun seemed to feel the same, as he spoke in a low voice.

“Elder, I cannot understand it. How can they be so treacherous?” Jin Hyun asked.

“Do not waver,” Heo Sanja replied.

“But…”

Heo Sanja spoke with an unwavering expression. “It is only natural. Why do you seek the Dao?”

Heo Sanja continued, “The reason we seek the Dao is because it does not exist in this world. That is why we strive and contemplate to reach the Dao. If ordinary people embodied the Dao and lived by it, if they upheld what should be upheld, then Daoist temples and principles would be meaningless. It is because that is not the case that we strive and strive again, even at this moment.”

Jin Hyun bowed his head deeply, remembering every word, and recited the Daoist title in a low voice. “The reason you waver is because the Dao within you is not yet complete. Strengthen your heart and hold onto your center.”

“Yes, Elder,” Jin Hyun said.

Heo Sanja nodded lowly. ‘And that applies to me as well, I suppose.’

He might have spoken grandly, but perhaps it was Heo Sanja himself who despised them even more.

“What about the rear?” Heo Sanja asked.

“We are still holding them off… but it is difficult,” came the reply.

“…Leave them and advance,” Heo Sanja instructed.

“Shouldn’t we help them?”

“What good would going back do now? Unless we defeat them completely, we will only waste time. It is better to obtain what we seek as quickly as possible and then help,” Heo Sanja explained.

Mupyeong, who was standing beside him, agreed with Heo Sanja’s words and stepped forward. “I think so too. Going back to help now would only waste time.”

“Alright,” Heo Sanja said.

Heo Sanja narrowed his eyes slightly. He hadn’t told his disciples, but there was another reason why he was hurrying so much.

‘An incredibly cold aura.’ In the midst of the battle, he had sensed an immense energy from far behind. He didn’t know who was emitting that aura, but if someone with that much power joined the battle in the rear, it would become a tremendous variable.

Heo Sanja had no desire to allow that variable. If they turned back to help the group, only for the owner of that aura to jump in, things would get completely out of hand.

‘Some sacrifice is inevitable.’ If those beast-like people got their hands on the Hunwon Pill, the consequences were all too obvious. Heo Sanja could never allow that to happen. The Wudang becoming stronger was a secondary concern. First and foremost, they had to prevent those people from obtaining the Hunwon Pill.

A resolute light settled on Heo Sanja’s face. He truly believed that the end of this dreadful tomb was near. Jiangshi were not easy to create. It was hard to imagine that there would be something else beyond them.

“Hurry!” Heo Sanja urged.

“Yes!”

It was at that moment.

“Senior Brother! Senior Brother! We can’t hold on any longer!” A loud voice came from behind.

“Bloody hell!” Heo Sanja cursed without realizing it.

“Give up on holding them back! Join us! Follow behind!” Heo Sanja commanded.

“Yes!”

Before the reply could even be heard, Heo Sanja pushed himself to run faster. If it was Heogong, he should be able to gather the disciples and follow without much difficulty. If so, he had to get ahead and obtain the Hunwon Pill first.

Jin Hyun and the Muja followed behind him. The cave walls, slick with dampness, blurred past in the near-total darkness. He could hear the echo of their hurried footsteps and the ragged breaths of his disciples behind him, the air thick with the metallic tang of blood and the lingering stench of decay from the Jiangshi. Even the great Heo Sanja felt a chill in his heart.

‘What was the intention behind creating something like this?’ Yakseon was known as the most benevolent of men. The number of patients he had saved in the world was countless, and the number of martial artists who had their lives saved by his elixirs was also enormous. That was why Yakseon’s reputation had spread throughout the world, and why everyone still praised him even two hundred years later.

But his tomb was filled only with malice. Recalling the transmitted nature of Yakseon, one might even question whether this was truly the Sword Tomb.

‘I’ll know when I get there.’ All these questions would be answered the moment they reached the end of the Sword Tomb.

“Senior Brother! People from behind are chasing us!”

It seemed Heogong had reorganized the formation and followed.

“Ignore them! Increase the speed,” Heo Sanja ordered.

“But…”

“I said ignore them! We don’t know what lies ahead, so we can’t afford to waste any more energy!”

“Yes!”

Heo Sanja’s mind was filled with complexity. If he had been in perfect condition, he might have made a different decision. But leading his disciples while fighting fierce battles in this darkness, where even light couldn’t penetrate, was no easy task.

All these circumstances were slowly breaking down Heo Sanja’s focus. ‘If I wander around here any longer, I might lose control of my mind. I have to get out of here as soon as possible.’

“Stop!”

“Hahaha! The Wudang rats are running away with their tails between their legs! Do you think you can get out of here alive?”

“Chase them! Chase them! Don’t let those bastards have the divine artifact!”

The enemies’ mad laughter echoed through the cave. Heo Sanja bit his lip tightly and pushed himself to run faster.

“Senior Brother! There!”

“I see it!”

He could see it. The end of the cave. Finally, a bright light was visible. A level of brightness completely different from anything they had seen so far. Heo Sanja shouted with a look of joy. “Disciples, take heart! We’ve almost reached the end!”

“Yes!”

His hand gripping the sword instinctively tightened. No matter how difficult the journey had been, it was no longer a problem. If only he could obtain the method to create the Hunwon Pill…!

‘They can have the divine artifact.’ All he wanted was the method to create the Hunwon Pill. He didn’t care who took the divine artifact. It would lead to more trouble. So, in the long run, it was something that could even be harmful.

Finally, as they reached the end of the cave, a dazzling light covered Heo Sanja’s vision. But the sight that unfolded the moment his eyes adjusted to the light left Heo Sanja utterly dumbfounded.

“Wh-what is this?”

A cliff. A massive cliff stood before them. The incredibly bright light was pouring down from the top of the cliff.

‘There’s a gap?’ It wasn’t light created by night-shining pearls. He didn’t know how, but light was pouring down from a gap in the high ceiling. It seemed there was another passage besides the entrance they had entered.

‘Then? Where’s the Hunwon Pill?’ If this was the end, then where was the Hunwon Pill…

“There!”

Heo Sanja’s keen eyes didn’t miss the space bulging out in the middle of the cliff. ‘That must be it!’ If this was the end of the Sword Tomb, then the place where the light was coming in would be the exit. And if someone had left something to be passed down to future generations, it would definitely be in the middle of that cliff!

“Climb! We must climb the cliff!” Heo Sanja exclaimed.

“It’s too steep!”

The cliff, nearly vertical, seemed to deny any human access. It wasn’t a height that could be reached with Qinggong.

“Climb even if you have to crawl! Right now!”

“Yes!”

At Heo Sanja’s words, the Wudang disciples all clung to the cliff at once. And without delay, they began to climb the cliff. Soon, those who had followed behind arrived and poured out of the cave.

“Wh-what is it?”

“There! Those Wudang bastards are climbing the cliff! Follow them!”

“Never let those bastards have the divine artifact!”

Those filled with desire climbed the cliff with their eyes bloodshot. It was a scene as if hell had unfolded. And at that moment.

A terrifying aura began to emanate from the cave they had passed through. A group was approaching at an incredible speed, piercing through the dark cave.