Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1602

“Leader,” Ho Gamyung said carefully, holding out a bottle of liquor.

Jang Il-so chuckled, taking the bottle. He was already on a horse that Ho Gamyung had somehow gotten for him.

“I always spoil you, don’t I?” Jang Il-so said, a smile in his voice.

“Then, to stay safe, I need even better liquor!” Ho Gamyung joked.

“Enough,” Jang Il-so laughed. “You’ll say anything to get what you want.”

Jang Il-so looked back over his shoulder. They were far from the battlefield now. He could enjoy this small treat. He slowly raised the bottle to his lips and drank.

Ho Gamyung watched him, his eyes calm, and then spoke. “Congratulations, Leader.”

“Congratulations?” Jang Il-so asked, raising an eyebrow.

“This victory is truly great,” Ho Gamyung said. “It will be written in the history books of our world.”

This victory is truly great. It’s not just empty praise. This battle will be written in the history books of our world. As the victory where the Demonic Sect struck a big blow against the Righteous Sect for the first time.

Jang Il-so’s name would be written down as the one who ended the rule of the Nine Sects and started the Demonic Sect’s time. It will be history, whether it’s glorious or shameful.

“No need to look so surprised.”

But Jang Il-so spoke like he didn’t care.

“It’s always been the same. This time, it was just a bit bigger. There’s nothing so great about it. It’s not that I’m so good, but that those guys were fools.”

Jang Il-so was always like this.

“But this victory isn’t just about fooling fools, is it? Even he couldn’t do anything, right?”

“Who? Are you talking about the Mount Hua Sword Saint?”

“Yes.”

After a quiet moment, Jang Il-so chuckled.

“Gamyung-ah.”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I’m better than him?”

“Of course.”

“I appreciate you saying that.”

Ho Gamyung watched Jang Il-so carefully as he drank.

“Doesn’t the Leader think so?”

“Well, there might be some things I’m better at.”

Scarred fingers wiped away the liquor from his chin.

“And there would be things I’m not so good at. But this battle wasn’t decided by something simple like ‘who is stronger’.”

“…Then what…”

“Too many things.”

Jang Il-so laughed like it was silly.

“He’s worried about Anhui, Hubei, even Hainan province. Maybe he’s even thinking about Jiangnan, which is far away.”

Ho Gamyung nodded. Jang Il-so slowly turned the bottle of liquor.

“I don’t have anything to protect, but he has to protect the whole world. He can’t be everywhere at once, unless he has ten bodies. So, this is unfair from the start.”

Ho Gamyung’s face became serious. As he listened, something came to his mind.

“Do you know, Gamyung-ah?”

“…”

“That guy has never lost when he’s actually there. He always wins. The Yangtze River? If it wasn’t for him, we would have done much better.”

“That’s true…”

He didn’t want to, but he had to agree. Ho Gamyung himself had suffered because of that ‘activity’.

“So, the simple way to beat him is to make him protect everything. The entire wide world.”

Jang Il-so’s lips curled up.

“When he tries to hold so many things with just one pair of hands.”

Clang!

The liquor bottle in Jang Il-so’s hand broke and fell. Clear liquor ran from his tightly closed hand.

“Eventually, things will slip out of his grasp.”

“…”

“I’m just giving him a choice. Whether to protect Anhui or the Nine Sects. Whether to protect Shaolin, or…”

The corners of Jang Il-so’s lips curled up strangely.

“Whether to protect Mount Hua, which he cares so much about.”

“…”

“Of course, he might not know all those choices. Haha!”

It was very complicated. Even ordinary people wouldn’t understand what was happening, even if they saw it.

But Jang Il-so made it very simple.

The key was how to get the Mount Hua Sword Saint to come out.

And how to fight where he couldn’t easily help.

‘Maybe…’

Ho Gamyung felt a chill.

“Can I ask you something?”

“I told you, you don’t need to be so formal. Ask me anything.”

“Leader…”

Ho Gamyung hesitated. Maybe even asking this was wrong.

But, after hesitating, he spoke. He had to ask.

“…Did you know that Murong, Zhuge, and the Heavenly Union would arrive there soon?”

“Hmm?”

Jang Il-so’s eyes smiled gently. He seemed pleased.

“What do you think?”

Ho Gamyung didn’t say anything. He didn’t dare to answer.

“To be honest…”

Jang Il-so smiled strangely.

“I had no idea.”

Ho Gamyung’s mouth dropped open.

Jang Il-so continued like it was nothing.

“Of course, I thought they would come, but it’s hard to know exactly when, right? Even for me.”

“Th-Then why?”

“Why did I leave?”

Ho Gamyung nodded without a word, which was wrong of him.

“Well… Why would I?”

Jang Il-so didn’t give a clear answer. But he seemed to know.

He didn’t need to guess. He didn’t need to think. Because he had already decided. He wouldn’t fight where he was.

The Mount Hua Sword Saint would think. He would decide. That he could win, that he could change things.

But, if he didn’t answer the battles that Jang Il-so started, the Demonic Sect wouldn’t be defeated.

‘Is this possible?’

Ho Gamyung couldn’t understand, like he was hitting a wall.

Didn’t this whole plan depend on trusting the other person completely…?

The Mount Hua Sword Saint trusted that Jang Il-so would win against the Nine Sects, and rushed here from Anhui very quickly.

And Jang Il-so, seeing the Mount Hua Sword Saint, turned away without stopping, even with so many soldiers.

‘Both of them…’

Both of them were crazy.

He couldn’t say it, but that was the only way to explain it.

The fact that two people who hated each other the most, also trusted each other the most, was something that couldn’t be explained, even with the word tragedy.

Ho Gamyung felt a strange feeling inside him. He didn’t want to show it, so he changed the subject.

“Then… where do you think he’ll choose to go this time?”

“Shaolin.”

“…Isn’t Mount Hua more important to him?”

“Of course. But this time, he can’t compare both and choose. Once he chooses, he can’t change his mind.”

“…”

“It’s a shame I can’t see it.”

Jang Il-so licked the liquor from his hand.

“Seeing that guy struggle because of a choice he didn’t know he was making would be amazing.”

The faint smell of liquor mixed with the smell of blood in his mouth. He smiled slightly.

He couldn’t use this trick again. The Righteous Sect would now be reorganized as the Heavenly Union.

But…

“So, please enjoy my last gift. I spent a lot of time preparing it.”

A cold feeling came from Jang Il-so’s face.

More than a hundred horses were running across the open land. Red and white robes mixed together, blowing in the wind.

The riders looked eager as they pushed their horses forward.

“Hurry!”

The time Jang Il-so had given them was running out.

After riding through the mountains towards Xizang and across the plains to avoid the Beggars’ Sect, they had finally arrived.

Now, they would soon reach Hua-Um. The leader licked his lips.

‘Mount Hua…’

What a hateful name. The thought that he would destroy that name made him excited.

According to the plan, Hua-Um should be empty now.

“When you get there, kill everyone and burn it down. Make them cry as they watch.”

“Yes!”

Hong Gyeon, who was leading, kicked his horse.

‘Faster!’

Even though there was still time, he was burning with anger.

Because he knew that even a small delay would stop him from doing what he wanted.

Before that hateful Mount Hua Sword Saint arrived, everything in Hua-Um had to be destroyed. So that he would lose everything, and become a vengeful ghost.

‘Faster!’

He was about to push his horse again.

“Captain! Look ahead!”

“Hmm?”

Hong Gyeon frowned.

The road from the plains to Shanxi was empty. A wide wasteland with nothing in sight.

But there was something there, where there shouldn’t be anyone.

‘A person?’

A wanderer in torn clothes was walking through the wasteland. His cloak was more like rags.

He wasn’t even wearing shoes.

Walking through this wasteland dressed like a beggar…

‘Is he crazy?’

No one in their right mind would cross this land like that.

“What should we do?”

“It’s obvious.”

Clang!

A blue sword was drawn.

They couldn’t let anyone see them. To be safe, anyone who saw them had to be killed.

‘You’re unlucky.’

Taa!

He kicked his horse. The horse charged towards the man. Hong Gyeon quickly swung his sword at the man’s back.

“D-Daoist?”

Hwang Jongi was surprised to see Chung Myung suddenly on the street in Hua-Um.

Chung Myung was breathing hard, like he was about to collapse. He looked around quickly, his eyes shaking.

While Hwang Jongi was confused, Un-Am went to Chung Myung.

“How? Did you come alone?”

Chung Myung didn’t seem to hear. He was just looking around.

After a moment, Chung Myung spoke.

“…The enemy?”

“The enemy?”

Un-Am frowned.

“Isn’t the Demonic Sect in Hubei?”

“…”

“The Supreme Elder took the disciples to Hubei. Didn’t you get the message?”

Un-Am looked worried. Chung Myung stared blankly at him. His fingers were shaking.

‘What… is this?’

Chung Myung arrived first? No, that couldn’t be. They couldn’t be that clumsy.

Then, did they not plan to attack Hua-Um? No, that wasn’t it either.

Just as Jang Il-so knew him, he knew Jang Il-so. The only place to send troops was here.

Then what was this? Why was Hua-Um still peaceful?

“Chung Myung-ah?”

Chung Myung looked lost.

“What…”

Chung Myung, not understanding, said quietly.

“What… is going on?”

It sounded like something breaking in Chung Myung’s head.