Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1751

Scritch!

A chilling sound echoed, and a bloodied hand flailed desperately in the air.

“Krrk… Krreeee….”

The hand, flailing aimlessly, groped for the sword lodged in its chest. The tough skin of the palm cracked, and sticky blood flowed down, but with a gaping hole in its chest, it felt no pain in its hand.

“Ugh….”

Despair flickered in the eyes that had been filled with malice, and all the remaining strength drained from the Blood Sect disciple’s body.

Srrrrk.

The lifeless body collapsed on the spot. It was never a pleasant sight to behold. However, Chung Myung, who had plunged the sword into the Blood Sect disciple’s chest, looked down at the scene without even a shred of pity.

It wasn’t just because they were enemies. To Chung Myung, these people had lost their right to be called human. They acted like monsters, so he treated them like monsters. He felt no pity for them.

Wham!

The sword was violently pulled from the chest. Chung Myung casually wiped the blood that had splattered on his face and glanced back in the direction he had come from.

The corpses of the Blood Sect disciples, butchered by his sword, lay scattered haphazardly around. He frowned slightly without realizing it.

Unpleasant memories surfaced. He remembered too many battles like this from his past life, battles that had cost him everything.

In the past, this was quite common. Alone or in pairs, in places where ordinary people didn’t tread, he had cut down so many enemies that it was hard to count.

But in this life, such occurrences were not so frequent. The reason was….

Suddenly, Chung Myung’s eyes darkened.

‘What were they after?’

It was too disorganized to be an attack.

Chung Myung had killed a considerable number of Blood Sect disciples. Moreover, those who had come to support him had joined in and cleaned up the Blood Sect disciples even in places where he wasn’t present.

But even so, there would have been damage in places where their hands didn’t reach. Perhaps they had suffered damage beyond Chung Myung’s expectations.

But even so, they too would have suffered considerable damage from this disturbance. Frankly speaking, was it really necessary to expend their forces like this to end the lives of people who weren’t particularly important?

A strange sense of unease washed over him.

‘The feeling of déjà vu isn’t just because I’m used to this kind of scene.’

An attack for the sake of slaughter, devoid of any deep schemes. The inhumanity, not caring at all even if they had to give up their lives as a price, was also similar.

Of course, it wasn’t exactly the same. It couldn’t be. But it was definitely similar at some point. To those he knew, to their actions and words that he didn’t even want to recall.

Chung Myung glanced down the mountain. He followed the traces of the Blood Sect disciples who had already run far away with his eyes and gritted his teeth. The muscles in his clenched jaw bulged.

‘I’m overthinking it.’

Those bastards don’t interfere in the Central Plains. No, it would be more accurate to say they ‘haven’t yet’ interfered in the Central Plains. Anyway, if those bastards were truly aiming for the Central Plains again, the world wouldn’t be so peaceful.

That’s right.

Even the situation where the Four Evil Sects were aiming for Gangbuk, and perhaps a world ruled by evil could be realized, felt peaceful to Chung Myung. At least they weren’t moving towards a world where people didn’t exist.

Chung Myung’s gaze turned to the distant sky.

‘It’s still too early.’

Not everything is ready yet.

Chung Myung sheathed his sword. The air was thick with the smell of blood. He turned and walked slowly away from the bodies, his mind still troubled by the strange attack. He needed to understand what was really happening.

* * *

“Again.”

At the Blood Sect Leader’s cold gaze, the disciple who was reporting flinched.

“S-Sect Leader… I… I have bad news. They… the insects… they didn’t work.”

“…Transference?”

“Yes. Th, the wounds….”

The Blood Sect Leader’s eyes, visible through the bandages, narrowed even further. It was as if he was telling the disciple to look at the wound he was presenting.

The skin, split by a laceration, revealed a hideous black flesh underneath. Anyone who didn’t know better would have thought it was very serious, but in reality, it was just a wound that would have been neatly closed if the Blood Insect had moved.

“Which ones were they?”

“One of them was from the Mount Hua Sect.”

“Plum Blossom Sword Demon?”

“No. It was someone else. If the opponent had been the Plum Blossom Sword Demon, we wouldn’t have even considered fighting in the first place.”

The Blood Sect Leader frowned.

It wasn’t a pleasant answer to hear. But at the same time, it was a wise one. If the orthodox sects heard it, they might spout nonsense about lacking courage. But this side at least had the brains to understand what the saying ‘a mantis trying to stop a chariot’ meant.

Anyway, the important thing now was one thing.

“So there’s someone besides the Plum Blossom Sword Demon who can use Spiritual Energy. Or perhaps….”

The Blood Sect Leader trailed off, lost in thought.

When he had encountered them before, he hadn’t particularly felt that aura. If it hadn’t been for the Plum Blossom Sword Demon, it wouldn’t have been impossible to kill all the bastards there.

‘It’s only been a few days since then.’

Someone who can use Spiritual Energy has emerged in that short period of time? Is Spiritual Energy something that can be learned in such a short period?

“One becomes two, and two become many.”

“Yes?”

“Mount Hua….”

It was definitely troublesome.

The Blood Sect Leader briefly gazed at Mount Wudang. The mountain, which had been charred black, now showed sparse patches of green. Just like those tenacious bastards.

“So?”

“…I judged that the damage would increase if we continued like this, so I ordered a retreat.”

“The reason?”

The Blood Sect disciple flinched.

“Do not waste the disciples recklessly. It was the order you gave me, Sect Leader….”

The Blood Sect Leader nodded faintly.

“A good decision.”

“Thank you.”

“But what I’m curious about is whether that’s really the result of following my orders.”

“Yes?”

Crack!

The Blood Sect Leader’s hand suddenly plunged into the Blood Sect disciple’s wound.

“Krr, Kraaaah! Sect Leader! Aaaargh!”

The Blood Sect disciple screamed, his eyes rolling back from the excruciating pain of the wound being torn open and rummaged through. But the Blood Sect Leader didn’t even blink an eye and continued to shove his fingers into the wound.

Crack!

After a while, the Blood Sect Leader pulled his hand out of the wound. In his hand, he held a bundle of slender, worm-like tentacles.

He gently stroked the white tentacles, soaked in crimson blood.

“It’s not moving.”

It wasn’t dead, it just wasn’t responding.

‘It wouldn’t be wrong to say it’s dead, though.’

The Blood Insect was a creature that even the Blood Sect hadn’t completely figured out. It was merely a sacred object passed down through the sect from the past. The Blood Insect Transference is supposed to heal them using special insects.

“Not good.”

Therefore, even they couldn’t increase the number of Blood Insects indefinitely. If they could create Blood Insects infinitely, the world would already be subjugated under the sect’s feet.

Moreover, there was another reason why the situation was even worse.

‘…Recently, we’ve been failing to manufacture Blood Insects one after another.’

Nothing had changed in the process. But the results were clearly not the same as before. This meant that darkness was gradually looming over the sect’s future.

And now, the number of opponents who were immune to the Blood Insect Transference had increased. It felt like being threatened by an enemy’s sword at the edge of a cliff with nowhere else to retreat.

“Ugh… Ugh….”

The Blood Sect Leader stared blankly at the disciple who was still groaning in pain.

“You must not confuse the desire to live with loyalty to the sect.”

“So, sorry….”

“Lead the injured and return. Gather those who have lost faith in our sect separately.”

“I will comply. But… what about you, Sect Leader?”

Despite the excruciating pain, there was not a hint of dissatisfaction in the disciple’s eyes. The Blood Sect Leader’s face, hidden by bandages, twitched for a moment.

“You don’t need to know.”

The Blood Sect Leader turned away coldly.

If it had been him in the past, he would have retreated here. Enduring losses was not his way. In the declining Blood Sect, there was no greater pain than losing people.

But now, he couldn’t move as he pleased. If he failed to carry out the order disguised as that ‘recommendation,’ it was obvious what would happen to the sect.

At least I have to save face. The elders in the sect were already questioning his leadership. He couldn’t afford another failure. To him… and to them.

One of the two goals he had come here for had turned out to be very unsatisfactory. If so, he had to accomplish at least the remaining one cleanly.

His bloodshot eyes glared at the towering mountain.

“I still… feel like it’s on that mountain.”

A faint smell of blood brushed past his nose. A familiar smell, a smell of blood he had already smelled once before.

* * *

“It seems the Blood Palace has retreated for now. The damage to the main sect is not that great. The greatest damage seems to be to the Zhuge and Murong families.”

“……”

“Originally, in cases like this, the Beggars’ Sect and Green Forest… would have suffered the most damage from the search. But the two sects are currently being mobilized to search Mount Wudang, so….”

To be precise, it wasn’t that they weren’t mobilized, but that they couldn’t be, but that wasn’t particularly important.

“Therefore, it seems there will be considerable dissatisfaction from the Zhuge and Murong families. Depending on the situation….”

The speaker trailed off, cautiously watching the person sitting in front of him.

If things continued like this, a strong distrust of the current leadership of the Heavenly Union could arise. In that case, the sects that had not been able to voice their opinions within the Heavenly Union could gain a strong voice.

If only there was a focal point to bring them together.

Even though he knew all these unspoken words, no answer came from the person sitting across from him. Only other words returned.

“I understand. You may return.”

“B, but Sect Leader.”

The old man closed his mouth completely. The speaker eventually stood up reluctantly.

“I will retreat.”

But even then, as if still lingering, he stared at the old man… Taoist Heo for a long time. Then, Taoist Heo glanced at the small door on the side of the wall behind him.

Seeing that the elder wasn’t leaving, Taoist Heo spoke.

“Must I urge you to leave?”

“……No, Sect Leader.”

“I am no longer the Sect Leader.”

“I am aware of that as well.”

The Wudang elder sighed deeply, his eyes filled with lingering regret.

Taoist Heo sat still, his shoulders slumped, his eyes closed as if even opening them was too much effort. The once bright light in his eyes was now dimmed, like a candle flickering in the wind. The Jang Kang Catastrophe, a terrible war long ago, and the recent Wudang Disaster had taken away his spirit.

Was it just greed to think that he wanted to somehow return him to the way he was in the past?

“Take care of yourself.”

Forcibly swallowing his bitter heart, the elder turned his lingering steps.

Even after the elder left, Taoist Heo didn’t move for a long time.

Taoist Heo, who had been sitting still with his eyes closed for so long that several cups of tea had cooled, finally rose.

Creak.

It wasn’t the large door in front of him, but the small side door behind him. This door led to a small rear garden behind the small thatched house, built along the cliff. It was a secluded place where only a select few in the Wudang Sect were allowed to enter.

Taoist Heo, who had stepped outside, silently looked at Mount Wudang, which stretched out broadly beyond the cliff. Then he opened his mouth.

“It seems you haven’t gotten used to hiding your presence yet.”

His gaze turned to the back of the thatched house. There, there was a small, ordinary altar that wouldn’t be out of place in a Taoist residence.

Soon, the altar began to vibrate faintly and began to slide to the side.

Grrrring.

Along with the sound of rocks grinding against each other, a well-crafted staircase was revealed beneath the altar that had slid to the side. It was a staircase leading underground. A young man with a pale complexion and serious eyes slowly ascended from the stairs. He looked tired but determined.

“You… well, I should ask again.”

“…….”

“Baek Cheon… or should I call you Jin Dong-ryong? Which name feels more like you now?”

The young man sighed briefly.

“If you will do as I wish, I prefer Baek Cheon. Even if it goes against propriety.”

Taoist Heo nodded faintly.

“There’s nothing difficult about that. I, too, am one who has failed to uphold my duty.”

It was a voice tinged with bitterness.