Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 1761

Pale, long fingers moved a white Go stone onto the board. The Go board was beautiful and fancy, which looked strange in the middle of a battlefield.

“Hmm.”

He seemed ready to make a move, but he hesitated. Then, as if he didn’t like his first idea, he placed the stone somewhere else.

His eyes were serious as he looked at the board, but his voice was playful.

“This is… unexpected. Go? Seriously?”

Jang Il-So glanced at Ho Ga-Myung, who didn’t even look up. Ho Ga-Myung’s eyes were fixed on the black and white stones on the elegant Go board.

“It’s not so strange,” Ho Ga-Myung said quietly. “We used to do this, remember? Quite often.”

“Yeah, because you wouldn’t leave me alone about it,” Jang Il-So chuckled softly.

There was a time like that.

It was a hard time, but they had to be patient and wait for things to get better, like hiding in a dark place until the right moment came.

Ho Ga-Myung placed a black Go stone on the board, not taking his eyes off it.

“Maybe it was just stubbornness,” he said.

“Stubbornness?”

“Go. My teacher taught me a lot about Go. He said it was a game for wise and thoughtful people.”

“How useless.”

“But I couldn’t win against the Lord of the Fang… no, the Sect Leader. Even though I was the one who taught you Go.”

Jang Il-So chuckled lightly.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. If I knew you’d be so upset and hold it in your heart, I would have gone easy on you.”

He meant that Ho Ga-Myung must have been very frustrated to bother him with a game of Go even now.

“It was frustrating.”

Ho Ga-Myung remained calm, as if he didn’t care. Even though he understood the hidden meaning.

“My teacher taught me that Go is like talking to your opponent and seeing yourself in a mirror. You have to be patient and see beyond what’s right in front of you. But… I couldn’t do that against the Sect Leader.”

Thwack.

Jang Il-So slammed a white stone onto the board.

Watching Jang Il-So’s move, Ho Ga-Myung continued to speak quietly.

“The Sect Leader’s style was too free. I taught you Go, but you made moves I never could have imagined.”

“Hmm, well… Maybe you’re just too rigid?”

Ho Ga-Myung calmly agreed. He continued to make his moves calmly.

Jang Il-So leaned back in his chair, as if he was losing interest.

“So, you want to remember old times? Or… is it because of what’s happening now?”

Jang Il-So’s eyes flashed slightly.

He was only playing along because Ho Ga-Myung had asked. They didn’t have time to relax like this.

“Ga-Myung.”

“It’s the Sect Leader’s turn.”

Jang Il-So stared at Ho Ga-Myung, who was still calm.

He didn’t waste time on things that didn’t matter.

Ho Ga-Myung, who had been with him for a long time, was the same. He hated wasting time even more than Jang Il-So did.

Jang Il-So sighed softly.

“Alright, let’s do this. Let’s see what this is all about.”

Jang Il-So sat up straight and focused again.

Silence fell between them as they made several moves. Only the sound of Go stones being placed broke the quiet.

Ho Ga-Myung broke the silence.

“By the way, I’ve been thinking differently lately.”

“…About what?”

“I couldn’t understand it before. I couldn’t figure anything out. I thought Go was just a game for people who had nothing better to do.”

“…”

“But now, I think it might not be so wrong.”

“Hmm. You’re talkative today. Especially when you’re facing me.”

Thwack.

Jang Il-So placed a stone in the middle of Ho Ga-Myung’s area.

It was a white stone surrounded by black Go stones. It seemed like a reckless move.

Ho Ga-Myung’s expression hardened.

He realized that this one move could destroy his entire army.

“How is it?”

Ho Ga-Myung carefully began to defend himself.

But as Jang Il-So made his moves, Ho Ga-Myung’s situation got worse. Jang Il-So’s area was growing in the middle of Ho Ga-Myung’s territory, and the black stones around the white stones were in danger.

Jang Il-So made a faint sound.

“Oh, dear… It looks like you’re in trouble. Should I take back a few moves?”

Ho Ga-Myung, who had been staring at the board, finally looked up at Jang Il-So.

“What about you, Sect Leader?”

“…Hmm? About what?”

“Can you see what I’m thinking now?”

“Hmm.”

Jang Il-So narrowed his eyes and looked at Ho Ga-Myung. Ho Ga-Myung shook his head.

“You probably can’t.”

“…”

“I used to feel like you could see right through me, Sect Leader. Even if I didn’t say anything, you seemed to know what I was thinking. But it’s not like that now.”

Jang Il-So’s expression stiffened slightly.

“…What are you trying to say?”

“The Sect Leader used to be someone who did things that ordinary people couldn’t even imagine, so easily. Whether it was in battle or in a game of Go.”

Thwack.

Ho Ga-Myung placed a stone without emotion. Jang Il-So’s expression changed. A displeased smile flashed across his face, and then it turned eerie.

“This is…”

Before he knew it, the game had changed.

Jang Il-So had captured Ho Ga-Myung’s great army, but a large area had been created somewhere else.

The stones that had been struggling to survive had built up a strong force.

Now, Jang Il-So couldn’t win even if he captured the great army.

‘A bait?’

Was the great army used as bait?

Jang Il-So was angry because he had been defeated in a way he couldn’t have imagined.

“Ga-Myung…”

“Do you remember?”

Ho Ga-Myung calmly said what he had to say.

“This is… a game of Go we played before. But our positions were switched back then.”

“…”

He remembered.

Jang Il-So had sacrificed his great army and built up forces on the outside.

And now, Jang Il-So was losing because of the move he had made in the past. It was like he was under a spell.

“I was shocked back then. Giving the great army to the enemy as bait was something I had never seen in Go. It’s not easy to give up something you’ve worked so hard for. Ordinary people wouldn’t do that.”

Ho Ga-Myung’s eyes were cold.

“But the Sect Leader back then would have done it without hesitation. He would use anything he could, and throw it away if he had to. He would calmly cut off his own arm to defeat the enemy.”

“…”

“But now, the Sect Leader doesn’t want to let go of anything. So… you’re losing because of your past move.”

“Ga-Myung.”

“Are you enjoying this, Sect Leader?”

“…”

“Everything was just a game to the Sect Leader back then. Gaining something, losing something, even his own fate. But what about now? Are you having fun?”

“That’s enough.”

“Or are you starting to feel weighed down? Are you afraid to move because you think one mistake will ruin everything?”

“You’re crossing the line. Even if it’s you…”

“I wonder, would the current Sect Leader seem human to the Sect Leader who roamed the back alleys of Guizhou, or just…”

Wham!

The Go board flew into the air.

Rattle.

The Go stones fell to the floor like rain. Jang Il-So slowly pulled back his right hand, which had hit the Go board.

An eerie smile appeared on his face.

“Not a human… but a piglet that’s full of food, is that what you’re saying?”

Ho Ga-Myung stood up and began to pick up the Go stones.

“Ho Ga-Myung.”

“The enemies are in that shamanic shrine. It’s hard to fight them there. You’re hesitating because of that.”

Jang Il-So’s lips twitched.

“So?”

“Patience and missed chances are different. There’s no room for waiting. We have to draw them out.”

“Draw them out…”

Jang Il-So tapped his knee.

“I don’t care about your ideas. I don’t think it’s wrong to keep innocent people out of this war. But…”

Ho Ga-Myung glared at Jang Il-So.

“Didn’t you say that ideas and values don’t matter in war?”

Jang Il-So’s eyes flickered. He looked like he was about to kill Ho Ga-Myung.

But Ho Ga-Myung was calm, as if his life didn’t matter.

“Give me your order. I’ll kill innocent people to draw them out. If not, give me control of the Fang. Then…”

He spoke in a low, serious, and upright voice.

“I’ll give you this Central Plains.”

Jang Il-So was silent.

“Sect Leader.”

“…In the past, now, and in the future.”

“…”

“You’re the only one who can talk to me like that.”

Ho Ga-Myung nodded.

“That’s why I’m here.”

“…Anyway…”

Jang Il-So leaned back and sighed.

“Alright, do what you want. But you have to get results. Understand?”

“With my life.”

Ho Ga-Myung bowed and left.

Jang Il-So stared at his back, then looked down at the Go stones that Ho Ga-Myung hadn’t picked up.

Jang Il-So had a plan, of course. But he couldn’t help but wonder.

Is my plan better than Ho Ga-Myung’s?

Why was I making things so difficult when there was an easier way to confuse the enemies?

Was it because of my ideas? Was I being held back by stupid rules?

Or…

Was I really afraid, like Ho Ga-Myung said? Afraid to see the end of all this?

Swoosh.

Jang Il-So let his hand fall.

Long hair covered his face.

“A game…….”

He smiled sadly.

He knew he had changed. He thought he had to accept it.

But Ho Ga-Myung said he shouldn’t. He told him to enjoy everything and play with it like he used to.

“Then I am…….”

Jang Il-So’s eyes darkened.

The eeriness disappeared, and something very dark filled his eyes.