Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 394

“Un-gum!”

Hyun-jong roared, trying to leap forward.

But Ya-do’s chilling blade wouldn’t allow him to move.

Clang!

The blade aimed for his neck collided with Hyun-jong’s wildly flailing sword. Having lost his calm, he couldn’t fully block the incoming strike. Hyun-jong’s sword was knocked back, and the edge of the blade cut his own neck, leaving a shallow, long wound.

“…This.”

“You must remain calm, Sect Leader,” Ya-do said with a smirk.

“Wasn’t calmness your strength?”

“…”

“What a pity. It seems I cannot keep my word that no one would die before you.”

Hyun-jong’s eyes were bloodshot.

He felt as if all the blood in his body was rushing upwards, but at the same time, he knew that if he went to help Un-gum now, his back would be exposed. And if Un-gum and he fell together, it wouldn’t even take an hour for everyone here to die.

Blood began to trickle from Hyun-jong’s eyes as the blood vessels in them burst from rage.

He was losing too much blood, and dizziness began to set in. Only his surging anger and resentment kept him standing.

“Come, you villain. I will kill you and make you pay the price.”

“Oh, dear,” Ya-do laughed, louder than seemed natural.

“It was a little fun until now… but now it won’t be fun anymore. I’ll grant your wish and end this quickly.”

An even more immense aura of blue energy gathered around his blade.

Crack!

With a sickening sound, Hyun-sang’s left wrist snapped.

Due to Un-gum’s injury, Hyun-sang momentarily exposed a small opening, which the Poison Blood Demon did not miss. It was the price he paid for blocking the demon’s palm strike with his hand.

It wasn’t just the broken wrist that was the problem.

‘Poison.’

The injured wrist swelled rapidly and began to turn black. Veins spread like ink under his skin.

Hyun-sang, in a desperate attempt, pushed his inner energy to block the flow of qi, gritting his teeth as he swung his sword again.

Swish!

A rough, murderous strike fell upon the Poison Blood Demon.

Clang! Clang!

But his sword still couldn’t penetrate the Poison Blood Demon’s defense. At best, it left a small scratch on his forearm.

“You seem to be in a hurry. Heh heh heh.”

Hyun-sang’s eyes were bloodshot.

‘Un-gum.’

Un-gum was his most cherished disciple.

Hyun-jong favored Un-am, but Hyun-sang, the sword master, cherished Un-gum above all others, no matter what anyone said.

Watching him was truly heartwarming. Un-gum never neglected his training for a single day and never strayed from his duty as a sword master for a single moment.

The one who would one day succeed him as the head of the Martial Arts Hall.

That was Un-gum.

But at this moment, Un-gum’s everything, his dominant hand, was severed.

The hand that should wield the sword, the arm that should teach the disciples.

“Aaaaargh!” Hyun-sang roared, pressing the Poison Blood Demon with unexpected fierceness.

“I will kill you bastards!” Hyun-sang roared, his voice cracking with grief and fury, ‘I will kill you! You bastards will pay for what you’ve done!’

“Hahaha! Such words coming from a Taoist priest!” The Poison Blood Demon laughed calmly, parrying Hyun-sang’s sword.

‘Un-gum.’

Tears flowed from Hyun-sang’s eyes, unable to be held back.

‘My dear Un-gum.’

His mind was hazy. It was as if the world was covered in a thick fog, making it impossible to see or feel properly.

‘So, I am…’

What happened? The poison was clouding his mind. He felt dizzy and lost. He felt as if he was endlessly drifting, searching for something vague.

Then.

“…Grand Uncle! Get a hold of your…” A faint voice reached him from somewhere.

What are they saying? I can’t hear. He could only feel something buzzing, unable to clearly understand what was being said.

“Senior Grand Uncle!”

Un-gum’s slowly closing eyes reopened.

‘Ah… That’s right. I was fighting.’

Un-gum’s body collapsed and crashed to the ground as he tried to support himself with his familiar right arm.

His dim gaze groped to the right.

It’s not there.

Where his arm should have been, there was nothing.

Only then did Un-gum fully understand his situation, and he bit his lip.

‘Have I lost too much blood?’

If he didn’t stop the bleeding properly, he would die like this.

Stretching out his trembling left hand, Un-gum struggled to press down on the blood points of his right arm, staggering as he rose to his feet.

“Oh?” Deathly Spear laughed mockingly as he watched the scene, finding it amusing.

“He wouldn’t be strange if he died right away, but he certainly has guts.”

Un-gum didn’t look at him, even at the clear mocking. No, in fact, the words didn’t even reach Un-gum’s ears.

With a blank face, he looked around, then staggered and began walking towards one place.

“Is he looking for a grave?” Deathly Spear smirked and raised his spear to deliver the final blow. But he stopped abruptly, his eyes widening.

“…Huh?”

Drag. Drag.

Un-gum, dragging his unmoving leg, slowly lowered his stance.

The severed arm.

The place Un-gum had arrived at was where his right arm lay.

“You can’t reattach it by…” Deathly Spear, about to say something, closed his mouth.

Un-gum’s fingertips were not pointing at his arm.

The sword held by his severed arm. He was trying to draw that sword with his left hand.

Press.

Un-gum, gripping the upper part of the hilt, stretched out his foot and stepped on his severed arm.

He forced open the fingers that were clenched so tightly as if never to let go of the sword, even separated from his body. Only after finally drawing the sword did he raise himself up.

“…”

Even the great Deathly Spear was left speechless by the sight.

He had traveled through countless battlefields.

How could there not have been one or two who had lost their arms and legs?

But he had never seen anyone pick up their sword before their severed limb.

“…Is he crazy?”

And that wasn’t the end of it.

His face was pale blue from excessive blood loss.

His shoulders were constantly twitching from the pain of his arm being torn off.

And his leg was pierced by a spear, dragging along the ground.

He looked as if he would collapse and die at any moment.

But even in that state, Un-gum gripped his sword with his unfamiliar left hand and stood in front of Deathly Spear.

“…Continue… Con…tinue.”

“…”

“Why?” His face was expressionless as he looked at Deathly Spear.

Dust and smoke filled the air. The Sword of Cloud was on his knees, badly hurt. He coughed, and blood dripped from his mouth. He looked up weakly and whispered, “I… I am still alive.”

The Talon of Annihilation just stared at him.

With a great effort, the Sword of Cloud spoke again, “Before I die…”

Blue light flashed from the sword in his hand, like it was full of anger. It glowed brightly.

“…You will not hurt my disciples.” His voice was weak but firm.

The Talon of Annihilation twisted his face in anger. “You, you bastard!” he yelled. His face went red as he felt a sudden pressure from the old man’s spirit.

‘This man is disgusting,’ he thought angrily. ‘Even now, he’s still trying to act tough.’

He had seen many men talk about justice. But when they were about to die, they all tried to save themselves first. The Talon of Annihilation thought this was just the traditional groups being fake.

What was the point of talking about justice after you saved yourself? It was just a cheap way to make yourself feel good, like a rich man giving a penny to a beggar.

However.

This man was different.

“You might have lived if you had pretended to be dead,” the Talon of Annihilation said, gripping his short spear tightly.

“How dare you stand in front of me like that?”

WHAM!

The short spear shot forward like lightning and pierced the Sword of Cloud’s stomach. The Sword of Cloud didn’t even react.

Thud.

Even the Talon of Annihilation frowned as the short spear went through his belly. It was only meant to be a trick.

‘What is this…’

Wasn’t he basically dead already?

He pulled back the short spear, and blood gushed out. He was already bleeding so much that the blood barely trickled out.

“You wasted your chance to die in peace…” The Talon of Annihilation stopped shouting and looked disgusted.

The Sword of Cloud had a hole in his stomach, but he slowly lifted his sword in his left hand to defend himself.

He couldn’t stand straight. The tip of his sword shook. His eyes were half-closed, and he looked unsteady.

But what was this amazing feeling?

It felt like a very strong swordsman was ready to fight. He knew it shouldn’t be possible, but it felt real.

“You son of a bitch…” The Talon of Annihilation felt his pride hurt each time he felt the other man’s strong spirit.

To be scared by an enemy that even a child could beat? It was unthinkable.

“Let’s see about that!”

Thud.

The short spear lightly pierced the Sword of Cloud’s chest. It only went in a little bit before coming back out, stabbing at the Sword of Cloud’s chest again and again.

“Let’s see how long you can take this!”

Thud.

In a moment, he had five holes in his chest.

“The moment you fall, all your disciples will die. Let’s see how many times you can withstand it!” The Talon of Annihilation moved like crazy.

He stabbed the Sword of Cloud just enough to keep him from dying, but enough to make it hurt a lot.

The Sword of Cloud stumbled, his chest full of holes. But somehow, his legs kept him standing.

“Th…is…”

The Talon of Annihilation gritted his teeth and stabbed the short spear deep into the Sword of Cloud’s leg.

Thump!

He couldn’t stand after his leg was stabbed, and the Sword of Cloud fell to the floor.

“Spirit? Willpower?” The Talon of Annihilation sneered.

“What good is that without skill? All you did was buy some time. Just die already. I’ll send all your disciples to be with you soon.”

He raised the short spear, aiming it at the Sword of Cloud’s neck as he groaned on the ground.

The disciples of Mount Hua screamed.

“Aaaargh! Get out of the way, you bastard! I’ll kill you!”

“Sasuk! Sasuk!”

“Get out of the way! Aargh! You damn bastard!”

But the Talon of Annihilation’s men grabbed the disciples of Mount Hua, attacking them without stopping. The disciples of Mount Hua were soon defending themselves, and their attack was useless.

They were burning inside and crying tears of blood, but they couldn’t break free.

“Gwanju-nim!”

The Talon of Annihilation smiled bitterly at the desperate cry.

“Die, you moron.” He stabbed the Sword of Cloud’s neck with his short spear.

Or, he was about to.

At that moment.

Kaaaaaaah!

With a roar that shook the earth, something flew towards the Talon of Annihilation with terrifying speed.

‘What?’

The Talon of Annihilation opened his eyes wide and turned his head sharply.

Sword energy!

It was like a wave of pure power, a roaring blue tsunami of sword energy, rushing towards him.

He knew he would be cut in half, so he moved the short spear to block the energy.

Clang!

Grind! Grind! Grind! Grind!

The sword energy dug into the short spear, tearing at it.

‘W-what is this…!’

Claaang!

The top of the short spear was cut off and flew away. The sword energy didn’t stop there; it tore through the Talon of Annihilation’s chest.

“⋯⋯.”

Splaash!

Blood sprayed everywhere.

The Talon of Annihilation looked down at his chest. It was torn open, almost to the bone. He stepped back, shocked.

‘What is it?’

What was this strange sword energy?

He looked towards where the sword energy had come from.

And he saw him.

The fastest way to Mount Hua.

A man had jumped off the cliff and was flying down to the ground.

Thud.

The moment the man appeared, the battlefield began to quiet down. It was like a storm suddenly stopping.

The man looked around quietly.

His martial siblings had fallen.

The Sect Leader was covered in blood and barely standing.

The Elder’s body was half-black from poison.

And…

“⋯⋯.”

The Sword of Cloud had fallen to the ground, and his right arm was gone.

Tang Soso screamed as she looked at the man who stood frozen like a statue.

“Sahyung!”

Chung Myung looked up at the Talon of Annihilation.

Twitch.

The Talon of Annihilation twitched.

‘Wh-what is that guy…?’

Something was different.

It wasn’t about strength. The Talon of Annihilation had lived on the battlefield. He could tell how used to death someone was just by looking at their eyes.

That was why he couldn’t move.

He knew that this man had seen terrible things to have such cold eyes.

He couldn’t even feel any anger.

Was it true that people became calm when they were extremely angry?

Chung Myung stared at the Talon of Annihilation and the Maninbang crowd with cold eyes and slowly opened his mouth.

“All of you…” He paused, holding back his anger, and continued in a low voice.

“⋯⋯You will not die peacefully.”

Then, Chung Myung, with his sword down, walked towards the Talon of Annihilation, giving off a scary feeling.