Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 467

“Ugh!”

“Ack!”

With short groans, the disciples of the Ice Palace fell one by one.

Each time a disciple fell, drops of cold sweat appeared on Cho-gyeom’s forehead.

He couldn’t bring himself to curse the subordinates falling to those who probably hadn’t lived even half his life. After all, he, too, was helpless against the pale-faced fellow before him.

“Enough, don’t you think?”

“⋯⋯.”

Cho-gyeom flinched slightly.

Cho-gyeom knew the other man was much stronger. If he had wanted to kill, Cho-gyeom would already be dead, freezing in the Northern Sea wind.

“These bastards⋯⋯.”

He scanned his surroundings, face red with anger and bewilderment. He was the only one left standing.

“Do you think you’ll be safe after daring to touch the warriors of the Ice Palace in the Northern Sea?”

“⋯⋯You were the ones who started it, though?”

“Shut up!”

Baek Cheon smiled contentedly.

What Chung Myung had said about people resorting to insults when they ran out of words was spot on.

Cho-gyeom glared, his eyes blazing with fury.

“Not a single one of you will return alive from the Northern Sea! You will die regretting your actions!”

“With your skills, that seems unlikely.”

“If the Ice Palace learns of this, they will tear you limb from limb and feed you to the starving beasts all winter! It’s too late for regrets now!”

Baek Cheon’s eyes flickered strangely as he listened to the threat.

“⋯⋯Well, I hesitate to say this, but…”

“What is it?”

“Hearing words like that makes it rather difficult to let you go nicely, you see.”

“⋯⋯.”

Before he knew it, Yoon Jong and Jo Gul had subtly moved to his left and right, beginning to encircle Cho-gyeom.

“It’s quite troublesome when you’re so uncooperative.”

“We can’t just let you go, can we?”

Cho-gyeom’s eyes darted wildly.

The men from the Central Plains were closing in on him with sly smiles. The way they were surrounding him suggested they had done this more than once or twice.

And when Cho-gyeom confirmed the presence of the emotionless female swordsman blocking his rear, a shiver ran down his spine.

He steeled his resolve and his eyes flashed.

Fwoooosh!

Just before the encirclement was complete, he exploded forward, a blur of motion. Jo Gul’s sword flashed out, a silver arc in the white landscape, but he hesitated.

Having shaken off Jo Gul, Cho-gyeom burst into loud laughter and increased his speed.

“You will die before you even escape the Northern Sea!”

Jo Gul watched Cho-gyeom run away quickly and asked urgently.

“Shouldn’t we chase after him?”

But surprisingly, Baek Cheon merely watched Cho-gyeom disappear with an indifferent expression.

“Me?”

“Ah, no! I mean, not you, Martial Uncle, but anyone!”

“We should chase him, I suppose.”

Baek Cheon replied nonchalantly.

“But well, I don’t really see the need. I’m surprised I was patient for this long.”

“Yes?”

“⋯⋯You won’t kill him, will you?”

“We can only hope not.”

Baek Cheon clicked his tongue as if feeling sorry for him.

“It would be better for him to just collapse here, you know.”

His eyes held genuine pity.

*Screeeeeech!* The sound of his boots on ice echoed as Cho-gyeom fled. His breath came in ragged gasps, burning in the freezing air.

*Where did those men come from?* he thought wildly. Defeat stung, but fear was sharper. It wasn’t just about losing; it was about what these skilled outsiders meant for the Northern Sea.

*And Han Yi-myung…* Han Yi-myung himself was nothing, but the child he protected… that could be dangerous. If these Central Plains warriors were after the child, and were working with Han Yi-myung… he had to warn the Ice Palace.

“I need to get back,” he muttered, pushing himself faster. “I must tell them…”

“Go to the palace?” a voice said.

“Inform them right away…” Cho-gyeom started, then his head snapped back. He expected to see the grey sky, heavy with snow. Instead, something dark filled his vision.

*What is that…?*

Wait… a shoe?

*Crack! Crunch!*

A fur-lined boot slammed into his face with brutal force. The world spun.

“Ugh!”

Cho-gyeom’s legs buckled. He crashed face-first into the deep snow.

*Plop!*

He lay there, buried to his chest, body twitching.

*Thump.* A figure landed lightly nearby. Chung Myung, bundled in so many layers he looked like a walking snowball, shivered dramatically.

“Ugh! It’s absolutely freezing!” he complained, teeth chattering.

It was already cold, but his body temperature had dropped even further from running through the blizzard. Chung Myung glared at Cho-gyeom, who had collapsed on the ground, with resentment in his eyes.

“Seriously! A guy who’s supposedly swung a sword a bit runs away in embarrassment when things don’t go his way?”

“⋯⋯.”

“Honestly! These days, they have no backbone, no backbone! It wasn’t like that in my day, in my day!”

“⋯⋯Ugh.”

Cho-gyeom, his arms trembling like an aspen, barely managed to push himself up. A clear footprint was imprinted on his face.

“Y-you… You bastard!”

He glared at Chung Myung, his eyes bloodshot. But he couldn’t continue, as if he had lost his words.

Seeing him covered head-to-toe in fur, wrapped up so thickly that he looked almost round, a sense of crisis and absurdity washed over him simultaneously.

He chased me all the way here looking like that?

He was confident in his footwork. Moreover, running on the snowy roads of the Northern Sea was different from running on ordinary roads. So, with ordinary footwork, it should have been impossible to catch up to him.

But there was no way this guy had specially learned the Ice Palace’s footwork, right?

Cho-gyeom cleared his complicated thoughts and drew his sword. In any case, he had to defeat this guy as quickly as possible and return to the Ice Palace.

“Do you think I’m funny?”

“Well, not that much of a joke.”

“What?”

“Just a bit easy, maybe?”

“⋯⋯.”

Cho-gyeom’s eyes rolled back at those words, which completely shattered his pride.

“I’ll correct your impudence!”

“No one in generations has ever corrected my impudence. You might as well give up.”

Chung Myung smirked and stretched his arm back. Then, his eyes widened.

“Huh?”

Pat pat.

“Oh? Where did it…”

Pat pat pat.

“Ah…”

I was wearing so many layers that I couldn’t find my sword?

I forgot and left it behind.

Chung Myung gave Cho-gyeom a slightly awkward look.

“Um, sorry, but… would it be alright if I just went back quickly to get my sword?”

“Would I let you?”

Cho Geum didn’t say another word. His face twisted with anger, he charged at Chung Myung, sword raised high. The blade whistled as it cut through the icy air, and even from a distance, you could feel the strange, cold power coming from it.

“Die, you pathetic fool!” Cho Geum roared.

The sword, crackling with dark, freezing energy, flashed downwards towards Chung Myung’s head.

“No!” Chung Myung cried out, his eyes wide with fear. He threw up his hand in a desperate attempt to stop the deadly blade.

Seeing this, Cho Geum smiled to himself.

‘Fool!’

A swordsman wandering around without his sword. Where could you find someone so helpless? He should be running for his life, not trying to block a sword with his bare hands!

‘There’s no helping stupidity!’

Cho Geum’s sword looked like it could cut Chung Myung in half with one hit.

Chung Myung’s hand, which looked so weak, met the sword in the air. Cho Geum thought his sword would easily cut through Chung Myung’s hand.

But then…

Thwack!

“Huh?”

Cho Geum’s eyes opened wide in shock.

‘What?’

It was unbelievable. Chung Myung had caught his sword with his bare hand, and it looked easy for him.

‘T-this can’t be happening…’

He was so surprised his heart almost jumped out of his chest. How could someone catch a sword swung with all his strength with just a bare hand, without even trying? Was that even possible?

Without thinking, he tried to pull his sword back. But Chung Myung held it tight, like his hand was made of iron.

Before he could calm down, he heard an angry voice.

“A person should have some manners! I said I was going to get a sword, but you’re being annoying and stopping me?”

“……”

“Fine then!”

Wham!

Chung Myung kicked Cho Geum in the groin.

He kicked so hard that Cho Geum’s body lifted off the ground for a moment.

And then…

“Kraaah!”

It was too awful to watch… or even to hear the terrible scream that followed.

Thud!

Cho Geum fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth and shaking like he was having a fit.

“Tsk.”

Chung Myung, looking annoyed, walked over and grabbed Cho Geum’s ankle, which was sticking up in the air.

“Ugh. How am I supposed to go all the way over there again? Ugh, it’s cold!”

Drag, drag, drag, drag.

A long line began to appear on the white snow.

A long line made by Cho Geum’s body.

“They’re coming.”

“……See? He got bitten by a hunting dog.”

“More like a rabid dog.”

The Mount Hua disciples nodded in agreement at Jo Gul’s words.

‘If he had just quietly been beaten and fainted here, he wouldn’t be suffering like that…’

‘Poor thing.’

Even though he was their enemy, they felt sorry for him.

“Ah, it’s cold! Really!”

Chung Myung dragged Cho Geum over and threw him towards the Ice Palace disciples. The unconscious body flew through the air and landed with a thud.

‘Even if he’s an enemy, he’s still a Taoist!’

‘You should respect people!’

But arguing with Chung Myung about such things was pointless.

“Couldn’t even catch one properly! Huh?”

“As if you could have caught him.”

“Anyway, you’re all useless!”

“……You’re the most useless, you little brat.”

Baek Cheon shook his head and turned away. Tang Soso was taking care of the injured Hong Yimyeong.

“Are you alright?”

Hong Yimyeong sighed deeply before answering Baek Cheon’s question.

“……I am grateful for your help.”

“Don’t mention it. If I help someone today, I might need help someday too.”

Hong Yimyeong smiled sadly, remembering his own words.

“I didn’t expect ‘someday’ to come so quickly.”

If he hadn’t been kind to the Mount Hua disciples and spent time fixing their carriage, Hong Yimyeong would have had to run away with his son alone and face the Ice Palace swordsmen.

If that had happened, they would probably be dead, buried in the ice of the Northern Sea.

They had received a great reward for a small act of kindness.

Baek Cheon quietly asked Tang Soso.

“How is he?”

“He has some internal injuries, but they aren’t too bad. He should be better after resting for a few days.”

“Hmm.”

Baek Cheon nodded, relieved.

“But Elder…”

He hesitated, looking at Hong Yimyeong and Hong Jinbo. He wanted to ask something, but he wasn’t sure how to say it.

“That…”

As Baek Cheon hesitated, Chung Myung walked over.

“Mister.”

“……”

“It seems like things have gotten complicated for both of us. I think you need to explain what’s going on.”

“……”

“Especially…”

Chung Myung looked at Hong Jinbo.

“Judging by what they were doing, it seems like they came for him, not you?”

Hong Yimyeong looked up, his face serious. He seemed to be thinking hard.

“……Let’s go inside for now. The wind is cold.”

This time, Baek Cheon answered instead of Chung Myung.

“Very well. But…”

“There is nothing to worry about.”

Hong Yimyeong sighed softly.

“Now that things have gone this far, I will explain everything. You all need to know anyway.”

The Mount Hua disciples nodded.

“But what about these guys?”

Jo Gul pointed to the fallen Ice Palace disciples.

“If we leave them like this, they might wake up and run away? Should we move them inside?”

“The house is small enough as it is. Where would we put them?”

“Then what do we do?”

“What do you mean, what do we do?”

Chung Myung, shivering from the cold, walked to the side of the house. He picked up a large, strong piece of firewood from the pile stacked for the winter.

“What are you going to do with that?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to do? This…”

Just then, one of the Ice Palace warriors on the ground twitched and woke up.

“Ugh… Ugh… What…”

Whack!

Thud.

“……”

The Ice Palace disciple stopped moving as his head was hit hard with the firewood.

“See?”

“……”

“Keep watch, and if you think they’re waking up, knock them out again by hitting the back of their heads. If you hit them hard enough, you can put them to sleep for good.”

“……”

Chung Myung’s bad behavior seemed to have no limits, even in this cold place.