Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 491

“Kkeueuk… ….” A choked sound escaped the prisoner’s lips.

“Ugh!” Another groaned, doubling over.

The air in the ice tunnel seemed to thicken, pressing down on them. The prisoners, Yeo Sa-hon among them, gasped for breath, their faces contorted in silent screams. It wasn’t a weapon, not a sword or a fist, but something far more terrifying. It was pure, raw killing intent, so potent it felt like a physical weight crushing their chests. It was as if Chung Myung could kill them all with just a thought.

“Benefactor!”

“Ch-, Chung Myung-ah! Calm down!”

Baek Cheon, horrified, approached and grabbed Chung Myung’s shoulders tightly.

Chung Myung flinched and slowly looked ahead. Only then did he release his murderous intent and press his lips tightly together.

“Keoheok!”

Yeo Sa-hon, released from the excessive pressure, coughed heavily.

Chung Myung usually apologized right away for mistakes. But now, he couldn’t. He was too shocked.

“The descent? Of the Heavenly Demon?”

“… …Yes! I, I clearly heard it that way.”

“… …Those crazy bastards… ….”

Suddenly, everything clicked into place. The strange mission to Bukhae, the desperate need for Ice Essence… it all pointed to one terrifying conclusion.

“He didn’t know exactly *how*, but… ….”

What if they were plotting the resurrection of the Heavenly Demon by some means, and a large amount of Ice Essence was needed to perform the ritual?

“… …It’s clear they didn’t choose Bukhae because it was remote.”

From the beginning, their goal was Bukhae, specifically the Ice Essence.

A cold dread seeped into Chung Myung’s heart, chilling him more than any ice. His anger was still there, burning hot, but now it was mixed with a chilling fear.

– Remember. Disciple of Hwasan. This is not the end. The Demonic (魔) will return.

“What a load of bull.”

Chung Myung gritted his teeth.

The Heavenly Demon is going to be resurrected?

‘Over my dead body?’

As long as Chung Myung had his eyes open, that would never happen. He looked his prettiest with his head cut off.

‘Damn it.’

Whether it was good luck or bad luck.

It was fortunate that he had arrived in Bukhae just as the remnants of the Demonic Sect were plotting the resurrection of the Heavenly Demon. If he had been completely unaware and the Heavenly Demon had actually been resurrected, Hwasan, as well as the entire Central Plains, would have turned into hell.

But it was terrible that he couldn’t get any help from Hwasan, let alone the other sects.

At this rate, they would have to fight those Demonic Sect bastards on their own.

“Ugh, I’m going crazy!”

Dust from the mine tunnel rained down as Chung Myung grabbed his hair, tearing at it. His already disheveled hair became even more tangled.

“Chung Myung-ah. Are you alright?” Baek Cheon’s voice was filled with worry, his grip on Chung Myung’s shoulders trembling slightly.

“Alright? Does it *look* like I’m alright?” Chung Myung snapped, rolling his eyes. He closed them tightly and took a deep breath.

“Hoo! Hoo! Let’s calm down for now. Calm down.”

In this hellish situation, the only glimmer of hope was that the Heavenly Demon had not yet been resurrected.

“No, don’t those crazy bastards have any desire for power?! If the guy who used to order people around with a flick of his chin had died nicely, they should have just eaten well and lived well among themselves. What are they thinking, trying to revive that ridiculous bastard… ….”

“… …Wait… come back to life? Is that… is that even possible?” Jo Gul asked, his voice laced with uncertainty.

Chung Myung closed his mouth.

It can’t be. There’s no way that’s possible.

But he couldn’t answer that way. Chung Myung was the most definitive proof that it was possible.

‘I can do it, so why can’t the Heavenly Demon?’

In fact, he had thought about it several times already.

He had been consciously avoiding thinking about it, but perhaps the Heavenly Demon had already been resurrected. Maybe he had been resurrected and was waiting for the right time.

There was no way that what was possible for Chung Myung would be impossible for him.

Every time he had such thoughts, goosebumps would run down his spine and his heart would darken.

To think that somewhere in this wide world, that crazy bastard might be alive. What a terrible thought!

“This is either fortunate or unfortunate… ….”

Anyway, seeing those bastards doing that crazy thing means that the Heavenly Demon hasn’t been resurrected yet.

“Aish!”

I’d rather die than suffer.

“Here. Sit here!”

Chung Myung pounded the floor, and the disciples of Hwasan silently sat down.

Chung Myung opened his mouth with a distorted face.

“Okay. Let’s get this straight. So, those Demonic Sect bastards are using all the Ice Essence in Bukhae right now to do that crazy thing of resurrecting the Heavenly Demon.”

“That seems to be the case.”

“And the Ice Palace is happily cooperating with that… …. No, are they really crazy? What do they know about the Heavenly Demon that they’re cooperating with him? When the Heavenly Demon comes back to life, he’ll cut off the Ice Palace Lord’s head first!”

There are various ways to commit suicide in the world. There’s no need to choose such a mythical suicide out of all those methods.

“Aren’t they thinking of becoming his subordinates?”

“You’re saying that because you don’t know the Heavenly Demon, Martial Uncle.”

“How do you know?”

“… …I have my ways. Don’t ask me, I’m busy.”

First of all, the concept of subordinates hardly exists for that Heavenly Demon bastard.

What do I mean?

‘He didn’t even bat an eye when countless Demonic Sect members died, so there’s no way he’d accept the Ice Palace.’

The Demonic Sect’s faith is a one-way street.

The Demonic Sect members worship and revere the Heavenly Demon, but the Heavenly Demon doesn’t particularly cherish and care for the Demonic Sect members.

So why do the Demonic Sect members follow the Heavenly Demon?

“Because they’re crazy.”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“It’s nothing.”

Chung Myung shook his head. Then he sighed deeply.

“Hoo, so… … anyway, that resurrection or whatever is not far off, and they need more Ice Essence, so they’re pushing these people so hard, right?”

Chung Myung turned his head sharply, and Yeo Sa-hon quickly nodded.

“The labor here has always been harsh, but recently they have been urging us on as if they were going to kill us. As a result, many have fallen ill and collapsed from exhaustion.”

“Keueung. This shouldn’t be right.”

Even though all the clues were falling into place and the questions were being answered, he felt more stuffy than happy.

“The key is the Ice Essence. But that Ice Essence… ….”

Chung Myung glanced at his sleeve.

All the excessively mined Ice Essence was in his sleeve.

“… …It’s all here.”

“… ….”

The Hwasan disciples all flinched slightly.

“… …Shouldn’t we mine more?”

“No more Ice Essence will come out of here for a while.”

“… …Why?”

“I’ve gathered it all. Unless you plan to dig all the way to the end of the underground, it’s not worth it to dig until the yin energy rises and new essence is created.”

Baek Cheon, who had been contemplating for a moment, muttered with a sullen face.

“So. That means… ….”

“Yeah.”

Chung Myung nodded.

“The last key those bastards need to resurrect the Heavenly Demon is in my hands.”

He could already see it in his mind. The Demonic Cult members, eyes wide and wild, rushing towards him. They wanted the Ice Jade so badly. Because the Heavenly Demon was involved, they would do anything, even die, to get it.

“Hee hee hee hee.”

Chung Myung laughed quietly, like someone going crazy. Then, he hit the floor hard with his hand and shouted, “This is a total mess! Damn it!”

Inside the main room of the Ice Palace.

“They mined the Ice Jade? A lot of it?”

“Yes, Palace Lord.”

Seol Cheon-sang’s face became strange as he heard the news.

“Are you saying they got all that Ice Jade at once? We couldn’t even do that by making the prisoners work hard all the time!”

“…That is right.”

Seol Cheon-sang laughed, not believing it.

“Even someone weak can become strong.”

He didn’t know how they did it, but he knew the report was likely true.

“Ice Jade…”

He had let the Mount Hua Sect buy the Ice Jade they found. So, all this Ice Jade they mined would belong to them.

“This is unbelievable.”

Seol Cheon-sang said quietly, but he chuckled a little. The more he thought about it, the funnier it seemed.

“…What should we do, Palace Lord?”

Elder Jang, who stood beside Seol Cheon-sang, spoke carefully.

“If ‘they’ find out about this, they will not just watch and do nothing.”

Seol Cheon-sang’s face became very ugly. He glared at Elder Jang, and you could feel his anger.

“Are you saying I should be scared of those people?”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant.”

Elder Jang quickly looked down and said no. Seol Cheon-sang looked out the window, looking a little angry.

‘Things have gone wrong.’

He only let them be in the mine, never thinking they would really mine anything.

“It can’t be helped.”

After thinking for a moment, Seol Cheon-sang chuckled and said.

“We have to calm them down and ask them to give us the Ice Jade. We can tell them they can keep anything else they find.”

“…What if they don’t agree?”

“Don’t agree?”

The corner of his mouth turned down.

“Then there is only one way.”

His voice became cold and slow, filling the room.

“We will have to take it by force.”

“Are you going to kill them?”

“Tsk.”

He clicked his tongue.

“Did you not hear me? They cannot die here.”

“Then what…?”

“Killing and taking are different things. If we kill them, the groups in the Central Plains will complain. But how can they argue if we just take something that is here?”

“That’s true. It is really the Ice Palace’s thing anyway.”

“Exactly. Then it’s decided…”

But as he spoke, Seol Cheon-sang’s face became serious, and his voice stopped.

“No…”

“…Yes?”

“No, wait. We can’t be sure. They might take the Ice Jade and escape.”

Elder Jang looked confused.

“Why would they do that?”

“Don’t be stupid. Ice Jade is worth so much. Even if we sold it for half price, do you think they have enough money to buy that much? And even if they did, they wouldn’t have brought all that money here.”

“Ah…”

Seol Cheon-sang’s face became a little white.

“If they escape…”

He started to sweat. If that happened, the ‘Bishop’ would be completely angry at him. A terrible anger, that is.

“Send the Ice Sword Unit to catch them.”

“But there are already many soldiers there.”

“Don’t think they are weak. If the rumors are true that they are the best young fighters from the Central Plains, they will be hard to beat.”

His voice was very firm now.

“We cannot make any mistakes. Not even a tiny chance of failure!”

Elder Jang quickly bowed his head.

“Yes, understood! I will give the order.”

“If they fight back too much, you can kill them.”

“⋯⋯.”

“Go! Now!”

“Yes!”

Elder Jang walked quickly.

“Come with me.”

“Yes!”

The man who gave the report followed him out.

Elder Jang left the Palace Lord’s room and looked at Seol Cheon-sang’s face before closing the door.

‘He is scared.’

He acted like he was thinking clearly and being brave, but really, he was just giving up everything he believed in, because he was afraid of the Bishop’s anger.

‘Palace Lord. That’s why I can’t trust you alone.’

Elder Jang closed the door and quickly went to the stairs. They both hurried down the tower stairs.

“You heard everything, yes?”

“Yes, Elder!”

“Go to the Ice Sword Unit now and give them the Palace Lord’s orders.”

“…Am I allowed to do that?”

Because the man asked carefully, Elder Jang took out his elder badge, which showed he was an important person, from his pocket and gave it to him.

“Show this, and there will be no problems.”

“Understood! Then, what will you do, Elder?”

“I have other things to do. Don’t wait, go now!”

“Yes!”

The man bowed deeply and went down the stairs first. Elder Jang watched him go, then slowly stopped and smiled in a strange way.

‘I got good news.’

Very good news.

‘They will be very happy to hear this.’

Elder Jang had been going the same way as the man, but then he turned and went a different way. He was not going inside the Ice Palace, but outside.

Whoosh.

He quickly left the castle and started to run secretly and fast. He climbed over the west walls like a bird and ran fast across the snowy field.

A strange sound came from his mouth.

“Heavenly Demon Reborn, all demons obey.”

The last part to finish the long wait is now in place.