Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 741

The Yangtze River was busy. It was like a main road for boats in this part of the country, a place where many goods were moved.

Naturally, the docks were crowded with people who wanted to cross the river by boat and those who wanted to travel to faraway places along the Yangtze. It was a sea of people.

“Hurry, hurry aboard! Quickly! We’re leaving soon!”

“Don’t push! Ah, I’m falling!”

People hurried across the wooden board between the big boat and the dock. They wore all kinds of clothes.

When it seemed like almost everyone was on board, the sailor who was collecting money stretched his neck and shouted loudly.

“No more? We’re leaving if there’s no one else!”

Then, he took away the board and lifted the anchor. Soon, the sail opened, and the boat slowly started to move forward. As the boat floated on the wide Yangtze River, drifting toward the middle…

“Waaaait!”

Someone in the distance shouted, running like an arrow.

“Wait! Just stop for a moment! I need to get on that boat!”

It was an unusually loud voice.

The sound itself wasn’t that loud, but it was a voice that you could hear clearly.

A man at the front of the boat watched the docks get smaller and smaller. He shook his head. “Too late now!” he called out. “Should have been here sooner! Boat’s not turning back!”

It was true. The boat was already far from the docks. Turning around was impossible. But the running man on the shore didn’t stop.

“No way!” the man shouted, his voice carrying across the water. He ran even faster towards the riverbank, like he planned to jump.

“Lo, look!”

“What’s he trying to do?”

The people on the boat and at the dock watched with wide eyes, surprised by what he was doing.

The boat was already more than ten yards away from the riverbank. But this man wasn’t giving up. It looked like he was going to jump onto the boat.

“He’s going to get hurt if he does that…”

“He’ll probably just jump and dive in.”

“How can he catch up to the boat by swimming! The boat won’t stop and wait for him. It’s already raised its sail!”

It was then.

“Taaah!”

The running man suddenly ran faster and jumped into the air like a bird. Everyone watched him fly through the air.

“Whoaaa!”

“Good heavens! What is that!”

Flying like a hawk, he spun in the air and quickly closed the distance of more than ten yards, landing on the boat.

Thud!

He landed on the boat’s railing, but he made it. It was truly amazing.

The people watching from the dock and the boat opened their mouths and clapped at this incredible sight. People shouted with surprise and admiration.

“A person isn’t a bird, you know.”

“Amazing! Truly amazing! Is he some kind of fighter?”

At that moment, someone saw the word ‘Special’ on the luggage tied to the man’s shoulder and was surprised.

“It’s a special delivery! A special delivery from the Galaxy Express!”

“Oh? From that Galaxy Trading Company…?”

“Wow! This person is a special delivery person from the Galaxy Express, said to be as fast as the wind! It’s my first time seeing one in person!”

As soon as they heard the words ‘special delivery,’ the people on the boat crowded around the man.

The man smiled gently and put his hands together, politely greeting the people around him.

“Thank you, everyone! Just need to deliver this important package, so please give me a little space, okay?”

At the polite request, the people who had crowded around nodded and stepped back a little.

Everyone knew that the Galaxy Express’s special delivery people charged high fees because they carried expensive goods.

Among all the delivery companies, the Galaxy Express had become famous recently because of these special delivery people.

Anyone who worked in this business, or who was interested in what was happening in the world, knew about them. They knew that special delivery people could travel thousands of miles quickly, delivering goods faster than other companies could.

“You’ve worked hard. Where are you going?”

“Haha. I can’t tell you that, I’m afraid.”

“He’s definitely a special delivery person from the Galaxy Express.”

“Of course, of course. I heard that important people in the capital have to draw lots and wait in line to get them to deliver their goods, right?”

“Amazing! Truly amazing! I’d like to have them deliver something for me someday.”

“Do you even have anything valuable enough for that kind of service?”

“Hey, you! Does the Galaxy Express only have special delivery people? They deliver regular items too.”

So Jeong-bok, the special delivery person, smiled gently.

‘Now, people recognize me everywhere I go.’

He was a member of the Illusory Specter Sect.

It had been a while since they started delivering expensive goods because of the leader’s decision. Now, people everywhere recognized the Galaxy Express’s special delivery people.

‘This is a good thing.’

When the leader first said they would start delivering goods, there was a lot of opposition from inside the sect.

It wasn’t just the elders who cared about their reputation. Even the disciples who had to do the work didn’t like it.

But now, the disciples who stayed in the Illusory Specter Sect to train were jealous of those who went out on deliveries. They were looking forward to their turn.

‘My turn is coming up soon.’

When he finished his job, he would go back to the Illusory Specter Sect, switch with someone else, and train for a while. The thought of going back to the Illusory Specter Sect made him sigh.

He hadn’t realized it before, but seeing the world and experiencing new things made him see things differently.

Compared to training all day in the Illusory Specter Sect in the mountains, this was much better.

‘If I finish this delivery, I’ll almost have saved enough money…’

The Galaxy Trading Company was very generous.

They always paid on time. They didn’t pay a lot because they gave some of the money to the Illusory Specter Sect, and then they divided what was left. But even that was a lot of money for the Illusory Specter Sect disciples.

Even if they didn’t try to become famous fighters, they could earn more money than they would by becoming famous in the fighting world, just by doing this delivery work.

They could become very rich.

So, the Illusory Specter Sect disciples worked hard. Because of that, the Galaxy Express’s reputation was growing.

Besides…

“- Haha! The vault is so full that we need to make it bigger!”

“…Good grief.”

The Illusory Specter Sect was changing every day.

The old buildings were being torn down, and new buildings were being built. Recently, the leader was even thinking about moving the Illusory Specter Sect to a busy city.

So Jeong-bok realized that money could change a lot.

At that moment, he heard people whispering.

“But isn’t it dangerous? Everyone knows that the special delivery people carry valuable goods. If he travels alone like that…”

“Don’t be silly.”

“Huh?”

“There’s a rumor that the Mount Hua Sect is helping with the special deliveries. Even if the bandits are desperate, they wouldn’t dare to attack a delivery protected by the Mount Hua Sect. The Mount Hua Sect is like the Grim Reaper to bad groups.”

“Ah! That’s right! The bad groups would be scared of the Mount Hua Sect.”

“I heard that after the Mount Hua Sect destroyed the Great Star Villa, even the bandits in the Green Forest don’t dare to think about attacking the Galaxy Express. They only have one life, so they should be careful.”

“Haha. It’s funny. The Mount Hua Sect can do that, and the other powerful fighting groups could too, but they haven’t been doing anything.”

“It’s because of their sense of honor! Anyway, that’s why the special deliveries are safe, and important people trust them. The Galaxy Trading Company believes in that too, so they’ve promised to pay a lot of money if anything happens to the goods.”

“I understand now.”

So Jeong-bok chuckled to himself.

They didn’t know that the Green Forest wasn’t attacking them because they had joined hands with the Mount Hua Sect.

He wondered what they would say if they knew that he had rested and eaten well at a nearby mountain fortress before coming here.

So Jeong-bok hung the luggage on the railing and looked around.

If he was on land, he could easily run away from anyone who wanted to steal the goods. Everyone from the Illusory Specter Sect was good at moving quickly.

But on a boat, where he couldn’t run, he had to be much more careful.

‘If I get off the boat and travel for three more days, I’ll reach my destination. Then I can go out two or three more times before going back to the Illusory Specter Sect. We can take turns having fun…’

The boat carrying So Jeong-bok moved forward without stopping. On both sides of the boat, the scenery was beautiful.

After a while, as it got dark, the sailors came to the deck and shouted.

“You might fall off the boat at night, so don’t stay near the railing. The river breeze is cold at night. The cabins are small, but there’s enough space for everyone to sleep, so please go inside and rest.”

The people watching the sunset listened and went to the cabins. But then, someone shouted from the front of the boat.

“W-wait! Over there! Th-there!”

The sailor ran to the front of the boat.

“What is it! What’s wrong?”

“Over there! Look over there! That boat!”

“Hmm?”

The sailor looked in the direction he was pointing. A boat was coming closer.

“What’s the problem? It’s just a normal boat?”

“T-the direction is strange. They should be turning away, but they keep following us.”

“What?”

The sailor’s eyes moved slightly.

“Then…”

It was clear that they were coming to this boat. But why?

At that moment…

“B-brother! Over there!”

The boat raised its sails.

It wasn’t strange for a boat to raise its sails, but the picture on the sail was a problem.

It was a scary black dragon.

“The River Bandits!”

“It’s the Yangtze River Bandits!”

“Damn it all!”

There was only one group that used that symbol on the Yangtze River: The Eighteen Forts of the Yangtze River Bandits.

“P-pirates!”

“The pirates are coming!”

The people on the boat heard the words ‘River Bandits’ and ran around in fear. Meeting river bandits on this wide river was the worst thing that could happen.

But it was too late to escape. The boat with the Black Dragon Flag was coming closer and closer.

So Jeong-bok’s face became serious.