Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 743

So Jeong-bok instinctively clutched the package strapped to his back. For him, like all carriers, it was the most important thing. It should never be lost.

“Damn it,” he thought. He was trapped. There was no way out, unless he could suddenly fly.

“That must be the special delivery he’s carrying,” one bandit said. “I heard the important people in Beijing trust him with valuable items.”

“Heh heh,” another grinned in a nasty way. “I’ve heard he carries things so precious you could live on just one for life.”

“It would be nice to have a look, wouldn’t it?”

As the bandits stared in a mean way, So Jeong-bok bit his lip. In this situation, he had to face them directly.

He put both hands together and respectfully clasped his fist in front of him.

“Excuse me,” So Jeong-bok said, “I am So Jeong-bok, from Eunha Delivery Service.”

“Yeah,” the leader nodded, as if pleased.

“I believe Eunha Delivery Service and the Jang Gang heroes are friendly. If you want money, we can give you more. We don’t want trouble.”

“Trouble….”

The man thought about the word for a moment, then burst out laughing.

“It sounds like you’re saying you’ll do something to us if we cause trouble?”

“That’s not what I meant….”

So Jeong-bok, realizing he had made a mistake in speaking, wiped the sweat from his palms on his trousers and continued.

“I meant it would be better to continue our good relationship. I understand that the Eunha Merchant Guild, as well as the Hwasan Sect, also have a good relationship with the river bandits….”

“Hwasan Sect?”

The corner of the man’s mouth curled up.

“So, you’re saying that because you have the Eunha Merchant Guild and the Hwasan Sect behind you, we should back off if we don’t want to get hurt?”

“…That’s not what I meant. The payment, I….”

“Payment is good. I don’t have any bad intentions either. If you give it to me, I don’t want to cause trouble.”

“Thank you.”

So Jeong-bok quickly pulled out a money pouch from his inside pocket.

Protecting the delivery was far more important than money. And the Eunha Merchant Guild would surely understand the situation and pay him for this amount.

However, things didn’t seem to be working out as easily as So Jeong-bok had hoped.

“Ah, that’s not it.”

“…Yes?”

“That amount of money is only worth the life of an ordinary person. Shouldn’t a special carrier from the Eunha Delivery Service be worth more?”

“…Then…?”

“It’s not difficult. The box you’re carrying on your back would be a decent payment.”

So Jeong-bok’s face hardened.

“…That is impossible.”

“You don’t understand. It’s not for you to decide. It’s for me to decide.”

The man approached So Jeong-bok with a chilling smile.

“Now, what will you do? Will you hand it over? Or….”

So Jeong-bok clutched the box containing the delivery and quickly thought hard.

‘What did they say to do in times like this?’

His training clearly included how to handle such situations.

After a moment, he finally sighed, took the box off his back, and held it out.

“Hmm?”

“Take it.”

The iron rule of the Eunha Delivery Service:

Nothing is more precious than life.

The delivery is valuable, but the carrier is even more so. If trouble seems likely because of the delivery, abandon it without hesitation.

“Haha. I heard that special carriers value the delivery more than their lives, but it seems that was just a rumor?”

“What could be more precious than life?”

“That’s right, that’s right. That’s the right thing to say. I like it.”

The man slowly approached and took the box that So Jeong-bok held out, passing it to the back. A bandit waiting there rushed forward to grab it.

“I’m glad to meet someone who understands.”

Tap tap.

The man, now right in front of him, lightly tapped So Jeong-bok’s shoulder.

It was a mocking gesture.

“I think you and I have a lot in common. Especially the fact that we both value life.”

“…”

“So, I believe you will understand.”

“Yes?”

Wham!

In an instant, a dark, three-pronged claw, like the talons of a hawk, shot out from the man’s sleeve. He plunged the claw into So Jeong-bok’s side like a flash of light.

Crack!

“Kraaah!!”

With a terrible sound, an unbearable scream erupted from So Jeong-bok’s mouth.

It was no wonder, as a long claw, likely three inches in length, pierced through his side.

“Guh… Guhk….”

Trembling in pain, So Jeong-bok looked at the man with disbelief. The man was looking at the suffering So Jeong-bok with a smiling face.

“Wh… Why…?”

“Think about it.”

The man said gently, talking to him gently.

“If you were to return alive, wouldn’t you run straight to your superiors to report this? Then, of course, this matter would reach the ears of Hwasan.”

“…”

“Then would that Hwasan Sect remain still? Of course, I am not afraid of the Hwasan Sect or anything, but I absolutely hate troublesome things.”

“Th… That’s….”

Crack!

The man twisted the three-pronged claw he had plunged into So Jeong-bok’s side. The three blades embedded in his side tore through flesh and organs.

“Ugh… Uck….”

In terrible pain that made his eyes roll back, So Jeong-bok could no longer scream and only trembled. His knees buckled, and his body swayed greatly.

“The fish of the Jang Gang must be hungry, so think of it as a donation. You must have earned plenty of money, so you shouldn’t have any regrets.”

“Hwa… Hwasan will surely….”

“Ah, yes.”

Thud!

The man answered casually and lightly pushed So Jeong-bok. His powerless body staggered and hung on the railing as if about to fall.

“Believe that and go.”

Finally, the three-pronged claw was pulled out of his side. So Jeong-bok’s body lost all strength and fell below the deck.

Splash!

White foam erupted, and soon red blood spread across the surface of the water.

Even with a healthy body, there would be no way to survive if one fell into the middle of this wide river, so with such a severe injury, the result was obvious.

“Hmm.”

The man shook off the blood from the three-pronged claw and turned around.

“It’s always the incompetent ones who rely on their backers and act up. They don’t know that only skill can protect them on the river.”

“That’s right.”

The bandits snickered and laughed.

“Chief. What do we do with them?”

“Hmm?”

“They saw everything.”

“Hmm.”

The man called Chief looked at everyone with a strange gaze.

“That’s true. Just silencing them isn’t enough. What should we do with them….”

“Do we kill them all?”

The bandits raised their weapons threateningly.

The passengers and crew turned pale and retreated. They had just seen someone fall into the river and die, so their fear was indescribable.

“Even if we kill them all and throw them into the river, a couple of bodies will float up. Then someone will know something happened….”

After thinking for a moment, the man smirked.

“We’ll take the whole ship. If we sell them as slaves in a foreign land, we’ll make some money. Kill anyone who resists.”

“Yes!”

As soon as the order was given, the bandits rushed forward.

“Aaargh!”

“Please spare me! I have a family at home!”

“Pl… Please let me go, please!”

The man, enjoying the sharply echoing screams, smirked and turned around.

He gestured to a bandit to take the delivery box back, and then turned the box around, muttering.

“If you’re going to transport something valuable, you should have been prepared for this. You weren’t thinking of making money easily, were you? Huh?”

Amid the echoing screams, the man burst into loud laughter.

And.

Glug glug glug.

In the middle of the river, far from the two ships that had set sail, a man surfaced.

“Guh….”

So Jeong-bok, his face pale and bloodless, spat out water repeatedly, only his head above the surface.

‘I have to let them know… I have to let them know….’

Dragging his unresponsive body, So Jeong-bok dove and headed towards the riverbank, but soon helplessly sank back into the water.

“Ptooey!”

He desperately struggled, but his consciousness kept flickering and fading away.

‘To Hwasan… Let them know….’

Eventually, So Jeong-bok’s body, completely unconscious, slowly drifted along the icy, cold currents of the Jang Gang.

In front of the imposing wooden gates of the Hwasan Sect. Snow clung to the jagged peaks surrounding them.

“Ugh, it’s really cold,” one of the disciples shivered, the biting mountain air stinging his cheeks.

They were trained in martial arts. But even for them, the mountain winter was very cold. It went right through their skin.

When it snowed last night, it felt a little less cold, but after the snow stopped, the cold wind continuously stabbed and clawed at their armpits. Since Hwasan had rugged mountains and strong winds, the feeling of cold was even greater than the actual temperature.

“If it’s this cold here, how cold is it in Bukhae?”

“Don’t even mention it. The senior brothers who have been to Bukhae still wear summer uniforms these days.”

“Really?”

“Didn’t Jo Gul swim in the valley water the other day? Said it was warm?”

“…Isn’t that just crazy?”

“…”

“If someone else did that, I’d think it was because they’d been to Bukhae, but if it’s Jo Gul, wouldn’t he do that even if he hadn’t been to Bukhae?”

“…Now that you mention it.”

In the past, there was no need to endure the cold from this early dawn to stand guard, but now it was important because so many people were coming and going from Hwasan.

So, even though it was cold, they didn’t have any major complaints about standing guard itself. They just hoped this boring time would pass quickly.

“Ugh, when is the shift change?”

“Soon.”

“I wish I could at least train during this time. Guard duty is such a waste of time. I could practice the Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Technique five times in this time.”

“What? Only five times? At that speed, you’ll only catch flies? I can do it ten times in this time.”

“Tsk tsk tsk. You’re talking nonsense. Someone new cares about speed, but a master cares about doing it right. If I used my sword as carelessly as you, I could do it a dozen times.”

“Ah, a master? Is that why you were defeated by me last time?”

“I wasn’t feeling well then! Hey, let’s go again.”

“Anytime.”

They were arguing when suddenly one of them stopped talking and tilted his head.

“Huh?”

“What is it?”

“Doesn’t it look like someone’s coming over there?”

“Who would come at this hour? The sun hasn’t even risen yet.”

“No, look over there.”

What he pointed to was not the cliff path used by the Hwasan disciples, but the gentle path next to it. It was also a place that had been recently renovated and widened.

Looking closely, they could indeed see dark shapes moving from that direction.

“Huh?”

He automatically reached for the sword at his waist.

It didn’t seem likely that someone climbing Hwasan at this hour had come with good intentions. Just as he was wondering whether to ring the alarm bell, the face of the person at the front was revealed.

“Huh? Young Master So?”

Hwang Jong-i, the young master of the Eunha Merchant Guild, was leading a group of people and approaching urgently.

“What brings you here so early?”

“Please inform those inside.”

“Yes?”

Hwang Jong-i bit his sweat-soaked lips as if he didn’t have time to explain. His expression was so serious that the disciples on guard duty sensed that something had happened.

“There’s been a problem. I know it’s rude to come at this early hour, but this is not the time to worry about such things. I need to see the sect leader right away.”

One of the disciples on guard duty nodded and immediately opened the gate and ran inside.

A bad feeling began to spread in Hwasan in the early dawn.