Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 872

Gal Cheon-rip looked at the wide-open Western Fortress gate. “Hmm,” he said, twisting his lips. “They are not total fools, it seems.”

“Fools? They opened the gate like they want to be robbed!” someone replied.

“Maybe,” Gal Cheon-rip said. They didn’t need to argue. What mattered now was moving forward.

“Don’t they know we’re coming?”

“There’s no way they could avoid the eyes of every beggar in the world. Of course, they know. The fact that there isn’t a single traveler passing through this large gate makes it certain.”

At those words, Dam-hae nodded. It was certainly unnatural that there were no travelers coming and going through this large gate, even before sunset. The same went for the guards who should be protecting the gate.

“What shall we do? It might be a trap.”

“You state the obvious.”

Gal Cheon-rip slowly licked his lips with his tongue.

“Whether it’s a trap or not, we can’t turn back now that we’ve come this far.”

Gal Cheon-rip glanced back at those who were showing they wanted to kill. If he even suggested stopping here, that intent might turn towards him.

“Heh heh.”

Gal Cheon-rip chuckled softly and narrowed his eyes.

Even if they all attacked, the Seven Killers of Kangho had no reason to be afraid, but there was no reason to stop this festival either.

“Let’s see what they’ve prepared.”

Led by Gal Cheon-rip, the evil faction began to cross the gate of Seo-an in a threatening way, heading inside.

“Hiek⋯⋯!”

“O-oh, they’re coming.”

You could tell just by looking at them.

The evil men looked like normal people. But they gave off a feeling of wanting to kill, a dark energy that made people’s hearts shrink with fear even from far away.

Those who hadn’t managed to escape, those who couldn’t bear to abandon their homes, swallowed hard as they watched them enter the main street.

They had blood on their clothes and carried scary weapons. Just looking at them was frightening.

Gal Cheon-rip bared his teeth as he watched those who were frozen in place, unable to even hide.

“Captain.”

“First, let’s check the Eunha Merchant Guild.”

They could see groups and wagons fleeing in the distance. It would be logical to check the prey first.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Dam-hae flew like the wind, grabbed one of the men in front by the neck, and returned to Gal Cheon-rip.

“Uh… Uh-oh…”

Gal Cheon-rip asked quietly to the man who was frozen, unable to even think of speaking.

“Do you know where the Eunha Merchant Guild is?”

The man nodded with a blank look on his face. Gal Cheon-rip grinned.

“Guide us. Then I’ll let you go unharmed.”

“…What did you say?”

Wi Rip-san asked again, looking at Hong Dae-kwang, who was drenched in sweat.

Hong Dae-kwang wanted to ignore the bewilderment on his face. But there was no way he could not reveal the truth.

“…There were no Hwasan disciples at Hwasan.”

After saying it again, Wi Rip-san, who had been silent for a moment with a hardened face, turned his head and looked at the distant sky. Then, after a while, he slowly nodded.

“I see.”

“Sect Leader, please reconsider. Now that things have come to this, it would be better to…”

“That won’t do.”

Wi Rip-san shook his head.

“Nothing will change. We will protect this Seo-an until every single one of the commoners has escaped.”

“We are outnumbered!”

“I know. But… that’s a phrase too familiar to the disciples of Hwasan.”

“…”

“You’ve worked hard, Branch Leader. Even if it’s you, please get out of here quickly.”

Hong Dae-kwang bit his lip tightly.

“Damn it. If Seo-an falls, all the beggars here will starve to death. Where do you want us to go! Isn’t that right, beggars?”

The beggars of the Beggars’ Sect, who had gathered even before Hong Dae-kwang arrived, shouted.

“That’s right!”

“Damn it, it’s the same whether we starve to death or die fighting. If there are no people, we’ll starve to death anyway.”

“Tsk tsk. We need to show them how foolish it is to invade the beggars’ territory.”

“Begging is not a shameful thing. What’s shameful is taking and not knowing how to be grateful. Shouldn’t we pay for the meals we’ve eaten so far?”

Wi Rip-san chuckled at those words.

“Look at that. You’re not going to run away, so why are you telling us to run away?”

“…The Shaanxi beggars are all crazy.”

“It’s not that the Shaanxi beggars are like that. It’s that the Shaanxi people are like that.”

Wi Rip-san said with a smile.

“The people who represent Shaanxi are like that, so what can we do?”

“…Damn Hwasan bastards.”

Hong Dae-kwang looked at everyone with a frustrated face. But on the other hand, there was an undeniable sense of pride.

Even the Shaolin and Wudang sects did not hesitate to bow their heads to the enemy to save their own lives, but these people, who had no fame and nothing much to offer, did not hesitate to throw their lives away against the evil villains.

“Alright. We only live once, so let’s die without being ashamed! You beggar bastards! Hold on to even one more of them! That way, even one more commoner can live.”

“Yes!”

Just as Hong Dae-kwang was about to say something more, someone spoke.

“They’re coming.”

That short word brought a tense sense of urgency to everyone.

Through the wide-open gate, a group of martial artists was strolling towards them.

Hong Dae-kwang gritted his teeth.

That was the gait of the strong. It was the gait of those who didn’t even consider their opponents as enemies, coming to catch the rats they had pushed into a trap.

‘Damn evil bastards.’

His breathing became rapid, his heart pounded, and blood rushed to his face.

It wasn’t because his pride was hurt. Just looking at them made him realize how great the gap was between them.

‘The number is… two hundred? No, is it three hundred?’

There was no one among those many people who seemed weaker than him. The number was clearly superior on their side, but the quality could not even be compared.

‘The Seven Killers of Kangho.’

Hong Dae-kwang clenched his fist tightly as he visually confirmed the identities of those walking in the lead.

“This is the place.”

Gal Cheon-rip smiled faintly as he reached the gate.

There was no need to confirm. It was clear just by looking at the people with weapons inside the gate.

“H-here it is,” the guide stammered. “I showed you the way, so please let me go like you said…”

“Of course,” Gal Cheon-rip said calmly. But then, Dam-hae’s small sword, which was holding the man’s neck, suddenly stabbed into his back.

“Ugh…” The man’s eyes opened wide in shock. His body jerked.

“W-why…?” he gasped.

Gal Cheon-rip shrugged, seeing the anger in the man’s eyes. “I kept my word. *I* spared you. But my brother had a different idea. He’s my brother, I can’t tell him what to do, can I?”

The guide couldn’t speak.

“Don’t be too sad,” Gal Cheon-rip continued. “Dying quickly here is a kindness, really.” The man fell to the ground. His body twitched and then went still.

Hong Dae-kwang shouted with bloodshot eyes.

“You! You bastards! Why are you killing innocent civilians! Why!”

“Why?” Gal Cheon-rip asked, genuinely puzzled, as he looked at him wildly shouting.

“Is there a reason for a person to kill another person?”

“…”

Hong Dae-kwang stared at Gal Cheon-rip without even closing his mouth.

“If you don’t have power, you die. Isn’t it simple? If you don’t like me, you can kill me. Of course, if you have the ability to do so.”

His extremely calm tone was even more chilling. It was as if he thought that killing a perfectly healthy person was no different from cutting rice with a sickle.

“Y-you…”

At that moment, Wi Rip-san stepped forward in front of Hong Dae-kwang.

Wi Rip-san stared at Gal Cheon-rip silently for a moment, then opened his mouth.

“I know we can’t communicate, but keep one thing in mind.”

“Hmm?”

Wi Rip-san briefly scanned the main gate of the Eunha Merchant Guild. As if there was an invisible wall there. And then he stared at Gal Cheon-rip again.

“Remember this,” Wi Rip-san said, his voice firm. “This is Hwasan land.”

“…”

“Hwasan warriors do not show mercy to evil people who attack our land. You will pay for this.”

“Ha… Haha.”

Gal Cheon-rip laughed as if he was dumbfounded.

“This bug-like bastard…”

And at the same time, a chilling murderous intent emanated from his body. It was as if all the relaxed appearances he had shown so far were false.

“How dare you run your mouth in front of me? I will kill you in the most miserable way possible.”

Anyway, he couldn’t hold back the guys behind him anymore. The guys who saw the enemy in front of them were as venomous as wild beasts who had seen fresh meat.

Gal Cheon-rip opened his mouth quietly with murderous eyes.

“Do whatever you want. But don’t kill the guild leader.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the evil faction behind the Seven Killers of Kangho exploded with a breathtaking momentum and charged forward.

There was no great shout or anything like that. And that was even more chilling. The evil faction, who rushed in without giving them a chance to raise their momentum, instantly plunged their swords into the people at the front.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Aack!”

A terrible scream echoed miserably.

Namja-myung widened his eyes and shouted as he saw his disciples dying without even having a chance to do anything.

“You insignificant bastards!”

Even at that moment, the spear of the Hoeseon Chang-gwi pierced through the swords of those who stood in its way and became embedded in people’s bodies. The sword of Hyeoldo-sal also cut through the flying swords like reeds and instantly struck their necks.

Blood sprayed everywhere. Heads were cut off and flew into the air, eyes still wide open.

It was a terrible, one-sided fight. Fear filled the battlefield instantly.

“Damn it! Fight back, you beggar bastards!”

“Yes!”

“The Hwayoungmun disciples must not retreat!”

“Chung!”

The Beggars’ Sect and Hwayoungmun raised their momentum to help those who had been frozen for a moment, but it was not easy to regain the momentum that had been overwhelmed once.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Aaaaaaargh!”

No, before that, they were no match for them in terms of skill.

Their morale was by no means lacking. Weren’t they the ones who stood here risking their lives? Even if the opponent was not the evil faction but the Four Great Evils, they would never have retreated.

But it was absolutely impossible to overcome this difference in skill with morale alone.

“H-heup!”

The Hwayoungmun disciple widened his eyes as he saw the sword flying towards his face like a ray of light.

‘I’m going to die…’

At the moment when he sensed his inevitable death, a sword suddenly popped out from behind and deflected the flying sword.

“Are you alright?”

“M-Munju-nim?”

Wi Rip-san bit his lip tightly.

His wrist, which had deflected the sword, ached as if it would break. He had only exchanged one move, but he could not help but gauge the level of his skill. Even a nameless member of the evil faction was stronger than him.

But Wi Rip-san stepped forward without hesitation.

“Don’t try to defeat your opponents!”

A great shout erupted from his throat as he blocked the sword once again.

“Hang in there! Survive somehow! We need to buy as much time as possible.”

Looking at these fierce eyes, he couldn’t help but know. Their swords would never be satisfied with just their blood.

‘Save even one more person.’

Hwang Jong-i is behind them.

He wouldn’t be holding out here without thinking. He would have guessed. If the Eunha Merchant Guild ran away, who would the swords of the enraged target?

Even the merchants were risking their lives for the commoners, so how could he, the head of the Hwasan’s First Family, be stingy with his life?

Of course, his life was invaluable. And the lives of the disciples who believed in him and followed him were even more precious.

But there was something that a martial artist could not trade for anything.

“We will die here today! Prove that the martial artists of Shaanxi do not spare their lives for the sake of righteousness!”

With a desperate cry, the battlefield began to heat up with even more intense heat.