Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 937

“Abbot Fajong?”

Silence. Fajong didn’t answer. People remembered his kind smile, the one he used to wear all the time. But now, his face was like stone. It was so hard and cold, it was as if he had forgotten how to smile at all.

He couldn’t help it. Shame burned in his chest. He had left Shaolin with everyone cheering him on, expecting great things. But he had come back from Mount Hua with nothing. He had failed. It was the most humiliating thing he could imagine.

He couldn’t even look at the faces of the monks at Shaolin, the ones who had waited for him, full of hope. *How could I face them?* he thought.

“The Namgung Clan is surrounded.”

This news, on top of his shame, made Fajong unable to speak.

It was like he became simple-minded. His mind went completely blank for a moment.

Of all the things that could have happened, the worst possible thing was now happening.

“Tsk.”

Zhao Gao clicked his tongue as he looked at Fajong.

It was something he did without thinking, not meaning to be mean, but the sound twisted Fajong’s insides.

“It would have been better to go straight to the Yangtze River without wasting time.”

“⋯⋯.”

It wasn’t clear if he was making fun of Fajong. But did that matter to Fajong? Right now, he felt more ashamed and afraid of having his mistakes pointed out than anything else.

“⋯⋯Amitabha.”

After a long silence, the only words he said were a short Buddhist prayer.

Peng Yeop, who had been waiting quietly for a response, finally spoke with an irritated voice.

“This is not the time to be like this. If they can’t escape, all we can do is defend them. If the Four Faction Alliance gets there first, the Namgung Clan might disappear from the martial world.”

“Hmm.”

Someone groaned heavily, agreeing with those words.

“We must go to the Yangtze River right away.”

Even Jongli Hyung, who had been arguing with Peng Yeop, didn’t argue with this. It showed how urgent the situation was.

“Abbot.”

Fajong, who had been closing his eyes, opened them when Peng Yeop urged him.

“⋯⋯We will do so.”

A blue light flashed in Fajong’s eyes.

“Now that things have gone this far, we can’t wait any longer. I will lead all the warrior monks of Shaolin to the Yangtze River. So, I ask you to use all the power of your groups.”

Jongli Hyung asked in surprise.

“A, Abbot. Are you planning an all-out war?”

“⋯⋯If we have to, is there any reason not to?”

“But⋯⋯.”

It was clear what Jongli Hyung was going to say.

Fighting an all-out war against the Four Faction Alliance with only the groups here was like suicide. Even if they won, they would only be helping others.

But even though Fajong knew this, he didn’t seem willing to give up this time.

“I will send letters to each group asking for help again.”

“⋯⋯Do you think those who already left once will change their minds just because of that?”

“The situation has changed, so they will have to choose.”

“⋯⋯.”

Jongli Hyung stopped talking.

He felt that Fajong’s voice was different than before. He wasn’t exactly forcing them, but it was strangely hard to talk to him, unlike before.

“⋯⋯It would be a little easier if even the Tang Clan would help.”

Fajong’s eyebrows moved when he heard Jongli Hyung’s sad comment.

“What will we gain by looking for those who aren’t here?”

“That’s true, but⋯⋯.”

“You all must know by now.”

Fajong scolded them with cold eyes.

“The reason I have been patient was to solve things naturally, not because Shaolin wasn’t strong enough. But if things go this badly, we might have to force things to go our way.”

That might be right.

But because of the situation, it just sounded empty. If he had decided sooner, things wouldn’t have gotten this bad.

Fajong spoke in a sharp voice.

“We will go to the Yangtze River without waiting. Speed is most important.”

He didn’t have a choice anymore. All of this was because of the Namgung Clan’s foolishness, but if Shaolin really wanted to be the leader of the world, it had to take responsibility for everything.

If the Namgung Clan was trapped in the Yangtze River and lost, people would think very badly of the Nine Sects. At least Namgung fought against the Demonic Factions, but it would seem that the Nine Sects ignored him.

“Hurry! We must get there before that Lord of Destruction reaches the Yangtze River, even a moment sooner!”

“Is it possible?”

When Jongli Hyung asked worriedly, Fajong nodded firmly.

“It is definitely possible. Isn’t this place much closer than Guangxi, where the Myriad Man Manor is? Even if the Lord of Destruction hears the news and leaves right away, he won’t get there faster than us.”

Jongli Hyung nodded as if he understood.

“If you think about it, it’s like the Namgung Clan is holding the waterway garrison. It’s hard to destroy all the waterway garrisons scattered along the Yangtze River. But if they are all in one place, it’s a great chance. If we can attack the waterway garrisons from both sides with the Namgung Clan at the same time, we can win this war quickly.”

Fajong shouted firmly in a powerful voice.

“So let’s leave right away.”

Peng Yeop answered right away.

“I will.”

Jongli Hyung still looked a little gloomy, but he couldn’t avoid this, so he finally agreed. But even so, he made one request.

“Abbot. I will do as you say, but you must also think about the chance that things might not go well. I trust that you will get the support of the other Nine Sects.”

At those words, Fajong turned his head and looked at Jongli Hyung.

“⋯⋯.”

A moment of silence. And then, a voice without emotion reached Jongli Hyung’s ears.

“I will.”

The answer was clearly yes, but Jongli Hyung still felt like it was no. He couldn’t be sure.

In the end, he had to answer with an uneasy heart.

“⋯⋯The Mount Hua Sect will also join.”

Fajong’s gaze turned to Zhao Gao. Zhao Gao nodded silently.

“Good, you understand,” Abbot said. “We don’t have much time. Go back to your groups now. Get ready and meet in Jiujiang.”

“Yes, Abbot.”

“There is no time! Hurry!” Abbot urged.

“Yes!”

“Then,” Abbot finished.

Everyone who was sitting stood up quickly and went outside. Zhao-Gae was the last to stand. He got up slowly, not wanting to leave, and then turned his head.

He saw the Abbot sitting in the seat of honor with his eyes closed.

‘He takes a long time to decide things, but once he does, he acts fast, even when he should be careful,’ Zhao-Gae thought.

He didn’t dislike the Abbot. As the Abbot of Shaolin and a respected leader in the fighting world, he had done a good job until now. He was good at calmly solving problems between different groups because he was gentle.

However, Zhao-Gae mused,

‘Someone who is a good leader when things are calm might be bad when things get crazy.’

As the world began to change quickly, it seemed like the Abbot’s good qualities were not as useful anymore.

Zhao-Gae wanted to stop the Abbot.

But there was one reason why Zhao-Gae couldn’t say what he thought.

‘It will be hell,’ he thought.

He could only imagine the terrible things the Namgung Clan were going through.

‘Please, be strong. Clan Leader Namgung,’ Zhao-Gae wished.

Zhao-Gae thought about ‘talking it over’ and ran very fast to the Beggars’ Sect’s main place.

Namgung-Myeong looked down at the man lying on the ground. His face slowly became twisted and angry.

The man who had died with his eyes open was someone he knew well.

All the members of the Namgung Clan were like family to him. And now, the first of his family had died.

“This…!”

He became very angry and gritted his teeth.

The poisoned knife in the dead man’s side seemed to hurt his eyes.

Nine attacks, no less. That was how many times they had been attacked in the last three days.

The number of people hurt or killed?

None.

No one was hurt, no one had died. The attackers came out of the river and tried to attack those guarding the area, but they were all killed.

It was funny, almost sad. It seemed like Namgung-Hwang was right when he said they wouldn’t lose to the Surochae if they stayed on land.

But that was only looking at the results. If everything had gone so well, Namgung-Myeong wouldn’t be so angry now.

When they fought off the first attack, everyone felt brave and their spirits were very high. When they stopped the second attack, some even wanted to swim to the enemy ships and attack them.

And then, after they fought off the third attack, Namgung-Myeong understood something.

No one had slept well for two days because the attacks kept coming.

And still, the attacks continued.

They attacked at night when it was dark, and they attacked in the daytime too, even though everyone could see them.

And there was more. Early in the morning, when the wetness was on the grass, and late in the evening, when the sunset turned the river red…

The attacks never stopped, day or night.

The Namgung Clan swordsmen fought off the attacks bravely, one after another. But in the last attack, someone died for the first time.

“Empty a warehouse and move the body,” Namgung-Myeong ordered.

“Sir, shouldn’t we bury him for now?”

Namgung-Myeong turned to look at him quickly.

“Do you think this man can rest in the land of those water bandits?”

“…I apologize,” the subordinate said.

Namgung-Myeong spoke, his teeth clenched.

“We will leave this island soon. We can get his body back then. So do what I told you.”

“Yes, sir.”

He watched them carry his friend’s body away and rubbed his eyes hard.

‘Damn it,’ he thought.

They were not strong opponents. No, they were just pathetic trash.

And yet, someone had died.

Because they were so tired from the attacks that never stopped, they made a mistake they would not usually make.

This island was large, big enough for hundreds of people to be on it at once.

But it was also small. If the water bandits got on the island, they could get to the other side very quickly.

It was like being trapped in a castle with broken walls, fighting off enemies from another country.

‘No, that would be a hundred times better,’ Namgung-Myeong thought.

If that was the case, at least they would know where the enemy was.

But they didn’t know where the attack would come from. Maybe the water bandits were even now hiding under the water Namgung-Myeong was looking at, waiting to attack.

So, no one could relax. They didn’t know when the water bandits would attack, or when the bandits would break through and attack where they were staying.

Even though they knew they needed to sleep, they were too stressed to relax at all.

Besides…

Kwaaaaang!

“Damn it!”

“Why are they shooting those useless things! Those bastards!” someone shouted.

The water bandit ships around the island sometimes came closer quietly and shot cannons at the island. Of course, the Namgung Clan swordsmen were well-trained and probably wouldn’t be hit by cannons shot from far away.

But this was an island with no place to hide.

If they were careful, they could dodge it, but if they weren’t, they could easily die from a sudden cannon shot. In that situation, who could completely relax?

‘If this keeps going, we’ll fall apart before we even get to fight properly,’ Namgung-Myeong worried.

The water bandits were attacking their minds, not just their bodies. They knew all too well how to make people suffer the most.

“Just hang on a bit longer! Help will come soon!”

“…Yes,” someone replied quietly.

The answer was quiet. Their good feelings from fighting off the first attack had completely disappeared.

Now, all that was left was to endure.

The sun was already setting. Namgung-Myeong made a fist without thinking.

Another very long night was coming to Plum Blossom Island.