Return of the Mount Hua Sect [EN]: Chapter 958

The ice-cold river water shocked Namgung Dowi as he went under. He gritted his teeth.

“Father!”

“I know,” he thought, pushing away the grief. “No time for sadness.”

He kicked and pulled his arms and legs hard, fighting the current. He looked at the riverbank. It was close now, but still too far.

“Aaaaargh!”

A desperate cry ripped from his throat.

He felt angry, sad, hurt, and furious. All these feelings exploded out of him in a loud, animal-like cry.

He didn’t know if it was blood, tears, or river water running down his face. He just kept moving his arms and legs strongly, pushing through the water.

If he died here, his father’s death would be for nothing. He couldn’t let that happen.

He had to keep going!

“Aaaaargh!”

With that cry, Namgung Dowi pushed forward again, but stopped suddenly. The pirates, who had been waiting, quickly surrounded him.

Namgung Dowi glared at them, his eyes bloodshot, and pulled out his sword.

‘Don’t get angry.’

With all his heart, he wanted to unleash his anger on them. He wanted to swing his sword until he fell down from being too tired.

But he couldn’t.

His life was not his alone now.

‘I must survive.’

Absolutely! Absolutely!

Swoosh!

His sword cut through the middle of a pirate who was running at him.

Hot blood poured out from the cut body and covered Namgung Dowi’s face. Cold river water mixed with hot blood.

Thwack!

A harpoon scratched his arm, tearing away some skin. But there was no time to feel the pain. Namgung Dowi quickly swung his sword, stabbing a pirate, and then hit the water, moving himself forward.

‘I must live!’

Thwack!

A harpoon, shot from underwater, went into his stomach. Namgung Dowi reached down, broke the harpoon shaft, and swung his sword wildly, like he was crazy.

‘I must!’

The riverbank was not far now.

Just a little… just a little more!

“Aaaaargh!”

Each time he swung his sword like a crazy man, the white light of the sword cut through the pirates’ bodies. Even though warm blood splashed on him, he kept moving his arms and legs strongly.

‘I must….’

Just a little further….

Kaaaaaah!

At that moment, a scary sound cut through the air, and Namgung Dowi quickly turned around.

A dark energy blade.

The same energy blade that had killed Namgung Hwang was now flying straight toward Namgung Dowi. He was so tired that he couldn’t even think about blocking such a strong attack.

Namgung Dowi’s eyes opened wide and trembled.

‘I can’t….’

Kaaaaaaah!

Just then, the energy blade exploded in the air with a huge blast. The pirates chasing Namgung Dowi were caught in the blast and screamed.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Aaaaargh!”

Namgung Dowi was confused for a moment.

‘What is this?’

What was happening?

But instead of thinking about it, he turned his body at once. What mattered now was not ‘why.’ What mattered was surviving, no matter what.

“Get out of my way, you sons of bitches!”

With a desperate cry, Namgung Dowi headed for the shore.

“This….”

The Black Dragon King’s eyes bulged with blood, he was so angry.

“What are you doing!”

His face was twisted with anger.

The Black Dragon King had never been so angry. If he was this angry, he wanted to attack and finish off whoever the enemy was.

But now, even though he was furious, he couldn’t attack.

The reason was simple.

The one who had made him angry was Jang Il-so.

“Why did you block my attack!”

He had clearly used the energy blade to finish him off. If no one had stopped it, Namgung Dowi would have died. But Jang Il-so’s power had hit his energy blade before it could reach Namgung Dowi, causing it to explode.

Jang Il-so had saved Namgung Dowi.

“Hmm.”

Jang Il-so made a small humming sound and just looked at the Black Dragon King with a calm face.

“Lord!”

“Tsk, tsk.”

When the Black Dragon King shouted again, Jang Il-so clicked his tongue and glared at him as if telling him to be quiet.

“You shouldn’t be so heartless….”

“…What did you say?”

Jang Il-so smiled.

“Isn’t it truly touching?”

“…”

“He went to such lengths to save his child. To kill the father and then the child is not the way of a human. That would be too heartbreaking.”

The Black Dragon King gritted his teeth.

What kind of nonsense was this?

“Hahaha.”

Laughing loudly, Jang Il-so glanced at Namgung Dowi. He was fighting his way through the pirates’ attacks. Jang Il-so’s eyes narrowed.

“Don’t you want to see it?”

“…See what?”

“The moment when he reaches that riverbank and faces Shaolin.”

The Black Dragon King closed his mouth. Jang Il-so continued slowly.

“Isn’t that how people are? They hide, conceal, and ignore their flaws. But… as you live, that moment will come. The moment when you must face your flaws.”

“…”

“At that time….”

Il-so licked his lips and looked at the Black Dragon King.

“Do you know what kind of expression people make?”

The Black Dragon King’s shoulders moved slightly.

He didn’t understand what this man was thinking. But he didn’t need to. You could clearly feel the evil in Jang Il-so, even if you didn’t understand what he was thinking.

“You’ll see it soon.”

Listening to Jang Il-so’s soft voice, the Black Dragon King glared at him. But the Black Dragon King looked away first.

“Collect the bodies!”

The Black Dragon King ordered in a rough voice and turned away from Jang Il-so, looking unhappy.

Ho Gamyung, who had been listening to all this, shook his head.

He understood how he felt, but he didn’t like that attitude.

‘It won’t be long now.’

Ho Gamyung had been watching the Black Dragon King angrily. He quickly calmed down and spoke to Jang Il-so.

“Lord, now….”

“Shhh.”

At that moment, Jang Il-so stopped Ho Gamyung and reached out his hand. He grabbed the liquor bottle on the table.

He looked at the white bottle and poured the liquor over the railing.

Trickle, trickle.

The liquor poured over the cold Yangtze River.

Ho Gamyung understood what he was doing and looked at Jang Il-so with strange eyes.

“Doesn’t Lord hate fools?”

“I do.”

Jang Il-so nodded slowly.

“But I don’t hate them.”

“…”

Soon, the Yangtze River was calm again. Jang Il-so looked at the flowing river like nothing had happened.

“You’ve achieved what you wanted, so you won’t have any regrets, will you?”

The liquor that Jang Il-so spilled scattered like rain over the Yangtze River.

His feet touched the ground.

Splash.

Namgung Dowi took a heavy step forward.

The pirates had stopped chasing him.

A path of blood was in the dark river he had crossed. At the end of that path, Namgung Dowi walked unsteadily.

The water that had been up to his neck reached his chest, and soon his upper body was out of the water.

Splash. Splash.

“I live….”

He said as if he was in a trance.

His eyes were half-closed and his vision was blurry, but Namgung Dowi just kept walking forward.

“I must live….”

Splash. Splash.

Soon, his feet were out of the water.

Thud.

He reached the shore and walked unsteadily. The river water poured down from his sword, which was now out of the water.

And….

Those standing on the riverbank watched him come out of the water without a sound. Even as they saw him walking unsteadily towards them, they couldn’t do anything.

Because they felt guilty. Because they were ashamed.

They were too ashamed to even help him as he walked unsteadily.

Thud. Thud.

Finally reaching them, Namgung Dowi slammed his sword into the ground and leaned on it.

He was a pitiful sight.

He was wounded everywhere, and the water dripping from his body was mixed with blood, making it bright red. And blood continued to pour out. As his clothes turned redder, the people who saw this felt pain in their hearts.

“Cough! Cough!”

Namgung Dowi coughed, a wet sound, and his body shook hard. He tried to stand straight again.

Then, very slowly, it felt like a very long time to the people watching, Namgung Dowi lifted his head.

Who could look him in the eyes?

Even though Namgung Dowi’s head was raised, they still didn’t look at him. Everyone looked down and turned their heads away as if they had agreed to do so.

Even the Shaolin monks, who had been standing like stone statues watching the entire scene on the Yangtze River.

Even the disciples of the Common Faction, who had arrived late at the Yangtze River and couldn’t do anything.

Even the beggars of the Beggars’ Union, who lived only for justice.

No one could meet Namgung Dowi’s eyes.

Even the abbot of Shaolin, Beopjeong, looked at the sky.

Anyone would do that. Anyone with a conscience would not be able to see those eyes.

“Heu….”

A groan came from Namgung Dowi’s mouth.

“Hehehe….”

And that distorted voice turned into a low laugh.

No one knew what that laughter meant. They could only guess that it was self-pity and sorrow.

“Cough! Cough!”

Namgung Dowi coughed loudly again and walked unsteadily. He pressed down hard on his sword and stood straight. He took a long breath.

At that moment, everyone was scared.

They were afraid of what he would say. Would he strongly criticize them? Would he angrily tell them off? Would he even laugh at them? They felt they couldn’t stop him from saying anything. They could only close their eyes and listen.

If they were Namgung Dowi, what would they say?

There were too many words they expected, and they were all painful. There was not a single one that didn’t hurt.

And at the end of that long time… Namgung Dowi finally opened his mouth.

Those who had almost covered their ears listened to Namgung Dowi’s voice.

But Namgung Dowi didn’t criticize, tell them off, or laugh at them.

It was a very unexpected word that no one had expected.

Everyone who had been looking down opened their eyes and raised their heads to see if they had heard wrong.

They looked at Namgung Dowi.

Namgung Dowi’s eyes showed no hope or feeling. When they saw his cold, dark eyes, everyone understood what they had done wrong.

And at that moment, Namgung Dowi spoke clearly again.

“…Mount Hua.”

His voice was clear and without any feeling, making it hard to ignore.

“…Where is the Mount Hua Sect?”