Return of the Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1340: What Is Happening? (3)
Previously on Return of the Mount Hua Sect...
Drip. Drip.
The sound of water droplets falling echoed clearly.
Im So-Byeong looked up. Water had gathered on the jagged rock jutting from the ceiling and was falling drop by drop.
‘Where on earth is this...’
His gaze returned downward.
It was so dark he couldn’t see an inch ahead. Unless one had trained in martial arts and developed qi-sense, the darkness was thick enough to stop anyone from taking a step. The only faint thing visible was a narrow, long path stretching into the distance.
‘A cave... no, a grotto?’
The grotto they had come through extended long behind them.
He was still dumbfounded as to how they had come here. His mind was in turmoil.
“Cough.”
At that moment, Chung Myung, walking ahead of him, coughed and hunched over. Every time he moved, flakes of dried blood crumbled away.
Im So-Byeong hardened his face and spoke.
“Taoist...”
“I’m fine.”
But Chung Myung raised his head as if it were nothing and continued forward.
A sigh escaped Im So-Byeong. Even though he had been offered a piggyback, he stubbornly insisted on walking on his own. Who could break that stubbornness?
After following silently for a while, Im So-Byeong could no longer hold back and asked.
“Taoist... where is this place?”
“A cave.”
“Pardon?”
“Can’t you see? It’s a cave.”
Im So-Byeong’s face twisted slightly.
“No, I’m not asking that. What kind of cave is this?”
Even as he spoke, he felt the question itself was absurd. A cave is a cave; how could it have a special purpose?
But in fact, the question was very reasonable.
Im So-Byeong scanned the cave walls.
No matter how he looked, it didn’t seem naturally formed. It was rough, but clearly touched by human hands.
‘Someone dug a cave this size?’
Why? For what reason?
Then Chung Myung’s voice sounded softly.
“Do you know where this is?”
“...I have no idea.”
“The edge of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains.”
Im So-Byeong’s eyes narrowed slightly. What did that mean...
“Most people think the war with the Demonic Cult was fought over single peaks like a scramble, but in reality thousands of battles took place in the south of the Central Plains, over many years.”
“...”
“The place with the most fighting wasn’t the center of the Ten Thousand Great Mountains. It was the approaches leading to it.”
“So this is...”
“Yes.”
Chung Myung answered in a cold voice.
“It’s one of the hideouts they dug.”
Im So-Byeong looked around again with a stiff face.
‘Someplace like this...’
The Ten Thousand Great Mountains themselves are a natural stronghold. Who would have imagined they’d also bother to create grottoes like this in such mountains?
But there was another reason Im So-Byeong was truly shocked.
From a strategist’s point of view, nothing was more chilling than this grotto. The mountain was already hard to predict where enemies might appear.
And the existence of such holes meant the enemy could burst up from underground.
‘How on earth did they deal with such bastards?’
The moment the Demonic Cult people he had seen in Hangzhou merged with this terrain in his mind, a chill ran through him. The past wars, which he’d only vaguely imagined as brutal, unfolded vividly before him.
Moreover, despite the long time passed, this cold grotto still smelled faintly of blood.
“When you say ‘one of them,’ does that mean there are more than this place?”
“Countless.”
A hollow laugh escaped Im So-Byeong.
But before his thoughts could go further, three paths appeared before them.
“Uh...”
Everyone is the same in such a situation. When faced with a fork in an unfamiliar place, one naturally stands and hesitates.
But Chung Myung entered the left path without a moment’s hesitation, as if he already knew the way.
Im So-Byeong narrowed his eyes slightly and voiced his doubt.
“Why this way...”
“The wall.”
“...The wall?”
At the concise reply, Im So-Byeong inspected the wall Chung Myung had mentioned.
“Ah...”
And soon he understood the meaning. Marks that hadn’t been visible before cluttered the left wall, like a giant beast’s sharp claws had raked it.
They were clearly marks left by countless weapons scraping the wall during battle.
‘So a battle took place here?’
Even deep within this cave?
Crunch!
Suddenly Im So-Byeong flinched at the feeling of stepping on something.
When he checked what it was, his color drained slightly. He had stepped on a yellowed human bone.
“...Corpses...”
A continuous groan came from behind him as well.
Bodies were strewn all over the cramped cave floor. Corpses long decayed until only bones remained—similar to sights they’d seen before when breaking through the Ten Thousand Great Mountains and heading south.
“They’re the Pine Pattern Ancient Sword.”
“Of Wudang?”
After that exchange, a brief silence fell.
A narrow cave deep underground where not a single ray of light reached. Even here the Demonic Cult and the Justice faction had fought to the death.
It was clear the Justice faction, unable to endure the enemy’s guerrilla tactics, had risked their lives to enter this dangerous terrain.
“Taoist.”
As Southern Island Sect’s disciples trembled at the horror, Mount Hua’s disciples and Im So-Byeong fixed their gazes solely on Chung Myung.
“Taoist... then did you know there was an entrance there leading to this grotto?”
“Yes.”
“...Th-then did you also know Ho Ga-Myung would herd us toward that entrance?”
Chung Myung nodded slowly.
“Well, he’s that kind of man.”
Im So-Byeong was momentarily stunned.
“So you even knew I would be manipulated by Ho Ga-Myung and driven into that dead end?”
“No.”
“...What? Then...?”
“I was just preparing for that possibility.”
Chung Myung answered without turning his head. Whether he didn’t feel the need to meet their eyes or lacked the strength to turn was unclear.
“If we don’t get trapped, that’s fine. But if we do get trapped, you have to have a way out ready to pick.”
“...”
“The moment we broke through the gorge, the path was already open.”
Im So-Byeong lost his words and stared blankly at Chung Myung’s back.
He had been completely outplayed by Ho Ga-Myung. Perhaps it was the price of arrogance.
He had believed his rival in strategy was Jang Ilso, not Ho Ga-Myung. Thus Ho Ga-Myung hadn’t been in his consideration at all.
Whatever the reason, it was certain he had been utterly defeated by Ho Ga-Myung in a game of wits.
But who won originally didn’t matter at all. Every battle was being played in Chung Myung’s palm.
‘What on earth is this man...’
Only now did Im So-Byeong feel he might understand Ho Ga-Myung’s mindset.
Why Ho Ga-Myung didn’t include a man like Jang Ilso within the reach of his schemes.
Who wouldn’t feel that way if painstakingly devised strategies ended up playing into someone else’s hands?
As Im So-Byeong struggled with rising helplessness and dismay, Baek Cheon spoke up.
“Chung Myung.”
Chung Myung didn’t answer. But Baek Cheon asked without hesitation.
“Then how did you know there was an entrance there leading into this place?”
At those words, several of Mount Hua’s disciples flinched and glanced between Baek Cheon and Chung Myung.
It wasn’t the first time. Chung Myung had repeatedly produced information they couldn’t even guess, startling everyone.
But until now no one had pressed him on it. They assumed anything he did was possible, so they didn’t ask—an unspoken rule regarding Mount Hua’s Chung Myung.
But now Baek Cheon, as if refusing to accept that rule any longer, asked the most sensitive question without hesitation.
“Answer.”
Baek Cheon urged him. This time he didn’t seem willing to let Chung Myung’s silence pass by.
After a moment Chung Myung opened his mouth. But the start of his words was somewhat unexpected.
“Do you know why the Green Forest King got entangled with Ho Ga-Myung?”
“...What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“Because he didn’t know.”
Baek Cheon looked over at Im So-Byeong with questioning eyes. Im So-Byeong’s face had hardened; the smile gone, he looked cold.
“If he had known such terrain existed there, he would never have entered it of his own accord. Fighting in an opponent’s inner chamber is like that—there are tremendous advantages you can’t guess without experience.”
Baek Cheon gave a slight nod at Chung Myung’s words. Whether it was a satisfactory answer or not aside, his point had been felt intensely throughout this journey.
Put yourself in the other position and it’s clear.
Someone coming to Mount Hua for the first time to attack—more than five deadly terrains immediately come to Baek Cheon’s mind. Natural hazards that would send attackers to hell.
“But the point is this: if you know, you can guess their intentions. Especially if they assume I don’t know that terrain.”
“...”
“The Green Forest King didn’t know this terrain existed, and Ho Ga-Myung didn’t think I knew it. So they were caught in their plan. Because they didn’t know.”
Baek Cheon fixed his stern eyes on Chung Myung’s back.
“War isn’t decided by force alone. More precisely, power isn’t only swinging a blade. Anything that can funnel the opponent where you want is power.”
Chung Myung slowly turned to look at Baek Cheon. His gaze, visible between hair matted with blood, was cold.
“How did I know?”
“...”
“It’s not that I didn’t know what this is. I did know of this. That’s why I went there. No matter how much Ho Ga-Myung thinks he knows Guangdong, I’d know more.”
“...That is...”
“How did I know more?”
Chung Myung twisted the corner of his mouth.
“How do you think I found out?”
Baek Cheon felt a surge of emotion and was about to raise his voice. At that moment someone grabbed his sleeve.
Turning around, he saw Yu Yiseol, only just regaining consciousness, pulling his sleeve.
Bloodied, she slowly shook her head, as if to say don’t ask more.
Baek Cheon was about to say something, but before he could, Chung Myung’s footsteps changed slightly.
The narrow, long end ended. A space opened up so wide it was hard to believe they were still underground.
“It’ll take them at least two days to find the entrance. Rest fully until then.”
With that even-toned instruction, Chung Myung collapsed forward.
“Ch—”
Before anyone could make a sound, Baek Cheon moved swiftly and caught the collapsing Chung Myung. He stared at the unconscious man and let out a deep sigh.
“...Damn bastard.”
His voice slowly reverberated through the vast chamber.
