Return of the Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1345: I Will Go To Rescue Them (5)

On a moonless night near the new moon, the Ten Thousand Great Mountains were plunged into darkness so deep that one could hardly see an arm’s length ahead.

Within that rugged range, bright, ghostly lights shone like will-o’-wisps.

Step.

Ten Thousand People Clan swordsmen, blades in hand, scanned their surroundings with murderous, hostile eyes.

Rustle.

“Who goes there!”

No sooner had a faint sound come from the side than a Ten Thousand People Clan sword was swung without hesitation. The sword rushed toward the sound and struck down.

Crack!

The man who had thrown the sword rushed forward at once, but all he found was a rabbit twitching with its neck severed. His face contorted.

“...Damn.”

“Tsk tsk. What a great hunter you’ve become.”

The man snapped back sharply at the mocking voice behind him.

“Watch your mouth.”

“Don’t waste your strength for nothing, keep your eyes on the surroundings.”

He kicked aside the still-warm rabbit carcass in a fit of irritation, sheathed his sword at his hip, and stared at a mountain {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} protruding from the darkness like a blade. The peaks stabbed the sky, truly a sight that made one call it a land defying heaven.

‘It is so ominous.’

The man scanned the area with anxious eyes.

A thick darkness had fallen and the silence was absolute. It might seem peaceful to some, but to those here it felt only eerie.

They were cautious even to make a sound. All the more so for those who knew the past that had unfolded on this land.

The man took a step with an irritated face.

“Ugh.”

A blunt pain suddenly shot through his foot. Looking down, a spear blade jutted up under his foot. It was so old it had rusted nearly to decay.

If one brushed away the soil around that blade, its owner’s bones would probably lie buried there.

“Damn.”

The spear’s shape resembled those used by the Evil Sect rather than the Justice faction. The man frowned slightly. He wasn’t about to feel pity for some unknown Evil Sect member who died a hundred years ago, but the thought still made him feel dirty.

“Are you hurt?”

“No. As if I’d be cut by some rusty old spear like this.”

Snap.

He stepped on the protruding spear to break it, then kicked aside the nearby underbrush.

As expected, swords typically used by the Justice faction lay scattered nearby.

If this had been an ordinary battlefield, locals would have long since picked them up, sold them, or melted them down for farming tools.

But this was the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, a land of death even common folk unconnected to the martial world avoided.

Thus, the traces of past wars remained undisturbed.

“Makes me sick.”

“Stop the pointless thoughts and watch around you. If you lose them, we’ll lose our heads.”

The man glared at the speaker, spat on the ground, and resumed walking.

“Damn it, can’t even rest.”

“Don’t even say that. Can’t you feel the atmosphere around us?”

“Damn it.”

He muttered another curse, hardly an incorrect sentiment.

“How many did they say died?”

“Damn, who’s counting... The Blood Sword Troops was wiped out, and countless others died. If you include the small fry who stood in their way, you could pile the corpses into a mountain.”

“...Serves them right.”

For so few, only around two hundred, to require such loss was surely unprecedented in Ten Thousand People Clan history. After paying that price and yet failing to annihilate the enemy, it’s no wonder the steady-faced soldiers had lost their composure.

If they let them slip away in this situation, it wouldn’t end with one or two lives lost. They had to find the enemy’s trail by any means.

“Maybe they’ve already left the range?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. At best they’re holed up in a cave. I’ve never heard of a cave hundreds of li long in my life.”

“Right?”

That meant the enemy was crouched somewhere around here.

Perhaps they were even beneath his feet, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint, who had annihilated Gwi Tang and the Blood Sword Troops.

“...So you’re saying Mount Hua’s Sword Saint could jump out right in front of us?”

“What the hell! Don’t say such ominous things!”

The comrade who had taken his words calmly suddenly twisted into a look of horror.

For a moment, the man silenced under that intensity.

It was a strange thought: they were straining to find Mount Hua’s Sword Saint’s trail, yet at the same time desperately hoped he would never appear before them.

Because they were afraid.

Everyone had seen how he fought. No one wanted to cross blades with that fiend who was more like an Evil Sect demon than an Evil Sect man.

“...And isn’t that Plum Blossom Sword Ghost still human? He’s been that badly wounded, what way could he possibly have to get up and leave already?”

“Y-yeah, I suppose?”

“He wouldn’t be surprising even if he were dead. No, wait, he must be dead, for sure.”

The voice had neither strength nor conviction.

They prayed Mount Hua’s Sword Saint would be dead, yet a strange certainty that he couldn’t possibly be dead stirred fear.

“But Plum Blossom Sword Ghost? What’s that supposed to be?”

“Don’t you know? They’re calling Mount Hua’s Sword Saint that.”

“...What...”

“Honestly, does a dignified title like ‘Sword Saint’ suit that madman? The nickname’s already spread through the camp.”

The man nodded.

Indeed, Chung Myung was better called ‘Plum Blossom Sword Ghost’ than the dignified ‘Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.’ In fact, even ‘Plum Blossom Sword Ghost’ was inadequate for him.

“‘Plum Blossom Sword Ghost’ can rot. ‘Blood-Flower Demon Sword’ fits better.”

“...But he’s still from the Justice faction.”

“To hell with the Justice faction. What side of him looks like he’s from the Justice faction? Even the Demonic Cult wouldn’t be that vicious.”

“True.”

“No, the Demonic Cult is far worse.”

“What are you saying? The Demonic Cult guys...”

The man who was about to protest fell suddenly silent. He realized the voice had come from behind him.

Drip. Drip.

He heard the sound of a viscous liquid drop by his ear, freezing him to the bone. At the same time a smell too familiar, but now utterly unwelcome, wafted to his nostrils.

The scent of blood.

His shoulders trembled. He wanted to look away, to not turn his head and confirm that the horrible image in his mind was real.

But in urgent moments, instinct overrides thought. His body had already turned to identify who stood behind him.

The figure in black seemed to blend into the pitch-black night. All that stood out were a blood-stained sword and two eyes gleaming an icy blue.

And yet the man knew exactly who had appeared.

“Mo-Mount Hua’s Sword...”

Shreek.

Before he could finish the words, a searing pain ran through his neck. A chilling sensation snapped through his spine and vocal cords and then left his throat.

Hisss.

The sound of air escaping his throat hissed out. The man, unable even to scream, collapsed backward. Before his breath ceased, he saw his comrade’s head fly into the air.

The red spray of blood arched like a blossoming crimson flower. Seeing the cold gleam through it, the man thought one thing.

‘As I thought... the title is wrong...’

Before the thought finished, his body went cold.

Shreek.

Chung Myung, having dispatched another Ten Thousand People Clan swordsman, plunged his sword into the corpse’s chest.

Thud!

The heart was pierced and red blood stained the blade. Chung Myung, cloaking the sword’s gleam with blood instead of ash, melted back into the darkness, silent and impossibly swift.

Ssssh.

Moving like black water through the dark, Chung Myung slipped behind the Ten Thousand People Clan swordsmen who were advancing warily.

“What...”

Shreek!

Blood gushed in a steady stream from the half-slit throats. There was no time even to scream, only spasms and collapsing forward.

“Gurgle...”

They probably never knew how they died until their last breath.

Chung Myung’s gaze was ice-cold.

‘Not yet?’

It’s about time they discover him...

“W-Who’s there!”

At the cry, Chung Myung’s mouth twitched into a smile. Far off, Ten Thousand People Clan swordsmen looked at him with stunned faces.

He kicked off the ground and closed the distance in a single bound. He then cut off the leader’s head.

Crack!

With a bone-crunching sound, the Ten Thousand People Clan man’s head soared into the air. His face, still open-eyed, flashed pale in the faint moonlight before falling.

“Gasp!”

Shreek!

Chung Myung’s blade, having just severed the other throats, now met the last man’s neck.

Clack!

The man with the signal whistle froze with it in his mouth, eyes shaking as if seized by an earthquake. If he summoned the strength to blow, that sharp sword would split his neck without hesitation.

A razor-sharp gaze from the darkness watched him as if stalking.

Sweat poured from him in an instant. Then Mount Hua’s Sword Saint spoke briefly.

“Blow.”

It was an incomprehensible command, but there was no time to think. As he hesitated, Chung Myung’s sword began to pierce his skin.

“Can’t you hear me?”

Slice.

As the thin blade slashed his neck, a terrible sensation made his legs give way.

“Let go.”

He could think no more. There was no time. Trembling, he forced air into the whistle clenched in his hand.

Wheeeeeeeeet!

A high, piercing whistle rang through the dark sky. At that moment, Chung Myung’s mouth curled into a slight smile.

“That’s better.”

Shreek!

The man’s body collapsed. But the whistle had unmistakably revealed everyone’s location.

“This way!”

Shouts rose from all directions as chaos ensued. The corner of Chung Myung’s mouth twisted into a chilling grin.

❀ ❀ ❀

“The whistle sounded!”

“Run! Over there!”

“Yes!”

Everyone reacted to the sound and ran at full speed.

“Hurry!”

The underbrush trampled by the frantic men slowly rose again after they passed. As the racket faded and silence returned to the hills.

Under a large tree stump that had stood watch, a group cautiously revealed themselves.

Baek Cheon, the first to slip out, surveyed the area with tense eyes, then nodded and signaled.

“Let’s go.”

The revealed group numbered one hundred. As if of one body, they held their breath and began running northward, where the Ten Thousand People Clan had cleared the way.