Return of the Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1349: Says He’ll Take That Man’s Life. (4)
Previously on Return of the Mount Hua Sect...
“This way.”
Ho Ga-Myung spoke shortly. Yu Gong stared at him with a hardened face. For a moment, everyone’s gaze around them concentrated.
‘Damn it.’
It was the moment the hope—that by keeping as quiet as a dead mouse they might do nothing until this pursuit ended—was utterly shattered.
“Can’t you hear me?”
When Ho Ga-Myung urged, the atmosphere around them chilled accordingly. As if to say that if they ignored the commander’s words again, he’d cut their throats at once.
Yu Gong bit his lip and forcibly moved a foot that would not lift. Ho Ga-Myung’s calm, sinking gaze swept over Yu Gong.
“What do you think?”
“...What do you mean?”
“I won’t forgive you for beating around the bush. That’s not acceptable.”
“...”
“There’s one thing I want to confirm. Whether you’re willing to cooperate or not is going to help you.”
The tips of Yu Gong’s fingers trembled slightly.
Ho Ga-Myung’s gaze remained indifferent and cold, but Yu Gong standing before him couldn’t see it that way.
It felt as if that sunken gaze was saying to him: I already know everything, so don’t you dare try anything.
“Well?”
When Ho Ga-Myung asked again, Yu Gong’s lips moved. But words failed to come out and crumbled inside his mouth.
Ho Ga-Myung looked at Yu Gong with emotionless eyes for a long moment, then turned his head.
“I recall there was one more person, wasn’t there?”
At his words, everyone’s gaze turned to the person behind them.
“Ah...”
As all eyes suddenly turned to him, Go Hong, Yu Gong’s sajae, gave a twitching convulsion in the shoulder. The color drained from his face in an instant.
“Bring him here.”
“Yes.”
Members of the Ten Thousand People Clan grabbed Go Hong by both shoulders and dragged him before Ho Ga-Myung. Go Hong, his face ashen, looked at those holding him but couldn’t bring himself to resist and was dragged along helplessly.
Thud.
Those who had dragged Go Hong shoved him before Ho Ga-Myung. Go Hong, who had fallen and braced himself on the ground, forced his head up.
“I... I...”
The moment his eyes met Ho Ga-Myung’s, Yu Gong’s face turned so pale it went nearly blue.
“I will not force you.”
“...”
“But if you’re here, you must follow the Evil Sect’s way. Within the Evil Sect, the only way to preserve your life is to prove your usefulness.”
“I... I...”
Go Hong’s shoulders trembled. He couldn’t be unaware of what they wanted. He had been as quiet as a dead mouse, yet had kept vigilant about their movements the whole time.
What they wanted from him was to betray the sahyung of the Southern Island Sect.
The reason he had come this far was simply to survive. And to save the people of his hometown.
It wasn’t Go Hong who decided in that process that even the sahyung-sajae could be sold out. It was Yu Gong.
“So?”
His lips were parched. Spitting wetly, Go Hong opened his mouth in a trembling voice.
“W-what are you saying... I...”
“Can you prove the value of your life?”
Ho Ga-Myung’s intimidating gaze pressed down on Go Hong.
Go Hong’s gaze drifted somewhere without his control. It was an instinctive glance no firm will could suppress.
Ho Ga-Myung did not miss Go Hong’s instinctive struggle to survive.
“There’s something.”
Exposed by that brief glance, Go Hong’s eyes trembled as if an earthquake had struck. Ho Ga-Myung spoke slowly.
“Then it’s simple. There are only two options left. Cooperate and survive, or keep your loyalty and die with them.”
“...”
“Of course, not just you, but those remaining in the Southern Island Sect as well.”
“Ugh...”
Cold sweat began to soak his entire body.
Since being brought to Ho Ga-Myung, no physical harm had been done to him so far.
But now it seemed he’d rather be hacked all over his body. Compared to enduring words sharper than any blade, physical pain would be nothing.
“You’ve been given enough time. Decide.”
“I...”
Go Hong’s pale lips trembled.
The desire to live, and yet the will that he couldn’t betray those who had once been comrades.
Those two irreconcilable things mashed his head into a pulp.
“I... I...”
Go Hong’s eyes wandered aimlessly. So many gazes were still fixed only on him.
Ho Ga-Myung’s indifferent stare, the Ten Thousand People Clan’s hostile looks, and Yu Gong’s gaze that was impossible to read.
Suddenly his vision swam. The world spun, and a sick feeling rose in his stomach.
“I... I...”
When Go Hong ultimately couldn’t utter his decision, Ho Ga-Myung cut him off without remorse.
“This one has no use. Kill him.”
“Yes!”
No sooner had the command been given than the Ten Thousand People Clan members on either side drew their blades. Knowing this wasn’t just a threat, Go Hong widened his eyes and cried out desperately.
“W-wait, just a moment! I, I...!”
Whoosh!
But the blades swung by the Ten Thousand People Clan members flew inexorably toward his neck.
“Stop!”
At that moment, someone shouted loudly as if seized by a fit.
The blade that had flown in, carrying a cold gleam, stopped as it touched Go Hong’s neck.
Drip.
A stream of blood ran down from the split skin.
“I’ll tell you.”
The shout came from Yu Gong. He bit his lips so hard they went blue and squeezed his eyes shut.
“S-sahyung!”
Ho Ga-Myung’s blade-like gaze turned toward Yu Gong.
“I have no intention of giving you time.”
“No, sahyung—no, sahyung!”
As Go Hong urgently objected, Yu Gong opened his eyes and looked at him blankly. The cold gleam on the blade touching Go Hong’s neck began to deepen again.
Yu Gong finally pointed to a large tree standing ahead and spoke.
“There.”
His fingertips trembled slightly. It was a sight that showed how tangled his inner feelings were, but no one cared about his heart.
“Sahyung! Stop...!”
“There’s a pattern carved into that tree.”
Go Hong bit his lip until it bled. Ho Ga-Myung glanced at his reaction. From that alone, it didn’t seem Yu Gong was lying.
On the upper part of the large tree Yu Gong pointed to, there was a faint pattern carved that was hard to spot without looking carefully.
“What does it mean?”
“...It’s hard to explain in words.”
“Why?”
“Sahyung!”
Go Hong shouted with a pained expression. But Yu Gong, seeming resigned, laid out what he knew without hiding it. After all, deceiving Ho Ga-Myung would be impossible.
“That’s the sword mark of the seventh form among Southern Island Sect’s ‘Rinding the Wind Breaking the Waves’ sword techniques.”
“Hmm?”
“A sword... or rather, a blade will do.”
When Yu Gong reached out asking for a weapon, the Ten Thousand People Clan members looked toward Ho Ga-Myung as if seeking permission.
“Give it to him.”
“Yes.”
They handed over the blade they were holding. Yu Gong took the unfamiliar blade into his hand and exhaled briefly. Then he unfolded a sword form into the air without channeling internal qi.
“And that form ends like this.”
When the abbreviated form finished, the tip of the blade pointed in one direction. Everyone’s gaze followed it. The tip of the blade pointed toward a certain grove.
“Do you understand?”
“The direction the sword points when the form ends...”
Ho Ga-Myung nodded as if he understood.
“You used your head well.”
It was certainly logical.
No matter how intricate a code, it will eventually be cracked. And if you use a code easily understood by the opponent, it can cause unspeakable catastrophic damage.
But with this method, it’s hard to figure out the meaning of the code. Only a disciple trained in Southern Island Sect’s sword school could interpret it.
‘A prestigious sect is a prestigious sect indeed.’
Each troop would include those who could reliably recognize and interpret this code—people with an eye keen enough not to miss these signs even while moving swiftly.
Ho Ga-Myung, nodding lightly, asked again.
“The distance?”
“I don’t know.”
Yu Gong shook his head.
“Basically, this mark is used with ten li as the base, but that can change depending on circumstances. We don’t know how they agreed among themselves...”
“But you mean that if we proceed in this direction, the next mark will appear.”
“That’s right.”
“If not...”
Ho Ga-Myung stared at Yu Gong with cold eyes.
“We’ll encounter those ahead of them.”
The faint hostility that had lingered in Yu Gong’s eyes drained away at those words.
“...That will be so.”
“In other words, to find them, we need to keep you alive. Is that correct?”
“...”
“Huh, so that’s why you explained it so kindly.”
Ho Ga-Myung quietly nodded.
“Good.”
“...”
“However, I won’t allow stalling. You seem clever, so you can probably guess why I brought so many.”
“...I know.”
“Lead the way.”
Yu Gong silently nodded. He sighed and moved forward, when suddenly he noticed someone glaring at him. It was Go Hong. His eyes were full of bloodshot hatred.
‘Am I even the target of his resentment?’
Anyway, by coming this far he was already a traitor who had sold out his sect. What could he possibly be trying to protect now—willing to give his only remaining life for it?
If he had that spirit to begin with, he wouldn’t have come this far.
Seeing him only searching for someone to resent—neither the courage to risk his life nor the guts to betray his sect—filled Yu Gong with an indescribable disgust.
He had to survive.
Right now, that was the only goal left for Yu Gong.
All his pride as a Southern Island Sect’s disciple, even the path he once dreamed of—he had thrown them into the manure heap. All that remained were his life and the safety of the dependents left in Southern Island.
Even so, Yu Gong couldn’t bring himself to meet Go Hong’s eyes. He wanted to glare back at him with venom, but oddly, he looked away first.
“Move out.”
“...Yes.”
Watching Yu Gong grit his teeth and run forward, Ho Ga-Myung curled the corner of his mouth up.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
The others followed Yu Gong and plunged into the dense forest.
‘Indeed, the move you prepared was deadly, Mount Hua’s Sword Saint.’
But it was certain Chung Myung did not know either: we had a trump they wouldn’t expect prepared on our side as well.
“They wouldn’t expect a jackal to command a dog. Even someone like you in the world.”
Even if they did expect it, it wouldn’t matter. This battlefield no longer belonged to Ho Ga-Myung.
Even if he were to be struck down by that bastard again, the outcome wouldn’t change.
The flow of this battlefield was heading into the hands of the one who should rightfully seize everything.
A strange heat rippled in Ho Ga-Myung’s eyes.
He too wanted to confirm it. No, because of who he was, he wanted to confirm it all the more.
Mount Hua’s Sword Saint—no, the Plum Blossom Sword Ghost. He wanted to see how the Alliance lord would trample that overwhelming monster whom he had never even used a hand against.
When the Hegemony Lord, who had shown an inexplicable kindness to that Plum Blossom Sword Ghost all this time, finally draws the sword he had kept buried, what would happen then?