Return of the Mount Hua Sect Chapter 1350: Says He’ll Take That Man’s Life. (5)

“Sasuk! What’s the matter?”

“Well... that’s...”

The faces of Mount Hua’s disciples were very serious.

They were looking at the pavilion that Hyun Jong currently used as his office and quarters. A short while ago, the senior figures of the Heavenly Friends Alliance had all gathered there with grim faces.

“Has something happened?”

“You are asking me? What would I know?”

Baek Sang sighed in frustration. With Baek Cheon absent, it was clear he was the eldest of the Baek disciples, but that didn’t mean he had heard anything special.

But the other disciples didn’t know Baek Sang’s situation, so questions poured out continuously.

Jong Hoe asked again with a stern face.

“Could it be... that something has happened to the sasuk and sahyungs who went to the Southern Island Sect?”

“You blabbermouth!”

In an instant, hostile glares flew from all sides. Stung by those looks, Jong Hoe shrank his neck.

“Ah, no, if that’s not the case then why is everyone like that...”

“The Four Sects Alliance might have moved, or those Nine Great Sects might have done some foolery again!”

“Frankly, the sahyungs probably haven’t even arrived in the Southern Island Sect yet; how could something be happening, you fool?”

“Shut it before I sew your mouth shut.”

Jong Hoe bowed his head deeply and Baek Sang sighed.

“For now, let’s wait. The Sect leader has gone in; once a conclusion is reached, he should give some notice, shouldn’t he?”

“...Yes, sasuk.”

But the Mount Hua disciples couldn’t relax their stern faces. Hyun Jong’s expression as he strode to his quarters had seemed far more serious than usual. Though they wanted to believe otherwise, that look alone made them sense that something had happened to those who had gone to the Southern Island Sect.

“Sasuk, what if...”

“No questions.”

“...Yes?”

Baek Sang said with a resolute face.

“I know what you’re trying to ask, but there’s no need to ask it. We have only one thing to do.”

“Yes. Sasuk!”

Soon a firm resolve settled on the faces of the other disciples.

Everyone’s gaze had shifted now — toward the far south.

The senior figures of the Heavenly Friends Alliance all wore hardened expressions.

“...Are you saying the Ten Thousand People Clan is pursuing them?”

“That is so.”

Meng So, who had fallen silent for a moment, spoke as if in pain.

“The Ten Thousand People Clan...”

Confusion flickered across Meng So’s face for a moment.

“Are you saying the Ten Thousand People Clan personally went out to strike the Southern Island Sect in the rear? In this situation?”

Hyun Jong nodded without speaking. But Meng So, still unsettled, asked again.

“And they began their attack precisely after the Heavenly Friends Alliance arrived in the Southern Island? Is that it?”

“It seems so.”

“Huh...”

He let out a hollow laugh that didn’t fit the situation. It was so absurd that only laughter came out.

A coincidence? No; this could not be explained as a coincidence.

Originally, the Heavenly Friends Alliance could not have reached Southern Island Sect so quickly. If they had gone by normal routes, it would have taken at least several months.

But those dispatched by the Heavenly Friends Alliance arrived unnaturally fast, and thanks to that they were able to rescue and lead them out before the Ten Thousand People Clan erased the Southern Island Sect.

“I thought they would strike the Southern Island Sect when the war started, but that assessment was wrong...”

“They knew it too, I suppose.”

Tang Gunak said in a grave voice. Meng So voiced his question.

“What do you mean?”

“That even if they attacked the Southern Island Sect, the Nine Great Sects would not move.”

Meng So couldn’t bring himself to answer.

In fact, his thoughts were not far off. Come to think of it, Jang Ilso had an uncanny knack for reading people’s minds. There’s no way he would have missed that Beop Jeong had no intention of waging war for the Southern Island Sect.

“And right now, the reason doesn’t matter.”

Everyone’s gaze focused on Tang Gunak.

“What we must focus on is that the children who went to the Southern Island are being chased by the Ten Thousand People Clan — and that is in the Southern Lands.”

Meng So felt a chill run down his spine.

Southern Lands is the land of the Four Sects Alliance. Who here would not understand what it means to be chased by the Four Sects on their own turf? Even saying Baek Cheon’s life is on the line would be insufficient.

Meng So’s gaze reached Hyun Jong.

“If so, what do you intend to do?”

Hyun Jong met that look squarely. Meng So’s expression changed strangely for a moment.

His rough exterior made him easy to overlook, but Meng So is the Palace Lord of the Beast Palace. And since the Beast Palace trains in martial methods reflecting animal traits, his senses rival anyone’s in the land.

And those senses were telling him something now: that Hyun Jong sitting before them was somewhat different than before.

“The letter the children sent said they would pass through the Southern lands to come to the Northern lands.”

Though his tone seemed calm, everyone knew a cold blade was hidden in his words.

“When I first heard that news, the first thing that arose in me was reproach.”

“...Alliance leader.”

“How could they make such a reckless choice? They could have simply returned leaving the Southern Island Sect behind. Why risk their lives for the Southern Island Sect, with whom we’ve barely shared any warmth? If that’s called deliberation, isn’t deliberation just a name for thoughtless folly?”

Complex expressions crossed everyone’s faces. Hyun Jong had voiced what they had thought but couldn’t bring themselves to say.

“But immediately after that, another thought came to me.”

“...What thought?”

“That even in this turmoil I’m still measuring right and wrong.”

For a moment everyone looked embarrassed, as if Hyun Jong had read their hearts.

“Even with the children in danger, I was still thinking about what their mistakes were, and how they ought to have acted. Even in that urgent situation.”

Some faces reddened. In contrast, Hyun Jong’s gaze sank deeper with solemnity.

“You asked what we should do?”

“...”

“You ask the obvious. Of course we will go to save the children.”

“To, to the Southern lands?”

The faces gathered there went pale.

The Southern Lands is the Four Sects’ territory. If they head into the Southern lands they must risk war with the Four Sects Alliance. With the current strength, facing the Four Sects could mean total annihilation.

And yet Hyun Jong spoke of that enormous thing as if it were nothing.

“Alliance leader, this mustn’t be decided emotionally!”

At someone’s shout Hyun Jong nodded.

“Indeed. It shouldn’t be thought of emotionally. We must carefully weigh and decide what is right.”

“Alliance leader...”

“But by the time such deliberation yields a conclusion, the children may no longer be alive. In weighing right and wrong, we may lose what must not be lost.”

Meng So was then convinced that his sense that Hyun Jong had changed was not wrong.

“If there are things to deliberate, it’s not too late to do so after the matter is resolved.”

“But what about sacrifices? They are the Four Sects Alliance we are going against.”

“Those who will not join, please guard this place.”

“...W-wait, what on earth...”

“We don’t even have time to persuade everyone now.”

Hyun Jong left those words and suddenly rose from his seat.

In truth, Meng So and Tang Gunak somewhat understood Hyun Jong’s action.

But the others couldn’t hide their alarm. The Hyun Jong before them seemed unlike the Hyun Jong they knew.

He wasn’t the Hyun Jong who always soothed everyone gently and tried to hear one more word. This Hyun Jong looked as if he had no intention of listening to others at all.

“A-alliance leader, wait a moment...”

They tried to continue speaking with Hyun Jong in their fluster, but it was all in vain. Hyun Jong, having stood, headed straight out without hesitation.

“W-where are you going, alliance leader!”

Everyone, surprised, followed him out of the room. Since Hyun Jong did not stop, they had no choice but to go along with him.

And those who stepped outside were startled in two ways.

One was that Hyun Jong had truly left the pavilion without even glancing at them; the other was that, in front of the pavilion he exited, every one of Mount Hua’s disciples had somehow gathered.

“When did they?”

They didn’t seem to have gathered with prior knowledge. They too wore startled expressions at Hyun Jong’s sudden rush out.

Hyun Jong looked at those gathered quietly, then turned his head.

“Sect leader.”

“Yes, please speak.”

Un Am bowed politely.

“May I, even after passing over the Sect leader title, say a word to the children?”

“Though I am the Sect leader of Mount Hua, the bond between teacher and disciple cannot be less than rank. Do as you wish.”

“Thank you.”

Hyun Jong inclined his head lightly to Un Am in thanks, then took the disciples of Mount Hua into his eyes.

“Disciples, listen.”

“Yes!”

All of Mount Hua’s disciples immediately knelt on one knee in salute.

“Those who went to Southern Island are being pursued by the Ten Thousand People Clan — in that Southern lands where there is nowhere to seek help.”

The disciples widened their eyes. But the look soon calmed, like Hyun Jong standing before them.

“And the way to reach those children is blocked by the Four Sects Alliance. Even risking our lives, it’s unsure if we could help them. No, it’s more likely we cannot help them.”

Mount Hua’s disciples looked at Hyun Jong without stirring.

“So I ask: will you come with me to help those who went to the Southern lands? Will you stake your lives on that seemingly worthless cause?”

Clang.

Baek Sang, who knelt at the front, rose and drew his sword. Silently he brought the hilt to his left chest.

To that chest where Mount Hua’s Plum Blossom, their emblem, was engraved.

Clang! Ching!

One after another, the sounds of swords being drawn rang out.

Mount Hua’s disciples all drew their swords and brought them to their chests with an unwavering will, without a hint of hesitation.

Hyun Jong nodded quietly.

Had even one person shown hesitation, he would have turned away. He was Mount Hua’s former Sect leader, but even so he had no right to force his disciples to die.

But not a single one of them hesitated.

“Deliberation was never about that in the first place.”

What is right? What is wrong? What is efficient?

Those questions don’t matter. What matters is what they intend to do now — and whether their intent is without shame.

If it isn’t what one wants to do oneself and one follows it merely because it’s deemed right, that’s not true deliberation either.

All of Mount Hua’s disciples urged him with their eyes.

As if they had known such a moment would come, as if they had long since cast aside hesitation.

Hyun Jong nodded heavily.

“Mount Hua will advance into that Southern lands...”

It was at that very moment.

“Alliiiance leaderrr!”

Someone cried out with a tearing voice. Turning in surprise, they saw a person vaulting over the manor’s wall, running at full speed.

“What’s the matter?”

“I-it’s moving!”

“Moving?”

“The-he Four Sects Alliance...”

At those words all color drained from their faces.

They didn’t need to hear what came next to know it.

That heavy, sharp news struck their heads like a massive bell.

“The Four Sects Alliance has moved!”

❀ ❀ ❀

Kuuuuung!

The massive main gate of the Four Sects’ headquarters, which rarely opened, swung wide with a heavy sound.

“Hmmm.”

A man who stepped through the open gate let out a strange smile.

“A long-overdue outing.”

Step. His foot stepped one pace outside the headquarters.

Passersby who saw Jang Ilso, the Alliance lord of the Four Sects, suddenly open the tightly closed gates and appear were so frightened they dropped to the ground as if seeing a ghost.

“So... when we return, we should bring back something big, right?”

The corners of Jang Ilso’s lips, as red as blood, curled oddly.

“Something big like the head of Mount Hua’s Sword Saint! Hahahahahah!”

Jang Ilso strode forward, his red robe flapping widely. Behind him the Four Sects’ elite — including the red hounds — began to march with fierce eyes.

Their direction was southward, toward the land thick with the scent of blood.